Oh the games we play

Many of the RPGs I currently play are chosen by my boys. This is not necessarily a bad thing; I only have a few more years in the house with them before they go off to adventure on their own, so I take every opportunity I can to play with them now. I've also been lucky of late to have plenty of gaming options.

The game of choice in our house is the Pathfinder RPG. I first played this version of d20 a year ago at BASHCON and the boys and I played three Pathfinder Society games at GenCon 2011. Since then we have invested in most of the Core and Ultimate books. It's a crunchy game and provides plenty of character customization. Learning the nuances of character creation is as enjoyable as the game play at the table.

My regular biweekly game, which includes my sons and three friends, is currently rotating three GMs: my older son and two original members of the group. My son is running a Pathfinder game set in Eberron (since he had most of the Eberron books it seemed like a good way to go). Our party is composed of several drow and a warforged exploring Xen'drik.

The other two GMs are alternating adventures in a home brewed world using D&D 3.5. The main group is a typical mid level party adventuring under the creator of this world. The other GM is overseeing a group of low level halflings trying to make a big name for themselves.

Not to be left out, my younger son has started running adventures for his brother and myself using Pathfinder for a home grown setting. We're two adventures in and having a great time. Our other home game is a longer running Eberron game that was started with 3.5 and published modules. We've now moved beyond the modules and are working to convert over to Pathfinder for more original adventures.

I'm also fortunate enough to play with some podcasting luminaries. A loca, face-to-face Pathfinder game in a home grown setting is being run by Ben of Games You Never... fame (part of All Games Considered podcast). Also in the group is Josh who has had work published by Hex Games and is a member of the Monkeys Took My Jetpack podcast. We're just getting started in a military campaign which promises to be exciting.

My final gaming group meets on-line to play. This group includes Rich of the Canon Puncture and RPG Crosstalk podcasts, as well as Ed & Alex from the Yellow Menace podcast. I'm running this group though a Dresden Files RPG game set in Minneapolis. We've also started working on an InSpectres game run by Rich, for those nights we don't have a quorum for DFRPG.

When I see all these games listed out I now realize why my wife gives me "the look" when I tell her I'm heading off to gaming. Honest, dear, I'm not trying to get out of doing the laundry and dishes.


Follow your bliss,
JJ


EDIT

I was reminded this morning that I left off one game: a play-by-post game set in the Tower of Druaga on Obsidian Portal utilizing the Adventure Game Engine from Dragon Age RPG. This game is the brainchild of Daniel of Highmoon Media and, most recently, This Just in...from GenCon! podcast. I'm joined in this adventure by fellow gamer and friend of the Canon Puncture show, Jarad.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Dragon Age RPG Quickstart Guide PDF is here!

Dragon Age RPG Quickstart Guide PDF

This short post is to let folks know two things: 1. I'm still around and kickin', and 2. the Dragon Age RPG Quickstart Guide PDF (Green Ronin Publishing) is available for download! Of late I've been a big fan of the Dragon Age RPG, so I was quite disappointed when none of my FLGS were participating in Free RPG Day 2011. I'm very thankful that the powers that be at Green Ronin have made this available for free download.

I've you've wanted to check out the game, but not ready to put forth the cash to pick up Set 1 box, here is your chance to take the game for a test drive. It includes background information, pre-generated characters and a short adventure. Even if you've never played the computer or console DA game, I recommend you pick this up. Want more reason? Check out this review of the quickstart on RPG.Net.

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Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Fire and Forget

I was struck by a thought as I was driving home last night (no one was hurt and I was able to maintain control of my vehicle). I was thinking about the AGE system used in the Dragon Age Dark Fantasy Roleplaying Game and how it felt like an Old School game. While I haven't played it yet, what I've read so far suggests this to be true, except for one thing: spell casting.

"Helpless Pieces of the Game he Plays"
Adelaide Hanscom [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons

DARPG uses a mana point (MP) system for casting spells. Mages have an allotment of MPs to spend on the casting of each spell. This is a dynamic an free form system that plays very much like a video game: pick a spell and spend your MPs, keep casting until you run out of MPs, rest to recover MPs, repeat. I've watched my son do this when he plays a spell-casting character in World of Warcraft.

But it doesn't feel Old School enough for me. I come from the "fire and forget" school of D&D and think that is a perfectly natural way for magic to work, especially if you've read Jack Vance's Dying Earth series. So, I began a little thought experiment as I drove: could you use the AGE system to mimic the F&F approach to magic.

My first thought was to have the mage characters spend their MPs each day "memorizing" spells. I think the number of MPs might need to change a little bit and stress from armor also has to be taken into account. I haven't been able to allot much time to this thought exercise so here is my first pass:

Learning Spells
At level 1 a mage has learned Magic + 3 spells. These spells are recorded in the mage's spellbook. A mage may only have learned (Magic * 2) + Level spells. The exception to this are the spells learned at level 1. For Example: a mage with Magic 0 will have learned 3 spells at level 1; if the mage does not raise his Magic, he may not learn another spell until he has achieved level 4 ( (0 * 2) + 4).

A mage can learn any spell he comes upon by making a successful Learning Roll: Cunning (Arcane Lore) vs a TN 10 + MP Cost of spell. For spells with variable MP, use the lowest value in the range.

Memory Points
Memory points (MPs) represent a mage's mental capacity when it come to holding the chaotic energy of spells in their mind. A mage has trained their mind to act as a receptacle for the formulaic spells that are used to unleash magical effects. The mage's mind can only contain so much chaotic energy at one time. These spells are imprinted into their mind and held ready until they are released by the mage to create the desired effect, casting the spell. After the energy is released, that spell is "forgotten" and cannot be cast again until the mage has "re-memorized" it. A mage can memorize the same spell effect multiple times, provide the mage has sufficient MPs to do so.

A level 1 mage starts the game with memory points equal to 10 + (Magic * 2) and adds Magic * 2 more every time he gains a level. Apply changes to Magic before calculating MPs gained for a new level. MPs gained for previous levels are not recalculated when Magic is raised, it only affects MPs gained going forward in levels.

Powerful mages can hold many more spells at the ready in their mind than a novice. Each spell has a cost associated in MPs which must be paid when the spell is memorized. A mage must be wise and prudent when selecting which spells to memorize for the day.

Preparing Spells
Mages store their spells in written form in their spellbooks. Each time a mage wishes to prepare a spell for casting they must sit in study with the spell, memorizing the formula and imprinting its pattern into their mind. This act of memorizing the spell prepares it for later casting. The time it takes to memorize a spell is equal to 15 minutes per MP cost for the spell. For example, Arcane Bolt, MP Cost 2, will take 30 minutes to prepare.

Spells and Armor
Mages can cast spells while wearing armor, although the strain of such an action can interfere with the spell casting. Use the strain listed in the Casting in Armor table as a penalty on the Casting Roll.

Regaining Memory Points
Mages regain MPs by resting. A full 8 hours of rest are required for a mage to regain all spent memory points. If a mage still holds un-cast, memorized spells in their mind, the mage can choose to "forget" any or all of those spells at this time to free up MPs to be used toward preparing more or different spells. The time it takes to safely expend the memorized spell is 15 minutes no matter how many MPs were originally used in preparing the spell.

Spellbooks
Spellbooks are large bound tomes used to store the spells the mages has learned. Spellbooks come in various shapes and sizes. A blank spellbook cost 75 sp and can hold up to 10 spells as well as copious mundane notes. Ink used to record the spell in the spellbook cost 10 sp per MP cost of spell.

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Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Dragon Age RPG

@Highmoon and @ newbiedm have been giving lots of love to the Dragon Age RPG (DARPG), from Green Ronin, on Twitter. So much so that I contacted my FLGS to order me the boxed set. When these guys recommend a game, I can't help but to listen. If you are at all curious about DARPG, then check out their new blog, Dragon Age Oracle, devoted to the game (and follow the DAO blog on Twitter as well).

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Follow Your Bliss,
JJ