Spes Magna Games

Musical Interlude

The Man’s running dogs come in all shapes and sizes, and from nearly all walks of life. Consequently, those who oppose the Man must tread carefully. Even that well-attired foxy lady who knows all the right moves could be an informer. The Boogie Knights of the Round Table and their allies need safe places to meet, to sing, and to get down; therefore, clubs.

We’ve already glimpsed the interior of the Avalon. Dozens of other clubs can be visited, even if some of them are hard to find. The Lady du Lac operates the Avalon in the public eye because she has the intelligence and wealth to stay at least one step ahead of the Man’s agents. (It’s a dangerous game, to be sure, but it does help deflect scrutiny from smaller, less secure venues.)

Keep in mind, the clubs aren’t always night clubs. A club is not a building; it’s the people. Some clubs boast hundreds of members whereas others could fit at a table for six in a dimly-lit, smoky cafe hosting an underground poetry slam. Clubs meet in private residences, cafeterias, church basements, and secluded cabins.

There is, however, one place clubs don’t meet, and that’s on the Internet. In the world The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT), the Internet doesn’t exist for the general public. The Man early on feared that the Internet would grow too large, too chaotic to control, and the Man is about control. From our perspective, technology has frozen in BKotRT‘s world at level roughly comparable to the early 1980s. That’s the way the Man likes it, and so far tech-rebels haven’t made significant in-roads against the Man’s stifling will.

In the game, clubs provide information, fun, and safety, assuming, of course, the club hasn’t been infiltrated by the Man. Larger, more influential clubs also act much like government agencies, negotiating and coordinating resistance activities with other clubs. These joint efforts are some of the most dangerous times for clubs. Arthur and Lance, for example, faced several assassination attempts as they traveled from city to city, challenging other club leaders to battles of poetry, song, and dance in order to eventually forge the Peace of Genres.

So, should the heroes attend that upcoming Battle of the Bands? Certainly, and maybe they’ll even emerge victorious, but the heroes shouldn’t let down their guard. The Man’s agents will be in the audience, cheering and taking notes.

Tags: A to Z 2015, Boogie Knights

Musical Interlude

In Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT), the heroes live in world yoinked from a hodge podge of cliches ripped from musical movies, especially those of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. (You know? Back when maybe music wasn’t good, but it was better than today’s music. Now get off my lawn!) People live under the thumb of the Man, but no matter how hard that thumb presses down, the Man can’t crush the spirit of dance and song.

BKotRT is based on my non-award-winning, free RPG, The Accordian Files (TAF). If you’ve not experienced this game, you owe it to yourself and to posterity to download it and give it a spin. Seriously. You’re great-grandchildren will be thankful. Eventually.

BKotRT takes the “you can play almost anything” wonderfulness of TAF and hammers it into a vaguely specific genre. This hammering first beats the ability scores into three new shapes. Instead of Body, Mind, and Spirit, all heroes have Kung-Fu, Brains, and Cool. Kung-Fu represents a hero’s physical prowess, including strength, agility, manual dexterity, health, and martial arts skill. Brains stands for a hero’s smarts, whether those are book-smarts or street-smarts, as well as mental toughness, perceptiveness, and problem-solving ability. The last ability score, Cool, tells us about a hero’s force of personality, sangfroid, fashion sense, and courage.

Each ability score defaults to a d6. The player gets 2 points to increase ability scores. It costs 1 point to raise a score’s rating to the next highest die type. The player can lower one ability score to a d4 rating in order to get a bonus point to spend on ability scores or qualities. The dice used in BKotRT are, in order from lowest to highest, d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12.

For example, Gary is making up a BKotRT hero, whose starting ability scores are Kung-Fu d6, Brains d6, and Cool d6. Gary opts to not decrease an ability score. He spends 1 point each on Brains and Cool. His hero’s ability scores become Kung-Fu d6, Brains d8, and Cool d8.

The player also gets 5 points to purchase qualities for his hero (or 6 points if he opted to reduce an ability score to d4 and then chooses to spend the bonus point on qualities). A quality is a short, descriptive statement about a hero. Each quality is like a suitcase full of knowledge and skills. A player should aim for two or three qualities to help define his hero, but at least quality should have something to do with music or dancing. The best qualities focus on some combination of a hero’s culture, personality, job, philosophy or beliefs, looks, goals, life story, and problems. It costs 1 point to get a quality rated as a d4. Each additional point spent on a quality raises its rating to the next die.

Back to Gary. His hero is a Ex-Con Banjo Player. He worked for a time as a Rodeo Clown. Finally, he is Full of Homespun Wisdom. It costs 3 points to get each of these rated at a d4. Gary spends 1 point each on the first and third qualities. When all is said and done, here’s Gary’s starting BKotRT hero:

Beau Mandy
Kung-Fu d6, Brains d8, Cool d8
Ex-Con Banjo Player d6, Rodeo Clown d4, Full of Homespun Wisdom d6

Tags: A to Z 2015, Boogie Knights

Glittering mirror balls spin off countless spots of light above the changing, colorful glow of the dance floor. Disco drums thump out an infectious beat, the bass contrasting sharply with the falsetto croon. Full of laughing and talking and dancing, the night life at the Avalon stays in high gear.

The club’s security, high visible in their plate armor polished to a mirror sheen, keep sharp eyes peeled for trouble. The Lady du Lac tolerates no disruptions to the good times. Her boogie knights stand ready to intervene to enforce the Lady’s wishes.

The crowd parts and then knits itself back together as Arthur and Lance pass through. Gwen positively shines on Arthur’s arm. She takes the breath away and replaces it with admiration. Up the winding, silver stairs the trio climb, heading toward the VIP room.

Another meeting of the Boogie Knights of the Round Table begins soon. Recent unrest in the Land of Funk requires immediate attention. The Peace among Genres must be maintained.

Leaning against the bar, Morgana’s spy watches Arthur with keen eyes. The spy sees Lance smile at something Gwen just said.

Are those hints of love and guilt I detect? the spy wonders.

Tags: A to Z 2015, Boogie Knights

Yes, I am participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge again this year. This will be the fourth year of my participation, and I’ve got a wonderful theme for April.

I’ll not reveal much about the theme at this time except to say that combines music, intrigue, dancing, knights in shining armor, and adventure. If you’re interested in seeing my posts for the last few years, see the links below:

A to Z 2012
A to Z 2013
A to Z 2014

Tags: A to Z 2015

In my last post, I imagined Jasper, son of Laryssa and John Payne, as the superheroic Crayola Kid. I also explained that Jasper needs ear surgery to help improve his hearing. At the time of this writing, the Payne family has raised $2,050 of $4,300 needed for Jasper’s medical bills. Check out the Paynes’ GoFundMe page. I’m planning on another donation by Spes Magna Games at the end of this month once my March sales receipts are deposited to my PayPal account. I’m also hoping that the little bit of exposure my posts bring might inspire others who can to be generous.

Of course, I need something gaming related for this post, and so this time I’ve statted up Jasper’s starfish dragon (click on the pic to embiggen the image).

The Starfish Dragon

Deep beneath the waves of the vast sea lurks the starfish dragon. The size of a galleon, supernaturally strong and invulnerable to all but the most powerful weapons, it seldom surfaces except to protect its territory against hostile interlopers. When the starfish dragon attacks, it stirs up massive waves and then tears the hull open from underneath. It usually then descends back to its depths, leaving the sailors to the mercy of the elements.

For Dungeon World

Intelligent, Magical, Hoarder, Huge, Solitary
Tentacles (b[2d10]+5 damage, +2 piercing)
20 HP
4 Armor
Forceful, Messy, Reach
Special Qualities: Aquatic, know the deeps, nigh-invulnerable scales
Instinct: To terrorize the weak
* Crush with tentacles
* Exhale unquenchable fire
* Toss massive waves

For Swords & Wizardry

HD 10; AC 1 (18); Atks 3 tentacles (1d8), 1 bite (3d6); SV 5; Special +1 or better weapon to hit, 35% magic resistance, breathe cone of fire (10d8 with save for half damage), control ocean waters; MV 6 (Swim 21); AL N; CL/XP 14/2,600

Tags: Dungeon World, Jasper Payne, monsters, Swords & Wizardry