I downloaded a new Xbox game the other day called Blood Dragon. If you're a fan of 80s action movies such as Aliens, Terminator, and Predator and you like first-person shooters I reckon you'll enjoy this little nostalgic gem. Heck, for fifteen bucks it's a heck of deal.
It's voiced by Michael Biehn and features lots of digitized cut scenes reminiscent of Nintendo's 8-bit heyday (think Ninja Gaiden). There is a lot of tongue-in-cheek material, not only in regards to action movies, but also to violent video games in general. The controls are tight and intuitive (I think they're based on the Farcry engine). The graphics are razor sharp and intense, but a little too dark at times. Occaisionally the self-referential humor is laid on a little thick, but overall it's a fun, if not short (~8 hours) experience.
I had to crack up when I discovered that the main character keeps twenty-sided dice that he can throw to distract his enemies. Oh, there are dragons, too. Believe me, the title lives up to its name. The story, at least parts of the story, would also make a good RIFTS, Gamma World, or Cyberpunk 2020 session.
If you're a regular reader of this blog who happens to buy this game, shoot me an email at hartwell602 at gmail dot com with your Xbox live gamertag and I'll send you a friend invite.
May 20, 2013
May 17, 2013
Problem #11: Queen's Last Hope
Cydella, the beautiful Queen of Verloren, has organized a massive army and the Dwarves have finally finished the mile-long mountain tunnel opening direct access to the Serpent's Horn. She intends to confront and destroy the evil Seelessen before it is too late and the corrupting power of Vermut breaks down the proud lineage of Verlorians.
The train of warriors, horsemen, and supply wagons is exactly one mile long and travels at a constant rate of one mile each hour. How much time will it take for the train to pass completely through the tunnel?
Problem #10 Solution: The password is "drawer", which is reward backwards.
The train of warriors, horsemen, and supply wagons is exactly one mile long and travels at a constant rate of one mile each hour. How much time will it take for the train to pass completely through the tunnel?
Problem #10 Solution: The password is "drawer", which is reward backwards.
May 14, 2013
Map: Library 1
My next project is called Verloren, and it's nearly done. You can soon expect to see it available in both PDF and print here at Digital Orc and also on RPGNow.com.
My project after Verloren is code-named "Cemetery House", though that will not be the final title when published. I reckon the rough draft is about 25% finished. Since it's been a while since I've published a map, I thought I'd share the draft of my evil library map.
My project after Verloren is code-named "Cemetery House", though that will not be the final title when published. I reckon the rough draft is about 25% finished. Since it's been a while since I've published a map, I thought I'd share the draft of my evil library map.
May 10, 2013
Problem #10: Think Fast, My Little Halflings!
 |
| Can you solve this problem? The Dungeon Bastard and I can! |
"Did you steal this?" he asked.
Both Feydor and Bimpo turned wide-eyed at one another before raising their eyebrows and looking up at the old man.
"Absolutely not," said Bimpo and put both hands firmly on his hips fixing the pawn shop dealer with a slightly wavering stare.
"But," added Feydor, "out of curiousity. Why do you ask?"
The old man turned the book around in his hands causing both halflings to rise onto their toes peering over the counter onto a cover page that read:
Say the missing term aloud to read the contents of this book.
reward
rats
devil
gum
spoons
lived
mug
snoops
star
"Then you'll have no problem telling me the password," the old man finished. He stared at the halflings as a large clock in the corner of the small room ticked away the seconds.
Problem 9 Solution: 6 clangs. And they were good ones, too.
May 7, 2013
Warner Brothers Might Make D&D Movie
I recently read that Warner Brothers has the right, and presumably the inclination, to make a D&D movie. As a longtime D&D fan who hustled to the theatre to see the Jeremy Irons film over a decade ago, I find myself hopeful. Why hopeful, you ask? My longtime gamer buddy and I were talking the other day and we both commented on how what was downright nerdy in our day is normal and *gasp* popular today. What with big budget productions of The Hobbit, Walking Dead pulling in huge viewer numbers, and Game of Thrones spawning new generations of fantasy fans I can honestly look in the mirror and say yeah, everything could turn out ok.
Elfquest: The Official Roleplaying Game
Introduction
Elfquest 2nd edition role-playing game was published by Chaosium and written by Steve Perrin. It’s based on Wendy and Richard Pini’s cult comic. The game was first published in 1984, then again with a second edition in 1989 when Elfquest was still published by Warp Graphics and exploding in popularity. I never read much of Elfquest in my youth, and only now bought the role-playing game because I found it for a steal on eBay. It is precisely because I didn’t know much about the weird two moon world of three-fingered elves that I wanted to do a little research. After completing my reading, I figured writing an essay was a good way to organize my conclusions about this interesting game. Maybe you’ll find it interesting, too.
The target audience for Elfquest RPG 2nd edition is first and foremost fans of the comic. While some fans may be role-players, most are probably not and that, in my opinion, leads me to my biggest criticism. Namely, the game is too complex for the typical Elfquest fan. Clocking in at 159 pages not including reference and character sheets, 15 are devoted entirely to the mechanics which are logical, but numerous and cumbersome. Both the casual gamer who’s a big Elfquest fan and the non-gamer Elfquest fan will probably want to modify the system, if not outright overhaul it towards simplicity. Many gamers, I suspect, will simply shelve it and use it for reference at best. Comic fans will keep it for aspects other than the system.
The comic series began in the late 70s and the first edition of the role-playing game was published in 1984, so there was plenty of available gameworld material and, more importantly, fan base for a game. Chaosium’s Runequest, an alternative to D&D, was first published, in part, in 1980. Elfquest second edition included the Elfquest Companion, and the Companion itself was only one of three supplemental texts ever made. This suggests the game was only marginally successful. In 1989, when the second edition was published, AD&D 2nd edition had been king on the block for over a year and Palladium had since published Robotech and TMNT with RIFTS less than a year from gaming store shelves. Even without strong competition, however, I think Elfquest would have failed.
Runequest was one of the British “big three” role-playing games of the 80s (Traveller and D&D being the other two), so Elfquest was likely an attempt to gain market share not by converting players from other systems, but by bringing new players into the fold under the banner of Elfquest fandom. Unfortunately they did so under the Runequest system. Unlike D&D’s open system with various official campaign settings, Runequest adhered, for the most part, to a single fantasy world. From a marketing perspective, this creates limits on products and customers. This is another likely factor in the decision to license a cult comic book. Chaosium had, in fact, utilized Prince Valiant, another comic series, before Elfquest came along, so there was also a company precedent for Elfquest. In fact, the original Runequest, written by Steve Perrin, used Greg Stafford’s world of Glorantha.
The Good
The book layout is typically bifurcated. In the first half, the reader is introduced to the world, taught how to build characters for the world, and shown the mechanics behind interacting with the world. The book then concludes with a second half containing resources for the game master such as encounter statistics, maps, and pre-planned adventures. One of the things I liked about the introductory pre-planned adventures is that many were based on specific memorable events in the comic and extremely scripted. Having a tight structure for early gamers which can be later relaxed into a more sandbox style of play is an excellent way to demonstrate mechanics and game style since the Elfquest fan will likely have a working understanding of how the adventure event played out in the comic.
If you’re a fan of comics and fantasy, then you are likely to enjoy the game’s illustrations, it’s chock full. Not only are the pieces numerous, but they’re appropriate to the sections and vary in size and layout. There are even one-sided full color plates throughout the entire book, much like RIFTS. It makes for a very entertaining read. Having not read the comic faithfully, I can’t accurately determine how many are original to the game, but Wikipedia assures that some, at least, are.
The elves are the focus of the game and I’m happy to see each tribe is unique, both in culture and mechanics. The elves of Wizards, by contrast, are far too similar to one another. With a title like Elfquest and being based on a richly detailed comic book world, the publisher rightly recognized the game’s focus with playable elves as the most important aspect. However other classes such as trolls and humans are detailed for game play, but they are given far less emphasis and detail.
I also really liked the Hit Point difference between total and partial. Much like Cyberpunk 2020’s mechanics, die rolls determine hit location. This means a lucky, or unlucky depending on your relation to the weapon, roll can result in full damage to the head killing a character, or damage to a leg immobilizing them. Unlike Cyberpunk 2020, however, the sum of the body part Hit Points is greater than the total Hit Points for the character. This means that a character can die even while different body parts, themselves, are objectively “healthy”. This may be more important in the world of Cyberpunk 2020 in which and limb harvesting is a part of the game world.
The Bad
As I positively mentioned above, the art is ubiquitous and well rendered. However, it bothers me to see realistic humans next to obviously cartoony elves. For me it creates a contradiction that is jarring and unpleasant. Fans of the series may value it for giving the elves an otherworldly feel, but it’s certainly not for me even if the execution itself (perspective, shading, etc) is good.
Cursory research suggests that the Elfquest game is built on Chaosium’s Runequest system. Never having played Runequest, however, I can’t verify this directly. I could not find notice about a universal Chaosium system, like I do with games compatible with Cyberpunk (such as Mekton) or Palladium. Much like Palladium, the Elfquest system is core statistic and skill-based; players roll against a target number modifying their rolls either with a core statistic or related skill. Unlike the scalar leveling of D&D and Palladium however, Elfquest players build skills through use. Such development is easier at lower levels and becomes increasingly unlikely as they progress. This is accomplished by checking skills used in a game session, then attempting to roll over its current percent value. I like this last mechanic, but it’s not enough to make me want to run the mechanics.
The system is fairly complex. Far more so than Mentzer’s Basic D&D, RIFTS, or even Wizards and Cyberpunk 2020, all of which are Elfquest’s contemporaries. Players are often asked to divide and multiply their rolls. Often the divisors are different numbers, making quick mental calculations difficult. The factors are often a function of percent, but not always. There are tables that can alleviate some of the cumbersome calculations, but they aren’t intuitive nor do they cover the range of possibly necessary computations.
For example, to earn a critical success the player must roll equal to or less than five percent of the total success space. If your jump skill is 68%, then you need to roll four or less to earn the critical success (0.05 x 68 = 3.4, always round up). It’s a little bit cumbersome, but not too bad. I would recommend taking ten percent of the target percent because that’s easy to do mentally, then halve it, rounding up. Next, the mechanics include a special success, which is kind of like a critical success, but less significant. That range is created by finding twenty percent of your target number. Again, if you have a jump skill of 68%, then you must roll between 14 and 5 (0.2 x 68 = 13.6, always round up) all the while remembering that a critical success is four or less. For this calculation I recommend mentally calculating ten percent, then doubling it. Next is the fumble, which is the opposite of the critical success. If you roll 65 or greater (0.95 x 68 = 64.6, always round up) a fumble occurs. The calculations, taken individually, aren’t challenging, but their variety taken as a whole concomitantly with the many other possible modifiers creates a system that is much too complicated for a casual gamer fan of Elfquest.
The book also sees fit to make a reference table for determining critical successes, great successes, and fumbles. I find this confusing because, in the Elfquest mechanics, a target number is a product of a skill percent which varies greatly from character to character and is therefore impossible to make into a universal table that isn’t numerous pages long. In fact, you would need to make a table for every skill that was different. I must admit, I’m a little confused as to how exactly I could use some of the provided tables unless I ignore some of the threshold mechanics.
I understand the logic behind some of these mechanics and agree that critical successes and fumbles make sense as a changing product of a base ability. However, the amount of calculations required is not intuitive, they must be recalculated for every different skill, and those calculations will change after every session as the character develops. When you throw in a table that appears to contradict the logic behind the calculations above, you have a game that is too complicated or contradictory for a fan of Elfquest wanting to role-play as their favorite character. And this is before you even get to the complications of combat.
When it was originally released it featured new materials that were forthcoming in the comics; a preview of sorts. I bet fans really ate that up when it was first published. That value is now long gone. Apparently, the game was published when the Elfquest storyline, and subsequently the world, was upheaved and significantly changed and the fan base began to decline. However, even 2013 fans of Elfquest can still enjoy this game for insight into the creators and world information if not the abundant artwork. Even if they don’t play the game or particularly care for games of this kind, they will likely find value. That is, Elfquest fans that like role-playing games will probably love this product. Role-players who aren’t Elfquest fans will likely find little value beyond the core Chaosium system of the late 80s. If this last group isn’t a fan of complex mechanics, they will probably actively dislike Elfquest 2nd Edition. As for me, I don’t ever plan on running it as described. I do like some mechanics and monsters which I can easily lift onto another system. For example, I’d like to replace Cyberpunk 2020’s skill progression with Elfquest’s. It’s also not a gateway product that turned me on to Elfquest. I never read the comic before and I probably won’t read it now. It’s not my style. But for a few bucks on eBay, it was a fun reading exercise and makes a nice addition to my role-playing game collection.
Elfquest 2nd edition role-playing game was published by Chaosium and written by Steve Perrin. It’s based on Wendy and Richard Pini’s cult comic. The game was first published in 1984, then again with a second edition in 1989 when Elfquest was still published by Warp Graphics and exploding in popularity. I never read much of Elfquest in my youth, and only now bought the role-playing game because I found it for a steal on eBay. It is precisely because I didn’t know much about the weird two moon world of three-fingered elves that I wanted to do a little research. After completing my reading, I figured writing an essay was a good way to organize my conclusions about this interesting game. Maybe you’ll find it interesting, too.
The target audience for Elfquest RPG 2nd edition is first and foremost fans of the comic. While some fans may be role-players, most are probably not and that, in my opinion, leads me to my biggest criticism. Namely, the game is too complex for the typical Elfquest fan. Clocking in at 159 pages not including reference and character sheets, 15 are devoted entirely to the mechanics which are logical, but numerous and cumbersome. Both the casual gamer who’s a big Elfquest fan and the non-gamer Elfquest fan will probably want to modify the system, if not outright overhaul it towards simplicity. Many gamers, I suspect, will simply shelve it and use it for reference at best. Comic fans will keep it for aspects other than the system.
The comic series began in the late 70s and the first edition of the role-playing game was published in 1984, so there was plenty of available gameworld material and, more importantly, fan base for a game. Chaosium’s Runequest, an alternative to D&D, was first published, in part, in 1980. Elfquest second edition included the Elfquest Companion, and the Companion itself was only one of three supplemental texts ever made. This suggests the game was only marginally successful. In 1989, when the second edition was published, AD&D 2nd edition had been king on the block for over a year and Palladium had since published Robotech and TMNT with RIFTS less than a year from gaming store shelves. Even without strong competition, however, I think Elfquest would have failed.
Runequest was one of the British “big three” role-playing games of the 80s (Traveller and D&D being the other two), so Elfquest was likely an attempt to gain market share not by converting players from other systems, but by bringing new players into the fold under the banner of Elfquest fandom. Unfortunately they did so under the Runequest system. Unlike D&D’s open system with various official campaign settings, Runequest adhered, for the most part, to a single fantasy world. From a marketing perspective, this creates limits on products and customers. This is another likely factor in the decision to license a cult comic book. Chaosium had, in fact, utilized Prince Valiant, another comic series, before Elfquest came along, so there was also a company precedent for Elfquest. In fact, the original Runequest, written by Steve Perrin, used Greg Stafford’s world of Glorantha.
The Good
The book layout is typically bifurcated. In the first half, the reader is introduced to the world, taught how to build characters for the world, and shown the mechanics behind interacting with the world. The book then concludes with a second half containing resources for the game master such as encounter statistics, maps, and pre-planned adventures. One of the things I liked about the introductory pre-planned adventures is that many were based on specific memorable events in the comic and extremely scripted. Having a tight structure for early gamers which can be later relaxed into a more sandbox style of play is an excellent way to demonstrate mechanics and game style since the Elfquest fan will likely have a working understanding of how the adventure event played out in the comic.
If you’re a fan of comics and fantasy, then you are likely to enjoy the game’s illustrations, it’s chock full. Not only are the pieces numerous, but they’re appropriate to the sections and vary in size and layout. There are even one-sided full color plates throughout the entire book, much like RIFTS. It makes for a very entertaining read. Having not read the comic faithfully, I can’t accurately determine how many are original to the game, but Wikipedia assures that some, at least, are.
The elves are the focus of the game and I’m happy to see each tribe is unique, both in culture and mechanics. The elves of Wizards, by contrast, are far too similar to one another. With a title like Elfquest and being based on a richly detailed comic book world, the publisher rightly recognized the game’s focus with playable elves as the most important aspect. However other classes such as trolls and humans are detailed for game play, but they are given far less emphasis and detail.
I also really liked the Hit Point difference between total and partial. Much like Cyberpunk 2020’s mechanics, die rolls determine hit location. This means a lucky, or unlucky depending on your relation to the weapon, roll can result in full damage to the head killing a character, or damage to a leg immobilizing them. Unlike Cyberpunk 2020, however, the sum of the body part Hit Points is greater than the total Hit Points for the character. This means that a character can die even while different body parts, themselves, are objectively “healthy”. This may be more important in the world of Cyberpunk 2020 in which and limb harvesting is a part of the game world.
The Bad
As I positively mentioned above, the art is ubiquitous and well rendered. However, it bothers me to see realistic humans next to obviously cartoony elves. For me it creates a contradiction that is jarring and unpleasant. Fans of the series may value it for giving the elves an otherworldly feel, but it’s certainly not for me even if the execution itself (perspective, shading, etc) is good.
Cursory research suggests that the Elfquest game is built on Chaosium’s Runequest system. Never having played Runequest, however, I can’t verify this directly. I could not find notice about a universal Chaosium system, like I do with games compatible with Cyberpunk (such as Mekton) or Palladium. Much like Palladium, the Elfquest system is core statistic and skill-based; players roll against a target number modifying their rolls either with a core statistic or related skill. Unlike the scalar leveling of D&D and Palladium however, Elfquest players build skills through use. Such development is easier at lower levels and becomes increasingly unlikely as they progress. This is accomplished by checking skills used in a game session, then attempting to roll over its current percent value. I like this last mechanic, but it’s not enough to make me want to run the mechanics.
The system is fairly complex. Far more so than Mentzer’s Basic D&D, RIFTS, or even Wizards and Cyberpunk 2020, all of which are Elfquest’s contemporaries. Players are often asked to divide and multiply their rolls. Often the divisors are different numbers, making quick mental calculations difficult. The factors are often a function of percent, but not always. There are tables that can alleviate some of the cumbersome calculations, but they aren’t intuitive nor do they cover the range of possibly necessary computations.
For example, to earn a critical success the player must roll equal to or less than five percent of the total success space. If your jump skill is 68%, then you need to roll four or less to earn the critical success (0.05 x 68 = 3.4, always round up). It’s a little bit cumbersome, but not too bad. I would recommend taking ten percent of the target percent because that’s easy to do mentally, then halve it, rounding up. Next, the mechanics include a special success, which is kind of like a critical success, but less significant. That range is created by finding twenty percent of your target number. Again, if you have a jump skill of 68%, then you must roll between 14 and 5 (0.2 x 68 = 13.6, always round up) all the while remembering that a critical success is four or less. For this calculation I recommend mentally calculating ten percent, then doubling it. Next is the fumble, which is the opposite of the critical success. If you roll 65 or greater (0.95 x 68 = 64.6, always round up) a fumble occurs. The calculations, taken individually, aren’t challenging, but their variety taken as a whole concomitantly with the many other possible modifiers creates a system that is much too complicated for a casual gamer fan of Elfquest.
The book also sees fit to make a reference table for determining critical successes, great successes, and fumbles. I find this confusing because, in the Elfquest mechanics, a target number is a product of a skill percent which varies greatly from character to character and is therefore impossible to make into a universal table that isn’t numerous pages long. In fact, you would need to make a table for every skill that was different. I must admit, I’m a little confused as to how exactly I could use some of the provided tables unless I ignore some of the threshold mechanics.
I understand the logic behind some of these mechanics and agree that critical successes and fumbles make sense as a changing product of a base ability. However, the amount of calculations required is not intuitive, they must be recalculated for every different skill, and those calculations will change after every session as the character develops. When you throw in a table that appears to contradict the logic behind the calculations above, you have a game that is too complicated or contradictory for a fan of Elfquest wanting to role-play as their favorite character. And this is before you even get to the complications of combat.
When it was originally released it featured new materials that were forthcoming in the comics; a preview of sorts. I bet fans really ate that up when it was first published. That value is now long gone. Apparently, the game was published when the Elfquest storyline, and subsequently the world, was upheaved and significantly changed and the fan base began to decline. However, even 2013 fans of Elfquest can still enjoy this game for insight into the creators and world information if not the abundant artwork. Even if they don’t play the game or particularly care for games of this kind, they will likely find value. That is, Elfquest fans that like role-playing games will probably love this product. Role-players who aren’t Elfquest fans will likely find little value beyond the core Chaosium system of the late 80s. If this last group isn’t a fan of complex mechanics, they will probably actively dislike Elfquest 2nd Edition. As for me, I don’t ever plan on running it as described. I do like some mechanics and monsters which I can easily lift onto another system. For example, I’d like to replace Cyberpunk 2020’s skill progression with Elfquest’s. It’s also not a gateway product that turned me on to Elfquest. I never read the comic before and I probably won’t read it now. It’s not my style. But for a few bucks on eBay, it was a fun reading exercise and makes a nice addition to my role-playing game collection.
May 3, 2013
Problem #9: Crossed Swords
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| Yes. That's me. THE Digital Orc. |
Four orcs clanged swords with each other just once. How many clangs were made?
Orcs of Verloren are known for their odd greetings in which each warrior must bang their sword against every other orc that they meet. Some historians of the Symposium speculate that this odd, time-consuming behavior, is derived from an original need to check the quality of weapons prior to battle.
Problem #8 Solution: Grummhul is the thief. He's sneaky, too. Hold your purses tightly ladies.
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