Pathfinder E6 - Fitting The World To The System

So, I've mentioned the E6 idea before.

For those of you not in the know, E6 is "the game inside 3.5". Players can advance to levels 6, and after that, gain feats instead of further levels.

It keeps casters toned down, lets martial characters shine, and generally keeps the game at a sweet spot where everyone can contribute without the need for ridiculous amounts of magic gear and optimisation.

It removes some of the "zero to hero" charm of D&D, but it also brings forth the gritty nature of the lower levels. There's little in the way of resurrection, or city-levelling spells, or even planar travel. Things are just... Lower scale.

And as such, you can't just throw an E6 game into any old setting. Many have high-level NPCs running around, well-developed cosmologies that you can visit, and scads of ridiculously overpowered villains hovering around. Eberron is probably the closest match for E6, although Ravenloft would work really well too. Planescape... Maybe. It would take a lot of weird jumps and fits to manage it, but hey - that's Planescape in a nutshell, really.

The Forgotten Realms is right out.

So, in my mind, the best setting is one which takes the lowered level cap and grittiness of the rules and makes them integral to itself - a land based not on the assumption of super-powered murderhobos, but where even the greatest warriors can be knifed to death in an alleyway, where wizards can murder a village but are next to useless against an army, where dragons are A Big Fucking Deal.

I plan on making a setting on the blog, talking about various techniques you can use to tailor settings to mechanics and how I plan on doing low-fantasy Pathfinder.

Stay tuned for more this week!

TRIGGER WARNING: Tomb of Horrors

During the time that I was absent from blogging, I managed to have a holiday! And on that holiday, I picked up something dark and terrible...

Dungeons of Dread - a reprint of four classic AD&D dungeons, including the infamous Tomb of Horrors.

And, for some god-awful reason, the girlfriend decided she wanted to try and solo it.

Acerak have mercy on her soul.

PROTIP: He won't.

Once More Into The Breach...

So, once again I take a break from blogging...

I've had a lot going on, and, sadly, the blog is one of those things that sucks up time and can be easily forgotten when everything goes to pot.

That changes now things are settled down!

For a start, I'll try to stick to a more stick-to-able schedule than every (other) day as I've attempted previously. Work and life do get the better of me sometimes, and once you miss your first deadline, it's easy to justify missing more and more.

Second thing - I'll stick with one (maybe two) projects at a time. I have a bad case of Gamer ADD, always jumping from one thing to the next without finishing anything. Hopefully going to avoid that this time around.

30 Day D&D Challenge: Day 1: How I Got Started

To remind you:

 I guess my first exposure to D&D came from two sources - firstly, the D&D cartoon being rerun on British TV in the early 90s.

I think I must have been pretty young when I saw it - there's even a chance I caught it in the very late 80's, but I would have been well under 5 - so my memories of it are admittedly spotty. But I remember the Dungeon Master being creepy, Tiamat as a massive 5-headed dragon, and Presto the Hapless Wizard. It mus have started something, because I was in love with everything fantasy after it. From Willow to Legend to Pirates of the Dark Water, right up until the Big One - reading The Hobbit a the age of 10. I never looked back.

As for the second source, my older cousin was pretty big on D&D. I remember him running a game for me when I was too young to really comprehend what was happening (I suspect under 2e rules), possibly allowing me a seat in one of his group's games. One thing I do remember, however, was the Monster Manual.

As I said earlier, I soaked up sci-fi and fantasy like a sponge. I especially loved monsters - one of my most treasured possessions for many years was Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials, which I got at a car boot sale for about 50p and read 'till the hardback covering fell right off. And, having eagerly read my way through it, I was looking for more.

So, I flicked through my cousin's Monster Manuals. Judging by what little I remember of the artwork, it was one of those 2e Folios. Looking back on it now, I have no idea how I would have understood any of it - between Hit Dice, THACO, and a million other factors. But reading about the physiology, ecology and weird and wonderful special abilities of these creatures filled me with the same wonder I felt holding that precious field guide to the wonders of space.

Sadly, it wouldn't be until I was in my late teens that I began gaming in earnest. I fiddled about with 3.5, running a few spotty games for friends.

And so began my misadventures I chronicle here...

30 Day D&D Challenge: I Heard There Was A Bandwagon...

... and, in the interests of getting myself back into writing regular updates, I am jumping right on his one!

For those of you who don't know...

So I have a few days catchup to do...