More Than Not Half Bad

With the plethora of Fantasy Role Playing Games that have been and currently are on the market, surely I can't dislike them all.

No, of course not. But I can try.

Kidding.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Barking Alien proudly presents...

Fantasy Games I Don't Hate!

Ars Magica

If there is any one dedicated Fantasy Game I can actually say I like, I mean really and truly like, it's Ars Magica.

While I probably play the game largely badwrong from a traditional standpoint, there is a lot to like in this game even in it's original Before-Adam-Screws-With-It form.

For those unfamiliar with it (and what a travesty that would be), Ars Magica is a fantasy-historical game set in 'Mythic Europe', a medieval Europe where magic, myth, legend and folklore are all very real.

Originally published in 1987 by Lion Rampant (cover shown above left), the game has been updated several times with the 5th Edition (above right) having been released in 2004. The game uses an unusual system (in that there are not many other games exactly like it) in which, when a common action is performed, one of the character's attributes is added to their rating in an appropriate skill and a d10 is rolled. The total achieved is  then compared to a target difficulty number. The action succeeds if the total is equal to or greater than the difficulty.

Now, in some cases, instead of a common or 'Simple Roll', the Player may need to make a 'Stress Roll'. A Stress Roll is called for when there is a likely chance of exceptional success or failure. In that case, results of '1' and '0' follow special rulings. A One is rerolled, and the result doubled (additional '1's lead to successive doubling: x2, x4, x8, etc; the final non-One rolled being enlarged by the multiplier. A Zero on the other hand is treated as a zero (instead of a ten) and one or more additional d10 'Botch Dice' are rolled. If any of these Botch Dice come up a zero, the character has suffered some kind of critical failure. If no zeroes come up, simply treat the original zero as the roll, i.e.: don't add anything to attribute + skill.

It is really the Magic System of Ars Magica where the game shines and while I don't want to go into it here (as that would take a while) I highly recommend reading up on it. It allows for both flexibility and practicality and overall has some of the best atmosphere I've seen in a (semi-traditional) fantasy role playing game.

I have simplified some parts and tweaked others and the end result has been a game that past players and I have really loved. I ran a campaign of it not long ago and while a lot of fun, it wasn't really what I had in mind. Aside from being very political and touching on a number of historical events, it was really just a game of Dungeons & Dragons with a cooler rule system. It didn't have the feel or genre elements I wanted it to have and intended to add in. I am not sure why exactly. Somewhere along the line I think I let the players dictate the style of play too much which caused me to shift my attention toward intrigue and warfare and away from folklore and legend.

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Pendragon

Another quasi-historical, mythic European game, this one based, nay embodying, the majesty and beauty of the Arthurian legends.

I could hardly do justice to an explanation or review of this game that is better than that which James Maliszewski of GROGNARDIA gave on the 5th of May in 2010. I whole heartedly share his enthusiasm for this game.

Now the truth of the matter is that this is one of the few games in my 36 years of gaming that I have played and never run. That's unfortunate but perhaps a blessing in disguise. While very familiar with the story of King Arthur, his Knights of the Round Table and the Kingdom of Camelot, I am by no means an authority or even a fanatic. I forget names. I get some of the Knights mixed up on occasion. I am certain the 'timeline' of the story events in my head is quite off.

I wonder how hard it would be to port this game over to an original world or a world of vaguely Western European themes and style but one which would never pinpoint or identify the nation, ruler or era. More about this idea in an upcoming post.

This game does one thing very right for my purposes; The feel of the setting is built into the rules. Perhaps my biggest gripe with Dungeons & Dragons is, as noted in my previous post, the game's mechanics feel technical and almost scientific. There is little if anything in it to reflect the heroic, romantic or epic mood one gets from reading Lord of the Rings or Le Morte D' Arthur. With their system of Traits and Passions, each Knight has a drive and a set of personal elements that help or hinder his personal quests and goals. Add in the idea that you are expected to hold land, wed, have children and perhaps play them later in your tale reinforces that impression of campaign at literary epic. I love that.

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Um...yeah. That's it. Thanks everyone for coming. See you next time when...

"Wait! Hold on there buddy. That's it?! Two? There are two Fantasy RPGs in the history of Fantasy RPGs that you like?"

OK, yes, maybe there are a few more but really, most of them are...special cases.

"Do tell."

Well, I like Sword World from Japan, the Studio SNE RPG originally based on the Manga and Anime studios own Dungeons & Dragons and Runequest campaigns. They eventually developed their own system, which over the years has become one of the most popular in Japan.

Honestly, Sword World is very D&D like but there are a lot of things about it that I believe Sword World does better than it's American cousin. Classes seems more interesting, they are designed to be mixed and matched if the Player wishes in order to create a much wider range of character options.

I like their magic system better as it has a lot more atmosphere and, quite frankly, D&D's magic system is among my least favorite elements of the game. How can you have a game with Wizards and Magic Items and have your magic system be so, so, bleh. Grrr.

I also like a lot of the ideas in White Wolf's Mage: the Sorceror's Crusade. Granted, I am not a huge fan of the system (though I don't hate what you can do with it with a little modification) and it is somewhat like a stepsister to Ars Magica but still, its got some cool stuff in it.

Lastly, Faery's Tale Deluxe deserves a mention, though it isn't really a Fantasy RPG in the sense of many of the others. Perhaps that is why I like it so much.

***

Well great, I am no closer to figuring out what I want to run. All I know is there is a lot I don't like, a few things I do and unfortunately, I don't own too many Fantasy games to look through for inspiration.

What to do, what to do...

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Barking Alien


Barking Alien notes the passing of Japanese animator, character designer, writer and director Hiroshi Ogawa.

Ogawa is best known for his work on the comedic animated series Crayon Shin-chan (aka 'The Craziest Show on TV') and his animation direction on Grave of the Fireflies, (aka 'The Saddest Film in Cinematic History'.)

Fantasy Technically

An evil spell has been cast upon me. It is the only explanation.

I am in the mood for Fantasy.

And let me tell you...that sucks.

In my 36 years of gaming, I have rarely found any great Fantasy RPGs. I am completely serious.

With a few exceptions, I think Fantasy RPGs are among my least favorite games, not just because I'm not much of a fan of the 'traditional' approach to the genre but because, IMHO, practically all the Fantasy Role Playing Games I have encountered take an approach to the mechanics and theme that I find counter to what Fantasy is about.

Most Fantasy RPGs, especially those that are trying to simulate a quasi-medieval European default setting, pay way too much attention to details that have little to no bearing on the fantastic or heroic.

It's amazing to me how technical Fantasy RPGs get. Aside from the Original and Basic versions of Dungeons and Dragons, which have their fair share of technical elements of course, the first, second and even third generation Fantasy RPGs were akin to treatises on medieval warfare.

While few games gave much attention to the more mundane elements of life in a medieval town (something a young Barking Alien could have really used as I had no clue what a 12th century English city was like), pages and pages would be spent on weapon speeds, types of weapons, armor, wounds and wound effects and the like.

The magic system of these old games were no different, sometimes being  quite cumbersome and complex, while at the same time completely taking the magic out of the arcane. The names of the spells didn't help - Magic Missile, Dimension Door, Pyrotechnics, Displacement - are these spells for a game of wizardry and magic or terms for a physics exam?

I found this unintentionally funny from the Wiki entry on Rolemaster:

"Rolemaster is sometimes derisively called 'Chartmaster' or 'Rulemonster' for depending upon numerous tables and charts for character generation and resolving game actions, and for its perceived vast array of rules covering every possible situation. Supporters of the game argue that many of these rules and charts are entirely optional."

While detractors mock it for being too chart heavy, supporters stand by it by saying the charts are optional. They don't stand behind it by saying they're necessary.

It just seems about three times the work went into determining how hard it is to make a shot with your bow and arrow if you are not facing and are behind a wall with two-thirds cover than went into making magic, creatures and other elements of the game mysterious, interesting and most of all, things that serve a purpose outside killing and stealing.

Now granted, I am no fool, I know why this is. The earliest RPGs came from D&D and D&D came from wargaming.  At the same time, the oft pointed to source materials of the much vaunted Appendix N (cue lightning and thunder effects) don't display nearly the level of 'realistic' detail that many Fantasy RPGs attempt to simulate.

Unless for dramatic effect, neither Fritz Lieber nor Michael Moorcock worried a damn about weapon speed factors or their size damage. Tolkien was not especially interested in naming the 'spells' Gandalf cast, if they even were spells and not mystic powers from on high. There is actually very little 'realism' of the manner many Fantasy RPG have tried to emulate to be found in the classics of Fantasy fiction. Why then do we get a Discover Channel 'Ancient Warriors' mini-series when we open up the rulebooks of many Fantasy Games?

I'm looking at you Metal, Magic and Lore.

Anyway, my quest to explore this new desire to run something in a Fantasy vein may be greatly effected by not only finding the right system but finding the time. Work, personal life (such as it is) and other projects are making it difficult to focus on this, which is unfortunate as focusing is exact what I would need to do. An answer to my 'What Fantasy Game Works For Me?' dilemma hasn't simply popped into my head. It will require a good deal of digging and research but again, time is a factor.

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Barking Alien

(Posting may be a bit wonky the rest of the month although I hope that's not the case. Finances and other things are turning out to require more of my attention than I expected. Just FYI.)

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A few acknowledgements:

Rest In Peace Michael Ansara, who, among other great roles, playing Klingon Commander Kang on Star Trek.

Margaret Pellegrini, one of the three surviving Munchkin actors from the 1939 Wizard of Oz films passed yesterday at the age of 89.

On a happier note:

SEQUEL! SEQUEL!

The Muppets Most Wanted, sequel to The Muppets now has a teaser trailer.

Huh. Should've Seen That Coming

So, Numenera.

With the exception of the Sci-Fi meets Fantasy angle leaning more toward Sci-Fi (at least in the visuals) being the opposite of my campaign world of Aerth, the description of game play and a number of other elements seem strangely familiar.

Nice. It only took 31 years for a professional game designer to finally create a D20 system and setting almost as cool as mine.

Imagine what I'll create in the next 31 years.

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Barking Alien

I Ruined The Roast

I had a plan. Really I did.

I wanted to celebrate this month, which marks my 36th anniversary as a RPGamer, with a sarcastic but ultimately warm-hearted roast of Dungeons and Dragons.

I would make fun of the ol' coot, but ya'know, with love.

Can't bring myself to do it. In more ways than one.

I don't want to be all negative and make fun of Dungeons and Dragons for an entire month. I could, don't get me wrong, there is a lot to heckle. Deep down however, while it may not be my favorite game (or my second favorite...or my fifteenth favorite even), it deserves to be recognized as that which got me started and for that it will always have a special place in my heart.

Now there's not a ton of room in there, so I hope it doesn't mind staying under the stairs in a place not unlike Harry Potter had at the Dursley's. Thanks for understanding D&D. You're a peach.

 

Fantasy Game Concept Art by Evan Lee

The truth of the matter when it all boils down, is that I don't like the game very much anymore.

It's been a long while since I have. While I loved it from about 1977 to 1982-83, once I discovered other RPGs, specifically those that focused on the genres I am more enamoured with such as Science Fiction, Superheroes and Humor/Comedy, I began playing D&D less and less until there was a huge stretch of time when I never ran it at all (and since I generally ran and hardly ever played, if I wasn't run it, it didn't get run). I believe there may have been a short campaign here and there (In the order of 5-7 sessions or so) but I generally left it behind for a long time.

I got back into D&D just before 3rd Edition came out, as I introduced my then wife to gaming. She was already a big fan of fantasy fiction and Anime/Manga but was not a gamer. She took to it instantly and we went to GenCon either that year or the next to be there for the launch of 3E.

She and I played several campaigns, just the two of us and with others but we also played other games. To my surprise and delight she was especially fond of Traveller, Ars Magica and Mutants & Masterminds.

Fast forward to now, I no longer have a reason to play that particular game. No interest in it myself, no special someone who likes it and too many other games I prefer in regards to both mechanics and genre.

Where does that leave me this month? Unknown.

Believe or not, I am in a fantasy mood, although surely it is going to morph into a desire to run my preferred subgenre of fantasy folklore before long.

So now we wait. Wait until my brain, gut and whatever else decides these things figures out what it wants to run and talk about.

Looking forward to their decision.

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Barking Alien

Do Over

No. Not right. Something's off. Something's missing.

Scratch those last remarks.

Delete that scene.

I'm getting a feeling.

A good feeling.

The spark.

The POP. That sudden POP. It's coming. It's close.

So close I can taste it.

In the meantime, this:

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Barking Alien