Spes Magna Games

It’s been awfully quiet around this site lately. In the real world, however, it’s been one thing after another. Of course, with the school year having begun, I’m back in the classroom. I’m still at Aristoi Classical Academy and still teaching 5th grade, but this year I’m concentrating on English grammar, reading comprehension, literature, and history. Nearly half my students are new to the school, and it’s almost always quite an adjustment for new students. Classical education is not what other public schools tend to do. Since it’s quite an adjustment for many of my students, it’s also been quite an adjustment for me. On top of the challenges that I must help my students face, we’ve also got a ton of new curriculum materials that I have to read and process. I’ve been teaching since 1996, and I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy as a teacher.

Speaking of school, my son Giant Boy has started high school. The local public school is not up to our standards. The private schools are too expensive (even with tuition assistance). Over the summer, while my wife Katrina and I pondered what to do, Katrina discovered that our parish runs a homeschooling program. Color me surprised. We checked it out, and it’s a great fit to what Giant Boy needs. One day a week, he attends school. The teachers who volunteer for the program include tenured professors, retired teachers, and grad students. One of those tenured professors taught a class on Virgil I took when I was in college. The teachers give the students agendas for a week’s worth of reading and work, and there is a high degree of rigor in what they’re expected to do. It’s not easy for any of us, especially since my wife and I only have homeschooling time in the evenings and on the weekends, but Giant Boy is doing well. Best of all, he’s getting to take some classes that really target his interests in history and theology.

Before Giant Boy started this program, I was working with him on biology, Oedipus Rex, and part of Will Eisner’s now-published course materials for graphic storytelling. We really need to get back to these classes. I’m shooting for starting these back up after New Year’s. Of course, that means more work for me. Busy, busy.

Also, I’m still running the “We’re Not in Arkansas Anymore!” campaign for my Man-Day group. We’ve not been meeting as regularly as normal, however. Seems like the busy-bug has bitten more than just me. I’m a session or two behind on updating the campaign log. That another item on my Get Done List.

To top everything off, I guess I need to explain the picture to the right. Last Sunday, 9 October, on the way home from Mass, I had a myocardial infarction. The scariest part of the entire ordeal was the needles. I’m absolutely terrified of needles. The chest pains? Unpleasant but bearable. The shortness of breath? Irritating, certainly, but not that bad. Having an IV put into my arm? That was enough to reduce me to frightened sobs. The oddest part of the experience was the fact that the cardiologists (and we have some of the best cardiologists in the world here in Houston) couldn’t find any cause for the heart attack. I have zero risk factors: no smoking, no drug abuse, no significant family history, no high blood pressure, no arterial blockages, no irregular heartbeat, et cetera. I guess I’m just lucky.

I’m out of the hospital now. I was back at work after missing only one day (since Columbus Day was a holiday to begin with). I’m on a daily regimen of some pretty standard meds, plus I get to carry nitroglycerin just in case the chest pains return (or I need to blow up something small).

In other words, to make a long story short, I’ve not gotten any Spes Magna writing done lately. With luck, and a little creative time management, that should change over the next few weeks. Dodeca-Weather is still at the top of my Get Done List. I’ve got four pages of notes from playtesters and proofreaders to consider before the final PDF gets released. I’d like to say it’s going to get done by the end of the month. Who knows? Maybe it will.

Tags: Heart Attack

After quite a slump in writing output, I’m back in stride. I’ve nearly completed the first draft of Dodeca Weather, a new PDF that harnesses d12 power to determine your campaign’s weather. A few finishing touches remain before the draft PDF gets emailed to my growing list of playtesters. Excellent!

Dodeca Weather‘s GM-friendly, step-by-step process considers climate, altitude, terrain, and season to determine temperature, wind speed, and weather events. Weather characteristics include amount of precipitation, duration, wind speed, and the odds of a weather event continuing after its initial duration has expired. There are also about 6 pages of rules for different weather events, consolidating and expanding upon the core rules. Last of all, the PDF comes with a handy 7-day weather worksheet to help you organize your meteorological data.

Dodeca Weather is scheduled for released around the third Sunday in August.

Tags: d12 power

July’s Quid Novi? featured new game crunch using psionics content from Dreamscarred Press‘s Psionics Unleashed.

CR 3; XP 800
LE Small aberration (psionic)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 90 ft., scent; Perception +12

DEFENSES
AC 17, touch 16, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +2 insight, +1 natural, +1 size)
hp 22 (5d8)
Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +8

OFFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee piercing tongue +9 (1d4 plus steal time)
Reach 10 ft. (piercing tongue only)
Psi-Like Abilities (ML 5th):
Constant – defensive precognition (+2 insight bonus to AC and saves), offensive precognition (+2 insight bonus to attack rolls)
At will – precognition
1/day – recall agony (4d6, Will half 14)
N.B. Bonuses for defensive and offensive precognition are included in this stat block. The defensive precognition bonuses do not apply if the timatheof is caught flat-footed.

STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 13
Base Atk +3; CMB +2; CMD 15
Feats Improved Intiative, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +11, Climb +8, Knowledge (pick one) +10, Perception +12, Sense Motive +12, Stealth +15; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Sense Motive, +4 Stealth (due to size)
N.B. A timatheof’s bonuses to Perception and Sense Motive vanish if its constant psi-like abilities are negated.
Languages Undercommon plus two others

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Steal Time (Su): A creature struck by a timatheof’s piercing tongue must make a DC 13 Will save or have some of its time stolen. A creature affected by steal time loses a move action on its next turn. The timatheof converts and stores this stolen temporal energy. Each stolen move action equals one stored point of temporal energy, and a timatheof cannot store more than its Hit Dice in temporal energy points. A timatheof uses stored temporal energy as a swift action for the following effects:

2 points: Take an extra move action.
3 points: Take an extra standard action.
4 points: Reroll any single d20 roll. The timatheof must take the results of the second roll.
5 points: Recover hit points, daily uses of abilities, et cetera, as if the timatheof had rested for 8 hours.

When encountered, a timatheof typically has 1d6-1 points of stored temporal energy (minimum number of points is 0).

ECOLOGY
Environment any underground
Organization solitary, pair, or company (3-6)
Treasure standard

A timatheof is a cruel monster whose horrid appearance hides a keen, calculating intelligence. This creature’s senses extend continuously a few seconds into the fourth dimension, granting the timatheof precognitive abilities. Timatheof companies carve out underground territories, seeking to dominate weaker creatures for use as guards, slaves, and food.

In combat, a timatheof typically opens with its recall agony psi-like ability. It then rushes about, using Acrobatics, Climb, and Stealth to evade its prey. Stored temporal energy is used intelligently to gain tactical advantages against enemies.

With its weak jaw structure, a timatheof cannot chew most solid foods. Instead, it uses its piercing tongue to gorge itself on fluids, preferring the putrid juices of a decaying body.

I love Dave’s Mapper. If I weren’t already very happily married until death do we part, I’d marry Dave’s Mapper. Well, I’d least ask, and if rejected, I’d write romantic fanfic and post it to a blog bordered by broken hearts.

If you don’t know Dave’s Mapper, you need to, especially if you’re a GM who likes dungeon crawls. Here’s how Dave’s Mapper works:

First, go to the site. I put a convenient link in the first paragraph above. Notice the two frames. The left side of your screen has some helpful buttons, such as the big New Map button. Click it. Click it again. Notice that the map changes each time. Excellent.

Scroll your eyes down the leftmost frame, and you’ll see a list of contributing artists (including yours truly, but I don’t have too many geomorphs uploaded. Yet.) If you click an artist who’s already checked, it unchecks that artist and removes that artist’s geomorphs from those randomly selected for your map. Clicking an artist without a check reverses the process.

Now look at the rightmost, bigger frame that holds the map. There are several buttons along the top. These let you export maps as PNGs, change the map size and arrange of geomorphs, add or remove a grid, and switch from different types of geomorphs (to include a smaller selection of city geomorphs great for generating a neighborhood or two).

Thanks to Dave’s Mapper, you never have an excuse for not having a dungeon map again.

Tags: Dave's Mapper, dungeon crawls

Yes, you too can now partake vicariously of the Chance Family experience and get some free game crunch at the same time. Download your own PDF copy of A Gamer Goes on Vacation today. This 9-page PDF offers such excellent features as:

* A day-by-day narrative of my recent family vacation to East Texas.

* Informative links to Interweb sites related to what we saw and did in East Texas.

* Full color photography.

* Crunch for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, including two new traits, a new magic item, a new haunt, a new simple template, and a new extraordinary ability for tigers.

This PDF was originally written (sans pictures and links) for Game Geek 19, now available for free at this link.

Tags: Game Geek, Summer Vacation