Dave Bezio's X-plorers

November 8, 2012, 10:52 pm

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Next in my series of reviews in the, "Great things come in small packages!" category is: X-plorers by Dave Bezio.

I own the PDF and print versions of X-plorers and let me start by saying, if you own a free version of the game, it's well worth your money to upgrade. This book is gorgeous! Art, layout, editing, everything in the Brave Halfling Publishing edition of this game is excellent and professional. X-plorers' production values are second to none. It scores a perfect 5 out of 5 for style and presentation. And at a petite 39 pages, X-plorers is the epitome of quality over quantity. This is how every RPG should be done.

X-plorers is a science fiction themed space exploration RPG. The game feels like a good balance of science fantasy and space opera and I think it could handle anything from Star Trek to Firefly to Starship Troopers to Star Wars inspired star-faring adventure pretty well.

Characters are defined through four primary attributes that range from 3 to 18 and familiar terms like initiative, armor class, saving throws, and hit points, all work as you'd expect. The four base character classes are good fits for the genre and the skill system looks to be perfect for the OSR feel the game is shooting for.

Basically skills work like old school saving throws. You have target numbers based upon your character class. As you level up the target numbers go down making the skill checks easier to hit. Clean, simple, very old school. It makes the game easy to play, easy to maintain. It's the kind of thing I want at my gaming table.

The rules include space ship and world design, space combat, psionic powers, alien creature and robot design, everything you'd want to see in a scifi RPG with the possible exception of cyber-punk style trimmings, but I feel like that's really a separate genre anyway.

The next time I want to run a SciFi RPG, I will definitely turn to X-plorers. It can easily handle anything a more complex game like Traveller can do with a fraction of the book keeping.

Get X-plorers HERE ... It's awesome!



Regards,



Jeff



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Magic Gems

November 27, 2012, 9:38 pm

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I have been playing Torchlight 2 and I really like all the socketed items and the way those work. To that end I have been playing around with the following magic item idea for my D&D game.

Magic Gems

Magic Gems attach to magic weapons and armor. Only 1 gem can attach to any given item. Effects of multiple weapon gems and multiple armor gems do not stack. Once a gem is attached it cannot be removed without destroying the item.


Orange Gem - Exploding Fire

Weapon - Weapon does 2d6 fire damage on a successful hit. If either fire damage die rolls a 6 roll another d6 and add this to the total. If this die rolls a 6 add another die. Continue this until no die rolls a 6.

Armor - Resist fire. Take 1/2 damage from magical fire based attacks. If save for half is allowed damage is reduced to 0 with a successful save. Also, if enemies roll a 1 on their to hit roll when attacking you, the attacker takes fire damage as shown for weapon above.


Yellow Gem - Chain Lightning

Weapon - Weapon does 3d6 lightning to primary target on a successful hit. The lightning then arcs to the closest additional enemy target (if one exists) and does 2d6 damage to that target, and finally arcs again for 1d6 lightning damage to a third and final enemy target if one is available.

Armor - Resist lightning. Take 1/2 damage from magical lightning based attacks. If save for half is allowed damage is reduced to 0 with a successful save. Also, if enemies roll a 1 on their to hit roll when attacking you, the attacker takes lightning damage as shown for weapon above.


Blue Gem - Freezing Ice

Weapon - Weapon does 2d6 ice damage on a successful hit. Further if the 2d6 damage roll is "doubles" the target is frozen solid until the beginning of your next turn. A frozen target has their Armor Class reduced by -5 and all attacks on a frozen target inflict double damage. If a frozen target is reduced to 0 HP while frozen they shatter doing 2d6 damage to everything within 5 feet of the exploding corpse.

Armor - Resist ice/cold. Take 1/2 damage from magical ice/cold based attacks. If save for half is allowed damage is reduced to 0 with a successful save. Also, if enemies roll a 1 on their to hit roll when attacking you, the attacker takes ice/cold damage as shown for weapon above.


Red Gem - Blood Stone

Weapon - Weapon does 1d6 vampiric damage. You heal a like amount.

Armor - Regeneration. Regain 1 HP every minute.


White Gem - Holy Pearl

Weapon - Weapon does 2d6 holy damage on a successful hit or 1d6 holy damage on a miss. No damage is done if the unadjusted roll to hit is a 1.

Armor - Resurrection. If you die, you are resurrected instantly to full hit-points. This destroys the Holy Pearl which shatters and cannot be used again.


Black Gem - Shadow Onyx

Weapon - Shadow Weapon. Grants proficiency of the weapon for anyone with a Dexterity of 13 or greater. Makes the weapon a finesse weapon. Double the characters Dexterity bonus is applied to attack and damage rolls with the weapon.

Armor - Shadow Armor. Grants proficiency of the armor for anyone with a Dexterity of 13 or greater. Makes the armor light class armor. Double the characters Dexterity bonus is applied to Armor Class while wearing the armor.



Buying Magic Gems

There is a fair (30%) chance that a magic shop has Magic Gems for sale ... Roll d20.

01-14 = 0 gems available
15-17 = 1 gem available
18-19 = 2 gems available
20 = 3 gems available

Type of Gem found ... Roll d12.

1-3 = Exploding Fire (orange) 1000 GP
4-6 = Chain Lightning (yellow) 1000 GP
7-9 = Freezing Ice (blue) 1000 GP
10 = Blood Stone (red) 5000 GP
11 = Holy Pearl (white) 5000 GP
12 = Shadow Onyx (black) 5000 GP



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Spit-balling my next RPG project.

January 4, 2013, 4:36 pm

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I play D&D every week with some friends. I DM; that's my job. It's a good time, but I do find myself yearning for a new kind of experience every so often.

I have two roommates. My girlfriend, Mendi and my friend Michael. Michael has suggested we play a tabletop RPG with just the three of us where we can share the DMing chores between us in a round-robin sort of way so that I can get to play the character I want to play.

We talked about using D&D (third edition, this is the game Michael likes) and just taking turns as DM. The problem here is Mendi likes to play, and might even be willing to DM provided she could do so without too much preparation or time spent with the rules.

Mendi is a player who wants to sit down and play. She wants the immediately relevant information available to her in the moment of play where it is required, but she does not want to think about, read, or process game rules or information outside of what is necessary during the act of actually playing the game.

She wants to play. She doesn't want to read rules or think about game balance, or building encounters, or anything outside of what she perceives as the act of "playing." And she is not alone. Many players just want to sit down, roll some dice, have some fun ... and then go home and forget the whole thing until the next time we play.

There is nothing wrong with this, but to DM a player needs to be able to invest more. Given this, I have decided that a "round robin DM" D&D game isn't going to work out. I need a game that can be played without a DM, GM or Referee.

I have been searching for ideas on GM-less story telling fantasy adventure games. THE game that I am looking for may have already been written. If it's out there, please share it with me. I want to know about it. In the meantime, I have been thinking ...

The classic Hero Quest by Milton Bradley or Soda Pop Game's: Super Dungeon Explore are dungeon crawl board games. These exist to emulate the war-gaming style of the first RPG's while creating an experience more accessible to casual gamers. That's kind of what I want to do ... But these games aren't role-playing games.

I want to role-play. I want to combine role-playing and game playing in a format that is accessible to casual gamers. I want role-play that works without a GM, where the narrative voice can be shared by all players without prior preparation or diminishing the fun or flow of the game.

In trying to keep the GAME in RPG, but lose the board game / war game influence, I am thinking of making this RPG a card game. I know this has been done before, but I am not sure to what extent. I do not want to use cards as a substitute for dice. I do not want to emulate war-game battles. I do not want miniatures or those kinds of trappings that are common to war game inspired RPG's.

Instead, I want card game trappings. Each player will hold cards in their hand. A 'hand' will be dealt and played. Like in poker stakes will be set, the hand will be played out, then the player to the left will become the dealer.

I see the dealer as holding some manner of narrative control and this moving with the deal as each hand is played. I see a game where cards are played as a scene unfolds and each scene completes as each hand is finished.

I don't know yet how all of this is going to work ... But here are some thoughts:

I have been really into Japanese Anime of late, especially those anime stories about high-school students and their various antics. (I loved 'School Rumble', and 'Rosario + Vampire' for example) I want to start here. This will give the system a foundation and anime is versatile enough that once everything has been said and done, playing in other genres should be possible with little trouble.

So, starting there I have decided that characters are defined by RESOURCES. These resources provide the tools a character can use to complete a task. There are four Resources.

SPADES: a spade is a tool used in gardening. As a resource this represents 'skill use' for the character.

HEARTS: the heart is classically associated with love and passion. As a resource this represents 'emotional drive' for the character.

DIAMONDS: diamonds are a sign of wealth. As a resource this represents 'material possessions' for the character.

CLUBS: a common aspect of Japanese school-age anime is the participation in extra-curricular activities in the form of clubs. As a resource this represents 'social contacts' for the character.

USING RESOURCES:

Imagine that a player wants their character to do well on a math test.

Perhaps the character has studied very hard. This may represent the use of their SPADES resource.

Perhaps the character has a crush on their teacher and wants to do well on the test to impress their sensei. This may represent the use of the HEARTS resource.

Perhaps the character means to purchase a fancy scientific calculator to help them to do well on the test. This may represent use of the DIAMONDS resource.

Maybe the character has convinced a friend to let them look at their answers during the test and copy from their paper. This may represent use of the CLUBS resource.

Not sure yet what all of this will really look like during play. But this is what I have bouncing in my head. I am open to suggestions and ideas.

Regards,



Jeff Moore






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More on GM-less RPG stuff

January 12, 2013, 6:41 pm

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I have been reading a number of example RPGs that work without a GM, and for the most part I am afraid that I am under whelmed. There are a few ideas out there that have caught my attention but for the most part I am still floundering. Here is what I am thinking:

The dealer deals 3 cards to each "Player" then turns a card face up in front of himself. This is a random seed generator. It's meaning will be based on where the players are in the story. If it's the first scene of the night then the first table is used ... this table (of 52 possible outcomes) sets the initial scene.

The dealer reads the scene and then asks each player to add a detail to the scene.

The dealer then turns over a second card. This is a complication. The dealer presents the players with this complication.

The non-dealer players react to the complication by playing cards from their hands.

The cards represent things their "characters" are able to do.

Each player plays a card face up in front of them.

The referee starts with the player who played the card with the highest face value and moves through to the player who plays the card with the lowest face value.

The dealer asks ... "What do you do?"

(If values are the same, refer to the card's suit.

A suit whose name appears 'later' in the alphabet is of a higher value than a suit with a name that appears alphabetically before it.

For example: clubs appears first alphabetically and has the lowest value, diamonds appears next and is of lower value than hearts, and spades has the highest value.)

On a players turn:

A card's suit tells the player which aspect they should role-play.

If the card value is lower than the score on their character sheet for that aspect, they should describe a successful application of the aspect.

If the score on their character sheet is higher than the value of the card played for the aspect being described, then they need to describe a failed application of the aspect.

If the card value and the score on the character sheet are equal, the player should describe some spectacular failure related to the use of the aspect, unless this is the resolution round in which case the player should describe some spectacular success related to the use of the aspect.

It's important to note that everyone describes their own successes's and failures.

Note that since high cards resolve first, generally failures resolve before successes.


The dealer has an opportunity to respond to the descriptions made by each player. It is the dealer's job to make sure the scene isn't 'killed' by a specific player description and that the scene keeps moving around the table.

In extreme circumstances if a description seems to make continuing a scene impossible the dealer can ask a player to modify their description or create and entirely new one.

Finally, the dealer places another random card in front of him that can be referenced on a random table, this represents a complication or escalation.

The dealer can describe actions for his own character, but the dealer's character should take a back seat to the other players while the dealer is in control.

The dealer's focus should be on maintaining the conflict and complications of the scene, to keep things moving and stitch descriptions together when needed.

After the escalation the dealer plays a final card, this is the resolution card. It demonstrates some boost for the players that sets them on their way to victory.

Now each player plays their final card. The referee responds to the players descriptions. The ultimate goal here is to work together to bring the scene to a climactic resolution.

These are the ideas that I am struggling with.

Let me know what you think.


Jeff

Karate-Robo Zaborgar

January 22, 2013, 7:20 am

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I haven't seen a lot of Japanese cinema, but I am a huge Godzilla fan and have fond memories of watching Johnny Sokko in syndication when I was about 8 years old. I am also a huge comic book fan (an art form I fear may be dying in our computer age.) The success and quality of movies like the Avengers and X-men First Class fill me with hope that comics will persevere.

I have recently begun to explore Japanese movies and anime with new eyes and I am really enjoying what I see. I mentioned in the recent posts about the story-telling game I have been trying to design that I wanted to use an anime inspired setting (at least I think I did.) I think it's because the shows I have been watching have stirred the imagination of my youth like nothing else has in a long time. Case in point: Karate-Robo Zaborgar.

I don't really write reviews of things when I write this kind of thing. I am not sure I understand the proper way to structure and write an objective review. I write about what I like. And I really like: Karate-Robo Zaborgar. I watched this on Netflix, so if you have that service, then you have no reason to wait. Give this movie a quick look. If you can somehow pull yourself away after watching through to the opening credits then your joyful child's heart is buried deeper than mine.

Some very rudimentary research tells me this movie is a spoof of a Japanese child's action TV show from the 70's. One example compared the treatment this show receives to that of the Brady Bunch movie. I think that's probably a fair comparison, and this movie is funny in a "I can't believe what I am seeing" kind of way. Karate-Robo Zaborgar is a ridiculous farce that oozes with such a sense of love and heart that it rises above the sum of its parts into something grand.

When I added the movie to my queue I expected to be treated by something "so bad ... it's good." Karate-Robo Zaborgar was so much worse and so much better than I expected. I am reminded of my friend Jon's one sentence review of "Galaxy Quest" which I believe fits here as well, "Way better than it should have been."

Galaxy Quest might be a better movie to compare Zaborgar to than the Brady Bunch. As a spoof of Star Trek, Galaxy Quest managed to create a heart and spirit all its own, and it succeeds as an action comedy that transcends the material inspiring it. I have said more than once that, "Galaxy Quest is my favorite Star Trek movie." So, too: Karate-Robo Zaborgar may be my favorite Japanese superhero robot movie. (Not that I have seen a lot, besides Johnny Sokko, only "Infra-man" comes to mind, and I believe that is also a spoof and a Chinese one at that, not Japanese at all.)

If you have Netflix (or I think Amazon Prime) give Karate-Robo Zaborgar a look. It provided me with the most fun I've had watching a movie since the Avengers (a comparison that if you know me, is no small amount of praise.) I plan to seek the movie out on Blu-Ray and make it a permanent part of my personal collection.


Regards,


Jeff Moore

Red Shirts

February 25, 2013, 11:01 am

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I played and very much enjoyed a card game called "Red Shirts" the other night. I enjoyed the experience enough that I went out to Amazon and added the game to my wish list after playing it.

Amazon reviews of Red Shirts are quite mixed. It seems that the rules sheet for the game is confusing to completely nonsensical and that more than one reviewer declared the game unplayable as a result. My group played using some rules found on Board Game Geek and even with that we found ourselves making a few quick judgement calls at the table, but ultimately a good time was had by all.

This review is going to speak to playing the game with the rules and interpretations of our group of experienced gamers. Who knows maybe someone reading this will have a better experience playing the game as a result.

The game has 2 decks of cards. The first deck is comprised of "Red Shirts." Each Red Shirt card depicts a single crewman that is a parody of a character or extra from the TV series Star Trek. The art on the cards is funny and attractive. The characters seem to all be inspired by either the original series or Next Generation. I didn't see any characters that seemed specifically inspired by DS Nine or Voyager or Enterprise.

Usually a "Red Shirt" has at least one skill. The skills are: engineering, diplomacy, infiltration, science, medical, and tactical. These skills are used to complete missions listed on other cards.

To begin each player is dealt 4 "Redshirt" cards. These cards are placed face up in front of each player for all to see. This is the player's crew. Now each players is dealt 5 cards from the other deck. This deck, "the Captain's Log" cards contains 4 different kinds of cards. There are missions, locations, equipment, and events.

Completing missions will get you more Redshirts. Fail a mission and you lose a Redshirt. What's brilliant about the game? The goal isn't to win the missions but to lose them. Your goal is to be the first player to kill off all your Redshirts.

You play a mission that requires the Engineering Skill and then send the Nurse Redshirt with Medical Skill to complete it. There's no way she can succeed. But, wait! All the other players around the table are given the opportunity to help your poor doomed nurse on her mission. Maybe another player gives your poor Nurse a toolkit that grants her the Engineering Skill. Now she has succeeded at her mission, and she will have that toolkit and the engineering skill from now on unless you can play a card that allows you to get rid of it.

The way we played is each player can play one mission each turn to try to kill off some Redshirts. If you have extra missions in your hand that maybe you don't want to use yourself then you can play them on other players. No player can have more than one mission at a time played on them and if you have a mission waiting in front of you when your turn starts then you have to play it out.

When a Redshirt is sent on a mission, their character card is "zapped" (That's turned on its side to show it's been exhausted for the turn. It's "zapped" because the term "tapped" is trademarked by another game company.) and can't be used for anything else until the player's next turn. You can also "zap" a Redshirt to fetch resources which allows you to discard and redraw cards once per turn.

Once you play cards to undertake (and hopefully fail) a mission everyone at the table has a chance to respond adding cards to try to help your Redshirt and keep you from winning the game. You in turn can respond to this to play cards to unravel the plans of your opponents. Card play may go around the table several times before everyone has exhausted their options. Once every one has played all the cards they wish to play the outcome of the mission is resolved. With any luck, your Redshirt has bought the farm and will be sent to the discard pile.

Card play around the table reminds me quite a bit of Munchkin and the banter and interaction during play was quite enjoyable. The cards are funny and the artwork appealing. I found the game very playable, but this may be partially attributed to past experiences with similar games.

If you are interested in the game, be sure and grab the alternative rules sheet at Boardgame Geek. And have a blast!

Regards,


Jeff Moore

Firefly RPG

February 25, 2013, 12:06 pm

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I am behind the curve on this, but since it is of particular interest to me I have decided to post about it anyway. Margret Weis Productions has announced a Firefly RPG. MWP entered into the RPG system creation game with Cortex and the Serenity RPG. Serenity is an awesome game, but limited a bit by being restricted to drawing characters only from the movie. "What? No Badger in Serenity?" This news is exciting because it shows a continued commitment to the Firefly universe which is awesome. Also, the Cortex system has evolved quite a bit since it's inception. Serenity is a lot different from Smallville which is a lot different from Marvel Heroic Role-play. All are iterations of the Cotex system. I would love to see what the Serenity RPG can evolve into under the new license.

Currently I am playing in a Battlestar Galactica game that uses the Cortex System. It's been a lot of fun. If I have one complaint of the Cortex system for Battlestar it would be the mechanic for Wounds, Stun, Shock, Healing, Recovery, Surgery ... etc. The damage and healing systems aren't as neat and tidy as the rest of the system and they don't feel like they fit to me. Serenity has a similar system. Marvel Heroic Roleplay addresses this and is much better. I hope the new Firefly game learns something from MHR's example.


Regards,


Jeff Moore

King of Tokyo

February 25, 2013, 12:35 pm

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King of Tokyo is a BLAST! King of Tokyo is a dice game with a theme near and dear to my heart. In it you play giant monsters bent on the destruction of Tokyo!

The game is a board game version of "King of the Hill." Your monsters compete to hold the position of grandeur in Tokyo proper while the other players mill about in the ocean around the island waiting for their chance to push you out. The game mechanic support this struggle very well and the whole things just comes together to equal pure brilliance.

Each player picks a monster. This choice is purely aesthetic as all the "monster cards" are the same. Your monsters will be able to gain special powers and abilities to make them unique as the game progresses so don't think you'll get bored. There are bunches of power cards. You buy powers with Energy. You gain energy by rolling it on the dice.

King of Tokyo is a dice game with cards to change certain aspects of game play. The primary aspect of play is rolling the dice and deciding which dice to keep and which to re-roll. You can roll numbers and sets of three or more numbers earns you victory points. You can also roll Energy Icons that will let you buy powers to give you the advantage in the game, Attack Icons that you can use to damage the other player's monsters, and Healing icons to recover from the damage that your monster has suffered.

Tokyo is a key position strategically as your Monster gains victory points just for being there. However, beware as all the other monsters will be attacking you, and when in Tokyo healing dice don't count! Choosing which dice to keep and which to re-roll is a big part of the game and that gives it a little bit of a Yahtzee or Farkle kind of vibe, but the power cards add a lot to the flavor and theme of the game and in the end I really enjoyed my experience with it.

Plus, since the monsters in KoT all begin with the same stats it would be a breeze to make one of my own. I can't wait to field my cardboard cutout of the Giant School-Girl Miss Borg from Karate Robo Zaborgar!

Regards,


Jeff

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International Table Top Day, Blade Raiders and More!

February 27, 2013, 9:01 am

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So, I just made an account on Twitter: @jeffwmoore ... I know ... not been one to keep up with the times. However, I have been watching some of the web-shows on Geek & Sundry. Mostly Table Top and recently On the Table.

Well, On the Table's Season 5 Premier (which is months old now ... again ... behind the times) made prominent mention of an upcoming RPG that really caught my interest: Blade Raiders.

So, I did a Google search and found a blogspot link that talked about the game ... Huzzah!

Awesome! I read more about the game and became really excited. Wow! A blogsite sidebar with a picture of the game said, "Expected release dates: Blade Raiders rulebook (Feb. 2013)" ... Feb. 2013! That's now!! My geeky excitement nearly caused me to rupture a spleen. But with only a few days left in the month and the last blog post dated February 5th how could I find out when the game would come out for sure?! I didn't want to miss it!!

Twitter! Blade Raiders is on Twitter!! ( @BladeRaidersRPG ) And that ... is the true story of how I came to have a Twitter account.

And being a Twitter Tweater for all of 2 days has really paid off! I got to be there for the announcement of International Table Top Day! Which I totally plan to support! I recently reviewed a few table top board games which it would be awesome to play again! Or given the connection between my learning of International Table Top Day to the game Blade Raiders, maybe I will run that game. If it's out by then.

Are you planning on playing on International Table Top Day, Saturday, March 30th, 2013?! Post a reply and let me know!

Regards,



Jeff

Johnny Sokko

February 28, 2013, 11:15 am

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Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot: The Complete Series is scheduled for release on DVD on March 26th. I have serious nostagilic memories of watching this in syndication in Kansas City when I was around 7 or 8 years old. I rewatched much of the series on Hulu not that long ago and I really enjoyed it. Oh, it's campy and dated to be sure ... but it's also all kinds of awesome!

Imagine being a 7 year old kid and watching another 7 year old kid working as an adult secret agent fighting space aliens with loaded revolver in hand (yeah, I know ... it's stuff like this (Johnny Quest specifically ... must be something to do with "Johnny's") that caused the "Mothers against fun cartoon shows" movement in the 70's) ... to me ... it was AWESOME! Johnny fought evil space aliens and oh, yeah... he had a giant flying Eqyptian themed robot that would obey only him!

For years I thought the show was called, "Giant Robot" ... That's what I remembered Johnny calling the robot. It wasn't until I found the show on Hulu that I re-discovered the show's name and was able to recapture that magic of my youth.

Anyway ... check out Johnny Sokko and I know that I will be pre-ordering my copy.

Regards,


Jeff

Improving Five-By-Five's dice mechanics

March 2, 2013, 10:20 pm

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So, I have been working on improving Five-By-Five. In looking back at the numbers I have found that if it weren't for rolling doubles all rolls in Five-By-Five except 0 have a 2 in 36 chance of occurring  That means if I remove doubles from the equation all other rolls become functional and the increments between the rolls become evenly distributed. This improves the 5x5 roll mechanic by leaps and bounds ... and I was already rather happy with it. Now I am ecstatic!

The original 5x5 matrix had 8 ranks and that included the "weakness" rank that needed to be rolled differently. So, really it was only a 7 step array with roughly a 10% difference between rolls, but this difference was not consistent by any means. The new mechanic doesn't need the "weakness" roll to help fill out its ranks and every number in the array is an equal difference from the next number up. And I have gone from 8 ranks to 11.

The New Five-By-Five Roll

Roll 2 six-sided dice.

If you roll Doubles you fail. But, you also learned something. Give yourself an Advancement Point.

If you didn't roll Doubles you have a chance for success.

Any result of 6 is read as 0 instead.

Multiply the 2 dice to find your result.

If the result is equal to or less than your target number, you succeeded at your task.

The lowest target number is 0. 

The highest is 20. 

0 is automatic success. 

Doubles is automatic failure.

Hint: If you rolled a 6 and you didn't get doubles, you automatically succeed at your task because 0 x any number is 0 ... and 0 is an automatic success.

0	10 in 36	27.77	%	each step adds 2 in 36 or 5.55 %
2	12 in 36	33.33	%
3	14 in 36	38.88	%
4	16 in 36	44.44	%
5	18 in 36	50.00	%
6	20 in 36	55.55	%
8	22 in 36	61.11	%
10	24 in 36	66.66	%
12	26 in 36	72.22	%
15	28 in 36	77.77	%
20	30 in 36	83.33	%

There are 5 levels of skills and 5 levels of traits in Five by Five. Cross reference these on the 5x5 Table to find your target number for success.

5x5 Target Number Table                                   .

		No Skill	Skill 1	Skill 2	Skill 3	Skill 4	Skill 5
T	1	0	3	4	5	6	8
R	2	2	4	5	6	8	10
A	3	3	5	6	8	10	12
I	4	4	6	8	10	12	15
T	5	5	8	10	12	15	20

******

The new Trait + Skill stuff is something I am playing with. This table utilizes the new array available from the 5x5 roll perfectly. If I go with this, the next version of Five-By-Five should look a great deal different from the current version. But, I think I had done as much with that version of the game that I could and so I am anxious to try to take things in a new direction.

Regards,



Jeff Moore

Blade Raiders Now Available!

March 3, 2013, 4:19 pm

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Woo Hoo!

I just ordered mine and free shipping and PDF is available for a limited time so get yours today!

http://poplitiko.blogspot.com/2013/03/blade-raiders-fantasy-rpg.html

Regards,



Jeff

Five by Five 2.5 (Kindle Version)

March 9, 2013, 10:52 am

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My thanks to Chris Nason aka Zimzerveran for providing me with a copy of my Five by Five Kindle version (PDF with large type single column for reading on my Kindle) ... I had lost the version to an HDD crash a while back and the place it was hosted (PDF Archive??) didn't seem to have it anymore.

I just wrote this version of the game off. Chris recently sent me a copy and looking at it, I realize it's actually pretty good. It's clean and easy to read and it's all there. It's also the version that the character sheet I created was meant to be used with.

So, in the interest of completeness, I have put up links to the 2.5 version of Five-by-Five and the character sheet. It changes a few of the mechanics. The Doubles = Experience for one. And it uses the term "trump" instead of making a '6' equal '0' ... I had forgotten about these conventions. It's not bad. I am back to the original mechanic for both of these options on the version of the game I am working on now, but it was really interesting to me to look back at these alternative ideas.

Links are in the sidebar to the right.


Regards,



Jeff Moore

Avatar AGE (The Last Airbender meets the Dragon Age RPG)

March 16, 2013, 8:59 pm

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Okay ... So, my friends and I have decided to play a campaign based on Avatar the Last Air Bender and I have decided that I want to use AGE (Dragon Age RPG) system to run it. I realize the Bending is a Martial Art, but I think using the basic rules for Mages will work fine. A Mage's Arcane Lance Ability can take the form of any number of standard elemental bender attacks and can be used without mana cost while more elaborate effects can be paid for with mana using the existing magic system as a guide.

I was going to create a bunch of background tables, but that really proved to be a chore. I came up with some alternate character creation rules and got rid of the random. My players know what they want to play, so I will just let them make their own.

The campaign will take place in the years immediately following the conclusion of the 100 year war.

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Avatar Campaign Character Creation:

CHOOSING CLASS AND ABILITY SCORES

Decide if you want to be a Bender or a Non-Bender.

If you choose a Bender your class is Mage.

If you choose a Non-Bender you may choose either Warrior or Rogue for your class.

Your class will give you 3 Primary Abilities and 5 Secondary Abilities.

For your 3 Primary Abilities one Ability is 3, and the other two have a value of 2.

For your 5 Secondary Abilities one Ability is 2, three are 1, and one is 0.

The final array will be 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0

WATER TRIBE

Hero of the Northern Water Tribe

You are from the Northern Water Tribe and fought in the battle to defend your home against the Fire Nation. You were just a rookie then and had never seen a real combat, but your tribe persevered against the Fire Nation, and now you and many other young people who fought in your tribe's defense are respected war heroes.

If you play a Hero of the Northern Water Tribe Modify your character as follows:

Add the Ability Focus: Constitution (Swimming)

Add the Ability Focus: Cunning (Navigation) or Choose any One Communication Focus.

Choose a class. You can play either a Warrior or a Rogue.

Northern Water Bender

You studied water bending in the Northern Water Tribe. Water bending is a rare art, all the benders of the Southern Water Tribe were killed by the Fire Nation and it is your duty and honor to learn all that you can about water bending techniques to ensure that the tradition of water bending survives.

If you play a Northern Water Bender Modify your character as follows:

Add the Ability Focus: Constitution (Swimming)

Add the Ability Focus: Cunning (Healing) or Choose any One Communication Focus.

As a Water Bender your class is Mage.

FIRE NATION

Fire Nation Soldier

You fought on behalf of the Fire Nation. You saw the damage that the Fire Lord was doing and did what you could to minimize that damage. Orders were orders, but ultimately you knew that what you were doing was wrong. You only hope that the world will give you a chance to make things right.

If you play a Fire Nation Soldier Modify your character as follows:

Add the Ability Focus: Strength (Intimidation)

Add the Ability Focus: Cunning (Military Lore) or Choose any One Dexterity Focus.

Choose a class. You can play either a Warrior or a Rogue.

Fire Bender (Fire Nation Elite Soldier)

You are a mighty Fire Bender. You honestly believed that uniting the world under one rule was a righteous and noble pursuit. You fought along side the Fire Lord, and you lost. Now you see the devastation that the war has caused and you realize that the price was too high.

If you play a Fire Bender Modify your character as follows:

Add the Ability Focus: Cunning (Military Lore)

Add: Weapon Group: Light Blades, or Weapon Group: Spears.

As a Fire Bender your class is Mage.

EARTH KINGDOM

Omashu Survivor (Earth Kingdom)

Omashu was a proud earth kingdom city, second only to Ba Sing Se. It was occupied by the Fire Nation during the latter days of the 100 year war and it's name was changed to New Ozai. You saw many atrocities during the months of Omashu's occupation and these visions of war and the evils of the Fire Nation are still fresh and raw for you.

If you play a Omashu Survivor Modify your character as follows:

Add the Ability Focus: Perception (Tracking) or Choose any One Constitution Focus.

Add the Ability Focus: Cunning (Natural Lore) or Choose any One Strength Focus.

Choose a class. You can play either a Warrior or a Rogue.

Earth Bender

You are an Earth Bender who fought against the Fire Nation. You stood along side the Avatar's forces on the assault of the Fire Lord's palace. You are proud of your accomplishments and hope to one day become as renowned an Earth Bender as the legendary Toph Beifong.

If you play an Earth Bender Modify your character as follows:

Add any One Perception Focus

Add any One Constitution Focus

As an Earth Bender your class is Mage.

****

What do you think of my ideas? What do you think of using AGE to play in the world of Avatar the Last Air Bender? We are going in bare bones and making stuff up on the fly ... I'd love to see someone do a full blown Avatar AGE source book. I think the mechanics of the AGE system from Backgrounds to Stunts would work with Avatar perfectly!

Regards,

Jeff

You're Doing it Wrong

March 21, 2013, 2:15 pm

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Five by Five Revision Notes

April 5, 2013, 9:01 am

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I have been working on an updated version of Five by Five. I have enough basic notes on the changes that the game is playable and I will begin play-testing next week. I thought there might be an interest in seeing what has been changed so I have made the play-test document available.

Five By Five version 3 play test notes (first draft)

The notes include the changes to the Five By Five dice mechanic and a new Weapon/Armor/Damage mechanic that replaces the older one that quiet honestly was a blatant steal from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. I also updated the Doubles Advancement mechanic to recognize different styles of play and I believe that it will be a big improvement.

I am really trying to make everything work with a 5x5 roll. I think I am getting there. All player characters have 5 wound levels ... you can be a tougher hero if you want by buying up a recovery trait. Non player characters and monsters will be different. For example peons that go down with 1 hit might have just unharmed and incapacitated as their wound levels. Or another weak monster might have unharmed, bruised, and incapacitated so that you would have to roll your critical damage in order to one-shot them. Other tougher monsters will have a lot more wound levels than the players to represent more epic battles. I have this stuff in my head and will eventually add a Bestiary to the rules to show how that all works. Right now, it's bare bones ... just 5 pages ... but I think it has all you need for now.

In making changes my design goal is to streamline and clean up and make everything use the 5x5 roll. I had also been playing around with introducing a fixed set of ability scores. I have abandoned that idea opting for the original trait only design.

I would love to hear any feed back that you may have, especially now in the development stages.

Thanks!

Regards,

Jeff Moore

Play Test Report 1st Session

April 12, 2013, 2:54 pm

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I am play testing Five by Five on Roll20.net with two players. Right now the small group allows me to relax into things and pay attention to how the rules are playing out. The 5x5 roll mechanic is solid and easy to teach. It was strong before and seems just as good now.

Successes and failures seemed to happen in about the right variation. No one felt like they were hampered in what they wanted to do, nor did the roll of the dice feel anti-climactic. The possibility of success or failure felt right for these novice adventurers.

My main interest was in the combat system that is completely new and untested. I was pleased by the way the first combat went and I hope future encounters only improve on that trend. I did find flipping from the game screen to my document to check the Critical Damage table to be cumbersome and have since changed the rules to eliminate the need for the table.

We are playing a Monster Hunter game set in the Buffyverse. Because the Buffy series had made a few references that there was a Hellmouth in Cleveland, I set the game there. The players are freshmen in college. One is a book worm type obsessed with knowledge of the occult, sort of a junior Giles (who has also trained in Martial Arts.)  The other is a practicing witch, sort of a junior Willow.

The witch character is named Maggie. The Bookworm Martial Artist is named Aaron. The two had seen each other before as they both frequent the rather substantial occult section of the college library. Today when they happened to arrive at the library at once, they find police cars outside and the librarian murdered.

They talk to the cops and learn that the librarian was apparently decapitated (and there is no sign of the head.) They sneak around to peak in a window and see the body laying in the center of a protective pentagram made of salt. But the edge of the pentagram is broken, the salt looks pushed in as if broken intentionally by someone outside the circle.

Aaron makes a Occult Knowledge roll and tells Maggie that Bone Snapper Demons are known for taking the heads of their victims.

Maggie makes a Spell Casting roll and tells Aaron that demon summoning rituals can't be done from memory because they are far too complex. The tome used to summon the demon should have been laying on the ground near the body, but no such book was in sight.

The pair decide to break into the deceased librarian's office to look for clues. Maggie successfully uses a spell to unlock the door, but the use of magic awakens the room's guardian, one of those polished bone anatomy skeletons on a stick. It jumps off its stick and launches itself at Maggie and a combat ensues.

The combat was a lot of fun, but I hit Maggie with a critical right off the bat causing her to be dazed and it took her a while to recover. I had only given the skeleton 2 wounds though and the players were able to defeat it after Aaron had an unfortunate run of rolling 3 doubles in a row (but got good AP.)

We wrapped things after the skeleton's defeat and everyone (myself included) had a good time. The characters are copied below for those who are curious.


Maggie O'Toole
Dodge (2)
Welcoming Demeanor (3)
Recovery (4)
Spell Casting (5)*
Magic Club (6)*     -as Arcane Arrow ... but a club.
Fast Action (2)
Wound Level: Unharmed.  
Sessions: 1
Advancement Points: 2
AP Cost Multiplier x1

Aaron Reynolds
Recovery (2)
Computers (3)
Martial Arts (4)*
Occult Knowledge (5)
Dodge (6)  
Fast Action (2)  +1RS for Martial Arts = (3)
Wound Level: Unharmed
Sessions: 1
Advancement Points: 4
AP Cost Multiplier x1

I have already applied the boost to their Fast Action Traits for completing their first game session, but they haven't spent any AP yet.

The evolving play test doc is now available on the link bar at the top of the blog page just under the Dreams and Dragons banner. Click on it to take a look at the latest revision of the playtest. I will be updating the document regularly.

I feel pretty good about all the changes. The game is different but the same and all the changes are (in my opinion) for the best, moving the game as a whole towards a more streamlined uniform game play experience.

Regards,


Jeff Moore

Defiance Tonight!

April 15, 2013, 12:13 pm

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So, in celebration of the television premiere of Defiance tonight, I thought I would share a recent picture of my girl friend.

Regards,

Jeff Moore

Five by Five version 3

April 19, 2013, 11:59 am

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Five by Five version 3 is still in play testing. But, I am so happy with the way this game is shaping up that I couldn't wait to share. Please, try it out. I really do think it's the best this game has ever been.

I could write about all the changes and improvements here ... but why not just take a look for yourself?

Regards,


Jeff Moore

More Five by Five

April 26, 2013, 3:29 pm

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I am happy with the current state of the Five by Five playtest document. Chris is going over my copy with a fine toothed comb to look for grammar and spelling errors and to suggest clarifications where needed.

The work is compact in 32 pages and I don't plan to mess with that. But, it's about time that I add "more" to the game, and I have some specific ideas about that.

I want to write some sample adventures that I can format as separate documents to act as companions for Five by Five. I would like to do a "fantasy" adventure in the sword and sorcery vein, a "sci-fi" adventure in the space opera vein, a "monster hunter" adventure in a contemporary horror vein and a "super hero" adventure in the silver age of comics vein.

I already have some ideas about small rules additions / changes for the fantasy and superhero games that will serve those genres without impacting the basics of Five by Five and should serve to show the expandability of the system. The adventures will include example characters and maybe some "suggested character traits" to round them out.

I plan to confine each sample adventure to as concise a package as possible. There are plenty of games out there that already cater to these genre's specifically. Five by Five's strengths are simplicity and concise presentation. I need to remember that and not work against it.

These are my plans going forward. If you haven't looked over the Five by Five playtest document recently, give it a quick read through. Feed back is welcome.


Regards,



Jeff Moore