29 December, 2016

Against the Grain: Quit Bitching about 2016

Posted by blackcampbell under General Ramblings
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“2016 is the worst year ever!” “Can we just get 2016 over with?” “Person of the year, 2016: The Grim Reaper”

STOP IT.

55.3 million people or so died this year. A few dozen happened to be celebrities. Some were people whose work I and others really liked, like Alan Rickman. Others played iconic characters, like Carrie Fisher; or were instrumental in musical trend like David Bowie or all? most? of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.

But it’s highly unlikely most of you knew these people. Like the other 55.3 million, you never met them, or if you did, it was a singular encounter or two. You’re not mourning the other millions, nor should you mourn these folks, either.

Yes, some of them were good folks. Some were highly talented, creative, or prolific, and you still can enjoy their works. To paraphrase a character played by another dead celebrity, “They’re not really dead, so long as we remember them…”

This isn’t the worst year ever. We haven’t had the Soviet pogroms this year. Nor “the Final Solution” (and no, Trump isn’t bringing that back. But if he does, I’m sure he’ll tell us it’ll be big and beautiful; just ask everyone…) No Black Plague — hell, no polio. You can swim in most of the water in the US, despite the DAPL protesters. I remember when the creeks and rivers where I grew up were red and foamy with chemicals — thanks, Pfeizer! That’s pretty unusual today. The skies are not blackened from industry, unless you live in China.

The world’s poverty level is falling, even in crapholes like Africa and India. Many of us work less, have more, and are unlikely to be murdered by our government or neighbors than ever before.

Actually, 2016 — for many people outside of Hollywood — has trundling along about the same or a little better than past years.

 

29 December, 2016

Campaign Planning: Dungeons & Dragons

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Okay…so the universe has been signaling I should run a D&D campaign for a few months now. First, I get a set of the 5th edition books for free; their original owner didn’t want them. Next, there’s a crap ton of people on the local Meetup looking to play, to the point there’s two full groups on Thursday. The guy heading up the Meetup group (who also gave me the books) asks me if i want to step in and run a game for the Meetup. I mention this in passing on Facef#$k and to a few friends. Suddenly, I’ve got about 5-6 people who are interested, and a few of my long term gamers telling me they’re interested in how I would do fantasy… Other incidents conspire to say, “Hey, why don’t you run a D&D game?”

Me: I haven’t run it since 1984 for a reason…I did the epic game back then, it was awesome, but I don’t much care for d20 or fantasy…go away, universe.

Then I read the books. Oh, says I, it’s AD&D, but with some nice fixes. Sure, it’s still got classes and alignments (really!?!) and AC and HP, but now I’m nostalgic for those time when we (no, fooling) played D&D in my friend’s basement (they had a bar setup; it was cool…) or Car Wars, or James Bond: 007, or  or or…

So, a few days ago, having started to suffer from no gaming due to the holidays, and having a bit of free time, since I can’t really get much work done when everyone is on vacation, I start tinkering with ideas for my first Dungeons & Dragons campaign in 32 years. (Christ, I’m old…)

So after 279 words of prologue (Christ, I’m verbose!):

I have a metaplot that will wrap the entire game, no matter if we have to dump it early, or it goes on forever. Dropping hints will be part of it, but it will explain the why of the game universe, including all the shitty inconsistencies that come along with a D&D game. It is also a fine reason for why you have characters with as much or little backstory as we might have. I’m planning on a lot less backstory that we usually have for our characters in this group.

So the world —  First, no lost technology or sci-fantasy we’re the remnants of some lost space colony where the tech is what makes magic, that’s been done. A lot.

I have a few choices but I’m narrowing on two main ideas. 1) a modified Forgotten Realms game keeping their pantheon of gods and some of the planar stuff, and 2) a modified Earth where the old gods never left and their horrific progeny — the monsters — are still wandering the world during the medieval period. I’m leaning toward the first, though I miss playing with the Olympians, as we did with Battlestar Galactica.

On either of these I’ve decided to throw out a goodly chunk of the Monster Manual. With the modifed FR game, I’m thinking of doing a bit of tinkering — pulling some of the races together to use elements of the classic bad guy races while cutting chaff. Orcs, for instance, are a Tolkein thing, but he uses them interchangeably with goblins and ogres, so I’m thinking ogres and orcs are the same thing, just named differently, depending on where you are. “It’s an orc!” “Oh…we call these ogres where I’m from.” “Let’s kill them!” “We call that murder where I come from.” “Shut up, Sir Thesaurus! Chaaaaaarge!”

Similarly, I’m thinking the “angels” of the game will be the avatars or manifestations of the various gods; you can’t kill ’em, but you can take their proxies off the board. Demons and devils — same thing — but they’re the manifestations of “evil” gods. I can raid the MM for stats on the fly, but keep some level of consistency in the world’s cosmology. I want to use the tiefling. For some reason they really speak to me, so I want the aasimar as their “cousin” race. They’re the half-breeds of these good or evil avatars. Maybe. Still thinking on it.

The world itself will start off badly defined — a small county/country that will be part of a world that will be designed on the fly or in very broad swathes. I’m usually pretty good at extemporaneous world-building, but it’s also part of the metaplot.

For the type of adventures, I’m leaning toward wilderness crawls and mercenary work over big maps and dungeon crawls, politics and morality plays over murder and treasure gathering. With my group, it’ll fly.

 

 

 

16 December, 2016

On a Personal Note

Posted by blackcampbell under Life Unconstructed | Tags: , |
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So Black Campbell Entertainment has been up and running since August, but we didn’t start putting out product until October. In the last two months, we’ve put out three adventure scenarios (or modules for you old timers, like me…) for a total of six booklets.

I really wasn’t expecting a lot of traction. I’ve self-published before, so I’m aware of how slow the dribble of royalties can be for an e-book. And role playing games are a niche market of publishing. Add to that, I’m doing stuff for 1930s pulp games (although Victorian stuff is coming!), which is even more niche….a niche of a niche. So a cubbyhole in the publishing industry.

That said, we’re already exceeding my expectations on sales.

So I just wanted to personally thank everyone who worked hard on these books — Jim Sorenson, Matthew Bohnhoff, and Bill Forster, not to mention Susan Rhymer, who puts up with this and has lent her PDF wizardry to get the file sizes down.

Even more so, I want to thank anyone reading this who bought a copy of White Ape of the Congo, or Zugspitze Maneuver (which is suddenly selling very well, particularly for Fate), or Murder on the Hindenburg.

Lastly, I also want to thank those folks who have been reading the blog — whether it’s only a few posts, or those who have been regularly reading over the last eight or so years since it went up. I really, truly appreciate it.

Scott Rhymer

 

15 December, 2016

New from Black Campbell: Murder on the Hindenburg

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 Murder on the Hindenburg is now up for sale on DriveThruRPG for Ubiquity and Fate role playing games. 

moth-ubiquity

This 22-page adventure scenario is in the style of the ’30s closed-room murder mysteries. You’ve taken a flight on the most prestigious and modern means of transatlantic travel there is. Two days to Europe surrounded by the rich and famous of the world. But when steel magnate Stefan von Eckhardt dies under mysterious circumstances, it’s up to you to find out who the killer is before Hindenburg reaches Frankfurt!

The adventure has four pre-generated characters that would well fit the scenario, but players could easily make or substitute their own. It was designed to be played in a single session of two to three hours.

Matthew Bohnhoff, again, did duty for the cover, trying to get a mix of the ’30s movie one sheet and the actual DZR and DELAG posters by Jupp Wiertz (the following was the inspiration for the cover…)

h3297-l16975458

 

 

14 December, 2016

Hollow Earth Expedition: Forging Alliances

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We had a player out for the night, so we focused on Gustav Hassenfeldt and David Gould, and had Hunter off-screen for the night. Now the Sky Marshal of the alliance, he was busy politicking with Amon’s aid, pulling together the various factions, getting their crew put together, and seeing to the preparation of Shiva for their raid on Ultima Thule.

Gus and Gould, meanwhile, went with the scientific teams from the two surface world airships aboard Los Angeles. For the Americans, it’s a flag waving tour and trying to collect more data to take back with them; for the characters, it was to invite people to join the alliance. They brought with tem a representative from the hawkmen, the merfolk, the cargo cultists from Sanctuary, and members of the German science team.

First, they made contact with the panthermen that live in the mountains to the south of where Sanctuary had been. Here their way was eased by one of the cat people that had been a prisoner of the hawkmen, now released on Gould’s request. The pride, at least the females with young cubs, and the elderly, live in a massive matrix of treehouses, connected by walkways and the classic rope bridges. This is to protect them from the predatory dinosaurs of the island. The are high on the mountain slopes because the massive herbivores live in the valleys and plains. Most of their people are solitary, except when mating or when older; a great number of their people live out in the jungle, hunting, and only return here to trade or when injured or sick. The pride leader of the panthermen was unwilling to support them, but gave some of his braves permission to join the fight. A dozen did so.

They were also introduced to Haika — a greenman or “dryad” according to Lord Trevor, their philologist. Haika’s people will not involve themselve in the conflict, but will provide medical aid to those they find, and are willing to provide communications. She, like the merfolk can through the sea, can communicate across vast distances through the flora. She points them toward the So Nai Valley, where one of her sisters took an Outlander they once discovered. They are a warlike race and may help…but be cautious.

This led them to a valley with several towns and a small city centered on an old “Saracenic” rock-carverd temple or palace…the people below stream out on horseback and riding dinosaurs, armed to the teeth and wearing armor. And not one of them is male.

They make contact with the ground through Lord Ansom in ancient Greek, only to be answered in English by one of the women — none other than Lady Maragaret “Zara” Ansom-Bose, their companion they’d thought dead for several months. For her, however, it has been over a year, being nursed back to health by the Amazons of Thermadon.

They are eventually led to the presence of Queen Penthesilea V and her advisor, Hero the Centaur, and there they pitched the alliance and the chance at glory toppling the emperor. The queen throws her support behind them, and allows those warriors that wish to seek fame and glory to join them. They immediately have more volunteers than they can take.

Byrd, however, has received word from their German counterparts on Deutschland that a storm is headed their way — short-lived by violent. Los Angeles has to pick up and circle around the storm, leaving the scientists and the characters for the next two days.

After a feast and bit of debauchery that evening, the characters catch up with Zara. She was rescued by the dryads, who — she thinks — brought her back from the dead and gave her to the Amazons for safe keeping. She has obviously settled in well, and even her uncle’s entreaties to return home with him are met with skepticism — the surface world, she’s always going to have to fight for respect and freedom; here, they take her as is. She is someone, part of something.

But she’s damned sure not missing the party at Ultima Thule and is joining the Amazons going.

Later, there was a bit of hunting a pair of spinosaurus that wandered into the city. The Amazons were having trouble with the giants, until the party brought their guns to bear. Even still, they had to chase out into the jungle to kill one of the creatures.

Finally, Los Angeles arrived with Deutschland and Shiva in tow. With a battalion’s worth of hawkmen and Amazons, dozens of panthermen and legged merfolk, and 50 cargo cultists, Waffen-SS soldiers, and an assortment of Atlantean vril who changed sides, they headed for Ultima Thule to restore Amon to his throne.

On the way there, Los Angeles turned north for Valhalla to give Woden the report on how things are going and to refuel. If the assault on Ultima Thule goes badly, they can fall back and meet up; if it goes well, they can take messages back to the surface, but unless Byrd gets instructions from FDR, he cannot commit his people.

We ended with Shiva and the German airship closing on Ultima Thule.

 

12 December, 2016

Short Film: El Empleo (Employment)

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Here’s a cool little short out of Argentina…

 

11 December, 2016

Pulp Sourcebooks

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So, once we get the first line of adventure scenarios out the door, we’re going to be turning our attention to Victorian sci-fi modules (I’m not calling it “steampunk!”) and location sourcebooks.

Right now, I’m thinking Shanghai and Istanbul — they’re unusual settings with loads of stuff going on in the 1930s. However, one of my players was enjoying the setting of Hindenburg so much during our play test, and the use of Los Angeles in our Hollow Earth Expedition campaign, he suggested an airship supplement.

Being a massive dirigible aficionado, I really want to do one. Realizing that the reality of airships is less thrilling than fiction, I’m not so sure.

 

11 December, 2016

Just a Little Taste…

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moth

Coming really soon…

Cover is by Matthew Bohnhoff, who did The Zugspitze Maneuver for us. We’ll be going for that same movie poster look.

 

10 December, 2016

Interesting Sales Tidbits

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White Ape of the Congo is selling gangbusters for Ubiquity, and decently for Fate.

The Zugspitze Maneuver is selling well for Fate, but very slowly for Ubiquity.

What to make of this? No friggin’ clue, but it’s an interesting bit of data.

 

10 December, 2016

By Request: The Dramatis Personae of Our Hollow Earth Campaign

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One of the readers wanted a recap on the characters of the current Hollow Earth Expedition. My games tend to wind up with loads of long-running NPCs that flesh out the players’ worlds, so here’s the primer:

PLAYER CHARACTERS (aka “The Guys in the Credits”)

LADY MARGARET “ZARA” ANSOM-BOSE (player: Ysharros; deceased..?) — She was the impetus for the campaign, then the player had to back out over work and personal scheduling. The character was the classic pulp “modern woman” who smoked, drank, caroused, and flew planes. She had money, being the ex-wife of an oil tycoon, and was lost a while back in one of their fights.

GUSTAV HASSENFELDT (player: Jim S): Son of a German doctor and missionary, he was raised in German East Africa until the Great War. He’s a big game hunter with a reputation for scrupulous honesty, bravery, loyalty, and recently for leaping before he looks. He is the moral center of the group, and their ranged “brick.”

DAVID GOULD, MD (player Matt M): A Spanish Jew, he was run out of Spain for getting too friendly with a powerful(and Catholic) politician’s daughter. He’s a bit of a scoundrel who is starting to develop into a “hero.” He has Atlantean blood, causing Atlantean technology to operate for him. He is fixated on Atlantis and “saving” the Inner World.

JOHN HUNTER (player Ponz): A late comer to the game, Hunter is an Italian-American, a former US Marine during the Great War, and an “overseer” with the Terra Arcanum, a secret group trying to protect the world from the technology of the Atlanteans (or so they say…) He’s become their brick — a fierce close in fighter. Recently, he was made Sky Marshal of the races allied against Atlantis…for some reason, people trust this guy.

IMPORTANT NPCs (Supporting Cast)

OLGA MUHIDNOVA/LADY MORANA: A Russian Jew and some kind of “psychic battery” the Soviets created or trained, she is a deadly killer. She and Gould became lovers, and she seemed to be mellowing into just friggin’ dangerous. She was captured before the group was ejected from the Hollow Earth in their last big battle with the Atlanteans, and has spent over a year in the emperor’s clutches. According to new intelligence, she is being trained as some kind of psychic or magician, and has taken the name Lady Morana (Slavic goddess of death and magic). She supposedly gave the emperor his first son.

PRINCE AMON: The former ruler of Ultima Thule, he was overthrown by the emperor’s forces for trying to snap up Gould before the emperor could. He’s been their companion and a decent friend, but now that his return to power is close, they don’t quite trust him, anymore.

“UNCLE” ZEK (Zebulon Edward Koenig): A former agent of the Terra Arcanum, he was a protege of Nikola Tesla, and was lost in an operation to stop Rasputin from using an Atlantean warship to take over Russia in 1908. (See Tunguska…) He is a master tinker and inventor, and his daughter Erha is a top notch pilot of the half-assed planes and other things he’s created.

GENERAL INANNA: One of the “white Vril” — the almost albino-like, tall rulers of Atlantis and Valhalla, she is the emperor’s tursted consort and top general until a lucky counteroffensive by the group took her flagship. She is a prisoner, now, and they are hoping to use her for leverage.

OBERSTURMBANNFUHRER GEORGE WERNER: This SS officer is the head of the Nazi expedition into the Hollow Earth, he has been a thorn in the group’s side and occasional ally. He is actively playing Amon, hoping to gain advantage for the Reich. His base of operations is the airship LZ-128 Deutschland, which was built in secret.

REAR ADMIRAL RICHARD BYRD: Famed arctic explorer, expert airplane pilot, and the head of the American expedition to the Hollow Earth. He is also a member of the Terra Arcanum, a master. His base of operations is the airship ZR-3 or USS Los Angeles. Byrd is trying to match Werner’s moves, without exceeding his legal mandate.

OSHA: A mermaid princess, she is King Triton’s daughter and Gus Hassenfeldt’s lover. She holds a strange charm over him that even he thinks is unnatural. While they were out of the Hollow Earth, she had his child — a “walker” or legged merman.

LORD TREVOR ANSOM: Zara’s uncle (and the guy they rescued in the first adventure.) He was a captain in the British Army in the Great War, and suffers from shell shock, absent-mindedness, but is a brilliant philologist and historian. He came along on the Los Angeles mission to find Zara.

BIT PLAYERS (Speaking parts)

Emperor Mot of Atlantis: Our Ming the Merciless.

Princess Shria: A former ally captured with Olga, she is the daughter of Mot and General Inanna.

King Woden: King of the Vril of Valhalla.

Lady Sigrun: A Valkyrie that is Woden’s emissary to Los Angeles.

King Triton: Leader of the merfolk. Osha’s father.

Prince Glaucus: A walker and Triton’s son and ambassador. Osha’s brother.

Princess Aditra: Ruler of the hawkmen since her husband was killed by the Inanna’s last attack.

General Akator: The hawkman general.

Captain Thoth: Head of the Emperor’s secret police.

 

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