ACKS - The End is Nigh!

Summer's end is approaching, and while school doesn't start up again until near the end of August, it's getting close to time to pack up and move back east.  As a result, barring weeknight gaming, we only have one more session of ACKS left this summer.  My current plan is to put the campaign on hiatus for this coming semester; my course load is looking a bit hairy (six classes, two of which are compilers and network security), and I could use a bit of a break from being behind the screen.  However, general consensus among the players is that if I were to pick it back up in the spring, they'd be in.  Since I will have satisfied my reqs to graduate by then, I should be able to take a lighter load of fun / interesting classes in the spring and have time to run a game..

The approaching closing of this chapter of For a Few GP More has put me in both a retrospective and plotting mood.  Currently I have a GM-only wiki page on the Portal with 23 loose ends generated over the course of the game; of those, three and a half have been resolved since I started keeping the list.  This gives me a lot of stuff to work with for the finale session; too much, in fact.  I'm having trouble deciding which loose ends to tie up, and which to leave open for the next season.  It's a good problem, I guess, but also tied to the question of the structure of the next season.  If people are bringing back the same characters, then it's fine to leave personal plots open; if not, then that's less viable.  Bringing back the same characters leads to power disparity issues; I know Jason was feeling it this last game (he missed out on the wish-haul, and has a 3rd-level spellsword in a party where many of the henchmen are 3rd-4th level, and the highest-level PC is 7th).  Technically, the XP math works so that this will correct itself, but it could still be quite frustrating for newcomers.  The alternative, to switch to a low-level party with some of the henchmen replacing PCs (Tim retiring Corinth to play Hulst, for example), with only occasional sessions dedicated to higher-level play, would work quite acceptably, except that Andrew and Tom both have no surviving henchmen.  I guess I'll play it by ear and go for a mix of personal and impersonal plots.

But, some statistics.
Our first session was on the 26th of May, and our last is scheduled for the weekend of the 4th of August.  Thus, we will have played for about ten weeks, minus the week I was out of town.  We also played about three weeknight sessions, for a total of 12ish games.  The lowest number of players in attendance was three, which happened several times, and the highest was five, which also happened frequently.  The smallest party size in-game was four in the first session (Gallivan, Errgumun, Joe's bladedancer, and Corinth), while the largest that I recall (not including mercenaries) was during the first expedition to Bleak, with 12 party members.  During the 12 sessions, fifteen forays were made to three dungeons; six to the fallen dwarven fortress of Sandygates, seven to the ruined Bleak Academy of Necromancy, and two to the Monastery of Madness.  One more dungeon, the Crocodile Temple, was mapped and stocked (mostly), and while the party knew its location, they never visited due to the many miles of perilous marshes between Opportunity and it.  The highest number of expeditions attempted in one session was three, with the fourth, fifth, and sixth expeditions to the Academy.  The lowest was zero; this occurred only once, during the overland journey from Deal to Opportunity.  A total of seven and a half months of in-universe time have elapsed during this campaign, which may be a new record for this group; the only others that might give this a run for its money are some of our Traveller games.

The highest level reached by a PC so far is 7th, by Drew's bard Garwyn.  Drew also wins the Worst Employer Award, for having the most dead henchmen to his name (nine out of the fourteen henchman casualties), and the only actual personal henchman kill of the game.  Joe, Tom, and Andrew tied for most PC deaths, at two each, but Joe has the distinction of being the only player with two PC deaths in one session.  Despite a total of eight PC deaths, we had only one replacement PC come from a henchman background (Corinth) - all other replacements were brought in via reserve XP.  Most PCs began play at 3rd level, a few (elves) at 2nd, and I believe Garwyn came in at 4th on reserve (Carcophan may have as well).  The only player who hasn't had a PC die is Jason, who has also played the fewest sessions of any player.

Sure wish I had kept better track of XP and gold earned for examining monster-vs-treasure XP balance...  I could probably reserve-engineer it from my notes, but don't feel like it at this time.  Drew and to a lesser extent Tom are the only ones to have engaged in campaign play; Drew has a thieves' guild and a town under his control, and is working on constructing a castle to exert his dominance of the surrounding lands, while Tom engaged in arcane research once and has been considering constructing magic items.  He also has ambitions of rebuilding the Academy or launching a chaotic beastman domain.  For his part, Tim has avoided the bookkeeping involved in campaign operations, and Andrew and Jason haven't really reached the levels of power to try it yet.

Starmada Sunday: OGRE Nova

By way of Steve Jackson Games

 Does look kinda like a spaceship, don't it?

Way back in the ancient days of Starmada: AE, before my time with it, a crazy fellow did a conversion of OGRE to AE.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided to convert his conversion to Nova.  Note that I don't have a copy of, and have never played, OGRE itself, but man do I love the premise.

So, some units.

OGRE III-class Cybertank (277) (pictured above)
Armor: 6 5 * 4 3 * 2 1
Hull: 12 11 10 9 * 8 7 6 5 * 4 3 2 1
Thrust 3 2 2 1 1
Weapons 0 1 2 3 4
ECM 0
Shields 5 6 6 6 6
Weapons:
Main Battery (Dmg 3 Acc ) 3/6/9 FF0
1 1 1 0
Secondary Batteries (Dmg 2 Acc ) 2/4/6 FP2 FS2
4 3 2 1 | 1 1 | 1 0
AP Batteries (Acc Pnp ) 1/2/3 PH2 SH2
8 6 4 3 | 2 1 | 1 1 | 1 0
Missiles (Exp Gid Skr Acc Dmg 3 ) 10/20/30 FX2 FX2
8 6 4 3 | 2 1 | 1 1 | 1 0
Specials: Fire Control, Reinforced Systems


OGRE V-class Cybertank (436)
Armor: 9 8 7 * 6 5 4 * 3 2 1
Hull: 18 17 16 15 14 13 * 12 11 10 9 8 7 * 6 5 4 3 2 1
Thrust 3 2 2 1 1
Weapons 0 1 2 3 4
ECM 0
Shields 5 6 6 6 6
Weapons:
Main Battery (Dmg 3 Acc Prc ) 3/6/9 FF0
2 1 1 1 | 1 0
Secondary Batteries (Dmg 2 Acc ) 2/4/6 FP2 FS2
6 4 3 2 | 2 1 | 1 1 | 0
AP Batteries (Acc Pnp ) 1/2/3 PH2 SH2
12 8 6 4 | 3 2 | 2 1 | 1 1 | 0
Missiles (Exp Gid Skr Acc Dmg 3 ) 10/20/30 FX4 FX4 FX4 FX4
16 11 8 6 | 4 3 | 2 1 | 1 1 | 1 0
Specials: Fire Control, Reinforced Systems


HTK-class Heavy Tank (20)
Armor: 1 * 0 * 0
Hull: 3 * 2 * 1
Thrust 3 2 2 1 1
Weapons 0 1 2 3 4
ECM 0
Shields 5 6 6 6 6
Weapons:
Main Gun (Dmg 2 Acc ) 2/4/6 FX0
1 1 1 0


HWZ-class Howitzer (18)
Armor: 0 0 0
Hull: 3 * 2 * 1
Thrust 0
Weapons 0 1 2 3 4
ECM 0
Shields 0
Weapons:
Cannon (Dmg 2 Bls Skr ) 8/16/24 TT0
1 1 1 0


MTK-class Missile Tank (18)
Armor: 0 0 0
Hull: 3 * 2 * 1
Thrust 2 1 1 1 1
Weapons 0 1 2 3 4
ECM 0
Shields 6 6 6
Weapons:
Missile Pack (Acc Skr Slo ) 4/8/12 TT0
3 2 2 1 | 1 1 | 0


GEV-class GEV (15)
Armor: 0 0 0
Hull: 3 * 2 * 1
Thrust 7 5 4 2 2
Weapons 0 1 2 3 4
ECM 0
Shields 6 6 6
Weapons:
Main Gun (Acc ) 2/4/6 TT0
1 1 1 0


INF-class Infantry Platoon (12)
Armor: 0 0 0
Hull: 3 * 2 * 1
Thrust 2 1 1 1 1
Weapons 0 1 2 3 4
ECM 1 1 1 0 0
Shields 0
Weapons:
Small Arms (Acc Dif Sct ) 1/2/3 TT0
1 1 1 0

I have omitted the OGRE IV because with the huge number of missiles it carries, I was actually unable to fit things into its SU cap by hull with the conversion strategy I'd been using.  The other main difference from the AE conversion rules is due to the change in the seekers rules - OGRE missiles, missile tank missiles, and howitzer rounds are now delayed-impact weapons, and can be shot down.  I think this change mostly benefits the OGREs, which have dedicated point-defense weapons.  I experimented with adding point-defense weapons to non-OGRE AFVs, but realized that they'd be mostly shooting at OGRE-launched missiles, which incurs a -5 modifier to firing (-1 for seekers, -1 for accurate, -3 for triple damage), meaning that they wouldn't've been able to effectively target them without increasing the base attack strength, which I didn't really want to do.  There is, however, definitely room for a dedicated point-defense vehicle on the conventional side; currently infantry fills this role the best, allowing it to fulfill its traditional role in OGRE of guarding the howitzers.

Words of Wisdom

“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.”

“The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own.”

"Parenthetically, photostat copies of the manuscript rules were made, and when the commercial game was published, fans not willing or financially unable to expend the princely sum of $10 for the product did likewise, copying the material on school (mainly college/university) machines. We were well aware of this, and many gamers who had spent their hard-earned money to buy the game were more irate than we were. In all, though, the 'pirate' material was more helpful that not. Many new fans were made by DMs who were using such copies to run their games."

"The new D&D is too rule intensive. It's relegated the Dungeon Master to being an entertainer rather than master of the game. It's done away with the archetypes, focused on nothing but combat and character power, lost the group cooperative aspect, bastardized the class-based system, and resembles a comic-book superheroes game more than a fantasy RPG where a player can play any alignment desired, not just lawful good." (Actually written about 3e, not 4e as might be expected)

"One more thing: don’t spend too much time merely reading. The best part of this work is the play, so play and enjoy!" (I like to think this is meant of prep as well as reading)

Happy birthday, E. Gary Gygax.

ACKS E14

I woke up this morning with a single thought in my head - hitting level 14 in ACKS might be somewhat sad, since you now can never ever gain any further personal power.  I approve of the fact that power is capped, but having a hard "nope, you're done" solution is somewhat iffy.  I propose an analogue to E6, but at 'cap level' for various classes - you stop gaining levels, and just gain a new proficiency every time you would gain a level.  Might run into issues with low-capping demihuman classes, but overall it seems like it might be reasonable, especially if you start capping the number of times a single proficiency can be taken (I'm thinking Lay On Hands might be exploitable).

But overall, promising, and maybe useful for taking out those 30+ HD monsters.  Not that it's going to be a concern for a looong time to come at the rate we're playing.

On the Goblins of the Shieldlands

Goblins, in their standard incarnation, are somewhat...  done unto death.  Especially after Pathfinder's comic-relief take on them, I just can't deal with the "little green buggers with pointy ears" goblins anymore.  Plus, they don't fit well into ACKS' beastman model.  Nominally, ACKS' goblins are an unholy crossbreed of dwarves and gnolls, which somehow works out to the standard description.  I found that...  a little weird, and so in keeping with the reboot of orcs as strict pig-men, I decided to turn goblins into proper beastmen as well.

So I needed a mammal that was small, repellent, cave dwelling, rapid-breeding, individually weak but dangerous in numbers...  rats seemed the natural choice.  So, 4' tall humanoids with patchy fur, rat-like heads, and hairless tails.  They chatter in their warrens in the badlands and sewers of the Shieldlands, worshiping their foul deity, Khebek-Te, the Rat With A Thousand Young, an ancient and otherwise forgotten Zaharan goddess of both pestilence and fertility.  They are matriarchal in accordance with this veneration of fertility, and raid the lands of men in search of shiny objects with which to adorn their nests, as well as for sacrifices to feed their children in unspeakable rites to their goddess.  In character they are covetous and craven, but they have a low cunning and their retreats are often into ambushes or back towards reinforcements.  In the days of the Zaharan empire, they served as rear-line and garrison troops, logistical support, cavalry scouts (it is unclear why worgs tolerate goblin riders; perhaps they think of them as a convenient food source), and sappers for the orcish and hobgoblin legions, but also held their own as cavers, fighting the dwarves in the tunnels of the mountainhomes.  So much dwarven blood did they spill in those ancient days that the civilization of the marble dwarves of the western mountains was greatly diminished, and began a long, slow slide into decrepitude, which continues to this day.

This does, of course, beg the question of "Well, if goblins are rat-men, what are hobgoblins?  Capybara-men?"  Not so!  But that's a post for another day...

Valkyries!

Well, it  came to pass that there was a hireling in the town of Opportunity with good stats and a peculiar set of general proficiencies, including Seafaring, Language Skanuck (the Norse equivalent in this setting), Navigation, and a high strength.  It was decided that this hireling was a Norse woman come south, and she hired on with Tormond to train in the ways of crazy warrior women.  But, we were not satisfied with Fighter, Paladin, or Barbarian for this.  No, we decided we needed a very specific, Nethack-inspired class - the Valkyrie.

By way of Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor...  which is kind of funny, in this case

Prime Requisite: Str
Requirements: None
Hit Dice: 1d6
Maximum Level: 14

It comes as little surprise to outlanders that Skanuck society is male-dominated, as the activities the Skanucks are best known for (namely raiding, pillaging, looting, raiding, and pillaging) are traditionally male enterprises.  Many outlanders are thus quite surprised (often terminally) upon their first meeting with the valkyries, Skanuck warrior-women who been found worthy of assistance by their ancestors, much to the chagrin of the various patriarchal cults pervading Skanuck culture.  Legend has it that the first valkyrie was the only child of a Skanuck warrior who, while dying in the snow, willed to her his strength.  These days it is considered scandalous and shameful, but not unheard of, for a daughter to take her father's place on the long-boats if he gives her his blessing from the grave.

Valkyries are skilled fighters, though they train with only a small selection of traditional weapons.  At first level they hit AC 0 on a roll of 10+, and they advance in attack and saving throws at the same rate as fighters, by two points per three levels of experience.  Valkyries increase their base damage roll from successful melee attacks by +1 at 1st level, and an additional +1 at 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th levels.

Valkyries are proficient with only a small selection of 'honorable' weapons, limiting themselves to spears, broadswords, battle axes, hand axes, short swords, and daggers.  They may fight with a weapon and a shield, or with a single weapon in two hands.  As the Skanucks are not adept smiths, and have not yet mastered the production of scale and plate, valkyries are limited to chainmail and lighter armors.  However, valkyries are widely known as "shield maidens", and not without reason; they are adept shield users, gaining Fighting Style (Shield) at 1st level.

All valkyries, being trueborn daughters of Skandia, speak fluent Skanuck.  Hence, they gain Language (Skanuck / Norse) for free at 1st level.

Valkyries are hardened by long years of experience in the harsh tundra, and in savage tribal warfare.  As a result, they are hard to surprise (+1 to surprise, +1 to initiative when not spellcasting), inured to freezing cold (immune to normal atmospheric cold, +2 to saves against magical cold, and -1 damage per die from cold), and resilient (roll twice on the Mortal Wounds table, choosing which result to apply).

Valkyries also benefit from the protection of the ancestor spirits when fighting for righteous causes, gaining +1 to saves and AC against evil creatures.  They appear outlined in radiant luminescence when viewed with detect good, detect magic, or true seeing.

Starting at 3rd level, their forefathers provide further blessings, granting limited divine spellcasting to the valkyrie.  The number of divine spells available per day to the valkyrie are shown on the table below; they take effect as if cast by a cleric of half her level, rounded up, and are cast from a short list following.  In order to remain in good standing with her ancestors, the valkyrie must strive to perform acts of valor and strength at arms in an honorable fashion.

When a valkyrie reaches 5th level (Spear-Maiden), her fearless demeanor inspires those who follow her.  All henchmen and mercenaries hired by the valkyrie gain a +1 bonus to their morale score whenever she personally leads them.  This bonus stacks with any modifiers from the valkyrie's Charisma or proficiencies.

At 9th level (Valkyrie), a valkyrie can build or claim an aerie, traditionally on a mountain peak, from which she might rule a domain.  When she establishes her aerie, 1d4+1x10 0th level mercenaries and 1d6 valkyries of 1st-3rd level seeking training will arrive seeking jobs and training.  If hired, they must be paid standard rates for mercenaries.  Valkyries' aeries are otherwise identical to fighters' castles, as detailed in the Campaign chapter of the ACKS rulebook.

Valkyrie spell list:

1st:
Cure Light Wounds
Light
Protection from Evil
Remove Fear
Sanctuary

2nd:
Bless
Hold Person
Shimmer
Summon Barbarians
Swift Sword

3rd:
Call Lightning
Protection from Normal Missiles
Speak With Dead
Striking
Winged Flight

4th:
Cure Serious Wounds
Divination
Protection from Evil, Sustained
Summon Legendary Ancestor
Vigor

5th:
Commune
Flame Strike (Lightning Flavor)
Protection from Normal Weapons
Restore Life and Limb
Strength of Mind

Valkyrie Proficiency List: Alertness, Apostasy, Battle Magic, Beast Friendship, Berserkergang, Blind Fighting, Combat Trickery (Force Back, Overrun), Divine Blessing, Divine Health, Endurance, Elven Bloodline (Ancestral blessing of longevity), Fighting Style, Manual of Arms, Martial Training, Military Strategy, Mountaineering, Navigation, Passing Without Trace, Prophecy, Riding, Running, Seafaring, Skirmishing, Survival, Theology, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus

Sea Valkyrie Template: This pre-generated template represents a valkyrie member of a Skanuck raiding vessel.
Proficiencies: Combat Trickery (Force Back), Seafaring
Equipment: Iron-tipped spear, bearded axe, painted round wooden shield, chainmail byrnie, rough spun wool tunic and pants, leather belt, low boots, wineskin with spiced wine, small sack, 50’ rope, grappling hook, 1 week’s iron rations, 10gp

As an aside (for this post is entirely too long already), I kind of wonder if this gradual, iterated "Man, you know what this settings needs?  Viking ladies with axes"-type design process is how the Wilderlands of High Fantasy ended up with Amazons and green men and cat people and dragon-headed ogres and all kinds of other crazy stuff.

If I Were to Run a 40k RPG...

It would probably be more like Traveller: New Era meets ACKS than Deathwatch or Dark Heresy.

I have a love/hate relationship with a lot of the 40k universe.  On the one hand, I quite like the "everyone dies" aesthetic, the laughter of uncaring gods, Space Hulk, the Ravenor trilogy, the tyranids, Mechanicus, Inquisition, and the doom of the eldar.  On the other hand, there are the space marines, the tau, the ecclesiarchy, the rogue traders (who always felt a little too free for such an unfree world), and those goddamn orks.  Further, for an empire where much technology is lost and forgotten, there always seems to be an abundance of powered armor, plasma weapons, and other fancy gizmos fit for cracking tanks or continents.  These combined always made the prospect of running an RPG in the 40k universe somewhat offputting.

Well, says I to myself late last night, we can fix that.

Consider, for a moment, what happens to the 40k universe if, one day, the Astronomican goes out, permanently.  Imperial ships in the warp at the time are lost, and further long-range interstellar travel becomes an impossibility.  Military campaigns on ten thousand worlds grind to a halt for lack of resupply, and the units abandoned there must either go guerrilla, make peace, or be slaughtered.  Many hive worlds, reliant on imported foodstuffs for their sustenance, suffer starvation, unrest, and descent into anarchy.  The enemies of man, still capable of interstellar travel by their usual means, go on the offensive, bypassing strongpoints where Imperial units remain active, and conquering ripe, undefended worlds with little effort.

The space marines, scattered across the galaxy in forces as small as platoons, must reintegrate into human society, becoming leaders of men.  Bolter ammunition, already scarce, becomes vanishingly rare, and powered armor, lacking spare parts and untended by the ministrations of the techmarines, falls into disrepair.  The homeworlds of the various chapters, such as Fenris, Nocturne, and Macragge, continue recruiting, impanting, and training more marines of their chapters, but most worlds with space marine deployments lack the specialized medical infrastructure for the growth of implants from the gene-seed.  On those worlds, the marines tend to form long-lived military juntas, which provide a gateway into stable, moral governments backed by tempered force.

On many worlds, the Ecclesiarchy remains in power for some time, holding forth with the doctrine that the faith of the people is being tested.  They are supported by the astropath network, providing news and maintaining mankind as a single culture.  As years pass, however, the astropaths begin to die off (and new ones cannot be taken to Earth to be soulbound), and salvation seems less and less imminent; many planets rebel and overthrow their religious rulers.  Most of these insurrections fall to chaotic influence, but some, perhaps, are successful, staving off corruption under the watchful eyes of former inquisitorial agents with little love for the zeal of the Ecclesiarchs.

The Forge Worlds, too, weather the transition relatively well, with the beliefs of the Cult Mechanicus unshaken and its power largely intact.  Many, however, suffer from resource exhaustion, turning to desolate anarchic wastelands a la the Road Warrior, and without safeguards against chaos, more still fall to the lure of dark sciences.  The forge worlds are likewise juicy targets for the enemies of mankind, for while they maintain their Skitarii fighting forces, they are rich in technological plunder.  Some, however, endure, arming themselves and stewarding their resources while their best minds seek a safer means of FTL travel.

And so it is that, a few generations after the collapse of the Empire, on one of these stable worlds, PCs appear.  Foolish young souls with a penchant for adventure, an eye for profit, the cojones to explore a drifting space hulk, and a dream of distant stars...