Top RPG’s that changed the industry

Top RPG’s that changed the industry

1) Dungeons and Dragons (TSR). Original Digest version. This is the granddaddy of all RPGs every game out there owes a debt of gratitude to this game. It directly spawned Empire of the Petal Throne (first non-Tolkien Fantasy world), Metamorphosis Alpha (one of the first SciFi RPGs), Gamma World (an offshoot of Metamorphosis Alpha)

2) Traveller (GDW) This was one of the first RPGs not from TSR. It also was the first game that did away with Classes and had professions. It was the first game that gave the characters a life before the Game started. Also, pushed the idea of Skills based role playing.

3) Basic Roleplaying (Chaosium). The first generic core system. Also some of the first real licensed worlds turned into a RPG. Runequest, Stormbringer, Superworld, Worlds of Wonder (First multi Genre/multi dimension game) and Call of Cthulhu were games started by and from BRP.

4) Champions (Hero Games). The first 100% point based character generation system. Got it’s start from ideas contained within Chaosium’s Superworld. Started as a Superheroic Genre game that was designed to model Marvel Comics style characters. Later other genres were published (ie Fantasy Hero, Espionage!, Justice Inc. etc) using the same core rules. Eventually the rules became a truly generic rules system months after GURPS shipped.

5)Ars Magica (Lion Rampant Games). Was the first of a new breed of game that was highly collaborative between GM and Players. Turned the focus intensely in Role Playing with the Ideas of the Players being a “Troupe” and the GM a Storyteller. One of the Co Authors left the company and produced Vampire the Masquerade.

6) Vampire the Masquerade: Thanks to the popularity of Ann Rice’s Vampires this game spawned a whole new group of Roleplayers. People from both genders (esp women) who were previously turned off by the rules heavy and/or wargame heavy rules and groups of the previous generation of games. Shortly after VtM caught on Gaming conventions became more gender integrated with many more women taking up the hobby. VtM spawned other subgenre games (ie Werewolf, Mage, Faeries and Wrath)

7)Dungeons and Dragons 3.0: Prior to the the card game Magic the Gathering being published the whole industry was in a creative lull. Mostly caused by the many lawsuits that crisscrossed the industry (ie TSR vs RoleAids/Mayfair, Palladium vs Wizards of the Coast etc). In 1993 Wizards of the Coast released a new kind of card game with little fanfare or advertizing. This card game took the gaming world by storm and nearly destroyed the RPG hobby. For years gaming conventions were dominated with the easy to play, easy to transport card game. Many Gaming groups became obsessed with the new card game and stopped playing RPGs.  Eventually, Wizards of the Coast took the profits from MtG and bought TSR games which had become more of a patent troll than a game publishing company. WoTC rewrote and consolidated the moribund Dungeons and Dragon which had become split into 4 or 5 different versions. They rewrote and rebuilt the rules from their experiences working for other companies taking some of the best aspects of those other games and adding them to a new version. They also introduced the Open Game License(OGL) which allowed third parties to use the core D&D rules and other IP in their own games and Supplements. Between the new game and OGL they reignited the whole RPG market. Before this the only news was how many older companies were going out of business. Now many of those older companies were making a comeback. Not only that but dozens of new companies were creating supplements for this new edition of the game.

8) Pathfinder: TSR released D&D 4^th edition to a resounding thud of players who hated the new edition. WotC had been bought up by Hasbro. They then created a very Limited OGL for 4.0 which nearly every third party publisher rejected as being too restrictive.
Paizo who had been the publisher of Dragon and Dungeon magazine found themselves with no magazine to publish and a new OGL that wasn’t very conducive to creating products for D&D 4. They looked at the large pool of people who hated and weren’t buying 4^th edition and decided to write their own version of D&D based on 3.5 which fixed many of the problems with that edition, but stayed familiar to players. They posted a free PDF version of the rules on their website and took player suggestions about how to fix issues in the rules. They took half the initial print run to GenCon and expected it to be a brisk seller, but steady for the con. They ended up selling out on the first day of the convention with huge long lines from fans awaiting their chance to own the rules fans wished WotC had printed.

9) Indie Games etc: Small simple games that tend to do away with a strong GM and replace them with group dynamics. FATE is one system that allows players direct power to change encounters or even the story.

10) Old School Renaissance (OSR). Many older players facing less time and having fond memories of days long past have been attracted to the Original versions of D&D. This has spawned an industry of games that are clones of different editions of D&D. Kenser and Company’s Hackmaster is probably the first retro clone published. Hackmaster is a clone of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2^nd edition.  Once people figured out that it wasn’t just a joke system it gained a ton of converts. Others companies and hobbyists have joined in and we now have clones of every edition of D&D ever published. The OSR segment of the RPG world is one of the fastest expanding section of the Industry IMHO. It's also fracturing fans into many different rules sets, which is probably bad for the OSR segment of the hobby.

disclaimer, The above represents my opinion based on my memories of the systems mentioned and how they influenced the gaming groups that I participated in and observed. 

Fooling around with Composition

Reading the wonderful blog entry from Scratchbuilt 40k. It reminded me that many people in the hobby take horrid pictures. The ones on Scratchbuilt are actually pretty decent. The lighting is pretty good, the whitepoint is set close enough. Composition could be a bit better though. So I took his last photo of the Eldrad miniature that has a Spectacular Paintjob and worked on composition some. Now I am not an expert, but I think that it looks a bit better now. I also fixed the levels.

If you take photos and publish them on the web. Take a bit of money out of your minis budget and do yourself a favor. Go take a Digital Photography class at a local Adult School or Community college. They will talk about Apeture Settings, White Balance, Image Compsition etc. They should also give you some instruction on how to use Photoshop. Using even Photoshop Elements (The version for the non pros). will give you tons of necessary tools to do a great edit on your photos.

Original as posted

The composition is boring. Nothing on a third, light grey background does nothing for the miniature.

after a Bit of Photoshop

Added stock texture to background (Blurred like it would be if the picture was taken with the proper aperture). Foreground grass added (also stock texture) so the mini looks like it is part of something. Placed the head on the top left third (mostly) and left some space in front of the sword. It just makes the picture look more dynamic.

All done in a very quick and dirty fashion. Taking a picture of this while standing in front of a piece of nicely contrasting scenery could do the same good things.

Dwarf in Kilt that I took. Armorcast Techbridge as backdrop on grass sheet.

I took this one for my Photography class. He's centered Horizontally, but on a vertical third. This was cropped SLIGHTLY from the original.

So Composition, FOCUS, Having an interesting, but blurry foreground and background all contribute to a great looking picture of a figure.

Painting Ethnic Skin Tones

I saw a blog post on BOLS about painting non-white skin tones. Here is a miniature that I painted for a Serenity RPG that I played in awhile ago.

I was going for a Native American skin tone. I think I got close. I used the Guide on Cool Mini or not to come up with the color palette. http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/1310-ethnic-skintones

Tasha

Review: Dark Platypus Magna-Map

Thought it would be a good time to talk about something I picked up last year that has changed my gaming somewhat. On Paizo's website I found a product Bendy Walls that I found interesting. I went to the manufacture's Website Dark Platypus Studio . When I find an accessory on a site like Paizo's, I always check out the manufacturer. You never know what treasure that you might find that didn't get picked up by Paizo.

A little backstory. Ever since I gamed at the HQ of 3DO and used their magnetic whiteboards. I have wanted to get something like that that I could either get painted with Hexes on one side and Squares on the other side or Use a clear overlay with either Hex or Squares printed on it.

For as long as I have gamed. There has always been the problem of miniatures that fell over. Either due to being bumped, blown down by the wind, even someone shaking the table. This is quite annoying and can lead to dented and scratched paint jobs on the minis.

  I finally had a space where I could have a gaming table and I filled it with a nice looking one leaf Dining room style table and chairs set. I bought it from a family who was moving away and got it cheap. For a few years I made due with my Chessex Megamats. They work find and as long as you use waterbased pens like Vis a Vis and other non-permenent markers they clean relatively well (don't leave any color on them for more than a week).

 There on the Dark Platypus site I found the Magna-Map. It's 24″ x 36″ in size which makes it roughly equivalent to half a sheet of 8.5"x11" paper with 1/4" grid printed on it. Yes it comes in 1" square and nothing else. Since I play Hero system, Square grid isn't terribly useful to me. So I sent him a letter asking him if he considered making a Hex grid mat. To cut the story short(er), he hadn't considered it and pointed out he could make a custom one if I liked. I asked for a quote and went ahead and ordered a custom Hex Map. I paid the paypal upfront and in a couple of weeks or so I recieved my Hex Magna-Map. I loved it so much I went and purchased two of the 1" grid Mats. I took the two, taped them together and made a Mega-Magna-Map

Using the Mat.
   The mats are a rubberized plastic. Made of the same material that roll magnets are made of. The difference here is that while the mat is magnetically attractive, it has no magnetic field of it's own. Because the material is impregnated with some form of iron. The mats are HEAVY. The 24″ x 36″ mats are around 3lbs in weight. They come in a roll, and like most rolled things the edges start out with the curl left over from being in that roll. Quickly the mat flattens out completely, with no middle mat curls (like some vinyl mats can do).
   Writing on the mats is pretty easy. You can use either waterbased pens like you use with vinyl mats or you can use dry erase pens. The waterbased pens wipe up with water like normal. Even after leaving red, blue and Black lines for 2 weeks on the mat, the colors came right up with water. With no residual lines like sometimes happens on a vinyl mat. It works pretty well with Dry erase as well, but I have found that erasing right after the game is best. If you allow the dry erase to set too long you will have a hard time erasing it from the surface.

  The MagnaMaps all have a lightish grey surface with medium grey edges that mark out the grid. If your gaming room is somewhat dark, it can be difficult to see certain colors on the mat. With good lighting it's all good though.
  The reason to buy one of this is to use with magnets. So I have been both using magnetic accessories and been retrofitting my mini bases with magnets. You can feel the magnet being attracted to the mat, but the mat doesn't attract as strongly as a sheet of iron. So you figs will stick to the side of your fridge and magnetic whiteboard stronger than here. Now you do feel an attraction and stuff does stick very well to it. I have minis that have rubbersteel magnets and some that have rare earth magnets. The rubbersteel magnets have a greater surface area and that helps a lot. You can get the magnets precut so you can retrofit your all of your slota based minis no matter what size the base. FRP games Magnetic bases  Hasslefree Miniatures Magnetic tape  are both great places to buy this stuff.

Great accessories for your Magna Map. First everything in Dark Platypus' catalog are great items. They have magnetic Stalagmites, Columns, Their Bendy Wall line can be converted to have magnetic bases. Also they have Dungeon Clings, which are grown up colorforms in the shapes of common gaming terrain (ie trees, stairs, steps etc)

Magna Map by Dark Platypus
Pros
Surface works with both Dry Erase and Waterbased pens
Magnetically attractive
Looks like a dungeon floor
Lays very flat
Cons
Grey too dark, lines can be hard to see on mat
Not available in Hexes (unless you custom order that costs more)

I would highly recommend the product. Just make sure you have decently bright overhead lights. Dark Platypus is very easy to deal with, they ship quickly (Magna Maps ship separately due to their size and shape), and don't charge a huge amount for shipping.

http://www.dark-platypus.com/
Dark Platypus Game Aids
Dark Platypus Magna Map

What's in a name?

  I was talking to my Mom the other day and I was sharing how a couple of the players in my gaming group had left the group to do other things. Her comment was "Perhaps they finally grew up" and that struck me as being really unfair to the hobby of RPGing. That comment was interesting because it tells me that she thinks that RPGing is something that only Kids do, that Adults have "Adult" hobbies. Knowing the kind of hobbies my mom has had through the years, I find it funny to think that if I was building Dollhouse miniatures that she would be better with that than my playing RPGs.

  Later, I was reading and posting on the Hero System forums. The thread was an amusing one "DM Says / DM Means"   I expressed my dislike of the term Dungeon Master being used in games outside of Dungeons and Dragons. My preference being the more generic Game Master (or GM). I started to think about it and about how childish both terms sound when said aloud. Also I started to think about how perhaps the language we use in our games influence how we and our players perceive the game.

  With this epiphany I finally stared to understand why many rules lite RPGs change some of the gaming jargon that we have been using for years. Suddenly being a Storyteller didn't sound quite a pretentious, mostly because that is what most GM's do. They tell interactive stories. They setup the Plot, Antagonists, Supporting Characters, the feel of the world, everything but the Protagonists (aka the Player Characters). Sometimes GM's forget that they are presenting an INTERACTIVE story, that the PC's are the Main characters of the game. Perhaps if those GM/DM's saw themselves as a "Storyteller" or "Adventure Host" that there might be less bad GM's.

How different are games that are run by Storytellers and who has a Troupe for players? I really don't know, I imagine that the grass is greener on the otherside of the fence. I have to imagine because I prefer one the of the more rules heavy games out there Hero System AKA Champions. Now Hero is no where near as complex as people assume that it is. Being an old School Universal system, it carries baggage from it's early days as a Super Roleplaying game.

I guess my other contention is that some of those old school terms (ie GM/DM) lead others to perceive this as a childish game. Is it time for our hobby to grow up a bit and try to go beyond those adolescent power fantasies? If so, how do we do this and not change the games we love into something that isn't fun anymore. Perhaps this is something that my generation of gamers can't change. That it's something that the next generation or the one after that will change.

Why Fantasy Steampunk

                I am sure that my players are wondering about this question as they are working on characters.

As I was thinking about what to run I had a number or Criteria that I had to keep in mind. 1) Keep the genre easy for new players to understand so I gain player buy in of the campaign concepts. 2) To have something that could be run at short notice. 3) To be something both familiar and alien at the same time.  4) To have something that another GM could step into and run a decent game without long briefings being required.

Our group just ended a longish and fun Fantasy Hero game that left me both feeling good about how it ended, but also sad because it ended. This caused a bit of apathy toward running any fantasy game. I started to work on a SciFi campaign that was/is to be a fusion of StarWars, Serenity/Firefly, and Traveller. It became clear to me that it was going to take me too long to get that game together to run. Also SciFi games don’t appeal to all gamers. So I started to think about another game to run. My next idea was to run a slightly modified (translated to Hero) version of Ral Talsorian’s Castle Falkenstein. It was the first Steampunk that I had encountered and played. I like some of the concepts of the game, but gaming in 19^th century Europe never interested me. I always wanted to run Castle Falkenstein in America with an old West feel. So I took that idea and ran with it.

                I decided that players would probably have an easier time dealing with non-humans that they were confortable with, and not the Mythological Faerie. So I just decided that D&D style (Tolkein) Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Halflings lived in Europe and had mostly integrated themselves into the Human Countries/Kingdoms. That some of the fantasy races had already colonized the Americas during their diaspora (going to the west as Tolkein’s elves did). So there would be Fantasy races that were fully integrated into human society, and ones already living in the Americas to contrast against. The races here would be living in harmony with the native American Humans. So the Native Elves, Orcs, etc would also be in conflict with the European settlers who have been around for the last 100years. Some of them would be fighting along side of the Native American tribes who are trying to be left alone.

                Another difference is the fact that Magic works. Big spells like Fireballs and other D&D staples. I am thinking that those spells are only castable by a small minority of people. This small minority along with the power of firearms being the reason that casters didn’t dominate warfare. I am thinking that the rarity will be along the lines of everyone knows of an individual in town that can cast some sort of minor spell. People who can cast large spells are few and far between. There are also denominations of the Christian Faiths that see magics as a gift from god and can cast devine spells like healing and blessings. Though only the most pious and gifted can do so. The non-christian gods of the Native Americans and Non-Humans can also grand healing spells. etc.

                So far I have decided that History has gone the pretty much the same. I am thinking about some little changes to history. Not enough to be really different, but big enough that it would need some sort of explanation. As I am still deciding on things like a Elvish American territory that is east of the Mississippi. A piece of land that is carved out of parts  4 or more states that are forested areas. I also have to decide what this heavily protected bit of forest would have done to the US Civil War and how it was fought.

                So hopefully something will grab my players and we will be able to have a fun game.

Creating Hero System Characters 101

Creating Hero System Characters
by Jenevieve DeFer AKA Tasha

Hero System Characters 101
It is pretty common for someone to look at the Hero System rule book and be totally overwhelmed by the options inside. Usually first characters are a mish-mash of powers of wildly varying power levels and are not really suited for play. After seeing this come up time and time again on the Hero Games forums I thought that it was time for me to try and answer this question once and for all. So I created this little tutorial and guide.


1) Learn everything possible about the campaign.
ie What Genre, What kind of adventures will be run (ie Action, Political, soap opera etc). Does it take place in one spot (ie one city) or will there be travel? How often will characters be engaging in combat? How serious is the game (is it comedy, Tragedy, high drama or something in-between?)These questions give you a direction for the design of your character. It will allow you to make a character that will fit within the GM's campaign.

2) Come up with a basic idea of what the character is beyond adventuring.
ie Marine Corps Sniper, High Society Socialite, College Professor, News Reporter etc. This gives your character a life outside of adventuring and gives greater depth to their background. This step also can give you ideas for people who may be attached to the character both for good or bad (ie a Dependent or a person Hunting the PC) Write these ideas down.

3) Now work on the character's Adventuring side.
Wizard, Healing Priest, Person turned into metal, Thief/Rogue, Person who can create fire effects, Warrior. Be general at this point, specifics come next. Also think about quirks that will make this character different from any other character of your type(s)

4) Take those generalities and be more specific.
Write out what the character can do in plain english (don't even worry about opening a rule book yet). This step is VERY important for Super Heroes and for Spell Casters. Done right this will both help with writing up powers and will suggest weaknesses.Make sure that this list shows what you want your powers to DO. Fiery Body from being possessed by flame elemental is a good start, but you need to write down specifics of what the Character does with that Fiery body. The more specific and detailed the writeup the easier it will come to write up powers.
ie Fireperson the flaming superhero
a. Can project bolts of fire
b. Body's fiery aura can vaporize bullets and is resistant to heat effects
c. Being made of fire makes character lighter than air and allows her to fly
d. can see heat (ie Infrared Vision)

5) Discover the power level of the campaign.
You need the Point levels of the campaign (ie 350pt supers, 150pt Heroic normals).
Find how powerful should your attacks be (ie 10d6, AKA DC10, AKA 50pt attacks) and also the average and maximum Active Point values allowed for any power. Then find what the Dex and SPD range is and what the average number for both of those are. Average and maximum OCV, DCV, OMCV, and DMCV (for 5e players the last two are Mental combat values). Maximum and average PD and ED also maximums for unusual defenses (ie Power def, Mental def, Flash Def). The average is important as it tells you what most PCs should have for that ability, so you can decide whether your character should be above or below that value.

6) Start writing the character up using the rules.
This is where you open your Rule books and Genre books. I recommend starting with skills. See if you can find a write up of your profession in the genre book. Most of the professions have some sort of package that lists out skills (and complications) that are appropriate for that profession. You may think of more. Next work on Perks (things like favors, contacts and licences), Go onto Talents, then Powers. When you start to write up powers go back to your list of what your powers should do, then find the power in the book that best fits that write up. Start with the abilities that translate easy. (ie Can project bolts of fire; sounds like either a Blast or a Killing Attack Ranged or it can be both if you like).
b. This is also a good time to buy Int and Presence. Keep in mind that 3s and 8s are breakpoints and will save you points.

7) Now balance the character so they fall within the points budget.
This is a great time to see if some of the powers can be purchased in a Multipower. Also think of limitations on your powers. ie"Power requires a Roll" is a good limit for beginning heroes. Also think of weakness in those powers. ie Fire powers probably don't work under water or in Vacuum. This a good time to lower stats that you were kind of wishing for but don't break the character's concept to lower (ie Presence can be a good stat to lower). If you cant come under budget, then go onto the next step. You might find ways to save more points in the proofing stage

8) Proof the character vs campaign limits and power levels.
These question are to reality check the character so they aren't a total wimp or over-powered.

a. Do I have at least 1 attack power that is straight up dice of damage? (ie Strength, Energy Blast or Ego Attack). This means one attack power that has no advantages ie NND, Armor Piercing, Penetrating etc. If your powers all have gimmicks you can find yourself in situations where the character cannot damage their opponent(s) at all, which can make for a frustrating gaming experience.

b. Are my defenses = 2x to 2.5x the average damage dice (AKA Damage Class) being thrown in the game? (ie if the campaign is based on 50pt (10d6 powers), then I should have from 20-30 Defenses.

c. Can the PC take one attack at campaign average Damage Class with an average damage roll and not be stunned? (ie have my Con Score exceeded by damage taken after defenses) 1d6 does 3.5 average stun. so 3.5 x 10d6 = 35 stun on average - PD or ED (lets go with 20) and you take 15 stun which means that you need 16 Con to not be stunned by an average hit (round to 18 to take advantage of figured chars).

d. Do I have enough STUN to take 2 - 3 average attacks? ie using the numbers above the character takes 15 STUN per hit and should have 30 STUN to 45 STUN

e. Do I have enough End to use my most common attack + end using defenses + movement for one full turn? ie ((Sum Attack End Cost + Defense End Cost + Movement End cost/2)* SPD). Your movement end is halved is because you take half moves during any phase you attack.

f. Do I have a movement power that is faster than 12m/phase? or is moving slowly ok for the character concept. There is nothing more annoying in a Champions game than being the only character that is moving base movement. In a Heroic level game even moving a couple of meters more than base can be a huge advantage.

g. If your character has ego powers remember to have Mental Defense at 2x to 2.5x the dice of Mental Attack (not the dice of Telepathy or the other mental powers). The character should have around 20-30 Ego and OMCV and DMCV around 5-7. Most people never buy their DMCV above the base of 3 or their ego above 10. You can bank on this being true in all campaigns with the exception of ones that are all mentalist based. So take advantage of that fact to save points. For Telepathy, Mind Scan, Mental Illusions, and Mind control, you can reality check these by using the formula 3.5 x dice rolled -10 (avg ego). On a 10d6 attack you roll a 35 on average, subtract 10 for avg ego and get 25 which means that you get +20 effect on most rolls (with a -1 on breakout rolls on +20 effects to boot). 6d6 averages 21 which gets +10 vs most targets

h. Your CV scores should be at least campaign average. OCV should be at campaign average or average +1

i. This is a good time to buy any other Characteristics that I haven't talked about above.

9) Does the character still fit the points budget?
If you are under budget go to Complications/Disadvantages which is the next step. If not, then really look hard at all of your powers and skills and see if there are things that can be cut (and purchased later when you get exp). Also, see if there are extra limitation you can place on your powers to help save points.

10) Start putting together your Character's Complications (AKA Disadvantages).
Go back through your notes and see if any complications jump out at you. If the PC was a crusading lawyer or reporter perhaps some criminal is hunting the character. Perhaps you know that the character is curious, and/or has strong convictions against killing. Perhaps that body of flame has a weakness against cold attacks. Complications are good for the character. They give the GM something to grasp onto to help write adventures that involve the character beyond just being there. Don't be afraid to have that weakness to alien glowing rocks, or Ice attacks, have a sweet curious Aunt May, or a Wife/Husband,Girlfriend/Boyfriend. These things make your character interesting, not your powers and skills. If you are really hurting for ideas go to this site, it's a real nice resource for Physical, and Psychological Complications along with Social Complications Masterlist of Limitations
http://www.cellulars...rlistdisads.php
or
http://masterlistsof...plications_Wiki

    a)Write your Compications all down in plain English just like you did for your powers. Open the book to the Complications Section (or Disadvantages if playing 5eR or earlier).
    Use the things you wrote down and see what Complications from the book fit best.

11) Transcribe the Character onto a character sheet Make one copy for you and one for your GM. If you use a program like Hero Designer it can make the whole process easier by taking the math out of the equation for you. Check it out on the Hero Games Web store. It’s inexpensive and makes character generation very easy. It also works for making both 5^th Edition and 6^th Edition characters.

12) Go through your notes and write down your character’s background.
ie Job/Career in other words what the character did before they started adventuring. A background can be anything from a bullet pointed list of events all of the way up to a short story. Make sure the GM receives that background along with the Hero system character sheet. You are done and if you have followed all of the steps you should have a well-rounded character that isn't a total wimp. A character who can contribute both inside and outside of combat, and has a background that the GM can use to write adventures that include the PC in the plot.

Congratulations you have finished your character!