Viking Roundup, Part 5

Shipwrights of the North Sea is easily the most cutthroat entry in the North Sea series of games, which is strange because you would think a game about building ships would be less confrontational than one about claiming territory (Explorers) or raiding settlements (Raiders).

It's a card drafting game like 7 Wonders, a format that has a bit of a "screw your neighbor" element built into it. The goal of the game is to build ships, for which you need resources and specific workers. You get those by drafting - starting with a hand of cards, keeping one, and passing the rest to the next player.

The artisan cards are particularly difficult to get in the right combinations, and it's easy for your opponents to see what you need and try not to let you have it. That's only somewhat effective in a card drafting game, but there are also several plays available in the game that let you steal or discard other players' workers, preventing them from building the ships they need to win the game.

Once you start building a ship (you can have two in play at a time) you're stuck with it until you get the resources needed to build it, and there's only one card that you can play to abandon a ship if you're just not getting the cards you need to build it. This leads to frequent turns where a player can't do anything significant, which is frustrating and (to me, anyway) a sign of a poor game design.

It's disappointing because the other games in the series are very enjoyable, and this one looks just as good, with great artwork and components.

Rating: 2 (out of 5) The weakest entry in the otherwise excellent North Sea series.

• Shipwrights of the North Sea official website
• Shipwrights of the North Sea on BoardGameGeek

The Art Of Video Games: Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger has all the ingredients of a quality RPG: a unique battle system, an interesting story, and a variety of diverse characters. What immediately stands out about it are the character designs by Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest artist, Akira Toriyama, and the winding role of time travel in exploring what the world has to offer. The charm of Chrono Trigger is its simplicity. The story isn't too hard to follow and the battle system isn't too difficult to master. You would expect such a game to be bland, but since Chrono Trigger succeeds so well in executing each of these elements, it never gets old.

Chrono Trigger is set in the standard medieval fantasy world, with some clear technological advances in machinery. Like in the Persona series, the main character is a stand-in for the player. The story is less about him that it is about how he reacts to those around him. Very early on in the game, it becomes clear that the decisions you make affect the game's later outcomes. They first start out small, for instance, if you help a girl with her kitten or try to sell a lost pendant, these acts will be brought up during a later trial of character. Though as the game goes on, the deeper an impact these choices have on the story. Your perspective on various events in plot can change depending on who you have in your party, not to mention that characters can even die depending on your choices. As such, there are several endings, which makes the game very replayable.

Chrono Trigger opens during a fair in town. Chrono runs into a mischevious girl named Marle, who is really a princess in disguise, trying to escape royal duties. You also run into your childhood friend, Lucca, an inventor who has unveiled a teleportation machine. However, something goes awry in the machine which opens a portal in time, and Marle falls in. You follow her in 400 years into the past, and meet a frog knight seeking to restore his honor. As you travel across time, many other colorful characters join you for the quest. In prehistoric times, you meet the wild woman Ayla, and the robot Robo in a post apocalyptic future. Part of the fun in playing Chrono Trigger is traveling to different times and exploring the changes in the same places.

The battle system is similar to Final Fantasy's Active Time Battle, in which your turn starts as soon as your gauge fills up. Unlike Final Fantasy, however, the monsters are usually visible throughout the dungeons or fields and can be avoided by walking past them. Like most JRPGs, each character has unique abilities that lend them to various strategies. Chrono is a fairly well-rounded character with a physical his sword attacks and lightning spells. Marle has powerful ice spells and can be an indispensable healer. Ayla is a physical berserker type who can charm rare items from enemies. I enjoyed most the battle with Magus, because it forced you to switch around the various spell attributes. It made me realize that in this game, even at a high level, you can rarely get away with spamming one powerful attack on all enemies. Other fun additions to Chrono Trigger's battle system, are the Dual and the Triple Techs. If you wait until two or three characters have their gagues filled, you can perform a massive attack on your enemies. These are particularly helpful, since many battles, especially boss fights, will have you to fight with many enemies at once, with some only vulnerable once one regenerating part is destroyed.

Aside from the gameplay, two other major highlights of Chrono Trigger are the music by Yasunori Mitsuda and the art by Akira Toriyama. The technical capabilities of the SNES system that allow these elements to shine. It's worth appreciating that even by today's advances, Mitsuda's soundtrack retains a distinct aura. I think back to the moment when you first travel to the misty period of 700 AD. The melody is first plucked out by digital strings, before being joined by other instruments, and finally, rising to cresendo. I also noticed an air of mysticism and the exotic in the tracks, "The Corridors Of Time" and "The Secret Of The Forest." Being familiar mostly with Toriyama's art in the Dragon Ball series, I gained a newfound appreciation for his ability to bring life to the medieval, the prehistoric, and futuristic. We can appreciate in Chrono Trigger the youthful character he brings to the designs, especially the dinosaurs, that would be lost in an earlier system.

One can't help but feel that like Final Fantasy VI, another JRPG for the SNES, Chrono Trigger is tribute, but not to any particular series. It is a tribute to the JRPG genre, and a fond farewell to 2D. Alongside, Toriyama, already a veteran of Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger is the brainchild of Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. The both of them bringing their unique experiences to this work, creating a game that carries shades of both franchises, but retains its own originality.

You got invoice from DocuSign Electronic Service

 

 

Please review and sign an invoice. REVIEW DOCUMENT Dear Recipient, Please sign this invoice It is an automatically generated invoice notification. This note holds a secure information. Please do not share this access code with others. Other Signing Method Please visit DocuSign, click 'Access Documents', and enter the code: 019BAABAF7 About DocuSign Sign documents in just minutes. It is risk-free. No matter if you are in an office, at home or even across the globe -- Our service provides a professional solution for Digital Operations . Have questions concerning the document? If you need to edit an invoice or have concerns , contact the sender directly. If you cannot see an invoice, visit the Help page on our Webpage .   This message was sent to you by DocuSign Electronic Signature Service.

D&D 5E On Roll20

I've been running my Cha'alt campaign on Roll20 during lunch hours and slow times at work.

Sometimes, I label or tag these playtest sessions Swords & Wizardry, sometimes old school D&D, or just D&D 5e... because close enough, right?

Well, a lot of drop-in gamers feel entitled to the official by-the-book, rules-as-written version of 5th edition.  Some have even dropped out as soon as they discovered that we weren't using character sheets for a one-hour game or that skill checks would be replaced by actual roleplaying.

While I can't totally blame them (I like what I like and have certain expectations, too), I feel they're missing out on a new (to them) D&D experience.

So, this blog post serves two purposes.  The first is to give GMs a glimpse at what I've been using for my Roll20 Cha'alt campaign.  The second is to alert potential players as to my interpretation of 5e via old school lens.

Let's face it, Roll20 isn't real roleplaying.  As Yoda would say, controversial do you find my words? Well, virtual gaming is a Hell of a lot different than the face-to-face variety.  So, without further ado...

House-Rules

• Instead of little modifiers, I use Advantage (roll 2d20 and take the highest) when circumstances are favorable and Disadvantage (roll 2d20 and take the lowest) when their unfavorable.
• No character sheets!  
• Come prepared with a NAME, RACE, CLASS, ALIGNMENT, and SOMETHING NOTEWORTHY ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER.  That's it.
• Whatever race you pick, you can have only one racial ability that helps your character (infra-vision, resistance to charm spells, superior hearing, whatever).
• The 4 basic classes only - Fighter, Wizard, Cleric, and Thief.
• Fighters can add their level to their to-hit roll and damage. Everyone else, you just roll a d20 and hope you roll your opponent's Armor Class or better. 
• Damage is per weapon - simple weapons like dagger, sling, club, quarterstaff, whip, and a sharp rock all do 1d4.  Medium weapons like short sword, spear, spiked club, rapier, axe, mace, and all bows do 1d6.  Large weapons like greataxe, warhammer, trident, halberd, and all types of longswords do 1d10 damage.
• Wizards are restricted to simple weapons or they're at a Disadvantage.  Clerics and thieves can use simple and medium weapons, but are at a disadvantage when trying to use large weapons.  Fighters can use any weapon they want without penalty.  
• I'm still considering high-tech weapons like machines guns and lasers.
• Natural 20 on an attack roll is a critical hit, resulting in double damage!
• Alignment!  There are 4 to pick from.  If you choose Law, then you believe in order, justice, community, and most likely worship the New Gods, namely the Lords of Light. Those who choose Chaos believe in natural selection, revenge, and individualism up to and including self-deification. They are more likely to honor the Old Gods, such as K'tulu, Yog-Soggoth, and Uba-Sa'athla. Those of a Neutral alignment try to balance Law and Chaos within themselves and recognize both the Old Gods and the New Gods.  Unaligned means that you don't give a damn about Law, Chaos, or the Gods; you have your own unique philosophy or passion that guides you through the world.
• Everyone gets 10 HP per level.
• If you reach zero HP, up to negative your level, you're simply unconscious and will recover soon.  Once you go past that (-5 HP if your character is 4th level), you're character is dead.  Create another one and I'll try to get your new PC back in the game ASAP.
• All HP refresh after a full 8 hours of rest (interruptions are fine, just make it up by sleeping-in a little longer). 
• Levels only go up to 10.  At 10th level, the PC is at his adventuring peak.
• Characters gain a level after every other adventure.
• Wizards and clerics can use virtually any spell in the Player's Handbook that's equal to their character's level.
• Every time you cast a spell, you take that spell's level worth of damage. For example, a 3rd level fireball drains the wizard of 3 HP each time it's cast.
• Certain magic items, such as wands, only wizards can use.
• Clerics are drained of vitality (HP) the same as wizards when casting - including healing!
• A 1st level clerical spell can heal 1d6 HP; however, this "divine energy" can instead be used to harm demons, undead, and Lovecraftian abominations [clerical healing/harming goes up to 1d8 at 3rd level and 2d6 at 7th level].
• Thieves can do all the usual thief abilities.  If it's simple like listening or checking for traps, it can be done easily without rolling, as long as, it's described.  Harder thief tasks should be rolled (see Skill Checks below), after the player describes what his PC is doing.  
• Thieves gain advantage on their attack as many times per day as their level, as long as, the PC's sneaking, hiding, surprising, backstabbing, or looking for weak points is described.
• At 5th and 10th level, PCs get to pick a feature, special ability, or feat (kool powerz) that relates to their class. Either something they pull from a book or make up on their own.
• Armor Class starts at 10 and goes up to a maximum of 20.  Wizards cannot wear armor.  Thieves can add their level to AC if not wearing armor.  Leather is +2, shield is +2, helm is +1, chainmail is +4, scalemail is +5, platemail is +6.
• Saving throws are determined by subtracting a character's level (or monster's HD) from 20.  You need that number or better on a d20 to save.  Natural 20 means you're completely unaffected.
• Epic Feats of Awesome can be attempted instead of your standard attack.  Subtract your level from 30 and you need that number or better on a d30 to succeed.  The result is whatever the player described.
• A short rest is somewhere between 45-60 minutes.  You get one of those per day, and it recharges your HP at Xd6, where "X" is your character's level.
• One round is approximately one minute of game-time.  Combat is abstract, not granular.  So, when it's your PC's action, he can move, talk, and take one action (in any order).
• Instead of rolling initiative, whichever side would logically strike first goes and then the opposition goes. If there's no clear victor, a tie goes to the PCs.
• Instead of making a "skill check," just describe what your PC is doing.  Perception and interaction (among other things) will be roleplayed!  If there's a chance of failure, the GM will let you know when to roll.  You need to get a 15 or better on a d20, adding your level to the roll if you're attempting something related to the PC's class.

Did I forget anything?  Probably.  FYI, I just updated this post.  Thanks for your suggestions!

This will make my job easier.  I don't want to have to dig through the book. I don't want players dictating results based on what's written down in some edition or other.  I don't want optimized PC superheroes tearing through anything encountered without fear of death or dismemberment - old school gaming is about desperate adventurers trying to survive in a world gone mad... hoping to attain glory, riches, and power!

There's a good chance I'll eventually turn this into a Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 cheat-sheet PDF for anyone interested in simplistic O5R D&D, either using Roll20 or in-person gaming.

Enjoy,

VS