Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Dead Simple Lock & Trap Mini-game

I've fiddled around and play-tested the various ideas and suggestions floating around until I've come arranged the pieces into something that the Boy likes.

This mini-game involves a deck of cards.  It could be a regular deck of cards or a special deck with bump, undulate, rake, and probe written on each.  Four 'suits' of some sort or another. 

Take the deck of cards.  Remove the Jokers. Shuffle.  Set the cards down and stare at the player. 

To pick the lock, the the thief must pick one out of four actions to take - bump (club,) undulate (heart,) rake (diamond,) or probe (spade.)  Three of the actions will further the lock-picking (or trap disarming.)  One of those actions will seize up the lock, or set off the trap.

Example One:
DM sees that the next card is an Undulate (Heart.)
Player: I Probe (Spade) the lock with my lock picks.
DM: (flips over card) You hear a faint 'click' and have passed this stage. On to the next tumbler.

Example Two:
DM sees that the next card is an Undulate (Heart.)
Player: I Undulate (Heart) the lock with my lock picks.
DM: (flips over card) Too bad.  The lock seizes up on you. Game over, dude.

Each lock has a certain amount of cards that determine it's difficulty. A 2d4 roll could easily be used to determine the number of cards, but any amount could be used.  Percentages of success are as follows:

75% - One Card
56% - Two Cards
42% - Three Cards
32% - Four Cards
24% - Five Cards
18% - Six Cards (fyi - roughly equals the chance for a first level thief)
13% - Seven Cards
10% - Eight Cards

As a thief increases in level, their skill would increase as well.  Each level gives the thief the ability to automatically conquer an undisplayed card.  This does not fix a 'seized lock,' it just allows the thief to reduce the number of cards in the stack during play.  A level 2 thief would breeze through a 2 card lock without having to make any guesses.

Traps can be implemented by card values.  For example, all face value cards could be trapped.  If the lock seizes up on a face value card, the lock's trap would spring.  Hilarity ensues.

So, that's it.  Hopefully I've been clear enough.  Comments appreciated.  And thanks to all who came forth with ideas.  Ya'll rock, much like old school does. 

All I need now is a BURP deck. :)

- Ark

Monday, April 25, 2011

Character Sketch - Imbroglio

Actual Photo
Imbroglio is Tim's first level elven fighter in the Razing Zone campaign.  Imbroglio worships the mysterious elven god Faux.  This god is so mysterious that no one on the planet has ever heard of him but Imbroglio.  Faux also talks to Imbroglio.  Often.  The DM is, however, unaware of most of these conversations as they take place inside of Tim's head.

It is rumored that Imbroglio was run out of the elven lands by his own kinsfolk.  Upon meeting Imbroglio, it is understandable why.  Imbroglio has large amount of pamphlets, explaining in full detail why everyone, including you, should worship Faux.  Did I say he has a lot of pamphlets?

Imbroglio runs a traveling road show, developed with the express purpose of spreading Faux's divine message.  The road show is comprised of many people that do not know they are part of the road show.  They just happen to be innocent bystanders.  Imbroglio uses his amazing feats of strength to sway potential devotees by breaking stick on his forehead.  Some say he has hit himself too many times in the head with wood.

Others say he was dropped when he was a baby.  A lot.  And then jumped on.  When I say others, I mean the Boy.

There are many ways that Imbroglio attempts to impress those unblessed with  the knowledge of Faux.  Part of the road show is devoted to wild animal taming.  Imbroglio, through the divine will of his god, causes wild beasts to become tame.  Regretfully, he does not have any wild beasts.  Luckily, he has convinced the halfling thief Ferrit to dress up as a giant wild ferret.  During the show, Ferrit acts wild, then is tamed and does a little jig for the crowd.  Imbroglio is pretty happy with the way things have worked out, except for the fact that Ferrit demands too much of a cut of the meager proceeds earned.

Fearsome Beast
The human lands that Imbroglio frequents are none too kind.  The humans only recognize one god - the Lawgiver.  While most try to be patient with Imbroglio, patience only goes so far. Imbroglio has a habit of making things up, like claiming to kill a dragon when he didn't.  When people have had enough of Imbroglio, they tend to incarcerate him, toss him into oubliettes, beat him senseless, steal all of his possessions, and throw him naked but for a burlap sack, unconscious, into urine filled alleys.  Not many people, including his friends, feel very sorry about Imbroglio's woes.

Despite all of his hardships, Imbroglio remains steadfast, fighting evil in the name of Faux armed with his mighty, and somewhat broken iron pick.  He helps raise his spirits by giving himself titles.  So far, he is now officially known as Imbroglio the Spider Squisher, the Dragon Slayer, the Orc Stinger, the Bee Slasher, and the Dryad Disappearer, and the Jello Snuffer.  Some of those things he didn't actually kill, but he's at least seen them, so he figures they must have died already, or will die at some point in the future.

The DM doesn't expect Imbroglio to last very much longer, but Tim is very hopeful the plucky little elf can go all the way.

- Ark 

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Wisdom

I'd like to congratulate Anthony Hunter on his logo that won the Old School Links To Wisdom Logo Contest.  A high-five goes out to Greg Christopher as well for his entry into the competition. 

Ah, well, it's a bummer to loose - but a temple probably speaks to people more than Calamity Clam the Bivalve of Old School Wisdom anyway. It's nice to see I got some votes on it.  But now, what the heck do I do with this logo thing? 

I figure that since I created it to give away, I should just give it away in the same manner that I did the Old School Rocks! logo.  I'm not sure if anyone wants it, however, or how to package it.  The image to the side over there is one idea.  I could see it on a t-shirt worn by some burly old grognard sitting at a table in a gaming shop.  Growling.  Biting other patrons.

Um . . . okay, maybe not biting, but looking smug.  :)  So, if anyone has any thought on the matter, let me know.

Thanks to everyone who voted!

- Ark

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Doctor Who in Arabic

By Becca at No Smoking in the Skullcave
I spent part of my childhood running up and down the sand-dunes in Saudi Arabia.  To this day, buried deep under the sand near Rahimah, sits a headless Han Solo, an Obi-Wan Kenobi (sans cape but with his light saber,) a transparent yellow and silver headed Micronaut Time Traveller, the reflector dish off the Millennium Falcon, and a fully functional Space 1999 Eagle Transporter.

TV was a hit of miss affair in Saudi, even though we had two TVs.  One was an NTSC set for picking up the ARAMCO station.  It only broadcast 5 or so hours a day - mainly Scooby Doo, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and strange British Cartoons that scar me to this day.

The other TV was a PAL affair, picking up regional broadcasting from Saudi Arabia, and when the humidity was just right, shows from Qatar and Abu Dhabi.  My mother sat glued to the TV in the afternoons watching soap operas from the Emirates.  She had no idea what they were saying, but the male and female leads chain smoked a lot and had an intense staring contests with one another. 

In the evenings we would watch Arabic stations, channel surfing (in the age before remote controls) for something to watch other than pictures of Yassir Arafat.  We could catch BBC shows on occasion.  I remember most started (or was it ended,) with a picture of a fancy building near water and the word 'THAMES' boldly emblazoned on top.  I pronounced it like 'James' with a 'THAY' in the front.  Oh, laugh away, you limey bastards.  You go and try to pronounce the town of Palestine, Texas correctly.  WRONG.  That way you said it in your head just now  WRONG.  Ha!

It was this way I learned about Doctor Who.  It was in black and white.  The good Doctor was a gray-haired man and he had a lovely lady with him named Sarah Jane Smith, and they went on wild and wacky adventures together with dinosaurs, robots, and god-knows-what-else.  They all spoke Arabic, and the show was sub-titled in English.  That was a lot of reading to go through for a kid, I swear!  But it was worth it.

Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen were my firsts.  I eventually moved from Saudi, and this teeth-and-curls guy eventually became my new go-to doctor back in the States, late nights on PBS, but Sarah Jane Smith was my Who-girl for a long, long while (mainly because the PBS in my area refused to get the post Baker Dr. Who's and repeated the 4th Doctor over and over and over again.)

I've tried to let the news settle in the past couple of days.  Elisabeth Sladen's death is rather unsettling.  It seems too soon.  Way too soon.  It wasn't actually ever supposed to happen at all.

- Ark

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

It's a Trap!

I've been going through the various variants on the trap game over the last week, trying to understand how they work and how the versions work, but I've been having some problems.  I'm a bit thick in the head sometimes and I have to chew over a thing like a cow chews its cud.

Eventually I just started to do what I do when my mind really refuses to wrap itself around an issue - I make pictures.  This issue seemed to lend itself to a flowchart.  I am a computer dude, so distilling a problem into a flowchart is something I'm trained to do.  Don't try this at home.  I'm a professional.


The blue shapes indicate the optimum path.  The diamonds are decision points - whether to bump, grind, or whatnot.  Each decision point has 4 answers, but only one right.  So for "Guess 1" the player has a 25 percent chance to guess right, and a 75 percent chance to guess wrong.  I follow the whole flowchart down, determining percentages.  Each main decision gets a 'second chance,' as indicated by the Sticky column.

This, I think, is the basic system distilled.  There are a lot of fancy add-ons, but I think that this is it at the core.  Please let me know if I'm on the right track here.

My big worry was that the system seemed pretty hard to beat, even with second chances.  My math indicated that there is a 6.25% chance of success, and a 93.75% chance of failure in the basic system.  That's a tough nut to crack.  So, if I've got this right, there would need to be other factors making some locks easier, and some characters more capable.  I think there is a good library of these things available now, I just want to make sure that, at this point, I am on firm ground.

So, does this chart make sense?

Thanks.

- Ark

(I updated the flowchart as I noticed a computational error.  All fixed now.)

Monday, April 18, 2011

NTRPGCON and Golf Ball Sized Hail

So I registered for my events at NTRPGCON last week.

Late. 

Cyclopeatron's blog post reminded me.  I had intended on staying up till midnight and signing up.  The thunderstorms rolled in that evening, however.  The golf-ball sized hail smashed the windshield of my car and knocked out power in my neighborhood until the wee hours of the morning - long after I had passed out on the floor next to my computer, surrounded by candles, in a pool of drool, waiting and hoping for power so I could sign up to play D&D with Erol Otus.

I woke up late for work and in that fluster-cluck of a morning, I forgot to sign up until Cyclopeatron reminded me with his post later that day.  Piss. No Erol Otus game. :(

But in it's own Taoist way, the universe has handed the boy and I the perfect NTRPGCON schedule.

Thursday
 
Evening - URUTSK!

After reading Timeshadows' blog for a bit, I still have no idea what the heck UTURSK is, but it seems so cool and mysterious.   I look forward to it.

Friday

Morning - ???


Okay, this one is a little confusing.  The description block goes something like this:

Game Title : ???
Game System : Eldritch Entertainment
Number of Players : 4-6
Pregens/Level of Characters: ?? /??
World Setting: ??
Short Description: ??

Normally, I would have walked on by this one.  However, the name at the top was James M. Ward.  I couldn't get into his Metamorphosis Alpha game.  I think sitting with his for a few hours would be cool all by itself - even if the only thing he did was fold napkins or try to sell me a time-share in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  But a little research told me that Eldritch Entertainment is some kind of start up by Frank Mentzer, Chris Clark, Tim Kask, Jim Ward.  Well.  Again, I don't know what the heck this is, but it kind of sounds like the boy and I get to be guinea pigs for, in the words of Dave Bowman, "Something Wonderful."

Afternoon - ART!

The boy and I get to watch Erol Otus, Paul Jaquays, Jeff Dee, and Jason Braun draw for an hour.  I mean, how cool is that?  To answer my own question - that is BOOYA cool.

Evening - Frank Mentzer

Gaming with Frank.  Nuff said?

Saturday

Saturday is psycho hectic day.  At least for everybody else.  I only scheduled one thing up.  While everyone else is flitting around like crazy, I'm gonna bum around the vendor stalls and pretend I picked up smoking again and find old grognards to hang out with in the parking lot.  I did schedule one thing:

Afternoon - Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game

I think this means that Harley Stroh is going to be play testing the new DCC RPG from Goodman Games.  I hadn't even heard of the product until I saw it mentioned on George Strayton's blog.  Seems like it might be pretty cool.  I get he feeling that the boy is going to like it a whole heck of a lot.  Luckily I have a set of Zocchi dice.

As an aside - have you seen the artists who have worked on the DCC RPG book?  Jeff Easley, Jason Edwards, Tom Galambos, Friedrich Haas, Jim Holloway, Doug Kovacs, Diesel Laforce, William McAusland, Brad McDevitt, Jesse Mohn, Peter Mullen, Erol Otus, Stefan Poag, Jim Roslof, Chad Sergesketter, Chuck Whelon, and Mike Wilson.  Even if the game blows, it would probably be worth it for the art alone!  Holy moly.

Sunday

Morning - OD&D + Spelljammer + Cyclopeatron

I really can't think of a better way to wrap the Con up than with Ochre Jelly in Outer Space and Dave Areson's fashion twin.  Can you?

Let's just hope their are no thunderstorms concealing golfball sized hail over the weekend.  But we'll be safe.  We never have thunderstorms during the spring in Texas.

o.O

- Ark

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Garbage In, Language Out

I once created a program that created languages.  Well, not whole languages, just the words.  There may have been many inspirations for it, but I can only remember two of them.

The first was a Dragon magazine article that I've never been able to remember the name of or find again.  The article contained a good bit of detail on creating languages, and brought to my attention the components that made a language 'soft' or 'hard,' and went on to create, if I remember correctly, to start an elven and orcish lexicon based on those principles.  Fascinating article that I haven't seen for 25 years or so.

The second was the Vargr supplement for Traveller.  The Vargr were an uplifted star-faring canine race.  In the supplement were tables to enable the referee to generate random Vargr words.  Using the system, you could create a bunch of noises that sounded somewhat like growls and barks, but was completely serviceable for naming your wolf-man characters, their starships, and worlds.  It was really neat.

I figured I could take my Commodore 64 and write a program that spat out randomized words based on sound chunks that gave all of the words a certain feel.  I was successful, and have rewritten program many times on many different platforms, whenever I remembered what I had done and felt a need for it again.  Some versions were really complex, some incredibly simple.  All fit a need.

The current version I have is in Visual Basic Script - so it will work on just about any Windows type box.  If anyone is interested, I have it available here. Simply download it and unzip the directory.  You don't have to know butkus about programming to run it, or adjust the important bits.

RatherGameyWordCreator.vbs is the script.  You can usually just double-click it to make it run.  It reads in the SoundFile.txt, which is comprised of one sound per line.  The script them randomizes the sounds into variable length words and spits them out in a file called Word.txt.

I have a couple of example sound files that you can play with, just rename them or copy the contents to Soundfile.txt and let 'er rip. Create your own collections of sounds and create your own languages.  It's fun!  Well, geeky fun, but still - fun!

For the lazy, I'm copying the content of the script here so you can peruse it.  There are lots of variables up at the top you can tweak to adjust the lengths of words, the amount generated, etc.  It's a pretty simple program, and smarty-farty programmers could probably improve it a thousand fold.

I release this script to you as open source - so open source that it ain't even BSD or GNU.  It's just yours.  Run wild. ;)

'
' RatherGameyWordCreator.vbs
' Makes Words from SoundFile.txt
' Writes them to Words.xt
'
Option Explicit
RANDOMIZE

Dim FileSystemObjectInput, InputFileName, InputFile, InputFileLine
Dim FileSystemObjectOutput, OutputFileName, OutputFile
Dim RandomSound, RandomLength, SoundMax, SoundMin, LengthMax, LengthMin, Word
Dim NumberOfWords, Count, i, j
Dim Sounds()

Count = 0
NumberOfWords = 10
SoundMin = 0
LengthMax = 6
LengthMin = 1

InputFileName = "SoundFile.txt"
OutputFileName = "Words.txt"

Set FileSystemObjectInput = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

If FileSystemObjectInput.FileExists(InputFileName) Then
 Set InputFile = FileSystemObjectInput.OpenTextFile(InputFileName, 1)
  Do While Not InputFile.AtEndOfStream
   InputFileLine = InputFile.ReadLine
    If Trim(InputFileLine) <> "" Then
      Redim Preserve Sounds(Count)
      Sounds(Count) = InputFileLine
      Count = Count + 1
    End If
  Loop
 InputFile.Close
Else
 WScript.Echo "The sound file was not there. Please create SoundFile.txt"
End If

Set FileSystemObjectOutput = CreateObject("Scripting.fileSystemObject")
Set OutputFile = FileSystemObjectOutput.CreateTextFile(OutputFileName, TRUE)

SoundMax=Count-1

For i = 1 To NumberOfWords
 RandomLength = (Int((LengthMax-LengthMin+1)*Rnd+LengthMin))
 For j = 1 To RandomLength
  RandomSound = Sounds(Int((SoundMax-SoundMin+1)*Rnd+SoundMin))
  If Word = "" Then
   Word = RandomSound
  Else
   Word = Word & "-" & RandomSound
  End If
 Next
 OutputFile.WriteLine(Word)
 Word=""
Next

OutputFile.Close
Set FileSystemObjectOutput = Nothing
WScript.Quit(0)

- Ark