RPGaDay, most memorable death – The Last Dragon

Scatha's Death
- The Last Dragon -

Following the #RPGaDay, today I'll talk about most memorable character death.

But I never had a memorable player character death in my games, to be sincere. When a player character died, that was always very anti-climatic. They never died against a boss or important monster - only against weak creatures or random events, failing a poison saving throw and things like that. Because of that, I will talk about one of the most memorable boss character death.

It was in my The One Ring campaign. I've already changed many things from the main lore of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. The War of the Ring was happening 50 years before, without Frodo.  Although The One Ring was already destroyed, Sauron had made copies of it and, now, was ready for a final clash against Middle Earth, dividing its army in 3 fronts: one with the barbarians, another with the Witch King of Angmar and the third with himself.

The player's group was composed by Avina (a Beorn warrior learnt in the ways of witchcraft and almost falen to the shadow); Naroc (a halfling created by dwarves who got hold of one of the Ring's repplicas, used it to, unintentionlay, kill Balin and become one of the 13 dwarves and earn a part of Smaug's hoard); Ainamir (an elf wanderer who learned the elf's fire magic and was able to halt Galadriel from falling into the shadow of The One Ring) and Kzarin (an elf archer who was able, in one session, kill 50 orcs, besides winning against Legolas in an archery contest).

Avina went to fight the Witch King, since she was a woman (so she could hurt him) and witch (making her strong against his sorceries). She went with the three handmaidens of Galadrial (whose names were, for those that can understand, Mai, Azula and Ty Lee). The other players - together with Gandalf - went to fight a hidden danger. From the Blue Mountains, a spectre named The Gibbit King was coming closer, having under its control the last great dragon - Scatha (who, in this world was still alive). If the spectre was able to join with the armies, it would be the end of the Middle-earth.

O grupo encontrou o espectro montado no dragão, avançando rapidamente pelo terreno montanhoso para se encontrar com o senhor do escuro. Gandalf usou seus poderes para impedir que o espector usasse suas magias, enquanto Naroc, Ainamir e Kzarin lutavam com o dragão. Naroc se transformou em urso – um poder que ele adquiriu não intencionalmente após um efeito colateral de uma magia de Radagast – e segurou o dragão, enquanto Ainamir e Kzarin o atacavam. Contudo, logo Naroc tombou, mesmo como urso, não podendo segurar o dragão.

The group found the spectre mounting the dragon, advancind rapidly through the mountain terrain. Gandalf used his powers to hold the spectre's magic while Naroc, Ainamir and Kzarin fought the dragon. Naroc transformed into a bear - a power he acquired innadvertedly through a side effect from Radagast's magic once - and hold the dragon, while Ainamir and Kzarin attacked. However, soon Naroc fell, even as a giant bear he was not able to hold the beast for long.

So came forth Ainamir, but the poor elf was not able to withstand more than two turns, falling too. With that, Naroc embraces the Shadow and stand up - for, in this rpg, I allowed people to give in to the darkness in order to become stronger and regain vitality. Again, the bear tries to hold the dragon, and again he falls. Now, it's time for Ainamir do the same, embracing the shadows but falling soon after. Naroc, once again, give in to curruption and, again, falls.

It's all up to Kzarin now. The dragon attacks, having the elf's life border zero. However, at his last attack, at the last turn, at his last shot at his final hour, Kzarin essentially got an epic success. But that is not enough, for the dragon hide is basically impervious. The dragon rolls its defense and... it is a critical failure.

With that, the last dragon fell. That was one of the most impossible battles I've seen my group play. If they lost, everything and everyone would be dead. While they fought the Dragon, Avina fought and won against the Witch King. Sadly, Ty Lee died in the battle, although everyone wanted Mair to die instead. Beorn, the great bear, was able to hold back Sauron's army (dieing in the process) and now the characters, after resting from their battles, track down the Lord of Shadows. But this a story for another day...

Until then,
Valete!

Link Images 1

RPGaDay, old rpg you still read/play - Daemon and AD&D

Old rpgs I still read, Daemon and AD&D
- in the background, Septimus Malleus -

Hoje, seguindo o #RPGaDay, falarei sobre o rpg antigo que eu ainda jogue/leia. Para os leitores desse site, não será uma surpresa ao dizer que eu ainda leio os antigos livros de AD&D. Portanto, para ir além do óbvio, irei falar de outro rpg antigo que eu ainda leio: O Daemon.

Today, following the #RPGaDay, I will talk about an old rpg that I still read/play. For those following this blog, it will be no surprise that I say I still read the old AD&D books. Because of that, going beyond the obvious, I will talk about another rpg I still read: Daemon.

As I said before, Daemon is, to me, one of the foundation stones of Brazillian rpg (together with 3d& and Tagmar), and would be the brazillian equivalent to 'Gurps' or 'Call of Cthulhu'. It has, for me, the best attribute progression in any rpg, using a mathematical formula which, for evey 6 points, you double the effect of the attribute. Besides that, the system has one of the best fluff for magic system - since the book author, Marcelo del Debbio, is himself an occultist and the magical practices inside the book reflect, at least to my knowledge, directly his magical studies.

Arkanum, the classic setting of Daemon
- Medieval inquisition with cruel angels and ambitious demons -

Contudo, Daemon é envolto em infâmia e, hoje, muito mal visto por todos que ainda não o joguem. A maioria de seus livros consiste de cópias de texto uns dos outros. Suas regras costumam ser, muitas vezes, mal explicadas ou com a sensação de 'inacabadas'. Sua progressão matemática de 'a cada 6, dobre o efeito' não consegue ser aplicada de maneira efetiva às rolagens do sistema, e mesmo o sistema de magia, que é extremamente bem feito teoricamente, na parte mecânica do sistema é bastante simples e não passa de um sistema comum de 'pontos de magia'.

However, Daemon is shrouded in infamy and, today, kind of hated by all who do not play it. Most of its books have copies from texts from each other. Its rules are, many times, not explained well or have the sensation of 'undone'. Its mathematical progression of 'every 6 units double the effect' does not apply itself effectively to the rolls of the dice, and even its magic system, which is outstandingly well done fluff-wise, mechanically is very weak with simple 'magic points' applications.

Nevertheless, it is a very important rpg for me. Its aspect of 'undoneness' makes Daemon have an aura similar to that of old D&D, where GMs had to improvise rules. In the same way, one of the greatest Old Schools communities in brazillian tabletop rpgs is the one from Daemon, creating new rules even today, and even after a decade that the game has been 'dead'.

Well, but I will talk more about Daemon in another time. But how about you, folks, what old rpg do you still play/read?

Until then,
Valete!

RPGaDay, weirdest rpg - Land of Og and Defenders of Tokyo

Weird rpgs: Land of Og and Defenders of Toquio  - in the background, Aura -

Following the #RPGaDay, today I will talk about the weirdest rpgs I have. Since this blog is both in english and portuguese, I will talk about a portuguese and an english rpg.

My choice for the english one is Land of Og - a comedy rpg with its setting in the Stone Age, with human beings side by side with dinossaurs and things like that. In general, its system is very Old School, not only because of its class system, but also because of its similarities with wargames, having multiple attack rolls and armor rolls for damage.

The expansion book of Land of Og

However, the most interesting and weird thing about the system is the fact that, since it passes during the stone age, humanity would still be developing linguistics capabilities. Thus, the characters have a very limited access to vocabulary. This makes the players to try comunicating almost exclusively through grunts and gestures, having at their disposition only a few keywords (ugly, big, strong etc). A very interesting mechanic for a very weird rpg.

Now, for my portuguese rpg, even though there are many strange ones - like the obscure Utopia - I decided to talk about another; one very importante for the Brazillian rpg hobby. The Defenders of Tokyo (more well known as '3d&t').

Original defenders of Tokyo - where the mockery is without limits -

Also a comedy rpg, 3d&t's intention was to make games satirizing the japanese animes, games and mangas. As time went by, the system was being diversified and, today, it is more of a generic rpg for playing anime-like settings. This version I'm showing in the picture depicts the original idea, with many images making fun of anime cliches.

The system was very simple: five basic attributes (strength, ability, resistance, armor and firepower). in combat, roll 1d6 + strength (for melee attacks) or firepower (for ranged attacks), reduce from the enemy's armor and have the difference applied to your hit points. For skill tests, just roll 1d6 equal or under your ability and, for saving throws, roll equal or under  your Resistance or Armor (depending on the situation). There was also a list for skills, advantages and disadvantages, but those were the basis of the system.

3d&t is one of the three big rpg systems from Brazil's 'Old School', together with Tagmar, (the Brazillian D&D), and Daemon (the Brazillian Gurps or Call of Cthulhu, per se). Those three were maybe the most influential and important to create and develop the brazillian's rpg picture and, in the future, I intend on reviewing them. For now, that's all folks. Tell me which weird rpgs you folks have.

Until then,

Valete!

RPGaDay, favorite ingame fiction - 'Die, Vecna, Die!' or how Vecna "killed" the Old School

Classic adventure 'Die, Vecna, Die!'
- Marking the end of AD&D and the beginning of D&D 3rd edition -

Today, following the #RPGaDay, I will talk briefly about my favorite ingame fiction that I liked the most.

Out of them all, two come to my head. The first one is Time of Judgement, from White Wolf, whcih marked the apocalypse from the Old World of Darkness. Essentially, the book told the last stories regarding most of the many supernatural races in that setting (Werewolves, Fairies, Mages etc.).

However, my vote goes to Die, Venca, Die!, the last adventure of AD&D. It tells about how the supreme Lich Vecna tried to reshape the multiverse for his own whims. I talked about that in my postabout my favorite characters, and I reiterate: Vecna is the one who 'stole' Christimas...I say...'killed' the Old School and gave birth to the New School.

In the book, Vecna, after being able to freed himself  from Ravenloft, make plans in order to have the whole multiverse to be redone by himself. After being defeated by the players, he loses his post of Greater god and fall into lesser godhood. Nevertheless, the reflections of his plan hold on to the universe, altering many worlds e, basically, changing the rules from the 2 nd edition to the 3 rd new edition. It is a very good text to be read and all old school players should have a name to blame for the death of the 'old way'.

Joking aside, it's a very good read and I hope I enticed you guys to give it a try. And what about you? What is your favorite ingame fiction?

Until then,

Valete!

Everyone heil Vecna, the 'killer' of the Old School
and 'forefather' of the New School.

Link Images: 1, 2

RPGaDay, favorite dice/set of dice - The One Ring and Battletech

At the picture, my favorite set dice: The One Ring and Battletech
- in the background, Aura -

Participanting at the #RPGaDay event, I will talk shortly about my favorite set of dice: the one from The One Ring rpg and the one from the Battletech box.

- The One Ring -

The One Ring rpg

The One Ring rpg uses 6d6 and 1d12 for its rolls. The 1d12 is the basic die to which are added a number of d6s related to the skill level the character has. It's a very elegant system and original, which I commented briefly at my Journey post and, in the future, I intend on giving it an overral review.

However, focusing only on the set dice, I love their design. The d6s have black numbers on the 4, 5 and 6; and white on the 1, 2 and 3. This has a mechanical reason behind: when the characters are fatigued, they ignore the white numbers, making rolling harder. This is one of the most eficient and simple ways to convey fatigue in a rpg system that I ever seen.

The d12 has numbers that go from 1 to 10, with the 11 being the Eye of Sauron and 12 being the Gandal rune. When Gandalf happens, it normally means automatic success or something good happening; when Sauron, it is something bad, and it can mean a critical failure. Because of that, this is one of the most amazing systems to have impressive and epic resolutions. I had players intimidating Spectres and seducing Vampires in reason of that.

In resume, one of the best games I've seen and one of the most beautiful set of dice I've layed my eyes upon.

- Battletech  - 

My Battletech box

Battletech dice

Now, talking about Battletech, it is a strategy wargame using Mechs. It has decades of history and compromising with its gigantic fanbase, and deserves a better analysis in another time from me. Talking solely about the dice, the system uses d6s for resolution. These 2d6 came with the box, and are my favorite ones. Simple, vivid and strong colors evoking the idea of war and battle. I like them very much

This was a short post, but I hope that you enjoyed it. Soon I will talk more.

Until then,
Valete!

RPG a Day, favorite characters - Ancaladax, the Dragon of Urd and Vecna, Lich supreme of D&D

Vecna, the supreme Lich e Ancaladax, Dragon of Urd
- my favorite characters for #rpgaday -

(Summary TL;DR)

. My favorite rpg character created by me is Ancaladax, the millenial dragon of Urd who controls mentally all bank transactions of the world. He overshadows mountains and his breath has the might of nuclear explosions; the whole world has a contingency plan to deal with him, would he one day desire to obliterate the whole planet.

. My favorite character from a published rpg is Vecna, the ultimate lich of D&D, and the one to blame for the change of the laws of the universe from the 2nd to the 3rd edition.

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Today I'm participating to the #RpgaDay event, and I will talk about someone very dear to me, that was also the reason for me winning a rpg contest years ago: Ancaladax, the Maxime Draconis of Urd.

Ancaladax, the beyond divine

Ancaladax is one of my favorite characters, and possibly my favorite character from my rpg games. He is the more than divine dragon from Urd, a world of fantasy with a technology level similar to the Renaissance, with touches from the industrial revolution. With an inteligence without equal, Ancaladax created the first and only banking system of the world, controlling all posts and agencies with a telepatic link unbreakeable. His inteligence level is such that he is able, at any moment, to know every and each transaction happening elsewhere amidst his hundreds of agencies around the world. This made him one of the most influential beings in the planet, as all transactions happen through him - of course, if you pay the Dragon Fee(d).

Ancaladax is the only draconian at the planet. Dragons are aliens in Urd and, for the urdians, 'Dragon' is but a tittle that Ancaldax calls himself and his offsprings. Because, although there are no other pure dragons, Ancaladax has many offsprings - all with reptiles. For the banker king, all other races that do not resamble dragons are inferior.

He is greater than mountains. His breath of fire is as poweful as nuclear explosions. He is the greatest mystic in the world, able to cast both divine and arcane magic with ease. And beyond that, his thousands of years taught him profund knowledge about almost all subjects imaginable, be them academic or military, ancient or futuristic.

Ancaladax, Maxime Draconis
- any resamblance with Tolieen's Ancalagon is mere coincidence -

So, if a creature is that powerful, how have it not simply dominated the world yet? That is the thing, any kind of activity greatly drains and fatigues Ancaladax. Therefore, he passes most of his time sleeping or, quoting the great Lovecraft, 'dead, but dreamming'. However, that does not make the powers of the world of Urd confortable with their position. In fact, although they hate one another mutually, they made a pact saying that, would Ancaladax rise one day, all would band together to stop him. All of them.

"You are strong, child. But I am beyond strength"

And even so, most believe that, although hurt, Ancaladax would win the battle. In face of that, many ask themselves what are the real plans of Ancaladax. What would be his agenda, his objectives? Still, they will never know. How can someone understand the mind of a creature beyond divine?

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- Bonus: My favorite character in a published rpg -

Vecna preso em Ravenloft

So, if I have to chose a character from a published rpg, I would stay with Vecna. Maybe the most well known Lich in all tabletop rpg (because, outside of them, the Lich King from Warcraft wins that tittle), Vecna was a very powerful wizard in the world of Oearth (in Greyhawk's setting). He was able to become Lich and grow the borders of his empire, until betrayed by his vampire liutenant Kas. Despite all that, Vecna was still able to scheme and become a lesser deity, planning and fighting to be a greater god. His plans failed and he was trapped and reborn in Ravenloft. Even still, vecna eventually was able to break free from the demi-plane of horror and almost reshaped the whole multiverse, changing it's laws - in fact, that was the explanation for the change from 2nd to 3rd edition rules in D&D, he is the one to blame! So, being the forefather of the New School of D&D, and kind of a great symbol for both Old and New School, my choice is him, Vecna! Der grösste und mächtigste Lich! 

Vecna
- most emblematic lich in D&D -

Link das imagens: Dragão 1, 2, 3, 4 ; Vecna 1, 2, 3