Blood-Clans of Jorikk: "Saga of the Bear-Folk"

So, I have been working on an RPG Adventure, for The Blood-Clans of Jorikk Campaign Setting,

written by Nickolas Gildersleeve. Follow them on Facebook!

Most people know my love of Nordic Mythology, so the Wyldr of Jorikk is a natural fit!

It uses the Hackmaster RPG, though any system can be used. For example, I plan to use Dungeons and Dragons for when I GM the game.

The title I have chosen is the "Saga of the Bear-Folk", and I have decided at the beginning of each Chapter or Verse, I will have a few stanzas of the Saga written in both Skarrn (The language spoken by the Dunnvigr) and the translation in English. 

Here is the intro for Verse I.

Lo!

Hjer byrja ferdhalakkar fra Bjorgdunar

Jog fra aegisagr thaejar...

*****

Thekksagr byrja

Hvenr runekorn avsolja

Idh Rytarrskegg

Harrik, viedunnath-megg

Rugla megg skjirkorn

Seiflath fra Bjordunnar, Arnbjorg dun nuldorn

Nefingja brrodhath halkur dhing

Tala fra gothing

Brrodh fra gultn,

Fus sanna thaejar haemn

Velja laethr thekkorn

Jog avsolja laeyndhorn 

Translation:

Lo!

Here begins the journey of the Bear-Folk

And their epic Saga…

*****

This story does begin,

When a runestone was discovered 

In Rytarrskegg,

By a fisherman called Harrik.

Bemused by the strange monolith

The Bjordunnar Chief, a man called Arnbjorg

Called forth the clan, for a meeting

To discuss this discovery

A group of young warriors

Eager to prove their worth

Were chosen to seek out this stone

And to discover it’s secrets…

I'm sick of One-shot Adventures: A Rant

Okay. Context! Here's how it is. I've been playing tabletop RPGs now for about 6 years. I began on the idea of a group of people getting together every weekend or every other weekend to play an campaign. We slayed dragons, defeated the drow, killed the goblins and stole their shoes, and numerous other shenanigans...

After a while the group fell apart after about a year and a half, as was expected. I started another group that fell apart after breakups and real-life happened. 

It was about half a year afterwards which I discovered Pathfinder, published by Paizo, and Pathfinder Society. I was involved with PFS for about two years until I started to become bored of the drop-in/drop-out style. Don't get me wrong. I love Pathfinder, but I'd rather play in a Non-Society environment. 

I discovered D&D Encounters, There I could play a similar style game to Pathfinder, but we typically had the same group of folks at the same table every week. I loved it! It was fantastic! I ran several seasons, with the same players, though there were some drop-ins and drop-outs. The story was interesting and easy to prep. But again once the group began to grow and with the fluctuating player attendance, I began to grow weary... This coupled with my extreme dislike of one of the regulars lead to my attendance rate dropping to once in a blue moon.

It just appears to me that a lot of people in the groups have been only introduced to the drop-in/drop-out style of Organized Play. When I bring up a setting that I really really really want to play, or has been festering in my mind for a while, most people seem really interested, but as soon as I bring up an ongoing campaign of 2+ sessions, everyone gets cold feet! What?! 

Now I understand people have jobs and real-life to deal with, and I'm willing to work around that. 

Since I can't seem to get people to commit to a game, I'm forced to write down the adventures I want to GM into story format. I actually explained a setting to one of my friends and their response was "Ooh that sounds cool! When are we going to play that?"

My response? "Well, we aren't." Reason: Because I brought it up before and no one wanted to commit to a campaign so I went and made my own characters, and wrote the story I wanted to tell... (I still am writing that story)

It's so frustrating to go through the incessant cycle of one-shots were I am handed a character sheet and then after the game is over, I never see that character again! I love to develop characters, give them backstory, really get into their head... but in a one-shot? Ha! yeah that's not going to happen.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess Review (Mechanics and Rules)

Character Generation

Character generation is similar to most D20 systems. You role 3d6 (three six-sided dice), six times to determine your Ability Scores; Charisma, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Strength and Wisdom. Players start at 'Level 0', similar to in Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC). 

Classes

The class system is similar to AD&D and DCC, where you are a human or a non-human race. The classes in LotFP are [human] Cleric, Fighter, Magic-User, and Specialist. The other races, called 'demi-humans' are Elf, Halfling, and Dwarf. As in every other D20 system each class has a certain die (hit dice/HD) that they role to determine health points (HP). Each time a player levels up they role the proper hit dice. Though in LotFP, after level ten each class adds a fixed HP value for every level afterwards.

LotFP has a unique saving throw mechanic. Instead of having individual saving throws for spells and items, each class has its own set of Saving Throw DCs (Difficulty Check). These categories are: Paralyzation, Poison, Breath Weapon, Magical Device, and Magic. 

• Paralyzation covers any effect where the target is unable to move (like a Hold Person, or Web spell). 
• Poison is for any situation where HP is irrelevant, and where a fail could result in unconsciousness or death. 
• Breath Weapon is used for area of effects.
• Magical Device is for when the target is being effected of a magical item, such as a wand, ring, staff, etc.
• Magic is resistance against spells or magical abilities.

I'm not sure how I feel about this set of rules just yet.

Alignment

Alignment is not as stark black and white as in other systems. You have only three alignments to choose from, Lawful, Chaotic, and Neutral. I think I prefer this to the Alignment charts of Pathfinder or D&D. It gives the world a more 'grey' tone.


Encounters
Most experienced RPG players are familiar with the term 'encounter'. But for those of you that a reading this that are not experienced RPG players; an encounter is usually some form of combat, though not always. Meeting a monster or NPC and trying to best them. Encounters are typically the main way to gain experience points (XP). They are usually governed by initiative, the order in which the characters and NPCs act. A turn or round, of an encounter (when every character in initiative has acted) usually lasts anywhere from five to thirty seconds of in-game time, depending on the game you are playing. I use turn as in, 'Each character has a turn every round'.

There are two methods of initiative in LotFP.

• One player rolls a d6 for the PC's side and the GM rolls a d6 for the opposition. The winner acts first.
  I personally don't like this. I feel it could potentially lead to an encounter becoming one sided.
• The second method is more to my liking. Each player rolls a d6 and the GM rolls a d6 for each different type of creature they are facing. 

There are lost of different things one can do on their turn, and I won't go into it here.

Monsters

There is nothing about Monsters in the 'Rules and Magic' book. Though looking through the two modules I have It appears that monsters do not have the usual 'stat block' of other RPG systems. It gives you an Armor Class, Movement, Hit Dice, HP, Attack, and Morale, and then any any special attack or ability the creature has. I'm not so sure how this will play out in-game but it does make reading monster stats a lot simpler.

All in all I can't wait to play this for Free RPG Day. I like the dark feeling I get by reading the modules. and the system seems very clean and non-spread sheet like.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess (Pre-Play/Quick Read Through) Review

I have recently picked up the Lamentations of the Flame Princess "Rules and Magic" Book at The Wyvern's Tale (the friendly local game store). I have only flipped through it a couple of times and have not actually read through the rules. Though from what I have read it appears to be a D20 based system. The book itself does bare the the "18+ Explicit Content Warning". It is classified as a "Weird Fantasy" so I expect that when the Referee Book and the Bestiary comes out it will have some Lovecraftian type monsters and story elements.

The 2013 Free RPG Module "Better Than Any Man" takes place in medieval Germany. I picked it up last year but haven't had the chance to play it. The setting is incredibly dark and I find it a nice break from the fairy tale sort of settings that seem to be common in games such as "Pathfinder " (by Paizo Publishing) and Dungeons and Dragons 4e (by Wizards of the Coast). Now don't get me wrong I love both of those games and I took part of the play testing of D&D Next. But I have been yearning for a darker more gritty setting. I have been playing the Song Of Ice and Fire RPG, which accurately displays the feel and setting of the novels.  In my humble opinion I find that even with a quick read of this game, it definitely gives the world a incredibly gritty feel.

The artwork in the module and book is delightful. Mixing Old School artwork like those found in AD&D and the more recent Dungeon Crawl Classics, with modern style fantasy artwork. I have shared some that I found via Google. But most of the artwork, I would classify as NSFW.

All in all, I look forward to playing this game at Free RPG Day on June 21st. If you are in the Asheville Area, I will be running the 2014 Free RPG Day adventure at The Wyvern's Tale, I encourage you to join us!

Get the rules for free Here! It does not contain any of the art. So, I encourage you to go and buy the hardcover book at your FLGS so you can see the beautiful and disturbing artwork!