Minotaur
Requirements: Minimum STR 9, Minimum CON 9
Prime Requisite: STR and CON
Hit Dice: 1d10
Maximum Level: 8
Armor: Leather, including shields
Weapons: Any
Languages: Alignment, Common, Minotaur
Minotaurs are nomadic creatures that typically make their homes in deserts and barren lands. They are fierce warriors and hunters of large beasts; such as griffons and manticores. These bull-headed men tower over the tallest men by at least a foot or more. They are in constant battles with nomadic centaurs that try to take their lands.
Prime Requisite: A minotaur with at least 13 STR and CON gains a 5% bonus to experience. A minotaur with at least 16 STR and CON gains a 10% bonus to experience.
Combat: Minotaurs can use all types of weapons, leather armor and shields.
Thick Hide: Minotaurs have a natural Armor Class of 8 [11] when not wearing armor.
Gore: Minotaurs can gore an enemy with their horns for 1d4 points of damage.
Overland Wanderer: Minotaurs have a +1 bonus vs losing direction in Barren Lands ( 1-in-6) and Deserts (1-in-6).
Fantastical Beckelhimer
Musings from a casual gamer and an indie publisher/designer.
Anchor Podcast
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
GM Anxiety: The New Podcast Series
So I used to have a podcast, JB Publishing, back in 2018. I didn't have many episodes before life got in the way and I just didn't have the time to record anymore episodes let alone even listen to podcasts. Well, I started back up in November of 2019. It was really me getting back into the groove of things with my podcast. But now I have a clear goal of what I want to do with my podcast.
And that is to help those (like me) that struggle with Anxiety get confident enough that they too can be a Dungeon Master for their friends and family. For me Anxiety hinders a lot of my real life. It creeps in and locks me up in all sorts aspects of my life. One of these is gaming. But more specifically, being the Dungeon Master (or Game Master/GM). It has taken me a long time to fight through this Anxiety when it comes to gaming. But sadly, it still can grab hold and take control. It is a constant battle. But through trial and error and reading many different games, books, supplements, etc. I have gotten more comfortable and more confident in Gaming.
And so I want to share that with others who also struggle with crippling Anxiety. I want to show them that they too can be the Dungeon Master in their D&D game (or whatever tabletop game) for their friends and family. So this is why I started up a new series on my podcast called, GM Anxiety.
Currently there are only two episodes. The first one, "The Perfect System," I discuss finding that right game system that will work for you and help you conquer your Anxiety against Gaming. I also recommend three fantasy game systems that I feel will help those with Anxiety push forward and feel confident in the rules. The three games are:
The Black Hack
Swords & Wizardry Continual Light
White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game
The second episode, "Your First Dungeon," I discuss the elements of a dungeon and I create a five room dungeon for you to start running with one of the game systems listed above.
Now this is something that is extremely close and personal to me. I want to really help those with Anxiety get into this amazing hobby!
So I am asking for a favor from you. Could you please share this blog post and/or share my podcast. And if you are listener please rate and review the podcast if you can.
JB Publishing Podcast
The podcast can be found anywhere you listen to your podcasts.
And that is to help those (like me) that struggle with Anxiety get confident enough that they too can be a Dungeon Master for their friends and family. For me Anxiety hinders a lot of my real life. It creeps in and locks me up in all sorts aspects of my life. One of these is gaming. But more specifically, being the Dungeon Master (or Game Master/GM). It has taken me a long time to fight through this Anxiety when it comes to gaming. But sadly, it still can grab hold and take control. It is a constant battle. But through trial and error and reading many different games, books, supplements, etc. I have gotten more comfortable and more confident in Gaming.
And so I want to share that with others who also struggle with crippling Anxiety. I want to show them that they too can be the Dungeon Master in their D&D game (or whatever tabletop game) for their friends and family. So this is why I started up a new series on my podcast called, GM Anxiety.
Currently there are only two episodes. The first one, "The Perfect System," I discuss finding that right game system that will work for you and help you conquer your Anxiety against Gaming. I also recommend three fantasy game systems that I feel will help those with Anxiety push forward and feel confident in the rules. The three games are:
The Black Hack
Swords & Wizardry Continual Light
White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game
The second episode, "Your First Dungeon," I discuss the elements of a dungeon and I create a five room dungeon for you to start running with one of the game systems listed above.
Now this is something that is extremely close and personal to me. I want to really help those with Anxiety get into this amazing hobby!
So I am asking for a favor from you. Could you please share this blog post and/or share my podcast. And if you are listener please rate and review the podcast if you can.
JB Publishing Podcast
The podcast can be found anywhere you listen to your podcasts.
Monday, February 10, 2020
ToAD Monster of the Week: Crocoman
Now that I'm back doing the blog thing I thought I would use Tome of Adventure Design to create monsters for The Black Hack.
Using the monster tables in the book I rolled up these results:
52 - Humanoid
20 - Roll once on the beast table
24 - Crocodile
3 - Give it a human head
Using the monster tables in the book I rolled up these results:
52 - Humanoid
20 - Roll once on the beast table
24 - Crocodile
3 - Give it a human head
22 - Minor Special Attack
78 - Poison (nonlethal)
With those results I have created:
Crocoman - HD 3
78 - Poison (nonlethal)
With those results I have created:
Crocoman - HD 3
Claws - STR (1 close) 4 dmg
Swamp fever! Creatures hit are weakened for ud6 minutes.
(Sketch by me)
(Sketch by me)
Sunday, February 9, 2020
The Podcast has Returned
Some of you may remember that I started up a podcast back in 2018. Though, less than ten episodes in I was done recording. I believe what got in the way was work and I just neglected it (and other creative things). Well, I started recording again back in November 2019 and it has been going much better. Now, I don't have the same listener count that I did back when I started but that's fine. I really just enjoy recording the episodes and interacting with other podcasters that use Anchor for publishing their shows.
You can find my podcast pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts. Just search: JB Publishing
Now, I've been on the fence with keeping that name or not. Since JB Publishing was my old publishing name before The Lone Bards. But I am keeping it that for now since I just don't have any good ideas of what I would want to change it to (though I do want to change it).
Currently, I've been recording episodes that I've been calling, Deep Dive into the Black Hack. Which are review episodes of the Black Hack book. Most episodes have been around forty-fives minutes or so. Which, I know that can be a chore to listen to for others who may not have the time or don't want to spend too much time on a single show. But I've been enjoying recording those episodes (though they are very draining on me). Once I'm done with The Black Hack I would like to record a deep dive for Bloat Games' The Blackest of Deaths.
Other things I've been talking about my podcasts have been: Zine Quest 2, Rolling up characters with my wife, campaign settings, game session reports and more.
So if you are interested and you have the time to listen to podcasts please search mine and subscribe to it! Again, that's JB Publishing
You can find my podcast pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts. Just search: JB Publishing
Now, I've been on the fence with keeping that name or not. Since JB Publishing was my old publishing name before The Lone Bards. But I am keeping it that for now since I just don't have any good ideas of what I would want to change it to (though I do want to change it).
Currently, I've been recording episodes that I've been calling, Deep Dive into the Black Hack. Which are review episodes of the Black Hack book. Most episodes have been around forty-fives minutes or so. Which, I know that can be a chore to listen to for others who may not have the time or don't want to spend too much time on a single show. But I've been enjoying recording those episodes (though they are very draining on me). Once I'm done with The Black Hack I would like to record a deep dive for Bloat Games' The Blackest of Deaths.
Other things I've been talking about my podcasts have been: Zine Quest 2, Rolling up characters with my wife, campaign settings, game session reports and more.
So if you are interested and you have the time to listen to podcasts please search mine and subscribe to it! Again, that's JB Publishing
Friday, February 7, 2020
Still alive...For Now
This is just a quick update to let you know that I’m still around.
Yes, I’ve neglected this blog for a long time. But I’m coming back to it.
A lot has been going on with my life (work, real life and the hobby).
This is going to be a space where I talk about things that are difficult to do over a podcast or just too short to share on that. And yes, I’ve started updated my podcast as well.
You can find that anywhere you listen to podcasts. Just search: JB Publishing
So don’t worry. More posts are coming soon.
By the way, who here is a fan of The Black Hack?
I ask cause there will be a lot on that here.
Yes, I’ve neglected this blog for a long time. But I’m coming back to it.
A lot has been going on with my life (work, real life and the hobby).
This is going to be a space where I talk about things that are difficult to do over a podcast or just too short to share on that. And yes, I’ve started updated my podcast as well.
You can find that anywhere you listen to podcasts. Just search: JB Publishing
So don’t worry. More posts are coming soon.
By the way, who here is a fan of The Black Hack?
I ask cause there will be a lot on that here.
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Offworlders - Play Session with Daughter
Player: Amelie (12 years old)
Character: Jade
Abilities: Ghost, Blast
Gear: Light Armor, Light Blaster on wrist, Medium Blaster Sidearm
Mission: Respond to a distress signal.
Responded to a recorded looped distress signal, “Our ship’s engines are down. We are drifting through space and running out of supplies.” When Jade arrived at the ship’s location she reached out to the science vessel but didn’t get a response. After scanning the ship she discovered that there was a single life form on the ship. After a pass by the vessel she flew her ship into the already open hangar door. Quickly she discovered that the power supply must be down because the space vessel was in total darkness. With the power out she would have to manually shut the hangar door. After attaching herself to a wire hooked to her ship and turning on her shoulder light she stepped out of the ship and made her way to the hangar door and sealed it shut. With that being done she began her search for the single life form on the ship.
With her shoulder light she was only able to clearly see about 10ft directly ahead of her. The rest faded into complete darkness. Jade’s logic was to make her way to the cockpit and find if the single life form was there. After wandering around the hangar bay she found that the one and only transport ship on the vessel was destroyed. Eventually finding the stairs she made her way to the upper deck, ignoring the door that led to the middle deck. The doors on the science vessel were designed to automatically shut when the power was offline and to keep them open all one had to do was lock a latch on the frame of the door to keep the door open. On the upper deck Jade first discovered a room with a large table and about ten chairs tossed around throughout the room. There were papers and folders all throughout the floor that Jade could just guess was about some project or research they have gathered. Ignoring the papers she eventually discovered the corridor that lead to the cockpit. The door to the cockpit was obstructed by a dead body. After quickly examining the body she confirmed that the hole in the face was probably the cause of K. Philips (name on a patch on his uniform) death. The cockpit proved to be of no luck, especially with the power offline.
The next room on the upper deck that Jade searched was the office of S. Fields. Her dead body was in her chair and her head down on the desk. The hole in the head and the gun in her hand was to be assumed that her death was of her own doing. Inside the locked drawer on the desk Jade found Fields personal journal. Flipping through the journal, the entries went back as far as three years. About eight months ago entries began mentioning a David, a new crew member. An entry from three weeks ago mentioned how David managed to convince the rest of the crew that Fields had lost her mind and they began helping David with his findings. An entry from last week mentioned that after the death of Lewis the crew finally agreed that David was going too far. They detained him and put him in the cell and started to make their way to the nearest space station. The last entry in the journal was a suicide note.
Jade searched two other rooms on the upper deck. One door was stuck so she tried to use her blast on the door to force it open. But what happened instead was a quick vision came to her mind: a woman screaming, “Don’t let it out! Don’t let it out!” The ringing in her head and sudden vision made Jade disoriented. She thought it was best to stop trying to force the door open. The final room was a small engineering room. In this room were computers/monitors along the side walls, some of which have been removed from the wall and broken in the floor. Examining the small engine in the room she found a manual override to get the engine running again. After a failed attempt she gathered that there must be another engine that powers this one. Before leaving the room she noticed a vent on the wall with the grate laying on the floor next to it. WIthout hesitation Jade left the room and made her way to the stairs and back down to the lower deck where her ship waited for her.
Jade ignored her gut feeling and instead of getting on her ship and leaving she ventured to the other side of the hangar. On the way there she discovered another smaller vessel though it was very obvious that the ship was not going to be leaving the hangar anytime soon. It looked as if an explosion went off on one side of it. Continuing down the hangar she came across a door that opened up to a small flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs was another door. Blood, from the other side of the door, flowed between the cracks. Slowly opening the door revealed a puddle of blood by the opening and ahead were two small rows of lockers and an opening in the middle that made a path to various bunks and beds. Jade made her way to the bunks and noticed the bottom of her boots were leaving small blood prints. She wiped the bottom of her boots with one of the sheets. Taking a quick glance at the mattresses on the floor and the other bunks she saw a hand hanging from one of the top bunks. She slowly grabbed the hand to see what it was attached to but discovered that the arm was severed at the elbow. Instead of turning around and leaving she searched the lockers. The lockers all had name plates attached to them: K. Philips, D. Black, S. Fields, J. Ball, T. Ball, F. Lewis. There was another locker missing the name plate. She searched through the lockers and found that most of them had pictures of loved ones on the doors, clothing and various items that were of no use to her at the moment. In D. Black’s locker there was a small lockbox but with no luck of trying to get the box opened. In J. Ball’s locker the pictures on the door were of a family, man, woman, a young boy around 5 and a young girl around 8. There were also a small box of various toys. In T. Ball’s locker it was pretty much the same, just different photos of the family and different toys. There was another door on the same wall from which Jade came that she wanted to investigate.
Before opening the door Jade thought it might be best to listen to the other side before blindly opening the door. Though, there was nothing to be heard. Opening the door led to a small, three step, flight of stairs to another door. Again, listening at the door there was nothing to be heard. Opening the door Jade saw a bed that looked as if something was on it and to the left a vent with the grate removed. Peering back and forth from the vent to the bed, Jade noticed that whatever was on the bed was under the sheets. She grabbed the sheets from the bottom of the bed while keeping an eye on the vent and slowly pulled the sheets off the bed. What was under the sheets was something Jade didn’t suspect and wished she never looked. Two kids, a boy and a girl, dead. Bullet wounds to the heads. Jade’s thoughts were racing, “Someone has been going through the vents on this ship and killing people.” Right away she realized that the sole life form on this ship was someone not worth saving. She made her way down the stairs and back to the lockers and bunks.
Jade was ready to leave this ship immediately and report her findings to the nearest space station. Passing the lockers she made it back to the door leading to the small flight of stairs that would lead her out to the hangar. Pausing, she took a moment to listen through the door in case she has been spotted/followed. What she heard was something crashing down...behind her. Quickly she turned around and the light she had faded into darkness 10ft ahead of her. Without looking around she let out a blast blindly ahead of her. She heard a terrible screeching noise and crash. Then in the dimness of her light a black figure scurried by and up to what she can now see was a vent.
Without hesitation Jade turned around and pulled the door open and ran down the stairs and pulled the next door open leading into the hangar. Once in the hangar she looked up and realized the room was very large because there was only darkness beyond her light. She ran for her ship and looking around behind her and to her sides, though it didn’t help much since her light was affixed to her right shoulder. She made it to her ship and was about to head for the cockpit when she realized, “The hangar door!”
She tethered herself to her ship with the wiring from earlier. Took a deep breath and opened the door to her ship. A quick glance she couldn’t see beyond the light and made her way towards the hangar door. Then from behind she could hear something, something was coming. Quickly she picked up the pace and made it to the door. But the manual lever was stuck!
It was closing in fast and she took one last pull at the lever and it finally...snapped. She held a piece of the lever in her hand and the hangar door remained shut. Quickly she turned around this dark figure moved like a shadow in her light and she let out a blast. The creature screamed as it flew back into the darkness and ended with a crashing sound. “Great, I think I blasted that thing against my ship.”
She didn’t know what to do but she did know she didn’t want to be out in this hangar surrounded by darkness and that creature. She sprinted for her ship then suddenly felt a tug on the wire that was tethered to her suit and was quickly lifted off the ground and violently pulled to her ship. As she flew across the room she reached for the wire to unhook herself but she was too late. The wire snapped when it reached its limit and jerked Jade’s spine back before crashing to the floor. Gasping for air after having the wind knocked out of her she stumbled up and unhooked herself from the ship. She kept the wire in her hand as a guide to find her ship and began sprinting towards her ship. Then ahead of her the creature appeared in her light and was leaping straight for her. She let out another blast, but what happened was a vision: A man sitting at a desk began to throw up and scream in agony as something burst from his chest. As the vision went away, which felt like five minutes, her eyes opened with the creature in her face. Claws dug into her shoulders and a sharp pain from her back and through her stomach as something impaled through her body. She dropped to the floor and looked up at this creature, it was black with two arms and two legs, a tail and its head was elongated in the back. The creature’s mouth opened up with saliva dripping from it’s razor sharp teeth and this tongue-like thing slid out of the mouth and on the end of it another small mouth. Her shoulder light blinked on and off and she realized the creature broke the light in the attack. Then suddenly total darkness fell upon the creature. Jade, not giving up, sent a blast directly where the creature was and she heard the creature scream as it was sent flying back. She reached for her broken light, pulled it off, and removed her final one from her belt. Once on she began crawling towards her ship. Coughing up blood and short of breath she made it to her ship. Behind her the creature was sprinting and she could hear the steps closing in. She pulled herself into the ship and slammed the door shut as the creature slammed head first into the door. The creature began banging and clawing at the door. Jade crawled to the medbay and took off her top and watched as blood poured from her gaping wound. She wrapped bandages around her torso and injected herself with adrenaline. With the small boost she stumbled to the cockpit and made her way to the sit. She could hear the creature still banging on the ship but now it was coming from above her. The ship powered on and she turned, facing the hangar door, and armed her weapon. The green light came on and she pulled the trigger blasting away the hangar door. The creature rolled off the top of the ship onto the front plating of the cockpit. The creature dug its claws and tail into the ship and Jade took off out of the science vessel. The creature held on briefly before drifting off the ship, frozen in place.
Behind Jade, a voice, “Thank you for the rescue.”
She turned around, “David?”
A man stood in the doorway of the cockpit pointing a gun at Jade, “fortunately for you, I’m not going to kill you...yet.”
She stood up and sent out a blast but instead another vision, though this vision was in and out and filled with static much like an old surveillance tape: David opened the door to the office of Fields, “How did you get out?” She screamed before david shot her in the head. He placed the gun under her hand and pulled out her journal and wrote, in her handwriting, the suicide note before placing it back in the drawer. The vision continued as it showed David open the airlock doors, which held the creature captive, releasing it on the ship. In the cockpit he recorded the distress signal and released it. The vision continued as David made his way back to the cell he was locked in and locked himself back in the cell.
The gun fired and Jade felt the bullet pierce through her abdomen next to wound the creature left. David grabbed jade by her leg and began dragging her to the medbay, “You see, you killed my child. My creation. Now, you are going to give me another one. But first your body needs to be in better condition.”
Inside the medbay Jade saw a spider-like creature with a tail in a sealed canister next to the operating table.
Jade knew this was the end, and with that she turned her wrist blaster towards one of the tanks in the medbay, “Bye, bye.” And in an explosion she saw David’s face turned to anger as his arm blew off and the canister exploded, killing the alien creature, before they both got sucked out into space.
Credits.
Post Credits Scene: David’s body drifting through space as his eyes blink.
Friday, March 8, 2019
Major Announcement: The Lone Bards
As you know, I am part of a Kickstarter that has funded and ended today.
Cade's Big Book o' Booze
The writer of the Zine is Justin Isaac of Halls of the Nephilim. Justin and I have had plenty of back and forth when it came to our own personal projects. Whether it was just some advice/feedback on stats for a game mechanic or suggestions on what to do next. Then I started to get into doing more artwork than what I usually do and he asked me if I would want to be a part of this Kickstarter. I quickly said yes, because what's the worst that could happen? The Kickstarter not get funded? Well, that didn't happen and we are very grateful for the support and the backers.
Which leads me to the major announcement.
JB Publishing will no longer be a thing.
Instead, I approached Justin about joining forces permanently and he quickly said yes.
So I give you....
The Lone Bards
And yes, it is inspired by the movie, Airheads.
Cade's Big Book o' Booze
The writer of the Zine is Justin Isaac of Halls of the Nephilim. Justin and I have had plenty of back and forth when it came to our own personal projects. Whether it was just some advice/feedback on stats for a game mechanic or suggestions on what to do next. Then I started to get into doing more artwork than what I usually do and he asked me if I would want to be a part of this Kickstarter. I quickly said yes, because what's the worst that could happen? The Kickstarter not get funded? Well, that didn't happen and we are very grateful for the support and the backers.
Which leads me to the major announcement.
JB Publishing will no longer be a thing.
Instead, I approached Justin about joining forces permanently and he quickly said yes.
So I give you....
The Lone Bards
And yes, it is inspired by the movie, Airheads.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Creating with Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells
I finally received my hardcover copy of Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells by Diogo Nogueira of Old Skull Publishing. I've been reading through the PDF like crazy already until I got the physical book. This isn't a review post but more of a, "What I've been able to do with this book so far" post. With the PDF I have taken the time to create up some characters to get a feel of how character creation works. Mainly, using the Concept, Complication and Race/Species creation. I've also played around with creating the universe using the many tables to roll on to generate the random universe. And of course rolled a lot on the monster creation tables.
Just this morning I rolled up a character and wanted to share what he is.
Jarlath Silver
The Nimble reserved space vamp spy for the Dark Leech
Complication: Hunted by The Helsing Order
Level: 1 Adventures Until Next Level: 3 (+1 for being a Space Vamp)
Archetype Abilities: You Can't Hit Me; That's an Easy Target; Luck is on My Side; I Know How to Do This
Abilities & Powers: When taking a short rest, Space Vamps automatically recover an amount of Vitality equal to half (rounded down) their Recovery Roll result. While consuming blood and making a successful physique test the Space Vamp doubles their Recovery Roll result.
Physique: 11 Vitality: 12 Recovery Roll: 1d6+1
*Agility: 16 Luck: 3
*Intellect: 16 Sanity: 16
Willpower: 5 Credits: 2
Armor: Light (1 Damage Reduction)
Weapon: Repeater Hand Crossbow - 1d6-1 Damage - Short Range
Weapon: Spear - 1d6+1 Damage - Negative Die when trying to hide weapon
I also did some artwork for some monsters I rolled up using the tables in the book:
Agonizing Aberration
I created this monster by rolling up Aberration --> Amorphous Form --> Faces of several different beings in agonizing expressions cover the creature's body --> To learn and collect information
Starmule
I created this monster by rolling up Beast --> Body of an animal and extra arms of another --> Body animal: Mule --> Arms animal: Starfish
I have created stats for the Starmule and a humanoid species (I have not drawn this creature).
Starmule
HD: 2
Starmules can be used as mounts. Though, their explosion ability can harm the rider. Ride with caution.
Special Abilities: Magical Immunity. Explosion - 2d6 damage in a close range. A successful Agility test reduces the damage by half.
Mak'Loy
HD: 1-3
The Mak'Loy is a two-headed humanoid species without gender. One head appears to be male but with no eyes. The other head appears to be female but with no mouth. They reproduce asexually.
Special Abilities: Turn to Stone - Victims that look into the eyes of the Mak'Loy must make a Physique test or be turned into stone.
Just this morning I rolled up a character and wanted to share what he is.
Jarlath Silver
The Nimble reserved space vamp spy for the Dark Leech
Complication: Hunted by The Helsing Order
Level: 1 Adventures Until Next Level: 3 (+1 for being a Space Vamp)
Archetype Abilities: You Can't Hit Me; That's an Easy Target; Luck is on My Side; I Know How to Do This
Abilities & Powers: When taking a short rest, Space Vamps automatically recover an amount of Vitality equal to half (rounded down) their Recovery Roll result. While consuming blood and making a successful physique test the Space Vamp doubles their Recovery Roll result.
Physique: 11 Vitality: 12 Recovery Roll: 1d6+1
*Agility: 16 Luck: 3
*Intellect: 16 Sanity: 16
Willpower: 5 Credits: 2
Armor: Light (1 Damage Reduction)
Weapon: Repeater Hand Crossbow - 1d6-1 Damage - Short Range
Weapon: Spear - 1d6+1 Damage - Negative Die when trying to hide weapon
I also did some artwork for some monsters I rolled up using the tables in the book:
Agonizing Aberration
I created this monster by rolling up Aberration --> Amorphous Form --> Faces of several different beings in agonizing expressions cover the creature's body --> To learn and collect information
Starmule
I created this monster by rolling up Beast --> Body of an animal and extra arms of another --> Body animal: Mule --> Arms animal: Starfish
I have created stats for the Starmule and a humanoid species (I have not drawn this creature).
Starmule
HD: 2
Starmules can be used as mounts. Though, their explosion ability can harm the rider. Ride with caution.
Special Abilities: Magical Immunity. Explosion - 2d6 damage in a close range. A successful Agility test reduces the damage by half.
Mak'Loy
HD: 1-3
The Mak'Loy is a two-headed humanoid species without gender. One head appears to be male but with no eyes. The other head appears to be female but with no mouth. They reproduce asexually.
Special Abilities: Turn to Stone - Victims that look into the eyes of the Mak'Loy must make a Physique test or be turned into stone.
Monday, February 11, 2019
Kickstarter: Cade's Big Book o' Booze
Cade's Big Book o' Booze is an alcohol related zine for use with Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition.
Justin Isaac of Halls of the Nephilim is the head writer for this project. It is part of Kickstarter's Zine Quest that is happening through the month of February. I will be supplying some artwork and some writing here and there. Also, working on this project is David Coppolletti. You can find some of his artwork in Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells (review coming soon) and the DCC Zine, Gongfarmer's Almanac.
As I write this blog we are just over halfway to being funded. Currently at $510 and the goal is $1,000. And we still have 24 days to go so it looks like this project might actually be funded. And we are super excited about that! If this is funded it will more than likely push us to do more projects together.
I've also recorded an episode on this project over at my Podcast, JB Publishing.
I've checked Kickstarter's site and it appears that there are about 50 or so Zine Quest project. But only one of those has my artwork in it. So if you want to support my artwork and writing then I suggest you go on over and make a pledge. If you can't make a pledge you can still share the Kickstarter to your friends, family, enemies, lovers, coworkers and all people.
Justin Isaac of Halls of the Nephilim is the head writer for this project. It is part of Kickstarter's Zine Quest that is happening through the month of February. I will be supplying some artwork and some writing here and there. Also, working on this project is David Coppolletti. You can find some of his artwork in Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells (review coming soon) and the DCC Zine, Gongfarmer's Almanac.
As I write this blog we are just over halfway to being funded. Currently at $510 and the goal is $1,000. And we still have 24 days to go so it looks like this project might actually be funded. And we are super excited about that! If this is funded it will more than likely push us to do more projects together.
I've also recorded an episode on this project over at my Podcast, JB Publishing.
I've checked Kickstarter's site and it appears that there are about 50 or so Zine Quest project. But only one of those has my artwork in it. So if you want to support my artwork and writing then I suggest you go on over and make a pledge. If you can't make a pledge you can still share the Kickstarter to your friends, family, enemies, lovers, coworkers and all people.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Barael's Blade - The Sword Campaign (Untold Adventures)
I've been thinking for a long while that the music of The Sword would make a great campaign setting. Just, I didn't know what system would be best used for the setting. But I've been listening to them more lately and I realized that Untold Adventures would be perfect for it. The reason for it is the optional rules in the system. Untold Adventures allows for easy creation of custom races and classes to be used.
I've created a magical weapon to be used with Untold Adventures.
Barael's Blade - Medium Weapon
Behold! The bastard's blade. Bane of the demon lord. Slayer of the spider priest. Spiller of the silver blood.
- A warrior's hand and a wizard's mind to wield (Can only be used by a Blade Dancer)
- +2 bonus to-hit & +1d6 damage against demons and the Lor (Silver Blood)
I've created a magical weapon to be used with Untold Adventures.
Barael's Blade - Medium Weapon
Behold! The bastard's blade. Bane of the demon lord. Slayer of the spider priest. Spiller of the silver blood.
- A warrior's hand and a wizard's mind to wield (Can only be used by a Blade Dancer)
- +2 bonus to-hit & +1d6 damage against demons and the Lor (Silver Blood)
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Stock Art - Tentacles and Old Ones
I've recently started to release some stock art on DriveThruRPG.
I've done some drawing in the past and a few years ago I received a Wacom tablet. Shortly after I got my Wacom my PC that I used it on crapped out on me. So I wasn't able to draw for a couple of years. Finally, we got a desktop that allows me to use the Wacom and run GIMP on it. I've been playing with GIMP and trying to get used to it. I still don't know all the tricks and techniques to it. But as I am drawing I am learning more and I've been watching other artists and learning things with GIMP and artistic techniques.
Unlike my One-Page Adventures my Stock Art is not Pay What You Want (Free). And there is a Terms of Use and License attached with each one. Also, each artwork should have a color version and a black & white version.
I'm currently working on a stock art series - Tentacles and Old Ones
It should have roughly ten images in the series. I currently have three completed and available for sell on DriveThruRPG.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Review: Offworlders
Offworlders by Chris. P Wolf with Illustrations and Layout by Olivia Gulin. It is an RPG that is built upon John Harper's World of Dungeons (a personal favorite).
"Offworlders is a science fiction roleplaying game about adventurers, outlaws and guns for hire making their fortune on the rough end of the galaxy. It is designed to be straightforward enough to pick up and be ready to play in just a few minutes as a one-off game, but with enough meat to play a short campaign as well."
If you're familiar with Dungeon World and other Powered by the Apocalypse games then Offworlders is a great addition. Offworlders builds upon the three-page World of Dungeons. It takes the basic mechanics of WoD such as attributes, skills and special abilities and expands upon it much like other PbtA games. It even has the same Class structure as WoD including the simple make your own class rules. The Character Advancement is much like DW. Receiving XP for rolls of 6- and end of session questions.
It has rules on creating the ship the characters are on. The rules are very much like the Character Creation rules. The ship starts with basic stats and modifications and at creation the players, collectively, select two modifications for their ship. Such as, Shuttle Hangar: Comes with a small shuttle which can fly independently, but cannot travel between stars on its own. Ship combat works with the characters taking roles on the ship much like the bridge on Star Trek series. The players make the rolls for the roles they have taken on the ship as if it was combat against character and NPC. There are also Traveling rules and Maintenance rules for your ship.
There are four different classes in Offworlder. Warrior, Outlaw, Geek and Psychic. Each class has five abilities that are unique to them. Examples are - Brute: You deal +2 damage with melee weapons; Jump: Once per scene, you may teleport instantly to a nearby location that you can see. There is also an optional rule of Customizing Class that allows the players to select any two abilities from any of the classes. I prefer this option because it allows the players to get more creative and more precise with their character concept.
I've created a character using the Customizing Classes:
Dr. Ekard
Mutated enhanced four-armed human
Abilities: Heavy Lifting, Chemist
Skills: Athletics, Science
Strength +2
Agility 0
Intelligence +1
Willpower -1
Health 14
Gear 3
Credits 10
Equipment: Energy Ring (Light, melee/range)
The energy ring is a device that Dr. Ekard created that allows him to manipulate kinetic energy into a force he can fire out of his ring either as a ranged blast or a forceful melee attack.
The GM section of the book has a lot of the same rules/concept found in most PbtA games. It also has The Die of Fate rule that is found in WoD. There are rules on creating Jobs. Jobs are essentially Fronts found in DW but a lot more clearer on how it works. One of my favorite things found in the GM section are the tiny paragraphs on NPCs and Non-Player Starships. A lot of minimalist PbtA games don't have a simple skeleton on what the NPCs should look like in terms of game stats. I'm glad that this is here because it helps with on the fly play. The last part in the GM section is on creating star maps, factions and tables. There are five different tables each with thirty-six possible results. The tables: World Types, Themes, Objects In Space, Cargo and Names. These tables are great for on the fly play.
Overall
4 out of 5 stars. There are some typos here and there but nothing serious. Though, the Character Sheet and Ship Sheet in the back of the book I'm not a fan of. It is typed out on a dotted graph paper and I feel that all of those dots are just a distraction to the eyes. And if you start writing on it I'm sure it would be rather difficult to see what is written given that it is already difficult reading what is already typed. If you are looking for a Sci-Fi game that is PbtA then this is it. It doesn't bog you down with rules and it leaves a lot open for the GM to add on or remove from the system. Honestly, Offworlders is probably going to become my go to Sci-Fi game. Lastly, as I posted this review Offworlders is free. So go get it! Also, I hope there is a softcover coming out because I need it.
"Offworlders is a science fiction roleplaying game about adventurers, outlaws and guns for hire making their fortune on the rough end of the galaxy. It is designed to be straightforward enough to pick up and be ready to play in just a few minutes as a one-off game, but with enough meat to play a short campaign as well."
If you're familiar with Dungeon World and other Powered by the Apocalypse games then Offworlders is a great addition. Offworlders builds upon the three-page World of Dungeons. It takes the basic mechanics of WoD such as attributes, skills and special abilities and expands upon it much like other PbtA games. It even has the same Class structure as WoD including the simple make your own class rules. The Character Advancement is much like DW. Receiving XP for rolls of 6- and end of session questions.
It has rules on creating the ship the characters are on. The rules are very much like the Character Creation rules. The ship starts with basic stats and modifications and at creation the players, collectively, select two modifications for their ship. Such as, Shuttle Hangar: Comes with a small shuttle which can fly independently, but cannot travel between stars on its own. Ship combat works with the characters taking roles on the ship much like the bridge on Star Trek series. The players make the rolls for the roles they have taken on the ship as if it was combat against character and NPC. There are also Traveling rules and Maintenance rules for your ship.
There are four different classes in Offworlder. Warrior, Outlaw, Geek and Psychic. Each class has five abilities that are unique to them. Examples are - Brute: You deal +2 damage with melee weapons; Jump: Once per scene, you may teleport instantly to a nearby location that you can see. There is also an optional rule of Customizing Class that allows the players to select any two abilities from any of the classes. I prefer this option because it allows the players to get more creative and more precise with their character concept.
I've created a character using the Customizing Classes:
Dr. Ekard
Mutated enhanced four-armed human
Abilities: Heavy Lifting, Chemist
Skills: Athletics, Science
Strength +2
Agility 0
Intelligence +1
Willpower -1
Health 14
Gear 3
Credits 10
Equipment: Energy Ring (Light, melee/range)
The energy ring is a device that Dr. Ekard created that allows him to manipulate kinetic energy into a force he can fire out of his ring either as a ranged blast or a forceful melee attack.
The GM section of the book has a lot of the same rules/concept found in most PbtA games. It also has The Die of Fate rule that is found in WoD. There are rules on creating Jobs. Jobs are essentially Fronts found in DW but a lot more clearer on how it works. One of my favorite things found in the GM section are the tiny paragraphs on NPCs and Non-Player Starships. A lot of minimalist PbtA games don't have a simple skeleton on what the NPCs should look like in terms of game stats. I'm glad that this is here because it helps with on the fly play. The last part in the GM section is on creating star maps, factions and tables. There are five different tables each with thirty-six possible results. The tables: World Types, Themes, Objects In Space, Cargo and Names. These tables are great for on the fly play.
Overall
4 out of 5 stars. There are some typos here and there but nothing serious. Though, the Character Sheet and Ship Sheet in the back of the book I'm not a fan of. It is typed out on a dotted graph paper and I feel that all of those dots are just a distraction to the eyes. And if you start writing on it I'm sure it would be rather difficult to see what is written given that it is already difficult reading what is already typed. If you are looking for a Sci-Fi game that is PbtA then this is it. It doesn't bog you down with rules and it leaves a lot open for the GM to add on or remove from the system. Honestly, Offworlders is probably going to become my go to Sci-Fi game. Lastly, as I posted this review Offworlders is free. So go get it! Also, I hope there is a softcover coming out because I need it.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
OSRober - Science Fiction/Double Feature
Sabrina Spellman for Six-Shooters & Wagons
Sabrina Spellman
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 2+1
Attacks: Ritual Knife (1d6)
Move: 12
Sabrina may appear to be just a teenage girl but she is actually a half-witch. She can cast two spells a day (refer to Swords & Wizardry Continual Light).
Cure Wounds I, Detect Evil, Spiritual Protection, Bless, Armor, Charm Person, Detect Magic, Light and Sleep.
Dr. Frank N. Furter for Six-Shooters & Wagons
Dr. Frank N. Furter
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 4+1
Attacks: Surgical Knife (1d6) or Ice Pick (1d6-1)
Move: 12
Dr. Frank N. Furter is actually an alien from another planet. He has been on earth hiding in plain site while studying humans. He often hosts large parties that are....out of this world. He has been making a man, with blonde hair and a tan. The perfect man. He will do ANTHING to make sure his creation is completed. Though, his vice is sex with humans.
Sabrina Spellman
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Hit Dice: 2+1
Attacks: Ritual Knife (1d6)
Move: 12
Sabrina may appear to be just a teenage girl but she is actually a half-witch. She can cast two spells a day (refer to Swords & Wizardry Continual Light).
Cure Wounds I, Detect Evil, Spiritual Protection, Bless, Armor, Charm Person, Detect Magic, Light and Sleep.
Dr. Frank N. Furter for Six-Shooters & Wagons
Dr. Frank N. Furter
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 4+1
Attacks: Surgical Knife (1d6) or Ice Pick (1d6-1)
Move: 12
Dr. Frank N. Furter is actually an alien from another planet. He has been on earth hiding in plain site while studying humans. He often hosts large parties that are....out of this world. He has been making a man, with blonde hair and a tan. The perfect man. He will do ANTHING to make sure his creation is completed. Though, his vice is sex with humans.
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