Spirit of the A-Team

It wouldn't be an Evil Hat Product without a gorilla on the cover.

Being a fan of Evil Hat Games, I've been following with some interest the Kickstarter for Fate Core, which updates the FATE system used in Spirit of the Century and The Dresden Files, and making it generic to boot. I've not mentioned it before because A) I did a lot of updates for the Monster Hunter International RPG Kickstarter, and B) it didn't really need the help, fully funding in a matter of minutes and then shooting through a mind-boggling array of amazing stretch goals.

I'm serious about the mind-blowing part. After the core rules, a rules toolkit and sample settings book (this last so huge it had to be split into two volumes) all funded, Evil Hat pretty much turned to prefunding their entire 2013 production line through stretch goals. As a result, said stretch goals now included a new version of Dresden, two FATE adaptations of other companies' settings (Freeport and The Day After Ragnarok, to be exact, both excellent choices), and a whole pile of stuff for SotC*.

One of these is actually a revival of a project I had thought long dead - Shadow of the Century, taking the hyper-pulp world of SotC and advancing the timeline to the 1980s. Several icons from that time and genre are referred to as inspirations, including one of my personal favorites: The A-Team.

Since it may be some time before even the backers get to see SHotC, I've decide to take the FATE Core  draft rules for a spin, and see about stating up The Team. First up is Hannibal:

Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith

High Concept: “I Love It When A Plan Comes Together!”
Trouble: Still Wanted By The Government
Aspects: Monster Movie Actor, Soldier of Fortune, You Just Hired The A-Team
Skills:
- Great (+4) Will
- Good (+3) Deceit, Fighting
- Fair (+2) Athletics, Shooting, Investigation
- Average (+1) Burglary, Drive, Intimidation, Stealth
Stunts: Mind Games (Deceit), Indomitable (Will)
Refresh: 2

For the purposes of testing the rules I used the stock skill list and example stunts from the draft, but of course with a bit of thought both could be tweaked to heighten the A-Team feel. Actually, I've just thought of a great custom stunt for Murdock, whom I'll be doing along with Face and B.A. in a couple days.

*Seriously, the $10 pledge level for this one is a crazy-good value - it includes a PDF of every stretch goal funded, and funding is currently at 10,500%. At this point, it's basically a subscription to Evil Hat's output for the rest of the year and beyond.

Generations of Feuds

In certain sorts of post-Tolkien fantasy, it's become popular to ascribe to Dwarven cultures certain traits in common with the Scottish - the highland accents and love of strong drink come immediately to mind. Strangely, to my admittedly incomplete knowledge, although Dwarves are often portrayed as "clannish", these clans hardly ever end up feuding with each other, only with Elves and Orcs.

Thankfully, this oversight has been corrected by Trey(EDIT: Upon re-reading the original post, I have discovered that the author of this is not Trey, but Thomas Molyes) of From the Sorcerer's Skull, who has not only written up a handy list of inter-Dwarven feuds, but created a random generator to whip up even more of them. It's a 3d10 chart, so let's give this thing a spin:

• Level of Animosity: 8 - Vicious - Any meeting between representatives of the clans will eventually result in violence unless a third party mediates somehow. Both clans are actively scheming to attacking/weaken the other clan, with multiple dwarves having lost their lives recently.
• Reason for Feud: 8 - Differing (and often trivial) interpretations of one section in the extremely lengthy and boring dwarven legal codes, often relating to dwarven brewing laws.
• Flavor: 5 - One clan is suspiciously tall for dwarves.

The impression I get from this is that what might have been a fairly innocuous difference over brewing standards has mushroomed into violence, probably based on accusations by one clan of Dwarves that the others are "No True Dwarves" at all. Heck, they might even have a point - if human armorers on the Discworld can try to take advantage of the perceptions of "Dwarven Quality", why couldn't brewers? I'm also reminded of Doctor Cornelius in C.S.Lewis' Prince Caspian - he was a half-dwarf who was sneered at by some of the other dwarfs.

So, let's roll with that: a violent feud between a clan of Dwarves, some of whom have intermarried with local Human populations, and another clan not so interbred, ostensibly over an arcane point of brewing law - perhaps, say, whether certain kinds of booze can be sold "outside the family"?

I like it, and it happens to fit in with a fantasy setting I've been toying with recently, so I'll hang onto it until later. It does have an undercurrent of racial animosity that could lead to some . . . unpleasant real-world associations, but I believe I'll let that lie as subtext. Overall I think the generator worked rather well - I enjoy a focus on Dwarves in this genre, so I can see myself coming back to this one. Thanks, Trey (EDIT: Sorry, Thomas)!

Real-World Dungeon Architecture

Via the always-interesting Subterranean Design Tumblr, I recently happened across this article, "10 Incredible Places Carved From Rock". It's positively brimming with images crying out for use in a dungeon of some sort. For example, check out this shot of Mesa Verde, a Pueblo cliff dwelling in Colorado:

Each and every one of those holes could be an entrance to somewhere different, depending on how deep it goes and suchlike. Even more impressive is Ellora, a temple complex and World Heritage Site in India:

And those are just a couple of the places on the list, any one of which would make for an excellent place to have an adventure or two.

One Last MHI Update

It is rather fitting, perhaps, that the day before the Monster Hunter International RPG Kickstarter ends turns out to be Halloween. One suspects Larry Correia and the folks at Hero Games to have done it deliberately.

Anyway, the response has been amazing - with an initial goal of $45,000, the current total pledged is at nearly $76K. And what is everyone getting for their pledges? With all of the stretch goals that have been met, everyone who went for at least the PDF will be receiving:

• A complete copy of the Monster Hunter International Employee's Handbook And RPG.
• A PDF copy of The Devil's Dozen, a collection of villains and other NPCs.
• A PDF containing four five MHI adventures.
• Another PDF of monsters, villains, and other NPCs, these created by the backers - for an extra $100, you, too can contribute to the collection.

And that's not even including the hard copies, patches, and dice that can also be added. Best of all, that PDF of adventures? It'll get another added for every $5000 that gets raised in the next 24 hours.

After all that, I think a big congratulations is due to Larry, Steve Long, and everyone who's put in their contribution. And if you're still wondering what this MHI thing is all about, well, I can think of no better introduction than this:

"On one otherwise normal Tuesday evening I had the chance to live the American dream. I was able to throw my incompetent jackass of a boss from a fourteenth-story window. . . "

Monstrous Monday: Piranhamoose!

As the name suggests, these awesome creatures are hybrids, combining the might of the majestic moose with the ferocity of the freshwater piranha. How, precisely, this combination came about is a great mystery, though the influence of wizards and/or mad scientists seems probable.

Although in the wild the piranhamoose is a fierce ambush predator, if tamed it makes for a very distinctive mount.



Inspired - OK, stolen outright - from the webcomic Wondermark, the piranhamoose can be used in a variety of settings - for an OSR or other Dungeon Fantasy-type game, for example, it fits right along with other weird hybrid-animals. Now that I think of it, in fact, it seems like it'd be a natural enemy for the infamous owlbear. The stats for such a beast might look something like this (I'm using Labyrinth Lord as a guide):

Number Encountered: 1 (2d6)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 240' (80')
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 2 (butt, bite)
Damage: 1d8/1d12
Save: F2
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: None
XP: 80

If ridden, carries as Draft Horse.

For a more Earth-like setting, it seems like the piranhamoose is most likely to be found in the weirder settings - could it be a post-apocalyptic mutation? A creature of Faerie realms? The creation of a deranged mad scientist? The possibilities are endless.

This post brought to you by:

Monster Hunter Kickstarter Update

As the Monster Hunter International RPG Kickstarter heads into its final two weeks, funding is at approximately 125%. When it hits 130%, or $60,000 we'll hit the next stretch goal - dice! - but what do we have so far?

Well, in addition to the main book, everybody who pledges for at least the PDF will get a copy of the (first? One can only hope) PDF supplement, The Devil's Dozen:

". . . an illustrated PDF of 13 new villains, monsters, and NPCs dreamed up by Larry and written up by Steve. We thought you might enjoy a sneak peek at a couple of the ideas Larry's already sent Steve:

El Maldición, the Haunted Gun:  This old, intricately engraved, gold-inlaid Colt 1911 chambered in .38 Super seems to possess a strange sentience, and to bring misfortune and disaster to those who dare to wield it."

That right there tells you tells you quite a bit about both the MHI setting, and Larry's writing style. If you're still on the fence, you may want to give his short story Tanya: Princess of the Elves a try (note that there are technically spoilers for the first two MHI novels in there).

But wait, there's more - there's also two exclusive MHI unit patches available. One of them can be added onto any pledge for at least the physical book, for an additional $10 - honestly, I feel that's rather steep, but the patch is very cool:

Sharktopus

 LUSKA!

There's another patch for the upper pledge tiers that's even better, so cool I have to link to it instead of showing you directly. Alas, I'm already in as far as I can currently go . . .

What Did I Tell You?

It's been less than 48 hours since the Kickstarter for the Monster Hunter International Employee's Handbook and RPG went live, and already it's raised over 2/3rds of the original goal. Of course, MHI author Larry Correia has been saying all along there's some great stretch goals planned, so if you're a fan of the series, the HERO system, or the genre in general, you could do worse than backing this one (and, for the record, the only thing I'm getting out of this is better perks if those stretch goals do get hit!).

If you're not (yet) a fan of the series, there's some sample chapters and short stories on Larry's blog to give you an idea of what to expect. Check them out!