All Bundled Up

This week, The Bundle of Holding is offering a collection of family friendly and introductory RPGs. Naturally, Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road is there. It's Pay What You Want for a sleigh full of games to play (minimum $4.95) and if you beat the average price ($12.47 as I write this) you'll get the entire set! AiO is one of the bonus titles, so be sure to aim high.

A portion of the proceeds from the sales will be donated to some really cool children's charities: Save the Children and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

They've also implemented gifting, so you can choose to give a Bundle to a friend. The gift code you receive on purchase is not tied to any given Bundle, so you can even save it for another Bundle of Holding at another time.

In other news, The Wizard's Magic Bag is proceeding, but slowly. The writing is done and it has gone on to layout, which is taking time. Beyond the Deadly Desert has gotten some progress over the last month, but it is not complete. It is a big project and frankly, writing up setting is one of my least favorite parts of this project. But I have fans to please, so I will keep at it until it is done.

Now for a little bit of "Where are they now?" for contributors to Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road.

Amanda Webb, who provided a few illustrations for AiO, launched a webcomic, The Ascendants at http://legendsofaukera.com/.

Kris Newton, the writer of "The Jaded City of Oz", AiO's sample adventure, has come out with his own RPG. Feed: The Vampire Mythos RPG. He ran a Kickstarter for it last month, and was able to release it the day after the Kickstarter closed. While there are those who say that it seems like a fast turnaround for a Kickstarter, I'm inclined to think that he was a little closer to the ransom model than a proper Kickstarter.

Love and Monsters

I know I should probably be focusing my writing efforts on Beyond the Deadly Desert right now, but I'm in a little bit of a pickle.

You see, for most of the areas and regions of Oz and beyond that I've written about, I've been able to say something about linking your character to that place. Sometimes, it's about building your character as though they were from that area, like playing a bunny from Bunnybury. Other times, I talk about the benefits of having a friend from that place.

But there are a number of places beyond the Deadly Desert that are really very not nice. Particularly the regions that General Guph recruits from as he built his Army of Conquest in The Emerald City of Oz.

So I'm wondering: Should I make an effort to make the Growleywogs or Phanfasms playable or sympathetic, even though they had distinctly villainous roles in the story they appeared in? Has any Oz writer taken the opportunity to make any of those creatures into relatable characters? Or should I treat them as monsters or villains?

My view might evolve as I knuckle down into that section of the job, and get a better picture of what these guys are really like, but as I'm getting a run-up on it, that's what I'm seeing in front of me.

And This Is Why I'll Never Win NaNoWriMo

Because today is the first day this month I've gotten to sit down and write anything. Between work and other scheduled activities (including a little gaming), I have been run ragged over the last few days. Last night, I finally got to bed at a human hour with no chance of anything else happening first thing in the morning. We'll see how long this lasts.

I still love NaNoWriMo (and NaGaDeMon for those who participate in it). Don't get me wrong. Because it's a good excuse, a kick in the butt to do the thing that you really want to do. And sometimes, that's what I need.

The day job and real life have left me pretty stressed and depressed recently, so I haven't been putting as much attention into some things. Like this blog, for example, or the thing that this blog is supposedly about. I've still got all the work I've done on Beyond the Deadly Desert, but it's been lying fallow for far too long. I think I'll take advantage of the excuse to blow the dust off of it and finish it.

I don't think it will be finished this month, but hopefully I can use NaGaDeMon to build up some steam and momentum and see how far that takes me.

My RPG Profile

This has been going around the last few days, and it's been so long since I've posted that I decided I should participate. The template is here (You'll get an "adult content" warning, but this particular page is safe.)

I'm currently running (at home): The Castle of the Mad Archmage megadungeon under OSRIC.

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (at home): Well, it's at another guy's house, but he's running a 1e Mystara campaign.

It's kind of funny that most of my current gaming activity is old school games, when I generally consider myself more of an indie kind of guy. In fact, I initially started my own campaign as an experiment in seeing how old school gaming works in actual practice. The fact that this experiment has outlasted any other campaign I've run is kind of staggering.

I would especially like to play/run: I'll probably wind up running it, whatever it is. Especially if it's not D&D related. Burning Wheel, FATE, World of Darkness (probably with Vampires this time), the Last Unicorn Star Trek RPG

...but would also try: Nearly anything else on my shelf. And it's a big shelf.

I live in: Northern California

2 or 3 well-known RPG products other people made that I like: It's always hard to tell what's well-known and what isn't in RPGs. I love every GURPS book Ken Hite has written (Infinite Worlds, Alternate Earths 1 and 2, and the latest version of Horror). Castle Falkenstein has flavor out the wazoo. Promethean: The Created from White Wolf really touched a nerve with me.

2 or 3 novels I like: The Oz series by L. Frank Baum, The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, and Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. It's also amusing to point out that I own the RPG for each of these series.

2 or 3 movies I like: I like Return to Oz, Rise of the Guardians and Pacific Rim.

Best place to find me on-line: you can read my main blog here and Tumblr from time to time. I also have a blog for another project/idea here.

I will read almost anything on tabletop RPGs if it's: Well written. The biggest mistake I think people make when writing about the hobby is assuming that it's all D&D. While D&D is the elephant in the room of the gaming hobby, it's not the only thing.

I really do not want to hear about: Power builds and munchkinning.

Free RPG Content I made for Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road is available here. On my blog, I statted up a bunch of  characters from the Oz books and some other media and magic items.

Free RPG Content I made for PDQ is available here (link). Avatar: The Last Airbender was a really cool show, and I've seen a lot of people trying to hack various game systems to the purpose. Since the bending powers were so flexible, I thought PDQ was a good fit since you could just write "Airbending*" on your character sheet and be done with it. So I wrote up the main characters of the show using those rules.

You can buy RPG stuff I made about Oz here: Amazon.com, DriveThruRPG, Lulu.com, Paizo.com, RPGNow. A few other places too.

If you know anything about Oz it'd help me with a project I'm working on. Either Adventures in Oz: Beyond the Deadly Desert or writing an adventure.

I talk about RPGs on Facebook under the name F Douglas Wall. I also have a fanpage there for Adventures in Oz here.

I talk about RPGs on Google+ under the name +F. Douglas Wall.

I talk about RPGs on RPG.net under the name knarf.

Are You Off To See The Wizard?

You should be. For only one week, you'll be able to see this film classic in IMAX 3D at an IMAX theater near you. (Unfortunately, there are no IMAX theaters near me, so all of you will have to attend a showing in my name.)

But once you've seen the wonderful Wizard of Oz, what then? Especially if you've got kids or other Oz fans among your party, you will be overwhelmed with imaginative energy. So why not use that imagination to make your own Oz stories?

You could even make a game of it. Each person would have their own character that they control. But to make it interesting, one person wouldn't have a character, but instead have the authority to throw in new things for the other people to play around with. They would also have the authority to tell the other players that some of the things that they want their character to do won't work, or might work differently than they expect. But how to keep it fair? Dice, maybe?

You're in luck, because just such a game has already been written, designed and published! It's called Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road. You can purchase it at any of the sites listed over on the right, or directly from your iPad, Nook or Kindle. You can get started quickly with the included scenario, The Jaded City of Oz, which includes a special guest appearance by the King of the Winged Monkeys.

Some of those sites also offer the Adventures in Oz Characters Pack featuring your favorite Oz characters all ready to print out and play. Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and even Toto are there!

Long Time, No See

Has it really been that long since I've posted here? Wow. I'm really slipping. Worse, I'm breaking my prime rule of blogging: Never fade away.

The second rule of blogging is: Always be doing something. You can't really blog unless you've got something to blog about. And that rule is something that I have been keeping to.

I know I've been working on The Wizard's Magic Bag for a while, and it is still happening. Just a few minor touches and it's off to art and layout. Depending on how quickly things come together, it could be as early as Halloween, but hopefully no later than Christmas.

I have also arranged to be interviewed on the Indie Talks podcast next Wednesday. It looks like we'll be doing it as a Hangout on Google+, so you might even be able to watch it happen live (there is still much I don't know about Google+ and Hangouts). I'll keep you posted as news develops.

Also, thanks to Amazon's new MatchBook feature, if you have purchased Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road from Amazon, you can get the Kindle version for free. At least I hope so. If it doesn't work, please let me know.

Things still to do: Get caught up on the sales info. If I'm going to tell you something, I should tell you everything.

And Beyond the Deadly Desert. Yes, I know I've been talking about it for years now. Since the income from the game is going to a number of places that aren't all game related, I'm going to have to Kickstart it. I tried it once and failed, so when I do it again, I want to everything right. Which means having the book fully written, having a cool video and a number of other things before I even think about kicking it off. And with the amounts of energy I've been able to muster lately, that's going to take some time.

What Time Is It?

Adventure Time!

Many fans of the show (and if you're not watching it, you should be!) have noted the numerous D&D references throughout the series. Finn and Jake have fought classic D&D monsters in their many quests. Good, evil and neutral alignments have been referenced in various episodes.

For all of these reasons, people have been trying to homebrew their own Adventure Time RPG. A lot of these hacks try to use some edition of D&D or a retroclone as a base. But I think that a slightly different base is in order: Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road.

Why do I think AiO is such a good fit? (Other than the fact that this is my blog for shilling my game, that is?)

Fairly static characters. Like most characters in kid's shows, Finn and Jake do not grow significantly in ability over time. They become more complex characters with more backdrop and more depth, but generally stay at roughly the same power level. Putting them on D&D-style upgrade paths doesn't seem right to me.

Combat doesn't solve the problems. While Finn is a very heroic character who likes to fight and carries a big sword, he is not excessively violent. He prefers to help people rather than hurt anyone. He even plays fairly with his enemies, like his nemesis Ice King.

While I'm sure it's possible to start with D&D and start adding that sort of stuff in, why not save some effort and use a rule set that has it all baked in from the start?

Name: Finn the Human
Template: Child in Oz (I mean Ooo)
Size: 2

Basic Skills

Athletics: 4
Awareness: 3
Brains: 1
Presence: 2
Sneaking: 2
Wits: 3 (Brave heart)

Traits: Deadly Weapon

Friends List: Princess Bubblegum

Name: Jake the Dog
Template: Small Animal
Size: 1

Athletics: 3 (Stretching)
Awareness: 3
Brains: 2
Presence: 2
Sneaking: 3
Wits: 3

Traits: Stretchy Powers(see below) (1) Musician: Viola (1)

Friends List: Princess Rainicorn

 Jake's flexibility makes him an ideal candidate for an optional rule I've had in mind about "floating" Specialties. Even though a Specialty is associated with a specific Basic Skill, there are times when it makes sense to use the Specialty with another Skill. Jake's Stretching Specialty could be applied to Awareness as he stretches his eyes to look around corners or makes his ears bigger to hear better. Presence and Sneaking could allow Jake to disguise himself to fool people or get places that he shouldn't go.

Stretchy Powers

Power: Transformation, 2 points of changes (1)
Scope: Self/Person/Object (0)
Ritual: None (0)
Item: None (0)
Effect Power: 1

Design Notes: It does seem a little odd (even to me) that the ability to make 2 points of changes to yourself only costs 1 point. Though this is somewhat mitigated by the fact that this cost does not differentiate between positive and negative traits.