So What the Heck is Midrea?

I've mentioned my game word a time or two on this blog. Its not in my or my players opinion that special, it doesn't really have an edge over any other game world. It is however mine and I suppose theirs too.

What it does do is bring home the fun in several systems which is about all anyone could ask for.

When I bring new players in, here is the sheet I offer them. Its not exactly concise or an elevator pitch but its no so long as to get the TL;DR glazed eye look either.

Welcome to the campaign and to my game worlds, Midrea

Midrea was designed around the five themes

#1 Its coherent: Anything in the game world has to make sense

#2 It has verisimilitude: This is a world where monsters and magic are real and the world is designed to reflect that reality

#3 Its open to virtually any kind of character you can imagine. Pretty much anything Pathfinder goes

#4 Its open to any kind of campaign that can be imagined

#5 The tropes are part of the game. this means that there is a reason that it is a Euro-Centric game world where everyone speaks common and different species live side by side

#6 Its a a bit wahoo, all the older science fantasy traditions, space ships, blasters, aliens, guns, psionics are all part of the world

Take a look at Appendix N and the map and you'll have a good idea about what drives the design.

Until then, lets toss some dies, eats some snack and play.

A few thoughts on continual rewards

One of the things I learned during my GURPS game was just how brilliant the regular measured reward system used in D&D is.

D&D hands out some cookie, experience, a new level, a new spell, magic items, something at every sessions and this is a powerful incentive to continue the game for longer.

While GURPS can be played this way (c.f Dungeon Fantasy) its not the default play. You often get rewards based on what ought to be there rather than Gygaxian Naturalism. This lack of reward, smaller experience awards (1-5 matters but it feels paltry) , less magic items and less treasure takes away a big incentive to play longer.

This can lead to more player boredom , shorter campaigns and more a tendency to "move onto something else" as happened to me . This isn't bad necessarily, games can go on to long and it can even be a real plus especially in todays entertainment option rich world

Still if a longer old fashioned game is whats desired, well its going to require some accomodation

I think its also why GURPS, while an excellent system (been in the world for 26 years) has never reached the popularity of D&D. Its fun but its not the fun most players are looking for.

Dungeon Fantasy of course works to correct this and does a decent job of it, but its still GURPS and while its a loving tribute, its also in my opinion a bit snide too.

I guess its an issue of the Right Tool for the Right Job. Use D&D to play D&D, Use GURPS to play GURPS

18 thoughts on a 5 Stone Retro-Heartbreaker Game

I have no plans to add yet another OSR game to the ring, there are many out there already, with art, layout and design far better than I could do all by my lonesome.

That being said, were I to take the plunge I know what I'd include

#1 7 Stats (Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, Constitution, Fellowship, Will or possibly Wisdom and Perception)

#2 Ascending AC and to hit bonuses.

#3 Level based defense bonus

#4 A definitive end game with the ability to play after that. This includes kingdom building, high level adventuring, strongholds, corporations and more,

#5 Class/Level

#6 Unlimited Cantrips

#7 Vancian Magic

#8 A fully coherent system that handles adventuring tasks, not a skill system but a system for stuff that needs to be adjudicated in game . I think it would be maybe 2d6 based influenced by LOTFP with a classes specializing in some and everyone getting some ability to improve them.

#9 Probably no cleric but there will be cleric type spells.

#10 Several Play Styles (Faeries Tale, Vikings, Swords Sorcery, High Fantasy, Weird)

#11 Support for everything to the musket age

#12 Racial Class Options

#13 Backgrounds not elaborate skills list. I don't know who said this but I tend to agree "The more skills in you game, the dumber your character is"

#14 Talents. Not a feat system but a system of cool extras, optional of course, ala Rolemaster and Arduin and such.

#15 Optionally Zero Level play that stacks.

#16 No multi classing but hybrid classes instead.

#17 Lots of standard gamer races with some mods for more powerful races (for example, to play an ogre in a game that allows it you have to start at a certain level and you get certain things)

#18 LOTFP meets Riddle of Steel style encumbrance.

Old School Design Rants #2 Old School Does Not Mean Incoherent Mechanics

One of my biggest gripes about D&D is the lack of coherent basic mechanics to handle adventuring tasks.

Each game has several subsystems for swimming, climbing walls and doing any of the other things an adventurer might do. Its not necessary to have % "skills" d6 systems, d10 systems and all that, just to be Old School.

While I understand why a retro-clone would include them, it being a clone and all, as James Raggi has shown us with Lament of the Flame Princess, its perfectly possible to have a coherent mechanic to handle stuff that comes up in games that is best handled by the dice.

Old School Design Rants #1 Old School is not a layout or editing style

This is a little series of sorts about old school game design. Mostly personal rants and ideas I think will improve future OSR design.

Rant #1

You do not have to duplicate the poor quality editing and layout of the old games to be old school. As long as your game supports the basic GM centric, high trust, use your own brain not the rulebook set up its old school no matter how its laid out.

Politics, a facet of D&D I really like

No not pseudo feudalism or projecting modern issues into the game. No ,I like that the default assumptions allow people to earn the right to have their own kingdom, to earn power and to use it for ends good and ill.

Unlike Supers games which are pretty much still directed by the Comics Code Status Quo or Modern Fantasy's Masquerade or the impossibility of real in game change in modern games, D&D and its sibs lets you use the power you have earned. Charm the king, slay the tyrant heck be the tyrant, be the tyrant of a 100 worlds . Its an enormous field of possibility.

These days most people don't chose to partakeor really know how but thats changing . Given the release of stuff like Kingmaker (for Pathfinder) and Adventurer Conquerer King, its pretty clear people are starting to realize how much fun this can be. Good for them I say and go conquer something In the Name of the 5 Stone!

Been playing Fable 2 and its implications for table top

OK sure Fable 2 like all such games suffers from the repetitiousness but I'll tell you what, that game is a lot of fun.

Probably too much as I've stared to attach Fable style names to food. Last nights supper was Marrow and Mates and the night before that I had Unicorn Cheese om the hamburger. Yum.

anyway I digress. Fable 2 is enough fun to suggest this law to me.

"As most gamers now have access to X-Box and similar technologies, any successful table top RPG needs to be more fun than a convenient video game or it will fail."

Now mind you back in 1981 and thereabouts this was not an issue. Many players had no console game or computer and even such jewels as Pool of Radiance could not compete with the Table Top Experience . However the modern video game is a lot more compelling and convenient and as such we need to be better and emphasize how much more fun it can be."

If we don't our players will stay home and play WoW or something.

Goodman Games DCC rpg is up for Free Beta test

You can get the free open Beta here

I have downloaded the Dungeon Crawl Classic Beta from Goodman games and am reading through it. Its interesting thus far but I'll have more to say later, likely on the Goodman Games forum as much as here.

So does all this silly stuff mean you prefer humor games?

The answer is of course not . Ideally I want to play something more akin to the ordinary sort of D&D with reasonably serious characters played straight. In other words blog standard secondary world gaming fantasy in the D&D mode.

Of course given the perversities of my players and the sheer volume of silly they bring to the table it only made sense for to accommodate them and allow the weirdness while still having a coherent world.

Basically this enables us both to get what we want, a coherent world and the humorous gaming my players seem to enjoy so much.

So what would a Five Stone Retro-Clone look like?

And no I have no plans to jump into the already crowded market but if I did it would be like this

FS-RC #1 Quick Start

32 pages or less quick start to get people into the game, fast

FS-RC #2 Main Book

128-256 Pages akin to Swords and Wizardry Complete or Dark Dungeons. Quite complete

FS-RC #3 Monster Palooza

A big book of monsters basically . Unlike most of these it would include reprints of the main book monsters.

FS-RC #4

128+ pages of optional rules, more spells and enough stuff to run for a very long time. This would include alternate settings (Oriental, Viking, Pirates, Rome, etc)

Rules wise it would be a mix of everything from S&W to 2e and in-between modded into coherent whole with an emphasis on clear easy to run rules that work together.

Classes would

Fighter
Ranger
Thief
White Wizard (the non cleric divine caster)
Black Wizard (arcane caster)
Bard

each one pertaining to a stat and with a range of lenses similar to kits that allow common archetypes to be easily created

Races would include all the basics plus the alternates (in the companion)

Supporting the game (and providing the bread and butter) would be the world book, the regional modules , adventures and if the demand was there a magazine.

All crunch of course would be OGL and as an added bonus free to download as web support. If after several years, a lot of options were created, they'd be complied and we'd release new companions. This way no one needs chase out of print magazines or buy PDF's just to get a new spell or the like.

Of course such a model is unsupportable in this market but there ya go, how I'd do it ….

Three kinds of options that are never clutter

There are three kinds of options that, so long as they are well organized that really never become clutter and no matter how many you have any game came benefit from them

1st, Magic Items

You can never have too many of these for a campaign, not only to add variety but also to make jaded players happy. Instead of yet another +2 sword, nothing lights up a players eyes faster than something cool like a Sword of Thorn-Spray or something cool.


2nd Spells

Since you get to control which of these come into the game, I figure you can never have too many well thought out balanced interesting spells. Now most of the time you'll only use one or two of them in any given encounter, but in a long campaign, well, more spells is not going to be too much of a good thing. Why I especially enjoy having a variety is that it keeps those jaded players who think they have seen everything on their toes and gets them more involved .

And yes I have been players side of this, I love it.


3rd Monsters

I rarely use monsters but so long as they are well divided by type, you can never have too many. Even enormous books like the upcoming Compiled Tome of Horrors (1000 pages!) are not wretched excess. Instead its simply more variety and thats a fine thing .


Needless to say the Magic Item Compendium and the Encyclopedia Magica (back from 2e) along with the various random magic item systems , the Spell Compendium and 2e's Wizard and Priest Compendiums were among my favorite books. So much good stuff for the plucking ...

What if there are too many options in D&D (open)

Just something I am thinking about..

What if more options doesn't improve the game but makes it incoherent and less fun?

Instead of allowing all sorts of things, maybe its better to just set up front limits and play from there.

Instead of the dozens of classes and archetypes and prestige classes and such, maybe the older rules were right to limit classes (ignoring Dragon Magazine of course) and abilities just to encourage creativity and play instead of so much "char-op" and metagaming

Let me ask is it possible all this hoo-hah started back with 2e and for those who didn't put the kibosh on them stuff started for many peopleto get "less fun" with kits and all the options.

What do y'all think?

Sure You Can Play That

One of the key ideas behind the 3x version of Midrea is that like some of the old school games (think Expedition to the Barrier Peaks , The Sheen Invasion from 2e and even as far back as Blackmoor) almost anything goes in Midrea.

I can fit in almost any concept without making the game world too absurd. The only rules are

#1 The players have to all agree to that level of Wahoo

#2 Don't make anything that would offend others

#3 and last: The game has to be high enough level


Let me show you some examples, 6 new players, 6th level game each with a wild concept..

#1 Concept: A Paladin based on that Chick from the Heavy Metal movie only a Dude

Solution: A Paladin with the Shining Knight option. Spend 5th level feat to treat mount as a Pegasus. Make magic items look cool

#2 Concept: A Combat Robot from another time with integral blaster and combat software

Solution: Warforged race, Warlock levels to cover integrals and Warblade abilities to cover combat software. Use Martial Study and Extra Invocation where needed to mix.


#3 Concept: A Magical Talking cat

Solution: Create cat racial template off base stats plus awaken spell, give Sorcerer with Dreamspun bloodline levels as Wizard Levels are just too silly. Since cats don't have hands, give said cat equivalent of Vow of Poverty feat. Drop Exalted Feats for a Neck Slot and optionally Bonded Item ability.

#4 Concept: A Time Lost Psychic Super Soldier (probably from the universe the Robot is from)

Solution: Human Psychic Warrior. His "ultra tech" items are just re-skinned wands, magic armor and such. In time as he levels up he can gain new items (repair stuff he already had) or "recharge" new ones as per building new items ...

#5 Concept: The Perfected Flesh Golem

Solution: Warforged with no innate armor, use the Factotum class to represent myriad abilities and powers.

#6 Concept: Zombie Wolverine with necrotic claws .. By now I am probably going Why Me ? but its doable with a bit of effort

Solution: Longclaw Shifter with Necropolitan Template treat as ECL+1 for stat assignment. Use a mix of Barbarian, Dread Necromancer and Rage Mage prestige class tweaked as needed. Allow the Dread Necromancer touch ability to be used with claws.

and viola, with a little re-skinning almost anything can be made

A Core Idea: Balance is in the numbers

One of the core ideas I use in my games is one I learned long ago from Champions and from an excellent 2e encounter is this

Game Balance is in the Numbers not in the flavor. In D&D terms this means a spell is 3rd level not because its a Fireball but because it does 1d6 per level in a 20 radius. Push comes to shove, it doesn't matter if the spell is fire, ice, screaming skulls and puss yellow beetles so long as the level is the same and the relative ability to defend remains.

Now later editions can complicate things with spell schools and such (certain specialties do not get certain kids of magic effects) but as a general thing you can name a monster, a spell or a class whatever you want and "reskin" it as anything and it won't hurt your game.

In my next post, you'll see how this can be applied to allow D&D, especially the later editions to make almost any kind of character ...

The origin of 5 Stone

I know its a bit silly but I named my company for a fictional game called 5 Stones not the real life version related to knucklebones . 5 stone was inspired by Go, Gorean Chess and by the game Shent played by the Elf Analog Sithi in Tad Williams Memory Sorrow and Thorn Trilogy .

Shent of course was probably inspired by Go in some strange circular fashion although TV Tropes Wiki suggests its closer to Calvinball or Fizbin.

My version of 5 Stone of course has no set rules as while I guess I am gamde designer of sorts I am not that good. In game I typically call for a skill check and put it under profession or in older versions, where appropriate Intelligence or wisdom check.

I imagine playing 5 Stone involves placing a series of stones on a board and making patterns and captures. The winner then has the highest score.

A game of 5 stone takes twelve turns, each of which can take up to 2 hours . Each of those turns represents a month and a sign of the zodiac and this influences how patterns are scored.

After twelve turns if the game is tied, eleven single placements plays, each based on one of the sun sign cusps are performed and the points are tallied. Ties are very rare

A 5 stone set has a 40 by 40 board and sets of stones , each with 73 stones and an extra unmarked starting stone called a fate stone.

Each stone is numbered, 1 for each day of the year and divided into 5 different elements marked with various signs.

Five stone sets are also for divination but thats a separate thing entire and is somewhat like a cross between runic divination and tarotmancy ...

Confusingly in my campaign there are two other games sometimes called 5 Stones, one is played with small stones and is quite similar to knucklebones , its sometimes called "Tossing the Elements" or "Little Fives" and another game played with 25 pieces (5 groups of 5 each) called "Mage Stones" or "5 by 5"

Guns on Midrea Where and Who

Guns can be bought on Midrea at Firhom at a place called "The Gunshop" . Getting in requires a permit which requires some questions to be answered in a zone of truth and costs 500GP

They can also be bought at the Harrow Dwell by members and at a magic shop of Freepor as well.

Users of firearms include

#1 a few rich folk (they are a prestige item)
#2 a few adventurers,
#3 The Morris Family (for complicated reasons I'll get to later)
#4 The First Guard ( Elite Guard of Firhom)
#5 The Firestorm Regiment (also a Firhom)
#6 The Defenders of the Republic (in Brin)
#7 The Deadeyes
and last #8 The Magisters Elite (who are armed with magic firearms)

Guns on Midrea Rules Thoughts

Rules wise I found it simpler to graft on the rules bits from D20 Modern spiced with a spot of the new pathfinder . This set up is compatible with 3x and the rules while far from perfect work well enough for me.

Costing firearms was a bit trickier

Typically I assume flintlocks cost about 3x what an equivalent bow does with ammo running roughly 1sp per point of maximum damage the weapon can do. Lead balls can be had anywhere for about a copper..

Modern Firearms are a but pricey, costing around 1000 for a handgun and 5000 for a long gun, based on weight and the cost of the casting of 7th level spell plus markup.

Ammunition is also crazy expensive costing costing about 15GP per handgun round and 30GP per shotshell or Rifle round. This premium keeps the number of them in circulation small. The small number of casters capable of handling 7th level spells means that the number of military units with these weapons is small.

As for energy weapons, they exist but are rare and cannot be bought.

As above I tend to use modified D20 Moder/Pathfinder rules.

Modern and Futuristic Firearms in Midrea

One of the aspects I wanted to borrow from the old Greyhawk and Judges Guild settings was the occasional bit of wahoo.

Stuff like Murylnd the Gunslinger and Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, that whole "its a game,lets have fun" aspect rather than the This is a Secondary World style we saw later in things like the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance

The usual approach, Gate spells, was fine but given Midrea does have regular traffic with other I needed something better.

Eventually I decided that not only do firearms and ammunition and energy weapons and the like a exist on Midrea but can be bought for a hefty price.

How this works is simple.

Every so often such weapons filter in to Midrea from the various gates. While its beyond the local technology to make them and of course the local physical laws make more ammo impossible, they can be magically repaired with a "Mending" spell and duplicated with a spell called Spandrel's Duplicator.

Any of the ones bought are duplicates of the limited number that exist on the world. Now these duplicates are permanent and function normally but as few of the weapons would qualify as Masterwork (there are only 3 known weapons) magic firearms or energy weapons are few and far between.

Magic ammunition is far more common as many high end commercial rounds qualify.

Thus is a player wants to play a gunman, he or she can without overbalancing the world.

Gunpowder in Midrea

One of the biggest design issues I came across when I decided to formalize my game world was "What to do about gunpowder" Its a common enough problem in most fantasy worlds but its exacerbated by the multi-dimensional sandbox aspect of the world.

A while back though I came up with an answer. Simply, gunpowder doesn't work, the recipe is known but do to "magical material saturation" ,the same thing that makes magic items and alchemy work, a number of normal chemical processes don't.

It sounds like the usual cop-out but actually it isn't for yes there is gunpowder, not made by alchemy and in fact as Astute readers will have noted there is a Gunpowder Empire.

How this works is dragons and several other beasties eat the material that make up gunpowder and digest the magic. Get yourself some dragon or disenchanter dung, apply the usual recipes and viola, gunpowder.

This means, few people use firearms outside that one are but if the players want them they are there if characters have the money and do a little looking around.

This keeps firearms from dominating battle fields but allows me a full on flintlock ear technology.

And just in case anyone is wondering, there are magic firearms. They are made about the same way as regular items.

Real Life Level Titles

Yes this is kind of tacky as its about female drug cartel assassins but still I was taken by the almost D&D-ish aspects of the set up.

The original article is here

but this is the relevant part

Men, they do it for fun, because they enjoy killing, it makes them feel like big sh** Screw that. Us women, we get into this for the money. Well at least that was the way it was for me. That we get into this for love, that’s bullsh**. Like I was saying: I got into this when I was twenty years old. At first I was a “cleaner,” I mopped up vomit and blood. After I was a messenger and a gopher, and from there, I moved up to a “condor”—I hunted down the enemies. Then I was a “lynx”—I abducted and tortured people, and from there I became a sicaria [assassin]. That’s the way it went down, vato. Since then, I’ve been a killer.

What struck me most aside from the violence, which is an unpleasant part of human nature is how
D&D the whole thing was. As the lady in question gained experience through violence, her skills improved and her guild, in this case, the cartel, trusted her with more difficult work. She even had a title at each stages.

L1 Cleaner
L2 Messenger
L3 Gopher
L4 Condor
L5 Lynx
L6 Sicaria (Spanish for Assassin, name level basically)

Its kind of sobering to think how when we play more unscrupulous characters how close we are to playing these kids of people. Now mind , I am not making a moral objection, here I am not TSR circa 1989 or anything. And to be frank, being bad has its attractions just as much as being good at least as long as its fiction anyway.