Spes Magna Games

In the mail last week, I received James M. Spahn’s exceptional second edition of The Hero’s Journey (THJ hereafter) and the supplemental The Hero’s Grimoire. I’ve already received The Hero’s Journey Narrator’s Screen. I await with straining patience the arrival of The Hero’s Companion. I’ve read through the PDFs of the books, and I’m nothing other than pleased. Mr. Spahn’s latest offering to the gaming world stands as his best work to date. THJ ranks as the game I am most eager to play. (Nota Bene: The previous links are affiliate links.)

THJ has several Lineages (read: races), including the familiar dwarf, elf, half-elf, halfling, and human, and the somewhat unfamiliar changeling. The human lineage includes the errant variant human for those who might want to play, say, a teenager who rode of a plane-shifting roller coaster from the 20th century into a fantasy world.

The Companion book expands these to include the gnome, goblin, rover, scion, and skin-changer. The rover is an intelligent, plucky canine, almost certainly inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien’s enchanting Roverandom. I see further Tolkien influences with scions (humans descending from once-glorious noble families), skin-changers (towering humans who transform into bears), and tree folk. Attributes for a Lineage are determined by rolling one or more d6s, perhaps adding a modifier. Skin-changers roll 2d6+6 for Might and 1d6+2 for Bearing, compared to the elf’s 3d6 for Might and 2d6+6 for Bearing.

Each Lineage also may or may not qualify for certain Archetypes (read: character classes), and Lineage determines Archetype level limits. Thus, a dwarf can earn only six levels as a burglar, but a goblin can rise to tenth level. Each Lineage also includes several traits, somewhere between three to six of them, depending on Lineage. Changelings can See the Unseen, dwarves have an Artisan’s Eye, and Halfings move Silent and Unseen. Traits may impose limitations. A rover, being a plucky canine, cannot speak and doesn’t have fingers.

Good stuff.

For whatever reason, I cannot seem to disconnect THJ from the epic stories of Redwall by Brian Jacques and the classic The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. I’ve read about half the Redwall series, including reading the title story more than once. I’ve read The Wind in the Willows several times as well. (Show me someone who does not love tales of plucky woodland heroes matching wits and muscles against nasty weasels, stoats, and rats, and you’ll be showing someone who probably can’t be trusted.) Thus, as much as I love Mr. Spahn’s treatment of standard fantasy races in THJ, I cannot help but think I ought to make up my own races drawing on the aforementioned books for inspiration.

I’ve taken a stab at this once before for 5E D&D. You can download those via this link. I don’t imagine repeating myself within the context of THJ should be all that difficult. For example, let’s take a stab at Badgers, with this picture acting as a visual muse. The miniature was painted by Michael Proctor, and the Frothy UK Badger is part of Dark Swords Miniatures fascinating catalog.

New Lineage: Badger

Large, strong, and driven by honor and duty, badgers rank among the greatest warriors. Badgers most often live in cavehomes or burrowhomes. Such as homes seldom have fewer than a half dozen entrances/exists, and most of these are hidden. Badgers are clannish and patriarchal. When a male badger nears adulthood, he leaves his home to find his way in the world.

Attributes: Might 2d6+6, Finesse 3d6, Resolve 2d6+6, Insight 2d6+1, Weal 3d6

Archetypes: Bard 4, Burglar 4, Knight 5, Ranger 5, Swordsman 7, Warrior 10, Wizard –, Yeoman 5

Born for Battle. Badgers learn to fight. They select two weapons (melee or ranged) that they may wield without penalty, regardless of any restrictions placed on them by Archetype.

Fearsome Bark. Badgers are the most fearsome of gentlebeasts. They have advantage on Saving Throws made to intimidate others, and their Bearing modifier for the Saving Throw is never less than +1.

Indomitable Courage. Badgers receive advantage on Saving Throws to resist all forms of fear, magical or mundane, including Despair.

Burrower. Badgers can burrow through earth with a movement rate of 1 regardless of the number of significant items carried. With cautious movement, the burrow is unlikely to collapse under normal conditions. With normal movement, the burrow is less stable, and burrows dug while running are unstable at best.

Dark Vision. Badgers can see in starlight, moonlight, or perfect darkness at a distance of up to 90 feet.

Tags: reviews, THJ

I dig goblins. They’re great little monsters. I liked them way back in may OD&D and AD&D days. When I got my hands on TSR’s excellent Oriental Adventures, I came to love goblins more thanks to the bakemono, those “cousins to the western goblins”. The bakemono are cool because “unlike the goblin, [they] come in a variety of differents shapes and sizes. No two [bakemonos] are alike.”

I have several goblin-related posts. There are the bakemono for the wonderful Fate Accelerated. For 5E D&D, I have ash goblins, goblin hags, two-headed goblins, and arctic charvogs. For AD&D and 5E, I’ve got goblin bombers. For OSR games, I’ve got That’s a Goblin!?, a supplement that presents 23 goblin mutations, 15 fey goblin abilities, 3 goblin subspecies, and 6 goblin tactical specialties.

And, for today, I’ve got the goblin swarm.

Large swarm of Small humanoids (goblinoids), neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (leather armor, shield)
Hit Points 44 (8d10)
Speed 30 ft.

STR 14 (+2), DEX 14 (+2), CON 10 (+0), INT 10 (+0), WIS 8 (-1), CHA 8 (-1)

Skills Stealth +4
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, stunned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
Languages Common, Goblin
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Nimble Escape. The goblin bomber can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns.

Swarm. The goblin swarm can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Small humanoid. The goblin swarm can’t regain hit points or gain temporary hit points. A creature in the goblin swarm’s space treats the goblin swarm’s space as difficult terrain.

Actions

Multiattack. Against creatures adjacent to the goblin swarm’s space, the goblin swarm can make up to three scimitar attacks. Against non-adjacent targets, the goblin swarm can make up to three shortbow attacks. Against a target in the swarm’s space, the goblin swarm can make one slashes attack. The goblin swarm cannot make more than one slashes attack on its turn. It cannot make more than three attacks on its turn. If the goblin swarm has half of its hit points or fewer, it cannot make more than two attacks on its turn.

Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) slashing damage.

Slashes. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 0 ft., one in the swarm’s space. Hit: 21 (6d6) slashing damage, or 10 (3d6) if the goblin swarm has half of its hit points or fewer.

Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) piercing damage.

Tags: 5E D&D, monsters

I can count on one hand the number of Kickstarters I’ve backed. I don’t remember most of them. One that I remember produced a nice PDF (the level I bought in at), but I’ve never used it, and I’ve only ever skimmed it. The virtual book just didn’t grab me like I thought it would.

I’ve also backed James M. Spahn’s The Hero’s Journey (THJ hereafter). I’ve gotten PDFs of THJ, The Hero’s Companion, and The Hero’s Grimoire. I’m waiting on the print-on-demand copies. I also have the GM screen. I’ve not played THJ…yet. (Note Bene: The first THJ link is an affiliate link; if you click and buy, I get a few coppers.)

But I’m going to.

THJ started out as a variation on Swords & Wizardry: White Box (itself a great game). While vestiges of its White Box roots still show, THJ has moved into its second edition and become its own thing.

And I think it’s a great thing, and its greatness shows even in THJ’s introduction. Mr. Spahn concludes the introduction with these words:

“It’s not a perfect game but is a love letter to heroic fantasy and a heartfelt expression of gratitude to every player, Narrator, and fellow gamer that has walked with me on this long, strange journey we’ve taken together.”

THJ is heroic. It’s an expression of love and gratitude. It uses Oxford commas. Fabulous.

THJ has nine chapters, an appendix, and a character sheet. The first four chapters deal with character basics, character creation, and equipment. Chapter 5 covers how to play the game, covering about 19 pages with about half of those covering combat. Chapter 6 explains spells, divided into three groups: Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master. Chapters 7-9 are for the Narrator (the GM), and include how to be Narrator, a respectable selection of folk and foes, and many magic items, including Heirlooms, character-created items tied to the character’s Lineage.

So, let’s make up a character.

My character has six basic Attributes: Might, Finesse, Resolve, Insight, Bearing, and Weal. The values of the Attributes are determined by rolling a pool of d6s, and my character’s Lineage determines the number of dice in each pool. My character’s profession is also influenced by Lineage.

Lineages are changeling, dwarf, elf, half-elf, halfling, or human. I’m going dwarf. Two tables tell me about Attribute dice pools and Archetypes. Attributes are first.

Might: 2d6+6. I rolled a 13.
Finesse: 2d6+1. I rolled an 8.
Resolve: 2d6+6. I rolled another 13.
Insight: 3d6. I rolled a 10.
Bearing: 2d6+1. I rolled a third 13.
Weal: 3d6. I rolled yet another 13.

All of those Attributes fall into the “average” range of 7-14 and have no attribute bonuses. The thirteens are near the upper range of average. Finesse is on the opposite end of the range. So, my character is fairly strong, durable, and charming. Fate has almost noticed him enough to matter (that’s a function of Weal), but he’s a tad on the clumsy side. I revisit the Professions table and roll a 72, which makes my dwarf a stonemason. This gives him a large hammer, a chisel, and 2d6 x 10 gold pieces. I roll and get 90 gold pieces. I make note of my character’s Lineage abilities: By Axe and Hammer, Artisan’s Eye, Tough As Nails, Underground Senses, Magic & Poison Resistance, and Dark Vision.

Now for Archetype. As a dwarf, my character can be a Bard (4), Burglar (6), Knight (3), Ranger (4), Swordsman (7), Warrior (10), or Yeoman (6). He can’t be a Wizard. The numbers in parentheses are his level limits for each Archetype. I skim through the Archetypes. He has the Attribute requirements needed for any of the permitted Archetypes. Let’s go obvious and make him a Warrior.

That gives him 8 Endurance, a +1 attack modifier, and a saving throw of 15. He has no armor or weapon restrictions. Archetype abilities useful at 1st level are A Greater Valor Against Lesser Foes, Shattered Shield, Terrible Blows, and Weapon Specialization. He also gets Advantage on saving throws versus Grievous Blows and poison (the latter of which he already had from being a dwarf). Since he’s got a hammer, Weapon Specialization in hammer seems a no-brainer. It’s not the best weapon for damage out there, but if he wields it two-handed, his hammer does 1d8+2 damage, thanks to Terrible Blows and Weapon Specialization.

I spend 50 gold on plate armor and another 10 gold on a small shield. That leaves me with 30 gold for other equipment, which I’ll worry about later.

Tags: reviews