Well things seem to be looking up.... In about 2 weeks, I will have gone from no gaming, to having two gaming groups to play with.

Other than scattered sessions of D&D Basic with my nephews over the last few months...

Speak of which, if you want to read the transcript of those sessions, I've posted the AP log over at RPG.net:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=499172

I've also been doing a fun little project where I create a random dungeon using the generator from the 1st Ed DMG.

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=501079

It's been weeks.

I'm having withdrawls.

Hell, I'd play a game of TORG right now....

I mentioned that I'm starting to see what the designers of 4th edition D&D had in mind, regarding classes.  Here's a quote from RPG.net that I think really hits the nail on the head:

In previous editioins (and in many games as a whole), combat is a tedious process for most of the folks at the table. Especially so at high levels. So, you put it off for as long as possible so you don't have to sit around waiting 30 minutes to roll a die and say, "I hit him." over and over and over. And the things you do to put it off are roleplay and cleverly sneak around and what-have-you.

But in 4th they went ahead and actually made the combat a blast to play and they gave everyone something fun to do every round. So, the folks at my table, even the heavy roleplay folks (like me) enjoy getting into combat and using this fabulously fun, balanced system they've given us.   - Rex Monday from the Why am I so apprehensive about getting into 4th ED?  thread.

So now I understand why every class was given its own "kewl powerz" and homogenized in terms of how they work.  I've heard other posters point out that in previous edition the mechnaics of the powers of each class were all different.  So learning how spells worked for the Magic-User, did not equate with learning how thief skills worked.

So I sort of get it now.  I can understand that the designers were trying to make everyone feel useful in a game.  I think this exact opposite end of this was Shadowrun ( which I used to adore ) where if the Mage/Shaman was astral projecting, or the Decker was in the Matrix, everyone else just sat around twiddling their thumbs.

 

So I'm really trying to wrap my head around 4th edition ( no I'm not abandoning my plans for an old-skool game of 1st edition ).  I've spent some time looking over the books, trying to get over the blinding headaches the power layouts and white-space give me.

And truth be told I think I'm starting to get it.

I'll explain why in my next post, but let me say this: the homebrew rules I've added to my 1st edition game ( culled from Dragon mag ) have helped me understand what they were trying to do in 4th edition.

I can feel the evil creeping into my soul....

So here's a good question.  Which way should I orient the game?  Let's start with definitions:

Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a fantasy subgenre generally characterized by swashbuckling heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus mainly on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters.^{[1]   Since its inception, many attempts have been made to redefine precisely what "sword and sorcery" is. Although many debate the finer points, the general consensus is that it is characterized by a strong bias toward fast-paced, action-rich tales set within a quasi-mythical or fantastical framework. Unlike high or epic fantasy, the stakes tend to be personal, the danger confined to the moment of telling.[2] Many sword and sorcery tales have been turned into lengthy series of adventures. Their lower stakes and less than world-threatening dangers make this more plausible than a repetition of the perils of epic fantasy. So too the nature of the heroes; most sword-and-sorcery protagonists, travellers by nature, find peace after adventure deathly dull.[3]}




High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy came to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s. High fantasy, along with sword and sorcery, has become one of the two genres most commonly associated with the general term fantasy.  These stories are generally serious in tone and often epic in scope, dealing with themes of grand struggle against supernatural, evil forces.^[1] It is one of the most popular subgenres of fantasy fiction. Some typical characteristics of high fantasy include fantastical elements such as elves, fairies, dwarves, magic or sorcery, wizards or magicians, invented languages, quests, coming-of-age themes, and multi-volume narratives.


Both of the above come from Wikipedia.

It seems to me that S&S style play is: "Hey, let's go raid the dead king's tomb where there's a rumor of a dragon's treasure!".

HF style play is: " We need to take this ring to Mount Doom to save the world".

 

I wonder what style Djinnah and GeekGumbo's group is playing in 3.5 edition...

I wanted to take a minute to mention why I'm so enamoured of the new Changeling from White Wolf.  The old Changeling the Dreaming had such promise I remember.   When you used to read the old Vampire, Werewolf and Mage books, they would hint at Fairies in the world, and some of what they could do.  From that, I got very excited about what I thought would finally be an excellent treatment of the Good Folk, much like what they had done with the other supernaturals.

What I got stumped me.  Bright shiny colors?  Whimsical child-like half fae, fighting to keep wonder and hope and dreams alive.

WTF?

Seriously.  WTF?

I mean, I kinda understand the idea of keeping hope alive in a world of cynicism and banality, but this whole game just did *not* fit in with the World of Darkness.

I tried, I really did.  I read a few of the first books, trying to get a feel for it.  But I couldn't get over the whole "chimerical" thing.  I mean, your true Fae self can only be seen by other Changelings if you let them?  And most everything you interact with is made of "dreamstuff"?  Sorry, couldn't get into it.

I did hear from some players though, at the end, WW was trying to steer it back into the World of Darkness *feel*.  That is, the last few books published gave back some of the feel of living in a world where "all-powerful masterminds control everything behind the scenes".  But by that time, WW had made the decision to end the whole world.

So enter Changeling: the Lost.

Ok, little culture shock again.  See before Changeling: the Lost ( hereafter referred to as C:tL ) came out, I had managed to find out about Dark Ages: Fae.  Now, I haven't actually seen a copy ( as the hard bound books is *incredibley* expensive) ( no, I'm not kidding ).  And I haven't sprung for the PDF yet.  However, by nosing around, I heard some very interesting things about it.  Like it actually gave a really good treatment of the True Fae, and what being one would be like.   Essentially you're a very *small god* with a limited area of influence.

So when I cracked C:tL for the first time, I was a little take aback.  You weren't playing the True Fae, you were playing abducted mortals, taken to Arcadia to be slaves, playthings, or worse, until you escaped back to Earth.  Oh, and while you were gone, a twin of you ( a Fetch ) was left in you place living you life.  No one even knew you were gone.

And then to make it worse, the True Fae you escaped from ( your "Keeper" ) may just be out there, looking for you.

Ok. I started to get it now.  Bring on the paranoia, the fear of the dark, the always looking over your shoulder.  Add in, that as you grow in power and skill, your grip on reality it becomes even more tenous.  If you become too powerful you could even be in danger of becoming a True Fae.  The subtitle of the book, " a game of beautiful madness " sums it up well in my opinion!

The final clincher was this.  I read a paragraph in the main book ( the core rulebook mind you! Not some supplement they published years later! ) where the developer explained why you were playing Changelings and not True Fae.  The rationale went something like this:  They wanted the players to bring to life the "good fairies" like brownies, house gnomes, fairy godmothers etc.  The fey folk that in the old stories were always trying to help people.  The True Fae are supposed to represent the "really old gods".  Think very Lovecraftian here, they are supposed to represent those wild, dark, and insane forces that mankind fears somewhere in their deep subconcious.
 

I'm so in love.  I can't wait to start a game.  :)

I've been listening to this Katy Perry song "Waking up in Vegas" and watching the trailers for that new movie "The Hangover" when I thought: "Hey! How about a campaign set around the characters waking up in Vegas, with no memory of what happened?
 

See, I got this book for Mage: the Ascension years ago, called "The Fallen Tower".  It's a setting book for Vegas.  So naturally, I thought, well, since I'm all about Mage: the Awakening, I can use that.  Then I realized, no.... even better.

Changeling: the Lost.

Sweet.  Since the game already deals with your character esacaping the True Fae from Arcadia, and wondering what is real and what is not, I thought this would be a great premise.

Heh.

I'm working on my "primer" for my hoped for 1st Edition AD&D game right now. I've put some real work into the cleric class. I thought about leaving it as is, and having Christian clerics be the cleric class, and Pagan clerics be the Druid class.  After some thought though, I realized that how do you handle clerics from Roman temples, like Zeus and Athena?  Not really druids in my opinion.  And in the fantasy-historical Earth I'm using ( roughly 1320?  I think? ) There are still large prescence of Pagan faiths, mainly in the the Scandanvian countries and in "enclaves" in continental Europe ( think Native American reservations ).  So I need to be able to include these faiths as well.

Should be fun though, I found a lot of supporting material in old Dragon Magazines for assigning skills and chosen weapons to certain real-world pantheons.  The suggestion for how to role-play a cleric of Aphrodite meeting a bunch of crazed barbarians was certainly humorous!  Although why would she be adventuring anyway?

Aphrodite cleric in a dungeon.  Yeah right :)

Its' been over a year since I last gamed.  I need to get a group together...

Had a little more time today to catch up...