Tag: Tom Miskey

As a backer of Inverse World, I got the following announcements today and felt I had to respond:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1552912590/inverse-world-a-dungeon-world-sourcebook/posts/562872?ref=email&show_token=6a08d320bd2b1643

https://plus.google.com/111694100408744715863/posts/amuGh3N8pGn

To sum up the posts as I understand them, Jonathan Walton and the creators of Inverse World have amicably parted ways because of a fear on their part over a possible backlash against Jonathan over his layout work for another Kickstarter called The Misery Index (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1019114683/the-misery-index-terrible-games-about-terrible-rea).  Backers will end up getting 2 versions of the Inverse World add-on that Jonathon was supposed to write, one created by Jacob Randolph and one by Jonathan that won’t use any Inverse World IP but will contain the ideas he was planning for the book.

Now that the summary is out of the way, let me give my opinions:  I can totally understand Jacob’s worries about this.  RPG.net just had a 500+ post thread attacking Monte Cook and Numenera over a single monster entry that they felt was supposedly sexist.  That thread was eventually closed after it became so heated that 10 people got infractions and many others got warnings.  Now a new thread spawned with 365 posts discussing the proper way to attack games and creators for insufficient political correctness in a game.  Given that, and the the topics that the Misery Index covers, I can see full well why there would be a concern.

However, I believe in freedom of speech, not a fictional freedom from ever being offended.  I say good for Jonathan in not backing down or out of a project just because someone may not like it.  Reading over the 8 settings in the Misery Index, I think they sound very cool and original.  Sure, they are only for adults, but that’s fine, so is a lot of entertainment.  Maybe they’ll offend some people… those people should simply find another game to play.  Gamers and game creators (and anyone else) should not cower and genuflect to the Political Correctness Police IMO.  People should play games they enjoy and not play those they don’t enjoy, it’s that simple.  I hope the chilling effect of such public shaming matches on some forums doesn’t spread or deter creators from making the games they want to make.

https://plus.google.com/111694100408744715863/posts/amuGh3N8pGn

Question:  Some people have wondered about the utility of a weapon tag like “Messy”, which has no tangible in-game effect.  If given a choice between it and, say, Piercing 2 or +1 damage, why choose it?

Solution:  “Messy” weapons allow the attacker to reroll any natural 1 on their damage die.  Keep rolling until something other than a 1 is rolled. 

What do you think? 

Have you ever wanted to make your character a bit more unique right from level 1?  Have you wished your Ranger knew Two-Weapon Fighting, or your Fighter had Signature Armor rather than a weapon, or that your Wizard was a Specialist?  Now you can!  Presented in the linked file are 2 Alternate Ability options for each DW Playbook in the core rules.  You can swap one ability for another, exchanging your Thief’s Poisoner ability for Shadowing, or allow your Bard to become the Life of the Party rather than find a Port in the Storm.

Check it out and let me know what you think.  Some abilities may be revised or expanded upon due to feedback.  Enjoy!

Just wanted to say that Guy Schamp and Brett Wunsch  and I had a really fun game tonight.  It could best be described as Abbott and Costello Meet Zombies!  A Halfling conman/ traveling snake-oil salesman and his intelligent but gullible Human friend arrived in town prepared to sell their home-brewed “tonic” to one and all, but ended up saving the town from being over-run by Draugr (ice zombies).  Hijinks included running over zombies with a donkey cart, cunning schemes involving highly flammable “tonic” that went awry, stealing from the local church while the priest was turning away the zombie horde, knocking out the mayor with a spiked drink and looting his mansion, and a mysterious journal about an arctic expedition that could possibly have shed light on the events if it hadn’t been accidentally destroyed.

We could use a 3rd and maybe even 4th player to join the dynamic duo.  Our next installment will be 5:30 PM PST on Sunday, until about 9 PM PST.  Come join the fun!

FATEWorld… bringing Fate Aspects into Dungeon World.

When I first got into Fate, I wanted to put Aspects into every other game I played.  While that urge has diminished a bit over time, I can’t help thinking that expanding the Bonds into full-fledged Aspects would be very cool.

Here’s how I’d do it:  You get a number of Aspects equal to your number of Bonds.  You may choose a phrase naming a relationship with another character if you wish, but you may also choose statements about your character’s background, hobbies, catch-phrases, enemies, and so on.  “Dumb as an ox and twice as strong” might be an Aspect, or “I can always spot a liar, because it takes one to know one.” 

Players get a number of Fate points equal to 1/2 their number of Aspects (So 2 points for most characters).  I like to use poker chips to represent them.  Whenever you think an Aspect can help you in a situation, you may spend one of your Fate points for a bonus.  If you spend it BEFORE you roll the dice, it’s worth +2 on your roll (or -2 on someone else’s, if appropriate).  If you spend the point AFTER you roll the dice, it’s either worth +1 (or -1) or you may reroll the dice, keeping the new result, even if it’s worse.

The GM can also declare situations when your Aspects can hinder you or cause trouble, giving the enemies similar bonuses or compelling you to follow your Aspect.  If you agree, you receive a Fate point to add to your supply.

What do you think?

Am I the only one that thinks a Dungeon World adaptation of Earthdawn would be very cool?  Adding all the races and Adept classes would be a bit of work, but it should fit in well.