In the seventh year of the dragon since the coming of Chung Hort into Chook (by the Nigi Rigian calendar) the Grand Oyabun of Edo in The Floating Land had a vision, in this vision he saw himself seated in the sky along with the great Li serpent and the Prime minister of The Floating… Read more »
Posts categorized: Dragon’s Den
Chook: The Vort Conspiracy — Part 2
In contrast to the gods (or the artsy gods of Chook at least) who do things in big strides, painting the universe in sweeping strokes; the mortals (or at least the more interesting mortals) of Chook work in ever more intricate and conspiratorial ways. Chung Hort is the prime example of this, a character whose… Read more »
Chook: The Vort Conspiracy — Part 1
Back between 1999 and 2001, while Chook Industries was still in full swing, I started writing a story based in the Chook universe. CHOOK, for those who don’t know, is an acronym for “Chung Hort Offed On the King”. I seem to recall one or two Chook stories Mike wrote prior to my publication of… Read more »
d20 — Deadlier Dungeons Hitpoint System
Thanks to Cyrusjle’s recent comment for reminding me about this. A bit under two years ago now, shortly after playtesting the Injury & Consequences system, I started work on a completely different variation how to record damage. Injury & Consequences was inspired by a similar system suggested in the D&D/d20 Unearthed Arcana supplement (not to… Read more »
What Lurks Ahead
(a haiku) Skin pricks, heart beats fast Hands tighten round shark-skin haft. Embers in the black. Prof. Androne sez: Haft of what? This one puzzles me. Grade: Check
War Without Sacrifice
By Elias Richarts It took twenty-five years. Twenty-five years of merciless slaughter. I rose all the way from second lieutenant to colonel in only seven years. That shows the appalling losses we were taking. The last seven years were the hardest. But little by little we pushed them back from Styx, Charon, and finally back… Read more »
Dick’s Cinematic Tabletop RPG Combat System, 3 of 3
Reminiscent of Infantry fight system, and to show dramatic combat with guns, is the final fight scene to the movie Equilirium (2002) by Kurt Wimmer (major spoilers for those who haven’t seen it yet). At least 20 shots fired and not a scratch on either guy. Notice how it was harder for John Preston to… Read more »
Dick’s Cinematic Tabletop RPG Combat System, 2 of 3
So, I have been drumming up ideas for a tabletop RPG combat system, mainly as mental-masturbation, but I think I might have found something I can use for Emporium (the combat system is the largest design hole that I currently have for Emporium). The real goal is for a combat system that is intuitive, not… Read more »
Dick’s Cinematic Tabletop RPG Combat System, 1 of 3
I have always disliked how AD&D handles combat, especially the damage system. Compare a level 4 fighter, who has 40 hit points, and a level 1 mage, who has a whopping 4 hit points. The two are fighting side by side versus some castle guards. During the skirmish, the fighter gets hit with long sword… Read more »
Mineral Rights — A short story idea.
In the very near future aliens show up near the Earth. After winning the trust of most right-thinking people they exchange some knowledge and goods. Among the trades the aliens offer a reasonable amount of some other commodity in exchange for the mineral rights to a 1 km x 1 km stretch of land out… Read more »
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