Ravenpenny

Ravens N' Pennies: Gamemaster's Guidepost: Ritual Mass Combat

Today is Patreon Day, the day I say "thank you" to those who help to support me there. When asked what they wanted one of my patrons replied "What about Ritual Path Magic and Mass Combat?" Seeing as I playtested both books pretty extensively I had to write this post. Ritual Path Magic is ideal for battles as I go into in the post. Read on to see how you can combine Mass Combat and Ritual Path Magic into a workable whole. 2014-06-21 21:35:24 +0000 UTC View Post

Ravens N' Pennies: Assembly Required: Development Step Two - Campaign Parameters

Slightly late - but still posted! Our second installment of Assembly Required talks about campaign parameters and how they can work for you, instead of against you. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/06/assembly-required-development-step-two.html#.U6UpMfldWtI

Ravens N' Pennies: Triple Threat - Tetramental

Earth, Wind, Fire - all that stuff - it's a elemental of many talents and it wants to freeze, burn, bury, and electrocute you all at once - it's friendly that way.Toss this schizophrenic elemental at your players and watch the crazy ensue. Written up by our very own Antoni Ten Monrós - I'm just providing the vehicle for its publication. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/06/triple...

Ravens N' Pennies: Gamemaster's Guidepost: Master of None

Every skill for every man - that's what I always say...wait, what do I always say? Ignore that gobbledygook and pay attention, you ever have a character who was omni-competent? Could do damn near anything? I love those types of characters. In this installment of Gamemaster's Guidepost I talk about playing a Jack of All Trades and what traits you might need. http://ravensnpenn...

Ravens N' Pennies: Pyramid Mentoring Group, Year 1 Final Report

My end of the year report for how my grand experiment in teaching others how to write went - in short - not bad, not bad at all. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/06/pyramid-mentoring-group-year-1-final.html

Saturday the 21st is Patron Day - what would you guys like to see me cover on my blog for that day?

Today I'm talking about kung fu today and how to make it better than your target's. Inspired by a forum post I poke around a few ideas, codify a new trait, and offer up a couple of optional rules for it. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/06/melee-academy-martial-arts-training.html

Ravens N' Pennies: Triple Threat - Hedleyspawn

I've been through the wringer the last few days. First I rescued a kitten from a engine block Sunday (and then adopted him). Then last night I ended up in the ER and got multiple steroid shots in the mouth for my rapidly swelling throat. More strep/tonsillitis issues. Wee. But fear not! I have delivered unto you these 4! Errr 3, write-ups for a semi-unique creature: the spawn of the Hedleykow. That's right, I'm going to be doing a lot of demons and fae and other oddities for Triple Threats for t...

Ravens N' Pennies: Assembly Required: Development Step One - Campaign Foundation

So how do you start a campaign? Do you just dive in? Do you prep prep prep? I got a couple of ideas I'd like to share... http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/06/assembly-required-development-step-one.html#.U5H15_ldUW4

Ravens N' Pennies: Assembly Required: Inaugural Post

Creating a campaign setting can be difficult, creating a reusable can be even harder. In this new blog series I'm going to talk about my personal process when it comes to creating a campaign and provide examples of how it's done - or at least how I do it. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/06/assembly-required-inaugural-post.html

Ravens N' Pennies: Gamemaster's Guidepost: Magical Items From Cinema Part I

Sometimes you need a magical item in the middle of a game, and you don't have it written up. So what do you do? Like any good GM, you steal it from something your players have seen before "Yeah. It's a sword that's like X, from Y. Yeah, it can do Z." Bam. Instant magic item - now to file the serial numbers off. In what might become it's own series I detail not one, not two, but THREE popular supernatural objects from cinema. 2014-06-03 18:48:28 +0000 UTC View Post

Ravens N' Pennies: Triple Threat - Leprechaun

If you talk about taking his lucky charms, he will kneecap you. This ain't no fairy tale and he doesn't pinch you because you aren't wearing green. Leprechauns are nasty, mean buggers that are more than happy to spit on you as they are look at you. Imagine you have this irate most-times drunk uncle. Then give your uncle a job he hates. Not just hates...but despises to the point of homicidal rage. Give that uncle a walking stick that can brain even a grown man, and you get a leprechaun. 2014-06-01 21:31:18 +0000 UTC View Post

Ravens N' Pennies: Designer's Notes - Alternative Ritual Path Magic

Sometimes, you write the article, sometimes the article writes you. I ponder on the half-mad state Alternative Ritual Path Magic left me in, what made it in, what didn't, who helped me along (and there were many of you! Thank you again), and how to create a sense-based ritual path magic spell. http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/05/designers-notes-alternative-ritual-pa...

Warehouse 23 - Pyramid #3/67: Tools of the Trade - Villains

My latest Pyramid offering is out. It's excellent overall...but my article shows you how to sell your soul in GURPS terms...I mean...c'mon, you're not USING it are you? Go buy and rate my article in this month's Pyramid! Tell'em C. R. sent ya! http://www.warehouse23.com/products/pyramid-number-3-slash-67-tools-of-the-trade-villains

Ravens N' Pennies: Triple Threat - Bodach

When we are little we instinctively fear the dark. There is something about the shadowy places in our homes that scare us even as adults. Now, science will tell you that we evolved this instinct because in the dark was were predators were...but what if it's more than that? What if a childhood fear of the dark is because something lurks there? Something hateful. Something cruel that despises the light and wants to make us just like it... In today's Triple Threat I take on the legendary boogeymen ...

Ravens N' Pennies: Gamemaster's Guidepost: Starting Point Totals, Part Deux

Write up a GURPS character they said, it'll be fun, we'll have a few laughs... Sigh. I know. Point totals again. When will he ever shut up about it? Probably never - it's important and a pitfall I see GMs fall into all the time. This time, I've got a example - I write up John McClane from the Die Hard movie series up as a GURPS character... http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/...

Guys, if you have any topics you want me to cover, let me know. I'm in search of some blog topics.

Ravens N' Pennies: GURPS101: Magical Styles - Spellslinger

Sometimes, you need gun. Other times, you need a spell. Occasionally, you need both. What's better than hurling a fireball at a foe? Shooting him in the face and then hitting him with a fireball. That's right, you can have your cake and eat it too (Dresden aside, of course). In this weeks "GURPS101" (more like a 301) I talk about a magical style from my upcoming campaign that melds gun fu and magic in one seamless, stylish package.With stats for both basic GURPS magic and Ritual Path Magic, what...

Ravens N' Pennies: Gamemaster's Guidepost: I Know a Guy Who Knows a Guy

You know the character type. He knows a "guy" who knows a "guy." He's got friends in every city and every walk of life, and everyone bloody well owes him a favor. He's the face man, but he's also the fixer. He can find the guy you need for the job or the diamond-tipped industrial drill at 3 in the morning. In this week's Gamemaster's Guidepost I talk about Contacts, Contact Groups, and new options for being that "guy who knows a guy." 2014-05-13 20:16:36 +0000 UTC View Post

Ravens N' Pennies: Triple Threat - Rat-Thing Swarm

Rat-Things are scary enough as is...but get a half dozen together plus hundreds of normal rats and you have pure nightmare fuel. It gets worse when the little bastards are smart enough to cast spells and draw on the horde of vermin to power said magic... http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/05/triple-threat-rat-thing-swarm.html

Ravens N' Pennies: Designer's Notes: The Old Ways

When I write Pyramid articles I damn near always have extra - that's just the nature of the beast (for me at least). Sometimes I recycle my extras into other articles or even flesh them out more fully so they can become articles entire...but a lot of the time I just have orphan rules and crunch who just need a good home. In this edition of Designer's Notes I talk about my article "The Old Ways," how it came about, what I cut, and where I was in my headspace when I wrote it... 2014-05-08 04:40:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Ravens N' Pennies: Triple Threat - Wraith

A creature from my nightmares (literally)... A victim and abuser all in one, the wraith is a doomed creature that is forced to live on the life force of other beings, craving it like a drug - it fiends for the addictive rush of draining another being to death and dust. What's worse is that other supernatural leeching powers used on a wraith can contaminate the host and turn him into a wraith as well! 2014-05-08 04:29:12 +0000 UTC View Post

Ravens N' Pennies: Melee Academy: Using Magic to Target Hit Locations

Sometimes, you just need to hurt somebody a little. Not much, just incapacitate them in some way. Maybe you need to disable them or make it impossible for them to do something with their hands. Whatever the reason, it's fairly straightforward to do this in a "mundane" way - you attack whatever body part and go from there...but what about magic? This week's blog post answers that very question... 2014-05-01 21:34:33 +0000 UTC View Post

GURPS101: Spell Kit's For Casters: The Necromancer

When you're a necromancer you don't need friends because you can *make* them. But being a lord of the dead can get lonely, so eventually you're going to need to make some living friends so that you can impress them with your all-powerful control over life and death. This week's Spell Kits For Caster's showcases how to make friends, influence people, and destroy their souls when they don't agree with you. 2014-04-29 04:03:22 +0000 UTC View Post

Gamemaster's Guidepost: Character Point Debt

I ponder over how point debt can be used, when it should be used, and how to prevent abuses by players. The whole point of calling it point debt after all is the idea that you're going to pay it back... http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/04/gamemasters-guidepost-character-point.html

Gamemaster's Guidepost: Ritual Path Magic, Wishes, and Permanently Granted Traits

Wishes...they can be the life long quest of a player character or NPC. They ought to let you do anything...but sometimes have rules (you can't bring back the dead, you can't kill anyone, and you can't make anyone fall in love...and no wishing for more wishes! What about wishing I could wish for more wishes?). In most magic systems there is a way to do this. Inspired by a posts by Peter Dell'Orto. Today I sit down to ruminate over how this might look in Ritual Path Magic by looking at the way Dun...

GURPS101: Beginner's Ritual Path Magic

New blog post is up (http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/04/gurps101-beginners-ritual-path-magic.html#.U1CK01dgykg) Are you seeking to add more complexity to Ritual Path magic in your campaign? Maybe just don't want the added complexity of truly free form spellwork - but like how Ritual Path magic works so you create a set spell list...well who invented those spells? ...

Okay! I'm back. Feeling a ton better. Travis, I flipped a coin, you decide what you want this month on my blog. Keep it fairly general if you will (e.g., something about magic, something about guns) while I get back into the stride of things. Though if you do have a cool idea, post away and let me know. Message me with your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you again for your patronage! :-D

Ugh. I've gotten a very nasty flu bug - been waylayed. I plan do do a update soon and one of you guys (I'll flip a coin) gets to pick a topic you'd like me to cover for the month of April. Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon. Thank you for your continued support! ~C. R.

Blog Entry: Designer's Notes - The Making of “Team Up!”

On this fine GURPS-day, I, along with my recent co-author, ruminate on our release in this month's Pyramid. How did this article come to be? How did we write it? Did we cut anything? Find out all that and more in this week's exciting edition of IT CAME FROM THE RAVENPENNY BLOG! (http://ravensnpennies.blogspot.com/2014/03/designers-notes-making-of-team-up.html#.UzSmI1f7F9s)