Baldur’s Gate I & II Enhanced Edition PS4
I was browsing the local FTW (For The Win) Games and I discovered something I did not even know existed. There is a PS4 version of Baldur’s Gate I & II! I played far into Baldur’s Gate I and one of my CDs got scratched, lost, or faced some other catastrophe. My point is that I never finished the game. I wanted to complete it before moving on to the second one. I never did move on to the second one. I had intended to buy these games on Good old Games or some other similar site but then I found this version.
I have just started playing the original Baldur’s Gate and I have yet to get very far into the game. I was a little thrown off by the controls at first because I was used to the old keyboard and mouse. My son and I persevered and we got the hang of it. He is enjoying it so I looked for other old D&D games in the PS Store and found some more old favorites. My next two purchases will most likely be the Planescape and Icewind Dale Enhance Edition and then the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance game. I have had all of these games in the past and it will be awesome to have all of them again and introduce my son to them. There is more than one way to scratch the D&D itch and I am going to take full advantage of these offerings.
Latest Gaming Purchase
The D&D 5E Dungeon Master’s Screen. I have the three core books plus a few others so I decided to pick up this screen. I do have the screen from the boxed set but this one is much sturdier AND will survive teenage handling much better when my son runs a game.
Newest Miniatures
I picked up some new miniatures yesterday. These are immediately going into the “waiting to be painted” pile – currently in the middle of packing to move into a new house – but they were good choices. Duke Gerard will most likely serve as a player character; a Fighter or Paladin would be the most likely choices. The other miniature is a Bugbear Warrior. Obviously, the Bugbear will serve as an encounter.
I am moving closer to having miniatures to represent each character class and what seem to be the most often encounters typically used in my games. The next thing to do is to finish painting them. Then I can start acquiring any miniatures that I will need when they come up in later games. I will have a dedicated painting area when I get moved in to the new house so that will make things easier to manage.
I have been painting miniatures for less than a year. I had tried in the past but I had no idea what I was doing. I chalked that up to a learning experience and decided to focus on other aspects of the gaming hobby. This was all in the pre-internet days so the great wealth of knowledge available on youtube and other sites was not available at the time. In 2020 my son became REALLY interested in Warhammer 40K so I went on the internet to find out how much information I could gather before going any further. I didn’t want him to have the same discouraging experience as I had in my youth.
I found numerous pages of tips, tricks, and tutorials available for any skill level. I let him pick out one of the beginner boxes and we were off to the races. I discovered that I enjoy painting and I decided to continue. I have since picked up many Reaper Bones and a good selection of the Wizkids Deep Cuts range of miniatures. I am not a grand master at painting and I don’t care to be. I paint at an adequate level that I am satisfied with so I can use my miniatures for in game purposes to represent characters, encounters, NPCs, etc.; just happy they don’t look like a blob of paint randomly brushed on a figure. Painting is also a great way to unwind and relax in my spare time.
Now it’s time to get back to packing….
Combat Ready! Playtest Materials
I have assembled a mass of figures and other items to use when I start playtesting the rules for Combat Ready in the near future. I had not intended to do so already because I was out picking up a few groceries and cleaning supplies for the house. I am in the middle of packing up and preparing for a move to my first home purchased so I needed to restock.
The first stop I made was one of the dollar stores; I honestly do not recall if it was Dollar General or Dollar Tree but it was one of the two. I found another bag of the old green and tan Army Men for only $1 so I added it to my purchases. The figures look almost exactly the same – with the exception of the green being darker in the second bag – but the bag and label are different. At this point, I had collected 50 figures for a total out of pocket expense of $2. I was pretty pleased with the unexpected find and did not expect anything further at this point.
The next stop I made was Wal-Mart. While I was browsing the aisles and looking for the items on my list, I recalled that I had seen Army Men in the toy section on a previous visit. I figured I might as well go look to see what I could find that day. I discovered that Wal-Mart had a bucket of Army Men but it was the the only one available at the store that day. I added it to my basket and went about the rest of my grocery shopping.
I took a closer look when I got home to see that I had purchased the ADVENTURE FORCE Army Bucket of 100 items for only $9.96! In addition to the usual green and tan Army Men there are items such as tanks, sandbags, barrels, concertina wire, paratrooper, and more. In other words, a healthy supply of materials to start from and it only cost $11.96 plus tax.
The next step will be going through the bags and the bucket to see exactly what I have and how much of each figure and item. Then I will come up with some ideas on statistics for Attack, Defense, and Special. I will also need to devise some rules for obstacles (concertina wire and barrels), reinforcements (paratrooper), tanks, and I am sure there will be other things to consider after that. That seems like a pretty good place to start.
If this works out then I would like to expand it in the future. I know Hobby Lobby has similar figures of knights, dinosaurs, etc. but I have not taken a good look at them. I will investigate on my next visit. I also know that I can find science fiction figures online so that would be another genre to branch out with also. Unless I just find a really good deal I will stick with the Army Men game and then go from there later.
Combat Ready! (work in progress)
Combat Ready! is an idea for a game I’ve had for a long time. It’s nothing new or revolutionary and similar attempts have bene made over the years but I want to do my own version. The concept is simple. Remember those old green plastic Army guys that everybody seemed to have back in the 1980s? For years, I have wanted to do a rules light, fast playing game centered around small forces of these figures; maybe squad or platoon level in the real world. A game that is easy to setup with minimal investment that can be played in a short amount of time.
I want to start small by focusing on personnel and weapons. There are tons of possibilities for expansion beyond that base. Some of the possibilities include vehicles, calling in air strikes, minefields, booby traps, demolitions, reinforcements etc. Eventually, there could be enough material for a basic game and an expanded game. The goal should always be to keep the rules simple and easy to follow.
I picked up this 25 piece bag of green and brown ARMY COMMAND soldiers from the Dollar General last night. That’s what I’m going to use to start my design. My focus will be on using what is available rather than trying to search for high dollar single figures or other that ultra rare item. I’ve seen various forms of these Army figures at various locations ranging from a low price of a dollar a bag to maybe $15 for a big bucket of them. If needed it would be pretty easy to gather a larger force if you wanted to add to your collection or have a massive battle.
On a site note, there are other options available other than the standard green or tan figures. I have seen blue and grey ones. I also stumbled across some websites that sell other types such as medieval, western, space, etc. In effect, a whole range of compatible games could be made to scratch whatever itch you may be experiencing at the moment.
There are some initial thought out of the way. I’ll be revisiting this idea from time to time. I’m not sure how long the process will take but it IS a work in progress…
A New Beginning…
With the exception of a handful of previous posts I’m doing a hard reboot on this blog. I lost focus on my previous posting and was absent for several years. During that time, some things have changed. For instance, some blogs or websites I had previously linked to or posted about have disappeared or become dormant. I’m going to update or delete previous posts according to relevance and mark today (April 4, 2021) as the new beginning of this blog.
Score!
My son and I went to the annual Easter sale at Vintage Stock yesterday. We had originally stopped at the location closest to us but he didn’t have any luck finding anything he wanted. We decided to go to the next closest store and I’m glad we did. While he was browsing the video game section I went to the books to see if they had any new rpg items. They had the usual D&D items but then I noticed they also had Warhammer: Age of Sigmar core rules and the Stormcast Eternals battletome and they were only $14.99 each! I snatched them up.
[Perilous Journeys RPG] The Minotaur, take 1
The following is my first attempt at a monster entry for the Minotaur represented in the Perilous Journeys stats. Anybody got any suggestions?
Minotaur
H: 60-70 A: 36–45 S: 40 AF: 6
Attack: weapon +4/1d8/1d6
Encountered: 1-4
Description: Minotaurs appear to be large humanoid creatures with the head of a bull. They are typically around 7 feet tall with a thick, rugged build. Rumors speak of Minotaurs living on a diet consisting of humans and other smaller humanoid races. Minotaurs are somewhat intelligent and may use tools and weapons.
Combat: Minotaurs tend to charge their opponents in an attempt to gore them for 1d8 damage; when closed to grappling distance a Minotaur may bite for 1d6 damage. Some Minotaurs prefer to use weapons such as spears, clubs, or axes and get a +4 bonus to damage when doing so. Minotaurs tend to attack things smaller than their size. Minotaurs may be wearing a ragtag mix of garments for armor in addition to their tough hide and have an effective armor factor of 6 points.
Treasure: C
Perilous Journeys Fantasy RPG – An Examination, Part One
*This post is one post made from a series of posts found at my other blog, The Semi-Retired Gamer.*
Before I begin looking at Perilous Journeys I feel it is important to explain my experience with Lejendary Adventures. I stumbled across the Lejendary Adventure players manual in a FLGS one day and immediately purchased it after I noticed the name “Gary Gygax” and skimmed through the book. I was pretty excited because it looked like a simple and straightforward skill based game using percentile dice for resolution. Unfortunately, I just did not “get it” at all.
I made multiple attempts at character creation and never went further with the rules. My biggest problem was that I came away with a different understanding each time I read the rules. I agree with others about the language or writing style being biggest stumbling block to understanding the LA system. I disagree about the use of nontraditional role-playing terms. I have no problem understanding that Avatar is equal to player character, Order is basically equal to class, and on down the line with the rest of the terms. I believe the use of these unique terms is a plus and helps set the tone as something different from the previous work of Gygax.
I am no stranger to the works and style of Gygax. I read and understood the AD&D works, Cyborg Commando, and Dangerous Journeys. After reading through the character creation process in LA repeated times I grew very frustrated with the rules. At first they seem pretty simple to follow but using them left me utterly confused. I downloaded the quick start and that seemed to help a little but I was unable to bridge the gap between the quick start and the core rules.
Ultimately, I came away from the LA rules disappointed. I got the impression that a smooth rules-light game was waiting to be discovered with the rule book. I also felt that the writing style did not facilitate the understanding of the rules. I must point out that this is not a dig against Gygax. I am just saying that the rules as presented did not work for me.
As a quick aside, I just wanted to point out that I thought it was interesting that both Arneson and Gygax stepped outside the realm of D20 based gaming and explored percentile based games with Adventures in Fantasy and Lejendary Adventure.
How did I find Perilous Journeys? I frequently check the threads at Dragonsfoot; specifically, the General Discussion, AD&D, Workshop, Lejendary Adventure, and Simulacrum Games forum. I was checking the forums one day and came across this thread bringing attention to a new game with a design similar to LA. After a download and a little investigation of the rules, I decided to bring attention to this game by taking a closer look at it in my blog.
Basic Details
I am taking a look at pdf version of the Perilous Journeys core rule book. The document is black and white with illustrations and weighs in at 129 pages. The artwork does a good job of capturing old school adventuring and there is an overall absence of dungeonpunk characters and monsters found elsewhere. That gets a big thumps up from me because I really dislike a lot of the modern art in 4E. I assume the only thing missing from the pdf version is the front and back cover. The cover of the print version is displayed below.
Preface
The preface states several important things that form my impression of where this game is headed with the rules.
- PJ is a skill based game that attempts to mimic the feel of OD&D but not the mechanics.
- PJ has streamlined and flexible mechanics that will not hinder play of the game.
- PJ has broad skills that allow the customization of characters.
This sounds an awful lot like what I heard about LA but that is a good thing. If Perilous Journeys delivers for me in the ways that LA could not then I will be a very happy gamer.
Terminology
The next section is a list of the common terms used in Perilous Journeys. Usually I just quickly skim through these in other rule books to see if anything unfamiliar catches my eye. I actually read every one of these definitions and found them very satisfactory in their explanation of the respective term. The terms and labels used in Perilous Journeys should be familiar to most people who have played just a few role-playing games. The few new terms are explained in a clear manner that causes no confusion to the reader.
Introduction
Two things caught my attention when reading the introduction of the character creation chapter of the rule book. First, the beginning characters created with this system are not weaklings and the power level is one that is “appropriate… for characters that would be adventuring in a dangerous world”. Some might argue that the “OD&D feel” mentioned in the foreword of the rule book is not in agreement with this. I disagree with that view. The characters in both games just begin at a differing level of power. Second, the rules ask each player to come up a somewhat fleshed out character concept before character creation begins. It is even pointed out that this concept should be more than just “warrior” or “thief” but should include details on personality, abilities, how the character was trained, etc.
Two things caught my attention when reading the introduction of the character creation chapter of the rule book. First, the beginning characters created with this system are not weaklings and the power level is one that is “appropriate… for characters that would be adventuring in a dangerous world”. Some might argue that the “OD&D feel” mentioned in the foreword of the rule book is not in agreement with this. I disagree with that view. The characters in both games just begin at a differing level of power. Second, the rules ask each player to come up a somewhat fleshed out character concept before character creation begins. It is even pointed out that this concept should be more than just “warrior” or “thief” but should include details on personality, abilities, how the character was trained, etc.
The Character Creation Steps
There are 14 steps to creating a character in the Perilous Journeys rules. Some of the steps are either optional or do not apply to every character due to choices made in other steps. It may sound like a lot of steps but – I am happy to say – the steps are clear without any confusion to the reader. Unlike Lejendary Adventure, I am 100% confident that I understand the steps and can actually create a character. In fact, I am tempted to once again pull out my Lejendary Adventures book to see if I can make any more sense of those rules.
Races
Players have 8 races to choose from in the Perilous Journeys rule book. Four of the races – Dryad, Fomorian, Lurikeen, and Wild Elves – offer a wider variety of chooses for the player. Some might be wondering why the Wild Elf is simply not listed as a sub-race of the Elf. After a little examination, it is clear that the two races are quite different from each other. A simple sub-race listing would not work in this case.Each race entry is laid out in an easy to follow format. First, there are some introductory remarks about the race that includes physical details. Second, the generation of the Core Attributes is covered in detail in this section. Players have two options here – a point based method or a points plus random rolls method; both methods seem viable but the choice of method is up to the GM. Third, this section covers the selection of Abilities (commonly called skills in other games) for the character being generated. Humans are free to choose anything but the non-human races have abilities that are excluded – they can never learn them – and others that are restricted – they can not begin play with these abilities. Fourth, the race entries end with Racial Traits that are other capabilities such as immunity, special hearing, special vision, etc.
There are 14 steps to creating a character in the Perilous Journeys rules. Some of the steps are either optional or do not apply to every character due to choices made in other steps. It may sound like a lot of steps but – I am happy to say – the steps are clear without any confusion to the reader. Unlike Lejendary Adventure, I am 100% confident that I understand the steps and can actually create a character. In fact, I am tempted to once again pull out my Lejendary Adventures book to see if I can make any more sense of those rules.
Races
Players have 8 races to choose from in the Perilous Journeys rule book. Four of the races – Dryad, Fomorian, Lurikeen, and Wild Elves – offer a wider variety of chooses for the player. Some might be wondering why the Wild Elf is simply not listed as a sub-race of the Elf. After a little examination, it is clear that the two races are quite different from each other. A simple sub-race listing would not work in this case.Each race entry is laid out in an easy to follow format. First, there are some introductory remarks about the race that includes physical details. Second, the generation of the Core Attributes is covered in detail in this section. Players have two options here – a point based method or a points plus random rolls method; both methods seem viable but the choice of method is up to the GM. Third, this section covers the selection of Abilities (commonly called skills in other games) for the character being generated. Humans are free to choose anything but the non-human races have abilities that are excluded – they can never learn them – and others that are restricted – they can not begin play with these abilities. Fourth, the race entries end with Racial Traits that are other capabilities such as immunity, special hearing, special vision, etc.
Character Customization
After the selection of race, your character can be customized with the selection of edges, flaws, and contacts. Edges are basically advantages while flaws are basically disadvantages. Contacts are NPCs the character knows that may be able to give assistance to the character. This section is where I run into my first issues – one minor quibble and one somewhat irritating inclusion – with the game system.
I just do not “get” the open eyes edge. I understand that the character can sleep with his eyes open but I just wish there was a little more guidance on this one. Is the character harder to surprise? Does the character wake up quicker? I am not sure BUT I am also not too concerned about it because it’s not a deal breaker at all; not even close. On the other hand, I find the inclusion of the gas edge to be irritating and somewhat of a mood killer. Yes, I know it is a game and we are all just trying to have fun here. Maybe it is just me but I would rather it not be included – not because I think it is offensive or anything like that. I always seem to game with somebody that will take something like that and just try to be as goofy as possible with it. I admit that the irritation with that flaw may entirely be just me; besides, I can always outlaw it in my games.
Other than those two issues, this section is well done. There seems to be quite a bit of variety without bogging down with a bunch of rules covering every little circumstance and exception.
Back To The Good Stuff…
Unlike Lejendary Adventures, I have no confusion over the determination of the first ability of a character. It is simply the ability with the highest score generated during character creation. I knew that much from LA but was unsure of when and how to determine all of the point additions to the ability score.
Abilities are similar to skills in other games. There are 38 abilities to choose from during character creation. The abilities serve several purposes in Perilous Journeys. First, each ability grants bonus points to one of the core attributes when it is chosen. Second, each ability is linked to a core attribute and can not be increased over the score of the score attribute without using extra points to do so. Third, each ability also generates a selection from the equipment lists: low, middle, high, and magical.
The Professions and Guilds
With this post, I am looking at the professions and guild system of Perilous Journeys. The explanatory introductory paragraphs hold a lot of promise. Simply put, professions are similar to orders in Lejendary Adventures or classes in D&D. The guilds represent an association of like-minded individuals that offers training and looks out for the interests of the members. Perilous Journeys is really flexible in the application of this concept for the benefit of the game. For instance, it is typical to have a thieves guild or an assassins guild in a fantasy game but Perilous Journeys points out that you can have a criminal organization with members of various professions working in one guild together; such as thieves, assassins, and bandits in a criminal guild as mentioned in the rule book. Basically, guilds give a little bit of structure to these organizations but the players are not bogged down in a bunch of rules that try to cover every little detail of the organization.
The GM is left with the responsibility of creating and detailing guilds and similar organizations for the campaign. This should not be a difficult process because it should just involve a name of the organization and the professions that are part of the organization. The only other details that are necessary are any NPC members of the organization. The GM really needs no more information than that. The rules cover how to qualify for a profession and it is straightforward – the character must have the required first ability to be admitted as an apprentice. To qualify for full member status, the character must have a rating of 50 in the first ability and 20 in the other required abilities.
There is one drawback to belonging to a profession or guild. The flexibility of creating any type of character is sacrificed for the benefits of guild membership. The guilds provide training at a greatly reduced or no cost, professional materials, etc. but also require the player to make certain decisions to belong to that guild. The choice is in the hands of the players and it is a fair trade-off. If the player chooses to not belong to a profession and guild then the listings can be used as guidance during character creation.
The Professions
There are 13 professions detailed in the rules; technically, there are 15 because there are 3 builds of Cleric detailed depending on what gods the character follows. The explanation of the professions is simple to follow since the entries are split into four sections. First, there is a small description of the profession. Second, the social class recommendations for the professions are listed. Third, The first ability of each profession is listed. Fourth, the final section is a list of 3 or 4 required other abilities for that profession. The professions seem to offer a lot of variety and I think players will be happy with the selection available. If a player should desire a profession not covered in the rules then it should be no problem to either re-skin one of the existing professions or use one as a guideline for detailing a new one such as a Witch. I must point out that I don’t feel any essential professions were overlooked in the rules; I was just using the witch as an example.
Guilds
The professional associations and unions of Medieval Europe inspired the guild rules of Perilous Journeys. The actual historical guilds were devoted to crafts such as masonry or carpentry. These craftsmen banded together to provide aid to members and protect their craft. In contrast, the guilds in Perilous Journeys represent associations of skilled adventurers that provide benefits to their members; namely, aid and training.
There is usually only one guild of each type per location because the guilds typically do not like competition in their area. Guilds will take action to ensure their monopoly. Some of these actions are legal and some are illegal. There are exceptions to the Guilds strongly protecting their monopoly. For instance, in large cities there are often several types of fighter guilds.
There are 13 guilds corresponding to the 13 professions in the Perilous Journeys rules. The term “guild” is actually a generic label and will not be used for every profession. For example, clerics will belong to religions, cavaliers would probably be part of a chivalric order, enchanters might be in orders, and guilds of other professions could be labeled differently as well. The important thing to remember is that membership in any of these organizations is covered under the guild rules. All guilds will conduct their organizational business in a guild hall. Of course, other labels will be appropriate according to profession; for example, cavaliers will likely meet in keeps, clerics might gather in monasteries or temples, bandits meet in camps, and shamans could meet in circles or groves.
Characters have two options when they join a guild. First, the character can join during the character creation process by simply spending design points. There is no quest or monetary requirements for joining in this manner; it is assumed to happen prior to play. Second, the character can join at a later time by fulfilling any quest requirements and paying any monetary dues associated with being granted the rank they are qualified for in the guild.
Advancing in the guilds is measured by competency in the required abilities (skills). These abilities are the same as the abilities for the professions; one ability is the primary ability while the others act as supporting abilities. There are three ranks for each guild and they are apprentice, journeyman, and master. Each one of these ranks has three levels attached to them. Advancing through the levels requires spending money and experience points. There are benefits associated with each level advancement such as gaining a point in each required ability, upgrading armor, add 2 points to a core attribute, etc. These benefits are listed in a master table that must be consulted for level gains. While all guilds use the same table, it is customized for each guild and there is enough variety that you will not be building the same character time and time again. Training is also available to non-guild members but it will be more expensive and more restrictive in what will be taught. It may seem that guild membership is taken for granted with these benefits but characters that are not in a guild are free to advance in and focus on the abilities of their own choosing.
That is a quick summary of the guild system used in the Perilous Journeys game rules. I think they are one of the best set of rules for these types of in-game organizations because they are short (5 pages), elegant in execution, and really are all you need. In other words, you are not required to search through a never-ending chain of supplements trying to find the perfect prestige class, advanced class, kit, etc. All of the rules you need for guilds are in the core rules themselves. I correspond with the author, Jamie Hardy, on a pretty regular basis and I have been privileged enough to be given a sneak peek of the second edition draft of some of the Perilous Journeys rules sections. There are changes in many areas but I have not been given the guilds section yet. I hope that section is just expanded with examples of official campaign world specific groups instead of being altered in a mechanical way because they are near perfect in their present form.
***Coming in future Perilous Journeys posts: Spells, Game Play, Advanced Combat, Creating Professions, Magic Items, and Monsters.***
The Old Gamers Notebook 