1001 Bobs

RPG Blog Carnival

Just sliding in under the gun, here is my entry in the Steampunk RPG Blog Carnival, being put on by Mad Brew. When putting together my last game prior to the launch of 4e, my players decided to go with an Iron Kingdoms game. It was an intriguing setting that I’d never played so I was game. Unfortunately we only play once a month at most so it wasn’t too long before 4e came out and I was hooked. Deciding not to abandon the campaign we’d already started and given that the characters were all still 1st level we converted. It wasn’t too difficult to find resources on Privateer Press’ boards for fan conversions.

So for the carnival I thought I’d post up some links and feedback on the resources I found and how they played in the game before it ended in a TPK (my only one ever). Though it is a story for another day, I will say that it was not because of the 4e Iron Kingdoms fan resources used.

Trollkin ~ link

Trollkin were one of the easier conversions but I think Steamworks over at Privateer Press’ boards did a great job of bringing in the eating habits of these big thugs and their survivability. Their powers seem a little too close to dwarves in the end, but definitely playable.  Our player didn’t take it but a feat that grants 5 temp hit points for every healing surge spent seems like a bit much. I think I’d tone that down a bit, but overall well done.

Gun Mage ~ link

Gun mages are definitely one of the coolest elements of the setting and one of my players definitely wanted to keep that style of character in the conversion.  Again Steamworks came through with what I found was the most balanced conversion of the class.  There are a number (you can find them in the general list of links below) but his was well put together.  The damage is a little on the high side but overall it was balanced in play as an Arcane Striker. The class has only been built for heroic play but in the end that was perfect for our use.

Firearms ~ link

I’m not sure if Scott’s work was out while we were playing, but having seen a number of firearms rules I think those he posted at A Butterfly Dreaming are the best available.  They are balanced, creative, and definitely useful. I will likely include them in my Zobeck clockwork game in the near future.

General Link List

Steampunk has definitely invaded my gaming group as they are all enjoying games in that vein. Despite the lack of official or 3rd party published resources, there is a large fan following. I’m sure that many more blog posts will join those resources in this month’s carnival roundup.

Free RPG Day

Free RPG Day

Free RPG Day was held on June 20 this year. This was the first year that I was able to enjoy the day as it has not been supported outside the States before.  Here in Vancouver there were several stores who had received packages from the fine people running Free RPG Day. I went out to my FLGS, Imperial Hobbies, in Richmond in the late afternoon.

Even with the late time I managed to pick up quite a few products all of them phenomenal. From Keith Barker’s Eberron Adventure to a Rogue Trader introduction, all great promotional material.
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Welcome RPGBN Readers & Bloggers

After starting this blog about 3 months ago with the dream of joining the network, it has finally become a reality.  I had wanted to ensure that I could keep up a steady pace of interesting content for readers as suggested in the network’s requirements.  Having kept at it for the past 3 months I like to think I’m there. I’ve tried a number of different formats to see what I can keep up with so you may still see a variety in voice.

Alya Portrait by Apis Teicher

Inspired by the work of The Core Mechanic, Mad Brew Labs, At-Will who have started a project they call Portrait of a Villain, as well as by Sly Flourish‘s Twitter DM Tips, I’ve decided to create a twitter project of my own.  For the moment I call it Twitter Villains, though I might migrate it into a broader project in the future. I have lots of ideas on creating more than just villains in 140 characters or less. This is also an attempt to tighten my writing skills and garner interest in my blog.

With Twitter Villains, I’ve posted my first one on twitter already under my account ~ twitter.com/erekose13. I’ll post a log ever once in a while though you can always follow the twitter column under the tag #villain. The format for each post will remain the same: #villain Name; description; motivations & goals.  Stats are purposely not included anywhere as they would defeat the purpose of a twitter column.  Though popular posts might garner a full treatment here on the blog.

Without further ado, here is the first twitter villain:

#villain Elegast; quickling w/billowing smokelike hair who hunts fey on the mortal world due to a misguided love of the fomorian Lord Gryme