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randomwizard

@randomwizard@vivaldi.net

Old wizard of randomness

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randomwizard , to Hashtags I'm following
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

One of the things (IMHO) that 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons improved on versus 1st edition, is the presentation of the Gem generation tables.

But (IMHO) the Rules Cyclopedia did it even better.

I like to have players roll for what a gem is when they find it, instead of pre-rolling and stocking the dungeon. It adds a fun little mini game that is like playing a slot machine.

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randomwizard , to Role Playing Games
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Wow. The kickstarter to make the 2nd edition of 13th age only took 62 minutes to fund.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pelgranepress/13th-age-second-edition-storytelling-action-fantasy-game?ref=project_build

randomwizard , to Random stuff
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Been looking around the internet for reddit like sites since reddit now blocks vpn users (unless you log in).

https://saidit.net
Seems to have a lot of conspiracy type posts as well as spam. Maybe it lacks moderators?

https://tildes.net/
Seems more focused. Not too bad really.

https://news.ycombinator.com/
Very tech nerd news oriented. Not too bad.

[edit] Adding
https://lemm.ee
https://kbin.social

per Tim's suggestion in comments.

What are some other good sources for news, maybe rpg discussions?

One thought I had while browsing is how it would be nice if all those sites allowed you to login with your own made up identity that already exists. Like if I could log in as my mastadon randomwizard to go leave a comment.

Alphastream , to Random stuff
@Alphastream@dice.camp avatar

I got to play Critical Role’s RPG last night with D20Play!

Catch the game here: https://youtu.be/JdN1sqPhEos?si=8gcso-UIIezyPCrM

randomwizard ,
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

@Alphastream So what is your impression of Thumbs up? I mean, I personally like just about any game with the right group of people, but interested in your take.

randomwizard , to Hashtags I'm following
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Ten year old me, obsessed with Star Wars and Dungeons Dragons, thought this cover on DA2 Temple of the Frog was the coolest thing ever. Wizards with lazer guns!

Artist was Dennis Beauvais

randomwizard , to Role Playing Games
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

A japanese translation of D&D did not arrive until the mid 80s, so in the void the Sword World RPG took hold. It is a 2d6 based task resolution system.

Interesting video about the early days of RPGs in japan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34Hp6FmXMRM

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randomwizard , to Hashtags I'm following
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

In the late 70s Dave Arneson brought a lawsuit against TSR for unpaid royalties, contending that AD&D was covered under his agreement with Gary Gygax for D&D. They ultimately settled without going to court, but the evidence, discovery, depositions, legal documents and back and forth between lawyers is captured in the following pdf.

https://ws.onehub.com/folders/uh3vxwq1

I get a strange karma / Alanis Morissette ironic / deja vu (not schadenfreude) feeling when reading through it. In the early 90s, TSR brought a lawsuit against Gary Gygax claiming his new game Dangerous Journeys was derivative of D&D. The case was also settled out of court, but you can see a back and forth legal document concerning that case.

https://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/copyright/cases/tsr_vs_gdw2.txt

Both cases are arguing what is derivative and not.

randomwizard , to Hashtags I'm following
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Weird. Just 2 days ago I was wondering why there weren't more D&D based building block toys.

https://www.ign.com/articles/lego-is-teasing-a-dungeons-dragons-collaboration-with-an-adorably-deadly-gelatinous-cube

randomwizard OP ,
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

@Alphastream I was thinking some people might just like collecting them for their table top game instead of regular minis. 5' squares. Could even lead to new spells. Mordenkainens Monstrous Block Creature. Here is a bag of legos. Make a monster in 5 minutes and it gets conjured on the battlefield.

randomwizard OP ,
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

@Alphastream As an armchair marketing neophyte, my opinion would be they would have to put out a starter set with a group of adventures and 2 or 3 monsters to fight, with a small set of rooms to fight through. Maybe tie it into one of WotC adventuring books.

randomwizard , to Hashtags I'm following
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Didn't a company release a plastic block game with mini figs a couple of years ago for kids? I vaguely recall seeing pictures of a game where you build out a simple dungeon made of blocks and move your fig around. Made for kids. Maybe it was just one of those situations where I am confusing things. Seems like a product that should be made though.

randomwizard OP ,
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

@Alphastream That is pretty much what I was thinking of.

However, my mind keeps bring up a specific image. I felt like the screenshot I saw had a little black knight figure. And the board you constructed was a bit more free form. With corridors going in different directions.

randomwizard OP ,
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

@Alphastream Thanks for the tip. It lead me to searching around and it was probably this. Lego Heroica.

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randomwizard , to Random stuff
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

I was looking at Old School Essentials response to OGL stuff a while back. https://necroticgnome.com/blogs/news/an-update-on-old-school-essentials-and-the-ogl
And this stood out to me. "One really important aspect of the current OGL is that it allows publishers to label portions of a text as available for other publishers to copy/adapt in their own works." and "For this reason we plan to make use of an alternative license to easily denote which sections of the future, non-OGL OSE are open content."

I do not get this sentiment and it is common with OGL supporters. Why do you need a license to specifically tell you that you can do this? You can do it anyways. It is your work. Just use the creative commons attribution license. Then go write a paragraph saying certain parts of your work at not under the creative commons attribution license.

Alphastream , to Hashtags I'm following
@Alphastream@dice.camp avatar

Happy 35th anniversary to D&D 2E!

The 2E Player's Handbook was released in February 1989, followed by the DMG in May. A second edition of the book with a different color appeared in 1995.

randomwizard ,
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

@Alphastream 2E never seems to get much love with the old crowd, but I think Steve Winter and David "Zeb" Cook did a wonderful job making the rules more organized, more streamlined. And they added a couple of things that make sense too.

randomwizard , to Hashtags I'm following
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

@chgowiz got me to thinking about; what is the overall plot of the first 14 Dragonlance modules?

DL1 The party has gotten together to find a true cleric that can actually cast spells. Such a weird quest. This leads them to Goldmoon and searching for some disks from the gods. I have to mention that this reminds me of LDS Joseph Smith finding gold plates with words from god.

DL2 Railroad the players into getting captured by the Dragon Army, and have them shipped off as slaves. Then they are rescued by elves. Then they are implored to go into a Dragon controlled fortress to rescue slaves and cause a diversion, so all the rest of the elves can escape encroaching Dragon armies.

DL3 Lead 800 elven and human refugees through the lands of Abanasynia to a safe spot that happens to be next to a dwarven gate to their underground dwarven kingdom.

There is just something really disjointed about the plot.

Maybe to make it more free form, it should just start with DL2, but the players are just part of the refugees escaping the Dragon armies. Then they get presented with a choice. Do they want to go look for a platinum disk of the gods? Or do they want to go rescue prisoners and provide a diversion so the refugees can escape?

randomwizard , to History
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Oldest "intact" medieval gauntlet was found near Kyburg Castle in Pfäffikon, Switzerland. Dates to somewhere in the 1300s.

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2024/01/archaeologists-find-intact-medieval-gauntlet/150272

randomwizard , to Random stuff
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Some people are so talented it does not seem possible. Jennell Jaquays was one of those people. I do not think a lot of people know all the things she worked on; a designer for id's Quake video game, for example.

I wish our world rewarded creators more for their efforts.

I got to interview Jennell once, through email. Just a delightful individual. It saddens me to hear of her passing.

randomwizard , to Role Playing Games
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Last year, I formatted the creative commons 5e srd monster and spell lists into csv files then lost steam to work on more.

Last night I was bored, so I got around to formatting the 5e magic items into a csv file so I can import it into a database.

https://github.com/random-wizard/1d20-5e-srd

If you are familiar with sqlite3 and command line, this is what I use to query

sqlite3 magic_items.db
.mode csv
.import magic_items.csv magic_items
.mode list
SELECT name, rarity FROM magic_items WHERE type='potion' LIMIT 3;

Oil of Etherealness|rare
Oil of Sharpness|very rare
Oil of Slipperiness|uncommon

randomwizard , to Role Playing Games
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

If you are looking for something to read while traveling over the holidays. Here is a free pdf of interviews with 18 designers of the RPG industry of the 70s, 80s, 90s. Most of the interviews are with TSR employees, but a few big names from other endeavours as well.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/227268/Random-Wizard-Interviews

randomwizard , to Role Playing Games
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Matt Colville's new rpg game project is up on backerkit. Currently already has 3 million dollars in backing with 21 days left to go.

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/mcdm-productions/mcdm-rpg

newbiedm , to Random stuff
@newbiedm@mastodon.world avatar

"Tactical" and "Cinematic" in a sentence together referring to an rpg is an interesting pitch. I'm curious.

randomwizard ,
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

@newbiedm @Alphastream I distinctly remember everyone being annoyed at the table in a 4E campaign, when it came to a player's turn and they did not "pre-think" about how many squares their move or power would do. It did make the game drag on.

I like how 13th age went back to more "theatre of the mind" for position and range but kept 4E "every class has some powers" design

newbiedm , to Random stuff
@newbiedm@mastodon.world avatar

Managing one twitter-like social media is a lot for me. Two and three are just non starters. The question becomes, Mastodon or Bluesky? Can't be both.

randomwizard ,
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

@Alphastream @newbiedm @KeithAmmann Twitter always felt like a weird shouting match arena. I feel there is something profoundly wrong with social media in general where people do not engage in conversation where they try to get to what is the other person really thinking. Everything becomes a purity test or an opportunity to win a "gotcha" quip. I do not think mastadon will become popular because it does not push content, does not try to enrage users, induce doom scrolling to get some dopamine hit. Seems like mastadon is doing the right thing but all the wrong things are the things that work in getting people to use social media.

randomwizard , to Random stuff
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Jennell Jacquays could use donations for medical expenses. https://www.gofundme.com/f/jennell-jaquays-has-a-long-road-back

It is one of the sad stories of the RPG industry that the folks who made so many great products that were (and are) enjoyed by millions do not have great medical coverage later in life.

Jennell wrote adventures (Dark Tower, Caverns of Thracia, The Savage Frontier), produced great artwork (see the nautaloid ship), and worked in the nascent video game industry (worked at id Games for Quake)

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randomwizard , to Random stuff
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Some nice diagrams on how heat pumps work.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/how-heat-pumps-work-1.7027779

randomwizard , to Hashtags I'm following
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

TSR designers were aware of Ascending Armor Class long before 3rd edition of D&D was released. In 1992, TSR released the 4th revision of Gamma World. It did away with THAC0 and used ascending AC with a basic attack bonus (named just THAC without the 0 nomenclature).

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randomwizard , to Old School Renaissance TTRPG
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Long before Planescape, Jeff Grubb wrote the Manual of the Planes for AD&D in the mid 80s. In the appendix, it describes a way of defining alternate prime material planes by using a Physical, Magical, and Temporal Factor.

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randomwizard , to Random stuff
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

https://www.hearsay.tech/2023-10-29-dungeons-and-dragons-saved-my-life.gmi

Story of a person who got through tough times with the help of Dungeons & Dragons and roleplaying games.

Alphastream , to Random stuff
@Alphastream@dice.camp avatar

Playing some Blade Runner at Con!

randomwizard ,
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

@Alphastream Nice props. Is part of the game you get to ask to "enhance" a portion of the photograph?

randomwizard , to Old School Renaissance TTRPG
@randomwizard@vivaldi.net avatar

Rule preference question. If you play in a game with a first aid skill that heals 1d4 hit points if a character passes a skill check. Now, if two characters have first aid, and the first character fails their roll to treat a patient... can the second character go and make a skill check against the same wound on the same patient, to try and heal the patient 1d4 hitpoints? Or would you rule that the first character's roll means the wound can not be fixed up by the second character?

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