Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla The Tabletop Roleplaying Game Review

I finally got around to running Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla, a Savage Worlds tabletop roleplaying game from Ravendesk Games and Action Lab Comics, and I really like the game. I would say this is pulp style of Cthulhu but honestly it all depends on your GM style. You could easily run this game in a pulp fashion or a hardcore Lovecraftian Cthulhu style. I had loads of fun running an adventure over the last two weekends even though there were some flaws that I should have anticipated before running it. I think the game I ran started out as a pulp version but by the time we got to the last scene it was more reminiscent of a Cthulhu game where 2 of the 3 player characters died and the last ran away in babbling frenzy of fear. MUWAHAHA!

This 180 page book contains the typical character creation and setting rules along with new edges and hindrances. The first 57 pages contains the player section while the remainder of the book is for the GM's eyes only. Included within are 45 pregenerated Novice characters, 5 Seasoned characters, and 5 Veteran characters. You also get a character sheet, a two page spread of 20's slang, a 10 page bestiary, 6 one sheets, and 5 adventures. As part of the Kickstarter campaign I took part in, I also got an adventure titled A Fistful of Dholes.

The setting book itself is a rather fast read that I enjoyed. In this game the players are part of the Mythos Resistance, a secret organization of people from all walks of life (mostly famous people and celebrities) who are trying to protect John Q Public from the invasion of unnatural beings during the roaring 20's. They "keep the world safe and ignorantly blissful." Cosmic horror and invaders from beyond the stars is what this game is all about. There isn't any magic therefore there are no arcane backgrounds. Saying there isn't magic is a rather broad statement but it doesn't mean there isn't really magic. It just means that if it’s not normal or un-explainable then it’s not natural or "unnatural". There certainly could be magic in your version but in order to maintain the pulpy feel of the game then it should be explained in a way such as weird science rather than magical.

This setting uses the Fear mechanic from the Savage Worlds Deluxe core rulebook with a slight twist. It's up to the GM when a Fear check is called for but it shouldn't be used for anything weird or mysterious. This is more for Cosmic horror or unnatural encounters. "Being surprised by a bear in the woods is natural." Seeing giant 3 foot long worms erupting from a rotting corpse towards you is a Fear check. They also replace the d20 fright table with a 2d6 Cosmic Horror Chart. While you can still use the standard fright table, this new chart changes things up a bit. Most notably by removing the heart attack effect.

If you've already purchased other Cthulhu style games then this book may not be for you. Don't get me wrong, this is a good book but the ideas presented here aren't entirely new. What you're getting are some new edges, hindrances, Tesla tech gear, lots of pregenerated characters, bestiary, and some adventures to run. Having said that, I think it's worth the $24.99 PDF price tag. The artwork is fantastic and looks like it came straight out of the comic books. The style and feel of this game via the artwork, time period, and Tesla inventions are what sets it apart from other Cthulhu games.

I decided to run the Dhole adventure for my friends Blaine, Jamie, and Stephen. As I said before, I had a blast putting my friends in the Mythos Resistance and seeing how they reacted to the situations they were put in. This adventure had two major flaws that I should have caught beforehand. One was a scene where the player characters talk to a condescending university professor as one of the clues they were provided. This scene has way too much information to convey to the players that it almost fell apart halfway through. There's nearly a full page and a half of text that your supposed to read aloud along with a requirement to have them pass a short oral exam of what they just listened to. If they fail the exam then they miss out on some vital information. I should have anticipated this ahead of time and adjusted how the information was conveyed. The second flaw comes in the final scene where the players are supposed to summon an Egyptian demi-god who helps them eliminate the threat. The problem with this is that it turns into an NPC vs NPC encounter taking away any heroic acts of the player characters. I think the right word for this is anticlimactic.

As a side note, I just saw that the characters should have had some equipment that is supposed to be standard issue. The Lightning Pistol is a hand held lightning bolt projector that ignores armor. Oh well, at least I know for next time. Sorry fellas, I'm just a dumb dora that's full of banana oil.

As far as the setting book goes, I'd give it 4 out of 5 Jalizaran Moons. I think the sheer number of pregenerated characters and combination of one sheets and adventures bump it up a notch. The adventure A Fistful of Dholes on the other hand would get 3 out of 5.

P.S. Some friends of mine have a new podcast about the Genesys RPG from Fantasy Flight Games. It's called Finding The Narrative: A Genesys RPG Podcast. The link will take you to Podbean and you can also find them on the Nerds-International Google+ subcategory page. Check it out and you wont be disappointed. 

Nerds-International Google+ community page

Castles & Crusades and the SIEGE engine™

Recently I’ve had a few friends ask me some questions about the SIEGE engine™ so I figured it’s time to write a short description of Castles & Crusades. It’s been a while since I ran a campaign in C&C so I had to delve back into my 6^th printing of the Players Handbook to re-familiarize myself with some of the nuances. For those that have never heard of it before, C&C is a d20 fantasy RPG from Troll Lord Games. It is published under the Open Game License (OGL) derived from the 3.0 System Reference Document, copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

The first question I usually get is what is C&C and that is quickly followed up with what is this SIEGE engine™? My first response is that C&C is a great fantasy game based off of D&D 3.0 system but it has an AD&D feel. I tend to say it’s a fixed version of D&D with an old school feeling. They use a different mechanic to resolve attribute checks called the SIEGE engine™. You start out with your six standard attributes of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. During character creation, the player gets to choose which ones are considered primary and the rest are secondary. When the Castle Keeper (CK) asks a player for a Dexterity check, the player rolls a d20 adds his Dexterity modifier and his level to the roll and then tells the CK whether it is a primary or secondary attribute. The SIEGE engine™ uses Challenge Class (CC) to determine the success or failure and it consists of a Challenge Base (CB) and a Challenge Level (CL). The CB is 12 for primary attributes and 18 for secondary attributes. Then the CK will determines if there are any other CL’s to add to the base number.

Let’s use a 3^rd level gnome assassin as an example. The assassin class requires Dexterity as a primary attribute. This assassin is attempting to disable a trapped lock on a treasure chest. He rolls a 9 on the d20 then adds his +2 Dexterity modifier for his ability score of 16. Now he adds his level to the roll giving him a total of 14 and tells the CK he rolled a 14 primary. The CK will then figure out the CC of the trapped lock. The CB is 12 for primary abilities and since the lock was prepared by a 2^nd level rogue the CL is 2 for a total CC of 14. Success! The gnome has unlocked the treasure chest without setting off the poisoned dart trap. We can use this same example but substitute the gnome assassin for a 3^rd level human fighter to try to pick the same lock. The fighter rolls a 16 on the d20 then adds his 0 Dexterity modifier and his level of 3 for a total of 19. Since Dexterity is not a primary attribute for the fighter he tells the CK that he rolled a 19 secondary. The CB is now 18 for secondary attributes plus 2 for the level of the rogue who set the trap. So now the CC changes to 20 for this same lock. The fighter fails and now needs to make a Constitution save for the poison.

Each character class tells you one attribute that must be primary then the player chooses which of the rest will be primary. Humans get a total of 3 primary attributes and the rest of the races only get 2. This is most likely to offset the fact that other races get special abilities and attribute modifiers. Also of note is the table for modifiers which is different from D&D. In C&C an attribute score of 9-12 has a 0 modifier whereas D&D ability scores of 10-11 have a 0 modifier.

Ever since I played in Tyler Morrison’s C&C game at Gary Con VII, I’ve been hooked. When I got back my local group started playing and I was able to CK for close to a year. One of the complaints I heard from people online was about the illusionist’s ability to heal others. I never had a problem with this because I think it makes sense. Let’s think about this for a minute. The character is casting an illusion. Some people argue that an illusion can’t heal a person and they can’t grasp the concept that if a person truly believes that they’ve been healed, then they have been healed. If you truly believe with all of your conviction that something has happened then to you it actually did happen. When a person tells a tall tale to a group and continually tells the same story time and time again. Eventually that person will truly believe the story they tell was a factual event. The illusionist’s ability to heal is similar to this. If you still can’t come to grips with this concept, then just think of it as FM. This is a Fantasy Role Playing Game get over it.

Nerds-International Google+ community page