Alignment is a hot button issue in modern games. It is a core part of characters in O.G.R.E.S, and indeed, the corruption system for spellcasting does not properly function without it. It is, then, important to look at what alignment is, how it works, and most importantly, what it is not  and how it is constantly misread and misinterpreted by many in the gaming community - particularly those reactionary to traditional old-school gaming tropes. 

 Supernatural Attacks in O.G.R.E.S. Art by Bradley K. McDevitt. Used under license. Some questions have come up recently (even in my own gaming group) that highlight something about supernatural attack, about which I was apparently not clear enough in the rules. That, or it's there and just easily overlooked. So here it is. 

 First things first: If you're new to the blog and are curious about other "deep dives" into the Wasted Lands, O.G.R.E.S., and how it all works, check out our other blogs in this series (or just click on one of the label tags):  Races (Species) in Wasted Lands What are Divine Touchstones? Will Wasted Lands Be a Retroclone? Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age is Imminent! Tiered Abilities in Wasted Lands Wasted Lands is Powered by O.G.R.E.S., the house system for  Elf Lair Games . It uses three base mechanics on the backend: the Check mechanic, the percentile Class Ability mechanic, and the Rule of 2. The most common of these is the straight-up d20 attribute check and combat mechanic, and that is the focus of this blog. This mechanic covers everything from save checks to sneaking, searching for clues in a setting, and anything else that is not covered by a class ability, while also serving as a  backup  for class abilities.  That is to say, if you have a class ab...

It's time for another peek behind the curtain in Wasted Lands. In case you've missed our past posts, we have already covered what type of game Wasted Lands will be , and how Divine Touchstones work in game. This time we'll look at nonhuman species and cultural backgrounds. These things in the O.G.R.E.S. system work a bit differently than some of our old-school (and even new-school) players may be used to seeing, but at the same time will have a degree of familiarity. Let's dive in.  Why "Species?" First things first: why "species" and not "race?" The use of the term "species" goes back to Night Shift: VSW .  We chose the term species for a couple reasons (and we did it long before those Wizards decided to pretend it's some sort of socially relevant term). First, it's flat-out more accurate: elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and the like are quite literally a different species from humanity. Races occur within the same sp...

  (This blog cross-posted from elflairgames.blogspot.com . Follow us over there as well!) Peoples and Culture of the Dreaming Age The core conceit behind  Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age  is that you play the origins of the gods of old. You are not actually  playing  gods - in fact, you're not even  playing  modern humans. You are playing "proto-humans" who were created by the Great Old Ones experimenting on native creatures. Thus, while every "human" has the same game stats, one might look more avian, one may appear reptilian, another simian, one rodentian, etc.  Similarly, the cultures in the Dreaming Age are sort of proto-versions of later ancient world cultures. The game is set 54 million years ago, between the time of the K/T Extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs (and sent the Old Ones into their eternal slumber), and a second great cataclysm that wipes all the remaining traces of the Old Ones' civilizations from the world. During this...

  (This blog is cross-posted from our Elf Lair Games blog. Please follow us there as well!) I have spent a good deal of time on this blog talking about what O.G.R.E.S. brings to the table for role playing, how it codifies the original system for fantasy role playing (the original, B/X, and advanced versions) to make it clear how intuitive they are to use, and balances out the results to unify the mechanics across the board - making spell casting, for example, work the same as every other class ability by changing it to a percentile instead of Vancian.  A number of fans across the board have been waiting to see our fantasy take on the system (and it has been TOO long coming - we honestly should've had this done a year ago, but I'm solo on this one. Tim and Derek have been supporting me all the way, helping with proofing, ideas, and critiques, but Elf Lair needed a game that would support the company without the need for royalties.  We are now coming very close to the laun...

(Cross-posted from my Elf Lair Games blog , which you should also follow!) This is a question I get asked far too often, and far too often it's with an accusatory tone, along the lines of, "what kind of a game designer are you if you can't create an original system?" or "Aren't you creative enough to come up with something unique and original?" The truth is, I have worked with just about every kind of system you can imagine over my decades of game design. I've done stat + skill systems, roll and keep systems, fistful 'o dice and count kills systems, graduated die type systems, and more. All were fun, all were quirky, all were unique in some way.  I did go through a phase where I spent a lot of time coming up with new and different systems. I even designed a couple from the ground up that used cards instead of dice. One, the Hoyle System, used a standard deck of playing cards with each suit and the jokers representing something different in play, ...

 (This blog is crossposted from my Elf Lair Games blog, which I recommend everyone follow as well! It also sort of dovetails off of an earlier one regarding  what's innovative about Night Shift .) What Does Night Shift: VSW Bring to the Old School Table? Whenever a new game using old school mechanics is released, people very justifiably want to know what it brings to the table? What makes it worth buying? It's a totally legit question--let's face it, the old school table is stuffed to bursting with games, rules systems, and different takes on the way the earliest games were supposed to be played. When this whole thing started we had  Castles & Crusades ,  followed by  OSRIC , followed by  Swords & Wizardry . A few others followed, including my own  Spellcraft & Swordplay .  Now we have  Labyrinth Lord, Old School Essentials, Basic Fantasy, Dark Dungeons, Mazes & Perils, Blueholme, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of ...

Elf Lair Games has officially signed on with Studio 2 Publishing to distribute English language tabletop RPG product, beginning with Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars .  I couldn't be more excited about this partnership. It stands as the next big step in expanding our reach as a publishing company, and we look forward to getting our games into the hands of as many players as possible. Studio 2 is just the company to make that happen. Making this transition was a big step for Elf Lair and signing on with Studio 2 is a huge development for us. This represents a vital move towards what I hope will be a bright and exciting future for the company. The partnership will greatly expand the reach of Elf Lair Games , allowing its presence in physical gaming stores and major online retailers. Elf Lair recently made the transition from a small PDF and print-on-demand company to a traditional offset publisher thanks to a successful Kickstarter in October 2019.  About Night Shi...

 Let's be honest: It's more than likely that there's a supers supplement for Night Shift: VSW on the horizon some day in the future. Here's the trick, though: you don't really need it to do supers with the game as it stands. You could do a street level supers game with NS:VSW exactly as it sits, and you'd still be well within genre. Look at TV shows like Arrow or Batwoman  on the CW or the Netflix Marvel shows for examples of how street-level supers can be dark urban fantasy at its finest.  Hell, consider Blade as an example of how the superhero genre can be mixed with horror. It's certainly not outside of the wheelhouse of Night Shift to experiment with superheroic games, particularly if you keep it at "street level" abilities.  Let's check out the easy ways you can do superheroes with Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars Start with the Supernatural Race In Night Shift: VSW, you have essentially two options for your character ...

This is one of the most common questions game designers get in the modern era of game design. Everyone's looking for the latest, new and unusual thing, and that's understandable. So what do I answer when people ask me what's so innovative or new about Night Shift: VSW?  Nothing.  That's right; there's nothing in the mechanics or system that's particularly new or innovative in Night Shift: VSW.  Now, before you throw up your hands and say, "Why bother, then?" Let me elaborate.  There's No Such Thing as Innovative Mechanics The simple truth of the matter is, the vast majority of designers who use "innovative" as a claim to fame for their game are at least one of two things, and very often both:  1. Trying to be different for no other reason than to say they're being different, often at the expense of playability. 2. Simply wrong.  Most so-called innovative mechanics are smoke and mirrors at best . The truth is very simple: dice exist in...

So for many years, the Arduin books have been on the periphery of my awareness. I knew they were out there, knew they comprised significant expansion and modification to the OD&D rules, knew they eventually became their own system of sorts, and knew that there was some controversy regarding Dave Hargrave, but that was about it. I've seen more and more discussion about them recently, so finally I decided that I would take the plunge. I acquired copies of the "Trilogy" on eBay. My copy of The Arduin Grimoire Volume 1 is a 4th printing; the Volume 2 and Volume 3 books are first printings. Replica box I made to store the trilogy in.   So I guess I'll start a running commentary here as I work through. Again, bear with me as I don't read fast to begin with, and combined with the piles of writing work on my desk and the fact that I can only read a few pages of this tiny text without getting a splitting headache and, well...it's going to take awhile...

If you read this blog, you're probably well aware that over the past decade-plus, fifteen years or so, there's been a wealth of scholarship surrounding the original 1974 D&D rules. I was recently reading over...let's just say, an early printing of these rules, and a few things jumped out at me. There are definitely assumptions we make about OD&D that are based on later developments. Things that were written in AD&D, B/X, even some of the later supplements have colored our idea of "how things are supposed to be." With that in mind, I'd like to go back and interpret OD&D through the lens of someone who had just picked it up in 1974, without the benefit of everything that came later, without actually having gamed with Gary and Dave, and see what comes out in the wash. This is nothing more than a thought experiement--I'm not necessarily trying to challenge common wisdom about how these things work, but the way they are presented and worded at...