However, never one to let good sense be my guide, I kept working on the darn thing, and finally finished it. Thus, I give you XVI Troop, a free 16-page adventure setting guide for old-school D&D (or compatible rules). I've uploaded the PDF file to Google Docs, or whatever they're calling it now, at this URL. I've also modified the top bar of this blog to collect together all of the "Free RPG adventures" that I've produced and am distributing, well, for freeee.Fans of a certain moldy old TV show will no doubt groan at my punnish title. But the idea of an out-of-the-way army fort -- with lax military discipline and too much fraternization with the natives -- was too irresistible not to adapt to the wilds of northern Britain (just beneath Hadrian's Wall) circa 140 AD. What I've put together has a bit of a mini-gazetteer for this fort and its environs, a bit of detail on how to adjust D&D character generation to give your fictional alter egos some ancient Roman flavor, and a bit of help for the Dungeon Master in coming up with interesting scenarios, events, and non-player characters.
As a teaser, here's a table of Roman character quirks that will surely get the "Life of Brian" jokes running fast and loose...
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I've been meaning to mention this for a while: I don't groan at puns. Many moons and posts ago, we were discussing my distaste for Piers Anthony's execution and it was not inspired by his excessive use of puns but because of the (cue phasing out of focus at the introduction of overused phrase)objectification of female characters.
ReplyDeleteI have since come to recognize that, decades ago, he was certainly not the only sci-fi author who could be charged with as much.
Okay, tangent. All to say, I like punnish titles. (Quite a lot.)
I'm sure punster purists wouldn't call my "XVI Troop" an official pun, but it's probably some other subspecies of wordplay that is similarly looked down upon... :-)
DeleteI remember very little about the Piers Anthony's Xanth books other than the puns, but the "point and giggle" approach to anything regarding women in sci-fi/fantasy is hopefully going the way of the dodo.
(I think this was a failing of Asimov's, too... you mentioned wanting to put The End of Eternity at the top of your reading queue. Lots of neat ideas therein, but I do dimly recall a female character that could be considered a forerunner of Felicity Shagwell...)
One of the funnest surprises of my teens was running into Larry Storch (Agarn) at an outdoor shopping mall in 1966. Glad to see you making good use of that old show and its gentle humor.
ReplyDeleteGeo and Agarn... I can just imagine what trouble you two would've gotten into at Fort Courage! :-)
DeleteThis is cool and useful, thank you. As someone living in the shadow of Hadrian's Wall, it's probably somewhat accurate from what I've read :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I did take a quick look at Google Maps to make sure I wasn't too far off with my "environs" map. In satellite view, the outline of the fort itself looks different from the Badecker's diagram that I copied and pasted. I think that multiple forts were built on that location over the centuries. In any case, reality should sometimes take a back seat to game-ability...
DeleteThis is good stuff! A lot of flavour (love the Roman Names Generator) and the right kind of funny. I'd go Hogan's Heroes with this and mix in some Asterix. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteThanks, JD. I never read Asterix, but I suspected it would be reminiscent.
ReplyDelete"Sirty days in zee cooler!"
Made this into a booklet!
ReplyDeletehttp://rendedpress.blogspot.com/2013/03/sotue-roman-f-troop-adventures.html
Very cool... and thanks! I am so in love with the DIY mindset and aesthetic of the old-school gaming community.
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