Well, we're back from Gary Con and I've had a couple days to recover. Now the con crud is setting in and I'd forgotten how miserable that is. No worries; no COVID here. Just your usual with the body going, "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE EXPOSED TO THAT MUCH CRAP AT ONCE!!!" convention yuck. But you didn't come here for that. You came here fro the post-convention report. Back in the Saddle: New Faces and Old Friends So, after 2 years of "virtual," or "ethereal" Gary Cons (Gods, I hate that sheer concept, of "virtual" conventions and gatherings), we're back in person again, full force. Despite some very weird masking requirements and woefully inconsistent enforcing, the convention was outstanding. In the end, the masking stuff was your typical politicization on both sides, everyone soapboxing, and just a very minor irritant in what overall was just a great time top to bottom. It was so nice to get to put some faces to names and...

The core combat system as presented in Spellcraft and Swordplay is based off of the Man to Man rules in the original miniatures game that spawned the World's Most Famous RPG. In the second edition (coming someday to a game store near you), The combat system will be revised to eschew the requirement for consulting tables in man to man combat, replacing them with a simple addition formula that allows for speeding up combat significantly.  Cerebus Art Pack purchased at DrivethruRPG Basic Calculation The basic calculation for combat using the alternate system is as follows: 2d6 + Strength (or Dexterity) bonus + Weapon Class + Opponent's AC > 14 Characters still gain multiple attacks based on their level, so level does not factor into the hit probability. Strength and Dexterity bonus are as determined during character creation. Strength is used for melee; Dexterity is used for ranged attacks.  Boxcars and Snake-eyes A result of boxcars (unmodified 12) always hits, and a result...

 The first example of a "specialist" wizard in old-school gaming comes in the form of the Illusionist in the player's guide for the Advanced edition of the worlds's most famous role playing game. This class, presented as a "sub class" of the Magic User, really just substitutes typical spells with an entire spell list that is designed for this class. It doesn't really focus on any abilities that create a specialized magic user. It was only in later editions (a few ideas presented in various magazine articles, and later as "Kits" in the Second Edition of that game) that the idea really began to take shape, and in 3rd edition we started to really see "School Specialization" as part of the core rules of the game.  It's true that character classes in older school games (pre-2e) are intended to be very abstracted and wide open to interpretation, and the designers as such shied away from such detail--after all, if you wanted your wizard ...

 This is one of the most common, and frankly, frustrating, questions game designers get, and we get it a lot. It goes something like this:  "Your game seems clearly set up to do Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So how would I create, like Buffy Summers with your game?" I cannot, and will not, give you the answer to that question, and when I talk around it or refuse, it's not be being rude to you or dismissive, and it's not that I don't think it can be done or that my system is weak. I'm here to tell you that I could stat out just about any character from that show, or most other urban fantasy, horror, and supernatural TV series and movies (and books and comics) with the Night Shift: VSW rules. I just won't do it for you. Again, it's not because I'm dismissive of you or I don't appreciate your fandom. Not in the least. It has to do with several complicated reasons.  Photo  209041333  /  Vampire Slayer  ©  Flexflex  |  Dreamstime.com Keeping Thi...

Believe it or not this year marks the 10th Anniversary of the publication of The Witch  and Eldritch Witchery will be 9 years old.  While The Witch is firmly planted in the garden of "Basic-era" games, Eldritch Witchery uses O.R.C.S. , the same system found in Spellcraft & Swordplay and something of a "little brother" to O.G.R.E.S. the system found in all of our NIGHT SHIFT games.   What does that mean to you?  Adding material from these two books to your NIGHT SHIFT game is not only easy, but it can also make for a great game. System Concerns Let's address the first issue. One of system compatibility.  This thankfully is not a difficult one.  All three books, regardless of their native systems are all derived from the same OGC sources and the same Old-School gameplay.  So many of the underlying assumptions are all the same, or at least close enough.  The NIGHT SHIFT Core has O.R.C.S. to O.G.R.E.S. conversion notes to make gameplay flui...

 Games that are Powered by O.G.R.E.S. can theoretically progress to infinite levels. There will eventually, however, be a major disparity in the amount of XP you need to gain a level, and the amount of XP offered by a high hit die creature. This is an admitted limitation of the system and something to consider in future printings. It's also why I, as a GM, strongly prefer the Freeform XP system presented in the Night Shift: VSW core rulebook, page 192. Let's look at the issue in detail and examine some workarounds for it. 118154522  ©  Publicdomainphotos  |  Dreamstime.com How It Came Up The "default" XP system in O.G.R.E.S. is drawn from the original iteration of the first fantasy RPG and its Basic and Advanced evolutions. This system also had an issue with XP values for very high hit die monsters. In the Night Companion , instead of adding XP values for creatures like Rank 10 and 11 Angels, I simply listed, "assume an automatic level gain if the creature is d...

 I've been working on several projects lately as whimsy strikes me and I consider where to go with Elf Lair Games. One project that is fated to come out eventually is the Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age role playing game, which will be the "Powered by O.G.R.E.S." version of Lovecraftian / Howardian swords and sorcery fantasy gaming. I won't get too much into the conceit of it, suffice to say that in a very real way, you'll be playing the gods of old...long before they become gods.  As I consider this game and put notes on paper (or virtual paper, as the case may be) I am also thinking about the archetypes of fantasy gaming, in particular, the Fighter. The Fighter had a true niche to play and some real advantages in their 0e, little brown booklet function: at that time they were the only class that applied Dexterity to defense, in the sense that opponents suffered a penalty to hit the "Fighting Man" who had a high Dex score. They also had additional attack...