I hadn't played a proper roleplaying game for so long, I had almost forgotten what it feels like, which is kind of a shame as it feels pretty much brilliant; a fact of life I was reminded of a couple of days ago when I, the lady of the lair and my best friend went over to another friend's place for a few hours of Chill. A few hours that turned out to be, well, quite a bit more than a few and were even enjoyed by said lady who had -interestingly- never experienced an RPG before.
After all, we did get back home both slightly tipsy and at 4 o' clock in the morning, which made this feel like a most proper and mainstream of Saturday nights. Of course it wasn't. It was a night when we got recruited by SAVE (the Societas Argenti Viae Eternitata) to combat the Unknown somewhere in the snowy parts of northwestern USA, got to think, scheme, strategize, solve puzzles and combat a most disturbing entity with a taste for cannibals, while rolling dice, listening to atmospheric music, chatting (or, well, strongly disagreeing) about art and drinking a truly fine single malt whiskey. Yes, it was a fun, rewarding and most invigorating night, that reminded me that making time for the odd RPG session should become a priority. I was even reminded of what a great system and game world Chill has to offer.
Chill, you see, is a rather obscure, d100 based, tabletop RPG system that was published by Pacesetter and then Mayfair Games and has been out of print for over a decade. The game sports simple to learn core mechanics and focuses on what it does best: horror and intricate monsters, that each need to be killed in a particular nasty way, the discovery of which is always half the fun. A zombie for example has to be shot in the head, whereas a rakshasa can only be destroyed by any wound inflicted with an iron blowgun dart, that is fired from a blowgun made of bamboo that is at least 15 years old.
Intrigued? Good. You can (and frankly should) find out more about Chill via this RPGnet review, its Wikipedia page and this handy Chill FAQ. Better yet, why not grab the Chill books themselves? Mayfair Games is still selling a vastly discounted bundle of books and you can find everything you'll ever need to enjoy the game on either Amazon
Yes, well, as you might have noticed I'm not updating Gnome's Lair as regularly as I used to -neither of course as regularly as I would like to, but this definitely doesn't mean I have no more gaming nonsense to share with mankind. Au contraire... All I lack is the necessary free time, not the ideas. Hopefully though my just published Top 10 D&D CRPGs feature post over at the excellent Dungeon Mastering RPG blog will both keep you entertained and prove I've not lost interest in gaming. Cheers!
Think we all got to thank Trevor, an apparently knowledgeable RPG gamer and a rather generous reader of Gnome's Lair, for pointing me (us) towards the excellent and very freeware RPTools collection, for quite frankly it does feature some of the best RPG tools available. By following the link you'll be able to grab a pretty sophisticated dice-rolling tool, a fantastic online-enabled map tool with its TokenTool add-on and the always handy InitTool, that helps GMs/DMs keep track of initiative orders. Lovely, innit?
The Dane of War, while not obsessing over explosions, fires, zombies and/or boobies, has made a magnificent discovery: this one. Should you choose to follow the link, don't be surprised if you end up with a brilliantly freeware (well, promo), utterly hilarious, 100 pages long and absolutely interesting to read Knights of the Dinner Table issue. Oh, and in case you don't know what this is all about, well, I guess Wikipedia is your friend...
Yax was kind enough to include Gnome's Lair in Dungeon Mastering's Top 50 RPG websites and, being the sensitive little gnome I am, I sort of felt the obligation to blog about something vaguely related. Failing to come up with a Top 60 tabletop gaming blogs piece and ultimately ignoring the pleas for a Naked Cthulhu Gaming guide, I had a quick browse through the Velvet Dice Bag and found out that Gaming Steve's latest podcast -episode 64- has been made available here. You'd better go listen to it, especially if D&D is your thing.
Yes, it's time for another link to Dungeon Mastering and time for them creative DMs out there (preferably of the Dungeons & Dragons persuasion) to test their world crafting talents. The lovely Instant World Builder free PDF guide should come in as a much needed assistant or even the spark you needed to go for it, though studying Tolkien definitely wont be in vain either. Grab the booklet with all its 21 pages here.
Must have been due to my recent indulgence in the generally shallow world of video games, but I was happily shocked when excellent all around gaming blog Play This Thing! mentioned Steal Away Jordan. After all, a political roleplaying game focusing on slavery, for that's what SWA is all about, isn't what I consider banal, and, yes, that's coming from someone still enjoying the odd Class Struggle session. It's just that spending all this time shooting (mostly undead) stuff, makes such a game really stand out, especially considering that most RPGs have the player step into the iron boots of some hairy barbarian instead of a rather desperate slave.
Yax, the devious Dungeon Master running the show over at Dungeon Mastering, has been benevolent enough to share his DMing experience by providing us with an excellent 38 pages long free PDF booklet. It's called the Instant Campaign Builder and rightly so, as it's the only guide that will help you create the best campaign ever and not spend any time doing it. Grab it here, impress your players and get the maidens. Oh, and you don't have to be a Dungeons & Dragons nut to enjoy it either...
We've already enjoyed Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Something: The Something Else, but now the time has come to rise, raise our left fist and salute Proletariat: The Uprising. It's a vaguely satirical, not particularly funny, yet quite interesting RPG-ish board game. Grab it here. It's free. Obviously.
It's the Ultimate Gaming Table, it is, and it's lovingly positioned in what could easily be described as the Ultimate Gaming Room. Why not have a closer look at this marvel of RPG convenience (and its building instructions) over at the aptly named The Ultimate Gaming Table Website? Your gaming group would love you. Should probably (the table, not the group) come in handy for your average board-game, Warhammer or S/M session too.
Noticed how ridiculously busy the DnD servers of Wizards of the Coast have recently been? Well, so have I, and frankly believe it all has to do with the announcement of the 4th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons RPG that will debut in May 2008. This stunningly unexpected move -only a few years after D&D 3.5- will probably deeply shock gamers, feature some less complicated but more AD&D-ish mechanics, come in colourful books and rely heavily on the hallowed d20.
Well, actually, not exactly sadistic, but definitely not player friendly or particularly creative, as this smart little Dungeons & Dragons centric web-article is all about them 18 ways to increase combat duration, thus only mildly irritating players (and filling up those crucial few hours every GM once in a while needs). If you want true bastardic system-irrelevant sadism better try the utterly hilarious and very very brilliant Bastard's GM Handbook.
As quite a few brave scholars of the occult have already gathered (I'm looking at you Guttertalk, Elderly, Ithmeer and Father Krishna) and Open RPG remains as freeware as it used to, it's about time we get organized. You know, to have our first online RPG session, that is.
I mean, really, how often have you used a virtual table top? Let alone an online one... Anyway, it seems they can come in quite a bit handy, provided you're not looking forward to putting your ornate tequila glass on them, but rather using them for some lovely pen & paper RPG gaming with your friends. Online, that is.
So, uh, let's start with a disclaimer, shall we? Lovely. If you are one of the few proper pen & paper RPG gamers frequenting Gnome's Lair, then you really don't need to read any further. Really. You'll probably know all there is to it. If, on the other hand, you are video gamer or preferably a video gamer that can appreciate the intricacies of Fallout, the vast worlds of Morrowind, the demented setting of Planescape and truly enjoy your average (or garden) video game RPG, then you might just be interested in finding out a bit more on them pen & paper RPGs, the sources of inspiration behind every CRPG from Ultima to Fallout 3, in which case you should probably read on.
So, what is an RPG? Well, it's a role playing game, that's what it is. Players assume roles and act out impromptu parts -following certain rules and in thoroughly defined settings- much like actors in radio theatre. Only, this is interactive theatre. You not only take part in a story but actually help tell it, as you're absolutely free to do whatever crosses your mind.
What must absolutely be understood is that the GM is not the adversary of the players. He or she is just an instrumental part of a group of people enjoying a storytelling game. After all, there is no antagonism among players. Nobody can win in the traditional way and the game never really needs to end, as PCs grow older, more experienced and set forth for new adventures (in true MMORPG fashion). RPGs are collaborative, social, storytelling, imaginative affairs, totally unlike board and war games, even though they might share the use of dice -usually to determine the success of an action, be it combat or not.
The amount of free stuff leisurely strolling around the Internet is so absolutely impressive it feels anti-capitalist. Surely, then, a rose will appear on Blanqui's Parisian tomb every time a fellow RPGer downloads one of the 3000+ free character sheets (covering over 250 game systems) from the brilliant RPG Sheets website.
The Download Munkey, the young(-ish) but rather excellent gaming blog that has already given us a couple of freeware Warhammer 40k PDFs, quite a few Star Wars wallpapers and some wacky Gundam papercrafts, has just unearthed the mother of all freebies: Project Aon. The ultimate and very freeware online Lone Wolf gamebooks stash. A place that will cater to your every solo RPG gaming whim, both in Spanish and in English, in html and downloadable formats, for better or worse. Also, the hardcore and the hopelessly nostalgic will be pleased to learn that Project Aon is the cyber home of The Magnamund Companion, the illustrated guide to the world of Magnamund, the setting of the Lone Wolf RPGs.
Draconians are the human-sized corruptions of dragons' eggs, which frankly doesn't sound very nice. Then again, they are quite a favorite among Dragonlance denizens and Dungeons & Dragons gamers, who can now show their appreciation by speaking and writing draconic by using this extra simple online Draconic Translator. Or to put it in a way a rotten egg would understand:
Freeware PDF magazines are to wargamers what bicycles are to fish: essential. So, uhm, be the fish and ride the Fictional Reality March 2007 issue. Its 89 decently laid-out pages feature many miniature reviews, 2 battler reports (Rezolution and Viktory II), quite a few game reviews including new Warhammer RPG and Warmachine products, some painting advice and absolutely no pr0n. And in case you're more of a Blood Bowl fish, then let me introduce you to the EndZone magazine and its first four excellent issues.