Variants – Mixing it up: Alchemy

Essentially, I added an alchemy system to beef up Mages and other casters so they would have more to do at low levels. In my own mind, there is a real difference in herbalism, ancient chemistry, poison making and actual historical Alchemy, but I congealed them into one blob so that the list of things you could make would be more extensive. I stole freely from many systems that utilize herbalism, without taking too much from any one thing directly. There are a couple of fan net books for AD&D 2^nd edition that I draw from, as well as Rolemaster’s herbalism, the Bard Games version and some others.

Basically, a player learns a recipe, which once learned, he or she never forgets. Once you know the recipe, have the ingredients and proper laboratory, and finally expend the time necessary, you can make the product.

Here’s a list of recipes, some from Irtaxes’Grimiore that I discussed yesterday, and some that my players have learned since. 

In these entries, you will note a level requirement; this refers to the level of character (usually mage). This is the only limit to recipes; you must be of sufficient level to be able to understand the recipe and use it. You will also note that that some requirements are very specific ingredients, while others are quite generic, this allows some flexibility in determining how easy it is to create certain recipes.  

A Basic laboratory requires 250 gp and weighs 20 lbs. It may be transported, and takes two hours to set up and break down. It consists of beakers, tubes, lamps, wire and metal apparatuses, along with common reagents.

An Advanced laboratory costs 1000 gp, and has the same basic equipment as a basic laboratory, but requires a 10’ by 10’ ft area protected from the elements, and is not portable. There is more equipment, which also more diverse and sophisticated, such as the alembic and athanor.

Creation times refer to a total amount of time to prepare, which is invariable. The creator need only spend 6-8 hours per day required on labor, however.

Snake Venom Antidote

Level: Alchemy, 1^st Level

Form: Greenish potion

Ingredients:  1 Giant Snake Venom pouch or 1 dozen normal viper or adder venom pouches.

Creation: 2 days

Requires: Basic laboratory

Effect: If drunk or poured down the throat within one turn (10 minutes or ten rounds) of death by snake venom, this will revive the recipient.

                                      

Spider Venom Antidote

Level: Alchemy, 1^st Level

Form: Clear potion

Ingredients:  1 Giant spider Venom pouch or 2 dozen normal black widows.

Creation: 2 days           

Requires: Basic laboratory

Effect: If drunk or poured down the throat within one turn (10 minutes or ten rounds) of death by spider venom, this will revive the recipient. (Note: this may be useful against all insect venom, at the discretion of the Referee.)

Fungal Antidote

Level: Alchemy, 1^st Level

Form: Thick yellow potion

Ingredients:  6 drams yellow mold spores.

Creation: 5 days           

Requires: Basic laboratory

Effect: If drunk or poured down the throat within one turn (10 minutes or ten rounds) of death by fungal spores, this will revive the recipient.

Phosphorescent Formula

Level: Alchemy, 1^st Level

Form: Dimly glowing green potion

Ingredients:  30 drams phosphorescent fungus

Creation: 3 days           

Requires: Basic laboratory

Effect: if this potion is smashed on the floor, it will provide dim light in a 20’ radius for ten minutes.

Herbal Bandages

Level: 1^st Level

Form: Damp bandages, infused with herbs.

Ingredients:  5 drams medicinal herbs (common), boiled bandages (common)

Creation: 1 day             

Requires: fire and iron pot

Effect: These bandages, if used after combat, restore 1d3 hit points.

Herbal Poultice

Level: 1^st Level

Form: Soggy mush, wrapped in gauze

Ingredients:  20 drams medicinal herbs (common), boiled gauze (common)

Creation: 1 day             

Requires: fire and iron pot

Effect: This poultice, when applied to a wound during eight hours of sleep, restores 1d6 hp. If used for a full 24 hours of rest, it restores an additional 1 hp.

Alchemical Fire

Level: 2^nd level

Form: Small ceramic jug

Ingredients:  10 gp of Naptha (uncommon) quicklime, and sulfer (common)

Creation: 1 day             

Requires: Advanced laboratory

Effect: When tossed, this jug will explode upon impact (successful attack vs AC 10, range 5) and cause 1d6 damage in a 5 ft radius. In a subsequent round, unless a save is made, it will cause and additional 1d4 damage, at which point the flames will die out. 

Vancian Magic – How is this a Variant?

It might seem strange to declare that your variant magic system for D&D is Vancian, but bear with me a moment.

As most of you reading this probably already know, the magic system of D&D is based on the Dying Earth short stories of Jack Vance, in particular the first two or three collections (depending on who is counting). Vance himself later treated magic differently in his last collection of tales, but by the time this appeared D&D was fully formed.

Now the truth is that de Camp and Pratt’s Harold Shea stories had as much to do with the D&D magic system as The Dying Earth tales – just ask Joseph Goodman.

Vancian Magic as described by Jack Vance is somewhat different from D&D MU spells. In short, Vancian magic represents the powerful spells of a long-lost aeon, which can no long be completely understood or created; all that remains are the folios of the ancient wizards, and those who control them, who struggle to be able to cast them. A spell must be memorized, and once cast, the force of magic releases the knowledge of the spell from the mind. The best among these modern wizards may perhaps memorize as many as four to six spells at once.

And these spells are powerful indeed, for none of them ever seem to be resisted (except by amulets or magics which nullify the spells themselves). Most spells intended to hurt someone kill the target, more or less immediately. They are usually very specific, and there are no spells which offer a truly general utility, like, say, Teleport.

Needless to say, these are generally not the spells of D&D.

·         No saving throws.

·         No creation of new spells.

·         No creation of magic items, most likely.

·         No copying of spells.

·         A limited set of spells, no more than a hundred, contained in an ever-shrinking supply of ancient books.

·         Each book has a different set of spells, with few or no overlaps.

·         No spells of extreme general utility.

·         Lots of instant-death spells.

·         A very small set of casters, mostly those casters who have been around for a long time, and collected most of the available librams.

Alright, for the sake of discussion, let us take a given the admonition that I have heard from other members of the OSR community that spells of 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th level are spells of ancient power, more like great rituals than most of the spells currently on the list.

Magic-users in S&W can cast at most four spells of each level. A fifth or sixth level mage gets as many spells as Turjan of Mir or Mazirian the Magician get (these are two best examples of mages we have from The Dying Earth). So the amount of spells that a MU gets in the game seems about right, so now we just have to get the spells correct.

So, every beginning mage gets a single grimoire when they begin their career. This has about 9-16 spells in it, usually one to three spells of each level from 1-6. If you want to randomize this process, roll 1d3 for each level.

Next, come up with the spells themselves. Here’s a sample grimoire that the player who was running the mage got.

Irtaxes’ Compendium

This volume is a quarto (12’ x 9’), bound in ebony and leather with iron fittings. Irtaxes’ symbol is embossed in a small leather disk on the front of the book.

Contained within its 132 pages are various spells, alchemical recipes, and notes on various elements of arcane lore.

There are 16 spells using 56 pages, 12 alchemical recipes over 38 pages, and 32 pages of notes. Six pages are blank.

Learned at 1^st Level:

The Incarnadine Incitement to Probity

Spell Level: Magic-user, 1^st Level

Range: 100 ft

Duration: Immediate

Multiple violet particles stream forth from the mage’s finger, which is pointed at the target. The target must be made of living flesh; spiritual entities, constructs, and the undead are not harmed by this spell. The particles strike the target infallibly, but all particles must be must be directed against the same target; they may not be ‘split’. The target is struck by 1d6+1 particles, each of which does 1 point of damage.

The Conjuration of the Ebon Embracement

Spell Level: Magic-user, 1^st Level

Range: 60 ft

Duration: Immediate

Upon utterance of this spell, shadowy vapors emerge from cracks in the earth and grasp at 1d3 enemies that lie within 60 ft of the caster. These vapors hold their victims immobile for 1d3 rounds before the vapors melt away.

The Evocation of Illumination

Spell Level: Magic-user, 1^st Level

Range: Personal (Caster only)

Duration: 10 minutes (one turn or ten rounds)

For the duration of the enchantment, The Magic-user’s eyes glow weirdly; his vision is augmented, and he may see in perfect darkness for up to 30 ft.

As mentioned in the description there are also invocations and alchemical recipes; these will be covered in a future post.

You might have some questions about how this sort of thing works in play. Let me try to anticipate some of your questions and concerns.

Aren’t these spells more powerful than normal 1^st level spells?

Yes.

Isn’t that an issue?

No, because, generally speaking, only PCs will have access to this magic. Most minor casters in the world rely on curses, alchemy or invocations. Very few have access to true magic (Vancian spells). I expect that players will have conflicts with maybe three or four true mages by the time the campaign ends, but such bigwigs can be customized with some time and effort. 

What about monster casters?

Use the standard spells, including saving throws, for things like Demons and other-planer beings. They are supposed to be weird anyway. I would avoid using the excessively D&D spells, like fireball and magic missile. Stick to the more subtle stuff. For minor casters among mortals, use the aforementioned curses, alchemy, and invocations (again, to be covered in a future post).

That sounds like a lot of work.

It’s not, trust me, I am the laziest guy I know. I am definitely not into more work for myself.

What about the higher level spells?

Don’t worry about that now. Tell the player that they are there in the book, but won’t ‘unlock’ until he gets high enough level to be able to cast them.

And what do I do then?

Either check back here to see if I have posted some higher level spells, or make ‘em up yourself from the lists of Vancian spells floating around on the internet. Or better yet, buy a book or two from Pelgrane Press, and use the spells therein to figure it out. They could use the money.

http://www.pelgranepress.com/shop/#DERPGPrint

What about if a player want to create spells or magic items?

In thirty years of gaming, I have known exactly three D&D players who created their own spells or magic items, and I was one of them. If you have a bunch of players like this, why aren't you playing Ars Magica or Fantasy Wargaming with them? I would be.

What about Scrolls?

No fire and forget scrolls in my campaign. I do have magic scrolls, but they are used in a different way. More on that in an upcoming post.

Doesn't this wreck game balance?

Maybe. Who cares? 

Variants – Amateurs are influenced; Dungeon Masters steal.

This re-purposed quote, variously attributed to Picasso, Lennon and Eliot, holds as true for campaigns as it does for art. There are plenty of good ideas out there and no good reason not to steal them outright – just make sure that if you publish, you have got the OGL to back you up.

For my Wilderlands campaign I stole:

Encumbrance and Movement from James Raggi’s Legend of the Flame Princess, who revised significantly (and brilliantly) the rules in Dan Proctor’s Labyrinth Lord, who OGLed them based on the Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert Rules, which were a revision of J. Eric Holmes D&D basic rulebook, which were adapted from Gygax and Arneson’s Original D&D. (Whew. From here on in I’ll just list my primary source.)

I stole these rules because they were the easiest implementation of encumbrance and movement, better than the Swords & Wizardry rules, if only because they required less math. Raggi also implemented the rules on the character sheet in such a manner as to make tracking encumbrance easier. I stole most of the design of his back of the character sheet for my sheet as well.

The only easier system would be to use item cards, and allow an amount of cards based on strength, which I may still implement if my players don’t start tracking encumbrance better.

I also lifted Raggi’s treatment of Skills from LotFP, which is based solidly on the original d6 rolls that players could attempt in previous versions. These include (from OD&D) noticing secret doors, finding food and water in the wilderness, avoiding traps, sneaking, and surprise. Raggi renames these and formalizes them somewhat; I do the same, but have a slightly different list.

Everybody has at least a one in six chance to perform these tasks, while some start out with a greater chance, while non-human classes (see below) have somewhat greater chances. Some skill levels increase as they rise in level, again depending on class.

Avoid Trap

Architecture

Bushcraft

Search

Listen

Surprise

Open Doors

Sneak

                     

I stole these rules because they seem entirely natural assumptions to make that all players would have at least a minimal chance to perform these skills, and some of them should obviously increase for certain classes as they go up in level. This makes these skills easy to use and modify on-the-fly during play, something I found difficult to do with 2^nd or 3^rd edition versions of skills.

Again, from Labyrinth Lord/B/X I stole the Morale & Recruiting rules. These exist in a rudimentary fashion in S&W, but I was always more pleased with how they were implemented in later editions, and I use them in other ways then originally intended. I also use them to determine if your hireling or henchmen does what you intend them to do, as well as assigning a ‘Morale’ score for patrons of the party or characters, to determine how easily the NPC will provide aid upon request. Charisma, as usual, provides a bonus, which makes this it much less of a ‘stat dump’.

For Combat, I stole the Target 20 system, found here in its original iteration, I believe.

http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-is-best-combat-algorithm.html

Delta’s brilliant system allows us to use original AC numbers (the so-called descending system) with an Attack Bonus number, which strikes me as the best of all possible worlds.

To successfully attack, roll 1d20 +Attack Bonus + AC + Modifiers (from strength, magic weapons, etc.). If the result is greater than 20, you hit. This duplicates the original mathematical algorithm, without look-up tables.

Your attack bonus will vary by class and level, which means you only need to know your total modifier, plus the AC of the opponent, to determine if you hit. Very, very elegant.

That said, I don’t use Delta’s system for anything but combat, finding saves (for example) in Swords & Wizardry to work quite well as they are.

Finally, I don’t use the multi-classing rules, from S&W, instead, I use race as class. I have always hated multi-classing in D&D, especially since my 3.5 experiences. Therefore, everyone has one class, even if these classes are heavily modified. More on that in the weeks to come.

Next: A real Vancian magic system.

Variant Weapon Table for Swords & Wizardry

Weapon Table: Ranges are in feet, Cost is in gp.

Weapon	Type	Damage	Cost	Notes
Axe, battle 1, 2	Noble	1d8	10	+1 damage vs. Shield
Axe, hand 3	Peasant	1d6	3	Range 5
Bow, long 4, 5	Yeoman	1d8	25	13+ Str, Range 50
Bow, short 4, 5	Peasant	1d6	5	Range 40
Club	Peasant	1d6	0
Crossbow, Heavy 4, 5	Yeoman	1d10+1	30	Range 50 Fire once every 3 rounds.
Crossbow, Light 4, 5	Yeoman	1d8+1	15	Range 40 Fire once every 2 rounds.
Dagger 3	Peasant	1d4	2	Range 5
Flail	Noble	1d8	10	+1 Attack vs. Shield
Javelin 4	Yeoman	1d6	2	Range 20
Lance	Noble	1d10	5	Inflicts double damage with successful mounted charge.
Mace	Noble	1d8	10	+1 Attack vs. Chain & Plate
Polearm 5	Yeoman	1d10	10	2nd rank, Set vs. Charge
Sling 4	Peasant	1d6	0.2	Range 40, 1d4 damage for stones
Spear 1, 2, 3	Yeoman	1d8	3	Range 10, 1d6 damage thrown, 2nd rank, Set vs. Charge
Staff 5	Peasant	1d6	0
Sword, bastard 1, 2	Noble	1d8	25
Sword, long	Noble	1d8	20
Sword, short	Yeoman	1d6	10
Sword, two-handed 5	Noble	1d10	30	Requires 10’ to use.
Improvised Weapon, Small	Peasant	1d4	0
Improvised Weapon, Medium 5	Peasant	1d6	0

1 Weapon can be used either one or two-handed

2 When wielded two-handed, gain +1 damage bonus

3 Can be used as both a melee and a missile weapon

4 Missile Weapon only

5 Requires two hands

Other Notes

Range refers to the maximum range in feet that the weapon may be used to attack without penalty. For every multiple of base distance after that, a -2 penalty is assessed. There is no maximum total range.

Type refers to those social castes that may bear the arms with impunity. If you travel to a city or village, and you do appear as the requisite social class, you may be arrested and tried for crime, which may result in prison or corporal punishment, or beaten and have your weapons or armor confiscated.

Set Vs Charge means that the weapon can be set to receive a charge, by declaring it before initiative is rolled. If the weapon hits successfully, it inflicts double the damage dice.

Superior Weapons Weapons may be purchased that have modifiers to attack or damage bonus. In general, these are the product of expert craftsmen, and so are both rare and expensive.

A superior craftsman is capable of producing weapons that are finely balanced (+1 Attack) or weapons with a keen edge (+1 Damage) but not both. These weapons cost 20 - 30 times the normal amount. There are craftsmen like this in a largest cities, and occasionally in smaller cities. Only one village in ten will have such a craftsman. 

An expert craftsman is capable of producing weapons that are incredibly balanced (+2 Attack) or weapons with a very keen edge (+2 Damage) or weapons which are +1 to both attack and damage. These weapons cost 30 - 50 times the normal amount. There are occasionally craftsmen like this in a largest cities.

An legendary craftsman is capable of producing weapons that are impossibly balanced (+3 Attack) or weapons with a diamond-keen edge (+3 Damage) or weapons which are +2 to both attack and damage. These weapons cost 100 times the normal amount, if they are available for sale at all. There are occasionally craftsmen like once in a generation, in the very greatest of cities.

OK, so why this variant?

The table is the result of several influences, but let me begin by stating why I wanted to change weapon stats in the first place. Generally speaking, the charts as they exist tend to encourage a relatively narrow range of choices, based on the fact that the damage is best for swords, and for maces and staves depending on your class. I wanted to raise the damage for non-sword weapons, and then give them minor modifiers that would accent their historical purpose (the idea for this, BTW, comes from the Pendragon RPG). So all the one handed noble weapons deal 1d8 of damage, two handed weapons deal 1d10, and all single handed weapons wielded with two hands inflict +1 damage, etc. Crossbows deal slightly better damage, but are much slower.

My general aim was to encourage a more divergent use of weapons among the party, and reinforce caste ideas, which I’ll talk more about next time. 

Variants in Swords & Wizardry

When Gary Gygax took Dave Arneson’s original notes, and created what became OD&D, the first variant on the game was created, and despite AD&D’s original intention of formalizing inviolate rules structures, gamers have been creating variants ever since.

My own personal view of variants has been fairly retrograde for most of my gaming career, as I was always the sort of guy who wanted to play by the rules. Imagine my shock (and the consternation of my players) when I tried to play various games By the Book, and found that the experience was sometimes awful. There is a reason most games don’t work well by this approach; they really are not meant to work that way. That’s fairly bitter pill for me to swallow, as I always assumed that the intention of the designer was paramount, and that you couldn't really play the game and get the experience that was intended without following the explicit rules.

As might imagine, trying this approach with something like Rolemaster or Aftermath leads to disaster; I would assume the same to be true for Chivalry & Sorcery and the like. It certainly turned out to be true for D&D 3.5 and Exalted. So much so I was unwilling to even bother to try to play Eclipse Phase; however excellent the setting, the extensive rules made the entire enterprise more effort than it was worth, at least for me.

So one would think that when it came to my S&W campaign, set in the Wilderlands, that I would have few if no variants, right?

Dead wrong.

I have, to this date, so far:

• Effectively rewritten the spells for Magic-users
• Introduced an informal feat system
• Redesigned Cleric spells and completely revamped the class
• Completely changed the way that magic items worked, how they are created, and how common they are
• Devised an alchemy system
• Adopted the LotFP skill and encumbrance system
• Introduced a revised weapon table, with substantial differences for many weapons
• Adapted the Target 20 system for combat, but not skills or saves
• Adopted the Basic/Expert Morale system
• And made numerous other small changes

Why this sudden turn around? Really, it wasn't all that sudden. I had always been looking for a system that handled things in a way that I preferred, I just never realized that it would be Original D&D, aka Swords & Wizardry.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was reading of a play experience a gamer had with Dave Arneson, as chronicled at http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?286043-Dave-Arneson-Blackmoor-and-Me!/page2

“Magic was a tool, but our magic items were presented to us the way artifacts show up in Gamma World: you learn by trying and sometimes it doesn't work the way you hoped. You know that stat block in the book, toss it. My Staff of Power could do more and it could do less, so could potions. We didn't have 100% trust in our magical items "just cuz the book says" and they had a mystical appeal to them.

Dave told us more about this out of game with his home campaign. You know the coolness of Earthdawn's magic items in that you gain more powers as you learn about them? Yeah, Dave explained that every magic item should have a story behind its creation and creator. So I asked him point blank why the HELL wasn't all this cool shit in my freaking books? He smiled and said that back then they figured all people needed was the basic framework and they would add in and discover the rest as they played. Dave said the rules were never meant as the end point....only the beginning.” (emphasis added)

This is a point that is emphasized again and again in Original D&D; this is the base, and you, the DM, are the decider about what goes in, what gets changed, what stays out.

All the variants listed above will be the subjects of my next series of posts, but I want to emphasize certain ideas before I start posting away.

I implemented all these variants for a reason. That is, I mean to actually change what happens in play because of a rules variant – if it doesn't change something that happens during play then it's about as useful as tits on a boar.

In creating these variants, not only did I not worry about game balance, I hogtied it and shoved it out the window with a bullet in its head. Look, the only game balance you have worry about is the balance at your table, and this will vary with your play style and mix of players. If I need to change something because it’s too weak or too powerful, then I do it at the table on the spot. So if you intend to implement anything I describe, be aware that you will have to do the same. Caveat emptor and all that.

OK, why did I want to change any rules at all? I wanted a swords and sorcery feel, set in the Wilderlands but which was still recognizably D&D. I wasn't happy with the feel that some mechanics in OD&D/S&W led to, and so I made changes. More about that in the individual posts.

Much of what I intend to post over the next two to three months will be very crunchy, unlike my earlier posts, but I still intend to sprinkle other concerns in and among these posts.

First up: the new weapon table. 

GM Questionnaire

Zak S of D&D with Porn Stars posted this questionnaire for GMs, so while I am working on a long review of Isle of the Unknown, I thought I would take a crack.

1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be?

I think Zak is talking about a monster, trap or magic item. To be honest, I guess I would say my re-working of Ramsey Campbell’s Great Old One, Eihort, for an unpublished Call of Cthulhu scenario.

2. When was the last time you GMed?

Last Friday, for my Old School Wilderlands D&D game.

3. When was the last time you played?

Gencon before last? On Sunday morning, I played a Godlike game. When my character was offered a choice between reading a secret report or studying maps, I quipped “Little Orphan Annie” and got a will point out of it.

4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to.

Character are required to re-construct an ancient dirge to keep an evil God/Dragon/Great Old One from awakening, using clues found in various dungeons and other adventure sites.

5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things?

Depends. If they are enjoying themselves through role playing I try to keep my mouth shut, and do prep that I haven’t completed. If they are bored or frustrated I’ll try to prompt them based on what their characters might come up with, like “Bob, doesn’t Zaffo the Bard usually visit Mona the Priestess while in town? Perhaps she knows where the McGuffin might be hidden...”

6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play?

I try to stay away from food, cuz i can’t role play real well while I am stuffing my mouth, but a drink (usually root beer or fruit juice) is a must.

7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting?

More mentally exhausting, but after I stop I am usually tired. At a con, I start to lose my voice.

8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing?

I assume Zak means what interesting thing one of my players did while I was GMing. To be honest, I am never very surprised by what players do. Some always seem to tinker with their builds (depending on the system) in order to freak me out by what they are able to beat up, but I am never very interested in this sort of thing. One of my players recently refused to go deeper into a Dungeon, because I described a cold, fetid air rising from a stairwell, stating “No Undead air-conditioning!” I thought this was funny, and am always delighted with players that role play fear, rather than mindless bravura or braggadocio.

9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither?

All the time. All the time. Frankly, I end up encouraging them in this sort of thing through the use of funny voices. Nowadays I just let them go off, or try to riff off of what they are making fun of. I don’t remember a case where they took seriously a something I intended as comic.

10. What do you do with goblins?

Depends on the background. In Pendragon, they’re sly fey tricksters, who when caught, morph into feuding muppets. In my current D&D campaign, they’re vile, creepy little bastards, who cry out “Eat your eyes, eat your eyes!” in combat, and dangle little bits of fallen enemies from their weapons and armor.

11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)?

I converted the Peter Watts novel, Blindsight, into a BRP scenario for a university project. Got an “A”.

12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now?

I was in all-Drow mini campaign, and played a Drow seductress. One of the other characters complained about me not following orders, and I replied (in character) “I didn’t hear any complaints the last time I was under you.”

13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it?

Death Frost Doom. I am re-reading it to run it at a local con soon.

14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator?

David A. Trampier

15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid?

Yessssss. Being a CoC Keeper forever will do that to you.

16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever)

A series of Greg Stafford’s Pendragon mini-adventures, which were Old School before there was an Old School.

17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in?

I vary in my opinion of this. Sometimes I want a full game room with a Sultan game table and a full set of resin dungeon pieces (along with fully painted minis) and sometimes I want the kitchen table and some maps.

18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be?

Robin Laws’ Kaiin Players Guide and Bob Bledsaw’s City State of the Invincible Overlord.

19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be?

For my D&D game? Tolkien and Moorcock, for literary influences, I suppose, and Bledsaw and Robin Laws for gaming ones. (Scratches head.) I dunno.

20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table?

#1, A player who plays nice with others. #2, This quote from Luke Crane, "I want the players to take the character and do what they think would be cool for the character, not what they think the character would do."

21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms?

Being accosted for money by indigents at Gencon. I turned that into a tournament scenario where the characters are indigents in the real world and who are heroes and monarchs in Lovecraft’s Dreamlands. I called it Kings in Disguise.

22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't?

A couple: A faithful retro-clone of Gamma World, 1^st and 2^nd edition. A Middle Earth RPG with Pete Fenlon’s original MERP maps, a complete (and completed) version of The Enemy Within campaign. Gygax’s original Greyhawk dungeons and notes, Jorune with better rules, and 2^nd edition of Empire of the Petal Throne. About 10 that I would like to write.

23. Is there anyone you know who you talk about RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go?

“Sorry, I can’t do X with you. I’ll be playing D&D that night.”