First, let me talk a bit about what Frankenstein’s mish-mash of a game I’ve been playing, when opportunity permits. I’ve kind of talked about it before, but let’s discuss what we’ve got going on. The base game is For Gold and Glory, which is, in most respects, a clone of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition. Some terminology is changed, and some rules that were only found in accessories like The Complete Fighter or The Complete Thief were incorporated into the core rulebook. Along with that, the primary “overlay” is a Labyrinth Lord accessory called Rangers & Rabbits. Labyrinth Lord is a retro-clone of Original Dungeons & Dragons (with some changes & simplifications), and R&R changes the standard races to anthropomorphic animals – like in Disney’s animated Robin Hood movie. There’s lots of bits & pieces that are added & changed along with the species of the player characters, too. For example, R&R has Luck points, based on character size (small, medium, or large), that are rolled at the beginning of each game session. Because LL is based on Original D&D, and R&R is based on LL (and the Labyrinth Lord Advanced Companion, which uses makes the game more closely resemble AD&D First Edition), there’s a lot of First Edition-like rules mixed in, too… and we’ve added some, too. We also use house rules, both adapted from other RPGs (like the combat math system from Stars Without Number, discussed in previous issues) and ones that I’ve used in the past, like the “half or better” hit points for levels above first. When the character is leveling up, roll the hit die. If the result is less than half that what is possible, just use the half possible amount. For example, a cleric uses an eight-sided hit die (d8); if the cleric’s player rolls a d8 and it comes up two, than that cleric’s hit points go up by four (as half of eight is four, four is the minimum hit point increase). If, however, the player rolled a five, the PC’s hit points increase by five… and of course, this is modified by any race or constitution hit point modifiers.
Let me just say this about our R&R/FG&G/AD&D game: I’m having a blast, and wish we could play more often. Visit RPGNow.com, and download your copy of Labyrinth Lord, Advanced Companion, and Rangers & Rabbits. Okay, there’s one more game I want to discuss, and it’s one that’s not available yet: Starfinder. Once upon a time, the owners of the Dungeons & Dragons game decided to drop the then-current game engine (D&D 3.5) and Hasbro/Wizards’ of the Coast issued D&D 4th Edition (“4E”). Piazo, a company who had published Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine, took the opportunity to publish an updated edition of 3.5, and they called it Pathfinder. Pathfinder is currently one of the most popular, if not THE most popular, fantasy RPGs. (So much so that even out here in the wilds of Wise County, the local public library hosts a Pathfinder game every month.) This year, in August, Piazo will be releasing a new science fantasy game based on the Pathfinder engine, entitled “Starfinder.” Instead of a standard science fiction space game, this will be firmly on the “fantasy” side of the coin. I’ve been following the pre-release information fairly irregularly, but it sounds interesting, with “four-armed aliens with laser rifles casting spells” and “wizards with laser guns.” In other words, this game will be closer to John Carter of Barsoom than to Star Trek, or even to Firefly. One of the goals of the system is to maintain compatibility with Pathfinder, so your Space Marine can fight dragons, trolls, and orcs. Starfinder is scheduled to launch with a single Core Rulebook, supported by supplements, accessories and Adventure Paths. The “downside?” Well, you know how much I like free RPGs? This ain’t one of ‘em. It’s available to pre-order for $59.99, at http://paizo.com/store/starfinder. I’m still very, very interested. Grab some dice, and let’s start killin’ some goblins – er, I mean bug-eyed space monsters … Sum non Satis? Commodore Tank Clark, SFMD Team Leader, 33rd STARFLEET Rangers (“The Paladins”) “Have Phaser, Will Travel”
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Commodore Tank ClarkCommodore Clark has been the Team Leader of the 33rd STARFLEET Rangers for several years. His monthly articles about games (usually Role-Playing Games -- RPGs -- but sometimes about other tabletop forms of entertainment) appear regularly in the Regulator Charge!, the ship's newsletter. Archives
September 2017
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