Judges Guild Fantasy Game Aid Pack

Back in the day (I guess) Judges Guild made some of these bundles of books for bulk sale at game stores.

Here's the listing --

• Ready Reference Book
• Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde
• Modron
• Book of Treasure Maps
• Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor (check out this link)
• Unknown Gods

Here's the pack before I opened it --

I wish that I had only paid $15 for it, but all in all, I'm pretty happy with the purchase.  Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde and Unknown Gods sometimes go for a pretty penny...

So, why did I buy it?

Someday (maybe in the near future) I want to run a campaign USING ONLY THESE MATERIALS, a retro-clone (maybe Swords and Wizardry) and whatever I think up to throw in the mix.

When I do, I think that I will approach the experience from the perspective of "the materials are always right."  I mean, there is some wonky stuff in these books, but if you just accept the strange and roll with it, I think that the players (and myself) will have a very unique and exciting experience.

I'd begin by assuming that the characters are 0th (or 1st) level nobodies.  Sons and daughters of farmers, merchants or laborers, who have decided to strike out into the world of adventure.  I'd probably pick a suitable location for Modron and use that as my base of operations.  There are four campaign maps within FWB, so I'd need to pick one as the backdrop for the game.

I've selected a few of the Unknown Gods for use in my current CotMA campaign, but, little by little I'd probably reveal some others to the characters during play.


I think that this combination is just the right bunch of stuff to form a solid basis for a game.  :)  I may be wrong, but I think it would be fun to try it!

Polyhedral NPC Matrix (Part 4)

So, Telecanter told me in a comment that he thought dropping the Scrabble Tiles onto a map was a really good idea.  If he thinks so, I have to give it a try.

I got the old Judges Guild Tarantis City Supplement a long time ago on RPGNow.  It has a great map in the back.  It's big with a lot of possibilities.

So, I took a picture of my "tile map" with my phone.  I used GIMP to cut out all the circles and make them a little transparent.  I overlayed this onto the Tarantis map.  I stretched the circles a little to spread them out across the city a bit.

Here's the map:

Looking where the circles are on the Tarantis map, I made some determinations about what my NPCs are doing there.

Here's that chart:

The coolest thing here is the serendipity of it all.  The randomness tells a story, more than you'd get if you made it up on your own and you get to be surprised by it as it happens.

For example,

• Steinthor the Dog works for the Wizard on Quikling Row.  Did the wizard set him up with that symbiotic arm?
• Apparently Weasel lurks around the Temple on Firdausi Lane.  Does he masquerade as a priest? Does he do work for those at the Temple?  Does he have sanctuary there?
• Julian the Barbarian hangs out in the Bazaar.  Why?  Is he looking for a job?  Does he have merchandise to sell?
• Galan, our Bard, frequently performs at the Weeping Willow Inn.  How does he get along with the proprietors?  How many of their famous "Zombie" drinks can he handle?

Great stuff!  More plots and possibilities to be found as I read through the selections in more detail.

Judges Guild Goodness

I won some eBay auctions and it's just like going back in time to 1983!

Five out of six ARE STILL IN THE ORIGINAL PLASTIC!  Wow!  Awesome!

I'm so looking forward to reading these.  JG products have a charm all their own.  Sure, they're quirky -- but so are the dungeons that I made myself.    :)

click to embiggen

It's hard to read, but the LL corner is "Of Skulls and Scrapfaggot Green" -- Just HAD TO BUY that one so that I'll know what it's all about.

Universal Probability Comparison Chart - Take 2

Some folks looked at my last post of the Judges Guild Universal Probability Chart and they discovered that it was just as quirky as you'd expect from a Judges Guild product.

:)

I still think the chart is a good one, so I made one myself.

The probabilities for 3d6 are "generous" at the extremes, but I don't think that hurts too much.  I'll probably use it for NPC attributes and/or damage rolls.

I made this using my best judgment and I think it's pretty close -- certainly close enough for my DM'ing style.  YMMV.

PS: my Bears are out!  :(  It looks like we're heading toward a Packers/Steelers Superbowl.  It aught to be great!

Universal Probability Comparison Chart

Hill Cantons is working on finding a hidden retro-clone in the old Judges Guild Universal system.  To that end, he has posted a couple of references to information about their old system.  Interesting stuff.

In one document lurked a little gem (at least I think so) that's handy if you never use it.  :)

This chart cross-references the rolls of 1d6, 2d6, 3d6, 1d20 and d% with each other.  Seems like in certain situations this could be extremely useful.  I know that with this chart, and d%, I could probably run an entire session of my OSR game.

I might have to try that sometime...

PS: Go Bears!!!

In Search of Kelandor's Gold

I have a standing search on eBay and other engines for Judge's Guild modules and books.  I love their stuff for it's quirkiness and I enjoy mining it for mad, wonderful details that I can use in my campaigns and adventures.

My Google Reader search showed me this module, "In Search of Kelandor's Gold" and a picture of its cover --

Well, I've never heard of this module.  I don't know if it's any good at all, but the cover... the cover... there's something so... I don't know... familiar about it.

One quick Google image search revealed where I'd seen this image before.  :)  Enjoy!

Historic Judges Guild Documents for Sale on eBay

I discovered this morning (after a Judges Guild search) that there are some unique documents up for sale on eBay -- Legal agreements, etc.

Bill Owen, co-founder of JG is selling them.

You can go here to have a look.

The Portraits of Tegel Manor

Tegel Manor, the classic Judge's Guild module, is filled with enchanted family portraits.  Many are tricks, traps and are downright hostile to the party.

I found these strangely disturbing portraits over at io9.  I think they could serve as wonderful handouts, if printed, to show to the players as they explore the manor.

This one is exceptionally disturbing; perfect for a matron of the Rump family.

Enjoy!

Stephen Colbert on Dungeons and Dragons

Mike (over at Swords and Dorkery) mentioned this morning that the Wikipedia article of the day was about "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks".  So I headed on over to give it a read. 

After reading, I started clicking around and went over to the Stephen Colbert page at Wikipedia.  From there I clicked on a reference about D&D and went to this GameSpy interview where he talks about his years playing D&D and the "Thieves Fortress of Badabaskor".

I've heard of this adventure, but I've never played it.  The old Judge's Guild stuff really interests me now from a historical (and wild ideas) perspective.  Back in the day, I didn't buy much of it because I didn't have a lot of disposable income.  That's not so true today.  :)

I haven't read through the adventure yet, but it does have a cool cutaway map.  Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy the articles.  I may post about TFoB in the future, if I get a chance to run it. 

Creating a Dungeon with my grandson Matt

Last week, I grabbed a few resources (JG Ready Ref sheets, Dungeon Alphabet and my big bad Ultimate DM's binder [1]) and headed over to my stepson's house to do some D&D work with Matt.  I bought him a ring binder, some graph paper and some 3x5 index cards so that he'd have some ready DM materials on hand.  I also printed up two copies of the S&W Whitebox rules for Matt earlier in the week.

I printed up a sample map for this event.  I decided that we could more easily work together on filling up a dungeon, rather than drawing it.

I chose Dungeon #1 from Paratime Design as our dungeon de jour.

Matt had a friend over named Justin and all three of us sat at the kitchen table and got down to work.  I spent a little time talking about the symbols on the map, the scale of the map, and a bit about Moldvay's "Stock the Dungeon" table.  The boys seemed excited so we began to take turns choosing rooms and deciding what the contents should be.

Justin was extra excited and he chose room #27 and began to describe what he thought should happen there.

He explained that there were monsters, asleep, behind the pillars.  Glowing orbs of some kind.  He said that you would have to be very quiet to sneak across the room without waking them up.

Matt chose room #58.  He said that this room is the exit from the dungeon (it is) and that the door to the room would be magically locked.  He said that the key would be hidden somewhere else in the dungeon.  He chose room #31.  He said the key would be on a chain around the neck of an ogre in that room.  

The ideas kept coming fast and furious after that.  One great idea involved ghosts and a special lantern, but I'm keeping that one to myself just in case I want to use it.  

At one point, the boys discovered that some rooms have statues in them and I mentioned the "Startling Statues" table from the Ready Ref sheets.  We had great fun rolling dice and statting up the statues around the dungeon.  Room #38 has eight statues that turned out to be quite "startling".

I have to say that these boys had a knack for threading chains of events together.  At one point, your character would need to find about five different objects in order to slay a wolf that had a key to open a vital door.  I don't know where they learned this (I'm thinking video games) but they were really putting a complicated and interesting dungeon together and I must say I was impressed.

In the end, it was quite a successful first attempt.  I hope that I can work with Matt again to do some further dungeon design work.  Maybe next time we'll draw maps!

[1] I'll have to do a post on it sometime.  It's a couple hundred pages culled out of many, many different reference works.

The Role of the Gods

I don't remember much from my HS Mythology class, but I do remember a little bit about the Greek gods.

They were micro-managers.  They were very involved in the lives of their heroes and woe unto those who offended them.

Well, where am I going with this?  I was on the eBay last week and I was able to win a copy of the Judges Guild Ready Ref sheets (made of actual paper!) and a copy of "Fantastic Personalities".

 

pic borrowed from BoardGameGeek

From the front cover:

"Included within are 85 characters, complete with background information, religious inclinations, personal quirks, magic items, favorite tactics, magic spells, and more... 85 characters to spice up any fantasy campaign, a must for all judges."

The connection I'm making between HS Mythology and Fantastic Personalities is this.  The authors must have envisioned the "Judge" running their campaign with a hyperactive/expansive pantheon.

Each NPC has some sort of note about their religious leanings.  Gods are drawn from multiple mythos (like Greek, Egyptian, Norse and others) and they are referred to as if they might actually turn up during the next bar fight or dungeon crawl.

This is interesting to me because it is very different than the way I've always portrayed the "higher powers" in my campaigns.  They exist.  They have real impact on the lives of characters, but they are distant.

The meddling entities are usually demons and devils.  Dark forces who tempt or corrupt man.  Man must find a way to defeat them (with a little help) but not direct intervention.

-=-=-=-=-

I'm enjoying this product because (to me) it reads like an addled fever dream.  The characters are a hodge-podge of motivations, alignments and backgrounds.  Often there's no relationship between the statblock and the background of these characters.  It's as if you had one guy writing the text and another guy coming in behind him rolling 3d6 and statting these NPCs up in order.

Here are a couple of examples:

On p. 34 we have an 18 year old warrior (lvl 7) who has successfully slain an ancient Green Dragon.  His highest attribute is 15 and he actually has a 6 CHA.

On p. 35 we have an "officer in the guard of the World Emperor's Commanding General".  He's 9th level, but he too has a 6 CHA.  Not really leadership material.

Some of the art is nice, but a lot of it is sketchy at best.  I don't mind though, because the whole thing just oozes an Old School vibe.

Should I succeed at starting an Old School campaign, I'm looking forward to squeezing a few of these gem NPCs in there "as is" just to see what happens.

Tegel Manor and Microlite20 - first blush

This past Saturday, as a tribute to Gary, Dave and Bob, I ran a Microlite20-modified version of the great  Tegel Manor.

Players arrived at 1:30p and we started rolling up characters around 2p.  I had copied Dirk's excellent character sheet in advance and gave two to each player.

They "warmed up their dice" and then dove into rolling their character's in earnest.  My buddy JD suggested the best method which was to roll 4d6 (drop the low) seven times and then use the best six for the two characters.  Kudos.  Another friend, Ryan, who arrived late had rolled his characters up as a a "team", pooling their money as a knight/squire.  Also a good method.  In any case, I played it fast and loose and one half-orc character ended up with a 21 strength (!).

In the end we had the following party:

• Half-orc fighter
• Half-orc wizard
• Gnome paladin
• Hobbit rogue
• Lizardman fighter
• Cleric (not sure about the race)
• Gnome illusionist
• Elf ranger
• Human knight
• Human squire

In the near future, when we continue the scenario, I'll add two players and four more characters to this mix.

I began with a reinterpretation of the backstory, explaining to the heroes that they were working for Rudi Rump, a ne-er do well non-undead member of the Rump family.  He had hired them to "clean out my ancestral home" and to return a certain "signet ring" to him.  The heroes were free to keep ANYTHING of value that they found inside the Manor.  In addition, they would receive a considerable sum as a reward when the job was complete.

The heroes proceeded into the Manor, eager to take on the challenges and strangeness that awaited them there.  (It is at this point that I will cease describing the adventure in case anyone else might choose to run or explore it).

I did make great use of the "Startling Statues" table that is included in the adventure.  Great fun!  I also chose to include the dreaded "Tin Foil Monster" in a battle with some zombies.  LOL!

Suffice to say that Tegel Manor is HUGE.  It has over 300 rooms and many of those are left to the referee's discretion.  Bob Bledsaw has a fun way of referring to the reader as "'O GM" when he tells you that you must fill out the description/contents for yourself.  It's quaint and it connects you to him in a way that you are not connected to modern adventure writers.

As for M20, I was disappointed in only one way.  It wasn't nearly lethal enough.  :)  I was sincerely hoping for some PC fatalities during the adventure and (perhaps it was luck or the nature of the encounters) I was unable to kill off even one.  :(  I even warned the players that this would happen and they seemed prepared for it.

Perhaps the next time I will be more successful!

Tegel Manor - a preface

I invited a whole bunch of friends over to play (what I consider to be) a classic Judge's Guild adventure, Tegel Manor.

We're using Microlite20 and everybody gets to roll up two characters (prepare for character death!).

I proposed this event as a memorial to Gary, Dave and Bob who left us all too soon.

Right now, I'm spending a lot of time digesting the module and sprucing it up with some old-school goodness.

I plan to write a post on how Tegel Manor holds up as an adventure and then a recap or two on the play itself.  Maybe I'll get around to scanning some char sheets or taking some digital pics of the adventure table as the scenario unfolds.

I'm looking forward to it and I hope it will make for some interesting posts!