Preparing for today’s Alternity game and I came across something called Skill Ladders whilst reading Wolfgang Baur’s Dataware book.

Skill ladders are presented by Wolfgang as a way to avoid the monotony of Alternity’s complex skill checks. A complex skill check requires a certain number of successes before a number 3 failures. This can descend into just totting up successes and failures at the table until you’ve either succeeded or failed.

Wolfgang outlines skill ladders, just a quick to write list of what each success or failure of a hacking attempt actually means. Here’s a quick example from my prep for today.

Hacking bio tagged laser weapon

Successes

1. Removed take down pin
2. Gained access to internal ciruitry
3. Bypassed authentication routines
4. Weapon unlocked for any user

Failures

1. Mild electric shock
2. Ammo halved by power discharge
3. Weapon locked. Power discharged. Ammo depleted.

This is a quick an very easy way to write simple game raising things to respond to each failure or success with. Next time I’m doing 4e skill checks I think this easy method would transfer quite well as well. It’s a good way to show your players that they are actually progressing through a skill challenge and gives them an idea of how far is left to go.

I can’t stress how quick this is to knock up, and how powerful it is in use at the table. Here’s another example that I knocked together in a few minutes at lunch today.

Opening Hanger Airlock Doors

Successes

1. Bypass microswitches and remove access panel undetected
2.Find power conduit
3. Reroute power to door controls
4. Disable anti tamper device
5. Inner door open
6. Override safety measures
7.  Access airlock sub routines
8. Outer doors open

Failures

1. Power fails needs re-routing
2. Alarm sounds
3. Safety measures kick back in. Any open doors shut. Power fails. Start again.

I’ll definitely be writing more of these, maybe even at the table, they are that quick.

How about you?

Comments: 2 comments

Tags: DMing, GMing, Sci Fi

I just started GMing a new game this week, using the Alternity rules and based in the world of Elite/Frontier First Encounters.

For some fun reading check out the campaign in-game news blog: http://frontier.whrpg.com.

The adventure has started with a prison break, the federal prision facility in the Ross128 system to be precise. So first off I sketched a quick outline in my big notepad of maps.

Pencil sketch of Ross128 map

Evidence that I just can’t draw without a computer! So then it was into flash and illustrator and 20mins with my quick Modern Mapping technique and I was ready for the session.

Ross128 Modern Map. Click for bigger!

So now my players are spending the rest of the week working out a plan of escape. They have two rather nasty bio-grenades and enough explosives for 2, maybe 3 door locks, or one wall.

How would you escape? Let me know in the comments.

Comments: Leave a comment

Tags: Cartography, Hand-drawn, Sci Fi

As you know I like to use music in my games. Sometimes though I’m without my laptop and a full Softrope setup. It’s then that I turn to my phone.

I used both the iPod functionality and the premium version of Spotify on my iPhone to play background music. The iPhone though, just like most phones, has a quite poor speaker.

So I bought one of these.

X Mini II portable speaker

These little things are great. Light, small and very powerful. With an 11 hour battery life and chargable via USB they are fantastically handy to slip quickly in a bag. The dynamic range is amazing for the size of the speaker, you’re players won’t even know you’ve got one behind your screen until you make them jump with an impressive sound effect or rousing musical score!

And to top it all they only cost £13.99!

More info at http://bit.ly/xmini2.

Comments: Leave a comment

I like to sometimes right a short story as part of my character backgrounds. Usually only a scene or two, like the first chapter of a novel or something similar. I find this really helps set the scene for the play to come, even if it’s something way back in the past, such as the following example, it lets me and my DM help lay some foundations for the character in question.

Memories

My earliest memory is from the age of five. There is nothing before that, just a deafening blindness.

It is not like most children’s earliest memories, lost in misty half remembering. It is vivid and almost physical. Fading shafts of late-evening sun pouring through the many arches along the balcony. The chill of the shadows under the bed where I lay quietly. The brush of soft footsteps approaching across the polished floor.

All of these memories began in this one single moment, as if someone had lit a lamp in darkness, or whipped away the drapes, rudely awakening a late sleeper.

The pastel designs of the marble mixed with the bright and still warm colour of a spreading pool of blood. Two bodies lay twisted and broken on the cold floor, faces frozen in death, gripped by masks of surprised pain. I don’t recall being scared, as perhaps a five-year-old girl should have been. I felt nothing for the dead bodies, not knowing, or being able to recall, who they were.

Soft shoed feet approached my hiding place. Suddenly the bed was lifted away, thrown against the wall, banishing the shadows and revealing me.

Shocked by the sudden noise and movement, I flinched and shrank into the corner. Fearful now, I looked up and saw a face masked by wrappings of dark cloth, only two shadowy eyes were visible.

I could not tell if it was a man or woman, but they examined me intensely for a number of seconds, as if pondering some great question. “Even for House Philarlan, I will not kill a young child,” they said in a low voice. The masked killer continued to stare at me thoughtfully, before continuing, “You have been orphaned today, but do not think harshly of me, you may learn, in time, that I am simply doing my duty.”

And then, twisting on one foot, the killer turned and ran towards the balcony and leaped onto the stone rail, settling there in a crouch, before slipping off and disappearing from view, dark cloak billowing behind.

Left with a feeling of sudden loss, which I couldn’t fathom, I stood up and walked to the bodies, avoiding the glistening pool of sticky blood. So these were my parents, and I was now an orphan? I bent down to look closely at them, yet I still had no memory of them alive.

I heard soft moaning from the open doorway. It appeared to be coming from the room opposite mine. Frightened I quickly ran and slammed shut the door to my room.  I did not want to know who or what was making the noise, or whether they were alive or near death.

My eyes began to water. I felt nothing and instinctively wiped tears away with my sleeve. I was confused, not at all sure why I was crying. Overcome by a sudden exhaustion, I lay down, my back against the sturdy wooden door, and fell deeply asleep.

~***~

I awoke abruptly, it felt like the floor had moved under me. I looked about, realising that the door behind me was being forced open. I gathered my limbs to myself and tried to be as quiet as possible.

“Anyone in here?” a voice spoke softly from the open crack of doorway. Terrified, I did not answer.

The door pushed against me again, slightly harder. I let out an involuntary gasp, and clasped my hands over my mouth.

“Someone’s alive in here Oliith!” the voice from the door shouted. The door was then pushed fully open, being behind it I could not see who stood in the doorway. “I know there’s someone in here, come out, there is nothing to fear.”

I kept my hand still tightly held over my mouth, trying not to even breathe.

The door closed a little and a woman’s head peered around the edge, “Why hello, it’s a little girl, are you okay?”

Conclusion

It’s a fun technique and gets me practising my writing skills. Anyone do anything similar?

Comments: 2 comments

Tags: Character Building, Ideas

Last year our regular D&D game fell on April 1^st, so I decided to try and see if I could con my player’s characters out of some gold.

I’d been reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, a worthwhile read which features a number of con tricks. The book inspired me to head off to the internet and research the art of hustling. This is what I came up with, I hope it inspires you to do something similar this year!

Missing, One Glass Eye

The Glim Dropper is similar to the  more famous Pigeon Drop, or Fiddle Game cons, and relies on the mark being convinced that something of no value has much greater value. In this case a glass eye.

Continue reading…

Comments: 2 comments

Tags: Articles, DMing, Player Choice

I’ve just discovered a really cool combat tracker. I’ve very fond of iPlay4e, and use it for all my characters and players PCs.

Now today I found inCombat (http://laughterforever.com/inCombat/) a fine combat tracker that incorporates characters from iPlay4e nicely. As well as the ability to add monsters from the compendium or monster builder.

It just works to be frank, and it runs in a browser, as well as off-line through Adobe AIR.

Nothing bad to be said about it so far, can’t wait to start using it in anger.

Comments: Leave a comment

Tags: #DnD, 4e, Resource

And the results are in. Our guest judge, Greg Bilsland, has chosen a winner.

(This also came in in level 13, 18, 23 and 28 varieties with suitable increases)

Here’s what Greg had to say about the winner:

There aren’t a lot of low-level items that let you escape death like this, so I like that this item gives you a way to do it, but at a cost. It also is well balanced, because even though the power is unlikely to come up very often, the property still gives it a benefit that any undead-slaying hero can appreciate.

Putting the item at level 3, 8, etc. is exactly where I would place it. I’d probably keep the range on the ongoing necrotic damage static rather than allowing it to increase. I like that the designer included some story. I’d like to see the story text as a separate section (like in Adventurer’s Vault 2) so the flavor text can give me a description of the item.

Overall, a good job, though. The designer has an eye for balancing mechanics, usability, and creativity.

So congratulations go to Granger44! Who had this to say:

Hey, thanks!   As a side note, I just had a daughter born at the end of last month myself, so I’ll claim her as my inspiration to which I added the evil twist.

Steve’s necklace of death deserves a mention as Greg it as the most creative item:

I liked the necklace actually being a garotte. Shows thinking outside of the box. The item would need a little adjustment on the property’s damage output and on the automatic death in the daily power. Also, bringing down the level would be good so more players would have access to it.

Congratulations to the overall winner, and thanks to all those that took part. And finally thanks to Greg for being our guest judge. For more from Greg check out his new shiny blog, http://gregbilsland.wordpress.com/.

Comments: 1 comment

Tags: #DnD, 4e

Thanks to everyone who entered the PH3 competition. Entries are now closed. All entries have been packaged up and are ready to be sent to Greg Bilsland. Now you’ll just have to wait.

Comments: Leave a comment

Tags: #DnD, 4e

I suspect that’s skewed somewhat by the human tendency to complain and whine! What do you think?

Comments: 8 comments

Tags: Cartoon, DMing, Drawings

You’ve got until 23.59 GMT today to enter the PH3 competition.

http://buccaneersguild.com/players-handbook-3-giveaway-2/

Judged by our guest judge, WotC’s Greg Bilsland.

Comments: Leave a comment

Tags: #DnD, 4e