The Riddle of Tea?

Inspired by the rather comic misrepresentation of the Crypts and Things game I’m running at Furnace Con in October , whose description on the draft games time table read – “What starts as a simple enquiry into an sub-standard pot of tea becomes first a murder investigation and then something yet more frightening” (garbled with the British Pulp heroes game in the line above ), I imagined the following genteel scene in a Melnibonean Torture Garden…..

Elric: “Why Conan do you want a brew?”
Conan: “Why yes Elric that would be lovely”
Elric brews up, Conan quaffs then violently spits
Conan: “Argggggggggggh by Crom’s scrotum what foul piss water is this ?”
Elric :”Earl Gray, the tea of kings you illiterate scumbag”
Conan: “Eat my axe you effeminate Goth!”

……The gentle clash of steel ensues.

Crypts and Things: Languages

OK I’m thinking about doing away with the Max no of Languages column against Intelligence, and instead replacing it with a percentage called “Chance to understand other language”. Rather than the player picking from a long list of languages, with the max number being set by their Intelligence, every time they come across a language other than their mother tongue they roll against this percentage. I fell this would simplify play, make INT a bit more useful, and be in keeping with Crypts and Things setting Zarth which as an ancient dying world many millenia old has many dead or near dead languages of empires/cultures long gone to dust.

But I’m interested in your views.

So vote now!

[poll id=”2″]

Clockwork & Chivalry 2nd Edition and new D100 OGL Renaissance system

Just posted by Ken Walton one half of Cakebread and Walton who publish have just posted this gem that warms the cockles of my dark soul today 🙂

In brief Clockwork and Chivalry getting a second edition using a new system based off OpenQuest called Renaissance, with lots of tweaks and rules changes (such as blackpowder guns, careers and factions rules). Not a lot of people know this but C&C started of as a OQ based game, until Cakebread & Walton got a MRQ2 license, so for me its like the game is coming home 🙂

But enough of my wittering….here’s the full announcement from Ken.

1645: England has descended into civil war. Prince Rupert and his Alchemist-Cavaliers fight on behalf of their exiled king against the clockwork war machines of Oliver Cromwell and the New Model Army. Between them, a host of political and religious factions struggle for survival.

First launched to critical acclaim as a series of supplements for RuneQuest II (“The best British fantasy setting since WFRP 1st edition” said Newt Newport), Clockwork & Chivalry now returns in a standalone 2nd edition featuring the new Renaissance rules, a D100 open gaming system based on OpenQuest and compatible with 1st edition supplements. Fast, brutal, and geared up to a world of black-powder weapons and political machinations, the new rules will also be the bedrock of a series of fantasy and historical RPGs forthcoming from Cakebread & Walton: Purveyors of Fine Imaginings.

Alchemists, diggers, dragons, engineers, mercenaries, puritans, ranters, royalists, satanists, thieves, witches, zombies… which side are you on?

***

As many of you probably know, Mongoose Publishing will cease to support the RuneQuest II license in the autumn, and this has left us with a big decision to make regarding the future of Clockwork & Chivalry. Giving up on the line was never an option – we were determined to finish the Kingdom & Commonwealth Campaign, and have other ideas we want to develop for the game world. At the same time, we value our autonomy as a small independent games company. The new Renaissance system will be based on OpenQuest and Mongoose RuneQuest I, and will aim to be as compatible as possible with existing C&C supplements. At the same time, this rule-set, stripped of the C&C background but incorporating some of the rules (such as Righteousness Points and Factions) will be released under an Open Gaming License as a free download. The rules will be aimed squarely at role-playing in the age of black powder weapons. The creation of Renaissance will give Cakebread & Walton a solid rules set for the development of further games in the future, as well as allowing others to use it in their own games under the terms of the OGL.

Once Clockwork & Chivalry 2nd Edition is released, we’ll be re-issuing the first 4 parts of the Kingdom & Commonwealth campaign with minor tweaks to fit the new rules, and then the last two books in the campaign, Hobbes: Leviathan and London Calling. We’ll also release a small conversion document so that those playing C&C with the existing RuneQuest II Core Rulebook need not change rules to finish the campaign.

C&C2, a 400 page core rulebook including all the rules you need to play as well as all the background in the original worldbook and then some, will be out in December. The other revised volumes and new C&C2 supplements are to follow in 2012. As usual, our games will be distributed by Cubicle 7 Entertainment and will be available from all good game stores!

River of Heaven cover

Taking some time out from the usual fantasy fare here at D101 HQ, me and John Ossoway (my co-author for Savage North and the man behind the awesome Cthulhu Rising) have been hitting warp speed to get his OpenQuest powered hard Sci-fi game, River of Heaven, done by eary November (in time for a Dragonmeet release).

Here’s the cover by Jon Hodgson

Crypts & Things, and now we polish.

Ok so the playtest for Crypts & Things finished a couple of weeks  ago.  Thanks to those who participated, I have taken your very useful feedback into consideration and it will be informing the updated and polished version that I’m working on.

Main areas I’m looking at;

Spells – I’ll be making some tweaks to spells such as Sleep and Charm Person, which playtesters felt where a bit over powered. I’m also going to be adding new spells.   C&T breaks spells into three lists; Black (Bad evil magic, spells that do damage, summon evil creatures), White (Healing spells, spells that protect you from harm and are generally)  and Grey.  It became clear to me that this is an area where I could spend a little bit more time for development for some great affect. So all three lists are getting filled out a bit more with around 20 new spells.

Magic Items – It was felt that the magic items list was a bit too damn short, so I went to my lair and came up with some more twisted and sick items to mess with your player characters. Such is the Crypt and Things way, muhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaa 🙂

Sanity rules  & Damage Rules – Not so much a rewrite here, more making sure that these rules are clear and unambiguous.

New Cover – the cover I’ve been previous touting is not going to be the final cover. Instead I’ll use that for a future supplement I already have in mind. The overwhelmingly positive feedback I’ve had from people, which has been along the lines of “I WANT THIS GAME!” :),  has convinced me that sticking my hands in my pockets and getting Jon Hodgson,  awesome artist and good friend of D101 Games, to do a full cover  for C&T.  Remember this is the man who did the covers for OpenQuest and Life and Death, and he’s very excited about the art direction that I’ve given him 🙂

OpenQuest at Big Bad Con

Big Bad Con is a con in the Bay Area , San Fransisco 7-9th October.

Ben Monroe will running the following OpenQuest game

Shadows Grey and Grim

GM: Ben Monroe
System: OpenQuest
Variations: Few
Power Level: Experienced Characters
Experience Required: None (OpenQuest is a BRP-derived fantasy game; the basics of the system can be taught quickly).
Maturity Rating: Mature Themes
Number of Players: 6
Game Length: 6 hours
Characters Provided: Provided: Yes, with room for customization.
Description:

The Thane’s son lies struck with fever and madness. The village healer says the only cure for the ailment ccan be found in the Dreadwall Forest: a place of hauntings and legend. You’ve been warned away from the Dreadwall forest since you were a child, but now must brave the dark boughs. Can you find what the child needs, or will you succumb to the terrors of the Dreadwall?

More details about Big Bad Con