To the tune of:
Greedo,"Hurry up! I'm late for an appointment at the Cantina with a tramp freighter pilot!"
Thallo,"What manner of chariot is this?!""
Bionic Bigfoot,"Can I have a ride?!!...They act like they don't even see me!"
Threepio,"You said these were good seats?!"
Threepio 2," Why is this full of wine??"
As you dare to go out and face the challenges of Black Friday, remember these important lessons...
Take plenty of hand sanitizer!
Happy Saturday everyone!
Just a quick post here. I took these pictures awhile back, but never posted them to my blog.
Don't Go to the Outhouse!!
I haven't posted about minis in quite awhile. I've steadily been working on my collection of 28mm minis.
I picked these up before Covid, and a friend of mine just recently painted them up for me. They are Ding Bats from Rebel Minis. Here's the link: Ding Bats I can't decide if I want to call them Ding Bats or Brain Bats...decisions, decisions!
I'm really glad I got these, they are an unusual monster with loads of potential. I can see them having psionic abilities, maybe a stinger tail. Great for Post Apocalyptic mutant games, D&D, etc...
Good Gaming - B.B.
I've been a fan of Kent Kelly's OSR Castle Oldskull gaming supplements for awhile now. I recently picked up one of his newer releases the Oldskull d100 NPC Generator. You can find it HERE
The blurb from the Amazon description, " This book is dedicated solely to helping you to generate ideas which will allow you sketch out a unique, interesting and evocative Non-Player Character … either an enemy or ally to the Player Character party, depending on your needs... This is a compact guide which will give you only the core ideas to build your NPC from, in 5 minutes or less. (The initial read-through will take you longer.)..."
After doing a quick read through of the book I decided to test out the " 5 minutes or less" theory. The results are the NPC below.
female human, Fighter, Level 3 Neutral Evil
Str 14 Int 11 Wis 7 Dex 13 Con 12 Cha 5
Personality : Neurotic
Likes: Night & Darkness, due to her hideous scarring, she has a preference for operating at night and in the shadows. She views a bright sunny day as others would view a dark, cold and foggy night.
Loot/Valuables - any given time (depending on her recent jobs or who she has murdered in an alleyway) she has up to 200 gp in valuables on her.
+1 Chainmail, Potion of Animal Control (in a pinch she will use the potion to control any nearby dogs, rats etc. to attack her foes).
Guess what? The NPC Generator passed the 5 minute test. Other than a couple of quick rolls in my OSE Treasure book to determine her magical armor and potion, I was able to get the above NPC just from a series of a few random rolls in the NPC Generator book. It took me longer to find a picture of her that I liked than to roll up the NPC. All she needs is some hit points and a bit more gear and she is ready to unleash on my campaign! Kent Kelly recommends using the book in between games rather than as an "at the table during sessions" resource, but it can work for that too. I would have never come up with a NPC like Belladonna without this resource and I'm glad I picked it up!
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and you are able to get some gaming in with your friends!
-Good Gaming! B.B.
Hello Everyone!
Thanks for the comments and private emails. After a long absence, yes I know I said I was done, and several kind emails, I've decided to dip my toes back into blogging. I won't go into all the reasons for my departure back at the first of the year, suffice that like everyone else, it has been a rough.. year , year and a half?. I am a nurse and things have been pretty bad at times. However, that's not the purpose of this post. I have resumed gaming again after a long break (partially Covid related, partially just cause of reasons). I miss the interactions both online and in person. I find myself with a stack of new gaming books (mostly OSR) and a hankerin to blog about them. I was partially inspired by some recent posts by my friend Matt over on the MSJX blog about Creating. So who knows maybe I can start creating stuff again.
The OSR is still going strong, and I'm happy to have acquired some great resources for my OSR games. Today a few awesome new releases arrived in my mailbox. Joseph Bloch has released two new hardcovers for the Adventures Dark and Deep line. He talks about them HERE.
Well that's all for now,. Not sure how regular my posts will be, but we shall see. I hope you all have a great week, are safe and healthy during these challenging times. I hope you get a chance to roll some dice with your friends and loved ones.
-Good Gaming
B.B.
Just wanted to pop in here. I want to send out Thoughts & Prayers to my dear friend Matt over on the :
MSJX Blog. He has been severely injured in a fall. He is stable, but is in rough shape.
I know I stopped posting on my blog earlier this year, but this blog enabled me to build some great friendships over the years and Matt is one of the good guys.
Praying for you buddy!!!
-Bill
After some reflection, I have decided to no longer update this blog. I started this blog as an experiment back in June of 2009. I had discovered the OSR; Mutant Future especially at that time and I wanted to share my love of the game with the growing and interactive blogger community. I am grateful to the many friendships that evolved from this blog over the years, but to be honest my posts of late haven't been of the quality that they used to be, and the blogosphere has changed. I know there are a few folks that may find benefit from the older content on this blog and for that reason I am not going to "Nuke it". But this will be my last post. I seem to spend more time here blocking spammers than anything else, so comments will be turned off, but again I will leave the blog up for posterity. It was a fun ride. Thank you all for the memories and may God Bless you in 2021 and beyond!
-B.B.
I recently got to re-watch an old favorite movie of mine. A movie that some have labeled as the best D&D Movie ever!
I'm talking about Hawk the Slayer!
I've recently been enjoying reading posts by Needles over on the Swords & Stitchery blog, his OSR Moorcockian Frankenstein Campaign loosely based upon the Black Blade of the Demon Demon King has really sparked my interest. This is exactly the kind of wildly cool and crazy campaign I'd love to play in and run, and bits of his posts reminded me of how my group used to play back in the day, and for some reason have gotten away from in recent years. We combined fantasy and sci fi without any concerns. I'd read some comic book that gave me an idea and I would plug it into my campaign. I'd get a recent issue of Dragon Magazine (IN THE MAIL) and would loot it heavily for content to add to my games. The first D&D book I ever purchased was Deities and Demigods, which had the Cthulhu and Melnibonean Mythos in it. 10 year old me, just took for granted that Arthurian Knights with their Native American Allies were supposed to be fighting Mi-Go and the minions of Set. It formed the foundation of my DM style for years to come.
So moving forward I'd like to try harder to get back to that style of play and gaming. Needles has been doing it all along, and I know with the right group, I can too. With the release of Old School Essentials I have the mechanical tool kit to run the style of games I want, and with the OSR library I now have, I can Frankenstein the heck out of it, to my hearts content.
With that said, I've backed a couple of recent kickstarters that I am looking forward to playing/running in this vein.
Hopefully 2021 will be better than 2020, and with the vaccine roll out, we can all get back to having more normal lives, which will hopefully include face to face gaming again. I know online gaming is an option, but I prefer face to face. Both of these games seem like loads of fun, and heck with the OSR, I could even mash them together if I wanted too, in classic Needles Swords & Stitchery Frankenstein style!
Oh and yeah Dr. Steele will definitely be making an appearance(s)!
So, in order to make this post more than just an old grognard rambling about the good old days, and a commercial for upcoming OSR products, how about some actual gaming content? Since I started this post off talking about Hawk the Slayer, how about I stat up the Jack Palance villain Voltan the Dark for the OSR? First set of stats are for FH&W, since that is what Needles is currently using for his Black Blade of the Demon King campaign . FH&W is an awesome comprehensive OSR product that doesn't get enough love. I've discussed FH&W briefly over the years, but need to revisit it in a future post.
Other Aliases: Dark One, The Devil’s Agent, Servant of evil.
Height: 6’3″ Weight: 170 lbs.
Voltan is a power hungry, selfish tyrannical individual that feels a narcissistic sense of ownership over everything and everyone around him. He feels any downturns he experiences are caused by the actions of others and never as a result of his own doing. He especially relishes goading and tormenting his captives before eventually growing bored with them and murdering them. If he is short on captives, he may kill a member of his camp just to keep his men "on their toes".
Voltan has a mobile military camp of mercenary soldiers, their numbers vary between 60-100 on any given week. He has been known to kill his underlings on occasion to display his power, or if he is just pissed off in general. These men epitomize the meaning of the word scum. They are vile, murderous thugs that enjoy murdering innocents just to hear them scream. They prefer unfair fights, and in the face of strong resistance, especially if Voltan isn't around, they may flee. Disadvantage on morale checks when half their number are taken out and Voltan is not present. Generally they are equipped with Leather armor, sword and dagger, although a handful (1 in 10) also bear crossbows and a small number (2 out of every 10 or so) wear chainmail armor. They have enough light horses on hand to keep them mobile, but they are not effective horseback combatants.
Weakness:
Voltan hides the left side of his face under a war helm, the left side of his
face is badly burned, an old wound that will never heal. If a foe hits him with
a natural "20" his face has been struck, triggering waves of pain
which will cause him to withdraw until he can receive magical aid to
temporarily stop the pain.
FH&W Stats (Fantastic Heroes & Witchery)
Background: Villain - +4 bonus to rolls wherein his villainous background would be relevant (not applicable to attack rolls).
Alignment: Chaos
Class: Fighter
Level: 6
Hit Points: 49
AC: 15
Str 17 +2 to melee and damage rolls
Int 13 +1 to knowledge checks, saves against illusions and politician's lies
Wis 10
Dex 16 +2 to ranged attacks, +2 to AC, saves vs dodge based effects
Con 9 (used to be higher but his unhealing burn and sorcerous treatments have reduced his Con)
Cha 16 +2 (strong force of will, especially over the selfish and weak-minded) (disadvantage on Charisma checks when his helmet is off and his horrible facial burn is visible)
+8 to hit/+2 damage, (+9 to hit, +4 damage when wielding a Bastard Sword)
Saves 11
Battle Tricks +3/-3
Combat Specialties: Mow the Rabble, Weapon Specialization (Bastard Sword) +1 to hit and +2 damage, Armor Specialization (Leather) +1 to AC,
Talents: Intimidation (+4 when threatening force or bullying beings with 5 HD or less) , Combat Reflexes (never hesitates in combat, +1 to surprise and initiative rolls), Ruthless (Cleave, when he drops an opponent with an attack, he gets an immediate attack against another foe in range).
Weapons & Equipment
Bastard Sword w/ skull pommel 1d10/1d12 damage
Dagger (1d4 damage) 10' range when thrown
War Helm
Leather Armor- black (of course) +2 to AC
Other gear as needed including a maximum hit points black riding horse.
Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland Stats
Class: Deathbringer
Level: 5
Hit Points: 48
Base Movement : 35'
AC 14
BUR 17 +2 to attack & Damage, 20% break down doors
PRO 16 +2 attack and damage with missiles, +2 AC, uses daggers to maim at distance, prefers to kill up close and personal
END 9 (was higher, but his facial burn and sorcerous treatments have weakened his endurance over the years)
ATT 8 -1 to reactions amongst decent , civilized people
BRA 13 Skilled in Leadership
Sleaze 16 He is a villain and hangs out with despicable thugs, said to be an Agent of the Devil
Fortune 5, he has pushed himself to attain his goals.
Attacks: +5 , +1d6+2 damage, Grit 13, Agility 16, Resolve 14, Death 13
Rad Abilities: If it Bleeds, Its Too Dangerous to Go Alone, True Masters of the Quest, The Thrill of the Kill,
Weapons & Gear: Rucksack, Slasher - Long Sword (1d8
damage) , Dagger (1d4 damage), Leather Armor +2,(you can Metal up his gear if you want, this gear is more in tune with his character as seen in the movie).
