Lore and Legends of the Dezzyverse
A Gaming Blog from the Cubicle of Solitude
Category: Uncategorized
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Adapting the Classic FASA Trek Campaign Setting There is a sector of space in the old FASA Star Trek tabletop RPG game that rests where the United Federation of Planets, Klingon Empire and Romulan Star Empire meet. It is a collection of hundreds of inhabited systems independent of control from any of the three major…
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..and Eldritch Suns Years ago just after the third Pirates of the Carribean movie, I was inspired to design a Spelljammer setting. I called it “Eldritch Suns” and it used a lot of the worldbuilding from Disney’s Treasure Planet. Solar sails, magic cannon, wheellock pistols and cutlasses. Like Treasure Planet, the setting would take 75%…
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Space is BIG One common quirk of science-fiction roleplaying, whether it be Traveller, Star Trek, or Battletech is that the Universe starts to seem rather small. The characters jump from world to world having adventures but they only stay as long as the adventure lasts. Once the adventure is done, they’re back on their ship…
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When your friends are close enough to get singed From it’s wargaming roots, D&D has allowed Area of Effect attacks to split fighters in melee with one another. The phrase “I cast the fireball to hit the monster but not my friends” has been around since the beginning. Precisely measuring out squares or inches on…
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Making Failure less Frustrating There are nights when the dice just hate everyone at the table. Except the DM. Players can’t roll above a 6 and their characters can’t accomplish even the simplest task. Nothing happens and the characters are stuck. The only door blocking their path can’t be opened, the speed-bump combat becomes a…
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Adapting early D&D Adventures One of my favorite old adventures for D&D is Palace of the Silver Princess by Jean Wells (and re-written by Tom Moldvay). I want to focus on Jean’s adventure, because it is really good and introduces a role-playing element that was missing for those first half-dozen years of D&D, a story.…
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More Dezzy’s House Rules for D&D Alignment is an artifact of the earliest days of D&D. According to legend, Gary Gygax adopted the mechanic after the players in those early campaigns kept lying, cheating, and murdering one another (and the nearby town) to get treasure and magic items. Alignment was also inspired by Moorcock’s Eternal…
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I know, right now, you can’t tell …with apologies to Matchbox 20 for using their lyrics in my title. I was introduced to Call of Cthulhu right after Dungeons and Dragons. My friends and I had all sorts of those thin little boxed editions from Chaosium back in the 80s. The Sanity mechanic they pioneered…
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Veiling our crimes behind a smiling historical mask I’m designing an Underdark adventure. It’s deep below the surface of the world, closer to the wicked empires of Dark Elves, Grey Dwarves, Mind Flayers and Kuo-Toa. In the setting for this adventure, there is a settlement. A small semi-permanent collection of structures and tents that’s grown…
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The difference between Treasure and Money Your characters have done it! You’ve journeyed deep into the earth below the ruined castle. Overcame traps and foes alike, solved ancient puzzles, and killed the Great Beast in it’s lair. Your characters gaze over the accumulated wealth of centuries, jewels and coin and gemstones. Your hirelings start scooping…
Lore and Legends of the Dezzyverse 