Rogue Games Tabbloid -- June 23, 2009 Edition

23 June, 2009

Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

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In which the work is done

[13 Chapters in 13 Weeks] Short Stories

JUN 22, 2009 05:44P.M.

JUN 22, 2009 05:07P.M. After a long time in writing, layout and in work, the pre-order for Colonial Gothic Revised is now ready. I am happy to have this game done, and I am also very happy that people can now order the book and get the PDF right now. Here’s the press release that went out early this morning:

There will be two posts this week about the changes in Colonial Gothic. This week I plan on writing about Chapter 7 which begins the massive amount of background found in the game. What I want to talk about today is one of the bigger changes to the game — fiction.

(Chicago & Toronto) June 22, 2009: Colonial Gothic Revised is available for pre-order!

Fiction is something I typically do not like in my rulebooks. The reason is that I think fiction clutters a game and blurs the line between what a gamebook should be. For me, a gamebook should be about the game. It should contain all the rules and items you need, and fiction should be saved for books.

Newly revised and expanded, this edition of Colonial Gothic builds upon what has come before and presents new options and guidelines for running a supernatural historical horror roleplaying game set during the dawn of the American Revolution. Also included in the book are three new original short stories penned by Jennifer Brozek.

Still in thinking about Colonial Gothic’s revision, I realized that the game missed the boat in trying to get across the style and feeling of the game. Fiction, when done correctly, is perfect for doing this. So making the decision that I wanted fiction, it almost did not happen. Why? No writer. Now, one can rightly ask, why didn’t I write it. The answer is simple, I am not a fiction writer. I do not have the skills. I write game material, and that is far different than fiction writing. So thinking about the fiction, I could not find a writer who could do what I wanted.

Beginning today, June 22, 2009, you can now pre-order Colonial Gothic Revised direct from IPR, and in doing so, you get a free copy of the Rulebook PDF now. Be the first to discover the horror lurking in the colonies, and be the first to see all the exciting additions to the game. The question remains: whose side are you on? Details

So it was at GenCon 2008 that I was at the booth taking a break — I was by myself and there was a lull in the hall — that I met Jennifer Brozak. Colonial Gothic’s cover and title caught her eye, and the next thing I know we’re having a great conversation about the game and the like. At the end of our chat, she said she be in touch, and that was it. Few days later I get an email and she says she was interested in doing some work and pitched the idea of writing some fiction. I had found my writer, and the rest is history.

Price: $24.99 (print)/$9.99 (eBook/PDF) Page Count: 298 page Size: 6″x9″ b&w softcover Click here to order now! Posted in Rogue Games Tagged: news, Rogue Games, thoughts

Working with Jennifer has been great, because she gets what Colonial Gothic is about. Using history as the springboard, and the effort to keep it as “real” as possible. So, Jennifer wrote three short stories: Curious Words, Safehouse and Where Loyalties Lie. All three stories help show off what the world of Colonial Gothic is like. Of the three my favorite is Curious Words. Why? I am a sucker for stories like this, and Jennifer did an awesome job of pulling me in. As for what else Jennifer has planed. Well she is already working on a PDF supplement for later this year, and we are talking about a few other

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

23 June, 2009

projects. I can safely say as long as she wants to work with us, she always

Actions: 2 Range: Touch Duration: Instant Performed On: Others, Self Sanity: 0

has a place at Rogue Games.

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New Art Added

Fish’s Breath

JUN 22, 2009 11:15A.M.

Actions: 1 Range: Touch Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Others, Self Sanity: 0

Carl Nash has submitted some new art, and it has been added to the Shoggoth.

Insight ROGUE FEED Actions: 3 Range: Touch Duration: Instant Performed On: Other Sanity: 0

Colonial Gothic: Poor Wizard’s Grimoire JUN 22, 2009 10:01A.M. The second supplement that was released (August 2008) and added to the background as well gave new magical options. Here is the run down, chapter by chapter of any changes that need to be made.

Reveal Actions: 2 Range: Feet equal to caster’s Resolution Duration: Instant Performed On: Self Sanity: 0

Chapter 1 First up, as pointed out above, Rituals are now known as spells, and there are two types of spells: Common and Arcane. All spells for the most part are unchanged. There are a few slight changes, which are designed to give both the player and the GM more information on how spells function in the game. Here are the only changes to the spells found in Colonial Gothic: Poor Wizard’s Grimoire.

Shadow of the Moon Actions: 1 Range: Touch Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Others, Self Sanity: 0

Common Spells Beauty’s Face

Arcane Spells Actions: 2 Range: Touch Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Others, Self Sanity: 0

Distant Eye Actions: 4 Range: Special Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution ÷ 2 Performed On: Self Sanity: 4

Celestial Music Actions: 3 Range: 20-foot radius Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Self Sanity: 0

Prayer to The Twelve Actions: 2 Range: Touch Duration: 1 Hour Performed On: Self, Others Sanity: 3

Dispel

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Plague

• Multiple Action Rule – Gone and replaced.

Actions: 3 Range: Touch Duration: Instant Performed On: Others Sanity: 6

• Books – Still in play. There will be a small update in a few weeks as to how long it takes to read a book. For now it is up to the GM to decide how long it takes to read a book. Chapter 2

Quake

• No changes.

Actions: 4 Range: Eyesight Duration: Instant Performed On: Others Sanity: 7

Chapter 3

Thunder

First up, Rituals are now known as spells, and there are two types of spells: Common and Arcane. There are a few slight changes, which are designed to give both the player and the GM more information on how spells function in the game. Here are the only changes to the spells found in Colonial Gothic: Secrets.

• No changes. Chapter 4

Actions: 2 Range: 50-foot radius Duration: Instant Performed On: Others Sanity: 3

Common Spells

Transport

Bless

Actions: 5 Range: Miles equal to caster’s Resolution x2 Duration: Instant Performed On: Self, Others Sanity: 9

Actions: 1 Range: Touch Duration: 1 Day Performed On: Objects Sanity: 0

Chapters 2 to 4

Clear Vision

• No changes.

Actions: 2 Range: Touch Duration: Rounds equal to caster Resolution Performed On: Self, Others Sanity: 0

Appendix • Now found in the Colonial Gothic Rulebook.

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Actions: 4 Range: Feet equal to caster’s Resolution Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Objects Sanity: 0

Colonial Gothic: Secrets JUN 22, 2009 10:00A.M. Colonial Gothic: Secrets was the first supplement released (May 2008) and it contains a lot of information and background. Some things have been merged into Colonial Gothic Revised, but for the most part very few changes need to be made. Here is the run down, chapter by chapter.

Discerning of Spirits Actions: 3 Range: Touch Duration: 1 Round Performed On: Others Sanity: 0

Chapter 1 • Alchemy is now part of the Magic Skill as a specialization.

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23 June, 2009

Gift of Tongues & Interpretation of Tongues

Performed On: Others Sanity: 4

Actions: 2 Range: Special Duration: Round’s equal to caster’s resolution Performed On: Self Sanity: 0

Form the Cloud Actions: 6 Range: Touch Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Self Sanity: 6

Inspiration Actions: 1 Range: 20 feet Duration: 1 Day Performed On: Objects Sanity: 0

Healing Wind Actions: 3 Range: Touch Duration: Instant Performed On: Others Sanity: 5

Shield Actions: 1 Range: Sight Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Self Sanity: 0

Invocation of the Stone Actions: 2 Range: Touch Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Self, Others Sanity: 3

Spirit of the Fire Actions: 2 Range: Touch Duration: Hours equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Self, Others Sanity: 0

Mark Actions: 1 Range: Special Duration: Instant Performed On: Object Sanity: 2

Arcane Spells Animate Dead

Raising of the Dead Actions: 8 Range: Special Duration: Instant Performed On: Others Sanity: 10

Actions: 10 Range: Touch Duration: Instant Performed On: Others Sanity: 12

Bone Dance Spirit of the Wood Actions: 6 Range: Special Duration: Instant Performed On: Others Sanity: 8

Actions: 2 Range: Touch Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Objects Sanity: 4

Grace of Healing Strength of the Earth Actions: 5 Range: 1 Person Duration: Instant

Actions: 2 Range: Touch

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Duration: Rounds equal to caster’s Resolution Performed On: Self, Others Sanity: 2

• North Carolina

Alchemy

• Virginia

• South Carolina

• Alchemy is now found in the Colonial Gothic Rulebook. Chapter 5

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Conversion Notes

• No changes.

JUN 22, 2009 09:40A.M. Chapter 6 With the release of Colonial Gothic Revised, fans of the original version should quickly notice a few things have changed. When you factor in the first two supplements, you might be confused to what is playable and what is not. This small guide is designed to help you quickly convert over the first supplements to the new version of the game. If you have bought any of the eBooks – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Defeated Dead, and Elizabethtown – they’ll be updated. In addition those who bought them will be getting the updated eBook delivered to them from the site they bought it from.

• Monsters are now found in the Colonial Gothic Rulebook.

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The Colonies JUN 22, 2009 09:58A.M. Though the Colonial Gothic discusses the thirteen colonies, that detail is a little sparse. The following sections have more information about the colonies.

Changes in Colonial Gothic

Colonies

The game you have played since August 2007 (this is when Colonial Gothic was released) is still the same. Some rule tweaks were made, and this has been talked about in depth on our blog Rogue Dispatches. There you can read 13 Chapters in 13 Weeks, which discusses the changes to the game chapter by chapter. In addition, uploaded on the Rogue Games website, as well as the Rogue Games Scribd site is the Colonial Gothic Primer. The Primer, as many of you know, is what we write before we start a game. The Primer is all about telling you what the game is about, what you do as a player, what a GM does, and how the game works. The Primer also gives you the basics of the rules. If you have not done so already, you should download it now and read it.

New England • Connecticut • Massachusetts • New Hampshire • Rhode Island Middle Colonies

Sections • Delaware • Colonial Gothic: Secrets • New Jersey • Colonial Gothic: Poor Wizard’s Grimoire • New York • Pennsylvania Southern Colonies • Georgia • Maryland

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Instead, I was familiar with druids from literature about early England, especially during Roman times. The most immediate inspiration, of course, was their mention as a monster in Greyhawk (but not as a character class). Initially, I was trying to make them related totally to plants and animals, but felt they needed a little more firepower (literally).

Interview: Dennis Sustare JUN 22, 2009 09:00A.M. In examining the early history of the hobby, it’s often easy to forget the diversity of individuals and ideas that were extant at that time. Because both fanzines and conventions were thriving and because there was an openness to new approaches, it was quite possible for such individuals to disseminate their ideas widely, often attracting the attention of the companies publishing RPGs. One such individual was Dennis Sustare, among whose many contributions to the hobby were the creation of D&D‘s druid class and the first RPG in which the players portray animals, Bunnies & Burrows. Mr Sustare kindly agreed to answer some questions I put to him about these and other related matters.

4. One of your most famous creations was the game Bunnies & Burrows, which you wrote with Scott Robinson and which was first published in 1976. Besides Richard Adams’s novel Watership Down, what inspired you to undertake this project, since it was quite a departure from other games that were published at the time? Scott and I were both zoology grad students at Wisconsin. Once we got interested in roleplay, we thought it would be fun to try to design an animal-based fantasy roleplay game. In our early development of the game, Scott usually ran scenarios and I was the sole player many times. Since Scott Bizar, at Fantasy Games Unlimited, was enthusiastic about publishing many different roleplay variants, I submitted the polished rules to him, and he happily accepted them for publication. Charlie Loving did the 1st edition illustrations, after playing in some early games during development. When it was revised for second edition, Jeff Dee added illustrations, including a new cover.

1. How did you become involved in the role-playing hobby? Previously I played chess, go, and board wargames (such as the Avalon Hill games). In grad school at Wisconsin, in a small on-campus wargame convention, there were a few people playing early versions of D&D with Chainmail combat rules. I was intrigued, and got into a local gaming group of other grad students (astronomy, biochem, chemistry, law, and myself in zoology). This was back with the original three D&D booklets, in the woodgrain box (plus the Chainmail rules).

5. How was B&B received in the gaming community when it was released?

2. You’re specifically thanked in the credits of Supplement III to OD&D, where you’re called “the Great Druid.” There’s also a druid spell in AD&D called “Chariot of Sustarre,” which was named in your honor. What role, if any, did you have in the creation and/or development of the druid class?

I think as just one more of a multitude of roleplay variants that began to flood the market. including those with various genres of science fiction, pirates, pre-revolutionary France, gangsters, superheroes, samurai, and many more. Those few who actually gave it a fair try usually wound up enjoying it, though.

When the thief class was released in the Greyhawk supplement, as an addition to the original fighter, cleric and magic-user, we became interested in other possible classes beyond these four. I wrote up and mimeographed a set of rules for a new druid class, for our internal play. After some playtesting in our game, I revised it with a new mimeograph rule set, still just for our own use. But when we went to early GenCons, a copy got into Gary’s hands, and thanks to some advocacy by Tim Kask, they revised the rules once more and published them in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement. Tim added the Chariot spell at the time (it was not one of my original spells, and the misspelling of my name was deliberate). I consider this my first published game design, although Bunnies & Burrows was released the same year (1976).

6. You also wrote Swordbearer, a fantasy RPG that included numerous innovations, such as an abstract wealth system and a magic system based on the of Asian philosophy. Did Swordbearer arise out of a dissatisfaction with our existing fantasy RPGs or did the game have a different origin? Once B&B came out, several other publishers were interested in my doing some designs for them. Arnold Hendrick approached me from Heritage to develop an FRP competitor for D&D. My original design for Swordbearer (which went through several title changes... I requested Avatar as my first title, but Heritage did not think anyone would know what that was) had much more original design than the final form. For example, I had created all new non-Tolkien races, but Heritage nixed most of them, since they wanted the game to utilize the races represented in their existing miniature lines. I was not dissatisfied with existing fantasy RPGs as such, but was trying to create a system that would not lead to such “Monty Haul” campaigns. This was what led to the abstract wealth system, based on social class rather than mere accumulation of unending piles of gold coins. Once Swordbearer was released, unfortunately, Heritage was already on its way to its demise as a game company. I also produced Heroes of Olympus (based on Greek

3. What were your inspirations in creating the druid class? I once surmised that the class had been based on the character of Dalan from Henry Kuttner’s “Elak of Atlantis” tales, while Erik Mona of Paizo mentioned Talbot Mundy’s Tros of Samothrace as a likelier possibility. Were either of us close to the mark or was there a different inspiration for the class? Nope, sorry. I never read the Talbot Mundy stories, though on looking them up now, they sound interesting. I read lots of Kuttner and Moore, but don’t recall ever reading the Elak stories.

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myth) for Task Force, and scenarios and other small games for Heritage, Steve Jackson, Paranoia, Citybook, etc. 7. B&B placed an emphasis on problem solving and overcoming obstacles through wits and Swordbearer was, as you say, an attempt to avoid the Monty Haul syndrome to which many RPGs fell prey. Would you say that this is a reflection of your preferred gaming style?

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Pulp Fantasy Library: Glory Road

Absolutely. This is the main reason I always preferred mature GMs who created a rich, complex and challenging background, rather than just drawing another 1000-room dungeon with a random monster and treasure in each room. Some of our most entertaining adventures involved extended attempts to defeat a single, diabolically clever trap, or to fulfill a particularly demanding quest. It is also why I tended to enjoy low-level adventures much more than high-level ones. Low level characters cannot just set off tactical nukes every time they encounter a new group of monsters.

JUN 22, 2009 07:48A.M.

8. Like a number of tabletop RPG designers, you eventually made the transition to the video games industry. Did you find the transition difficult and what, if any, differences did you see between the two industries? Actually, my transition was from Assistant Professor at Clarkson College to the video games industry. I never made a living from tabletop RPG, and did those designs mostly for fun. But I knew people in the industry, and when Paul Jaquays offered me a job at Coleco, I snapped it up. The transition from college teaching was not so tough, since I was treated as more of a professional at Coleco than I had been as a professor. The main challenge was constraining the video game designs to the idiosyncrasies of specific platforms, since the demands of systems such as Atari 2600 were so different from ColecoVision or IntelliVision. Also, Coleco was one of the first companies to divide up tasks among specialties, rather than requiring designers to have all abilities at once. So we had graphic designers, programmers, writers, and musicians, with the game designers more like what game producers do today. Many of the Coleco products were based on licensed arcade properties, so we would exhaustively play and analyze an arcade game, then try to design a game that would capture the feel of the arcade on the video game platform. My scientific background of investigation really helped me, especially combined with my RPG design background.

When thinking of fantasy, the name “Robert Heinlein” is not one that immediately comes to mind. Heinlein made a name for himself as a science fiction writer, which is why it’s difficult to know what to make of his 1963 novel, Glory Road. The novel had first appeared earlier the same year as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and, as was once a common practice, particularly for genre fiction, it was collected together and published in a complete form.

9. Do you still play tabletop RPGs and, if so, which ones?

Glory Road tells the tale of a veteran named Evelyn Gordon, who is spending some time on the French Riviera after having been discharged from the military after serving in an unnamed conflict in Southeast Asia (presumably Viet Nam, but this is never stated in the text). While there, he answers a newspaper advertisement that puts him in touch with a woman of — literally as it turns out — unearthly beauty named Star, who enlists his aid in a quest for a mysterious item known as the Egg of the Phoenix. Along with Rufo, an older man who acts as Star’s assistant, Gordon and Star encounter a wide variety of dangers, from tricks and traps to minotaurs and dragons, in their quest for the Egg, an item whose

Not really. When I attended the inaugural meeting of the North Texas RPG Convention (just held in the Dallas/Ft Worth area), I did play in a couple of games, such as one using Matt Finch’s Swords & Wizardry rules, which are similar to the earliest D&D rules. But that was the first time I had played F2F RP for many years. I have a character in Adventure Quest Worlds, but that is the only online multiplayer game I am in right now. And I no longer design for MUDs or MUSHs. It’s tempting to design a scenario for Matt’s S&W system, but I am going to resist that temptation.

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true purpose and nature are very different than Gordon initially imagines and whose discovery opens up even wider vistas for him to explore.

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As I noted, Glory Road is an odd book that doesn’t sit comfortably within the science fiction genre for which Heinlein was well known. Neither is it a pure fantasy. Instead, it straddles both genres, borrowing liberally from each, which may explain why many modern Heinlein fans dislike it. For myself, I’ve long felt that Glory Road was Heinlein’s attempt to produce a “sword-and-planet” novel after the fashion of Burroughs, but on a stronger science fiction. The result is a very uneven novel, but a fun one, provided you aren’t distracted by the typically Heinleinian disgreesions into his then-evolving socio-political philosophy. The book thus has an odd feel overall. Some readers may see this oddity as contributing to their enjoyment, while others may see it as detracting from it. In either case, Glory Road is another book from an era before the boundaries between science fiction and fantasy were less well defined and even a writer as solidly in the former genre could freely borrow from the latter without too much comment.

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Colonial Gothic Revised is Available for Pre-Order! JUN 22, 2009 06:00A.M.

(Chicago & Toronto) June 22, 2009: Colonial Gothic Revised is available for pre-order! Newly revised and expanded, this edition of Colonial Gothic builds upon what has come before and presents new options and guidelines for running a supernatural historical horror roleplaying game set during the dawn of the American Revolution. Also included in the book are three new original short stories penned by Jennifer Brozek. Beginning today, June 22, 2009, you can now pre-order Colonial Gothic Revised direct from IPR, and in doing so, you get a free copy of the Rulebook PDF now. Be the first to discover the horror lurking in the colonies, and be the first to see all the exciting additions to the game. The question remains: whose side are you on? Details Price: $24.99 (print)/$9.99 (eBook/PDF) Page Count: 298 page Size: 6″x9″ b&w softcover

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