Roleplaying Carrot & Stick

 So, the algorithm coughed this comic up for me:

This is an example of what can go weird or wrong in RPGs. Let's unpack it.

CONFLICTING EXPECTATIONS

The woman narrating her character's beautiful death is into the Narrative side of things. She gets joy from wrapping up the story she has created through her character.

The man is simply doing the next, natural move in the Game of accumulation. He gets joy from making moves in game that benefit his character, ie acquiring more useful loot.

But as the comic shows in her shocked face and his beaming smile, there is a huge conflict in how they feel about the incident.

WHO IS RIGHT?

Tough question. The game is 'roleplaying', ergo playing your role is what you do. It is also a 'game', and although it breaks many traditional game conventions (ie having a definite goal or end, or having limited moves), making moves is what you do.

HOW SHOULD THE GM RESPOND?

So, we've seen the Narrative take on the situation, as well as the Gamist. Although these two are the central pillars of roleplaying games, underlying both of these are the Simulationist side of the equation. If I were the GM, I would simply let the simulation of the gameworld react to the incident in a natural way.

For example, if the looter were a Good aligned cleric, he might lose his divine gifted powers for desecrating a body instead of giving a decent burial to a comrade. If NPC hirelings were present, they may start to mistrust the desecrating PC and slip away during the night, something native porters have done to imperialists for centuries.

Some may suggest that the GM discuss with the ''offending'' player, but in his ideology he is only doing what is right. I might warn the player about gameworld repurcussions of their acts, but trying to persuade someone their 'fun' is wrong never ends well, in my experience.

Finally, the GM might want to make sure Gamist and Narrativist PCs are not in the same locale or separated by some deux ex machine to let them do their thing. However, this puts lots more burden on the GM and threatens to bore one type of player while the other takes center stage.

This is an RPG conundrum that can never be solved entirely because the tension between Game and Narrative is what makes RPGs work. But both Narrativists and Gamers have agreed to play in the same gameworld sandbox, so it is the GM's job to hold them to this agreement. 

EXAMPLES OUTSIDE OF FANTASY ROLEPLAYING

This comic is a narrow example drawn from the specialized genre of D&D and its derivatives. What about other genres?

Horror - As I related before, players in games like Call of Cthulhu often arm up heavily even before any sign of trouble. This is not how horror movies or novels go. Make sure first that your players are onboard with the genre - horror is all about being powerLESS. If people want to power game, maybe play something else. Also, if they are waving heavy weapons around, make sure NPCs will run or call the police. As I suggested HERE, you can limit PC access to weapons based on the threat level & their experience to better simulate the genre. 

Supers - In superhero games, the monologue of the villian is a Narrative trope, but in Gamist terms it is an excuse for a free attack. Remind players in advance of genre tropes (ie monologues go uninterrupted, heroes are captured not killed), but if players choose to ignore them and become unscrupulous, have the villains do the same and switch to sneak attacks or swarming and doxing with intent to kill.

RESUME

1) Explain genre tropes BEFORE starting the game so everyone is on board.

2) If a conflict occurs, let the gameworld react realistically to it.

3) Be prepared for the game to either fall apart or be strengthened by the experience.

Reading Nephilim

 So, before I quit Japan I picked up the old Nephilim game and all its books for cheap.

(If you have a friend in Japan and want to find cheap vintage RPG books, ask them to check Mercari or OGM for you).

This book and game is a TRIP. I remember reading it in the 90's and not being able to wrap my head around it.

Now, it reads like Foucault's Pendulum the RPG. Also feels like I'm on mushrooms.

I might start a new series...

WTF BRP #1 The SIZ characteristic

So, what is up with the SIZ characteristic? It seems more useless than CHA supposedly was in D&D, but seems to have escaped scrutiny.

Let's take a deep dive.

History of SIZ

Stormbringer upped the ante by adding a Body Type to it, but this was quickly scrapped in Elric! and (so far as I know) never appeared in other Chaosium products. SIZ in Stormbringer is used to determine if there is a damage bonus, but also adds to Hit Points for larger monsters or beasts. It also limits armor one can wear to within a few points of SIZ.

Nephilim dropped the SIZ statistic altogether.

The Big Gold Book (2010), which came out as the official word on the system, has only three pages on SIZ.

Page 26 tells us some interesting uses - it can be used to resist shoving, increased or decreased temporarily via lifestyle, or permanently via damage. 

Page 277 has a list of SIZ of common objects, and notes that SIZ equals Hit Points for things.

Page 296 just has a long list of SIZ and body weight for creatures, and notes that this is not useful for amorphous or gaseous creatures.

Another Use For SIZ

I've always wondered if there might not be another use for SIZ that could enhance gameplay. Specifically, could SIZ be used comparatively to increase or decrease the chance of spotting or hitting a creature or character? The old Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying Game (a true banger despite the mechanical oddities of the underlying system) allowed smaller creatures a bonus when hitting larger ones.

Why not do the same here?

So, what if we say for every multiple of an attacker or searcher's SIZ that the target has, the attacker / searcher gets +5% to hit or see the larger target? We would have something like this:

        Multiple of Attacker's SIZ                                Skill Bonus to See or Hit

                        x2                                                                +5%

                        x3                                                                +10%

                        x4                                                                +15%

And so on. So, whether we have an ogre hiding behind a tree or someone trying to hit Cthulhu, they obvious should have an easier time of it. There are some caveats - this bonus does not apply when the target is moving at speed (ie a dragon in flight) or using some means of concealment (camouflage or magic). Also, this bonus does NOT increase chance of a critical hit. If you have 40% but get a 10% bonus to hit something large, you still only critical on 01-04.

Conversely, we can also impose a penalty to see or attack something smaller than oneself.

      Factor of Attacker's SIZ                                Skill Penalty to See or Hit

                        1/2                                                                -5%

                        1/3                                                                -10%

                        1/4                                                                -15%

And so on. This makes the game more tactical and realistic, while also giving a bit more weight to statistics than the original rules allow.

References

Durall, J. et al. (2010). Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium roleplaying system. Chaosium.

Wyatt Earp's GMing Advice

 Just listened to this WILD account by Wyatt Earp of the reality of gunfighting in the Wild West.

A couple of takeaways:

1 If someone got the drop on, 9 chances out of 10 you'll lose.

2 Carrying two guns is not for shooting at the same time, but in case one runs out.

3 People who fan (spam) or quick draw don't always win.

A GM's First Priority Is...

This is not so much a hot take as a tepid opinon.

What is a GM's first priority?

To entertain the players?

No, they have to work just as hard as the GM for this to happen. The modern vogue of GMs as free entertainers rankles me, and leads to games fizzling out.

To know the rules perfectly, and memorize the rulebook?

Again, I dislike the GM as computer school of thought, which leads to clueless players, one person stuck as forever GM, and GM burnout.

To adjudicate the rules fairly?

This is essential, but I would not call it a first priority.

To create compelling adventures?

Again, this is natural but not a first priority. Weak storytellers can rely on published adventures, stronger ones will naturally weave an enthralling tale.

What is the answer, then?

If you ask me, a GM's first priority is to lessen his or her workload. This will prevent burnout, but more importantly, let them enjoy the game, and be fresh enough to improvise when PCs go 'off script' during an adventure. It will also let GMing look like the thrill it should be when done right, and hopefully lead to players taking turns in the driver's seat.

Stormbringer redux # 17 - Abstract Weight and Wealth

(NB: Yes yes, I realize I skipped # 17. Things are ready when they are. This isn't work, there are no deadlines thankfully.)

I've circled back to this post after a long pause because it was daunting. But something has clicked in my brain, so I thought I'd churn it out.

Here are my thoughts on Concrete vs Abstract systems of Weight & Wealth. I will go through Original Rules, Concrete Rules & Reasoning, Abstract Rules & Reasoning, and finally define When To Use them and suggest Other Effects.

1 ORIGINAL RULES

Famously, the old Stormbringer rules had nothing about carrying weight. Players were on an honour system.

As for wealth, there was starting wealth based on character background, stretching from Nobles all the way down to peasant Farmers. There was also a catalogue of things to buy, but nothing on living costs, quality of items, etc.

Let's try to connect these things in useful or interesting ways.

2 WHEN TO USE CONCRETE VS ABSTRACT WEIGHT & WEALTH

As noted earlier, I think the implementation of 2 styles of play, Pulp vs Saga, would make gaming more enjoyable. Each of these dictate different rules to help emulate the feel of their source material.

PULP PLAY = CONCRETE RULES, ELRIC!

Pulp is when you want to hack and slash through the Young Kingdoms. In this mode, player characters need to face limits, and thus Concrete Wealth and Weight are natural choices. Just like Moonglum in the Elric books, characters are more concerned with actual coin than abstractions, and thus limiting how much they can carry feeds into this aesthetic. The Elric! game also limits the characters to humans, and so is firmly in this camp.

SAGA PLAY = ABSTRACT RULES, STORMBRINGER

Saga play is when characters strive for higher ideals, fighting for a cause, opposing the gods themselves, even if it means destroying worlds. In this case, stopping to count coins in their purse or bank vault seems counter productive. Although Stormbringer toys with this idea of a higher struggle, especially with its Elan and Agent rules, there are no clear rules underpinning this aesthetic.

3 CONCRETE RULES EXAMPLES

WEIGHT

For weight, you can use the encumbrance rules I proposed (HERE), or something from a Chaosium product. This will make players more wary of the gear they choose and any treasure they pick up.

WEALTH

Likewise, the starting wealth and price lists are useful. However, we could add levels of wealth & living costs to give some connective tissue. Here is my previous stab at it.

SOCIAL RANK                        CURRENCY               REAL WORLD

Melnibonean Imperial               Melnibonean Wheel      500, 000 dollars

Melnibonean Nobles                   Silver Dragon (MA)      500 dollars

YK Royalty                                  Large Gold (LG)          100 dollars

YK Nobles                                   Small Gold (SG)          50 dollars

Clergy                                           Large Silver (LS)          10 dollars

Urbanites (Merchants, Rogues)      Small Silver (SS)          5 dollars

Rural Folk (Hunters, Farmers)      Large Bronze (LB)          1 dollar

Dispossessed (Beggars)                  Small Bronze (SB)          ½ dollar


STARTING WEALTH

Starting wealth could thus be calculated in the currency of the social rank. For example, according to the 4E rules, a Young Kingdom noble would 100 x 1D100 LB, and a Hunter with 1D100 LB. You could either keep this, which seems reasonable, or start all characters with 1D100 X INT of their currency to simplify things.


LIVING COSTS

One staple of pulp fiction is the constant need to go find treasure. Conan gets the rich at the end of a story, and is broke and needs to go adventuring again at the start of the next. Living costs help give this impetus for adventure.

If we make living costs 100 - INT in the requisite coins a month for all characters, this would give them a motivation to adventure and try to accumulate wealth. Small currency means characters live cheaply, large means ostentatiously. Note that even Melniboneans live using gold, because their currency is so rare and a result of exploitation that it can never be spent on mundane things. Instead, it is reinvested in keeping the status quo.

ITEM COSTS

The Stormbringer item price list is very limited, as is Elric! By extrapolating costs based on the currency suggested above, we open up the game to an interpretive economics that enriches the whole experience.

For example, a Riding Horse is listed as 100 LB in Stormbringer. Moving up or down the social ranking, we get very different 

SOCIAL RANK                        CURRENCY               REAL WORLD

Melnibonean Imperial               Melnibonean Wheel      A fine dragon with ornate palanquin

Melnibonean Nobles                   Silver Dragon (MA)      A young dragon with simple saddle

YK Royalty                                  Large Gold (LG)          A trained & intelligent warhorse plus retinue

YK Nobles                                   Small Gold (SG)          A fine, fast steed with a pair of mounted guards

Clergy                                           Large Silver (LS)          A thoroughbred trotter

Urbanites (Merchants, Rogues)      Small Silver (SS)          A gentle city trained mount

Rural Folk (Hunters, Farmers)      Large Bronze (LB)          A rough riding horse

Dispossessed (Beggars)                  Small Bronze (SB)          Broken nag a fortnight from the glue factory

The same range of prices and qualities can be extrapolated for all items on the list through discussion between GM and players.

WEALTH GAP

Note that poorer characters should never be allowed to 'piggy back' off the wealth of others. Pulp worlds are dog eat dog, so any rich Noble character would have to pay poorer characters in their retinue, while poorer characters would be constantly forced to work or adventure to make ends meet.

4 ABSTRACT RULES

WEIGHT

If we want to step away from the bookkeeping to focus on story, we can tie encumbrance to character occupation. First, we can link carryable arms & armor:

Warriors - Any armor and shield, up to 3 weapons (usually one main, a side, and one ranged)

Soft urbanites - One side arm (ie boot dagger or cudgel), with one more when prepared for battle. Can only use soft armor and small shields (target, buckler).

Hardy countryfolk - One side and main weapon (usually bow), plus one extra when prepared for battle. Can use any armor except full plate, and up to medium shields (target to heater).

For other objects, common sense judgments of weather it is light (no penalty), carryable (fills arms and slows movements), or draggable (so heavy can only be dragged slowly with character exhausted afterwards).

WEALTH

Similarly, we can do away with number of coins and simply use the following descriptors for any equipment or services the character uses.

SOCIAL RANK                       CURRENCY                       LUXURY DESCRIPTOR

Melnibonean Imperial               Melnibonean Wheel          Decadent

Melnibonean Nobles                   Silver Dragon (MA)          Opulent

YK Royalty                               Large Gold (LG)                  Magnificent

YK Nobles                                 Small Gold (SG)                  Ornate

Clergy                                           Large Silver (LS)              Distinguished

Urbanites (Merchants, Rogues)      Small Silver (SS)             Clean, proper

Rural Folk (Hunters, Farmers)      Large Bronze (LB)              Rustic, sturdy

Dispossessed (Beggars)                   Small Bronze (SB)          Squalorous, unhealthy

STARTING WEALTH

Here we do away with costs, and simply decide what a character would have based on their Social Rank. In my playtest last year, we had a Melnibonean noble high priest, who started with a mystical yacht made of strange alloys by lost ancient craftsmanship. His companions were various YK folk, such as a Weeping Waste warrior who had arms, armour, a pony, and naught else.

LIVING & ITEM COSTS & ACCESS

Once again, abstraction does away with all price lists, and characters get the item quality they can afford. The Melnibonean high priest would usually have opulent meals in Imrryr, but would have to settle for lower fare while traveling in the Young Kingdoms. The Weeping Waster would be satisfied with rustic food, such as tartar steak seasoned under his saddle and cooked by his horse's bodyheat.

4 OTHER EFFECTS

One other effect of choosing Pulp vs Saga play is whether the Allegiances system should be used. But this is a tale for a different time.

Why I Walked Away From An OSR Game Offer

Last week, I got offered a spot in an OSR game an old friend was running for his nephews & nieces.

When I stated my preference of 3D6 down the line, I was laughed at and told to roll 4D6, drop the lowest, and arrange to my liking.

I walked away.

What even is the point of playing a broadly competent but unremarkable character?

Why don't you just play 4E, grab your 18, 18, 17, 17, 16, 16 array, and pretend to roleplay when you're just doing an analog simulation of a CRPG?

Am I out to lunch?

Here, let's compare two characters to see which is more compelling to play.

4D6 Drop Lowest

2, 3, 3, 2 = 8

2, 2, 4, 6 = 12

2, 6, 2, 2 = 10

6, 2, 6, 5 = 17

3, 5, 6, 5 = 16

2, 5, 6, 1 = 13

So, you'll either put the 17 in STR for a Fighter or INT for a Mage, 16 in CON for HP or DEX for an AR boost, dump 8 in CHA and call it a day. Other stats go wherever. Ho hum, another Murderhobo. And everyone else in the party will have the same cookie cutter stats, unless they got super unlucky and become the object of derision / scorn, or so high they are envied and reviled. Because we don't play for the individual in OSR / NSR, we play AS A PARTY.

3D6 Down The Line

STR 3, 6, 4 = 13

CON 5, 6, 1 = 12

DEX 4, 3, 5 = 12

INT 6, 5, 1 = 12

WIS 5, 2, 6 = 13

CHA 6, 3, 5 = 14

Wow, got super lucky! No really 'hopeless' stats (a moniker I hate, as I just consider a low stat a roleplaying hook), but that 14 CHA tips me towards taking a Bard, which I LOVE doing in older editions. This gets my juices flowing to see how this character will interact with others with similarly evocative stats.

And that is why I said no thanks.

Update From Sandy

So I just got an email from Sandy Petersen.

He magnanimously accepted my apology.

He is pleased and relieved that Kerie is still around and active.

Life goes on.

Speaking of life, what is Tedankhamen up to?

Working on a 'zine.

Loving life with sonny and my partner.

Reading Warlord of the Air.

Grinding through first year as a schoolteacher while keeping eyes out for better.

Renting a house in the country for the long weekend.

Hoping for peace in the middle east.

Apologies To S. Petersen, K. Campbell-Robson, and my readers

 Hello everyone,

Yesterday, I posted an interview with the venerable Sandy Petersen about his involvement in the development of the Stormbringer rpg. In it was a reference to the author of the Hawkmoon game, Kerie Campbell-Robson. In a case of mistaken identity, Sandy believed she was deceased.

I posted the interview without checking this fact, and was informed by several readers that, thankfully, Mrs Campbell-Robson was indeed alive and still active in RPGs.

So I'd like to issue a few apologies.

First, to Sandy Petersen, for jumping the gun on posting. It was late and I was tired, but these are poor excuses. Mr Petersen kindly took me into his confidence and shared his insider knowledge and invaluable memories of production at Chaosium. Sandy is a compassionate man, and included the mistaken identity story of a tragic end. However, the fault is mine for posting without fact checking.

I am sorry Sandy.

Next, to Kerie Campbell-Robson, I apologize unreservedly for spreading an erroneous story of her demise. I will try to make up for this by educating myself on her RPG industry achievements, and posting a complete picture of her career achievements and contributions to the Eternal Champion line in future.

Please forgive me, Kerie.

Finally, to my readers, I am truly sorry for disseminating false information. As a one man blog operation who is also a single father and fulltime teacher, I am stretched pretty thin. Still, as a former Media Studies professor, I should have done better.

I hope you will let me make it up to you with content here.

I have redacted the mistaken identity story from the interview, and added the following disclaimer:

NOTE - In the interview, I have redacted the part about Campbell-Robson being deceased. This was a case of mistaken identity. My apologies to Mr Petersen for jumping the gun on publication, and Mrs Campbell-Robson for not checking the fact before posting.

Interview With Sandy Petersen - The Man, The Mythos, The Living Legend!

 I love Sandy Petersen.

The man has made a game (Call of Cthulhu) that is arguably responsible for the ubiquity of Lovecraft we now seen in popular culture.

His game has also given me many great gaming memories with friends.

Ditto the video game DOOM he helped create.

A few years back, he started his YouTube channel, and I was impressed anew by his warmth, his encyclopedic knowledge, and his astute insights. He even liked and responded to some of my comments,  attesting to his love of the fans. 

Not thinking I would get an answer considering how busy Sandy is being the patriarch of a large, happy family as well as the head of a gaming company, I decided to contact Sandy and ask him a few questions about his involvement in the development of Stormbringer.

And Sandy delivered. There are some juicy insider tidbits here, and it'll take me a few days to respond to them.

For now, please enjoy these memories of Stormbringer's production and insights on its popularity. There are also some dark revelations in here about the business, especially the sad fate of Hawkmoon's creator. Sandy's comments remind us that the games we love are all too often made by real, frail humans who do not always get the happy end they deserve.

I am happy that Sandy seems fit and happy. Please give him some love via the links below:

Sandy's YouTube HERE

Peterson Games HERE

1 I think your work for Call of Cthulhu is amazing and well known by now, but can you tell us a little about the other Chaosium products you worked on?

Answer – After being hired in 1981, I had a tendril in almost everything Chaosium produced. As far as game design credits go, I was assistant designer on Elfquest, co-designer on Runequest 3^rd edition, and main designer on the Ghostbusters RPG which Chaosium created for West End Games.

 

2 Back in the day, Chaosium was known for doing quality interpretations of Intellectual Properties - Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu, Niven’s Ringworld, and Moorcock’s Eternal Champion. What was the thinking behind that, and what do you think ended this trend?

Answer – I was not privy to the early reasoning; Chaosium got the Lovecraft & Moorcock licenses before I worked there. Plus they did the Sanctuary multi-system expansion. Chaosium also got the license for Fritz Leiber’s Nehwon series but this was literally extorted away by evil men. I was there when they got Niven’s Ringworld and I think by that time they were no longer giving reasons for it – they were just in the habit of doing games based on literary licenses.

 

When Chaosium fell on hard times, this really bit them in the hindquarters, because Moorcock got pretty mad about not getting his royalties or really, any communication. This was after I’d left of course.

 

I also recall, as a side note, that Moorcock didn’t care a lick about what we did with his characters & world. We had carte blanche. He just wanted to give us the license, sit back, and let the checks come in. Of course that suited us dandy, but we did keep our creations within the spirit of his worlds.

 

3 The cosmic horror of Lovecraft has a huge resonance & appeal for roleplaying fans and has really seeped into the cultural zeitgeist. The Moorcock mythos also has a roleplaying appeal & influence, but in terms of literature has been copied or homaged but generally remained niche. Why do you think this is so?

Answer – I think there are two reasons behind this. First, Lovecraft’s work was far more seminal and influential than Moorcock’s. When talking about “great horror writers” it’s Poe and Lovecraft, with everyone else panting far behind. When talking about “great fantasy writers” while Moorcock gets a mention, so does Tolkien, LeGuin, Howard, Zelazny, Rowling and so many others. Moorcock can get lost in the flock.

 

The other reasons is that, for me, Lovecraft’s work is more adult. It appeals to the empty, terrifying universe, and he put forth concepts not seen before in horror or science fiction. A cosmic entity which acts as Earth’s suicide pill? Creatures that travel in time instead of space? All Earth life is a joke or mistake? It’s heady stuff.

 

Moorcock is designed to appeal to an angsty teenager. I realize that sounds like I’m making fun of Moorcock, and that’s not the case. I think Moorcock’s writing appeals to the angsty teen that lurks inside ALL of us. Look at his sad tortured yet murderous heroes who practically must be prodded into action and spend so much time navel gazing. In addition almost none of his heroes belong in their world –many are the Last Remaining of their race, so the eternal outsider. I will say that every “tortured outsider” written by other authors are really depressing and boring, while Moorcock managed to make HIS heroes likeable, interesting, and also he did a fabulous job of world creation. That’s quite a feat. I love everything of Moorcock’s I’ve read (which is most of his stuff).

 

4 Can you tell us how you came to work on Stormbringer (and Hawkmoon) rpgs, and what products of the Eternal Champion line you contributed to?

(I know only of the Stormbringer Companion and Hawkmoon Shattered Isle)

Answer – basically I did almost all of the typesetting and a good part of the editing for every single Chaosium product. We all worked in a single large room so were firing ideas off each other like machineguns. I was brought onto Stormbringer late – the game already existed, so we were looking to do expansions for it. We felt that Stormbringer was the “good neglected child”. We spent almost no effort publicizing nor supporting it, yet it kept selling well year after year. Every couple of years we’d feel guilty about this, and put something out.

 

Hawkmoon was another attempt to support Stormbringer. I read (and liked) all the Hawkmoon books, and we had a young woman, Kerie Campbell-Robson, who was a big fan, and could write really well. So she designed the Hawkmoon game, and I worked pretty closely with her in the process. She gets the majority credit though. 

NOTE - I have redacted the part about Campbell-Robson being deceased. This was a case of mistaken identity. My apologies to Mr Petersen for jumping the gun on publication, and Mrs Campbell-Robson for not checking the fact before posting.

 (she also did our CoC Dreamlands book)

 

5 Did you find it easier or harder to write for epic fantasy than cosmic horror? Were there any similarities between the two genres, specifically Lovecraft & Moorcock?

Answer – In 2017, I published Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder. And a couple of years later I republished it, but for D&D. I also published a number of high-quality campaigns for D&D – all set in their epic fantasy world but filled with horrific Lovecraft stuff.

 

While I don’t think that Lovecraftian horror and heroic fantasy are particularly similar, I do think that Lovecraftian horror can be added to a lot of genres, fantasy included. I think Moorcock is particularly friendly to Lovecraft, given the terrifying creatures that Moorcock placed within his tales – such as Sreng of the Seven Swords, the Castle of Blood, or other such awful ideas.

 

6 Whereas the original Stormbringer enjoyed 4 editions and several reprints, Hawkmoon did not fare as well. Do you think this was due to production issues, or else a different reception among gamers?

Answer – I think we at Chaosium didn’t manage to push it very well. By 1986 Chaosium was starting to retract itself. The two main creative forces at Chaosium were me and Greg Stafford. I was of course focussed primarily on Call of Cthulhu (the big money maker) and Greg was focused on Pendragon (his baby). I suppose overall it was a failure from the top down, in that Chaosium never had a real chain of command.

 

7 You are also a designer and lover of board games, and Petersen Games is known for huge tactical games like Cthulhu Wars. Did you ever play the old Stormbringer boardgame? What was your opinion of it as a designer and game lover?

Answer – I played the Elric game several times. Victory was kind of random, because the summonings and events could be so earth-shattering. I mean, you can carefully build up your army, pack it into a fleet and send your mighty military out to conquer Pan Tang (or whatever) and then your enemy summons Slortar the Old or a pack of Oonai or something and wipes your force out. But on the other hand, it certainly hews to the spirit of the stories, where that sort of thing happens a LOT. (“Ha! I’ve summoned the Elenoin to kill you, Elric.” “Well, I’ve summoned a bunch of Grahluk, who live only to kill Elenoin, to save me.”) The bottom line is that while your strategic reasoning and plotting may not always carry you to a win, but the game is always fun to play and full of surprises which is more important.

 

8 Petersen Games is known for the award winning Cthulhu Wars, but has also published fantasy games such as Glorantha: God War and Orcs Must Die. If you did have a crack at Moorcock’s IP, would you produce a game? If so, what would it be like?

Answer – I guess I’d first have to decide if I was doing a game on a single realm or the whole multiverse. If it was the multiverse, I’d have all the players be the different Eternal Champions, competing against each other (yes I know they’re all the same person) to  become the most memorable, or find peace, or something.

 

If it was just Elric’s world, I would have each player be a powerful nation from the world – one player would be Pan Tang, another Melnibone, etc. Elric would be a spoiler.

Resources in RPGs

(Note - This is an unfinished post I just want out the door.)

Sonny was dysregulated yesterday,  so I cheered him up with some funny cartoons I found on the webs. This was one of them:

As simple as this is, it has great insights for RPG design.

You could take every genre, boil it down to what has been added (or subtracted) to make it emulate that feeling. Also, gives the lie to the idea of generic RPGs that can do anything, unless modable.

Sources

https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/vqmxdn/game_developers_be_like/

Transmission from Tanelorn

Greetings fellow Moonbeam Roadsters!

This is just to say I still live.

Since returning to my homeland, I have found a trusty steed, Toyota Corolla.

My son has blossomed in a school here.

We have a roof over our head.

And I have found a red headed Celtic beauty.

So if you ever wonder what happened to Tedankhamen, just know he is taking a brief sojourn in Tanelorn.

- TED

Reanimating Lovecraft # 3 - 4th Dimensional Horrors

So far, I have shown how adding moral complexity and reality warping damage can make gaming in Lovecraft's world fresh again. Now, I'll give some insights on adding 4th dimensional horrors, body horror, and surrealism into the mix.

4TH DIMENSIONAL HORROR

In the novel Flatland, 2D creatures can only see one crossection of 3D entities at a time. A sphere would thus be seen by a Flatlander as an increasingly large, then decreasingly small circle.

(XKCD had fun with the concept HERE)

In the same way, we 3 dimensional beings should only see higher dimensional beings in partial and disturbing forms. These abhorrent appearances also affect gameplay in the following ways:

EFFECTS OF 4D MONSTER APPEARANCE

1 Timeshifted Embryo - The entity looks like a grotesque embryonic form of itself inside of a sloshing embryonic sac. Roll 1D8 armor for cutting through it every time it is attacked.

2 Living Shadow - The entity looks like a silhouette form of itself. Its Dodge changes from DEX x 2% to DEX x4 %.

3 Undead Yet Alive - The entity looks like a grotesquely rotted corpse form of itself. SAN loss is doubled.

4 Pestilent Smell - The entity is invisible, but its horrendous stench presages an attack. Defenses and attacks against the monster are limited to the Smell % of the character.

5 Deafening Rush - The entity is invisible, but its unearthly susurrus presages an attack. Defenses and attacks against the monster are limited to the Listen % of the character.

6 Fleshly Touch - The entity can only be touched by living beings, all weapons pass right through it. Fisticuffs are the only way to damage it, but touching its scabrous skin incurs another SAN roll.

7 Must Be Atomized  - The entity shrugs off damage. It regains 2D6 HP per round until returned to full health, even after death, unless burned or otherwise atomized.

8 Reflector - The entity looks like the Investigator it attacks, and other characters must make a one time INT x 3% roll to tell the difference.

BODY HORROR

One thing hinted at in Reanimator and Event Horizon is the body horror implicit in many of Lovecraft's works, as humans devolve into monstrous forms. Strangely enough, the original Tomb Raider game also had an Antarctic facility that could change bodies into monsters, a very Lovecraftian horror in a suitable Antarctic cyclopean locale.

Keepers can introduce an ancient machine, a potion, a curse, or some other means to cause Investigators to undergo a horrific metamorphosis. Overt ime, the afflicted slowly morphs into one of the creatures below (feel free to substitute your own entries). NB: Keep the result of this roll secret for maximum dread.

1 Formless spawn

2 Ghoul

3 Deep One

4 Wendigo

5 Mi Go

6 Star Vampire

7 Serpent People

8 Hunting Horror

Every week of game time, the Keeper chooses an attribute of the monster to appear on the afflicted Investigator. These could include any of the following:

- Add or subtract 1D6 to an attribute. This process can continue until the number of dice rolled matches that for the creature.

- Add a physical feature, starting with minor features like sallow skin or dark eyes, and progressing to major ones like wings or new body form.

- Add a game mechanic power, such as armor, POW drain, etc.

- Add a characteristic such as unnatural speech or need to be in cold environs

For every change, the player must make a SAN roll equal to that of the creature the Investigator is morphing into. At the end of the transformation, if the Investigator still has any Sanity left, they are a monster haunted by the soul of an Investigator. If their SAN reaches 0, they have mercifully forgotten who they are and are completely subsumed by their new, monstrous identity. Time for a new character!

SURREALISM

Lovecraft's Dreamlands were a setting that brought his mythos out of cosmic horror and into surreal territory. I suggest leaning heavily into this for any scenarios that wander into the Dreamlands or other mythic territory.

In my last CoC game, the players were enthralled by the Dreamlands, where they had taken refuge after Nazi occultists had taken over the Earth. While there, they had access to the following arcane knowledge:

SUMMON CATS (spell, MP 4, SAN 1D4)

Only usable in the Dreamlands. In cities such as Ulthar, causes 2d100 cats to appear out of shadows and alleyways to stare in silence at the caster. If the caster is a cat lover or has done a good service to cats, he or she may receive a boon, such as being presented to The Mother of Cats, introduced to a teacher of the Cat Dance, or be told a secret. Note that there is no Control Cats spell, as cats only do what they want to do. Cats can also chase away Ghouls, Ghasts, and any other Dreamlands creature the Keeper sees fit.

CAT DANCE (skill)

A skill that can only be learned from the Priests of Bast. The skill can be used in two ways:

1) As an alternate Dodge skill. On the plus side, the character can Dodge and do any unarmed attack they know as they do so. On the minus, they can't use any weapons while Cat Dancing, and unarmed attack skill can never exceed Cat Dance skill.

2) As a show to make friends with any cat-based monster or deity. For example, meeting Bast.

Extended Dreamlands - The Keeper can borrow dreamlands from other media or their own inspirations, such as the Cat Dream from Neil Gaiman's Sandman, or from the works of Michel Moorcock.

Hawkmoon Redux # 3 - The Power of Bioengineering!

Let’s take our first foray into Science as set out by the Hawkmoon RPG. As noted, whereas Stormbringer went into ample depth with Sorcery, Hawkmoon leaves a giant, handwaiving gap in its Science mechanics.

So let’s take up the strands of what the game does provide, and see where it tries to lead us. Although I originally thought I could do the entire Science system (such as it is) in one post, it has surprisingly turned out to be too much to chew in one bite.

Today, I’ll try and tease out the implications of Bioengineering.

1) SCIENCE AS SKILLSET & PROCESS

The first evidence of Science mechanics we have in Hawkmoon are the various skills and examples of their use in the Player’s Book. The four Science skills are as follows:

Biological Lore Chemical Lore

Electrical Lore Machine Lore

These correspond to our modern fields of Biology, Chemistry, Electronics, and Mechanics. Actually, there is a fifth Science skill, Ancient Lore, that allows PCs to understand or unlock the secrets of ancient artifacts.

In truth, these initial four skills are cut from the same cloth as the Plant Lore and Poison Lore skills from Stormbringer, with different skill percentages ‘unlocking’ certain knowledge and abilities. However, more importantly, they also let a character manipulate the gameworld by creation of super science technology.

Let’s deep dive into the first and arguably most central to Hawkmoon, Biological Lore.

First off, Biological Lore allows some advantages to other skills.

• Having it allows the character to add 5% to First Aid per 20% of Biology skill

• There is also a vague mention of ‘curing’ patients with a successful skill roll, so we can assume this is for pathogens and poisons

Most importantly, it allows for knowledge of living organisms, as well as bio-engineering, i.e. the equivalent to demon summoning in Stormbringer. In the novels, bio-engineering is everywhere, from Count Brass’ horned horse (never called a unicorn), to the tamed riding flamingos of the Kamarg, to the Baragoon that haunts its swamps, all of these are remnants of ancient bioengineering. 

As the Science book tells us,

“THE WEAPONS of The Tragic Millenium produced many strange creatures. Most “monsters” in Hawkmoon are actually mutants, descended from the flora and fauna of our own day. Most mutants are not warped completely, in fact, most would be classifiable by our own biologists. Over the centuries, the chromosomal damage suffered by these mutants stabilized and became natural. The young of many such mutants are still born dead, and most breed much more slowly than natural animals. Some of these mutations and constructs are beneficial, or at least useful, such as the giant flamingos of the Kamarg.

There are artificial mutations as well, genetic constructs such as the baragoon and the war jaguars of Asia Communista, which were created under carefully controlled conditions by fairly uniform species. Unique individual mutants are extremely rare, and usually deformed - often too grotesque to survive long. Generally, where one mutant beast is seen, quite a few more just like it are around somewhere.”

Lots of fluff in there, but it is mostly evocative, and hints at what the Bioengineering ability is supposed to allow.

Here is a simplified description of the levels 

01-10 Recognize common plants & animals

11-20 Recognize exotic or dangerous plants & animals

21-30 Understand ecology, evolution, behaviour

31-40 Bioengineer superficial changes (skin colour, fur, feathers, eyes), also modify STR or SIZ by + or - 1D3,

41-50 Bioengineer minor changes (+ or - 1 AR, thick fur, tail, etc), also modify STR or SIZ by + or - 1D6.

51-60 Evaluate / estimate unknown abilities, behaviour, and biology

61-70 Bioengineer complex changes (+ or - 3 AR, gliding flaps, spikes, etc), also modify any attribute by + or - 1D6.

71-80 Bioengineer minor structural changes (paws to hands, quadruped to biped, litters instead of single births, etc), also modify any attribute by + or - 2D6.

81-90 Bioengineer major structural changes (speech, herbivore to carnivore, immunity to poison or radiation, disease carrier, etc), also modify any attribute by + or - 4D6.

91-00 Bioengineer unnatural or new changes (wings, tails, extra legs, glowing, water breathing, psychic, etc), also modify any attribute by + or - 8D6.

That’s a lot of information and abilities to process there, exactly like the Poison Lore and Plant Lore from Stormbringer. Personally, I would move the knowledge from 51-50 down to 31-40 and bump bio-engineering up the chain, then systematize or streamline the bonuses given.

2) THE REQUISITES OF BIOENGINEERING

As a corollary to the Biological Lore skill section, we are also given some details of what is needed to perform Bioengineering:

“To conduct bioengineering experiments, a scientist must have a proper laboratory. The details of constructing and maintaining such are left to the gamemaster, but such should be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Once the lab is built and filled with instruments, experiments can be conducted. Creation of a basic mutation in a chosen organism takes 60 - INT (minus the researcher’s INT) months and a successful Biological Lore skill roll. A failed skill roll may simply result in a failure to obtain the desired result or it may cause the death or maiming of the organism.”  (40-41)

To summarize, this is all we know about bio-engineering:

Place: A laboratory, though few details are given.

Time: 60 - INT months to make a mutagen

Finances & Materials: No details given.

Skill Roll: Biological Lore, but with no details on success or failure.

As we can see, the text leaves a lot to the imagination. Also, this is the most detailed of all the scientific process explanations for Science skills, which grow shorter as the skill chapter proceeds. As a writing instructor at university for nearly two decades, I can’t help but see this as evidence that the book was rushed, and that the creators wrote and revised the initial section on Biological Lore, but ran out of time to do the same for Machine, Chemical, and Electrical Lores, not to mention Ancient Lore.

Let’s try and fill in some holes and see what we get.

TYPES OF LABORATORY

First, we must determine what constitutes a laboratory. If we search the books for answers, this is what we get for all Science types:

Biology - Clinic

Chemistry - Refinery

Electronics - Workstation

Mechanics - Tool Shop

Ancient - Installation

So if we take ‘laboratory’ for the general term, but require one of the 5 specific structures for each type of Science done, we avoid re-use of materials and make experimentation suitably costly for greater constructs like Flame Cannons.

Next, time for biological experimentation seems straightforward, but doesn’t make sense if we consider that experiments can vary widely in difficulty. Putting a horn on a horse and turning a man into a Baragoon are very different things, and should take vastly different amounts of time. Maybe we can link the scale of work done with the time required, a logical extension.

To do this, we need to add some sort of resource. One of the greatest RPGs involving mutants was the old Palladium TMNT game. Despite its faults in other areas, its Bio-Energy system for creating mutants was very solid. In the same way, implementing a Mutagen Point (MP) cost system for Bio-Engineering in Hawkmoon should help streamline the time calculations and overall process.

MP COSTS

1 MP per die of attribute modified

1 MP per point of AR modified

2 MP per superficial change (skin colour, fur, feathers, eyes) Skill 41-50.

3 MP per minor exterior change (thick fur, tail, etc). Skill 51-60.

4 MP per complex changes (gliding flaps, spikes, etc). Skill 61-70.

5 MP per minor structural change (paws to hands, quadruped to biped, litters instead of single births, etc). Skill 71-80.

6 MP per major structural change changes (speech, herbivore to carnivore, immunity to poison or radiation, disease carrier, etc) Skill 81-90.

7 MP per unnatural changes (wings, tails, extra legs, glowing, psychic, etc). Skill 91-00.

TIME FORMULA FOR BIO-ENGINEERING

30 + MP - INT 

In other words, take a base of 30 (reduced to compensate for varying MP costs of abilities), add the Mutagen Points the experiment costs, then subtract the Scientist’s INT to determine the time in months to complete the world. Note that any experiment cannot be less than 30 months regardless of calculations. Also, bio-engineering that is merely replicating previous work for which all instructions are understood reduces the base by half to 15.

For example, if a Scientist wanted to make a guard dog with +1D6 STR and immune to radiation for travelling through the wasteland, it would cost him 1 MP for the 6 MP for the immunity, for a total of 7. According to the formula, the cost in time would be 30 (base) + 7 - the Scientist’s INT.

FINANCES & MATERIALS 

I won’t go into finances at the moment, as both Hawkmoon and Stormbringer have price lists for daily goods and little else. Instead, I think it is simpler to use social class as a marker of wealth. In this case, only Nobles and Scientists should have the resources to afford any type of laboratory, and may still be required to quest for materials and extra funds.

But we should try to specify exactly WHAT is needed to perform experiments. If we do a cost analysis for Bio-engineering, we might get something like this:

TEST SUBJECT - Every experiment needs one. Many are unwilling, as was Hawkmoon when he had the Jewel in the Skull implanted. This has lots of great game implications, including kidnapping of victims for experiments, and experimentation on political enemies or prisoners, for example.

BIO-MATERIALS - British scientist and broadcaster Heinz Wolff coined the term bioengineering in 1954, so preceding The Jewel in the Skull’s appearance in 1967 by a scant 13 years. The mechanics of gene splicing etc that inform our present day knowledge of bio-engineering could be imported here usefully. For example, if you want to put a horn on your horse, maybe start with DNA from a rhino horn and a horse. This could be used as a story hook to have PCs quest for a rare genetic specimen, or else gain funds to barter for the materials needed.

MUTAGEN - As in the real world, some mutagenic agent, usually radioactive, is needed to create change in an organism. Yet again, this has great game implications, as characters will have to brave the radioactive wastes to obtain mutagen if they want to try their hand at bio-engineering. Given the short term nature of playing Hawkmoon, bio-engineering is likely to stay the province of NPCs, usually evil, unless PCs need it for a specific goal.

Finally, determining degree of success or failure in a bioengineering roll is also easily delineated much like I did for the Sorcery skill in Stormbringer.

BIOENGINEERING SUCCESS OR FAILURE

(Roll vs Biological Lore skill)

CRITICAL - Smashing Success! The Scientist gets exactly what they intended, with no complications.

SUCCESS - Success! The Scientist gets exactly what they intended, with 1 to 2 complications.

FAILURE - Failure! Time and money has been wasted, and the Scientist must start over again.

FUMBLE - Abject Failure! Not only has time and money been wasted, a monstrosity has been created due to some error. Roll random mutations and complications. All this and the Scientist must start over again as well.

3) THE EFFECTS OF BIOENGINEERING

Finally, the effects and details of bioengineering are available in muddled form in the Mutations section at the end of the Science book. To me, this is another indicator of the rushed nature of the project, especially given the preponderance of phrases like “... effects are A, B, or C etc.” A lot of it strikes the reader as placeholder text that the design staff just never had time to return to, and which probably passed muster due to the culture of gamemasters at that time, who often created their own houserules or discussed options with players. Although Stormbringer 4E’s Demon Abilities section is more filled out, it too suffers from a similar lack of taxonomy, or overarching theme of powers, that plagues Hawkmoon.

In this case, it would be a simple (yet time-consuming) solution to go through the muddled list of mutations, which mixes good and bad and power levels with little rhyme or reason, and classify them based on Beneficial / Harmful, and Mutation Level for the former to allow calculation of MP cost when bio-engineering. For instance, here is the first page of mutations.

Adaptability (Beneficial, Complex change = 4 MP)

Allergy (Harmful)

Ability Increase (Beneficial, MP cost varies according to skill level, which also affects number of dice used. Also, Scientists can do both ability decreases on an organism to offset increases, but if this results in an attribute of 0, the creature is stillborn)

Ability Decrease (Harmful)

Biped (Beneficial, Minor structural change = 5 MP)

Camouflage (Beneficial, Comlex = 4 MP)

Coloration (Beneficial, Superficial = 2 MP)

Congenital Disease (Harmful)

Disease Carrier (Harmful, unless intentional, in which case Beneficial, Major structural change = 6 MP)

Group Intelligence  (Harmful, unless intentional, in which case Beneficial, Unnatural change = 7 MP)

In this way, you could easily create tables of random Beneficial and Harmful mutations, see all their MP costs at a glance, and basically take the ambiguity out of the process.

Also, bioengineering should not come without some cost to the test subject. Basically, no one should want to undergo the process willingly. This prevents it from becoming overpowered, but also keeps it a danger instead of a kewl power that any min maxer would willingly inflict on his character, as befits Moorcock’s fiction.

CONCLUSION

Although I was fairly harsh on Hawkmoon in my first post, I will amend my opinion with regards to Biological Lore, since with a little work, there is a usable system provided for Bio-engineering. It is hampered by being disorganized and split between books, but is a worthy and salvageable part of the game.

Due to the characteristic Chaosium editorial habit of splitting necessary information between different books (Player’s and Science in this case), as well as the paucity of details as the text progresses, we have a somewhat fleshed out and workable Bioengineering system, but with increasingly vague and thus non-functional rules for Electrical Lore, Chemical Lore, and Machine Lore.

This is a pity, since Flame Cannons and Silver Machines are just as much part of the Hawkmoon setting as mutants and genetic constructs.

But that is a tale for another time.