[Auld Lang 'Zine] Switching to Guns, Issue 10

Issue 10, Switching to Guns
Issue 10 of Switching to Guns outlines a short adventure I ran, based on the Savage Worlds setting Slipstream.

My group at the time, the Corvis Monkey Troupe, encountered a variety of creatures, allies and friends over the course of the adventure. I especially liked the inclusion of a giant Space Dragon, Ro-Kar the Magnificient, who attempts to crush the PCs' space ship.

Ro-Kar was more a plot device than an actual stat-ed creature, as any damage he did was massive to the point of squishing the PC attacked. I had a scene in mind very similar to the Sea Serpent scene in Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And it was pretty fun to run.

[Auld Lang 'Zine] Switching to Guns, Issue 9

Issue 9, Switching to Guns
Issue 9 of Switching to Guns is the fifth and final installment of the High Bridge Road adventures.

I start with one of the Bugbears from last issue (assuming at least one survived) and present the PCs with a reason the Bugbears went after the Elves' tree - their own lair was taken by (ta da!) The Necromancer.

The PCs are introduced to the beginning of the threat The Necromancer represents, though there was a brief mention in Issue 6 about this (... and an unsigned letter, telling him to disrupt trade along the High Bridge Road).

[Auld Lang 'Zine] Switching to Guns, Issue 8

Issue 8, Switching to Guns
Issue 8 of Switching to Guns is the fourth High Bridge Road adventure and the return of the (surviving) elves from Issue 5.

I try my hand at drawing an elven tree and I think it works OK. I decided to use Bugbears as the main villains because Orcs are too often used. This actually is the start of a Bugbear-centric view of humanoids in the Ashford Valley. Sure, I use Orcs in one or two issues, but the majority of time, I'm using Bugbears as the main goblinoid creature. 

[Auld Lang 'Zine] Switching to Guns, Issue 7

Issue 7, Switching to Guns
Issue 7 of Switching to Guns outlines a burrow found in the woods along the High Bridge Road. This is the third adventure of the series.

In later issues, it'll become obvious that I rarely, if ever, mention the treasure found in the adventure. I figure the GM can easily fill that bit of information in, taking into account what the PCs will need in their future.

I break from my usual lack-of-treasure to include a +1 dagger that allows it's owner to avoid the effects of magical mazes. I think it's a pretty cool magic item, not just a normal +1 dagger, but one with a name and an actual use besides fighting. I think most magic items should be that unique.

[Characters] Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

 

I've recently listened to an audio book of Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson and it was excellent. So much so, that I'm going to post some characters from the book in terms of Savage Worlds.

I hope you enjoy them.

[Atomic Thursday] 2019: After the Fall of New York

Yet another of the early 80s post-apocalyptic movies that traded heavily on the Road Warrior costuming style.

[Auld Lang 'Zine] Switching to Guns, Issue 6

Issue 6, Switching to Guns
Issue 6 of Switching to Guns continues the High Bridge Road adventures, with the second installment having the PCs pursue the bandits from Issue 5.

The bandits have a tower hideout in the forest and this is a standard assault the keep situation. I haven't really put much of a twist in this one at all (except possibly climbing the tower wall to catch the bandits unawares), allowing that most of the bandits are still alive from their encounter with the PCs in Issue 5.

I am pretty proud of the old tower sketch, even though I can't do a decent circle to save my life.

[Auld Lang 'Zine] Switching to Guns, Issue 5

Issue 5, Switching to Guns
Issue 5 of Switching to Guns is the first adventures I set in the Ashford Valley and the first of five adventures along the High Bridge Road.

I started with a standard bandit scenario, because that's pretty simple. I think that it's necessary to have twists in adventures, things that cause trouble for the players beyond just fighting the baddies, so I added a charmed elf to the bandits and another set of elves looking for their friend.

This gives the GM an opportunity to make things a little less certain, less "we're fighting bandits" and more of a chance to roleplay and create friends and enemies for the PCs.

[Auld Lang 'Zine] Switching to Guns, Issue 4

Issue 4, Switching to Guns
Issue 4 of Switching to Guns is the first appearance of my Ashford Valley setting for Labyrinth Lord. I had some minor mistakes when I started it - I set the populations too low (originally 350 in Ashford Town and 100 in each of the other towns). I've updated that to be 3500 in Ashford Town and 1000 in each of the other towns, plus about 10,000 through the rest of the valley. Since I didn't put a scale on the map, I'd figure the valley would be large enough to hold this many, plus the humanoid tribes in the area.

The Ashford Valley has gotten pretty big, with over 50 posts just on my blog alone. Re-publishing the 'zine here will add at least that many, plus whatever more info I'll be adding over the next years. Unfortunately, the chat game that I wrote about in this issue didn't take off, unlike my writing on it. I hope to run it at some point with one of my game groups but for now I'm satisfied with writing about it.

[Auld Lang 'Zine] Switching to Guns, Issue 3

Issue 3, Switching to Guns
Issue 3 of Switching to Guns modifies a rules set available online for incorporating Kung Fu action into Savage Worlds. I'll admit I made some more stuff up for it but haven't had the opportunity to actually test it out and see whether it improves the game or bogs in down, slowing down the combat. Maybe with one of my game groups I'll have the chance - rest assured, that I will post about it if I do (and let me know if you've had the opportunity, too).

[vids] Road Number One

I've been watching Road Number One on Netflix instant watch. It's a Korean love-triangle war drama set during the Korean War. The filming is very good and the vids have subtitles. So far it's pretty good.

[Auld Lang 'Zine] Switching to Guns, Issue 2

Issue 2, Switching to Guns
Issue 2 of Switching to Guns deals with some Savage Worlds PCs I made up for a reboot of FGU's Psi World. I love the setting and have all the books. I ran the game for years, and, I'm proud to say, it was the gateway for one of my friend's first experience into gaming.

[Blogs] The Borderlands

I discovered The Borderlands blog recently (after reading a post over at Dragonsfoot) that lead me to a post about Traits and Tokens for PCs in D&D (you can get the image here and create your own PDF). Unfortunately, the blog seems to be on hiatus since 2009 but here's hoping Steve brings it back. It's got good stuff.

[Auld Lang 'Zine] Switching to Guns, Issue 1

STG_Issue1
 After finishing 49 issues of my One Thousand and One Nights and One Night Campaign Design 'zine (Issue no. 50 was finished much later), I started up on a new 'zine called Switching to Guns.

I had learned a lot of things writing my first 'zine and brought a lot of that into Switching to Guns. First, I improved the layout to aid in publishing and didn't worry about publishing dates all that much, focusing on throwing them out whenever I had the opportunity (which, as I was still in my second grad school, wasn't as often as I'd've liked). Second, I was more focused on subject matter, and that actually improved during the course of the publishing. There are only a few issues that are not based on a Labyrinth Lord setting I developed (specifically Issues 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 17 and 18). And finally, I tried to build a sandbox setting with many short adventures thrown in, ones that could be used in whole or part.

Issue 1 (tied with Issue 11) is all about a Fae Portland using Changeling the Dreaming. I went to my 1st grad school down in Portland and have a real warmth and happiness about the town. So, I did some research, marked up an old Powell's Walking Tour map and created some compelling places.

I hope that you enjoy reading these 'zines and I'll keep posting them until I get to the current ones I'm working on.