I am busy working on the first few chapters of my upcoming Swords Against the Outer Dark Labyrinth Lord Supplement, and I thought it would be interesting to go ahead and share a tentative table of contents for the book. Here is what I have so far:
0 - Statement
1 - System
2 - Sword
3 - Sorcery
4 - Sanity
5 - Secrets
6 - Servitors
7 - Setting
And now for a quick breakdown of what each chapter will have to offer:
- Statement - this is your basic introductory chapter. I discuss a few personal things, like why I wrote the book in the first place. I also discuss what exactly Sword & Sanity style roleplaying is. There will be explanations about compatibility with Labyrinth Lord, and also what is considered Open Game Content and what is not.
- System - obviously this chapter will deal with the game system itself. As stated before, I am keeping things as close to Advanced Labyrinth Lord as possible, but there will be quite a few options I will include that should help capture a true Sword & Sorcery feel in the game. Character creation and changes made to the core Labyrinth Lord game mechanics are dealt with in this chapter.
- Sword - this chapter deals with combat. I will include combat variations such as fighting styles, damage per weapon type and critical hit rules.
- Sorcery - obviously this is the magic chapter in the book. I will be leaning heavily on my interpretation of Aklo for the design of what I feel is a very genuine Lovecraftian style magic system. I will also cover magic items, tome and scroll use and making pacts with alien entities.
- Sanity - this chapter will deal with insanity, fear and the supernatural, and how to use these effects during gameplay.
- Secrets - this chapter will speak directly to the game master (Labyrinth Lord) with what I hope will be helpful advice and direction on how to run a Sword & Sanity campaign.
- Servitors - this is the monster chapter for the book. Nuff said...
- Setting - this chapter will take everything I have presented in previous chapters and pull it all together in a sample setting. More than likely this will be structured to something very much like The Keep on the Borderlands, so it can be used as an introductory adventure and also built upon for further campaigning if needed.
9 comments:
I should also mention that I am considering a chapter called Science, which will deal with strange/alien technology and take a very extremely advanced technology equals magic slant. Time willing I will pack this book full of cool stuff!
I really like the idea of this book. Not to be dense but how will this compare with Lamentations of the Flame Princess? I realize first of all that it's a LL supplement instead of it's own game but one of the things that I've wondered about how your work will compare with James Raggi's. More weird and science? Less horror?
@ghostofmarx - I think this is a fair question. I have to say that I have followed Jim's blog from the day I decided to create Swords Against the Outer Dark. I believe Jim was one of my first five followers as well. His approach to fantasy gaming and mine are pretty damn close, and I admire and respect him for all his efforts. The modules he has published have been top notch, and I respect Jim for the level of quality he has put forth with his products.
As for the comparison between Jim's Weird Fantasy RPG and my Sword & Sanity RPG, I can honestly say, I do not have a clue. I have purposely avoided downloading his free version of the game, and I have not seen the retail version except for the photos that can be found around the 'net. I am sure there will be many parallels with our two games, as I am sure there will be differences as well. Both are steeped in old-school fantasy gaming. Both are heavily influenced by Weird Fiction. Jim has designed a game that will stand on its own, while my game manual is being designed to be a companion for Advanced Labyrinth Lord.
The two main influences that I draw upon for my book will be Sword & Sorcery fiction and the Cthulhu Mythos. I think this fact is obvious from my blog. I do not get this vibe from LotFPRPG. I believe I am taking a much stricter approach and staying as close to my source material as possible. For instance, I do not use demi-humans in my game. I feel Sword & Sorcery as well as Weird Fiction relies on the fact that the heroes are human (or a variance of). This allows for the truly fantastic elements of the story to be that much more fantastic.
Also, my approach to magic is very different than seen in traditional D&D/Labyrinth Lord. Basically, magic is insidious and ultimately destructive. Everyone in the game has an opportunity to delve into the arcane arts, which makes it even more insidious, because everyone can be corrupted by it. Spells/rituals can be viewed as elaborate blueprints, and if you have all the needed elements to fulfill that blueprint then you can cast that spell.
Over time I will share more about this project, so I will leave it up to the gaming community at large to compare the two games.
Thanks for the response. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do! Best wishes.
Hey Shane,
I'm excited as Hell about this project. I'm glad to see that you are considering adding alien science, which is something I think is a must-have for a Lovecraft-inspired game. If you're going to have mythos creatures then you've got to have weird tech.
I also can't wait to see what you do with the magic system; very few sword & sorcery games have a magic system that is as dark as it should be, nor includes mechanics for human sacrifice and pacts.
Needless to say, I'll be buying my copy as soon as it's done. Consider this my pre pre-order!
Cheers,
Sean
@Sean - I did not expect to hear from you for another week or so, because of your trip. I can always count on you for words of encouragement. Thanks man, it means a lot!
I think you and Raggi have different enough takes on similar material that this will be a welcome addition. The Lovecraftian magic system alone has me intrigued enough to want this.
When I ran my 2nd edition game in the early nineties, I was also a player of CoC. Much as I did with such disparate elements as Zelazny's Amber, Tolkien, and Robert Asprin, I poured Cthuliana into my campaign, consequently spilling a proportionate amount of sanity.
I and my players enjoyed it immensely, and I can't wait to see Lovecraftian concepts applied to LL. My greatest challenge was the adaptation of entities. Should they be as formidable to S&S characters as to their CoC counterparts? I decided on cutting a fine line and answering yes to some, no to others. I am particularly excited to see how you deal with this conundrum!
Man, I've been out of the loop for a couple of months, but I'm definitely looking forward to this one. Anxiously awaiting. :D
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