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Comrade Koba
Jul 2, 2007

Voting Would-Be Knight and Self-Taught Mage, and the Angered Fae scenario.

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Otherkinsey Scale
Jul 17, 2012

Just a little bit of sunshine!
Would-Be Knight, Village Hero and Angered Fae.

I have to admit, I was surprised that the mechanics turned out to be some kind of d20 retroclone instead of Powered by the Apocalypse. (I guess that's what I get for not recognizing the acronym OSR, though.)

Heliotrope
Aug 17, 2007

You're fucking subhuman
Self-Taught Mage sounds like it might have the potential for some good interaction with Witch's Prentice, and Village Hero seems like a classic.

For scenario, I'm also voting for The Angered Fae.

Dedman Walkin
Dec 20, 2006



I'm voting for Untested Thief, Village Hero, and Angered Fae.

Xelkelvos
Dec 19, 2012
Untested Thief, the Would-Be Knight and going with the crowd with the Fae

GimpInBlack
Sep 27, 2012

That's right, kids, take lots of drugs, leave the universe behind, and pilot Enlightenment Voltron out into the cosmos to meet Alien Jesus.
Okay, obviously we're doing the Angered Fae, but right now we've got a three-way tie between Self-Taught Mage, Village Hero, and Would-Be Knight, with Untested Thief in second place with two. So it's time for a :siren:SUDDEN DEATH TIEBREAKER:siren:

Next vote for Mage, Hero, or Knight decides which of those three joins an Untested Thief and a Witch's Prentice to try and calm the Angered Fae. Go!

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Self taught mage.

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry
Untested Thief and Village Bear Self Taught Mage

GimpInBlack
Sep 27, 2012

That's right, kids, take lots of drugs, leave the universe behind, and pilot Enlightenment Voltron out into the cosmos to meet Alien Jesus.

Night10194 posted:

Self taught mage.

Mage it is. Post coming soon, but first, meet our cast, courtesy of art I found on the Internet! (Clicking the link will take you to the source.)


The Untested Thief!


The Self-Taught Mage!


The Witch's Prentice!

You guys it's really hard to find cartoon witches who aren't super sexualized. :ohdear:

Humbug Scoolbus posted:

Untested Thief and Village Bear Self Taught Mage

Ahh, I see you found the second-best Playbook in the game. Don't worry, we'll get to that.

GimpInBlack
Sep 27, 2012

That's right, kids, take lots of drugs, leave the universe behind, and pilot Enlightenment Voltron out into the cosmos to meet Alien Jesus.


Okay, let's get this game started. We're making three characters and setting up the Angered Fae Scenario. First off, let's take a look at our heroes and their playbooks.


The Untested Thief
Some young would-be adventurers get by with their sword arm or with words of power in the language of magic, but you need neither. The world is full of things to see and enjoy, and your fi ngers are more than quick enough to let you have what you like.

You are deft and quick. Your Dexterity begins at 12, and all of your other ability scores begin at 8.



The Self-Taught Mage
You were always a bright child, and loved stories of ancient wizards and sorceresses who mastered the arcane arts. Unfortunately, there was no one around to teach you such things. In fact, sometimes you wondered if the stories of magic were even true. When you came of age, you found an ancient tome and decided to find out for yourself.

You were the brightest child in the village. Your Intelligence begins at 12, and all of your other ability scores begin at 8.



The Witch's Prentice
Every great mage was a student once. Some say the true heart of magic is the simple, practical work of the village witch. Your village, like many, had its own crone who tended the sick and blessed the fi elds. She chose you as her apprentice.

You are naturally intelligent and thoughtful. Your Intelligence and Wisdom begin at 10, and all of your other ability scores begin at 8.


For the sake of stuff that comes up later, we'll assume that's the order they're sitting in, left to right. Now, the first section is Childhood: Since these are shared across all the playbooks I'm going to do them by question, then switch to by character for the class-specific stuff. Oh, and I guess these kids need names, too. Luckily, the Scenario Pack has a convenient table of random Welsh/Celtic names, so I'll just roll on that.

Our Untested Thief is named Arawn.

Our Self-Taught Mage is Keelin.

Our Witch's Prentice is Cait.

Those all seem good to me, so let's start the action!

Childhood
1d12 What did your parents do in the village? What did you learn from them?

Your father was the local smith and taught you both hammer and bellows. +2 Str, +1 Dex, +1 Cha, Skill: Smithing

You are an orphan. Things were hard for you. +2 Wis, +2 Con, +1 Int

Your father or mother kept the old stories. Your head is filled with them. +2 Int, +1 Cha, +1 Wis, Skill: Folklore

Not a whole lot of commonality in the backgrounds there, but maybe Keelin earned a roof over her head from time to time tending the forge-fires, or Cait liked to scare Arawn with tales of the dead kings in the old barrows outside town.

Also at this stage, everybody gets to add a location of note to the village map. Arawn goes for the obvious and picks "My Da's Smithy," and if it wouldn't be just talking to myself here I'd start asking about their relationship and so on. Keelin, already thinking ahead to her class features, adds a mysterious, ruined tower fort on a hill half a day's walk from the village. The locals call it the Breekintoor, and they say it used to be the home of a great and wise druid of the old days. Cait really likes the idea of ghosts and spooky happenings, so she adds Kingsbarrow, a complex of old earthen tombs just south of the village.

1d8 How did you distinguish yourself as a child?

Your empathy made you a sought after confidant. +2 Wis, +1 Con

No secret escaped you. +2 Int, +1 Dex

No secret escaped you. +2 Int, +1 Dex

Our first duplicate result, and it's a perfect fit. I'm already seeing Keelin and Cait as childhood rivals and best frenemies. Both are constantly trying to outsmart the other and figure out the latest mystery, and since their juuuuuust about even in mental attributes at this point I imagine they never settled that "who's smartest" rivalry. Arawn, meanwhile, got very good at empathizing with both his friends and never ever actually choosing sides. At the same time, he's starting to realize it's a lot easier to get things from people who like you than it is to sweat over an anvil all day.

1d8 The other player characters were your best friends. Who else in the village befriended you while you were growing up?

You are about to marry into the Miller’s family. +2 Wis, +1 Str

The fishermen took a liking to you and you swapped stories with them. +2 Dex, +1 Wis

The grizzled mercenary who settled in town taught you a thing or two. +1 Dex, +1 Con, +1 Wis

Well, this is interesting. I don't know whether Arawn is genuinely in love with the miller's daughter, or if this is his father setting up an arranged marriage, or what. Maybe Arawn's running a con. Keelin spends time with the Raft Folk, which is probably how she found the Breekintoor--in fact, let's change it so the tower is on an island in the middle of the river. Bet there's some stuff in that old place that would shut Cait up. Cait meanwhile is proving that the Witch's Prentice is The Best Playbook before we even get into the playbook-specific stuff, palling around with mercenaries and probably learning all sorts of new and exciting profanity. That'll come in handy next time Keelin mouths off.

Also here we get to add an interesting person to the village. Arawn decides to add Pwyll, the village bully and son of the richest man in town, who was certain he'd be marrying the miller's daughter when she came of age and is none too happy that she's betrothed to this lazy son of a blacksmith. (To complicate Arawn's life further, I think we'll say he doesn't even want to get married, it's all a horrible mistake. But try telling Pwyll that.) Keelin, sensing an opportunity for mischief, adds Tara the miller's daughter as one of her closest friends. And finally, it's Cait's turn, and she goes with Salty Ambrose, that scarred, poxy, one-eyed veteran of the raider wars who settled in town. His stories tend to have a lot more drinking, cursing, and grand larceny than her parents' stories.

And with that we wrap up the childhood phase and move on to the class-specific tables. First up is Arawn:

You learned some unsavory things and found your niche. You become a level 1 Rogue. You gain the class abilities Fortune’s Favor and Highly Skilled, and the skill Stealth. The tables below will give you all your bonus skills from your class abilities. What happened when you took to thievery?

1d6 Who taught you how to cheat or steal?
You trained yourself by trial and error. +3 Int, Skill: Trapping

Poor Arawn. I'm beginning to see how he ended up in this engagement to Tara.

1d6 How do you attain your ill-gotten gains?
You charm everyone you meet. +2 Cha, Skill: Deceit

I swear I didn't cheat this or skip ahead on rolls, but this is kind of perfect. He's already naturally empathic and disinclined to hard work, so this fits him perfectly. Arawn also gets to add a location to the map now, and apropos of nothing much I'm going to have him add the Village Stane. It's a weathered, rune-scarred old monolith in the middle of town. These days it's not used for much other than equinox and solstice celebrations. And weddings, of course.

1d6 As happens with many thieves, your first job went bad. What did you do when you got caught? The player to your right was there when it happened.
For this one I rolled a 4, which is "You pleaded your case and walked free," but I'm going to exercise my veto power and go with option 6, because it's too perfect: You fast-talked the mark and made nice. The friend to your right bought you both drinks and joined the party, and gains +1 Cha. +2 Cha, Skill: Drinking

So basically what happened was Arawn was trying to rob the miller when Tara walked in on him. She's ready to stomp his guts out, but Arawn fast talks like crazy and buys her a drink to smooth things over. Then Keelin, excited to see two of her best friends starting to hit it off, kept the drinks coming and then everything gets hazy and oh god we're engaged now. Arawn and Tara both kind of hate each other, but they can't break things off without it being a huge scandal. Apparently oaths were sworn and grand gestures made before the Stane, and you just don't break those oaths.

1d6 What was your greatest heist?
You stole from another thief. +2 Dex, a fine set of lockpicks

Hmm. Well I guess the miller used to be a Prince of Thieves in the Imperial City to the south before he retired up here? I mean, that would explain his missing hand. Arawn gets one last character to add here, and rather than the obvious miller, he goes with Ludus, a thief-taker from one of the southern cities up on the frontier to try and find the One That Got Away, the Black Fox himself.

That's it for Arawn. His final stats:

Arawn, level 1 rogue Fortune Points: 5
Alignment: Neutral
HP: 8 AC: 12 Initiative: 4
Attack: Dagger +1 to hit, 1d4 dmg; hammer +0 to hit, 1d6 dmg
Saves: Poison 13, Breath Weapon 16, Polymorph 12, Spell 15, Magic Item 14
Str 12, Dex 15, Con 9, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 13

Skills: Deceit, Drinking, Smithing, Stealth, Trapping
Equipment: Adventuring gear, several daggers (d4 dmg), dark clothing, a light-weight sack, a 10’ coil of rope, smith's hammer (d6 damage), betrothal ring, a fine set of lockpicks, leather armor, and 4d6 silvers

You found the tome and began your studies. You become a level 1 Mage. You gain the class abilities Sense Magic and Spell Casting, the skill Ancient History, and the cantrip Mage Light. The tables below will tell you your other spells. What happened to you as you learned magic?

1d6 Who wrote your precious book of magic?
An old sage from the south. +3 Int, Skill: Ancient History

Keelin gets our first doubled-up skill, meaning she's at +4 for Ancient History-related rolls. Probably she found the book in the old, crumbling library at the very top of the Breekintoor.

1d6 What sort of mage was the author of the book?
A summoner of dark spirits. You learned the following magics: the spell Abjuration, the ritual Circle of Protection, and the cantrip Second Sight. +2 Int, spells

Well now we know why he wasn't in the South. And suddenly the spooky image I picked for Keelin makes a lot more sense. Keelin also needs to add a place to the village, and let's say it's a little sheltered hollow in the riverbank where she could hide her precious valuables and study uninterrupted.

1d6 A spirit of Chaos was drawn by your power. How did you fight it off? The player to your right was there with you.
You stood before it with steady hands. The friend to your right stood by your side and did not waver, and gains +1 Wis. +2 Wis, Spell: Commanding Word

Obviously said demon of Chaos was accidentally summoned in one of Keelin's experiments and it fell to the Witch's Prentice (and maybe the witch herself) to help fight it off. This is certainly not doing wonders for Keelin and Cait's relationship.

1d6 A real wizard from the south passed through the village when you came of age. What did he think of you?
He inducted you into his secret order. +2 Wis, a wizard’s staff

Well drat, good on you, Keelin! Talk about a rags-to-crazy-wizard-powers story. In the interests of not going super dark, I think this southron wizard is probably a member of an order of demon-binders and exorcists rather than, you know, a cult of demon summoners. For Keelin's last important person in the village... well, since she's got the Sight now, I think the ghost of her mother, lingering to watch over her daughter and beaming with pride, makes sense.

And that's it for Keelin. Her final stat block:

Keelin, level 1 mage Fortune Points: 3
Alignment: Lawful
HP: 6 AC: 13 Initiative: 1
Attack: Wizard's staff +2 to hit, 1d6+2 dmg; dagger +0 to hit, 1d4-1 dmg
Saves: Poison 14, Breath Weapon 15, Polymorph 13, Spell 12, Magic Item 11
Str 8, Dex 11, Con 10, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 8

Skills: Ancient History (+4)
Cantrips: Mage Light, Second Sight
Spells: Abjuration, Commanding Word
Rituals: Circle of Protection
Equipment: Adventuring gear, a dagger (d4 damage), a wizard's staff (d6 dmg)*, common robes, an ancient tome, many pouches, the components for a single casting of the Circle of Protection ritual, and 4d6 silvers.
* I'm not sure this is supposed to mean the wizard's staff magic item that's in the book, which is a +2 staff that grants +3 AC and automatically passes one Cantrip check per day, but what the hell, we'll say it is.

The witch chose you to be her apprentice and you began your training. You become a level 1 Mage. You gain the class abilities Sense Magic and Spell Casting, the skill Herbalism, and the cantrip Hexing. The tables below will tell you your other spells. What else happened to you when you were her apprentice?

1d6 What first caused the witch to choose you?
No other six-year old had his own still. +3 Cha, Skill: Brewing

See? See? I told you this was the best goddamn Playbook. I was all set to use my veto on this one to make sure it showed up, but the dice gods were kind. Also, since kids aren't allowed to drink, clearly that whole fiasco with Arawn and Tara was the work of Cait's illicit moonshine.

1d6 With what did the witch have power?
With people. She taught you the following magics: the spell Sense Nature, the ritual Witch’s Watchman, and the cantrip Blessing. +2 Cha spells to left

Cait is already shaping up to be a witch in the classic Discworld vein. It seems logical to add the witch's weird hut on its crooked hill that overlooks the village from the foot of the Kingsbarrow.

1d6 The witch was hard on you. How did you finally prove yourself to her? The player to your right was there with you.
Last summer you protected her from bandits in the forest and helped her escape the danger. The friend to your right helped you fight them off while you aided the witch in escaping, and gains +1 Str. +2 Str Spell: Mystical Shield

Yeah, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the bandits were unprepared for a drunk, foul-mouthed 11 year old to come roaring out of the woods, screaming about their various diseases and the questionable parentage of their goats. The kid with the hammer and the desperate "oh god what did I do while I was drunk?" look in his eye probably didn't help.

1d6 Where is the witch now?
I rolled "She still works in the village as she always has," but again I'm going to veto that in favor of a different option: She vanished one day; her location is a mystery even to you. +2 Wis, the witch’s hut

How loving cool is that? Obviously this is related to that demon that made trouble in Keelin's backstory--or so Cait thinks. She hasn't forgiven Keelin for that yet, but dear God imagine the mischief this little reprobate can get up to with a whole witch's hut full of crazy poo poo to play with.

Cait, level 1 mage Fortune Points 3
Alignment: Chaotic
HP: 6 AC: 10 Initiative: 1
Attack: Dagger +0 to hit, 1d4 dmg
Saves: Poison 14, Breath Weapon 15, Polymorph 13, Spell 12, Magic Item 11
Str 8, Dex 10, Con 9, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 13

Skills: Brewing, Folklore, Herbalism
Cantrips: Blessing, Hexing
Spells: Mystical Shield, Sense Nature
Rituals: Witch's Watchman
Equipment: Adventuring gear, a dagger, simple clothing, a flamboyant hat, a small musical instrument, the witch's hut, and 4d6 silvers.

And that's our merry band of "heroes!" A con artist trapped in a drunken engagement, an orphan girl who taught herself to summon demons out of a book she found, and a juvenile moonshiner/sorceress. None of them have any combat skill at all to speak of, so they'll have to rely on their wits to save them in the event of monsters. Luckily they're all pretty clever and have enough skills that they should be able to find creative solutions that don't involve murder. They will, however, probably involve liquor and drugs.

Gods help the Fae.



Next time: We'll set up the Angered Fae Scenario!

GimpInBlack fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Mar 30, 2015

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib
This is the sort of OSR game I wish there was more of instead of the usual nostalgic rehashes. Someone run this in the Game Room, tia.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Yeah, THAT'S how you do randomized PC generation. Also super glad I voted for Mage because an orphan girl who dabbles in dark magic and learns just enough to decide 'Screw you evil' and use what she learned to banish demons, then gets invited to a secret order of exorcists? That's a hell of a story.

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry

GimpInBlack posted:


Ahh, I see you found the second-best Playbook in the game. Don't worry, we'll get to that.

I've had this game since it was released. The Bear is tied for the best with the Witch. The Nobleman's Wild Daughter is right behind them.

Ryuujin
Sep 26, 2007
Dragon God
Twice I tried running this game. I really want to actually try playing it though. Maybe this Fatal and Friends writeup will get someone interested in running a PbP game of it. Also at this point I almost feel like you should throw in a fourth person, a Village Hero or Would be Knight for a bit of a meat shield. Although that would require reworking the sitting order, and thus who gets what guest starring/bonus.

EDIT: Also I was unaware of the Bear playbook. Forget the Would Be Knight and Village Hero, clearly this group needs a talking Bear friend.

Ryuujin fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Mar 30, 2015

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib
For a game like this I think it's interesting to consider a party that maybe just straight up sucks at combat and has to get by through other means, because for one thing older D&Ds often did have a strong undercurrent of "find a way to get the loot/get to your goal without fighting every monster" (up to a point anyway, once you hit AD&D2E fighting monsters in dungeons seemed to be the go-to game) and provided this game lends support to that it isn't a terrible way to approach things, and also it seems appropriate to the source material that the game is ostensibly aiming for.

Ryuujin
Sep 26, 2007
Dragon God
Yeah a Party of Talking Bear, Nobleman's Wild Daughter, which is yeah another great playbook, and Witch's Apprentice sounds like it could be fun.

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry
Nobleman's Wild Daughter is Merida, the Playbook.

Ryuujin
Sep 26, 2007
Dragon God
Huh yeah. Last time I read through this stuff was sometime before that movie came out, so I didn't even think about that. Also just took a look at the Bear playbook, which is up for free on their site, and it is not a warrior class. It is actually one of those multiclass Warrior-Rogue ones. And some of its results involve cooking.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Ryuujin posted:

Huh yeah. Last time I read through this stuff was sometime before that movie came out, so I didn't even think about that. Also just took a look at the Bear playbook, which is up for free on their site, and it is not a warrior class. It is actually one of those multiclass Warrior-Rogue ones. And some of its results involve cooking.

Is it an actual talking bear friend?

Ryuujin
Sep 26, 2007
Dragon God
What does

quote:

1 The blacksmith was kind to you, and you often sat at his forge, trading stories.


or

quote:

6 The innkeeper loved your strange songs and tales.

sound like to you?

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Ryuujin posted:

What does


or


sound like to you?

Either a magical bear or a friendly hobo.

Xelkelvos
Dec 19, 2012
Better question: Is Sir Bearington a possibility?

theironjef
Aug 11, 2009

The archmage of unexpected stinks.

Aww, now one of the authors of Stormbringer also doesn't like me. This is a terrible hobby we've developed.

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib
Having gone and examined the Village Bear playbook for myself it turns out it was made as a thank you to Benjamin Baugh, aka Bailywolf, a game designer and author most notable for Monsters & Other Childish Things and The Kerberos Club, as well as regularly championing the inclusion of talking, adventuring bears in games over on RPGnet. I'm not making that last bit up. So that explains that.

theironjef posted:

Aww, now one of the authors of Stormbringer also doesn't like me. This is a terrible hobby we've developed.

For a moment I thought that you'd suddenly gained beef with Michael Moorcock and I was about to congratulate you on your incredible achievement but I'm guessing you mean one of the authors of Stormbringer: the Game.

That Old Tree
Jun 23, 2012

nah


theironjef posted:

Aww, now one of the authors of Stormbringer also doesn't like me. This is a terrible hobby we've developed.

I was debating whether to clog up the thread with that. He even basically admits "the older stuff was kind of crappy" but man, Moorcock was so important, you can't actually acknowledge some licensed poo poo based on his work maybe was not good, or at least that people could hate on it for perfectly valid reasons.

Tolkien was super important to literature today, too, but no one should look down on someone who thinks 1k pages of walking is boring, and most Middle-earth RPGs have been kind of bad. "You don't want to hear me talk about my niche hobby for 4 hours? Rude!"

That Old Tree fucked around with this message at 06:26 on Mar 30, 2015

Lynx Winters
May 1, 2003

Borderlawns: The Treehouse of Pandora
I like how some of the posts in the rpgnet thread imply that a scathing review of a dead game from 25 loving years ago is going to hurt anything. I like to imagine there's some movie producer out there who was about to greenlight an Elric movie franchise but aborted at the last second when a plucky intern busted into the boardroom yelling "wait! Listen to this!"

That Old Tree
Jun 23, 2012

nah


Anyway, even though I'm already familiar, I'm really enjoying the Beyond the Wall review. Thanks for doing it!

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib
I'm with Halloween Jack in that I'm genuinely baffled that anyone can muster that much passion to get up in arms over slights against the BRP system of all things. Like goddamn, when you imagine the most dry, sterile d100 gaming system whose most evocative quality is "is functionally a game" it's BRP you're imagining.

theironjef
Aug 11, 2009

The archmage of unexpected stinks.

You know what's really weird is that the book we have is selling for like a hundred bucks on eBay

Ryuujin
Sep 26, 2007
Dragon God

Kai Tave posted:

Having gone and examined the Village Bear playbook for myself it turns out it was made as a thank you to Benjamin Baugh, aka Bailywolf, a game designer and author most notable for Monsters & Other Childish Things and The Kerberos Club, as well as regularly championing the inclusion of talking, adventuring bears in games over on RPGnet. I'm not making that last bit up. So that explains that.


For a moment I thought that you'd suddenly gained beef with Michael Moorcock and I was about to congratulate you on your incredible achievement but I'm guessing you mean one of the authors of Stormbringer: the Game.

So Bailywolf made the Village Bear playbook, looking for discussion of it I came across the RPGnet thread where they were talking about Beyond the Wall, and where Bailywolf was working on the Bear playbook, and apparently also a The Curious Wyrm playbook which sounds like playing as a Hatchling Dragon. Looks pretty nice, but still doesn't actually look finished.

But yeah if someone ran Beyond the Wall I would love to roll up and play a Village Bear.


Xelkelvos posted:

Better question: Is Sir Bearington a possibility?

Not entirely sure what this means but I will try to answer.

Grab one of :

quote:

3 You were part of a mighty warrior culture, fighting wars against dark creatures far from the lands of men. +2 Str,
+2 Con, +1 Cha
or
10 One of your parents was the champion of your tribe, ending wars before they began in single combat with enemies. +2 Str,
+1 Con, +1 Cha,
Skill: Athletics

Then maybe one of:

quote:

3 Being a kind hearted soul, you believe that men and beasts can help one another. +2 Cha, +1 Dex
or
7 You wanted to fight the ancient enemies of your race. +1 Str, +1 Con,
+1 Int

Then probably:

quote:

7 You served your time with a human militia, aiding them in the protection of their lands. +1 Str, +1 Con,
+1 Cha

Then the most knightly sounding option for the next roll would be:

quote:

2 How to defend themselves from enemies as yet unknown. +2 Str, +1 Con,
Skill: Alertness

Next would probably be one of:

quote:

2 You use your thick hide to great advantage to turn your enemies’ attacks. +2 Con,
Knack: Defensive Fighter
or
6 You use your mighty paws to great advantage and strike down your enemies. +2 Str,
Knack: Great Strike

Then one of:

quote:

1 Though it pained you to do so, you protected a group of villagers from a maddened lesser bear
in the forest. The friend to your right helped you in your fight, and gains +1 Str. +2 Str
or
6
A band of wicked men from the south attacked the inn in the dark of the night as you were
passing near the village. You put yourself in harm’s way to do the right thing. The friend to
your right was emboldened by your heroism and stood by your side, and gains +1 Con. +2 Con

And finally probably one of:

quote:

1 You will end forever the threat of the violent northern raiders. +2 Str,
specially made leather
armor (+2 AC)
or
3 You will rid the forests of wicked men and make them safe for good humans. +2 Con,
a jar of special mead

Ryuujin fucked around with this message at 06:58 on Mar 30, 2015

Xelkelvos
Dec 19, 2012
This is Sir Bearington

Simian_Prime
Nov 6, 2011

When they passed out body parts in the comics today, I got Cathy's nose and Dick Tracy's private parts.
Now they're advocating selling T-shirts in support of Moorcock, like he got shot by a cop or something.

Because Some Guys on The Internet said mean things about a 20-year-old game.

I'd say they lost all sense of proportion, but I'm not sure they had any to begin with.

By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007

IT *BZZT* WASP ME--
IT WASP ME ALL *BZZT* ALONG!


'How uncouth, mocking Sir Berrington's speech impediment like that.'

Edit: ^^^ oh internet :downsowned:

Ryuujin
Sep 26, 2007
Dragon God
Okay then, keeping in mind Village Bear starts with a 5 Charisma instead of 8, we would probably pick:

quote:

12 You lived in a forest filled with social beasts of all types who shared a culture all their own. +2 Cha, +1 Dex,
+1 Int, +1 Wis

quote:

3 Being a kind hearted soul, you believe that men and beasts can help one another. +2 Cha, +1 Dex

quote:

1 The blacksmith was kind to you, and you often sat at his forge, trading stories. +2 Cha, +1 Str
or
7 You served your time with a human militia, aiding them in the protection of their lands. +1 Str, +1 Con, +1 Cha

quote:

4 The proper method of boasting about one’s mighty exploits. +2 Cha, +1 Int,
Skill: Boasting


While this is a Warrior-Rogue multiclass it doesn't have a huge selection of Skills, and Boasting is probably the most social skill it gets.

quote:

5 You fight like a truly wild beast and bewilder your attackers. +2 Cha,
Knack: Defensive Fighter

This helps your Charisma, and thus Charisma based checks like Bluffing or Boasting, but might not really be a prim and proper fighting style.

In which case maybe

4 With wit and instinct you avoid every trick. +2 Int,
Knack: Resilience

Would be better.

quote:

Again the first is better for getting a high Charisma

4
Your friend almost attacked you while out hunting but noticed something different about you,
and stopped to talk. You impressed the youngster with your glorious boasts about your history.
The friend to your right also made boasts about past deeds, both real and imagined, and
gains +1 Cha.
+2 Cha

Or maybe this one fits better

You encountered the friend to your right at a young age, sitting in the forest. You shared stories
and sat by a stream together. The friend to your right learned much and told the village
an amazing story about a talking bear, and gains +1 Int.
+2 Int

quote:

5 You will find one of the remaining great wyrms and befriend it. +2 Cha,
the world’s best riddle

If you take all the Cha +2 options, you actually end up with 18 Charisma, if I didn't miss count, and with the way skills work you would be rolling d20 and trying to get under your stat. Which would mean 18 Cha +2 Boasting would be trying to roll under a 20 on a d20, taking into account any modifiers for the roll. For Boasting at least. For things like lying, bluffing, etc it would be rolling a d20 and trying to get under 18. Though Village Bear can actually speak so don't really need to bluff people into thinking you are talking English.

Comrade Koba
Jul 2, 2007

Kai Tave posted:

This is the sort of OSR game I wish there was more of instead of the usual nostalgic rehashes. Someone run this in the Game Room, tia.

This. I would play the hell out of this game.

Kai Tave
Jul 2, 2012
Fallen Rib
Looking through Beyond the Wall (which I picked up courtesy of GimpInBlack's review so far) I'd say the weakest bits of it are the bits that are most "old-school D&D-ish" seemingly without consideration. Like the Moorcock-ian alignment, as he noted, but also things like different weapons having different damage die values. So a mace does d6 damage and a longsword does d8 damage, but as far as I can tell there's nothing like the bludgeoning/slashing/piercing damage subdivision of yore and I even checked the bestiary to see if skeletons take extra blunt weapon damage which they don't appear to.

Which essentially means that if you're rolling up a Would-Be Knight and you happen to wind up Weapon Spec'd in maces then it sucks to be you because you're stuck using a d6 damage weapon when what you really wanted was that d8 longsword. It's a tiny thing, but it's (as far as I can tell) a pointless tiny thing that's in there for no other reason than "D&D did it," which to me is the biggest shortcoming of a lot of OSR stuff in general.

Ryuujin
Sep 26, 2007
Dragon God
Speaking of Beyond the Wall and the damage of weapons the Village Bear has this to say:

quote:

A Bear: Bears have a base AC of 13, may bite for 1d8
damage and claw for 1d6, may attack up to three times a
round in some circumstances, and have no hands.

Much like the non human races have some special advantages and disadvantages because of their race, the bear gets that. And looking at the bite and claw one would wonder why would they ever use the claws? But then it says they may attack up to three times a round in some circumstances. Presumably that would be claw, claw, bite. But it doesn't really specify what those situations would be.

Ratpick
Oct 9, 2012

And no one ate dinner that night.
Beyond the Wall looks amazing and if it weren't in English I'd run this poo poo for the kids in my RPG club in a heartbeat.

This isn't the first I've heard of the game: when I first heard about it it inspired me to run a similar "kids who have just matured into teenage adventurers" game albeit with more of a Norse/Baltic/Finnic vibe than the Celtic vibe in Beyond the Wall. I used World of Dungeond and instead of aping the playbook format fully I just included a bit in each prefab character where the person on their right got some bonus on account of their childhood misadventures. Also, I gave each character two choices to make: one ability and one skill was prebaked into the character type you chose, and the two choices they made determined their other skill and ability. Sadly, the stuff I had was really uninspired in contrast with Beyond the Wall. No Village Bears or teenage witch moonshiners.

But yeah, I need to get this game to mine for more ideas.

ThisIsNoZaku
Apr 22, 2013

Pew Pew Pew!

Comrade Koba posted:

This. I would play the hell out of this game.

All-bear party, like that Ogryn game that spun out of the 40k RPG thread.

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Comrade Koba
Jul 2, 2007

ThisIsNoZaku posted:

All-bear party, like that Ogryn game that spun out of the 40k RPG thread.

Improved Hibernation is a bit OP. I prefer the feat that lets you summon 1d6 Dire Cubs once per day.

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