I Want Psychic Warfare In My Campaign

 First things first: despite the title, this is ONLY going to happen IF my players are into it.

Second, it is part of wider issue of deciding after many years of feeling the exact opposite, that psychic powers CAN have a place in a fantasy campaign without totally ruining it. 

In Tales Of Argosa, various situations might call on a player to check for madness. They make a Will check and if they fail, they roll on the Madness Table. As a system, its cool, though I'd love an expanded table. I think 'Madness' seems an appropriate thing to call these afflictions/outcomes, because it isn't a word we really use any more - especially not in that context. And the system reflects actual mental illness poorly enough not to really be reflecting it at all. Which is a good thing. I don't want to make anyone at the table feel uncomfortable about any issues of their own they may have. 

Even having this theme or issue in a campaign or adventure clearly requires a conversation at the table about what players are all comfortable with.

This system seems to imply that the 'Veil' or the 'Void' has got too close to the player character's 'psyche' and somehow warped or touched it.  Altered it. In my setting, Dark Peak, it is the Dark that has done so, and those who are so touched can eventually be undone, losing their humanity and becoming Goblin Men. 

I'm going to introduce the opportunity, via play, for players to get rid of these afflictions (many of which are temporary anyway), by undergoing a process of discovering that the so-called 'Madness' is actually not madness at all, but a sensitivity to the Void , which manifests as psychic powers. In other words, the forces which have led to the unhappy situation have left the character's mind sufficiently altered that it can now do things it couldn't before. And I'd welcome anyone's perspective, who has mental health issues or knows anyone who has, on whether or not this is... okay? Does this make anything more difficult for people with real life issues? As a person who has suffered mental health issues themselves at times, I don't thing it does, but my issues are not everybody's and neither are my feelings, so. Let me know if you have personal experience about this.

Anyway, assuming there are no objections...

Players will have to quest for the solution. They have to travel, probably to the mountains. In my Dark Peak setting, this would be to  the Smoke Dark Mountains to the west, where they would seek out a monastery with a certain master, who was able to instruct in meditation, medication, exercises, etc. And the characters gains a unique ability. Whether they lose or keep the Madness is up to the player. 

In other systems, there may be a different mechanism to Unique Powers, but these are they powers I want to represent:

Telepathy

Minor Telekinesis

Detection of any one one of the following: evil intent, psychic powers, undead, or demons.

Telesenses (sensing other such powers) (all)

ESP (sensing living things, predators, allies, etc) (all)

 

This is pretty sketchy so far. I'm going to come back to it in a future post. 

 

 

 

Charging Rules For Tales Of Argosa

 

In Tales of Argosa, Charging gains a PC double movement and a +2 to hit bonus. But their opponent also gains a +2 to hit bonus, so there is little to no advantage in charging beyond covering double the distance. And while covering twice the open ground may be desirable, it isn’t the only reason historical infantry charged an enemy.

But let’s contextualise this; there is a huge difference between one combatant charging an enemy foot-soldier and a charge of massed ranks of a trained infantry unit. On the other hand, in fantasy RPGs we do want to be able to do this. It’s fun and you want to have the option of imagining your Fighter hurtling into the ogre, or a unit of orcs, and it counting for something. So what might that look like?

Historically, the main reason for an infantry charge was to disrupt enemy formations. Psychologically, its intimidating, having an enraged enemy warrior hurtling towards you with an axe. And that’s easy to achieve in most OSR games: that’s a Morale check.

If the Morale check fails, the enemy routs and either a Chase ensues, or by GM caveat, the charging force/PC gets a free attack. This might not happen if the distance between the two is too great, though. If the GM really doesn’t want the NPC(s) to rout, or if they cannot, the GM can impose a -2 to hit penalty instead to simulate being intimidated.

If the Morale check succeeds, there will be a clash. In this instance, the charging force has the advantage of momentum. This is where the attackers gain a +2 to hit bonus.

If the attacking force is a substantially superior force, I might even give them Advantage, but that is a weighty bonus. I would only give this if one side were truly superior, such as highly disciplined veterans, or monstrous humanoids with natural advantage, such as ogres. I wouldn’t give it to Skorn, as they are too undisciplined. Or I might apply it if the force ‘receiving’ the charge were untrained/new recruits that have somehow passed the morale check, perhaps due to an outstanding rallying effort by a PC Bard, or to a supernatural means that doesn’t improve their fighting ability.

Finally, if the receiving force gained a Great Success on their Morale check, then I would award them a +2 to hit bonus, possibly evening out the battle at that point. Sometimes the defenders just decide to hold the line or die!

Summary: Charging provokes a Morale Check. Failure usually results in a rout, or a -2 to hit penalty if this is impossible. If the morale Check succeeds, the Charger(s) still gets a +2 to hit bonus. If there is a substantial difference in the quality of troops, in favour of the attackers, this becomes Advantage.

Hopefully, this provides more reasons to charge. If you try it out, please let me know how it goes!

Storms Are Battles

 I've been thinking, lately, or ways to engage players with weather in my campaign. 

Specifically, bad weather. Catastrophic weather! This is partly a result of my being obsessed with making real-world, mundane events and phenomena important to the characters and players. In our own world, when there is a serious storm, it can be scary. Terrifying, even. Without any supernatural or magical agents taking part at all. Yet it hardly ever impacts a game.

I also enjoy naval adventures. I love the sea and the shore and I enjoy incorporating them into my adventures or campaigns.  A big part of sea travel in the age of sail is the unpredictability of weather and the catastrophic effect it can have on fragile, wooden vessels. Having personally experienced a number of storms on the Irish Sea (while at sea), I can tell you, they are some of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I should think only warfare, comes close. 

So I wanted to come up with a way to make a storm at sea both scary, with real jeopardy for the players, and engaging and interactive, where there are things the player can do. And I figured... a battle...

To do this, I considered the following sections of the Tales of Argosa rules: Ships (p208),  Mass battle (p162) and Elementals (p181), specifically Water and Air Elementals, but more on that later. In addition, I considered the roles players might take onboard the vessel, what storm damage might look like and, of course, how to win.

Why is it a battle?

Well, it's not. Not really and literally. You can't kill a storm and it doesn't have Hit Dice and you can't charm it or magic it dead. Consider it a template. 

Imagining a storm as a battle is just a fun way to make a storm interactive and dynamic, following an already familiar format. It means I can use the same language as combat, but a few things are clearly going to be different. The storm can't be attacked. But it can be Mitigated. The damage a storm is likely to cause can be limited. By the actions of the players.

For the most part, a storm's attacks, or pseudo-attacks, will be against the ship. There shouldn't be any intention behind the storm's attacks, or any strategy of plan or intelligence. The GM should always narrate these events as a storm. An elemental fury, random, destructive, sure, but without purpose. It should englulf the ship and the party in a literal maelstrom! And where a pseudo-attack succeeds, it should be taken to be bad luck o the part of the player and when one fails, the player character was quick on thier feet and got out of the way. But there will be collateral and human damage, nevertheless. A storm may well destroy a ship, if not mitigated properly.

Turns

A 'turn' in this context isn't a regular turn - t would take far too long. Instead, each Turn represents something like an hour. Or whatever length of time is useful. Maybe the highlights or worst moments. Storms eventually subside, or simply pass. This takes 2d12 hours. Alternatively, use a d12 Usage Die, so no one knows how long it will go on for. That will mean your average storm lasts 19 hours or so - long enough for the players to feel like they've been through the mill.  

Skills

If the system you are using has skills then its a good idea to decide in advance which ones you're going to focus on for crewing the ship and mitigating the storm. Tales of Argosa, my current go-to, has Watercraft, which is okay. For most adventures, its fine. But if I were running a whole nautical-themed campaign, I might introduce the Seafaring or Sailing skill early on, just to allow players to distinguish between professional seafarers and people who live on a river. 

Navigation isn't a skill in Tales of Argosa, but it is in some other systems, and the Captain needs to have it, I think, so I will again add to my houserules for a nautical campaign. I might also add Rigging if somebody wanted to play a specialist. I will probably Command, too, as a way of getting people to do scary, dangerous or other unappealing stuff.

Roles

It isn't absolutely necessary but its useful for the players to have roles on the ship. Some roles might include Captain (chief decision-maker), First Mate (chief giver of commands), Bosun or boatswain (in charge of anchors, rigging, ropes, boats, flags, etc), Head Carpenter (chief mender of wood), Crewman (climbing rigging and hauling sail), possibly Navigator and maybe a military role, such as Guard or Marine. Taking one of these roles both increases pay and gives the players greater interaction with the ship and its crew. These roles can just be roleplayed, or represented by a generalise skill, or made a spacial or unique ability. 

Mitigating the storm

A storm can be mitigated in basically one of two ways: navigating away from the storm, or managing the ship to minimise damage within the storm. 

Navigating comes down mainly to the Captain or Navigator making appropriate skill checks at suitable intervals. As soon as the storm is spotted, the Captain has to decide what to do and skill checks should be made. It is possible that a ship might outrun a storm. It is also possible that the process lasts for hours or even days. Navigating away from the storm is not the same as continuing towards your destination and doesn't necessarily even involve knowing where you are going. 

Managing the ship will be the responsibility of the whole crew, including the player characters. The GM tells the players what the storm is doing, where it is making its pseudo-attack, etc. Then the players describe how they react to that and what they do to minimalise damage to the ship. They make skill checks to see if their characters succeed in their plan. If they do, either the damage doesn't happen, or it is reduced. That is going to come down to the GM's discretion a lot of the time. Mitigating actions might include actions like dropping the sail, mending damaged rigging or hull planks, securing items and cargo, etc. 

The Captain

Complications. One of the cool things I hope will happen when I use this system, is that complications will arise to the main journey. A crewmember might get swept overboard, a door might get smashed. As a result, cargo might get damaged or 'passengers' might get loose. 

Elements

 Elements  the storm represent situations where the storm's effects are felt. they are not intended to be separate from the storm, or individual entities. Thety are simply aspects of the storm that are felt at any given time. If a Storm Element (Wind) attacks a door, it means the wind is battering at the door and if it breaks and the Wind Element gets inside, then it just means the wind got in. The stats are there to resolve what happens. 

 

Example Elements 

STORM ELEMENT (WIND)
Wind Elements batter the crew with powerful gusts, tear sails and rigging, fling objects about and can even push crewmembers overboard, They don't usually do direct damage but can hurl objects in such a way as to cause harm like an attack. Players and NPCs always get a luck (Dex save to avoid these pseudo attacks, but they are sometimes at Disadvantage.
WIND ELEMENT AC - HD 5/10/15 Batter 2d4/2d8/3d8 Nat 19 Prone & Stunned 

S17/18/19 D23 C- I- P- W- Ch- L-.

Immune to weapons. Hold(1) Close targets move at half speed until the Wind Element is defeated or driven off (Luck (Con) save resists). Omnipresent. Wind Element can attack as many individuals as it can reach (walls and doors block until attacked and destroyed. Hurl object. The Wind Element can throw objects threw the air and can do so as many times as there are loose objects available.

No Reac. 

 

STORM ELEMENT (WATER)
Water Elements batter and beat their victims with torrents of rain hurled with tremendous force, or waves of icy sea water.
WATER ELEMENT AC - HD 5/10/15 Blind. Close targets cannot see and are drummed with cold rain or sea water. Swept Away. Targets are swept across the deck, englufed so that tyey cannot brath or thrown against the mast or other parts of the ship. 2d6/2d8/3d6 Nat 18-20 Special. Prone and Stunned

S18/19/20 D14 C- I- P- W- Ch- L-

Immune to  weapons. On a Nat 18-20 Engulf Automatic Batter damage on Element’s turn unless Str contest to break free . The GM decides how many targets
may be engulfed at once. 

No Reac 

 

That's all I've got so far. Let me know if you have any thoughts.  

Homebrewing Skills In Tales Of Argosa

 The skill system in ToA is simple. It is easy to learn, straightforward at the table and fast.

But I like a bit more in my skills systems. I like to be able to distinguish between a character who can do a thing, and one who is really good at it.

And I like the Traveller system.

The ToA system , RAW, is basically to add +1 to your Attribute when you make an aatribute check, if you have the skill. And there doesn't seem at first to be a lot of scope for fiddling with that, because of numbers and scope and 1-20, and so on. There's an option to make the skill a necessity for trying in some circumstances.

But there is another rule, in the character progression system, which kind of runs alongside this skill system. That rule is that every time a charcter levels up, they gain +1 to an attribute of their choice. Every time they level up. That's actually very generous. It isn't a bad rule, but it's probably open to abuse, if a player just keeps piling it onto the same aatribute every time. Basically, I think it is more generous than necessary. 

Every time an attribute increases, of course, every skill check you every make with that aatribute, wether you have the skill or not, also gets easier.

So my homebrew version of this rule will be to swap out some of those attribute increases for a skill point instead, and have a scale of skill level from 1 to 4.

I'll keep attribute increases, because everyone enjoys that buzz, but only at levels 3, 6 and 9.

On all the other levels, you get a skill point to put into an existing skill. Maybe characters will only get a new skill at the points where the Rules as they stand already give one and I'll award an improvement skill point at every level, so characters can develop a few skills. I'll have to play around with it. But either way, not increasing attributes so often ought to balance that out. Mostly.

I'll have to playtest this, to see how it works, of course. As an optional extra, I may even go full Traveller mode and award a penalty to trying something that requires a skill the character doesn't have. That's a but tough and I'll only do it if players are happy with it. After all, there is already the option to put a bar of Great Successes if oyu don't have the skill (which i totally use already).

Anyway, as always, if you get around to trying this out, please let me know how it goes.  

Seven Types of Fighter for Tales of Argosa

 The Adaptable feature of the ToA Fighter class is cool. Every level, you get a new 'thing' and they are just about enough to help distinguish a couple of fighters from each other within the same group.

But how can we use this to help define the world we are setting our campaign in?

It seems to me that this is a useful tool. I don't want to re-write anything here, or make anything more complicated: simplicity is important to me at the Table. But I think by considering the way we use the Adaptability table, we can squeeze just a little more flavour out of it.

Below are my suggestions for types of fighter you might find in a fantasy world and which Adaptability feature they would need. There are two ways you can use this idea. The first and simplest is to use the table as normal. Whichever version of Adaptability a player selects dictates what kind of fighter the character is currently employed as. Alternatively, you might ask the player to roll on the table even at generation, when they would normally chose, to randomly select a current career. 

New combat style: Shield Wall. 

New entry for the 'Adaptable' on p31. Use on a 6 in place of  'Ranged' for all non-archers. This style means that as long as you are standing shoulder to shoulder with an ally, and armed with a shield, you or they gain +1 AC (fighter's player's choice).

Contacts. These are NPCs a player may start out knowing. They should be advantageous - a source of information, adventure seeds or geographical knowledge in a world where most people don't travel very far. Where possible, they should be recurring characters who the players might get to know well, and they ought to be embedded in the local setting. They are the first steps in fleshing out the nearest town, the player's faction or the local community. If Fighter characters elect to have a specific job attached to their class, they should gain a contact as listed below in the Jobs and Roles section. 

Below is a simple list of the kinds of jobs or careers each Adaptable style implies. Further below are some ideas on how to develop these roles further. 

 

Charger                                    Assault Troops

Dual Weapon                           Outlaw, Marine

Long Reach                             Guards, of temples, palaces, etc.

Opportunist                             Gladiator

Protector                                  Militia, Town Watch

Ranged                                    Archer

Single Weapon                        Duellist

Two Hander                            Specialist (Bridge-holder, etc) or Judicial Champion

Unarmed                                Pugilist or bare-knuckle fighter

Brutal                                    Assault troops, Marines, Raiders

Rearguard                              Caravan Guard      

Expert Guard                         Guards, of temples, palaces, etc            

 

Jobs And Roles 

Archer (see my Archers In Tales of Argosa post, here).

Depending on the setting, either trained from a young age or part of a standing army or other fighting force. Gain Ranged. Equipped with a short bow, a light axe and dagger instead of long sword and shield. 

Archers are a breed apart in many ways. They have a very specific skill set, which it helps to have someone teach you. An archer is likely to know the person who helped them develop as an archer, or taught  them to fletch arrows or even to craft a bow. Contacts might include a fellow archer, a bowyer, a fletcher or their sergeant.

Assault Troops

Frontline troops in any attacks on enemy positions. Often veteran who lead the charge.  Contacts might include fellow veterans, a mercenary captain, or even a lord.

Caravan Guard

Used to defending a caravan, they begin with Rearguard. Often well-travelled. May have additional Contacts in other settlements or towns. Contacts might include merchants, wagoners, horse breeders or even outlaws. 

Champion (or Bridge-holder)

Champions are participants in judicial combats, hired to fight on behalf of the accused or the accuser. Bridge-holders (my term) are specialist wielders of two-handed swords, used to hold strategic positions, such as bridges, courtyards or doors. Take the Two Hander style. Contacts might include those they have defended in the past, members of the judiciary, or whoever taught them to wield that weapon.

Halbadier 

Soldiers specifically trained in the use of the halberd. Gain Long Reach style. Contacts are likely to include veterans or officers.

Infantry

Soldiers paid or otherwise engaged to defend the realm. Level 1 would be like peasant levy, followed by various ranks of officer. Only one step up from a civilian in many ways and Contacts are likely to include camp followers (e.g. Rogues), officers, and people from home. 

Militia

Sometimes paid, sometimes volunteers, their job is to protect members of the community. They take Protector as their default style. Might come from any of several walks of life so potential Contacts vary, but many will be middle class and know a lot of merchants, other members of the Watch or Militia and members of the town council 

Palace Guard

Specialist guards, usually taller than average and well equipped, often with polearms, such as halberds, long spears/pikes or partizans . They take Expert Guard or Long Reach as their default style and must take the other at the next opportunity. Contacts may include those they protect, as well as their rivals. 

Pugilist

Bare-knuckle fighter. Takes Unarmed. Contacts will be other fighters, trainers, people associated with other jobs they have, and particular fans (which might include much wealthier peple, such as lords). 

 

Archers in Tales of Argosa

 Archers are not a class in most RPGs. But they should be. IN ToA, the closest you'll get is probably a Fighter with the Ranged combat style, or a Ranger. Rangers start out with a longbow. But their class abilities are not as martial as a Fighter. 

I like Rangers. But they're not Archers. 

This is the entry for the 'Ranged' combat style on the Adaptable table (number 6) on page 31 of the ToA Rulebook:

 

When you make a ranged or thrown attack, targets lose any AC bonus due to cover. Additionally if you miss your target you never reroll the attack against an ally in the same melee. 

 

On the whole, I like the Adaptable entries, but  there are a few reasons why this entry stands out from the others as a bit weak.

Firstly, if you don't want to play an archer, its useless. A lot of folks play Fighters specifically to enjoy melee combat. 

Secondly, it dicourages the use of cover, which is a cool thing to have; its a free, easy thing any player or NPC can do to improve their chances of survival. It engages the players with the terrain and NPCs using it makes players think about alternative routes of attack. 

Thirdly (slightly repetitious, I know, bit valid, I think), it removes a rule (cover), instead of adding something. 

Fourthly, it doesn't really do archers justice. There is lot more to being an archer than shooting through cover and most of them are more fun. 

Finally, I actually think Archer ought to be something closer to a class, and I'll finish with some ideas about how to adapt the Fighter class to be more archer friendly, without re-writing a whole thing. 

 

Adapting the Adaptable.

I suggest that if you want to give players the option of playing Archers that are distinct from Fighters, you replace 'Ranged' in the Adaptable table altogether. I replace it with 'Shield Wall', which gives any Fighter armed with a shield and standing shoulder to shoulder with an ally an additional +1 AC bonus, which , if they choose, they can lend to the ally. Only one of them gets the bonus, but if two Fighters do this, obviously, they'll both get it. I allow this to be taken as a unique Ability by non-Fighters, IF there is a fighter in the group that has it. I figure a trained fighter would explain it.

Ranged Styles.

I decided I needed a new table of styles, suitable for Archers.  Some of these of course, you could just take as Unique Abilities. But my feeling is that players either want to play a full-on Archer type, or they don't bother with ranged weapons unless they are playing a Rogue or a Ranger (in which case these work as unique Abilities). I only have ten, so far. 

1. Fast Shot - once per combat round, take an additional shot as a free action with a penalty of -2. 

2. Arrow Storm - shoot two arrows at a time, at the same target, with Disadvanatge. Take twice to reduce the penalty to -2. Wether it can be take three times is up the GM.

3. Long Shot - reduce Range by one band. 

4. Sniper Shot - as long as you take no other action in a round, attack with Advantage. 

5. Deadly Shot - increase damage die by one die type. 

6. Moving Shot - move and shoot at the same time with no penalty

7. Moving Target - half penalties for shooting at a moving target.  

8. Mounted Shot - take no penalty for being mounted. 

9. Arrow Snatcher - on a successful Dex test, snatch an arrow from the air that was aimed at you. 

10. All Weather Arrow - ignore penalties for weather.

Archer as Class

 Key Attribute: Dexterity

Hit Points: Equal to Con score + (Level x2)

Weapons: All

Armour and Shields: All 

Class Starting Gear: Longbow (1d8), Light Axe (1d6), Dagger (1d4), Reinforced Leather armour (new) (+2 AC), a quiver of arrows (20).

Continue to use the Fighter class abilities, but any class ability that begins with 'When using a weapon' now should be read as  'When using a melee weapon' for Fighters and 'When using a ranged weapon' for Archers.

 

As usual, if you use it, let me know!

Incidental Injuries

 They don't happen in combat. They happen when climbing a wall in a hurry, escaping down a steep incline in the dark, climbing through a window from a bedroom. These aren't serious injuries, but they let people know they've been in a scrape. useful for partial successes/fails or consequences, for games that have those.

A few of them lead to interrupted sleep - I suggest no natural healing until treated by someone skilled in healing.

d8

1. Sprain/Strain

2. Knee injury

3. Fracture (1: wrist, 2: ankle, 3: foot, 4; collarbone, 5: hand, 6: toe)

4. Dislocation (1: ankle, 2: knee, 3: shoulder, 4: elbow, 5: finger, 6: toe)

5. Rotator cuff (shoulder - leads to pain, weakness and poor sleep)

6. Tendonitis (pain and swelling)

7. Groin strain (difficulty walking, pain)

8. Hip flexor strain (swelling, pain)

9. Stove finger (poor grip)

10. Concussion (d6 - 1: dizziness (reduced Dex), 2: weakness (reduced Str), 3; confusion (reduced Int/Wis); 4: any two that add to 4; 5; any that add to 5; 6: gone quiet (reduced Cha))

*"Any two" - each reduction is a reduction of -1 and they accumulate, so a '4' can mean 2 x reduced Dex and 1 x reduced Str or 2x reduced Str, etc.

Cold Goddess Mountains

The Cold Goddess Mountains stretch over 2000 miles north to south, to the west of the most settled areas in my 'known lands' setting. They are characterised by steep mountain slopes and dense, lush forest, as well as bleaker colder landscapes in places of higher elevation. This region is dotted with both recent and ancient dwarf mines, as well as more recent human mines. 

The Cold Goddess moutnains are reputed to be haunted, and are home to a number on non-human peoples.

A small number of dwarves roam the region, the last vestiges of their dwindling population. They sell their skills where they can and try to avoid places they might be enslaved. 

There are elves.  Specifically two warring races, the Sidhe (pronounced 'Shee'), who arrived here with the last wave human migrants and the Manavargr, a northern race who are hostile to humans and Sidhe alike. 

Blue Jar hobgoblin folk trade here, both above and below ground and maintain positive relations with most of their neighbouring nations, though even they struggle with some of them. 

There are occasional incursions from the troeg, troglodytes who live in warrens beneath the mountains and see all their neighbours as food or resources. These are actually the main species in the region, possibly aside from humans. Numbers are unclear on both sides. But the troeg live in great numbers beneath the mountains, in tunnels they cut themselves, when their race were slaves. They raid the surface for slaves themselves, now, and for food and raw materials such as hides and wood and human hair.

Carcajou are present in the region and various attempts have been made to constrain them with treaties, but they are a disparate and diverse folk and while a single group or tribe might be bound by the terms of a treaty, others often don't feel the same way.

Rivers flow east to the sea and south, from the Cold Goddess range. Along these arteries of trade and colonisation travel humans, in boats or on horses along their banks. Those who cannot settle the fertile floodplains of these rivers, either through lack of resources or lack of interest or will, may travel beyond the settled lands and find themselves in the shadow of the Cold Goddess. Here, they often become hunters or trappers, traders to the few and far between settlements and outposts, loggers, or else are lured by the rumours of lost dwarven treasure beneath the cold and unforgiving mountains. Most find the going hard, the climate treacherous, the terrain difficult, and the isolation close to unbearable. No small number find it impossible to bear and succumb, in one form or another, to despair. They might turn to the dark idols said to be found in the high, windswept ruins that dot the region, or else become killers, when hunger overwhelms their humanity. Or else they give in to the dark and silent calling that some claim to hear, echoing from the high valleys and the deep gorges and which some say is the sound of the Cold Goddes herself, weeping they say, at the fragility of humankind. Or, say others, laughing.

For those for whom it is all too much, there is something else, beyond despair. The Calling, as it is known, becomes too much to resist and they give into it, running off into the night to give themselves to chaos. The darkness, it is said, finds a way inside and they are changed by it. Some end up mutilating themselves, others seem to change by no means known to them. They might bear a mark, such as eyes without whites, or overlarge teeth, a taste for human flesh or blood. Such people are known as Goblin Men, though there are women among them, and they gather in the lost and distant places of the forest at the mountains' foot, or on its high, rocky shoulder, or in its pits, and sing to the moon or other less fathomable things, or to the Cold Goddess herself, and wait for a chance to feast on their erstwhile fellows. For only human flesh, it is said, will ever make them feel warm again.

Jackdog Town

The name of Jackdog Town was inspired by this blog, "A Forgotten Monster: The Cruel Jackdog" on Save vs Worm, about a long-lost D&D monster, which I heard about here, on Blogs On Tape. I just like the sound of it.

Jackdog Town is a town within the Cold Goddess mountain range, within a silver-mining region. 

This region is dotted with both recent and ancient dwarf mines, as well as more recent human mines. 

Jackdog Town is really a supply town. It was originally conceived of as that town outside the dungeon, where player characters resupply, replace lost comrades and listen in on other people's conversations to acquire rumours. But now it has taken on a life of its own, largely through watching Deadwood and reading western-themed location modules and then kind of realising they didn't work in the 'very medieval' theme I wanted in my campaign. I'm not saying the result is 'very medieval'. I don't know what it is. It is what it is.

Jackdog Town is also something of a cultural crossroads, as it stands on the edge of 'known lands', adjacent to a region I'm going to call Cold Goddess Mountains, at least for now. There are not a great number of dwarfs in my setting, but a couple run a local supply store. Maybe the odd prospector comes through. There might be an elf, but if there is, it would be unusual - an elf more akin to a sidhe, I think, maybe an outcast, to be slumming it with humans. I'm not sure I'm not too bothered. But importantly, there is a carcajou, which is a race I'm working on and will post about, that are basically anthropomorphic wolverines. And that's a big deal (that there is one in town) because they basically don't do humans, and humans don't generally appreciate them. But I think they'll make good rangers. 

In addition, the town will have some or all of the buildings listed below and I will post on them in groups of three or four. Probably. 

Church or Temple (possibly several, not decided)
Monastery (kind of a satellite Manor - would be at some distance, really, and possibly pre-dates the town and possibly doesn't even exist)
Well, Tithe Barn, for storing the tithes that go to the church, Granary, Cattle Barns, Stables, Market, Taverns, Inn, Almshouse, Great Hall, Houses
Workshops -  Blacksmith, Woodcutter, Mill, Charcoal Maker, Fishery, Bakehouse, Brewery, Furrier, Carpenter, Barber
Arable land - Grain Fields, Vegetable Patch, Orchards
Non-arable Land - Meadows, Pasture, Woodland / Forest, Marsh, Fallow Fields, River and Pond

 

 

Tales of Argosa Review

 Recently, I ran my first session of Tales Of Argosa, from Pickpocket Press, written by Stephen Grodzicki. This  is my review of the rule system. A report will follow soon, including how the rules came up in-game and were resolved.

Physical Product.

The book is beautiful. I love black and white illustrations in RPG books, I find them more evocative than colour. This book is monochromatic, with a wine red used for headings and tables. It is well laid out and really clearly formatted and organised. I have had no trouble at all navigating it. It was a far more enjoyable read in book form than it had been on my phone (no surprise)! The illustrations look better, obviously. But what really struck me was that a full-page spread really brings home the quantity of useful tables to roll on for the GM Tools. This is where this book excels, in my opinion, but more on that later. There is an index and some 'decorative' maps by Dyson. Its basically a really nice book and a pleasure to read and practical at the table/online session.

The Basics

With the exception of combat, this is a roll-under-attribute system, with a +1 bonus if a character has the relevant skill. Attributes are rolled on 3d6 with some room for alleviating a complete lack of decent scores and some finagling, so it isn't raw attributes as rolled (although you could always do that of course) but it isn't a full-on build either. Attributes include the usual, plus Perception, Initiative and Luck. These three are all interesting choices which I'll explore in a moment. If you roll half or less of the target number, you get a Great Success and failing by half the target number again is a Terrible Failure. It is up to the GM what the consequences of this are. This leaves room for your GM-ing style, which I like. 

Personally, I love the Luck mechanic: players all start with the same score but it reduces every time you make a successful Luck check. These can be modified by other attributes, according to the situation. So avoiding a trap could be a Luck (Dex) save. Initiative is also a winner for me - an attribute derived from the average of Dexterity and Intelligence. Initiative is used more than many other attributesin most d20-style games and might as well be an attribute. Perception is sometimes contentious. I know some people feel that if the GM wants the character to see something, they should just let them see it. But I disagree. I am not a very observant person in real life. Friends point it out fairly often ( I notice people not  things...). So I think having a Perception attribute is perfect. It is also used for ranged attacks, which I also like, because I like separating picking locks and pockets from shooting bows and arrows!

Character Generation

Characters take a Background during generation which gives then a skill and an attribute bump. This provides a sketch of a backstory. Classes are familiar but a lighter touch than some games. There are no subclasses (which I didn't miss) and very little magic except for Magic Users (which is a single class, not a group of them), Cultist (which replaces Cleric) and Artificer (which the book suggests isn't suitable for all settings). One notable feature is that most classes get a class ability at Level 1 which develops every level (exceptions are Barbarian, Bard and Magic User - though new spells at each level is a close match). For example, Fighters get Adaptability, which brings a new 'Stance' each level, which is rolled for and brings a bonus under certain conditions. There is an equivalent for each class. I wasn't sold on those of the Ranger, to be honest. They felt a little contrived and relied too much of imposing conditions on enemies without what I considered to be a strong anchor in the fiction. But the rest all look great. And there are also new, more typical Class Abilities as characters progress, too. Every third level, characters get something called a Unique Feature, which players are supposed to negotiate with the GM which might be a great way to customise a campaign, or might be a pain if you have a the wrong group. But there is a decent list of suggestions.

Hit Points begin equal to Constitution. So one of my players began with 4, until he remembered the 'you can swap any two attributes' rule. But each time they level up they only gain their new level multiplied by 1-3 depending on class. So the hit point curve is going to be flatter over the long run. This, in my view,  makes planning ahead easier and reduces the yawning gap that can occur between characters' robustness. It also prevents the whole campaign becoming ridiculous. 

Combat is the usual d20 roll over AC, with the usual modifiers. Weapons have slightly different damage dice from some other games, usually higher, but the main difference is in NAt 20 and Nat 19. Natural 20 is a critical but delivers maximum weapon damage plus half your level, so doesn't require rolling dice or multiplying or any of that. A NAtural 19 on the other hand, often delivers trauma, based on weapon-type. There are a  few OSR-type bells and whistles, too, such as Morale checks and rules for a full party retreat, chases and a bunch of manoeuvres. Exploits allow players to attempt 'Mighty Deeds' type actions. 

Magic Users are simplified but also less fragile, when compared to crunchier systems. You get a spell per Intelligence bonus at generation, plus one spell per level and you can cast a number of spells equal to level per adventure. That's it. But you do get to use weapons and light armour, so you're not useless. I'd personally take a leaf out of DCC with this and possibly allow more spells to be learned as a result of a quest and possibly even cast, as a result of magical items gained on similar quests. But magic in Tales Of Argosa is 'dark and inherently dangerous,' so every time a spell is cast (and for one or two other things) a die is rolled on the Dark and Dangerous Magic (DDM) table. The die size depends on the level of the caster, so the higher their level, the more unpleasant some of the options become. I haven't seen this in action yet, as we didn't have a Magic User in the party. 

Encumbrance is via slots. Currency is in silver. Some prices are a dice roll. There are tables and tables of GM support, so that with the slightest forethought, a session can come to life. GM tools include Diseases and Parasites, Dungeon Crawling rules, 'Hexploration' rules, rules for Hirelings, Mass Battle, Naval Combat, Solo Rules, Traps, Treasure, etc. Tons of it, but all fairly light, simple and accessible at the table.

Tone

Tales of Argosa is intended to be a sword and sorcery style gam. It isn't aimed at creating a power fantasy for players. It isn't dripping with magic or enchanted bling. There isn't a lot of 'rules armour' and probably some characters will die. Encounter tables are not 'levelled' and you could as easily roll up an encounter with 2d12 giants as with a couple of blokes arguing in the street. So there is a distinct 'Old School' vibe without it feeling at all 'old'.

I really like this game. I'm not sure it will ever rival the big name TTRPGs, as it doesn't have the massive marketing engine behind it that some of those games have, but its a fun, well-developed game with a real tone of its own and a ton of support available in the form of adventures. Tales Of Argosa's predecessor was Low MAgic Gaming and I get the impression Pickpocket Press are re-writing much of their old support material for the newer version. Which is great because their setting material, 'Midlands' includes fifty adventures. Yes, Fifty... Between those and the GM Tools in teh core book, you'll have enough material for years of gaming...