Month: October 2022

Two Old Books

Roleplay Rescue’s Blog

I’m not quite sure why but I find myself drawn back to two old books that I last used with students at my previous schools to introduce them to roleplaying games. Those books are the Basic and Expert rulebooks from 1981, often referred to by collectors as B/X Dungeons & Dragons.

The past few days have seen me journey back into classic fantasy roleplaying through the lens of both Original Dungeons & Dragons and the more modern solo dungeon adventure game D100 Dungeon. The former taught me the charm and appeal of the three most basic game structures in the roleplaying game scene, namely the Combat, Dungeoncrawl, and Hexcrawl. The latter reminded me that, despite offering an excellent procedural dungeoncrawl experience, the real appeal of roleplaying games is having choice in your actions and depth in the game world.

And so today I began a new quest.

For…

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Balgara the Black Guard VI

Ilyana's Tomb of Doom

(Dragonspear Diary: Child of Bhaal)

I am a Child of Bhaal, but none of my mates know it.

Nay, I have not ceremonially sacrificed one human, none that

were kidnapped. All of my victims came before my arrow’s path.

But I must be careful not to upset my mates, for any

cruel kill could alert them to my frozen insides, the tundra as I call it.

When Sarevok fell, I put four arrows in his chest. Nobody condemned

me. He was leaning on his left hand when the fourth penetrated his chest.

The knowing smirk on his lip told me

he knew what I was. I’ll never forget

that moment.

I have the hunger.

Blood appeals to me, though no vampire am I. The smell of copper

on the autumn winds

drives me quite insane. Careful not to let them see. Careful not

to let them know. I cannot wait…

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Retro Arcadia Weekly Spotlight #55

Retro Arcadia

Time for our regular bunch of quick-fire reviews and impressions of what’s been under the spotlight at Retro Arcadia this week, old and new and a bit of both…

I haven’t had much of a chance to get too stuck in since it arrived a couple of days ago, but we’ll start this week with some very quick first impressions (and dodgy photos of my dodgy old telly) of the Sega Mega Drive Mini 2! I’m still working my way through each of the sixty games, including twelve Mega-CD titles, but the all-important first stop was (predictably) the fantastic Mega Drive conversion of Out Run, and honestly that’s where I stayed for quite some time despite the mass of stuff I’d barely even heard of here before! The unit itself is much like the first one – about 12x12x3cm, USB in, HDMI out and two controller ports, and you’re getting…

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D100 Dungeon: First Delve

Roleplay Rescue’s Blog

Having won a $25 voucher in The Redcaps Podcast Child Hero Contest – something that I really did not expect – I decided to buy a copy of the D100 Dungeon Solo Adventure Game by Martin Knight. Given my recent re-kindled interest in the dungeon delve and my status as home alone, I thought it might be good fun to give the game a go.

As ever, this is a solo actual play report and is posted unedited.

To begin, I need to create an adventurer. There are three characteristics used in the game – Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence – and I get to assign 50 points, 40 points, and 30 points to them however I desire. Given that I enjoy playing dextrous characters, I opt for Dex 50, Int 40, Str 30 and name him Goriel.

There are three Hero Paths to choose from – Warrior, Rogue, and Sorceror…

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Caelar Argent (Child of Bhaal)

Ilyana's Tomb of Doom

Balgara the Black Guard V

Caelar Argent.

Sister in Darkness.

Why masquerade as something you’re not?

As Child of Baal, I saw the white of your eyes.

Profound, thy target, did you even have a choice like me?

I noted thy tender reproach to my promised might.

Did you forsee thy end?

Oh, plush nihilism milked to the extreme.

Did you hear your Dark Father like me?

Or was it another extreme dreamed up by you?

Which face spoke first in our game? Angel or devil?

Who is it that needs your deliverance?

How meek the faces that look up to thee.

Will you tromp them down as you mow?

Heaven’s fist knows no bound.

Did you hear your Dark Father like me?

Or was it another extreme dreamed by you?

Who is it that needs your deliverance, Angel of Night?

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DungeonMorphs – Sewers Set 4

Dyson's Dodecahedron

One of the final stretch goals of the recent DungeonMorphs IV Kickstarter was to include an alternate version of the DungeonMorph cards (2.5″ x 2.5″ cards of the geomorphs) in the style of one of the artists involved in the design. That artist was ME! So now that all the different geomorph designs are in for each die, I’m in the process of redrawing the various designs in my style.

DungeonMorphs – Sewers 4
DungeonMorphs – Sewers 4

I’m doing these redraws one “die” at a time. The geomorphs have been assigned faces on the DungeonMorph Dice, and I’m translating them not by artist, but by die. So this is the fourth die of the sewers set. (There are a total of 24 dice in total – sewers, lairs, and crypts, so I’ve got a lot of geomorphs to draw!)

I’ll admit it is a little bit weird taking high-detail designs by BilliamBabble and…

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An end to another era

Micki's Delirium

I’ve been doing the Saturday raids since 2012, back then it was mainly posting an lfm and running with a mix of pugs and ppl who joined often enough that I would consider them regulars. Later I started the EEraids user channel on Orien and through it managed to find some players for my guild who also enjoy raiding.

Summer of 2019 Titus said to me, “we should do more raids”, and I said I could add another raid night, which became Wednesday (see my first blog post where we ran raids both Wednesday and Saturday here: Raids week 128). As always I would invite guildies first, then ask in EEraids channel and last but not least post an lfm for any free spots. Quite often we’d fill just with guildies and channel members. At the time, Titus and some other Soko members would join my party – if…

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My 6e Wishlist – Player’s Handbook

The Nerdd

When they announced One D&D, the next edition that is beyond editions, I was skeptical. I started calling it 5.5e, because it was supposed to be “backward compatible.” However, now seeing the playtests, and the directions they are wanting it to go, it already does not seem to be backwards compatible, because of the different bonuses from races, backgrounds, how abilities work, etc. In that case, let’s just make the game the Sixth Edition, and be willing to change more.

This is the first part, just the Player’s Handbook, with two more articles to follow.

Races

I love the limiting of stat bonuses based on Race, and a focus on inherent biological abilities, like the Dragonborn’s Breath Weapon.

Otherwise, D&D needs to solve the question, “is Race an Ethnicity or a Species?” I approached the topic in another article, but essentially they need to realize that some people see…

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November PlayStation Plus Games Officially Unveiled

The Boss Rush Network

Sony has revealed the November Monthly Games for PlayStation Plus. The titles include Nioh 2, Lego Harry Potter Collection, and Heavenly Bodies. All three titles will be available starting November 1 for subscribers of Sony’s PlayStation Plus Essential service, as well as the Extra and premium tiers.

Koei Tecmo / Sony Interactive Entertainment

Developed by Team Ninja, Nioh 2 released in March, 2020 on the PS4 console. The game is an action RPG that takes inspiration from the Dark Souls series of games by FromSoftware. The franchise is centered on Japanese folklore, and casts players as a yōkai spirit named Hide who serves numerous historical Japanese figures such as Oda Nobunaga and Hachisuka Koroku in battling demons.

Sony has stated that both the original PS4 release and the PS5 Remaster will be available as part of the PlayStation Plus program.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

The Lego Harry Potter Collection

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