Sept. 16, Reno: Tragedy at the Air Show

For those who haven't heard, there was a crash yesterday at the Reno Air Show.  It seems as though a mechanical failure was to blame when a P-51 Mustang Galloping Ghost plummeted out of the sky Friday afternoon and crashed into the viewer grandstands.  ABC News

Changing estimates are now that 9 are dead, and over 50 more suffered injuries.  Initial estimates did not account for those who were rushed to hospitals in private vehicles. 

Ray Guns, Muskets, and Magic Wands

I'm torn.  I want easier attack rolls for special weapons like pistols, laser rifles, and lightning wands but the rules should be dead simple.  So, how should I handle an attack roll for firearms?  Any 0-level peasant should have a decent chance to hit a close target right?  Is armor totally ignored?  Do Dexterity modifiers to AC matter when the projectile is too fast to be seen?

Pew! pew! pew!

In Labyrinth Lord attacking with a ranged weapon is super easy and I think not all that realistic (and I'm not the only one).  Use Dex modifiers instead of Str to hit, +1 for short range, -1 for long range.  The end.  Having ranged rules that are so dead simple is a big plus at the table, but I feel like these provide a rather poor simulation for ranged attacks.  It's the range modifiers that rub me wrong.  I think those rules make sense if you are shooting into a column of troops, but shooting a single man-sized target at long range isn't that easy.

Bang! Bang!

So, what is best?  Leave well enough alone and use the same rules for firearms?  Use different rules for firearms only?  If I change ranged combat for everyone, do I change one thing, or everything, or some combination?  Maybe it would help to just list out all of the different options that I'm considering.

Zap!

• Option #1 - Change nothing.  Treat ray-guns and lightning wands like any any other ranged attack.  

Pro: Boom, done.
Con:  A goblin with a shotgun has a crappy attack roll.

• Option #2 - Rework the ranged attack modifiers.  I think HackMaster has a nice balance of sane but simple ranged rules.  

Roll a smaller die at longer ranges.

Short Range: d20
Medium Range: d12
Long Range: d8

Sights
Fixed: Improves range one step  (One round to aim, lasts until you move)
Optical: Improves range two steps (One round to aim, lasts until you move)
Laser: +2 (can be combined with another sight)

Pro:  It feels less crappy than massive negative modifiers
Con:  I'd miss the loss of the natural 20 automatic hit.

• Option #3 - Improved hit rolls.  Point and shoot weapons don't require a lot of training.  Shouldn't the attack roll be a lot easier than a bow or sling, especially at low levels?  I feel like a crossbow falls into this category too since the basics can be learned in a day.

Attack as a fighter whose level is equal to half your Dexterity (if your level of experience is higher, use that instead).  Amateurs may need to use the M-U or Cleric attack table until they get enough practice. 

Stationary target (or whatever else deserves a bonus): +2
Multiple shots (or whatever else deserves a penalty): -2

Pro:  That goblin with a shotgun looks more dangerous now.
Con:  Elvish archers are less dangerous than human crossbowmen.  Do I just assume that longer lifespan means higher level?

• Option #4 - Ranged AC.  Use the attack roll from option #3, but the target has its AC modified by size.

Target Size Modifier: +/-2 per size category different from human standard
(Yeah I know, LL doesn't have size categories.  Maybe I'll use these.)

-10 Bug (<2") Fly, Flea
-8   Tiny (2"-6") Butterfly, Frog
-6   Wee (6"-1') Smurf, Rat
-4   Small (1'- 2') Cat, Imp
-2   Short (2' - 4') Halfling, Goblin
0    Average (4' - 8') Human, Elf, Dwarf
+2  Large (8' - 12') Ogre, Troll
+4  Giant (12' - 21') Most Giants, Wyvern
+6  Huge (21' - 32') Adult Dragon, Tyrannosaurus
+8  Gargantuan (32' - 64') Old Dragon, Kraken
+10Colossal (>64') Ancient Dragon, Roc

Pro:  I like the idea of AC for firearms based on the size of the target profile. 
Con:  I don't want to deal with an extra chart in combat.  Also, do dragon scales deflect bullets?


I guess that's about it.  I'm leaning toward option #3 and nothing else, but I keep changing my mind.  Anyone have suggestions?

Hit Location/Severity Charts for Ranged Attacks

Inspired by the gun-fighting mechanics in Boot Hill, I've been tinkering with rules to use in Labyrinth Lord for death-rays, boomsticks, and magic wands.

I'm still not certain how I want to handle the to-hit rolls for point and shoot weapons that bypass or ignore armor.  I don't want to use standard AC because hardened scales and quick reflexes don't really help much against bullets.  I'm leaning toward something like a Dex check with modifiers for the target's size and range, but I really don't want to fiddle with a size category chart.  I'll try to figure something out soon.

I do have these other two charts finished, and I quite like them.  These could be useful for any ranged attack.


Hit Location
Odd = Left  [d20]  Even = Right
(add half your level)

1-2    : Hand/Wrist
3-6    : Arm
7-10  : Foot/Leg
11-12: Shoulder
13-14: Groin/Abdomen
15-18: Chest
19-20: Head/Neck

or
1-9 Outer Ring
10-17 Inner Ring
18-20 Bulls Eye


 Hit Severity
Hit Location roll + 1d20

2-20   : Light Wound
21-26 : Serious Wound
27-40 : Grievous Wound


If the target is using cover don't adjust the to-hit roll, just let the location chart and your common sense tell you if the shot was blocked.  A crossbowman behind a parapet would have his legs and abdomen protected.  Bullet proof vests only help when you get hit in the chest.

The meaning of Light/Serious/Grievous is open to interpretation.  They could represent different save bonuses, damage modifiers, or different effects altogether.  Maybe something like this...

Thrown Melee Weapons
Light:  use smaller die for damage
Serious: normal damage
Grievous: use larger die for damage

Arrows, Bolts, Sling Stones
Light:  half damage
Serious: normal damage
Grievous: double damage

Firearms
Light: 1 damage per HD of target
Serious: 2 damage per HD of target
Grievous: d4+2 damage per HD of target
(Exceptionally large creatures: 0/1perHD/2perHD)
(Godzilla: 0/0/Annoyed)

Phaser (set to stun)
Light: Hit location is numbed/paralyzed for d4 rounds
Serious: target is stunned for d4 rounds
Grievous: target is knocked unconscious for one turn

Phaser (set to kill)
Light: d6 damage + Save vs. Death +5
Serious: d6 damage + Save vs. Death
Grievous: d6 damage + Save vs. Death -5

Phaser (highest setting/disintegration ray)
Light: Save vs Death or Hit location disintegrates
Serious: Save vs Death or Target and all possessions disintegrate
Grievous: Target and all possessions disintegrate

SATURMORN: World of Nostalgia

Saturmorn Playable Races

(assuming the planet is mostly a low-tech/fantasy world)

(Everything) - Humans
(LITTLE SHOP) - Venusian Flytraps
(MONCHHICHIS) - Monchhichis
(ALF) - Melmacians
(DUCKTALES) - Ducks (Mallardians?)
(GARGOYLES) - Gargoyles
(LITTLE MUPPET MONSTERS) - Muppets
(GUMMI BEARS) - Gummi Bears
(PAC MAN) - Pac-Men
(BARBAPAPA) - Barbas
(EWOKS) - Ewoks
(MY LITTLE PONY) - Unicorns (Bronies)
(CADILLACS AND DINOSAURS) - Grith (Dino sapiens)

(PINK PANTHER AND SONS) - Panthers (Meowmen)
(THE LITTLE MERMAID) - Merpeople
(MARSUPILAMI) - Marsupilamis
(THE AMAZING LIVE SEA MONKEYS)  - Sea Monkeys
(MASKED RIDER) - Edenoites: Human look-alikes.  Descended from insects, they possess a crystal on their foreheads. Sustained concentration keeps the crystal hidden by illusion. The crystal is capable of focusing psychic ability, and sharing mental imagery with others.
(THE SMURFS) - Smurfs

Smurf Ranger

Monsters of Saturmorn

(POPPLES) - Popples
(TROLLKINS) - Trollkins
(BISKITTS) - Biskitts
(FRAGGLE ROCK) - Fraggles
(THE LITTLES) - Littles
(TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES) - Martial Artist Mutants
(ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES) - Killer Tomatoes
(HERSELF THE ELF) - Tiny Elves
(DRAK PACK) - Corporeal Undead and Werewolves
(THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS) - Slimer (Incorporeal, telekinetic undead)
(SNORKS) - Snorks

Snork Legionnaire

High-Level NPCs

(DRAGON’S LAIR) - Dirk the Daring

(DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS) - Venger
(TARZAN: LORD OF THE JUNGLE) - Tarzan
(ALADDIN) - Mozenrath
(GALTAR AND THE GOLDEN LANCE) - Galtar
(CONAN THE ADVENTURER) - Conan
(TALES FROM THE CRYPTKEEPER) - Cryptkeeper
(CAPTIAN CAVEMAN AND THE TEEN ANGELS) - Captain Cave-Man
(COUNT DUCKULA) - Count Duckula
(THE GARY COLEMAN SHOW) - Gary Coleman, Angel
(HULK HOGAN’S ROCK N’ WRESTLING) - Hulk Hogan, Gladiator

(BEAKMAN'S WORLD) - Beakman, Alchemist
(MR.T) - Mr. T,  Trainer

(THE WEIRD AL SHOW) - Weird Al Yankovic, Eccentric
(PEE WEE'S PLAYHOUSE) - Pee Wee Herman, Schizophrenic
(GUMBY ADVENTURES) - Gumby
(POPEYE AND SON) - Popeye
(LITTLE WIZARDS) - Prince Dexter
(RUBIK, THE AMAZING CUBE) - Rubik the Cube

(HERCULES: THE ANIMATED SERIES) - Hercules
(BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURES) - Rufus (Temporal Fixer)
(MYTHIC WARRIORS: GUARDIANS OF THE LEGEND) - Greek Heroes
(THE LEGEND OF CALAMITY JANE) - Calamity Jane
(MEN IN BLACK THE SERIES) - Alpha (Agent A)
(READING RAINBOW)  - LeVar Burton, Sage

Troy's psyche is shattered by LeVar

Artifacts of the Ancients

(THE MASK) - Mask
(POWER STONE) - Power Stones
(PROJECT GeeKeR) - GeeKeR (Idiotic Shapeshifter)
(POKEMON) - Poké Ball
(HAMMERMAN) - Talking Dancing Shoes
(MONSTER RANCHER) - Mystery Discs (they unlock new monster breeds)

Mystery Disk

The Dreamland Dimensions


(DINO RIDERS) - The Prehistoric Past
(THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN) - The Far Future
(BEETLEJUICE) - The Neitherworld
(LAND OF THE LOST) - Land of the Lost
(THE NEW ADVENYURES OF WINNIE THE POOH) - 100 Aker Wood
(NOOZLES) - Koalawallaland <--- try 8:20
(WILDFIRE) - Dar-shan
(KIDD VIDEO)  - The Flipside
(PUNKY BREWSTER) - Chaundoon
(MOONDREAMERS) - Starry Up
(MY PET MONSTER) - Monsterland
(RAINBOW BRITE) - Rainbow Land

(THE WORLD OF STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE) - Strawberryland
(THE CARE BEARS FAMILY) - Care-a-lot
(THE INHUMANOIDS) - Infernac/core, ?/mantle, Skellweb/crust
(ROMPER ROOM) - Broadcast each day into all the mirrors on Saturmorn.  The children named at the end of each show are soon gathered up by Do Bee and participate in the next show... then disappear forever. 

Romper Room Host (not Miss Ann) & Do Bee

The Many Moons of the Old Ones
(for a more Gamma World feel, you only need to step onto a new planet)

(THUNDERCATS) - New Thundera
(BLACKSTARR) - Sagar
(THE HERCULOIDS) - Amzot
(HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE) - Eternia
(SHE-RA: PRINCESS OF POWER) - Etheria
(ROBOTIX) - Skalorr
(VISIONARIES: KNIGHTS OF THE MAGICAL LIGHT) - Prysmos
(SKELETON WARRIORS) - Lumimaire
(VYTOR) - ?world name?
(BRAVESTARR) - New Texas
(GALAXY HIGH) - Flutor
(SECTAURS) - Symbion
(TIGERSHARKS) - Water-O
(TAZ-MANIA) - Tazmania "Where the sky's always yellow, rain or shine"
(THE WILD WEST COWBOYS OF MOO MESA) - Moo Mesa
(TOXIC CRUSADERS) - Smogula (The Smogulans)
(THE FLINTSTONES) - Bedrock
(THE JETSONS) - Orbit City
(SONIC THE HEDGEHOG) - Mobius 
(THE PIRATES OF DARK WATER) - Mer 

Map of Mer

Map of Mobius

Emissaries from Beyond the Void

(here are some aliens who might take the PCs off-world)

(SUPERTED) - SuperTed & the Spotty Man
(THE NEW ADVENTURES OF FLASH GORDON)- Flash Gordon
(GILLIGAN'S PLANET) - Gilligan
(FANTASTIC MAX) - Fantastic Max
(STARCOM THE U.S. SPACEFORCE) - Col. James Dash Derringer
(SPACEGHOST) - Space Ghost
(SABRE RIDERS AND THE STAR SHERIFFS) - Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs
(SILVERHAWKS) - Quicksilver & friends
(ULYSSES 31) - Ulysses
(VOLTRON SEASON1) - Lion Force Voltron (Voltron of the Far Universe) Crew=5
(VOLTRON SEASON2) - Vehicle Voltron (Voltron of the Near Universe) Crew=15
(what might have been) - Gladiator Voltron (Voltron of the Middle Universe) Crew=3
(PANDAMONIUM) - Mondraggor & Poppapanda
(EARTHWORM JIM) - Earthworm Jim
(HYPERNAUTS) - Hypernauts
(BENJI ZAX AND THE ALIEN PRINCE) - Alien Prince Yubi

(DINOSAUCERS) - Dinosaucers
(ADVENTURES OF THE GALAXY RANGERS) - Galaxy Rangers
(JAYCE AND THE WHEELED WARRIORS) - Jayce
(BATTLE OF THE PLANETS) - G-Force <--- because none of the other versions involve space travel
(POWER RANGERS IN SPACE) - Power Rangers
(SILVER SURFER) - Silver Surfer 

Yumi, Ulysses, Telemachus, and Nono

Feel free to tell me about an interesting show or element that I may have overlooked.

The Boot Hill Finale

As expected, the final session of Boot Hill was a blast.  My character (Wild James Riley) played some cards,  got into a brawl in the saloon, threw a stunned opponent over a table and into another fella, and nearly blew up a mounted gang with dynamite. All in all, a pretty eventful session.  Then, right at the end as we were rounding up the wounded gang, Zeke Proctor jumped out of hiding and the two of us blasted holes into each other.  The doc tried his best, but the wounds were too great.  Wild James Riley takes his place in the bone orchard up on Boot Hill.

Honestly, I was surprised that Riley had avoided death for so long.  I had rolled him up for the first gunfight of the campaign, and he survived five or six shoot outs.  Gentleman Jim was the only character from the first session to survive the entire campaign.  So, faux-history remembers Gentleman Jim as one of the greatest lawmen of the old west.  I imagine that Riley is also remembered, but as more of a ruthless SOB.  Riley was on the wrong side of the law about as often as he wore a badge.  For example, Gentleman Jim shot and killed Jesse James shortly before Wild James Riley (and another PC, Josey?) killed Frank James.  The difference was that Riley was helping the James brothers rob the bank while Jim was trying to prevent the robbery.  After we escaped, with Jesse dead and Frank wounded, it just seemed easier to kill Frank and take his share of the loot.  Getting medical attention is problematic when you're on the run.

I had a lot of fun playing Boot Hill, more fun than I expected.  Apparently I find participating in westerns more fun than watching them.  Most of the credit goes to Jeff obviously, his free-wheeling "anything goes, especially if I think it sounds awesome" style can make any game enjoyable.  Mixing that with his research and presentation of historical gunfights resulted in some of my favorite scenarios.  He would lay out a hand drawn grid map of a saloon, small town, or whatever.  We'd get a short history lesson about that particular gunfight, date and location, the events leading up to the bloodshed, who was involved, who lived and died, and any repercussions from the battle.  Then it was like "It's up to you guys if you want to try to reenact the battle or change history.  Pick which side you want to be on, you can all be buddies or fight against each other".  We'd roll to determine our starting location on the grid, then the fight was on.  It was a nice bit of edutainment.

Sadly, the rules themselves were a little below my expectations, with one big exception.  The rules for drunkenness seemed cumbersome.  The gambling rules were kinda lackluster (highest percentage roll wins). The brawling and grappling charts are interesting, but I felt the canned results took some of the creative license away from the players and GM.  Still, it works better than most RPG unarmed combat.

The "one big exception" was the rules for shooting.  I had originally thought the 3 separate percentage rolls for each shot (to-hit, location, severity) were going to slow the game to a boring crawl.  Instead, it was enthralling to watch each shot unfold.  Interest was probably helped by the fact that each shot was potentially deadly.  It's cool enough that I want to play around with it some more.  So I'm going to use the Boot Hill hit location/severity charts (which I haven't actually seen) as an inspiration for similar charts to use in my Ezzin game whenever someone finds and uses instant attack devices like ray guns, muskets, or magic wands.

I'm thinking that these charts will only be used for projectiles/beams moving too fast to be seen.  Bows and crossbows will still use normal attack and damage rolls.

The Boot Hill Sessions

For those who don't know, Boot Hill is an older RPG with strong focus on the "Old West".  Gunfights, Gambling, Brawling, and all that jazz.  Wikipedia says "Boot Hill is a western role-playing game designed by Brian Blume and Gary Gygax. First published in 1975, Boot Hill was TSR's third role-playing game, not long after Dungeons and Dragons and Empire of the Petal Throne."
 
Honestly, I never cared much for westerns, but that didn't stop me from playing Boot Hill.  I like to try out new game systems and see how all the fiddly bits work together.  I've never even had a chance to peek at these rule books before, and you never know when you'll find some rule or table that you'll want to carry over into other games.  Also, when you have a chance to play at Jeff Rients' table, you take it.  I'm not too proud to admit that he's a better GM than I am.  His games are always a blast.

I've been a player for four sessions of Boot Hill.  I think that my character (Wild James Riley) has been involved in five or six gunfights now, and has managed to survive all of them.  PC death is a constant threat.  Experienced characters are somewhat faster and more accurate then inexperienced ones, but they are all equally fragile.  A character's max Strength (hit points) is determined at creation and doesn't ever increase, most characters seem to have between 10 and 20.  Every single gunshot has a decent chance to kill.  Most guns can shoot up to 3 times per round.  Most characters have between a 60% to 80% chance to hit, -10% for each shot after the first.  If you hit you make another percentage roll to determine the hit location.  Cover helps, always use cover.  A third percentage roll determines severity (each location has a different severity table).  Gunshot damage is either 3, 7, or Dead.  Oh, and if you win the fight but take wounds in the head or chest there is a chance that you'll die anyway from infection/organ failure some days later.  It's pretty hard core.  I'm rather enjoying it.

The rules and systems seem to have a lot of moving parts, but they all fit together rather neatly.  Play is a lot smoother than I had imagined.  At first I thought that all those percentage rolls would make combat drag out too much, but I find that I'm rather fond of it all.  Most gunfights are over in only a few rounds, so the extra rolls don't seem like a hassle.  Besides, knowing exactly where I hit the poor bastard makes my mental picture of the gunfight a lot more vivid.  The brawling chart is pretty cool.  I still need to try some gambling to see how that works.  I was hoping to see how mounted combat worked, but Jeff says we are ignoring those rules.  I trust his judgement, the overall FPM (Fun Per Minute) is probably higher without using them but I'm still curious how it works.

The one set of rules that I know I would tweak are the intoxication rules.  I like the end results, but getting there is a pain.  Basically, taking shots of whiskey will lower some basic attributes (speed and... accuracy?) while raising others (bravery and strength), this changes the associated rows of bonuses, then you have to tally the columns again see what your new weapon modifiers are.  That's a lot of scribbling and looking at charts for a temporary effect.

Grod knows, Jeff doesn't need my help... but this is how I'd house rule intoxication for Boot Hill.

GM determines level of intoxication, or a d10 is rolled.

(1) - Bent an Elbow, Had a Snort of Liquid Courage
+5% Accuracy thanks to calm nerves and a steady hand

(2,3,4) - Tonsils Varnished, Loaded
-1 Weapon Speed, +1 Strength, -5% Accuracy

(5,6,7) - Soaked, Drunk
-2 Weapon Speed, +2 Strength, -10% Accuracy

(8,9) - Full as a Tick
-3 Weapon Speed, Normal Strength, Variable Accuracy (GM rolls percentage each round to determine your new base accuracy)

(10) - Drunk as a Boiled Owl
-5 Weapon Speed, -3 Strength (easier to incapacitate/knockout), -50% Accuracy ("Whoa there, fella!  Just put the gun down.")



So, there you have it.  I did a little research to come up with 1800s slang for drunkenness.  Did you know that "Drunk as a skunk" didn't get popular until the 20th century?  I was surprised, I thought it was older.  Luckily the "boiled owl" version was in use, and is hilarious.

I'm mainly just sharing this in case anyone else wants to run Boot Hill with alternate rules for drunkenness.  I'm still debating whether I should show this to Jeff or not.  The next session of Boot Hill is our last.  We're moving on to a different game after that, so it's unlikely that we'll use the intoxication rules again anyhow.  Besides, there are more important things to focus on.  I still have three personal goals that I want my character to accomplish.

1. Get into a fist fight over a card game (or a lady).
2. Negotiate a pause in the middle of a shootout so that women and children can run to safety.
3. Use the phrase "Hotter than a whorehouse on nickel night".

Wish me luck.

Dance my Pixels, Dance!

If you haven't heard yet, Lord Gwydion is busy creating the Zhongyang Dalu setting for the Flying Swordsmen RPG.  I think it's going to be awesome.  You can go check out the What a horrible night to have a curse blog to get more details.

Recently he posted a scan of the lovely Zhongyang Dalu map.  I love me some maps.  Especially some hand drawn maps.  Anyhow, his sketch pad is too big for his scanner so he had to splice together two images and as a result there is a minor seam visible.  He mentioned looking for a print shop later to get it scanned in one piece.

Now, my artistic skills are rather limited, but I am handy with a pixel editor.  So, I took it upon myself to try to hide the seam.  I also tried to help define some of the coastline and letters where the seam made them blurry.  If I couldn't blend the color differences well enough for my own taste, I just pushed one color over to the closest coastline or political boundary (see Yu and De).

Take a look.

Happy Un-Birthday Lord Gwydion.  I hope you like it.  It's not perfect by any means, but hey, it's free.

I cleaned up a little fuzziness on some Chinese characters.  You should probably double check the first character of Bufang Bag, and the last character of Mei Hwa Mountians to make sure I didn't accidentally change their meaning.  Let me know if you want me to rework anything.  I could probably get the color transitions smoother in Yu and De if you prefer.  Let me know if you would like any other changes made.  I could thicken/brighten the red political lines, or remove the green where the red lines meet the rivers, change the name of a city, make something stand out a little more or a little less, or whatever.

I like doing this stuff, so don't be shy about requesting anything.  You can hit me up at saint_nik AT yahoo DOT com, or just leave a comment here.

Previously, I also edited another of your images.  I loved seeing this at the bottom of your blog.  I only tweaked the dragon's claws and the warriors foot a tad.  It was quick and easy.  I just thought I'd share.