You show me yours, and I'll show you mine

During holiday gatherings, my wife's family plays mahjong for money until late at night, the noisy "shuffling" of the tiles keeping me awake as I lie in bed. It's similar to rummy, but with many special rules and exceptions that I never totally grasped. A few weeks ago, my wife taught me how to play. So now I know the basics, but it will take some practice to learn effective strategies. At some point during her lesson, I suggested that I'll teach her to play Dungeons & Dragons. She didn't reject the idea outright, so I'll assume she's really excited about it.

Designing D&D adventures from scratch for her to play is something I'd like to do eventually, but for her first (and hopefully not last) game I think I'll use a published adventure module. I have a humble collection of them on my bookshelf and hard drive, and they are there to be used. After considering a few, I've chosen B3 Palace of the Silver Princess, published by TSR in 1981. For several reasons:

• The most obvious reason is because parts of the module were clearly designed to appeal to women, at least more so than most modules it seems. This isn't thee major reason I chose this module, but it's worth pointing out. What kind of woman wouldn't want to find a treasure of bath oils and luxurious towels?
• It has a short, programmed beginning to the adventure, somewhat like a choose-your-path story. It's an easy way to teach newcomers some basic dungeon-exploring techniques and introduce game mechanics.
• It's set in a castle. My wife has little to no interest in the fantasy genre, bus she loves castles.
• It has a story. Not a complicated or restricting story, but just enough to give plausibility to the environment and motivation to the characters. I feel my wife would appreciate this more than she would a raw quest of carnage and plunder.
  

I'll be using the green-cover version of B3, not the censored/recalled orange-cover version. Read about, download, or purchase the orange version.

There are some things I like about the orange version, such as the maps, but there are several reasons why I won't be using this version with my wife:

• It has some supremely grotesque scenes that my wife would not appreciate. I'd have great fun presenting the lair of Deranged Travis to other players tho.
  
• It doesn't have the programmed introduction. Instead, it has a map and description of a wilderness campaign setting. It's a nice little setting with a great map, but the programmed introduction has more value to me for how I'll be using the module at this time.
• Way too many secret doors and false doors for my tastes. I believe I counted 20 secret doors and 10 false doors on the two map levels. They give the castle a nice mystery madhouse atmosphere, but I like beginning adventures to be a little more forgiving. The green version mostly just converts all of these into regular doors.
• Its story is more just background and not really integrated with the characters and castle the way it is in the green version

Hopefully, we'll get this game underway some lazy Saturday evening in the near future. Hopefully, she'll enjoy it. If not, no big deal...it's just a game...we all have one.

More pics of Finsterschmerzen

The Book of Treasure Maps

My brother and I started a little Tunnels & Trolls campaign this week. Check it out: The Book of Treasure Maps

The purpose of the campaign is to get a feel for the T&T system in a play-by-wiki game and to test drive some of the house rules that will eventually be used in the Finsterschmerzen campaign. He's using the party of characters that I posted here a while back, but he shuffled some of the randomly generated names around a little bit so they make more sense.

Sound the trumpets...his characters have gained 10 xp from Saving Rolls already.

Four views of my home

The 2008 calendar on my office wall was of Japanese woodblock prints from the 17th to 19th centuries. I found these two large frames sitting empty in the garage, so I cropped the calendar pictures and inserted them into the frames. The result is hanging in our dining area:



The theme of the left frame is rivers and bridges. The right frame's theme is Mount Fuji, as shown in this close up:



Some of pictures I didn't have the heart to crop because they worked better as a whole. For them I found some nice 8x10 frames on sale and now they hang near our front door:



The print on the upper left is a popular image of wave towering over boat and mountain. The print in the bottom center is of a waterfall, and is a favorite of mine with its tourists standing above and below.



One of the things that I like about these woodblock prints of landscapes is the combination of the foreground's fine detail and the background's somewhat abstracted shapes and colors. My imagination resides in between.

I'll need more frames when the time comes to display pictures from the 2009 calendar.

The vibrations of a needle on plastic, amplified in a glowing airtight jar

Here's what I got for my birthday:


Yeah, a gumball machine full of Skittles. And a vintage stereo system.

Sometime in November I discovered that the left channel of my Jolida 502 amp was quiet. Basic troubleshooting revealed that it wasn't a defective tube, input source, speaker or speaker wire. Something internal. Maybe it's time to send it in to the manufacturer for a complete repair and tuneup. I bought it used more than ten years ago and it probably needs some capacitors replaced. But the dang thing weighs an Irish ton and I'd have to pay shipping to and from Maryland. I'm still debating sending it in or not.

Around that time, my wife was asking what I wanted for my birthday and Christmas. Then I had a great idea: "How about pitching in to help me buy this vintage tube amp on ebay? Mine is acting up and I'll need a backup system. Oh, and I have this ebay coupon for 10% off electronics." She agreed and so I ordered this Knight 333 for $143:


It was made at the Pioneer factory in Japan from 1973-1975 and is nearly identical to the Pioneer SX-34, just rebranded for an American reseller. In addition to its several input jacks and power amp, it has a built-in tube radio and phono stage pre-amp. It also has the green-glowing tuning eye tube and a nice wood cabinet. It sounds great, but some of its 13 tubes could use replacing. Due to its age, it will also likely need new capacitors before too long. I also laid down $20 for a service manual and circuit schematic to help me with maintenance.

This amp puts out about 15 watts per channel, so requires speakers with high sensitivity to achieve adequate volume. My current Bowers & Wilkins mini-monitors have a sensitivity rating of 91 dB which is considered high by modern standards. I think I could get by with them on the Knight 333, but saw these Pioneer cs-77 speakers (picture shows only one of the two) on craigslist for $50 and snatched them up:


With a sensitivity rating of 108 dB they get loud very easy. This model dates back to 1969. They sold for $59 at the time so were considered entry-level hi-fi. Many of the reviews online mention that they were purchased by soldiers in Vietnam and shipped back to the States. Sure enough, the man I bought them from did the same. The trellis woodwork was symbolic of hi-fi Japanese speakers from this era. I like the look and they sound nice.

Since the Knight 333 amp has the phone stage pre-amp, I figured I might as well get a component turntable to complete the system. For $60 I got a fine deal on ebay for this Dual 1218:


Made in the Black Forest, Germany in 1971-72 and sold for $189 at the time, so was considered moderately hi-fi. It could use an internal cleaning and relube to get the automatic play mechanism functioning properly, but works great manually. I just need to get up and stop it at the end of each side. Poor me. I'm looking forward to getting it all cleaned, lubed, and the multiplay spindle installed so I can sit back and enjoy six sides without having to flip or change records.

Altogether, it's a vintage tube system for less than $300. Should I have gotten an iPod instead? Not a chance! Now I can take my Spirit of St. Louis to work to serve as the office sound system:

Wellmet...

Here is the first completed party of 8 adventures that will enter Finsterschmerzen. I've equipped the four main PCs, but the hirelings still have 40gp each to buy weapons and armor. The main PCs have also pooled 58gp to purchase adventuring supplies (rope, torches, etc....no weapons or armor) or to give to the hirelings to upgrade their weapons and armor.

Anybody have an idea on what to name this party?

All names and info in the Character background sections (except level, race, and type) was generated randomly using the Treasury of Archaic Names (Judges Guild 1979).

Character background format:
[First name] ["Nickname among friend and family"] [Surname]
The [title or claim to fame] of [home town or region]
Wellmet from the [name of favorite tavern]
[Level] [Race] [Type]

PCs

Aidan "Tiller" Gurtler
The Constable of Kingsbay
Wellmet from the Globe & Plough
Level 2 Hobb Warrior

6 Strength
34 Constitution
20 Dexterity
14 Speed
13 Intelligence
8 Wizardry
14 Luck
11 Charisma

Weapons (combat dice):
2x Poniard (2)
War Shovel (3+1)

Armor (hits absorption):
Vambraces (2)
Full Helm (3)
Greaves (2)


Birath "Hale" Quarrels
The Pride of Bronzecut
Wellmet from the Beggar & Moat Meadhall
Level 3 Dwarf Warrior

30 Strength
10 Constitution
11 Dexterity
15 Speed
10 Intelligence
10 Wizardry
8 Luck
12 Charisma

Weapons (combat dice):
Thrusting Axe (4+1)

Armor (hits absorption):
Coif (2)
Buckler (3)
Vambraces (2)


Thylda "Blacklegs" Blackermann
The Siegebreaker of Rye
Wellmet from the Moon & Dinosaur Inn
Level 1 Human Greenlander

15 Strength
14 Constitution
14 Dexterity
6 Speed
12 Intelligence
17 Wizardry
13 Luck
8 Charisma

Weapons (combat dice):
2x Shillelagh (3+5)

Armor (hits absorption):
Vambraces (2)
Open Faced Helm (2)


Bhimrao "Lousy" Beloe
The Wonder of Jadelin
Wellmet from the Huntsman & Canteen
Level 2 Elf Wizard

11 Strength
10 Constitution
13 Dexterity
17 Speed
20 Intelligence
26 Wizardry
24 Luck
24 Charisma

Weapons (combat dice):
2x Fangwing Dagger (2+4)

Armor (hits absorption):
Soft Leather (5)
Bracers (2)
Solleret (2)


Hirelings

Philpot "Decrepit" Millar
The Walker-of-the-Marches of Old-Obelisk
Wellmet from the Buxom Ghost & Dolphin Resthouse
Level 1 Human Realist
[Specialty school of magic to be decided]

6 Strength
13 Constitution
5 Dexterity
4 Speed
12 Intelligence
17 Wizardry
8 Luck
11 Charisma
40gp


Cotton "Fop" Gestour
The Changeling of Abingdrite
Wellmet from the Lynx Head Tavern
Level 2 Fairy Rogue

Known Spell: Take That You Fiend!

3 Strength
3 Constitution
14 Dexterity
7 Speed
10 Intelligence
14 Wizardry
20 Luck
32 Charisma
40gp


Marsden "Brute" Berner
The Amir of Forestwood
Wellmet from the Jolly Nymph & Traveler
Level 1 Human Warrior

10 Strength
8 Constitution
11 Dexterity
14 Speed
11 Intelligence
9 Wizardry
11 Luck
11 Charisma
40gp


Dexter "Muse" Oxer
The Bachelor of Hooksprings
Wellmet from the Vine & Jerkin Alehouse
Level 1 Leprechaun Wizard

4 Strength
8 Constitution
17 Dexterity
11 Speed
14 Intelligence
14 Wizardry
12 Luck
10 Charisma
40gp

Party Time

This past weekend I rolled up a party of Tunnels & Trolls delvers: four PCs and four hirelings. Creating a single PC is a piece of cake, but putting together a large party by one's self involves a little more consideration. I'll post the completed characters in a future post after I finish equipping them. My intention was to understand the party creation process and then to tweak and streamline it. The end results are five T&T house rules specific to the character creation and advancement rules for the Finsterschmerzen campaign.

1) The TARO (triples add and roll over) rule for rolling beginning stats only applies to humans. I decided on this in order to give more incentive to play human PCs. The other races have stat multipliers that makes it hard NOT to choose a demihuman when creating a new PC. Nothing wrong with a ton of demihuman PCs, but I prefer a good mix of humans too. So if you TARO a 3d6 stat roll, that character must be a Human.

2) The race choices are limited to humans plus the five races listed on the Common Kindred chart: dwarf, elf, fairy, hobb, and leprechaun. The 32 races on the Rare Kindred chart are not available, since they are primarily evil races that will be contained in the castle. Those races will be available to play in a future campaign, entitled Everything's Gray: The Most Morally Ambiguous Campaign Ever.

3) PCs start with 3d6x10 gold, but hirelings (blanket term for things such as squire, apprentice, best pal, bodyguard, slave, etc. that accompany PCs) only start with 40 gold (i.e. the minimum amount that can be rolled on a TARO 3d6x10). The King of Ruheundfrieden is gifting 40 gold to any man or woman brave enough to enter Finsterschmerzen. This is enough to buy basic gear such as a mail coif, buckler shield, and a spear. Or, downgrade the spear to a cheaper weapon (such as a war shovel) and then add another piece of armor, such as vambraces. In general, the PCs are those who have a little extra coin saved up, whereas the hirelings are the young or poor and seek to join up with PCs to get started. Ideally, the PCs will have enough money left over to upgrade their hireling's equipment slightly.

4) Players have full control of hirelings, except they cannot use hirelings to declare special Saving Rolls. Hirelings can only perform SRs for purposes of casting spells, ranged combat, and other passive effects. They cannot declare stunt SRs each turn like PCs can. Because of this restriction, hirelings will gain xp at a slower rate than PCs. See my Tunnels & Trolls & Saving Rolls post about the relationship between SRs and xp.

5) The Specialty character types (humans only) add a fun easter egg factor to creating characters. A Specialty type can only be chosen if a stat roll is TAROed and 15 or greater. They aren't really any better than the regular types, they just have a single, powerful special ability. The rulebook only describes three specialty types (for Wisdom, Dexterity, and Charisma) but implies that others can be created. So this house rule adds Specialty types related to the other five stats. I'll describe them in more detail in a future post.

Realist - (Wisdom) - Just a fancy name for what the rulebook generically called "Specialty Mage"

Idealist - (Intelligence) - Another kind of specialty mage, but with a different advantage

Mouth - (Charisma) - The rulebook called this "Leader", but its special ability went beyond just leadership

Marksman - (Dexterity) - The rulebook called this "Ranger", but they are just good with ranged weapons...a misleading pun.

Greenlander - (Strength) - A warrior from the Northern Lands. Generic Norse/Irish inspiration.

Redskin - (Constitution) - A warrior from the Southern Lands. Generic Native/Barbarian inspiration.

Escrimador - (Speed) - Martial arts weapons master from the Eastern Lands. Filipino inspiration.

A Chosen One - (Luck) - This guy has all the luck.

Also, a few new weapons I created to go with some of the Specialty types:
Shillelagh - Walking stick club
Loaded Shillelagh - Lead poured into the club head
Pinuti - Filipino peasant short sword
Tamahak - Hatchet with mystical stone blade.

What do you think?