Asshats

It seems to me that the internet, whilst being a thoroughly useful tool, gets abused by serious dickwads who think it’s their right to target people with bilious and vitriolic comments purely because they have a different opinion to them. I for one have had enough, you know who you are and to be frank I consider all of you to be a waste of sperm and oxygen thieves, the world would be a better place without all of you. Yarrgggh!

Just because there is no real way to police the idiots mentioned in the above paragraph doesn’t mean that we have freedom of speech, for instance, were this article calling for a fatwah or a crusade I could expect to be visited by some of the chaps in blue uniforms and called to account, should I threaten to blow something up it would be much the same. I have always been a big fan of the quote “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” however, when someone devolves to personal attacks, purely because I say I don’t like something then the bets are off. they don’t get to do that and I will not feed the trolls, I will explain where they are mistaken and that will be my final comment on the matter.

I don’t like 4E, it is my opinion that it is turning into a squad level tactical game, the way things are going with it does not appeal to me in the slightest, I will not be using any of the cards, I will also not be running any more of it. For me the rot set in during a game of LFR I was running when the players told me that they didn’t have time for roleplaying they wanted to get to the encounter. Hey asshole! Yes you out there, the angry one with the red face, step away from the pc and go and do something more useful for the world, see if you can win a Darwin award.

There I said it, I don’t like 4E, does that make me a bad person? Does it mean I am consigned to gamer hell? Does it mean that WoTC storm-troopers will come and kick down my door and drag me away? What about me, will I break into homes where they’re playing 4E and kill everyone? Will I demonstrate outside games shops and call anyone playing 4E rude names? Nope, none of the above, I’ll continue on as I am, I’ll play something different and WoTC can no longer sell me every book they produce, I also cancelled my ddi subscription all told they have lost someone who spent a large amount of $ on their products, but hey that’s cool, because I know there are people out there who do like it and will continue playing it.

Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one talking about the elephant in the room or that spanky new set of clothes the Emperor is not wearing, but hey-ho it’s only zeroes and ones at the end of the day.

Now on to something I do like.

Pathfinder Adventure Paths

Just recently I have started running 2 games of Pathfinder, I decided to run their adventure path product – Rise of the Runelords this for me is an extremely well written and produced product, it’s filled with information, excellent scenarios and loads of colourful art, in it Goblins take on a whole new life and seem akin to some of the darker fairy tales. I have run the first part of this campaign  twice now for 2 seperate groups and it was fresh each time, the group dynamics were different, the party makeup was different and the town seemed to come alive for both groups. There have been some memorable moments too, from the Cleric of Cayden Cailean holding a goblin at bay with a rapier until the ranger loped in and sliced it in half to the bumbling sorcerer who tripped over his robes whilst trying to run away.

My players managed to bring their characters to life, they have places to stay, money problems, women problems and they are saving up for their next gadget/toy just like everyone else. The storyline is really good and I expect to have a lot of fun with the 2 groups, I’m well aware that the group is the key to roleplaying goodness, just like I’m well aware that the system does not really dictate the style of play, what I think the system does do is lend itself to a particular playing style and lead the game in a particular direction.

I won’t go into the Rise of the Runelords AP in too much detail, I know at least 2 of my players read this stuff I write, but the story really does build to an excellent end game, if you’re a GM and you haven’t seen this stuff, buy the pdfs and have a read they really are good.

And finally I’d like to welcome Banjo the Clown to the crew, unlike me Banjo likes 4E and NWoD, but then I guess there’s no accounting for taste. *wink*

Seriously Banjo runs a mean 4E game and I’m sure he does the same for the various World of Darkness games he runs too, sniff, not been invited to one of those, I understand he’s running Promethean at the moment and it’s all going to end in tears.

That’s enough from me today and remember if you’re an angry asshat, go and find someone else to pester!

Comments: 6 comments

Tags: #DnD, 4e, Captain Curmudgeon, Fantasy, Nerd Rage, Pathfinder, roleplaying

In a similar vein to Coffeebreak Cartography, here’s a series of Hurried Handouts. Examples of what can be done by a busy DM in the few minutes available during breaks at work.

Today a handout that is specifically designed to drive a fair chunk of plot in one PCs story.

I recall the joyful moment when the player in question asked, "What does exsanguinate mean?"

The top time saving tool here has to the library of blood spatter brushes I used. Both libraries I regularly use are here:

http://vexingart.deviantart.com/art/Blood-Splatter-Brushes-11819573

http://peterpson.deviantart.com/art/50-Blood-or-Splatter-Brushes-35281558

Comments: 2 comments

Tags: Fantasy, Handout, Ideas

Sometimes as a busy GM, I need a map in next to no time at all. I also require that they look nice, especially if they are going to be handed to my players. Anything that increases my players sense of verisimilitude is a bonus.

To that end I’m practicing knocking out maps and handouts quickly in what’s become the Coffeebreak Cartography Challenge!

Here’s another coffee break map. Finished in just under 15 minutes.

The interesting photoshop technique here is the buildings. To quickly draw simple buildings like those above, use the line tool set to a decent thickness. Then simply drag out the rectangles in the direction you need. Very quick for filling out a whole swathe of buildings.

Comments: Leave a comment

Tags: Cartography, Fantasy, Map

Hi my name is Iain and I’m a mapaholic. Or should that be cartographaholic?

I like drawing maps, both with paper and pen, and digital tools. To that end I’ve decided to publish a series of maps, all done in a coffee break.

I can’t promise one a day, that would be foolish, but I’ll try for one from time to time.

Here’s one for today, as a quick test I’ve been attempting to replicate a hand-drawn style in Photoshop.

It’s rather reminiscent of the style of maps I would draw in class at school, 25 years ago. There’s a definite Tolkein influence at work.

There’s really no digital shortcuts involved, to replicate this hand drawn style I’ve  hand-draw it with a stylus. Once it’s done certain elements could be reused, a mountain here, a hill there. Certainly if I was to include forest elements then they could be repeated with a pattern.

Comments: 2 comments

Tags: Cartography, Fantasy, Hand-drawn, Map

Today I found a great post by Alric of The RPG Athenaeum, a list of one hundred street scenes that are the perfect thing for a fantasy DM to keep tucked away in the ideas file.

http://rpgathenaeum.wordpress.com

Not only are they great ways to add flavour to your towns and cities when players ask what they can see, but also if your players bite they can also serve as plot hooks.

One of my favourites:

A cart selling “roasted rat on a stick” is on the corner. The proprietor looks surprised as someone dressed in noble attire strolls up and orders one with honey sauce.

Thank you Mr.Dibbler.

The list is available as a nicely formatted PDF in the downloads section, where you’ll also find one hundred topics for tavern chatter!

Comments: Leave a comment

Tags: DMing, Fantasy, Ideas, Resource