Taking a peek

As I look at various games to play in 2014, right now I think I like the feel of Dungeon World. I probably have too much residual bias against various renditions of D & D to really want to play one when I could just as well play Dragonquest in an untampered form. Right now I am reading through the rules to get a feel for the game. It looks promising.  

How did I get in the middle of this?

My work on the Blood Moon campaign and setting has often felt like this. Somehow I got trapped in this mess of pipes as I tried to add and clarify more things in the game and setting. That does not mean that I have any intention of giving it up, just that it is taking more time and effort to work out the details then life affords.  The real enemy to my playing has been lack of time, while I tend to be a bare-bones type of planner and like to go with the flow created through the interactions with the players, planning for this "Frankensteined" setting has taken a little more time.

     Here's to hoping that 2014 affords more time and greater exploration of a hobby I truly enjoy. I think one of my goals for this year will be play/run a non-Dragonquest setting game. Right now Dungeon World is looking appealing to play with a group. I may also take another look at The Mutant Epoch. I think a post-apocalyptic setting could be a lot of fun to play again.  It's been a while since I played Gamma World back in the 1980's.

Happy New Year All

I hope during this New Year to emerge from my cave and actually make more use of this blog to share thoughts, experiences and stories on the things I enjoy in life: gaming, music, books and movies. Occasionally I will mention what I love, my God, my family and my friends.  Blessed New Year to all those in the OSR community, RPG community and any others who have reason to frequent this blog.

Have crazy, will travel

       While dwarves remain my favorite fantasy race, the Blood Moon campaign setting is without them. The close runner up to dwarves are the often maligned and constantly condescended to gnomes. It seems that only orcs or halflings are be treated with more contempt.  In the Blood Moon setting there are races with more inherit attributes that are more awesome and fearsome than three feet of ingenuity. Gith, Dragon Blooded and Changlings are without a doubt more awesome and mysterious than gnomes.  However, gnomes are the originators of elemental-tech and armed with such power and maniacal devotion they are the driving force of freedom in the world. A few thousand years of isolation and paranoia have made them more than ready to sacrifice their sanity to accomplish their goals.
       Professions such as the contraptionists and tinker are all the result of gnomish innovation. Much of my source material for  Blood Moon tech is taken from Steamworks by Korey MacVittie. I have poured over a number of steampunk related PDFs and keep looking for ideas to borrow and incorporate into the setting.

Meet the Pickers

Tonight's artwork is courtesy of Pandora. She is a very gifted young player and artist. She was kind enough to draw and color one of the races in Dragonquest that was carried over to the Blood Moon setting. Pickers are a gecko like race of lizard men that live nomadic lives as merchants, scouts and explorers. While not all that powerful they are a gifted race with many abilities that have ensured their survival in a fallen world.

Hounds & Snifters

Hounds of Vengeance accompany Soul Snifters as both bodyguards and as a source of fresh souls. They are capable to turning corporeal undead and the living into spirits that are then collected by the Snifters. While only possessing animal intelligence, they are very responsive to their keepers. Stunned or unconscious opponents are particularly vulnerable to their decapitation attacks.

Soul Snifters prefer to avoid interacting with the living or corporal undead. Their singular mission is to collect souls and spirits for their masters. They are greatly fear by the undead. Often commanding a team of hounds, they scour the lands looking for ghosts and incorporeal undead to harvest. Because of their abilities, even great undead such as spectres and wraiths prefer to avoid them.

*Both of these monsters have been taken from the Book of Fiends and recommissioned for Dragonquest. The artwork in the book varies. Some pieces are well done, and others look pretty lame. These two work into the cosmology of Blood Moon as a world that is overrun by demons, undead and other planar creatures.

Fleshing out the undead

   

 As I prep for game play with the new characters I am slowly fleshing out the various undead that inhabit the world. Thankfully WOC have ample undead to incorporate into the campaign. My own home grown group of undead called the Graven come in a number of different flavors.
       Graven are available as a playable race in Blood Moon and for the most part resemble the race they were prior to their crossing into the world of undeath. Those that cross over but do not remember their past or long to continue it often roam out into the wilderness where they gather in enormous hordes for protection. These grey walkers are often harmless, but in a panic they can stampede and crush things underfoot. Some become undead wailers and summon other undead in their wake. Thankfully grey walkers do not often roam into towns.
      Blood Moon Ghouls or Red Runners are voracious versions of graven that devour any of thing alive. They posses amazing speed and strength and can empty out an entire town in a matter of minutes. They are able to infect others with their disease. Any of the living that die from this disease return to life as a Blood Moon Ghoul.