Stuart Watkinson's Blog

 This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters and is released freely on this site a week after its original publication.

If you want to support my blog, games, and video content then check out my Patreon.--------------------------------------------------------

 Last week I playtested Bibliotecs for the first time. 

It worked!

It's a game that can be played. It was also enjoyed by those that played it. These were all good things. But most importantly it felt like I was onto something. 

The game uses a mixture of rules from Year Zero Mini, Cairn, and Troika. It's a dice pool system that uses gear, mutations, and stimulants to define character. The game is about exploring ruins to find relics of the past. Which are often pop-culture memorabilia and collectables. 

The big thing I want for this game is for it to be solo, co-op, and guided, and I want all three of those things to work in tandem. So that players can all play in a shared world but then meet up to face more demanding challenges. This might be done as a co-op exploration using the oracles or one person might take the role of GM. 

That, at the moment, is the thing I am most excited about and our next playtest will be exactly that. I will do a separate post about preparing for that adventure. 

During this first playtest we made a map and started populating it using the oracles. I have a range of oracles used to generate locations, regions, and inhabitants. We were playing co-op, and everyone gelled really well with the oracle's style of ideation. So far, the entries on the tables all complimented each other and we were able to string together some really cool stories based on the rolls and locations. 

We set our game in our local area which was cool. We were able to include all sorts of info we knew and talk about what that place would actually look like after 80 years. We also may or may not have based NPCs on some people we know. 

Combat is where it fell down a little for me. 

Dice pools weren't big enough to guarantee successes on a regular basis so there were lots of missed shots and not really any consequence. When a weapon hits it has a scaled degree of damage and impact, so a hit will kill or get close to killing. However, hits were difficult.

Anyway, in future posts, I will include images too. I might do a Patron-only video soon too. 

Things I am working on after Playtest 1:

Wild dice mechanic that might use grit pointsTinkering with ability storesCreating an adventure seed oracleCreating a few more generic oraclePossible deck of cards for thematic oracle inputMore weaponsMore creatures to fight

That's all for now.

Long days and pleasant nights.

Here's a crappy character sheet I made for it.

Long days & pleasant nights.

Stuart.

The creation god does not instil creativity in those that wish it. They come to those who work. They appear when the artist is in the deepest depths of their work and draw connections. They pull on strings that were never seen before. They reward those that do the work.

Do not expect them.
Ni-Halood's symbolGaining concordance with Ni-HaloodConsume creative works:  Read, watch, listen, and play. These are ways to invite Them to your world.Write honest words: They care only for the work that is true to the worker's values. They do not care for work that doesn't come from the soul.Show creativity to the world: The work is for the worker but should be shared to inspire creativity from others. Ni-Halood's CallingIt’s in the mornings.That’s when it happens.When The Sun is fighting back The Night.They come.
They swirl in like leaves on the windspinning and rolling around everything elsebefore changing, turning, and taking hold.They become my only thoughts.
They enter the mind and march all over it,their boots stomping down on the grey matter. They are making themselves known,until they dance in the Mind’s Eye.
There was a time when I thought they came to everyone,that everyone woke before The Sun,before the world was warmed,and basked in the languid stillness of morning with these visitors.
But for many, the morning is a time of stress,a time of frustration.They wish The Night would win out over dayand that they could stay wrapped up forever.
Oh, what they miss.
It took me so long to realise what they arenot just thoughts,not just ideas.They are gifts.
I’m not sure who they’re from.Some will say from God,some will say my Muse,some might say a Devil.
But I know that they come from beyondmy conscience thought,from beyondwhat I see.
The gifts they bring shepherd me,push me forward and when they are ignoredeverything is wrong and I work against myself.To refuse their gifts is to refuse being.
I rise with The Sunand use the gifts given to me.It is through the writing of words,I connect to my soul.
An artists depiction.

This is part of weird little series where create my own gods to guide me. Gods that will help me on a well-being journey. 
It started here, this is a weird blog I wrote while I was sick; Choosing god(s)Then here, Wellbeing Pantheon.
Long days and pleasant nights.
Stuart

 This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters and is released freely on this site a week after its original publication. Patreons also receive this as an a5.  

If you want to support my blog, games, and video content then check out my Patreon.--------------------------------------------------------

This is not a complete adventure, more to come.

The Troll Priest of the Swamp Ruins

Hidden by time and dis you will find the remains of a lost city. What was once a sprawling expanse of magical innovation is now a few scattered buildings covered in muck. The magic these ancient folk wielded can still be found throughout, it weaves through everything in this forsaken stinking bog.

Swamp city is a system-agnostic hexcrawl adventure. It could be used in any system or setting as, while it has fantastic themes, it exists in isolation to the known world. It might be on a new planet, or in the last marshes of a post apocalyptic world, or perhaps in Old Forests of the Kingdom. It doesn’t matter your game, you can use this in it.

The adventure does not connect directly to a particular system but it does supply suggestions for the difficulty of encounters. NPCs and Monsters have very simple descriptions that give motivations, reactions, and an indication of how they might approach combat.

Each location has a loose description that is used to guide play. They are not rules, they are not set in stone. They guide play. Describe the location as it best fits your game and let the players, and their characters, interact.

Read through the adventure. You might like to print out the text only a4 pages and makes notes on them as you go.

Each location in the swamp can be put into any hex on the hexmap provided (feel free to use any hexmap you like too). If you would like a random element, Roll 10d6 onto to the map. Each location the dice falls is the location of a room. The number on the dice represents the number of Explorers at the location, a result of 5 and 6 means there are no Explorers. Any explorers or any other NPCs or monsters in the description of the location.

Gamemasters, you do not need to go overboard with your preparation. Let the table, the dice, and the characters tell the story.

It smells. This water is stagnant. Mosquitoes buzz and bite, the air does not move, and there are things moving in the water. There are rocky mounds with the carved entrances scattered throughout and you’ve seen the flicker of torches in some of them. Then it starts to rain.

 

d6

What brings you here?

1

The allure of magic.

2

In search of a lost amulet.

3

This place is the X on your map.

4

You’ve lost your way.

5

A healer lives here, they can cure the plague.

6

The Troll Priest can extend life.

Each hex takes 4 hours to move through. Whenever the party moves into a new hex roll of the table below. This table can be rolled on when a complication arises too.

d20

Complication

1

A huge swarm of mosquitoes engulf on of the party.

2

A dead explorer covered in leeches.

3

A crocodile. Looks like it’s sleeping.

4

Three frogs sitting on lilly pads. They’re talking to each other.

5

An explorer violently swinging a sword in the air screaming “I see you!”

6

1d6 explorers resting at their camp.

7

A quivering pile of rotten vegetation.

8

The water at your feet begins to bubble and steam. It is boiling!

9

A small sting on your leg. It’s a leech. It is many leeches

10

Roll Twice

Folks have travelled far to explore these ruins. There are always folks moving through the swamp in search of magic, treasure, and secrets. The term explorer is used loosely. They can be anything that suits your setting; bandits seeking gold, cultists in search of artefacts, or cyborg scavengers collecting relics of the past. They all work.

Use this table to whenever an explorer's reaction would be unclear.

d6

Reaction

2

Hostile, they attack immediately.

3-5

Aggressive, slightest wrong move they will attack.

6-8

Wary, they keep their distance.

9-11

Curious, they want to know more.

12

Thankful & positive, they want to be your friends.

Roll of this loot table whenever an explorer is being searched, dead or alive.

d12

Item

1

One quarter of a mouldy map of the swamp.

2

Finely crafted lockpicks.

3

A bundle of five torches.

4

A handwritten dictionary of the hieroglyphics used in the city.

5

Well made but well used leather gloves.

6

A pair of compasses that point towards each other.

7

An expertly crafted dagger.

8

A torch dipped in citronella oil.

9

1d4 six sided dice carved from red bone.

10

A battered but serviceable nasal helmet.

11

The street address of a location in the nearest city.

12

A key carved from purple stone.

Long days and pleasant nights.

 This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters and is released freely on this site a week after its original publication.

If you want to support my blog, games, and video content then check out my Patreon.--------------------------------------------------------
I have been playing a range of war games lately. Something I haven't done before. I like them. 

I like them far more than I thought I would. 

To address the Space Marine in the room, I didn't really like 40k. I have a number of friends who are very keen on it but I personally did not vibe with it. Too long, too many minis, too many tiny obscure rules, and the icing on the cake was some dickbag with a miniature called 'Varg'. Yeah, named after THAT Varg. 

It is Lord of the Rings: Battle Companies that has brought me into the fold. I like the skirmish style and the RP element. I like that my little guys can be levelling up. We have about 8 people playing regularly now and it's good.

But I noticed something.

The wargames, the ones that have done a lot of war gaming, want to win. They want to win more than others. They don't have any interest in (well not much interest in) the narrative. They play to win and often won't engage in combat if they know they cannot win.

One player was baffled by my choice to engage in another combat with the same army that just beat me. I said, 'They killed my leader, they want revenge.' Which they did. And they lost. Again. In fact, the company was disbanded after that. 

I don't have much else to say really. 

It was just an interesting observation I had this week. They really wanna win. 

Battle Companies has a mapped campaign option. I think this will lead to greater RP. I will report back once I have converted all wargames to rpgs.

Long days and pleasant nights.

Rolled a 4.
I wanted to make my own reaction table. I like them. I spent half an hour looking at reaction tables and then the next morning made my own without looking at them again. I didn't want to reinvent the wheel but also wanted to make my own. It's a 2d6 table cause bell curves are cool.

Here it is.

2d6Reaction2Hostile, they attack immediately.3-5Aggressive, slightest wrong move they will attack.6-8Wary, they keep their distance.9-11Curious, they want to know more.12Thankful & positive, they want to be your friend.

I think it's pretty neat. Feel free to share it around and use it in your games!

Long days & pleasant nights.

Stuart.

All the parts of my brain marching off to solve my problems.

My last blog had me rambling almost incoherently. Reading back over it I can see some issues. Some problems. With where my head is at the moment.

However, I do not wish to air my mental ill health here. What I do want to do is make some gods out of my misfortune. Some gods that I can look to for guidance and as a motivator for self-improvement. This all seems very strange. But, I’m intrigued with where this will go as (a) a worldbuilding exercise and (b) a wellbeing experiment.

There are many many self-improvement methodologies that point toward God (the capital G God) for answers and guidance. There is nothing that has ever made me feel like they are a thing that exists so I cannot access any of that.

But making my own little god-dudes, that’s a different story.

I discovered Dungeons & Dragons. I had known about it since I was small, I have an older brother who was right into it, but I didn’t pick it up until I was over 30. I was instantly hooked. I read a lot and watched a lot and in the end, it was clear that I needed to run games. Matt Colville’s Running the Game series was particularly influential and I owe most of my formative understanding of GMing and tabletop game design to his videos.

In the lead-up to The Chain of Acheron stream, Matt was doing a range of live streams showing his campaign prep and worldbuilding. One of these streams was about Gods and Culture, where he outlined his process for creating gods and I liked it. I liked it a lot.

My process for building God’s is, first build the culture because the gods represent the things that the people in the culture believe in. Decide, what do these people believe, what’s important to them, and then I create gods that embody them.

Ultimately, the gods in his world are born out of the culture the people in it develop. I have used this process before when creating campaign worlds for RPGs but I am going to turn this process to my own life.

Over time, we all develop a personal culture. A way we live, the things we find important, and aspects of life we focus on. Some of that culture is positive and improves our lives, and some of it is a hindrance.

A block to our development.

The start of this little project is highlighting and diving into the various aspects of my personal culture. With the aim of identifying elements of my life that have a positive impact, those that have a negative impact, and elements that aren’t there yet but I would like to have.

I believe that these elements of my life do not have a binary impact. I am quite sure that even those with positive impacts can, will, and do have negative impacts too. But that’s all part of the discovery.

Family: I have recently started my own family and my wife and I are building our own family culture.Health: I have been overweight most of my life and I hate it. It is a constant struggle and I think that it is often a result of how I treat my body and how I don’t listen to it. But, I can lift heavy shit.Knowledge: I shunned knowledge as a teenager but soon learned the errors of my ways. I now soak up everything that I can. Creativity: This is my shining beacon of happiness, inventiveness, and achievement. It is what I dream of doing. To spend my days in a creative space is my goal.

I know that these four elements will comprise a vast majority of my personal culture. I know that I am not doing the best I can in these areas. I know that some of them get far more attention than others.

I’m keen to see where this goes.

Long days & pleasant nights.

Stuart.

*Well, I actually played a heap of Vampire the Masquerade when I was 18. But I’ll talk about that another day. 

I always play a cleric. 

They are, to me, the best class. 

I am also an atheist.

Is it my ultimate fantasy to believe in a god?

I am quite unwell today. It has been a few days now of a foggy brain, sore muscles, and an inability to do the things I wish. Which often leads me into a rather spaced out, morose, and inquisitive mood. Often questioning the big things. The wants and the needs and the dreams about life.

Then my games have gods.

Gods that listen and act on the concordance of their devotees. Gods that will appear before you and give you a quest. Will tell you exactly what you have to do and how to devote your life. They give you powers to achieve that goal too. Lots of it.

The gods of our world don’t do that. People say they do. But… like… They don’t do they. If I went to work tomorrow and told my boss that God gave me a quest and I have to quit my job to do that he wouldn’t believe me. I might even be asked to speak to a specialist. 

But I think I want that.

Is it just a sign of my weakness to make bold decisions? 

Must I create a small god out of my own strong belief in it in order to decide what I must do? 

Probably not. 

I think these drugs are affecting my thoughts. 

Sakhr Stormthorn was my second D&D character. A half-elf pirate turned Cleric of Umberlee the Bitch Queen of the Sea. Sakhr was supposed to die. His boat sank and everyone except for him drowned. Umberlee spared him and made him an offer of power in return for service. Sakhr took trident in hand (yes, I know garishly thematic) and set off into the world on quest for Umberlee! 

It works because it makes sense, it’s simple, and Sakhr can be solely dedicated.

So, what the fuck am I talking about? I think I am developing my own god to include in my games and give me quests in real life. 

Or perhaps I just need to sleep.

Long days and pleasant nights.

 I took a new job this semester. It’s a leadership role in a school and it’s intense. Lots of new learning for me, more responsibilities, and time spent at school. Obviously, I have not had the time to be creative that I have had in the past and it is getting me down.

There is always a constant longing to create.

It has, at times, become quite a problem in my life causing my mental well-being to suffer. I really don’t want this. So, a mindset shift is needed. For me, that means deciding not to be creative. Intentionally deciding that I am going to consume rather than create.

However, I am going to consume all the things that will directly relate to the projects I want to work on but limit myself to handwritten notes and Evernote clippings. I have a long list of books, films, and games I have wanted to explore over the last few years but haven’t because I haven’t guilty, I am not writing or working. The brain is weird, huh?

I think just writing this highlight some of the pressures I put on myself, sigh.

ANYWAY.

I’m actually very excited about just consuming a bunch of stuff over the next few months. I know I’ll blog and tweet about them, so be sure to keep on them.

What am I gonna eat up? Well, here’s the list so far.

Books

LOTR (again)

Liveship Traders Trilogy (again)

Pushing Ice

Uncanny X-Men graphic novels

Farnham’s Freehold

On the Beach

A Canticle for Leibowitz

Games

Elden Ring (again)

Cyberpunk 2077

Fallout 2 (again)

Mutant Year Zero

Films

Righto... So, I havethis book. And I am going to work my way through as many of them as I can.

Plus whatever my wife and I decide on.

Expect weird blog posts.

Long days and pleasant nights.

 

Here is a list of resources used for the Ex Nihilo worldbuilding workshop I ran at the Portal Fantasy Writing Workshop hosted by Writers SA.

A Complete Illustrated History of the Crusades and The Crusader Knights by Charles Phillips

Artefact by Mousehole Press

Bucket of Bolts by Mousehole Press

Faeries by Brian Frond & Alan Lee

Fiend Folio by TSR

Guide to Tolkien’s World: A Bestiary by David Day

Have You Heard About the Beast by Matt Sanders

Ironsworn by Shawn Tomkin

Mad Max: Fury Road by Vertigo

Monster Manual 1st edition by TSR

Monster Manual 4th Edition by Wizards of the Coast

Monster Manual 5th Edition by Wizards of the Coast

Table Fables by Madeline Hale

Table Fables II by Madeline Hale

Tales from the Arabian Nights by James Riordan

The Art of Mad Max by Abbie Bernstein

The Atlas of Legendary Lands by Judith A. McLeod

The Magical World of Peru by Javier Zapata Innocenzi

The Ultimate Encyclopaedia of Mythology by Arthur Cotterell & Rachel Storm

The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island by Weta Workshop

Tome of Adventure Design by Frog God Games

Long Days & Pleasant Nights.

Stuart.

 Ya know, I write some pretty cool shit. 

I have spelling mistakes, sure. But fuck, man. I don't drink enough water and have Tiny Human who yells at me in the night so that's what's going to happen.

Didn't write about D&D this month so my blog stats are way down. 

This is what the world has come to. I write badass little short stories, like the ones you'd get in an old-school magazine. Zip. But talk about initiative orders and all of a sudden, the numbers are through the roof (this is a thing that happened, that D&D is terrible for beginners post rustled some feathers). 

So, here it is. 

D&D5E initiative is shit.

Have you ever been in a fight? 

Like a pub brawl or street fight? A real one? 

They're scary. 

Most of the time folks are drunk and/or on drugs and everything is elevated. Everything. A heightened state of agitation and anger fueled by survival instincts, brain chemical secretions, and sometimes even training makes for one fearsome rucus. 

I have been in a lot of fights. It's not a thing I am proud of or a thing I condone anymore, but there was a time in my life when I thought (and still think) it was necessary. I live in a different place now and am surrounded by different people, and fighting no longer seems like a logical answer to much. You just end up hurting.

Anyway, I'll give you one example. It was a Friday night at a seaside nightclub. One with a balcony overlooking the ocean. It must have been summer because I was out there in a t-shirt and there were a lot of other people too. This was not a classy place. It was the place that only locals went to on a Friday night and everyone got absolutely written off. No one travelled too far to get there. 

On this particular night, there were three different groups of people. Three overlapping friendship groups. Everyone knew a few people from each group but no one knew everyone. They were all men.

I was talking to Hayden (the names have been changed to conceal the guilty), an old friend, and the Other Guy, whose name I can't remember, so clearly wasn't an old friend. Three of us chatted about whatever bullshit you chat about when Hayden is bumped and spills his drink on the Other Guy. 

This is the catalyst. What I am about to describe all happened in about 12 seconds. 

Other Guy pushes Hayden.

Hayden punches Other Guy.

I step in between Other Guy and Hayden.

Some Other Guy punches me from the side, in the head, knocking me into the wall and dazing me. 

Other Guy takes the advantage and starts laying into me.

Shane (and old friend) absolute pulverises Some Other Guy with one punch, and he sprawls onto the floor. Shane is tall and lanky and can fight very well. Watch the lanky guys.

The balcony erupts into chaos. At least six other people are involved.

I come out of my daze, stand up, get my bearings, put one hand up as a guard and punch Other Guy with the other, dropping him to the ground.

Coincidently, this happened as the fight ended. Bouncers arrived and kicked out a few people. 

12 seconds of mayhem. That's two rounds in Common. And I only had one turn.

No one waited for their turn. No one had time to plan. Everyone just acted. Some people were able to act many times before others could act once. Some people froze. It felt random and chaotic in a way that 5E combat does not. No fight I have seen or been in, with more than two people, has had any perceived order.

So, what is the solution? 

Well, fucko. It's something I didn't even make. This isn't some secret. Some bullshit homebrew that I want laud over you and show how much cooler my table is. Nope. It's just a cool mechanic from another game.

It's from Troika!

5. Initiative

5.1 Assemble the Stack

During combat or at other times where it is important to know who goes first you will need to assemble the Initiative Stack. To do this get a container and a selection of coloured dice or other convenient markers (consider cards, poker chips, and so on). 

5.1.1 Assign each character 2 Tokens of a single color.

5.1.2 Add Tokens to the Stack for the enemies equal to their total combined Initiative (if you have 8 Lizard-Men (Initiative 2) you would add 16 tokens to the Stack).

5.1.3 Add 1 Token of a distinct colour to the Stack. This Token signifies the End of the Round.

5.1.4 OPTIONAL: Enemy Initiative Limit. It is very likely that sometimes the characters’ enemies will grossly outnumber them and make it very hard for them to act. The GM may optionally limit the number of Enemy Initiative Tokens placed in the Stack to double that which the characters contribute. So if a party of 5 (10 Initiative Tokens in total) is attacked by fifty goblins (50 Initiative Tokens) the goblins will only contribute 20 Tokens to the Stack. Bear in mind that the GM should feel free to balance Initiative Stacks as it seems appropriate.

It's simple. It's random. It's chaotic. It's easy to learn. There is no time to plan because the tides of battle are constantly changing. You must act fast.

That's all I wanted to say.

Shove this initiative order up your 5E. Or just play Troika!

Long days and pleasant nights.