Rogue Games Tabbloid -- September 11, 2009 Edition

11 September 2009

Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

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A. Yes.

Days of High Adventure

Q. So, let me get this straight. As a player, I play a dolphin?

SEP 10, 2009 06:06P.M. A. Yes. All characters are dolphins. The entire game takes place under the sea.

I’d neglected to mention that The Escapist, an online magazine covering gaming and gaming culture, recently began a weekly column called “Days of High Adventure,” which is dedicated to tabletop roleplaying games, particularly those of an old school character. I’m fortunate enough to be one of their regular columnists, along with Allen Varney, Monte Cook, and fellow blogger, Christopher Brackett of A Rust Monster Ate My Sword.

Q. Will Dolphin run on 12°? A. Yes. The mechanic is perfect for a game of this type. Dolphin is more narrative in the type of adventures you run and play in. 12° is a good mechanic, that when you take it to the core, allows for easy task resolution. It does not get in the way, and does not make things too complicated. The type of actions that take place in the game, needs a mechanic like 12° to drive it.

Aside from the opportunity it’s afforded me, I’m particularly pleased to see this column in a widely read and much-respected “outside” gaming journal. It’s rare nowadays that tabletop RPGs get much exposure in the wider world, so I’m very grateful to the editors of The Escapist for

Q. If you are using 12° will this be similar to how the mechanic is used in either Colonial Gothic or Thousand Suns?

expanding their focus into the part of the gaming world I love best.

A. No. Both of those games are different in tone and the type of rules you need are different as well. Both games need — let alone require — rules allowing for Skills, structured combat, and add on features that a game such as Dolphin does not require. The best example of this is Skills. Both Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns need them. Dolphin does not. Why? For a couple of reasons.

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[Dolphin] Q&A; SEP 10, 2009 05:58P.M. Before I dive into the next post, there are a few questions I want to answer. These are answers to some emails, tweets, and messages I have gotten since I first started talking about this.

First, the player characters are all dolphins, and because of this, they pretty much are all able to do the same things. What Dolphin will do is merge Skill Tests in with ability Tests. By that, if you want your PC to fight, it is a Strength Test. Abilities — in Dolphin — set your skills. This is similar to what is done in Toon, but unlike Toon, you will not have a list of skills listed under each ability. Instead, all Tests, are driven by the appropriate ability.

Q. Is Rogue Games going to publish this? A. Yes. Q. When will this be released?

Secondly, these are dolphins after all. I am going for a different tone with this game, and because of this, I do not need the complexity that is found in Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns.

A. When it is done. Q. Really, there is no plan to this?

Q. So what is the tone? You mentioned Finding Nemo before, are you trying to do a game like that?

A. No. A. Yes, and no. What I want with Dolphin is a game that allows me to run — and play — adventures that are more drama. I want to run a game that can be more cienamtic, as well as one, that does not bog down the play. What I am doing with this game, and what the players have been doing, is more narrative.

Q. You’re crazy. A. Yes, I know. That is not a question by the way. Q. Is this going to be a roleplaying game?

Anyway, this should bring you up to speed on the what and how. Next

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

11 September 2009

post will be about the setting.

Play Aids Submit Colonial Gothic The Gazette

Posted in entertainment, Games, Rogue Games, thoughts Tagged: 12°, design notes, Dolphin, game design, Games, Rogue Games, thoughts, writing

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The Soldier at Home, 1781 SEP 10, 2009 10:24A.M. THE SOLDIER AT HOME

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FROM noise of camps once more I come, To snatch from care a short repose ; All hail thou tranquil much lov’d home, That war nor dread misfortune knows. Subscribe to the New World Almanack Feed Thus, far remov’d from hostile bands, May’st thou heart-pleasing home remain ; Curs’d be the murderous foreign hands That dare with blood thy bosom stain.

So why should you subscribe? Every time the wiki’s are updated, you will get the updates in your newsreader.

Oh haste, ye generous few I love, Again in social converse join; With me the sweets of friendship prove, And to the winds your cares resign.

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MainMenu

But oh ! to recollect how soon The period comes that bids me hence ; A sadd’ning momentary gloom Steals half my joys, and clouds my sense.

SEP 10, 2009 03:45P.M. Adventure Seeds Background The Colonies Conversion Notes Fate and Prophecies Floor plans Heroic Lifestyle Heroes of the Colonies Items of Significance Magic in the World Rituals Supporting Characters Creatures Villains At Play Write Ups

But why indulge that care-mix’d thought ? The happy day may yet arrive, When tyranny shall fall to nought, And liberty alone survive. Then with my friends in jocund mood, I’ll tell what dangers have been mine ; And how Americans have stood At Germantown and Brandywine. Here we’ll remember martial Gates, He taught the proud Burgoyne to yield ; Who frowning at his adverse fates,

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11 September 2009

Surrender’d on the well fought field.

Our foes on the seas rule the roast.

Then each gay friend shall swell the tale, With hardy deeds of bold emprise ; Again he sees our arms prevail, And long-lost ardors now arise.

Here’s an inferior fleet, With an admiral wrapt up in flannel ; By which we’re insulted abroad, And with which we sneak into the channel.

Here Howe, says he, (and marks the track,) The British troops did proudly form ; And here with adverse lines compact, Brave Washington did swell the storm.

But oh ! how we hurried and scurried, Our cowardly enemies scorning ; There we run away over night, And there we waited till morning.

‘Twas here I was, and points the spot, (As he had traced on the ground,) What bursts of thunder, showers of shot, Yet there great Washington was found.

Parliaments squabble and gabble, Ministers wonder and stare ; Armies march backwards and forwards, Americans stand as they were.

At Monmouth’s plains, where Lee retreated, Great Washington did then push on ; Sir Harry’s chosen troops defeated, Then laugh’d his tyranny to scorn.

But oh ! how bloody and stout, Struts the commander-in-chief ; He’s as sharp as a snipe at the snout, And lacks nothing but wisdom and beef.

These happy days are yet to come, Then why repine at such a fate ; Bear well the woe that is your doom,

This lord bids him go up, That lord makes him run down, T’other drives him first backwards and forwards, And a fourth makes him skip and turn round.

And joy can never come too late.

With such mighty armies and fleets, With commanders and ministers true ; We bully all kingdoms and states, Tho’ to beat one we cannot tell how. But so we go up, up, up, &c.

ROGUE FEED

New Year’s Day, 1781 SEP 10, 2009 10:18A.M.

As for our credit and wealth, The pride and the strength of John Bull ; The nation’s as poor as myself, Tho’ Lord North swears his budget’s quite full So we go up, up, up, &c.

Written in America, and published in a music sheet, entitled “New Year’s Day, 1781, to the tune ‘Get you gone, raw head and bloody bones.’” It also appeared in the anti-ministerial English and American newspapers of the time. NEW YEAR’S DAY

Oh ! for a gibbet and block, Oh ! for a hatchet and cleaver ; How well would a home-hit stroke, Prove a just and a kind reliever. Then would old England go up, Instead of going down, down-a; We’re tired of backwards and forwards, Tis’ time that things were turn d round-a.

OH ! old England, old England ; And oh ! the New Year’s day ; Such a new year as this A blind man would gladly see. How we go up, up, up, &c. Now we are at a dead stop, And so we sink deeper and deeper , Little Greorgey’s as sound as a top, And his Primy’s an excellent sleeper.

Then would we lop ‘em and crop ‘em, Bring traitors at once to a level ; The junta should lead up the dance, And the others the way to the devil. Then would old England go up, &c.

Oh ! the navy, the navy, Of Britain the safety and boast ; Lord Twitcher has kept it so safely,

At court we make snuffers and buttons,

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

11 September 2009

Great folks must have something to do ; Bully Bagshot cures drunkards and gluttons, The king gallops from Windsor to Kew. See him tit up a tit up, &c.

• Expedition to Rhode Island, 1778 • The Fate of John Burgoyne, 1777 • The Gamester, 1778

Oh ! religion, religion, I mean to be seriously grave, Archbishops and bishops raise papists, The protestant cause for to save. So we go up, up, up, &c.

• General Sullivan’s Song, 1777 • The Heads, 1776 • A Hymn, 1778

See Murray and Wedderburne both, O’er our lives and our fortunes preside ; And its lucky for England, in troth, No such lawyers are bred south of Tweed. So we go up, up, up, &c.

• Independence, 1776 • Lord North’s Recantation, 1778 • A New Ballad, 1779

So we’re abolish’d, demolish’d, Yet no man stands up for his right ; But, my friends, while the kingdom’s on fire, The Scots make their way by the light. Then help old England up, And knock all her enemies down, Let us join as all Englishmen ought,

• A New War Song, 1776 • New Year’s Day, 1781 • Old England, 1778 • The Present Age, 1779

‘Tis time that things were turn’d round.

• The Rebels, 1778 ROGUE FEED

• The Recess, 1779

Songs

• Saratoga Song, 1777

SEP 10, 2009 10:17A.M. • Sergeant Champe, 1780 • A Ballad, 1776 • To the Commons, 1776 • A Ballad to the tune of “Smile Britannia,” 1776 • Volunteer Boys, 1780 • A New Song, 1779 • A Song About Charleston, 1780 • Affair of Honor, 1778 • An Appeal, 1780 • Battle of Trenton, 1776 • British Light Infantry, 1778 • Brave Paulding and The Spy, 1780 • The Cow Chace, 1780 • Dutch Song, 1779

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

11 September 2009

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1977 This year is an interesting year. We see the first AD&D product — the Monster Manual — as well as re-working of the LBBs into an “intro” product. The only support products are more geomorphs, monsters and treasure assortments, and character sheets. From my perspective, the complexion of the game hasn’t changed all that much. The MM is still, in many ways, a support product for OD&D, despite its branding, since the stats are quite compatible (indeed there are some OD&D-isms scattered throughout the text) and the monster format of OD&D isn’t conducive to ease of use. Granted, I do think the MM frequently provides too much information for my tastes, but I suspect I’m in the minority on this score.

SiteSubtitle SEP 10, 2009 10:10A.M. A regularly updated resource for the Thousand Suns roleplaying game by Rogue Games

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Thoughts on the D&D;/AD&D; Chronology (Part I)

1978 A big year — an annus mirabilis, as Delta called it. We see not only the release of the Players Handbook, but also a series of superb adventure modules. Nevertheless, you can detect a shift in the game. The PHB added a fair amount of complexity to the game, both in terms of detail and rules. Likewise, the appearance of modules marks a move away from homebrew adventures as the default way that people played D&D. I don’t think these shifts are, in and of themselves, bad ones and I actually think there’s much to be said in favor of modules — in another post perhaps — but the game is clearly changing by this point.

SEP 10, 2009 08:13A.M. Lots of interesting commentary resulted from my post yesterday about Chris Tichenor’s chronology of D&D/AD&D products released by TSR between 1974 (the release of OD&D) and 1988 (the last year of 1e). Today, I’m going to offer my own rambling thoughts on the first part of the chronology, using each year as a touchstone for whatever comes to mind. I’ll do a second post on the remaining years later today or tomorrow.

1979 A strangely sedate year. Yes, there’s the release of the Dungeon Masters Guide, which is, in some ways, one of the most important books ever released for D&D. Beyond that, though, support for the game is sparser than in 1978. Only three modules are released — all classics, again — and the remainder consists of record sheets and a referee’s screen. I can’t help but wonder if perhaps TSR was, at this stage, under-staffed and over-worked, which is why you see many new employees in 1980 and ‘81.

1974 Not much to say here, since it’s Year 1 and there’s only a single product available. 1975 In many ways, 1975 is the “true” birthdate of D&D, as we know it today, since the release of Supplements I and II was the first appearance of many of the game mechanics and features now indelibly associated with D&D (such as the thief class, for example). It’s also also where the creation of D&D‘s own unique “mythology” kicks into high gear, with the addition of monsters like the beholder, umber hulks, rust monster, carrion crawler, sahuagin, and so forth. The LBBs largely content themselves with monsters from real world sources, but Greyhawk and Blackmoor describe far more monsters who have their origins in D&D campaigns rather than in myths or legends. This is the start of the game’s creative self-referentiality.

1980 The fourth AD&D hardcover appears, along with a handful of modules, most of which have their origins in convention play, a phenomenon that becomes ever more important to the way the game is designed. We also see the first official campaign setting for D&D. 1981 The Fiend Folio marks the rise of the game as an international hobby. The slew of modules are a varied lot, but what stands out is the presence of so many new writers. The big events of the year, though, are the release of the Basic and Expert Sets, which were the first serious attempts to make the game appealing to the mass market.

It’s also worth noting that, between them, the two supplements to OD&D constitute more pages than the three LBBs combined: 128 half-pages vs. 112 half-pages.

1982 Modules have obviously become a mainstay for TSR, which releases nine of them this year. Again, they’re a varied lot with a variety of authors, among them Tracy Hickman, whose Pharaoh, while still rooted in many aspects of the old school, points the way to the future of both module

1976 This is the year D&D was supposed to “end,” according to the introduction to Supplement IV by Tim Kask, at least in terms of “official” supplements. That obviously didn’t happen, but it’s still interesting to consider a world in which Kask’s proclamation came true — where further development of the game was confined to periodicals like Dragon and where published support came in the form of products like Dungeon Geomorphs or related spin-off games like Swords & Spells.

design and D&D itself.

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