Year In Review

Last New Year's, I made a resolution to both complete and share some of my gaming projects in the coming year. While my output has certainly varied over the year, with the establishment of this blog and the numerous projects I've posted about thus far, I would definitely say I have succeeded. The end of the year being an excellent time for such things, I want to briefly look back over what I've done this year and look forward to next year's projects.

Morrowind Mod: Vil's Indarys Manor

Indarys Manor, lower hall.

This week, I put the finishing touches on my long-overdue Morrowind mod, Vil's Indarys Manor. In the course of the game, you have the option to join one of the great Dunmer (dark elf) Houses and eventually build a personal stronghold. However, I was never fully satisfied with Indarys Manor, the stronghold of my favorite House Redoran. Several Indarys mods existed at the time, but none were to my taste, most of them expanding the manor into a mansion rivaling those of the House leaders in Ald'ruhn. My aim was to create a more tasteful expansion, acknowledging that it is a military outpost first and a manor second.

RPG Superstar 2015

Voting for RPG Superstar 2015 starts today. For those unfamiliar with it, RPG Superstar is a Pathfinder design contest hosted annually by Paizo Publishing for the past eight years. Entrants face a series of design challenges with the winner selected by public vote; the winner receives a contract to write a module-length adventure for Paizo, and the three runners-up receive smaller contracts. The contest attracts a tremendous amount of game design talent, and numerous previous winners and contestants have gone on to successful freelance careers.

Traditionally, the opening round has featured an open call for a wondrous item, the catch-all category for magic items other than weapons, armor, rings, and spellcasting implements. Voters are shown two anonymous entries at a time and have the option of voting for either item or neither. Once voting has concluded, the contest judges pick the best 32 of the 64 items with the most votes, and then the contest proper begins.

This year, the judges have decided to increase the difficulty of the design challenges, starting with the Open Call itself. With only a week between the contest announcement and the submission deadline, contestants were informed that the first round this year would not be wondrous items, but instead would be the contestant's choice of a magical armor, weapon, ring, rod, or staff. The subsequent rounds will be to design a map (also new this year), a monster with stats, an encounter with a map (the map likely drawn from the earlier round), and finally an adventure proposal for final voting.

After many years as a voter and several additional years where I talked myself out of it, I have entered the contest this year. As the first round is anonymous, I can't share my entry just yet, but I encourage everyone to vote on some items if you find yourself with free time over the holidays! First round voting begins today and continues through January 13th.

CAV 2.M Preview 2

The blog went quiet for a little while there but I'm back, with some major project milestones coming up. Work on CAV 2.M in particular is progressing well, and this week I thought I'd discuss the process of rectifying discrepancies between CAV 1, CAV 2, and my design goals for CAV 2.M.

There are three main sources of information on models in the CAV universe. The first two are their in-game statistics from the two editions of the game. Having never played CAV 1, and given the changes between the editions, the CAV 1 data cards are rarely helpful. The CAV 2 data cards are my baseline for in-game stats, but provide next to no extra information on the model.  Far more useful are the Journals of Recognition (JoRs), two softcover supplements printed for CAV 1 which provide 1-2 pages of history and backstory for each model in the game at the time. Unfortunately, there are numerous discrepancies both within the JoRs, between the JoRs and the second edition data cards, and within the second edition data cards. As I had to make adjustments to many data cards in any case, I decided to address as many of these issues as possible.

Computer Games: My Top Ten

Work continues on my major projects but there's nothing to show just yet, so today I thought I'd share a few of my favorite computer games. Computer games were my introduction to gaming; while I have certainly branched out since my early days playing Age of Empires and Starcraft, they remain my go-to when I can't find a group for tabletop games. While I tend to default towards strategy and role-playing games, the designer in me will check out anything with innovative mechanics or an interesting setting. Replay value is also an important factor for me, as it means you can enjoy the best games for longer.

CAV 2.M Preview

As I mentioned previously, I have been working on an unofficial update to the CAV 2 rules which builds on the unfinished version 1.3 errata. The project is called CAV 2.M for Mil-Net, as they are the original source of the changes and have been invaluable through the development process. The intention of CAV 2.M is to address a number of known weaknesses in the CAV 2 ruleset, to diversify the different weapon types, and to provide an improved rulebook that is easy to reference. I'm hard at work tweaking the new data cards and abilities, but wanted to offer a quick preview of what's to come.

Pathfinder: Ride and Grapple Reference

The rules for grappling and mounted combat in Pathfinder are often less than clear. While an improvement over D&D 3.5, grappling is still presented in a confusing manner which often leads players and GMs to avoid using it entirely. To remedy this, I wrote the following guide for one of my home games several years ago. While it was tempting to streamline the rules further, I stuck with the rules as written here. If formatted in columns, it should fit on a single page for convenient reference.

CAV: Combat Assault Vehicle

KDM Jaguar CAV, painted by Kyle Killingsworth

CAV (Combat Assault Vehicle, the mecha which dominate the battlefield of the 23rd century) is a science-fiction miniature wargame produced by Reaper Miniatures. I absolutely love this game: the associated models are outstanding, with a unique and consistent aesthetic; it has a great setting; and the second edition rules have an elegant simplicity which belies the complexity achieved in play. Gameplay is quick, allowing for dozens of models per side (unlike a certain better-known mecha game), and supports a combined arms approach where vehicles, infantry, and aircraft also have important roles to play.

I'll be posting a variety of CAV content in the future, but first, I wanted to share what I know of the (somewhat turbulent) history of the game. I should note that the only edition I have actually played is CAV Second Edition, released in 2007. My knowledge of the original game is gathered from posts on the Mil-Net and Reaper message boards, as well as personal accounts of long-time players.

Pathfinder Monster: Warpstar

To complement the recently released interview from the Here Be Monsters contest, I wanted to take another pass at the Warpstar following the feedback from the judges and voters.

Vil's Game Improvements: Total War Shogun 2

As this is my first post regarding computer game modding, some background is probably in order. My introduction to modding came with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. I'd come back to the game after experiencing disappointment with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and started by downloading some mods to improve the graphics and gameplay. One thing led to another, and inside of a week I was designing my own mods for Morrowind and other games.

Pathfinder Race: Stoneborn

The stoneborn are a race that I developed for use in my home setting. Though they share some features with the archetypal fantasy dwarf, my goal was to emphasize their non-humanity, encouraging players to think beyond "short bearded human". While they could be used side-by-side, I would generally recommend choosing one or the other given their mechanical similarities. 

Stoneborn

Literally carved from rock and imbued with life by a mysterious gemstone, stoneborn are an enigma to the other mortal races. They are known as vicious protectors of their underground cities and frequent wanderers, though they are often reluctant to give a reason why.

Welcome to Vil's Workshop!

Hello, and welcome to Vil's Workshop! After my recent selection as a finalist in A Sword For Hire's Here Be Monsters contest, I decided to start this blog to serve as a central location for sharing my gaming projects. I'll be posting on a variety of topics including, but almost certainly not limited to:

-content for the Pathfinder RPG

-design work on my home RPG setting and rules

-design work on CAV 2 (sci-fi tabletop wargame by Reaper Miniatures)

-painted and kitbashed miniatures

-battle reports and reviews

-mods for TESIII: Morrowind, TESV: Skyrim, and Shogun II: Total War

I'm excited to finally share some of these projects, and I hope you find them fun and useful!