When creating systemless settings, a basic benchmark can be used to allow for conversion to the system of choice. For simplicity, every descriptive item that should be measured can be rated on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest, 10 the highest, and 5 average. When applying this to other systems this will be relative, as not all systems are linear or even consistently exponential. The gamemaster should exercise their best judgment to determine what is most appropriate for the system of their choice.

Rating the Overall Character
This applies to character classes, templates, and archetypes and is handy for writing thumbnail supporting characters. Any general description can be written down and given a numerical rating: Wizard/7, Salesman/3, Starship Engineer/9, Detective/8, and so on. If you list the character as Fighter/3, then they do fighter stuff at 3. Context within the setting itself is important. The meaning and capabilities of Thief/5 will be different in a medieval fantasy setting, a modern espionage setting, and a futuristic space operate setting.

Rating Individual Abilities
If a character has a breakout ability, something rated higher or lower than the overall character rating or not included within the class/archetype/template structure, it should be called out. Machine gun/6, for instance, would not be intuitively included for an Architect/7 character. “Negative abilities”, such as disadvantages, can also be noted in this manner, with the strength of the disadvantage noted on the 10 scale. Not every individual ability needs to be noted, just those that are unusual or outstanding.

Abstract Abilities
Not all abilities will require a rating, or may be descriptive in nature and difficult to rate. These should be noted, even if no numeric value is assigned.

Task Difficulty
Tasks are also rated on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the simplest, 10 the most difficult, and 5 being average. An average character (Rating/5) should be able to accomplish an average task (Difficulty/5) most of the time.

Damage
A weapon’s damage rating means there’s a good chance that weapon could kill a character of the same rating. That doesn’t mean it will, just that it can. Weapon/7 can kill Character/7.

Conversion
Using the 10 scale makes conversion of descriptive characters, abilities, and gear into other systems relatively easy. The gamemaster should make the determination as to what the equivalents are in terms of the system of their choice. Below are some suggestions on how to convert 10 Scale descriptions into a few popular systems. These should be used, tweaked, or ignored as best suits your particular tastes.

D&D 4th Edition
Rating/Level
1 / 1-3
2 / 4-6
3 / 7-9
4 / 10-12
5 / 13-15
6 / 16-18
7 / 19-21
8 / 22-24
9 / 25-27
10 / 28-30

d20
Rating/Level
1 / 1-2
2 / 3-4
3 /  5-6
4 /  7-8
5 /  9-10
6 /  11-12
7 /  13-14
8 /  15-16
9 /  17-18
10 /  19-20

World of Darkness
Rating equates to the total number of dots in Attributes + Trait. Special abilities are rates separately, so all together it is possible to have an overall rating higher than 10 when ability dots are added together.

Savage Worlds
Rating / Die / Rank
1-2 /  d4   /  Novice
3-4 /  d6  / Seasoned
5-6 /  d8 / Veteran
7-8 /  d10 / Heroic
9-10 /  d12 /   Legendary

Percentile Systems
Multiple rating by 10. For example, 6 becomes 60. To convert the other way, divide by 10 and round. 52 becomes 5, 77 becomes 8.

“Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it. No destructive lies. No ridiculous fears. No debilitating anger.”

–Bill Bradley

This past week I have been reading a lot of angry, bitter, hurtful things on roleplaying blogs and forums. All of them have boiled down to differences of opinion over styles of play. I do enjoy intelligent discussion about these sorts of things. Different people enjoy different things, and even when something’s not to my particular taste I tend to find some nugget of useful information or some spark of an idea that I can tweak or adapt. The great thing about roleplaying games, and roleplaying game communities, is that it’s all about creativity. At our best we encourage, inspire, and motivate one another and the hobby, industry, and community as a whole tend to become better and stronger for the general discourse.

Where things go awry is when one person tells another person that they’re doing it “wrong”, or that they’re stupid, because the other person is doing it differently. There seems to be a lack of perspective that these are, ultimately, just games. Pleasant pastimes. Things we’re supposed to be doing for fun. Not saving the world. Not curing cancer. Not ending war or poverty. We aren’t debating politics and the best way to run the country. We’re not discussing religion or ethics or moral quandaries. We’re talking about playing games. If someone posts an idea online and you don’t think it’s fun, don’t do it. If someone says something in a forum that doesn’t make sense to you from a game design perspective, ignore it and go do your own thing. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t make the people who do are idiots. Just because you have a different opinion doesn’t make you right. Just because you have very strong feelings about a particular topic does not entitle you to be rude, abusive, and hateful.

Obviously, this sort of behavior has been around longer than the internet. There have always been certain individuals, certain websites, that are known for this type of behavior. What’s surprised me recently is that it’s turning up in unexpected places, on pages I thought had higher standards, by people I had higher expectations of. It’s been disappointing, really. I hope that the trend doesn’t continue, that maybe it’s just been the stress of the holidays or something in the water. Because I really don’t understand it, and I hope that people will make the choice to respect fellow gamers and make the effort to find some common ground.

Humans in Slipstream left a devastated Earth in giant space arks, seeking to colonize Mars. The Robinson family in Lost in Space left an overpopulated, environmentally devastated Earth to set up a homestead on Alpha Centauri. Neither arrived at their destination.

Transposing the crew of the Jupiter 2 into Slipstream is relatively simple. Perhaps the Robinsons’ ill-fated mission was a precursor to the later space arks, dreams of Alpha Centauri abandoned for the easier-to-reach Red Planet. Boy genius Will Robinson makes a great space-pulp hero, accompanied by his sidekicks Dr. Smith and the Robot. The cheesy plots of Lost in Space can be strip-mined for Slipstream adventure ideas.

Will Robinson
Veteran (50 pts), Wild Card
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d10, Spirit d8, Strength d4, Vigor d6
Skills: Climbing d6, Driving d6, Guts d8, Knowledge (Electronics) d8, Knowledge (Robotics) d10, Investigation d8, Notice d8, Piloting d8, Repair d10 +2, Shooting d6, Stealth d8, Weird Science d10
Hindrances: Curious, Loyal, Glass Jaw
Edges: Engineer, Genius, Superscientist, Arcane Background: Weird Science
Pace: 6 Parry: 2 Toughness: 5

Dr. Zachary Smith
Veteran (50 pts), Wild Card
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d10, Spirit d8, Strength d4, Vigor d6
Skills: Investigation d6, Knowledge (Environmental Science) d8, Knowledge (Psychology) d8, Notice d6, Persuasion d6, Survival d6, Taunt d8, Weird Science d8
Hindrances: I’m With Him (Will Robinson), Big Mouth, Greedy
Edges: Great Luck, Charismatic
Charisma: +2 Pace: 6 Parry: 2 Toughness: 5

Model B-9 Class M-3 General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot
Veteran (50 pts), Wild Card
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d4, Strength d10, Vigor d8
Skills: Driving d8, Fighting d6, Knowledge (Environmental Science) d6, Notice d6, Piloting d8, Repair d6, Shooting d8
Hindrances and Edges: Construct, Machine, Outsider, Psionic Immunity, Recharge, Technosavvy, One of a Kind, Guardian, Loyal, Quirk (yells everything he says), Arcane Background (Weird Science)
Powers: Armor, Blast, Stun, Scanner
Charisma: 0/+2 with other robots
Pace: 6 Parry: 5 Toughness: 6

Buy Lost in Space - The Complete First Season

Buy Slipstream (Savage Worlds, S2P10008)

Anton Phibes was a famous scholar of the Eccesiarchy and music, renowned for his skill as an organist. He was disfigured in a ground vehicle crash while rushing to the side of his sick wife, Victoria. He survived his injuries to discover his wife had died on the operating table. Convinced that his beloved wife was a victim of incompetent chirurgeons, Phibes spent several years planning a vendetta against those who operated on his wife.

After eluding the Adeptus Arbites, the Inquisition was called in when it was discovered that his murders were based on the betrayals of the Traitor Primarchs during the Horus Heresy.  His first victim will killed with sonic weapons, after the fashion of Primarch Fulgrim; his second was bled to death and had his skull taken as a trophy in the manner of Primarch Angron, and so on. While it is believed that his killing methods are symbolic, indicating that he feels his victims betrayed his dead wife, his actions are officially considered heretical by the Inquisition.

Phibes is missing his hair, ears, nose, and portions of his flesh. He has developed prosthetic appliances that, with makeup and a wig, allow him to emulate his former appearance. His vocal cords were damaged beyond repair, however, and he speaks via a cybernetic voice box. He is known to work with an assistant, a seductive female known only as Vulnavia, about whom little is known. He has also been known to employ servitors (whom he refers to as his “clockwork wizards”) programmed to perform musical accompaniment.

WS: 33 BS: 37 S: 31 T: 33 Ag: 30 Int: 53 Per: 32 WP: 41 Fel: 51
Wounds: 9
Fate Points: 3
Gender: Male
Build: Fit
Skin Color: Fair
Hair Color: Grey
Eye Color: Green

Traits: Blessed Ignorance, Hagiography, Litugical Familiarity, Superior Origins
Skills: Charm +10, Chem Use +10,  Common Lore (Imperium), Common Lore (Ecclesiarchy), Deceive, Disguise +20, Drive (Ground Vehicle), Literacy , Performer (Pipe Organ) +20, Scholastic Lore (Legends) +20, Scrutiny,  Speak Language (High Gothic) , Speak Language (Low Gothic), Trade (Musician)
Talents: Melee Weapons Training (Primitive), Pistol Training (SP), Basic Weapons Training (Primitive), Peer (Ecclesiarchy)
Gear: aquila necklace, Ecclesiarchy robes (Good Quality Clothing), 4 candles, charm (skull), backpack, hammer, stub revolver and 6 bullets, crossbow and 10 bolts, chain coat

Buy Dark Heresy RPG: Core Rulebook (Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay)

Legendary for their work disciplining traitors and heretics, the men known as the Emperor’s Hammers do not always work together. In fact, their separate mandates, as Commissar and Inquisitor, have frequently placed them in opposition. However, they are best known for their joint efforts and the deep, abiding love for the Emperor of Mankind that they share.

Commissar Wilmoff Tarquin
WS: 41 BS: 40 S: 23 T: 34 Ag: 36 Int: 41 Per: 31 WP: 30 Fel: 43

Wounds: 11
Fate Points: 3
Gender: Male
Build: Slender
Skin Color: Fair
Hair Color: Grey
Eye Color: Grey

Traits: Blessed Ignorance, Hagiography, Litugical Familiarity, Superior Origins
Skills: Ciphers (War Cant) +10, Command +20, Common Lore (Ecclesiarchy), Common Lore (Imperial Creed) +10, Common Lore (Imperium) , Common Lore (War), Deceive +10, Drive (Ground Vehicle), Inquiry +10,  Interrogation, Intimidate +10, Literacy, Pilot Military Craft +20, Scholastic Lore (Tactica Imperialist) +20, Secret Tongue (Military), Speak Language (High Gothic), Speak Language (Low Gothic), Tech Use
Talents: Melee Weapons Training (Primitive), Pistol Training (Las), Basic Weapons Training (SP), Resistance: Psychic Powers, Strong Minded, Unshakable Faith
Gear: lasgun and 1 charge pack, knife, guard flak armour, 1 week corpse starch rations, sword, flintlock pistol and 12 shots, bow and 10 arrows, uniform (Common Quality Clothing), mercenary license, ancestral sabre (memento), first commendation medal (memento)

Count Tyranus, Inquisitor
WS: 51 BS: 40 S: 32 T: 32 Ag: 44 Int: 30 Per: 36 WP: 37 Fel: 40
Wounds: 11
Fate Points: 2
Gender: Male
Build: Well-built
Skin Color: Tan
Hair Color: Grey
Eye Color: Grey

Traits: Etiquette, Supremely Connected, Vendetta, Wealth, Sanctioned Psyker, Unreadable Mind
Skills: Awareness +20, Charm, Ciphers (War Cant), Command +10, Common Lore  (Administratum),  Common Lore  (Imperial Guard), Common Lore (War), Dodge +20, Forbidden Lore (Psykers), Intimidate, Literacy +10, Speak Language (High Gothic), Speak Language (Low Gothic), Speak Language (Low Gothic), Psyniscience , Inquiry +10, Invocation, Literacy, Psiniscience +10, Secret Tongue (Acolyte). Secret Tongue (Military), Sleight of Hand, Tech Use, Trade (Soothsayer)
Talents: Peer (Nobility), Peer (Academics), Basic Weapon Training (Primitive), Melee Weapons Training (Primitive), Pistol Weapons Training (Las), Resistance (Psychic Powers), Unshakable Faith, Quick Draw, Leap Up, Blind Fighting, Mental Rage, Swift Attack, Crippling Strike, Crushing Blow, Frenzy, Furious Assault, Sure Strike
Gear: Force Sword
Psy Rating 5

Buy Dark Heresy RPG: Core Rulebook (Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay)

The other day my wife the non-geek asked me about Ed Wood. Actually, she asked me to explain Ed Wood (the actual person, not the movie) to her non-geek mother. Because I will latch onto anything that might bring the wife a little bit further into my geek world, I obliged. The summary I gave was that he was a man whose passion and vision for film far, far outstripped his actual budget or talent.

Enter Adam J. Weber, stage left. I don’t know whether he’s wearing angora or not, but God love him and his ambitions.

One would think that the title would say it all. Helix: The Post Apocalypse, High-Tech, Fantasy, Western Role Playing Game. I almost don’t need to write a review, because literally and figuratively it says a lot. In the near future there’s a global war, and nations are destroyed and City-States arise. There’s an evil global corporation that through nefarious means comes to control all of the City-States. There’s cyberware that was embedded with code that rewrites the genetic code of those implanted with cyberware, and those kids grow up to be “code slingers” (who are really spellcasters). And there’s some mysterious religious cult leader only known as “Helix”.

You create a character by selecting an archetype. Then you randomly roll the four attributes used in the game on 2d6. When you need to make an Attribute check, you roll a d12 and succeed if you roll under the attribute. You attribute total is the number of points you get to spend on “qualities”  (skills, aspects, abilities, whatever) associated with that attribute.  The cost is 1-1, so if you want Cyber Lore at 4 it costs 4, if you want Black Market Knowledge at 3 it costs 3, and so on. There are a lot of qualities, and obviously you won’t have a lot of points to go around. Qualities cap at 6, and to make a quality check you roll a d6 and succeed if you roll under.

Helix feels like a cyberpunk game that was written around 1985, and stylistically both the rules and the setting have the feel of that era. I kind of like that. If you had blacked out the copyright dates on this and handed it to me, I would completely peg it for that era. It almost feels like a companion piece to Encounter Critical, playing off of 80s gaming tropes the way EC did with the 70s. The difference, and it breaks my heart to say this because I’m not trying to bust on some really nice people who put a lot of love into creating a game, is that Helix seems to be dead serious and is presented without a hint of irony. Encounter Critical was the Plan 9 from Outer Space of roleplaying games on purpose.  I get the impression that Adam J. Weber and company were really expecting to make Citizen Kane.

Look, I had fun reading this. I think I’d have fun playing it, and that’s all that matters, right? I’m truly looking at this as an unintended sourcebook for Encounter Critical. I will mine ideas from it for that game. The game mechanics, at least, are very simple and more playable than those of EC. I love this game for being exactly what it is and reveling in it.

One thing the game has going for it is support. At the Helix blog, new free content is released on a regular basis. I actually bought the game because “helixrpg” is one of my Twitter buddies, and it’s a proven scientific fact that I’m more inclined to buy your stuff if you get chummy with me. When the PDF went on sale over Thanksgiving, I picked it up ($3.50 was not a risky proposition). The fact that the folks behind the game are friendly, outgoing, and cranking out new content will give this game a long tail.

Buy Helix in print or as a PDF.

Resolutions aren’t really my thing. As a productivity wonk, they make my teeth itch, actually. People fail in keeping their resolutions because they’re not actual goals. Most resolutions aren’t specific, they aren’t measurable, and they don’t have true deadline. Yet “resolutions” is the word we use at this time of year, and it’s the topic I chose for this month’s RPG Blog Carnival, so here are the roleplaying-related things that I want to change and accomplish in 2009.

Play a Wider Variety of Games
I’m fortunate that I have the opportunity to attend two local game days each month. These are a great chance to try out new things, and that’s what I plan to do. There are tons of games I’ve never played, but would like to try. I won’t do this at the expense of a game I love and rarely get to play, of course, but given the choice between something I’ve tried and something new, I’ll opt for something new.

Play with a Wider Variety of People
While we’re on the topic of game days, there are a lot of people I’ve met as a result of SAGA that I’ve never actually had a chance to sit down at a table and actually game with. I also tend to gravitate to people I already know. I’m going to try to choose tables with folks I haven’t played with before. I’m notoriously introverted, and this will push me to be more social. It will also allow me to be more of an ambassador for SAGA, the RPG Bloggers Network, and UncleBear.

Do Something with Every Game I Own
This is a big, hairy, audacious goal, so I need to clarify. I want to do something with every game sitting on my shelf that I’ve never done anything with. That could be running it at a game day, writing an article or a review here on the blog, or even just creating a character or two. I want to crack open every book in the next 365 days.

Happy New Year! This month I’m the host of the RPG Bloggers Network’s Blog Carnival. What is a blog carnival? It’s where bloggers mutually work on the same theme or topic for a month.  The topic I’ve selected is New Year’s Gaming Goals and Resolutions.  If this is the time of year when we vow to make changes in our lives, and roleplaying is a major force in our lives, doesn’t it merit taking some time to pause and reflect on the way we game and how we can improve our experiences? I’ve come up with of few broad categories that such resolutions might fall into, detailed below, and look forward to hearing about the resolutions others might make. I’ll post my own personal resolutions tomorrow.

Join the Carnival!
How do you get in on the carnival? Just write a post around this month’s theme, then leave a comment on this post with a link back. At the end of the month, I’ll round up all the entries in another post. Then the carnival will move again! That’s all. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with.

Different Games
Expand your horizons! This might be the year you try out that game you’ve read a few times but never played. Or maybe it’s just time to buy and read a game you’ve heard a lot about but have never even held a copy of in your hot little hands.

Different Character Types
Branch out! Try something different! Some people only ever play one character class, or one race. Some people tend to play the same type of character, in terms of personality, regardless of system or genre or time period. Even if you don’t have a chance to play a different character, you could write one (or several) up and think about how you’d play them in a manner different from your typical style.

Community Participation
This can mean a lot of things. Perhaps you want to attend more local game days or conventions. Maybe you want to participate more in forums you like, or leave more comments on your favorite blogs. You could decide to contribute to collaborative projects, or just put out some free stuff as blog posts or PDFs.

Previous Carnivals

The Core Mechanic: Resurrection | Roundup

The Fine Art of the TPK: This is Homebrew | Roundup

The Chatty DM: Super Heroes in RPG’s | Roundup

The Dice Bag: Religion | Roundup

Critical Hits: Transitions and Transformations | Roundup

During RinCon I was shooting the breeze with Ron Blessing and John Polack about doing a Firefly-type space western using Savage Worlds. Ron suggested using Slipstream, which didn’t make sense to me until I read it. The pocket universe, with dozens of habitable worlds within one “system”, is very reminiscent of Firefly’s ‘Verse.  My counter-proposal was to throw in Deadlands Reloaded, and make it a horror space western.

(And before anyone says it, yes, I know about Lost Colony. Never read it, never played it, and it’s out of print. Let me woolgather in peace here, okay?)

Make some of the planetoids, or an asteroid field, made of ghost rock. That becomes the wat to hand-wave away any questionable science or fudged physics. Have the rocketships powered by ghost rock. Give some (or all) of the planets fear ratings. Make Queen Anathraxa a vampire or some other undead critter. Mix and match races and character types - I can see a Lion Man Gunfighter, a Robot Huckster, an Amazonian Mad Scientist. Tweak the cultures to reflect human cultures of the Old West, making Slipstream’s “primitive” cultures more like Native Americans for instance. Heck, make them shamanic, it’s not a stretch.

I would declare that none of the aliens traveled in on chunks of their own homeworlds. People and planets came in separately, so every world is a new colony with unwitting pioneer folk just trying to make their way and survive. With Queen Anathraxa taking the role of Firefly’s alliance, controlling most of the technology and resources, there would be plenty of opportunities for smugglers to transport food, equipment, medicine, and persons of questionable reputation.

The real question on this sort of mashup is tone. Obviously, it’s going to be pulpish, but do you want to stay closer to Firefly in tone, more in line with the Flash Gordon goofy adventure feel of Slipstream, or the horror pulp of Deadlands? I think the Firefly feel would be playing it down the middle. You can obviously just remove the aliens you find too silly (or remove them entirely,  making it humans-only). You can limit magic and supernatural creatures if you want. You can crank up or tone down any of the tropes to get the mix you think works best.

Buy Deadlands Reloaded

If you’ve ever wanted to play a Flash Gordon-esque roleplaying game then rejoice, because Slipstream is here. A pocket dimension accessible only through a black hole, it’s home to dozens of planetoids and dozens of (playable) alien races. Yes, people, places and things from around the galaxy and across time get sucked in, and the shattered remnants end up in Slipstream. There is no known way out, so make yourself at home. And to make it more fun, the whole pocket dimension is ruled by the evil Queen Anathraxa, who captures men and does… well, no one’s sure what she does with men she captures, but you can use your imagination.

This is not hard science fiction. This is barely even pulp science. This is science fantasy. All of the “planets” (the largest being the size of Earth’s moon, the smallest about 1/6th of that) have exactly 1G of gravity. Earth normal. There’s 0G in space, but there’s atmosphere. It’s thin, and you probably want a helmet or some kind of breathing apparatus, but you won’t suffocate or explode in the vacuum. There are no “balkanized” planets or mixed-race planets — it’s a jungle world, an ice planet, a desert moon, a planet of bird men, or lion men, or robots.  You fly spaceships by looking out the front window at where you’re going, and navigate with a compass (what’s generating a magnetic force to provide compass directions isn’t explained, just roll with it). It’s is deliciously silly in the best cliffhanger serial sort of way.

The game is powered by Savage Worlds, and some copy of the full rules is needed for play. This isn’t a problem for me, but I did note that nowhere on the cover does it say that you should pick up the Savage Worlds Explorer Edition or another game with the full rules. There are new Edges and Hindrances, and a neat system for generating new alien races which can be usefully ported to other Savage Settings.  There are rules and writeups for rocketships, though, and the worlds within the pocket dimension, and all of the alien races. But the core rules ain’t in here, just so you’re warned.

The art, as usual with recent Savage Worlds products, is good, plentiful, and in full color. I like the art deco-style trade dress of the product, harkening back to the 1930s. The character sheet in the back of the book is gorgeous. I want to print one out in full color, frame it, and hang it on my wall. Seriously, it’s the prettiest character sheet I’ve ever seen. The map is pretty keen, too.

About half the book is a campaign, broken into episodes like a cliffhanger serial. Everything you need to run this except the core rules and some pregen characters is right here. Prep time: minimal. If you want to be heroic and goofy and blast evil villains and all that sort of chewy pulpy retro-future fun, this is the stuff.

Buy Slipstream (Savage Worlds, S2P10008) at Amazon.com

This is more food for thought than a rule, really: If you’re using more than 3 house rules, you may want to consider using a different system.

Allow me to clarify that. I’m not talking about minor tweaks that accommodate style of play or ease of prep, like mook rules. I’m not talking about tweaks that make the rules better reflect the setting, like adding a class or a handful of spells for local color. I’m not talking about the intentional creation of a homebrew rule set. And I’m not talking about hacking rules for fun, as an intellectual exercise. I’m talking about serious adaptations of the rules set you think you’re actively using, because that system does not meet your current needs. If you have to write up a player handout longer than two or three sentences for the house rule, or spend more than 30 seconds going over it with players, it’s a significant hack.

We don’t live in the Old School world where there’s one system we have to bend and twist to fit our needs. We live in a world with so many systems available, both free and commercially published, that you should be able to find something pretty darned close to what you want without having to expand a lot of effort to make it fit. Then you can spend your time on worldbuilding and adventure prep, instead of rules hacking. Rules exist to serve your needs, not create more work.  Hack smarter, not harder.

Way back in the year 2000, John Wick wrote a fascinating game called Orkworld. It spun out of a bet that was in turn inspired by his wanting to run an orc bard in D&D and being told orcs don’t have bards. Being John Wick, he went off and created an intricately detailed culture where orks (with a ‘k’) have a rich and interesting culture and can, among other things, be bards.

The game is long out of print, but can be found via the usual used outlets online. I dug my copy out recently while I was looking though the latest John-Wick-details-an-interesting-culture game, Houses of the Blooded. In the language of the Ven (the protagonist race of HotB), “ork” means other, outsider, or monster. Anything not-Ven is technically an ork. Carnivorous plants? Orks. Gibbering tentacled monsters? Orks. Big regenerating things that live under bridges and harass billygoats? Orks. Naturally, I want to use Wick capital-O Orks (the Orkus)  as small-o orks in the Ven’s world of Shanri. One detailed culture should compliment another, right?

Here’s the problem: in Houses of the Blooded, you play landed nobility who would never, ever get their hands dirty dealing with a primitive tribal culture like the Orkus.  They have servants and staff for that. An Orkus wouldn’t ever get close to a Ven player character unless they were in chains under heavy guard, as a slave or an amusement. So how would a crossover even be possible?

The answer I devised is to run both games, alternating between the two as if chapters in a book. Replace the humans of Orkworld with the Ven. The nomadic Orkus are bumping up against Ven estates. In Houses of the Blooded, you play the political intrigue of debating how to deal with these orks. In Orkworld, you play the Orks trying to survive and bumping up against the Ven. The actions in one game affect the other. If the Orks household decides to move into an abandoned keep for shelter, the next scene for the Ven will be receiving that news. If the Ven order huntsmen to go in and clear out the orks, the next scene for the Orks will be a raid on their household. They impact each other, without ever meeting each other.

One thing I’d strive for would be parallels and irony. The Orkus characters would all be members of a household, working together to survive. The Ven characters would be at each other’s throats. Who’s more civilized here, really? I might have players try to create counterpart characters - a Ven swordsman and an Ork hunter with similar aspects and personalities, an Ork dowmga (mother/head of household) and a Ven Lady, and so on. The same player doesn’t have to play both parallel characters, but it could be fun.

I wouldn’t bother trying to do a conversion between the systems. I’d run both. Each player would have at least one character in each game. I’d switch game systems when switching scenes seemed warrented. I woudn’t want to cut back and forth too often, but certainly as it felt appropriate for the narrative. It might be a challenge, but I think it would work. And because Houses of the Blooded is a tragedy, if all of the orks die in the end it would be sad and completely appropriate.

The woman known as Laetitia ‘Lia’ Urgantha was stolen from her true parents by Chaos cultists shortly after birth. She was given over to Imperial Nobles who had been corrupted by Chaos, and were working as sleeper agents. They raised her as their own child and trained her to be a spy. Under the guise of diplomatic immunity, she was transporting plans for the secret Imperial craftworld Astrum Excessum when her ship was seized by Inquisitor Lord Dorath Fator and members of his retinue. Upon interrogating her, Lord Fator learned of the widespread Chaos infestation upon Urgantha’s homeworld of Alderryn and ordered it destroyed. To demonstrate that the Imperium will not be swayed in the face of Chaos, Fator ordered that Urgantha watch the planet be destroyed from the bridge of the Astrum Excessum, under guard of Commissar Wilmoff Tarqin.

Urgantha escaped custody with the aid of one of  her lovers, the rogue trader Hanso Loh, and his crew. Although she has been recaptured twice, she escapes each time and it is suspected that she has been allowing herself to be captured in order to make contact with Chaos agents operating within the Imperium. It has recently come to light that Dorath Fator is her true father. Based on surveillance footage, she is known to be lovers  with wanted psyker criminal Lukas Skirrmakker, who is also her biological brother. It is also believed that Urgantha is a latent psyker, and is being trained by Skirrmakker.

WS: 30 BS: 35  S: 33  T: 37  Ag: 32  Int: 34  Per: 35  WP: 36  Fel: 37

Wounds: 13
Fate Points: 3
Insanity Points: 11
Corruption Points: 15

Traits: Blessed Ignorance, Hagiography, Litugical Familiarity, Peer (Nobility), Peer (Administratum), Superior Origins, Nascent Psyker
Basic Skills: Common Lore (Imperial Creed), Common Lore (Imperium), Common Lore (War), Deciet, Literacy, Psyniscience Speak Language (High Gothic), Awareness, Dodge
Advanced Skills: Speak Language (Low Gothic)
Talents: Melee Weapons Training (Primitive), Basic Weapons Training (SP), Pistol Training (SP), Ambidextrous, Pistol Training (Las)
Psyker Powers: Inspiring Aura
Gear: sword, knife, 3 doses of stimm, charge (corpse hair), white bodyglove (Common Quality Clothing), shotgun and 12 shells, compact las pistol and 1 charge pack, all-weather cape (memento)

Buy Dark Heresy RPG: Core Rulebook (Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay)

Or Hanukkah, or Yule, or whatever you celebrate at this time of year? And any other stuff, for that matter, not just game stuff? Do you have anything planned for it? Only for reading, just part of the collection, planning to run a campaign, looking forward to being a player? Go ahead, brag on the holiday swag! Add your thoughts in the comments below!

Wishing you and yours a Happy Holiday from UncleBear, The Core Mechanic, and the RPG Bloggers Network!

Continue Reading »

Deep within the most classified archives of the Ordo Xenos is a file on the being known only as The Apothecary. Reputedly the last of his race, he appears as a human male but is the carrier of his species’ gene seed. When close to death, he is able to activate this gene seed and reconstitute a new body from the old. This ability also allows him to alter his appearance, making him difficult to detect. Inquisitors and Adepts who have faced him have frequently been unable to recognize him from one encounter to the next. Although he has a high psyker rating and is resistant to psyker abilities, he never draws upon any significant powers of his own. It is believed that he does possess great power but chooses not to use it, preferring instead to toy with humans as a means of demonstrating his self-proclaimed superiority.

His ship, if it can be classified as such, is disguised as a Adeptus Arbites detention box and generates its own warp gate. This device allows the Apothecary and his Accomplices to travel not only through space, but time as well.  His weapon of choice is a “sonik psydriver”, a force weapon that can open locks, disable devices, and even reprogram complex machinery sich as servitors and cyborgs. He has been spotted numerous times in the company of servitors known as “dalex”. These are in fact cyborgs powered by Xenos brains. Dalex are armed with disintegrator rays, and have the Psyker ability to drain life through a sucker-like appendage. It is believed that they are the Apothecary’s personal bodyguard, but they are known to have turned against him on at least one occassion.

The Apothecary’s primary method of operation is to seduce humans, frequently young women, into being his Accomplices. It is through these Accomplicates that he performs acts of terrorism against the Imperium. These woman typically discarded by the Apothecary once he is done with them. A great deal of the intelligence the Ordo Xenos has on the Apothecary has in fact been extracted from abandoned Accomplices. While he is most commonly found with only one Accomplice, he has been known to have many at one time with varying abilities in a dark parody of an Inquisitor’s retinue.  His primary is to sew heresy among the civilian populace, introducing such as ideas as humans and xenos coexisting and living in mixed societies, and that war should be abandoned so that the aliens, the mutants, and the psykers can become the overlords of Mankind.

Buy Dark Heresy RPG: Core Rulebook (Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay)