Gerd's Lucky Charm is a 2" diameter ivory circle, with a simple leather cord running through a hole in the charm. It's magic effect only works when worn around the neck. On one side, the name Gerd is carved into the surface, on the opposite side, Lucky. It appears to be written in the character's main language. If the character can't read, then they know it's Gerd's Lucky Charm, but not how to activate the effect.
If the charm is touched, and the character says, "I need some luck.", or something similar, a modifier of 1 is applied to their next roll. If they need to roll higher than a target number, then it's added. If they need to roll lower than the target number, then it's subtracted. Any damage inflicted is increased by one. There is no limit to the number of times a day this ability can be used.
However, if the character doesn't use Gerd's Lucky Charm for an entire day, then the next day is a cursed one. For every roll the character has to make, a modifier of 2 is applied. If they need to roll higher than the target number, then it's subtracted. If they need to roll lower than the target number, then it's added. Any damage inflicted is reduced by 2. It doesn't matter if the player tries to activate it's normal luck bonus, the day will be an unlucky one.
If a character dies due to an unlucky roll, the charm will disappear. It has teleported to a random location.
The next day, after a cursed, unlucky day, the charm's effect returns to normal. If the luck isn't used that day, then the next unlucky day, the modifier is raised to 3. This will continue until the unlucky modifier reaches 6. If it isn't used the day after reaching the modifier of six, it teleports away. Gerd's Lucky Charm wants to be used for luck.
Only one Gerd's Lucky Charm exists.
NOTE: The modifiers can be changed to fit into whatever rule set you use.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Rip Van Zanazaz
After I returned from the hospital yesterday I took a nap after have been awake for almost 24 hours. So after 3 and a half hours I got up, deciding it was best to try and get back to a normal sleep cycle.
So last night I went to bed around 11 PM, and luckily I went to sleep, well I guess it wasn't luck, I was exhausted. So I awake a few times, once at 4:30ish AM, and thought about getting up, but decided I needed a couple more hours of sleep. And so it went... until slightly after 3 PM. So I slept 16 hours? UGH. Not exactly what I had in mind. Sure it's not 20 years, but I've got things to do.
Hopefully, I'll be able to fall asleep tonight at a decent hour, and get my sleep schedule back to normal. For now, I've got some mundane things to do, but later I'm going to either work on my zine, or get up a blog post with cooler content. Maybe both.
Anyone else have screwed up sleeping schedules? What did you do to get back to normal?
So last night I went to bed around 11 PM, and luckily I went to sleep, well I guess it wasn't luck, I was exhausted. So I awake a few times, once at 4:30ish AM, and thought about getting up, but decided I needed a couple more hours of sleep. And so it went... until slightly after 3 PM. So I slept 16 hours? UGH. Not exactly what I had in mind. Sure it's not 20 years, but I've got things to do.
Hopefully, I'll be able to fall asleep tonight at a decent hour, and get my sleep schedule back to normal. For now, I've got some mundane things to do, but later I'm going to either work on my zine, or get up a blog post with cooler content. Maybe both.
Anyone else have screwed up sleeping schedules? What did you do to get back to normal?
Monday, October 15, 2012
Monday = Meh...
A quick post about nothing much. After a sleepless night, and doing a little work on the zine, I know it's going to be a long morning. I have a follow up appointment at the hospital at 9 AM, where I'm sure all the doctors are going to do is look at me, and say, "Your doing fine...". Hopefully, it will be the last follow up.
When I get home, my plan is to stay up, so I can try to get my schedule back to normal. Hopefully, that will work, if not I'll try again tomorrow.
On a gaming note I read a post on Propnomicon, about a faux clay tablet that he made for a Halloween game. I think something similar would make a great prop for a RPG session.
I'm looking for an artist or two for my zine. If you're an aspiring gaming artist please contact me. The pay won't be great, but it is experience, and you do get a couple of free copies of the zine. Right now I need a cover, and probably a couple of illustrations, once I decide on the subject of the articles.
Also, I may sell ad space, and have classifieds. So if you're a blogger, publisher, whatever, please contact me. I haven't worked out all the details, but something like the back page will probably be $8 an issue, but that includes a copy of the zine the as appears in, so not that bad. Classifieds will probably be really inexpensive. Again this is all tentative and subject to change.
I hope everyone has a great week.
When I get home, my plan is to stay up, so I can try to get my schedule back to normal. Hopefully, that will work, if not I'll try again tomorrow.
On a gaming note I read a post on Propnomicon, about a faux clay tablet that he made for a Halloween game. I think something similar would make a great prop for a RPG session.
I'm looking for an artist or two for my zine. If you're an aspiring gaming artist please contact me. The pay won't be great, but it is experience, and you do get a couple of free copies of the zine. Right now I need a cover, and probably a couple of illustrations, once I decide on the subject of the articles.
Also, I may sell ad space, and have classifieds. So if you're a blogger, publisher, whatever, please contact me. I haven't worked out all the details, but something like the back page will probably be $8 an issue, but that includes a copy of the zine the as appears in, so not that bad. Classifieds will probably be really inexpensive. Again this is all tentative and subject to change.
I hope everyone has a great week.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
All Your Pageview Belong to US!
So I was checking my stats, when all of the sudden they all disappeared. Except for the ones from today. They're all gone. Now, it's not that big a deal, but in a way it meant something. I was on my way to 20,000 page views. Now I have... 22. Oh well...
Did this happen to anyone else?
UPDATE: The correct stats came back. I should have known that would happen.
Did this happen to anyone else?
UPDATE: The correct stats came back. I should have known that would happen.
A Simple Sunday
Not much going on today, just been reading blogs. Thinking about gaming, and what's next. I'm really at a crossroads in my life, and it's time to move on with things.
Writing posts set in what I call the Kinship Universe is a lot of fun. I have yet to run any sort of game set in Kinship, but eventually I will. The trick was deciding what game system to use. For now, I've decided on GURPS 4E, because it seems the best suited to the task. I'm sure Hero System would work as well, and maybe it's even a little more flexible than GURPS in creating certain kinds of characters, but I'll probably stick with GURPS.
Now if I run something online, I might need to choose a different rule set. I've been thinking about one of the OGL games, like d6, or something in the public domain, but more research is needed. If I pick an OGL system, I would definitely customize it for Kinship. It would be a rule system with a real Kinship flavor.
I was reading a blog post lapsus calumni, and Matt Jackson discusses The Descriptive System. You can download it from RPGNow. I haven't read it yet, but to me it would seem a little too simple for what I want. Even for a PbP game on a blog. Yes, It's interesting, and something I'm interested in, but for some games and settings, you want a little more UMPH!
Now if I publish a Kinship book, I'm leaning towards making it a generic campaign setting. Why? I really don't want to have to worry about legal issues. I'm still thinking about this, and of course things may change. Also, while I want it to be a gaming resource, a campaign setting, I want it to be entertaining. Basically, something a gamer would enjoy reading, even if they never use it for a game.
Since I'm brainstorming right now, for some reason play by mail popped into my head. Back in the day, I did a bit, but it was always frustrating waiting for turn results to come in. I wonder if anyone is interested in it anymore? Probably not... Computers are so much faster.
Also, I'm starting to work on a digest sized zine. I co-published a fanzine back in the day, and Christian of destination unknown has inspired me to throw my hat into the zine ring once again. If you haven't checked it out, I strongly recommend you pick up an issue of Loviatar. I forgot, Christian is taking a hiatus from Loviatar, but you can still purchase back issues.
For now my gaming zine will be published quarterly, with the first issue out in January. More on this later...
Enough rambling for now, I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Writing posts set in what I call the Kinship Universe is a lot of fun. I have yet to run any sort of game set in Kinship, but eventually I will. The trick was deciding what game system to use. For now, I've decided on GURPS 4E, because it seems the best suited to the task. I'm sure Hero System would work as well, and maybe it's even a little more flexible than GURPS in creating certain kinds of characters, but I'll probably stick with GURPS.
Now if I run something online, I might need to choose a different rule set. I've been thinking about one of the OGL games, like d6, or something in the public domain, but more research is needed. If I pick an OGL system, I would definitely customize it for Kinship. It would be a rule system with a real Kinship flavor.
I was reading a blog post lapsus calumni, and Matt Jackson discusses The Descriptive System. You can download it from RPGNow. I haven't read it yet, but to me it would seem a little too simple for what I want. Even for a PbP game on a blog. Yes, It's interesting, and something I'm interested in, but for some games and settings, you want a little more UMPH!
Now if I publish a Kinship book, I'm leaning towards making it a generic campaign setting. Why? I really don't want to have to worry about legal issues. I'm still thinking about this, and of course things may change. Also, while I want it to be a gaming resource, a campaign setting, I want it to be entertaining. Basically, something a gamer would enjoy reading, even if they never use it for a game.
Since I'm brainstorming right now, for some reason play by mail popped into my head. Back in the day, I did a bit, but it was always frustrating waiting for turn results to come in. I wonder if anyone is interested in it anymore? Probably not... Computers are so much faster.
Also, I'm starting to work on a digest sized zine. I co-published a fanzine back in the day, and Christian of destination unknown has inspired me to throw my hat into the zine ring once again. If you haven't checked it out, I strongly recommend you pick up an issue of Loviatar. I forgot, Christian is taking a hiatus from Loviatar, but you can still purchase back issues.
For now my gaming zine will be published quarterly, with the first issue out in January. More on this later...
Enough rambling for now, I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
[ Kinship ] Mr. Wrinkles
It was a normal day, or at least what passes for normal in Kinship, when Mr. Wrinkles fell from the sky, and landed on Main Street. Almost everyone who saw what had happened had thought that the creature was dead. He was oozing some kind of substance, and although several people tried to move it, the creature was too slippery. In fact, one touch was more than enough for most people. Even gloves didn't help get a grip on the strange creature.
Whatever it was, it was small, had a vague human shape, was gray and very wrinkled. Hence the name, Mr. Wrinkles. As far as anyone could tell, Mr. Wrinkles was also naked. There was what appeared to be some sort of white purse or pouch that hangs by a strap around his neck, but no visible way to open it was seen.
Mr. Wrinkles had no eyes, no ears, and something vaguely resembling a mouth that ran vertically up half it's misshapen head. Instead of arms, Mr. Wrinkles had tentacles. Not like an octopus, or squid, there are no suckers. The legs were sort of like an elephant's, and not as wrinkled as the rest of the body. A very odd creature indeed.
A few hours after it "landed" it sat up, and appeared to be looking around, even though it had no eyes. Standing up, it began walking around aimlessly, and a few townsfolk tried to talk to it. Apparently it can't talk, or didn't understand anyone. All attempts at communication have so far failed.
Some of the townsfolk thought that it should be captured, but the Sheriff vetoed that idea. Mr. Wrinkles wasn't causing any trouble, and was to be left alone. Soon after awakening, Mr. Wrinkles walked out of town. There's still a stain at the landing spot.
Mr. Wrinkles occasionally walks back into town, and it's behavior is at times very odd. It will sit on a curb for hours on end, come rain or shine. Extreme weather doesn't seem to bother Mr. Wrinkles. Sometimes Mr. Wrinkles will pull something out of the pouch to look at. People have seen him with a corncob pipe, a small metal disc, and a mess of what looks like tangled wires.
Mr. Wrinkles doesn't appear to be hostile. It's appetite is strange, and can eat just about any plant or animal matter. Mr. Wrinkles seems to enjoy corn, even the cob! Which is a good thing, we have plenty of corn around here. At times Mr. Wrinkles seems sad...
I would attempt to communicate with Mr. Wrinkles with my telepathy, but...
Excerpt from Number Five's Journal
Mr. Wrinkles ( GURPS 4E NPC )
[ 278 Points ]
Age: Unknown 2' 100 lbs. SM -3
ST 15 [ 50 ], DX 11 [20], IQ 8 [ -40 ], HT 20 [ 100 ]
HP 20, Will 8, Per 8, FP 20
Basic Lift 45 lbs., Damage: Thrust 1d+1/Swing 2d+1
Basic Speed 7.75, Basic Move 7;
Dodge 10, Parry 11 ( club ), Block -;
DR 10.
Advantages & Perks Cost: 207
360° Vision [ 25 ], Ambidexterity [ 5 ], Damage Resistance/ +10 [ 50 ],
Doesn't Breathe/Oxygen Absorption [ 15 ], Flexible Arms [10 ],
Hard to Kill/ 10 Levels [ 20 ], Hyperspectral Vision [ 25 ],
Injury Tolerance/ No Eyes [ 5 ],
Regeneration/ Slow 1 HP per 12 Hours [10 ],
Slippery/ 5 Levels [ 10 ], Stretching ( arms only )/ 5 Levels [ 24 ],
Temperature Tolerance/ 8 Levels [ 8 ], Universal Digestion [ 5 ]
Disadvantages & Quirks Cost: 91
Appearance/Hideous [ -16 ], Cannot Speak/Mute [ -25 ]
Colorblindness [ -10 ], Increased Consumption/ 1 level [ -10 ],
Innumerate [ -5 ], No Sense of Humor [ -10 ],
No Sense of Smell or Taste [ -5 ], Unusual Biochemistry [ -5 ],
Broad Minded [ -1 ], Sexless [ -1 ], Odd Behavior [ -1 ],
Eats Odd Things [ -1 ], Wanders Aimlessly [ -1 ]
Skills Cost: 32
Brawling – 14 [ 8 ], Gesture – 10 [ 4 ],
Melee Weapon/ Axe/Mace – 15 [ 16 ],
Stealth -12 [ 4 ]
Possessions
White Pouch: Corn cob pipe, metal disc 3" in diameter, tangled ball of wire, one square foot of burlap, and several small stones
Ognritle, Og for short, was a simple laborer on it's home world. One day while working in the Vlaph Field ( Vlaph is a vegetable plant ), a strange vehicle flew down from the sky, and attacked. Knocked unconcious, Og was abducted, and taken offworld. What happened next is a mystery. Og awoke on a strange world.
Life on this world is strange. The creatures are huge, and some are very strange and hostile. Some desire to eat him. Some seem concerned about him. No matter how hard Og tries, communicating with the creatures is very difficult, and mostly impossible.
It's not all bad here. Og doesn't have to work. Og enjoys the food here, it's texture is wonderful, especially the elongated, bumpy vegetable. Og sometimes fights the hostile creatures when the good creatures need help. But mostly Og wants to go home.
Whatever it was, it was small, had a vague human shape, was gray and very wrinkled. Hence the name, Mr. Wrinkles. As far as anyone could tell, Mr. Wrinkles was also naked. There was what appeared to be some sort of white purse or pouch that hangs by a strap around his neck, but no visible way to open it was seen.
Mr. Wrinkles had no eyes, no ears, and something vaguely resembling a mouth that ran vertically up half it's misshapen head. Instead of arms, Mr. Wrinkles had tentacles. Not like an octopus, or squid, there are no suckers. The legs were sort of like an elephant's, and not as wrinkled as the rest of the body. A very odd creature indeed.
A few hours after it "landed" it sat up, and appeared to be looking around, even though it had no eyes. Standing up, it began walking around aimlessly, and a few townsfolk tried to talk to it. Apparently it can't talk, or didn't understand anyone. All attempts at communication have so far failed.
Some of the townsfolk thought that it should be captured, but the Sheriff vetoed that idea. Mr. Wrinkles wasn't causing any trouble, and was to be left alone. Soon after awakening, Mr. Wrinkles walked out of town. There's still a stain at the landing spot.
Mr. Wrinkles occasionally walks back into town, and it's behavior is at times very odd. It will sit on a curb for hours on end, come rain or shine. Extreme weather doesn't seem to bother Mr. Wrinkles. Sometimes Mr. Wrinkles will pull something out of the pouch to look at. People have seen him with a corncob pipe, a small metal disc, and a mess of what looks like tangled wires.
Mr. Wrinkles doesn't appear to be hostile. It's appetite is strange, and can eat just about any plant or animal matter. Mr. Wrinkles seems to enjoy corn, even the cob! Which is a good thing, we have plenty of corn around here. At times Mr. Wrinkles seems sad...
I would attempt to communicate with Mr. Wrinkles with my telepathy, but...
Excerpt from Number Five's Journal
Mr. Wrinkles ( GURPS 4E NPC )
[ 278 Points ]
Age: Unknown 2' 100 lbs. SM -3
ST 15 [ 50 ], DX 11 [20], IQ 8 [ -40 ], HT 20 [ 100 ]
HP 20, Will 8, Per 8, FP 20
Basic Lift 45 lbs., Damage: Thrust 1d+1/Swing 2d+1
Basic Speed 7.75, Basic Move 7;
Dodge 10, Parry 11 ( club ), Block -;
DR 10.
Advantages & Perks Cost: 207
360° Vision [ 25 ], Ambidexterity [ 5 ], Damage Resistance/ +10 [ 50 ],
Doesn't Breathe/Oxygen Absorption [ 15 ], Flexible Arms [10 ],
Hard to Kill/ 10 Levels [ 20 ], Hyperspectral Vision [ 25 ],
Injury Tolerance/ No Eyes [ 5 ],
Regeneration/ Slow 1 HP per 12 Hours [10 ],
Slippery/ 5 Levels [ 10 ], Stretching ( arms only )/ 5 Levels [ 24 ],
Temperature Tolerance/ 8 Levels [ 8 ], Universal Digestion [ 5 ]
Disadvantages & Quirks Cost: 91
Appearance/Hideous [ -16 ], Cannot Speak/Mute [ -25 ]
Colorblindness [ -10 ], Increased Consumption/ 1 level [ -10 ],
Innumerate [ -5 ], No Sense of Humor [ -10 ],
No Sense of Smell or Taste [ -5 ], Unusual Biochemistry [ -5 ],
Broad Minded [ -1 ], Sexless [ -1 ], Odd Behavior [ -1 ],
Eats Odd Things [ -1 ], Wanders Aimlessly [ -1 ]
Skills Cost: 32
Brawling – 14 [ 8 ], Gesture – 10 [ 4 ],
Melee Weapon/ Axe/Mace – 15 [ 16 ],
Stealth -12 [ 4 ]
Possessions
White Pouch: Corn cob pipe, metal disc 3" in diameter, tangled ball of wire, one square foot of burlap, and several small stones
Ognritle, Og for short, was a simple laborer on it's home world. One day while working in the Vlaph Field ( Vlaph is a vegetable plant ), a strange vehicle flew down from the sky, and attacked. Knocked unconcious, Og was abducted, and taken offworld. What happened next is a mystery. Og awoke on a strange world.
Life on this world is strange. The creatures are huge, and some are very strange and hostile. Some desire to eat him. Some seem concerned about him. No matter how hard Og tries, communicating with the creatures is very difficult, and mostly impossible.
It's not all bad here. Og doesn't have to work. Og enjoys the food here, it's texture is wonderful, especially the elongated, bumpy vegetable. Og sometimes fights the hostile creatures when the good creatures need help. But mostly Og wants to go home.
Friday, October 12, 2012
On Reading Blogs & More...
As I was writing my post yesterday, I got off topic. I wanted to write about how certain television shows influence or inspire your gaming, but I got so wrapped up discussing Supernatural I forgot all about that topic, and... well, hopefully it wasn't too boring. I would have kept the hammer...
Porky mentioned in a comment on a previous post about some sort of online gaming in Kinship. Until I get better bandwidth, I can't do anything on Google+. A PbP game on a blog might work, but last time I put forth the idea, no one really seemed interested, which is okay. It didn't bother me at all. I'm still thinking about this, and need to work on the idea some more. So stay tuned...
I continue discussing Rolemaster Unified on the ICE Forums. At times this has become frustrating, but hopefully something good will come of it. I like the rules, which aren't perfect, but most rule sets aren't, otherwise people wouldn't write their own house rules.
I've really enjoyed getting back to reading all the gaming blogs. To save time, I've become a bit more selective in my reading, but I try to skim almost all of the ones I follow, and a few I don't follow.
Usually, I like to have some kind of graphic element to my blog posts, but I can't seem to upload anything. I'm not sure what's changed, but even if it took a while, I could still get things uploaded. Not anymore...
Finally, I leave you with another magic item...
[ Magic Item ] A Delightful Mug
This clay mug appears ordinary, and somewhat used. At first glance, if this mug is found in a dungeon it might be overlooked, but if some sort of detect magic spell is used on it, it's magical nature is revealed.
When a liquid is put in the mug, it is changed into the user's favorite beverage. This beverage will be the best the user has ever tasted! Unfortunately, if the liquid is poured out, and not consumed, then it reverts to the original liquid.
However, the mug is cursed. Whenever a drink is taken, the character must make a saving throw versus magic, or fall victim to the curse. If they fail the saving throw they will become enamored of the mug, and will take it with them everywhere. The character will think that the mug is the best thing ever, and when not doing anything else, will hold the mug, caressing it, and talk to it, as they drink from it. They will display it proudly in their home, and show it off to people. Eventually, it's all the character can think about, and they will even stop eating, and only drink from the mug.
If one person is cursed by the mug, and another person drinks from the mug, and is cursed as well, then they will fight over the ownership of the mug. The fight will continue until the mug is destroyed, the curse removed from one of the characters, or one of the characters is dead.
Only some sort of dispel magic or remove curse spell will get rid of the curse. If the mug is smashed the character will become depressed for 1d10 days, and not want to do anything. They will try to repair the mug, but after the period of depression they will forget about the mug.
An unknown number of these delightful mugs were produced, and it's unknown exactly why they were produced.
Porky mentioned in a comment on a previous post about some sort of online gaming in Kinship. Until I get better bandwidth, I can't do anything on Google+. A PbP game on a blog might work, but last time I put forth the idea, no one really seemed interested, which is okay. It didn't bother me at all. I'm still thinking about this, and need to work on the idea some more. So stay tuned...
I continue discussing Rolemaster Unified on the ICE Forums. At times this has become frustrating, but hopefully something good will come of it. I like the rules, which aren't perfect, but most rule sets aren't, otherwise people wouldn't write their own house rules.
I've really enjoyed getting back to reading all the gaming blogs. To save time, I've become a bit more selective in my reading, but I try to skim almost all of the ones I follow, and a few I don't follow.
Usually, I like to have some kind of graphic element to my blog posts, but I can't seem to upload anything. I'm not sure what's changed, but even if it took a while, I could still get things uploaded. Not anymore...
Finally, I leave you with another magic item...
[ Magic Item ] A Delightful Mug
This clay mug appears ordinary, and somewhat used. At first glance, if this mug is found in a dungeon it might be overlooked, but if some sort of detect magic spell is used on it, it's magical nature is revealed.
When a liquid is put in the mug, it is changed into the user's favorite beverage. This beverage will be the best the user has ever tasted! Unfortunately, if the liquid is poured out, and not consumed, then it reverts to the original liquid.
However, the mug is cursed. Whenever a drink is taken, the character must make a saving throw versus magic, or fall victim to the curse. If they fail the saving throw they will become enamored of the mug, and will take it with them everywhere. The character will think that the mug is the best thing ever, and when not doing anything else, will hold the mug, caressing it, and talk to it, as they drink from it. They will display it proudly in their home, and show it off to people. Eventually, it's all the character can think about, and they will even stop eating, and only drink from the mug.
If one person is cursed by the mug, and another person drinks from the mug, and is cursed as well, then they will fight over the ownership of the mug. The fight will continue until the mug is destroyed, the curse removed from one of the characters, or one of the characters is dead.
Only some sort of dispel magic or remove curse spell will get rid of the curse. If the mug is smashed the character will become depressed for 1d10 days, and not want to do anything. They will try to repair the mug, but after the period of depression they will forget about the mug.
An unknown number of these delightful mugs were produced, and it's unknown exactly why they were produced.
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