First Peek at Axes and Anvils

So Mike Nystul is going to take a draft of the game to a convention. This is good news, and the game has a solid draft. It may not be finished, but it is totally playable. I am excited about reaching a point in the near future where a draft of the game is in the hands of backers, and they know for sure it exists and it is awesome, and they don’t have to take my word for it.

And… that’s about all I can say at this point.

Crumbling Epoch

After getting a play session in, I had some additional insights into what would make this game better. It has come a long way from its humble roots. I give you the May 20 update for the Crumbling Epoch system, designed to be compatible with B/X Dungeons and Dragons and retroclones.

Crumbling Epoch 5.20

Crumbling Epoch, Devilmount 5.20.13

Crumbling Epoch Wampus Spells 5.20.13

Crumbling Epoch Character Sheet and Reference 5.20

Why play Crumbling Epoch? Well, here are the reasons I would play it instead of B/X or another system based on the original. You can decide what you think for yourself.

• Combat is a struggle where foes may tie, or one may dominate another, or they may whittle each other down, or they may strike at each other with disregard for their own safety. The fiction is represented mechanically, rather than feeling like two pinatas trading hits until one bursts with experience candy.
• Armor is damage reduction. Combat skill helps you not get hit.
• You can have an attack or defense stance, and you can protect people.
• Multiple combat feels like one against many, and there is an advantage to ganging up on tougher foes. Also, many less significant foes can be folded into a single roll, speeding combat greatly.
• I never liked “cast and forget” magic. If you have the slot, you can casually toss a fireball with no physical engagement beyond hand gestures. This magic is fueled by hit points. Also, wands and staves for wizards become important.
• Classes get simple scalable abilities. Higher level characters do not necessarily get more complex to play, but they do get cooler.
• The thief is democratized; the skills can be spread around the party. Anyone can backstab if they attack someone who has already acted in the round. Since characters can take a new skill instead of hit points when they level, a lower-hit-point fighter or martial artist (or whatever) with more skills becomes thief-like.
• A simple skill system is bolted on and accessible to everyone.
• Simple paired weapon rules that do not involve multiple attacks.
• Fresh new spells.
• A movement system that allows characters to decide how fast or how slow they will move–decide to be cautious or stealthy or mapping, instead of having a single movement rate that assumes they will be.
• Simple unified experience for all classes, at a less brutally punishing rate than the slow experience awards assumed in the basic books.
• Everybody can use weapons and armor. Fighters are just better at it.
• I enjoy the lightbringer and thirster concepts. Also, I like having martial artists that don’t have to be monks.

I think there is a lot to love here. If anybody uses this, I’d love to hear how it works for your group.

Hog Man.

Yeah, this picture is a bit disturbing. The codpiece is the skull of Simon’s wizard that died in Devilmount on Friday; this may well be a portrait of his killer.

Thank Jack Shear for the idea of putting hog men in Devilmount!

Into Devilmount!

Last night I had a couple friends over, they ran 2 characters each, and the understrength party took on the challenges of Devilmount.

After being sealed for 200 years, the doors to Devilmount just… drifted open. The government is worried. They posted soldiers “on maneuvers” to cover the entrance, and scooped up some local riff raff who is expendable to map the thing for them so when they get some real adventurers they can focus their efforts.

The party was a fighter, a martial artist, a gray man, and a wizard. They headed down, cautiously poked around, and mapped quite a bit. They clashed with a few  blackened skeletons, defeated a pack of big rats, and dispatched a number of hog men. They mapped, a new activity for one of the players, but he was delighted when his map matched what I portrayed on the white board.

They got out while they could, and decided after a rest and some healing to focus on one quadrant, guessing the level was divided into quarters. This time they got some more exploring done, but they got cocky when they faced off with more hogmen–especially when even more reinforced them during the fight.

They tried to run, but when not everyone could get away they stuck it out to save their friends–until three of them fell and the fighter was the only one to make it out.

Last night was the first live test of my new Crumbling Epoch system. I like how it went. One of my players would try it again, the other prefers systems with more options for building and growing characters than what the simplicity of Crumbling Epoch offers.

I think it would go better with a stronger party. Ironically, as a corner game at my game table it is unlikely to GET a big group going in. I will likely need to continue testing it on my own. Still, a great test and experience.

One player said it reintroduced fear of monsters in dungeons, something that fades when you have tough characters from level one. So that’s something! =)

Devilmount Thirster

So I’ve continued work on my cool party group shot for Devilmount. Here is my thirster, a weak-blooded unliving vampiric type.

The picture is based on Sarah Michelle Geller, from Buffy. She’s holding a delicious bottle of blood.

Lumpen-Ones

So Jack Shear made Devilmount, and put “lumpen-ones” in the place of halflings.

I have not put more thought into their ecology yet, but I’m going to. In the meantime, here’s an awesome picture of one possible interpretation. Here is the art from the actual Devilmount book, posted here.

By Wayne Snyder

Reskinning B/X Classes.

This is lots of fun. I’m inspired by Jack Shear’s Devilmount class re-skins. No need for mechanical adjustments. Encourages constructs, undead, and furries. Roll once for each, and you’ll have a pretty distinct setting. Here you go!

Halfling: 1d6

1. Anthropomorphic koala bear.
2. Anthropomorphic skink with chromataphores.
3. Anthropomorphic rat.
4. Animated puppet.
5. Part sand elemental.
6. Undead street urchin child.

Dwarf: 1d6

1. Terra Cotta soldier.
2. Anthropomorphic badger.
3. Anthropomorphic wolverine.
4. Anthropomorphic beaver.
5. Skull golem (made of skulls)
6. Anthropomorphic psychic mole.

Elf: 1d4

1. Weak lich.
2. Unicorn centaur.
3. Orialchum construct.
4. Anthropomorphic cat people.

Fighter: 1d4

1. Anthropomorphic bull.
2. Spirit that bonds with armor (can transfer).
3. Revenant.
4. Animated statue.

Thief:

1. Anthropomorphic frog.
2. Wire golem.
3. Anthropomorphic raccoon.
4. Anthropomorphic octopus.

Have some fun with this.