Neitherworld Stories

July 9, 2008

Inspirational Reading

Here are some light novels I’ve read recently: Devil’s Cape by Rob Rodgers – Devil’s Cape is a modern superhero novel set in the fictional city of Devil’s Cape, Louisiana. The world it is set in is one in which superheroes and villains are a fact of life, and the story focuses upon the origins of three heroes and their...

July 9, 2008

4e: Rethinking the Dragonborn

The Dragonborn are a new PC race in 4e D&D. There was a quasi-race called the Dragonborn in 3.5 (introduced in Races of the Dragon). These were members of other races who were called upon by Bahamut and answered his call, becoming transformed into draconic creatures who hunted evil dragons. The 4e Dragonborn aren’t like this. Instead, the new Dragonborn...

July 8, 2008

WALL-E: Postapocalyptic RPG setting?

This post contains spoilers for WALL-E, Pixar’s new movie-thing… and won’t make a whole lot of sense unless you’ve seen it. Angela and I saw WALL-E on Friday. As we walked out of the theater, she leaned over and said something to the effect of, “…and they all died within the first year back on Earth.” I pointed out that...

July 3, 2008

4e: Wizard

One of the things that bugs me about the wizard is how non-combat magic is an entirely separate system than combat magic. Here is a very quick draft of a possible ‘fix’ that I thought up about 10 minutes ago: Feat: Utility MageHeroic TierPrerequisite: Wis 13, wizardBenefit: When you take an extended rest and you have access to your ritual...

July 3, 2008

4e: Running the game

Last night, we began playing through Keep on the Shadowfell. I was running the game. Pat was playing Bloodaxe Axebeard, a dwarf cleric. Jeff was playing Owen, a human wizard. Doug was playing Morgan Ironclaw, a Dragonborn Paladin. We only made it through the first two fights… there was a lot of chatting and discussion, which is to be expected...

July 2, 2008

Yesterday: Not as planned

…but it turned out OK. I had a wee headache in the morning that got progressively worse throughout the day, so I ended up going home early. I took some painkillers and a nap. In the meantime, the Nobilis game was canceled because the GM (HG?) was ill. I’m enjoying Nobilis. It works as a system and setting better than...

June 28, 2008

4e: GSL weirdness

The Game System License has a what appears to be a big hole in it. Certain monsters, such as the Beholder and the Displacer Beast, (and possibly other non-monster things) are excluded from the SRD. Before 4e, these things were considered Product Identity (despite the fact that D&D’s claim on the displacer beast is tenuous) and were not included in...

June 28, 2008

Five monsters for the price of one…

I was thinking about 4e’s encounter design, and something hit me that may well be applicable in several sorts of games. In 4e, the base assumption is that you’ll have one foe per character. This is modified by a bunch of things – minions count as multiple foes, elite creatures count as two, and things like that. I find this...

June 27, 2008

Big Kitties

Over at the Necropolis Studios Art Blog, Angela posted some pictures from the Exotic Feline Rescue Center.

June 26, 2008

WoAdWriMo2

The Worldwide Adventure Writing Month approaches. Will you stand bravely and face its challenge, or will you cower before it? The choice is yours.