A new mini RPG -- You vs. Me!

The latest release from NUELOW Games is You vs. Me. In this stand-alone game designed for two players, you and a friend make characters based on each other, swap them, and then do battle.

It's a quirky game that shares its core system with NUELOW Games's flagship ROLF! game, and it's a great way to pass the time with a close friend between convention games or during a regular game session where you're left at the table while the GM is away with another player for a Serious and Secret Roleplaying Encounter. Characters can be made in five or minutes... and fights usually don't take much longer.

L.L. Hundal posted slightly expanded design notes for the game as part of the "A to Z April Blogging Challenge" last month, filling the requirement for the letter Y. This final version was designed by Steve Miller & L.L. Hundal, co-creators of ROLF! and the lunatics behind NUELOW Games. Miller is a long-time veteran of the game industry whose credits include work for Wizards of the Coast, White Wolf, West End Games, TSR, and others. Hundal has always been smart enough to hold down a real job and just do games for fun and otherwise leads life as a Woman of International Mystery.

You vs. Me is a self-contained mini RPG that includes everything you need to play except for a couple of pencils, four six-sided dice, and a friend. It is available for download from RPGNow for a mere $1.50.

Sinbad and the Seven Golden Skeletons: A ROLF! Battle Scenario

I was saddened to hear about Ray Harryhausen's passing today. Many of the movies he produced and/or did stop-action animation for are ranked among my favorite films ever. It's not much a tribute to his great work, but here is a little ROLF! Battle Scenario that 'borrows" the famous Harryhausen skeletons (which I so loved in "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" and "Jason and the Argonauts"), Sinbad and Margiana from "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" (portrayed by John Philip Law and Caroline Munro, who probably jump-puberty for a number of people reading this, or that of their parents).

You will need a copy of ROLF!: Old Skool or ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game to play this scenario (as well as a friend). A copy of the free Something About Hats might also be useful, as would The Mummy's Tune supplement.

SINBAD AND THE SEVEN GOLDEN SKELETONS

A ROLF! Battle Scenario for 2 - 3 Players

By Steve Miller

Getting Ready to Play

If two gamers are playig this battle scenario, then one controls Sinbad and Margianna and the other the skeletons. If three gamers are playing, then one gamer each controls Sidbad, Margianna, and the skeletons.

   Another option for a two-player game could be to remove Margianna from play and reduce the number of skeletons to four.

Background

On a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, sometime early in the 8th century A.D., the pirate captain Sinbad and his lovely sidekick Margianna make landfall on a lush island. They are here to check out a cave containing a legendary treasure hoard, and to then have a nice a picnic lunch.

They easily locate the cave... and the treasure within seems likewise easy to access, as it's just scattered about the cave floor or overflowing open chests. The partially decayed, dismembered corpses scattered about are sure evidence that this treasure is indeed not as easily accessible as it seems.

The adventurers move warily forward, but as they do, seven gold-coated skeletons that seemed to be no more than macabre wall decorations, come to life. The gold coating flakes from their bones as they move jerkily toward Sinbad and Margiana.

The Battle

There are a total of seven skeletons--hence the title of the scenario. In the first round, two skeletons attack Sinbad and one attacks Margianna. When the first skeleton on each of the heroes is defeated, two more rush forward to take its place. The fight continues until all the skeletons or Sinbad and Margianna are defeated.

Pre-Generated Characters

Here are the characters featured in "Sinbad and the Seven Golden Skeletons."

Skeletons (Undead)

Brawn 12, Body 3, Brains 3

Traits: Dead

Combat Maneuvers: Bitch Slap, Disarm, Double Strike

Important Stuff Word/Wielded: Sword (Medium Melee Weapon. Deals 3 points of damage).

Sinbad the Sailor (Male)

Brawn 27 (includes +1 Hat Bonus), Body 17, Brains 7

Traits: Honorable, Nimble, Too Sexy for My Shirt

Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Disarm, Dodge, Disembowel, Double Strike, Murderous Mitts, Strike Pose

Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Turban (Hat. +1 to Brawn while worn). Sword (Medium Melee Weapon,deals 3 points of damage,

Margiana (Female)

Brawn 22, Body 18, Brains 6

Traits: Improv Master, Nimble

Comb:at Maneuvers Basic Attack, Dance Move, Dodge, Seduce, Strike Pose, The Look

Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Kris Dagger (Small Melee Weapon, deals 2 points of damage).

It's a one-day only sale at NUELOW Games!

The entire NUELOW Games line-up is on sale for 33-44 percent off! Through 23:59 Pacific Time on May 7 only! Click here!

In celebration of my birthday (today, May 7), all NUELOW Games products are 33 to 44 percent off their usual price! (A few of the fiction anthologies are discounted less steeply than everything else.)

If you've ever been curious about ROLF! or one of our Robert E. Howard e-books, now is a great chance to check them out at even lower than our usually low prices!

Treat yourself, and give me the gift the of royalties as you do so! And let me know what you think of the products you get!

Z is for Zenobia

And we finish A to Z April BARELY under the wire, with moments to spare, here on the West Coast of the United States! We ran behind for the second half of the month, but we made it! It's not much of a triumph, but one must take victories where one can find them.

Here at the end, we present a character for use in ROLF! games, either set in ancient times or using John Kendirck Bangs' Houseboat on the River Styx setting.It's the ROLF! version of Zenobia, one of L.L. Hundal's favorite historical figures. She's been bugging me to put her in an Battle Scenario, to which I've always responded, "do it yourself."

Now that Zenobia has stats, maybe Ms. Hundal will be inspired. Perhaps she could even bring back another of her favorite historical figures, Amelia Earhart, had have them team up to do battle against evil.

Zenobia (Female)
Brawn 28 (includes +1 Hat bonus), Body 16, Brains 8
   Traits: Busty, Nimble
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Castrate, Disarm, Debate Philosophy, Disembowel, Dodge, Seduce, Strike Pose
   Important Items Worn/Wielded: Egyptian-style Bikini Armor (barely covers nakedness, absorbs 2 points of damage). Imperial Crown (Hat, gives +1 Brawn bonus when worn). Sword (Medium Melee Weapon, deals 3 points of damage).

Or if one of you out there has a great idea for a Battle Scenario featuring Zenobia, feel free to share it with us. We may put it in a product and you will be able to say that you're a published game designer!

Y is for You vs. Me: The Rollplaying Game

As the second-to-last post in the A to Z Blogging Challenge, we represent a ROLF! variant by L.L. Hundal.

YOU vs. ME: A ROLLPLAYING GAME POWERED BY ROLF!

Designed by L.L. Hundal * Edited by Steve Miller

Copyright Steve Miller 2013. All Rights Reserved.

About This Game

You vs. Me is a quick-playing game for two players. They each make a character based on the other player, trade them with each other, and then have the characters beat each other up until one is dead. If you have a friend you don't mind losing, try playing this game with them when you have nothing better to do.

What You Need to Play

You need a friend, four six-sided dice, two sheets of paper, and something to write with. At the very least, you  will also need a copy of ROLF!: Old Skool (which can be downloaded free of charge by clicking here). 

How to Play

First you create characters, then you trade the characters with each other, and then you fight the characters. Just like I mentioned above. 

Create Characters

Consider the friend sitting across the table from you. Then consider what he or she would be like as a ROLF! character. Then start creating.

   Each character has three Attributes, like any other ROLF! character--Brawn, Body, and Brains. The basic function of these Attributes are described in the ROLF! rules, but they are generated differently in the You vs. Me variant.

   1. Assign Attribute  Ratings: Rate your friend's Brawn score between 6 and 30; the Body score between 4 and 20, and the Brains between 2 and 10. You do not need to maximize the Attribute. Unspent points are not used for anything but instead go the way of a European or African country's national debt--they just vanish.

   2. Pick Traits: Characters have a number of Traits equal to half their Brains Attribute score. Traits are listed in the ROLF! rule books and supplements; you may use any Trait that has been introduced into the game or you can create new ones. If you create new Traits, make sure you send it to us, so we have something to post on the blog. Remember that you are picking Traits that you think your friend possesses.

   3. Pick Battle Maneuvers. Battle Maneuvers  are listed in the ROLF! rule books and supplements; you may use any Battle Maneuver that has been introduced into the game. You can also make up new ones if you don't think any that exist accurately capture the talents of your friend if he or she were to become a violent brute, but keep in mind that the existing Battle Maneuvers were created by professional game designers and carefully play-tested and balanced against the rest of the ROLF! game. If you're not careful, you may unbalance the intricate--oh, who am I kidding? Just make up Battle Maneuvers that you think are fun, funny, or capture the essence of your friend--that's what I do. And, sure, I play-test.... most of the time.. Designing for ROLF! isn't rocket-science... but you do have to be mindful of the dice mechanics and how modifiers work in the system.

   4. Create Equipment: Each character has two items that can be used as weapons, You should pick things you associate with your friend. One item deals 2 points of damage and the other deals 4 points of damage.Both are melee weapons. There are no ranged weapons in You vs. Me.

Trade Characters

Pass the character you've created to your friend and let him or her absorb the impression you have of them while you do the same with the character your friend created based on their perception of you. Consult the ROLF! rules if there are Traits and Battle Maneuvers you are not familiar with.. or make your friend explain them to you.

Fight

By "fight" I mean the characters fight. If you or your friend are offended by the character that was created, one or both of you need to get over yourselves and realize that this is all for fun... or maybe consider making some changes in your lives. That might mean getting other friends, although more likely it means doing a little soul-searching and self-evaluating to understand why your friend views your the way he or she does.

   The fights in You vs. Me continue until one character is defeated. Combat and damage work just like they do in the standard ROLF! game. Each player has their own pair of six-sided dice to roll Attribute Checks and Combat Maneuvers with.

Afterword

The idea for You vs. Me has its genesis in Steve Miller and I making each other as ROLF! characters for Apocalypse Not (The Final Final Battle), together with a bizarre little Battle Scenario. We both agreed that we captured one another quite well, and there were no hurt feelings. Then again, we are both comfortable with the fact that we are dorky jerks.

   The rules here were play-tested with my long-suffering girlfriend. We are still living together.

   I hope you have fun with this ROLF! variant. Please send us any new Traits or Battle Maneuvers you may come up with. We need content for the blog.

X is for XXX

Long-time NUELOW Games fans and followers know that we've been including "mature content" in our game products since the earliest days. We've not often made a big deal out of it, because we just include what seems right for the game we're doing.

So when comic book publisher got lots of attention and praise for turning a Golden Age superhero gay, it annoyed Steve Miller, because we'd been there and done that in ROLF! products. And when L.L. Hundal read that a certain RPG publisher was being praised for creating the "ultimate inclusive RPG" because they'd included some homosexual characters in a supplement, she virtually trembled with righteous indignation because we put that stuff in our core rulebooks... and no one's ever bestowed us with outrageously hyperbolic praise. She was so irritated that she wrote a string of feats she labeled "Feats of Diversity and Ultimateness."

Those feats, first presented on this very blog, have now been revised and included with a bunch of others in our latest OGL Modern supplement--Modern Basics: Feats of an Adult Nature. You can read more about the product by clicking on that link.. and if you order one after using that link, you'll receive a small discount on the already low price.

We hope you will enjoy making your game more socially relevant and intellectually challenging with sex-related feats. Lord knows we're looking forward to watching the accolades and award nominations roll in!

Continuing that effort, here are a couple of "mature" feats and a talent tree that will add some artistic value and intellectual heft to your OGL d20 System game. (And we're also doing this as part of the A to Z April Blogging Challenge. All material in this post is presented under the Open Gaming License.)

Anything With a Pulse [General, Social] (By L.L. Hundal)
Your character will have sex with (and can seduce) just about any sentient creature.
   Prerequisite: Adventuresome feat, No Shame feat, Sexual Prowess feat
  Benefit: The character can lay down with just about anything, anywhere. The feat can only be used on sexually mature creatures with Intelligence of 3 or higher. The character makes a Bluff check (or Seduce skill check if you are using the skill introduced in Feats of Seduction and Subterfuge) with the target's Will save as the DC. If the target is of a human or demi-human race, the Will save is made with a -2 penalty, because the character is just that sexy. If the target is humanoid but is somehow significantly different in appearance from the character, the Will save is made with no modifier. If the target is of a completely different physical build, the Will save is made with a +4 bonus.

Dubious Gender [General] (By Steve Miller)
Either through a quirk of genetics or careful personal grooming, it's hard to tell if your character is a man or a woman.
   Prerequisite: Charisma 12.
  Benefit: +2 bonus to all Bluff and Disguise skill checks.

Porn Star Talent Tree (By L.L. Hundal)
This talent tree is available to all OGL Modern hero classes.
   Friends in Weird Places: +4 bonus to all Streetwise checks
   Dual Identity: You have a porn star name under which you enjoy a +2 bonus to renown and a +4 to Bluff or Seduction skill checks designed to bed NPCs while visiting game conventions, biker bars and strip clubs. If you use your real name, you remain relatively anonymous.
   Bonus Feat: You gain Adventuresome, Anything with a Pulse, Concentration, Focused, Staying Power, or Wardrobe Malfunction. You must meet all prerequisites before selecting the feat.

W is for Wizard's Bane

Here's another entry in the A to Z April Blogging Challenge... we've been running behind since around 4/15, but we may still may cross the finish-line in a timely fashion! Like most other posts in this series, the material here is presented under the Open Gaming License. If you chose to reproduce it, please give acknowledgement and copyright credit to NUELOW Games and Steve Miller.

 Wizard's Bane (By Steve Miller) 
These small white flowers grow in clumps on rocks, fallen trees, or mossy hills. They are a hardy plant that spreads rapidly, especially in moist and shadowed environments.
   The wizard's bane plant was developed by the decree of King Nazekennezor of Reylar following the infidelity of his first queen with his court wizard. Initially, they were merely planted around the castle and capitol city to make life hard for any arcane spellcasters in the area, but when Nazekeneezor's grandson Neylhir the Brash lost the first campaign against the Wizard-Kings of Harth, the wizard's bane plants were heavily seeded in the border region. Agents were even sent deep into Harth territory to secretly put the plant in forests so it could spread like a weed.
   The wizard's bane flower saps arcane magic from the area around them--in fact, the plant is partially nourished by magic--making spells less effective or completely useless. When the plant was introduced into Harth, the Wizard-Kings found they had to first abandon entire magic academies and send in non-spellusing workers to destroy the plants, because the area became so overgrown and choked by them.

OGL d20 Stats
Wizard's bane flowers grow in clumps of 2d10+10. They suppress arcane magic within a radius equal to 1-foot per flower. When an arcane spellcaster is within the area of effect of wizard's bane, all 0 through 2nd-level spells fail automatically and all other spells are treated as if cast at three levels lower than the caster's actual level.