New RPG "The World of Chronos Guidebook"

The World of Chronos gaming company is proud to announce the release of their newest role-playing game called, "The World of Chronos Guidebook". The guidebook, the first for the fledgling company, is sure to catch the attention of the gaming community because of its 100% character customization. Unlike other games in the RPG genre, the World of Chronos Guidebook doesn't utilize any set templates; instead, players choose abilities for their characters using a point system, allowing for every character to be completely unique from all others. The World of Chronos gaming company feels this game will re-invigorate the role-playing game genre and bring the company to the forefront of the gaming industry. For more information, visit the website at http://www.worldofchronos.com/.

Sounds like it could be fun, besides the company is right here in my home state.

Jason James
www.thenutgallery.com

ElfQuest Online.

The comic book Elfquest has always been a favorite of mine. One because I'm a gamer and have used the plots from the books in numerous campaigns and two because I'm a comic book fan. The books are actually a good resource for gamers that I think gets overlooked far too often. It's a comic book about elves for Pete's sake!
Granted the characters tend to have a little bit of a Saturday morning cartoon feel, but I think that is because the more delicate topics like sexuality were handled very maturely by the creators, so that it wasn't "shocking" and could be enjoyed by readers of many different ages. For the most part the stories are very good and easily adaptable to pretty much any basic fantasy setting. To me Elfquest always felt a little like old school D&D.

So if you need some campaign ideas, are a comic book fan or just love Elfquest you should be happy to know that you can read them online. I have been going through the site and it seems to me that pretty much every book, and there have been quite a few, is available to read, for free, on the Elfquest site. Check them out here.

Mutant Epoch

The Mutant Epoch is a science-fantasy role playing game coming out from Outland Arts in early 2010. The game takes place in the 27th century where bio engineering, and contamination has caused plant and animal life to evolve quickly and in “fantastic” ways.
Mutant Epoch uses the Outland System Game Mechanic and while the system may be unique to Outland Arts it is still a traditional role playing system. From what I have read it is meant to allow “fast paced adventure action “ and still have “as much character to character interaction and story narrative as desired.” Like most games it is advised that the game master be familiar with the rules (a GM’s work is never done), but the game is designed to allow even a new player to catch on quickly, without worrying about a lot of reading or complicated math.
The game uses character types in place of races, as all the characters are assumed to be of human ancestry. There seems to be quite a variety of player character types such as Clones, Bioreplicas, Cyborgs, Mutants and unmutated humans. The Beta copy I have also mentions that there will be other character types available through the Mutant Epoch electronic magazine and expansion rule books that will be released to support the game.
Character generation seems like it will be fairly similar to most rpg’s and relatively easy to understand. Mutant Epoch uses the percentile (d100) dice for combat and character generation but all the standard polyhedron dice gamers are familiar with are used in the game. PC’s will have 8 basic traits in place of ability scores and as your PC goes up in rank (similar to leveling up) they will gain bonuses to their traits. They can also acquire permanent penalties to their scores in the event of serious injures or illness.
The main objective of the game seems to be more focused on survival in this harsh futuristic world than the old standard of adventuring for treasure; although I am sure you can do that too.. While I have only had glimpses of the world and the creatures that the characters will encounter I have to say I am intrigued by this game. The setting and character types seem to be flexible and varied enough to satisfy any type of gamer. I will definitely be sharing more information about this Mutant Epoch as I find it. In the mean time go to the site and check it out for yourself.
There are several nice downloads so you can preview the game on the site.

Mazes & Minotaurs

I stumbled upon this game while looking up some info for my next campaign and thought I had found some lost treasure. All the information showed this game called Mazes and Minotaurs from 1972 ,very much like D&D except that it was based on Greek Mythology and not Tolkien fantasy. The site has links so that you can download the original 1972 game books as pdfs, or you can download the revised 1987 books, all for free.
I scanned the books and though they were pretty bare bones, the game did seem to be pretty good and I became even more curious about why I had never heard of it. So back to the internet I went.
You remember the Sentry hoax that Marvel pulled on us some years ago. The one where they claimed their version of Superman, Sentry, was created in the 60's and had been "lost", but it turned out to be a publicity stunt. That is what this is.
Mazes and Minotaurs was made a few years ago and apparently stemmed from an article about what if game designers had gotten their inspiration from Jason and the Argonauts instead of Lord of the Rings. The 1972 version was actually released in 2006. The revised 1987 version in 2007. Both versions are actually pretty good, though the books are pretty short running under 50 pages for the most part. It is basically a simple D&D based on Greek instead of European fantasy. There is even an ezine for the game called Minotaur Quarterly with 2 issues available for download, Fall 07 and Spring 08.
Thanks to the internet I wasn't fooled by this for long, but I still don't feel cheated. I may not have have discovered a long lost game, but I did find a pretty interesting little rpg. I think my group may be going Greek in the near future.

http://mazesandminotaurs.free.fr/

Gnomes are Evil!!!

I thought I would repost this one because I have seen several Gnome, UFO and Chupacabra articles over the past few monts.
I've never liked Gnomes and generally banned them from all of my games, until Pathfinder was released. I like that PfRPG Gnomes are more Fey and less tinkerer or illusionist than previous versions. So I ammend my comment, only pre-Pathfinder Gnomes are evil. ;-)

Have a Great Memorial Day!

Repost:
Click on the links below to see video and articles that prove once and for all that gnomes are evil little creatures. This only justifies my complete dislike of the little monsters and one of the many reasons why I don't let the creepy bastards in my games.

Evil Gnome Video
Evil Gnome News Article

GMPCs(Repost)

I'm kind of busy with Grad School, and life in general at the moment and will be reposting a few of the older entries here and there.
This particular blog entry was actually relevant to my last game session, so I figured it would be a good candidate for repost.

Reposted:
Since joining the RPGbloggers network , I have been trying to keep up with all the great RPG blogs affiliated with the network. Recently (today) I was reading an article on Gnome Stew regarding GMPCs, player characters run by the GM. The comments given by some of the posters really got me to thinking, because I have done this off and on in my games for years.

There has been more than one occasion where the group decides to play all fighter type characters, but the adventure I have spent a week preparing needs a magic user of some kind and I don't feel like tweaking it all at the last minute. So to fill the void I roll up an appropriate GMPC and throw them in the game. Usually my GMPC, which I tend to think of as nothing more than an involved NPC, is there to fill a void and that's all. Though I have come to notice that since I am always the GM/DM (I prefer DM when I play D&D...that's what is has always been and what it will always be to me. GM is appropriate for when we run other game systems. But that's a topic for another post.) I never get to play a PC and have come to like throwing a character in to tag along. Sure they may not do much, and they are not big on taking their share of the treasure, but I like having them around. My group has even become accustomed to me having an "avatar" and being directly involved with what they are doing. On the occasions where I don't want to have a GMPC in the game they always wonder why. Several NPCs, good and bad, have even evolved into GMPCs.

You see the GMPC, at least for me, is a very helpful tool. I've been DMing for a number of years and I like to think I am fairly good at it, but even I need some help every once in a while and that is where the GMPC comes in. When prepping a game I try to come up with several ways the PCs can get the information they need to get to the next stage of an adventure, but sometimes they just don't get it. To me it may seem obvious and I try to make each clue/hint progressively easier until they finally do get it, but sometimes that just doesn't work. This is where the GMPC comes in. After several attempts of trying to get the players to figure it out on their own, the GMPC can go "Maybe it means..." and at least give them a nudge in the right direction.

Sometimes my brilliance is just too much for them and they need that extra little push to get their brains working like mine. Why? Because even the best of gamers gets stuck once in a while.

To be honest I have run into players that try to rely on the GMPC and drag things out until I give them some help, through the GMPC, but it doesn't work. When there is a GMPC in the game they have no more knowledge than the PCs, in regards to what is going on, unless they are designed that way. I have created GMPCs that are actually enemy spies whose only goal is to screw with the PCs and keep them from succeeding, still they have none of my GM's knowledge, I am very careful about that. There have been several times that my avatar has guessed wrong, simply because they failed a roll. Still the fact that they even brought up an alternative the PCs hadn't though of only helped the players to look at things more closely or in a different way than they had been. The GMPCs incorrect guess still helped the PCs come to the correct conclusion, by making them reevaluate what they thought they knew.

If a GMPC is not knowledgeable about elven history or language they do not suddenly develop that skill to help the campaign along. They are subject to the same rules and limitations as the players and I don't give them an advantage, more than one has died in a game while the PCs survived. They make the same rolls, they do not have meta game knowledge and they are not invulnerable. They are however a good way for me to help the players in a not so obvious way.

So do I support using GMPCs? Yes and no.
Yes if the DM/GM is capable of treating the character just like any other PC/NPC and uses them as nothing more than an element to help keep the game going with some amount of direction.
No if the DM/GM tries to play a character simply for the fact they would rather be a player. Especially if they are so attached to the GMPC that he/she miraculously survives or benefits where the actual PCs do not.

Goblings

Just for the hell of it, here is a race I'm testing for my Pathfinder Game.

Goblings
Goblings are the unfortunate offspring of a Goblin and a Halfling, more often than not the result of a non-consensual union. Goblings generally become people pleasers that feel the need to continually prove their worth in an attempt to gain the acceptance and trust of those around them. Goblings don't like to be seen as weak and often show an incredible amount of determination, refusing to accept failure. Because of their seemingly unfaltering determination Goblings tend to earn the respect of those close to them.
As a result of their Goblin heritage Goblings tend to be less even-tempered and more prone to violence than their Halfling kin.

Physical Description: Both genders of Goblings stand between 3-4 feet tall. Their heads are slightly larger than those of a Halfling with a backward sloping forehead, which often seems somewhat disproportional to their slender bodies. Goblings have a broad nose, and wide mouth, with small fangs. Their ears, which are proportional to their heads, are pointed and somewhat larger than those of a Halfling. A Gobling’s arms are longer than normal, almost hanging to their knees, and slightly shorter than a Goblin’s but longer than a Halfling’s. Their feet are undeniably those of a Halfling, broad and covered with brown or black hair. Their Goblin heritage gives their skin a slight tint that can be yellowish, light brown or green. Usually their skin color can be easily hidden beneath a cloak and is barely noticable from a distance.
A Gobling’s hair is either brown or black and heir eyes are brown, or yellow in color.

Society: Goblings have no culture of their own and tend to adhere to the traditions of the culture in which they were raised. They can generally pass themselves off Halflings or are assumed to be Gnomes by other races unless they are put under close scrutiny. Goblings raised by Halflings tend to be fairly well tolerated and generally treated with kindness by their easygoing kin. Usually this kindness is the result of pity as Goblings are seen as creatures that suffer from an illness or disability. Goblings raised by Halflings are allowed to participate in many parts of their society, but are generally treated as simple minded or like children and not taken very seriously. This generally motivates a Gobling to continually try and prove their worth, to others and to themselves. Due to their more violent nature Goblings can gain some amount of respect in Halfling society as warriors, but are never given any positions of great authority.
Goblings are generally not raised in Goblin society, as Goblins do not think highly of their Gobling offspring and tend to kill them them while they are still infants. Those that do survive become slaves while a select few may become vicious warriors in order to survive. Their ferocity gains them some minor amount of respect, but they continually have to watch those around them for signs of treachery, as other Goblins will continually plot their demise. Those raised in Goblin societies tend to adhere to the traditions of their society and are usually no different in nature than the rest of their tribe.

Relations: Goblings are usually more accepted by other races than Half-orcs due to their less threatening stature, and are often under estimated by the larger races. Halfling raised Goblings have a more positive view of the other races and life in general, than their Goblin raised brethren. Goblings understand that they are different and are prone to feel isolated and out of place, even among friends. Goblings make strong attachments and are fiercely loyal to those they feel truly accept them. This attachment often results in a Gobling that is ready and willing to lay down their life, or to take some one else’s, to protect those they care about and consider friends.

Alignment and Religion: While Goblings can be of any alignment, most strive to be good, but not necessarily lawful. While trying to protect their friends and those close to them a Gobling will show little regard for any alignment or ideology, even if that means committing an evil or unlawful act. Goblings tend to honor the same gods as those who raised them, but have been known to adopt the beliefs of their close friends or others that they respect.
Adventurers: Many Goblings suffer from the same wanderlust as their Halfling kin, while others just want to find a place in the world where they can belong. This often leads them to adventure whether they are looking for it or not.

Male Names: Prataal, Trin, Garen, Kelan, Bringam, Shilos
Female Names: Aria, Rya, Hila, Meria, Nika, Zora

Gobling Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2Charisma, -2 Intelligence: Much like a Halfing, Goblings are nimble and strong willed, but suffer from the simple minded nature of their Goblin heritage.

Small: Goblings are Small creatures and gain a +1 sice bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.

Slow Speed: Goblings have a base speed of 20 feet

Darkvision: Goblings can see in the dark up to 60 ft.

Determination: Goblings get a +1 racial bonus on all Will and Fortitude saving throws.

People Pleaser: Goblings receive a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy skill checks

Keen Senses: Goblings receive a +2 racial bonus on Perceptions skill checks

Weapon Familiarity: A Gobling can treat any weapon with either the word “Halfling” or the word “Goblin”, but not both, in the name as a martial weapon.

Languages: Goblins can speak Common and Halfling.(Those raised in Goblin communities can choose to know Common and Goblin instead). Goblings with a high intelligence score can choose from the following, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, and Goblin