Star Wars (1977) Memories

"We'll be back after these messages ... (followed by ominous orchestral music, then a voice-over states) You are a 'droid that has just been kidnapped by a Jawa (cue the sound of a munchkin and electronic "zap" effect)." (A radio spot I heard when the alarm went off one morning)

This is how I learned of "Star Wars" (1977). I was home from University and had taken a summer job. The school I attended had no cable and an antenna barely picked up the television stations of the two major cities, each about 40 miles distant. So I was pretty separated from television and news, I had time for little besides studying, attending class, and working. I knew nothing of this movie and the commercial did little to pique my interest.

But Newsweek magazine did.

There was an article reviewing this new film that had folks lining up around the block at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood CA to see it. Accompanying the article were pictures and these most assuredly piqued my interest.

You, gentle reader, are most likely very familiar with SW, later renamed Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope so I'll forgo the review and simply give you my impression. Cable television was only just coming out of infancy at the time and most non-network (CBS, ABC, NBC) stations were filled with syndicated programming such as Beverly Hillbillies and The Brady Bunch ... and old movies. So I saw a lot of old science fiction movies growing up and, though I enjoyed them a lot, many of them were awful. My biggest impression of SW was "finally somebody gets it!" What was "it"?

My belief that, to truly immerse someone in a futuristic milieu, one must make the universe look "lived in." That, in my opinion, was the strength of the Star Trek (1966) television series and SW. People wore clothes you could envision wearing yourself, not silver lamé jumpsuits with wings, rocket packs, and helmets with antennae sticking out of them. In the Star Wars universe hatch covers were missing, upholstery discolored and ripped ... things looked used. 

This was my impression of Star Wars. It wasn't a horror movie masquerading as sci-fi like many 1950's and 60's science fiction movies. It was lived in world much like our own the viewer wanted to inhabit. You could be a mysterious Jedi Knight, a wily smuggler, royalty, a soldier, a spaceship pilot, and on and on. That's the feeling Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens has recreated in me. I hope it touched you the same way.

Establishing An OD&D Campaign

Do you want to run an original-style campaign? Here's my advice. This is one man's opinion, perhaps given a little extra weight by the fact this is how I did it in 1975 and it worked for me. This is, by no means, the only way to run an OD&D campaign.

Get a copy of OD&D. The books are available second-hand from a variety of sources, including eBay and used bookstores. New rules sets are still legally available as a reprinted Anniversary Boxed set from Hasbro.

Why not a clone? Emulations of the OD&D rules, called clones or retroclones, are great games and there are good ones available. As good as they are, however, they are still someone's interpretation of the OD&D rules. The reason why this is so should become apparent to the discerning reader after perusing the original booklets. Since the originals are still available, why not go straight to the source if recreating a 1970's experience is your goal?

Don't overthink it! It's a game, written and published by amateurs. Experienced gamers and very intelligent persons, certainly, but still publishing amateurs. I've seen folks dissecting the written text with the fervor of a Bible scholar but the text very often means what the common sense interpretation of the wording says it means. Be wary of the phrase "could be taken to mean" during rules discussions. What follows will likely be a tortured interpretation of a fairly straightforward but poorly worded sentence.

You don't need anything else. There are folks swearing to hell and gone you need "x" to play the game, where x = some other work or reference. You really don't, what you need is imagination. Most commonly cited as "must haves" are the Chainmail rules for miniature warfare and Outdoor Survival board game by Avalon Hill. There are references to both in the OD&D rules but most everything you need from either is repeated in the text or easily done without. If you have them and want to use them? Great! They'll certainly be useful but they are not necessary to your game.

It's all compatible. There are a lot of published works specifically intended for use with OD&D. The various published supplements, material from The Strategic Review and The Dragon magazines, fan work on the internet, published modules, et al. Casting an even wider net? Pretty much anything published for any pre-1983 D&D rules set can be used "as is" or with little modification with OD&D. Going even wider, most FRPG supplements and rules can be adapted to the game. Go wild.

Make a ruling and run with it. There are ambiguities and omissions in the rules. Don't get all in a lather trying to find an "official" word. As referee, decide how it should work and note your ruling for future reference. If it doesn't work well in play, modify or change it as needed until it's a good fit.

Be prepared. Your players will often do the unexpected. The best way to  handle this is to prepare extra material that can be plugged into the session with little trouble. Goblin camps, smaller dungeons of 1-3 levels to serve as the objects of map-based quests or teleport curses, shops, small castles, houses, lists of NPC names, a small stack of NPC character sheets ... all these things will help you "wing it." If all else fails, simply admit to the players you need time to prepare for this latest twist and adjourn the gaming session for the evening.

Borrow. Take inspiration from other rules sets, published adventurers, books, and films. Is there an aspect of a treasured piece of literature you enjoy? The hurtloam of Illearth, for example, sequins from Tschai, the Force from Star Wars, radium pistols from Barsoom, and so on; all can be put into your game if you so desire. Adapt it, try it out, leave it as is or alter to taste. Don't be afraid to tell your players these items are in on a trial basis.

Excise. Don't like the Cleric class (for example) as written? Delete it. Just as you shouldn't be afraid to put something in, don't stress about removing rules. A lot of great fantasy literature revolves around only fighters, or wizards, or wily thieves, so do you really need the other classes? Your choice.

Start small, go big. You don't need a fully realized and fleshed out world to begin a campaign. You need a good general idea of how the world works and what the surrounding region is like but you don't need a lot of detail. Map out the starting hex containing the player-character's base of operations, usually a village or town, and nearby locations of note. These will include humanoid lairs, monsters, dungeons, and other friendly settlements.

It's Playing Music With Friends

As an amateur musician, I love getting together with my friends once a month and playing some music. What do we play? Selections from a variety of sources, depending upon what we love. Most of us are amateurs on some part of the learning curve though there a few accomplished and even semi-professional players who sit in with us. We hear it all: rock and roll, folk, country, jazz, hard rock, and even tunes we've penned ourselves.

What does this have to do with running a FRPG campaign? Well I'm glad you asked!

We have a growing segment of our community who take the stance a campaign isn't worth the time if it isn't something completely new and edgy. If they aren't completely original then they are passé and shouldn't be spoken of in polite company. As a musician I sometimes derive great joy from learning to play a favorite song (or the favorite tune of someone I really care about) and playing and singing it. It makes me smile, brings me joy, and helps fine-tune my technique. Thus it is with a good fantasy campaign. It isn't about innovation, it's about putting together a game that will bring you and your players joy. As an artistically minded person you won't be able to avoid putting individual touches on your campaign world and your influence on the way your world develops.

I'm certainly no Eric Clapton with a ukulele in my hand. When I received my black belt in TKD Bruce Lee had nothing to fear from me. And I'm no Gary Gygax when it comes to running OD&D. But ... and this is the important part ... I'm okay with that. What I do still brings me great joy and happiness and I'm egotistical enough to believe my running a campaign (or participating in one for that matter) brings the same to others. I can learn from these masters and improve but I'm not going to think for even one second that because my song, kata, or campaign doesn't resemble "the Master's" it is therefore somehow inferior.

Getting together with friends and playing songs you all know and love is fun. It brings a sense of contentment and puts a smile on your face. Getting together with gamers in a well-run campaign, no matter how familiar all the elements are, does the same. We all can't be Picasso but we can all pick up a paintbrush and experience the same joy of creation.

Fall Down, Go Boom

I just read a very well written and designed falling damage system for pre-1983 D&D. I'd never use it. No, I'm not cracking wise, it's a great rule but just not right for my campaign (please note the last 5 words of the sentence before giving me both barrels). Keeping in mind I like to keep things simple and fast, here is mine.

I researched real life falling damage and learned falls of greater than ~30' usually result in a fatality. Figuring dungeon adventurers are unusually lucky/blessed/divinely favored I doubled that figure to 60' for my rules. Falling damage is figured normally using the usual d6 per 10' fallen rule up to 60'. If the fall exceeds this distance the player rolls d% with any result but "00" resulting in character death. If they make the roll they survive with 1 hit point remaining. Why the survival chance? First of all, there are documented rare cases of parachutists free-falling to the ground and surviving. Second, I generally avoid the chance of absolute failure/success IMC.*

Sure, it makes falls scary. I just felt a high level fighter jumping off a 100' cliff then leaping to his feet, dusting himself off and fighting on was not the tone I wanted to set for my campaign.

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* though I do have them. Touch anti-matter or jump into lava, for example, and you'd best have 3d6 and a fresh character record sheet handy.

Creating An FRPG Player-Character

This is from the Moldvay Edition of Basic Set Dungeons & Dragons but makes a handy checklist for all your D&D games. Quoted without permission from TSR or subsequent holders of TSR's IP.

Roll Ability Scores: using 3d6 to generate a number from 3-18 in the following order -- strength, intelligence, wisdom, constitution, dexterity, charisma.

Choose A Class: fighter, magic-user, cleric. If you're a complete newcomer to games of this type you should practice the following statement and say it anytime someone suggests to you the best type of starting character ... I would like to play a fighter, please. 

Adjust Scores: most versions of D&D and its various simulacra allow some adjustment of rolled ability scores. For the PbP game that inspires this post players may swap the prime requisite of their desired class with any other rolled ability score.

Roll Hit Points: in S&W rolling hit dice is easy! Throw a six-sider and write the result on your character sheet. Fighters add +2 in my PbP (it's usually +1).

Roll For Money, Equip Your PC: 3d6 x 10 for starting gold. You may spend your money on whatever you wish, or save it, lend it, or even give it away. It's yours to do with as you wish. You should always have at least one weapon, the best armor you can afford, a waterskin, some rations, and a backpack. Large sacks, rope, light sources, holy water, vials of oil, iron spikes and hammer, mirrors, items of this sort can be distributed among the various party-members.

Find AC, etc.: like it sounds. We are using AAC (ascending armor class) for this game, so your attack roll is a piece of cake! Note your saving throw and saving throw modifier based on class.

Name The Character: I will often research traditional names for the flavor of the campaign. For example, I used the Nordic name "Esbern" once in a Viking-styled campaign. Failing that, make one up or use an online fantasy name generator for inspiration such as this one or that one.

That's it! When you're used to it the whole process takes < 5 minutes.

S&W: White Box For PbP Game on Dragonsfoot

Before digging into the rules I'd like to humbly request players always identify their character by name and class when posting a move. For example: Boromir the fighter draws his sword and with a mighty challenge he ... This will really help me out when adjudicating the game.

Assume any non-optional rule in the books to be in use unless specifically excluded here. If you wish to play a variant class or race not in the S&W:WB rules e-mail or message me and let me know what you have in mind. 

Character Generation

You may swap any other ability score for the prime requisite of your desired class. This will allow some good characters without completely removing the element of chance.

• Fighters get +1 to melee damage rolls for STR 15 or more. 
• Magic-Users get an extra 1st level spell for INT 15+.
• Clerics get an extra 1st level spell for WIS 15+ (yes, even at first level).

Fighters add +2 hit points to their first HD roll, not +1 as in the rulebook.

Magic-Users begin the game with a wand of arcane bolts which allow the casting of a glowing magical missile doing d4 damage with hits resolved as if the caster is wielding a light crossbow. The wand comes with a rune of spell conversion inscribed upon it, converting any spell of equal or higher value into the specific spell for that rune. For example: a rune of sleep will convert any other memorized spell into a sleep spell. This takes the same amount of time and concentration as casting the spell of the same name and taking this action will naturally remove the original spell from the caster's memory.

Clerics may sacrifice any spell memorized into a cure light wounds (CLW) spell. Doing so will of course, remove the original spell from memory.


Combat

We will be using the simplified order of battle for resolving combat.

No ties when rolling initiative. 

Please use Ascending Armor Class (higher number is better armor class) for this game.

The single saving throw method will be used.

The bind wounds rule will be used.

Monsters

Assuming my monsters are exactly like the rulebook monsters may be hazardous to your player-characters! Typical monsters (goblins, for instance) will either be as written or I'll let you know the difference if it becomes necessary (per my background information ruling).


Treasure

I randomly roll most treasure but freely hand-pick and custom design some of the better items. 

Potions will be consistent as to taste and appearance, meaning that a healing potion will usually have the same color and taste as other healing potions. Sipping to try and deduce the nature of a potion is allowed.  

Team Play

I encourage team play and humbly request your PC not visit violence upon fellow party members.

As an impartial referee, however, I will allow you take whatever action you deem appropriate. Just remember that actions have consequences and deities are always watching ...

A Player's Guide To My PbP Game on Dragonsfoot

First, you'll need a copy of the rules. For this play-by-post (PbP) game I'll be using Mythmere Games Swords & Wizardry: White Box available as a free download by clicking here. It's the first of the three hyperlinks below the descriptive text.

Next, you'll need an account on the Dragonsfoot forums in order to be able to post, though you can read to your heart's content without an account. I've heard back from the board's owner Steve, who assures me he will create a sub-forum for our game this weekend. I'll keep you posted and will post a direct link here when that happens.

Then, you'll need to notify me so I can send you an invite to post to the sub-forum (though, again, you'll be able to read all you want even without an invite). You can e-mail my last name at gmail period com if you don't want to publicly associate your forum handle with your G+ handle.

That's it for the preliminaries!

Now, regarding how I run the game: I use the honor system as much as possible. In other words you can roll your starting character, hit points, gold, equipment, etc. and just post them to me. I figure we're all adults and collectively realize cheating just sucks all the fun out of the game.

I pledge the same back to you. I won't fudge a die roll to grant you either boon or bane. The chips, or more accurately the dice, fall where they may. I also will assume your character "knows" the background information any reasonably informed person in the Shattered Lands would know. For instance? You can swim, ride a horse, build a fire, and recognize common monsters such as goblins. You would know what forms of address would insult either a goodwife or Manor Born. Keep in mind, however, common knowledge isn't always accurate and is sometimes wildly erroneous.

Posting will be at approximately 2000 hours (8 PM) Central Time Zone (Zulu -6) on Monday and Thursday. If you miss one turn I will try to have your PC react as you've played him so far. If you miss 2 turns I'll run him as my NPC until you reappear. At 2 turns per week I'm hoping the attrition rate often associated with PbP games will be minimal. Please be prompt, your teammates are counting on your participation ... even if your post consists of "continue previous action."

The turns themselves will be much more productive if you includes lots of conditional statements. For example: Boromir the Bold will try to open the door. If the door is locked then he will throw his weight against the door. If that doesn't work he'll try the next door down the hall. If the door opens he will enter the room torch held high, unless the room is occupied in which case he will ... You get the idea, I imagine.

I track consumable supplies and encumbrance. So arrows, torches, holy water, vials of oil, etc. are all accounted for and when they're gone you had better have a Plan B.

I will cover specific game rules in the next post.