dinsdag 29 november 2011

Collection update : D&D

For someone from Belgium this should normally not be a rare find but nevertheless I had never seen these before.

So without further ado, the newest item in my collection : D&D Basis set.


This is the dutch version of the D&D Basic Set by Selecta from 1988. I won both of them in the same auction. One set is still in shrink, the other is open but has near mint books and dice still in the original bag. Also included is a small Selecta gamescatalog and a flyer for the Palantir Fantasy Roleplaying Club.

zaterdag 19 november 2011

Happy birthday Call of Cthulhu

On the 13th of November, Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu celebrated its 30th birthday. 30 years of sanity reducing adventures in a world based on the stories of HP Lovecraft.

It all started with this box right here, Call of Cthulhu's 1st edition Boxed Set


The above is my copy which is still in its original shrinkwrap.

For its 30th anniversary, Chaosium decided to release a limited edition version of the current ruleset. Below some pictures of the book. Seeing some numbers on the forums, I would estimate about 3000 copies were printed of this book.


Basically the book looks exactly the same as the 20th anniversary edition. The only differences are the cover, the paper thickness, and a greyscale print instead of the sepiastyle print of the 20th anniversary edition.

Now we'll take a look at the French version.


This is just an incredibly beautiful book and you might think : "Well, the French went all-out for this limited edition". Wrong. This is the regular version of the book. I repeat. This is not a limited edition. This is what new Call of Cthulhu players and dungeon masters get in their hands in France. Even the English speaking Call of Cthulhu community is going wild over this book, even to the point where they'd prefer to buy this book instead of a new rules incarnation of Chaosium.

I really hope Chaosium draws a valuable lesson from this. Books can be made attractive and they will sell. The Call of Cthulhu community have always envied the German books, now they can envy the French edition as well and soon a gorgeous Spanish edition will be added to that list.

vrijdag 18 november 2011

Collection Update : TSR Merchandise

Three more items made it into my collection.


AD&D Wallet by Larami. Larami had a TSR license in the early 80ies and produced items such as handheld pinball games, a flashlight, pencil sharpeners, frisbees, and a bubbleblower. The wallet is from 1983 and still in it's original packaging.


The Forest of Enchantment and The Treasure of Time are two storybooks that were produced in 1983 in conjuction with Marvel Books.

Collection Update : Die Cast Games



Well here it is finally. The newest release from Die Cast Games has made it into my collection.

ACM1 The Kingslayers is an adventure for 6th-8th level characters, who are supposed to retrieve the Kingslayers, twin daggers of great power and intent to kill those who rule. The king's advisor then wants the characters to travel across the planes to the Chaos forge and destroy the daggers.

This is Die Cast Games' second release. Their first release, Insidious, caused a lot of upheaval in the rpg community and resulted in a Cease & Desist letter from Wizards of the Coast. Both the 'banned' 1st print and the 2nd print of this module are in my collection as well.

zaterdag 12 november 2011

Collection update : Frog God Games

I have received some new stuff from Frog God Games.


  • Splinters of Faith 5 : Eclipse of the Hearth for Swords & Wizardry and Pathfinder
  • Splinters of Faith 6 : Morning of Tears for Swords & Wizardry and Pathfinder
  • Splinters of Faith 7 : The Heir of Sin for Swords & Wizardy and Pathfinder
  • The Northlands Saga : Vengeance of the Long Serpent for Pathfinder
Splinters of Faith is a collection of 10 adventures that can be played individually or as a complete campaign. A grave robber has restored a death-cult leader to life and evil spreads across the land. The characters will have to visit several temples and shrines to look for pieces of the Scepter of Faiths, the only way to destroy this evil.

The Northlands Saga is also planned as a collection of 10 adventures for both the Swords & Wizardry and Pathfinder system. The first adventure, Vengeance of the Long Serpent, takes the characters to the frozen north to face a reawakened dark god and his cult.

dinsdag 1 november 2011

Campaigns & Adventures: Pathfinder - Session 0: Character write-up Henricus Janovius Corentyn

It seems I will be playing in a number of Pathfinder sessions so it's time to think up a character. Below is what I'm thinking of playing, pending DM's approval of course.

Character


Henricus Janovius Corentyn is the youngest son of the Corentyn family. Having 3 older brothers and a sister vying for a future inheritance, his chances of actually taking over his father's estate are rather slim. The Corentyn family, who claims to trace their lineage back to nobles stationed in Corentyn when it was founded in 1520 by General Coren of the third exploration army, has taken up residence in Westpark, in Taldan's capital Oppara.

As a child Henricus was always the one being blamed for the mischief that happened in and around the house, even if he didn't cause any. Henricus was mostly left to his own devices, and to the whims of the maid and his private tutors. Only one person in the household really cared for Henricus: Argonius the falconer. He took the young lad into the forests with him, taught him the tracks of different animals, how to care for animals, and how to make use of their corpses.

At the age of eight, Henricus was already an accomplished 'stuffer' of mice and other vermin, much to the dismay of the rest of the family. At the age of ten, his father Domenicus enrolled him in the Kitharodian academy. Henricus didn't care much for song, dance, or play, but he showed great talent in the visual arts department and his teachers were more than happy to fan that spark of creativity. His graduation piece, a painting of Aroden raising the Starstone from the ocean's depth and founding Absolom, is currently still displayed in the Academy's main hall, a great honor for such a young artist.

Having just graduated from the academy, Henricus is ready for a life of adventure. He heard many stories about Absolom and can't wait to dive headfirst into that melting pot of all Golarion has to offer.

Description


Henricus is a male human of Taldan descent, with a tanned skin, long blonde-brown hair, grey eyes, and a short-trimmed immaculately groomed beard. His attire depends on his whereabouts; on the road he'll travel in light armor, wearing a dark longcoat and tricorn hat, elsewhere he'll strictly follow the latest fashion trends Oppara has to offer. On the road he'll always have his trusted falcata and crossbow present, on more formal occasions he'll wear an ornate rapier or sword cane. Around his neck dangles a silver necklace showcasing three symbols, a winged eye flanked by a songbird and key.

Game Mechanics


The character will have to be a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, making it a multi-class character. Rogue and ranger will be the meat of the character, with perhaps one or two bard and or sorcerer levels. I briefly considered the Lion Blade prestige class but that doesn't really fit with the rest of the concept. The Loremaster prestige class sounded more fitting but it turns out to be way too arcane for my taste.

Interesting skills : Profession (Taxidermist), Craft (Drawing/Painting), Knowledge (Monsters)

Interesting feats : Noble Scion (ISWG), Rapid Reload (ISWG), Scholar (ISWG), Taldan Duelist (ISWG), Crossbow Mastery (APG), Focused Shot (APG), Parting Shot (APG), Point Blank Master (APG), Point Blank (Core), Improved Initiative (Core), Precise Shot (Core), Quickdraw (Core), Rapid Shot (Core), Weapon Focus (Core).


Inspiration


I want the character to be a mix of Viktor Pendrake from the Iron Kingdoms RPG and Gregoire de Fronsac from Brotherhood of the Wolf. I want him to be a scholar on the subject of monster lore. Henricus will be the author of an ingame Bestiary, study different monsters, hunt them down, kill them, and then dissect them and sketch everything in the smallest details.

This will enable him to lead a bit of a dual lifestyle, one in the wilds as a scholar with a hands-on approach, one amongst nobility as a teller of many tales, or a painter of great talent. Of course he wouldn't mind appeasing a noble's request to deliver hunting trophies, making them a bit more terrifying in the process, nor would he mind assisting a party of adventurers in an advisory role. And all this for a favor or two in return, nothing major of course.



Gregoire de FronsacGregoire de FronsacViktor Pendrake

The story so far

Next : Pathfinder session 1: Character Creation >>