Goblins & Orcs & Things Oh My!

I don't know what it is about them, but goblins and orcs seem to be fastened firmly in the D&D psyche.  Judging by the fact that a lot of my fellow old school bloggers seem to have re-designed goblins and orcs, and I have my own take on them as well.

Orcs in my world go by a different name, Ugruk, and they are considered to be one of the "goblinoid races."  I have read that Gygax didn't really care fpr the pig-faced orcs, so I don't use them.  Ugruk have brown, gray or greenish skin, glowing red eyes and are able to see in darkness.  They are typically strong and hardy, possess a keen sense of smell, and are able to catch the scent of other hostile beings at a distance of 20 miles, even if they cannot tell what type of creature they are smelling.  They are excellent warriors, driven by animal instincts and an aggressive nature.  When two Ugruk disagree, they meet in the pit.  The survivor is the one who is "right."  

Some Ugruk have adapted to the cities, and live among humans.  They are brown-skinned, and much more civilized than their greenskin cousins.  It would not be uncommon to see a brown-skinned Ugruk as a blacksmith, bartender, or builder.  There are no "half-ugruk" (or half-orcs) as humans and Ugruk are completely different breeds.   

The typical Ugruk is taller and broader than a human, with short legs and long arms much like an ape.  They have massive heads which come directly forward on their necks, and their heads are batlike, with protruding ears from which hair sprouts.  On their faces are small snouts and a wattle of a chin that descends into a powerful chest.  They have tough, thick skin which is highly resistant to pain.  They can sustain grievous injuries yet still stay in the fight.

   
Goblins themselves are much smaller and weaker than Ugruk.  The two species detest each other, and wars between them are as common as alliances.  In general, when the two races do team up, the Ugruk act as leader, Goblins are treated litle better than slaves. 

Goblins are very spindly and cowardly.  They are quite short and nearly emaciated.  Goblins, however, are very fast, and can rapidly attack from a different angle than they did a moment ago.  They have an annoying ability to be elsewhere by the time you're ready to strike.  They also throw small "bombs," gourds that break apart when they hit you, causing d4 damage.  If the bomb doesn't hit, then it churns out choking and blinding dust (Save vs. Dragon's Breath) or be blinded for d3 rounds.  A successful save means you're not happy, but still ready for action.  

Goblins have also developed a penchant for ambush, as they know they would lose in a stand-up fight.  They hang out in trees and bushes, or hide in holes in the ground, and try to pick off the slowpoke in the back of the party.  

Both Goblins and Ugruk organize themselves into clans.  These clans often have distinctive names like the Bone Gnawers or Bloody Hand.  Here's a handy table to generate a clan name quickly.  To use it, roll 4d10 twice, once for a first name, and once for a last name, and rearrange or mangle to suit.  The parts in parentheses are alternate forms of the name, Mud(dy) could mean either Mud or Muddy.  Here's the table:

4d10	Element
4	Army
5	Attack(er)
6	Axe
7	Biter
8	Bitter
9	Black
10	Blood(y)
11	Break(er)
12	Burn/Fire/Flame
13	Chain
14	Dagger/Knife
15	Danger
16	Dark
17	Deep
18	Destroy(er)
19	Die/Dead/death
20	Doom
21	Dust(y)/Dirt(y)/Grim(y)/Mud(dy)
22	Eat(er)/Gnaw(er)/Bite(r)/Drink(er)
23	Evil
24	Guard
25	Hammer
26	Hand
27	Hard
28	Hate
29	Hunt(er)
30	Pain/Hurt(er)
31	Rock
32	Sharp
33	Skull
34	Spear
35	Stone
36	Strong
37	Sword
38	Tooth/Nail/Claw
39	War/Battle
40	Wolf

So, rolling my 4d10, I come up with 22 and a 10.  Putting them together, it's the Blood Drinker clan.  Another set gives me a 21 and 38.  The Muddy Claw clan!  

Have fun with this!

Hot Elf Chick, Slightly NSFW

I thought I'd post the pic first  :)  

As part of James Smith's fiendish plan to attract more followers to the Old School Renaissance, he suggested we do this.  Many bloggers have taken up his suggestion already, and I'm following suit. 

I realize some people don't particularly care for Larry Elmore's art, but I'm not in that camp.  I think, barring some of his later paperback covers, he is an incredibly talented artist, easily up there with Joe Jusko, Frank Frazetta, Luis Royo, and others. 

Welcome to my blog!  :)

To the point, however, you are now on a site of a rabid pre-Y2K gamer, one who prefers the older flavors of D&D to the new stuff.  However, the current owner, Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro, has seen fit to pull all their reasonably priced PDFs of their old games down, so it would be hard to find anything other than at Ebay collectible prices.  Fortunately, the work of a few talented individuals has made this much easier, and many are free.  If you have ever had a hankering to be a wizard and cast earthshaking spells, a mighty warrior cleaving your way through evil hordes, or even a freebooter exploring dark labyrinths where danger and treasure lurk, then check these out:

Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game 
Made to emulate Basic and Expert D&D books by Moldvay and Cook published in the very early 80's, with more modern innovations

B/X Companion 
This is an imagining of what could have been, if the Companion volume for Basic D&D had been released for the Moldvay/Cook version. 

Big Brown Book
A supplement to D&D-as-wargame. Every roll is made on a d6.

Dark Dungeons
Based on a later iteration of Basic D&D, the one authored by Mentzer and organized and edited into the "Rules Cyclopedia" by Aaron Allston.

For Gold & Glory
A pretty incredible version of 2nd Edition D&D.  If you played D&D before 2000 and after 1987, this was likely the version you played.

Labyrinth Lord
Another Basic D&D clone, this one hews more closely to the original rules.

Labyrinth Lord: Advanced Edition Companion
This "updates" Labyrinth Lord to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (first edition), which many prefer. 

Lamentations of the Flame Princess
Aimed at more Lovecraftian and Clark Ashton Smith influences, but still D&D.

Microlite system
Randall has designed many free iterations of D&D, all trimmed down and made very easy to play.

Myth & Magic
This is a clone of 2nd Edition D&D, updated with more modern rules to replace what the author wanted to fix.

OSRIC
This is a clone of first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.  It is nearly identical to the original. 

Swords & Wizardry
Mythmere games has designed a few brilliant clones of OD&D

I'm sure there are some that I missed, but this will get you started!  Now, if I've reignited the fires of your youth (or if the pic did it), go forth and grab a rulebook, grab some dice, and reclaim the golden age of roleplaying!

Celebrating Gygax

Today is the anniversary of Gary Gygax's death.  If anyone doesn't know what a Gary Gygax is, you need to look it up.  Jeff Rients on his blog mentioned some homework:

"Start with a core set of rules, the older and crappier the better.  You can use an RPG but some half-baked wargame works even better.  Produce a two or three page document with suggestions for improving the rules/adapting them for RPG play and an outline for a campaign.  Expand this to a 50-100 page book.  Use the latter document as the basis for all your campaigns for the next decade or three.  Run one to six games a week, refining your work as necessary.  Publishing any of it is entirely optional."

Done and done.  Except for publishing any of it.  I'm still in the process of writing a clone, but it's not finished as of this writing.  A short blurb:

I wrote this because I want a different "feel" for D&D, one that I don't believe the mechanics support well in their current form.  I want to bring the violent action and feel of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and David Gemmell to the mix.  I want the otherworldly horror of Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft.  I want to renew a sense of wonder to the player, when you sat down and played your first game of D&D.

Choose from 10 unique races, not just another variation of elf.  Some are the same as you're used to (shaken and stirred a bit), others are very different.  Humans are now distinct by nationality and race. 

You are not your stuff anymore.  Your damage increases by class and level, not by acquiring a higher-damage weapon.  This is logical and consistent with the pulps we are emulating.   

No skills!  Your character is unique and does have abilities all his own, and the rules allow anything to be attempted without fiddly rules.  The Thief class is now more useful and fun than in earlier iterations of That Fantasy Game. 

Experience points and Treasure are more logical, consistent, and reward actually doing things.  Magical treasure is now something to be truly in awe of -- not because of raw power, but because of the effects.

New combat mechanics allow for any action to be taken, with instant effects -- not just “+2 to Armor Class!”  Unhorse your foe!  Throw your opponent into a group of enemies and bowl them over.  Hurl your sword at someone and have it pierce him like a spear!  Shatter weapons and shields!  Simple, quick grappling rules allow you to wrestle with your enemy in style!  46 Combat Maneuvers make the Fighter class fun again! 
 
Almost infinite variety.  We have 43 character classes with different types of Spellcasters and Priest-types.  Unique mechanics allow selection to be a breeze!  Get a character up and running in 10 minutes!  Variety like you've not seen in either kit or prestige class!  Yet easier than any edition!

New spells, contained in the same Vancian spell slot system, but now with full power over your spells and how they're cast!  Options for variants allow for a richer magic system!  Eight different schools of magic are detailed, and clerics now have access to “Prayers,” instead of spells.  It works the same, just renamed!

New monsters!  Old monsters with a unique twist! 

All this together with a unique fantasy setting.  Make a name for yourself in the magical land of Andurantha!

Not Old School, not New School, but rather Alternative School.  Backwards compatible with most editions of D&D. 

Optional rules allow you to play it your way! 

Getting anyone to playtest this might be interesting.  Most people have fallen under the sway of WotC or Paizo, and have little patience for anything else.  A weekly game?  I wish!

Old School -- Busting the Myths

As I've been following various old school blogs, I've read various things that I agree with and don't agree with.  In talking with other gamers, quite a few had a negative opinion of the OSR, either from things they've read, or their supposed experiences.  I present to you the most common of the negative comments I've heard or read -- most are simply largely untrue.  The myths and my take on them:

Old School Myth #1: Rules as Written (RAW)
I've heard this time and again.  I've actually experienced it too, when I have to roll a character using the 3d6 method, no assigning of abilities, getting killed just because one dice roll goes wrong (in the GM's hands), etc.  Most of these things annoy me, and more often than not is just an example of rigid thinking that doesn't do anyone any good.

But I think that RAW is just a play style.  Everyone has rules they like, from random chargen to abstract combat, and that's going to happen.  If they didn't like some aspect of the rules, why play?  But I don't think it's particularly Old School.  

D&D3E has a large number of skills and abilities that you can give your character.  In fact, I sort admire it because of that.  Properly implemented, this can give you a solid idea of where you came from or who you are.  Take Howard's Conan; we know he's from a land of ice and snow, can climb really well because of his upbringing, and also can fight well -- a region where the faint of heart would soon be dead.  This could be represented by skill bonuses and bonuses to fight, packaged in a background feat.  But, I digress...  

D&D3E has a great amount of rules.  Rules to see whether you can bluff or intimidate, rules to see whether you can spot something, etc, rules that allow you to do something out of the ordinary in combat.  There's nothing wrong with this, per se, but I kinda felt constrained gamemastering.  Because I would rather there be a way to solve it without skill rolls, and the designers were intent on simply rolling for everything, it seems.  What if I wanted someone to do something to notice something important (like move a cushion, or examine a wall)?  What if I would rather they creatively take out their foe, rather than invoking "Improved Crushing Blow" or some such?  I felt lost as a player, too.

The rules in Old School games for the most part are frameworks.  Each GM seasons his own game to taste.  While all GMs, Old School and Modern, do this to some extent, there's some more "on the fly" rulings that must be made.  No rules system can encompass everything, and a large part of the OSR loves to tinker with it, at least a bit.  If for nothing more than to make sure the next time someone does that, there's not a different set of rules that might hinder the player more or make it too easy.  
       
Old School Myth #2: Starting out as the Little Guy
Another myth is the beginning character as a schmoe.  Too often D&D is used as an example, but I can say definitively that every game does not do this.  Almost no one can deny that Champions is old (c. 1981), incidentally the same year Tom Moldvay authored his version of Basic D&D.  The characters  in old-school Champions were hardly average, being superheroes.  That also was the theme of Villains & Vigilantes (also '81).   70s-era Traveller was also a game where you were well-trained before you began adventuring.  In the Atlantean Trilogy and Palladium Fantasy your character was well-stocked with skills and class abilities, and you were no slouch in Rolemaster, Tunnels and Trolls, The Fantasy Trip, or even RuneQuest.  In Gamma World you had powers that set you above the rabble, and in Top Secret you were a secret agent ala James Bond.  Need I say more?

For my own part, I consider the "little guy" syndome to be reminiscent of Tolkien, where unassuming hobbits were the saviors of the world.  I like the idea of being able to have characters who aren't invincible, but formidable in their own right.  John Carter, Conan, Fafhrd, the Grey Mouser, etc.  

Old School Myth #3: Characters are akin to Checker Pieces
A comment at Playing D&D With Porn Stars mentions that "The (very) old school treats characters like checker pieces - I don't cry in my beer when I lose a checker piece..."  I'm not entirely sure that's the truth.  I think it is a bit related to #1.  All the rules in the world aren't going to instill a personality in your character, or make a campaign playable.  

I've been in those kinds of games -- more power to you if you like that, I'm not particularly amenable to that style.  I'd rather have a backstory for my character and have it be a bit more dramatically appropriate when I pass on, thank you very much.  It's probably the reason I don't care too much for wargames or FPS games, either.  I want to care about what I'm doing.

Now, if you're still trying to wrap your head around all this, or simply do not know what old-school gaming is, pick up Matt Finch's excellent Quick Primer for Old School Gaming.  It's free, and chock-full of great advice.