Describing PC Levels or Weapon with Pluses in-game

 In-game trying to find a way to describe to somebody a weapon or other item with bonuses, or a character level, was always weird. There were not many ways around it. You just meta-described out of game and that was that. At least it's what I did. 

As far as character levels it seemed easier to describe a magic-users. And I don't mean using the dumb names for levels like prestidigitator and charlatan or whatever. I would just have the mages guild use designations for members such as "Ah yes, Peldifferous is a "mage of the 7th circle" or something like that. Spell ability is a good in-world judging gimmick for MU's. For example the Mages Guild in my main city of Tanmoor restricts even the lowest tiers of membership to 4th level or higher (there can be some exceptions for third level, such as a glowing recommendation from a high-level member). Easy enough to test them by having them show proof of appropriate spell ability. I remember having to do this in a Skyrim quest and it was pretty cool.

Of course, some old school classes, such as druids and monks, had some non-spell ability level requirements there probably had to be martial tests for at later levels. 

For most other classes; fighters, thief/rogue or whatever, you had to abstract it a bit. How they perform their craft out in the field or what not. Reputation. 

Mr. Satan is an example of how 
imperfect the system can be.

But for weapons and items that give pluses I no longer sweat it. I've recently started just letting characters understand what the numbers mean. An amulet of Extra AC that is +1 is almost useless. But a +5 one is certainly something you want to count on in a big battle. A shield with such even more. A plus 1 sword is about the same as an exceptionally crafted one, but a +3 is decent magic. It makes a difference.

A character only needs experiment a little to understand its magical quality. "Hey, I think this dagger is +2." 

Any other abilites the item may have is another matter. However its done, identify spell or what not, I don't really like to spend a lot of time on more minor items. If they have some kind of meaning beyond a little help in battle, I spend more time on it. But "hey, it seems like it is maybe a +3 axe" and getting on with the game is usually good enough for my players. And a little metagaming sneaking in never hurt anybody. YMMV.

Cheers

Goddamn - it's Outdoor Survival!

 Last night was board game night at my place. I had been looking forward to it all week. Eldritch Horror, Dead of Winter, and maybe Call to Adventure were the likely favorites. But since my newest game was Formula D, that demanded a trial run. It was an immediate new favorite game. We played two full Moracco races. I didn't do so great, but that my besties loved it brings me the most joy. Playing a cool game with friends that are so close they are like family.

I was going to post about that today, but something else happened that demands attention. So my post of Formula D must wait. I simply cannot skip the headline. 

"L" has started a new hobby. She is going around yard sales and swap meets to find old/beat up board games, intact or otherwise. She has been planning other things to make out of those games. I'm not real sure what all that is, though it sounds like it could be anything from game-themes wall art to game-themed handbags. I'm not creative in that way, but it sounds pretty cool. And she has been picking games up for next to nothing. 

So they show up and  L has a pile of games she got that morning for around 3 bucks all together, and she wanted to show them to me. OK, cool. 

But when they walk in, I'm on the big screen playing GTA 5. I was actually playing tennis in the game, and this court happened to be right across the street  from the 'Vespucci Beach" canals, a loving recreation of the place I was born not long after my parents immigrated to Los Angeles. So with great pride I was able to run across the street and show them my childhood stomping grounds.

So then cool things of the night number 2. L's score of old games.

Hmm..I think I've heard of these. Especially Last Night on Earth, which I think is a zombie game with minis. That's maybe a good one. Hope its intact.

I hope this is just a zombie cosplayer
and not a homeless guy fucking with
somebodies game

Then there was Wizards, with a cover I recognized right away. I know that cover, but don't remember the game. But I feel I at least played it way back in the day. I'm having vague childhood memory flashes. Maybe Gary at Aero had it stocked.  

Then of course is the main course. I saw it and exclaimed "Goddamn! It's Outdoor Survival!!!

Poor L. Though she and hubby B have been fairly enthusiastic boardgamers prior to meeting me, L didn't play D&D until the campaign I was tapped to run for them and a few other locals. We became best friends during that campaign, while most of the other players were more or less asses in seats. But now more than two years later they are like family to me. But I guess I mention them and their importance to me since I moved to a new city where I didn't know anybody, in a lot of my posts.

Yet another well I
maybe go to too much.

But anyway, she (along with B) had no knowledge of these games. Which is even more exciting, because she is into lots of boardgames. Lots of them discovered in recent years at a local brew pub that has hundreds of games. Many abstract ones I have no interest in (I just want action along with my whimsey). But she it into it enough that she sometimes will don dollar store costuming that goes with  particular game themes, such as in King of Tokyo..

Run for your lives, 
it's Gigazuar!

But she did not know these. She was thrilled to see my reaction to this stuff, all of which she got for next to nothing. And on first glance most look like they have the minis and stuff. But I backed off. I always have after-guilt when we play something like Eldritch Horror, and some satanic force makes me start going on about things they are unaware of. I end up explaining what shit like Mi Go and Hounds of Tindalos are all about. They are usually interested in the things I suddenly geek out about though. I'm kind of their pop culture guru. But they were especially eager to learn what (little) I knew about Outdoor Survival. 

L is so clueless as to deep gaming pop culture she can't even get her terms right. Last week she referred to me in a text messge as a nerd. So I of course corrected her. I'm a "geek", dammit. Nerds are what Fonzie used to beat up.

Pictured: Fonzie, a nerd, and
whatever the hell a Chachi is.

So I began my long tale. Naw, not really. What I knew could fit in a thimble. But as I started gaming with the little OD&D books I was exposed to the couple of blurbs about some mysterious board game you added to the mix to do outdoor adventures. I certainly didn't seek it out back in the day. At first my games were primarily city based, first with City State of The Invincible Overlord (the city had dungeons, and you just had to exit the front gates to be in a wilderness so who needed a world map?) and not long after my own homebrew city of Tanmoor and environs. 

But remembering Outdoor Survival from my childhood to this day might have been possible because of a couple shortish OD&D campaigns I did over the last decade or so. The existence of the OSR and my exploring it online a little over 10 years ago is why I probably had the box cover in my mind and all this stayed in my memory banks. 

So I mostly tell them right off that it was mentioned in Original D&D and suggested that the map at least be used for wilderness stuff. And of course I later learned that many back then and even more recently used the map as their campaign map. Hell, if I had it back in the day I for sure would use it. I used maps back then from old SPI WW2 games for local terrain and stuff. Outdoor Survival's map seemed to have a wide variety of terrain, making it useful for all types of adventures. And maybe the most cool of facts about it, that outdoor enthusiast shops stocked it. That it was maybe getting a lot of play on camping trips. 

..and grab a copy of that boardgame so
we don't get lost and die of thirst

But yeah, the simple but bitchin' map is what maybe helped keep this timeless. 

So my pals got a kick out of all this. And I did to. I'm not sure which, if any, L will be cannibalizing for her projects, but I'm thinking of talking her into keeping it. Not just because it seems she could get anything from 50 to 100 and something online for it (it seems to only have a little box wear - whoever she bought them off seemed to have respected the games). But most importantly I've been trying to talk her into being a dungeon master, and the OS map would make a good campaign starting place. But all in all it was a really outstanding geek-out night thanks in part to a neat discovery. 

Oh, and we played some Formula D. Very exciting game. I'll post about that soon. 

Cheers. 

Favorite board game obsessions of recent years part 3 - Epic Spell Wars of The Battle Wizards

 Epic Spell Wars is a series of boxed sets based around the concept of spell casters, seemingly straight out of the pages of 70's and 80's underground comics, who formulate powerful and devastating spells created from three different components. 

My set is Dual at Mt. Skullzfyre. There is no board per se. But there is a nifty standee...

In this set the standee doesn't really do anything other than inspire. But some other editions include a rule about controlling the standee that gives it a bit of purpose. 

Much like King of Tokyo, the characters are nothing other than art. They all have only one attribute: hit points. 

Every round the players fill up to a certain amount of cards in hand. They then go about crafting their three part spell. Initiative is based upon a number in a little red circle on the Delivery card. Spells are made up of three card types that come in an exact order; Source, Quality, and Delivery. 

Source and Quality will usually include some affect, most often damage, and the Delivery is almost always a table to roll on to see what main damage you inflict with the spell. Each card has an element in the lower right corner. For each of these elements present in your three card spell you get an additional die on the Delivery table. So if you have all three of the same element present you get three dice on that table. 

When its your turn you reveal the cards, announce the name of the spell, preferably in the voice of your crazy character, and then deliver the damage. Last wizard standing is the winner. That's about it. Anyone who died gets to start the next game with a Dead Wizard Card, that gives them some minor advantage in the game. 

The only real strategy is using as many elements as possible to get the best roll on the Delivery table. But really, just putting together a funny or cool sounding spell is just as good a strategy; this game is maybe the most based on luck than my other faves. 

The other set I have is Panic at the Pleasure Palace.

It is essentially the same game play, mixed up with a couple of other elements. The characters and spells are a bit more x-rated. And a new feature includes being inflicted with and trying to remove spell casting-based venereal diseases. Oh yeah, this set comes with a testicle shaped bag to hold yer bits and bobs. 

Like King of Tokyo a typical game is about a half hour.