Read this and it really got my mind going.
To sum up, this piece of fiction tells about a Russian experiment in the 1940s regarding sleep deprivation that goes horribly awry.
Depending on the game, there are a few different ways this story can be handled at the gaming table.
SLA Industries: Operatives are sent to investigate a Soft Company and the lab is found a) intact while the experiment is in progress, b) after the experiment is over and they have to investigate what happened (hope someone turned off the gas...) or c) again, after the experiment is over, but the subjects are running loose...
Star Wars: What have the Imperials done with some of the people on a remote frontier planet? Well, lets check out the Imperial outpost and find out!
Rapture: The PCs are sent to rescue people from a prison camp that has been set up, only to find that some of the people have been taken for experimentation. What will the do when they discover the subjects have been possessed by demons?
D6 Adventure: duh...Russian (or Nazi) lab raid.
Asylum: Either the characters stumble across the lab...or have volunteered to be test subjects!
Talislanta: Rumors that the Rajan, or Kang, or Quan, or Farad, or Ur (after discovering some long-lost Alchemical texts on chemical warfare), or even possibly a Quaranian Necromancer-King, have reached more civilized lands and the PCs are hired to rescue the test subjects and destroy the lab if possible.
DnD: A Necromancer has been using a new kind of undead to kidnap people in the middle of the night. But the new undead is actually the people being experimented on and turned into nightmarish creatures to be controlled by the Necromancer. These creatures are then used to kidnap more victims for the Necromancers deformed army.
Vampire: Hunting out test subjects for Pentex to experiment on
Werewolf: The tribal shaman or Ragabash has met one of the test subjects while traversing the Umbra and they pleaded with him for help, to save him from a Pentex lab. The PCs are instructed to do so. This would also explain what happens when the test subjects brainwaves flatline.
Hunter: Vampires are out kidnapping people, Werewolves are creeping through the forest...time to get to work boys!
Mage: The Progenitors and New World Order have teamed up with this new way to control the populace, at least that is the idea. When word hits the Traditions, something must be done to stop it.
Cyberpunk/Shadowrun: A contact, or friend, or family member, tells the PCs about this great job they found, it sounds a bit fishy so the PCs did some rooting, only to find out the lab hiring the guinea pigs manufactures toxins for warzones! The PCs have to save their friend before it is too late!
Obviously, this story can be adapted to just about any RPG (Toon might be an issue...) and would make for a great creepy night of role-playing, or a fun night of killing baddies depending on play style of the group.
Me, I prefer to go with the creepy.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Conversion Machine: D20 SRD spells to Talislanta 4th/5th ed Part II
In my last Conversion Machine, we looked at the differences between Talislantan magic and D20 SRD (DnD) magic as it relates to the most widely used spell, Magic Missile. We looked at converting the basics of the spell into the Talislanta framework and also a direct conversion
that had to use Sorcery elements, making this magical staple into a very
hard to cast bee sting. This time, we continue with Magic Missile and way to get not only the same sort of effect, but make it even more powerful for our beginning Cymrillian Magician.
To recap, this is the spell we want to convert:
What we are working with here is obviously an offensive, or Attack, spell. When we look at the Attack mode in Talislanta we actually have a couple of options:
In accordance with the rules in the book, we can make this a standard, single target spell, or an area effect spell. Something more along the lines of the following:
Or, for the AoE version:
Depending on description, and house rules, your Bolt spell you use for the single target effect, and your Blast spell you use for multiple opponents, I would definitely allow my players to state that the spell will only effect a maximum of 5 targets, no problem. Also, this removes the bee-sting effect and can make this simple spell a feared part of any magicians arsenal. That 3pt damage just became 9 for our Cymrillian friend with a straight d20 roll.
"Wait...he mentioned the rules in the book, what about the house rules he was talking about!"
Never fear!
There are various house rules that I have heard of regarding spells and their usage. The rules that I personally use have the Spell Level as the only thing that can be changed after learning the spell (as shown above, the Area and Range are static.) Although I prefer a more static spell, my players do not always like that idea.
For the conversions, I will be using Dynamic and Static spell levels depending on the mode and the spell itself and I will do my best to keep the feel of the spell as written. This means, of course, that there will likely be 3 or more versions of some of the spells, Magic Missile, for example.
To keep the overall feel of the spell, and not make it horribly difficult to cause minimal damage, let us attack this a different way.
We look at the qualities of the original spell:
So, we can use the following for the base:
Magic Missle
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic - meaning we can pump it for more damage)
Range: 50 feet (it halves the range, but we want to keep it as simple as possible)
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, unerring, -15
Base Difficulty: -16 (-1 per additional HP damage)
Hmm...still seems pretty difficulty, but with our +9 to cast it only comes out to a d20-7, still pretty hard for 1 HP damage. Let us bend the rules a little. So far I have been using the 'unerring' aspect of the spell as a 'Major Change' to the mode's capabilities, let me drop that to 'Moderate' which will save us -5 and make the Base Difficulty -11 instead.
That still puts our Magician at d20+9-11, or d20-2, but it also gives him the opportunity to boost the damage a little. To do 5 damage it will put him at that d20-7, and as long as he does not mishap he will hit.
But there is another way...
You can dodge an Arcane Bolt, you cannot dodge a magic missile, so we meet in the middle a little.
Magic Missle
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic)
Range: 50ft
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, Minor Change, hard to dodge, target dodges at -1/3 spell level, -5
Base Difficulty: -6
Now we have it set up a bit differently, still having to use Sorcery, but at a much lower difficulty. While still not the unfailing hit that the d20 version has, this does make it a bit harder to dodge and helps to keep the feel of the spell. But what about the additional missiles and targets?
Well, a 3rd level Wizard in DnD is actually pretty accomplished when you think about it. I believe in 3rd edition it breaks down to about 13 encounters per level, lets figure 6-7 encounters per session, so about 4 sessions.
I usually run a 'Heroic' campaign in Talislanta, so the PCs will be getting approximately 20 xp per session. A decent amount of 80 experience can be given to our young hero and we can get him casting the unerring version without too much difficulty, or we can use Qualitas again...
Magic Missile
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic)
Range: 50ft
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, Minor Change, hard to dodge -1/3 spell level, -5; Qualitas, additional target -1 per additional target, Minor Change, -5
Base Difficulty: -11
Still not too shabby, keeps the basic feel of the spell. Main caveat here though, is the damage would have to be split between the two targets, unless you up the additional target to a Major Change for an additional -5 difficulty.
Granted, that is starting to get very unwieldy, even for our experienced Magician. Personally, I think the best bet is to leave it single target and use a blast style spell for multiple targets just to keep it simple.
Well, I hope this little venture gave you something to think about, even though it was aimed specifically at d20 and the Talislanta system the thought objects are going to be pretty close with any kind of conversion.
How much CAN we keep from the original?
Can we make it feel the same?
What are the different ways to accomplish the same goal, and which one works best for what we want to do?
To recap, this is the spell we want to convert:
Magic Missile
Evocation
[Force]
Level:
Sor/Wiz 1
Components:
V, S
Casting
Time: 1 standard action
Range:
Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets:
Up to five creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 ft. apart
Duration:
Instantaneous
Saving
Throw: None
Spell
Resistance: Yes
A
missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes
its target, dealing 1d4+1 points of force damage.
The
missile strikes unerringly, even if the target is in melee combat or
has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a
creature can’t be singled out. Inanimate objects are not damaged by
the spell.
For
every two caster levels beyond 1st, you gain an additional
missile—two at 3rd level, three at 5th, four at 7th, and the
maximum of five missiles at 9th level or higher. If you shoot
multiple missiles, you can have them strike a single creature or
several creatures. A single missile can strike only one creature. You
must designate targets before you check for spell resistance or roll
damage.
What we are working with here is obviously an offensive, or Attack, spell. When we look at the Attack mode in Talislanta we actually have a couple of options:
ATTACK
Damage:
1 Hit Point of damage per Spell Level
Range:
50 feet (-1 to casting roll per 10 extra feet of range)
Duration:
Instant / 1 round per level (no range)
Area:
-1 to casting roll per foot of radius
In accordance with the rules in the book, we can make this a standard, single target spell, or an area effect spell. Something more along the lines of the following:
Bolt
Base
Spell Level: 1 (Dynamic)
Range:
50 feet
Area:
0
Duration:
Instant
Base
Difficulty: -1 per additional HP damage
Notes:
Example
Spells: Arcane Bolt, Necromantic Assault
Or, for the AoE version:
Blast
Base
Spell Level: 1 (Dynamic)
Range:
50 feet
Area:
5 feet radius (10 ft diameter)
Duration:
Instant
Base
Difficulty: -6 (-1 per additional HP damage)
Notes:
Example
Spells: Geomantic Blast, Fireball
Depending on description, and house rules, your Bolt spell you use for the single target effect, and your Blast spell you use for multiple opponents, I would definitely allow my players to state that the spell will only effect a maximum of 5 targets, no problem. Also, this removes the bee-sting effect and can make this simple spell a feared part of any magicians arsenal. That 3pt damage just became 9 for our Cymrillian friend with a straight d20 roll.
"Wait...he mentioned the rules in the book, what about the house rules he was talking about!"
Never fear!
There are various house rules that I have heard of regarding spells and their usage. The rules that I personally use have the Spell Level as the only thing that can be changed after learning the spell (as shown above, the Area and Range are static.) Although I prefer a more static spell, my players do not always like that idea.
For the conversions, I will be using Dynamic and Static spell levels depending on the mode and the spell itself and I will do my best to keep the feel of the spell as written. This means, of course, that there will likely be 3 or more versions of some of the spells, Magic Missile, for example.
To keep the overall feel of the spell, and not make it horribly difficult to cause minimal damage, let us attack this a different way.
We look at the qualities of the original spell:
- It is simple
- At base it is single target
- It never misses
- Just about everyone who casts spells knows it
So, we can use the following for the base:
Magic Missle
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic - meaning we can pump it for more damage)
Range: 50 feet (it halves the range, but we want to keep it as simple as possible)
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, unerring, -15
Base Difficulty: -16 (-1 per additional HP damage)
Hmm...still seems pretty difficulty, but with our +9 to cast it only comes out to a d20-7, still pretty hard for 1 HP damage. Let us bend the rules a little. So far I have been using the 'unerring' aspect of the spell as a 'Major Change' to the mode's capabilities, let me drop that to 'Moderate' which will save us -5 and make the Base Difficulty -11 instead.
That still puts our Magician at d20+9-11, or d20-2, but it also gives him the opportunity to boost the damage a little. To do 5 damage it will put him at that d20-7, and as long as he does not mishap he will hit.
But there is another way...
You can dodge an Arcane Bolt, you cannot dodge a magic missile, so we meet in the middle a little.
Magic Missle
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic)
Range: 50ft
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, Minor Change, hard to dodge, target dodges at -1/3 spell level, -5
Base Difficulty: -6
Now we have it set up a bit differently, still having to use Sorcery, but at a much lower difficulty. While still not the unfailing hit that the d20 version has, this does make it a bit harder to dodge and helps to keep the feel of the spell. But what about the additional missiles and targets?
Well, a 3rd level Wizard in DnD is actually pretty accomplished when you think about it. I believe in 3rd edition it breaks down to about 13 encounters per level, lets figure 6-7 encounters per session, so about 4 sessions.
I usually run a 'Heroic' campaign in Talislanta, so the PCs will be getting approximately 20 xp per session. A decent amount of 80 experience can be given to our young hero and we can get him casting the unerring version without too much difficulty, or we can use Qualitas again...
Magic Missile
Attack Mode
Base Spell Level: 1 (dynamic)
Range: 50ft
Duration: Instant
Special: Qualitas, Minor Change, hard to dodge -1/3 spell level, -5; Qualitas, additional target -1 per additional target, Minor Change, -5
Base Difficulty: -11
Still not too shabby, keeps the basic feel of the spell. Main caveat here though, is the damage would have to be split between the two targets, unless you up the additional target to a Major Change for an additional -5 difficulty.
Granted, that is starting to get very unwieldy, even for our experienced Magician. Personally, I think the best bet is to leave it single target and use a blast style spell for multiple targets just to keep it simple.
Well, I hope this little venture gave you something to think about, even though it was aimed specifically at d20 and the Talislanta system the thought objects are going to be pretty close with any kind of conversion.
How much CAN we keep from the original?
Can we make it feel the same?
What are the different ways to accomplish the same goal, and which one works best for what we want to do?
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Conversion Machine: D20 SRD spells to Talislanta 4th/5th ed Part I
So, for 'funsies' I decided to start converting the D20 SRD spells to the Talislanta 4th/5th edition mix that I use. 'Mix' because I prefer the modes from 4th edition but some of the changes that appeared in 5th edition.
Using the magic system from 4th edition has always been fun for me, I absolutely loved the players that would come to the table wanting to play a caster, but not wanting to take the time and energy to create their beginning spells.
This would allow me to not only have fun creating the spells, but also kind of show them what the magic in Talislanta was like. From the minor skin and hair enhancements to pillars of flame that destroyed just about anything it touched, magic in Talislanta runs the full spectrum.
At times, using the Omni/Talislanta system for more 'standard' fantasy games, the thrill of watching a player look through their brand new, custom spellbook, carefully reading what I have handed them, to hear them say, "You, sir, are a sick and twisted man." (This was stated by a player who had taken BattleMagic while looking through his healing spells. New meaning to "A pox on you and your people!")
This always did seem to put the game on hold, for at least one session, while I crept back into my hole to do my dirty work, and some players just like to have a list of spells to choose from.
This brought me back to memories of searching through the AD&D 1st and 2nd edition spell lists, and, always being a sucker for punishment, I decided to grab the D20 SRD and do some converting. Most of my players are familiar with DnD in some manner, so they would get a kick out of it.
So, a quick google search and download later, I had the spell descriptions from A-B and my Talislanta modes custom cheat sheet opened in my trusty word processor.
There are some caveats that you have to acknowledge when doing any conversions, especially when you want to stay true to the feel of one game, while using the system from another.
For example, modern magic in the Talislanta RPG system has the following rules:
Okay, so I already know there are going to be some issues with spells from DnD, no problem, all of the above can be accomplished using Sorcery from the Codex Magicus.
But then we get into the choices that MUST be made. While Talislantan magic is very personal and a creative endeavor, magic from DnD is not. This is because of the history from the two games, not the world history, exactly, the real world history of the games.
DnD sprung from miniature battles, massive scale battlefields and siege rules where wizards stood atop battlements and hammered the opposing army with magical artillery.
Talislanta came from table-top RPGs, where character development and a search for the unknown and history were active at the same time as a heavy interest in the post-apocalyptic genre. Games such as Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Earthdawn and Gamma World were all popular. In a way, Talislanta helped to usher in 'Fantasy-Punk' if you wish to use that term.
One of the big differences that these two paths differ on, is range.
Standard range for an Attack mode spell in Talislanta is 50ft+10ft per additional boost, in DnD the range is much further. The quintessential 'Magic Missle' spell, for example, is 100ft+10ft per level.
Additionally, targeting is different. In Talislanta, that magic bolt effects only a single target while in DnD you gain an additional missile every two levels (max of 5) that can be split between up to 5 targets. Also, the Talislanta bolt requires a roll to hit, the magic missile is unerring and always strikes its target.
As I said before, a lot of these differences can be ignored, or you can use the Sorcery rules from the Codex Magicus to get a more exact conversion. But how does that effect the usefulness of the spells themselves?
Let us look at Magic Missile.
First, from the D20 SRD:
This is a 'Level 1' spell for Sorcerers and Wizards, an 'easy' incantation that almost every single player I have met has in their wizards repertoire.
Now let us look at the Talislanta version using the basic rules for magic:
As you can see, the range is much lower, and you have a chance to miss. Also missing is the ability to target multiple creatures. Another realization is that while the DnD Magic Missile tops out at 5d4+5, there is no upper limit to Spell Levels in Talislanta, although I would not suggest casting a spell more than 1.5x your total bonus, that can get nasty.
Now let us look at the Talislanta version using a direct conversion:
YIKES! This simple, basic spell just became a Master-Level...bee sting.
Now, to put this in perspective we will look at what a beginning Talislantan Wizard has for his skill. I am choosing the Cymrillian Magician from the 4th Edition Talislanta book to use as an example. The reason for this choice is simple, they are supposed to be the absolute best at spellslinging.
With Magic Rating of +6, and beginning mode at +3 for a total of +9, that shows great potential. So, to cast even the most basic of the direct conversion, our awesome Magician, best you can get for a starting character, will roll d20-24 (d20+MR+Mode-Difficulty). Ouch! He just got fried, for a whopping 3-6 points of damage depending on house rules for Magical Mishaps (or, he just had the party teleported to some random dimension...).
Now, this does not mean that our Magic Missle cannot be done, it just shows how different the two schools of thought are, and pretty major genre differences.
Okay, so this leaves us with some serious thinking to do. Not to worry, I will show another way to work this next time, and it will actually make the spell more powerful, and easier for our Cymrillian friend.
Until next time, enjoy your game.
Using the magic system from 4th edition has always been fun for me, I absolutely loved the players that would come to the table wanting to play a caster, but not wanting to take the time and energy to create their beginning spells.
This would allow me to not only have fun creating the spells, but also kind of show them what the magic in Talislanta was like. From the minor skin and hair enhancements to pillars of flame that destroyed just about anything it touched, magic in Talislanta runs the full spectrum.
At times, using the Omni/Talislanta system for more 'standard' fantasy games, the thrill of watching a player look through their brand new, custom spellbook, carefully reading what I have handed them, to hear them say, "You, sir, are a sick and twisted man." (This was stated by a player who had taken BattleMagic while looking through his healing spells. New meaning to "A pox on you and your people!")
This always did seem to put the game on hold, for at least one session, while I crept back into my hole to do my dirty work, and some players just like to have a list of spells to choose from.
This brought me back to memories of searching through the AD&D 1st and 2nd edition spell lists, and, always being a sucker for punishment, I decided to grab the D20 SRD and do some converting. Most of my players are familiar with DnD in some manner, so they would get a kick out of it.
So, a quick google search and download later, I had the spell descriptions from A-B and my Talislanta modes custom cheat sheet opened in my trusty word processor.
There are some caveats that you have to acknowledge when doing any conversions, especially when you want to stay true to the feel of one game, while using the system from another.
For example, modern magic in the Talislanta RPG system has the following rules:
- Cannot return the dead to life
- Cannot create life
- Cannot affect time or causality
- Cannot control two Powers at once (Fire and Earth, for example)
- Cannot cast more than one spell at a time or blend two spells together (ie, use two modes at once)
Okay, so I already know there are going to be some issues with spells from DnD, no problem, all of the above can be accomplished using Sorcery from the Codex Magicus.
But then we get into the choices that MUST be made. While Talislantan magic is very personal and a creative endeavor, magic from DnD is not. This is because of the history from the two games, not the world history, exactly, the real world history of the games.
DnD sprung from miniature battles, massive scale battlefields and siege rules where wizards stood atop battlements and hammered the opposing army with magical artillery.
Talislanta came from table-top RPGs, where character development and a search for the unknown and history were active at the same time as a heavy interest in the post-apocalyptic genre. Games such as Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Earthdawn and Gamma World were all popular. In a way, Talislanta helped to usher in 'Fantasy-Punk' if you wish to use that term.
One of the big differences that these two paths differ on, is range.
Standard range for an Attack mode spell in Talislanta is 50ft+10ft per additional boost, in DnD the range is much further. The quintessential 'Magic Missle' spell, for example, is 100ft+10ft per level.
Additionally, targeting is different. In Talislanta, that magic bolt effects only a single target while in DnD you gain an additional missile every two levels (max of 5) that can be split between up to 5 targets. Also, the Talislanta bolt requires a roll to hit, the magic missile is unerring and always strikes its target.
As I said before, a lot of these differences can be ignored, or you can use the Sorcery rules from the Codex Magicus to get a more exact conversion. But how does that effect the usefulness of the spells themselves?
Let us look at Magic Missile.
First, from the D20 SRD:
Magic Missile
Evocation
[Force]
Level:
Sor/Wiz 1
Components:
V, S
Casting
Time: 1 standard action
Range:
Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets:
Up to five creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 ft. apart
Duration:
Instantaneous
Saving
Throw: None
Spell
Resistance: Yes
A
missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes
its target, dealing 1d4+1 points of force damage.
The
missile strikes unerringly, even if the target is in melee combat or
has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a
creature can’t be singled out. Inanimate objects are not damaged by
the spell.
For
every two caster levels beyond 1st, you gain an additional
missile—two at 3rd level, three at 5th, four at 7th, and the
maximum of five missiles at 9th level or higher. If you shoot
multiple missiles, you can have them strike a single creature or
several creatures. A single missile can strike only one creature. You
must designate targets before you check for spell resistance or roll
damage.
This is a 'Level 1' spell for Sorcerers and Wizards, an 'easy' incantation that almost every single player I have met has in their wizards repertoire.
Now let us look at the Talislanta version using the basic rules for magic:
Magic Missile
Attack Mode
Level: 1+
Components:
V, S
Casting
Time: 1 standard action
Range:
Medium (50 ft. + 10 ft./additional -1 to casting roll)
Targets: 1
Duration:
Instantaneous
Saving
Throw: Evade (yes, in Talislanta, you can dodge offensive magic)
Spell
Resistance: Yes (lets face it, resistance to magic is pretty universal)
Base Difficulty: -1 per Spell Level
A
missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes
its target, dealing 1 point of force damage per Spell Level.
As you can see, the range is much lower, and you have a chance to miss. Also missing is the ability to target multiple creatures. Another realization is that while the DnD Magic Missile tops out at 5d4+5, there is no upper limit to Spell Levels in Talislanta, although I would not suggest casting a spell more than 1.5x your total bonus, that can get nasty.
Now let us look at the Talislanta version using a direct conversion:
Magic Missile
Attack Mode
Level: 3+
Components:
V, S
Casting
Time: 1 standard action
Range:
Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets:
Up to five creatures, no two of which can be more than 15 ft. apart
Duration:
Instantaneous
Saving
Throw: None
Spell
Resistance: Yes
Base Difficulty: -33 (Qualitas, unerring -15; Qualitas, additional missile per additional 2 levels max 5, -10; minimum range -5, Spell Level 3 base)
A
missile of magical energy darts forth from your fingertip and strikes
its target, dealing 3 (avg 1d4+1) points of force damage.
The
missile strikes unerringly, even if the target is in melee combat or
has less than total cover or total concealment. Specific parts of a
creature can’t be singled out. Inanimate objects are not damaged by
the spell.
For
every three spell levels beyond 3rd, you gain an additional
missile—two at 6rd level, three at 9th, four at 12th, and the
maximum of five missiles at 15th level or higher. If you shoot
multiple missiles, you can have them strike a single creature or
several creatures. A single missile can strike only one creature. You
must designate targets before you check for spell resistance or roll
damage.
YIKES! This simple, basic spell just became a Master-Level...bee sting.
Now, to put this in perspective we will look at what a beginning Talislantan Wizard has for his skill. I am choosing the Cymrillian Magician from the 4th Edition Talislanta book to use as an example. The reason for this choice is simple, they are supposed to be the absolute best at spellslinging.
With Magic Rating of +6, and beginning mode at +3 for a total of +9, that shows great potential. So, to cast even the most basic of the direct conversion, our awesome Magician, best you can get for a starting character, will roll d20-24 (d20+MR+Mode-Difficulty). Ouch! He just got fried, for a whopping 3-6 points of damage depending on house rules for Magical Mishaps (or, he just had the party teleported to some random dimension...).
Now, this does not mean that our Magic Missle cannot be done, it just shows how different the two schools of thought are, and pretty major genre differences.
Okay, so this leaves us with some serious thinking to do. Not to worry, I will show another way to work this next time, and it will actually make the spell more powerful, and easier for our Cymrillian friend.
Until next time, enjoy your game.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
GM Notes: Talislantan/Omni Magic
House Rules are always a GMs favorite tool. Today I am going to talk about the house rules for the Talislanta setting and Omni system that are going through my head.
Magic is such a large part of any fantasy genre game that special attention must be paid.
First, I use a combination of 4th and 5th edition Talislanta. I use the modes from 4th edition, with the changes from 5th edition for the calculation of spell levels, range, etc.
Per my standard house rules, characters receive a number of spells in each mode equal to their Mode Rating, or Skill Level in that mode, plus an additional number of spells equal to their Magic Rating. The bonus spells from Magic Rating do not have to be in any particular mode.
For example, Azadim, a Cymrillian Magician has the following modes: Attack +3, Influence +2, Defend +3, Alter +4, Heal +3 and a Magic Rating of +5. This gives him a starting spell list consisting of 3 Attack, 2 Influence, 3 Defend, 4 Alter and 3 Heal spells. The bonus starting spells he receives from his +5 Magic Rating he decides to put 2 into Alter (total 6 Alter), 2 into Attack (total 5 Attack), 1 into Heal (total 4) and the last into Influence (total 3). Altogether, this gives our intrepid adventurer 18 spells in his repertoire. Not too bad, really.
Now, I have to make a choice. Flavor text describes Talislantans as always being on the lookout for new spells, especially Archean (ancient) spells that do not fit into the modern magic system. Another section talks about how Talislantans have hundreds of spells. Even another section describes players coming up with spells on the fly.
Yeah...not so much my cuppatea.
I have already limited the number of spells each character has, now its time to put them to work. If we look at magicians in our standard way, and realize that this is a post-apocalyptic setting, then it would not be too far of a stretch to say that magicians do not spill all their secrets.
So...the choice is Dynamic vs Static spells, or Dynamic vs Semi-Static spells.
Common practice dictates that anything that is bound to Spell Level is scalable. So for the Heal mode, you would only need 4 spells: Heal, Harm, Cause Disease and Cure Disease.
And to make matters worse, with scaling involved, you would only need a few of each mode.
Attack: 3 spells; Bolt, Blast and Melee
Alter: 4 spells; Increase Attribute, Decrease Attribute, Increase Skill, Decrease Skill
Conjure: 2 spells; Conjure by Mass, Conjure by Area
Defend: 4 spells; Aura, Flat Barrier, Cone/Cylinder Barrier, Dome/Sphere Barrier
Heal: 4 spells; Heal, Harm, Cause Disease, Cure Disease
Illusion: 1 spell
Influence: 1 spell
Move: 1 spell
Reveal: 3 spells; Reveal, Scrying, Conceal
Summon: 2 spells; Summon, Banish
Transform: 5 spells; Trivial Change, Minor Change, Major Change, Radical Change, Complete Change
Ward: 2 spells; Ward, Hex
But, if all the spells are the same, and there are only 32 distinct spells...what about all that searching and secrecy that wizards are known for?
How about if only the Spell Level effects are scalable and everything else is static, like range or number of targets? Okay, that helps a little, but still leaves us with basically 3 attack spells and 4 heal spells. Still seems rather weenie in the grand scheme of things.
So let us take a look at the flip side, NOTHING is dynamic and the spell creation system is just that, a way to create static effect spells. Now we have something to go on: a bunch of not-too-happy players.
Well, we never want unhappy players.
There is a middle ground. Scalable effects, those that effect Spell Level only, can only be scaled up or down a number of levels equal to the Magic Rating of the caster from the base spell.
Hey! Now that sounds like a good plan! The GM is happy because he sees the wizard PCs scrambling for new spells and the PCs are happy because they get to do some cool scaling effects.
I have not playtested this yet, or mentioned it to my players, but you can expect me to test it before too long.
Enjoy the game!
Magic is such a large part of any fantasy genre game that special attention must be paid.
First, I use a combination of 4th and 5th edition Talislanta. I use the modes from 4th edition, with the changes from 5th edition for the calculation of spell levels, range, etc.
Per my standard house rules, characters receive a number of spells in each mode equal to their Mode Rating, or Skill Level in that mode, plus an additional number of spells equal to their Magic Rating. The bonus spells from Magic Rating do not have to be in any particular mode.
For example, Azadim, a Cymrillian Magician has the following modes: Attack +3, Influence +2, Defend +3, Alter +4, Heal +3 and a Magic Rating of +5. This gives him a starting spell list consisting of 3 Attack, 2 Influence, 3 Defend, 4 Alter and 3 Heal spells. The bonus starting spells he receives from his +5 Magic Rating he decides to put 2 into Alter (total 6 Alter), 2 into Attack (total 5 Attack), 1 into Heal (total 4) and the last into Influence (total 3). Altogether, this gives our intrepid adventurer 18 spells in his repertoire. Not too bad, really.
Now, I have to make a choice. Flavor text describes Talislantans as always being on the lookout for new spells, especially Archean (ancient) spells that do not fit into the modern magic system. Another section talks about how Talislantans have hundreds of spells. Even another section describes players coming up with spells on the fly.
Yeah...not so much my cuppatea.
I have already limited the number of spells each character has, now its time to put them to work. If we look at magicians in our standard way, and realize that this is a post-apocalyptic setting, then it would not be too far of a stretch to say that magicians do not spill all their secrets.
So...the choice is Dynamic vs Static spells, or Dynamic vs Semi-Static spells.
Common practice dictates that anything that is bound to Spell Level is scalable. So for the Heal mode, you would only need 4 spells: Heal, Harm, Cause Disease and Cure Disease.
And to make matters worse, with scaling involved, you would only need a few of each mode.
Attack: 3 spells; Bolt, Blast and Melee
Alter: 4 spells; Increase Attribute, Decrease Attribute, Increase Skill, Decrease Skill
Conjure: 2 spells; Conjure by Mass, Conjure by Area
Defend: 4 spells; Aura, Flat Barrier, Cone/Cylinder Barrier, Dome/Sphere Barrier
Heal: 4 spells; Heal, Harm, Cause Disease, Cure Disease
Illusion: 1 spell
Influence: 1 spell
Move: 1 spell
Reveal: 3 spells; Reveal, Scrying, Conceal
Summon: 2 spells; Summon, Banish
Transform: 5 spells; Trivial Change, Minor Change, Major Change, Radical Change, Complete Change
Ward: 2 spells; Ward, Hex
But, if all the spells are the same, and there are only 32 distinct spells...what about all that searching and secrecy that wizards are known for?
How about if only the Spell Level effects are scalable and everything else is static, like range or number of targets? Okay, that helps a little, but still leaves us with basically 3 attack spells and 4 heal spells. Still seems rather weenie in the grand scheme of things.
So let us take a look at the flip side, NOTHING is dynamic and the spell creation system is just that, a way to create static effect spells. Now we have something to go on: a bunch of not-too-happy players.
Well, we never want unhappy players.
There is a middle ground. Scalable effects, those that effect Spell Level only, can only be scaled up or down a number of levels equal to the Magic Rating of the caster from the base spell.
Hey! Now that sounds like a good plan! The GM is happy because he sees the wizard PCs scrambling for new spells and the PCs are happy because they get to do some cool scaling effects.
I have not playtested this yet, or mentioned it to my players, but you can expect me to test it before too long.
Enjoy the game!
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
GM Notes: That One Game...
We all have it...that "One Game."
The game that inspires us to creativity, the game that we grabs a hold of us and just will not let go.
That game that reshapes our imaginations, gets our creative juices flowing.
For some, that game is Dungeons and Dragons, for others it is Kult, or Star Wars, or Shadowrun, or Cyberpunk. For me, that game is SLA Industries.
Throughout my game materials, notebooks, supplements, miniatures, props, etc, I have materials relating to my SLA Industries games. Most of the content I have written for games, was written for SLA Industries.
Pages of NPCs, new weapons, new skill packages (classes), equipment lists, fashion styles, new races, pages upon pages, digital and physical, the ideas just keep flowing.
Just searching the internet, looking through the newspaper or merely even talking to people will get me thinking of a new idea, or how to work something into my game.
Back in 1993, I met a fellow gamer at the local shop in a town of around 3k people, in a rural area of Missouri. I forget why we went out to his house, which was in an even more rural area, but while he was gathering his RPG stuff and tuning his paintball marker I found a book on his floor.
I sat there in his room, flipping through the book, entranced by the artwork. Yes, just the ARTWORK.
It was all black, white and grey, some line art, some charcoal, some inked, but it captured me.
When we returned to the gaming store, I immediately put in an order for the book. A week later it was in my hands. I devoured it. Within two weeks I started running the game. Remember, this was 1993, almost 20 years ago.
To put this in perspective, I purchased my first SLA Industries book before Magic: the Gathering was sold at the local shop (granted, only a few weeks before), before the ill-fated Maztica for AD&D 2nd edition was released, before 2nd edition Vampire: The Masquerade came out.
And I am still running the game, still seeing elements of our world that can be used or exploited for my role-playing endeavor.
There have been moments during this time that I have taken a short break and ran AD&D, Talislanta, Star Wars and a couple one-shot games, but I always return to SLA Industries.
The game where a massive company owns almost all of the 'Known Universe,' were if you do not work for the company, you work for a Soft Company (small company with no backing or a direct competitor), a terrorist trying to bring down SLA Industries, or one of the unemployed masses.
The game where serial killers are so prolific they are not even acknowledged until their 13th kill, where violence and sex on the TV are the norm, not the exception.
Maybe the space in my heart for this game is because it is so far fetched, maybe it is the artwork, or maybe it is because of the ease with which I can setup and run a mission.
Maybe it is because, if you think about it, the game is so close to our own world...
Just some thoughts, enjoy your game.
The game that inspires us to creativity, the game that we grabs a hold of us and just will not let go.
That game that reshapes our imaginations, gets our creative juices flowing.
For some, that game is Dungeons and Dragons, for others it is Kult, or Star Wars, or Shadowrun, or Cyberpunk. For me, that game is SLA Industries.
Throughout my game materials, notebooks, supplements, miniatures, props, etc, I have materials relating to my SLA Industries games. Most of the content I have written for games, was written for SLA Industries.
Pages of NPCs, new weapons, new skill packages (classes), equipment lists, fashion styles, new races, pages upon pages, digital and physical, the ideas just keep flowing.
Just searching the internet, looking through the newspaper or merely even talking to people will get me thinking of a new idea, or how to work something into my game.
Back in 1993, I met a fellow gamer at the local shop in a town of around 3k people, in a rural area of Missouri. I forget why we went out to his house, which was in an even more rural area, but while he was gathering his RPG stuff and tuning his paintball marker I found a book on his floor.
I sat there in his room, flipping through the book, entranced by the artwork. Yes, just the ARTWORK.
It was all black, white and grey, some line art, some charcoal, some inked, but it captured me.
When we returned to the gaming store, I immediately put in an order for the book. A week later it was in my hands. I devoured it. Within two weeks I started running the game. Remember, this was 1993, almost 20 years ago.
To put this in perspective, I purchased my first SLA Industries book before Magic: the Gathering was sold at the local shop (granted, only a few weeks before), before the ill-fated Maztica for AD&D 2nd edition was released, before 2nd edition Vampire: The Masquerade came out.
And I am still running the game, still seeing elements of our world that can be used or exploited for my role-playing endeavor.
There have been moments during this time that I have taken a short break and ran AD&D, Talislanta, Star Wars and a couple one-shot games, but I always return to SLA Industries.
The game where a massive company owns almost all of the 'Known Universe,' were if you do not work for the company, you work for a Soft Company (small company with no backing or a direct competitor), a terrorist trying to bring down SLA Industries, or one of the unemployed masses.
The game where serial killers are so prolific they are not even acknowledged until their 13th kill, where violence and sex on the TV are the norm, not the exception.
Maybe the space in my heart for this game is because it is so far fetched, maybe it is the artwork, or maybe it is because of the ease with which I can setup and run a mission.
Maybe it is because, if you think about it, the game is so close to our own world...
Just some thoughts, enjoy your game.
Monday, August 5, 2013
SLA Industries: Out with a Bang meet Jack and Jill
With the squad being down to Grundy, Hunter, Cappin and Doc due to the missing Shaktar and Brain Waster the financier group 'Flaming Turkeys,' where they have been getting a few BPNs from, sends in a Sniper to help them out a bit.
After quickly burning through the newbies Blue BPN they decided to get back to business and call up Jonesy at Flaming Turkeys.
Offered a Grey BPN the squad happily accepts. Simple work. There is a Channel Resistance uplink cell in Industrial Sector 86 that has holed up in an abandoned building.
Arriving in the area, the squad parks the APC a couple blocks away and heads in on foot. Upon getting to the building, Grundy attempts to weld the doors of the main entrance, briefly harassed by what appears to be a security guard who is waved off by Hunters SLA badge, and moves to the back door, leaving Hunter to watch the main entrance.
The Sniper, Terry, is placed on an adjacent rooftop to assist and Cappin heads around to the loading dock to find an entrance.
Doc and Grundy enter the building and as Grundy is welding the door shut they are interrupted by a man claiming to be a delivery boy for an Orientan restaurant. Grundy slaps him out of the way, inadvertently killing him.
Doc decides to start working his way up the stairs to the second floor. Terry radios the squad to let them know that all the lights above the 2nd floor just went out, as Cappin busts open the loading bay door.
Doc arrives at the 2nd floor door and opens it, he is met with gunfire. As the bullets pelt him and the door, he manages to drop back and close it, and doses kickstart and UV.
Cappin, hearing his brother hit makes his way quickly to the stairwell, proceeded by Grundy. With the Morgan brothers forming a plan for the 2nd floor assault, Grundy heads up to the 3rd floor.
Terry leaves his perch to get a better position with Hunter who is now working his way through the front of the building and checking the first floor.
Grundy makes it to the 3rd floor and opens the door, and quickly closes it as bullets ricochet off his helmet, almost killing him. Good thing he is a Stormer.
Hearing their friend eat lead upstairs, Cappin decides to change up their plan, opens the door just a crack and tosses in a fragmentation grenade.
The dilapidated building shakes a little with the explosion, and all goes quiet inside.
Outside, Terry is making his way around the building and sees two figures zip line through some buildings. He immediately radios the members of the squad inside and Hunter comes back out to help.
Looking over the damage inside, the grenade has blasted a hole in the 3rd and 2nd floors, the blast probably enhanced a little by the Vito and Buzzard model Tek Trex drones...that now lay scattered in pieces.
Grundy heads for the roof to try and assist with the 2 fleeing figures while Cappin and Doc head for the 4th and 5th floors.
Hunter takes off on his powerboard to follow a van that he spots leaving at a high rate of speed, Terry moves to another building to take up position in case someone else decides to run for it.
Grundy opens the door to the roof expecting to run to the edge and zipline down with his rifle, but the bullets pounding into him force him back through the door. On the roof are 4 DN operatives packing SMGs and automatic rifles!
Doc leaves Cappin to clear the 4th floor and heads up to the roof to assist Grundy.
Cappin, after doing some quick drug-addled thinking, decides the best idea is to blow a hole in the 5th floor and runs upstairs while Grundy and Doc form a plan of attack.
Cappin tosses his last grenade through the door to the 5th floor at the same time Grundy and Doc open the door to the roof, Grundy going high and full auto, Doc kneeling and going low with two 603s with a single hotline round in each.
Grundy and Doc manage to take out all four of the DN operatives on the roof, while Cappin looks at the hole in the floor and wonders why the ceiling is still mostly intact.
Hunter is still following the van, calls Shiver scaf support to try and get a tracker in the sky, but there are none available at the moment while Terry is moving up the side of an adjacent building.
Doc and Grundy use the two DN operatives in body armor to slide down the zipline, to a now empty corner, as Cappin starts to sweep the 5th floor and catches movement at a door towards the end of the hallway.
Cappin, realizing he has no more grenades, kicks open the door and trigger locks his 706 Power Reaper, the four DN operatives inside open up with their DN74 SMGs and DN80 rifles...and everything goes silent.
With Cappin not answering his headset, Terry checks the room through his scope as Grundy grabs Doc and starts to climb back up the zipline. Fifteen blocks away, Hunter is still following the escaping van on his hoverboard.
Terry sees no movement in the room.
As Grundy and Doc make it into the room they find Cappin with his chest torn apart and his left leg completely missing. Doc immediately calls for medical help and him and Grundy attempt to revive him.
About 20 blocks away, the backdoor of the van opens up and a hail of bullets from the DN operative impact into Hunters chest knocking him off his hoverboard at around 50mph. If the bullets had not killed him, the impact and asphalt would have.
Unable to revive Cappin, Grundy heads out to recover Hunters body.
The Channel Resistance cell was broken and the BPN successful overall, but it was a hard-won battle. Doc and Grundy headed home with lowered heads and sunken hearts to drink a few sorrows and watch TV.
During the episode of GoreZone, Jack makes an appearance, showing film of Cappin and Hunter dying...
Til next time...enjoy your game!
After quickly burning through the newbies Blue BPN they decided to get back to business and call up Jonesy at Flaming Turkeys.
Offered a Grey BPN the squad happily accepts. Simple work. There is a Channel Resistance uplink cell in Industrial Sector 86 that has holed up in an abandoned building.
Arriving in the area, the squad parks the APC a couple blocks away and heads in on foot. Upon getting to the building, Grundy attempts to weld the doors of the main entrance, briefly harassed by what appears to be a security guard who is waved off by Hunters SLA badge, and moves to the back door, leaving Hunter to watch the main entrance.
The Sniper, Terry, is placed on an adjacent rooftop to assist and Cappin heads around to the loading dock to find an entrance.
Doc and Grundy enter the building and as Grundy is welding the door shut they are interrupted by a man claiming to be a delivery boy for an Orientan restaurant. Grundy slaps him out of the way, inadvertently killing him.
Doc decides to start working his way up the stairs to the second floor. Terry radios the squad to let them know that all the lights above the 2nd floor just went out, as Cappin busts open the loading bay door.
Doc arrives at the 2nd floor door and opens it, he is met with gunfire. As the bullets pelt him and the door, he manages to drop back and close it, and doses kickstart and UV.
Cappin, hearing his brother hit makes his way quickly to the stairwell, proceeded by Grundy. With the Morgan brothers forming a plan for the 2nd floor assault, Grundy heads up to the 3rd floor.
Terry leaves his perch to get a better position with Hunter who is now working his way through the front of the building and checking the first floor.
Grundy makes it to the 3rd floor and opens the door, and quickly closes it as bullets ricochet off his helmet, almost killing him. Good thing he is a Stormer.
Hearing their friend eat lead upstairs, Cappin decides to change up their plan, opens the door just a crack and tosses in a fragmentation grenade.
The dilapidated building shakes a little with the explosion, and all goes quiet inside.
Outside, Terry is making his way around the building and sees two figures zip line through some buildings. He immediately radios the members of the squad inside and Hunter comes back out to help.
Looking over the damage inside, the grenade has blasted a hole in the 3rd and 2nd floors, the blast probably enhanced a little by the Vito and Buzzard model Tek Trex drones...that now lay scattered in pieces.
Grundy heads for the roof to try and assist with the 2 fleeing figures while Cappin and Doc head for the 4th and 5th floors.
Hunter takes off on his powerboard to follow a van that he spots leaving at a high rate of speed, Terry moves to another building to take up position in case someone else decides to run for it.
Grundy opens the door to the roof expecting to run to the edge and zipline down with his rifle, but the bullets pounding into him force him back through the door. On the roof are 4 DN operatives packing SMGs and automatic rifles!
Doc leaves Cappin to clear the 4th floor and heads up to the roof to assist Grundy.
Cappin, after doing some quick drug-addled thinking, decides the best idea is to blow a hole in the 5th floor and runs upstairs while Grundy and Doc form a plan of attack.
Cappin tosses his last grenade through the door to the 5th floor at the same time Grundy and Doc open the door to the roof, Grundy going high and full auto, Doc kneeling and going low with two 603s with a single hotline round in each.
Grundy and Doc manage to take out all four of the DN operatives on the roof, while Cappin looks at the hole in the floor and wonders why the ceiling is still mostly intact.
Hunter is still following the van, calls Shiver scaf support to try and get a tracker in the sky, but there are none available at the moment while Terry is moving up the side of an adjacent building.
Doc and Grundy use the two DN operatives in body armor to slide down the zipline, to a now empty corner, as Cappin starts to sweep the 5th floor and catches movement at a door towards the end of the hallway.
Cappin, realizing he has no more grenades, kicks open the door and trigger locks his 706 Power Reaper, the four DN operatives inside open up with their DN74 SMGs and DN80 rifles...and everything goes silent.
With Cappin not answering his headset, Terry checks the room through his scope as Grundy grabs Doc and starts to climb back up the zipline. Fifteen blocks away, Hunter is still following the escaping van on his hoverboard.
Terry sees no movement in the room.
As Grundy and Doc make it into the room they find Cappin with his chest torn apart and his left leg completely missing. Doc immediately calls for medical help and him and Grundy attempt to revive him.
About 20 blocks away, the backdoor of the van opens up and a hail of bullets from the DN operative impact into Hunters chest knocking him off his hoverboard at around 50mph. If the bullets had not killed him, the impact and asphalt would have.
Unable to revive Cappin, Grundy heads out to recover Hunters body.
The Channel Resistance cell was broken and the BPN successful overall, but it was a hard-won battle. Doc and Grundy headed home with lowered heads and sunken hearts to drink a few sorrows and watch TV.
During the episode of GoreZone, Jack makes an appearance, showing film of Cappin and Hunter dying...
Til next time...enjoy your game!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
GM Notes: Random Encounters
A friend recently asked about random encounter tables for Dungeons and Dragons, I posted some suggested places to look according to the best remembrance available to me, then it hit me, I have rarely used random encounters.
This struck me a bit funny, I mean, Dungeons and Dragons is based off of Random Encounters...right?
Absolutely not.
I mulled it over a bit and realized that I never really used random encounters because there was no reason to.
I know where I want my story to be about, why waste time with pointless encounters? If the PCs are fighting against the Thieves Guild and have to go through a nearby forest to get something...why fight random orcs or goblins, when you can fight orcs or goblins that are in league with the guild?
This, of course, takes a little more preparation, but in the end it will fit the story and still seem like a 'random' encounter.
Random encounters are, I believe, meant to show that there is a world outside of the story, to "bring the world to life." I fail to see how this can be accomplished when you roll some dice, check a chart, and put the game on hold while you get all the stats and encounter notes drawn up.
If I am going to pause a game for 5-15 minutes, I am going to take a break as well, not sit at the table gouging my eyes out while getting writers cramp.
Now, I realize that there are reasons for random encounter tables and I am not saying that they should not be used at all. What I am saying is they should not be used during the game because it kills momentum, possibly sends the players on a wild goose chase and has a good chance of putting a player death in the hands of some nobody wolf or catablepas.
The best use of encounter tables I can think of is before the game, while you are still writing the notes for the adventure.
Three days of travel through woodlands? No problem. You know the PCs are going to have to do this, so you grab your d6, roll 4 times for each day (morning, afternoon, evening, overnight), consult your tables and voila! The 'random' encounters have now become regular, planned encounters.
The helps in a couple of different ways:
Party Strength - low to mid level party, and you just rolled an early morning red dragon. Following 'random encounter' usage, your party is now toast (literally). But now, with the 'planned encounter,' you can tailor to the group. Instead of said dragon pouncing out of the forest onto the party for an early morning snack, the party is awakened by a roar and leathery flapping of wings as the dragon flies over the forest. This still provides the feel that there is a world out there unrelated to the story, but has the benefit of not killing the party without a fighting chance or breaking momentum.
Party Gear/Abilities - especially important in low-level or low-magic campaigns. Using the random encounter method you may end up pitting the PC's against something they have no means to damage and then the monster just trounces them back to character generation. Never fun, players prefer to die by adversaries, not random stuff.
Storyline - here is where it gets good. So, lets say the random encounter is 5-10 orcs, you roll your trusty player-killers and get a total of 7. Since this is before the game starts, you jot down that 1 of the orcs is bigger and stronger than the rest, the leader. Another is his second-in-command, and the rest are just scabs breaking union lines because the rest of the orcs are on strike.
Taking it a step further, the main orc is written in as a hireling of the Thieves Guild and his small band of bandits bandies about preying on merchants and passerby's for the guild as well as scouting the area protecting the forest hideout.
Due to them actually being in the guild, they may even be better equipped than the standard orc. Maybe a couple low level magic items, a few healing potions, a map to the hideout or a letter of reference including basic instructions from the Lord Mayor.
And that is how it works, the 'random encounter' of the orcs has now become a 'planned encounter' that actually moves the story forward instead of breaking momentum, and as a bonus even provides more threads in the story to follow.
Enjoy your game.
This struck me a bit funny, I mean, Dungeons and Dragons is based off of Random Encounters...right?
Absolutely not.
I mulled it over a bit and realized that I never really used random encounters because there was no reason to.
I know where I want my story to be about, why waste time with pointless encounters? If the PCs are fighting against the Thieves Guild and have to go through a nearby forest to get something...why fight random orcs or goblins, when you can fight orcs or goblins that are in league with the guild?
This, of course, takes a little more preparation, but in the end it will fit the story and still seem like a 'random' encounter.
Random encounters are, I believe, meant to show that there is a world outside of the story, to "bring the world to life." I fail to see how this can be accomplished when you roll some dice, check a chart, and put the game on hold while you get all the stats and encounter notes drawn up.
If I am going to pause a game for 5-15 minutes, I am going to take a break as well, not sit at the table gouging my eyes out while getting writers cramp.
Now, I realize that there are reasons for random encounter tables and I am not saying that they should not be used at all. What I am saying is they should not be used during the game because it kills momentum, possibly sends the players on a wild goose chase and has a good chance of putting a player death in the hands of some nobody wolf or catablepas.
The best use of encounter tables I can think of is before the game, while you are still writing the notes for the adventure.
Three days of travel through woodlands? No problem. You know the PCs are going to have to do this, so you grab your d6, roll 4 times for each day (morning, afternoon, evening, overnight), consult your tables and voila! The 'random' encounters have now become regular, planned encounters.
The helps in a couple of different ways:
Party Strength - low to mid level party, and you just rolled an early morning red dragon. Following 'random encounter' usage, your party is now toast (literally). But now, with the 'planned encounter,' you can tailor to the group. Instead of said dragon pouncing out of the forest onto the party for an early morning snack, the party is awakened by a roar and leathery flapping of wings as the dragon flies over the forest. This still provides the feel that there is a world out there unrelated to the story, but has the benefit of not killing the party without a fighting chance or breaking momentum.
Party Gear/Abilities - especially important in low-level or low-magic campaigns. Using the random encounter method you may end up pitting the PC's against something they have no means to damage and then the monster just trounces them back to character generation. Never fun, players prefer to die by adversaries, not random stuff.
Storyline - here is where it gets good. So, lets say the random encounter is 5-10 orcs, you roll your trusty player-killers and get a total of 7. Since this is before the game starts, you jot down that 1 of the orcs is bigger and stronger than the rest, the leader. Another is his second-in-command, and the rest are just scabs breaking union lines because the rest of the orcs are on strike.
Taking it a step further, the main orc is written in as a hireling of the Thieves Guild and his small band of bandits bandies about preying on merchants and passerby's for the guild as well as scouting the area protecting the forest hideout.
Due to them actually being in the guild, they may even be better equipped than the standard orc. Maybe a couple low level magic items, a few healing potions, a map to the hideout or a letter of reference including basic instructions from the Lord Mayor.
And that is how it works, the 'random encounter' of the orcs has now become a 'planned encounter' that actually moves the story forward instead of breaking momentum, and as a bonus even provides more threads in the story to follow.
Enjoy your game.
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