I can't help but noticing that most of my readership is from the Oz side of the fence, rather than the gaming side. To which I say: What's keeping you from gaming?
You might be thinking that gaming is too complicated, with all the rules and dice and charts and tables. It isn't that complicated, really. It's basically like all the pretending games you played as a child, but with a layer of rules to prevent the "I shot you!" "No you didn't" arguments. Some rules systems are more complex, such as Burning Wheel or GURPS, while others are intended to be quite simple and intuitive, like my own Adventures in Oz or Chad Underkoffler's PDQ system. Many systems, simple or complex, offer an explanation of the process of roleplaying in the book itself.
You might be thinking that it's too expensive, with so many books to buy. You have something of a point there, as Dungeons & Dragons, the most popular RPG in the world, requires 3 rulebooks for play, with each one right around $35 a pop. Exalted, a popular anime-style game, requires only one book for play, but that one book costs around $40. And both games have supplementary materials available to enhance play at an additional cost.
This is not always the case, however. The Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition retails for only $10. And let's not forget the burgeoning PDF market. At sites like e23 and DriveThruRPG, you can purchase electronic copies of these games for much less than the price of the print version. And I am intending the retail price of Adventures in Oz to be $19.95.
You might be worried that you don't know enough people that can get together. I have heard stories of people who play with only 1 other person, with one of them as Game Master and the other as a character. The campaign that spawned Zorcerer of Zo consisted of only 2 players and the Game Master. Also, it is increasingly possible to play over the internet, connecting people with text or voice chat, or even emailing or posting "moves" onto a forum. Distance or timing issues are becoming irrelevant in this age of modern technology.
You might be worried that you wouldn't be an entertaining Game Master or that your ideas for stories might not be all that fun. Well, for one thing, if these guys are your friends, they'll accept at least a little oddity from you.
Also on that note, RPG author William H. Stoddard once compared roleplaying to music. You have the performance that is polished and rehearsed, and then you have the "jam session." In music, a jam session is where the musicians perform for their own entertainment and the entertainment of their peers. It is informal, noisy, decidedly imperfect, and most of all, fun for all involved. This is your roleplaying session. No need for perfection, just a group of people having fun, riffing off of what the others are doing.
If you're still intimidated, try listening to the Sqaure One podcast by Sam Chupp. I know that I mentioned it a while ago, and misattributed it to Bill Walton, but this time it's relevant and I got it right. Also, the latest episode was uploaded last week.
For those of you on my playtest mailing list, I probably will not have all that I promised by the end of the month. The redesign of the magic system is taking some time. There will be a new playtest kit emailed soon, but it will not be as complete and polished as I'd like. I am still dedicated to making sure that every bit of the game gets a good going over before the playtest closes at the end of June.
Showing posts with label playtest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label playtest. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Burning Magical Ninjas!
The playtest session was a blast last Saturday. Everyone seems to be playing it as a comedy game, which is certainly a valid approach. When ninjas (from the Kawasaki Ninja Clan) leapt out and attacked the party (a test of the combat system that actually went rather well) I mentioned that they were wielding katanas (because katanas are just better). One of my players is something of a Japan-ophile and asked why they didn't have ninja-tos. Another player jumped in and said "Of course they have ninja-toes. They each have 10 of them."
The magic rules took another battering this week. Not in play, though. One of my more creative players prepared a list of "broken spells" over the week, and presented it to me. There were a few things that struck me about his list.
The first was how clever he was. A spell entitled "Last Chapter" that allows the caster to teleport the party directly to the Emerald City. "Download Walkthrough" gives the caster the knowledge they need to defeat a particular opponent instantly. And then there's a spell with actual precedent from the stories: "Ass to Bass" which turns the victim into a fish.
The second thing that struck me is that all of these effects were too easy to cast under the rules as written. "Last Chapter" by itself would make any Oz story far less exciting and could be cast with eerie ease by our resident sorcerer.
This is the part where I start singing the praises of Burning Wheel. Leafing through the Magic Burner, I discovered an alternate magic system that was very much what I was looking for. Simple, flexible, and ideal for small scale effects, but would have to be stretched to pull of really big things.
No, I'm not converting the whole thing over to Burning Wheel. I'm just making modifications to my own system while cribbing heavily from Art Magic. This should become part of the playtest kit that will be hitting my playtesters at the end of the month. Assuming, of course, that it passes peer review with my own group.
The magic rules took another battering this week. Not in play, though. One of my more creative players prepared a list of "broken spells" over the week, and presented it to me. There were a few things that struck me about his list.
The first was how clever he was. A spell entitled "Last Chapter" that allows the caster to teleport the party directly to the Emerald City. "Download Walkthrough" gives the caster the knowledge they need to defeat a particular opponent instantly. And then there's a spell with actual precedent from the stories: "Ass to Bass" which turns the victim into a fish.
The second thing that struck me is that all of these effects were too easy to cast under the rules as written. "Last Chapter" by itself would make any Oz story far less exciting and could be cast with eerie ease by our resident sorcerer.
This is the part where I start singing the praises of Burning Wheel. Leafing through the Magic Burner, I discovered an alternate magic system that was very much what I was looking for. Simple, flexible, and ideal for small scale effects, but would have to be stretched to pull of really big things.
No, I'm not converting the whole thing over to Burning Wheel. I'm just making modifications to my own system while cribbing heavily from Art Magic. This should become part of the playtest kit that will be hitting my playtesters at the end of the month. Assuming, of course, that it passes peer review with my own group.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Goodbye and hello
Another death to comment on this week. Thankfully, it's not a new one, just the anniversary of an old one. One year ago yesterday, on March 4, 2008, E. Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, passed away. All modern role-playing games are due to the example that he created. Even though "Adventures in Oz" is very different from the Dungeons & Dragons game that Gary designed, or as it is played now, it still traces it's roots back to good ol' D&D.
I finally managed to talk my gaming group into trying out "Adventures in Oz". So on Saturday night, we got everybody's character's made and started out a simple scenario. You can read the results of the session over here. (Check out the rest of the site while you're there. Jared could use the traffic.)
A few things of note: Character creation was a small challenge. One player commented that the Child in Oz template had a higher base Wits rating than the Soldier, which makes little sense in any kind of real world context. But once you start accepting that this is Oz, it makes much more sense.
The big challenge was coming up with starting friends for the characters. According to the rules, every character has one friend of their choice on their Friends List. For the Sorcerer, we decided that he wanted to practice magic legally, so we made his friend the Good Witch of the North. Our sand-man has a wind-fairy as a friend. I think our anime-inspired character is still working on a friend. We'll see how that develops.
Instead of the Winged Monkeys, I was originally going to use Nomes. I was thinking that General Guph was trying to conquer Oz by making sure that Ozma was so busy dealing with all sorts of small troubles that his army could invade with little opposition. I scratched that idea after I realized that our last campaign revolved around a plot by an outsider general to conquer the world. Even if it was a different general with a different master plan, I didn't want to get stuck in a rut.
The rules mechanics worked out just fine. Everyone got the hang of how to roll the dice rather quickly. Our sorcerer had little problem casting spells, but that may simply have been because I have the spell-building rules memorized (I did design them, after all). He was quick to use poetry, meaning he wasn't too ready to risk failure. I probably should have mentioned the Terminal Condition rules to him, because now the spaghetti fields will be permanently illuminated.
Nobody has spent any Oz Points, either for bonuses or for plot devices. We'll see how those mechanics work out.
The only real flaw or gap I found in the system is that Oz Points, while helping to drive play, are not the only kind of reward the system should have. I'd like to be able to reward the players for making me laugh without weakening Oz Points.
I finally managed to talk my gaming group into trying out "Adventures in Oz". So on Saturday night, we got everybody's character's made and started out a simple scenario. You can read the results of the session over here. (Check out the rest of the site while you're there. Jared could use the traffic.)
A few things of note: Character creation was a small challenge. One player commented that the Child in Oz template had a higher base Wits rating than the Soldier, which makes little sense in any kind of real world context. But once you start accepting that this is Oz, it makes much more sense.
The big challenge was coming up with starting friends for the characters. According to the rules, every character has one friend of their choice on their Friends List. For the Sorcerer, we decided that he wanted to practice magic legally, so we made his friend the Good Witch of the North. Our sand-man has a wind-fairy as a friend. I think our anime-inspired character is still working on a friend. We'll see how that develops.
Instead of the Winged Monkeys, I was originally going to use Nomes. I was thinking that General Guph was trying to conquer Oz by making sure that Ozma was so busy dealing with all sorts of small troubles that his army could invade with little opposition. I scratched that idea after I realized that our last campaign revolved around a plot by an outsider general to conquer the world. Even if it was a different general with a different master plan, I didn't want to get stuck in a rut.
The rules mechanics worked out just fine. Everyone got the hang of how to roll the dice rather quickly. Our sorcerer had little problem casting spells, but that may simply have been because I have the spell-building rules memorized (I did design them, after all). He was quick to use poetry, meaning he wasn't too ready to risk failure. I probably should have mentioned the Terminal Condition rules to him, because now the spaghetti fields will be permanently illuminated.
Nobody has spent any Oz Points, either for bonuses or for plot devices. We'll see how those mechanics work out.
The only real flaw or gap I found in the system is that Oz Points, while helping to drive play, are not the only kind of reward the system should have. I'd like to be able to reward the players for making me laugh without weakening Oz Points.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas, Everybody!
I bet you were wondering if I would bring myself to post this Thursday, or if I would wait until the holiday was over. As it turns out, I've got just enough time while the rice pudding is in the oven to get this posted.
My playtesters have already received their Christmas present. The latest playtest kit is headed their way as we speak. Now to gift the loyal readers of my blog with a new Oz art preview.
This is the Tin Woodman as done by Brad McDevitt. This is copyright Brad and used with permission.
For those not in the know, L. Frank Baum wrote his own version of the legend of Santa Claus, called "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus". It is, interestingly enough, the only hardcopy Baum book that I own. Both Jared Davis and VoVat have extensive blogs on this tale, so I won't bore you by rehashing what they've already said. I will say that it's my least favorite of Baum's works. Not that it's badly written (Baum's worst book is still more readable than some author's best book), but the simple fact is that Santa does little throughout the book but make toys and deliver them. All of the conflicts and challenges that Santa faces are instead overcome by his fairy friends.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
I'm on Youtube!
Just put together a quick little promo video for Adventures in Oz. Check it out! No clever little soundtrack for this one, but maybe next video I'll come up with something.
Also, I've got the Winkie Country preview uploaded to the site, featuring Bear Center and Oogaboo. Playtesters should be getting the rest of Winkie Country in about a week or two, as well as some changes to the game's rules. Some of it is closing holes that have been revealed by playtesting and some of it is stuff that I've been meaning to put in for a while but haven't gotten around to.
Also, I've got the Winkie Country preview uploaded to the site, featuring Bear Center and Oogaboo. Playtesters should be getting the rest of Winkie Country in about a week or two, as well as some changes to the game's rules. Some of it is closing holes that have been revealed by playtesting and some of it is stuff that I've been meaning to put in for a while but haven't gotten around to.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
6 Months In
First late blog posting in a while. Hope you're not too disappointed
For those who have been paying attention, I've been blogging for the last 6 months. When I first embarked upon this project, I thought I'd have something to show for all of this by now. While I don't have a product to sell, I do have a bit more wisdom than I did when I first started out. A few of the things I've learned so far are:
1) Things cost money. One of the biggest stumbling blocks I've come across is money. In as many areas as possible, I have attempted to get things done for cheap or free. Web-hosting on the site is free, this blog is free. The things that cost money are either happening later or slowly. The website is not pretty, but it costs money to hire a web designer. I would advertise more than I do, but again, it costs money. Art is getting paid for slowly. It doesn't help that I lost a job and had to go on unemployment for a while until I got another job and neither of them pay terribly well.
2) Other people are other people. No matter how much I've tried to build a community around this project, little has happened. To my knowledge, no one has played the game. For most of the time I've been working on this, I haven't had a gaming group of my own. I finally managed to get some people together a couple of weeks ago, but Adventures in Oz got voted down as our system of the moment. This may change; I'll keep you posted.
3) Thrive on deadlines. The weekly blog helps me set deadlines. If I don't have something meaningful to post by the time Wednesday rolls around, I had better come up with something.
If anyone is interested in being a playtester, feel free to give me an email at konradthebarbarian@yahoo.com . You will be emailed with the Adventures in Oz playtest kit, and will receive updates to the system by email, as they happen. It contains all of the rules and setting material as they exist up to this point. While all of this material is on the site at this moment, this will change. That's right, sign up to be a playtester and you'll get access to exclusive content before anyone else. Also, playtesters who provide useful c0mments will get their name in the book and a free copy of said book as soon as physical copies are available.
For those who have been paying attention, I've been blogging for the last 6 months. When I first embarked upon this project, I thought I'd have something to show for all of this by now. While I don't have a product to sell, I do have a bit more wisdom than I did when I first started out. A few of the things I've learned so far are:
1) Things cost money. One of the biggest stumbling blocks I've come across is money. In as many areas as possible, I have attempted to get things done for cheap or free. Web-hosting on the site is free, this blog is free. The things that cost money are either happening later or slowly. The website is not pretty, but it costs money to hire a web designer. I would advertise more than I do, but again, it costs money. Art is getting paid for slowly. It doesn't help that I lost a job and had to go on unemployment for a while until I got another job and neither of them pay terribly well.
2) Other people are other people. No matter how much I've tried to build a community around this project, little has happened. To my knowledge, no one has played the game. For most of the time I've been working on this, I haven't had a gaming group of my own. I finally managed to get some people together a couple of weeks ago, but Adventures in Oz got voted down as our system of the moment. This may change; I'll keep you posted.
3) Thrive on deadlines. The weekly blog helps me set deadlines. If I don't have something meaningful to post by the time Wednesday rolls around, I had better come up with something.
If anyone is interested in being a playtester, feel free to give me an email at konradthebarbarian@yahoo.com . You will be emailed with the Adventures in Oz playtest kit, and will receive updates to the system by email, as they happen. It contains all of the rules and setting material as they exist up to this point. While all of this material is on the site at this moment, this will change. That's right, sign up to be a playtester and you'll get access to exclusive content before anyone else. Also, playtesters who provide useful c0mments will get their name in the book and a free copy of said book as soon as physical copies are available.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The Magic Belt has arrived!
It's finally here! "The Magic Belt of Oz" is complete and ready for download.
Well, not totally complete. I would like to make this a lovely debut product, with a sexy layout and all that jazz. But I'm not going to do that until I can be sure that it's a good product, so I need your feedback to help me out with that. Either drop a comment on my blog (you can do it even if you're not a blogspot member, so don't be initimidated) or send me an email at konradthebarbarian@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.
Well, not totally complete. I would like to make this a lovely debut product, with a sexy layout and all that jazz. But I'm not going to do that until I can be sure that it's a good product, so I need your feedback to help me out with that. Either drop a comment on my blog (you can do it even if you're not a blogspot member, so don't be initimidated) or send me an email at konradthebarbarian@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Building Character
The website now features characters for use with "The Magic Belt of Oz" fastplay adventure on the Download page. You can use them for any game you care to run with the system, but they will be included in the adventure to get players started quickly.
They are all canonical characters, but you may find some differences from what you expect. This is mostly because they are created as starting characters under the rules. It's as much a test of the character creation system as it is a test of any other mechanic. I think I did a pretty good job, overall.
What do you think?
They are all canonical characters, but you may find some differences from what you expect. This is mostly because they are created as starting characters under the rules. It's as much a test of the character creation system as it is a test of any other mechanic. I think I did a pretty good job, overall.
What do you think?
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Magic Belt of Oz
The fastplay adventure, "The Magic Belt of Oz," is proceeding well. I have a plot outline ready and am building characters. I'm including pregenerated characters for two reasons. 1) Fastplay adventures generally don't include character creation rules and 2) a lot of people will be playing for nostalgia, so being able to play classic characters is a boon. I should be able to post the characters to the website in a day or two, with at least a rough draft of the plot by next week's update.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
HELP!
I've got part of the Quadling Country uploaded today. Just partially done it's on par with one of the other, complete, sections.
The hardest part is coming up with the adventure hooks. I'm sure experienced Game Masters can share my pain on this one. Coming up with one plot is hard enough. Coming up with several in a row is a huge challenge, but it seems to be the one I have set for myself.
Now, I'm asking for help. If you can come up with adventure hooks, story seeds, what have you, and email them to me at konradthebarbarian@gmail.com, I would appreciate it greatly. While I don't mind getting comments on this blog, I'd prefer to be able to contact the people who submit this stuff. That way, should I use your adventure hooks, I can give you proper credit when I publish, and possibly even work a complementary copy of the game or other stuff your way.
The hardest part is coming up with the adventure hooks. I'm sure experienced Game Masters can share my pain on this one. Coming up with one plot is hard enough. Coming up with several in a row is a huge challenge, but it seems to be the one I have set for myself.
Now, I'm asking for help. If you can come up with adventure hooks, story seeds, what have you, and email them to me at konradthebarbarian@gmail.com, I would appreciate it greatly. While I don't mind getting comments on this blog, I'd prefer to be able to contact the people who submit this stuff. That way, should I use your adventure hooks, I can give you proper credit when I publish, and possibly even work a complementary copy of the game or other stuff your way.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
3 of the 4 corners of Oz
The big news today is that I uploaded overviews of Gillikin Country, Munchkin Country, and Winkie Country. For each major location in these lands, I've tried to come up with character options and adventure hooks to make each location useful in the game. I succeeded most of the time, but a few areas are in need of help. Feel free to send me your ideas either by commenting on this blog or by and email at konradthebarbarian@gmail.com. If I use them, I'll put your name on the credits page of the final book.
Quadling Country is next on my list and it's rather scary. It's one of the most developed and interesting corners of Oz, featuring the Hammerheads, the Hoppers, Bunnybury, and a host of interesting places. That document, once finished, threatens to outmass the other 3 documents on the other lands of Oz.
By next week, I should have at least some Quadling material on my site @ ozrpg.50webs.com
See you then
Quadling Country is next on my list and it's rather scary. It's one of the most developed and interesting corners of Oz, featuring the Hammerheads, the Hoppers, Bunnybury, and a host of interesting places. That document, once finished, threatens to outmass the other 3 documents on the other lands of Oz.
By next week, I should have at least some Quadling material on my site @ ozrpg.50webs.com
See you then
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Welcome to Oz!
Welcome to the official blog for F. Douglas Wall Publishing. I look forward to updating this blog weekly, so check back every Wednesday. If you need more frequent updates, check out the product site at ozrpg.50webs.com. So what you get here is more of a weekly "State of the Union" address.
Even so, feel free to comment. I do read them.
"There's more to Oz than the Yellow Brick Road." That's an idea that's very important to me. If you've only seen the movie, or only read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, you're missing out. There is so much more to see and to read. That's one of my goals in producing Adventures in Oz. If I can break even one person of the habit of thinking that there's only one story to Oz, that all Wicked Witches are vulnerable to water, and that "lion" means "guy in a suit,"then I'd like to give it a try.
Adventures in Oz is looking for playtesters. I want people to try it out, see what works, what doesn't work, and see how I can make it better. Do hurry, though, as the playtest period ends in June.
Even so, feel free to comment. I do read them.
"There's more to Oz than the Yellow Brick Road." That's an idea that's very important to me. If you've only seen the movie, or only read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, you're missing out. There is so much more to see and to read. That's one of my goals in producing Adventures in Oz. If I can break even one person of the habit of thinking that there's only one story to Oz, that all Wicked Witches are vulnerable to water, and that "lion" means "guy in a suit,"then I'd like to give it a try.
Adventures in Oz is looking for playtesters. I want people to try it out, see what works, what doesn't work, and see how I can make it better. Do hurry, though, as the playtest period ends in June.
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