Imagine an ocean world created by the gods, where the largest landmass is only a few dozen miles wide. Thousands, perhaps millions, of these islands dot the oceans, and each can be radically different from its neighbors. Some gods descended to the Earth in mortal form, and became your ancestors. Now, you wander these islands, looking for adventure, discovery and self-fulfillment.
This is the world of A Wanderer's Romance.
Setting
A Wanderer's Romance is a rules lite wuxia RPG written by Cristopher McDowell. In it, you play a martial artist travelling between the aforementioned isles. And that's about it.
The setting is not much, but it gives you what you need: a basic backdrop in which to expand upon. Some games through gobs of useless and heavy setting bits at you, and you have to struggle to fit in your custom-made faction. In this way, the bare bones setting is actually a boon. It also allows you to just use the rules as is, and play in a feudal Asia setting with little hassle.
Mechanics
The mechanics for AWR are extremely simple: you roll two dice, add the appropriate stat(s), and try to beat wither 10, 12 or 14 (depending on difficulty). There are some slight variations, such as the application of the Balance stat, but nothing is too radically different than these basic rules. The stats, and mostly everything in the game, revolves around the four classical elements of earth, water, fire and air.
Since AWE is a wuxia game, you should expect fighting styles, and AWR delivers. They have about 54 offensive styles, and 24 defensive styles, each with 3 levels of advancement. Magic based on the elements is also present, but you won't get the generic 'fire magic = fireballs' thing. Instead, fire magic allows you to instill a strong emotion into someone, along with other similar effects.
Combat is resolved through contested rolls, upon which the defender actually rolls the damage, not the attacker. This adds a good bit of stress to damage, so nothing stays boring for too long.
Writing
The writing is very simple and flavorful. I was never lost at any point, and the small story excerpts really gave you a feel about the world, in that it is both an elegant and dangerous place. McDowell is a great writer in that he does not fluff up the mechanics behind strange language. He also has several text boxes detailing his decisions on rules, so you can see his reasoning behind things you may question.
Presentation
AWR is only 45 pages, but they are a great 45 pages. The calligraphy headers used, and the amazing artwork by Pavel Elagin, really give off a sense of style. The cover itself is just gorgeous to stare at. The only gripe I have is the lack of a character sheet, but seeing as each character does not have much info associated with it, you could fit everything you need to know on an index card. I just think they could have produced an equally great looking sheet, is all.
Final Verdict
Honestly, A Wanderer's Romance is one of the most elegant and tasteful wuxia games I've ever read. It's easy to understand and to teach (great for first time RPG players), and it allows the characters to really come to the forefront. A lot of different types of environments and settings can be culled from the default setting, which is great if you have a hard time keeping plot lines strung along.
AWR is definitively not 'high flying' wuxia, though. I see it more as an elegant samurai story. It's more Ruroni Kenshin than Dragonball Z, for sure. So if you want to check it out, keep that in mind.
I give it a 9/10, with my only real problem being the lack of a character sheet.
Where to Get
A Wanderer's Romance is available for the low, low price of free from the Stargazer Games' website, found here: http://www.stargazergames.eu/games/a-wanderers-romance/
Limitless Worlds
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Considering moving Pulpwood away from its status
Yes, I'm still working on Pulpwood!
No, I haven't had much time.
Yes, I'm sorry.
However, there is some news with Pulpwood: I am strongly considering moving it from a development blog to a pure gaming blog.
What this means is that in addition to having updates about Pulpwood! or any other game I am working on, I'd also talk about things related to RPGs: events, game reviews, campaign ideas, and so on. It'll be a less quality Grognardia, basically.
I think for reviews, though, I'd go for mostly smaller press games. There are 7 million reviews out there for Pathfinder, but not many for Remnants, A Wanderer's Romance or Aegis (the first two are great, the former needs to convince me). I'd also post links to interesting fan settings or adaptations, just anything in general that would sway my interest.
It will most likely go into effect soon, so look forward to it (or not, whatever).
Alrighty! I'll see you later.
No, I haven't had much time.
Yes, I'm sorry.
However, there is some news with Pulpwood: I am strongly considering moving it from a development blog to a pure gaming blog.
What this means is that in addition to having updates about Pulpwood! or any other game I am working on, I'd also talk about things related to RPGs: events, game reviews, campaign ideas, and so on. It'll be a less quality Grognardia, basically.
I think for reviews, though, I'd go for mostly smaller press games. There are 7 million reviews out there for Pathfinder, but not many for Remnants, A Wanderer's Romance or Aegis (the first two are great, the former needs to convince me). I'd also post links to interesting fan settings or adaptations, just anything in general that would sway my interest.
It will most likely go into effect soon, so look forward to it (or not, whatever).
Alrighty! I'll see you later.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Well shoot
I finished the pocketmod game, Nephilim, in under 24 hours! There is a link to it in the sidebar under the new 'Games I've Made' heading.
However, it's not TOTALLY a pocketmod. While it does come under 8 pages, the word length is probably too long to fit on a traditional pocketmod. However, you are more than welcome to try.
It is also lacking a character sheet and cover art, along with 'good' layout. I don't have much time to do that stuff (I may do some cover art), but if you'd like to do some layout or something else, shoot me an email.
Also, don't be afraid to leave comments/criticisms/rules questions. This has zero playtesting, so please go whole hog. You'll notice I took a lot of notes from the Storyteller system, with a base in Ubiquity, but it should function just fine.
Anyway, have fun! I hope you like it.
However, it's not TOTALLY a pocketmod. While it does come under 8 pages, the word length is probably too long to fit on a traditional pocketmod. However, you are more than welcome to try.
It is also lacking a character sheet and cover art, along with 'good' layout. I don't have much time to do that stuff (I may do some cover art), but if you'd like to do some layout or something else, shoot me an email.
Also, don't be afraid to leave comments/criticisms/rules questions. This has zero playtesting, so please go whole hog. You'll notice I took a lot of notes from the Storyteller system, with a base in Ubiquity, but it should function just fine.
Anyway, have fun! I hope you like it.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
A quick update on progress
I am still around! I actually have some classes written up that I plan to post, but first, I have an experiment:
Sometimes, when I'm faced with a big project, new projects keep flooding my mind. I want to do other things, even though I like all the things I'm doing.
Currently, I have a couple ideas for rules-lite RPGs, and I'm going to do something about them: Make a Pocketmod game
A Pocketmod, if you are not aware, is a small booklet with 8 pages that you can print out on one piece of paper. Some RPGs are this small (Weird West comes to mind), and I'd like to make a game so I can say I have 'finished' something.
So, I'm going to make a modern occult horror action Pocketmod game. In it, you play as Angels and Demons sent to Earth to combat the horrors of purgatory. It will be Lovecraftian, heretical, violent, beautiful and simple.
What it will have
14 races - 7 angels, 7 demons
Magic- very narrative in essence
Equipment- including suggestions for magic equipment, and even vehicles
Combat resolution, skills and tests
A bestiary and setting suggestion
Maybe art, if I get up the gumption to draw
I hope to write this up in about a week or two, and probably post it here. Get excited, because after that, it's back to the Pulpwood! grind.
Sometimes, when I'm faced with a big project, new projects keep flooding my mind. I want to do other things, even though I like all the things I'm doing.
Currently, I have a couple ideas for rules-lite RPGs, and I'm going to do something about them: Make a Pocketmod game
A Pocketmod, if you are not aware, is a small booklet with 8 pages that you can print out on one piece of paper. Some RPGs are this small (Weird West comes to mind), and I'd like to make a game so I can say I have 'finished' something.
So, I'm going to make a modern occult horror action Pocketmod game. In it, you play as Angels and Demons sent to Earth to combat the horrors of purgatory. It will be Lovecraftian, heretical, violent, beautiful and simple.
What it will have
14 races - 7 angels, 7 demons
Magic- very narrative in essence
Equipment- including suggestions for magic equipment, and even vehicles
Combat resolution, skills and tests
A bestiary and setting suggestion
Maybe art, if I get up the gumption to draw
I hope to write this up in about a week or two, and probably post it here. Get excited, because after that, it's back to the Pulpwood! grind.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Encumbrance in Pulpwood!
I've never really liked the idea of keeping track of individual weights when dealing with encumbrance, so I decided to simplify it in Pulpwood! The system is really simple, so the post should be pretty short
Encumbrance is basically measured in 'slots', instead of weights. Each slot is basically an abstract measurement of both weight and size of objects. Different items take up different amounts of slots, and some items can have multiples in a single slot. So, for example, a rifle may be two slots, put a few magazines of bullets may only be one slot.
Every character has a number of slots equal to 2 + their Strength score, not their modifier. Thus, if someone had a Strength of 18, they would have 20 slots.
Another thing that annoys me about encumbrance is movement penalties, so Pulpwood! will not have them. Basically, once you fill up your slots, unless you drop something, you can't carry any more. This would represent not having enough room in your backpack, being too tired to haul around another gun, etc.
Pretty simple, but it's fast and elegant.
Encumbrance is basically measured in 'slots', instead of weights. Each slot is basically an abstract measurement of both weight and size of objects. Different items take up different amounts of slots, and some items can have multiples in a single slot. So, for example, a rifle may be two slots, put a few magazines of bullets may only be one slot.
Every character has a number of slots equal to 2 + their Strength score, not their modifier. Thus, if someone had a Strength of 18, they would have 20 slots.
Another thing that annoys me about encumbrance is movement penalties, so Pulpwood! will not have them. Basically, once you fill up your slots, unless you drop something, you can't carry any more. This would represent not having enough room in your backpack, being too tired to haul around another gun, etc.
Pretty simple, but it's fast and elegant.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Thinking About Movement
I want the Pulpwood! combat system to be very narrative. This means that there should be no need for maps, and no real measurement of feet.
However, this brings a lot of things into question: how does range work? How far can a character move? What is melee range?
My idea is to borrow an idea from Marvel Superheroes and Fate/Spirit of the Century; the concept of zones
A zone is really any physical area the GM deems appropriate. For example, a tavern's main room may have three zones: behind the bar, main floor, and the entrance. Zones will usually be divided by either physical objects (i.e. the bar) or some amount of distance. If you wanted to be more granular and the tavern's main floor was really large, the main floor could comprise multiple zones.
So for movement, a character could move a zone and then do an action. So, a character could hop out from behind the bar and then punch a guy on the main floor. If you are in the same zone as someone, you are within melee range.
A character can also move two zones, but forfeit an action.
Ranged weapons, thrown weapons and spells would have a minimum range and a maximum range, For example, a shotgun would have a minimum range of 1 and a maximum range of 2 (maybe 3), meaning they could shoot someone in the same zone as them, or they could shoot someone in an adjacent zone. A rifle would have a minimum range of 2, and probably a maximum of about 5. The same idea applies to magic spells and thrown weapons.
Seems pretty good for now, but it will take a bit of extrapolating.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Narrative Powers in Pulpwood!
So, I'm not gonna talk about attributes today, because that is BORING.
Instead, I'm going to talk about the narrative powers system in Pulpwood!, also known as Fortune.
Narrative powers have become the new 'thing' in RPGs, giving players temporary control over the story. You have seen it in games like Savage Worlds or Spirit of the Century, and Fortune basically functions the same way. You may also notice a little bit of 4e D&D in there.
Also note that 'Darbs' are the new term for the upgrades each class ability gets. 'Darb' is 20s slang for something cool or awesome, so the word seemed appropriate.
Fortune
Though all pulp heroes rely mainly on their skills to get by, they also need a little help from Lady Luck every
once in a while. When the odds are stacked against them, and it seems like there is no way out, a little bit of
good favor usually swings their way. This favor is called Fortune.
All important characters, namely PCs, important NPCs, and important Villains, have Fortune. This is what makes them stand out against mooks and other unimportant goons. Every character, regardless of class, nationality, gender, etc, has 3 Fortune. This will never increase in a permanent sense, but can in a temporary sense (see Gaining More Fortune below).
This Fortune is replenished at the beginning of every session. Fortune can be used and spent at any time, on a characters turn, to create a wide array of Fortune Effects. Multiple Fortune Effects can be used at the same time, such as spending 2 Fortune to use Third Try's the Charm on a failed Moment of Inspiration roll. Each effect has a different cost depending on its usefulness.
Once Fortune is used, it is gone until the beginning of next session.
When Fortune is used, the player must describe what the character does that brings about the Fortune. Maybe upon using Moment of Inspiration to read some ancient alien hieroglyphs, they remember seeing such glyphs in a college textbook. Second Wind could be a rallying cry or a snappy one-liner. It's up to the player, and the more creative and flavorful, the better.
Fortune can be spent in the following ways, with the cost of that effect being listed beforehand:
1 Fortune Effects
Moment of Inspiration - Sometimes, characters need to do something outside of their expertise. While this is usually accomplished through skills, a character may need to go beyond their normal abilities.
When you spend 1 Fortune for Moment of Inspiration, your character can attempt to use the Level 1 ability of any other class, including their Darbs. This requires an Action Roll with the second classes class skill being
the modifier.
However, no matter how powerful you are in your skill, you are still not as masterful as the other class. Thus,
Darb multipliers are always in effect. So, if you wanted to do the Gamma Darb for the Arcanist Class Skill, you would have a -9 modifier, even if you had the Gamma Darb in your own class skill.
This allows parties that lack a certain class to do some of the things other classes can, e.g. a party without
a Pilot could still pilot a spaceship at the cost of a Fortune.
Grace Under Pressure - When you spend 1 Fortune for Grace Under Pressure, you can apply a +2 bonus to any Action Roll. This can be used multiple times on the same roll, to a maximum of +6 if you spend 3 Fortune.
However, this Fortune must be spent before you do an Action Roll, not after. It can't be used after the use of a Third Try's the Charm, but the modifiers do apply for any subsequent rolls made with Third Try's the Charm.
Also, this modifier can not be applied to damage rolls, only Action Rolls.
Third Try's the Charm - When you spend 1 Fortune, you can re-roll any Action Roll or damage roll in hopes for a better result. This can be used multiple times on the same roll, to a maximum of 3 re-rolls if you spend 3 fortune.
The drawback to this is that you must keep the new result, even if it is worse than the first one.
2 Fortune Effects
Second Wind - Sometimes a character will come under severe physical strain, and his only hope to succeed will be to buckle down, catch his breath, and head back into the fray.
When you spend 2 Fortune for Second Wind, your character automatically regains 1/4th of their maximum HP. This is useful if the party is on its last legs, but the enemy is also close to dying.
This Fortune effect can only be used in battle, and only after taking damage.
Edit - Edit is the first of two Fortune Effects that allow players to alter the story in a metaphysical sense.
When you spend 2 Fortune for Edit, you can alter the current scene in a minor way. For example, instead of
shotguns, the enemies may have pistols instead. Instead of a room being pitch dark, it is lit by torches. The
change should be temporary and not overly gamebreaking. All changes are subject to the GMs approval too make sure none are imbalanced, by players and GMs are encouraged to work together to meet a common ground
3 Fortune Effects
Rewrite- Rewrite is basically a more powerful and far reaching version of Edit.
When you spend 3 Fortune on Rewrite, you can change a major aspect of the current scene, usually in a permanent way. So, the bad guy may get away, but a lucky shot tears through his ankle, leaving him crippled come the next battle. A monster may eat an important artifact, but after retrieving it and discovering it has been eaten away by acid, you can do a Rewrite and say it is in perfectly fine condition.
Once again, the GM and player are encouraged to work together to get to a common ground. A Rewrite should not alter the entire story that the GM has planned, but it still has a lot of power
Gaining More Fortune
To gain more Fortune, you must be good at roleplaying. Throughout a session, a GM is encouraged to give out additional Fortune to players who roleplay well. This provides a good incentive for more engaging play, and it is also a more immediate reward than experience. It is suggested that the GM never give more than 3 additional Fortune to any given character in a session, with 2 being more conservative.
Take note though, that this additional Fortune does not carry on between sessions, so use it while you can.
When a new session rolls along, every character is returned to their base of 3 Fortune.
Instead, I'm going to talk about the narrative powers system in Pulpwood!, also known as Fortune.
Narrative powers have become the new 'thing' in RPGs, giving players temporary control over the story. You have seen it in games like Savage Worlds or Spirit of the Century, and Fortune basically functions the same way. You may also notice a little bit of 4e D&D in there.
Also note that 'Darbs' are the new term for the upgrades each class ability gets. 'Darb' is 20s slang for something cool or awesome, so the word seemed appropriate.
Fortune
Though all pulp heroes rely mainly on their skills to get by, they also need a little help from Lady Luck every
once in a while. When the odds are stacked against them, and it seems like there is no way out, a little bit of
good favor usually swings their way. This favor is called Fortune.
All important characters, namely PCs, important NPCs, and important Villains, have Fortune. This is what makes them stand out against mooks and other unimportant goons. Every character, regardless of class, nationality, gender, etc, has 3 Fortune. This will never increase in a permanent sense, but can in a temporary sense (see Gaining More Fortune below).
This Fortune is replenished at the beginning of every session. Fortune can be used and spent at any time, on a characters turn, to create a wide array of Fortune Effects. Multiple Fortune Effects can be used at the same time, such as spending 2 Fortune to use Third Try's the Charm on a failed Moment of Inspiration roll. Each effect has a different cost depending on its usefulness.
Once Fortune is used, it is gone until the beginning of next session.
When Fortune is used, the player must describe what the character does that brings about the Fortune. Maybe upon using Moment of Inspiration to read some ancient alien hieroglyphs, they remember seeing such glyphs in a college textbook. Second Wind could be a rallying cry or a snappy one-liner. It's up to the player, and the more creative and flavorful, the better.
Fortune can be spent in the following ways, with the cost of that effect being listed beforehand:
1 Fortune Effects
Moment of Inspiration - Sometimes, characters need to do something outside of their expertise. While this is usually accomplished through skills, a character may need to go beyond their normal abilities.
When you spend 1 Fortune for Moment of Inspiration, your character can attempt to use the Level 1 ability of any other class, including their Darbs. This requires an Action Roll with the second classes class skill being
the modifier.
However, no matter how powerful you are in your skill, you are still not as masterful as the other class. Thus,
Darb multipliers are always in effect. So, if you wanted to do the Gamma Darb for the Arcanist Class Skill, you would have a -9 modifier, even if you had the Gamma Darb in your own class skill.
This allows parties that lack a certain class to do some of the things other classes can, e.g. a party without
a Pilot could still pilot a spaceship at the cost of a Fortune.
Grace Under Pressure - When you spend 1 Fortune for Grace Under Pressure, you can apply a +2 bonus to any Action Roll. This can be used multiple times on the same roll, to a maximum of +6 if you spend 3 Fortune.
However, this Fortune must be spent before you do an Action Roll, not after. It can't be used after the use of a Third Try's the Charm, but the modifiers do apply for any subsequent rolls made with Third Try's the Charm.
Also, this modifier can not be applied to damage rolls, only Action Rolls.
Third Try's the Charm - When you spend 1 Fortune, you can re-roll any Action Roll or damage roll in hopes for a better result. This can be used multiple times on the same roll, to a maximum of 3 re-rolls if you spend 3 fortune.
The drawback to this is that you must keep the new result, even if it is worse than the first one.
2 Fortune Effects
Second Wind - Sometimes a character will come under severe physical strain, and his only hope to succeed will be to buckle down, catch his breath, and head back into the fray.
When you spend 2 Fortune for Second Wind, your character automatically regains 1/4th of their maximum HP. This is useful if the party is on its last legs, but the enemy is also close to dying.
This Fortune effect can only be used in battle, and only after taking damage.
Edit - Edit is the first of two Fortune Effects that allow players to alter the story in a metaphysical sense.
When you spend 2 Fortune for Edit, you can alter the current scene in a minor way. For example, instead of
shotguns, the enemies may have pistols instead. Instead of a room being pitch dark, it is lit by torches. The
change should be temporary and not overly gamebreaking. All changes are subject to the GMs approval too make sure none are imbalanced, by players and GMs are encouraged to work together to meet a common ground
3 Fortune Effects
Rewrite- Rewrite is basically a more powerful and far reaching version of Edit.
When you spend 3 Fortune on Rewrite, you can change a major aspect of the current scene, usually in a permanent way. So, the bad guy may get away, but a lucky shot tears through his ankle, leaving him crippled come the next battle. A monster may eat an important artifact, but after retrieving it and discovering it has been eaten away by acid, you can do a Rewrite and say it is in perfectly fine condition.
Once again, the GM and player are encouraged to work together to get to a common ground. A Rewrite should not alter the entire story that the GM has planned, but it still has a lot of power
Gaining More Fortune
To gain more Fortune, you must be good at roleplaying. Throughout a session, a GM is encouraged to give out additional Fortune to players who roleplay well. This provides a good incentive for more engaging play, and it is also a more immediate reward than experience. It is suggested that the GM never give more than 3 additional Fortune to any given character in a session, with 2 being more conservative.
Take note though, that this additional Fortune does not carry on between sessions, so use it while you can.
When a new session rolls along, every character is returned to their base of 3 Fortune.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)