Power of Good Dialog

Often Inspired is hosting a short story competition. The Power of Good Dialog.
From the rules
"Register in the forum.

You have to write at least a thousand words of dialog - and have a beginning, middle, and an end.

You're allowed a title, and a byline. The rest has to be dialog only."

Anyways, check it out, if there are enough people participating the winning entry gets a cash prize. Further rules are there on the forum, so go, go and write!

Linkfest 5

There's a thin line between embarrassment and nostalgia, especially if you grew up in the 80's/90's. This site celebrates that, from an adequately distant perspective. A look back at all that Retro Junk.

Speaking of reliving one's childhood. Or at least the cartoons, this was one of my personal favorites, click and listen to the Sky Pirate Song from Tailspin. I have to say, Don Karnage was as much a hero to my formative years as anyone.

Anyways, my last post was on the Modern Ops rules, but let's not forget that there are plenty out there, and many of them are free. Freewargames rules is a pretty good starting place if you want to test some out and see what strikes your fancy.

This link is one that will either have facepalm and groan over all the puns, or giggling uncontrollably. Yuri The Only One For Me.

And finally, Often Inspired has a shiny new design and contest for dialog writing up, so that should be fun to check out.

Edit: It always happens that just after you post, you find more neat stuff that should have gone in there. Well a day late, but it's too neat to leave off for next time. The Retropolis Transit Authority, for all your retro future t-shirt needs. I particularly like the Certifiable Mad Genius one.

Moderns Ops Review and AAR

Modern Ops by Pinnacle Entertainment Group is a skirmish level wargame based on the Savage Worlds ruleset. It uses the abbreviated version known as the Showdown rules as well as its own setting rules.

Now for anyone familiar with the Savage World rules, the Showdown set is essentially what happens when you strip off most of the RPG elements and excess fat away to turn it into a lean mean fighting machine. The result is a highly intuitive set of rules that can move fast even if one has little experience with them.

I'm not going to go into the core system, since that's a bit beyond the scope of this post. On the plus side, it lived up to the expectation of Fast, Furious, Fun. Highlights included the unit cards that are available for free, these kept bookkeeping down to a minimum, essentially all we had to recall was how many bennies we had left, and some of the expendable ammo(grenades and RPGs). The pace never bogged down, even though the units might have from enemy fire, and the setting rules made it appropriately deadly for the genre.

On the down side, there were portions of the rules that were either vestigial or lacking. Close Combat rules and mount rules were included, but there was no real follow up on either. There weren't any living mounts statted out, and there was no section for hand to hand weapons in the armory. At best one could look at the batons that the swat teams wielded, but I felt that given how they emphasized how important Ganging Up bonuses were, especially to untrained troops, that they should have at least included a few. Even if they just had the point values for the baton, a bayonet and knife/sword it would have been enough. Also the militia units refer to not being able to use the aim action, but from what I can see, that was one of the actions cut out from the rules. Suppressed weapons were another item that didn't really have an explanation aside from the obvious. Finally, nowhere could I find the point values associated with the various abilities and edges.

I would also have liked some more Savage Tales to have come with this product, but perhaps that's just me being spoiled, as some games only come with a single or no scenarios. But on to the AAR.

We rolled up a meeting engagement, and decided on a 1000 point target, we both ended up relatively close to the number. I took the role of the Taliban commander and my opponent taking over as the German commander. We put together a few ruined city blocks for them to fight over. For this game we played a bit loose on the Loyal rules, as he wasn't happy about having to retrieve corpses, and in turn I was able to play loose with my morale checks, which would occur whenever 25% of a team is lost. Which, in a 4 man team means that I would be checking for every casualty, so I said it would trigger when >25% was lost in a single turn.

German Forces
Panzergrenadiere Gruppe(644 points)
-1 NCO with G36
-5 Riflemen with G36
-2 Soldiers with MG3
Sniper Fireteam(388 points)
-2 Snipers with G3-SD1
-2 Soldiers with MG3
=1032 points

Taliban Forces
Taliban Command Fireteam(353 points)
-1 Taliban Warlord Leader with AK-47(Wild Card)
-1 Soldier with RPG-7
-1 Machinegunner with RPK
-1 Soldier with AK-47
Taliban Fireteam(2x)(253 points each)
-1 Soldier with RPG-7
-3 Soldiers with AK-47
Taliban Sniper (166 points)
-1 Sniper with Dragunov SVD(Wild Card)
=1025 points

I'll be referring to the placement of units by my perspective at the Taliban edge of our 2x6 table. The Command Fireteam set up along the far left, with one fireteam in the middle and one on the right, the sniper set up along the right hand side as well. The German forces mirrored mine, their 8 man team on the left and their sniper team on the right.

The first turns were mostly feeling each other out, but some skilled sniper fire by the Germans pinned down my rightmost fireteam, shaking the RPG man. My own sniper returned fire from the second floor of a building, but had little success. It was not an even matchup. I outranged them, their guns considered my sniper as in medium range, while mine could reach them as close range. However this was evened up by the fact that my sniper only had a D10 in shooting while the German snipers were sitting pretty with D12s. I quickly learned that their body armor(giving them a toughness of 11! Most of my soldiers had a 5 or 6) kept them relatively impervious to small arms fire.

Along the left side of the board both sides inched towards each other. I started things off with a volley of RPG shots, which quickly took out one of the sniper team. After that my opponent kept all his units relatively spread out, which helped reduce casualties, but kept him from a concentrated assault as my command team moved into position.

Midgame was when I learned the importance of not bunching up as well. The German soldiers were keeping their heads down due to my command team, I believe that one rifleman and one machinegunner had been killed by my MG or RPGs, my AK-47 armed soldiers were having trouble hitting or damaging his(although that might have been due to the dice more than the mechanics), again due to the body armor. His snipers had concentrated on my RPG soldiers, taking out the one in my command team and in my right hand side fireteam. My middle fireteam had bunched up, minus the RPGman who had been shaken by sniper fire and had not caught up with the man bunch, but a well placed grenade took out three of them in one hit. What was amazing was that the RPGman was able to make his morale check, acing it and continuing on. Meanwhile, every German soldier that was getting close enough to toss a grenade was being taken out with accurate MG fire.

The endgame was a continued attempt to flush out my command team with grenades, and accurate sniper fire chipping away at the remainder of my forces. By the time we ended due to hunger the tally was pretty close. I had lost 7 of my 13 men, including my leader, while he had lost 7 of his 12. 6 of those were from his Panzergrenadieres, leaving only his leader and a MG man from that squad. The remaining casualty was from his sniper team, which really didn't move all that much throughout the game.

I was actually rather surprised at how well the Taliban forces did given that of my 13 soldiers, 9 of them had weapons that barely scratched the body armor of the German troops. My opponent's major complaint was that the German squads were too big, in order to avoid a grenade or RPG landing in the middle and taking multiple soldiers out, he was forced to essentially move his forces in a chain, which limited firepower at a point. Also he felt that the two MG men with his sniper team would be better served near the front, as opposed to with his sniper on overwatch. Actually that whole team could have moved up and flanked my forces, given that my own sniper was having trouble doing any damage other than perhaps shaking a unit for a turn or two.

My own problems included, of course, the fact that the body armor made most of my shots harmless, it was only due to the luck of my MG(acing damage repeatedly) that I was able to do as much damage as I did. In general I felt that there was a little trouble with interrupting actions, as we had two ties before resolving an interrupt, I think the one on hold should win ties personally, so I might houserule that. My leader's fireteam was waiting for them to move into the open, but lost the interrupt and got a grenade down their throat for their trouble.

All in all, a really fun game that played fast and was suitably deadly. Unlike the Chain Reaction ruleset, this game doesn't almost run itself, but the Modern Ops ruleset is very intuitive, and most likely second nature to anyone who has Savage Worlds. So, aside from the above gripes I'm quite happy with it. It could have been executed better, so it's not perfect, but it gets done what it set out to do.

Magic Burns - Ilona Andrews

"Bring your army little god! My sword is hungry!"

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews is the second in her Kate Daniels series, set in a world where Magic came back, ending, or at least highly disrupting the reign of technology. However it comes and goes, ebbing and flowing like the tides as the magic returns into the world. Not only does the magic bring power, but it transforms the world with its abilities, and when the magic is in control, everything from phones to cars shuts down, not to mention skyscrapers.

The heroine Kate Daniels is a mercenary working for a modern day version of the Knights Templar(called the Order), toting a flesh melting sword and a take-no-shit attitude. Which has all the makings of a good Urban Fantasy story. World shattering danger? Check. Summoning of elder gods or in general things MAN WAS NOT MEANT TO KNOW? Check. Vampires and Werewolves? Check. Magic? Check. Sword slinging violence? Check. Sexy situations? Double check.

The world itself makes for some interesting twists on what you usually see with your urban fantasy. Instead of the "Magic was hiding" or "It was there all along" types that you usually see, often accompanied by all sorts of 'don't tell the normals' rules and regulations, we have magic and tech as a pendulum, swinging back and forth(Actually, the first thing I thought about was an association with global warming and cooling periods and solar cycles, but I don't think that's exactly what she had in mind).

Secondly, the coming of magic wasn't something that just shocked the world, it shattered it. The most obvious example being the Atlanta skyline, full of ruined towers and fallen buildings, not quite post apocalyptic, but you get the feeling that it felt pretty close. Although it does have what seems to be the trend in having scientific viral explanations behind the main monster staples(vamps and weres), the Vampires are not the sexy seducers you find in most urban fantasy. Mindless, putrefying, and bloodthirsty, and hopefully under the mental control of necromancers, who are in return hopefully under control of the law. There was a hilarious line about how to make a Vampire being a dozen forms and a stack of applications.

The heroine is instantly likable. Ready to kick ass and take names, with practicality and doing right at the top of her list. And unlike some female heroines in urban fantasy, doesn't get sidetracked by sex. There are steamy situations, and it almost seems that for all her protestations about not getting any, every other person is ready to jump into her pants. However the sexual aspects don't ever become the focus of the story-something which always tends to turn me off a bit to a book. Not to mention quoting lines of cheesy movies, and despite death everywhere she doesn't become flooded with existential angst, another danger of the genre.

The other characters are also interesting. I just have to give props to the heroine's coworker Andrea at the Order for excellent pistol choice(she carries SIG226s if you're wondering). Sorry, inner gun nut coming out, anyways, every one of them have at least an interesting quirk that make them stick in your mind. However it felt very uneven in how they were covered. Perhaps it's just because of the long time it's been since I read the first book in the series(Magic Bites), but some of them don't appear long enough to get more than that single quirk. For instance, Saiman appears for a single scene, and later is referenced to another character simply for that trait(wanting to bed the protagonist). They come on stage and then disappear just as quick. Now if you know them from the first book, then you won't need any explanation, but I could easily see losing track if you didn't have at least some foreknowledge.

One of them really stood out for me, Bran, a warrior from another age who made the unwise choice of making a bargain with Morrigan. I'm trying not to give too much of the plot away, but suffice to say, it was like seeing a character Robert E. Howard or David Gemmell could have written about, but all barbarian, no heroism.

Now I have to admit, I'm a sucker for good Urban Fantasy, and that is what this is. Between getting in into my grubby little hands and turning the final page I doubt more than 4 hours passed, including the ride back from the bookstore. So it quite definitely has my recommendation, with the reservation that you really should read the first book of the series before this one. As I mentioned, some recurring characters really should be known about beforehand, and some of the explanations of the world are only glanced at during this book, whereas they're more fully explained in the first. Also, it tends to jump around, the fact pacing and quick action sometimes left me feeling like some scenes were cut short where they could have lingered a bit longer.

Anyways, the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews is top notch urban fantasy, right up there with the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher or the Kitty series by Carrie Vaughn, and you would do well to jump in while it's still early in the run.

Savage Archaeology

So, inspired by articles like this:
What Real-Life Dungeon Exploration Might Look Like, Graduate Students in Tow
And this
Back From Yet Another Globetrotting Adventure, Indiana Jones checks his mail and discovers that his bid for tenure has been denied

I wanted to do a lighthearted subversion of the typical dungeon crawl. I'm using the Savage Worlds system, which is by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. I've mentioned it before in my reviews of Solomon Kane and Rippers, but it really is a fast system that you won't feel that you're bogged down with, and if you don't have it, they've got a free Test Drive with most of the basic rules to play. The only exception for this little adventure is the Big Events, but there's a list of monsters so just use something similar if possible.

Anyways, opinions are needed, this was scrapped together in a few hours of manic inspiration, also if you want to try a playtest for this minigame, lol. But really this is more or less an amusing diversion as a solo dungeon crawl turned on its head.

Savage Archaeology

Congratulations Professor! You have just received funding to excavate an underground site suspected to be the ruins of an ancient civilization. To this end we have laid in an adequate supply of index cards and graduate students to carefully complete an initial survey and mapping of the site. The University is expecting great things, and respectfully reminds you that you have not published recently. In order to remain of the highest standards, regular publication in a peer reviewed journal is expected, and we hope that this trip will offer you the opportunity which you have been lobbying the finance department for, to gather field data .

Armed with notebooks, index cards, pencils, and a variety of small brushes you and your sad lot of graduate students arrive in a foreign land. Record and map the culturally significant features of the site, preferably without destroying the contextual evidence of the site matrix.

Each grad student must spend 2 turns studying the object of their specialty to record it, passing an appropriate Knowledge check. The Professor may do the same, but is not limited to any one type of item. (If the Knowledge check is failed then another with the appropriate skill can attempt to identify it)
Anyone who enters a previously unknown room must make a notice roll, those that fail are subject to any traps in the room(roll randomly to see who the trap targets), and on a natural 1 has a 50% chance of ruining the artifact(stepping on, breaking, using as a rest stop, or in the case of living creatures, insulting their ancestry through their actions). After the turn a room is entered it is assumed to be "discovered."
Traps may be disarmed, though in doing so they are no longer valuable to fulfill the Engineer's requirement. Or simply bypassed by an agility roll.
If an object is removed from the site matrix or damaged, it cannot count towards the items recorded. For biologicals, they must be studied while still alive.
If indigenous peoples are encountered(not from the big events table) then one can make a persuasion roll for them not to attack. A raise means that they offer to trade(likely a spear, bow and arrows, or sling for one of your grad student's shiny digital watch and a few candy bars).
After 10 rooms have been mapped then roll on the Big Events table as well.

Professor – Wild Card
Agility D4, Strength D4, Smarts D10, Spirit D10, Vigor D6
Skills: Guts D8, Investigation D8, Notice D8, Knowledge D8 in Engineering, Anthropology, Linguistics, and Zoology/Botany
Hindrances: Bad Eyes(minor), Curious(major)
Edges: Command, Inspire, Scholar(your choice)


Grad Student Types
Agility D6, Strength D6, Smarts D8, Spirit D6, Vigor D6
Skills: Fighting D4, Guts D8, Knowledge(Appropriate D8), Notice D6, Driving D4, Taunt D6
Engineer – Lockpicking D6, can be used to disarm traps
Anthropologist – Persuasion D6
Biologist – Survival D8, Tracking D6
Linguist – Can translate and identify writing,
Med Student – Healing D8, Healer


Roll 1d4 to choose hindrance/edge for any Slacker/Thug/Jock
Doubting Thomas, Greedy(may make an attempt at stealing artifacts if possible), Brawny, Clueless

Slacker – Notice D8, Persuasion D4, Guts D4, Lockpicking D4
Thug – Fighting D8, Shooting D6, Intimidation D6, Streetwise D6, Guts D6. Comes with knife
Jock – Throwing D8, Fighting D6, Climb D6, Intimidation D6, Guts D6. Comes with 6pack of empty bottles

(Beer Bottles – 3/6/12, Str+D4, -1 to attack, after a hit it shatters and becomes unusable)

Native Beaters/Guides(Does not wish to enter into the site at this time, but will provide protection for any researchers who escape from the site)
Agility D8, Smarts D6, Spirit D6, Strength D6, Vigor D6
Skills: Fighting D8, Guts D4, Notice D8, Shooting D8, Stealth D8, Survival D6, Tracking D6

Map Creation

Room Creation(Note, if you already have a dungeon generated, feel free to use that, and overlay it with the room features and events)
D10
1-3 Continues on after this room
4-5 – Turns Left
6-7 – Turns Right
8 – Tunnel Up
9- Tunnel Down
10 – Roll again twice

D20
Room Features (A=Anthropologist, E=Engineer, B=Biologist, L=Linguist)
1 An underground river flows through it
2 This room is mostly empty
3 Dust, and more dust
4 Lava pit

5 Old potsherds litter the floor(A)
6 A statue of an unknown god or goddess dominates the room(A)
7 Old burial jars and human remains litter the floor(A)
8 Simple tools and stone artifacts are evident(roll on weapons table). (A)

9 Ancient writing covers one of the walls(L)
10 Hieroglyphics depict the dangers of the next room (L)
11 Ancient clay tablets rest upon an alter, possibly describing 10 suggestions(L)

12 A rare species of insect thrives here(B)
13 A luminescent fungus is growing throughout the room(B)
14 This room is filled with bats(B)
15 Fossils of prehistoric beasts litter the floor(B)

16 An exquisitely arched ceiling with a hole in it (E)
17 A Natural underground cavern has been integrated into the structure(E)
18 Evidence of pipes and plumbing systems(E)

19 – Empty room
20 - Roll twice


Events D20
1 - A pit trap(one time use)
2 - A swinging blade trap(first person into the room is effected)
3 - A poisoned dart trap(line from one side of room to the other)
4 - A boulder trap(comes rolling down next hallway if applicable, or in line with previous hallway)(one time use)
5 - Encounter with a wild dog
6 - A big cat has made this site its home
7 - A hunting party of indigenous peoples
8 - A silver dagger rests upon a sacrificial alter
9 - Strange chanting can be heard
10 - Holy man or hermit lives here
11 - Unstable foundations give way(treat as pit trap)
12 – 19 No event
20 Roll twice

Big Events D12
1- Crocodiles, 1d3 of them
2- Pygmy Cannibals, 1d6 per turn
3- Morlocks, 1d4 per turn
4- Minotaur
5- Zombies! 1d4 per turn
6- MacGuffin! Grab it and Run
7- Rumble, Rumble, the site begins to collapse, 1 room per turn starting at outermost areas
8-12 Nothing so far


Scoring
First, make up a suitable name for your paper, some examples being, "Pre-Sauron Architecture in Subterranean Mordor." "Hyborian Hieroglyphics in Stygian Burial Mounds." "Early Paleolithic Trap Making of the Cannibalistic Shoggoth Worshippers" or something along that vein, make it snappy!

Each item recorded : 200
Recorded at least 2 of each: 200
Recorded less than 2 of each: -200
MacGuffin recovered : 400 (Though you get a stern talking to about inappropriate recovery methods by your head of department)
Each Grad Student Killed : -100
Each artifact/site/trap damaged or removed : -50
Each indigenous creature/plant harmed: -25
Each sentient native killed : -75
Each Turn taken : -10

Scores under 1000, unable to acquire funding(or willing grad students) for next year's trip. Tenure revoked!
Scores over 1000, translate into cash for the next trip. Survivors are assumed to return next year. For 200 you can get a student of your choice, for 100 you get to roll randomly among the slackers, thugs, and jocks. It can also go towards buying supplies. Two notes of supplies, 1. It's hard to justify guns as an expense(for some reason the dean doesn't think they're necessary), though you can get them on the black market for 2x listed price. And 2. If you have a video camera along, the student equipped only needs to take 1 turn to record their find.

BSG: Six of One

BSG: "Six of One"
Wow....just, wow. Also, danger, danger, spoilers ahead!







You still here?
Okay, great.

First off, Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, by the gods, that's just some amazing acting, they've really made those roles their own.
"You can stay in the room...Get out of my head."
They really are just at the end of their patience with each other, and I have to say that was one of the most powerful scenes I've seen in a long time. They have the chemistry down pat, tired, strung out, and cranky. Lol.

Apollo is going goodbye...at least from the pilots. And apparently the Strip Pyramids games? Now that's a sacrifice! The stripping pilot looks familiar by the way, but I didn't get a good look, does anyone know? Is that Seelix? Anyways, I feel sorry for Dee, she got the short stick all around.


Of course, then we have the Cylons.
"Centurians can't vote Six." "Oh, they're not here to vote Cavil."
So on one side we have the Sixes, the Sharons(sans Boomer), and the Leobens(interesting), along with any of the modded Centurians, versus the Cavil faction with however many Raiders they've managed to upgrade. I think this is an interesting carryover from the previous episode when the Six with the fleet mentions that the Significant Seven are programmed "Not to think about" the final five and now Cavil mentions that it's outright forbidden. Do the Raiders not have that stipulation in their programming? Are the Raiders actually the true inheritors of the PLAN? Either way, we have Cylon civil war on our hands...and isn't it just delicious!
"I'll pray for you. I'll pray HARD." What a way to deliver a threat.
And you know what else is delicious? More topless Sharons doing tai-chi.

And then we have Baltar....and HEAD BALTAR! So, what do you think? Spiritual Guide or Supreme Egoism? It seems that he is well aware of the danger of the cult, but seems reluctant to end something that he has more or less converted to. Of course, none of this stops him from being the supreme charismatic leader who gets to bed everyone.
Baltar: "Well, she's a sexy lady."
Head Baltar: "You slay me, you really do Gaius." "She's more than she's things, she's....fragile."
Baltar: "Fragile, oh yes I sense that too, you're very observant."
Head Baltar: "Handle with care."
Baltar: "Oh, I'd love to."
Even when he's talking with his head self he can't stop complimenting himself!

Also, poor Tory..."You're crying!" "It's just something I do during sex." Not to mention Baltar's harem staring daggers at her. Meeeooowww! Of course, one is tempted to blame Tigh for putting the suggestion forward, but so it goes.

Anyways, I figure I'll end this with what I heard from the hybrid's speech.
"The excited state decays by vibrational relaxation
Into the first excited symptom state
Yes, yes and merrily we go
Reduce atmospheric nitrogen by 0.03%
It is not much consolation that society will pick up the bits
Leaving us at 8 modern is punishment interdiction is paramount
Please, cut the fuse
They will not harm their own, end of line
Limiting diffusions to two dimensions increases the number of evolutionary jumps within the species
Rise and measure the temple of the five
Transformation is the goal
They will not harm their own....."
Anyone want to take a guess at what this means? Other than that four of the 12 are going to go extinct perhaps?

Rippers

"Those who fight monsters should take care that they never become one.
For when you stand and look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you."
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Rippers is a Savage Setting of Victorian Horror for the Savage Worlds gaming system. Imagine every myth and folklore of mad science and playing god, every boogie man that kept you up at night, imagine, all the myths are true. Mix one part Van Helsing, one part Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and add a dash of your favorite mad science story, from Dr. Frankenstein to Dr. Moreau, and you might end up with something like this. Where Abraham Van Helsing leads a clandestine organization devoted to, what else, fighting monsters, opposing him is the brilliant and sadistic Jack the Ripper. And you, my friend, have just entered into this covert horror war.

I purchased the PDF version, so I can't tell you how the print version is put together, but the PDF is quite nice. There was only 1 page that was rather hard to read, but out of 146 pages, that's not bad at all. And it's very well organized, with both a detailed table of contents and an index, having these always scores points with me because of the functionality I demand from my RPG books.

There are main three setting specific changes that Rippers makes from the standard Savage Worlds model, introducing Reason and Reputation, which are derived characteristics. Reason, in a world of monsters and monstrous deeds, might be a bit fleeting, akin to Sanity or other similar measures of a character's ability to deal with the supernatural. However it's not quite a one way slide into oblivion and madness, Rippers also provides the appropriate edges for recovering reason, whether through therapy or a bout in a mental institution(which will unfortunately leave you with a whole new set of mental scars, but at least you're not babbling incomprehensibly). Either way it's a very powerful thematic tool.

Reputation in a Victorian world is of course quite important. However this more so than reason seems to be a slide towards the bottom, with plenty of opportunities for losing it(e.g. staying at a lodge that doesn't have enough influence), and very few for gaining it. While I understand the reasoning behind this, I think that I would like modify it a bit before GMing for Rippers. While some may enjoy roleplaying this aspect more fully, when you're fighting monsters I don't think it needs to take a front seat. However if one were to just take this mechanic and rip it into simply a Victorian oriented campaign where roleplaying status was key, then that would make an suiting combination I believe.

In addition you have the standard equipment list, supplemented by your cinematic monster hunting gear. Including a Gatling pistol and various exploding/trick/silver/grappling ammunition for your trusty crossbow. Which I felt was an especially nice touch.

The other options included are Rippertech, essentially grafting monster parts onto your characters, and Lodges. Now I have to say that the possibilities granted by these two are really neat, and having a base of operations for the players is always a powerful adventure tool. Especially when combined with the very comprehensive random adventure creator included. And when I say comprehensive, I mean it, you can create a pretty convincing scenario with just a few rolls. However it is mostly oriented towards the Rippers setting specifically, so keep that in mind. Also I have some problems with the aspects related to the strategic missions for the upkeep of the lodge that one assumes that you're sending your NPC buddies out on. The more and better your people that you send out, the more cards you draw, and yet success is based simply on whether you've got more red or black cards, and if there are face cards it's a big time success or failure. Now the two jokers give a little bit of skewed odds towards more cards being a good thing, but I think I'd tweak it a bit to let you actually discard a card with more or more experienced people.

But the meat of the book is definitely the plot point campaign and savage tales. There are about 30 adventures set around the world with opportunities to meet everyone from Sherlock Holmes(deliciously subverted as he wastes away in the grips of cocaine addiction) to Dr. Frankenstein. Not to mention encounters with cryptids such as the Jersey Devil and of course your standard beasties from Werewolves to Vampires. I'm keeping it short as not to spoil too much, but there are quite a few plot twists and subversions that will keep you entertained.

While there is some overlap with the Savage World of Solomon Kane, there is very definitely a different atmosphere evoked. In Rippers, one is no wandering hero, but a part of an organized force battling a sometimes losing war against monsters. Rippers also leans more towards steampunk sensibilities than Solomon Kane, if that interests you, though I think that there is enough that sets them apart that warrants getting Rippers if your players are interested in the time periods, or even if they were at least excited about something like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or Five Fists of Science(one could easily see Tesla and Edison set as agents or enemies for instance). Actually one with delusions of grandeur might imagine a massive cross generational campaign spanning time periods and, errr...well, one gets ahead of themselves.

All in all, a solid product, even though at times it seems to be confused whether it wants to focus on being a Victorian, a Horror, or a Monster Hunting setting, it does manage meld them together in an enjoyable way. If you're not interested so much in the supernatural horror involved, then perhaps this isn't for you, but frankly, I think most people will be getting it exactly for that reason. And the rules contained will adapt pretty well to any Victorian or Steampunk oriented game. While it doesn't qualify as best value/purchase of the year, to me it's easily worth the $20 bucks or so that I paid for it.

BSG: Season 4 Premiere

"He That Believeth in Me" or, Gaius Baltar: Messiah at Large. Or, What Would Gaius Baltar Do? Or, No Asking for Directions!

Danger, Danger, spoilers ahead!





Okay
Season 4, the premiere episode, what can I saw but....wow. Just....wow.

The revealed final 4, let's talk about that first. We've had some time to let it sink in about them being Cylons. But damn does Saul Tigh lay down the law, even though he spends much of the episode with a horrified look on his face. Will be interesting to see how the writers resolve his presence in the first Colonial war, before there were actual skinjobs walking around. Poor Anders, he's just not getting a break there, not only is his wife hugging and kissing Apollo, but the Cylon raider recognized him(One of us! One of us!). Big foreboding moment, I wish we could have seen what was going on with the Cylon side of things.

Starbuck. I don't even know where to begin with that. It's not hard to see that things are going to be tough for her. Not that she was totally sane to begin with, but I've a feeling she'll lose it completely.

Apollo....no flying for baby Adama? Okay, so no Apollo flying, no Starbuck flying, who do we have on the roster left? Athena, Seelix, and Anders(who has problems performing *cough cough*)?

Helo, it's good to see him on the c-in-c. Interesting that he's not flying though, didn't all the other CAGs tend to fly? Or maybe Adama knows he needs someone who isn't going to flake out on him in the command center.

Gaius Baltar.....has suddenly become the messiah....to a cult of nubile young women. I couldn't help but laugh at the part where one of them asks "Can you feel God's presence?" then puts his hands on her breasts. "Yes, yes I believe I do!" Squish squish! Of course, later on we see what could very well be the redemption of Gaius Baltar.

Yes? No? Maybe?

Anyways, the most interesting part to me is the teaser for next week. Cylon Civil War? D'Anna returns(or is that a version of 6)?

And since everyone has a theory on the final five...Here's mine. In the beginning, the Cylons discovered that there was vast disagreement on how to approach the human problem. The Significant Seven seeing the humans as parental figures that must be surpassed and destroyed for them to come into their own. The final five on the other hand perhaps wanting to protect humanity, or at least understand it so that they could go back and inform the rest of the Cylons on what makes us tick and why we should be saved, or even because they were made TOO human and empathized with us. Whatever the reason, in order to prevent a Civil War(or because they'd lose if they tried to fight), they leave the main Cylon population and erase as much of the evidence that they were there as possible.

The World of Broadsword

Since we last reviewed Broadsword, I felt that now would be a good time to look at the new add-on, The World of Broadsword in which Mejia which expands on the original product, continuing the barbarous rampage across an entire world, ripe for the picking. It includes a section on new advantages, a bestiary, an overview of the major cities and features, and a new adventure. Compared to the original Broadsword, the writing is more sober, factual, informative....as such I see no need to invite my barbarian guest commenter's back(they left after they found out that I had no wenches).

The advantages are fully in the spirit of the cinematic sword swingers, there are six new ones for your players to chew upon. I personally would have liked a few more, perhaps by cutting a picture or two from the bestiary section they could have squeezed some more in. That leads us to the Bestiary. It's not inspired but you do get all the stereotypical monsters, animals, and creatures that one is expected to encounter, along with a blurb on their special abilities if necessary. One thing that I have a love hate relationship with in it is that what it tells you is essentially, how hard it hits, and how hard it is to kill. On the one hand it means that if your PCs want to interact beyond "I see it....I SMASH IT IN DA HEAD!" you'll have to make up those extra stats. On the other hand, if your players are going for the whole barbarian ethos; chain mail bikini wearing, over-sized musclebound, or swearing by Crom, then 9 times out of 10 it is going to be "I see it....I SMASH IT IN DA HEAD!" There's some black and white art here for the various monsters(though animals and common enemies such as skeletons don't rate having an illustration, and I don't blame them for that decision, everyone should know what those look like without needing it sketched out) with varying levels of quality, but it gets the job done. Anyways, it's a pretty necessary and well done portion if you're going to be playing Broadsword with the 1pg rules(will definitely cut down on prep time), but nothing spectacular.

On to the world section. Now this is where the product really shines. Each major city gets an overview, and then a SWOT analysis(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). As a GM, one of the things that has always bothered me is where to draw the line on how much the PC's should know as 'common knowledge' versus what they need to ask around for. Give them too little, and all they do is head to the tavern to wait for something to happen, too much and there's no incentive for them to ask around. This covers that nicely, the overview gives enough that you won't have befuddled PC's wandering around aimlessly if you let them have that much info, and the SWOT gives you plenty of things to tell them about if only they dig a little bit deeper. Not to mention that it essentially gives you 4 or 5 plot hooks for every city. Heck, even if you just hold up the map, close your eyes, and point, you'll have half a dozen adventures that you can delve into at the nearest city. The location section is a little bit sparser, but still gives plenty of mysteries and adventures that your PC's can stick their noses into. Though personally there are some locations that I would have preferred to be treated almost like the cities in their descriptions(e.g. The Moors of the Witch-Queen? The Tribes of the Sikkar Plains? I could definitely see a page worth of info on each). There's also a small section on the gods, which is nice, but personally if I were to GM a game in the Broadsword world, I'd just as soon drop in a pantheon that has a little more detail than what's given.

The River Pirates of the Belsa is the new adventure. And I have to say that Mejia really knows the tropes, we have all the ingredients to put this firmly in the sword and sorcery genre. The witchy woman with her leopard right out of a Frazetta painting, the dashing rogue, trials by fire, treachery and backstabbing, and to top it all off, an ALLIGATOR PIT! Campy and cheesy, perhaps, but does it set the tone of the adventure nicely? You bet. The other thing that I especially liked about it was that there was a section devoted to the major characters that the PCs would be interacting with, I thought it a nice touch and something that I wouldn't mind for other RPGs to adopt(since many just give you a stat block and make you infer their motives by their actions).

At $4, this is another beer and chips money purchase. But in fact, I think this will appeal to a larger audience than the core Broadsword ruleset can. Just drop in your favored system and viola, instant game world. Forgive me, but I think the best analogy is that it's like cooking semi-homemade. With the World of Broadsword you're getting the bare bones(well, actually you get bones and major organs) of a setting that you can fill in without having to search out the relevant passage. You don't have to devote hours and hours trying to draw out and create your own world, or else spend a bundle of cash to buy a setting book(which you'll then need hours to read through), in order to have a coherent and consistent world for your players to explore. And I think that's a very valuable thing, gamers are looking for ways to keep the time needed to have fun low, that's why I feel that systems like 1pg games and Savage Worlds are becoming more popular, we've got busy lives and being able to run a pick-up game with a few friends on 10 minutes or so of prep time is great.

The key here, is recognizing what you're getting and what you expect from it. Don't expect a work of art or minutiae filled tome of knowledge, do expect a pre-made world with enough detail in the SWOT analysis of the major players to let you jump in headfirst and not have to overly worry about inconsistency. Which is something that I think both GM's and players will appreciate highly. All in all, if you need a world, and don't want to spend the big bucks or long prep time, maybe it's a one shot game or you just don't have the free hours, then the World of Broadsword is the way to go.

Broadsword

For all the works of cultured man
Must fare and fade and fall.
I am the Dark Barbarian
That towers over all.
-Robert E. Howard, "A Word
from the Outer Dark"

Broadsword, by Mejia, Stubbs, and Downing is campy barbarian goodness in its purest form. Reading it I couldn't help but feel like I had Robert E. Howard and David Gemmell peering over my shoulder with comments. And every time I started to stray, my inner gamer wanting technicalities and minutiae, I could hear them behind me, laughing, telling me that such things are for soft, civilized folk. Well, it ended up in an uneasy truce between the two sides of my inner heart, so that's why I think I need some special guests to help me do this review. I'm sure you'll recognize some of them, and they'll be chiming in throughout with their opinions.

First off, you can tell that the writers had fun making this. They knew the trope in and out, "Ride, fight, wench and kill! The walls of the Jeweled Cities of the south will tremble as you crush them beneath your heels!" announces the introduction, setting the tone for what's to come. Whatever the medium you encountered the barbarian of legend, be it old movies, pulp fantasy, or blood stained comic pages, you'll know that they tend to be a heroic reaction to the encroaching of civilization and the gluttony of those that reside in cities.

Conan: Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing. Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.

Well, Broadsword promises plenty of skull splitting action, the faster and simpler the better. Using the 1pg system, it promises that you could cleave your way through a bunch of temple guards of cultists with a beer buzz and a head wound, and it very nearly seems that way. Rolling for stats and skills is simple and well explained, although has a significant random element that I worry might leave a player a bit less than heroic if their luck has deserted them. Or the gods have taking an interest in them. It makes for powerful roleplaying, if you have a good group for a pick-up game, though as mentioned in the introduction to rules of play, Broadsword is meant for gamers with some experience. And of course it helps not to get too attached, characters are living a dangerous life, and somewhat expendable.

Druss: What are 40 years of life if you cannot say that you lived well, compared to 40 minutes where you can say that you stood against the darkness? Remember the code,
Never violate a woman, nor harm a child.
Do not lie , cheat or steal. These are things for lesser men.
Protect the weak against the evil strong.
And never allow thoughts of gain lead you into the pursuit of evil.
If you follow it, live and die by it, then none shall hold you as less than a hero.

Overall the character creation rules are quick and solid. You're not going to be mulling over decisions of minutiae(because they aren't there), and this isn't an in depth character that you're making. The one thing that I feel is a bit weak is that there are no real examples of what your stats translate out as. For example, I would have liked to know would a reputation of 1 would make you a local village brute, as opposed to a reputation of 5 making one Khan of Khans. Rep is something very important to the barbarian genre.

Demid: That is the Cossack's road. No other can follow it. To live by the sword and die not otherwise, to endure torture, to make new paths into the wilderness. What is the reward? The minstrels will sing our names, the grandfathers in the villages will speak of our deeds, and children yet unborn will gather quietly to listen to the hero-tales. And that, my brothers, is Cossack glory!

As for the Advantages, they're fun and lighthearted. Including things such as the classic Chainmail Bikini(providing an armor bonus that goes away if your hero puts on more than a loincloth or the aforementioned bikini), and Summon Horde(also known as heading to the tavern to recruit drunks with promises of...well, you know), the one complaint is that there aren't more of them. Though I'm sure that one can convert such from another system that has a similar feature(i.e. feats or edges).

However, it feels like there were quite a few places where the designers were more ambitious than the result. We have a mechanic for rolling up money, as well as a background that increases starting cash, and yet, no prices for anything! Equipment other than weapons doesn't even show up, and as for the weapons, as I mentioned, no prices listed. Of course, survey says, as a barbarian your weapon is either A. Taken from someone who didn't need it anymore(of course they didn't, you killed them) or B. A family heirloom renowned in song and story. But it dos bother me that there isn't at least a list of common equipment and prices. The other thing is the hit location chart, telling you to take the armor value from any damage to that hit location, but there's nothing in the rules on fighting that tells you how to use it, or how to make a called shot.

The other place where you're essentially told to handwave it, is magic. What are presented are guidelines, and it'll take a pretty sharp GM to incorporate magic without having it unbalance the system. Of course, being barbarian fantasy, most of the heroes should be discouraged from using magic in the first place, leaving it to the evil sorcerers or inscrutable druids.

Bran: I am no fool to twist empty words and incantations. Now I need no spells, simply the allegiance of three hundred fickle Norsemen who are the only warriors among us who may stand the charge of legions on foot!

The scenarios provided are in some ways, the best part to capture that heroic sword and sorcery feel that the movies and comics have pounded into us. Though I wonder about the decision to have most of them belong to a single linked campaign when the entire feel of the product is short adventures with a relatively high turnover rate. But the plot lines and locations will be familiar to anyone who's encountered the genre, and they hit all the major themes. Actually the Captain's Daughter, the first of the scenarios is a particular favorite to set the tone, we have the price of honor, the evil mystic, the beautiful damsel, and above all, the debauched nature of civilization. And even if you decide not to use the 1pg rules, then it's as easy as swapping out a few stat blocks to convert it over to something else.

The artwork....Well, there's the pretty front cover illustration, and that's about it. My barbarian commenters are rather mute on this issue, art isn't something that they understand, or can fight, screw, or ride. And they also mention that it makes poor loot unless it's dipped in gold or gem studded, then it's just treasure.

I have to say however, that Broadsword isn't for everyone. It's a bare bones ruleset with 1 dimensional characters and some strange omissions. But for about $4, that's less than a sandwich and fries at a fast food place, it's chips and beer money, it's something you can easily convince yourself into paying. And if you play it even once and enjoy it, then you're more or less getting your money's worth. I think the moral here is not to expect more out of it than it is. This is not likely to replace your regular game system or long running campaign, but it does have its uses.

Kull: There comes, even to kings, the time of great weariness. Then the gold of the throne is brass, the silk of the palace becomes drab. The gems in the diadem sparkle drearily like the ice of the white seas; the speech of men is as the empty rattle of a jester’s bell and the feel comes of things unreal; even the sun is copper in the sky, and the breath of the green ocean is no longer fresh.

What it does make is a refreshing break from a long campaign. Or if you are suddenly short a plot important member. Actually one use that I think it might be especially good for is breaking in a new GM, one that has experience as a player but not much as GM. Heck, you can hand out the third page and roll up your characters while they study the rules(which shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so). Or if you've just watched the latest sword and sorcery movie and feel a need to raze and pillage some civilized states. By the time the new batch of popcorn is done or people finish arriving you should be familiarized with the rules and ready to get into the action, something that you won't see with other systems.

If you want intricate rules and details, you won't find it here, but if you want some quick sword swinging, blood spattering, wench stealing action, then this can provide it, at a very reasonable cost. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to learn how to untie knots and escape these ropes before my guest commenters finish with the pillaging and start with the burning.

Conan, Demid, Druss, and Kull are not owned by me, and belong to their respective copywrite holders, they were just visiting...oh Crom I hope they're just visiting. They've already drunk all the ale, I just hope they get tired and try and find some wenches soon, my feet are getting numb.