Part Time Grue

Back to character list Preamble The adventure module XS2 Thunderdelve Mountain is an Expert Solo Adventure for dwarf class BECMI D&D characters. Unlike O2 Blade of Vengeance which puts the PC in the role of the avenging elven scion, Thunderdelve sees the player's dwarf approached by a dwarven clanmaster to rescue another dwarf from the occupiers of the mountain. When I discovered this module, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to place a dwarven hold close to the home of Erystelle, the protagonist solo PC from module O2. A spur of the Rockhome mountain range, the Dwarfgate Mountains, thrusts west into Darokin's hinterlands between Alfheim and Ethengar. Close to the northwest is the humanoid territory of the Broken Lands.  Even though canonically the adventure module B2 Keep on the Borderlands is Castellan Keep in the Altan Tepes mountains in Karameikos I felt this would make an excellent alternative with plenty of adventure and conflict potential.  Per the Republic of ...

 Back to character list Preamble Work got busy. Life got busy. Etc, etc, etc. So I'm taking the easy path and just going to post a screenshot image of the PDF character sheet as exported from Pathbuilder .  Honestly, automation tools for character creation and game management are indispensable. I wanted so many of the existing tools forty years ago, and it was one of my primary motivations to begin coding.  I don't need Ability Scores (Attributes, Characteristics, etc) rolled for me unless it's to generate a group of NPCs. I like to roll dice, and I think almost everyone in the role-playing game and war game hobbies do as well.  Plugging numbers into a character sheet either online or offline and having bonuses and penalties calculated for me, having lists populated, and options enumerated, makes character creation a lot easier. I would have played more, and I would be a lot more interested in returning to the task of being a GM if there were extensive tools availabl...

Back to character list Preamble - Immersion  After Nana Lilly passed away, Robby's parents were left with the unenviable chore of clearing out the old farm house in the countryside that had stood empty for nearly three decades. It was too far from anywhere interesting to vacation at, and likewise too far from anyone's homes and jobs to go casually. All that was left was to clear it out, get the auction house representative in, and then sell it, so the funds could be used for Uncle Glenn's boat, or Aunt Rhonda's next snowbird winter in Florida, or, maybe Robby's college. No. Ha ha ha, they'd never do that. So Robby was less than enthusiastic to spend two weeks of summer vacation west of Thunder Bay being eaten alive by mosquitoes and ticks between twelfth grade and starting his paramedic program and not working a job to pay for college.  He went into the house with a filter masks, gloves, and a hair net owing to the expected enormous amount of dust and mould in t...

Back to Character List Preamble Somewhere around 2008-2010, I accidentally started a literature review of the late 19th - early 20th centuries roots (yes, I'm well aware the roots run far deeper) of science-fiction and fantasy. Mostly, I was grabbing everything I could from multiple Project Gutenburg sites. One corpus of work was Edgar Rice Burroughs's adventures on the world of Mars - known by its native name, Barsoom.  Although I thoroughly enjoyed the books, I honestly couldn't imagine how I would roleplay adventures in Barsoom - until I made this character. First, I'm usually going to play a Canadian if I can. After that, likely someone from Ireland, Scotland, or England. Those are voices I'm comfortable with. I'm rather steeped in Canadian history, most of it rather disappointing in terms of humanity, but also quite a bit of genuinely good intentions. Channelling all that, I invented this chap. Warning - Very likely the following text contains anachronisti...

Back to character list Preamble Why it never registered in my brain that Paranoia was another West End Games gem? I hadn't yet begun to comprehend dystopian fiction or cyberpunk but everything about this game immediately struck me as truth written in stone. Of course, I already knew what clones were. Star Trek had introduced me to computers controlling society, while both Logan's Run and Star Trek had shown me societies living cut off from the surface. And I distinctly remember a short story about a boy living in a post-apocalypse bunker or shelter beneath Mount Royal in Montreal. But to play this solo I'll have read the gamemaster's book which is ultraviolet clearance. Instant treason.  Character Name: Nick-R-LAS-1 Damage Status: Unhurt Security Clearance: Red Service Group: Armed Forces Secret Society: PURGE Secret Society Rank: Credits: 100 Primary Attributes Strength 17 Endurance 18  Agility 17 Manual Dexterity 16 Moxie 14 Chutzpah 6 Mechanical Aptitude 12 Power Ind...

Back to character list Preamble I'm probably not the right person to play this game with most other folks who would play this game. Maybe I'm not reading it correctly. Maybe I've fixated too much on the wrong thing. But one thing, my sense of humour, other than puns and dad jokes, is dark. My sense of weird hews more away from something just being funny, unexpected, or juxtaposed. I never grokked either Toon nor Teenagers from Outer Space. I totally enjoyed Paranoia. Playing TMNT at my table is black and white Eastman and Laird first run, and that generation of black and white indy comics, and nothing of the bright colours, slapstick, and absurdity of cartoon ninja turtles. Or, think Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper. Which isn't to say no one laughs and funny doesn't happen, but that's the natural outcome of games, and not the agenda. I can do weird. I can do bizarre. Strange. Eerie. Cosmic horror. But I can see a lot of UVG that I'm going to enjoy just soloing...

Back to character list Preamble  I barely recall the Fighting Fantasy books existing, but looking over the Advanced Fighting Fantasy game, it rings a bell as something I tried briefly and moved on to other things. Probably without even realizing it was part of the same adventure game bucket as Dungeons & Dragons. I've barely scratched the surface of the core rule book. I have no idea yet what the world of Titan is like nor the civilizations that exist upon it.  Character Karrad is short and fat and has been since his tenth year, mostly due to inactivity and being well-fed. Both of those come from his parents being functionaries in the city guilds and doing everything in their very little power to install Karrad into a lifelong position, likewise being a functionary in the city guilds. While he appreciates their efforts, for years he has found the life to be both thankless and unrewarding in any sense of the word. He watches his parents aging with little hope of retiring be...

  Back to character list Character Type: Hick Age: 13 Attributes & Skills: Body: 4 Sneak: 0 Force*: 0 Move*: 1 Tech: 4 Tinker*: 2 Program: 2 Calculate: 2 Heart: 3 Contact: 1 Charm: 0 Lead: 0 Mind: 2 Investigate: 0 Comprehend: 0  Empathize: 2 Luck: 3 Iconic Item: Swiss army knife Problem: "The folks don't want to change the farm, but the future is comin' an' it don't care what they want." Drive: "Everythin's changing. Gotta change with it or die. That's just evolution." Pride: "I can do this." Relationships to other kids: (no kids generated) Relationships to NPCs: (no NPCs generated) Anchor: Grandpa Luther (Aldrich) Look: Buzz cut. Straw hat in the summer, overalls or dungarees, big leather work gloves, track pants/shorts, t-shirt. "Laugh if ya want. It's just practical clothes."

Back to character list Preamble I'm usually not into rules-lite games, but Vultures' weirdo, post-galactic apocalypse interstellar utopia/dystopia has just enough rules and a compelling enough premise to actually hook me.  The problem is, with so many rules-lite games, I immediately think how they could be made better if they were stapled onto other rules.  Vultures cries to be added to Traveller, Palladium's Three Galaxies intergalactic milieu, Stargrave, Five Parsecs from Home, Stars Without Number, and Spacemaster, all thrown in the blender. No. Wrong analogy. I like parfait better than smoothies.  Layers. It's a game that's fully engaged with "the conversation". Success requires justifying how your made up skills are actually relevant. The point is to confront social problems as characters are directed to do potentially unethical things by an inhuman and supreme overlord.  Hmm. What was the author's thought process, naming that overlord Space Mom?...

Back to character list Preamble: The first time I had no idea where to go when soloing a game was an unbalanced random encounter that went south quickly for the belligerents instead of my PC. The human ranger Bran had set out from Corunglain in Darokin to join the cohort of the elven lord at Dorneryl in Alfheim. A single ranger in the hinterlands who ran into a pack of orc raiders at night. He attempted to avoid them, but the orcs could see better than he could, and they came at him.  The random number of orcs was seven. One was a leader or captain. I shrugged and decided the brand-new character was already dead. What hope did he have? He would go down, but not without a fight. Always fight when it looks hopeless. Always.  (Unless you can negotiate. Or run away.)  He drew his bow and reached for an arrow. The orcs charged. He fired. Natural 20. Bran's random target turned out to be the captain. It was a one hit kill. The rest of the orcs failed their morale check.  T...

Back to character list Class: Teamster Stats Strength: 39 Speed: 34 Intellect: 34 Combat: 42 Saves: Sanity: 30 Rationalization, Logic Fear: 35 Surprise, Loneliness Body: 30 Hunger, Disease, Infection Armour: 35 Physical Damage Scores: Stress: 2 Resolve: 0 Max Health: 68 Credits: 29 Reaction: Once per session, a Teamster may re-roll a roll on the Panic Effect Table. Skills: Zero-G +4 (Asteroid Mining) Mechanical Repair +4 (Engineering, Robotics) Heavy Machinery +4 (Jury Rigging) Reactions: Stress: Panic: Loadout: Crowbar Hand Welder Laser Cutter Body Cam Bioscanner Infrared Goggles Lockpick Set Vaccsuit (Oxygen Tank, Mag-Boots, Short-range Comms) Trinkets: Manual: Moonshining With Gun Oil & Fuel Patches: "Fix Me First"

Back to the character list Preamble  Two hundred years ago, Janice, one of the park medics, was arrested in Nuka-World for un-American activities when, according to her story, she submitted the wrong thing in the employee suggestion box. Two hours ago, she was thawed from a cryo-tube in a secure Vault-Tec facility south of Boston along with several others and granted a conditional pardon if she agreed to defend the vault from attackers. She agreed. Janice is an NPC that want fleshed out for my solo Fallout RPG test drive.  Methodology You can see the full solo methodology for booting the campaign on the post for my avatar PC.  For NPCs, I just assumed each SPECIAL score was 5 and rolled forward. Now however I have a few survivors and the 2025 #CharacterCreationChallenge is a good opportunity to do one or more fleshed out characters. My method for 2d20 games when attributes/statistics/characteristics are assigned is simple. Roll 1d10 for each. The roll tells me which score...

Back to the character list Preamble Another made-and-played character from the five year survey of games I accidentally began in the lock down.  I played through Fallout 1 and 2 decades ago. Half of Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Twice through Fallout 4.  Great games but lots of missed opportunities.  And of course, they are CRPGs with established plots and endings. So, you’re limited in what you can actually do.  That’s why I like pen and paper RPGs and why I was interested in the Fallout RPG from Modiphius.  I like bits of FoWW but there’s almost no RPG in that game. I also dislike card assets as a game prop as they are easy to misplace, result in highly disorganized tables consuming a lot of space I don’t have, and require painful hours to print-(and cutout)-and-play. But the FoWW scenarios and campaigns are great frameworks.  The Plan - Create a new FoRPG character and use the FoWW scenarios together with the first FoRPG adventures to generate a separate camp...

Back to character list Class: Fighter 1, Level: 1 Race: Elf, Sex: Male Alignment: Neutral Good Religion: Elven Immortal Veneration Cult Characteristics Strength: 14 (+2) Dexterity: 16 (+3) Constitution: 11 (±0) Intelligence:  16 (+3) Wisdom: 11 (±0) Charisma: 10 (±0) Combat: Initiative: +3 Base Attack Bonus: +1 Melee Bonus: 1 + 2 = +3 Ranged Bonus: 1 + 3 = +4 Armour Class: 10 w/ Scale Mail (+4) = 14 Hit Points: 10 Saving Throws: Fortitude: 2 + 2 = +4 Reflex: 0 + 3 = +3 Will: 0 + 0  = ±0 Coin: gp - 1 sp - 9 Skills: climb 3 + 3 = 6 handle animal 3 + -1 = 2 heal 3 + 4 = 7 hide 2 + 3 = 5 jump 2 + 3 = 5 knowledge geography 3 + 1 = 4 knowledge nature 3 + 1 = 4 listen 2 + 4 = 6 move silently 3 + 3 = 6 spot 2 + 4 = 6 survival 4 + 4 = 8 swim 2 + 3 = 5 Equipment: Dagger 1d4 Longsword 1d8 (1) Longbow 1d8 (1) Arrows (20) (3) Scale Mail +4 (1) bedroll 5lb flint & steel 1 week trail rations backpack Feats & Special Abilities: tracking armor proficiency light armor proficienc...

Back to character list   Class: Ranger 1, Level: 1 Race: Human, Sex: Male Alignment: Chaotic Good Religion: Eastern Brun cult of druidism Characteristics Strength: 17 (+3) Dexterity: 17 (+3) Constitution: 15 (+2) Intelligence:  13 (+1) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 12 (+1) Combat: Initiative: +3 Base Attack Bonus: +1 Armour Class: 10 w/ Hide Armour(+3) = 13 Hit Points: 10 Saving Throws: Fortitude: 2 + 2 = +4 Reflex: 2 + 3 = +5 Will: 0 + 2  = +2 Coin: gp - 1 sp - 9 Skills: climb 3 + 3 = 6 handle animal 3 + -1 = 2 heal 3 + 4 = 7 hide 2 + 3 = 5 jump 2 + 3 = 5 knowledge geography 3 + 1 = 4 knowledge nature 3 + 1 = 4 listen 2 + 4 = 6 move silently 3 + 3 = 6 spot 2 + 4 = 6 survival 4 + 4 = 8 swim 2 + 3 = 5 Equipment: longbow (1d8, crit x3, range inc 100', 3lb, piercing) arrows (20) (x3) sword, bastard 1d10 hide armour (AC+3) bedroll 5lb flint & steel 1 week trail rations backback Feats & Special Abilities: Light Armour Prof. Point Blank Shot Martial Weapon Prof Shie...

Back to character list Where: Swordbreak village, Tempest Hills region of the Ironlands Descriptors: ambitious, jealous Stats: Edge: 1 Heart: 2 Iron: 1 Shadow: 2 Wits: 3 Scores: Health: 5 Spirit: 5 Supply: 5 Momentum: 2 Vows: Long Term Goal (Background): Heal thyself / Get stronger Short Term Goal (Immediate Situation/Inciting Incident): mysterious deaths, possibly murders Bonds:  Clan Shield Brothers Assets: Path: Druidic Influence Path: Scholar Path: Earthborn World: The Old World - THIS is the Old World and WE have always been here. The Others are from a place that they call the Old World, and ours is the place they call the New.  Iron - WE are the iron in the hills. The weather is bleak. Rain and wind sweep in from the ocean. The winters are long and bitter. One of the Others said of their kind, "Only those made of iron dare live in this foul place". They said this of themselves, thinking they were strong, but they did not think that we dwelt here since the beginning....

Back to character list Name: Elstan  Where: Stormfall village, Oronsea lands, extreme northern Hinterlands region of the Ironlands Stats: Edge: 2 Heart: 2 Iron: 1 Shadow: 1 Wits: 3 Scores: Health: 5 Spirit: 5 Supply: 5 Momentum: 2 Bonds: Solana, younger female first cousin, like a little sister Nebmetwe, foreign mutant witch from the Old Empire Assets: Improviser Archer Long Arm Vows: Background: watch over Solana (broken, but not really) Immediate: return the relic Twinmoons to the war queen's tomb (achieved, sort of) Commentary: I'm pulling an already made-and-played character from the last four years of exploring games I missed decades ago and games that have appeared in the last decade or so. Most Powered by the Apocalypse style games are just not for me. The liberation that many modern players experience with these games is stifling and suffocating to me. That's not a judgment. Just a matter of taste. It took three tries, but I did finally grok Ironsworn. That third Ir...

Back to character list Preamble School sucks. No, I suck at school. And that means I'm stuck in this town, and this town sucks. Well, at least I'm kinda good with my hands. And I can actually hit the books, not that it matters much. But if I don't then life will suck harder. I don't want to mow lawns and shovel snow for the rest of my life. Especially not for people like that ugly Johnson witch. I'm glad I don't have to go to the same church. Becky is creepy. Pretty, but creepy. No wonder with a mom like that. And that fat bastard Pete Williams sitting on his front porch guzzling lite beers and yelling at me while I mow. Nothing's wrong with him. He looks strong enough, even if he does look kinda like a frog. That's what went through Bobby Porter's head over and over again in an infinite number of variations. He thought about the demonstrator Nintendo in the Hobby World store at the Grand Central Mall and how much he had saved from odd jobs, knowing ...