An OSR experiment - The rose petaled road with a small but vicious smiling dog [2]

“Where all is pink, we shall meet. When skies be blue and [only] willows weep”.

Ol’d6 – playing white box D&D using d6 and wargaming ideas

Here is an idea for using only d6s in white box D&D (and other similar OSRs)

Rolling stats and stat modifiers in OSR - The rose petaled road with a small but vicious smiling dog [2]

Today I will continue on what I was talking yesterday. In the rose petaled road with a small but vicious smiling dog, I approach character stats (or abilities, or attributes, depending on what book you are reading). They are the first things that start to give shape to a character. After the first idea or concept you may have, it is only after knowing their stats that you will truly have a grasp of how that character will be. Many times, depending on what numbers you get, you will end up changing your character concept.

An OSR experiment - The rose petaled road with a small but vicious smiling dog [1]

I love reading about settings, and adventures – but what I love the most is when those settings seem alive as if reading them is not a ‘how-to’ for creating your campaign, but a journey in itself. Like when reading a story, when reader and text become an amalgam of interactions. So, an idea came to mind:

The rose petaled road with a small but vicious smiling dog – a book of rules, scenery and a short story adventure for classic rpgs

Thanos Alignment in Infinity War – a Dilemma

This post will contain spoilers for the Marvel movie Infinity War. Therefore, read it only if you’ve seen the movie or you don’t mind being spoiled.

5e D&D - Group Checks and Group's Average Checks

A party of adventurers making a group survival check

The PHB tells to use Group Checks when a number of individuals are trying to attempt something as a group and they will either all fail or all succeed. In the rules, it says that to do a group check all involved must make the check as usual. If half of the group succeeds, then all the group succeeds. I would like to expand on these explanations a little bit analysing the possible uses of Group Checks and, in the end of the article, propose a variation of roll using the average of all characters' skills instead of rolling for each of them separately.

5e D&D - The Battousai: a new fighter and monk subclass

Today I bring you a new sub-class that can be used both as a fighter's martial archetype or a monk's monastic tradition. It is the Battousai - the master swordsman who attacks rapidly with its sword, based both on historical japanese sword fighting and the Rouroni Kenshin's anime protagonist: Kenshin Himura, the Hitokiri Battousai (manslaying master swordsman).

5e D&D - Combat options with Giant Creatures

I've already discussed in this blog how hard it is to find interesting rules in rpgs that emulate the power and danger that a giant creature offers in battle. It is always mistifying to me how in many combat rules, giants act so illogically. Instead of grabbing and trampling all over their puny opponents, most of the time they stay still, just throwing a few melee attacks here and there. In D&D 5e, the DMG offers the chance for smaller characters to grab unto a giant's back. It is an interesting take, but nevertheless lacking in regards to how a giant creature can act to trash their enemies.

5e D&D - Magical Forges: adding weapon and armor upgrades to your game

Skyrim, Diablo, Dark Souls, Path of Exile, Salt & Sanctuary, and many, many other games have some interesting mechanics to deal with the improvement of items. Sometimes using socketed gems, or the character's skill with a forge, or finding magic runes or using arcane enchantments, there are many ways a character can improve its items.

5e D&D tweaks - core character classes balance

Overall, all classes in 5e are very well made and balanced. The new skill system, the varied paths a player can choose, the increase of some classes hit die, like the arcane spellcasters going from a d4 to a d6 and the rogue going from a d6 to a d8 - all of that contributed to make the game interesting and balanced. 

5e D&D Tweaks - Abilities scores, checks and Saving throws rethinking

Today, I'd like to discuss a few tweaks, rethinking and house rules I use in my games with Attribute scores, attribute checks and Saving Throws.

5e D&D - A late review

A very somber, almost pensive Tiamat looking yonder at something curious
Basically my surprised reaction with 5e D&D

It's been basically 2 years now since 5th arrived, and until now I have mostly not even touched this thing. Why?

Long time no see, eh?

It's been a long time since I've posted in here, right? One could say it's almost cyclical - and I would agree with that. When there is some downtime between my studies and work, I eventually come back here to update my whereabouts in the world of tabletop gaming.

In the matters of my gaming groups, well, nothing much have happened on this subject. I'm now part of a gaming group trying to publish some games and stuff, but things have cooled down a little bit. It's up to time to say if things will end up working or not.

I believe the most important recent events regarding this blog is my newfound interest in 5e D&D. After a year disconsidering it, I finally formed a group to play the system and, to my surprise, I liked it. Although kind of clunky in some aspects, overall it made some interesting twists and - may I dare say? - improvements over the old D&D. Maybe I might end up even preferring this system instead of my prized old schools variants. As of yet, I'm enjoying it very much.

So, what do I intend on bringing in to the blog, you may ask? Mostly what I've been creating and using in 5e D&D, including:

. My review of 5e D&D
. My overall house rules for the system, including: only saving throws and skill checks; a more comprehensive list of usage of saving throws; an intuitive methode of creating monsters on the spot; tweaks on classes and sub-classes; playing using only the d20
. A new rule for Mana Points/Magic points different from the DM guide,
. A set of rules for fighting giant creatures; trample attacks; new rules for Mobs
. Rules for upgrading armor and weapons: levels for items, alchemy, gem sockets, runewords, enchantments and all that good stuff from Diablo, Dark souls and similar games applied to 5e D&D.
. Character sheets, monsters and adaptations from movies, series, animes and other stuff I've been watching to 5e D&D.

Overall, these are the points I'd like to talk about in the next weeks.

See yall next time,

Valete

Gaius ludus vlogs - what system for a giant robot rpg?

Combat Paradigms in rpg – Individual, Group, Spotlight and Scene combat

Zombie poetry - Returned

A change of seasons

The strange thing about things is that things change. Evolution - in the sense of transformation, not necessarily 'advancement' - is one of the great constants of life. And to those that have been following this blog over the year, they might see how it's now changed. Where does that come from?

Gaigaia's thoughts – Review of OVA rpg, the Revised edition

OVA - Open Versatile Anime rpg
Revised edition review

Kill la Kill - Ryuko Matoi character sheet for OVA rpg

Ryuko Matoi from Kill la Kill
In her battle form and using her Scissor Blade

The Hunter from Bloodborne: new class for Old School D&D

So, there is a new souls game. Except that now, it is not about souls.
It is about blood.