RPG a day 14

Best convention purchase: I have been to half a dozen anime conventions, one steampunk convention, but never a gaming convention. As for the conventions I have been, to I really like my LastWear Neo-Hakama pants (sadly they are out of business), there are just far too few opportunities wear it.

Random tables for you on clothing

Multiple Clothing Styles (d4) 1. Everyone wears the same thing 2. Class distinction in clothing 3. Gender distinction in clothing 4. Class and gender distinctions	Clothing Material (d6) roll 1d2 times 1. leather 2. cotton (d2 1 fine/ 2 corse) 3. linnen 4. felt 5. wool 6. unusual fabric	Clothing Cut (d4) 1. loose cut 2. fitted 3. bifurcated 4. un-bifurcated
Clothing Patterns (d12) 1. small border patterns only 2.muted Large central patterns 3.muted all over patterns 4.vibrant large central patterns 5.vibrant all over patterns 6.wild clashing patterns 7.nature patterns 8.no patterns 9.gradient patterns 10.embroidered patterns only 11. roll twice 12. roll for specific symbol here	Clothing Traits (d8) 1. revealing 2. conservative 3.vests 4. pleats 5. gathers 6. tied 7. clasped 8. asymmetrical	Clothing Colors (d6) roll 1d2 times 1. tans 2. browns 3. blacks 4. off white 5. 1d2 bright colors 6. 1d6 bright colors Bright colors (d6) 1. red 2. yellow 3. orange 4. blue 5. green 6. purple

Favorite RPG Accessory:

My favorite right now is my newest. The RPG bookmarks set shown above. Good bookmarks are a lot of fun.

RPG a day 13

Most memorable character death: Most of the time I have played as the Dungeon Master and really I have no most memorable death of my characters. When young we rotated through characters so frequently they rarely saw a second adventure and many survived by the fact alone.

Favorite RPG Podcast: I don't really listen to many, but I have enjoyed the the Acquisitions Incorporated Podcasts.

As todays questions don't really provoke anything very interesting here is a map I am creating for a new campaign. The Bellflower and Bamboo is my tentative title.

This the the political map, I am still working a bit on it. The legends are ugly still and the terrain and names have yet to be added. As this is a vector file, I also have a ton of data on trade, exports, imports etc on another layer. So here is another view of some layers of the file, I am also trying to develop the architecture, clothing, adventures etc. I have a randomly generated feature per hex. (Hex's are 72 mile hexes and could further be broken down into 6 mile hexes as needed.

Imports and Exports listed as red and blue icons, the relationships of where they would export to are then mapped. The composite trade routes would be next. What each nation produces influences their behavior, style, and what is going on.

RPG a Day 12

Old RPG you still play/ read: I have mentioned it before, West End Games Star Wars D6 system comes out every few years to read or play.

Favorite RPG illustration: This is a hard question as I like a lot of different styles and artworks. Larry Elmore and the red dragon cover of the Basic set was one of the first that really captured my imagination.

Others are numerous and varied. I have a ton favorited on Deviantart, and I lurked a ton around elfwood back in the day before deviant art (which is still kicking around apparently).

RPG a Day 11

Weirdest RPG owned: Maid RPG, not because of strange alien vistas or bizarre rules, but just a very different mind set. First of all, it is more Slapstick comedy as genre which is weird for an RPG. Secondly it is the parody of the concept of French Maids in Japanese culture, translated to english. Which is a bit brain twisting if you haven't watched a lot of Japanese Anime etc.

Which for my kids won't be an issue given they want to go as Naruto, Hinata and Sakura for halloween.

Sora trying on a Sakura costume

after making a mess in the front room.

Favorite RPG writer: Monte Cook ranks up there. His Numenera setting and his alternate players handbook in arcana evolved is amazing. Kamiya-sensei also has some great RPG's that have recently been translated to english. Golden Sky Stories is one I am working on playing with my kids.

RPG a Day 10

Favorite tie-in Novel / Game Fiction: I really like the Eliminster books. I do realize he is quite a Mary Sue character, but fun nonetheless. Lord of the Rings, not so much a ti-in novel but the basis for multiple RPG's has never made the transition well. Lord of the Rings is just not the kind of setting I have felt comfortable messing with, and the reverse is true. With the exception of Dungeons and Dragons books and Legend of Zelda Manga, I have never really been a fan of game first then book second type media tie-ins. Not sure why that is.

Favorite RPG publisher: I don't have strong feelings either way. I am at a point I identify with the creator's more than the publisher. Having said that, one of the biggest ways a publisher is able to differentiate themselves (the designer being in charge of content) is layout design and graphics direction.

While Paizo and Wizards use many of the same artists, I am more impressed with the art direction of Wizards more than Paizo. I also must say Monte Cook's works are lovely is both art and design. Other books are wonderful with minimal artwork, but pleasing layout. Red and Pleasant Land has both wonderful unique art and beautiful layout and design, while Yoon-Suin the Purple Land is not nearly as well laid out or visually appealing. Primeval Thule is a mixed bag in terms of design. Their choice of background saturation and header fonts confuse me at times.

So long story short. For evaluating designers I look at game content and mechanics, for publishers I look at layout design and graphics. Not that the graphics need be expensive or detailed, just evocative of the setting, theme, or content. So perhaps Paizo is correct in picking art of overloaded characters with fiddly bits everywhere, as that is representative of the complexity, equipment stacking, and bulk of the 3.75 system.

Rpg a Day 9

Favorite Dice/ Set: My recent favorites have to be some custom six sided dice. Two from the Table Top indigogo campaign, and a dozen from the OVA kickstarter.

OVA: Open Versatile Animation RPG

Favorite Media you wish were an RPG: There are so many systems any media could be put into a game system really. As for a licensed version, The legend of Zelda would make for a very fun tabletop Roleplaying Game. Perhaps one that allows solo play, as most are not really suited single player.

RPG a Day 8

Favorite Character: Oh boy. I am quite fond of Dex the Dormant my current Wizard in 5e.  Fond of sleeping in trees, he is an acrobatic wizard wearing pants not a robe and mostly having stole his instruction in magic by hiding in rafters of wizards as a street urchin. In my background, while an orphan I am somehow related to someone with a symbol of an opinicus dormant.

So of interest on the Opinicus:

Image from wikimedia

From Wikipedia: A type of griffin with the four legs of a lion was distinguished by perhaps only one English herald of later heraldry as the Opinicus where it also had a camel-like neck and a short tail that almost resembles a camel's tail.

From Mythology Wikia: An heraldic opinicus is shown as a male creature, whereas the winged griffin is female.

From Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: An opinicus appears to be a mixture of monkey, camel, lion, and eagle, with prehensile forepaws.

From Me: In my game I would run it as a combination of the above. the description of monkey, camel, lion and eagle. But I would make it the male counterpart of the griffin, where mating happens rarely and most of the time they live apart. While the female griffin are proud warriors, the male opinicus is a creature of magic and perceptive thought. Both speak the same language but only the males have a written language, which is written with their prehensile monkey tails. The griffins have instead a sign language and limited memory transfer abilities.

Another Aside:

Previous to that character, as in back in junior high and early high school. I had created a large family tree of Jedi for a Star Trek/Star Wars crossover adventure using West End Games Star Wars D6 ruleset, of whom I made a pair of twins to play as I was the game master (it is hard to play with only one other player, my brother). While the campaign consisted mostly of making up our own story lines and arguing about stats for ships, the characters were interesting. Even if we changed their names several times.


Favorite Appearance of RPG’s in media: Tough one. Perhaps Dungeons and Dragons in E.T. I didn't even remember it as a salient feature, it was just obvious. Until years later when re watching it and I realized it was an unusual reference.