Vampires and the Mirror

 A foundational piece of vampire lore is that their reflections do not appear in mirrors. This is not expanded upon in Stokers work but popular reasons include that vampires have no souls or that mirrors were constructed with silver at that time. I propose a different idea, inspired by my disappointing watch of Van Helsing last night.

(worth the watch for the art direction though)

THE MIRROR WORLD

Vampires don’t have a reflection in mirrors because to it they are archways that it may walk right through. On the other side is the Mirror World, a pocket dimension which the vampire may use to traverse through its castle with ease. A vampire will attempt to keep the existence of the Mirror World a secret from non-vampires. Therefore they will only enter or exit a mirror when no one else is watching, unless it is severely threatened.

RULES OF THE MIRROR WORLD

1. A Vampire and anything it's touching may pass through a mirror as if it's not there. Objects or people taken into the Mirror World do not reflect into the real world however they can be seen in a mirror.

2. Non-Vampires cannot enter the Mirror World under normal circumstances. However they may interact with objects that exist only in the Mirror World, if they are looking through a mirror.

3. A shattered mirror ceases to function as an archway. A covered mirror is temporarily locked until uncovered.

4. The mirror world is constantly shifting. Rooms with a mirror in them are perfectly reflected in the Mirror World. All other areas are a hodgepodge of changing ideas, memories, and emotions. This is quite unpleasant.

THE MIRROR WORLD IN GAME

Implementing the Mirror World in game gives your vampires even more ways to traverse their castle to sneak up and trap the PCs. It will also create mystery if the vampire is recurring. How does it disappear so quickly without turning to mist? Why are there so many mirrors here? And once the Mirror World is discovered the PCs may use this knowledge to their advantage. Only resting in rooms with no mirrors, breaking mirrors, or even discovering how to enter the mirror world to create shortcuts.

Maybe the vampire's heart is locked away in the mirror?

Undercity Critters: Kith and Kin for His Majesty the Worm

 I return once more, spouting the good news. My first project under the name Travelling Alchemist Games has released. Undercity Critters adds new options to HMTW in the form of animal races. Play as Dog-like Kobolds searching for their loyal companion, Frogfolk Ribrits honing their skills in Tongue-Fu, Build complex tunnels as a Ratling, or become a literal cat burglar as a Kashyn!

Each Kin, as the game calls them, adds cool new abilities to characters. One of my favorites allows Ratlings to build permanent tunnels between dungeon level, permanently altering the dungeon forever!

Check it out here on itch.io!
https://travelling-alchemist.itch.io/undercity-critters

The $10 Solution to Miniatures for ttrpgs

What if I told you for $10 you'd never have to worry about having the right miniature ever again. That after spending that $10's you'd could display a Goblin, a Redcoat, a Corrupted Cultist, and a Stormtrooper, all without having to purchase, print, or make another mini? And to top it all off, they will immerse your players more than any normal painted mini. Sounds too good to be true? maybe, but here the solution I suggest.

Meeples!

For those of you also in the Board Game hobby, you are already familiar with meeples. They are small painted and shaped wooden game pieces. These ones are humanoid shaped, but they come in all shapes and sizes. If you've played Catan or Root, you've used Meeples. 

Meeples are so popular in board games because they are much cheaper to produce then plastic miniatures, and they also have more character than standees or simple wooden blocks.

For these same reasons, Meeples also make perfect RPG materials. A Meeples color can act as a reminder for what they represent, unlike something like dice, which is what I used to use when I didn't use miniatures. For example, a goblin or zombie might use green. Elite NPCs may use silver and gold. A noble person may have a purple Meeple.

Don't get me wrong, I love miniatures, I'm a wargamer just as much as a ttrpg enthusiast. But miniatures can often limit the imagination of players, not enhance their immersion. Once a physical, detailed representation of an NPC or Monster is sitting on the table, the players imagination cease. Not to mention when you must use a stand-in model for something you don't have, and suddenly the kobolds the PCs have been talking to turnout out to look identical to the dwarves they talked to last week. Not so with Meeples, which offer just enough context for the mind to fill in the blanks with evocative language. I'm not saying don't use minis, but Meeples may have a place for fodder who you don't want to put the time, effort, or money into finding and painting accurate models for.

Even for gridless games Meeples can have a use at your table as tokens, condition counters, hp trackers, or whatever else you could need. In my savage worlds game my players chose a meeple color and use the extras as their Bennies. They also weigh next to nothing and store up small.

I got my Meeples online for around $10 for 100. If you want a set for yourself they shouldn't be hard to find. Bye for now and happy gaming!

Using A Flow Chart for Dungeon Maps

Quickie today!

 I've been running Starfinder recently, and with the final session coming up I needed to prepare the ship the party would be stealing from. However I knew I didn't need a highly detailed, highly time consuming map of the ship, but I also didn't want to run it entirely off the cuff. I was inspired by the idea of Point Crawls, so I ended up going with a flowchart map, as seen below:

I highly recommend this method, here's why:

1. Ease of Use: While not as rigid as a standard square grid map, it also isn't so loose that the players and the GM can still use it for reference.
2. Room to Expand: The areas and passages give an idea of how everything connects, but leaves room for improvisation at the table. How it connects can be left up to GM Fiat. For example the connection between the Living area and Maintenance might be an elevator, a staircase, or a series of floors that transition between the two depending on what the GM and Players need at the table.
3. Ease of Creation: I made this map in about an hour using app.diagrams.net. It's a free browser program than links right into Google Drive.

I know I'm not the first to use flow chart maps before, but I felt inspired to write up a quick blogpost about mine, after my friend told me to. If you end up feeling inspired an make a flow chart map, feel free to tag me @qw3rty_jp to show me!

Yet Another Maneuver System for OSR style games

 Long time no see!

Something I noticed a few days ago that has been bugging me to no end is how in Trad games, mainly D&D, there seems to be a problem with fights that are stagnant. The fighter rocks up to the opposing Orc and they stand there fighting until either one of them is dead or retreating. Compare this to all the best sword fights in movies you've seen. I'll link the famous Princess Bride duel, though doubtless you've seen it.

Look at the way they move around the battlefield, all while remaining engaged with each other. I want to replicate this in my combats. I have devised a system to solve my problems, inspired by Trespasser, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and Mythras. While designing I had these design principles:

1. Can be bolted onto an existing system with little effort

2. Rewards the use of maneuvers

3. Encourages movement around the battlefield between those in melee

4. Does not significantly slow combat

Without further ado here are the rules, with design commentary at the bottom.

Strong Hits:

When you hit an enemies armor class or above and your die roll is even, you can confer extra benefits on top of your damage roll. Choose one:

1. Add +1 damage to the damage roll
2. Control the battle: Go on the offensive and move the battle somewhere else on the battlefield within reason.
3. Attempt a maneuver: name a maneuver you would like to attempt that your GM agrees to. Then roll the attack dice again, if you succeed, the maneuver works. Eg. Knock a sword out of someone's hand, kick them off a cliff, etc.
4. Disengage: Move away from the enemy combatant, this does not provoke an attack of opportunity.*

Designer Commentary

First, why the decision to make strong hits on a hit + even dice roll? For this I can thank Trespasser for the inspiration, where even dice rolls confer additional effects. I like this because it means these effects are going off 50% of the time an attacker succeeds, which means they happen often but cannot fully be relied upon.

1. The simple +1 damage is a back up plan, for when there is nowhere useful to move to and no maneuver an attack wants to use. It is only 1 damage because I want to encourage the use of the other options. It is also an easy option for most unintelligent monsters to pick.
2. This was the inspiration for the whole subsystem. By controlling the battle you can position yourself into an advantageous position or your enemy into a perilous one. For example jumping up onto a rock to gain the high ground, or inching an enemies back up against the edge of a cliff.
3. These are pretty standard maneuver rules. It is worth noting in these rules, you can still attempt to do maneuvers without getting a strong hit, only it takes your action. This may still be worth it in some cases, as you'd only need to succeed one roll, instead of succeeding an attack with an even number, then succeeding a second roll.
4. *While attacks of opportunity may seem counterproductive if my goal is to increase the amount of movement in combat, without it my system falls apart somewhat. Since in this system you can force movement on your opponent there needs to be an incentive not to immediately undo that movement. For example if you push back your foe to the edge of a cliff, without a reason to stay in that spot, your foe can simply move away from the cliffside. they may be more likely to stay there and fight if the threat of an attack of opportunity is eminent. Attacks of Opportunity do not activate Strong Hits.

Additional Considerations

Who can use Strong Hits?

If I were using this subsystem for a classic retroclone like Whitebox, I would probably give these options to Fighters and Dwarves. While writing this the system I had in mind was Knave. Since Knave is classless, I would give all PCs access to Strong Hits.

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So how did I do? I hope you found my idea interesting at the very least. This subsystem is still a work in progress, so if you have any suggestions or comments, please leave them below!

In the Realm of Me, April 2023

 It's funny to see just how long its been since the last time I posted something. Time really flies by, huh. Since my last post I have a few updates to make.

Firstly: I released my first official ttrpg supplement! ACES is a hack of the game FIST by Claymore, which allows you to take on missions set in the wild west! Inside the 8 page zine includes new mechanics, character options, a mission generator, and a loose one-shot to get you started.

You can find ACES on itch.io for Pay What You Want at this link: https://qw3rty.itch.io/aces

Second: I started a Call of Cthulhu public game at my college. I'm surprised just how popular it has become, especially since many of the members had no prior roleplaying experiences. One had never even heard of Cthulhu at all! I have a post coming soon detailing a one-shot I wrote for that public game, but for now I will just detail my experiences running. First it definitely made me a better Keeper and GM. With a constantly changing party the dynamic was always switching and I was always teaching new people how to play. Additionally it gave me a lot of experience running, which in all honestly I didn't have a ton of beforehand. And secondly, it felt very fulfilling to introduce people to the hobby that wouldn't have otherwise. The more people playing the better, especially if they go to my school.

Well that's all for this update. I have a few things in the works, but those will be for after finals are over. As always happy gaming and I look forward to the next time you stop by the Travelling Alchemist!

BlackJackal Dice Game, for your RPG Gambling Pleasure!

 Today's Blogpost is about a simple dice game to throw into your games when the players are feeling lucky. It's quite simple, and is a good mix of luck and skill, in my opinion. It plays very similar to blackjack, only with d12s instead of cards. Here are the rules:

• One person is the dealer, this is most likely the house, but a player with a particularly large sum could take this role as well.
• First, the Players put in their bets. You can decide if the table will have a minimum or not.
• The Dealer then rolls 4d12, dropping as many dice as it takes to get below 25. They then reveal one of the dice.
• The Players now decide if they want to add more to their bet or fold. Again decide if there should be a minimum.
• The players now choose how many d12s they would like to roll. There is no maximum, however if they roll above 24 they lose.
• The goal of the game is to get above the dealer without going over 24.
• Finally the Dealer reveals their whole dice pool. If the Dealer wins they take the bet, if the Player wins the dealer matches what they put in.
• If anyone gets a perfect 24 that's called a BlackJackal, and they get the entire table's bets, on top of what the dealer owes them. If multiple people get a BlackJackal, then they split the pot evenly.

And that's it! This is a pretty popular game at the Travelling Alchemist, you can find many adventurers losing their hard-earned loot at our beer stained tables. Some shifty fellows even like to bet secrets and rumors in lieu of money. 

If you want to have the players roll for a skill check on top of playing the game (for example Savage Worlds has a gambling skill), have them make the check. If they succeed let them add or subtract an extra die after their initial roll, to signify their character correctly calculating the odds. If a player wants to cheat let them make the skill check, then change the face of a die if they succeed.

However you play I hope you have fun, and Happy Gaming!