Happy New Year - 2009.

Well, the holidays are over and I am back to posting here on my lonely corner of the internet. I was swamped with work just prior to the holiday season and did not have much chance - or desire - to blog during those long days.

Now that things have settled down at work, and the rush of the holidays has ended, I hope to get back to work here on the ol' blog. I still need to finish up my rules for the Ruins & Ronin game so that may take some of my time away again in the next couple of weeks.

I have updated my list of blogs recently, as there are a ton of good old school blogs out there. It is great to see such a thriving community of gamers sharing their ideas with the world.

I have my local group meeting this weekend to continue our S&W game. This is pretty much something I am doing on the fly as no one was willing to run a game amongst our group. So I chose S&W and they seem to like it so far. I am running a small 3 level dungeon for them - and they have barely scratched the surface of the first level so far - but there have been no PC deaths to date.


--Mike D.

Ruins & Ronin Still Rolling Along

My Ruins & Ronin supplement for Swords & Wizardry is still rolling along. I have completed most of the base classes, the weapons, armor, and equipment tables. I have put together a play-test draft text (here) for anybody that wants to test run the system. I will be running it for my local group on November 30th if all goes well. If you do happen to download it and use it, send me any feedback you have for it.

I am currently working on the monster/creature side of the setting - one that will probably require the most work.

I could take 25 of 'em down.

25

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Wicked Webs...

Today I am previewing my favorite monster write-up (so far) for my Samurai project using the S&W rules. I give you the wicked Jorogumo.

JOROGUMO
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 1 bite [1d6 + poison] or 2 web attacks [see below]
Special: Lethal poison, Webs
Move: 9
Saving Throw: 13
Challenge Level/XP: 7/600xp

Jorogumo are ancient spiders than can take the shape of a beautiful woman. They typically make their homes in deep pools or near waterfalls. They attempt to drag victims to their lair by entangling them in their webs. A Jorogumo can use its 2 web attacks (treat as ranged attack with range of 30 feet) to capture prey, those that are hit must make a saving throw to avoid becoming stuck. Once hit with webs, the Jorogumo will drag the victim 5 feet per round (the victim can make a saving throw each round to either break free from the webs or attempt to keep from being dragged). The web can be attacked as an object with an AC 9 [10] and 4 hps. In the form of a woman the Jorogumo can cast Charm Person twice a day.

Asian Adventures

I am working on a supplement for Swords & Wizardry rules using the ideas I had earlier for a Samurai version of OD&D. This new work is using the S&W rule-set as a base and adding new classes and monsters. So far I have completed 4 classes, one of which is the Bushi which I detail below.

This project is not so much about depicting a historical Japanese setting, but more about "what if Gary had been playing a Samurai wargame when D&D was created" much like Mazes & Minotaurs is for the classic Greek setting. So you will not find any rules for Honor or Family History. You will find Bushi, Samurai, Yamabushi, Shugenja adventuring in weird underground settings searching for adventure and gold. So watch some Kurosawa flicks and get ready to play.

THE BUSHI

Bushi are wandering warriors with no tie to a lord, temple, or monastery. They can often be found in the service of some noble Samurai or serving themselves as a brigand or bandit. Most are warriors from poor families looking to make a name for themselves and escape a life of poverty.


THE BUSHI
Hit Die Type 1d6+2
Armor Permitted Any
Weapons Permitted Any
Prime Attribute (5% xp bonus) Strength 13+

Nimble: As a Bushi is sometimes too poor to afford armor, they learn to be quick on their feet. In addition to any Dexterity adjustment to their Armor Class, a Bushi gains a +1 to his Armor Class for each 5 levels of experience he has. This bonus applies regardless of any armor worn.

Establish Stronghold (9th): At ninth level, a Bushi may establish a stronghold and attract a body of loyal bushi who will swear fealty to him. Most likely, the protection of a castle will attract villagers, and the Bushi will become a feudal lord (Samurai) or even a Daimyo (baron).

Scrounge: A life of poverty has made the Bushi a master at finding “loose” items. A Bushi has a chance of finding a common piece of equipment in any settlement as depicted in the chart below.


BUSHI SCROUNGE TABLE
Settlement d20 chance
Small Sized Village 4 in 20
Medium Sized Village 5 in 20
Large Sized Village 6 in 20
Small Sized Town 8 in 20
Large Sized Town 12 in 20
Any City 18 in 20

More Ruins & Ronin work

After reading the "Swords & Wizardry" rules (which I love), I have started my conversion of the rules to run a Ruins & Ronin game. Basically I am renaming the classes to fit my milieu and will update the equipment guide with traditional Japanese weapons and armor. I will leave the basic rules in place for the most part and offer both ascending and descending armor values as per the rules as laid out in the open game license.

I may even have some artwork commissioned for this work, if I do I will most likely release it (my rules) as a free pdf - as I am really doing this for myself (and do not know if people would be interested in this setting).

I personally plan to use the ascending armor values with my game, as I can offer a little more

Getting back to it.

I have been remiss in my blogging of late, and I hope to rectify that in the coming days. For a quick update Matthew Finch has released the "Swords & Wizardry" retro-clone of the OD&D rules. It is available for free pdf download here. I highly recommend it, as it is a thing of beauty. I would love to run a game of this in the near future (I may have to do it through play-by-post as it seems my local games are dying). Check out the fantastic cover by Peter Mullen - abso-feckin'-lutely fantastic.