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Wild West Logo Design, Part I

Posted by Mad Brew On January - 31 - 2012

I’ve received several questions concerning the Wild West logo I created for Wild West Weeks. I created it from scratch (but not the fonts) using Illustrator for most of the heavy lifting and then some post-production work in Photoshop Extended. I have the CS4 version of both.

Since I don’t have the history (I often discard the history from Illustrator and Photoshop to reduce the file size) from where I created the basic outline of the sign, I’ll make a new one. First, you need to decide on the orientation and then we can throw some basic shapes together. Or you could purchase some gorgeous panels from Letterhead Fonts (you can see where the American Panel 2 inspired my design).

Step 1 – Basic Shapes

For this tutorial, I’m going to make a vertical panel. So I’ll start by throwing down a rectangle and then I’ll add a couple of circles and an oval (using the Rectangle & Ellipse tools). The stroke is 5 points and I’ve left the fill color as transparent so you can see the different shapes.

Step 1

Step 1

Step 2 – Add & Subtract

Next, I pick a nice fill color, a medium green (I used #17823E, but you can select whatever you like), and I select all and then Unite (Pathfinder menu) the shapes into a single mass. Next, I’m going to draw a couple of ovals on either side and Minus (Pathfinder menu them from the compound shape.

Step 2a

Step 2a

Step 2b

Step 2b

Step 3 – White Border

Now we’ll select the shape and Offset the path (Object > Path > Offset) by -20 pixels. I like to keep everything in separate layers, so I drag the new shape into a new layer and then set it’s fill to white.

Step 3

Step 3

Step 4 – Copper & Shadow

This step is nearly identical to step 3. Offset the path by -12 pixels. Then we’re going to pump the Stroke up to 10 and select a copper color (#C7A571) for it and a darker green color (#144221) for the fill.

Step 4a

Step 4a

Now copy this new copper trimmed shape and Paste in Front (Edit). Set the stroke to empty and the fill to our original green color. Now Feather (Effect > Illustrator Effects > Stylize) that fill 50 pixels. This creates that nice worn fade in the color.

Step 4b

Step 4b

Step 5 – Text

Now pick a couple of complimentary fonts and add your titling to one or more new layers. I’m using the Saloon and Billy Argel fonts from dafont. If you have issues with saving after using some fonts, try selecting the text and converting to outlines (Type > Create Outlines or Ctrl+Shift+O).

Step 5

Step 5

Step 6 – Hooladanders

Scrollwork, flourishes, hooladanders… whatever you call those decorative bits are next. Unfortunately, I didn’t make my own; I bought a couple of vector packs from Go Media Arsenal a when I was working on my degree which I put to use in the Wild West Weeks logo. In this instance I’m using a free vector set from Free-Vectors.com. Though smart use of the Pen tool and it’s Bézier handles and then Reflecting copies would net the same result.

Step 6

Step 6

Next time, I’ll bring the logo into Photoshop for post processing.

Wild West Weeks

Listening to: Steve Earle – Copperhead Road – Devil’s Right Hand
Design & Development, Tips & Tricks

World of Darkness Slasher – The Krampus

Posted by Mad Brew On December - 25 - 2011

[WARNING: Some people may find the following offensive. If you do, you were warned... do not whine about it in the comments.]

Merry Krampus by Steven Austin

Merry Krampus by Steven Austin

Since time before the charlatan they called Christ walked the deserts outside Babylon, I have fed upon the terror and the bones of unruly children. My legend is immortal and I shall continue to feast on disobedient pups and wash my feet in their blood. Though my reputation ensures many a child grows into honorable adults, I fear that there are too many bad apples for me to sink my teeth into. Alas, though my power holds, its reach is not far enough and this world shall forever grow worse under the ravages of bad seed.

Background

The Krampus is a Slasher of Legend and he roams the World of Darkness every Yuletide in search of miserable little juveniles in need of punishment. In the beginning, the Krampus would only visit children in the night and sneak into their rooms to scare them. Though, as his legend grew, so did the terror and ghastly stories connected with him. His legend began to change his method of operation.

Over centuries, the Krampus was shaped by the stories parents told their children to encourage good behavior and he grew from a simple frightener of the night into a horror that fed upon wicked children. What behavior attracts the Krampus variable and depends on the stories parents tell their children. Should a child defy a parent’s wish which was communicated in the Krampus story, then there is a chance the Krampus will attempt to collect the child during Yuletide, though the Krampus prefers the flavor of bullies, liars, and teenagers of any sort.

What exactly constitutes a child in the Krampus’ eyes is determined by the culture, in most areas this begins when the child starts school (around 5 or 6) and ends when they are legally an adult (anywhere between 16 and 21 years of age). The Krampus can appear anywhere, but it is strongest where it’s stories are more prevalent. Austria and Bavaria are predominant in Krampus sighting; however, the Krampus often visits American towns where there is a large concentration of Germanic culture.

Appearance

The Krampus is vaguely human and is covered in short white fur (often splattered with the blood of bad children) and carries a massive wooden bucket chained to his back. The bucket is often filled with the appendages and blood of recent victims and both the bucket and its chain are used as weapons.

The Krampus also has an elongated tongue that constantly lolls out of its mouth and with which he alternatively frightens children or tempts women. He also has two twisted horns protruding from his forehead.

Storytelling Hints

The Krampus can only target children that have defied parents that have threatened their children with his legend. The Krampus is truly immortal as long as his stories continue to be told to children and should he ever be reduced to zero health, he dissipates in a cloud of coal soot and returns to his ways the next Yuletide.

The Krampus believes he is doing the world a favor and that his activities makes the world a better place. He thinks his presence inspires children to grow into good, responsible adults while he culls the bad seed from the world. He often monologues about such things when he claims rotten children to torture.

The Krampus is known for more than his thirst for misbehaving children and is known for his lust for the ladies and his obsession with cleavage in particular. A woman can attempt to persuade the Krampus to leave a particular child alone with a Seduction (p84-85 World of Darkness core rulebook) roll. For this particular roll, equipment rating is determined by the woman’s bust size (Storyteller’s discretion on how many dots).

Bad Bucket of Blood

This bucket can be spun around as an All Out Attack that targets all opponents in a 3 yard radius and it also counts as a Close Combat attack (Strength + Weaponry).

  • Damage 4
  • Bashing (-2)
  • Knockdown 1
  • Knockout 2
  • Area Affect 3
  • Size 4 (-4)
  • Two-Handed (-1)

Chains of Castigation

The chain connected to the Bad Bucket can be used as a weapon by itself. A successful attack causes continuous damage as the sins of the victim burn her flesh. The Krampus gains the benefits of specializing in the Bad Bucket, Favored Weapon, and Weaponry Monomaniac as these chains are actually considered part of the Bad Bucket and are just an alternate use.

  • Damage 1
  • Lethal
  • Continuous Damage 1
  • Range 3
  • Size 3 (-3)
  • Two-Handed (-1)

Be sure to visit Nevermet Press as they have kindly commissioned the art and organized the Krampus Karnival.

Listening to: DevilDriver – Beast – Shitlist
Character Builds, RPG Carnival

Legends of the West: Vitality & Experience

Posted by Mad Brew On September - 28 - 2011
Wild West Weeks

Wild West Weeks

I haven’t given up on my 24 Hour RPG, Legends of the West, even though I didn’t make it within the time limitation. Here are two more Traits, Vitality (and Wounds) and Experience. Vitality is integral the Wounds system and determines what kind of beating a character can take while Experience is the currency of character improvement.

VITALITY & WOUNDS

Injury, disease, famine, and other ailments are a daily concern for people living in the frontier. Medicine and doctors are not as ubiquitous as they are in the urban areas of the East. The Trait that governs injury and general health is Vitality. Vitality is calculated from adding a character’s Body Resistance with her size and a static value. The default and minimum static value is five, but Judges can adjust this value to make the game more forgiving. Humans have a default size of five.

Whenever a character suffers injury, if the amount of injury meets or exceeds her Vitality score, then she suffers a Wound. For every Variance of Success, the character suffers an additional Wound. For every Wound, a character must apply a negative one modifier to all Action Rolls. A point of Grit may be spent to ignore Wound modifiers for a single Action Roll.

Once a character reaches five Wounds, she falls prone, is helpless, and cannot take actions. Any Wounds beyond five requires a character to make a Death Roll. A Death Roll is a special Action Roll where the Difficulty Rating is the difference between fifteen and a character’s rank in Resilience and Wound modifiers still apply. If the character fails, she’s ready to be fitted for a pine box. At negative ten Wounds, a character is automatically dead and no roll is required.

Vitality = 5 + Size + BR
Minimum Vitality = 1
Death Roll = 15 – BR + Modifiers

EXPERIENCE

Experience (XP) is the currency by which players improve their characters. When and how much Experience is given is determined by the Judge, but Legends of the West recommends somewhere between five and ten a session with adventure rewards after each milestone of a story. There are plenty of other things a Judge could award Experience for, such as roleplaying or performing gaming tasks, but that’s left up to the discretion of the Judge and her group.

All Experience costs are listed under the Trait descriptions, but they have been collected in the table below.

Experience Cost Table:

Trait

XP Cost

Ability

New Rank x 5

Attribute

(10 + New Rank) x 4

Legend

New Rank x 25

Wild West Weeks

Listening to:  - True Grit OST – Father’s Gun
Design & Development

24 Hour RPG: Traits III

Posted by Mad Brew On September - 25 - 2011

Another Traits entry for my 24+ Hour RPG, Legends of the West. I added some functionality to Background Traits, which is below, then I introduce Grit and Destiny. Both new Traits allow you to resist the randomness of dice.

Players may also Invoke Backgrounds. To Invoke a Background, the player simply declares that a prop or relationship correlating to her Background exists in the current scene. A prop is any inanimate object smaller than a building that could conceivably exist in the setting. A relationship simply means that a person, location, or object has some kind of tie to the character’s background. Backgrounds may be invoked twice per session.

An example prop would include a Bounty Hunter declaring that a wanted poster with a non-player character’s face on it is tacked to the billboard at a train station. An example relationship would be an Outlaw declaring that the saloon is a safehouse for is gang.

GRIT

Life in the frontier has a way of hardening a person, and Grit is the product of those hardships. Characters can call on Grit to steel and redouble their efforts. Grit may be spent by characters in order to improve their chances to succeed.

Grit is gained whenever a characters gains a new rank in Legend or the player rolls the Devil’s Mark, a Weird, and for every Degree of Variance in failure. The most Grit a character can obtain is equal to five plus her rank in Legend. Characters also begin play with five plus their rank in Legend.

Characters may spend Grit to swap in a Legend Die on an Action Roll, to add two to the result (before the roll) of an Action Roll, to re-roll and Action Roll, or to take an Immediate Action. Grit may only be used on Action Rolls (i.e. not on Damage Rolls). A list of actions along with their cost in Grit can be found in the table below.

Grit Cost Table:

Action

Cost in Grit

+2 to Action Roll

1

Legend Die

2

Re-Roll Action

3

Immediate Action

4

DESTINY

Destiny is usually viewed as an external force of the universe exerting its influence on persons to direct them towards a predetermined fate, which people arrive at regardless of their own actions or the actions of others. Legends of the West views destiny as a guiding force that can be thwarted, redirected, or harnessed.

Every character has two Destiny Traits. These traits are usually presented as phrases, such as Fastest Gun in the West or Vengeance Shall be Mine. Destiny Traits dovetail with Backgrounds, but instead of describing a character’s past, they describes the character’s future.

Character’s also have Destiny points, which allow them to practically change the outcome of events. A character can have no more Destiny Points than their rank in Legend. Character begin play with their Legend rank worth of Destiny Points. Characters gain a Destiny Point whenever they gain a rank in Legend or when coerced into action by the Judge.

Destiny Points may be spent to obtain an automatic success on any Action Roll, and that action counts as if it had one Success Variance. Additional Destiny Points may be spent to increase the degrees of Variance by two. Destiny Points may also be spend to fully negate injury inflicted by a single attack.

Once per session, a character may Invoke her Destiny, much like Backgrounds, and place a prop or declare a relationship in a scene correlating to one of her Destiny Traits. Everyone at the table must agree that the prop or relationship is connected to her Destiny Traits in some fashion.

Finally, the Judge may Coerce a character to perform an action based on her Destiny Traits. An example would be compelling the Fastest Gun in the West to enter a showdown with Billy the Kid. If the player accepts the the Coerce, she receives a Destiny Point. The player may choose to receive the point either before or after the action. If the player refuses, she may not invoke the Destiny Trait involved until the next session.

Wild West Weeks

Listening to: Red Dead Redemption – Red Dead Redemption OST – The Shootist
Design & Development

24 Hour RPG: Traits II

Posted by Mad Brew On September - 25 - 2011

Well, I failed the 24 Hour RPG challenge, but I’m still going to complete the game. Here are two more Traits, Abilities and Backgrounds. I have four more Traits which are almost finished, Grit, Destiny, Qualities, and Experience.

ABILITIES

Abilities represent skills and talents that a character excels at. Most every action can be tied to an Ability and only one Ability can apply to a single action. So while hogtying a calf would fall under Animal Ken, hogtying an outlaw might fall under Security. If a character has ranks in both, then only the higher bonus applies.
Every Ability has a Key Attribute and that Attribute’s rank applies to any Action Rolls employing that Ability. If a character doesn’t have an appropriate Ability for an action, she suffers a negative two penalty to her Action Roll. Below is a table of Abilities, but Judges should feel free to add new Abilities as necessary.
Ability Key Attribute Example Actions
Acrobatics BF Walking along ledge, flips, cartwheels
Animal Ken MF Training a horse, driving cattle, hogtying
Athletics BP Jumping across a ravine, climbing a wall, swimming
Brawl BF Wrestling, boxing, and unarmed martial arts
Crafts MP Makin’ stuff
- Blacksmith Beating hot metal into horshoes, daggers, and picks
- Bowyer/Fletcher Shaping bows and arrows
- Carpenter Building furninture, homes, and barns
- Cordwainer Manufacturing stagecoaches and wagons
- Machinist Mechanically removing metal to form firearm barrels
- Mortician Preparing the dead for display and burial
- Potter Making pots, mugs, and plates from fired claw
- Saddler Turning leather into saddles and bridles
- Tailor Stitching cloth and leather into clothes
Demoltions MP Digging mines and blowing up safes
Gambling MF Playing Faro, Poker, or Craps
Knowledges MP Remembering stuff
- Biology Ecosystems, life cycles, and general bodily function
- Chemistry Combining elements to create useful substances
- Engineering Building bridges, understanding structural integrity
- Geogprahy General and detailed information about regions
- History Understanding how things in the past shape our future
- Linguistics Reading, writing, and speaking languages
- Local Knowing who’s who
- Medicine Understanding disease and mending the body
- Occult Understanding native rituals, Christianity, or the sasquatch
Intimidation MF Putting fear into a man for a purpose, or not
Melee BF Inflicting harm with weaponry
Perception MF Being aware of your surroundings and spotting detail
Persuasion MF Negotiating, bluffing, and diplomacy
Riding BF Motivation via our hoofed friends
Security BF Implementing or circumventing security
Shooting BF Putting a bead on your enemies
Stealth BF Sneaking and hiding
Streetwise MF Obtaining information from locals
Survival MF Tracking, hunting, and knowing what to eat

Cost: New Rank x 5
Maximum Rank: 5 + Legend

BACKGROUND

A Background is a Trait that represents a character’s history, training, and to some extent, a character’s potential. Background traits allow characters to overcome some of the limitations imposed by the Legend Trait. Backgrounds are usually professions like Cowpoke and Bounty Hunter, may also describe events or geography integral to a character’s history, such as Donnor Party Survivor or New Yorker.

A Background has two key Abilities. The Legend rank limitation for these key Abilities are removed, allowing the character to purchase ranks in those Abilities greater than their Legend rank. Every character begins play with a single Background.

Background Table:

Background

1st Key Ability

2nd Key Ability

Bounty Hunter

Shooting

Survival

Cowpoke

Animal Ken

Riding

Lawdog

Security

Shooting

Mountaineer

Animal Kem

Survival

Outlaw

Shooting

Streetwise

Prospector

Demolitions

Engineering

Teacher

Any Knowledge

Any Knowledge

Young’n

Any Knowledge

Special

The above table is just a list of example Backgrounds. Judges and Players should feel free to create their own. They’re easy to create, just pick a descriptive name and then choose two Key Abilities. Those Abilities are now free of Legend limitations. However, of special note is the Young’n Background; it allows a player to choose a Background during play. A Judge should only let Backgrounds with this special ability be created after some contemplation.

Cost: All characters receive 1 free Background

Wild West Weeks

Listening to: Ennio Morricone – The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly OST – The Ecstasy of Gold
Design & Development

24 Hour RPG: Traits I

Posted by Mad Brew On September - 24 - 2011

The following is the first part of the Traits that are available in the Legends of the West, a 24 Hour RPG.

ROLL YER MAKINGS

This section presents the tools necessary for players to create Legends of the West. It describes the Traits common between all characters, explains their mechanical function, and details how to assign ranks to them during character creation and while adventuring in the West That Never Was.

Legends of the West does not employ levels or classes; all characters are built Trait by Trait from the ground up. The currency by which these Traits are increased is called Experience (XP). The Judge will hand out Experience whenever she sees fit, either individually or to the group.

LEGEND

The closest approximate to a level in Legends of the West is your Legend rank. Your Legend sets the upper bounds of every other Trait. Beyond its function as a power limiter, Legend is also a gauge of a character’s fame, or notoriety, depending on your perspective. This means characters of greater Legend in a posse of mixed ranks of Legend will have a target painted on their back when drawing down on rivals. With a high enough Legend, the government may even be pursuing your character. Whether it’s to put you down or to recruit you depends on your past deeds.

Most cowpunchers and settlers have a rank of zero in Legend, but all player characters start out with one rank in it. Ten is the official maximum rank, but Judges may impose limitations on purchasing ranks. The maximum rank of any purchased Trait for a character with no ranks in Legend is five. For every additional rank in Legend, the maximum rank for other Traits increased by one.

Cost: New Rank x 25

Maximum Rank: 10

Showdowns

Showdowns are what amounts to random, non-wilderness, encounters in Legends of the West. A Judge can take them or leave them, depending on what works best for her adventure. Whenever a character rides into town, every day spent there is a cumulative chance that there’s some fellow shows up wanting to test her luck against a Legend. How the upstart goes about challenging the character is variable and can either be determined randomly or left up to the Judge’s discretion for whatever best fits the story.

Calculate the character’s Showdown DR (see below) then make an Action Roll against the Difficulty Rating and add a +1 modifier for every day the character has been in town. Swap in Legend Dice if the character is Wanted (see Reputation) or if a Quality applies to the situation.

Showdown DR = 20 – (2 x Legend) + Reputation

If the roll exceeds the Difficulty Rating, then roll a d6 and see how the rascal plays it out. The Showdown Challenges are sparse, so feel free to add your own.

Showdown ChallengeTable:

Roll d6

Challenge

1

Drink!

2

Gamble!

3-5

Draw Iron!

6

Bushwhacked!

MEASURE

Legends of the West uses two Facets comprising of three Attributes a piece to take the Measure of a character. The Facets, Body and Mind, each have a Finesse, Power, and Resistance Attributes. Every Ability or Action has a Key Attribute and its value is added to Action Rolls involving them. The minimum rank one can have in an Attribute is negative five while the maximum rank, like all other Traits, is five plus the character’s Legend rank. Should a character ever be reduced beyond negative five in an Attribute, that character falls helpless and cannot take actions.

Cost: (10 + New Rank) x 4

Maximum Rank: 5 + Legend

Body Finesse

The Finesse Attribute of a character’s Body (BF) covers characteristics such as dexterity, agility, and fine motor skills. This Attribute is most important for targeting opponents, acrobatic feats, maintain your balance, and for avoiding mishaps and area affects.

Body Power

The Power Attribute of a character’s Body (BP) measures brawn and and shear physical might. This Attribute is crucial for inflicting injuring on foes during brawls and for lifting and carry weight, especially while climbing or jumping.

Body Resistance

The Resilience Attribute of a character’s Body (BR) represents physical endurance, stamina, and the ability to fend against disease and sickness. This Attribute is essential for surviving poison, avoiding Consumption, and being able to take a blow.

Mind Finesse

The Finesse Attribute of a character’s Mind (MF) describes the ability to think on your feet and quick wit. This Attribute is necessary for situational awareness and helps a character react to social situations or to danger in combat.

Mind Power

The Power Attribute of a character’s Mind (MP) denotes critical thinking, the ability to learn, and breadth of knowledge. This Attribute is significant whenever information retention is required and for applying knowledge in craft.

Mind Resistance

The Resilience Attribute of a character’s Mind (MR) reflects will and determination as well as the ability to shrug off mind crushing events. This Attribute is key for  resisting insanity, mental fatigue from sleep deprivation, and sustaining a battle of wills.

SAND

A character’s Sand represents her defensive capabilities. How quick can she evade that stick of dynamite, whether he’ll survive that scorpion’s sting, or even if she can keep her wits after chewing on some peyote. Your Sand will determine if you can survive the many perils of the frontier. Unlike the previous Traits, ranks in Sand cannot be purchased; they are derived from your other Traits or may be modified by Knacks and Quirks.

Reaction

A character’s Reaction score reflects the capability for evasion and responding to threats. It’s your reflexes and requires both mental and physical agility, thus the Body Finesse and Mind Finesse Attributes are used in its calculation.

Reaction = BF + MF

Resilience

A character’s Resilience score represents the resistance to fatigue, poison, and disease. It’s your fortitude and is composed of both the Body’s Power and Resistance Attributes.

Resilience = BP + BR

Resolve

A character’s Resolve score measures one’s strength of will. It’s your willpower and the Mind’s Power and Resistance Attributes are used in its calculation.

Resolve = MP + MR

Wild West Weeks

Listening to: Hans Zimmer – Rango OST – Stuck in Guacamole
Design & Development

24 Hour RPG: Core Mechanics

Posted by Mad Brew On September - 24 - 2011

I’ve nominally decided to call this 24 Hour RPG, Legends of the West. In this post I’ve cooked up a core mechanic that seeds normal distribution (bell curve of success) with the ability for any action to succeed, albeit with slim probability. Later, I’ll add ways to improve chances with additional mechanics.

THE MOTHER LODE

This section explains the principal mechanics that power Legends of the West. Understanding how things operate should help players build characters that can effectively fill the concepts they want to explore. Optional rules are presented in sidebars, but just because this manual doesn’t consider a core rule optional doesn’t mean the players cannot change or ignore something that does not meet their needs. With that in mind, consider all the rules optional.

ADJUDICATION

Legends of the West requires at least one player to be the Judge. The Judge’s role is to provide seeds of adventure for players’ characters to act upon and then facilitate conflict resolution once those character end up in hot water. It is a mighty responsibility to become the Judge, but it is the most important role at the table. Just remember, a Hanging Judge is just as likely to find himself swinging from the end of a noose as is her victims.

THE CORE MECHANIC

Most daring-do that a Legends of the West character attempts is determined by an Action Roll. Choose the Ability that governs the action that is being attempted and note any modifiers. The Judge may also impose additional circumstantial modifiers. Now, roll three six-sided dice (3d6), add any modifiers, and then compare the result to the Difficulty Rating (DR). If the total result meets or exceeds the DR, the action is a success. Other rolls, such as Effect Rolls or Damage Rolls may be required upon success as determined by the Ability’s description.

Not every little nuance a character does needs to be resolved with an Action Roll. Unless the action is critical to the telling of the tale, the Judge should just let it happen. So there’s no need to roll to see if a character can put her boots on or make a fire to cook a meal, unless failure would add to the drama. Like if lighting the fire means surviving a cold winter’s night in the mountains.

Legend Dice

Legend Dice provide a twist on the conventional Action Roll. A Legend Dice has the ability to explode. This means that whenever a Legend Die resolves at that its highest possible value (i.e. a 6 on a d6), then that die is rolled again and the results are added to the total. Legend Dice continue to explode until a result other than the highest value is rolled.

Legend Dice replace normal dice in the Action Roll, so a player never rolls more than three dice. Legend Dice can be used under three different circumstances:

  • Specialization: The character is specialized in the action
  • Grit: A character spends one Grit
  • Quality: The scene relates to a character’s Quality

No more than one Legend Die may be used in an Action Roll for each circumstance. For example, if more than one Specialization applies to an action, the character still only receives a single Legend Die. However, it is possible to have every die be Legend Dice in an Action Roll if all three circumstances apply.

Difficulty Rating

DR is either determined by the Judge, from an Opposed Roll, or  by the Ability being used, in which case the Difficulty Rating will be found in its description. For Action Rolls without a defined DR, consult the table below to determine how hard an action is to accomplish.

Difficulty Rating Table:

Difficulty Rating
Very Easy 5
Easy 10
Moderate 15
Difficult 20
Very Difficult 25
Insanely Difficult 30
Legendary 40

Ones & Sixes

Automatic success and failure is not present in Legends of the West by default. This means that there are some tasks that some character cannot ever achieve from a vanilla Action Roll. Spending Grit for a Legend Die might give a character a snowball’s chance in hell, but it’s very slim. The West ain’t for the faint of heart, kiddos.

Even so, interesting things do happen when a player rolls the maximum or minimum values of the dice on an Action Roll. When a trinity of sixes appear when all three dice are rolled ( not on individual Legend Die rolls), it’s called the Devil’s Mark and the character gains one point of Grit. When a trio of ones are rolled, that called a Weird, and the character gains three Grit. Achieving rock bottom failure has a way of hardening a man. These results may also have other consequences dependent on the scene.

Variance of Success & Failure

The potential effectiveness, or impotence, of an action is determined by the Variance of an Action Roll. Variance is calculated by finding the difference between the Action Roll and the Difficulty Rating. Every increment of five the Action Roll exceeds or falls short of the DR counts as a Variance of Success or Failure, respectively.

For example, if the total result of an Action Roll is twenty-four and the DR was fifteen, that action would have a Success Variance of one. Variance can mathematically be calculated by subtracting the DR from the Action Roll total and then dividing the difference by five, always rounding down.

The mechanical effects Variance is detailed in the description of an Ability. However, not every action or Ability will take Variance into consideration, but the Judge and players should feel free to improvise for effect when as the situation dictates.

Optional Rule: Critical Success & Failure

Whenever a Devil’s Mark is rolled, that action automatically succeeds even if the result does not meet or exceed the DR. If the result does meet or exceed the DR, the Devil’s Mark counts as an additional Variance of Success.

Whenever a Weird is rolled, that action automatically fails even if the result meets or exceeds the DR. If the result would already be considered a failure, the Weird counts as an additional Variance of Failure.
Design & Development

24 Hour RPG Live Blog

Posted by Mad Brew On September - 24 - 2011
24 Hour RPG

24 Hour RPG

Today, I’m kicking off a 24 hour challenge where I develop a entire RPG, starting now (noon) and ending tomorrow at noon (EST). The rules of the challenge:

  • Must complete within 24 hours
  • All work must be done by me
  • No pre-work, but can be based on pre-existing ideas
So, while I cannot help but to have thought about what I want to explore, I have yet to write anything down. The rules I want to create will be suitable for roleplaying in the historical Old West, but easily expanded to include elements of Fantasy, Horror, and Weird. If I have time, I’ll explore those concepts as part of the challenge, but they are not necessary for my goal.
I want to try a bottom up approach, where I create a core system skeleton upon which I add fiddly bit that hopefully enable the themes of the game. Since I’ve had a particular style of system burning a hole in my mind, I’m going to use those ideas to get the ball rolling.
I don’t expect this project to be groundbreaking or revolutionary, but there are some dice mechanics such as normal distribution and use of exploding dice that I would like to explore. So this challenge will be more of a cathartic experience where I test these ideas and purge them from my system so I can move on to other ideas.
If this endeavor is successful, I might expand and revise the rules or even do another 24 Hour RPG where I approach the design from a different angle, possibly top-down, where I think of the Old West as a character and explore creating a system that supports that concept.

Design Goals

Before I begin diving into the writing of this game, I want to put some goals down to sort of form an outline of where I want to go. Hopefully, this outline will give me direction and keep focused on the prize so I can actually complete the challenge.
  • Modular
  • Skill/Ability based (classless)
  • Buck the rules light trend (mild complexity)
  • Attempt to integrate free-form RP mechanics
  • Normal distribution (3 or dice for resolution)
  • Things are improbable, but not impossible
  • Reward failure
  • Different but familiar
With those high level design goals in place, I think I’ll go ahead and post this and start on part 2!
Listening to: Pantera – Cowboys from Hell – Cowboys from Hell
Design & Development

SavagedTools

Posted by Mad Brew On May - 16 - 2011
Savage Worlds Fan Site

Savage Worlds Fan Site

At any one time, I probably have three to five personal projects (usually of the geek variety) happening at once. Some of these projects I find I’m not interested in anymore and they are scuttled to the bottom of the Sea of Dead Projects. Most of them are completed, but I keep to myself. The rest I deem worthy for public consumption and I release into the wild.

While it may seem counter-intuitive, I keep so many projects around to avoid burnout. I usually only have one primary project at any single moment in time, but it shares mind-space with several smaller distractions. These distractions allow me to stoke the creative fires when intense sessions with the primary project threaten to blowout the hearth.

Well, today, I present one of the distractions that avoided the Sea of Dead Projects and has been released into the wild:

SavagedTools

SavagedTools is a small, bare-bones application (semi-optimized for mobile devices) that combines card-based initiative, dice rolling (supporting aces & wild die, and hopefully any number of edges/hindrances), and a logger into one tool.

SavagedTools Login Page

SavagedTools Login Page

It uses a simple sign-on that only requires display and campaign names. There is no registration. This means anyone can access your campaign’s log or impersonate you, but the damage is minimal (just create a unique campaign name and don’t share it).

SavagedTools Initiative

SavagedTools Initiative

The sign-on allows your group to share initiative draws and dice rolls with each other in near real-time on the logger. Whenever the deck is shuffled or a player draws a card, the results are recorded in the log and the page is updated. Same thing with dice, and players can even assign a description to their roll.

SavagedTools Dice

SavagedTools Dice

What may be especially interesting is that all the important stuff happens server-side, so players cannot manipulate the results through JavaScript trickery. I’m also especially proud of the fact that random number generation is accomplished by using the API available from Random.org. Random.org uses atmospheric noise to produce true random numbers.

SavagedTools Logger

SavagedTools Logger

To keep my database size manageable, I’ve incorporated a routine that will destroy any data older than hour, so the logs are not permanent. Other than that, the tool is free to use and comes with no strings attached (for as long as I can cover the hosting).

I plan on re-using the dice library I wrote for my other online RPG tool, Venture Captain (a character generator for the Pathfinder RPG). So this distraction will also prove useful for my primary project.

Please check out SavagedTools and let me know if you encounter any issues.

Listening to: Testament – The Gathering – Eyes of Wrath
Design & Development, Online Resources, Technology & Games

Online Pathfinder RPG Character Generator

Posted by Mad Brew On December - 13 - 2010
Venture Captain

Venture Captain

I have finally opened up the online Pathfinder PRG character generator beta testing to the public. You can find the generator at VentureCaptain.com. I was surprised the domain name was available (considering all the “make money for nothing” schemes found on the web). I actually plan on expanding the site to host a suite of utilities for use with the Pathfinder RPG including a dice app I’ve been tinkering with that uses true random number generation, courtesy of Random.org. You can also follow Venture Captain on Facebook and on Twitter.

TECHNOLOGY

The character generator is a plain web app. It runs XHTML 1.0 Strict (every page but the contact page validates), CSS2.1, and JavaScript/jQuery. So it should display and render fine on most standards compliant-ish web browsers. The generator exports characters as a small PDF (~40k) file, so whatever platform you are using must support PDFs.

I’ve built the app according to how I plan on using it. I run Chrome on Windows 7 have no issues. Chrome renders JavaScript blazingly fast, but I’ve also tested it on Firefox 3.5/3.6 and it runs fine. On IE 7/8, the generator performs a bit on the sluggish side. I haven’t tested it on mobile devices, because quite frankly, there is just too much information to try to display effectively on such a small screen.

THIS IS BETA

I must stress that the generator is in BETA. There are obvious things missing, as well as ton of undiscovered bugs waiting to be squashed. I am working on tying up loose ends with the current implemented features before slaying the bigger dragons of Equipment and Spells. Oh yeah, and the only guy writing code for this app is me.

Some things I’m working on now is expanding the class feature information presented on the character sheet (displaying bloodline powers, school powers, etc.) as well as creating an interface for missing elements such as being able to choose what Mercy you get when you take the Extra Mercy feat.

This being said, if you find anything missing, improperly formatted, not compliant with the latest Pathfinder RPG rules, or have a general suggestion please do not hesitate to contact me via Twitter, Facebook, or using the VentureCaptain.com Contact page. I want this tool be the best it can be, so everyone’s feedback is important to me.

FEATURE ROADMAP

Below is how I think feature implementation will roll-out. I’m naming the builds after cities in Golarion, with the first build belonging to capital of the oldest empire.

v1.0 [Sothis] Feature Implementation (bold items are finished; italicized items are in development):

  • Ability Scores (point buy, tier points, racial adjustments)
  • Core Classes (alignment restrictions, favored class bonuses, selectable class features)
  • Skills (class skill training bonus, skill focus bonus, racial bonuses, ability modifiers)
  • Calculated Combat Stats (BAB, CMB, CMD, AC, Touch AC, Flat Footed AC, Saves, HPs, Speed, Initiative)
  • Feats (Racial, class granted feats, full prerequisite validation)
  • Equipment (calculate wealth, calculate encumbrance, attack/damage bonuses, highlight proficiency, equip to slots)
  • Spells (select known spells, select memorized spells, calculate DCs, calculate dice/bonuses)
  • Portraits by 60+ Terrible Portraits
  • Save to PDF (complete with calculated values, racial & class features, custom landscape layout)

v2.0 [Oppara] Feature Roadmap:

  • Prestige Classes
  • Traits
  • Language Selection
  • Custom Magic Weapon & Armor
  • Random Bio Generation (Name, Homeland, Age, Height, Weight, Hair, & Eyes) based on Race & Gender
  • Aging Affects validation based on Age in Bio
  • Rules Info (overlays with PRD definitions for class features, feats, etc.)
  • Pathfinder Society legal character validation
  • Save to HTML

v3.0 [Egorian] Feature Roadmap:

  • Advanced Player’s Guide Update
  • Non-core free entry for class, feats, traits, skills, equipment, & spells.
  • Pre-calculated Combat Maneuver & Spell sheets
  • Storage Solutions

IT’S FREE!

Did I mention this web app is free? Yeah, creating characters with Venture Captain costs you nothing (except whatever you pay to access the internet already). It will continue to be free for as long as I feel like covering the cost of hosting and development. There may be pay features in the future (storing characters in cloud?), but only for convenience services, never for content.

If you like it, please follow @Venture_Captain on Twitter and spread the word, like Venture Captain on Facebook, or even blog about it.

Venture Captain Online Pathfinder Character Generator

Design & Development, Featured, Online Resources, Technology & Games

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