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');document.write('The Mythweaver Blog
');document.write('Check You on the Flip Side
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As I’ve moved towards Resolute Supers 2E, I’ve gone back to re-examine everything I’m doing, and how I’m doing it… and my web presence (including this blog) is one of the things I’ve spent some time pondering. In an effort to streamline operations, I\'m moving my base of operations over to http://splinteredrealm.blogspot.com, meaning that this will be my last livejournal post. At the end of June, splinteredrealm.com will shut down, but will now maintain the blogspot portal as my main hub. Please swing by and say hi over there.
Thanks all and see you over there.
- Mike

 

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');document.write('Character Building in Resolute 2E
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Another goal for this edition was to make characters, and character building, more creative and dynamic. 1E suffered in part because a few abilities outstripped others in terms of their overall value. Once that was cleaned up, a whole new world opened up for supers. The test I kept applying to abilities was 1) Would I ever want this ability for a super I was playing and 2) Would I ever ALWAYS choose this ability? If the answer was no for the first and/or yes for the second, it was time to re-work the ability. “Balance” was never a goal- too much effort to balance abilities leads to sterilization of the system. It’s a game of superheroes! As long as abilities ended up in what I felt was a reasonable range of relative balance, it stayed in. I know the some abilities can be pushed to make your super inherently more powerful than other abilities, but none of these is so far in any direction as to break the game or make the ability untenable. Abilities like disintegration or time travel have simply been left out, since these (by their nature) are game killers. The only reason you purchase time travel is to get an automatic do over for anything that goes wrong, not because you have a cool vision for a hero who travels through time (okay, you might, but I’d wager it’s at least 90% in favor of the first option).

Creating a more uniform approach to abilities also helped to solve some of the funky abilities from 1E. For instance, the previous edition had specific rules for growth and shrinking. In 2E, these are part of shape change; you build a second set of character stats based on the form you are changing to, the total level set by your ability rating. Now, with growth +5, you have 50 character points to play with to build your ‘giant form’. You are probably going to give this form better armor, might and stamina, and you are probably going to drop your accuracy and evade. In fact, you may decide that this form gives you elongation +1 as well. Hey, whatever. You get to build it in the way that seems most reasonable to you. You have specific guidelines so you know the parameters of what you can do, but you have no limit on how it works.

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');document.write('Linked Abilities in Resolute Supers 2E
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Another big shift with this edition was the concept of some abilities linking to others. For example, energy projection and energy control were previously different powers that operated in fundamentally the same way, but energy control actually gave you more options. It was an inherently superior power. The only reason to take energy projection was because it better fit your concept. Now, energy projection is the core power, and energy control is a fixed ability you can purchase to upgrade your energy projection. By purchasing energy control, you no longer only shoot flame from your fingertips (although you can still do that), but you can also increase, diminish or manipulate flame in other ways. This also seemed like a logical way for characters to grow. When you first discover you have flame powers, you learn how to focus this to deal damage. As you grow more powerful, you find more subtle uses of this power, exerting your will over flame in a variety of ways. In the previous edition, if you wanted to add flame control to your existing flame projection, you started over with a brand new power; there was no way to retrofit your super to add this on. 2E solves this problem.

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');document.write('Active Abilities in Resolute 2E
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As we gear up for 2nd Edition of Resolute Supers (available June 1), I’ll discuss some of the design issues that came up while writing…

The first big change with 2E is the shift in how you attack. In the previous edition, you had a single combat ability (i.e. agility at range), and you used this to attack with all ranged abilities; you then used the power to deal damage. 2E inverts this dynamic- you hit with your energy projection (for instance), but your accuracy determines how well you hit with it. Being able to throw a giant fireball at a foe is great, but you have to be relatively accurate with your throw to make sure you are going to deal a lot of damage. This seems a more intuitive solution to the problem, and it simplifies how all powers work. The previous problem was for attack abilities; you used a linked ability for the active rating, while for other abilities (like phasing), the ability itself was the active rating. Now, the ability is the active rating, and the linked ability helps with damage (as applicable). It’s more consistent across the board, and easier to remember.

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');document.write('Resolute the Superhero RPG 2nd Edition Available June 1.
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This revised, streamlined and intuitive superhero system features:
¨    A single 2D6 mechanic for all action resolution.
¨    Complete rules for building all types of superhero characters, including detailed listings of over 50 abilities, and rules for customizing your abilities to fit your character concept.
¨    Rules for superhero-scale combat. If you want to pick up a car and throw it at a foe, use energy solidification to project a force field, or crush your opponent in your bare hands, Resolute allows you to do it.
¨    A simple bonus system that scales all the way from characters who can barely lift 50 lbs. to those who can lift in excess of 500 tons.
¨    An evocative backdrop that provides seeds for ongoing campaigns, 36 adventure hooks, and an introductory adventure to get you started.
¨    Rules for a range of foes you can immediately use, and a fast system to generate any number of adversaries when needed.
¨    Rules for vehicles, devices and gadgets the supers can build and use.

 Resolute’s 1st Edition was named a Popular Copper Pick on RPGNow, and has won praise from a number of reviewers. This new, streamlined version is the most elegant and versatile superhero system available.

Resolute is, hands down, the best $2 you’ve ever spent for an RPG.

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');document.write('Mythweaver Players\' Guide
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Well, I finally got around to streamlining and cleaning up the old players’ guides for Mythweaver, that have actually been out of date since the re-release of Reckoning about 6 months ago. I realized that they still had the old point allocations, meaning that they were pretty much incompatible with the existing Reckoning rules… if you tried to play these heroes, they’d own pretty much everyone in the game, seeing as they were built on about 10 more trait points. Oops.

In the process, I streamlined the guides into one single players’ guide, and also included some point build rules I’d been tinkering with for a while. I like these quite a bit, and will be play testing them more on my own. These let you customize all talents as desired, but keep the basic talent structure in place. It’s a free download, so you may as well head over to RPGNow and check it out, so you see what I mean.

Also, since I’m giving updates, I’ve been participating in a Mythweaver game through Roleplay online. Stop by and take a look at what we’ve been up to… at present, we’re about to lose our caravan leader to a group of waste wolves in the middle of the desert. Seeing as my myrmidon, Maudlin the Indefatigable, is a member of a sea-faring race (inspired by Odysseus), he’s quite uncomfortable traipsing about in the desert…

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');document.write('Resolute: Towers of Arvandoria is Now Available
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Resolute: Towers of Arvandoria uses the highly-regarded 2D6 system introduced in the Resolute Superhero RPG, updating and expanding this system for application to fantasy gaming.

For players, RToA offers flexible character creation, with a point-based system that allows for total customization. You have 7 races and nearly 50 different abilities or spells to choose from, many of which you can tailor specifically to your character concept.

For the game master, RToA offers:
- A textured and balanced combat system that makes resolution simple to run but that provides a wide range of options to players.
- Clear, quick and easy-to-adjudicate rules that cover nearly any situation.
- A single mechanic that applies everywhere; creating foes takes only minutes, and you can build entire adventures quickly, with virtually no prep work.
- 12 sample monsters that give you models to work from.
- A dynamic and textured game setting that inspires further adventure.
- Rules to quickly generate hundreds of magical treasures.
- An introductory adventure to get you started right away.

You also get ongoing support through splinteredrealm.com, and an ambitious schedule for new products, including monster, adventure and magic supplements over the next several months- and always priced at or under $2.
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');document.write('Back to the Drawing Board
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As work commenced on a second edition of Resolute, I kept playing with the core mechanic from different angles, tweaking and manipulating the system in different ways to see what would happen. Almost in passing, I created stats for some fantasy archetypes using Resolute, to see how it handled a fantasy character? and I was pleasantly surprised. This caused some additional tweaks that then layered back over the Resolute superhero system, and helped to clean that up? which then helped with the fantasy version? and so on, back and forth.

As I?ve refined and refined the fantasy version, I?ve begun to build an entire system using the world of Arvandoria from the Mythweaver supplements of last year. I keep working at it to clean it up. The design challenge I?ve set for myself is to get the entire game into 16 pages, including the entire setting of Arvandoria, full rules for unlimited play (including character advancement), running the game, and a relatively comprehensive bestiary. As I?ve worked, here are some tweaks I?ve made. There are current as of today, but are subject to change (of course). I?m not locked into anything at this point (well, except that you use 2D6 to resolve everything- but that?s about it). Today, I?ll talk about physical combat:

You have a combat ability called fighting. This is the catch-all for any physical (non-magical) attack that you make. You can focus fighting in a number of ways. If you are a heroic character, you can focus on melee weapons or missile weapons; monsters can focus on their claw, bite, tail slash or whatever. If, for instance, you have fighting +5 (which is pretty good), you could have focus on melee +7 (taking +3 to all other fighting type stuff). This sets the maximum rating for weapons you may wield. With your melee weapons +7, you could get the benefits of up to a +7 weapon- anything beyond this is capped at +7 to your attack. If you use a lighter weapon, you split the difference between the weapon and your ability, rounded down. With fighting +7 wielding a +4 sword, you attack at +5 with that weapon- you are able (due to your superior training) to squeeze some extra effectiveness out of a relatively weak weapon. I?m playing with a rule that does the inverse (granting a bonus if the weapon is superior to your rating), but this could easily be abused- with fighting +1, you save up for a +5 weapon so that you get to make fighting attacks at +3. I?m not keen on this as much, but I keep play testing it.

Fighting is the only linked ability (requiring a second roll), because once you strike in combat, you make a second roll for damage, adding either your accuracy (for missile weapons) or might (for melee weapons) to the roll. You carry over extra results on the action roll when you roll damage, so the weapon and rating really matter. For example, if you roll 2D+7 to hit a foe that rolls 2D+3 to evade and you roll 8+7=15, while the target rolls 7+3=10, you get to add +5 difference to the damage roll. The superior weapon and your superior training makes you more likely to hit, and also makes you more likely to deal considerable damage when you do hit. Once you hit, you roll 2D + might (adding in that +5 bonus from the hit). The target rolls 2D + his or her armor rating to soak damage. The total soak roll sets the target for successes- the number of wounds you deal with the strike. If you roll a total of 19 damage and the target rolls 8 to soak, you deal 2 wounds of damage. 2 wounds is a lot- a low-level hero may have 2-4 wounds, while an exceptionally powerful monster (like a dragon) is likely to have upwards of 20 wounds. The system allows for considerable crits- if you roll 12 on the die +5 +your might 3 and get 20, but the target only rolls 2 on the die +2 armor, the soak roll is 4; you deal 5 wounds, likely killing a low-level foe, and dealing considerable damage to even a more capable adversary. The bell curve of the dice and the better armor of stronger foes make such results rare, but not impossible.
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');document.write('Updated Link
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Here\'s a revised link for Resolute Microlite. Yahoo\'s been awfully buggy the last few days...

Mike
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');document.write('Resolute Microlite
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It started as a design challenge to myself as I was working on the new edition of Resolute; could I strip down the system and rules into one page? If I had to distill the game to its essence, would it fit in one page?

I found out- yes I could! I decided to put it out there as Resolute Microlite, as a preview of the second edition (available January 1). In the days leading up to the release, I’ll be posting character stats … I’m aiming for a one a day on the forums (the splinteredrealm forum and RPG.net) between now and release.

Check out the rules and take them for a test drive… and tell a friend while you’re at it! It’s free, and it’s only one page, so you can learn the game very quickly.
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');document.write('Forward: To Adventure!
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It\'s time for another housecleaning- although not with the core rules this time! As I\'ve been endeavoring to get back up to speed with gaming stuff, I\'ve gone back and looked over the material that\'s been produced for Mythweaver and Resolute. I\'ll get to Resolute soon, but for today, let me speak on Mythweaver...


A few observations:

- The core rules for Mythweaver: Reckoning are exactly where I want them to be. They feel just right in terms of content and direction of the game- it gives the baseline that I really wanted to have.

- The supporting material that is in place is scattershot. While I\'ve put guides out there for fitting older versions of MW into Reckoning games, I\'ve had a chance to go back and look at that from the perspective of a new player- and it\'s a bit confusing. As a new player, I wouldn\'t want to have to convert anything between systems; I wouldn\'t want to have to do the math and figure out what works with what rule set; it\'s too much work. I would want the game to be plug-and-play ready, and right now it\'s not.

- Mythweaver Adventure Journal, in looking over the first year of its existence, changed dramatically as the game did. This is kind of historically cool for me to look at, but is a real problem for a new player. The rules for magic in MWAJ #2 dramatically improved the system from MW: TSR 2nd Edition, and became a draft of the rules that eventually became the rules for Reckoning. However, they are only useful now from the perspective of someone looking at how the game got where it is - not from the perspective of actually using these in play. Many ideas from articles in MWAJ made their way into the Reckoning core rules. Additionally, I used MWAJ to discuss the \'state of the game\' and share things I was discovering about how the game plays. Those sorts of discussions are often better served by going either on a blog or forum, where they can be the genesis of a living discussion, not the final word on some issue.


Therefore, I\'ve decided to pull all MW things from the shop that do not fully and completely support Reckoning. I plan to revise and re-release most material in some shape to align with Reckoning in the short to medium term. I\'m going to pull the plug on MWAJ, and instead focus on releasing a strong, focused supplement or adventure at least a few times a year. I may or may not keep the web site up; I like having the web presence and easy-to-remember url, but I don\'t like it that it\'s costing more to maintain than it makes. The site is cool, but I may be better-served by looking at re-focusing the business model, too.


Basically, I wanted to bring you into the loop on what I\'m thinking, and tell you that I welcome feedback/suggestions on where the game continues to go.


Thanks for playing!


Mike

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');document.write('Reckoning Deluxe Now Live
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The revised edition of Mythweaver: Reckoning (128 page trade paperback) is now live on rpgnow. If you have the previous version, you should be able to download the new one (and you should have received an update e-mail). If you have any problems, let me know.

The new version is a 128-page digest edition, with expanded campaign material, a longer starting adventure, two new races, two new magic talents, updates (from players like you) with minor corrections, revisions of crafting and spellbinding skills, additional monsters, and a revision of the DT and trait rating system to streamline play at every level.

It\'s still on $3 for the pdf, and a print edition will be available in 1-3 weeks for $9.95!
If you enjoy this game, please consider submitting a review to rpgnow and/or an online news site such as rpg.net to let other people know about Mythweaver.

Thanks!

-Mike

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');document.write('print vs. pdf
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For some time, I\'ve seen pdf as the default format for my products, because print was expensive both to set up and at the consumer end. I just didn\'t see people dropping $20 or more for a game they didn\'t know much about; but I figured that people would be willing to try out a new game for a few dollars with a pdf. While the second part is still true, the first part is becoming less and less of a factor. I\'m able to offer a 128 page trade print version of Reckoning for $9.95. I\'ll also offer this in pdf form, updating the existing files on rpgnow/drivethrurpg with the new 128-page file, and anyone who already purchased Reckoning will be able to replace it with this file. I think that getting the print version for under $10 (not factoring in shipping) is a deal, and I expect to sell a few of these. I expect the updated file to be up by September 1, and the print version to be available October 1, as long as everything goes smoothly on the Lulu side. If it\'s done sooner, I\'ll post an update.

However, this has forced me to re-think things going forward. I enjoy working on Mythweaver Adventure Journal, and I like it, but I now see print as a viable option. So, I\'m wondering, what is more useful to you as a player? What would you rather see?

- A monthly magazine of 10-15 pages of content, available only in pdf for $1.
- A new release every few months, available in print or pdf, which would be longer (I\'m thinking about 80 pages right now) that goes in print for about $8, but would be maybe $3 in pdf. These would be focused products: the first two I\'m thinking of would be a bestiary (probably 200+ beasts) and a collection of adventures (maybe 10 short adventures). These would be several months apart, and I\'d probably only release a handful each year.

I\'d love to read any feedback you might have on either side of this, even if you don\'t play Mythweaver.

Thanks!

Mike
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');document.write('Scaling Back?
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I can’t help tinkering. I just can’t.

I was thinking about trait ratings, and how these scale compared to other abilities. I’ve found that I don’t love how traits balance at levels 1-2, because traits tend to outstrip the other abilities around them. For example, a level 2 stealth-using hero tries to sneak past a level 1 goblin. If the goblin has INT 3 or better (which is likely), the goblin has the better chance of success. By level 3 this starts to balance out, and by level 6 the difference is generally negated.

However, if we scale all the numbers back by 2 points (on average), a few things happen:

·   The dice become slightly more important. Right now, the average trait roll for a level 1 character (not factoring in favored traits) is D6+3.25, for an average of 6.75. By docking each creature 16 points (I know it seems like a lot!- a level 1 hero is now built on 10 trait points) you could drop the average roll to D6+1.25. Now, this scales perfectly with a level 1 talent. It also makes higher-level skills (beyond expert) really, really powerful. Expert becomes truly expert; +10 is going to be better than anyone is going to have in anything.

·   Armor becomes more powerful. A single point of armor is a bigger deal when average damage drops several points.

·   Health becomes lower. With lower STA all around, creatures are going to have less health- on average, 2 points per level. A level 6 creature that had 40 health before now would have 28.

·   Damage scales back. For example, a myrmidon with impressive MGT may have upwards of MGT 6, whereas now this MGT would be in the neighborhood of 4. With two-handed, his total damage bonus drops from +12 to +8. This is a notable decrease, but it makes the math easier to track.

·   Magic and missile weapons become slightly more powerful. Since neither of these damage types adds a trait to damage, reducing trait bonuses to other damage types closes the gap between them.

·   This opens up the potential to take ‘flaws’ with negative traits to get more points. You’d probably be limited to total negative traits equal to your RM; as a level 1-2 hero, you could have STA -1 (if you were feeling especially detached from the new character and didn’t mind a quick death) to get points elsewhere. This opens up some character concepts that heretofore weren’t as clearly defined- I’m thinking Raistlin here, who sacrifices STA to get more REA or WIL.

I’m going to play test this out some, and see what happens. For play testing purposes, I’m going to dock all heroic races 2 points each from all traits except ASP to start (so humans start with 0 in all traits- 0 becomes ‘average’ or ‘negligible’) Beasts would also be scaled back, dropping 2 points from all traits. I’ll have to re-figure damage on the fly, although subtracting 2 from total damage (to account for lowered MGT) should generally give accurate values. The only trait that won’t be affected by all of this is ASP, which trends lower in general already (since its default is set to 0 for ‘normal’, while all other traits have been set to 2 as ‘normal’).

Let me know what you think!

Mike

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');document.write('Goblin Guard Chamber
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I know that there are two more encounters as part of the goblin ‘wing’ of the upper part of this dungeon complex. I went back and forth between making the encounters here interesting, or making them logical. I sometimes struggle from a design perspective on finding a balance between veracity and variety. I mean, if these goblins were REALLY smart, they’d set it up so that no adventurer could possibly wander across their home, and if adventurers found it, they would never be able to get inside. Little things like 100’ tunnels 3’ wide which they fill with flaming oil as soon as an enemy is within… stuff like that. This reminds me of Tuckers’ Kobolds. I’m thinking no…

I do want some strategy to their defenses beyond a simple room with a handful of guards sitting inside (my usual standby). Here’s what develops…

Six normal goblins (scroungers with slings) are hidden on ledges above the chamber behind stones (3 left, 3 right) in a natural-looking cave. Each entrance to the goblins (right and left, at the far end of the cave before the entrance) is a ramp going up. There is a trap in the center of the chamber that drops phosphorescent ooze on the targets, making it easier to spot and track them with sling shots (granting +2 to opposing attack rolls until washed off, which takes a full round).

The cover gives each goblin +4 to resist rolls against ranged attacks, and +4 to stealth to stay hidden as the heroes enter the room. It is impossible to hit them with melee attacks (they are 10’ over the floor), although a hero could jump up to the ledge by making a DEX roll, DT 10. It’s not likely, but the use of hero points makes it a viable option. Each goblin is 2 units distant from any other, making it difficult to hit them with AOE attacks and effects.

Just for fun, each goblin will have four quality sling bullets, granting +1 to damage (so that base damage is +2 from each sling, rather than +1). I’m tempted to put a shammy up with each set of goblins, but that’s a bit much.

They have normal treasure, each carrying D6 gold coins.

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');document.write('Price Points
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There has been some discussion recently of Paizo releasing the Pathfinder RPG as a $10 PDF. I may be over-simplifying things a bit here, but two fundamental sides have emerged from the debate surrounding this decision:

I suppose that I’m far enough outside of the industry to be able to sit on the sidelines and see how this plays out to some degree. I long ago reconciled that I may never make any real money at RPG publishing, and if I can make a little extra money every few months, that would be great. It’s worked out pretty well so far. I don’t pay anyone for creating my books, and I write, draw, layout and edit the books myself (with the help of some great play testers who do all of this voluntarily). This means that the product doesn’t have the ability to be as polished as one of Paizo’s books, but it also doesn’t have any of the overhead. When I sell my first one, I’ve made money, and anything beyond that is ahead of the game. True, I’m not looking at paying myself for the time invested.

Additionally, I’m pleased at the way Mythweaver Adventure Journal works out, allowing me to pay people who contribute to the magazine, but doing so in a way that is economically sound: they get a percentage of the revenue, just like I do. I don’t have to worry about paying them up front- when I get paid, they get paid. It’s pretty easy (and for those of you wondering about those checks, I’m sending them out at the end of the month, by the way- you’ll have them by August 10).

However, the great Paizo price debate has caused me to go back and look at price structures on all of my products. I’ve decided that getting the games into the hands of people is FAR more important than making good money at it, and I’ve revised the prices for many Teddy Bear Press products. Here’s how it’s going to be from here out:

It will be interesting to see what happens to pdf pricing across the board over the next few weeks…

Thanks to everyone who has supported my games.

-Mike  

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');document.write('Subplots
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As I’m working on building things for Vault of the Goblin, I’ve been inspired by flipping through Dungeon Delve a few weeks ago to think about designing encounters in threes- so I need two more encounters with the goblins after challenge 3, and then each of the other doors off of the main hall will have three challenges linked to it. I’ve already decided that is going to be it for dungeon level 1, and by that point, the heroes should be well into level 3, and ready to face some tougher challenges on the next level.

I’ve also decided on the first social aspect of the campaign. I want some ongoing ties to Mistledawn Keep, and I really want to find a way to get a thieves’ guild involved… because I like thieves’ guilds, I guess. The solution was that a wandering mercenary group (okay, bandits, but mercenary group sounds better) has arrived in Mistledawn Keep, and has made arrangements with Aeron to contract out some of the defensive work for the keep.

Aeron’s stuck between a rock and a hard place here- especially since he doesn’t have the troops to fight them off if his refusal turns violent. He figures better the enemy you know… and so gives them some power within the keep. The heroes’ first contact with this will be a pair of ruffians who work for this agency, who are at the top of the entrance, roughing up Donello when they come out… this will become a subplot encounter…

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');document.write('Wiki Update
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I’ve decided to increase the scope of the Vault of the Goblin Campaign and the wiki some, and so I’ve added a map for all of Del Anon as of 10 years after the Reckoning (with a few notable locations from 2E having been decidedly changed). You should swing by the wiki and take a look, because I’ve solved the problems with imbedding images (who knew a rogue backslash could cause all that trouble?), I’ve worked out a monster stat block (and added some monsters) and included another layer to the campaign, setting up a first encounter with a group of ruffians that will form the foundation for a subplot the heroes may become embroiled in.

 -Mike

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');document.write('Challenge #3
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It was time to throw some humanoids at the heroes. I wanted to create range for the encounter, and also mix it up a little with more than just standard goblins standing around in an empty room. I created three types of goblins for the encounter, including a slightly better melee goblin and a shaman caster goblin. I figured this would give some more variety to the encounter, and test the heroes, who by this point have some hero points banked and can start to take on tougher things.

In terms of the environment, I set the main group of goblins 5 units away from where the heroes enter. This will mean that all ranged attackers take a penalty due to the range, and will have to choose between taking the penalty or spending minor actions to get closer. This will also force melee fighters to book across the chamber, and should allow the goblins to at least get a few actions in before the heroes close. Since there are different types of goblins, they will employ different strategies.

Additionally, the goblins are standing on a bridge over a narrow underground river. This gives a little change of scenery, and allows the heroes to get more creative if they want to.

Finally, one of the goblins is using stealth and on guard duty. Depending on how the heroes do noticing him, this could change the dynamics of the challenge dramatically.

This encounter gives the heroes their first permanent magical item (a cloak of stealth).

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');document.write('The First Encounters
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For the first encounter (and actually first two), I was concerned about challenging the heroes but also not killing them immediately. They are level 1, which means they can only take a hit or two before dropping- and anything dealing consistently heavy damage (as in 10 or more points) is going to spell instant death, and possibly a total party wipe. I wanted to avoid that, but I also wanted to avoid having them face one giant rat so they can get a few hero points banked cheaply. The first encounter should be winnable, but challenging. This encounter has to introduce the heroes to the dungeon, provide a challenge, and set some sort of tone for what’s to follow. Flipping through monsters, dread blacktail hornets felt like a good introductory challenge. Against four heroes, 1 of these wasn’t going to be much of a threat, but a group of them may be too much. I decided to split the difference, and use the new rules for combat time and show what they can do right away.

It was also important that the actions of the heroes had a direct bearing on how easy or hard things would be right out of the gate. The hive containing the hornets is not too difficult to notice (DT 6) if they look for it, but if they barrel along, they are going to get attacked, and be in bad shape. In the end, I decided to make this encounter timed along the turn- at intervals during the countdown, new hornets emerge from the hive and join combat. This can end up being the whole group against a swarm of hornets (which would be bad), but a little planning and teamwork can allow them to take the hornets on one at a time, or (if they are smart) take out all of the little buggers at once. The hornets emerge from the hive at the rate of one every 20 segments- this allows most heroes to take two actions before another hornet joins the fray. Even with poor rolling, they shouldn’t be too overwhelmed here. However, since they are taking on multiple hornets, this becomes a normal encounter, and they get a decent chunk of hero points for destroying the hive.

Inside the hive, I decided that the honey would act as a potion, since this had a little more flavor (get it? Flavored honey?) and also allow for a skill roll (nature, alchemy or lore, so it’s pretty broad- someone should be allowed to roll) to figure it out. The PWS bonus will help the melee fighters, who will need this in the next encounter (since most combat will be done at close range).

For the second encounter, I again used this idea of a programmed encounter where creatures add during the fight. I have had this image in my head for years of a hall filled with bones where the undead rise up, piles of bones combining into skeletal fighters to take the heroes on. Originally, I thought of this as a single creature that keeps gathering bones to become larger and more powerful, but since they are only level 1, it was a bit much for them right now. Instead, the bones form into different skeletal wardens. These come at the heroes a little more quickly (at delays of 15 rather than 20 segments), but otherwise provide a similar challenge to the hornets.

The south door has a minor trap to allow someone with burglary to make a roll. Since they are level 1, the effect of the trap is a nuisance and is not meant to kill them, just to make them wish they’d successfully bypassed the trap- a penalty to MGT (something no one would want to take, but also doesn’t gimp a primary attack ability- it could affect damage, but not the ability to actually strike).

Again, I went with potions for the treasure, because the heroes are level 1. Potions of regeneration were a good fit for level 1, since these would give the heroes the ability to take on a slightly tougher foe and know that they had some built-in healing for the challenge.

Between these two challenges, I felt that the players would get a good sense of game time, would be able to develop their team work, and would earn enough hero points and some treasure to let them feel like they’ve got their feet under them going forward.

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');document.write('The Dungeon Crawl
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There’s something elegant and simple about going out your front door into the massive dungeon, and then going back home after you’re done. Maybe it’s too much time playing Diablo (I only played the first one), but I like the concept. The campaign I\'m building for the wiki is going to be centered in the Vault of the Goblin, a massive dungeon that came over from the Barrens during the Reckoning.

The Sagewood Ark rests atop the ruins of a once-mighty winter goblin city, and its massive vault sits beneath, waiting to be explored. This setting works for me on several levels:

·    There are a number of entrances to it, meaning that you can run into things that get in and out in other ways. This explains how new things can get in there, or how they can appear from (seemingly) out of nowhere.

·    Large sections of the vault went into stasis (literally frozen) during the Great Reckoning, and are just now thawing out… the things in the dark are waking up and getting ready to rumble.

·    During the cataclysm, a lot of luggage got jostled around. Entire sections have collapsed, new passages have formed, and the basic geography of much of the vault has changed; even those who live there aren’t exactly sure how the whole thing is laid out anymore.

·    There’s no one ‘big bad’, but there are several power players who see an opportunity to take control, and this can lead to a number of factions vying for authority within. This gives the opportunity to develop houses and power struggles in the dungeon, and to ultimately create more character-centered stories, even though it’s a dungeon. Not everything down here wants to fight, and there may be opportunities for the heroes to help broker peace between factions down here and the humans of the ark. I’m also digging the idea of a faction that supports the former ruler of the place, who are looking for a way to bring him/her/it back from the dead (or beyond death at this point). Of course, more than half the residents of the vault would hate to see this happen, and will actively oppose such work. LOTS of opportunities for adventure here.

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');document.write('Reckoning
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Reckoning is now live! If you had purchased Mythweaver: The Splintered Realm 2E and didn\'t get a link for a copy of Reckoning, let me know. I sent out an e-mail and I know that some of you didn\'t get it, while others of you may have got the e-mail but no link... so if you should have a free download of Reckoning and want one, let me know and I\'ll make sure you get it!

Thanks.

Mike

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');document.write('Designing a Game World
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I have long loved the basic campaign setting of lonely keep in the middle of a vast wilderness, standing over a massive dungeon crawl- danger everywhere, and only a small group of humans with minimal protection stand ready to face it, hoping that adventurers will rise up to turn the tide.

While this seems a great concept (and to me it is!), it has a few problems…

·    How did the humans get here to begin with? Didn’t they have to blaze a trail through the vast wilderness to begin with? And if it’s so tough here, why don’t they blaze right back out?

·    Why would they choose to settle atop a massive dungeon complex? And once they knew about it, why wouldn’t they get the heck out of Dodge?

·    How did they survive to begin with, considering they have only minimal protection?

With Reckoning’s default setting, I managed to find an answer I was happy with to all of these questions. The starting location (Mistledawn Keep) is a huge boat- the Sagewood Ark (inspired by Noah’s Ark, of course) that carried a small community of humans and their accumulated knowledge out of the old world as it was destroyed and into this new realm. This had a real Book of Genesis feel to it that I loved, and created a reasonable explanation for why they were here- this is where the boat landed. Now, the boat is the only stronghold they have, and they can’t move it. Its magical flying powers have burned out, so now it’s just a big boat sitting on top of a plateau (that once happened to be a stronghold of winter goblins, but which was apparently destroyed during the Great Reckoning).

Voila. Humans in a small keep in the middle of a vast wild with minimal protection and a massive dungeon beneath. Sure, they could set out into the world- and abandon the only security they can be sure of. Their built-in protection is minimal (a small cadre of guards that came over from their formerly peaceful community). They can’t afford to waste these troops adventuring out- only the heroes can do that.

The other thing I like about this is that the Ark’s cargo was not animals (a la Noah) but knowledge- a knight was given a vision to build the boat, and his most notable passenger is a sage with a massive library of books. This fits the thematic/design element of flame being connected to knowledge and wisdom- and that linked to Yahalla. Yahalla ends up being primarily connected to light, flame and storm (bright, light, sky, sun), while Bael ends up connected to shadow, frost and stone (cold, dark, unfeeling, distant). Part of what Bael wants to destroy is the human spirit- a spirit that relies upon a collective connection to the past and knowledge that it is building on and towards something- the Reckoning (in many ways) was meant to wipe that out and reduce mankind to roving barbarians. It’s up to small pockets of man to maintain peace and order in the mounting chaos, and knowledge may be his most important asset.

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');document.write('Going Forward
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The whole concept for Mythweaver going forward from Reckoning is to get as much mileage out of every element and to work smarter, not necessarily harder. Mythweaver is going to continue to primarily be developed by me- and if I expect other people to play it, I need to have a plan so that there is ongoing support for the game. So, here’s the plan for how this is going to play out…

Mythweaver Adventure Journal. Starting with issue #6 (August 1), MWAJ will fully support Reckoning, with the odd Resolute article thrown in. While I don’t see wholesale changes to the magazine in the offing, I would like to see more regular columns… Dave had one going for a bit, and I hope he gets that fired up again (no pressure, Dave!) and I’d like to see others contribute regular columns. Even with minimal contributions, I can develop 10-12 pages of new material each month without too much trouble, so I know I can maintain that…

Web presence… this is where the big change is going to take place, and you’ll see that in three places- and it’s all free:

·    This blog. As of tomorrow, this blog is going to be used primarily as a design blog, discussing the development of a huge dungeon crawl campaign, starting from level 1 and (theoretically) taking a group of heroes all the way through level ten and beyond. This will primarily be useful for Mythweavers in developing their own adventures or for those planning to run the campaign I’ll be publishing through the wiki…

·    The Mythweaver Wiki will publish the ongoing campaign setting as it’s completed, giving the full maps, monsters, magic and treasure stats. While some things will be from the core rules, many of the encounters and items will be new and different from those presented in Mythweaver: Reckoning, providing an open-ended resource of new material to add to your own games.

·    Actual Play threads on RPG.net, the Forge and the Mythweaver Forum will take a team of new heroes from level 1 as they explore and complete the campaign developed on the blog and published in the wiki.

Between these three, you’ll get an entire game campaign from inception through play, and be able to see the entire process. All of this will be free, and the goal is to maintain bi-weekly updates of all three resources throughout the summer, and into the fall.

Basically, if you are sitting on the fence about picking up Reckoning, you are going to get a lot for your money… you’re making a $3 initial investment and a $1 a month investment thereafter to get access to everything Mythweaver. I hope that you’ll be along for the ride.

Also, the core rules for 2E, Arvandoria and the first five issues of MWAJ will be bundled together with Reckoning starting July 1 as a starter kit, and you can get the whole thing for $9.95, giving you hundreds of monsters and a vast background with more stuff to do than you could ever get through in a year… but in a system you can learn in the 48 pages of Reckoning, and adapt for that material with a 1-page conversion document from the Mythweaver web site. In short, I’ve made it as attractive as possible for you to dive into Mythweaver right now.

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');document.write('Rules for Myself #5: Don\'t Try To Be ?That Game?
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I have always loved the Red Box version of D+D. It’s haunted me for a long time. For this version, I have finally shaken off my need to ‘be the red box’… and I think this version ended up the closest of any I’ve done as a result. If Basic D+D circa 1983 is truly the epitome of RPG design (and for some people it is), then I should be playing that game or one of its clones. Of course, if it were, I wouldn’t have bothered writing RPG’s for the last 20 years.

One of the things that bothers me is what when I scope out the \'competition\', I see a very disturbing trend. Many of the games I\'m competing with are clones. I don\'t mind that D+D clones are out there; I do have a problem with people presenting themselves as game designers when all they\'ve done is taken the parts they liked from the Players\' Handbook 3.x, and written character creation rules that are \'roll 3D6 for each of six abilities: strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity...." I shouldn\'t find it insulting, but I do. I\'m sorry if you are a designer of a clone system and you\'re put off by this, but it really isn\'t a level playing field we\'re on. In addition, it makes poor design easier to get away with- if you didn\'t solve a problem because you didn\'t know how or didn\'t have the time or energy to do it, someone else did somewhere (probably in the 3.5 core rulebook), and you can get away with ignoring it. I\'m very happy not to have that luxury.

A big moment for me was when I flipped through a copy of D+D 4E and found out that the Raven Queen was one of the primary forces of evil in the game world. The Raven Queen has been a primary malevolent force in my game world since I was 13, and I\'m pretty sure I didn\'t find it anywhere; it\'s something I came up with (Of course, if it turns out it was in a Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms supplement that I\'ve long forgotten about, and ended up buried in my subconscious to be later retrieved and claimed as my own, I\'m going to have some egg on my face). Do I think that one of the designers for 4E picked up one of my books at some point and saw the way I used it and borrowed it? Probably not, but that would be cool! I\'d like to think that after all D+D has given me for inspiration, I\'d love it that some element of one of my games made it into D+D. It\'s the same thing that I felt when Antz and a Bug\'s Life came out after I\'d been working on Army Ants for four years- I\'ve tapped into something that\'s out in the \'creative mass consciousness\', so I must be doing something right.

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