Here is a quote from the duel section of Houses of the Blooded:

BEATS
First, a duel is fought in a series of beats. Each beat, one of the duelists is the aggressor and the other is the defender. The duelists trade back and forth… unless a switch in momentum occurs. A Maneuver striking the opponent off guard. We’ll get to that later. First, let’s go through the duel step-by-step.

Having read the Houses book a few times now, the author doesn’t ever get to that later. I’d rather he had, though, because it sounded kind of cool.

Here’s the solution that I’m planning to try in the upcoming game:

At the end of every exchange (what the author calls beats) in which there is both an attacker and a defender, the defender gains two dice for his next exchange and the attacker loses two dice for his next exchange.

The idea is that this will shift the momentum of the duel from exchange to exchange to create that back and forth tempo. We’ll have to see whether it works.

Here is how duels are supposed to work in Houses of the Blooded:

0> Intentions: inform the table you’re starting a duel.

1> Gather Dice: figure out how many d6s you’ll be using.

2> Strike Bid: sort out who gets to attack first.

3> Intent: describe what you’re going to do to your opponent if you succeed.

4> Risk: determine your wagers then roll the dice.

5> Consequences: sort out who has Priviledge, whether someone gets hurt, and if anything else happens.

Most of my problem with duels is with the strike bid step (also the cost and availability of maneuvers but I’ll get to that later).

What it boils down to is that the players in our last game of Houses didn’t have a lot of dice for dueling. That made duels go on for a ridiculously long time. The strike bid step exacerbated this by forcing players to take dice out of their risk pool every turn making it even less likely that they would injure their opponent or move the duel closer to a conclusion.

So, for the upcoming game, I’m doing away with strike bids. Instead, during the Risk step, each player is going to have one red die mixed in with all their other dice. If they show their red die, they are attacking in that exchange. If they don’t, they are defending.

This means that it is possible that both characters could attack in the same exchange. This would probably not be good for either duelist but that is part of the risk.

I’m ramping up to run a new Houses of the Blooded series in the near future, so I’m taking the lessons learned from the last one to make some adjustments to the system in the hope that I will be happier with how things work.

Overall, I’m not entirely unhappy with Houses. It has some neat ideas and I like many of them. I just feel like the execution is lacking. I feel like it really needed more playtesting and editing before it released.

Anyway, the new game means that I’m going to be posting my thoughts and adjustments here. That way I can flex my blogging muscles and have something to point my players at, too.

I was on vacation last week. For this vacation, Britt and I went to Ithaca. We drove out, splitting the travel into two days each way.

For Britt the trip was not as much a vacation. She was attending a scientific conference at Cornell University. I think she had a good time anyway.

I spent most of my time hanging out with friends and playing games. It was great.

I’ve been thinking about an Lovecraftian monster hunting game using my own variation on Fate for a while now. It really didn’t have much of a hook for me, though. I could run a game like that in just about any system you care to name. It really needed something more; I just couldn’t sort out what.

Yesterday, a title struck me and then, shortly after, a hook. Then I wrote some quick back cover text to solidify the ideas in my head. Below is what I wrote:

There are heroes in the world. Brilliant, powerful heroes who fight for what is right; to save the world from nefarious masterminds and world-spanning plots to conquer the world.

That isn’t you.

While the superstars are out there saving humanity from itself, there are other, older, things moving in the shadows.

Before it happened, you were just a regular person but then you were touched by the darkness. Maybe it was just a brush against the shadow, maybe it took your friends and left you alive, maybe there was more to it that that. Whatever the case, the shadow left its mark and there ain’t no coming back from that.

Now you can see the things that hide out there in the darkness and only you are standing between them and the light. Only you.

Shadows of the Century is a roleplaying game of investigation, horror, and survival. Players take on the roles of everyday people who have encountered the creatures that lurk in the darkness and had their eyes opened. Now they fight a desperate, ongoing battle to hold back the darkness and protect humanity while struggling with the corruption that is gnawing at them from within.

Do you have what it takes to fight monsters without becoming one?

As is usually the case, I’ve been thinking about game mechanics lately. In this specific instance it is the Stress Track mechanics from Spirit of the Century and The Dresden Files RPG.

For the longest time I’ve just been thinking of the way it works as an overly complicated system for Hit Points. Recently, I’ve changed my mind. I think a more accurate description is that Stress Tracks are a character’s armor which, as the combat goes on, ablates away.

For those unfamiliar with Fate, here is a run down of how Stress Tracks work:

Each character has a number of boxes that represent how tough, or hard to hurt, they are. Depending on the game, and how you’ve built your character, a character could have as few as two boxes or as many as eight. For our examples, I’m going to use a Track with four boxes.

☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

When a character gets hit with an attack, the attacker deals an amount of damage equal to the amount by which they exceeded the target’s defenses. So, if the attacker gets a 7 and the defender has a 4, the damage is 3. Pretty straightforward.

This is where it get’s tricky. If a Stress Track was just a pool of Hit Points, like in D&D, you would mark off three boxes and be done with it.

☑ ☑ ☑ ☐

That isn’t how things work in Fate. In Fate, you only mark off your third box on the Stress Track.

☐ ☐ ☑ ☐

Later in the combat, if you get hit for another 2 then you mark off your second box.

☐ ☑ ☑ ☐

And so on. If you get hit on a box that has already taken a hit, then that damage hits the next available box down the line. So, if you get hit for 3 again, then you mark off the fourth box because your third is already filled.

☐ ☑ ☑ ☑

If you get hit on a box that is full but you don’t have any boxes further up the line then you start to take Consequences, which are essentially wounds (and you don’t want any, obviously).

There is more to conflicts in Fate than that, but I’m just talking about Stress Tracks.

So, like I said, I’ve come to the realization that Stress Tracks are more like ablative armor than they are like hit points. I think I might like them more, coming at them from that angle.

Sometimes I make pizza. Occasionally, I even make pizza for guests. Then I go and promise to send them a copy of the recipe that I use to make the pizza which I typically fail to do.

So today I’m going to publish my pizza dough and sauce recipes so that in the future I can just send folks a link.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 5 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons table salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.75 (1 3/4) cups plus 1 tablespoon room-temperature water (~70 degrees F)

Directions:

1. With a large metal spoon, stir together all the ingredients in a mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer until combined. If mixing with a stand mixer, fit it with the dough hook and mix on low speed for about 4 minutes or until the flour gathers to form a coarse ball. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then mix again on medium-low speed for an additional 2 minutes or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and sticks just a little to the bottom. If the dough is too soft and sticky, mix in more flour by the spoonful; if it is too stiff or dry, mix in more water by the spoonful. If mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the spoon into room-temperature water and use it much like a dough hook, working the dough vigorously into a coarse ball as you rotate the bowl with your other hand. As the flour is incorporated into the ball (about 4 minutes), the dough will begin to strengthen; when this occurs, let the dough rest for 5 minutes and then resume mixing for an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until the dough is slightly sticky, soft and supple. If the dough is too soft and sticky, mix in more flour by the spoonful; if it is too stiff or dry, mix in more water by the spoonful.
2. Immediately divide the dough into 3 or 4 equal pieces. Round each piece into a ball and rub with olive oil. Place each ball inside its own zippered freezer bag. Let the balls sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, then put them in the refrigerator or freeze any pieces you will not be using.
3. The next day, remove the balls from the refrigerator at least 2 hours before you plan to use them to take off the chill and relax the gluten.

Jason’s notes: I highly recommend using a stand mixer if you have one available. It makes dough making much easier.

Also, you can make the dough on the same day you intend to use it. In step 2, let the dough sit on the counter for an hour and then refrigerate for 2 hours. Then proceed to step 3.

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Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 can (28 oz) tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 5 to 7 cloves fresh garlic, depending on their size and your taste
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Using a food processor, start by finely chopping the garlic and then add the other ingredients. Mix well.

Jason’s notes: For my pizza sauce, I use whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes. They are more expensive but, IMO, totally worth the expense.

I have made pizza sauce with regular crushed tomatoes and it was fine and still tasty.

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When cooking your pizza, I find that a pizza stone is a must. It allows you to cook a pizza in about 6 minutes, creating a nice crisp crust without destroying the taste and texture of any vegetable ingredients you put on.

Put the pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat to 525 degrees an hour before you plan to cook your pizza. This allows the heat to soak into your pizza stone.

30 minutes before you plan to cook your pizza, start preparing your ingredients. I usually dress my pizza with pepperoni, green or red peppers, black olives, spinach, ham, and pineapple, though usually not all on the same pizza. For cheese I use mozzarella but I also put a bit of cojack on top for color and flavor variety.

When you are ready to make your pizza, set your peel nearby and lightly coat it with corn meal. If you don’t have a peel, you can also use the bottom of a metal baking sheet, though getting your pizza out of the oven will be a little more difficult. You may need to use a large spatula to help you get your finished pizza back onto your baking pan.

Then, take one of your dough balls and flatten it out in your hands. Starting at the center, begin to stretch the dough gently being careful not to tear it. As you work, you will find that you should be able to work the dough with your fingers and allow gravity to do most of the stretching for you.

Once you have your dough to a size and thickness you are happy with, place it on your peel. It will shrink a little bit once you set it down but that is normal. Then give your peel a shake to make sure that your dough is going slide without any difficulty.

Using a metal spoon, spread your sauce onto your dough. I prefer to go pretty light with the sauce as it is strong and you don’t want the pizza to be too wet.

When you have your dough sauced to your satisfaction, cover it with a light layer of mozzarella. Then put on any toppings of your choice. Finally, another light layer of mozzarella and cojack.

Place your pizza on your pizza stone in the oven. The pizza should take 5 to 7 minutes to cook, though ovens and personal tastes will vary, of course.

Once you take your pizza out of the oven, place it on a rack for 3 to 5 minutes to let it cool. The rack will keep your crust crisp. You can cool your pizza on a cutting board but this will trap moisture in the crust and make it chewier.

I’ve been working on a little roleplaying game in the same kind of vein as Lady Blackbird (which is free and you should check it out). It is a minimalist design based on the Fate engine.

Here are the links:

http://www.jadettman.com/TSAR.pdf

http://www.jadettman.com/TSAR_(2d6).pdf

There are two versions of the game because not everyone owns Fudge dice but most people own two six-siders.

If you are reading this, and you’re feeling helpful, it would be great if you could take a look and share your thoughts.

I missed blogging a day last week and again yesterday. Now, I don’t feel quite so pressing a need to keep up with my new years resolution to blog every weekday.

So, now I’m struggling with something to blog about and you get a meta-post about blog posts.

Over the weekend, Britt and I visited friends in Iowa City and attended Gamicon, a local gaming convention. The convention was sort of incidental as we mostly went to visit with our friends. I like to think that a fun time was had by all.

It was actually kind of weird being back in Iowa City again. Britt and I both went to the University of Iowa and that is actually where we first met. We didn’t really get to tour the city but just from our brief forays out for food, the place seemed both changed and the same.

The students, of course, were much the same: indifferent to the weather, traffic, or anything else that anyone else might consider harmful to them.

There seemed to be a lot more upscale and weird businesses than I remember from our time there. For example, we went to a restaurant that served only crepes. They were quite tasty crepes but it still seemed to be an odd business model. The restaurant seemed to be doing okay, so I suppose it was working for them.

As I said, though, these are really only superficial observations. We didn’t get to see too much of the place.

For those who don’t know, my desktop computer recently started acting up. For the last few months it would have trouble coming back from sleep and, occasionally, it would have trouble finding its hard drive. This was a bit of a nuisance. I tried to figure out what was wrong but nothing I did, short of not letting the hard drive go to sleep, had an effect.

In November, I took it up to Madison to the Apple Store for someone there to look at but, as is often the case, I was unable to reproduce the problem. They played around with it for a little while, told me they couldn’t find anything wrong, and sent me home with it.

Today, I’m heading back up to Madison. The problem has gotten worse.

The computer now cannot find its hard drive about 75% of the time when I start it up. It seems slower and hangs when trying to do (what I assume are) difficult or complex operations. Things like opening a big PDF file or saving something to the hard drive.

So, this time around I’m taking everything that I can along with me. The bluetooth keyboard and mouse are coming with me in case there is a problem there. I’m doubting it but I figure that it is better to be safe.

I hate dealing with computer problems. They are always costly and/or time consuming.

I’m having one of those days where I doubt my urge to write this blog. I mean, is there really any point in it?

Today, I’m finding little point to it. Just another one of those things that takes up time that I could be spending doing other things.

Tomorrow, I may feel differently.

Following on from yesterday, a couple of the important choices that the party has made recently were to not kill their former comrade, Ava, and to also allow Glorian Ironhand to live.

Here is a little more backstory about Ava, since you heard about Glorian yesterday:

Ava was the party’s resident Half-elf Warlock. She drank and had a penchant for the sailors. In a fight she provided artillery support. Six months ago or so, game world time, a minor recurring character known only as The Halfling tried to steal an ancient artifact from the secure vaults of the Alduin Guard. The artifact was the Helm of the Enemy General and the party put a stop to that plan.

To find out what the Helm did, Ava put it on. The Helm corrupted her and merged her personality with that of the General. I think I’ve mentioned this before.

Last week, Ava turned on the party in the midst of a rescue operation. King Brendan, the usurper, had been holding the twin children of his brother Fergus as hostages against Fergus’s good behavior. Hugh Ironhand was concerned that if he (Hugh) were to escape custody that Brendan might freak out and hurt or kill the twins. So, while the party was busy rescuing the twins, Ava decided that it would be the perfect time to stab the party in the back.

As discussed previously, that didn’t go as well as hoped. Luckily, Ava escaped to cause trouble another day.

That brings us to our last session. The party was heading for the Easter Watchtower where they have orders to report when they ran into trouble in Blackbridge. Trouble in the sewers again. Being the good Alduin Guards that they are, they stop to check things out and discover that someone is digging around in the same excavation in the sewers that they thwarted before. Not only that, but the digging has broken through into a secret chamber housing lab equipment and shelves of books.

After fighting through all of the hired thugs, the party finds Ava playing with some scary equipment in a crypt filled with monsters encased in crystalline coccoons. Fighting ensues and the party, eventually victorious, chooses to take her alive (well, some of them).

This gave me warm fuzzies. Despite what Ava had done, at least some members of the party felt enough attachment to Ava to keep her alive rather than just treat her as another monster.

The most important thing that I can do as a GM is make sure that the players have interesting choices to make. In a D&D game, I feel like this is harder to engineer, but it needs to be done, nonetheless.

In the last two sessions of of our D&D game, the players have made some important choices that are going to have some big repercussions. First, they decided that it was high time for them to free Hugh Ironhand, the Commander of the Alduin Guard, and, second, they chose not to kill both Glorian Ironhand and Ava, their corrupted former comrade.

Freeing Hugh was something that I was expecting the party to do eventually, I just didn’t know when. I was thinking that they would be closer to 10th level when they made the attempt, but no, it was 5th. They decided that the Alduin Guard needed Hugh’s direction and leadership.

Hugh was imprisoned by the young usurper King when he took the throne, you see. Brendan, said usurper, grabbed the throne when his father fell ill and he felt that Hugh Ironhand, and by extension the Alduin Guard, would oppose this move. So, of course, Brendan had Hugh arrested.

Unfortunately, for Brendan, the way events fell out Glorian Ironhand was one of his early supporters. It is not 100% clear her reason for doing so but it did make killing Hugh, Glorian’s father, a difficult proposition. So, Hugh ends up imprisoned and Glorian becomes the leader of the King’s Guard, a sort of Alduin Guard wannabe organization. At the same time, the Alduin Guards were all declared to be outlaws and it became Glorian’s job, as a former Alduin Guard, to hunt down her former compatriots.

So, now, nine years after Brendan usurps the throne his nightmare comes true and the Alduin Guard rise up to make trouble for him. I like the classic symmetry there.

This post has already gotten long enough. Maybe I’ll hit you with part two tomorrow or later in the week.

My brain is too busy today. I’ve been trying to settle on something to write about but I feel like there is just too much going on.

Primarily, I’m scheduled to go to the dentist in just a little bit and, of course, I’m not looking forward to that.

To compound things, my iMac is having trouble. It’s been having this problem where it can’t find the hard drive for a few months now. Up to this point, it has been a very sporadic problem. Really, just a minor nuisance. Yesterday, though, it just would not cooperate so it looks like I’m going to have to take it to the Apple store in Madison again to see what they can tell me.

Last time I took it in, we were unable to replicate the problem in the store and the guy couldn’t find anything wrong with it. It will likely be less of a problem this time around. At least, I sure hope so.

And, now that I’ve blogged about these things, my mind is a little more focused.