Just Ten?

I came across an interesting blog post via DungeonsMaster that was posted from Untimately. A rather simple question is posed that took a lot more thought to answer than I expected. That question was simply this: if you could only keep ten of your printed RPG books, which would you pick? I don't think I have the viewership to pose that question myself, but I can certainly offer an answer.

Initially, I spent a good deal of time reading other people's responses. It might just be based on my own perception (check), but it seemed like a lot of people clung mostly to one game line (D&D for example) or one sort of broader linked area (OSR games) barring an exception here or there. I suppose I don't fall into any sort of norm with that. After a lot of deliberation my own list is all over the place. Some old, some new, OSR, fantasy, horror, anime inspired and beyond. In the end, my list also ended up skewing solely towards core rule books. I noticed in a lot of the lists, people had selected modules or source books. There's certainly nothing wrong with that approach and when weighing the actual physical RPG books I own there were some tough calls.

I guess when it came down to the bottom line, when I began to consider the idea of only having ten printed RPG books my train of thought led me to the idea that I should just be selecting core rule books. At the end of the day, I can make up additional content (whether it is as good as printed content is a different story) and I can design my own plots and adventures. The core rules for a certain genre or style could go a lot further, in my eyes. I also tried to avoid grouping multiple books together. I saw a lot of that and while I get the logic, I wanted to adhere to the base question as much as possible (though in one instance I had to break my own rule). Again, neither approach is wrong. This is just the mindset I went into while parsing down my collection into ten books. And to be honest, it was pretty tough. I think every official DCC module I have picked up since the new RPG launched are all top notch five star material. It would be rough to let them go.

Likewise, I feel a little bad that as important as 4e is to me (got me back into the hobby, I have played or ran it almost weekly since then and it takes up a majority focus with this blog) it didn't manage to get a book into this list. I think that is in part due to how much content for the game is available in digital format. When you never consult the books 95% of the time, they tend to not keep much of a hold on you. However, the fact does remain that in this scenario losing the 4e books I own would not really impede my playing of running of it due to the digital tools available. I suppose then that if I could give an honorable mention it would go to the Rules Compendium which is excellently put together and probably my, and many 4e players', most used resource at the table.

So if I could only keep ten of my printed RPG books here are my picks, in no certain order:

1) Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG: Easily the game I am most excited about right now. DCC won me over with its Free RPG Day preview. If I could only keep playing one game this might be very strong in the running. I like the feel the game tries to present and the gritty sword & sorcery tone it has. To me, this is my D&D NEXT. I haven't posted anything on this blog about my feelings on 5th but they are not positive. Rather than being a proper evolution (which is what a name like NEXT suggests to me) it feels like WOTC is backpedaling to try and win back old fans. DCC on the other hand is a step into new territory while also holding to a lot of old school (and OSR) conventions while still being new and fresh. The artwork is also gorgeous and the best I have seen in an RPG product for quite some time.

2) World of Darkness Core Rules: For a long time, White Wolf's World of Darkness was the only tabletop RPG I would play. After moving away from D&D I bounced around trying a lot of games and finally settled on WoD. I have always been a fan of horror stories/films and I liked how simple the game was to run and deal with. At the time, it really felt like it was the first thing I played that was outright designed to put the story first. Ultimately, I ended up riding out the "Time of Judgement" that heralded the current (new) World of Darkness and though there are differing opinions, I prefer it over the old (though I enjoy both still to this day). The rules were super streamlined and fixed a lot of the quirks in the old system. It also helped that, this time, the game was designed from the ground up to better handle crossovers between the various supernatural splats. The core rules (blue book) alone is extremely useful in my opinion. With it alone you could easily run a lot of different styles of horror games or even other genres like a cop drama or some high action mob film style affair.

3) Big Eyes, Small Mouth Revised 2nd Edition: Being such a big fan of anime, it is only natural that some of the picks in my ten would be anime-themed RPG's. I initially discovered Guardians of Order, believe it or not, through their Sailor Moon Roleplaying Game & Resource Book which used a modified version of the BESM system. Sailor Moon happened to be one of the earliest anime that I had a chance to see. Call it mass appeal or my friends and I were just weird, but we all enjoyed and once we stumbled across a tabletop RPG for it several of us picked it up. We played a surprisingly lengthy, given the source material, game with the PC's cast as members in the Negaverse and though it played out much more light-hearted and comical it was probably my first taste of a villain/chaotic campaign. I enjoyed the system and how well it hit the feel of Sailor Moon that I always kept a look out for the GOO logo.

That led to stumbling across BESM2R which was basically more of the same, but with even more content and broad enough to cover any type of anime. It is my go to game for running anything anime-related barring the Mecha genre. While the rules aren't that bad (and much less of a nuisance than the overbearing rules-heavy approach of stuff like Mechwarrior or Mekton; just not my style), they also don't feel to me like they are (or act out in play as) very evocative of the Mecha genre in anime.

4) Chris Perrin's Mecha: So if I don't use BESM to cover Mecha anime (perhaps my favorite genre) then what? I have spent a very long time looking over systems and trying them out to find that one game that really struck me for running an anime Mecha rpg. I first stumbled across mentions of Chris Perrin's Mecha through a thread on rpg.net about what system to use for a mecha game. It was the only one in the thread that was unknown to me and after stumbling on the actual site and the drivethrurpg page I was intrigued. I ended up downloading the quick start and instantly fell in love. It was rules-light (my favorite), but still captured the feel of the genre.

It even included built in rules to really hammer home the feel of watching a Mecha anime such as having an opening theme to play at each session's start, using background music for combat and constructing the story into Episodes that follow a similar flow in construction. I ran a short-lived play-by-post game and it was a lot of fun, but I'd really like to try a game at the actual table with the music and everything. It's just a matter of finding the right people I suppose. Chris Perrin is a pretty cool guy, in any case, and there's actually  a sourcebook on the way called Mecha Combiners which caters to the combining giant robot genre for stuff like Voltron.

5) Weird West RPG: One of the main points of discussion here at this blog! I sort of picked up Weird West on a random whim. For a long time I frequently checked drivethrurpg for reviews or info on RPG products, but I just never made that leap to getting digital releases beyond freebie indie stuff that was distributed online by the creator. With the release of DCC I decided to finally bite the bullet and picked up Perils of the Sunken City, the first 3rd-party release for the system by Purple Sorcerer Games. Aside from being an excellent module (it's hard to pick a favorite 3rd party publisher for DCC because all of it is so good, but Purple Sorcerer would be in the running for #1 in my book), it also warmed me up to the idea of owning RPG material just in digital format. So one day, in boredom, I was scrolling through the best seller list for small press publishers and happened upon Weird West. The low page count and dollar price tag made it seem like a joke, but it had several good reviews and also some references to OSR so I decided on a whim to pick it up.

It turned out to be an excellent little game. It's pretty much a stripped down version of the original D&D, in my eyes, flavored for the weird west genre. I love the genre and I love how fast the game plays as well as how easily it lends itself towards making up new rules, content and what not. The PocketMod concept is a great idea too and yes, pictured here is one of my own printed out copies of the PocketMod. They say a dollar doesn't go a long way anymore, but if you use to buy this game I think you can get far more gaming hours back than what you put in.

6) Call of Cthulhu 6th Edition: H.P. Lovecraft is one of my all time favorite authors so Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu being on this list is not a big shocker. I picked up this book, yes it's a hardback copy, years ago and never had a chance to try it out. BRP is a nice straightforward system though it gets a bit wonky in combat to me; I'm looking forward to see how the 7th Edition will change things. While World of Darkness might be my top choice of all time for horror roleplaying, I think it is just easier to turn to CoC for something rooted solely in the Lovecraftian realm of focus. A lot of us buy RPG books and they end up sitting shelves and never being used. Sometimes we wonder about getting rid of them and sometimes we do.

Call of Cthulhu sat on my shelf for probably six years or so without seeing any play. Then, just a few months ago I got invited to play in a game and I was so glad that I always held onto this book. The campaign has been pretty fun. it is set in the Modern Era and the Keeper has basically worked out much of the standard Cthulhu Mythos (wiping them out or having them pretty much put out of focus back in the 1920's) and instead replaced them with a modern sort of Mythos drawing from things like J-Horror, Creepypasta and popular internet media like Slenderman. Like DCC, it's on my list to get around talking about eventually as I have had a lot of fun with the system.

7) Demon: The Fallen: My first dip back into the same game line with this list; though arguably it is for the (old) World of Darkness so to some degree it is different. Demon is hands down my favorite of the supernatural splats for the oWoD. I was a latecomer to WoD so Demon was just hitting the shelves and as I worked on picking up a backlog of core books little did I know that it was almost at its end. It might be seen as a controversial game to some, but I always thought it had a certain charm. It clearly drew a lot off of Milton's Paradise Lost and to some degree was really a modernization of that motif. I really enjoyed the struggle placed on characters between embracing the monsters they had fallen into or trying to walk the hard road in the hopes of redemption. For all the supernatural elements and reliance of Christian imagery, that's really a very personal human tale; in my opinion. It was hard for me to decide between Demon or the Dark Ages stuff they put out which was also excellent.

I settled on Demon for the simple fact that I could not pick just one Dark Ages book and this game will always have a special place for me due to a rather long running campaign I ran during high school. It was my first time really running something long term and serious. The first time where I held a session solely devoted to sitting down and coming up with a background for each player's character and figuring out who these people were within the confines of our story. Time of Judgement was launched amid our campaign so I picked up the book and we had a fitting and highly epic conclusion.

It was a very satisfying experience and I think particularly so because it did end. So often we start a tabletop RPG and things never come to fruition. Like a long running television show, issues arise and eventually things just stop never to continue or be resolved. So while this wasn't some spectacular multi-year game, it was a defined story with a start and a finish; something I will always remember.

8) Labyrinth Lord/Advanced Edition Companion: So this is my one exception to my desire of keeping to a single book per entry. I love Labyrinth Lord. After 4e got me back into the hobby, I stumbled across the OSR and everything that went along with it. AD&D had been my introduction to tabletop roleplaying so there was something of a desire to recapture that feeling. I looked over a lot of the big names LL itself, Swords & Wizardry, OSRIC and so forth. In the end, Labyrinth Lord was my favorite. Mixed with the AEC to run 1st Edition it really felt a lot like how we played the game when I was introduced to things rather than the books as written. Best as I can tell, that was the goal with the AEC so mission accomplished. I also enjoy how compatible it is right out of the gate with classic modules or event content designed for other OSR games. If it is not 4e then this is really what I'd prefer to play in the D&D front.

I was lucky enough to take part in a game at Forge-Con this year and it was excellent; especially hanging out with some other people just as passionate about a game that a lot of people I encounter have never heard of. It tends to be one of my go to suggestions when those interested ask about free games as the offer of no-art pdf copies is an excellent idea. While I enjoy B/X as well and the core LL book is great, AD&D just has that nostalgia pull for me so I have to list the core book and its expansion as a "set" for this entry.

9) Star Wars Roleplaying Game 2nd Edition: This was likely the first non-D&D tabletop I ever had a chance to experience. A copy of the core book just sort of fell into the lap of a friend by chance and we all loved Star Wars so it was an exciting idea. I picked up my copy of the book this year at Forge-Con and I was happy to have it again and in such good shape. This entry might be mostly dominated by nostalgia. My friend that ran us through several games, re-starting multiple times, played things fast and loose making things up as he went. However, we had a blast. I'll never forget how in each game he would allow one of us to stumble across a broken lightsaber and lay down hints that somewhere in the galaxy we might be able to find a wise old Jedi capable of repairing it and teaching someone the ways of the Force. On a more serious note, West End Game's d6 system is excellent and plays really well in my eyes. I was happy to learn, as I got back into the hobby, that it's been experiencing its own old school revolution with releases like Mini-Six (I regret not picking up a copy at Forge) and Azamar.

10) All Flesh Must Be Eaten: And we come to the end on another horror game. I really do love horror stories/movies so that's probably got some influence. Again, a level of nostalgia taints this choice but I still think it is a warranted choice. One of the last games I ran before getting out of the hobby for awhile was a one-shot for some friends I have known since I was in kindergarten. I showed up with the book and a few character sheets telling the players to stat up themselves. Following this we began as I ran them through a typical day in their life, but naturally things ended up falling apart as a zombie outbreak occurred. It was very free form but also very fun. Since we all knew our hometown well it was easy for them to visualize what was going on and decide a course of action and likewise just as easy for me to come up with stuff on the fly based on where they were going. For one night, we had our own very personal zombie flick.

Could I run a zombie apocalypse with WoD? Yes. However, AFMBE just has that perfect feel for the genre built right in with its mechanics and how the book presents things. I guess that seems to be a trend for me. Like Chris Perrin's Mecha or Call of Cthulhu some games just perfectly capture that feeling of the genre they represent within the system itself and I find that really appealing. With the surging popularity of The Walking Dead I'd like to think this book might be seeing some more use in the future.

So that's my list. If I could only keep ten of my printed RPG books, the above would be my choices. I stuck primarily to core rule books because I felt that would get me the most mileage; of course any approach would work so long as you were pleased with what you kept. It's certainly an eclectic mix of games covering a lot of different genre. Again, this goes back to why I decided to name this blog after an old collection of Sword & Sorcery tales that hit in all across the wide range of the genre.

A Level 1 Weird West Bestiary & Wilderness Encounter Table

So here is the final bit of content I have made for the Weird West RPG that I thought about sharing. The adventure I am running my play-by-post game through is set around a town named Ridgewood. A significant portion of the module involves tracking a gang through the wilderness surrounding the town so I whipped up a small listing of antagonists for the area along with an accompanying wilderness encounter table to roll off of. I have always been a fan of such tables and I had a lot of fun designing one myself.

I was a bit reluctant to share this here since I know my players are aware of this blog. However, I have always felt that one of the truly lacking areas of Weird West was that there were no pre-made enemies presented for new people that were interested in playing to make use of . Since I imagine only about one or two will actually scope out this post and they tend to be the responsible type of players, I feel like it's more important to put this out there and share than keep it under wraps until the adventure concludes; play-by-post tends to run pretty slow.

So what follows is just a collection of enemy write-ups presented in alphabetical order. They are all pretty much geared around level 1 adventurers; though some are supposed to be considerable threats and are thus higher (one always needs to know when to fight and when to flee). Following that you'll find the wilderness encounter table I drafted up. The listing might be light on the "weird" element, but that is intentional. The adventure I am running is designed to mostly be straight spaghetti western barring the rare roll on the table and one forced encounter around the middle of the module. It is simply meant to slowly ween the party into the weirder elements that can appear in the setting before going full blast down the line. To give a bit more context, the adventure takes place in the Arizona Territory during the time of the civil war.

If you've stumbled across this blog or were referred here by someone and have an interest in running Weird West feel free to make use of these enemy write-ups and the encounter table. They are my own interpretations and I feel like they are pretty solid, but if they don't suit your tastes or needs then go ahead and tweak them to your liking:

Amateur Sharpshooter
Level: 1
Stamina: d8
Fighting: 2
Skill: 1
Magic: 0
Grit: 1
Attack: Rifle (d10) or Knife (d4)

Chupacabra
Level: 4
Stamina: d6
Fighting: 4
Skill: 2 (5)
Magic: 1
Grit: 4
Attack: Bite (d8) or Claw (d6)
Special: Quick Critter (Defense is +3)

Ghoul
Level: 1
Stamina: d4
Fighting: 1
Skill: 1
Magic: 1
Grit: 1
Attack: Bite or Claw (d4)
Special: Characters killed by a Ghoul will arise as a Ghoul themselves in 1d4 days.

Outlaw
Level: 1
Stamina: d6
Fighting: 1
Skill: 1
Magic: 0
Grit: 1
Attack: Handgun (d8) or Knife (d4)

Ronin
Level: 1
Stamina: d8
Fighting: 1
Skill: 1
Magic: 1
Grit: 1
Attack: Katana (d8)
Special: Iaido (Has "Fastest Gun in the West" Ability).

Wolf
Level: 1
Stamina: d4
Fighting: 1
Skill: 2
Magic: 0
Grit: 1
Attack: Bite (d6) or Claw (d4)

As mentioned, below is my wilderness encounter table designed to work alongside the above list of antagonists. In the adventure I am running, I have abstracted the wilderness movement merely requiring X number of checks on this table as the "distance" between important locations. Originally a 12 resulted in nothing happens, but it seemed to me that in a game like this something wild or interesting should always happen. The dice rolls notated after combat encounters denote what you should roll to determine the size of the enemy party. If you have particular ideas in mind you can always feel free to hand wave and pick an exact number. The Chupacabra, if encountered, is intended to be a pretty frightening experience so I would suggest maxing its Stamina rather than rolling for it.

A number of the results are difficult tasks and most are pretty straightforward from their description; with the required check notated in parenthesis. The only one that might need some context is number 6. I also happen to have a rumor table for the town (might share that down the line, but much of it is module specific and wouldn't be much use on its own) and one rumor talks about a confederate company active in the area that people say forcibly conscript anyone they come across. If used in your own games that could always be flavored as something else or swapped out entirely for a different difficult task:

Ridgewood Area Wilderness Encounters
1) Combat: Wolves (1d6)
2) Difficult Task: Desert Heat & Exposure (Grit 2)
3) Combat: Outlaws (1d6)
4) Difficult Task: One Party Member (chosen at random) is bitten by Rattlesnake (Grit 2)
5) Combat: Ronin (1d4)
6) Difficult Task: Hide from Confederate Company (Skill 1)
7) Combat: Outlaws (1d6) + Amateur Sharpshooter (1)
8) Difficult Task: Track Directions (Skill 2)
9) Combat: Ghoul (1d10)
10) Difficult Task: Clear Debris Blocking the Trail (Fight 1)
11) Combat: Chupacabra (1)
12) Wandering Merchant (Will sell mundane goods/supplies and/or gamble cards at Skill 5)

House Rules for Weird West

As mentioned, I am now going to post some more original content for the Weird West RPG. I really love this game and after some pretty heavy searching on the web, I feel like it's pretty sad that there's not a lot of fan content out there for it; so let's change that. The first one is pretty simple. We all wanted there to be a random element with regards to initiative so it was just a matter of adding back in a rolling mechanic to things and using level as a means to scale it. The second house rule we are using is the far more interesting one of the two, in my opinion.

When everyone happened to still be creating characters, the question came up about having a duel with someone. I spent some time mulling over it and came up with a house rule to cover it. It mostly plays out like standard combat, which I think fits the motif of trying to stay simple, but makes things much more fast and deadly. In my mind, that is how a duel between two gunslingers should feel. The dueling mechanic was pretty well received by my players. I might post a more detailed play report down the line, but the house rule saw use right out of the gate.

The party turned up in a small town all gathering there to seek out a man that had a bounty placed on his head. His gang had been terrorizing said town and demanding a cut of all the profits from every store in town as well as the nearby mines. The party happened to arrive on a day the gang and their leader came to collect and one of the players rather boldly challenged their current "Big Bad" to a duel. It was an interesting turn of events and the kind of thing that excites me; having the players throw you a curve ball. Unfortunately, some of the other players interrupted and forced things into a shoot out instead. 

It was likely for the best, the antagonist happened to have the "Fastest Gun in the West" ability. Though it would have been interesting to consider what would happen if he had missed and the player struck the killing blow forcing me to drastically change how the story progressed. So here are the two house rules we are currently running in our game. Feel free to use them or even take them and change/expand upon them. If we happen to add more as our game continues, I will be sure to share them:

House Rule #1: Initiative
This is what the book says on Initiative: "Higher-level characters act first, and players go first in case of a tie." I suppose I am just a fan of having an element of random luck so here is what we will be doing:

1) At the start of combat everyone rolls a d20+their level to determine initiative. You can feel free to delay your turn and act at a lower spot in the order (much like D&D). I'll treat enemies like D&D: generics of the same type will key off together.

2) "Fastest Gun in the West" works as written. If you have this Weird Ability you go first. If other combatants in the fight have it then you all are at the top of the order ranked by Fighting stat. If there is a tie with the fighting stat then a d20 will be rolled on both sides to see who goes first.

House Rule #2: Duel
A staple of the Western genre. A duel is a noble showdown between two people. A stand-off where only one walks away the victor. To initiate a Duel both characters involved (be they two PC's or a PC and an Antagonist/NPC) must agree to having a Duel and the terms involved. If this condition is not cleared then no Duel will occur. Once a Duel has been set, carry it out with the following steps:

1) The two characters taking part in the Duel roll for initiative as per House Rule #1. "Fastest Gun in the West" functions as normal and ties are resolved as listed in House Rule #1.

2) The first to go calls where they are shooting and makes an attack roll. If they hit the effect of where that shot is placed will occurs. If the shot was intended to be non-fatal aiming for an area such as the hand or leg then the natural effect of being shot there would take place and the target is dealt regular damage. If the shot was at the other person's gun, for example, they would be disarmed. If the shot was intended to be fatal then the other character is dead. In either case, a successful hit ends the Duel.

3) If the first character misses, then the second gets to make a shot. This resolves as per the previous step. If the second character misses as well, then play rotates back and forth until someone has scored a hit.

Having Fun with the Weird West RPG

I stumbled upon Stuart Robertson's Weird West RPG several months ago when browsing DrivethruRPG. For one buck, it is an excellent deal. I immediately fell in love with the vague style/setting implied by the game and being a stripped down version of D&D meant the game plays really fast; fitting for a western. I have started a slower paced play-by-post game for some of my friends at my forum and it has been going great so far. It is mostly drawing a lot from the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns as well as Jonah Hex. Thus far falling decidedly more in the supernatural/horror-side of things with the weird west genre over science-fiction. 

However, as far as my players have gone things have mostly been played straight as a western. I am hoping to bring in the "weirder" elements slowly before going full blast. I have been working up a lot of original content for use in the game. In any case, I have also designed some new weird abilities for the game based on things the players have requested or mentioned would be interesting to see in the future. I thought I would share these here:

Aeromancy – You can direct razor sharp gusts of wind against your foes.
Requires: Magic 2. 3 times/day. Ignores Armour. Weapon: d12

Cryomancy – You can direct shards of ice against your foes.
Requires: Magic 2. 3 times/day. Ignores Armour. Weapon: d12

Dead Eye – Roll 1d6. You can attack that many times this turn.
Requires: Magic 2 and Skill 2. 1 time/day. Only usable with Handgun. Must have ammo for each attack.

Legendary Gambler – Skills is +3 when gambling.
Requires: Magic 1. Difficult Task.

Pyromancy – You can blasts of fire against your foes.
Requires: Magic 2. 3 times/day. Ignores Armour. Weapon: d12

Quick Trigger – You can reload as a free action.
Requires: Magic 1 and Skill 2.

Two-Handed Gunslinger – You can fight with a weapon in each hand and attack with both in one action.
Requires: Magic 1 and Skill 2 . The off-hand attack suffers a -4 penalty.

Vampiric Attraction – Skills is +3 when dealing with humans.
Requires: Magic 1. Difficult Task.

I have also given some thought to later game progression. I toyed with the idea of creating Advanced and Master versions of power. For example, the Advanced and Master versions of something like Pyromancy might add more uses per day. Advanced and Master Two-Handed Gunslinger might progressively scale down the off-hand penalty. My own game is still merely starting so there's some time before I need to tinker or consider such things. Odds are we may never get that far; there's probably a good reason there are more adventures and content for the lower levels in most roleplaying games.

As a final little bonus, here is the sole piece of new equipment I have added to the game in honor of Fistful of Dollars:

Breastplate: +1**
**Flat +1 that's applied on general attacks or ones aimed specifically for the chest. If the attack is aimed/called anywhere besides the chest then this +1 is ignored. Can be concealed under clothing.

I have considered the fact that by adding so much it is a little against the spirit of the game as it is designed. Still, I really love how simple the core rules are and it makes for very fast play; even in a play-by-post format. We have had a lot of fun out of the new content so I feel like it is worthwhile. Among my players, we have jokingly made reference that eventually as things continue we will have "Advanced Weird West".

If you happen to be playing the Weird West RPG or intend to feel free to make use of the above content in your own games. I have some house rules and other fan-made content for Weird West which I will likely post up in the future for anyone to make use of. The adventure I have the players currently going through is written up mostly in notes/short hand at this point. It might be a bit far fetched, but I would eventually like write it up as a formal adventure for people to play with. 

The Weird West RPG is an excellent roleplaying game that is sadly somewhat overlooked among the sea of OSR content.