Skill Based Or Level Based RPG's, Or Maybe a Little Of Both.

I am on record as being a DnD disliker. I will not say hater, because I do not like that label and it is only a game after all, it’s not life threatening, no harm is done.

The things that leave me cold with DnD (all editions, I have tried….) are;

• Levels as an illogical measure of experience and growth and an unbalanced tool of empowerment. Sudden jumps in power, especially for things the character never uses! By using them, you basically tier life! All you are doing is limiting the range of opponents worth fighting, but the mechanics stay the same (but the math grows).

• Hit points and Armour Class as an abstraction of what it is actually like to be hit with a large, sharp metal object in a specific location. This leads to untouchable characters or match-ups with little hope, neither of which make for a good game (see above).

• Class systems as an artificial limitation to character building and development. It is nice to have a career and some limitations to opportunities, but it is not for nothing most games since have abandoned this artificial limitation.

• The above all combining to create a “power build” obsession and a worshipping of the game mechanic over character centric play. I just cannot grok the “my character is a # level “X class ” and a # level “Y class and “Z” race” as a sentence starter and never have.

• It champions tropes and stereotypes that have become so embedded, they now seem more normal than normal.

• The system is based around, promotes and sanitises combat as the main means of driving the story and reduces outcome fear. I will admit, some D100 games are very brutal and unforgiving, but there are ways of reducing that without making combat a boring mechanical process and often not fighting is the best answer.

• Loot and XP driving player ambition. The “murder hobo” is a DnD creation depicting a band of wandering killers taking what they want to whom they want for materiel gain.

• Other sub-systems not specific to, but often found in levels games like spell slots/Vancian magic or per encounter/per day limits have never been a comfortable or logical fit for me or generally. I have the D100 Lyonesse setting book. It has a right to Vancian magic.

• The system claims to be new and improved every iteration, but never changes it’s dated core concepts. Constant change, but no real change, a recipe for frustration.

• The company itself has turned into a cynical money making monster worthy of smiting in it’s own right (funny how we become what we abhor). Slay that Dragon!

• It is often not an easy or fun game for a GM to run, nor the best experience possible at the table and it is rarely as much fun as it is portrayed (depictions on Stranger Things, Big Bang etc either fudge or exaggerate it to make it look exciting).

• The reality is, it often does not even simulate it’s own art or the fiction it draws from (I remember one illustration showing a single arrow hitting the eye of something big and mean with predictable results, but the rules do not support that happening in the game). Try smiting Smaug with a single bolt. Not gonna happen.

• It is not, as it pretends to be, the only game in town but it still dwarfs the combined revenue and profile of all the others. It often feels like you have to go through the “initiation” of DnD to discover better options.

Reality is just not like that.

Ok, a game can be what ever it needs to be, but most role players are after more than a game experience. They are looking for a forum for their imagination to fly free, not a set of un-intuitive and confining rules that railroad them into a seemingly set path of expectations.

Your experience differs? If so, then go you, but I would have to say, if you can make DnD that good an experience, then just wait until you try something better!

Options?

I once used E6 restrictions with Pathfinder 1e, which is an old idea based on a long forgotten article postulating that Gandalf was only a 6th level Wizard. It capped and slowed character growth to 6th level, using incremental advancement within each level (more feats etc) and then some sort of non hit point growth after or even skipped hit point growth all together*. It was a waste of 70% of a class’s options and the books they came in, but felt right and “big bad” enemies could be higher levels, but they paid a terrible price to get there. It effectively made a levels based game a skills based one.

*A favourite twist, was to use the Traveller idea of applying critical hits to characteristics directly. Hit points became a buffer, but crits actually reduced your characters capabilities.

Other options are almost infinite, because TTRPG games should be that, almost infinite in scope, play styles, launch pads for imagination and ideas.

If you want to play DnD conceptually, which is to say, DnD like you think it is or should be played, there are several games that fit the mould, most without the elements I and many others dislike, but some embrace them.

Here are a few that even I can abide.

Savage Worlds Pathfinder/Fantasy manages to do two things. It refreshes a DnD heart breaker, the 3.5 based Pathfinder 1e game, while removing the limitations of a level based system. It has levels, classes and experience points in a way, but they are flexible or even optional. It also has realistic and gradually applied advancements and workable class-less characters.

Some DnD 4e bits re-purposed for Savage Worlds Pathfinder.

It is a simple linear roll skill based system with level based concepts integrated and clever tools to handle roll curve and dice pool ideas.

It also gets rid of massive lists of spells and feats by using a more flexible core menu of powers with trimmings added and these even cross over into other genres..

Adventures In Middle Earth is a 5e game based on the bespoke and excellent The One Ring game in turn based on The Lord of the Rings, a low magic world with a right to the standard tropes, because it established many.

I gifted mine recently in a clear out, with no regrets as even though it was a good implementation of DnD (low magic, thematic classes and yearly adventure seasons that aligned roughly with levels vibe which combined to remove many of the negatives above), it was still DnD and I kept the original non level based game in preference.

13th Age. This is the other take on fixing the broken thing that was DnD 4e, actually created by a pair of 3 and 4e lead designers who did not play the game as they designed it! The usual suspects are present, but there are “house rule” twists.

Your characters start as world changers with an established name, so the more interesting classes are launching pads for destined characters, not just for pigeon holing all-comers. You are “Berrick, the Thief of Shadow Port”, the limitations of a class are instead the bespoke powers of the few.

Skills are handled by a loose and flexible background system and levels are fewer (10 in 3 tiers), a little like a high powered version of E6. Gradual and incremental improvement is promoted and experience points effectively ditched. Basically, the designers are still married to the DnD core structure, but have house ruled their own game to a better place and then shared.

There are other cool elements like the “one unique thing”, but at it’s core it is DnD, just with the cruft shaved off.

I think I like it because it is an honest take on the strengths of the game and realistic mitigation of its shortcomings. It is to me almost more DnD than DnD, so I get it, jump in boots and all.

*

If you really cannot get the dated abstractions of a D20 level based game right in your head, there have been logical, realistic and intuitive options from pretty much the beginning of the hobby, in fact the only game that has stubbornly held on to all these tropes is DnD, but even it has managed to change significantly enough to be incompatible across editions. Pretty much each edition of DnD is it’s own game and personally I don’t like any of them.

Probably my fondest memory was of the old Red Box basic DnD set (I had the Red and Blue books from memory), so simple and elegant, but written within the limits of the system, making no pretence otherwise.

A farmer as a warrior? All good in a skills based game.

I remember years ago a friend introduced me to original Traveller and it made sense. We then moved to CoC 2-3e, then another branch of our friendship group tried to get us both into their ADnD group, but neither of us could commit. We had seen the light. My friend settled on Champions as his big system, I gravitated towards other D100 games like Cthulhu, Warhammer Fantasy and 2d6 Traveller (oddly not Runequest, the progenitor of it all). Funny to think that even in the 80’s there were people in the hobby that just did not do the “big one”.

It frustrates me a bit that the earliest salve to the levels/class/experience point game structure is still around today almost unchanged and has created a massive family of compatible games, but still gets negative the “old mechanics” or “linear roll under” labels!

DnD is a linear game and older, just not well enough done in the first place to remain effectively unchanged, 5 times and counting!

Below is a list of related D100 games collated by another, wiser source;

https://elruneblog.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-big-list-of-published-settings-for.html

DnD came from a miniatures game and depending on edition still tries to be that more or less, D100 games were RPG’s from minute one, but they can struggle to do the RPG-war game dynamic. Some games, like Savage Worlds do manage to successfully straddle both game types.

In Rune Quest and other D100 games, this sh&t is real! Illustration like this in D20 level based games always make me chuckle as the game mechanics abstract this massively. Check out the text also!

Using skills not levels as the base of the game means you do get better at some things incrementally and over a wide (100+ point) range, but only when you use them. Nobody gets so powerful they are impervious to the efforts of lesser beings, so fear comes from the reality that you are never truly safe.

Hit points are fixed, low and often assigned to a location. Get hit in the arm and the arm can become useless, take a blow to the head and it’s possibly all over, only armour on the right location can stop or reduce it. It seems real, visceral and not abstract.

Classes are removed, so character flexibility is more realistic and logical. Want to be a warrior who plays an instrument as well as a bard, a wizard who is half decent at swordsmanship (like Gandalf), a thief who can track, a star ship pilot with good computer and blaster skills, a grizzled army veteran with an interest in the occult or fine art? Go ahead, no illogical corralling here. Try to find in fiction or real life examples of such limited character types.

Another old favourite and also an early game option that has remained more or less the same is Traveller. Using a skill and 2d6 system it is less granular than a D100 system, has a dice roll curve and is clean and logical. One thing I really like is the ‘characteristics as hit points” idea, something I prefer to most other options as it cleanly replaces both hit locations and the debilitating effects of wounds.

Play what you want, I am no judge, but if you are stuck on DnD and feel there may be more out there, well there is. Like an Earth bound wishful traveller, there is a whole universe to explore.

Options At Hand For A "Kids On Bikes" Game.

I have a hankering for a “kids on bikes” TTRPG experience.

My interest in supernatural TV series and movies has been mixed, at the moment manifested through the EVIL series and Tales from the Loop book and there is always an itch to do something in a TTRPG.

After resisting the desire to buy a new system* I decided to go with something I have.

Monsters and other Childish Things.

Junior Supernatural or Evil with a bit of Alien thrown in, it is a d10 dice pool system, specifically about kids with imaginary friends that are neither imaginary nor especially friendly. It has the right demographic, but is limited to that specific dynamic and is slanted towards the grim end.

Hmmm… maybe a little dark? On revisiting it is a little like Mothership meets Delta Green for (grown up) kids.

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition or SWADE.

This leans towards the golden era** of Super 8, E.T, Stranger Things and has a lot going for it. The core book alone has genre rules, a pulpy feel, low lethality options and enough flexibility to handle pretty much any KOB game I would want. It even has an illustration of kids on bikes and includes young and very young character generation tools.

Yeah, hint taken.

The game is also a great game for kids feeling like kids playing a kids game, a bit like the representation of DnD on Stranger Things, if not the reality.

I have had some SW around for most of the last 10-15 years, but rarely got enthusiastic about it. Not sure why, but with the exception of Pathfinder for Savage Worlds, a much better take on that world for me than the over weight d20 version and the core SWADE rules kept for I guess, just this type of thing, I have sold or gifted most of it away.

On a hunch I kept a ton of this stuff from my DnD 4e collection and they are perfect for SW Pathfinder.

With ample “Bennies” and a limit on skills and physical characteristics, you can create a younger adventurer easily, cap lethality, create or modify edges to suit and story build on the fly. The powers rules are super flexible and deep enough in the core book alone and the bestiary is decent, especially for making your own nasties.

This has cemented itself as the main contender and led to the purchasing of the four companion books. This is a more polished and consistent take on SW for me, used as a tool box, not setting anchored.

M-Space/Vampire Wars.

Great for more serious games like Tales from the Loop, Electric State, Dresden Files, or The Laundry Files.

There are excellent Robot and AI rules in the Companion and the feel is more grounded, moodier, darker. I am yet to see any clear guidelines for generating child characters, but in the world of D100, soemone, somewhere will have it covered.

The issue of lethality always comes up with D100 games, it’s in it’s DNA, so yes, guns and the like are lethal, kids and guns do not mix, so simply don’t mix them except at the very top threat level.

Ironically the higher lethality of weapons adds to the feeling of dread while decreasing the likelihood of them appearing in the game. In this game the absence of weapons and the danger posed by a simple kitchen knife would set a bar of acceptable expectation.

Basic Role Playing UGE.

Another D100 set, so most of the above applies. More flexible in system options than M-Space, it also sports a decent supernatural bak log, with plenty more available (a massive Cthulhu, Delta Green and BRP collection). Maybe Pulp Cthulhu or Rivers of London for some ideas and I can lift the M-Space robot rules as well.

Maybe kids on ponies or Penny Farthings?

With D100 games, POW would be higher with kids (open minds), skills and physical stats down.

Troubleshooters

Finally an outlier, this is a D100 game about adults, but of all ages and the naive, low mortality, clean and classic 60’s vibe is attractive. One of the sample character is basically a Pippi Longstocking clone with attitude, so late teens would fit fine.

Maybe a Scooby-doo or Famous Five vibe?

I am thinking Savage Worlds at this point.

It has the right feel, the need to be used and I need to get on board with the system so my SW Pathfinder set also gets used. I will use The Loop and Electric State for ideas (the books not the games or the TV show) and use every last bit of the core book and the companions yet to arrive.

*Tales from the Loop, Electric State, Kids on Bikes.

**80’s-90’s.

To Go To The Oldest Of Lands, Finally.

Runequest.

One of the oldest TTRPG’s, the progenitor of the D100 game system, which has remained quite consistent for over forty plus years, the first and possibly best anti-DnD game ever made, has finally made it’s way into my collection.

The inevitability of adding this ancient tome to my otherwise comprehensive D100 RPG collection has never weighed as heavily as you would expect, but I guess when all else has been addressed, it was always going to happen.

On holidays in Hobart, looking for something to buy and finding absolutely nothing left in Attack Wing, Armada or X Wing :(, I grabbed the Savage Worlds World Builder cheap and another Osprey “blue book” a TTRPG/war game cross-over “When Nightmares Come”.

The second one was typical of some Osprey games, mixed reviews, steep price, no real relevance other than some itch scratching* all with an unknown system, so after lunch and a little googling, I decided to return it and went for the RQ:G core book, only a little over twice the price and a much bigger and better known product.

I had already purchased the Bestiary the year before on a trip to Melbourne to flesh out my D100 monster options, so the “B” came before the “A”, but they were done.

I was aware of the risk, which I quietly accepted.

I guess it was always there, lurking in the background. Ironically I bought the 13G book for more 13th Age goodness to draw from and RQ started with the Bestiary for the needed D100 monster stats. Pattern forming.

I have plenty of RQ rooted games, like RQII/Legend by Mongoose, RQ6/Mythras from The Design Mechanism, Open Quest and even 13th Age Glorantha, but I have not played a pure Glorantha based D100 game since some time in the 1980’s when a friend had the original RQ. Even then we decided to circle the Glorantha stuff as “a bit weird and not really for us”, because of course, we thought we knew it all back then. Our game and later iterations of RQ predictably drifted towards what we now know as fantasy stereotypes, but the were fresh ideas back then.

I have Jackals from Osprey (a much better effort from them), which was meant to be my salve for RQ style games, like that ever works. I was also hoping for the seminal and long promised Mythic Greece source book for Mythras, but that seems to have gone quiet. I really thought Jackals or Mythras would be enough here, but all credit to it, it got under my skin.

Always room for more good.

I started reading RQ:G and it is a little like discovering a long lost half-cousin. I am also warming to the craziness and originality of the setting. Parties full of Ducks, smart Trolls that might eat you as you sleep, Rune wielding cultists worshipping gods they may well meet and a licence “to make it your Glorantha”. Who could want for more fertile story telling soil?

The art is as always, top notch.

The reasoning behind it’s creation, the long journey to now are a little like my own journey through TTRPG gaming.

With solid early thoughts, rejecting the already established norm, through periods of sporadic output to even absent patches, then a rampant re-emergence, but with consistent thought processes through out, RQ has survived because it works.

One criticism of RQ:G is the “old” system it uses, but apart from nostalgia and familiarity, both worthy ideals, it has consistency and it works. Better this than an equally old system, without the logical base that it started with and one that has not stayed consistent for decades, while also failing to evolve into something better.

Some may prefer Mythras, others a simpler BRP or Open Quest path and it is not impossible to use those mechanics if you wish. Seriously, just paste on the RQ bits you want. All good, all possible, very d100.

Never one to ride the horse others choose (in anything really), I glanced off DnD several times, I owned something of most editions (even a lot of some), but I rarely played it, preferring something different to the thematic and mechanical stereotypes it pushed**.

Traveller was my first TTRPG of any type, Call of Cthulhu 3-5e my first great love, Champions 3-4e was my supers game and most things D100 have been played and kept.

It is hard to resist the call of the “big one”, but every time I tried it, I hit a wall of disengagement and predictable disappointment in the system, it’s style and it did not fix my need for something that actually excited me.

Core book bought, mated with the Bestiary and that could probably have been enough with 13AG as more support reading, but some googling and it seems the GM Pack and Starter Set are both “best in show”, providing plenty of adventures and resources (over 300 tightly presented pages), a dozen fully formed characters and maps, lots of maps. Plenty to flesh out the game enough for my needs.

This and the GM screen pack are actually plenty to play RQ for many sessions and if you do go further, nothing is wasted.

I found the Starter on the Chaosium site, pdf included, always handy to have with printable elements, then the GM pack and the Weapons and Equipment Guide which I remember reading a good review of on another site. Basically a 2 for 1, so they were added.

Control needed now, I need to set some boundaries.

I then got the Red Book of Magic. Never one to go too deeply into Magic tomes, there are 150+ spells in the core book already and like all things in RQ, a little goes a long way, but the book gets rave reviews, holds 500 odd spells and is by most accounts a clearer and tighter, more coherent read.

Beasts, spells and gear, the solid trio

The three core support books, but what I really noticed was a growing thirst for more world lore.

Even though 13A:G is possibly better for higher power RQ games (i.e. Hero Quests), just the depth of information and the variety of subject matter (like Pregnancy and Bless Pregnancy spells!) are all germs of scenario ideas in keeping with the granular and grounded feel of RQ.

The GM and Starter pack adventures are high quality and really do help you get a handle on this strange and deeply developed world. After some research along the lines of “best adventures for…”, the Pegasus Plateau looked like the next step. Along with that, to support sand-box play and add background, I went for the Dragon Pass guide, which I know may lead to more books like it, but that is ok.

Ducks! Worth the Dragon Pass guide just for these guys.

So, while travelling on Adelaide, I found several games shops, again no X-Wing etc, but the The Lunar Way was front and centre and I must admit to a soft spot for that enigmatic empire. Bought, as nothing else appealed after several shops were visited. I then researched what this new door opened and bought the Light Bringers and Earth Goddesses as they are all gold mines of info and flavour.

The big three. There are more of these now and possibly in the future, but these will support character gen and story background. At the end of the day, they are just a good read. Glorantha is all about Gods and Runes, so reading these gets you in the right head space.

Done?

Think so, possibly more world guides, but maybe not.

The Glorantha sourcebook and guides just look like too much background info that for me will add little on the table. Everything bought so far will empower actual game play, I do not need more tomes of complicated cosmic family trees etc.

As for the rest, well I am going to take the advice of the designers and community and make my own way. From the foundations of what is in the Core book and the above supports, I will carve my own path as many have in the past and will in the future.

*Tales From The Loop, kids on bikes adventure itch that is. This will probably be done using M-Space or The Comae Engine and the actual books as inspiration.

**4e was the worst offender, dozens of books, all bought with my “collectors” hat on, then dropped cheaply and easily one day. 13th Age is the only exception, mainly because it is more DnD than DnD and a paragon of it’s system family, while also being that “other” horse (mule/zebra etc).

***a colony of exiled Human and Dwarf folk, fleeing from an unassailable enemy who have invaded their home to the fabled “New World”, a land of lost civilisations, primitive powers and new perils as they try to force their jaded and corrosive “civilised” ways on a land of ancient power.

A Benevolent Federation Or Resisting An Evil Empire?

When it boils down to it, the real difference between Star Wars and Trek are their core perspectives.

One is the perspective of the resister, the rebel, the rogue, the other is the enforcer, the diplomat, the conformist.

Both have bits of each other to be sure, but the core concepts are strong and entrenched. In SW rule breaking is the norm, it is expected and needed to drive the story. In ST, breaking the rules means a lot more as the rules are real and they are on our side, so rebelling means much more, but it is also entrenched as a core concept.

Which do I prefer?

The loyalist in me leans towards the Trek perspective as well as the “perfect future” it promises. I think also the direct connection to our real history helps, probably why I was drawn to Battlestar Galactica also.

Some Dominion War action.

Mechanically, from a gaming and viewing perspective, the big ship and crew dynamic also suits me better than dogfighting small craft. I also lean more towards ships combat over fighters in other genres, so it looks like teams over individuals, another theme in my life.

Star Wars came first with me, I have no early memories of the original Star Trek series, or if I do they pale in comparison to the perspective shifting first Star Wars movie. The “reality” of early SW ate alive all of the other squeaky clean SF offerings like Buck Rogers. Logan’s Run or the slightly unsettling early sci-fi options like Land of the Giants or Planet of the Apes.

I still remember the effect a dirty and worn X-Wing or Falcon had on me. It was simple, tactile, logical.

It felt real.

I worshipped all things Star Wars, I had the figures, built the early Lego-usually made it up, played TTRPG’s with a lean towards that SW feeling like Traveller or even the early Star Wars games.

Trek came later and I resisted to some extent. The “nice” and cerebral nature of Trek was nowhere near as cool as the warlike SW universe to my younger self. My early memories were of it being dull, lacking action and fun.

Over time and thanks to the presence of more Trek around during the SW draught, boosted by the mess that was the Prequel trilogy which I had zero interest in (it felt very un-real), Trek won me over and as I matured, the more mature Trek perspectives also made more sense.

It suddenly, felt more real.

The most recent offerings from the two franchises have done nothing but reinforce my perspective. I had mixed feelings about the first two Picard series, but loved where the third went, Strange New Worlds is my favourite series at the moment and the recent movies were excellent. Star Wars, or rather “Disney Wars” has been in contrast, a mixed bag at best.

One is a fight for freedom against a Nazi-like oppressor, the other is life in the future, meeting new races for good, bad and otherwise.

There is no right or wrong, Star Wars is one of many interests, but for me Trek means something.

Games Within Games, Part 3

The last instalment of my Attack Wing reviews are the twin self-contained sets for the Enterprise and Voyager series.

Voyager or the Delta Quadrant set can cross over with the DS9 set, but without it and thanks to some recent sets, it is plenty deep enough. The Federation faction card stack is between the DS9 and TNG sets in volume, which is to say, plenty.

Points costs were basically good except for the original Voyager that had a good ability, so I dropped it to 26 pts.

Basically every crew member has at least one option, some up to five and many are also captains! Most of the “hypotheticals” are represented, from the Raven, the Val Jean and Equinox surviving, to the Dauntless joining the Voyager and even the Defiant or Promethius as alternates or coming to the Delta quadrant through the Borg conduit to help (alternative ending). If all are active, you have the makings of a 300 point fleet!

The “white” or more accurately blue Voyager vs the Bajoran…sorry, Numiri patrol. I had to make basic captains for the Numiri and Nasari as I had two ships for each but they only come with a single captain option.

I belatedly added the Vidiians and the two new factions from “Adversaries of the Delta Quadrant” set, the Numiri and Nasari, the Hirogens now have 6 ships, the Kazons 5, 3 Kremin, 4 Species 8742, the odd stray Klingon, Romulan, Ferengi or Cardassian (maybe even Dominion).

The Borg are full strength and sector dominant for it. They are the climax of the Delta Quadrant campaign.

This and the Enterprise sets are the only ones I mix named with some generic ships as they are needed and use them in campaign mode. The different Voyager and friendly ships and point costs are available at different times vs different enemies.

*

The Enterprise set is almost where I would like it. Still smarting over never chasing up a Weapon Zero expansion and about one Andorian cruiser short of balanced, it is otherwise fine.

The Vulcans have a huge fleet or nine ships in two colours, ideal for a civil war scenario. The Xindi have a strong fleet, as do the Klingons and Romulans and with some time/dimension travelling Species 8472, the Borg and Tholians could all make an appearance in limited form (the Tholians are canon, the others fully possible).

The Borg Tactical cube v a Vulcan, Andorian and Terran fleet could make for a decent “Weapon Zero”, or “birth of the Federation” scenario.

Four alternate paint job Vulcan ships with combat refits from a pair of Vulcan faction packs give me a potent second fleet.

The final piece for me was the Columbia (cost raised to 16, generics dropped to 14) and Captain Hernandez in the These are the Voyages set, something I regretted not chasing the first time around. The crew options are all deeper now, even including “Rivers” (Seth MacFarlane).

As for scale, most are consistently small-ish ships, the Xindi Aquatic vessel being the exception.

Points in this set really show the difference between ships perfectly capable in their own era, massively reduced in cost for the “general” tournament game. A generic NX at 9 points is just too cheap.

My collection is complete now, not because I do not want many missing ships, but because what I can realistically get has been chased up and overall balance has been achieved.

Games Within Games, Part 2

After the early periods, lets look at the bulk of the collection.

I so very easily managed to go from the sweetest little representational sets back to the monster that is TNG battle and DS9 skirmish scale. Like many, I struggle with the scaling and even though I cannot truly fix it, I can draw a line in the sand with smaller or “skirmish” ships from DS9 on one side (ships with less than 200 crew), the Intrepid class being the biggest* and larger “battle” scale ships, the Romulan scout vessel being the smallest.

*The Intrepid class is 340m and 140 crew or about half the length of the Galaxy at 600m+ and 1000 crew, but the same length model ship, while the Romulan scout is a small model for a small ship with little hard information available (about 100m long and under 100 crew), so I can deal. The huge D’Deridex however is problematic, but what ya gonna do?

The TNG battle range is huge in every way.

I have a 3 inch tall stack of Federation cards with 14 ships to match (all metallic finish), at least half that many for the Romulan, Klingon and Cardassian fleets, with a decent Borg and Species 8742 showing.

After shedding all my Ferengi (not a fan), I did re-buy the Kreechta and Quarks Treasure expansions cheap to have a “representation” in both scales (with about 20 upgrade cards) and the option of adding an “acquired” ship into their fleet.

For battle scale I have two options, generic fleets which I prefer, a well balanced set that generally uses the newer low point costs and the named or unique fleets, using a mix of old and new points costs, but I can live with the few inconsistencies (or fix them).

The general feel of this game is less agility, tougher, more upgrades and fire power.

Still not an even fight, but it gets worse in generics, I have two Warbirds!

The named fleets are a little unbalanced and considerably smaller, the Cardassians in particular feeling thin, but I have some Jem’Hadar (old paint job) and a single Breen, so I use these in the named fleets to bulk up the Dominion offer.

A house rule I use when using the generic fleets is, “any ship may have as many upgrades as it wishes (and has icons for) up to the cost of the ship and/or the squadron limit, but may only have active, upgrades equal to its captain and ship icons”.

After dials are placed, upgrade cards may be changed and they may be hidden until revealed.

This allows ships to have a decent spread of options (too many only have 1 of a type, especially crew), but removes upgrade bloat in play and with weaker ships, overloading ships is probably not wise.

Battle scale in generics is generally a 3-5 ship, 100-150pt fleet tactical game with a secretly drawn objective or a 50-100pt ship v ship scenario game with named.

From 1 Galaxy, 1 Nebula and a blue Excelsior, to this for “battle” alone. I also picked up several deep cuts.

The generics also have a pair of Jem’Hadar cruisers (metallic paint) and four Galor class to play in solo/AI mode from two Dominion War II sets. I would love the third set, but it looks like it is long gone.

*

The small scale DS9 or “skirmish” set is the reverse.

High agility, low resilience is the norm in this set, so more dog fighting and hi-jinx.

In skirmish scale, I prefer named ships (some generics where needed), with old points costs, so a few have been adjusted, the set covering the pre-Dominion war with Feds with the Robinson, Bajoran, Marquis, Ferengi, Romulan fighter and small ships, some Cardassian Hideki fighters and the Dreadnaught, and the ubiquitous Klingon/Cardassian/Rogue/Ferengi B’rels. House rule is the Ferengi can “acquire” almost any ship.

For the Dominion War, there are also six AI Jem’Hadar attack ships.

I held on to much of this and the buyer of my old collection had no interest in DS9, so I only had to flesh it out a little (although I did let the Defiant go-WTF!). The ISS Defiant has been re-flagged as USS and I prefer the 4 attack of that version. It is a nice foil to the Sao Paulo which has better shields. I would not be using the mirror version anyway and have stripped it for cards.

My favourite new ship, the metallic Intrepid getting the drop on three Dominion attack ships run by the capable AI.

I can also use generics here, using old points costs, but the ships line up better with uniques after a few small mods.

I have enough cards to keep these two sets separate, putting the duplicates I have to use.

There is some cross-over with the Voyager and DS9 sets (imagine the harm a few stray Ferengi could do in the Delta quadrant), the Val Jean for example being represented in both, the Intrepid is used with DS9, Voyager in the Delta set with plenty of hypotheticals for both.

Games Within Games Part 1

Breaking Star Trek Attack Wing into timeline and faction limited fleets has created a group of basically similar, but also quite different games.

One thing it has allowed me to do is consolidate points costs. The game evolved, but I feel many weaker ships were costed out based on their performance against newer ships. If you play true to the era, these changes often become redundant.

Each of these has usually either a generic and/or unique named ship list, or in some sets, a bit of both.

TOS, or The Original Series has had a little boost lately.

Using named ships in preference, each faction has at least two ships.

The Feds have the Enterprise and Intrepid, Captains Kirk and Pike and a generic, most of the series crew (including an added Mirror Chekov one I had as there is no Fed one), 5 elite talents including the new “Live Long and Prosper” (a Vulcan upgrade, but I will adapt) and “Explore Strange New Worlds”, a pair of photon torps which max them out and thanks to the more science themed Intrepid, 2 tech options. The sheer number of Crew allowed (4) fully enable the Enterprise, while the Intrepid is more tech-support.

The Romulans have the Gal Gath’Thong bird of prey and Algeron D-7 Cruiser filling similar roles as above, a core ship and a support. We have 3 captains and an admiral plus generics, 5 elites, 7 crew, mostly generics, but I added an excess Selok from TNG (she looks right, they do live quite a while), 7 weapons and 2 tech (one is Cloaked Mines, which pre-date the TOS period). Cloaking effects and trickery are their thing, with lots of clever tactics.

the Klingons get a special addition to make up for my shortage of named D-7’s. The freshly launched brute flag ship Kronos One as the first K’Tinga class (with it’s action bar changed to a non cloaked one for this period), which sports the highest primary attack in this set, more resilience than the Gr’oth, but the lighter D-7 moves better, is considerably cheaper as well as adding a tech slot.

We have 3 named captains and a generic, 4 elites, 5 weapons, 2 crew and a tech. I am short a crew option or two, but as the cosmetics are quite different to later periods, it is hard to fudge that.

Not a nice situation considering one gave the Enterprise a run. Hope the Feds bought backup, or they might be lunch or at least invited to a corny wrestling match. The Mirror Constitution is a sweet little model.

The Gorn are the toughest faction with the Gornarius and the crew friendly Gress’Sril. They have 4 named captains with 3 elite talents, 7 tech, 6 weapons, 6 crew and 2 (?) Meridor Ale.

These ships can hit hard and for tricky tactics they rank along side the Romulans.

I fleshed this set** out re-buying the Gress’Sril expansion to go with a second physical ship I was kindly gifted. The newer ship has had its point cost increased to match the old one as they are the toughest ships in this period.

The enigmatic Tholians, the web builders and control freaks are weak on a ship to ship basis, so they have 3 and an apparently quite common house rule that the “Tholia One” card refers to a generic-named ship class (like a specific group of ships), the reason being the true generics have a single weapon slot, which means they can either weave webs or pack another weapon (or I could use the option below*).

That may work well with a larger fleet, but it limits a smaller build far too much. It also breaks the named ship rule for this set, but works well enough. For captains they have Loskene, two Tholian Pilots with skill 2 and shield regen and 2 generics. Upgrades are 9 weapon (3 web and some nastier stuff), 2 elites for Loskene only to select from and………. that’s it.

If the Tholian Pilots with named as generic Tholia One’s are used they become quite capable with free web sewing and shield recovery available on a slow move and punchy weapons in reserve.

The ships are weak and slow but move well, the numbers give some benefit and their other weapons, including Tricobalt Warheads that pack 6 attack at range 3, are brutal in this time line.

The last faction for this set is the Mirror ISS Enterprise, one of only two Mirror universe options (the other is the Kelvin set below). This is a 5 upgrade ship like the USS version but instead of 4 crew, it packs 2 crew, 2 weapon and 1 tech, basically being it’s own tech support.

With 2 captains and a generic and 2 elite talents, the pack benefits from splitting out some other mirror cards, but I bought two, so I have also added to other sets.

It has 4 crew including a slightly manic Chekov and an Orion tactician-from the DS9 mirror ships, 2 tech including enhanced hull plating and 2 weapon. Just a few extra cards make the build unpredictable and when generic ships are used, I can build two or even three ships.

A well rounded and balanced scenario based set, full of nostalgia and the birthplace of many core Trek concepts. The Feds rely on Kirk/Enterprise and crew synergy, the Gorn are tough with 4 shields, the Romulans slippery and elusive with cloaking and agility, the Klingons hit hard with the only 4 primary, the Tholians add a point of difference and the mirror Enterprise allows for some hijinxs.

*

The Kelvin timeline Feds are a Mirror faction, so they get some help from split packs. Both Enterprise options and the generics are much stronger than the TOS versions to match the physically massive models (longest Enterprise in the game, while the TOS version is the smallest).

The Federation has 4 captains that all have an alternate side (3 are crew and 1 admiral), 4 double sided crew and 2 of the captains still have an elite talent when crew. With 6 weapon, 4 tech and a lowly 2 elite cards (which I have added as the set comes with no Fed elite cards), it has plenty of builds. The TOS series elite upgrades could also be added if needed, but the captain and crew skills are enough.

This is a truly massive model, has a deep and robust build and is fun and thematic to play.

The more conventional Kelvin Klingons have 2 captains (the ubiquitous Kang and Kor) and an added generic, 2 ships that are a little weaker but also cheaper than the Feds, 6 elites, 4 crew (single sided), 2 tech and 4 weapon.

There is enough to trouble a fully built-out Enterprise and possibly another ship “in distress” or surprised vs two full strength Klingons, but the set is very much as scenario based one.

*

The last set I will cover in this article is the TOM or original movie period.

When I sold off some stuff, the TOM period was the most sought after by the buyer and least liked by me, so Chang’s BOP and Singh in the Reliant both went. I was keen to let the lot go as a clean break, but the Excelsior and Kronos One packs were multiples and still available so I kept the most tenuous toe hold in the period with options to expand.

The “These are the Voyages” set however replaced basically every name I had shed from the Federation and added more (Tuvok!), even though their abilities varied from previous iterations. I chased a Kirk captain card for months and paid way too much for it, let it go cheaply, then back it came in the TatV set for relatively little. Karma?

Suddenly I have 3 Enterprise builds (but need to paint a deep cut refit ship), the Excelsior and the Tian An Men Reliant class, a half dozen captain options, an admiral, 5 elites, 16 (!) crew, 5 weapon and 5 tech with the Systems Upgrade (?) card.

From basically a token Excelsior pack to a fleet. Crew are again the strength of the faction.

I would have preferred they add more to the original series in the TatV set, but that was not to be and as it goes, it turned out ok.

Enter Kronos One. Like the Kelvin set, this is purely a Fed vs Klingon dynamic, but also like that set, there is lots to work with.

For the Klingons, Chang and Gowron are both present in the Kronos One pack and Chang’s, so I have one version and the “Blood Oath” set added a few useful bits. The only thing I regret is the loss of a couple of elite cards from the Chang’s BOP pack, but otherwise there are 2 named and several generic captains, 5 elites (really need to run “an eye for and eye” with Chang!), 3 crew (I may add some more generics), 5 weapon and 4 tech which can only be used by a BOP or an aging D-7 (advanced weapon system allows the Chang’s BOP-like ability to cloak and attack).

For named ships, basically any K’Tinga or D-7 is usable, so several can be fielded, but the BOP, a B’rel class with K’vort move dial is a decent fudge. The strength of the faction comes from potentially 4-6 ships with an offensive lean.

The Klingons are not as strong as they could be, but are still a handful for any Fed build and the extras that came in the TatV pack (Q etc) add scenario options.

*Originally, I only wanted a single ship per faction made up of left over duplicates, but realistically, they are weak ships, so they were heavily dependent on a good scenario.

**I often apply a house rule that a ship may be built up to a squad value, even if that exceeds its upgrade slots (maybe limited to ship point value), but may only have active, upgrades equal to their symbols. This includes multiple of the same crew or Captain options, but any card that disables or removes them, affects all options.

Fun With Scissors And Glue!

I hate waste.

I do not like it when things do not line up thanks to printed matter becoming redundant.

My Attack Wing collection is as complete as it is going to get. All I can get that I might want I have, but there are inconsistencies and some wasted elements.

Wizkids changed later ship point values to lower costs, sometimes much lower. My sets are a mix of decently consistent, to all over the place, but were helped a lot by splitting them into scale, era and faction specific fleets. Much of this is due to the tournament circuit outing some ships as weak and uncompetitive, but only if they are subjected to ships from all eras and factions mixed together.

My original Voyager for example is 30 pts. The three later ones are 25pts or under. The Delta Flyer is even worse dropping from 20 to 14!

Finally, my clear-out of a little too much a couple of years ago left me with some annoying holes.

Below are some fixes done the old fashioned way.

Can you see the changes? I run a little black pen along the cut edges, then sleeve them. Initial fears the pasted-on card layer may be too proud and obvious have proven unfounded (I actually lost one card, mistaking it for an unchanged one).

Anyone familiar can see what I have done, but for the rest of the world, here goes;

My Federation Defiant is the Mirror universe one. I sold my Federation one (stupid) and cannot replace it short of selling an internal organ. I actually liked the mirror version more anyway as the primary attack is 4, which I think it should have been on the Fed ship. A replacement Fed logo and the “I.S.S” replaced with “U.S.S.” (both from an excess Ent-D card) and I have a 4-2-3-3 Federation re-fit of the Mirror version that would never have been used anyway, as I had already stripped out the useful cards.

The Sao Paulo (later replacing the Defiant) is a 3-2-3-4 ship, slightly less punch but more resilience. I like the Yin and Yang of that pair.

Next was an excess mirror Chekov (I bought a second, so I could strip out the upgrade cards). There is no Chekov in the TOS range. The picture (hopefully not too manic?) and his ability are acceptable as long as he is not up against himself in a Mirror vs Prime universe fight. I may look at his top ability and switch it out (maybe from an excess TOM Chekov). Otherwise the only change is the Fed logo.

I added an excess K’Tinga Kronos One to the TOS set as I only had a single named Klingon D-7 ship. It fits in the timeline (especially if Strange New Worlds is to be believed), being maybe the first of it’s new class and adds something to the Klingon fleet, their “thing”, a crude heavy hitter that acts as an over powered, less nimble D-7 with no tech slot.

As the only 4 primary ship and more hull than the D-7 it justifies it’s cost in the TOS set, but the action bar included cloaking which did not feel right in this period, so I hunted for an action bar that matched the D-7’s and found it quite hard to do (almost all non cloaking ships also have Scan, which the Klingons in this period do not have in AW). An excess “Orrassin” from the Enterprise era was found and the action bar fixed.

The Koraga got what many will, a slight points change, depending on the set. The other named K’Vort, the Vorn is significantly cheaper than the older ship so down she went.

There will be a lot more to either adjust points or change factions etc. I have no issue with the process or the reasoning and many points changes are actually official, they just need doing.

All It Ends With.....Ferengi

Ferengi, not my favourite faction in anything Trek, but they are part of it, so fair enough that I retrace my steps and grab some late bargains..

Odd though that my collecting of Attack Wing finished (and it is over*), with Ferengi.

The Kreechta and Quarks Treasure are two older expansions, but I was surprised how much they offered. Between the two I have a 20 odd card selection.

I once boasted these and the faction pack, but for my needs, this is enough Ferengi.

Between these two packs I have managed an admiral, 5 captains, 4 elite talents, 2 weapons, 4 crew and 5 tech. Enough for a few builds. The ships are mediocre, but as scenario builders, they are solid and the packs were great value. I guess above all, they are required to round out my collection (a bit like the Vidiians I put off until recently).

The shuttle will go into the DS9 “skirmish” set, the bigger Marauder model is in the “battle” range, so it will go into the “battle” set, but all the cards can be used as needed.

A bit like the Cardassian Sail ship, they are interesting scenario elements if not power house ships.

My last purchased pack was the 2nd ed Fed v Klingon starer set (again). I paid too much for this rare find, but it was sealed/new and it was almost entirely useful. I had managed to sell almost all of my last one off.

The Ferengi were simply a lucky find, found together and on sale. Meant to be I guess.

*A few missed box sets have been given up on, but to be fair I am sorted well and truly.

The Wall Of Cards And Plastic Is Rolling In.

During my desperate chase of one of the Attack Wing Federation packs to balance out my set and the eve of what looks like it’s end times, I stumbled across what looks like the final clearance of AW stuff from Wizkids.

Today, the first of it arrived, two Dominion War starter sets….$12.50 U.S each with decent freight (about $85au all up with a third set yet to come “Ships of the Line”).

All up, I scored 7 sets, with only one useful repeat for about $250au, which in balance with selling a lot of older stuff for $300au, seems a decent recovery.

Ships of the Line, These are the Journeys, 2x Dominion War starters, Live Long and Prosper, Adversaries of the Delta Quadrant and Lost in the DQ. I managed Secrets of Tal Shiar, Blood Oath and the Dominion War II set from other sources locally, but missed some during my “down time” with AW (Resistance is Futile and the Motley Fleet with the Andorian Cruiser) and let some go that I cannot replace parts of (Starter set 2), but lots of stuff, lots.

The reality with AW is not the plastic, but the cards.

I feel blessed that I started looking around when I did because most of these are now gone. Two of these, These are the Voyages and Lost in the DQ are technically still coming to the parts outside the U.S, but I am not holding my breath pre-orders will come to anything.

It looks like Wizkids are clearing out, not continuing the line, so jump when you can.

Where will I end up?

The Original Series, gets a massive boost with a literal doubling of resources from the These are the Voyages, Live Long and Prosper and Blood Oath packs (a handful of cards).

My original pairing-back gave me one of each named ship in each faction against the Enterprise as a simple introductory or multi player game, Mirror Universe, Tholian, Klingon, Gorn and Romulan (2 ships).

The Feds for example now have the Enterprise and Intrepid (Vulcan), 2 captains, 5 crew, 7 elite (thanks to the Vulcan pack), 3 tech and 2 weapon (Photon Torps). Only the Vulcan Intrepid can take tech, but it adds a another dimension.

A solid offering. One or two ship games in AW, thanks in part to solid scenario cards can be absorbing, but once played, the best options tend to float to the top. More options means more “X” options to combat “Y” obstacles. It is a shame this series, the original was not also boosted by the TatV set. The ship is small enought to fit in the box and more choices would have been awesome and felt right. Always a disappointment there was no Chekov in the core Enterprise set, but the later period now has several.

The TOS Mirror universe is one of the few I have kept intact, so it has gained some upgrades from other periods with 2 captains, 2 elite, 1 tech, 4 crew (I added an Orion tac officer for fun and she looks right) and 2 weapon.

The Tholians now have 3 ships, the Romulans 2 Warbirds and the Algeron D-7, the Klingons get the G’roth, a D-7 and for fun and to add something to be their signature “thing”, a Kronos One (I have 2) as a hypothetical new K’Tinga flagship. It fits timeline wise, has the only 4 primary attack in the range, but moves less well than the D-7 making it feel like the “heavy” compromise.

The Kelvin timeline is also well boosted by re-purposed cards from other Mirror packs. On top of the dual sided crew, they have 4 tech, 3 elite and 5 weapon. The Klingons have 5 elite, 4 weapon, 4 crew and 1 tech. The larger Klingon elite choice makes up somewhat for the less impressive crew options.

The original Movies (TOM) is not my favourite period, but in some ways is back to where it was thanks in part to the “These are the Journeys” set. Most the cards I sold have been returned including Kirk as captain and admiral, most others have choices, plus 4 elite, 6 weapon, 6 tech.

The Klingons have lost Chang’s BOP expansion, but I have the Chang from Kronos One, and a generic B’Rel BOP, 3 elite, 3 crew, 3 tech and 4 weapon. I lament the generous spirit that sold the BOP, but there are the elements needed. .

The TNG “battle” and DS9 “skirmish” sets are huge, the Feds in particular are too many to list as is the Voyager set, which has doubled with the “Adversaries” and “Lost” sets and the earlier Enterprise period, the one I really wanted the TatV set for is fully rounded and quite huge with the Columbia, Hernandez and Hayes in his intended role.

I would like to fill some small holes and balance some sets, like more Andorians or Weapon Zero, but it is all done well enough and there are ways.

A precedent set by the various Trek series is also the cross-over potential of Species 8472, Tholians, Borg etc to cross time and dimensional borders, allowing for missing bits (Weapon Zero), to be replaced by an equivalent (Borg Sphere).

It is close to over, chasing elusive and unlikely options done for all intents and purposes, but I have more than enough.

Time to enjoy.

Attack Wing (Re)Growing Pains, But Is There A Plan?

The mad rush to clean up holes in my collection of X-Wing and Armada, to balance out inconsistencies and get some needed backups is mostly done.

Attack Wing I felt was ok.

I had cut back (regretting that a bit now), shedding most of my TNG, TOS and TOM series sets, just keeping duplicates, some very rare cards and my full “Enterprise” and “Voyager” sets along with the Borg (no interest from my buyer apparently).

When I cut back I was pretty ruthless, not in a good place with gaming generally. The original movie (TOM) set I had painstakingly built up, including all the Klingon and even a rare Kirk captain card, was gutted, so I had ditched that and spread the remaining cards into other sets. If I get the “Voyages” set, it will get a flesh-out again, so maybe I can make a “Chang’s” BOP out of what I have (from memory it was basically a B’Rel with the ability to shoot torps while cloaked), or just let him command a K’Tinga and to be honest, the very movie based back story is problematic. Best to keep it a simple them v us set.

I can field now;

• A large, but not complete Voyager range (skipped a few factions I did not like), the Feds are all white/blue except for the Delta Flyer.

• A varied, but thin TNG “battle” scale set, about 100 pts a faction. The Fed ships in this set are all metallic finish.

• Borg and Species 8742 as wildcards, both deep and powerful.

• A very thin TOS set (1:1 duals really), a good intro or multi player set. This includes the Mirror ship, but all are capped at about 40-50 pts a faction.

• A decent if fragmented DS9 set using generic ships only, as my “skirmish” TNG set, a place to put my little ships. The buyer had no interest in Bajoran, Marquis or little in Cardassians so my multi ship sets are intact, but I did give him all but one of my Hadar assault ships. I did also part with the Defiant, but kept the generic card (?). The Fed ships in this set are white finish. Still not sure why the generosity bug hit me so hard here. The Defiant was hard to find, but went so easily!

• A very strong Enterprise series set. Unfortunately no “Weapon Zero”, but them’s the breaks. This was the main draw of the “These are the Journeys” set, to get the Columbia and Hernandez cards and more crew options.

• A Kelvin timeline set. This is a robust and bespoke option, very strong ships and great models, but a little thin on cards, so to put otherwise useless (to me) cards to use, the Mirror universe upgrades from DS9 are re-purposed here and in the TOS sets.

All sets are faction and time line limited, except for a few excess upgrades that have stayed faction pure, or skipped to later periods as suits (Enterprise era Cloaked Mines from Enterprise can turn up in later sets etc).

So, what does make a good workable “set” in AW?

After my clean-out, I had the luxury of several repeat cards per ship. Upgrades are key and with Captains being separate from ships, I made a flexible little TNG fleet for each.

It was fine really, even quite clever and contained.

For example; the Romulans had a couple of D’Deridex (one combat, one technical), a Valdore and some scout/science ship cards and one of each model. I also kept a set of fighters for variety and because I like them.

The Feds got two versions of the Enterprise (a regular line one and a “combat refit” version from both starters, much like the D’Deridex pair above, the Nebula class T’Kumbra with Vulcan upgrades (Vulcans > science ship, it fits) and the Thunderchild Akira class, a sentimental favourite and some fighters.

As shown below, they are all in need of a repaint or wash for some consistency.

Most factions have 20+ upgrade cards, which is plenty I suppose.

In AW the game is “softer” and more forgiving and it feels like the community is less “best build” obsessed*, unless you are talking to a dedicated tournament player, the sort who trashes canon in favour of wins (Kirk on a Borg cube with Xindi upgrades etc).

You have time to tell a story, make some errors and generally stick around longer.

The ships are generally less agile, so the game tends to be more attritional with an emphasis on recoveries and avoidance with a lot of upgrades target enemy upgrades. It means plastic resources are less important than card ones, a luxury I had after the purge.

So, how did I drag the apparently sweet and sorted AW into the X-Wing FOMO dragnet?

It looks like the AW line is also withering on the vine. Faction packs are the only refresh and they are getting very thin and/or expensive. There is not even a basic starter set available at the moment.

To add to this, the current tariff issues and the freight out of the U.S. since COVID have made America a last resort (possibly a non-resource in the future) and Wizkids have lately found it hard to distribute outside of the U.S and this will likely only get worse.

I ordered the “These are the Voyages” anniversary pack from the U.K, not for the gold painted ships (WTF!?), but for the cards, but have since cancelled it as a possible non-starter!

This would have unbalanced things and fuelled a resurgence!

Next issue and this is a stretch, maybe eve an excuse it turns out.

The Romulan Scout ship, the Vo has no Weapon upgrade and only 1 offence (there are options in Tech, but not many). With only two combat ships and only three choices within those, I felt another offensive option would have been good. It did come with a Tech card that had offensive properties, but I seem to have lost it! The Vo is hard to hit granted, but it is a scenario specific choice, a delivery or escape vehicle, quite situational.

Stretching here.

I like the Romulans and they felt the least “loved” of my favourite factions.

I could buy a cheap Vo, just for a card, or I could look at other options.

The Tal Shiar has a weapons upgrade, but it comes in a pack with ships I have already let go and it will unbalance the ideal of simple and small “sampler” fleets.

The actual ships are semi clear “cloaked” mouldings, so I could get it and just use the cloaked ship models as just that (on arrival, they do impress, so they will be used as is).

I went for it, but is the door to uncontrolled re-collecting now open? Things may be done that cannot be undone!

So, having 4 D’Deridex and 3 Valdore class cards as well as a pair of workable Scouts and more upgrades, the urge to add ships could be too hard to resist. I have deep-cuts at hand originally bought to be black painted cloaked ships, (now redundant) and I wanted to get all my Roms painted to match!

I have realistically failed my intended path at this point.

Balance is now needed across the board.

I feel the Dominion set is plenty when combined (Cardassian, Breen and Jem’Hadar). With 200 pts of ships + 100 odd upgrade cards, oddly unbalanced within their own sub-factions especially in Captains, Crew and Elite Talents, they combine well. The Cardassians needed the Dreadnaught to fill out the ranks, which I did not love, but they will get some fillers later on.

I did order the Dominion War campaign set no.2, to fill out my Klingons a little (generic Vor’cha and K’Vort), at the same time adding a Dominion battle cruiser and two Galor’s as AI options (not sure yet if they come with regular cards/dials etc.

For the Klingons I also have the K’Tinga heavy “Blood Oath” set coming. I would have preferred the 2e starter with a Vor’Cha and K’Vort to replace both of the above, but it is what it is and annoyingly, I had it and let most of it go. My plan was less clear back then.

For TNG “battle”, generic ships look like the go. Most are new points level costed out, the spread is better and you can call them what you like! Like with X Wing, I dislike ship “Titles” feeling it is the peiple that make the ship, not some “ghost” personality the ship itself takes on, so generic ships, purely empowered by their captain, crew and other upgrades are the go.

I found a rare “To Boldly Go” set (silver Defiant/Miranda/Akira/Galaxy) and bought it then cancelled it with despatch pending. It was expensive coming from the U.S with an inflated price and steep freight ($140au) and the ships were a poor mix anyway for my intended path.

Then I found a “Ships of the Line” set (silver Sovereign/Prometheus/Sabre/Akira). This one is more about late TNG Trek and big ships. It also means I can run a second (silver) Prometheus class in this set and a Sovereign class that does not have to replace the Enterprise-D (no “E”).

It even has a couple of Crew for Voyager and duplicates Prometheus upgrades for both sets.

In DS9 or “skirmish”, there is a generic Sabre class (not putting that grossly over scaled ship into the TNG “battle” set) and I have found a few Hideki fighter packs cheap, which work for “Battle” and DS9.

Finally, I have pre-ordered the “Lost in the Delta Quadrant” set, which is just more good for a good range as is, but the unique and generic (silver) Intrepid class will swing into the TNG battle or DS9 group.

I will paint one or both Excelsiors metallic (unless the Dom War set is found**), or task one to the DS9/Voyager sets (more hypotheticals). I can still do the Kronos One v Excelsior game, but without Chang’s expansion it seems pointless.

The “Journeys” set may still make it into my collection**, mostly for the upgrade cards, but if not, I feel that is ok.

So, all of a sudden we have;

• A large and comprehensive TNG “battle” collection using either unique or preferably generic ships. The Feds in particular now have no fewer than seven classes of ship and double those choices in unique versions. This is exclusively for large scale ships.

• A larger and deeper Voyager set, all uniques except for the odd adversary filler, but it is waiting on the “Lost in the DQ” pack coming** which will effectively double it. This set relies on hypotheticals for depth, like the Val Jean, Equinox, Dauntless and Prometheus as a late reinforcement for variety. I have them all and the Lost pack will add more.

• A very deep Kelvin timeline set, milking the Mirror Universe packs for all they are worth (15+ upgrades for each faction). The dual sided Crew cards, very robust ships and already decent upgrade packs were good, but better with a lot of DS9 and Enterprise Mirror Universe cards re-purposed, they now have several surprises and enough depth for decent two ship fleets.

• The original movie (TOM) period is dropped for now. I can do it at a pinch, but would rather re-task the parts to fatten up other sets unless the “Voyages” set is found, then it may be decent enough to do and I can basically make up Chang’s BOP with parts (it’s only really 2 ET’s from complete).

• A decent little TOS (original series) “starter” set. Dual ship fleets are a bit thin, but the characters and many upgrades make for a good sampler set. It is also a good three or even four-way tussle game (like the 1e starter set scenario) and it has tribbles! I have added the newly christened Kronos One, flagship of the Klingon fleet and as the only 4-attack ship in the group, it fits with the timeline, Klingon ethos. As a concession to it’s bulking out, it has a less kind dial than the D7 Gr’oth.

• The generic DS9 range may realistically be a pre-Dominion set with Marquis, Cardassian, Bajoran and Feds as police.

Ed. This one is going in a different direction. I will use this set as the adversaries for a pair of Dominion War Campaign (set 1x2) packs**. This makes a less favoured range relevant.

• The Enterprise period is mostly unchanged. I split the Mirror universe NX out and I will miss Hernandez as a logical captain** (Hayes…really?) if the “Voyages” set never materialises. Also it cannot logically be added to with many other upgrades from other sets being the earliest period.

What did it actually take? Four starters (possibly two more if they come) and a dozen or so cheap clearance ships. Ships shed were re-purchased, but often the hole when filled added more and in some cases, having the original would have probably excluded going again (Enterprise-E, Scimitar etc).

Have I lost something along the way?

If time was not an issue (or funds), I could have been happy with my little fleets. There was variety, all the elements of a STAW game and it’s not like I don’t have other games to switch to. The need to do something before it was too late is always going to be a thing for me, accepted and dealt with, so innevitability embraced, I am happy to re-tread old ground and bloat the collection.

The reality is, STAW takes up 6 plastic trays with ships, dials and ID tokens, while X Wing takes up 12 and 12 larger ones for cards! It has two large cases full of cards and a smaller one with collateral, but that is it.

*I have used the example of the Tie Fighter (2-3-3-0) vs the Enterprise NX (2-3-3-0) before. One is a swarmer or filler, handy but short lived, the other can field several crew, weapons and tech upgrades (7-8 maximum I think) giving it more lives, more punch, more tricks and depth. The main difference is separating ship from Captain and baking in the Title, but with few exceptions, all ships have Crew and Tech to vary them out.

**Ed. It turns out Wizkids shop has most of the newer faction packs at heavily reduced prices with more than decent freight (even ex-U.S.), so not sure what is so hard for others? I have found most the packs I have been chasing, two Dominion War campaign sets and some other bits for peanuts compared to some of the prices I have seen (most bought for the price of a single pack I cancelled on Amazon).

The Game I Have Been Waiting For?

Star Trek “Into The Unknown” raised it’s head yesterday.

I was searching for X-Wing ships, the Trident Huge ship specifically, when a video featuring a massive Enterprise-D appeared. Intrigued, but assuming I was looking at someone’s “true scaling” rework of Attack Wing, it took me a moment to realise I was looking at something very new.

Trek and I go way back.

Below I will look briefly at my Trek forays and rate them from 1-5 for battle game depth vs story game immersion.

I have Federation Commander (5/2) and the many spin-offs from that like Starrmada or ACTA. These give me various levels of crunch and lots of it. If I feel like running one ship with all it’s micro management, this was the game so far (unless you want to go full Star Fleet Battles bonkers, which it modernised). Although big on crunch, it is clearly a wargame with scenario power.

Attack Wing (4/3) the X-Wing spin-off that many feel is better except for the lousy ships. It feels like Trek, if a little light weight, but is more story driven than X-Wing and even Armada (which I would rate as 1-ish). Unlike X-Wing, STAW started out with scenarios to play, but it is still a combat game for a tournament circuit. Oddly, I shed a lot of this and still feel I have skin in the game, because unlike X-Wing, a little really does go a long way.

GF9’s Away Missions (2/4) which is the main game that gives me the “Trek as problem solving like an actual episode” dynamic. This is the game that looks like a skirmish game, but is not, which disappoints some, thrills others. The big issue of course is no ships.

Star Trek Frontiers (1/4) based on the Mage Knight system. This one, like Away Missions does not concentrate on combat for it’s own sake, only as one of several options and is mostly an exploration game. I have not played it much, but it is capable of capturing that Trek episodic problem solving and exploration feel and heroes all those Trek elements. What has put me off is a combination of game weight without the promise of fully realised immersion.

There are so, so many others, like Panic or Catan which I have played, but only cosmetically stray from their parent game’s roots. Others like Star Fleet Captains or Ascendency have less appeal for a variety of reasons (cost, minimum player count, game weight to play options or reviews).

So, I have crunchy, light, immersive story telling to skirmish wargame, but is there a game that successfully combines all of these other than an RPG?

Into the Unknown (maybe a 4/4, or even better) on the other hand does a few things that exceed those above and maybe even my own expectations.

• The ship models are huge, beautiful and to scale. I got around my annoyance at STAW scaling by splitting the games into their series, with TNG as a battle game, DS9 and Delta Quadrant as a skirmish scale and most others align reasonably, but some combinations are hard to swallow.

• It has a TNG theme, so no “Forever War” pseudo licence weirdness. Characters we know, but deeper than STAW..

• It is a capable combat game, but it is also a properly themed scenario game (even campaign) driven, episodic, a story game. You may never fight, you may go boots in, but it has options. This is Trek for Trekkies.

The negatives are obvious really.

Those ships are biiiig! The Defiant and Attack ships look like better versions of the Attack Wing versions (maybe a little bigger), so the to-scale big ships are genuinely massive. Nobody has managed this before, not X-Wing (Huge ships were about ½ scale size), Armada with its vari-scale and fighters that were “representative” and of course Attack Wing, the worst offender.

It is deep, involved and complicated, has a two page spread of just the icons needed to play and may trade immersion for enjoyment to some extent. My main concern is, I might get deeply into it, but can I expect another to do the same and a game like this needs two invested parties, I guess?

Sometimes four Action icons on a X-Wing ship card is too much for casual players.

This is something I have seen before with board games that creep into the realm of roleplaying games. The total freedom of a TTRPG allows for much to taken as we narrate it. A board game on the other hand has to simulate every aspect of that life or it is simply out of the scope of the game.

On the other hand, can a dedicated Trekkie and war gamer afford to miss it?

Will it be “the one” or another expensive wadste of book shelf space?

Only time and a sizeable investment will tell.

So, X-Wing Is Dead, Long Live X-Wing (And Armada)

X-Wing is no more it seems, Armada no better off, but that is another story..

No big deal for me as I have more than I will ever need and a small, quite occasional and not tournament obsessed playing group who like where we are.

My journey started with a bulk buy of TFA 1e starter sets (5 for $100au I think). I thought I could keep it under control by limiting myself to TFA and 1e, so Heroes of the Resistance, a Silencer, some Tie/SF’s, a couple of Bombers and I had “the experience” of X Wing with some semblance of control.

Of course, I was soon hopelessly intrigued, mired in excellent Blogs, a thriving community, even one going through edition angst, a lot of history, a lot of love and several opinions on all of these. My thirst for more took me all over the place as I just narrowly caught all but the Starwing and arguably 2 ARC-170’s, Tie Aggressors and K-Wings (2) are under done, but at least I have some.

Two may limit possible builds, but it is still two more than many have.

I even bought foreign language Huge ships, Sabine’s Tie and others, then chased down English language cards and dials (usually from Big Orbit in the UK). I am also sure I got the very last Rebel Transport, original 1e starters and 1e Ghost in Australia, at least on line.

Three of these were near miraculous buys, one was so common it was almost sad.

2e was a push.

I bought in to 1e to avoid the trap of 2e (cost), but as it turned out my TFA collection perfectly fit the upgrade packs and just for completeness I bought the rest……

History now, some fraught, some fun, all memorable.

Around here we mostly play various forms of 1e “Bare Bones” X-Wing, limited to the original trilogy period (i.e no TFA). By “we” I mean me and a cast of drop-ins with mild to keen interest, but little taste for deep diving.

The Force Awakens period is now reserved for 2e, which is where it was completed. We see this as an old movies-old game/new movies-new game dynamic.

Bare Bones style or similar (see below) means usually, no EPT’s, Mods, generic Titles and sometimes no named Titles either. Basically everything that broke the later 1e game and was prioritised as tournament necessary, anything odd or irrational and anything leading to the bonkers action chains and gamesmanship at the expense of logical simulation, is out.

The 1e game was lovely and simple, but it broke easily. Early iconic ships aged badly and worse, the fixes were becoming even more problematic. The game was a world event, huge by game standards, especially considering it’s limited scope and theming, but it was ailing.

The X-Wing for example, the iconic namesake ship of the game ended up with Renegade Refit, to allow Integrated Astromech and S-Foils to make it cheaper and more viable, all effectively made redundant in the 2e fix.

Second edition is mostly sitting in a cupboard neglected (see above). The 2e game is far more even, cohesive and comprehensive, but feels like a very different beast, shielding the players from the power blow-out as much with convolution and compromise as it is with cleaner rules, leading to more situational abilities and wordiness.

It is just me I know, but I actually like the old formatting better to.

It is great how 2e has made the player favourites relevant again, but there are other ways.

The reality is, when I try to introduce players to 2e they are overwhelmed by options and game jargon.

If I show them one of our 1e “Bare Bones” cut down versions, they are much happier.

The guidelines.

Pilots and their ships are as printed, ordnance is more or less reduced and consolidated, with some weird, convoluted and useless stuff dropped, also some is made faction specific.

Ships start out as very faction iconic, then gradually even out.

In many forms either generic or named only pilots are used and there is no TFA era stuff (or Tech).

The first few forms only allow ships with the base 5 Actions.

We do use 2e dials in some forms of 1e, because older ships are better to fly with them, but that is about all we change or add.

Classic is a handling of the original trilogy only, with some ace pilots being assigned EPT’s that fit them ideally in pre-builds, but always with an eye to story consistency over gamesmanship. Luke for example gets “Deadeye”, arguably his card even with his picture on it. Rogue One is an optional expansion and there are thoughts to doing a Rebels kit.

Black Squadron in all it’s glory.

Skeleton Crew , an intro game or one for the jaded player, is 5 themed ships per faction. Everything you need to make a game is there, enough for a tournament and a way of giving new players a feeling of control. Upgrades are limited, but there are plenty to play smart and to theme, but more complicated mechanics like Ion and Actions outside the base five are absent. This also uses the more basic dice-only combat system (crits are direct hull hits, normals are normal, reducing shields first), which makes some elements obsolete as they apply to damage card mechanics (for example the TFA Chewbacca is used, not the earlier version that relies on cards). No names are duplicated, so no Pilot and Crew options of the same character, other Crew and Droids are generics (and faction aligned).

Bare Bones expands the ships to 7, still faction themed, some more ordnance and upgrades are added to include Ion and other more complicated mechanics, damage cards are reinstated, but it uses 2e dials, to help rationalise out old and new ships.

Legends is a favourite. More ships including those from Rebels, Solo and Rogue One, but only named Pilots, Titles, Crew and Droids, no generics (the lack of a named Droid assumes a generic “no frills” model). This is all about, as it suggests, Legends and names, the characters that make a difference. If something or someone is not named, they are excluded. Named Titles are assumed with relevant Pilots only, not optional. This one appeals to me when the inconsistency of Droids etc that only impart one ability annoy (if R2’s offer Green moves, then why does R2-D2 fix shields and not give green moves?). All ships are equal except for the named character differences.

Expanded. Expanded is getting close to full 1e (but with 2e dials). Still no EPT’s, generic Titles, Mods, but named Titles are allowed, ships with more than the base Actions are included (except TFA era). This even includes single card Huge ships.

Aces and Eights is different. All upgrades are allowed, but only for a select range of fighters. It started with the Kihraxz vs the Advanced vs the X Wing, all massively improved in the later game, but other versions have been tried. It works because it is limited in ships.

Everyday Heroes is a new game, but a logical one. Only generic pilots are used, all able to take (select) EPT’s up to their PS value (mostly capped at 4) for free as part of the Pilot cost (initiative is changed to be even, but random), Pilots with the EPT slot (Black or Green Sqdrn etc) may take another, but at normal cost. This can result in some action chains, but lacking ace Pilot abilities, which often lead to duplication and redundancy, it is clean and refreshing and nice to get neglected cards out.

I have lots of these, some 1e, some 2e, but dials enough to play either.

We have also tried scenario games like “Strike For Home” a scenario including all my TFA era ships with a heavily simplified combat system (see Skeleton Crew) and movement system using card activations and groups of ships to play 20+ ships a side (I have 13 T-70’s!) played in three stages over my 6x4 planet map then my my 4x4 Orbit mat and finally my Ocean mat with ground defences and the target, or “The Convoy” making the most of my Cartel 2x C-Roc and 3x YT 666 freighters and Cartel escort vs a Black Sun/Binayre Pirate raiding force (similar simplified rules), again 20+ ships a side.

Both these avoid the need for ship or damage cards.

TFA got proper treatment in 2e

The Tackle Box Experiment. This is also called Training Day, using no ships, just TFA cards etc not used from 1e and bases with dial counters on them. It is designed as a portable “training” or travel game, needing only a flat space and some time. It is also good with kids when mini damage is anticipated. You get the game experience, all packed int a small tackle box. The handy thing about TFA is both S-Loops and Talon Rolls are represented. My bases are weighted with stick-on rubber flooring tile, to make them both heavier and less slippery.

Maybe a Bare Bones 2e hack would liven up that space.

Resisting New Games, Reinventing Old Ones.

I have moods with my gaming ranging from not in the mood at all for long periods, shifting from one genre to another, then sub-genre within those, I may be more in the mood to buy-collect than play, or to play and play a lot, or a mix of all of these.

TTRPG’s are on my mind at the moment and that led to a couple of long wanted D100 purchases, Mothership and Trouble Shooters, a pair of games that share very little in common apart from a D100 mechanical base.

RPG’s are funny things. Unlike board games they are effectively free-form. Anything goes within the broad parameters set, even shifting those parameters mid-game, a TTRPG equivalent to Dawn to Dust if you will (I wonder how many Call of Cthulhu games have gotten side tracked).

Games also in the “Loop”, an intended pun because one is Tales from the Loop, as well as Electric State and Things from the Flood, Aliens (Mothership covered this one), Wild Seas, Symbaroum and Vaessen. Most of these can simply serve as idea seeds for existing games, some not.

Symbaroum ties into a story line I have been pondering for a while based on the effect a “civilised” nation exiled or fleeing from a lost empire, who colonise a new world, one much more ancient and complicated than they realise and one that re-connects them to a lost past. It was already in the works, inspired by the Malazan and Robin Hobb books when Symbaroum solidified some ideas and provided inspirational art.

The feel is a mash-up of the new American colonies. lost Aztec kingdoms, Sleepy Hollow, traditional medieval fantasy and Scandi fae, with an emphasis on old and new ways clashing.

Vaessen is a cross between CoC 19th century and “true” fairy tale stories (Mermaids that eat people, Redcaps that kill traveller etc), so I have my fill there, simply focussing more on fairy tale and fae legends than Cthulhu (and reducing the sanity rules).

The theme and feel of the game is the key, not the mechanics, although the mechanics do have some effect, usually in the form of limitations, setting lethality and swingy-ness, sometimes affecting enjoyment and even play-ability.

I do not like rail-road mechanics, much preferring things to happen organically in the theme of the game played. If the payers do not, then you are playing the wrong game.

The One Ring is a good example of a game that tries to mechanically force the feel and flow of Tolkien’s books into a play style. Nothing is made new by this, only called out to help those who (1) have not read the books or (2) do not know how stuff happens in life or games and need a hand held. I have TOR, but use it for information and inspiration only with D100 systems.

I have been itching for a “kids on bikes” style game recently, something I do not specifically have, but the Tales From The Loop and Electric State books have been nagging.

M-Space is a great launching pad for the D100 system tree.

I can get the actual games, avoid the TV series (as they depart somewhat from the books) or try to create my own back story using a system at hand, but what is the key feature i need to add?

TftL reviews seem to universally praise the character immersion of being young, wide eyed and adventurous, while the realities of life through the eyes of a pre-teen hit home. The system and some of the choices are less well liked, but that is easily fixed.

M-Space, maybe with a little Comae Engine, has all the ingredients I may need mechanically, maybe with some consideration placed on the back story of the characters (10-16 year old kids), a deeper dive into their lives and maybe a stress or fear mechanic (sanity seems too harsh and final).

M-Space is a sci-fi game, but not one that requires a “Star-X” like universe to function. It is solidly grounded, so a near future, alternative past, far distant future-tech collapse are all possible, drawing from the many, many other compatible resources available.

The elements needed are;

Modified char-gen, accounting for the age of the protagonists. This is simply a logical reviewing of characteristics and a reduction of skill points, but maybe also a funnelling of some of these points into hobbies.

Kids on Bikes games tend to be a duality of “the big mystery” and everyday life, great examples being “Super 8”, “Stranger Things” etc, but even “Stand By Me”, with a supernatural twist would work.

A fully fleshed out family life (which is handled more or less with the Circles mechanic), but also needs hooks and difficulties. My feeling is, by calling out the life of the participants front and centre, the characters will organically manifest, without the need for mechanical rail-roading. This seems to be the case with TftL and is very much in my thinking on RPG’s in general, that role playing should be through role play, not mechanically forced processes.

A mechanic for fear or stress, maybe called dread. Not sure here. CoC Sanity is to harsh, Motherships Stress/Panic also, but maybe that with softened wording or effects could work. The gradual build up of dread until panic sets in, resulting in the character running away or standing speechless in shock could be fun, but it must be kept reasonably light, really just a way of the GM taking control of the characters. The worst result should be group betrayal, denial or reluctance to continue (not insanity, paranoia or a heart attack!).

Self discovery is part and parcel of this story genre, so from panic, or the resistance of it can come growth.

I would also change the core mechanics to my own D100 system*, simply to reduce swingy-ness and soften the landing with lower skill levels. Passing normal tests should be more likely, but challenges less so.

Fate points would be used.

The original books will serve as inspiration and setting. They are detailed enough for my needs, without being too prescriptive. Every picture is a story seed.

The extended conflicts rules, Comae Engine version, also allow for a less militant game, ideal for tension without fear or death.

A work in progress, but aren’t they all.

*Three levels of difficulty, Standard allowing the roller to arrange the dice, Challenging is dice as rolled and Perilous is dice arrange worst way, with natural doubles equalling special or critical results.

D100 Role Playing Games, Part 3, Now And Into The Future.

1970’s cool with time and dimensional travel.

Luther Arkright by Mythras is a handy resource and interesting premise based on a comic book. Basically a flawed 70’s Bond type character tasked with keeping the timeline clear of meddling, it is an open book world building platform, a bit like Dr Who with drug addiction, guns and free love.

The 1990’s of the X-Files, pre smart phones, Nazis living in exile and Grey skinned aliens with big eyes to now..

The original Delta Green created quite a stir.

CoC 6e had an independent homage product Delta Green, that gave us a re-skinned X-Files game, based on all the popular paranoia’s of this period. Alien abduction, immortal Nazi’s hiding in darkest South America, government conspiracies and the traditional horrors mingling with regular folk.

From it came the independent Delta Green product line covering the 2000’s to now and from that a re-printing of the original pre-2000’s version Conspiracy as an alternative back story. DG stands out as one of the few games currently available as a first and only edition and has remained solid since. 6e at it’s heart, it developed some good mechanical evolutions and has it’s own feel.

1980-90’s Kids on bikes adventure like Stranger Things, Tales from the Loop, E.T etc.

Nothing I have covers this specifically, but between Trouble Shooters, BRP, Pulp Cthulhu, Mythras Imperative and M-Space, it would be easy enough to get something going with The Loop, Electric State and other books for inspiration (literally take any one picture from these and something starts). The Comae Engine and Trey are also ideal.

A lighter hearted take on Cthulhu now.

The “triangle” book is the Delta Green original book updated as “The Conspiracy”,

The Laundry Files, based on the Charles Stross books is a very British take on fighting Cthulhu, keeping your bus stubs for expenses and warm pints included. Still very dark as Cthulhu needs to be, it has a unique feel only possible through English understatement and dry humour. Where else would budget cuts to IT services threaten the viability of fending off world destruction or an agent go back into the jaws of horror to retrieve his laptop (or have to pay for it)?

Bond, The Professionals and co or a more militant theme like Strike Back.

For a more up to date, but still light take on Bond style games, DWD lite has Spec Ops, a D00 lite game. It is also compatible with other D00 games, so supernatural elements could be added or you could just use Cthulhu now or Delta Green with no or little horror.

A Dresden Files style fantasy-modern world full of nightmares living right under our noses.

Clearly based on the popular Dresden Files books with Harry and co holding back the tide, After The Vampire Wars covers the same turf effectively with the Mythras system. This also ties in with other Mythras works like Destined and M-Space.

More British horror, but lighter this time.

The Rivers of London books are light horror or at least supernatural based. Less dark and desperate that Cthulhu, the team at BRP made this a special love project and even developed new sub-systems for it, that many wish were added to the new BRP core book.

Supernatural and the newer Evil or Surrealestate series.

Doing a Supernatural style game is as easy as doing Cthulhu now, probably with pulp rules, with or without Cthulhu attached.

If you want something a little darker as some episodes could be, or to go more into the darker Evil series style, Sigil and Shadow by Osprey is a reworking of a D00 lite Special Ops and Bare Bones Fantasy mash-up. It is very real and quite dark, but has less overt monster fighting than most games of it’s type concentrating more on the psychological effects of impending doom.

Also of note, but I have not played it, is Unknown Armies. This is dark stuff, so more on the “Evil” series mould than Supernatural.

Street level super hero like Batman, Daredevil, The Watchmen or Spiderman.

Something old but still valid is Super World (available as a pdf), good enough to help launch George R R Martin’s career (google it, quite a story), or something newer in Mythras Destined or you could simply use the BRP core book at a pinch with bits of Magic World, Super World and other Chaosium classics included.

High or cosmic level supers are really out of the realm of most D100 games, but can be done (with less math than Champions and the like). For me that is irrelevant as I only like street level anyway where D100 games excel.

Maybe mesh these with M-Space for a Guardians of the Galaxy style game.

Near future or alternate future/now, like Electric State.

Mythras Imperative and M-Space handle this very well. BRP could also, with a lighter feel maybe, but the harder feel of M-Space would sit best, dropping in select bits from supporting books.

Zombie or all the other apocalypse scenarios.

Seasons of the Dead for Mythras is custom made gritty, dark and flexible, and “disaster” agnostic. Like all Mythras based systems it is also a handy resource (a DCeased style game with Destined?).

The Dark Tower or Shadow of the Torturer Books and even Fallout.

I have always wanted to do a far future lost Earth game, drawing on all of the elements of future science, post nuclear mutations and alien weirdness these books and games inspire. An old monograph from BRP Future Earth is actually an uncredited clone of the Torturer books and this is also one of the sweet spots for a generic system like BRP to thrive in.

You can literally pluck an idea, monster, character from any system and drop it in, tweak it to suit and go.

Play style is already in the hard and unforgiving space, “exotic” abilities etc. covered by even the core BRP book’s spells, super powers, psionics and mutations and almost any genre book can contribute.

Apocthulhu series are a “life after the collapse of humanity” series, which could be a good start as could Luther Arkright in a failed dimension!

An outlier here is Dark Astral, a laughably thin tome compared to the monster Zweihander it is supporting, but a very cool feel (reminds me of Nemesis from my old 2000AD comics and the Wolfe books).

A bad futre, the near future or a far distant one.

Space Opera like Star Wars, Buck Rogers etc.

Frontire Space from DWD is a traditional sci-fi game, complete with alien races, lasers etc. It is open ended, flexible, quite complete and light enough to avoid getting too bogged down in tech or moral conundrums. With some resources, it is capable of handling most light sci-fi genres.

M-Space can also handle this with some clear Star Wars hints, but FS is pulpier and lighter.

Hard sci-fi, alternative future, weird science.

M-Space from Clarence Redd is a loose Traveller clone in Mythras Imperative clothing, with a very live system and constant support. It has support books with a more Star Trek, Blade Runner or true science feel and works with or without traditional conceits.

I could see anything from a John Carter, Fallen Skies, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Stainless Steel Rat, Alien or even a Gravity style game.

I cannot have these books at hand without being drawn into “what if” games like the Leviathan or the Ancillary series. Just browsing the 1980’s style sci-Scandi art evokes ideas.

Alien, Predator and Starship Troopers otherwise known as “Bug Hunt” sci-fi, although “bugs hunt us” is probably closer.

Mothership is the…..mothership I guess of this style of desperate, hopeless “space is big, dark and bad things live there-more successfully than you” games and a paragon of succinct and cool design, but New Horizons (pdf) also deserves mention for it’s 1000 odd free pages of more traditional Cthulhu-ish futuristic goodness (badness?).

M-Space can do this style perfectly well also, so I have bought the Deluxe Mothership system and Hull Breach 01 and the feel and I will drop the best ideas (stress mechanic) into an M-Space game. Apparently the scenario books and community are consistently amazing.

Other stuff of note.

The Comae Engine deserves it’s own spot as a pick up and play generic system, especially if used with Trey, the accompanying solo option.

How about solo games?

Zweihander has a solo module, D100 Dungeon is a solo game engine and Trey allows for solo play with most systems. Because D100 games tend towards the gritty and can be frighteningly swingy, “write your own adventure diary” style games work well.

A system idea I have been pondering is “blind” play, where characters are not fielded with actual numerical stats, just a character sheet of a description, their weaknesses and strengths outlined and the result of their prioritising of their growth path (they apply the d10’s, the GM rolls them in secret and tells them how they went in vague terms.

This works well in D100 games because the range is deep and squishy enough to disguise the actual value for a while and the systems can come down to bean counting, this defuses that. Also, the 2d10 with flips idea can be used by the GM to hide the difficulty and therefore the roll likelihood.

*

D100 games cannot capture the feel of every other RPG styles and mechanics out there, but I hope you get a feel for the flexibility and consistency of the mechanics and their many uses. The big thing for me is in a triditional sense (or non-traditional if you choose), they just get out of the way and let the game be what it needs.

If wanted, D100 can accomodate with room to absorb most ideas, if not the scaffolding holds firm without.

I am not ne for TTRPG mechanics that control play or force a style within that play. The mechanics are only ever the enabler of a communication based game. A good example of this is Mothership, a game that allows for player driven story telling with enough mechanical structure to “get stuff done” and add rewards and penalties, but little more.

From an older gamer’s perspective, tricks to force immersion into game play are not wanted or needed, indeed I find them restrictive and limiting.

You only need processes to determine if your goals and your (characters) efforts to reach them are rewarded or what any setbacks cost you. In other words, I do not feel the need for the game to rail road me or hold my hand, just enable my imagination.

D100 Role Playing Games, Part 2, Gunpowder And Stuff.

Entering the true gunpowder era now.

First up though, something I missed in part 1, the rough family tree of D100 game style threads.

• Runequest 1e > Storm Bringer/Hawkmoon > Call of Cthulhu > Basic Role Play family > RQ Glorantha (RQ1e modernised) > Rivers of London

• Call of Cthulhu 1-6e > Delta Green/Laundry Files > CoC 7e

• Runequest 2e > RQ 6 > Legend series > Mythra/Mythras Imperative > M-Space etc.

• Runequest 2e > Openquest > Clockwork series. > Jackals

• D100 lite > Bare Bones series > Frontier Space/Wuxia > Sigil and Shadow

• Warhammer 1e > 2e > 4e

• Warhammer 1e > Zweihander family.

• Rolemaster > MERP > Against the Dark Lord (not covered here, but a D100 roll over option)

• D100 games in general inspiring > D100 Dungeon > Mothership > D100 Revolution > Trouble Shooters, Comae Engine etc.

Witchcraft, clockwork science, funny Ye Olde speech and other Horrors.

Clockwork and Chivalry combines vile 17th century witchcraft, clockwork contraptions, funny haircuts and religious disagreements and with Clockwork and Cthulhu, some blasphemous horrors. Based on the Renaissance rules, an Openquest based set, it is wonderfully thematic, clean and straight forward. The same authors also give us Pirates and Dragons and Dark Streets, all cross-compatible, or stand alone.

Pirates of the Caribbean, giant squids, Black Beard and co.

BRP has the less than perfect but thematically sound Blood Tides rules, but Pirates of Legend is better. These two can be meshed, or used as resources for a BRP/Cthulhu based game with a more pulpy feel if desired. Pirates and Dragons adds a whole new dimension making three solid choices that can join to make a better whole (just take what you want and sink the rest, just like pirates do) and P&D can tie in with other Cakebread and Walton titles.

Monster Island is a stand out here. A semi-generic RQ6 supplement, it is a time agnostic, lost world-like monster filled jungle island sandbox that can accomodate any period from high fantasy to modern “Lost” characters. It would be a feature in my Pirates-Samurai-Vikings mixed game, possibly the nexus point.

Four Musketeers style, swashbuckling with big hats, lots of leather etc.

A little work called Sword Point is available in PDF, which has some great ideas to flesh out basically any set for this period. Mythras has the combat crunch, Legend also to some extent as does BRP, so easy enough to do with any or a bit of all. The pirate books above also have many good ideas to add like swinging on things, talking too much while fighting etc.

Brotherhood of the Wolf and early colonial horror like Sleepy Hollow with some Last Of The Mohicans thrown in.

A spin-off from Zweihander, Flames of Freedom is a colonial American inspired historic-fantasy-horror mash up, perfectly placed to handle this style. Fancy hunting Werewolves or Vampires in the midst of the American Revolution, early colonies or French Indian War (Twilight by lamplight!)?

A favourite genre of mine, this is also easily accommodated by any mix of BRP/Cthulhu, Mythras/Legend or Clockwork/Renaissance core and their many support books.

Early police Bow Street Runners style mystery and Jack the Ripper horror in squalid London.

Dark Streets, mentioned above, is made to purpose here. It touches on Cthulhu, or not as suits, has plenty of human horror and can be twisted as you want drawing from the Clockwork series above or straight Cthulhu.

Hard Western, like High Noon, the Spaghetti Westerns, Unforgiven etc.

Aces High and Devil’s Gulch, both from BRP are options. Either will be enough, but together there is plenty to draw from. Both are slim monographs, available in PDF, or second hand print.

Pulpy weird western, strange science and supernatural elements (maybe even aliens).

Down Darker Trails for CoC 7e is ideal, even supporting a pulp play style. You can remove the Cthulhu elements, add other horror or go no supernatural, just add weird science elements. A fun cross-over could be Holmsian mystery meets Cowboy adventures

Pulp Cthulhu goes a long way to softening the usually dark feeling system.

Sherlock Holmes era horror mystery.

CoC 5th to 7th editions have Cthulhu by Gaslight expansions, 7e even includes a basic entry point in the core rules along with modern. They are all usable now and several independent publishers have added support to these lines.

The feel of Gaslight is perfect, pulp is an option as is the Cthulhu connection. The ever present threat of the supernatural, even if never realised, is as good a fear trigger as actual Deep Ones.

The John Carter, Tarzan and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen etc Orwellian/E.R. Burroughs early sci-fantasy books.

BRP alone can do this, Mythras with more “crunch”, either really drawing from the vast array of splat books available.

The very original Odd Soot from Clarence Redd is set a little later than this traditionally, but has a very Orwellian theme with alternate space travel and exotic, remote aliens. The system uses Mythras Imperative, so M-Space from the same author is fully compatible as are most Mythras books.

I have also converted the original Space 1889 game from GDW fairly easily to BRP.

Anthropomorphic alternate history, or Badgers with monocles.

Historica Rodentia is a late 19th century alternate European game using animals instead of human national groups. This is a Legend based game, so again lots of cross-compatibility.

Traditional or non-traditional Call Of Cthulhu in the traditional 1910’s-30’s.

Ground zero for many in D100 land the choices are mind boggling. Seven editions of CoC, all compatible enough to be used as one, hundreds of scenarios, monstrous campaigns, spin-offs, after party support, it would take a life time. I alone have managed to amass over 100 individual CoC scenarios over 4-7e including several years long campaigns. That is what I call support.

It can go lighter with Pulp Cthulhu, add time travel, be generational, or even avoid Cthulhu all together and just do straight adventure or horror. The massive Raiders of R’lyeh goes earlier into the King Kong pre-WW1 period and Cthulhu touches on Indiana Jones pre-WW2 and Japan, Berlin, Tibet, the Amazon and most other exotic locales are covered in detail. This period of D100 games is by far the best supported and largest.

World War 2 with comic book “daring do” or dark, realistic and moody.

Achtung Cthulhu is pulpy and ties into my favourite board game Heroes of Normandie via Shadows Over Normandie (which even has super heroes, a Hellboy clone, traditional Nazi-Gothic horror, foul experiments and the big guy himself).

CoC 5-6th editions were high water marks of growth, spawning (see what I did there), many great games.

It was originally done as a Savage Worlds Explorers edition/Cthulhu 6e cross over product, but I never meshed with the Savage Worlds version, not finding it better for pulp story telling nor faster (a quickly developed 1/10th scale d10 massed combat system even made CoC quicker). Ironically, both systems are now outdated, but the 6e version is easily modified or used as is, the SW version, not so much.

With a very different feel World War Cthulhu is the Ying to AC’s Yang. Dark, brooding, sometimes despairing, it hits a realistic and more traditionally Cthulhu vibe.

It is worth noting Cthulhu Eternal here, a near free resource ($1-2 a pdf) for almost any period of Cthulhu gaming using a clean and modernised D100 core system.

The coldest Cold War and alternatives.

The 1950-60’s with all their paranoia and mist shrouded bridge crossing liaisons, dastardly Communists, the threat of imminent world destruction and emerging sciences are covered by Cold War Cthulhu. As dark as it’s WW2 version, this gives you that post-war Berlin spy trade vibe perfectly.

Something lighter in this space.

If you like something more Tin Tin/Bond/Man from U.N.C.L.E or even Austin Powers, then Trouble Shooters is a great choice. Probably the most contrasting pair of systems thematically, CWC and TS are still basically BRP at heart, one brutal and unforgiving, the other soft and squishy with decidedly and purposefully rose coloured glasses.

Some D100 games are genuinely gentle.

Or something a little different.

Worlds United from Mythras supposes the War of the Worlds happened, changed the shape of the universe as we know it and brings us into an alternate 1950’s to deal with it. This is also similar to Space 1889 (adapted above) in it’s traditional early sci-fi handling of Mars, Neptune etc.

Next up our recent past, now and the future.

D100 Role Playing Games, Part 1 The Sword Eras.

One of the lasting legacies of D100 role playing games is consistency.

One of my biggest things to dislike about many games is their blatant embracing of wholesale changes and resulting rules/books/resources redundancy.

I once wanted to do Savage Worlds along side D100 games as a pulp option, but after two edition shifts, most of my books becoming more or less useless, I dropped it as a bad idea.

In contrast, using 4e Call of Cthulhu resources with any later edition and/or even other D100 family related systems is little strain.

D100 games are also easy to teach and learn, their mechanics are logical and consistent.

This has two benefits.

Unlike many games in their latest editions, most D100 games are pretty stable and resemble closely their first or earlier editions. Nothing is is useless, no waste, no time bombs that will make older editions redundant.

Secondly, once you have one game sorted, there are plenty of other games that only need a little more reading and an awareness of the differences to be used as previously learned. Systems like Mythras are so consistent across genre books, most concepts are basically interchangeable between games.

Want some magic in your supers or Sci-Fi game? Import the system desired and modify as you go if needed.

Most criticisms of D100 games stem more from their realistic theming than the system itself.

From the get-go, the roll under D100 system has felt harsh to many, thanks mainly to the desire for a more realistic, dangerous and grounded game (than DnD etc), but the mechanics themselves are only part of the story.

Ironically, almost all can have modified mechanics applied that offer less black-and-white seeming outcomes and these can be almost universally applied. The very dice are full of potential options, many more than other systems, they just need to be embraced and not shunned by reputation.

The vaunted bell curve is often seen as a safety net or mediocrity, but you could argue it is over rated and mostly an illusion anyway. If wanted, it can easily be introduced simply by making the standard test a “choose the configuration” of your 2d10, which can net a 75% chance of rolling under 50% (and the opposite is true).

I have always felt it odd that the extra granularity and expanded, smoother growth range of D100 games is seen as a negative when it is often used by main stream systems with a D20 roll over system. Missing a roll by 1 out of 20 to many seems less extreme than missing by 1 out of 100? Odd really as DnD specifically is basically a D100 roll over system in 5% increments.

The hardness or softness of your D100 games can be modified or interpreted in many ways, many of which are found not in the base mechanic, but in the implementation of the results.

Call of Cthulhu, Mothership or Vikings of Legend are lethal (and all the more fun for it), Troubleshooters or Rivers of London are not (and also fun). Both use the BRP core system, just apply their results differently.

So, lets say you want to have variety in your games, not just in period and theme but execution of play style from lite and bright to dark and moody, but you have limited time and resources and your player base is similarly limited in experience or investment?

You may want to ‘tweak” the system more than a little, drop some that do not add anything, even introduce fully fleshed out concepts at odds with the original

You could do a D20/5e collection, but these are unfortunately quite limited, often only a thematic re-skin of fantasy. Older 3e is better dabbling in modern to bronze age and through it’s open license allowing fr a lot of stuff, but it is all old now and at odds with anything current.

Savage worlds is too light and pulpy for some and suffering from multi edition fatigue (I had a mirror collection at one stage covering most D100 . GURPs is too crunchy for many and again currently AWOL to some extent as is the Hero system. Some systems like D6 are free and cover several genre, but again are pretty light.

It is fair to say that the D100 family of games are the only realistically consistent, deeply supported and above all easy to grasp system group available that genuinely cover most periods and play styles with genuinely dedicated games.

Anyway, rant over, time to look at some games available*.

Let’s look at what I have at hand to start with and see how it fits all the genre’s that may appeal.

Dawn of history, maybe a cavemen vs alien or time traveller or just hunting a big beast of some type. Probably hard, lethal and unforgiving, like the Predator movie “Prey”.

There is a Neanderthal expansion for Legend “Land of Ice and Stone” which would be cool, but this is also a period that could easily be done with just the Basic Role playing or Mythras Imperative books.

Bronze Age classical fantasy with near naked heroes, big bad legendary monsters, gods and perpetual war like The 300 Spartans, Hercules or Achilles sagas.

Bronze Age fantasy, classical sagas etc are handled by a few options. I do not actually have the latest edition of Runequest which would be ideal, apart from the bestiary (because it is still of use), but I do have Mythric Rome, Mythras core and Jackals from Osprey. The big one is Mythic Greece when it is finally released. Any will do, but Jackals based on Open Quest is interesting with some novel ideas based on Openquest.

I resisted this for a while, but it is just good stuff.

Dark Ages fantasy based on the Viking Sagas, lethal, heroic and dark like Beowulf or the “Vikings” TV series, but also covering some fairytales.

Vikings of Legend is perfect. High lethality, plenty of historical and fantasy elements and good compatibility with other resources. BRP’s Mythic Iceland would also work as well (both would mix as needed).

Dark Age, true “Arthurian” in the Bernard Cornwell style. Like above with a late sub-Roman, early Dark Ages theme, Mystical, heroic and again lethal.

Mythic Britain for RQ6/Mythras is custom made, with plenty of support materiel available and even a campaign laid out. Most D100 core systems can handle this, the $1 Legend pdf is enough.

A Conan-esque warrior culture, with superstitions, evil sorcerers, warring empires and heroic maidens.

This one is best handled by either Mythras if you want detailed sword play or BRP with some pulpy elements of you want to reduce the lethality.

Classic Tolkien Fantasy. The low magic, high drama style that DnD cannot do it seems is the sweet spot for D100 fantasy games.

Lyonesse, featuring Vancian magic (the system D&D uses) is a highlight, as is Perce Forest for true classic fantasy/Fantasy Arthurian with knights etc. Mythras and Legend core can handle it, even the RQ6 starter book, but for more depth, using a game like The One Ring and adapting it (no great trouble as they have a similar feel) would add the needed Tolkien flavour.

Anthropomorphic animals can be handled by the excellent Mouse Guard RPG, converted easily to Mythras or BRP (hit locations are desirable). Like The One Ring, it fits well with D100 level realism.

Classic DnD old school dungeon crawl, like you played in high school (if you are over 35) with black and white illustrations, pencils, eraser dust, hand drawn maps and imagination. Impossible you say, because D100 Runequest was made essentially to be the “anti DnD” game?

Mythras gives us Classic Fantasy, that was made to be old school DnD in D100 form (interestingly I also have 13th Age Glorantha, which is d20 meets Runequest). Levels, classes, gelatinous cubes and dungeon crawls complete, it is a love letter to both camps of old school gaming. Open Quest is also a player here, lighter than most D100 fantasy games as well as Bare Bones Fantasy from DwD, but both avoid levels etc. Another worthy of mention is D100 Dungeon, a solo dungeon crawl game.

Dark Age, sinister fantasy maybe with an historical or familiar fantasy lean like The Witcher.

I have Legend’s Deus Vult, which is a lot like any monster hunting game, but set in Medieval times with hunters under the guise of a religious order using weird tech and fighting some legendary monsters. Dark Crusades, a BRP monologue available in pdf or CoC’s Cthulhu Dark Ages are also good supports as are most core books.

High Wuxia oriental fantasy, kung-fu style game, like Monkey or even Great Wall.

Art of Wuxia from DwD studios has produced a flavourful Wuxia-style game ideal for either historical-ish or their bespoke world with their D00 lite system. A slight departure from the usual D100 style, it is however very familiar in play.

Two very different feeling games from a similar core.

Feudal Japan with sword play, mythology and intrigue in socially controlled times.

Samurai of Legend, another re-print f the excellent RG supplement is all you need. Like most things Legend, it is lethal, so sword play should be kept to a minimum, but means something when used (like the source materiel). If foreign influences are sought, there are plenty of useful resources including Pirates of Legend or just winging it with Mythras Imperative.

Mixed genre melting pot.

I have been tempted to use Pirates, Vikings, Samurai and Gladiators of Legend for a “Bermuda triangle” like god-stolen cultures mixing pot game, but also BRP and Luther Arkright are perfect here.

Actually almost the same game, meaning lots of mixable elements.

The Elric books.

There have been I think 5 editions of Storm Bringer/Elric games, all excellent and most available as pdf or second hand.

The Lankmar books.

Like above there is an actual Lankmar D100 game still available in pdf I think. The theme is easy enough to adapt to straight Legend or other traditional fantasy games.

Dark and dirty Renaissance fantasy, with over the top costumes, humanity as it’s own worst enemy, piousness over poverty and plenty of other enemies also.

A treasure trove here. Warhammer Fantasy 1, 2 and 4e, or Zweihander (a WH1e rip-off). Both are Germanic-centric, early Renaissance/high medieval, punk-fantasy troves using slightly different, but otherwise familiar mechanical systems, or could even be used with a more traditional D100 system as resource materiel only. If anything, this genre is over catered to and my “weightiest” investment.

Over 1000 pages in just three books. A well served space.

That covers the swords and sorcery periods as far as I can remember (edits likely).

Next up, gunpowder!

*No chance I will get them all as there as so many, but this is a start.

D100 Games, Where To Start

If I were to advise anyone on the merits or best starting point of D100 TTRPG’s, I would have to think on it. Hard.

There are a lot of games to pick from, periods covered, several strong systemic threads and of course personal preferences.

Although most D100 games have common roots, it is probably best at the start to commit to just one of these threads for consistency and ease of adapting. It is somewhat true to say, learn one and you have started on them all, but also, some do have very coherent pathways to other games, making the job more of learn one and you can instantly play a few rhater than herding several similar systems together, but find the differences are minor, but many.

The Basic Roleplaying stream includes Call of Cthulhu, Runequest, many older games such as Stormbringer, Super World etc. It also has several generic books available, one in print currently others as pdfs, which could conceivably be the only book needed if the GM wants to build worlds or simulate stories from scratch.

CoC 7e and Rivers of London have changed the BRP mechanics a little recently, but most are easy enough to adapt and Runequest has gone “old school” (RQ2) with its latest version.

The RQ6/Mythras stream includes reasonably effortlessly the earlier Legend series (RQ3 with the RQ labels removed), RQ6, as well as many other recent releases and even better than BRP, they are all fully compatible. Destined, After the Vampire Wars, Lyonesse, M-Space, Odd Soot, several historical settings including Rome, Samurai, Vikings, Pirates, Mythic Britain, Polynesia, and more are all either Mythras, Legend or Mythras Imperative based. In other words, pretty much the same.

All different, all hauntingly similar.

Openquest is a lesser known “lite” version of RQ6, with a few good options. This is the rules lite starter range, but includes games like Clockwork and Chivalry, Pirates and Dragons and its own fantasy range. There is no generic rules system, but it can cross into BRP territory easily enough.

DWD’s Bare Bones systems are also lite and a little different to the BRP family, but broadly compatible. There are consistency issues within their own range and some off-shoots also, but basically they are lite enough to not matter.

The Warhammer family is quite diverse. WHFRP 1 and 2e are D100 variants, 4e is the latest and current offering, but quite a different beast (we don’t talk about 3e). Zweihander is a rip-off of 1e, fully polished and expanded without the thematic baggage.

These are the main ones, but there are others.

*

First, if there a genre of preference, something to pin your recommendation on, it would likely sort things easily as some periods and styles are not heavily serviced.

Horror in the classic periods (1890’s, 1920’s and WW2) is easy. Call of Cthulhu 7e. I like all editions for their various feels and rules weight, 5e being the most commonly used up to lately, but 7e is current, elegant, comprehensive, very well supported and beautiful to look at. If the earlier period appeals, Cthulhu by Gaslight (5-6e) adds much, as do the excellent Stygian Fox support books and Weird War Cthulhu is suitably dark.

Horror/weird WW2 has two candidates. Both CoC 6e with World War Cthulhu for dark and realistic option and it continues with the even darker Cold War Cthulhu. This is CoC as normal, brooding, perilous. The other is Achtung Cthulhu, a pulpy option, which could also be played with 7e Pulp with little effort.

Pulp Horror is CoC 7e’s territory. BRP also has a pulpy expansion, but it is a thin offering compared to CoC 7e and it is not well supported except for Achtung Cthulhu a CoC 6e spin off. Pulp for 7e has the added benefit of being included in most CoC 7e thinking, so it is a very flexible offer.

Horror/modern. This one is tougher, but if you are after just this genre, Delta Green is the one with its companion The Conspiracy if you want a more late 90’s X-Files feel. If the period is to be only one option among others, then it is CoC 7e again, for the greater range using the Chaosium and Stygian Fox offerings. Sigils and Signs has some cred here, but is a single book offer.

Modern Fantasy/Supernatural. Most of these are to scratch a current itch of a book or TV series just binged. The Mythras based After The Vampire Wars is a Harry Dresden clone, Delta Green The Conspiracy is great for X-Files, CoC 7e (pulp?), or maybe BRP:UCE can do Supernatural and Evil is perfect for Sigil and Signs. The Laundry books have an actual D100 game as does the Rivers of London series, Seasons of the Dead for Mythras handles Falling Skies or the Walking Dead. DWD Spec Ops with Bare Bones Fantasy and/or Art of Wuxia would work as a monsters meet normals mash up.

Horror from other periods. Clockwork/Cthulhu and Chivalry are Openquest derivatives, but CoC 7e comes through again with Rome, the Dark Ages, Gaslight/Western, 1920-40’s to the far future effortlessly.

Classic Fantasy has several options. Mythras is the Audi TT, Legend to older model Audi Quattro, Runequest the classic Rolls Royce remade, Openquest the zippy Toyota and BRP’s Magic World the reliable old Jeep.

Mythras leads to several excellent games like Lyonesse and Mythic Britain, with a lot of Legend and RQ6 titles to draw from. It even does an “old school” homage to the earliest games with Classic Fantasy a DnD as D100 mash up, so overall, unless a specific setting draws you, it is the most comprehensive and polished, but a seriously deep system. It can be run as Imperative, simply reducing options, so maybe that is a vote in it’s favour.

Bronze Age is a tougher one. Mythras is pitched here as was RQ6, showing their roots as RQ evolutions. Runequest in Glorantha is the obvious one and a (the) classic of its type, but also, if you want something lighter (a bit), then try Jackals from Osprey, an Openquest derivative that deserves some attention and like Mythras is probably closer to the classic Mythic Greek take than Glorantha. Mythras owes us Mythic Greece, which may change things, but seems an eternity away.

Gunpowder Fantasy. Most of the above could do this easily enough, but Warhammer is the best supported overall. Which version? 1-2e have their charms, Zweihander copies them and cleans them up and 4e is the current big thing, but maybe too system weighty. Alternatively Clockwork and Chivalry/Cthulhu and Renaissance/Dark Streets offer a much rules lighter (and darker) feel.

Pirates, which can tie to the above, have plenty to choose from, but none are without their issues. Pirates and Dragons is a strong offering, but comes with a fantasy backstory. Pirates of Legend is excellent and Mythras compatible, BRP Blood Tides has some issues, but adds to either of the above well and with the BRP generic book cleans up well. Even WHFRP 4e is capable here.

Hard Sci-Fi. This is a simple one really, M-Space. Add some Mythras based nasties as Aliens etc and you have a solid scenario.

Pulpy Sci-Fi. DWD do Frontier Space, which stands out even from their own range as a slightly more developed game with two main books and lots of support. M-Space could also, but the BRP:UCE or even one of the Mythras based systems like Luther Arkright might suit better.

Oriental games have two very different contenders. Samurai of Legend is lethal, realistic and Japan focussed, so ideal for a Shogun or 7 Ronin style game with Mythras. The Art of Wuxia is a Chinese inspired full Kung Fu pulp game by DWD for a Monkey Magic feel.

Supers, my personal holy grail for a long time, but street level mainly is right in the wheel house of Destined for Mythras and the added complication and flaws of that game play well with the epic fights Supers games, comics and movies are known for.

The older Super World is dated for sure, but it is also the basis of the BRP:UCE super powers system, which can be meshed with Magic, Psionics, Mutations etc to make for a modern game with a small but decent back catalogue of support materiel. My copy is a printed PDF of the main book and companion and it is fine.

Western/Weird West is under the solid purview of CoC 7e Down Dark Trails, but Devils Gulch and Aces High for earlier BRP are compatible.

As you can see, there are a lot of entry points if you use the genre as the doorway.

*

So, lets assume a genre specific itch does not need scratching;

The safest and most logical path for a beginner wanting to go in seriously is I think a BRP based system using either one of the excellent core games (CoC/RQ) or the new generic book.

Probably CoC 7e as it is easier to enter and makes the most gaming sense to newer players with a ton of support for GM’s (plays like a “don’t go down there” scenario generator with literally dozens of scenarios). It is also flexible on going, able to shift to lighter (Pulp) or heavier (Modern/Dark) and all through history, even into science fiction.

If you really want to go with an entry point system, the Openquest family are solid and clean, the DWD series are similar, but split into four main themes.

The cheapest probably is Legend by Mongoose. A generification of Mongoose RQ and pre-curser to RQ6, then Mythras, it is available for $1 as a PDF, not much more as an A5 book and has some excellent support books (Ice Age, Pirates, Samurai, Gladiators, Historica Rodentia, Deus Vult and Vikings) with a more high Medieval base line than other D100 fantasy games. It is not as polished as Mythras, but not as baked in to it’s ideas either.

Some More Savage Pathfinder Thoughts.

Sometimes, two almost good ideas combine to make one that is better than the sum of the parts.

My time with Savage Worlds was mixed. I had a lot of it, Deluxe and Explorers, some Noir, some Cthulhu, some Weird War 11, lots of Deadlands (and I had the original Deadlands also), Supers, Horror, Fantasy, post apocalyptic, Sci-Fi, Ancient Rome.

The system for a long time was my “shadow” system for my huge d100 collection. Basically everything I had for “serious” d100, seemed to have a “pulpy” option in Savage Worlds, including Achtung Cthulhu, that actually allowed both systems in their books.

There were some hits (Weird War II, the Sci-Fi, Necessary Evil and Supers companions), some misses (much of the rest for me) and then they changed it.

I gifted much of it, then for some reason bought the new SWADE edition, but that is another story. It is hard to get in Australia, so there is little chance of the monster being re-awoken with freight charges from the U.S. regularly exceeding the values of goods.

Pathfinder was my DnD of choice for a while, such as that was. The monstrous core book, the DnD-ness of it, the never ending printing regime all added up to an excessively expensive Wayne Reynolds art gallery, most of which I knew I would never use.

Really dislike DnD based games, especially when they try to be realistic-ish and the obvious abstractness rears it’s ugly mug. I tried E6 and E10 truncated variants, used a critical hits effect characteristics combat system, but nothing fixed the reality that I was trying to make a more grounded and logical d100 style game out of a d20 system.

I sold my 1 foot high collection of books, the collecting efforts of several years for way too little, but with a small market locally, considered myself lucky it went at all.

Since then;

I have occasionally missed the promise of Savage Worlds, but the “fast, furious fun” never really clicked with me. I did not really give it a go and some splat books did hold promise. I knew I would never commit though as it was either too little (lite and pulpy) or too much (needed added bits).

I have come to realise, I tend to prefer a built world, not a generic system. I do not necessarily need everything handed to me, but when I do a make my own world, SW would not be the baseline.

SW is like DnD in that it is systemically anchored, but not in as much of an arrogant “I am the way”, more of a “I’m new and fun, try me” way.

I missed the massive warm hug that was Pathfinder, the bear hug with claws. The art, consistency, depth and world connection with maybe a little f&$k you DnD at play, all weighed heavily on me both before and after shedding it.

The world was massive, a perfect stereotype as expected, interesting none the less. The grind was beyond my care factor these days. Unlike 3 and 4e, which also came and went, there was actually stuff I missed, substantioal stuff. I think I held onto the maps to retain a small connection.

Another idea I had at this time was to hang onto the counters, maps and grid boards from my 4e collection. Tons and tons of stuff, all great for ……… not sure.

*

Savage Worlds Pathfinder.

It’s a thing and it is a good thing.

What you get;

• Golarion in all its glory. This includes direct connection to the iconic characters right down to using them as out of the box starter characters.

• Wayne Reynolds art again, in all it’s glory.

• All the flexibility of Savage Worlds, but with the substance and direction a strong world adds. This for me is the missing link, the substance and depth.

• Grid combat or not, in fact any form of gaming at any point in the journey. It supports non combat at least as well as a d20 system, has massive hack-ability, allows for more “on the fly” gaming and can draw easily from its parent sources. The OTT art of Reynolds fits the SW play style.

• A d20, which is rare in Savage Worlds, which usually tends to avoid that one.

What you do not get (and it’s good)

• Levels. SW has experience groupings called Ranks with incremental advancements, but they are more granular, less powerful, less rigid and way more natural feeling. The “anything is possible” feel of combat and task resolution mostly diffuses this anyway. The game allows for legendary exploits by its very nature, but it is more elastic, blurring the lines between high and low level characters. Even creating a replacement experienced character is not a labour.

• Classes. Classes are a package, but you are not locked into a fixed pathway. You are probably mad not to directly align your character to a class, but if not, you can make a generic class-less character that holds their own and if you do, no two characters will be carbon copies of each other.

• Grind. There is no feeling of attritional math, no experience point-to-risk equation, no daily rhythm to adhere to. Any monster can be a problem to any character, but also precise encounter balancing is not needed. The game would ignore your efforts anyway. More variance, more fear, more realism.

• Power imbalance. No Quadratic Mages or unbeatable Druids, actually the system absorbs super classes and powers. Power levels stay pretty balanced right through, no matter what path you take and the sheer flexibility of character generation and advancement negates possible issues.

• Hundreds of spells. The power system in SW means you can create basically any spell with trappings and flexibility from a small core, something that both PF and DnD lack. The entire magic system has about the same weight as the “magic explained” chapter in PF.

• Hundreds of feats, class abilities etc. Again, the flexibility and weight of SW gets a lot done without tomes of options and exceptions. Rigidity forces exceptions, flexibility avoids that mess.

• This one is odd, but real none the less. This is Savage Worlds without the added complication of the base rules and a setting pasted on. Even with all the perceived simplicity of SW, sometimes the added weight of a setting with all its exceptions can complicate things. The streamlined and fully integrated SWPF stands alone with the setting highlighting the good side of SW. SW Core works well for a free wheeling game, SW embedded in a setting works well, SW with “bells” on interests me less.

PFSW is the result of two fully developed games, the huge 3.5e DnD spin-off that is Pathfinder, at one time more popular than DnD and the multi edition journey, modern indie game with a solid and loyal following that is Savage Worlds Adventurers Edition (SWADE).

Pathfinder provides the why and SW the how, in a form that this gamer, well shy of most things DnD can not only accept but also embrace. The Core book, Bestiary, Advanced Players Guide and Companion are all a days read each, but the game offers the same range of outcomes. Add table candy in the form of an Adventure Path, maps, grids and counters, character cards, Action, Chase and Condition decks and you have a totally engaging experience.

In the real world, it is accessible to new or experienced players, has a more D100 like feel overall, is fairly bullet proof to abuse and gamesmanship, min-maxing, can cut the cord from anything you feel runs too close to the DnD rocks or you can just go with it as presented.

All this at a total word count well under just the Pathfinder 1e core rule book.

Negatives?

The Advanced Players guide took an age to come and I must admit I had lost my burn a bit in that time, but as a salve for only d100 games, it did what it needed to and broke the habit. I am not interested in the next APG, but the second Bestiary has my interest.

Another Official Option, Or Home Made Goodness?

BRP has a new champion.

Basic Roleplaying or the Big Gold Book, now has a new version after a long time in the wilderness. I am lucky enough to have a mint condition copy of the BGB and it is a favourite, but like everything in this world, not perfect.

The quickest of overview reviews;

It has all you need to play any genre, any way you would like, but it is dense and a little confusing to use thanks to the volume of information and the layout, which offers everything up front, which is to say, it does not have a core with obvious add-ons, but more of a cherry picker style of thing. There are things that help like a check list sheet and the reality that you can do as you want, even mid game if you want, no harm done, but at 400 pages, it needs some GM awareness and application.

It has almost every idea from every D100 game up to it’s printing and by definition most ideas from subsequent games. Want super heroes, mutants, mages, sorcerers, psychics? All are there in “solid start” form, with easy rules for expanding, as well as direct or close compatibility with all d100 support games and for maximum variety, you can mix these all together.

The new version thanks to some pairing down, re-writing, smaller text and a generally tighter delivery cuts that down to a little over 250 pages, with little lost.

It is not the BGB now, but more of the medium sized Book Of Colour Goodness (BCG) being a maybe slightly rushed delivery of Chaosium’s new standards, i.e. good stuff. It is a couple of years old also, so probably settled now.

Do I need it? The BGB is for me decently familiar, it sits perfectly with my sweet spot of D100 systems (CoC 5e), I have genre specific books on most periods of interest and even other generic and interlaced systems with similar scope like Mythras, which could be argued is even more consistent from game to game (The BCG is not even perfectly in line with CoC, Chaosium’s primary game).

It does however make me happy to see the only one of the original RPG systems that is still basically unchanged still evolving, so yeah, I will grab a copy.

As a unifying toolbox, a less precious look at consolidated mechanics and a cleaner, tighter way of accessing generic gaming than the older tome, it appeals more than my other option of Savage Worlds (SWADE), which I still have.

SWADE is fine, but lacks any connection to my other favourites and no matter how good it gets, it is just not as sensible and logical as D100. Fast fun and furious it may be, but lite, pulpy and a little too systemically clever it will also always be.

*

Another option and one that seems to be writing itself at the moment, is my own.

Characteristics I have settled on are;

Strength and Agility; being gross and fine motor skills

Endurance and Dexterity; for long and twitch muscles

Reason and Intuition; the logical and creative/instinctive sides of the brain

Will and Charisma; a person’s character expressed as internal strength and projected personality

These are paired so that when generated, the rolled dice (6d6) are split usually into 3+3 (GM may allow other splits with a good back story) as the player wishes. Unlikely combinations of extremely good opposites are rare, but also there is the ability to avoid very poor results.

It also allows some player pay-in as to how they favoured some things or were naturally blessed as the players desire when growing up.

From these, almost any derivative of two combined can be used as a skill or test base and above all, they all make sense.

Skills are a base of 2x chrs (6-36%) + ten levels of d6% (0-60%). These are bought during advancement or training at 3 pts for intensive (3d6 take the best), 2 pts for trained (2d6 > best) and 1 pt for hobby or “on the job” (1d6).

Each turning point (or year) adds an amount of points (TBC).

Some skills have automatic familiarity based on culture (= base), others need to be learned to be used or used efficiently. Once rolled, that is it, no re-do’s so it is relatively easy to get ten levels in a skill (10 pts), but if taken as a hobby it is generally less efficient (+30-35%). Mastery requires intensive training and the help of other experts for +50-60% skill.

Learning from experience is based on a number of advancement tests (+1%) allowed after (some) critical results under pressure and limited per turning point.

Tests are;

• Standard/advantaged opposed 2d10 > read as desired (this applies a bell curve)

• Challenging 2d10 > read as pre-nominated (most combat and un-advantaged opposed tests (no curve-flat probability)

• Perilous/disadvantaged opposed 3d10 > take the worst pairing (negative curve)

• Extreme use 4d10 > take the worst 2 etc (extremely negative biased curve)

No mods are needed, just “flipping” the dice.

Doubles are critical failures or successes, the level of this is measured by the “height”. Very low critical successes are fairly tame, higher ones become legendary, as many remember the day the great manoeuvre, (a 99% success) was witnessed, but conversely low skilled characters are capable of 22% fumbles, which will not end well.

It is a little convoluted, maybe even too much for some, but I am making this for me, as a slave for all the little things that annoy me about other similar systems.

I like;

D100 roll under systems, but do not like some of the implementations of said system. The critical roll, the fumble etc need to be aligned with user skill, the skill to allow for better results being possible, advancements to be incremental, but real time.

A curve should be added or tests made in layers, to remove the hard win/loose some games are guilty of.

I love the Traveller career system, but not the grind of it sometimes. I much prefer to able to tell a story semi-abstractly. Character rolls a double 6 of two “hobby” dice and fumbles their actual career training might mean they love their life, but not their job.

I have always preferred the 2x chr as a base for skills system, but often cringe at the odd application of often limited or oddly named chrs.

I hate games that allow characters to easily go over 100% chance. The chrs used can mitigate that as can limits to skills.

“00” should be nothing-no result, because 100% needs to be effectively impossible and a null result is needed. This dead space means even the amazing world champion can fail, but not spectacularly. If fate points allow a re-roll, then that becomes such an unlikely event for a 99% skill master but still possible (that would be amazing).

Anyway, book ordered, so I can keep going with mine or just use the many, many D100 options I have available to me and work with (or change) the systems.