Young Washington and 1753

I saw Young Washington last weekend and absolutely loved it. If you know me, you know the Revolutionary War era is my favorite time period. I have always felt that part of our amazing history - a critical moment in all of human history - is sadly swept under the rug in modern America and ignored in the media. We so rarely see any media cover the amazing period. For me, the film is a welcome breath of fresh air. The fact that the movie was actually good is just icing on the cake.

Anywho, the film got me thinking, and I have always wanted to create what I call a 'Setting Toolkit' for Arneson Gaming, a quick one- or two-page document that you could pick up and give you enough tools to jump right into a unique campaign. So, with a few days off (our plant is weirdly shut down every day this week except Friday) I decided to throw something together. My hope is that you could grab this, create a character, get inspired, and drop into a game quickly and easily.  Does it work? No idea, but it was fun creating this. 

When it is finished, I will toss this on my itch.io page.

White Box Dungeon Adventures is out!

 

Out now! Go grab your copy!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/560236/white-box-dungeon-adventures

Session 0 & 1

I have started playing a little White Box game during my lunches and whatever free time I can muster during the week (which is not much due to idiotic college courses I decided to sign up for). I will chronicle the game here as well as on Substack for those interested for as long as the game goes.

I have now played three short sessions and we jumped right into the middle of an adventure with our two heroes: Wilton and Godfred, as they enter a small nearby tomb in search of treasure.

I am using the best system ever White Box and whatever tools I have handy to run the game, documenting the game in Goodnotes, my usual Freedom Oracle, with ChatGTP generating images (going for feel and tone versus accuracy due to the short time frame), and Infinite Painter to draw the maps as I go along.

Five Minute Fridays

The old idea of spending five minutes to be creative (you old timers from G+ will remember that) came up over on SubStack - which I lovingly call TheStack - and I have started a little campaign to drum up some interest in FMF over there. Here is my first entry into the series. Had about 5-10 people join in, hopefully it will continue to grow.

I do a little posting over there, probably a little more than here, if you are interested, you can find me at:
https://substack.com/@msjx0

Njörun’s Altar: Map26.01

Njörun's Altar is a small temple facility hidden in the foothills. This unique temple is dedicated to the goddess of dreams, multiple rooms are said to be powerful conduits for accessing the dreamrealms. The place is also said to be haunted by Dreammaidens, translucent being that feed on the dreams - and nightmares - of people entering the temple. Once used to help visitors empty their minds of nightmares and fear, now they have become starved and malicious.

Arneson Gaming - character cards?

 

A friend is doing some solo playtesting of AG and it got me thinking maybe I should take up AG again and do a little solo. Of course, I need pretty little things to make it fun for me so I made up some character cards for characters. Not sure these will work, but it is a good start. Two fit on a 4x6 index card, which I love because it adds some firmness to the paper and does not flop around as much on me.

Myconid Boletaceae: Map25.07

Deep in the Scarborough Bluffs to the far east of Bamblgulf and hidden in a soft soil is a cavern home to the myconid people. They are extremely protective of their small enclave and will defend their home with vigor. The witches of Torn Mask tell of the magical properties of the myconid flesh and will hunt and pick them off if they venture to far from their home.

 

The Witchmouth Grotto: Map25.05- fin

 

Mysterious in its purpose, the Witchmouth Grotto, lies five leagues away from Bamblgulf, hidden in the lushed, forested, rolling hills that lie in the shadows of Bleakcrest Ridge. Named after the supposed occupant that lives within the ancient walls, a twisted and evil witch that brought her dark magic to the valley ages ago.

Brodgar Tumulae Map25.06

Not far from the village of Bramblgulf a large tumulae has been discovered, hidden under the forest floor. How was it discovered you ask? A local ranger on his patrol surrounding the city came upon a swath of forest that had begun to rot, trees withering, vines turning to dust in his hands, and the remains of animals - untouched by prey - rotting in the gloomy death of the forest. A deeper investigation lead by the sheriff's men have discovered the entrance to an underground compound. The sheriff, unhappy about his recent loss of income from the bandit raids and a little butthurt about the loss of the extra manpower in the area, has decided to open the compound to exploration. He is hoping Mort, Vin and Gort venture inside, are slain, and kill a few of whatever lays within so he can enter later with his remaining men and secure whatever treasure is hidden inside.

Sheriff Ulfstan

The Witchmouth Grotto: Map25.05

Work today was stupid, so to destress and end on a good note, I took to my handy dandy little journal and drew a quick work map. Enjoy.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years, blessings to you and yours!

Arneson Gaming - on your phone

 

I took a moment today to finish up a small project I worked on over the summer, a slim, phone sized PDF of the AG rules. Nothing major, just a reformatting so you can carry the slim rules around you where ever you go and ready to play at a moments notice.

Arneson Gaming - phone version

Solo d6 Fantasy: Session 10

Thoughts on the system, Solo d6 Fantasy: Expanded
I think this is an excellent option for solo play, it provides enough depth to provide an interesting session but remain lite enough that one can pick up, jump in, and start making adventures. I did not get into the magic, which if I play again, I will certainly ensure I add that back into the mix. I particularly liked the way damage is resolved in a single roll with the attack.

I thought I would not like the rolls being all player-facing (ie, the players roll to dodge attacks instead of the GM rolling to hit the PCs), but in reality I actually really liked it. Like REALLY liked it. From a player perspective this really feels like I am playing a game, I am rolling to see if I succeed vs the GM rolling to see if the monsters succeed. This may feel like a small thing, but especially in solo play this really made the game about the PCs. I

Thoughts on the adventure:
I thought this went smooth and mostly well. Wearing the GM's hat I attempted to make the encounters basically even or tough like I would GMing a group, but I think I under estimated the PCs a little and at no time did I really think the PCs were in jeopardy. If I play again, this is something I would like to directly change in my approach to encounters. Yes, I want the heroes to succeed, but I also want this to NOT be a certain thing. Like I like my 80s movies with a little tension and the good guys always, if barely, come out on top. 

Would I recommend?
Absolutely. If you want a lite solo RPG system that essentially covers everything, this a great option. Small package, very big game.

Solo d6 Fantasy: Session 9

Interesting ending. I am sure someone will cry how the boys essentially set the bandits on fire, but hey, all is fair in love and war. In the real world you would not leave people that want to kill you alive, unless you are just a stupid fuck. Then you would probably believe cashless bail is a good thing.

Solo d6 Fantasy: Session 8

As my friend Christian put it, "What a way for the elf Prince to go..."

I have said it before but the surprising twists and turn - the unexpected - is what drew me to DMing games, and due to the way in which I play solo RPGs, I have been able to continue this angle. So far, this little adventure, something like 5 locations, had really been interesting.

Update on the characters -

Solo d6 Fantasy: Session 7

Had some interesting things happening here, and in a direction I did not foresee with the goblin prisoners being tortured and even mutilated. Those bandits must be some bad mofos...

This is one of the things I like most about solo gaming, and one that shares a good deal with how I ran games for people. In my best gaming sessions I never fully fleshed out the encounter. I knew what would lead to the encounter, and then I just let fate, ingenuity, and off the cuff insanity take over and resolve the session. This meant I was often as surprised as the players as to the path the adventure takes (sometimes screaming towards). 

I find in solo gaming much of my enjoyment comes from the unexpected and interesting (sometimes deadly) turns that our story goes. I think that is one of the facets of solo gaming that the naysayers simply do not understand. I have often heard people say 'how fun can it be when you know what will happen, and that is exactly the crux of it. I really have no idea where the adventure will head, nor how well my heroes will do. Maybe they will be big heroes, maybe they will all die, maybe they will befriend a giant or demon. 

That level of the unexpected, keeps the game fun and interesting, and makes every single game unique.

Solo d6 Fantasy: Session 6

I was honestly a little worried going into this one after the last session. Three bandits AND a bugbear!? I thought for sure our goose was cooked, or perhaps at least Gort's ass might be. To quote someone else somewhere, I think he was more scared of us, than we of him!

I used a quick map to ink out the battle just for myself to easily track who was where, though I ended up not really needing it at all.

Kapell of Kythira: Map25.04

Hidden in the rolling hills of the nearby frontier, lies a small chapel dedicated to a saint's last resting place. What might lie in waiting within its walls?

Solo d6 Fantasy: Session 5

The band enters the lair! I did modify the risk rule in the system due to the short dungeon. Now I will be increasing the Risk by +1 after every room instead of every three.

Exceptionally sharp readers might also notice the drawn map seems familiar, and they would be correct. I am utilizing the Bandit's Defilement map I posted earlier this month. I decided to redraw it here as I go along because, well, I like drawing maps.

I just realized I totally forgot about the campfire Vin could smell before they came to the lair. Oops...  I guess that is what happens when you play a session at work, on break, and do not play again until the following day. Oh well!

Solo d6 Fantasy: Session 4

Solo d6 Fantasy: Session 3

Clean up the mess and then head down the trail to the lair...