Category Archives: Gaming

RPG Book Binding For Fun and No Profit Whatsoever

  By Doug | May 8, 2012 - 8:46 pm | Books, Creations, Role Playing Games
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I love games. All of them. I like computer games, board games and pen and paper role playing games. I love reading. I love reading on electronic devices, especially ones with e-ink screens, like my ageing prs 505.

What I do not like doing is reading heavily formatted books, like RPG rulebooks, on a computer screen. Even with the best hyperlinks and formatting I think some things are better read on paper. I did have a few problems though.

  1. PDFs are generally a lot cheaper. Though sometimes not much, here I glance in the direction of Mongoose publishing.
  2. I had the PDF of ACKS for under a tenner.
  3. I really wanted the hardback book but it cost a lot and I could not find a supplier in the UK.
  4. A friendly and cheap print on demand service was not being offered.

What to do I thought, what would Mr Maker do? He would make his own!

My first attempt in progress.

Do It Yourself Book Binding

I have been thinking about doing this off and on for months now.

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Playing Yesterday’s Games Today

  By Doug | May 2, 2012 - 10:02 pm | Role Playing Games
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Recently I ran a quickie beginner friendly game at the grand opening of Fife’s newest gaming arena Minmax Games, if I am feeling brave I will post a link to the scenario at the bottom.

Since I rediscovered role playing games I have run some sessions of Savage Worlds, played a fair amount of Dungeons & Dragons 4E and am now running a regular Traveller game. My current experiences with 4E are not the best, this I suspect has more to do with my play style and gaming memories than the actual system itself. The system seems well balanced just not my cup of tea. I did find myself thinking back to basic Dungeons and Dragons.

D&D Expert Set (Source The Acaeum http://www.acaeum.com/)

D&D Expert Set (Source The Acaeum http://www.acaeum.com/)

My memories told me the game was quicker, simpler and just more fun.

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Nazis and Cthulhu

  By Doug | April 21, 2012 - 2:06 pm | Role Playing Games
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Finally the game I never knew I was waiting for:

 

Achtung Cthulhu

Achtung Cthulhu

The Secret War Has Begun!


Achtung! Cthulhu brings you a two-fisted wartime roleplaying game setting for Call of Cthulhu and Savage Worlds, packed full of fiendish Nazi scientists, terrifying ancient mysteries, legendary German war machines, desperate partisans, gun-toting paratroopers, determined investigators, and enough writhing tentacles to pack ten Reichstags.

 

Discover the secret history of World War Two – stories of the amazing heroism which struggled to overthrow a nightmare alliance of science and the occult, of frightening inhuman conspiracies from the depths of time, and the unbelievable war machines which were the product of Nazi scientific genius – and how close we all came to a slithering end!

 

Play a huge range of classic wartime heroes such as Russian political officers, German U-Boat commanders, British commandoes, RAF pilots, US rangers, Washington investigators, London journalists, Hollywood starlets, and resistance fighters from all across Europe, who must all unite in the battle against the darker side of World War Two. Play a full campaign leading from the opening shots of the War in 1939, through intrigue and adventure in Occupied Europe, the siege of Berlin in 1945, and finally the cold wastes of Antarctica in 1946!

 

Can be followed on it’s Facebook page.

Cthulhu Dark

Aside

  By Doug | February 26, 2012 - 3:57 pm | Role Playing Games
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Just came across this:

Cthulhu Dark is my rules-light Lovecraftian game. (Or try the easily-printable version).

The rules are fun and incredibly minimal: they fit on one sheet of paper. You don’t need a character sheet to play, so you can start playing after two minutes of prep. Despite the simplicity, there are some interesting rules twists: look at the Suppressing Knowledge rule for an example.

More info here from Thieves of Time. Just about to print it out.

 

Things Not Daily: Random Cthulhu

  By Doug | January 20, 2012 - 7:49 pm | Books, Role Playing Games, Thing A Day
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Yes it has been quiet recently and it is not going to get better soon.

Recently my new thing on eBay has been old Science Fiction books. Not just the cheap golden age yellowing novels and such like; books about Science Fiction. Like David Kyle’s fabulous book – A Pictorial History of Science Fiction. Which can be found cheaply.

I have also been hunting down the Terran Trade Authority books which I fondly remember. One of the related books was called Aliens In Space which I thought would be handy for ideas for my Traveller campaign.

Aliens In Space

Aliens In Space

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1983 & Beyond: Defending Basic Dungeons & Dragons

  By Doug | December 21, 2011 - 9:04 pm | Role Playing Games
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This excellent article at Grognardia convinced me to finally get round to writing brief defence of, what to me is, the original Dungeons and Dragons.

 

The 1983 set’s focus on self-teaching and simple language probably made sense from a marketing standpoint. Given how well the set supposedly sold, I can’t really fault TSR for going in this direction. At the same time, though, there was clearly a shift happening, away from adults and teenagers as the target audience and away from initiation as the means of entering the hobby. Likewise, the adoption of a unified esthetic (all Elmore and Easley artwork) that, while attractive, seemed to narrow rather than broaden the scope of the game. In short, the 1983 Basic Set marked a definite change from what had gone before. (James Maliszewski)

 

I briefly discussed my initiation in D&D here. In short as a person in my very early teens I got the red box Basic Dungeons & Dragons after reading an advert at the back of Proteus magazine. Fighting Fantasy for me was my gateway drug to nerd heaven.

 

D&D Basic Set (Source The Acaeum http://www.acaeum.com/)

D&D Basic Set (Source The Acaeum http://www.acaeum.com/)

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RPG Breakout: Pa[CENSORED]ia RPG

  By Doug | December 4, 2011 - 11:13 am | Books, Role Playing Games, Software
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The computer is your friend. Everything is fine. Every version of Paranoia is perfect and could not be improved. Knowledge of other versions than the computer approved version is treasonous. Indicating knowledge of other editions is treasonous. What is an edition? The computer is your friend. Have a nice daycycle.

Paranoia

Paranoia RPG

Paranoia RPG

The Role Playing Game

Current Publisher: http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpgs/paranoia.html

RPG Geek: http://rpggeek.com/rpgfamily/378/paranoia

RPG Net: http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=2217

RPG Net: http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=755

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(role-playing_game)

There is but one version of this game, the current one. Previous editions that do not exist include the 1st, 2nd and 5th. Knowledge of the 5th edition is considered more treasonous than normal (*). This game is a creation of the computer, your friend.

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RPG Breakout: Mutant Chronicles

  By Doug | December 2, 2011 - 6:22 pm | Films, Gaming, Role Playing Games
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Everybody loves mutants. Mutants and guns. Here is a brief summary of the influence a not quite forgotten Scandinavian RPG has had.

Mutant Chronicles RPG

Mutant Chronicles RPG (1st Edition)

Mutant Chronicles RPG (1st Edition)

 Roleplaying Game:

RPG Geek Link: http://rpggeek.com/rpg/513/mutant-chronicles-1st-2nd-editions

Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutant_Chronicles

“Mutant” is one of the three first seminal Swedish role playing games, together with Drakar och Demoner and Chock.

The original Mutant was based on Basic Roleplaying System and was released in 1984. It was set in a post-apocalyptic future where most of the human race had been eliminated by a disease. The survivors hid away in subterranean enclaves and genetically experimented on humans and animals and sent them up above ground to see if they could survive. A following nuclear war between the enclaves eradicated humanity more thoroughly, technology was forgotten, and the only survivors were these humanoid mutants and humans in cryo-sleep. The country has now broken down into smaller societies, technology has been forgotten and is now on pre-industrial revolution level. But there are still the “forbidden zones”, where lost technology still lies untouched but where the radiation levels are lethal.

“Mutant 2″ was released as an expansion in 1986, and changed the die rolling rules to reflect those of Drakar och Demoner Expert, where the designers left Basic Roleplay and changed into a system based on icosahedric dice.

In 1989, “Mutant 2089″, or “Nya Mutant” was released. Not only were there several rules changes, inspired by the cyberpunk wave, the setting was changed from a pre-industrial revolution technology society to large mega-cities, controlled by huge corporations. Designers suggested that the old Mutant setting existed in between these cities.

Mutant R.Y.M.D. in 1992 took another step from the basic setting and was more a space-travel science fiction roleplaying game. The ruleset was very similar to Mutant 2089 and the settings were officially compatible. This version was short-lived, though, as it soon was transformed into Mutant Chronicles.

Mutant Chronicles further enhanced the setting of Mutant RYMD, but added creatures and other ideas from the successful horror RPG “Kult”.

In 2002, when Target Games has ceased to exist, another publisher called Järnringen published “Mutant – Undergångens arvtagare” (The Inheritors of the Apocalypse). With this, they reverted back into the first setting with a pre-industrial revolution setting populated by mutants and mutated animals. “Järnringen” (Iron Ring) was also the title of one of the very first scenario modules for the first “Mutant”.

Järnringen ceased publication of “Mutant – undergångens arvtagare” in 2008, while continuing with their space travel RPG “Coriolis”. (from RPG Geek)

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Top N Computer Pen & Paper RPG Games

  By Doug | November 25, 2011 - 7:23 pm | Role Playing Games, Software
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Not including the Dungeon and Dragons games. Apart from maybe one or two.

Dungeon Hack

http://www.mobygames.com/game/dungeon-hack

Dungeon Hack Cover

Dungeon Hack Cover

For my first game I am going to break the no D&D rule.

This is a graphical cross between nethack type games and second edition AD&D. The best version of AD&D for my money, but I did miss ount everything between 2nd and 4th edition.

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