USR in the OSR

Jason Hobbs has begun a new-OSR themed podcast. In his first episode, they discuss the USR Swords & Sorcery system that was mentioned previously on this blog. It's well worth a listen. Check it out!

The gloaming vs the night

gloaming (noun) twilight; dusk

I've mentioned before where I am unsure about running my own Crypts & Things setting vs. using Zarth itself. Both have an appeal for me. Zarth is chock full of fun little adventure hooks, cool flavorful weirdness, and a great "Dying of the Light" vibe that seems one part Gamma World, one part Stormbringer, and a dash of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

Part of me just can't help tinkering though. One possibility that occurred to me was to use the Crypts & Things rule set to bring a fresh take on an existing setting.

For those of you not familiar with Karameikos, it was the initial offering of TSR's "Known World" (later "Mystara") Gazetteers. It outlined one of the nations within that setting: the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. 

For some, it is a classic example of a "vanilla" fantasy setting. You have a populations of elves, goblins, and dwarfs. You have villains and heroes and ancient ruins. It ticks all the regular D&D boxes. 

Yawn! Sounds terrible for C&T's brand of weirdness!

Now hear me out. Yes, running a "straight" Karameikos campaign under the C&T rules would be, well, odd. But imagine this: what if some of the events that led to the incursions of the others into Zarth –or events very much like them– happened to a "normal" fantasy world where the PCs lived? In other words, what if the campaign picked up right when stuff went sideways instead of after the weirdness had been going on for generations?

[Minor spoilers: There is even an ancient "slaver" race in Karameikos that mirrors some of the serpent men's role in the setting.]

The nature of the adventures would certainly have a different flavor if the PCs initially saw the incursion of these terrors as an aberration instead of the new norm. Perhaps they could help stem the tide. Or perhaps they'd be the founders of the new cults, given the promises of power that might be offered by the Others.

I think it might be an interesting twist to play out the introduction of the corruption to the world. It might be a bit bleak to some, if it starts to look like "victory" is not likely in the face of cosmic horror, but that could lend a fun "Call of Cthuhlu" tone to things as well.

Just a thought, anyway.

Minis/Terrain vs. ToM

I used to paint miniatures all the time. Lately I've fallen out of the habit. Which is a shame because I have so many still unpainted and I have really enjoyed doing it in the past. I got started painting when our group started playing D&D 3rd edition. The rules really emphasize that kind of tactical layout (Attacks of Opportunity, etc.). Over the years, I've drifted away from d20, but still liked slapping paint on pewter.

I'm a big fan of the OSR, but those rules are not generally focused on the tactical layout of combat. Rather, they lend themselves better to an abstract "Theater of the Mind" style of play.

Minis have their pros and cons. On the one hand, having minis for the party and the monsters can be fun eye candy. On the other hand, it can be a distraction when you don't have the perfect mini for everyone and everything on the board ("I know I said they're bugbears, but I only have orc minis, okay?"). Not to mention the time and expense of buying/painting the things!

Groups vary, so I don't know that there is one best way to handle it. Personally, I think Crypts & Things is a great example of a game that benefits from ToM play. So many of the creatures are so bizarre that having minis for them would be quite difficult. Not to mention that a concrete representation can limit a player's imagination when picturing some of these monsters' horrific natures.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh Yeah!

As I mentioned previously, The Crypts & Things monster section is quite evocative, but is not comprehensive when it comes to ordinary creatures and the like. A terrific resource for such things is the Swords & Wizardry Monster Book by Matthew Finch. It includes hundreds of monsters - both fantastic and mundane- some may not be a good fit for Zarth, but I could see using many of them in a C&T/S&S game. What it does have that I really appreciate are listings for things like wild animals (both giant and normal) as well as mounts (horses).The stats jibe nicely with C&T monsters (just remove the Save stat) and the book is available on Lulu in pdf or print on demand. 

I highly recommend taking a look.

Conan on YouTube

No, not him.

A while back, Dark Horse Comics did a series of "motion comic" videos starring our favorite Cimmerian in the REH story "Queen of the Black Coast." It's pretty true to the original text. The animation is quite stylized, but if you're looking for some Hyborean fun, you might want to check it out.

You can see part 1 here (a bit PG-13):

USR Swords & Sorcery (A review)

Jay Murphy, of Vanishing Tower Press, recently sent me a copy of his "USR Swords & Sorcery: Rules Lite Role Playing for Fantastic Pulp Fantasy Adventures." (USR:S&S for this review) This comes in a 19 page PDF with artwork, so it's a pretty easy read-through for those who like games that one can get up and running quickly. This was my first exposure to the USR mechanic, but it seemed relatively straightforward. He also sent my a copy of "Shrine of the Keepers"; a short S&S adventure written for the system. I will break this review into two parts: one for the rules and one for the module.

The Rules

USR:S&S takes a fairly "bare bones" approach to the rules. Games that take this approach suffer the handicap of seeming thin on detail, but gain ground in efforts to "get out of the way" of role-play and story. Don't think this is a diceless "story engine" game. The sacred polyhedrals are very much present.

Abilities are distribute to four scores: Action, Ego, Wits, and Hits. Each player chooses a die type from a pool of three (d6, d8, d10) to represent each of the first three scores. Like other die type games (e.g. Savage Worlds), the higher the die type, the better the score. So a warrior would be more likely to have a high Action die, whereas a sorcerer might emphasize Wits. Hits are rolled using Action and Wits. They represent how much punishment one can take before death.

The scores are obviously broad, but that's where "Specialisms" come in. These serve sort of like skill focuses to boost rolls in specific areas. For instance, a character might have a d8 Wits with a specialism in Lore, granting a bonus to rolls on certain knowledge rolls. Task resolution is simply rolling the relevant ability die, adding any bonuses or modifiers, and trying to meet/beat a target difficulty number.

The character section includes a standard equipment list, priced to a silver based economy. Oddly, there is no mention of default starting wealth. One of several areas where I believe the intention was to leave things open-ended for personalization of campaigns.

There are also tables for rolling character backgrounds and details. These represent what the PC was before striking out as an adventurer. These are largely for flavor, and –for the most part– have no mechanical effect on the PCs. They do provide fodder for back stories and RP hooks, though (those are good things). I don't know that I would force a random roll on a player that already has a concept in mind, but if someone wasn't sure they might find inspiration there.

Combat is fairly simple. Each PC gets a combat action, a combat reaction, and movement action per round. Players can mix things up a bit by trading some action types under certain circumstances. An action is self-explanatory: An attack is the most straightforward example. Reactions are generally defensive: dodging or parrying, etc. Movement, again is self-explanatory.

Attacks are resolved via contested rolls. I found this section a little confusing as the language left it unclear whether the contested rolls occurred every time someone attacked, or only if the target had a reaction roll left that round. 

Rules for other, more detailed combat are also included, including hit locations, criticals, and fumbles. I like that these are available but are separate enough that they could be left out if a GM preferred to not use them.

The magic section was quite brief, as the rules leave it up to the GM to determine what types of magic, and what spells (if any) exist in his world. The types of magic presented are quite evocative of a S&S feel, I felt this area could have done with a bit more guidance; perhaps a few sample spells or magical artifacts?

The last part of USR:S&S contains several handy tables for encounters, carousing, and other fun things that might happen to the PCs. While the encounters mention several creatures one might meet, there is no monsters section included. Again, like the spells, the system is light and flexible enough that it would not be difficult to come up with the necessary numbers for most creatures, still some examples would be useful.

Overall, I found USR:S&S an intriguing system and take on this genre of games, but in some ways it is more of a toolkit than a complete game.

Shrine of the Keepers:

This is a fairly straightforward city adventure with a "brave the evil temple" hook. While structurally the plot is not very unusual, where this short module shines for me is in its tone. Nearly every room or encounter fits the Swords & Sorcery genre adroitly. From the nature of the cult, to the attitude of the guards, and the horrors that the PCs may encounter; they all give of a vibe that would be at home in nearly any Leiber or Howard story. The main hook of the adventure fits the "personal" nature of the genre that we discussed before. This is not "save the cosmos." It's "give me what's mine!" Like the rules discussed above, there is a bit of work for the GM to do on his own to fill in some blanks, but it's minor enough it could almost by done on the fly.

Even if one didn't run "Shrine" as is, or with USR:S&S, I would recommend it as a good example of evoking the swords & sorcery pulp genre for an interesting twist on a night's carouse in the city.

C&T Review: Part 4/4

Home stretch, here!

Ill Gotten Gains of Dark Desire:

This is the treasure section of the book. In addition to some straightforward advice about placement and appropriate reward levels, C&T also includes “trade-out” guidelines (similar to Swords & Wizardry). The idea here is that there is a chance for a given amount of the treasure’s “cash” actually being a special item like gems, jewels, or even magic.

C&T also shies from random magic item placement. Magic should be chosen by the CK deliberately. Also, enchanted objects are almost never unilaterally beneficial (or harmful). Magic is a double-edged sword. Even useful items carry a cost.

The listed items are an excellent sampling of weird magics in a swords & sorcery world. Unlike other games, instead of being classified by type (scrolls, potions, rings, swords, etc.), the items are just listed as individual objects. This further underscores the idea that they should be considered individually instead of “just another magic __.”

A Compendium of Fiends:

Monsters, monsters. Where would we be without a bestiary? C&T delivers with a nice assortment of the weird, bestial, sinister, and deadly. Using a very “stat-lite” S&W style of listing, the monsters listed include only the numbers you need, and rely more on colorful flavor text to help the CK evoke the feel  of a creature. Many of the critters are “Zarthian” as opposed to your standard fantasy fare, and normal creatures (lions, tigers, and bears oh my) are a bit thin on the ground, but these are imported pretty easily from other rule books like Swords & Wizardry.

The end of the section includes tables and advice for creating or modifying monsters to create unique creatures in your game, along with a listing of monsters by challenge level. While I personally don’t use challenge levels in general, it’s a handy reference when looking for an easier or harder foe to include in your adventures.

The next section contains three adventures: The Halls of Nizar-Thun, The Haunted Lands, and Port Black Mire. While they all look eminently playable, they also serve as blueprints for C&T style adventures.  Found it very useful to look at how they differ from typical fantasy adventures as well as how they’re similar. “Halls” is a dungeon crawl, “Lands” provides some outdoor/wilderness adventuring, and “Port” is a city adventure complete with a random city events table. The adventures also provide some more detail to the setting (especially Port Black Mire).

Notes from the Abyss:

The final chapter self-described as “a miscellany of topics.” It includes CK (GM) advice do’s & don’ts, etc.), some fun tables for semi-random crypt (dungeon) creation, and a nice writeup on horror in gaming. It finishes up with a bibliography and suggested soundtracks (inspirational/thematic music).

What I liked: The treasure and monster sections were engagingly different than typical fantasy games. I particularly appreciated the nature of the magic items (magic with a cost).

What I didn’t like: As I’ve mentioned before, a lot of the material is tied pretty tightly to the default setting. That’s not a flaw, but it does feel limiting sometimes.

OVERALL: This is not a vanilla fantasy game. Crypts & Things is not a generic D&D substitute. It is designed to deliver a very particular theme and tone; one of weird magic, eldritch horror, gritty pulp action, and characters that you might find in the pages of Howard, Burroughs, or Smith.

The world of Zarth is a nearly ideal backdrop for such a game. With its ancient races, lurking terrors, and encroaching doom. For those who wish to play elsewhere, it shouldn’t be too difficult to use the game in your own setting, but it would be tough to leave all things zarthian behind.

I am immensely pleased with the return on my Kickstarter investment and am looking forward to actually playing some Crypts & Things very soon!