Sunday, April 14, 2024

Planet of the Apes RPG (a bit more info...)

 I mentioned yesterday about the upcoming Planet of the Apes RPG, I have a bit more information today.


"The game will use the Magnetic Variant system which is a variation of the D6 System created by West End Games for their licensed RPGs Ghostbusters and Star Wars in the 1980s."

It will have resin miniatures.  Here's some new pictures...

I'll be watching this one very closely.  I still have my copy of Apes Victorious, but this could be interesting.  Stay Tuned!



Knave Solo Part 3

      



     The stinging crimson rain continued to fall, the wind whipping the drops about, even getting past Raze's Hazard Wrap.  Reepr burrowed deeper into Raze's backpack, as Raze continued to look about for shelter. He passed a wheeled cart of trade goods, it was knocked over, various small tools, bits and bobs, littered the ground, it's owner no doubt panicked by the dangerous storm had knocked over his cart, and abandoned it, seeking shelter.  Probably some decent loot there, but no time to stop and if the acidic rain continued the goods would be likely rendered worthless before all was said and done. 


     Rounding a side street he spies a little girl crying, she has fallen down in the street and crawled under a small, overturned wagon to try to get out of the stinging rain, a few drops were still splattering on her and burning her skin. Raze spied the girl's mother from the doorway of a shack across the way, frantically calling to the girl to come to her. The mother clearly had a lame leg and couldn't run. The girl was terrified. Raze ran over picked up the terrified child, sheltered her under his hazard wrap, which caused more drops to hit him, and ran to the girl's mother, the grateful mother took the child from Raze's arms, then promptly slammed the door in his face, and he could clearly hear the door being triple barricaded and locked from the other side. He paused in the stinging rain for only a second then kept running, looking for shelter...What's the old saying? No good deed goes unpunished?...

     Quickly moving down the streets, trying to use the nearby buildings to give him some measure of cover from the biting rain, Raze ponders his situation...some scout he is.. on the run from an acid rain storm while still in the city.. Idiot! Raze finds a slight overhang from an old building that gives him slight cover but not much, the wind is still whipping the stinging rain into his face, he covers himself with his hazard wrap as best he can. Its raining hard now, he catches his breath and looks about.  Down the nearby alley he sees a heavy-duty tarp flapping over what looks like a big hole in the side of an old building. He sees the flap move and a gloved hand pops out, motioning him to come that way..to come inside?!

     The rain slackens just a bit and Raze makes a run for it.  He has no idea who this is, but if he stays out here his gear will be ruined at best, at worse... well better get moving... Stinging, acrid rain bites his face as he races for the flapping tarp on the side of the old building. He ducks inside, just as the rain starts to pour down even harder.  Darting inside, it is dark, musty and he smells something...something that smells like...an animal of some sort?!!!! 

To be continued....






Saturday, April 13, 2024

Knave Solo Part 2

           

         Now out of coin, but happy with his new "pet" Hunting Eel, Raze Harrow realizes he needs to earn some coin.  Thankfully he bought provisions for his Wasteland scouting mission before he blew the last of his coin on his new pet. He wonders if he should also try to recruit an adventuring companion or two to accompany him? All he could offer them at this point is an equal share of any loot they might find. He could definitely use some extra muscle on this adventure, the wastelands were nothing to trifle with... 

         He passes the Temple of the Wondrous Worm...that odd religion that worships the massive carnivorous sandworms that live in the wastelands...odd folk, seems like a good way to get eaten to him. Raze picks up his pace to quickly move past the strange cultists proselytizing out in front of their temple. 

         Rounding the corner Raze smells something delicious, "Reepurrr" his Hunting Eel sniffs the air from its hiding place in his backpack. "Yeah, that smells good, sadly its rations for us until we can get some more coin." Raze spots the source of the smell, a little food vendor stall tucked in the alley by the temple. "Two Cheesy Rats" was the name of the place, although their attempt to provide a drawing/image of what two cheesy rats looked like left much to be desired.  Hmmm... cheese fried rats...Not a combo he would have thought of. Didn't matter he was broke so keeps walking. 

        While passing the food vendor, Raze overhears some merchants talking. He catches them mention problems with caravans reaching the city.  Apparently, bandit activity is a real issue. The Twisted Teeth Bandits were causing a lot of problems, more so than normal. They were hitting caravans heading through one of the few "safe" passages across the wastes that avoids Sand Worm territory. And to make matters worse the Zebra Gnolls were moving into the area as well. Not to mention The Jackals! Their raids though sporadic, only makes things worse... Raze would file that information away, good to know what factions are out there stirring up trouble. 

        Raze notices storm clouds moving in...a breeze stirs up, it has a strange acrid taste to it...It generally doesn't rain here, especially this time of year,, and those storm clouds don't look good. they have a strange dark red hue to them.. his recruiting efforts would have to wait, Raze needed to get to shelter and by the looks of the clouds and winds picking up...soon!  

          Raze had been staying at the Sleeping Hog Inn, wasn't the best place to stay, but by far it wasn't the worst. Now that he is broke, he can't even afford to stay at The Loathsome Fingerbone, its claim to fame was flea ridden beds, roach stew, backed up latrines, and a foul looking weird fingerbone kept in a jar of green goo behind the counter. Hmmm...storm was moving in pretty quick now, folk were clearing out of the streets and alleys, heading to shelter, wind was picking up, the acrid smell increased, even the air had a acrid taste about it...and why did the clouds have that strange reddish tint to them? This wasn't good...not good at all. 

         Raze gets concerned and looks about for some sort of shelter.  The wind whips up more, bits of gravel and sand are blown about, a misty rain begins to fall, but it isn't a normal rain, it has a reddish tint to it. And as it rains harder the drops get thicker and start to smoke where they hit the ground, where they hit Raze's bare skin it stings and burns. Raze realizes his hazard wrap, while shabby, is giving him some protection, but he can't stay out here indefinitely....  The streets are empty now, doors closed, windows shuttered... stinging crimson rain starts to come down hard, his hazard wrap helps, but he has to find shelter and soon.....         

To be continued...

                                             Crimson Rain

     I used Knave 2nd ed. tables for much of this process. With some inspiration from The Weird Wastelands (yeah it is 5E) book. 
I'm also incorporating things from Vaults of Vaarn, because..Why Not? 

     I'm enjoying solo play more and more. I'm able to squeeze in a quick session here and there. Oh, and for anyone paying attention, yes, I updated Raze's picture and tweaked his name a bit, included some additional rolls out of Vaarn for some extra gear and stuff. I like the character much better now.  Stay tuned for more!

Simian Saturday: The Planet of the Apes RPG!!

 Hot off the press here is a big announcement just in time for Simian Saturday!

From Bleeding Cool News there will be a Planet of the Apes RPG! Including miniatures!  I'm not sure what scale, I hope 28mm but 32+ seems to be the new thing. No release date, but I'm excited to see classic Planet of the Apes getting some attention! 


Hope you all have a very Happy Simian Saturday!!

Friday, April 5, 2024

Knave Solo Part 1

                 Continuing my Solo play of Knave 2nd Edition.  


      Although a skilled scout and trapper, Raze realizes heading out alone in the Wastes is unwise. He decides to see if he can acquire a hunting beast to assist him in his endeavors. Not having much luck in the regular trader's markets and stalls around Bethmoora, he tries his luck along the fringes of the city. 

     On the outskirts of Bethmoora, Raze finds a refugee camp where his coin may be a bit more valuable. Although he holds his coin purse tightly, concerned about pickpockets and thieves. These refugees are a strange lot apparently fleeing an invasion of their homeland and ending up on the outskirts of Bethmoora. They are scarlet skinned, with white wavy hair and unusual yellow eyes. Most having several piercings on their bodies, and oddly enough none appear to be older than middle age... He notes that the communities' sexual behaviors are much more open than he is accustomed too, he decides to not judge these folk (to each his own) but avoids being alone with any of the individuals he encounters that try to entice him. 

     After some time, he finds Krah; a sort of trader, apparently this refugee was some sort of beast tamer in his previous life and indicates he has a hunting beast that may be of interest to Raze. Krah shows Raze a strange beast, a Cerlulean Hunting Eel! a blue furred, serpentine creature that takes right to Raze and gives a soothing purr as it gently wraps around his arm and licks his cheek with its long tongue. Raze decides he must have such a fantastic creature, and before he realizes it, he spends all of his coin to buy the beast.  Krah smiles and tells him the eel is named Reaper.  Raze likes that and departs the camp, poorer in coin but happy with his purchase. He ponders for a moment, he never asked how big the eel would get??...


     Short little session tonite, before some family time. This was loads of fun! I used Knave 2nd ed, some random tables from Worlds Without Number and the One-Page Mythic rules.  Raze has an awesome furry companion but is now broke.  I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!  


Knave 2nd Ed. (starting a Solo Campaign)

      Being a sucker for random tables and generators, I backed the Knave 2nd Edition Kickstarter, having a little downtime today, I took the tables for a spin.  Just using the plethora of random tables you can have a ton of fun with this!  I also recently watched a Youtube video about using Knave 2nd ed to develop a campaign (great video).        

     First, I need a character.  Fortunately creating characters in Knave is super quick.  A few rolls later and I had a character. First level characters are dubbed Wretches!  Love it! Behold Raze Harrow! Oh and I added a few things from Vaults of Vaarn, why not, its cool!

Raze Harrow
Background:  Trapper, Scout

Str 0  Dex 0  Con 2 Int 0 Wis 1 Cha 0

Armor : Shield 1 Ap       5 Hit Points

Shabby Hazard Wrap (Immunity from radiation and toxins, AC 12 for OSR games, Vaults of Vaarn)

Basher (Mace)   1d6 damage

Plinker (Short Bow)  1d6 damage  

Equipment: Quiver 20 arrows, 2 torches, 130 coins, 2 rations, 50’ rope, Bear trap, Bear pelt, 300’ twine, signal flags, black grease, dice

Additional Gear (Vaults of Vaarn): Cast Iron Skillet, Skin of Wine, 

Crystalline Knife (Vaults of Vaarn): 1d6+1 damage (razor sharp) +d6 damage on mineral-based creatures or automatons and on a critical hit inflicts an extra d6 damage and the blade snaps off into the wound and a new blade "grows" from the hilt 

Exotica (Vaults of Vaarn): Mirror Ring - Projects a hologram copy of the wearer that mimics their actions.

     So that took me to the next step... where would Raze be adventuring?  

     I rolled on the Wilderness Region table and was excited to roll Wasteland!  Long time blog readers will know that I LOVE wasteland settings!  So very cool.  I decided that given Raze's background as a Scout and Trapper he has been hired to scout out and explore the Wasteland! Maybe he may try to trap some of the exotic beasts he encounters during his explorations, rare pelts and strange beast partscould fetch a nice price in certain markets...markets like those found in Bethmoora

     I've become rather intrigued by Matt's Bethmoora Campaign idea. So maybe Raze is setting out from Bethmoora to scout the wastes near Bethmoora, 

     I'll expound more on this concept in future posts.. I've not really done "true" Solo play, so that's where the next book comes into play.  The Mythic Gamemaster Emulator Deluxe, 2nd Edition will be the next resource I use.  Matt Jackson has been posting about Solo play over on his blog,   I'm trying to decide if I want to go with the full Mythic GME, or maybe just the Mythic One Page option instead. More to come!


Update: added some additional gear and things using the random tables from Vaults of Vaarn, great game by the way!