Every campaign gets an Adventure Log, a blog for your adventures!

While the wiki is great for organizing your campaign world, it’s not the best way to chronicle your adventures. For that purpose, you need a blog!

The Adventure Log will allow you to chronologically order the happenings of your campaign. It serves as the record of what has passed. After each gaming session, come to the Adventure Log and write up what happened. In time, it will grow into a great story!

Best of all, each Adventure Log post is also a wiki page! You can link back and forth with your wiki, characters, and so forth as you wish.

One final tip: Before you jump in and try to write up the entire history for your campaign, take a deep breath. Rather than spending days writing and getting exhausted, I would suggest writing a quick “Story So Far” with only a summary. Then, get back to gaming! Grow your Adventure Log over time, rather than all at once.

I took Modos RPG for another test-run, this time in the Penandpapergames.com monthly mini-con!

The system was taking on its greatest challenge yet: emulating Skyrim! And there were a number of changes made:
- Racial powers.
Each character was granted a time or daily-limited power, which mostly took the form of spells that dealt no caster damage, or special types of protection.
- Healing rates.
Natural healing, outside of combat, was greatly accelerated. As in Skyrim, you gain all your Health back (physical health) in no more than three minutes.
- Power attacks.
Each character had the liberty to use the special move perk for free.
- Lockpicking.
To emulate Skyrim locks, each lock used its physical max damage as max progress, and successful larceny contests dealt d4 or d6 (depending on lockpick quality) progress points to the lock. A failed contest resulted in a broken lockpick.

And that’s to say nothing of all the converted NPCs: draugr, bandits, frost spiders….ew! Anyway, despite most players needing a tutorial on arrival, we had a great time, and are planning to do it again!

I’ve dropped sample special equipment in the “Equipment” chapter, where it belongs. I’m also removing the confusing language on how to design special equipment, and how to assign it. Reason being: it’s too much for a light, core rules system. It’s enough to include some samples, I hope!

Here’s a hand grenade:

Grenade, fragmentation, level 6
Attributes: MP 15
Skills: cast spell (flare) -2
Concept: one action delivers this tiny bomb into enemy territory, and it blows up on the next action (same initiative count as thrower, if applicable), producing the effects of a Flare spell (d8 P (fire) damage to four enemies behind partial or no cover). The grenade’s difficulty contest takes -2, but the minimum casting contest rule does not apply.

If it looks similar to a character sheet, there’s a reason for that!

Somehow, I didn’t notice it in the words themselves, but “special equipment” is a deceptively complex idea. The new equipment chapter will probably focus on two entries for each piece of equipment: actions and concept. These things are a little too diverse to standardize anything else.

Actions describes how to use each item, and what/how many actions are necessary to use it.

Concept is the gear’s description and the useful details.

However, the power of each piece can, so far, be translated into the inherent power of a character – whether that power is related to attributes, skills (specifically spells), or perks. Counting these up is a good way to measure the gear’s level, which can be compared to character level for balancing purposes.

Making a few revisions to the common spells list. While some got toned up and others got toned down, I have to remind myself: Modos RPG is a game about low math and high roleplaying. Higher-level spells don’t have to deal more damage, because they offer a different benefit: conservation of MP health.

For example: a first level spell that deals d8 damage once costs 5 MP health. While a fourth level spell that deals 4d8 damage costs 8 MP health. In terms of ratios, the first level spell deals 0.9 damage per MP health, and the fourth level spell deals 2.25 damage per MP health, or 2.5 times as much damage per health as the first level spell.

I’m looking at the old version and noticing the notation for spells that deal damage while being cast – designated as “per action” in Half Effect. Which means, making a defense (which results in a half effect) happens on a per casting-action basis; There’s no prolonged effect – you either avoid the damage or you don’t.

Well, these types of spells are all but non-existent in the book. Instead, there’s the Flare spell, which doesn’t deal any damage during casting, and then affects multiple targets with one damage die at the end of casting. There might be one or two others like this, but more pressing is the question: should the game have damage-over-time spells or all-at-once spells? Or possibly both?

Both types of spells offer the caster the ability to deal multiple dice of damage for a lower MP cost than casting multiple 1st-level spells. The first type allows choosing from just one or multiple targets, while the second allows the ability to catch opponents off-guard when you make multiple simultaneous attacks.

Including both types of spell is possible, but might not be necessary, especially in a light-weight, core rules system.

I’m finishing up the Magic chapter and starting on Conflict. A few things stand out that illustrate how a GM can make the game his own. One, spells are pretty easy to design. The level of the spell tells you how many targets you can hit, what damage die the spell should use, or most importantly, to what spells your should be comparing your new one.

Two, I just wrote up a pulse grenade launcher. It has some interesting details, but I really like the gear-level system. The launcher is level 4, which means that a 1st level character using it becomes pretty powerful (while there are rounds in the magazine). An 8th level character, on the other hand, is not going to be significantly more powerful with it. The GM can use the levels of gear to boost or maintain PC power as he sees fit.

Three, Rule Zero can really help GMs draw outside the lines in combat. The gameplay sample at the beginning of the Conflict chapter illustrates how the GM can design an action on the go, add difficulty if necessary, and even grant bonus damage when it makes sense. Of course, players can let GMs know if they were too liberal with the use of Rule Zero during each after-session review!

As it turns out, pumpkin porter is awesome!

Oh, relating to the game: combining actions just got easier and more complicated.

OLD COMBINED ACTIONS:
Announce that you’re combining actions. Roll all your contests at the same time, and keep the highest result for each of them, but you cannot change actions once they’re combined. This is great for getting high results, but terrible for keeping the flow of actions consistent. In other words, if other characters want to act while you’re combining two or more actions, when exactly does that happen?

NEW COMBINED ACTIONS:
On your turn, keep your previous contest if you want it. Otherwise, roll a new one and keep it. This allows other characters to act during your earlier actions, gives you a chance at a higher contest, allows you to change plans, and makes you ask, “do I really think I can roll higher than a 13?”

The nice thing about using an “average person” rule for determining difficulties is that it enables every GM to quickly ask, “could I do this? How hard would it be?”

With that in mind, the new version will be providing some difficulty examples:

Condition-(Difficulty)
Special combat maneuver, like disarming, or
impersonating a guard without a uniform-(4)
Fast movement across ice, or concentrating near a battle-(8)
Persuading an angry galactic president, or walking a
tightrope-(12)
Scoring a headshot on a hidden target, or hacking
security with pliers-(16)
Hearing a prayer in the next village, or slicing a dragon’s
head off in one blow -(20)

(Apologies for formatting – there’s no “table” option!)

The unifying feature of version 1.3 is the progress system. Progress can be used to turn anything into a conflict, whether you’re fighting skeletons, decoding enemy transmissions, or weakening an aggressive black hole.

Here’s the progress copy, for your reading pleasure:

Progress
Every extended conflict has an outcome, a goal pursued by each opponent. If it is destroying a squad of robots, picking a lock, or usurping a king, progress is what measures the path from start to finish.
Each side of a conflict gets a progress pool, and contests that contribute to a side’s goal add progress points to that pool. If you are in combat, your progress pool is usually your enemy’s physical damage pool. If you’re on an interstellar council, the GM might give you a debate pool to fill. Maximum, or max, progress is the capacity of the pool, or the total progress points needed to reach the goal.
Earning progress points requires successful contests. Progress contests come in two varieties: attacks and defenses. An attack is an attempt to earn progress, and a defense is an attempt to prevent an attack. If skills apply, the skill needed depends on the conflict. For example, a shootout would use fight (missile) for attacks, and defend (parry) for defenses. An aircraft dogfight would use profession (pilot), knowledge (scholarship), and deceive for attacks, and profession (pilot), knowledge (scholarship), and detect for defenses.
When you earn progress points with a successful contest, you’ll get to roll a progress die that reflects your ability to make progress. In combat, your progress die is your weapon or spell’s damage die. When picking a lock, your progress die can depend on your skill points or quality of lockpicks. When arguing with the president of Botswana, your progress die can increase with the size of your military, for example. In general, progress dice should start at d6.
To prevent progress, many opponents will have some sort of protection. Protection has a corresponding die like progress, which applies regardless of defense actions, and the result of the protection roll is subtracted from each corresponding progress roll. Protection cannot completely eliminate progress; only successful defenses eliminate progress. If progress minus protection ever equals zero or less, the result is instead one.
For example, Mercury is battling Poseidon in a test of wills on Mount Olympus. Each takes turns making juvenile insults, because that’s how gods fight, and the outcome of the insults isn’t very clear. So the GM asks Mercury to make a persuade contest against Poseidon. Mercury rolls persuade, adding his metaphysical bonus and persuade points to d20, for 87 total. Poseidon defends with defend (willpower), since his persuade skill isn’t very high. Poseidon gets 76. Mercury already rolled progress to save time, and got 18. Poseidon takes half for metaphysical protection, getting 10, so he adds the difference of 8 to his MP damage pool. If Poseidon had a defense contest of 88 or more, Mercury would not make progress. Whoever reaches max MP damage first will lose the test of wills. The GM will likely decide that the MP damage isn’t permanent since it’s just an argument.

I Just rewrote physical damage. It’s the same as before, but now it’s a different type of Progress: the way you measure goal achievement.

Also, what your damage means is up to you. If you have one health left, you could be bleeding profusely and clinging to consciousness, or be perfectly fine until the fatal blow ends you.

Postures – the abstract way that your position is defined – are coming along too. Offense is the default posture, and defensive posture is only available under certain circumstances.

The combat chapter gives a play example at its beginning, but I wanted to break combat down to a simpler level yet. Now the Physical Conflict section begins with just such a combat breakdown, which includes a little fluff for comprehension.

There are 15 steps in the combat breakdown, and 8 are called required. It looks complicated on paper, but I’m hoping it’s easily understandable after one or two read-throughs.

Required steps:
Roll initiative.
Determine surprise.
Count actions.
Take turns.
End turns.
Round up.
Minimum damage.
End the round.

The first draft of physical conflict is complete. Lots of small revisions, but the biggest change was the phrasing of the combat postures. Most combat is now in offensive posture, but defensive posture, special postures, and obstacles can thoroughly spice things up.

Combat rules are pretty simple, but there are a ton of tactical choices that can make combat very intense. Questions like:

- Which character should take defensive posture?
- Should you attack now or wait for your turn?
- Will parrying buy you time? Should you save actions for it?
- Does your initiative give you enough of an edge? Should you delay for a better init?
- How do you take on a better armored and better armed foe?
- Should you roll your damage/protection, or just take half?

The answers change with the situation. So combat is promising to be a very dynamic experience!

Delving into mental conflict today and awareness.

You’d think something like being aware of your enemies is sort of a no-brainer, but it’s worth the attention in a game where invisibility and cloaking can happen, and even more so when the mental aspects of battle can be separated from the physical ones. The full implications really are the subject of future rulebooks, but the core rules will still give you a good taste of what could be.

Rule of the day:

If you sneak up on your enemies and they have no idea you’re coming, you get a free action. If you sneak up on them but they’re alert, you get an initiative bonus.

This, and a few short paragraphs, marks the end of the new Conflict chapter. Here’s the new version of Neon’s training with Morpho:

Neon and Morpho are training in the dojo. Morpho pulls a Beretta on Neon, and instructs him to dodge the bullet. The GM starts the round with Morpho, an NPC, drawing the weapon on Neon. Morpho ends his turn, waiting for Neon to be ready.

Neon knows cast spell (ruse), so he rolls a cast spell contest and gets 9 on his d20. Neon adds his MP bonus, skill points, and casting difficulty for a contest result of 17. Satisfied with this result, Neon combines his next casting action and keeps the result of 17. He also takes his casting damage on the second action, taking half, of d8 + (spell level) – (MP protection), or 4 + 2 – 2 = 4 metaphysical damage. The contest result exceeds the minimum of 10, so Neon gains +8 to his parry contests, the spell’s effect.

For his last action, Neon raises a hand toward Morpho, dramatically says “no,” and takes half on defend (parry). With the +8 bonus from ruse’s effect, his parry contest is 20. Morpho responds to the defend action by firing with fight (missile), and gets a 16 result. Neon takes no damage from Morpho’s attack, and his player describes his successful defense.

Neon’s ruse lasts until the beginning of his next turn unless he maintains it. Since Morpho is a tricky one, Neon will use a defend (concentration) contest at the start of his next turn to keep the ruse in place. If the ruse were somehow contested, with cast spell (dispel) for example, Neon would use the original 17 result for the spell as his contest.

The Bestiary is on the chopping block this weekend. I’ll redraw some monsters, trim some fat, and definitely add some more. Futuristic, like a Dark Shader or Blobba the Hut? Modern, like a navy SeAL or truck driver? It would be sweet to have a Jack Burton in there somewhere.

Of course, there are too many fantasy monsters to choose from. Skyrim was and still is a big influence on this game. So trolls, mudcrabs, and monstrous spiders could make appearances.

The monster-creation rules have not changed significantly. Their attributes start at 8, 10 and 12, and just like characters, they get more stuff with more levels. In fact, you can make yourself a monstrous character instead of a hero using the character creation rules. Do check with your campaign theme first, though.

The first monster is in the revamped bestiary. He’s a scary one: the musician!

Artist, musician, level 1
Attributes: P 8, M 10, MP 13
Skills: persuade 2 (1), profession (artist) 4 (0)
Perks: specialize (artist)
Gear: guitar, guitar case, harmonica, Swiss army knife d4
Concept:A street performer who couldn’t become a rock star after college. He has some skill at swaying people’s opinions, and a knife for those who try to take his tips.

There are 63 monsters slotted for the new bestiary, many of which have types. The musician is an artist-type, which indicates that he’s a character for modern-genre games. The modern monster types have socio-economic themes: worker, soldier, artist, intellectual, and ruler.

Scarier monsters will be appearing, like the unusually-sized rat (level 3), qua-toa mutant (level 5), and the shapeshifting android (level 7).

The last level 5 spell is Wind. It knocks one target out of combat for a round, or pins one down when in closed terrain. Unlike Hold, Wind allows physical defenses to break free, and all five defenses are required for that freedom.

Making progress on the Bestiary. First it’s the trap design section, and then I’ll start adding the sample monsters and sample traps.

While working on the rules module chapter today, I hit the same unexpected point that I have three or four times before: I can’t write the chapter on special rules until I have my rules catalog system in place.

Which brought me to another improvement for version 1.30: instead of several reasonable, but somewhat arbitrary, categories for rules, the newest version will be composed of actual rules modules itself. These will, of course, start at the foundation and build upward from there. The modules so far:

000 – Core rules
100 – Characters
200 – Extended conflict
300 – Combat
400 – Spellcasting

The first three categories are fairly independent. Combat relies heavily on characters and extended conflict, and so does spellcasting. The intended beauty here is to illustrate the flow of rule dependence, and to make it easier to add or remove groups of rules. For example, if you don’t like the spellcasting rules at all and want a more realistic game, you can easily just unplug the 400-series rules from your game.

Monsters of First Level: 10. That number will probably climb by a few before the revision is done.

Each of these monsters have one thing in common: they’re all first level characters. “Amateurs,” if you will, they represent the small, the untrained, the entry-level, and the harmless. Including several good candidates for PC pets.

The sample adventure module will be divided into elements – snippets of useful information with reference numbers. Further, encounters are taking flowchart or map form in the hopes that visual information reads faster than written information.

As one of my favorite parts of the game, modules need to be done right. I’ve cut a lot of subjective material from the modules chapter, and I’m hoping that what’s left is short and sweet.

Each sample module is getting a makeover, and the rules module is complete, although I can’t code the new rules without properly coding the core rules first. The sample rules are:
- New attributes: power and reflex, replacing physical.
- Piecemeal armor: why wear a suit of mail when you could wear a leather cap, steel bracers, a chain skirt, and snazzy vest?
- Dragon magic: having a fourth attribute means another damage pool for fueling more spells. Dragon warriors get free casting actions as their dragon blood increases.

One of my big complaints about standard adventure formats is that the relevant information is too often buried in non-essential information. Yes, I’ll read an adventure through before running it, but once I’m running the game, I need certain information quickly.

To make that information accessible, I’m creating encounter flowcharts. Only the relevant information makes its way onto these pages.

Next question: what’s the relevant information? How much do GMs need, and what can they whip up or recall on their own?

One thing that I’d like to include, but might not fit with the one-page constraint, is quick contests.

A quick contest is a skill, a result to beat, and the outcome of the contest. So if you are running a rock-climbing encounter, a standard description might look like this:

“At this portion of the mountain, PCs make a contest to determine how they negotiate the final climb. On a movement contest 15 or higher, the PCs climb safely. On a 19 or higher, they find a shortcut which allows them to reach the top faster. On a 23 or higher, the PCs find, while taking the shortcut, a nook in the rock that has a bird’s nest, and some jewelry that found its way into the nest as well.”

Or a quick contest might look like this:

Movement 14: climb safely
-——————18: find shortcut
-——————22: discover treasure in nest

The GM could roll these using difficulty bonuses, but a “quick” contest goes faster if the GM implicitly takes half. As the PC contest result gets higher, the PC achieves better results…

Here’s the current text from the quick encounter description:

Some elements contain quick contests. These are a skill, bonus, and result. The skill represents an option that the PCs can take in the given situation. The bonus is what the GM adds to his difficulty contest against the PCs. The result is generally a boon that the PCs gain for succeeding on the contest.

With a new ruleset comes new questions on how to play. Yes, FAQs are one of the appendices in the rulebook, which means yes, I’m almost finished with the writing phase of version 1.30. Here are some of the FAQs:

Q: I’d like to defend, but if I parry, I don’t get to do anything else! How do I avoid taking damage, and still attack?
A: You could move to defensive posture if the situation permits. Wear armor. And if you have friends, they could try parrying for you, but that might involve a challenging difficulty penalty.

Q: My spell doesn’t seem to have any mechanical benefits. What’s the point?
A: Besides the in-game effects, your GM is welcome to grant you the benefit of the doubt in tied contests, or even when you fail a contest by one (if he’s feeling gracious). Roleplaying the spell well could also earn you a hero point.

Q: Is my contest success better if I roll 20? What if I roll 1?
A: There are only three outcomes to contests. If your contest is higher than your opponent’s contest, you succeed. If you tie, you reroll or the GM decides. If your contest is lower, you do not achieve your goal, but may still find some success.

Q: What makes my character a hero, if all characters use the same generation rules?
A: Two things: hero points and levels. Non-heroes are generally amateurs, professionals, and experts (levels 1-3), and only heroes and villains get hero points.

An index is a pretty essential component of a roleplaying game. Yet, it’s something that took forever to do manually, as in the earlier versions of Modos RPG. And so far, using Word to create the index, is just as slow. Tips or tricks? Let me know.

Version 1.30 is in its polishing phase, for first public consumption. Remember, this is the fast, friendly game designed for gamers, not for money. So pay for your copy with feedback!

There are monsters through level 3 in the book, but I’ll add some higher level monsters just as inspiration for this first printing. Some that come to mind:

Mutant, Model (a superhero), Elf, Mage (required), Android, Shapeshifting (Autobots, transform!), and the one lucky enough to grace the cover, the werebull.

This is as vicious as the 1.30 edition will get:

Dragon, mist, level 9
Attributes: P 16, M 10, MP 13
Skills: cast spell (fog) 4 (1), cast spell (ice) 1 (2), movement 5 (2), fight (unarmed) 5 (2), detect +2
Perks: spell weaver, weapon focus (natural) d8, spell maintenance, armor training (natural) d8, martial artist, thought shield d4
Gear: claws & bite d8, dragon hide d8, treasure horde
Concept: In misty valleys, behind waterfalls, and sometimes cloudy mountaintops, these dragons live solitary lives. They do not fly; they use their wings to move their fog clouds to useful places. The ice spell can be used to freeze opponents, but can also be used to freeze a small area of ground, like any inclined ground that lies between a dragon and its opponents. Their hordes consist of tribute from peasants and the goods that adventurers drop when they die.

I’m on the last chapter for reformatting. It’s going to be a little tricky, what with all the text boxes that I’m using in the sample adventure module. But while it would normally be pretty tedious, it’s going really fast because the more I do, the more I can feel the end approaching! Who’s ready to do some speedy, boundary-free roleplaying?

With a big sigh of relief, I’m happy to announce Modos RPG v.1.30! This time around, there are more spells, monsters, and examples. Clunky bits have been removed from the rules, and the game is more free-form overall.

The fundamental resolution system, the Contest, grows organically into the detailed resolution system, the Extended Conflict. And roleplaying is supported throughout.

The rules catalog is not yet in place, but all the rules are present in the book. The catalog outline illustrates how three rules modules build on each previous module: core rules, characters, and extended conflict. Then the game rounds itself out with a combat and spellcasting module – all of which are customizable.

This version is designed to be a more stable platform, but there will definitely be minor glitches lurking in the perks, spells, and monsters. See if you can find them, bring them up here, and let’s make the game better for everyone.

Download here:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1210

If you’re the type to give money to causes you support, even when those causes aren’t asking for money, you’ll have to buy the Modos RPG e-book here:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/144254/Modos-Roleplaying-Game-version-1301

All proceeds go to the online communities that supported me and my maniacal ideas. Thanks Penandpapergames and ENworld!

Skyrim adventure module is posted in the Miscellaneous downloads on ENworld.org. Take it for a spin, and bring friends!

http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1217

I’m excited! I know, it happens a lot. But I’m streamlining the Rules Catalog, and I think I have the 150+ rules of 1.2 down to under 90 in 1.3. I’m pulling out some definitions masquerading as rules, GM guidance, and most significantly: skills and perks. The rules don’t need a listing of those so much as a definition, and the frameworks in which the skills and perks operate. Because in theory, players can make up their own skills and perks anyway.

If everything runs smoothly, this could make for some pretty fast and simple rules module creation. Which is where I’m dying to go next…

This new rule came up logically, revealing itself as an unwritten rule that was already in the rules anyway. It was previously called “protection,” which has little or nothing to do with a word like “progress.” And here’s what the rule looks like:

“Regress is a character’s ability to limit his opponent’s progress. Whenever one character makes progress, his opponent may reduce that progress by subtracting regress, as long as they are of corresponding types.”

So protection reduces damage, or counterpoints reduce points, or whatever you’re calling your regress reduces whatever you’re calling your progress.

Better question: who’s acting first?

I’ve run my Skyrim adventure module a couple times now, and it’s in a chatroom which is a window that shares my desktop with 3 or 4 other GMing-related windows. Which means: it’s a small chat window. So when a fight breaks out, I’m lucky to have even one of the contest results on my screen at a time.

I’m thinking I can resolve this in a way that would be good for both chatrooms AND tabletop games. The initiating character, by definition, initiates each action (he’s the one taking his turn). So when he announces his action, everyone else has a moment to react, and say so. If you don’t say anything, then everyone who DID announce an action or reaction rolls at the same time. Then the GM goes around the table resolving the actions in the standard order: initiating character, highest initiative, next highest, etc.

What will have to come out in playtesting: does it slow the game down to pause and see who’s reacting? What’s the difference between willy-nilly act-and-roll, versus announce-then-roll order?

I’d like to share my comments about my game world on another site:

In my world, people don’t fight when they’re outnumbered, rulers have lots of bodyguards, and casting a magic spell is a good way to earn some dungeon time. And no, it’s not a dungeon full of gold and dragons, either.

Sources of these decisions:

Outnumbered: game rules, real world, Game of Thrones

Bodyguards: real world

Dungeon time: Skyrim

Let’s increase the risks in a fantasy world – in order to increase the rewards.

I’m enjoying the rules-light, redesigned nature of version 1.3. I just ran a game session that involved some information sharing, song writing, and crowd-entertaining. I think only two die rolls were needed: one to see if the songwriting was up to expectations, and one was a detect contest to notice a character’s attitude through body language, not words.

The songwriting check used a slight change that I want to put in the rulebook: I want to take “failure” out of contests. Failing should be up to the players and GM. When you make a contest, you succeed, tie, or “don’t succeed.”

My Saturday Roll20 Modos game opened my eyes a little this week:

Things get chaotic in battle!

Out of the chaos, though, came a revelation. When the initiating player announces his action, and each player takes a moment to declare a reaction, and then everyone rolls their contests, the GM gains another opportunity for storytelling. Each player is thinking, “someone did X, I reacted with Y and my roll was Z. So what exactly happened?” When the GM assembles each action and its contest result in order, a mini-story is formed that makes combat seem more dramatic.

There’s a danger here that the GM envisions the character’s action differently than the player did, so it’s advisable to pause and let players contribute during this storytelling process.

Just did a round of new character creation last night (and the following game session). The players would make me feel bad about drawing up character-concept-generation rules; they did a fantastic job without them!

We started with character concepts, which were fueled by knowledge of the campaign setting and the two extant PCs. Then I tried to bolster them by rolling up attribute scores, but they’d made most of the hard choices already.

After that, skills, perks, and equipment were a snap. Hero points are pretty intangible though, so we’re still working on how they’ll use them. One idea was to use them on attempts to convert non-believers! That one should be fun.

I had quite a mix of technologies yesterday: Modos RPG on .pdf, a random dungeon room generator on ENworld’s OGRE, and a virtual game table on Roll20.net.

I would like to have included my GM screen in Excel (4th technology), but a hard drive crash made that option temporarily inaccessible. Situations like this make me extremely appreciative of the Average Person Rule (all characters and difficulties start at what an average person could do) and of course, Rule Zero (the GM is allowed to fudge anything!).

I played my first game of Savage Worlds. It was surprisingly similar to Modos RPG, especially considering that I wrote the majority of the game without ever having played Savage Worlds. But I had a good time and liked the system.

Some reactions:

The core rules are short and sweet, but I felt a little overwhelmed once I encountered Edges, Hindrances, Bennies, “Traits,” the Wild Die, Raises, and the derived attributes (Parry and Toughness). It’s not bad – just more than I was expecting.

The hero-makers, Bennies, the Wild Die, and Aces, feel a little redundant. Each seems designed to give the players a super-feeling.

The wound system is really cool. It looks like it does a nice job of eliminating hit points from the game, and with them some needless mathematics. Also not in the game: experience points – at least massive amounts of them. Gain 5 XP, and your character gets better. Simple and good.

While I also find it awesome that RIFTS is going to become a Savage Worlds book, I think it would be much cooler to see some Modos RPG modules doing that conversion for free – paid for with love and devotion.

My online group got to try out the Ice spell. As a 2nd level spell, it’s easily twice as interesting as its 1st level counterparts, Fire and Lightning. Now I believe that the caster was using a spell implement to cast the spell, which meant that Ice required three actions. For those three actions, he got to deal d8 ice damage and penalize the target’s movement by 4. Is it worth three actions for this?

Well, first, the caster gets to deal full damage at range. Second, he limits the movement of an opponent to the extent that the GM penalizes it, or gains an advantage in opposing that opponent’s movement contests. So the opponent could have a harder time chasing or fleeing. Also, that movement penalty lasts until the caster’s next turn (or until he defends with willpower), and can be maintained. So a busy opponent might suffer the penalty for the whole conflict.

Now a low level character can’t chase his slowed opponent after using three actions, because he’d be out of actions. But his friends sure could!

Next topic: minimum casting difficulty.

Lots of revisions, recommendations, and revolutions are waiting for attention. I’m not quite ready to put out another playtest version, but I think an update packet is very likely. Visit here to get your 2 gold pieces in:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/group.php?groupid=446

The game’s getting a workover, but gameplay won’t change much. You will hopefully feel a general smoothing of the bumps. There will also be some focus on increasing the details used in storytelling, and including players in that process. So, more imagination. And a handful of demos to help you get a better feel for how things work, before you start playing with your group.

New sections on player agency, how the dice work, and awarding hero points. And that’s just the GM chapter…

I’m happy to say that the Counters section is being superseded by a new initiative chart that will make combat a breeze. Of course, the initiative chart will require a sheet of paper or window, where the counters did not.

This year, I’m thankful to have released the third version of my favorite roleplaying game! But as these things come and go, I have sad news: version 1.3 is about to expire.

In its place: version 1.4! This is represented by my…second official rules module, and just like version 1.3, it will be free to all. I realize that digital information doesn’t look so hot under the Christmas tree, but I’m expecting to have the rules module available by Christmas.

Happy gaming!
Michael

For those of you who wanted a smoother-running game to play, rules update 1.4 is now available. Follow the link from the Wiki page, happy gaming, and happy holidays!

Good news for those of you who haven’t yet dropped your Modos RPG rules into Excel: the Rules Catalog on this site now has the 1.4 rules modded into the 1.3 rules.

Hey! Thanks for stopping in. If it looks like I took the summer off, well, that’s only partially true. Since Modos 1.4 is the most stable version to-date, I’m letting it stand on its own for a while.

However, that doesn’t mean that the web has stopped growing. I have two modules in the works: one is a Metroid rules module, for running PCs through alien environments and blowing things up, and the larger project is a Gauntlet conversion called Dark Amulet. The latter is designed to be a fast-play-dungeon-crawl, with treasure, danger, and some spontaneous elements. Since Metroid is smaller and getting more attention right now, you can expect to see that first. Dark Amulet is not a rules overhaul, but contains enough changes to create a slightly different feel of play (like being GM-less).

Look for the Metroid module by the end of August, and Dark Amulet by September or, eerily enough, Halloween!

The Modular Exoskeleton Trans-Responsive Outfit, In Detail (or METROID) rules module is available on ENworld. Not really any hard-rules changes in it, but lots of good advice for running a space-video-game-style RPG. I threw in the full 1.4 rules catalog anyway. Check it out here:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1335

Whew! My head’s whirling from two big things: finishing the METROID module, and dreaming up campaign setting ideas. Taking a break from rules-writing seems like the best thing to do, and switching over to campaign/adventure writing.

So, Dark Amulet is on indefinite hold. Probably to be finished on a long weekend in the woods somewhere.

But I’ll still be writing, and spreading the good word. I’m thinking of a Survivor-style online game, where someone gets voted off the island each month – or when they miss a session. Keep an eye out for it on Roll20, and don’t miss your chance to make (campaign) history.

Wondering what it’s like to play Modos RPG? Stop by Roll20 and drop your name in the hat – we’ll be picking new players to join us each month.

https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/22250/survivor-imperial-edition

https://app.roll20.net/campaigns/details/717572/the-empire-trembles

Real time roleplaying at the above link, Sundays. Swing by, check it out.

I’ll be running my Roll20 game in the “present” now, so it’s a little more Game of Thrones themed and less Lord of the Rings. The technology levels don’t vary that much between stories, but Game of Thrones feels more socially advanced.

This doesn’t mean that previous societies didn’t have tech! All of those elven statues and dwarven mausolea must have been there for SOME reason…

I shared some Modos wisdom with another game designer today: there’s no excuse for failure. Not in the sense that people who fail are to blame. This is completely different: roleplaying games don’t need to include the concept of “failure.” Failure isn’t fun, and it’s not interesting. “You try, you fail.” Well, a player who hears that just wonders what he was wasting his time for. I’d much rather hear my GM ask me, “you got a Con. What happens?”

Let’s stick with this whole Con/Unfavorable thing instead of Failure, and see where it takes us.

I’m dreaming up module rules for the crunchier version of Modos (more positions in combat, but still not a full battle grid), which emphasizes an important point: there’s a line between the story and the rules. A curtain, if you will. And I’m thinking that a good, opaque curtain can improve the game experience for players by helping them to remain immersed in story, and worry less about the rules, or the metagame.

Where to draw the line? The obvious point is at the character sheet; if it’s not on the character sheet, then players don’t need to know it. Another line is around the rulebook: one for the GM, one for the PCs.

Feasible? I’ll let it stew in my head…

Modos RPG will be appearing at Arizona Game Fest! Which means I have some adventure writing to do. No big deal – writing a four-hour adventure for up to eight completely random players? Just kidding; I’ll take all the advice you have to give!

I managed to streamline 8 rules out of the basic modules on first pass – for an average of 18 rules per module. Not bad.

In the process, I decided to eliminate the Spell Maintenance perk. If a character REALLY needs to maintain at least three spells each round, he can take the new Bonus Action perk for Concentration (the skill that helps to maintain spells).

I mean, if all of your comrades are wearing magical armor that you created, someone failed to inspect the troops as they left garrison.

As I’m writing some guidance for the new GM chapter, I came to an interesting realization: magic items don’t belong in combat. Since that sounds pretty extreme, allow me to clarify. Modos RPG 1.4 has a category of items called “special equipment.” Many of these items allow a character to do things that would effectively raise the character’s level on a temporary or permanent basis. So having items like these in the game plays havoc with the Character Level rule, but since special equipment can be fun, I can’t just throw it out of the game. The solution is to limit what special equipment can do – mechanically. First, special equipment is dramatic, so its use should remain in the dramatic side of the game – with roleplaying and one-roll conflicts. However, if the situation calls for action-by-action shots, special equipment CAN make an appearance in extended conflict (or combat), but it can’t contribute to Progress. Instead, level balance is maintained if special equipment changes the landscape of an extended conflict: by imposing difficulty penalties or changing how postures behave.

For example, your level 2 character has an endless supply of grenades, which are similar to a level 3 or 4 power (spell) like Fire3. If your character could endlessly cast Fire3, that would make his level effectively 10 or higher, not level 2. So instead of going into an extended conflict with an endless supply of grenades, the GM asks you to use a one-roll conflict, with a Physical contest to attack the enemy biker gang. You add your Missile skill points and get a result of 14, saying you “pull two pins at the same time with your mouth and chuck them at the gang.” The GM says you got a Pro, and that “the gang members scatter, leaving their bikes behind to get blown up in a glorious fireball by your grenades.”

Alternatively, you could use your grenades in combat, but instead of causing Physical damage, their effect would be to prevent opponents from entering offensive posture, as an alternative to a Movement action.

These two examples show that character level can be preserved by using special equipment to add flavor to one-roll conflicts or to create options for using skills in extended conflict – instead of creating instant-win scenarios in combat.

First pass on the new table of contents is complete, and things are already looking interesting. It’s as if I’m not doing the writing, but watching some strange creature in the wild… Anyway, the new version should be a little more compact – some of the fat is trimmed – and there’s a secret chapter, as well as a grand finale built in. Let’s see what happens…

Last night, I somehow jumped ahead to the new modules chapter. I got started by thinking about what the character attributes in Final Fantasy IV were, somehow. Next thing I knew, I had written the concepts for three rules modules in about one hour. The fun part was realizing that a rules module isn’t a full conversion – you could just play the real thing for that – it’s just enough rules to give the right feel or taste to the game.

Example: the first thing that I realized about a Final Fantasy rules module was that characters basically have an unlimited carrying capacity. Then, I remembered how extensive their combat choices were, which are severely limited by today’s standards. And what’s at the end of combat for unlucky characters? Being Swooned. I’m guessing that when I translate this into rules catalog language, there won’t be more than two rules affected for each conceptual rule. Which should make the module easy to plug in, and fast to deliver to the game.

This is how I’m picturing the Modos Marketplace: links. Lots and lots of links. To be more specific, I’d like to set up a blog that has sections for each type of mod and genre. Then, as mods are submitted, they get a post with a link and description. That way I don’t have to host mods, just provide access to them. And I’ll probably use the comments sections as a way to measure/indicate mod approval.

Despite having only seven top-tier power ideas, I just finished writing up the base game’s spellbook, er, power list. Four (almost five) power levels of ten powers each, increasing with difficulty, requiring more metaphysical proficiency at the highest levels, and costing more MP as you go.

And I know each of the powers. This must be what a grand wizard feels like.

I’m putting the website together, piece-by-piece. If you go through the under-construction site a realize that you have an original piece of artwork that you’d like to see on a particular page (or the site’s banner), send me a private message.

Most of the site’s links are active. I have to add the powers list, some gear, and an FAQ. And the best time to do that: when they’ve been proofed in the rulebook. So, coming soon. Shoot me a message with ideas, questions, or comments.

I’m polishing up the Frequently Asked Questions section of the book, which will be published on the site here as well. So now is the time to ask questions!

Next in line for website updates are, in order: rules catalog, gear lists, sample powers, and sample NPCs.

Modos 2 rules catalog is now on the site. As well as present and future gear. And it was a pretty busy morning, so there’s probably other stuff available too!

Powers and NPCs are trickling in. Get in touch with your DIY-side and get to playing!

(Yes, zombies are in each NPC page. What genre doesn’t have zombies?)

If you’re keeping score at home, I’m up to chapter 8 with my editorial once-over. I made some minor changes to gear, powers, and NPCs. So those will be updated on the site, here. More importantly, I’m closer to wrapping up the free book and getting back into the game again!

Weighing in at 1.07 MB, the free rulebook is afloat and kicking. You can find links to it in the Wiki section.

But the REALLY exciting part is that there’s a fan-creation Skyrim rules module coming hot on its heels…

I spent a good chunk of the day converting, well, blending Skyrim perks and Modos 2 perks for the new module. There’s not a lot of tinkering needed, which makes sense considering how inspirational Skyrim was to the game. The big change was in percentages: Skyrim uses them, Modos 2 doesn’t. You can’t increase your d6 roll by 30% without some ugly number rounding going on.

Fear not, I found a decent solution, and maybe as importantly, I left plenty of room for GMs to customize (since we all play the game a little differently).

Here’s hoping to have the Skyrim module complete and under the Christmas tree by the 25th. I think Skyrim’s snowy landscape is an appropriate setting for the holidays (especially when you’re stuck in Arizona)!

I’ll be including scaling rules, an effect which you see on “leveled” items and characters. One consequence of this that I’ve seen in online Modos games is that draugr don’t flinch when attacked with low-level daggers and frost spells…

While I don’t know if Santa brought you everything you want for Xmas, I do know this: the Skyrim mod I’ve been working on is going to be done this week, and it puts you right into the freezing snow of Skyrim. So if your area is still brown this winter, or your dungeon master won’t let you become a werewolf (just for the fur coat, right?), get ready to run this mod with Modos 2.

Producing my Skyrim mod hit a snag last weekend when I realized that my two-tiered system of level-up difficulty made it impossible to hit, oh, fourth level. Previously, you needed some lucky rolls (1/40) and you needed a LOT of skill points to level up. Level 4 required 16, and 5 required 25.

I realized the increasing difficulty of rolling a new skill point made it unnecessary for the skill points needed per level to increase. Now, when you get four skill points, you level up. So, level 4 requires 12, and 5 requires 16.

I also wanted a snazzy crest for the game’s cover, since each of the cities has one. I’ll post it on Twitter here:
https://twitter.com/MichaelTwtr/status/964501066292150273

So the mod is in final edits, again. I’ll post the mod this weekend, and hopefully have my own game lined up for next weekend.

Happy gaming!

Not all role-playing games are made equal. I took a quick look at GURPS 4th edition last weekend. You know, the Generic, Universal, Role-Playing System? The game is amazing, and has a table or entry for pretty much EVERYTHING. How much money does your character have? GURPS can tell you. Is he attractive? GURPS can tell you. Does she know how to operate a star drive? GURPS can tell you.

Strangely, the bulk of the books didn’t look like much more than the two main D&D books. What really struck me was the contrast – my portable copy of Modos 2 was lying just inches away on a small tablet, 6 × 3.5 inches and flat. Not that a hardcopy of the book would be much bigger. The difference lies in just one word: Universal. GURPS presents rules for everything, because it’s universal. Modos 2 provides rules for about five things, one per module, or maybe nine things, one per chapter.

GURPS has an advantage over Modos 2. It provides more exercise!

My Metroid campaign is off to a nail-biting start! The PC crew has discovered not just a destroyed ship’s terraforming laser, but some innocent crew members on the receiving end of space pirate blasters.

The M.E.T.R.O.I.D. guide that I wrote a while back is turning out to be very useful, although it’s not the finished product that I’d like it to be. Drop a line if you’d like to check it out.

You can check up on our Metroid game on Roll20 here:
https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/111824/metroid-a-distressing-signal

Well here’s a juicy tidbit: Modos RPG could win an award this year! It is nominated for Best Free RPG, which is a very gracious nod from the ENnies Awards judges.

Check out the ENnies here:
http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/

On an unrelated note (?), I just wrapped up the revision of the NPCs chapter. That’s -about— a half way point, no? Fun fact: two more sample traps added, and the Bear Trap is much less of a mess now!

Realizing that one of Modos 2’s best features is its modularity, and that Crit Hit 3 (where I’m running a game next weekend) has an “old school” theme this year, I decided to add an old-school rules module to next weekend’s game.

1st order of business: THAC0! What’s more old-school than THAC0? This necessitated adding Armor Classes to characters as well, but the transition is seamless. However, adding Armor Class means that characters can defend without using an action, so an attack that doesn’t To Hit will still deal 1 damage, versus zero on a Pro defense.

2nd order of business: tables! Each character gets a unique table to roll on, bringing the grand total of tables that each player needs to worry about to two. Well, one really, since the Guide spends way more time using the Difficulty table than players do.

3rd order of business: player agency! Each player will be allowed to create one Old School rule during the course of the game.

These rules will result in a truly unique experience for everyone involved…and why not…I’ll just have to post the newly-created rules module after the game.

Happy gaming!

Crit Hit 3 website:
https://tabletop.events/conventions/crit-hit-20171

So I’ve tried several times, and there’s no way I’m going to be able to hold my breath until the ENnie Awards are announced. I have been trucking ahead on Modos 2 Deluxe Edition, and am now knee-deep in the Modules chapter. I’m also up to my neck in sidebars that I need to add, but those are sort of a post-editing task, for some reason.

The adventure module is going to get a dramatic re-write, but before that, I’m adding Combat Crunch – a rules module for adding epic-fight scenes to Modos 2. Six secondary attributes, map and miniature support, an action system mod, and . . . hit points!? No, no, no. The module still uses damage pools, the simpler, faster version of hit points. The solution was inspired by my Dragonborn Light module, which you should definitely check out over at ENworld if you get a chance:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1465

I’m going back to work, hoping that Santa Claus (level 8) has an August present for me :)

The new, free version of Modos 2 is just about ready. I threw in the Fast Play Rules as an extra appendix, the new page backgrounds, and lots of small revisions. So it’s worth the one-minute-or-less download.

But I come seeking advice: I left in the extra pages used by the Deluxe version as blank pages, as a sort of “this is what you’re missing,” but also to maintain the formatting on subsequent pages.

So, what funny, little quips should I add to the blank pages? I’d hate to just put “this page intentionally left blank.” That’s not…Modos enough.

What is going on? Let me tell you! Modos RPG is tearing it up in Roll20, running one-shot adventure modules that provide a much-needed gaming fix for n00bs and vets alike. In Deluxe Edition news, the Conflict chapter is getting up-close-and-personal with a big, dynamite-wielding beast, and once that’s done the product of Deluxe Edition will be all downhill. Ready for wrapping under the e-Christmas tree.

Stick around, this will be fun…

Posted this over at ENWorld, but I’ll think about it here: how much damage does an ogre cause if it falls on you?

Default damage is d4, which is what ANYTHING causes if it doesn’t already use another die.

Average damage is d8, which is what something that could be deadly causes, but you don’t happen to know what its damage die is.

An ogre probably carries a heavy weapon, which generally does d10 damage before perks/bonuses.

Given this, I’ll let you ponder for a while. By the way, if there’s an official answer, it’s “consult Rule Zero.”

Some RPG ideas have me wondering what a Guide-less Modos would look. Namely:

- GMs prepare almost nothing before a game,
- RPGs allow players to make narrative actions instead of personal actions, and
- Fate points/GM Intrusions that allow players to accept or reject story elements.

Modos RPG is already easy on GMs; they can eschew die-rolling, maps aren’t required, there’s only one table to know, and NPC sheets are easy to improvise. All that’s left is to tell an interesting story. Can PCs do this on their own?

If I were playing in such a game, I’d prefer to have some random element generators on-hand for the Lists: the gear found, NPCs met, and a map generator would be nice, too. This would serve the purpose of keeping PC/GM whimsy within reasonable bounds.

However, a robust rules module that turns personal actions into narrative actions, ala Dungeon World, would accomplish the same task and give PCs more control over where the story goes. It’s not a stretch; Contests already have three outcomes that translate into narrative results. With a little tinkering, the sample actions in Modos 2 could become narrative, GM-less ones like:

- Introduce a Complication
- Overcome an Obstacle
- Make a Sacrifice
- Gain an Advantage

As always, I’m happy to post your module if you feel like contributing :)

Okay, yes, I didn’t post anything on the Great Day of Our Lord’s (the D20) Coming, 02/20/20. I’m going to say it was spent in silent reverie. Let’s all be glad Its Greatness didn’t roll a 1 yesterday and do us all in. Instead, I’d like to look back at the beginning, when the first 20 was ever rolled in the name of role-playing – the RPG Big Bang.

You might think that it was Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, or another RPG legend, who created RPGs. But it was, in fact, the D20 itself, willing RPGs into being. On this first day of a new era, I’d like to speculate on what D20 (capital D, not lower-case) had in mind for us, and how well we’re meeting Its desires.

D20 has a goal for us, and this goal takes a vague shape in the mind of every game designer. No one can see it perfectly, but each tries. By looking at the genre of role-playing, instead of an individual game, we can begin to see the Great One’s will:

1) Escape reality, into a new one (even if it’s similar to the real one).
2) Become a character (even if it’s similar to the real you).
3) Influence the new reality.
4) Share and build the experience with others.
5) The new reality has independence (it is, itself, a player).

These are very vague, yes, and that’s because I can’t read the will of D20. If I could, I’d design the perfect RPG. Modos RPG, as a toolkit for bigger and better RPGs, attempts to meet and/or interpret these goals:

1) With a Guide designing the campaign concept, following rule zero, and inviting players to not just interact, but to create, the game helps the players escape reality.
2) Pretty standard practice, with a separate module for character creation. Some games allow players to guide story outcomes without using specific characters, but it’s not an RPG without the “role-playing.”
3) The GM influences the new reality with guidance, but not control, from the PCs. The PCs, by agreeing to meet and play, give the Guide the power to influence. There’s a balance, but an awkward one. Is this what D20 wishes for us?
4) As noted above, RPGing doesn’t happen without an assembling of players. Modos RPG seems to require at least one GM and one PC. The game demonstration on this site is for just one player, but it doesn’t actually use the rules (it uses hyperlinks). A video game, likewise, isn’t role-playing in the sense that the Great One intended, because what role does one play, if there is no one else to see it?
5) A Modos RPG reality asserts itself through the rules catalog and dice. Players work within this framework to experience the reality. Other games use cards, programs… without independence, the game becomes a novel, or shared fiction. Not only does this become something other than an RPG, but without independence, the game begins to falter meeting the other four goals. For example, just as the real world is based on rules (social, physical, etc.) so are the new realities of the #1 goal. Without independence, the players create something based on whim(sy), which can be a story, but not a new reality.

If you see another potential desire of D20 for us and our role-playing games, do let me know!

Free RPG Day is tomorrow, but I will not be going to my friendly, local, gaming store. Not because of social distancing – my FLGS is good at that – but because it’s too dang hot!

Instead, Modos 2 Deluxe will be free over the weekend, which includes more powers and sidebars to enhance your Modos RPG experience.

Head over to Drivethrurpg.com now to grab a copy for yourself!

The Modos RPG game demonstration is complete (and ready for editing/feedback)! You can access it from the home page or the About Modos page.

Take a stroll through a short session, just you and the Guide of Modos, choosing a type of character and all the right decisions! (Hopefully.)