I just decided to back a Kickstarter, The Razor Coast. This isn't completely an Alternate Fantasy setting, but has all the tropes. It is a Swashbucklers & Sorcery setting for the Pathfinder and Swords & Wizardry RPGs. This project was started about two years ago by Nicolas Logue. It got to be too much for him, being a game designer & not really understanding the complexities of publishing. Well, it has been picked up by Frog God Games and will finally see the light of day. Nicolas is more than happy to be back to doing what he loves, designing. The project has attracted other designers as well. You would need to visit the site to keep up with them all, but I feel that this will be an awesome project. Besides that, I sense that it will have much material to raid for anybody, like me, who would adapt this to truly Alternate Fantasy settings, like say...Spelljammer.
This project is something special. It was kept alive by a group of developers and fans, mainly by chatting about it on various messageboards. It showed various 3pps that there was still heavy interest in it. After much wrangling behind the scenes, most of which the general public does not need to worry about, Frog God Games took up the mantle & is bringing us this interesting setting. Filled with Swashbuclkers, pirates, and weresharks (yes I said weresharks), it is the Pirates of the Caribbean crossed with D&D, well Pathfinder Oh, and really Swords & Wizardry is OD&D, so that still applies. Wait, what was I talking about?
Anyway, this is shaping up to one of the most anticipated releases for 2013. Be sure to check out the site. Hopefully what you read will convince you to back it.
Now this is an interesting RPG product trying to get funded over at Kickstarter.
"The Saga of Dragon Star is a new epic fantasy western, while the N.R.G. System is a new sword-and-sorcery RPG!"
Not much to talk about that isn't already in the video. It does get my attention because it is an Alternate Fantasy setting. Hopefully there won't be too many people confusing this with the older Dragonstar RPG.
After being on a hiatus from doing this, let's jump back in running.
Let us discuss a common trope in Pulp Fantasy literature. The Man out of Time/Space. How many of you out there have played in, or ran, a game where you transported the player characters from the modern world to a fantasy one? You know you watched way too many episodes of the old Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.
Well, now Super Genius Games (SGG) has just the product for you, Anachronistic Adventurers. With these products, you can play a modern era character of a variety of backgrounds. Whisked away to a strange world full of elves, dwarves, dungeons, and dragons; you will use your skills, or lack there of, to survive this strange world. Can you fend off the orc horde after you run out of ammo for your shiny Colt .45? How well does that Thompson work when pitted against a linorm? Now you can find out. There are presently five products in the Anachronistic Adventurers line.
First off there is the Enforcer. I don't think I can describe it better than the PDF does.
"The enforcer is the epitome of the modern fighting combatant, from professional soldier to citizen militia, mercenary-of-fortune to experienced insurgent, and from ultimate martial-arts television contestant to mob button man and even police SWAT. The enforcer is trained and skilled at using force to take control of dangerous situations, remain calm under fire, follow a set of rules of engagement, and within those rules adapt and overcome unforeseen obstacles as necessary to achieve victory. The enforcer represents the infantryman, marine, and special forces of the era of modern firearms, and is as adept with tools of personal combat as most modern folk are with a television remote. The weapons used by such warriors vary, depending on the era an enforcer comes from, and they might be as primitive as single-action revolvers and bolt-action rifles, or as complex as assault rifles with laser targeting sights. And sometimes they end up in fantasy lands, where they are attacked by orcs and need to defend themselves with spears."
This was the first in the line and clearly shows the direction of the whole series. The Enforcer has been followed by the Daredevil, Tough, Investigator, and Luminary. There will be a 6th in the line and then the character classes will be complete.
These products are different from standard base classes. Where as Paizo has their preferred approach to archetypes, SGG created their take on the concept first, and differs in approach. They took the classes and stripped out the core concepts of each as a set of archetypes, which could be substituted out for alternate abilities. Similar to the standard archetypes, but more expansive. Then they went and made a bunch of archetypes of their own. The really neat thing? You can then plug in almost any archetype into any class. Now, with Anachronistic Adventurers, they made all of their classes minus any pre-installed archetypes. Then they provide you with a bunch of archetypes to plug into the classes. Some archetypes may be suboptimal, but that is for you to find out.
Overall, this is a great series of products that I highly recommend. Each builds onto the ones before. Using these PDFs, you could create a great campaign of lost teens trying to find their way back to Earth.
Looks like this could be some really nice material for a Spelljammer or Dragonstar based game. I will be keeping an eye on this. I would recommend anybody interested to follow the link & see what this project is all about. With people such as Colin McComb, Richard Pett, Michael Kortes, Clinton Boomer, and Scott Gable working on this, it makes for a great pedigree of designers for this.
I am working on a different take on magic for the Pathfinder RPG. Not really a new system, as a new approach. My approach assumes that some spells come more naturally to casters than others. To reflect this, I have divided the schools of magic by an associated casting stat, rather than spell lists by school. This approach has every caster with a prime stat for casting, which is used to determine bonus spells. Otherwise, his different stats determine the max level of spell that he can cast in a particular school. This leads to built in specialization. I know that this will have many screaming about MADS. That is true, but probably not as bad as some other classes. Also, there are many players out there that neglect certain schools to a greater or lesser extent anyway.
At the most basic form of implementation, you should just use wizards, bards, and magi as the casting classes. Implement archetypes for the various neglected classes. I would eliminate clerics as a class. Take a lesson from Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved setting & have priest be a calling available to any class, not a class unto itself. All spells would be available to any that have the appropriate stats to cast them.
I am making a couple of classes that are built with this approach in mind. I am thinking of using a spell point system pretty much identical to psionic power points. Before I finish it, I think I will be running a few games with just the base use implemented.
The schools of magic & casting stats are as follows
Abjuration (Intelligence)
Conjuration (Charisma or Wisdom) (This is a dual stat school. This represents 2 differing approaches to casting these spells, as well as making each stat able to draw from 3 schools apiece).
Divination (Wisdom)
Enchantment (Charisma)
Evocation (Intelligence)
Illusion (Charisma)
Necromancy (Wisdom)
Transmutation (Intelligence)
Universal (Any)
I admit that this would basically create a different feel for any campaign that uses this. It is really a flavor mechanic, as much as a different approach to magic. I may work on posting the classes for this as I work this up.
Very interesting article at ENworld. apparently Pathfinder is once again the top selling RPG for another quarter.
Now, on to other thoughts. Getting exposure so that not only do I keep doing this blogging shtick, but so I can start getting feedback. I know I just started doing this. that said, I would like to keep doing it. Feedback is the bread & butter to anybody that tries doing this. The best I can do is to keep posting links & hope that someday, I start to get a few followers.
Let's talk about alternate fantasy settings. For a long time, I have been a fan of the mixed genre fantasy setting. Starting with early crossovers of taking Gamma World characters on a romp through Greyhawk, or my favorite of the early crossovers, Dragon Magazine #100: The City Beyond the Gate. Heroes travel through a portal into modern day, 1986 modern, London to retrieve the Mace of St. Cuthbert. Mages and cleric and SAS, oh my! Good times. It wasn't until later I got to read the Barrier Peaks adventure. I never got to play it, or run it. During that time, I was very interested in a new game, Space 1889. the only problem, nobody I knew wanted to play it. Before I got my feet really deep into alternate settings with Shadowrun, then Spelljammer. 1e Shadowrun was a little clunky to manage & I couldn't keep a group together to really make a good play out of it. I got out of the Navy about the time Spelljammer was out. I REALLY got my feet wet there. I loved all of it. Yes, even the walking hippos & giant space hamsters. Silly, but that was one of the things that gave the setting it's identity. It needed something, because otherwise it was just borrowing from other settings. I still love Spelljammer to this day. Maybe someday, somebody will make a reasonable substitute. Speaking of which, there was one that ALMOST did it, Dragonstar. This was Star Wars meets Spelljammer. Unfortunately, this setting seemed to run into its own set of problems. Of the D&D based settings, this has the most potential for somebody to acquire the rights & start producing it again for the Pathfinder RPG.
The main thing was to tell you a little about my experiences with alternate fantasy settings. This blog hasn't really morphed completely into a specific thing, YET. I think I may put snippets of different ideas & conversions I come up with for the setting I play with. I will try to do some reviews of various products as well. I have many Super Genius Games products that would lend themselves well to any Pathfinder setting. I may also give advice on incorporating any products into an alternate setting. I think I'll leave off for now. Be thinking if you would like to give feedback. As I go I will gain focus & get better & better.
This is some thoughts I wrote on Spelljammer a little while back. This is meant as an explanation of the "science" of magic, as much as Spelljamming.
Jeff Grub mentioned in his blog that TSR made the decision not to use æther as an explanation for space travel in Spelljammer. He had his reasons at the time, but I see that using this would actually better explain many things in a fantasy based world. With that disclaimer, here we go.
Æther in Greek mythology is one of the Protogenoi, the first-born elemental gods. He is the personification of the upper sky, space, and heaven, and is the elemental god of the "Bright, Glowing, Upper Air." He is the pure upper air that the gods breathe, as opposed to the normal air mortals breathe. According to ancient and medieval science æther is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere.
I propose this usage of æther be used to define magic. Æther is the medium of magic. As a medium used in this manner, magic is easier explained. Dead magic areas have somehow been purged of æther. Magic is the manipulation of this medium. Wizard use science, sorcerers use personal connection, clerics borrow from the gods, and psions manipulate it with the mind. Æther can be used by GMs, or ignored. Not all cultures need to be aware of the medium to use it.
How does this help Spelljammer? Helms are the device through which the medium of Æther is transformed to interact with the physical world. Using this model, we can change helms from a power source to a control device. Casters would not lose their spells. It would be a device for casters, but still allow those with Use Magic Device to attempt control. Helm use can impose fatigue and other conditions for usage, which in turn may limit spell usage. This can also enhance a spellcaster. Feats can be incorporated for magic use while using a helm, akin to natural spell for druids. One can be made for delivering touch spells to anyone touch the vessel. Not enhancing the spells, but allowing a shocking grasp to be delivered to a foe sneaking behind a friend. Or, casting a cure spell to a badly injured crewman.
Helms are the device through which the medium of æther is transformed to interact with the physical world. In what way, you ask? How is this accomplished? Let me start with how I plan to handle helms in my campaign. Helms are magic items. Some items require that the spells involved in the creation actually be on the spell list of the given class of spellcaster that plans to use the item. This is usually applied only to scrolls, wands, staves, and such. I say this is applied to helms. Why? Because I say it is required for a basic understanding of the principles involved for using the helm to interact with the vessel. This is why the helm is supposed to be used by a spellcaster. I do NOT propose to use the old 2e trope of draining spells from casters.
This is a wondrous item, as such it is constant. I also propose 3 main types of helms, to fall in line with the naming conventions of spells and items in 3.Xe: Minor Helms, Helms, & Greater Helms. I say this also to include an expansion of the size classes, adding 3 classes beyond colossal. Also, since I plan of using a variation of Bastion Press’s Airships rules for construction, I will list tonnages for each size class. Airships uses air tons, which are defined as a 10’ x 10’ x 10’ cube, or 1000 ft3. This is a smaller ton that of SJ. Airships also caps construction at 100 tons, which is fine for their product, but not for Spelljamming. Minor Helms can move ships up to 100 tons, Helms up to 500 tons, and Greater Helms up to 1000 tons. Larger ships will need series Helms, and such, to move them. There are other prime movers, such as the dwarven forge, but these are beyond this post for now.
Since I will be working with the Pathfinder RPG rules, I plan on using the Fly skill to pilot a Helm. This cuts down on any skill point tax, as many casters will likely have some ranks in Fly to begin with.
