A Monstrous Heartbreaker, Part III...keepin' it classy...

Fair warning:  There's a lot of thinking out loud in this post as I muddle through the details of putting together my own fantasy heartbreaker.  Please read on only if that's your bag...!

 First things first for this post:  It's time I decide what classes to include in this fantasy RPG that's all been done before that I'm putting together.  I'm definitely going with the "big four," as seen in games like Swords & Wizardry Light by one name or another - Wizard, Cleric, Warrior, Rogue.  (Side note:  I'm pretty sure I'm especially drawn to that nomenclature because those are the classes used in Magic: The Gathering's "party" mechanic...)  So...what else?

I mean...this is MY heartbreaker, so I can put in whatever ridiculous niche class I want to just because it makes me happy to think about having it at the core of the game.  At the same time, this whole exercise has grown out of a desire to have a very basic fantasy RPG structure to build my other projects around.  I do want to keep things simple.

The problem is that once I take the simple step in my mind of "allowing" one class or another to creep into the lineup, it becomes too easy to think, "Well, if I include a Warlock, surely a Shaman fits.  And then it would be ridiculous to not include the even more iconic Druid, and if there are Druids, why not Rangers, and then of course Paladins, and then...and then...and then..."

Back in 2017, my humble offering to the gaming world on Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day was a set of alternate classes for Swords & Wizardry Light (which you can download HERE if you're so inclined).  They were streamlined a bit (yeah, even more than the usual!) in order to fit the Dungeonstack card game project that was the focus of my attempt at the A to Z Blogging Challenge that year; I'm noting them now because I picked out five basic roles, going with the names Warrior, Mage, Priest, Rogue, and Scout to differentiate them from the standard classes.  Scout was the "nature class," intended to make sure some bits of Druid and Ranger found their way into the game, as I've always been drawn to classes of that type...although the Scout is really just a Ranger stand-in without any real hint of Druid.

Lately, some form of Scout has seemed appealing as a single addition to the "big four" noted above.  An additional bonus is that Scout is the label that has long been given to Rangers in MTG, satisfying my inclination to defer to the naming conventions found on the magical cards.  However, with the coming Adventures in the Forgotten Realms expansion for MTG, Magic is making the Ranger creature type an official part of the game, SO...

Well, I'm dancing around it while thinking out loud, but I think my choice is becoming obvious:  The five classes of the Monstrous Heartbreaker shall be Warrior, Wizard, Cleric, Rogue, and Ranger.

Now...to nail down the specifics.  I covered the Warrior in my last post on the Heartbreaker and think I'll keep the ball rolling with the non-spellcasting classes.  Because the Ranger, while essentially a variant Warrior, can also fill the roll of "skill gal/guy" in a party, I think I should look at the Rogue first to get a baseline of what skillful characters look like in the game.  So, let's try statting up this guy...

He was the first (and only, so far, although maybe I'll get back to it at some point...?) Dungeonstack Rogue.  Because the mechanics for the Heartbreaker differ a bit from what I was planning with the 'Stack, I can't quite use him verbatim, but I bet I can get something very close that can also be a model for writing up the Rogue class as a whole...

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Xenos the Wanderer

Human Rogue 4

AC 13 (leather armor)    HD 3d6 (11 HP)

Saving throw: 12

Move 30 ft.

Languages:  Common, Goblin, Thieves' Cant

STR 11    DEX 16(+1)    CON 14    INT 2    WIS 7    CHA 10

Attack:  Dagger +2, 1d6-1 damage (thrown +3, range 20 ft., 1d6-1 damage)

Sneak Attack: Xenos gets an additional +4 attack bonus on and deals double damage to a surprised enemy.

Skill/tool proficiencies:  Climb (expert), sleight of hand (expert), traps (expert), cooking

--------------------

I think I may be doing the math properly in my head, but now I need to work backwards and make sure this fits the Heartbreaker as a whole...!

Dungeonstack A to Z: Zombie Mob

And finally, we come to Zed.  Really, what else could I include here?  I'm building a dungeon, after all...

I'm not completely sold that this should be a Monster card as opposed to an Event that just has you put some Zombies into play; this one may switch soon.

And with that...wow...we complete the alphabet and the challenge!  A very big "thank you" to anyone and everyone who has stopped by this month.  I hope you've gotten at least some mild entertainment...and if you've happened to enjoy it, please stay tuned, as I think I'll be following up on this project quite a bit in the coming weeks...!

(Oh!  And please let me take this chance to point out one blog that I failed to highlight with a "tribute card" this month, but that I'll hopefully target as I expand the game a bit more.  Celia over at WordWacker had a very simple but cool theme for the month...a geeky haiku riddle for each letter.  WordWacker is another blog that I discovered through the A to Z this year, and I've enjoyed stopping by to check out the riddles.

Also, I'm actually scheduling this post ahead of time...quite out of character, I know...and I'm kind of hoping Celia will go with Zombie for Z so this can almost-sort-of-coincidentally-but-not-really count as a shout-out in card form...!)

Dungeonstack A to Z: Young Minotaur

I think I'm going to finish up the A to Z challenge with a couple of final monsters that can be used as simple, basic villains for the Dungeonstack.  Like this fellow...

I like having this guy (multiples, almost undoubtedly) as a throwback to the "basic" monster I used in one of my earlier experiments with card-based dungeoneering:

And so, tomorrow we close out the alphabet.  See you then!

Dungeonstack A to Z: Xenos the Wanderer

The good thing about having a topic like mine for the A to Z blogging challenge is that when you hit a tough letter like X, you can just make up a name for a character.

So...here's the last of the "basic" classes to be used as a Hero in the Dungeonstack, the rogue Xenos:

(Skills in Dungeonstack will be handled via Xd6-roll-under...ranks in a skill subtract dice from the roll.  A simple application of this can be seen on the card Locked!  For more info on the class structures I used to build these Heroes, you may want to look over my alternate...and somewhat simplified...classes for Swords & Wizardry Light.)

Wow...just two days to go now!

Dungeonstack A to Z: Witch of the Otherside

With hardly any time to spare...I am momentarily caught up once again in the A to Z challenge with this entry for "W"...

On this one:

That name...I'm thinking of the Otherside as some version of the Celtic Otherworld...which, of course, has some analogues in other belief systems...

Although just about anyone who spends enough time online to come across my little blog will probably recognize that this card is a nod to the RPG blogosphere stalwart that is The Other Side.  +Timothy Brannan does some awesome work over there, giving great snippets of D&D history while consistently bringing something new to the game (one of his favorite muses: witches!).  Oh, and he seems like a nice guy to boot.  Tim isn't doing the A to Z this year, but he's tackled it multiple times in the past (along with being part of the crew that keeps the challenge rolling).  So, overall, a tip of the hat from this blogger...and you should check him out sometime...!

Oh!  And I very rudely left this out in the tired state I posted in last night...big thanks to Justin of Halls of the Nephilim for his advice on a "witchy" ability that would be simple enough to fit onto a card.  It's awesome having this online community as a think tank!

Dungeonstack A to Z: The Venerable August MacMulligan

Trying to quickly play catch-up in the A to Z challenge once again.  (This year's definitely had some timing snags!)

Here's another Hero card.  He represents the 4th class in the game, and yes, he's definitely a relative of April (just have to figure out how sometime)...

And like the 9 Realms' Guardian, he has a "cheat card" for the magic he wields...

Please join me tomorrow...or maybe today, let's see...as things get a little witchy around here...!

Dungeonstack A to Z: Undead Infestation

Going into today's Dungeonstack entry, I knew I wanted to make something undead...something that would give some importance to The Good Doctor's Crypt, and the ability to turn undead, and having Undead as a preferred enemy of a Scout.

And then at some point, I thought, "Why not just turn a bunch of monsters into the undead?"  So I made this:

I hope to roll out at least one more legitimate undead enemy before the month is out.

Thanks for stopping by!  I'd love it if you'd join me tomorrow, when another of April's relatives will be revealed...!

Dungeonstack A to Z (double!): Tavern Bouncer and Tome of Adventure

As the A to Z blogging challenge enters its final week, I've realized that I'm going to need to double-dip once or twice in order to hit on all of the items I want to cover.  Today is one of those days, with a classic Two-for-...Monday.

First up is a Monster card...

It probably won't surprise many people who happen upon this blog to hear that this is a nod to the OSR watering hole known as Tenkar's Tavern.  As I've noted, my intention with "tribute cards" this month was to focus on some other bloggers taking part in the A to Z challenge, but I had a hard time not giving some sort of tip of the hat to the locale that serves as the hub of the online gaming community for a lot of OSR types.  And once I pieced that picture together from a couple of public domain images...well, I kinda liked it, so we got the Bouncer!  If you're one of the few people who somehow finds themselves reading my blog without knowing anything about the Tavern, you should go check it out!  It's a very friendly place (as long as you don't screw people over on a Kickstarter).

Oh, so why is this tavern bouncer wandering a dungeon and fighting the Heroes that come through?  Eh, not sure...but it's probably better not to worry about that until his war hammer is no longer a threat.

On we go!  Card #2 today is another Item to find in the Dungeonstack, and a little salute to another A-to-Z'er...

While almost certainly a more subtle shout-out than some I've managed this month, I hope that won't make you any less inclined to check out the good stuff that Stuart and the team have to offer over at Lloyd of Gamebooks, a great blog covering anything and everything having to do with participatory fiction and related endeavors.  It's pretty awesome to see how much passion people have for that art form!

Thanks for reading, and please come back tomorrow as I try to give The Good Doctor's Crypt a worthy denizen...!

Dungeonstack A to Z (extra): 23rd Legionnaire

This month has gone by way too fast!

Hmm.  Well, I've included a bugbear, but I haven't yet put a regular old goblin into the Dungeonstack, so it's time to correct that...

I guess this isn't a regular old goblin, as he's a legionnaire.  I thought it was one of the coolest things ever when WotC printed Goblin Legionnaire, their first Goblin Soldier for MtG, back in the Apocalypse expansion...

...and since, on these A to Z "off days," I've struggled a little coming up with names incorporating the date rather than a letter...well, it all just came together for this little guy.

Join me tomorrow for more fun with placing a monster's image on top of a background it clearly doesn't fit...!

A happy Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day to one and all!

(And also a happy Earth Day, and a shout-out to all of you Science Marchers out there!)

As you may know, today is Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day, hosted at the excellent Gamers & Grognards.  While I don't have an awesome new product to release or discount to offer, I do want to join in the festivities...and so I'm presenting what's been jangling around in my head quite a bit lately: alternate classes suitable for Swords & Wizardry Light, simplified even more than the standard classes in some ways, that I've been working out to feature in the card game I'm working on (Dungeonstack).

I present them here to do my own little part in celebrating today, to show a little bit of the logic I'm trying to build the Dungeonstack upon, and to maybe even help out one or two people out there who want to shake things up a little in their game.

Click the link below for the doc in Google Drive, and if you do so, please enjoy!

Alternate Classes for Swords & Wizardry Light

(And yes, I might figure out a good way to work in a backstab ability someday...)

Dungeonstack A to Z: Spells

This is really just a bit of a "bookkeeping" card, but as I'd like for everything in the Dungeonstack to be playable from the cards themselves (once the basic rules are known), I thought it was important to include.  Here's reminder text for the spells known by the Heroic Mage presented earlier, the 9 Realms' Guardian (worded with the card game in mind):

I may look to spice up the presentation at some point, but at the moment I think it's pretty functional, looks decent when trimmed...

...and matches up nicely with its associated hero.

I hope to present another magic-wielding Hero before the month is over, so I'll be sure to make a spell card for her or him, too.

Dungeonstack A to Z: Ruinous Pact

As I've mentioned before, I think the Event cards in the Dungeonstack are going to be one of the more difficult card types both to design and to make worthwhile to anyone who wants to use the cards for a purpose other than just playing the game outright...which is a minor design goal for me, to make the cards useful as OSR gaming tools by themselves.  I think that one of the ways of approaching this may be to think of effects that fit simply onto a single card and hold a bit of flavor that might put some ideas into a GM's head.  Maybe something like this...

Maybe.

I mean, the idea will probably work nicely in the card game.  And maybe...maybe...things like this can make a referee think a bit about what sort of magic-user would enchant a room like this...and why...

Definitely gonna have to put some thought into this.

Also, a tip of the hat with this card (however subtle it may have ended up being) to Paul over at The Iron Pact!  Paul keeps up a top-notch blog focused solely on stuff for the Swedish dark fantasy RPG Symbaroum.  I wasn't familiar with either the blog or the RPG before this year's A to Z challenge, but I'm glad it brought them to my attention, because they both seem pretty outstanding!  Lots of fantastically presented grimness to be found...so if that sounds like your type of thing, definitely check them out!

Dungeonstack A to Z: Quiet Hall(s)

The 2017 A to Z Blogging Challenge marches on to the letter Q...and I march on toward regularly posting my contributions on time!

Today is another Room card...much like the Interior Walkway, it's fairly straightforward and comes in a couple of varieties...

Something to note here: I really need to figure out which words I'm going to capitalize in card text.  I like capitalizing "Heroes," as it's a specific thing (and a card type) that has meaning in the game...but really, so is "room," and if I'm not careful I'm just going to end up capitalizing everything.  Gotta think on it...

Dungeonstack A to Z: Potion of Cure Light Wounds

Since I'm trying to get caught up on the A to Z Challenge in the midst of a work trip, I'd be crazy not to take advantage of the times when the letter of the day gives me an obvious choice for a really simple card to make.  (Wouldn't I?  I'm not completely sold, but here we go...)

Hrm.  With that in mind, I present another very simple Item for the letter P:

I know!  I'll spice this post up with a caption...
Just print at 2.75" x 3.75" and cut along dotted lines.
Collect 'em all!

That is all.

Maybe something more interesting will come to me tomorrow...?

Post edited to include an updated card...added italics and the "+1"...

Dungeonstack A to Z: Ogre Freebooter

Late as usual (hrmph)...here's a Dungeonstack card for the letter O...

A dual-wielding ogre pirate ought to fit in just fine.  I'm not sure about making him a Giant type, but it does let him work well with the abilities of Nat Twinny.

Also, I should maybe think about spicing up the background of that image...

Now, back to playing catch-up...!

Dungeonstack A to Z: Nat Twinny, Woodsman

I'm guessing due to my affinity for nonhuman animals (I like humans too, but you know what I mean), I've been drawn to Druid, Ranger, and classes in the style of those two.  So, in wanting to present at least a small variety of Hero cards that can be matched against the Dungeonstack, it's only natural (heh) that I'd try to work one in here...

In addition to Nat, April, and the 9 Realms' Guardian, I hope to find space for two more Heroes before the month closes out...in classes somewhat like those other two you'd probably expect if all the bases are to be covered.  If all goes well, I'll present all of these as alternate classes for S&W Light for the upcoming Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day...in part to show that I really am building these Heroes with a rational structure, and not just throwing numbers onto virtual paper...!

And with this, I am briefly caught up on the A to Z challenge!  How long will it last?  Stay tuned...

Dungeonstack A to Z (extra): The 16th Pawn

Well, this card was made in the hope that I'll have an entry for every day in April (not just the A-Z days), but with the way I'm falling behind, perhaps the time would have been better spent on an "N" post...?

Anyway, here we go...!

Again...something pretty basic.  It's kind of a random cryptic treasure to find (which, who knows, could maybe inspire some brainstorming in a DM's head), but I do see a purpose for it in the game as I'm building it.  With my earlier experiments in card-based dungeons, I had a card in the deck that served as the "target treasure," the item that must be retrieved to treat the delve as a success.  The 16th Pawn is what I see as the focus of April's Quest...

I'm shaking my Magic 8-Ball now to see how likely I am to get an "N" post up today...

Dungeonstack A to Z: Mountain Giant

On to the letter M we go!

Just gonna put something basic here, so I can get caught up in the A to Z challenge.  How about...

Considering the monster cards that have come along so far, that's a big dude up there.  I was thinking maybe a Mountain Giant should be bigger than a Hill Giant, but I'm gonna have to assume this is big enough for now...

Alright, I'm officially caught up!  Hoping for an extra entry later today; let's see how life plays that out for me...!

Oh, and if you celebrate it, Happy Easter, y'all!

Dungeonstack A to Z: Locked!

Darn it, real life!  Why must you intrude on my nerdblogfuntime??

Ah, well.  I've fallen behind on my A-Z goals due to the tasks of a work trip, but I hope to catch up today!  First up: an Event card for the letter L...that little dungeon annoyance, the locked door...

First of all...about that "test" on the card...

I've determined that my preferred way of handling skill/attribute checks in this game...and potentially any OSR gaming I manage to run anytime soon...is the good old Xd6 roll-under-ability-score.  So anyone will have a chance to overcome this...but Mages with a Knock spell, and hopefully Rogues/Thieves with lockpicking skill will have a better shot at it.  At any rate, 5d6 might be too onerous a task to be any fun, but I hope to see that as I test it out.

As far as nitpicky stuff goes, I realized with this card that I'm not necessarily doing all that great with consistent templating of rules text.  The Hero/character is referred to as "you" on here, while other cards take a wholly third-person approach.  Something else I'll need to think about...

As always, thanks for checking this stuff out, and hopefully I'll be back later today to get fully caught up to the halfway point of the A to Z Challenge...!

Dungeonstack A to Z: Knight of Unreality

Time for the letter K in this year's A to Z Challenge.  I present another Monster that's not necessarily a monster (although who knows what's under that armor...and that's not meant to sound dirty...):

Some notes on the Knight:

That ability was pretty much lifted straight from the old (and, I think, going again...?) Warlord CCG.  It's pretty darned powerful, I suppose...but I really like the way it fits the "Unreality" theme of the card.

Also, I've enjoyed working in a few tips of the hat so far to other bloggers of geekdom who are taking part in the A to Z Challenge this April.  While this post doesn't quite fit in, I really liked this art and wanted to at least give a little nod to my blogging bud +Tim Knight.  His site HeroPress is one of my favorite daily stops and always deserves a look...!