The title pretty much sums it up. Don't have much to add here, but with the whole COVID-19 thing I've found myself at home a whole lot more, started a D&D 5E Zoom campaign for a few friends, started working on a short novella based around old-school fantasy gaming tropes, and that kind of dragged me back towards pecking away at the Tankards & Broadswords RPG.
Because Google docs make me happy I haven't lost any of my older material, and I began re-writing some of the material I last worked on in 2013 (!!!). I think I found a better mechanic for bonuses and penalties because I was never really happy with what I'd decided on before. Also brutally streamlining weapon types down to Light, Medium, and Heavy. Same thing with armors. I've cut out almost any form of money mechanics in the game because I've decided that coin-counting is to me antithetical to adventure gameplay.
I also want to focus a lot on what I am loosely referring to as "Tavern Play", which is pretty much how to turn hanging out in Ye Olde Tavern from that boring part in the beginning of the game where you meet the mysterious wizard, into an actual interesting play space where your characters might enjoy hanging out while drinking, flirting, gaming, brawling, gossiping, and in general living the good life.
Fundamentally, I feel like this game isn't so much for me to do a dance and proclaim that I'm now an "indie game designer" so much as it is a platform for me to write my personal gaming manifesto. Pretty sure there isn't much of a market for that, but we'll see. The whole thing is going to be free whenever I get around to putting it someplace because it already beggars belief that I get paid for my fiction writing. I can't imagine anyone paying for my game-related work.
So, we'll see. I'll post more as time goes on.
Showing posts with label TnB RPG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TnB RPG. Show all posts
Monday, May 18, 2020
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
My RPG Publishing Malaise
Later on in college during the mid- to late '90s, I would often pick up interesting one-off RPGs at the local gaming store and read through them, pondering their mechanics and feeling the beginnings of an interest in designing my own game. In fact, around 1999-2000 I did begin serious work on my own simple gaming engine, one I called SCORE (Suitable for Creating the Optimum Role-playing Experience). There were a couple of early versions that used a 2d10 bell-curve, one of which I used to run a 1920s-era horror game that went for a few sessions until I decided to switch setting gears, and baited the party into a TPK (Total Player Kill - I wiped out the entire party).
Eventually this crime against humanity was forgiven, and I ran a couple of fantasy campaigns with a new incarnation of SCORE, one that used a Rolemaster-esque d100 + rating system. Those games actually went quite well, and we had a lot of fun playing right up to around the end of 2002. I still have most of my notes for those games, along with character sheets, and I still think the system works, at least for a game written at the turn of the century. It's not the sort of system I'd use more than a decade later, but I think it worked well enough.
Soon after that game came and went by the wayside, I decided to work on a game with a very strong "Sword & Sorcery" bent, originally named "Legends of Blood and Iron". This game had a lot of good heart, and a lot of flavor to it, but I think mechanically it was a bit of a mess. The world-building portion of the game, and the discussion of what made up a proper S&S campaign, it still I think relevant, and perhaps one day I will dig a few gems out of the work. This was also around the time I found and devoured Ron Edwards' Sorcerer and Sword, a supplement for his Sorcerer RPG. I have no love for the core product, but his supplement is, in my mind, the single best treatise on "Sword & Sorcery" role-playing games I've ever seen.
Over the many intervening years, I have tinkered with a myriad of RPG designs and concepts. I've run a few one-shots here and there to test one mechanic or another, but nothing done with enough time and substance to form any true window into whether or not a specific whole rules set "works" or doesn't work - in short, nor real formal playtesting beyond one or two sessions. I've probably achieved "80%" finished on whatever it is the Tankards & Broadswords RPG might one day be, but that last twenty percent is a real bitch.
The more I think about it, the more I wonder about this RPG publishing malaise. For several years now, the urge to design a game and run a campaign was supplanted by my writing career, which - lets be honest - pays far better than I would ever imagine an RPG might pay. On the other hand, after spending so much cumulative time working towards the nebulous goal of releasing my own RPG - a goal that is easier to achieve than ever, thanks to all the print-on-demand and self-publishing options out there right now - I find it somewhat vexing that I can't approach the goal of writing and publishing an RPG with the same assertiveness that I can approach writing a novel or short story. If I can write a book that gets read by multiple thousands of complete strangers, why can't I write a RPG that might wind up in the hands of - let's be realistic - a few dozen?
Maybe it is because while the majority of readers are just that - readers - who zip through a book once and basically give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down, I find that many - if not most - RPG players are constant rules tinkerers, and obsess over almost any aspect of a game. Only a small handful of readers are ever going to pick over any one of my novels to the degree that MOST gamers would pick over a game. So, I feel, the inevitable level of scrutiny - as well as their natural inclination to say "well, if *I* designed this game, I think XYZ should have been ABC..." - keeps me from pulling the trigger.
I don't know. As I type this, I ponder the writing of a small, specific RPG premise. I think that would be the best way to start. From there, if the idea was interesting and well-received, maybe it'd give me more confidence to tackle a larger, more interesting project. It would be a shame to never have a formal sharing of all this idea fodder, but at the same time, there's a right way and a wrong way to do all that, so I need to pick and choose my battlefield carefully, so to speak.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Tankards and Broadswords RPG: Playtest Session 2
Last night's game was supposed to have a third player, but he wasn't able to attend, instead, I quickly whipped up an NPC Captain of the Blue Tower Guards, a warrior named Alcarn. One goal of the game is to make sure creating an NPC is quick and painless; I use the "monster" format for these sorts of NPCs. Attack, Defense, Reflexes, Athletics, Detection, and Stealth for skills, plus Peril checks, Health, Damage, and Armor rating. It's 12 quick values, no skill focuses, no Statuses. Mail armor, battle axe, two daggers, and a shield. Maybe not QUITE as fast as throwing together a B/X D&D henchman, but pretty darn close.
In case you didn't see the first session post, here it is.
The PCs have been asked by the Blue Tower to go into the edge of the Cthonian Wood and investigate an abandoned wizard's tower that has been located. The Tower of Arion was well outside the wood before the Cataclysm struck and sent a ravaging storm of magical destruction across the land. Now, the Cthonian Wood is much, much larger and its border has swallowed up many now-forgotten towers and villages. The PCs are going to set out on a "fact finding mission" to the rumored location of the tower and see if it is worth sending a larger expedition. Alcarn will accompany them as a representative of the Blue Tower. The PCs are offered any form of basic gear they wish. Marikh takes some mail armor and a shield, while Jayne grabs up a crossbow, a warhammer, grapple and rope, and a deluxe healer's kit. The party are given horses as well as food, torches, and so forth.
The party rides for one of the many roadside forts located between population centers. Think something along the lines of a frontier stockade; a tall wooden palisade with an elevated walk, a bunkhouse, stable, well, and a fire pit. There's a heavy timber gate that can be barred as well. When the PCs get there, no one is occupying the fort, so they settle down for the night. Watches are set, and near the end of the second watch, Marikh makes a solid Detection roll and notices that a lot of the night sounds have died away, and that the horses are beginning to act nervous. Jayne's cat (while enjoying the hospitality of the Blue Tower, Jayne used her Beastmaster spells to acquire an Animal Ally in the form of a stray cat) tells her it smells like "bad meat" out beyond the stockade. With everyone awake, Marikh and Alcarn take to the battlements, while Jayne remains in the center of the stockade with her crossbow ready.
Hunkered down behind the palisade, Marikh suddenly finds himself face-to-face with a ghoulish creature that'd silently scaled the outside of the wooden wall. It swipes for his face with its taloned hand, but Marikh fends it off with the hilt of his sword, then proceeds to bisect its head with his first stroke.
What followed was a fairly brief battle against half a dozen more of these ghoulish Flesh Hunters. Some quick observations about the combat:
The next day the PCs set out and make it to the edge of the Wood by late afternoon. Wisely deciding to stay the night outside the border of the forest, the night is uneventful except for a few "movement sounds" from the forest. Entering the Wood the next morning, the PCs find it pretty rough going (poor Athletics checks) and take more time than they should getting through the thick undergrowth. What's more, they get lost (poor navigational Survival checks) and turned around, and don't find Arion's tower until mid afternoon. The tower is about sixty feet in diameter and about that high, made of dark stone and windowless as far as can be discerned. The whole tower is covered in thick ivy, vines, moss, and other vegetation. The doors are opened a bit, and no movement can be seen or heard.
The PCs decide to move inside. Within, they make out a semi-circular room about thirty feet deep and close to twenty feet tall. Flanking the doorway there are a pair of statues depicting a well-dressed man and woman, but the statues are overgrown, cracked, and broken. The room itself is filled with vegetation and plant growth, almost to an unnatural degree; both corners of the room are completely overrun with vines and what seems to be small stunted trees growing right out of the stone floor. Marikh goes to investigate the overgrowth to the left of the door, when the plants seem to rustle and some noises are discerned. He backs off, only to hear the same from the right, and soon, five Winged Apes burst out of the two locations. The battle is short but fierce, leaving the PCs triumphant with only a couple of minor wounds. Marikh did try a Feint maneuver and his opponent failed miserably to detect it; the resulting attack bonus let Marikh kill the creature with ease.
The evening was getting late so we called the game at this point. Plenty more of exploring to be done, so next time we'll begin to get into the heart of the tower. Playtest-wise, so far so good...
In case you didn't see the first session post, here it is.
The PCs have been asked by the Blue Tower to go into the edge of the Cthonian Wood and investigate an abandoned wizard's tower that has been located. The Tower of Arion was well outside the wood before the Cataclysm struck and sent a ravaging storm of magical destruction across the land. Now, the Cthonian Wood is much, much larger and its border has swallowed up many now-forgotten towers and villages. The PCs are going to set out on a "fact finding mission" to the rumored location of the tower and see if it is worth sending a larger expedition. Alcarn will accompany them as a representative of the Blue Tower. The PCs are offered any form of basic gear they wish. Marikh takes some mail armor and a shield, while Jayne grabs up a crossbow, a warhammer, grapple and rope, and a deluxe healer's kit. The party are given horses as well as food, torches, and so forth.
The party rides for one of the many roadside forts located between population centers. Think something along the lines of a frontier stockade; a tall wooden palisade with an elevated walk, a bunkhouse, stable, well, and a fire pit. There's a heavy timber gate that can be barred as well. When the PCs get there, no one is occupying the fort, so they settle down for the night. Watches are set, and near the end of the second watch, Marikh makes a solid Detection roll and notices that a lot of the night sounds have died away, and that the horses are beginning to act nervous. Jayne's cat (while enjoying the hospitality of the Blue Tower, Jayne used her Beastmaster spells to acquire an Animal Ally in the form of a stray cat) tells her it smells like "bad meat" out beyond the stockade. With everyone awake, Marikh and Alcarn take to the battlements, while Jayne remains in the center of the stockade with her crossbow ready.
Hunkered down behind the palisade, Marikh suddenly finds himself face-to-face with a ghoulish creature that'd silently scaled the outside of the wooden wall. It swipes for his face with its taloned hand, but Marikh fends it off with the hilt of his sword, then proceeds to bisect its head with his first stroke.
What followed was a fairly brief battle against half a dozen more of these ghoulish Flesh Hunters. Some quick observations about the combat:
- Wearing armor made a huge difference. Marikh and Alcarn were both wearing mail, and while they took some damage apiece, it would have been far worse without the damage absorbing abilities of the armor. Rolling 1d + Balance for damage, several of the Flesh Hunter's successful attacks were completely ineffective damage-wise thanks to the mail armor worn by these two characters.
- Combat maneuvers made things a lot more interesting. Faced with two opponents several times, Marikh used "Web of Death" to attack both at the same time. He also suffered a Charge Attack from one of the Hunters, and whiffed his Athletics check badly; the resulting huge bonus for the Hunter allowed it to deliver Marikh's only real wound of the fight.
- You have to really pay attention to Initiative. Because every attack is an attack roll vs. a defense roll, it is easy to forget who actually attacked in a round and who only defended. I found writing down everyone's order of operations, then checking off their number when they acted was a helpful visual aid.
- The Healing Skill works almost too well. A good healer with a deluxe healer's kit tests against a BP of 7, and a starting character with Medicine of 3, +1 for First aid, +1 for the deluxe kit, essentially can't fail a healing check. When I make my post-playtest changes, I may remove the extra 1d from healing and just make points recovered equal to the Balance of the roll.
The next day the PCs set out and make it to the edge of the Wood by late afternoon. Wisely deciding to stay the night outside the border of the forest, the night is uneventful except for a few "movement sounds" from the forest. Entering the Wood the next morning, the PCs find it pretty rough going (poor Athletics checks) and take more time than they should getting through the thick undergrowth. What's more, they get lost (poor navigational Survival checks) and turned around, and don't find Arion's tower until mid afternoon. The tower is about sixty feet in diameter and about that high, made of dark stone and windowless as far as can be discerned. The whole tower is covered in thick ivy, vines, moss, and other vegetation. The doors are opened a bit, and no movement can be seen or heard.
The PCs decide to move inside. Within, they make out a semi-circular room about thirty feet deep and close to twenty feet tall. Flanking the doorway there are a pair of statues depicting a well-dressed man and woman, but the statues are overgrown, cracked, and broken. The room itself is filled with vegetation and plant growth, almost to an unnatural degree; both corners of the room are completely overrun with vines and what seems to be small stunted trees growing right out of the stone floor. Marikh goes to investigate the overgrowth to the left of the door, when the plants seem to rustle and some noises are discerned. He backs off, only to hear the same from the right, and soon, five Winged Apes burst out of the two locations. The battle is short but fierce, leaving the PCs triumphant with only a couple of minor wounds. Marikh did try a Feint maneuver and his opponent failed miserably to detect it; the resulting attack bonus let Marikh kill the creature with ease.
The evening was getting late so we called the game at this point. Plenty more of exploring to be done, so next time we'll begin to get into the heart of the tower. Playtest-wise, so far so good...
Friday, February 17, 2012
Tankards and Broadswords RPG: Playtest Session 1
So last night I ran my first playtest of the TnB rules. It went well, better than I expected actually. I'll provide a brief rundown of what happened and a few observations at the conclusion.
There were only two players in last night's playtest, Scott and Grace. Both had been exposed to the rules before through casual discussion and a few much older tidbits, but this was the first time either had put pen to paper.
Scott settled on a Fighter archetype, putting 4 ranks in Melee with a Focus on Longsword. He also took a Defense of 3 with a focus on Armed Parry and a Reflexes of 3 with a focus on Melee Combat. His Carousing of 3 had a Focus on Drinking, and Persuasion 3 with a Focus on Diplomacy. In his Scholar skills his only real standout was a Research of 2. There were other skill ranks scattered here and there but those were the really notable skills. Interestingly, he gave his character 3 ranks in Resist, 2 in Endure, and 1 in Avoid, meaning he'd be quite resistant to mental attacks. Finally, he put a single point in Wealth and two points in Infamy, giving his character a bit of a bad(ass) reputation. Overall, Marikh of No Place in Particular was a young disenfranchised minor nobleman who was skilled with a blade and the ways of a noble's court.
Grace went the opposite route. She settled on a Scholar, and put 3 ranks apiece in Healing (First Aid), Arcana (Magic), Linguistics (Magic) and Research (Magic). She also took 3 ranks in Carousing, also with a Focus in Drinking, and two ranks apiece in Stealth and Thievery, and in terms of combat, put two ranks apiece into Defense, Ranged, and Reflexes. Once the skills were squared away, she distributed her Peril ranks evenly across all three options, then put all of her Status ranks into Wealth, giving her a max of 3. All her freebie Character Tokens went into a Magic skill of 3, and she picked up three Magic Books: Healer (which became her Magic skill Focus), Beastmaster, and Infiltrator. In essence, her character is a Magical Healer/Thief, an interesting combo that complimented Scott's character quite well.
At the beginning of the game, I asked both players to make Intermission Rolls. This is a random roll that provides the character with some boon or danger at the beginning of an adventure, carried on from their time in between "episodes". In a lot of heroic fantasy, the story begins in medias res, with the character fleeing from some danger, or flush with victory from some event off camera that provides a hook into what is about to happen. Since I had almost no idea of where I wanted the characters to go or do for their first adventure, I decided to leave the decision in the hands of the dice gods.
And the Dice Gods delivered, big time. Both characters rolled 2d and got results of 9: Pauper. This means the character starts the game with no starting currency and gets nothing from their Wealth stat. Normally, at the start of every adventure, the character only begins with Signature Items; these are weapons or other pieces of equipment that the character has bought at character creation which are effectively part of the character - think Xena's chakram, or Elric's Black Sword. Every other piece of gear is up to the whims of fortune as to whether the character will have it or not; the player rolls 2d6 and adds their Wealth rating; the result are the number of Treasure Tokens they have to spend on armor, weapons, and so forth.
Well, Pauper prevents you from doing that - you've got your Signature Items, and nothing else. For Marikh, that was a longsword; for Jayne, that was just her spellbooks. With their Carousing Focuses in Drinking, we decided the perfect way for them both to start the game would be to wake up bleary-eyed and penniless, sitting in a tavern at the crack of dawn. They had agreed to start in Urgh, a very "Lawful-Neutral" city-state where there is a fine, tax, fee, bylaw, etc. for everything. I related to the players that Urgh had such things as vagrancy fees, unemployment fees, and so forth, so it wasn't a good town to get caught in while penniless; the fighting pits, slave labor camps, or some other unpleasantness would be their fate.
So the PCs decided to make a break for it. Outside the tavern, they ducked into an alleyway and stepped over a drunk; Jayne picked the drunk's pocket and found a coin. They discovered the wooden manhole cover to the sewer, and Jayne used her Book of the Infiltrator to cast "Lockwork", popping the lock. Both of them scrounged to find tools; Marikh fashioned a torch from a broken crate and straw, while Jayne got herself a makeshift club. Down into the sewers they went, and after a couple of Survival rolls, aligned their bearings well enough to head for the outflow grate by the docks.
Down into the sewers, eh? Doesn't sound like a particularly safe place to wander. After splashing around for a while, neither PC noticed a large, predatory shape gliding through the sewer waters towards them. With full surprise, a massive sewer alligator leaped from the water and latched onto Jayne's leg, hurting her badly. Marikh jumped to her aid, plunging his sword into the creature's back, and causing it to turn on him, biting and inflicting an even more savage wound. Jayne tried to cast a healing spell on Marikh, but the spell fizzles. The Alligator strikes again but misses, and this time both Jayne and Marikh make contact; Jayne beats on it with her club, while Marikh hacks its head off with his sword. Jayne takes a few rounds to heal them both, and they continue on to the sewer grate, and escape the city of Urgh.
The two characters make their way north along the shoreline, determined to seek the Blue Wizard's Tower and offer their services for employment. During the day they both find sufficient food and water, and even discover a body washed up on shore, wearing a dagger and carrying a purse with two coins. At nightfall, unable to find a good shelter, they decide to build a campfire on the beach and stay there the night before heading inland.
In the middle of the first watch, Marikh hears the "flapping of leathery wings" in the air around the camp, and wakes Jayne. Fears that it might be a larger creature are dispelled, and assuming they are bats, Jayne uses a Beastmaster spell, Beast Speech, to try and talk to them. However, all they get are hisses and cackles from the air. Deciding to make a break for it, they move away from the fire and head inland, only to be immediately pounced on and attacked by a pair of winged apes. Jayne is badly mauled by one, but Marikh quickly kills his opponent, and after Jayne drubs hers with her club, Merikh slices it in half. Further spellcasting brings Jayne back to full health.
Come the morning the two journey inland, and encounter no more troubles along the way. Eventually they reach a mile-wide clearing and see, in the center, the thousand-foot high, hourglass-shaped blue crystal tower of the Blue Wizards. Concerned that just walking to the tower might be ill advised, the duo make their way around the clearing to a watchtower at the point where the road to the tower enters the clearing. Approaching, they are hailed by a half-dozen guards, each bearing a long sword, shield, and mail hauberk, and wearing the blue surcoat of their masters. The duo introduce themselves, and Scott decides that Marikh will attempt to use his Infamy as an "in". He rolls very well, and the guards have heard that "He's that guy, who did that thing, to that other guy, and the blood never came clean from the walls...". The Sergeant-at-Arms decides to put Marikh to a little "test" and engages in a little swordplay; Marikh parries with laughable ease and knocks the Sergeant into the dust with the flat of his blade. Credentials confirmed...
To conclude the evening, the chagrined Sergeant orders to of his men to escort the duo to the Tower, where they are given a change of clothes, allowed to clean up, are fed and watered, and provided any comforts they need. An hour later, they are escorted to an audience with Herik, Wizard of the Fourth Circle, who welcomes them as guests and offers the two of them accommodations for the day, and an audience with his superior the next day. A servant was assigned to handle their needs, and they were dismissed.
This is where we ended the session.
A few observations...
There were only two players in last night's playtest, Scott and Grace. Both had been exposed to the rules before through casual discussion and a few much older tidbits, but this was the first time either had put pen to paper.
Scott settled on a Fighter archetype, putting 4 ranks in Melee with a Focus on Longsword. He also took a Defense of 3 with a focus on Armed Parry and a Reflexes of 3 with a focus on Melee Combat. His Carousing of 3 had a Focus on Drinking, and Persuasion 3 with a Focus on Diplomacy. In his Scholar skills his only real standout was a Research of 2. There were other skill ranks scattered here and there but those were the really notable skills. Interestingly, he gave his character 3 ranks in Resist, 2 in Endure, and 1 in Avoid, meaning he'd be quite resistant to mental attacks. Finally, he put a single point in Wealth and two points in Infamy, giving his character a bit of a bad(ass) reputation. Overall, Marikh of No Place in Particular was a young disenfranchised minor nobleman who was skilled with a blade and the ways of a noble's court.
Grace went the opposite route. She settled on a Scholar, and put 3 ranks apiece in Healing (First Aid), Arcana (Magic), Linguistics (Magic) and Research (Magic). She also took 3 ranks in Carousing, also with a Focus in Drinking, and two ranks apiece in Stealth and Thievery, and in terms of combat, put two ranks apiece into Defense, Ranged, and Reflexes. Once the skills were squared away, she distributed her Peril ranks evenly across all three options, then put all of her Status ranks into Wealth, giving her a max of 3. All her freebie Character Tokens went into a Magic skill of 3, and she picked up three Magic Books: Healer (which became her Magic skill Focus), Beastmaster, and Infiltrator. In essence, her character is a Magical Healer/Thief, an interesting combo that complimented Scott's character quite well.
At the beginning of the game, I asked both players to make Intermission Rolls. This is a random roll that provides the character with some boon or danger at the beginning of an adventure, carried on from their time in between "episodes". In a lot of heroic fantasy, the story begins in medias res, with the character fleeing from some danger, or flush with victory from some event off camera that provides a hook into what is about to happen. Since I had almost no idea of where I wanted the characters to go or do for their first adventure, I decided to leave the decision in the hands of the dice gods.
And the Dice Gods delivered, big time. Both characters rolled 2d and got results of 9: Pauper. This means the character starts the game with no starting currency and gets nothing from their Wealth stat. Normally, at the start of every adventure, the character only begins with Signature Items; these are weapons or other pieces of equipment that the character has bought at character creation which are effectively part of the character - think Xena's chakram, or Elric's Black Sword. Every other piece of gear is up to the whims of fortune as to whether the character will have it or not; the player rolls 2d6 and adds their Wealth rating; the result are the number of Treasure Tokens they have to spend on armor, weapons, and so forth.
Well, Pauper prevents you from doing that - you've got your Signature Items, and nothing else. For Marikh, that was a longsword; for Jayne, that was just her spellbooks. With their Carousing Focuses in Drinking, we decided the perfect way for them both to start the game would be to wake up bleary-eyed and penniless, sitting in a tavern at the crack of dawn. They had agreed to start in Urgh, a very "Lawful-Neutral" city-state where there is a fine, tax, fee, bylaw, etc. for everything. I related to the players that Urgh had such things as vagrancy fees, unemployment fees, and so forth, so it wasn't a good town to get caught in while penniless; the fighting pits, slave labor camps, or some other unpleasantness would be their fate.
So the PCs decided to make a break for it. Outside the tavern, they ducked into an alleyway and stepped over a drunk; Jayne picked the drunk's pocket and found a coin. They discovered the wooden manhole cover to the sewer, and Jayne used her Book of the Infiltrator to cast "Lockwork", popping the lock. Both of them scrounged to find tools; Marikh fashioned a torch from a broken crate and straw, while Jayne got herself a makeshift club. Down into the sewers they went, and after a couple of Survival rolls, aligned their bearings well enough to head for the outflow grate by the docks.
Down into the sewers, eh? Doesn't sound like a particularly safe place to wander. After splashing around for a while, neither PC noticed a large, predatory shape gliding through the sewer waters towards them. With full surprise, a massive sewer alligator leaped from the water and latched onto Jayne's leg, hurting her badly. Marikh jumped to her aid, plunging his sword into the creature's back, and causing it to turn on him, biting and inflicting an even more savage wound. Jayne tried to cast a healing spell on Marikh, but the spell fizzles. The Alligator strikes again but misses, and this time both Jayne and Marikh make contact; Jayne beats on it with her club, while Marikh hacks its head off with his sword. Jayne takes a few rounds to heal them both, and they continue on to the sewer grate, and escape the city of Urgh.
The two characters make their way north along the shoreline, determined to seek the Blue Wizard's Tower and offer their services for employment. During the day they both find sufficient food and water, and even discover a body washed up on shore, wearing a dagger and carrying a purse with two coins. At nightfall, unable to find a good shelter, they decide to build a campfire on the beach and stay there the night before heading inland.
In the middle of the first watch, Marikh hears the "flapping of leathery wings" in the air around the camp, and wakes Jayne. Fears that it might be a larger creature are dispelled, and assuming they are bats, Jayne uses a Beastmaster spell, Beast Speech, to try and talk to them. However, all they get are hisses and cackles from the air. Deciding to make a break for it, they move away from the fire and head inland, only to be immediately pounced on and attacked by a pair of winged apes. Jayne is badly mauled by one, but Marikh quickly kills his opponent, and after Jayne drubs hers with her club, Merikh slices it in half. Further spellcasting brings Jayne back to full health.
Come the morning the two journey inland, and encounter no more troubles along the way. Eventually they reach a mile-wide clearing and see, in the center, the thousand-foot high, hourglass-shaped blue crystal tower of the Blue Wizards. Concerned that just walking to the tower might be ill advised, the duo make their way around the clearing to a watchtower at the point where the road to the tower enters the clearing. Approaching, they are hailed by a half-dozen guards, each bearing a long sword, shield, and mail hauberk, and wearing the blue surcoat of their masters. The duo introduce themselves, and Scott decides that Marikh will attempt to use his Infamy as an "in". He rolls very well, and the guards have heard that "He's that guy, who did that thing, to that other guy, and the blood never came clean from the walls...". The Sergeant-at-Arms decides to put Marikh to a little "test" and engages in a little swordplay; Marikh parries with laughable ease and knocks the Sergeant into the dust with the flat of his blade. Credentials confirmed...
To conclude the evening, the chagrined Sergeant orders to of his men to escort the duo to the Tower, where they are given a change of clothes, allowed to clean up, are fed and watered, and provided any comforts they need. An hour later, they are escorted to an audience with Herik, Wizard of the Fourth Circle, who welcomes them as guests and offers the two of them accommodations for the day, and an audience with his superior the next day. A servant was assigned to handle their needs, and they were dismissed.
This is where we ended the session.
A few observations...
- The Intermission Roll couldn't have worked better. I designed them to be a possible jumping-off point for adventures, and in this case, that's exactly what it provided. I came to the table with almost no idea of what the adventure was going to be, but the Pauper result for both characters gave us exactly what we needed; an impetus for action. Perhaps it wouldn't happen every adventure, but the players liked the idea that it we were able to weave the result into their Carousing skills, which made everyone happy.
- Combat, while ill-equipped, can be very dangerous. Only Marikh had a real weapon, Jayne had no offensive spells, and neither character was wearing armor. The result was that in both fights, against opponents who weren't terribly powerful, one or both of the characters got mauled. Typically it was because the attacker got a really good attack roll and the defender rolled terribly, giving the attacker a very high Balance for the attack, which gave the damage roll a massive bonus. Having no armor to soak some of that damage hurt...a lot.
- Being able to give very generic skills much narrower skill Focuses helped make the skill feel more specialized. Marikh wasn't just a good Melee fighter, he was a swordsman. Likewise, focusing all of Jayne's Scholar skills towards magic, and her Magic skill towards Healer, kept a lot of flavor in the mix.
- I need to draft up some form of encounter rules. I was just rolling 2d6 and if it was a really high roll, "something happened". Having a 2d roll that went from "nothing", to "friendly", "neutral" and "dangerous" would help this.
- There was little problem with leaving most skills open to a broad interpretation. Survival becomes crucial for any cross-country travel, useful for scrounging, navigating, finding food, water, and shelter - you name it. And we were clearly able to differentiate between Survival and Naturalism; one was living off the land, the other was an academic understanding of the land, flora, and fauna.
- Aside from being dangerous, combat moved smoothly. We would have to see how larger fights work out; perhaps having a Reflexes roll just once at the start of the fight would result in a lot less bookkeeping.
- One of the players was a little disappointed when told how long it takes to progress skills after character creation, but as the characters can start off with up to 4 ranks in a skill - "Veteran" status - the need to advance more quickly isn't, in my mind, much of an issue. We'll see how that attitude fares later on in the gameplay.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
New Campaign Map Made in Google Docs
I'm a big fan of Google Docs - I use it for pretty much everything I do that isn't work related. The ability to keep everything online where I can get to it from anywhere is a huge advantage for me, and especially the ability to share and collaborate with other people.
In preparation for my Tankards and Broadswords RPG playtesting tonight, I worked on a campaign map yesterday, and decided to make it in Google Docs' Drawing feature. I've used this feature before to make UML diagrams and other drawings for coursework and personal use, but I've never tried it before as a map-making tool; I've always used Campaign Cartographer instead.
While CC is an excellent program, and what you can make with it is light years agead of what Google Docs provides, I still think the results were...okay. Maybe a little too bright and technicolor for some people, but it will suffice for some friendly, casual high-adventure gaming:
Google Docs has a "publish to web" feature, that generates a .png file from your most recent saved work, so any time you modify your work, the new version is what people see. For those people having trouble viewing the .png in their browser, here's a static JPG:
Anyhow, I'm happy enough with the results. One of the nice things about the Google Docs Drawings is that you can very easily expand the canvas out; handy for those games where your PC start with the "local area" map and then as time goes on, you pull back the zoom, so to speak, and add more and more to the surrounding areas.
In preparation for my Tankards and Broadswords RPG playtesting tonight, I worked on a campaign map yesterday, and decided to make it in Google Docs' Drawing feature. I've used this feature before to make UML diagrams and other drawings for coursework and personal use, but I've never tried it before as a map-making tool; I've always used Campaign Cartographer instead.
While CC is an excellent program, and what you can make with it is light years agead of what Google Docs provides, I still think the results were...okay. Maybe a little too bright and technicolor for some people, but it will suffice for some friendly, casual high-adventure gaming:
Google Docs has a "publish to web" feature, that generates a .png file from your most recent saved work, so any time you modify your work, the new version is what people see. For those people having trouble viewing the .png in their browser, here's a static JPG:
Anyhow, I'm happy enough with the results. One of the nice things about the Google Docs Drawings is that you can very easily expand the canvas out; handy for those games where your PC start with the "local area" map and then as time goes on, you pull back the zoom, so to speak, and add more and more to the surrounding areas.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Tankards & Broadswords RPG: Revisiting the Mess
Off and on, I've worked on this rules set in one form or another for close to 10 years. I know I'm terrible at finishing anything, but I'm feeling renewed motivation these days. My hope is to create the rules set so that, at least in one version, it is available as a Kindle e-book that is well-indexed and interactive enough so that a reader can move around from one section to the other without much fuss. This is actually a lot easier in a touch reader like the iPad, where you can just tap a hyperlink to follow through. I don't know if this will be a successful experiment or not, but I think it is worth persuing; e-books are definitely here to stay, and I think it is possible and advantageous to produce a RPG book as a Kindle-style e-book.
I'm not sure when I'll have an update; hopefully next week I can discuss how the playtesting went and what lessons came about from the session.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Getting Back into the Gaming Groove
Coming back to RPGs after a year or more of being on hiatus is weird, but I'm beginning to enjoy the process again. One of the things I've started working on is actual playtesting for the T&B RPG. I'm developing a magical "post-apocalyptic" mini-setting, which I'm calling "The Mad God's Sandbox". I'm populating it with a lot of less than bog-standard fantasy races; ratmen, lizardmen, birdmen, inscect-men, sentient undead and golems as non-human PC races. I'm trying to come up with some fun adventures and interesting ways in which I can play with the rules and see how they help or hinder gameplay.
The response I've gotten from the Delta Green adventure was very positive, and I hope to have a follow-up adventure in a few weeks. The players all seem to be attached to their pre-gens in one way or another, so at most I think there will be a little skill-tweaking and re-shuffling. Hopefully that game will continue on in a happy fashion.
I'm also trying to get back to working on my 40K miniatures. It has been over a year since I've played a game of 40K, but I've made some new gaming contacts and it'd be nice to get a game up and running soon. I recently went through and took stock of my models and what needed to be done to make some improvements, so I have my "work orders" planned out for the next few months.
Also, my old Castles & Crusades gaming group may be finally getting back together after more than a year and a half hiatus. That should be a lot of fun - if we all remember what we were doing when the game ended last time!
Anyhow, just wanted to pass along some updates and let the world know that the blog is still alive and kicking!
The response I've gotten from the Delta Green adventure was very positive, and I hope to have a follow-up adventure in a few weeks. The players all seem to be attached to their pre-gens in one way or another, so at most I think there will be a little skill-tweaking and re-shuffling. Hopefully that game will continue on in a happy fashion.
I'm also trying to get back to working on my 40K miniatures. It has been over a year since I've played a game of 40K, but I've made some new gaming contacts and it'd be nice to get a game up and running soon. I recently went through and took stock of my models and what needed to be done to make some improvements, so I have my "work orders" planned out for the next few months.
Also, my old Castles & Crusades gaming group may be finally getting back together after more than a year and a half hiatus. That should be a lot of fun - if we all remember what we were doing when the game ended last time!
Anyhow, just wanted to pass along some updates and let the world know that the blog is still alive and kicking!
Monday, August 30, 2010
My New RPG Project
Many apologies for being absent from here for over a month. Work has been busy (training a new co-worker), and I've been working on doing some fiction writing over the last few weeks, as well as plunging headlong into a whole mess of Netflix rentals and going back to watch a few DVDs from off my shelves.
I've also been working on a new RPG project over the last couple of weeks. It sort of grew out of my current writing project, but it's really been in the back of my mind since I passed over my draft of the T&B RPG to Rob Lang at the Free RPG Blog. Rob's biggest criticism of the game was that, when all was said and done, there was very little to make it interesting or special, nothing to set it apart from all the dozens, nay hundreds, of "medium crunch generic fantasy / general purpose role-playing games".
I had to agree with Rob, and have been spending a lot of time pondering a suitable vehicle for the rules, ideas simmering on the back-burner of my creative stovetop. Something that hasn't been seen a lot, something that'd be fun to play, use some interesting rules, but not over-burden or over-complicate matters.
I think I've finally found that game.
More to come...
I've also been working on a new RPG project over the last couple of weeks. It sort of grew out of my current writing project, but it's really been in the back of my mind since I passed over my draft of the T&B RPG to Rob Lang at the Free RPG Blog. Rob's biggest criticism of the game was that, when all was said and done, there was very little to make it interesting or special, nothing to set it apart from all the dozens, nay hundreds, of "medium crunch generic fantasy / general purpose role-playing games".
I had to agree with Rob, and have been spending a lot of time pondering a suitable vehicle for the rules, ideas simmering on the back-burner of my creative stovetop. Something that hasn't been seen a lot, something that'd be fun to play, use some interesting rules, but not over-burden or over-complicate matters.
I think I've finally found that game.
More to come...
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Game Mechanics: Smoke Em If You Got Em
Over this past week’s vacation from work, I broke down and picked up a first-person shooter for myself. I’m not much of a console gamer - there’s something about using console controllers that I just find awkward, and if one is using the TV to play a console game then no one else can use the TV for it’s more common purpose. So I tend to prefer computer games, especially for FPS-style games (I find the reaction time and precision afforded with a mouse and a keyboard way better than a console controller).
Anyhow, I picked up Rogue Warrior, a so-so computer game I bought mostly because I think Richard Marcinko is a hardcore throat-stomper who’s more or less made a second successful career out of being a well-marketed bona-fide badass after his first career as a Navy SEAL ended at the hands of a wrathful US government-delivered jail sentence. the FPS game would have been decent maybe ten years ago, around the era of Rainbow Six and the like, but these days is woefully outclassed. However, since I don’t play a lot of video games, the novelty of a new game, filled with ridiculous profanity and all sorts of gratuitously brutal “kill moves” kept me entertained for a handful of evenings.
And yes, I’m getting to a point...
One thing I noticed was that every level I played, there were opportunities for utilizing some of the little perks of the game. For example, the beginning of every mission, your enemies aren’t aware you’re there, and you have the option of taking out the first half dozen or so bad guys in hand-to-hand “kill moves” which are pretty entertaining. Most every mission also has at least one area where you could enjoy yourself sniping at the bad guys with a handily available sniper rifle. There’s also at least one close-quarters battle area where a shotgun or SMG can be very handy.
Now, the cool part is that you don’t HAVE to kill people quietly in the beginning of the mission, or snipe at them at another point in the game, etc. etc., but there is an option to use these features and while you don’t have to, it makes it fun to do so.
This got me thinking about role-playing game mechanics. While it is perfectly possible to play an all-human, no-spellcasters game of D&D where there is no magic and no magic items, and no one ever goes into a “dungeon”, you’d be hard pressed to give me a reason why this is a good idea. Similarly, playing a Traveller game where you never leave the low-tech planet you’re on, or a Shadowrun game where there’s no cybernetics, or an Ars Magica game where no one plays a mage. There’s nothing stopping you from ignoring the primary “draw” of a certain RPG, but it gives me pause to consider it because if you ignore what makes that game unique, I feel there’s little point in using that game in favor of another, far more generic and flavorless system.
Of course, this is different than “picking and choosing rules” or coming up with homebrew solutions. I’m talking more about ignoring whole reasons why the game was created. Using my own homebrew Tankards & Broadswords RPG as an example, I’ve designed the game from the beginning to facilitate episodic play. For someone to take the game and use it in a linear campaign wouldn’t be “doing it wrong”, but on the other hand, why pick my RPG out of all the hundreds out there and then not use that which helps set it apart a little from its peers?
So my question to the reader is, when would you or when have you taken a game system and then completely ignored or thrown out that which most strongly defines that system, and why would you or did you do this?
Anyhow, I picked up Rogue Warrior, a so-so computer game I bought mostly because I think Richard Marcinko is a hardcore throat-stomper who’s more or less made a second successful career out of being a well-marketed bona-fide badass after his first career as a Navy SEAL ended at the hands of a wrathful US government-delivered jail sentence. the FPS game would have been decent maybe ten years ago, around the era of Rainbow Six and the like, but these days is woefully outclassed. However, since I don’t play a lot of video games, the novelty of a new game, filled with ridiculous profanity and all sorts of gratuitously brutal “kill moves” kept me entertained for a handful of evenings.
And yes, I’m getting to a point...
One thing I noticed was that every level I played, there were opportunities for utilizing some of the little perks of the game. For example, the beginning of every mission, your enemies aren’t aware you’re there, and you have the option of taking out the first half dozen or so bad guys in hand-to-hand “kill moves” which are pretty entertaining. Most every mission also has at least one area where you could enjoy yourself sniping at the bad guys with a handily available sniper rifle. There’s also at least one close-quarters battle area where a shotgun or SMG can be very handy.
Now, the cool part is that you don’t HAVE to kill people quietly in the beginning of the mission, or snipe at them at another point in the game, etc. etc., but there is an option to use these features and while you don’t have to, it makes it fun to do so.
This got me thinking about role-playing game mechanics. While it is perfectly possible to play an all-human, no-spellcasters game of D&D where there is no magic and no magic items, and no one ever goes into a “dungeon”, you’d be hard pressed to give me a reason why this is a good idea. Similarly, playing a Traveller game where you never leave the low-tech planet you’re on, or a Shadowrun game where there’s no cybernetics, or an Ars Magica game where no one plays a mage. There’s nothing stopping you from ignoring the primary “draw” of a certain RPG, but it gives me pause to consider it because if you ignore what makes that game unique, I feel there’s little point in using that game in favor of another, far more generic and flavorless system.
Of course, this is different than “picking and choosing rules” or coming up with homebrew solutions. I’m talking more about ignoring whole reasons why the game was created. Using my own homebrew Tankards & Broadswords RPG as an example, I’ve designed the game from the beginning to facilitate episodic play. For someone to take the game and use it in a linear campaign wouldn’t be “doing it wrong”, but on the other hand, why pick my RPG out of all the hundreds out there and then not use that which helps set it apart a little from its peers?
So my question to the reader is, when would you or when have you taken a game system and then completely ignored or thrown out that which most strongly defines that system, and why would you or did you do this?
Friday, March 26, 2010
TnB RPG: Carousing, Brawling, and Feasting
With a game sporting a title like "Tankards and Broadswords", I always envisioned there being at least some tankard-raising and tankard-emptying (or it's setting-appropriate equivalent) in every campaign run using the rules set. For my players and I, gaming has always been as much about the food, the drink, the laughter and the hijinks around the gaming table as it has been about the gameplay, and so I feel the same should be reflected in the actions of the player characters; they should partake of carousing and feasting and horseplay together as much as they go off and partake in grand adventures.
I'll take this moment to point out that, as I begin this column, I've cracked open a bottle of home-brewed beer given to me by one of my players. It's her first batch, but still eminently drinkable. A fitting libation for what I'm writing about here.
Carousing
When I created the skills set for the Rogue, the Carousing skill was foremost in my mind, and I consider it a critical component of adventure gaming. Allow me to cut-and-paste in the section on Carousing from the Gameplay section of the rules:
Brawling
Nothing says having a good time at Ye Olde Tavern like a full-blown barroom brawl. It's the staple of many an adventure story, and it allows players (and their PCs) the chance to blow off a little steam while at the same time, not unduly endangering themselves or racking up an unfortunate body count with the locals. The following is an excerpt from the T&B Core Rules:
It's important to note that while the Carousing skill can be used for Brawling, and Brawling attacks can do damage and eventually incapacitate foes, one does not "brawl" with a battle axe or broadsword; Brawling is barroom-style combat, where the object is to knock each other's heads together and give someone a few lumps. While it can come in handy in a pinch when your rogue PC finds themselves in a tight spot, I don't recommend letting characters substitute Brawling for real, serious do-or-die combat skills. If a character wants to make the attempt, I'd suggest the GM impose a -2 or -3 penalty on their Brawling rolls, as the character discovers that the same tactics they use to knock about a couple of drunk farmers at the local watering hole don't work so well against a mob of rampaging beastmen.
Feasting
It sounds a little silly to admit it, but one of my favorite parts of well-done swords-and sorcery adventure fiction is the food and the drink. Heaping platters of steaming meats, loaves of fresh-baked breads, finely aged and fragrant cheeses, delicate sweetmeats and exotic desserts, and of course a plethora of beverages; tankards of foaming ale, cool crisp hard ciders, sweet refreshing meads, delicate white wines and robust reds, glasses of port and snifters of brandy, along with more potent elixirs auch as schnapps, aquavit, sake, or kumis.
Determining what your characters eat and drink in different portions of the campaign world, and stocking the taverns and mead-halls accordingly, can lend an air of interesting immediacy to what is usually just a boilerplate bit of session-filler. Almost two years ago, I wrote an article on alcoholic beverages and how they can factor into your gaming experience. In a Tankards & Broadswords campaign, this attention to detail would be expected.
Now, I'm typically not a fan of drunkenness mechanics, although GMs are more than welcome to incorporate them into their campaigns. I did, instead, work in another sort of optional rule (and yes, all rules are optional; I mean "optional" in terms of appropriate to the system, but not an integral part of the core rules) that promotes the rejuvenative powers of good food and drink. Copied from the T&B Core Rules:
Giving the players several good reasons to have their characters spend some of their hard-won treasure in the nearest tavern (and support small business owners in the process), should encourage colorful scenes of feasting and merriment, both in game and out (within reason, people - let's keep things from getting too out of hand around the gaming table!).
I'll take this moment to point out that, as I begin this column, I've cracked open a bottle of home-brewed beer given to me by one of my players. It's her first batch, but still eminently drinkable. A fitting libation for what I'm writing about here.
Carousing
When I created the skills set for the Rogue, the Carousing skill was foremost in my mind, and I consider it a critical component of adventure gaming. Allow me to cut-and-paste in the section on Carousing from the Gameplay section of the rules:
CarousingBecause of the above, I whole-heartedly encourage T&B GMs to put some thought and creativity into their taverns or other drinking and carousing establishments. Populate them with interesting and useful characters, invest some effort into putting foods and beverages appropriate to the setting culture on the menu, and even, if your players are amenable to it, do a little research into period games of chance or other tavern games, and see about incorporating them into gameplay. You may even be able to go so far as to get the players to take the place of their characters "at the card table" so to speak, and play some games of chance for the benefit (or detriment) of their PCs. This gives the opportunity for the "game within a game" aspects that many folks like to see incorporated into their gaming.
Although the "Tavern Scene" in most adventure RPGs is simply a way to introduce the next adventure, a clever GM and / or clever players can put their PC's hard-partying skills to good use in order to dig up good gossip, pocket some gambling coinage, impress some potential henchmen, or earn some local goodwill by offering to by the next round or three and showing that the PCs can put it away with the best of 'em. As many businessmen can tell you, it's often not in the boardroom but in the barroom that business deals succeed or fail (that's what those expense accounts are for, after all...). Being able to out-drink or arm-wrestle a mercenary captain might mean the difference between having an ally or an enemy on the next adventure!
Brawling
Nothing says having a good time at Ye Olde Tavern like a full-blown barroom brawl. It's the staple of many an adventure story, and it allows players (and their PCs) the chance to blow off a little steam while at the same time, not unduly endangering themselves or racking up an unfortunate body count with the locals. The following is an excerpt from the T&B Core Rules:
The Brawling Rules
Characters sometimes have the option of fighting using the Carousing skill - this is generally known as Brawling. "Brawling" in T&B represents not just fighting with fists and feet, but with a tankard, beef bone, wine bottle, rock, tavern bench - whatever makeshift clubbing / bashing / smashing implement happens to be at hand at the moment (note that just because it's part of the Carousing skill, that doesn't mean Brawling can't be done outside of a tavern...).
An unarmed character who uses the Carousing skill in a fight first makes a Chance roll to grab an impromptu weapon and augment their damage rolls. Normally, an unarmed character would roll 1d-1 for damage (because they lack even a Light weapon), but the PC can take the result of the following roll to see if they have acquired an impromptu brawling weapon:
1: No Suitable Weapon Available
2-3: Light Weapon (tankard, beef bone, rock)
4-5: Medium Weapon (chair, fire iron, table leg)
6: Heavy Weapon (bar bench, lit brazier, burning log)
There is one other important factor to consider with Brawling fights - because Brawling combat is made up of attacks with an odd assortment of makeshift weapons as well as unarmed attacks like headbutts, throws, kicks to the groin, etc., and a "brawl" is usually not meant to be a lethal combat, damage is not always of the slice-you-open, crush-your-skull variety. Because of this, any time a blow lands and damage is dealt, only on a 1d/5+, is the damage "real"; otherwise, the damage is considered Temporary.
It's important to note that while the Carousing skill can be used for Brawling, and Brawling attacks can do damage and eventually incapacitate foes, one does not "brawl" with a battle axe or broadsword; Brawling is barroom-style combat, where the object is to knock each other's heads together and give someone a few lumps. While it can come in handy in a pinch when your rogue PC finds themselves in a tight spot, I don't recommend letting characters substitute Brawling for real, serious do-or-die combat skills. If a character wants to make the attempt, I'd suggest the GM impose a -2 or -3 penalty on their Brawling rolls, as the character discovers that the same tactics they use to knock about a couple of drunk farmers at the local watering hole don't work so well against a mob of rampaging beastmen.
Feasting
It sounds a little silly to admit it, but one of my favorite parts of well-done swords-and sorcery adventure fiction is the food and the drink. Heaping platters of steaming meats, loaves of fresh-baked breads, finely aged and fragrant cheeses, delicate sweetmeats and exotic desserts, and of course a plethora of beverages; tankards of foaming ale, cool crisp hard ciders, sweet refreshing meads, delicate white wines and robust reds, glasses of port and snifters of brandy, along with more potent elixirs auch as schnapps, aquavit, sake, or kumis.
Determining what your characters eat and drink in different portions of the campaign world, and stocking the taverns and mead-halls accordingly, can lend an air of interesting immediacy to what is usually just a boilerplate bit of session-filler. Almost two years ago, I wrote an article on alcoholic beverages and how they can factor into your gaming experience. In a Tankards & Broadswords campaign, this attention to detail would be expected.
Now, I'm typically not a fan of drunkenness mechanics, although GMs are more than welcome to incorporate them into their campaigns. I did, instead, work in another sort of optional rule (and yes, all rules are optional; I mean "optional" in terms of appropriate to the system, but not an integral part of the core rules) that promotes the rejuvenative powers of good food and drink. Copied from the T&B Core Rules:
Optional Rule: Heroic Feasting!
Sometimes after a day (or week) of perilous adventuring, a PC just needs a good meal and some fine spirits in order to recover from the trials and hardships they have endured. Whenever the PC is injured and has found a suitable eating establishment (GM's discretion), the PC may spend the equivalent of one Treasure Token and have themselves a true hero's feast of the finest food and drink the establishment has to offer, gorging on enormous portions of meat and other exotic foods, and guzzling tankards of the finest ale, mead, or wine (whatever's the most setting appropriate).
In the morning, and only after a solid eight hours of sleep, the PC will wake up to find that they have recovered 2d Health (but might have a bit of a hangover - sometimes you take the bad with the good...).
Giving the players several good reasons to have their characters spend some of their hard-won treasure in the nearest tavern (and support small business owners in the process), should encourage colorful scenes of feasting and merriment, both in game and out (within reason, people - let's keep things from getting too out of hand around the gaming table!).
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