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michaelsbagley

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Posts posted by michaelsbagley

  1. Except book 7 (?) "The Bridge of Assasins" was released in Spanish in 2011, and 8 years later I am still impatiently awaiting an English translation. :(

    But the first 6 Alatriste books were enjoyable, translatory problems or not.

    • Like 1
  2. 1 hour ago, K Peterson said:

    The critical is based on the final modified skill level, both in my gameplay and according to Renaissance Deluxe. As per page 36:

    From my reading, "modified" includes Haste/Difficulty modifiers and Close Combat or Range Combat situational modifiers.

    I went back, and looked, and you are correct, it is based on modified. Thanks. I can't believe I missed that.

  3. Not that this would come up often, but how do most handle "critical" success odds for Renaissance and compatible rule systems?

    The rules (paraphrased) spell out that the critical chance is 10% of the character's skill.

    However, modifiers can alter a character's skill, taking the rules ultra-literally, a modifier would not affect the percentage for a critical. But as a matter of preference, do those who play/GM these rules calculate the chance of a critical based on the modified skills (regardless of whether the modifier is a penalty or bonus), or do you generally keep the critical odds as 10% of the character's base skill level, and only apply the modifer to the overall success or failure?

    I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this. I am also working on updating the Roll20 character sheet for Renaissance (and related games), and was going to add automatic skill rolls into the sheets, which would require had math being encoded into the rolls.... So whatever the majority is leaning towards, is likely how I would code the math on the character sheet there.

  4. I would love to see more of the F&IW scenarios! (Winter and spring have been covered, so now let's see summer and autumn)

    I know there's a New York in the mid/late 19th century extension in the works for Dark Streets, but something earlier colonial American in those lines would be great!  D.B. Jackson's "Thieftaker" novels set I'm Boston in the lead up to the revolution as a great concept.. or one could go earlier to the mid to late 17th century when along with the 13 colonies, there was New Amsterdam and New Sweden colonies to add more diversity to the cultures to draw from.

    On the whole, more scenarios/adventures in general, because I'm old and too lazy to write my own. :)

    • Like 3
  5. Big fan of 18th century, to date the best items I have found are :

    A) The two adventures for Cakebread & Walton's "Rennaisance" set during the French & Indian War (20ish years prior to the Revolution, but similar enough)

    B ) there is also a n adventure written for Call of Cthulhu set during the lead-in to the Revolution.

    But I'm definitely interested in what you come up with

    • Like 1
  6. I would but thanks to a distinct lack of money my monthly bandwidth is severely limited.

    The service is free (although the more robust features are only included in paid for accounts), and it can be used on low speed internet... However, you would likely want to mainly use typed text, or maybe just voice instead of video.

  7. My understanding is the "search for games" list is decided and derived by the volume of games actively being played. They take regular stats of what is being played, and update accordingly. So the best way to get a smaller market game listed , is to play it and encourage others to.

    • Like 1
  8. Hey all,

     

    I know playing online is not a favoured medium for players of RPGs... But for those of you who enjoy the Renaissance rules, I have made, submitted, and gotten a character sheet for the Roll20 online playing portal. Setting up custom character sheets on this portal can be an onerous task,  and up until now, the only BRP derived sheets available on the portal have been Runequest and Call of Cthulhu. So because I work hours that makes getting in face to face game time a challenge, and reside in an area that seems like if it isn't D&D or D&D derived (Pathfinder) it isn't hardly played..... It was a worhtwhile effort for me to set it up.

     

    I also thought I would share the news in case there are others who have similarcircumstances, and want to enjoy this great game system, and want to use an onine portal to do so.

     

    If anyone does try it out, please gve me some feedback.

    Cheers

    • Like 4
  9. I do have both of the Rogers Rangers scenarios, and love them both. But the F&IW is as different from the NA War of 1812, as the Seven Years War is from the Napoleonic wars.

    The prevelent technology of flintlocks is the main similarity... culture , clothing and warfare changed pretty dramatically in the intervening 50-60 years.

    A CoC sourcebook might be okay, but one of the reasons I love the Renaissance rules so much is they lend themselves to historic/semi-historic play so we'll.

    • Like 1
  10. To add to Mysterioso's comments, something land based and Napoleonic, could and would also port well to late period North American Colonial adventures, as found in the War of 1812. Even with a Napoleonic nautical themed book, it could add the scope of the various battles on the great lakes, and the privateering that went on with both sides of the North American War of 1812.

    • Like 1
  11. Buff coats were not bad versus sword blades of the era, since rapiers were the main stay (and some slightly wider bladed "back-swords"). So against lighter sword blades, or knives, a buff coat would be reasonable protection. Against black powder weapons, they would be of no more use than a light shirt.

    A buff coat would be made from heavier leather than a motorcycle jacket. If that helps give you an idea of how thick they are.

    On photos, below is a photo of a friend of mine in an outfit I made for him. This outfit is based of a drawing of what would have been a petty officer of the era (a corporal or seargent or the like). These images are from his facebook page, so I hope they are visible to you, I am sorry if they are not (I am unsure of my friends privacy settings)
    10915149_946071642072385_627140505479930

     

    Here is another friend of mine (the one with the musket, the younger one to the left is a stranger to me). I am unsure as to what he has based this outfit on, but my guess is the outfits in this picture are typical of soldiers of the 1590s to 1610s, and perhaps even into the 1620s.

     

    11071087_949879318358284_409346124276209

    • Like 1
  12. Julich10, I am unsure what part of the world you are in, but if you can find some historical reenactors.... I am certain with some patience and understanding they may allow you to try a matchlock, flintlock, wheel-lock and or rapier. I personally own 3 of the four, lacking only a wheel-lock.

    As a reenactor, if there is anything I can help you with regarding material culture of the era, please don't hesitate to ask. I mostly do later 17th century reenacting, (I have gear for 1640s and 1670s), but I know plenty of reenactors that do earlier 17th century reenacting, so can send you photographs, and help explain anything you like.

    One thing I have contemplated doing with the Renaissance rules is making some adventures or a campaign set in one of my favourite eras (either the 1670s-1680s or the first two decades of the 1700s) using my detailed knowledge of things in those eras, including the black powder firearms and adjusting the rules slightly to better reflect the reality of the use of those weapons. For example, the matchlock rules as written, only cover how many turns to load and fire. They do not mention lighting the match cord which is required to fire the matchlock. So I would add some basic rules for lighting the match-cord, making it take longer for the first shot when not prepared. Also, match-cord is a combustable. It tends to come in lengths of 2 to 3 meters/yards, and in my experience, I tend to burn through half to a full meter/yard in  single reenactment battle. Reenactment battles tend to go much longer than I believe a real firefight would in the period, so I might suggest a single length of match-cord lasting 5 to 7 battles.

    • Like 2
  13. Sorry I can't help with advice on resources... But I did like "nclarke" want to commend you on the ideas, and let you know how exciting and interesting this sounds. I will follow this with some interest.

    From a mundane finctional side, the Alatriste novels might give you some ideas on culture and mundane villians. They are set in spain, but it would likely give you an idea of the prevailent Spanish attitudes of the period. They are set throughout the 30 years wars (each novel jumps a few to a handful of years).

     

    From a Cthulhu standpoint, there is a short story in "Colonial Chtuhlu" that is basically turning the classic loast Roanoke colony into a Cthuhlu context... Again, this is the correct period, but an English context, and way further north than Mexico.

    As a possible back-story, you could read up on Juan Ponce de Leòn, his adventures in the new world in the 90 to 100 years before your chosen time frame might offer some good inspiration.

     

    Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas is another possible research point, as is Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda.

    Hope these ideas help.

    • Like 2
  14. I'm on Roll20, and I see a lot of potential for it to be a good tool for online play. For more tactical style play, there is a lot of setup and clunkiness... But on the whole I firmly believe that the more one uses it, the better it gets... It's just the initial steps that are annoying.

     

    Of the communication options for it, I've used the integrated audio and video chat. The audio worked pretty good. The video was touch and go, but that may have had more to do with the various users' bandwidth than how well it is programmed.

  15. Also a little later, and more colonial rather than London-based.... "Thieftaker" by D.B. Jackson is a good fit as well. There are currently two other novels in that series, as well as 3 or 4 short stories that bridge between the various novels (I think one or two fo the short stories are prequels). But they are incredibly enjoyable reads.

    • Like 1
  16. I'm assuming you're talking about "Dark Streets"? I kind of assumed it was mid-18th century Cthulhu-esque suspense/horror? Which while appealing isn't really what I am looking for... low fantasy 17th or 18th century would be okay, but I prefer little to no magic/supernatural.

     

    Failing to find anything less fantasy, "Dark Streets" would likely be a better choice for me and my tastes... But I am hoping there may be more historical, or even semi-hostorical options out there.

  17. Well first off...

     

    Hi, I am new here, and this is my first post. Been a long time RPG player, and occassional GM. Been off RPGs more than on for the last 15-ish years, but I'm finding I have missed it, and am very excited to get back into it.

     

    On the whole, one of the reasons I have been gaming less is my primary hobby hasn't left me much time for it, and that would be historical reenacting. I mostly do 17th and 18th century reenacting, and as such, those tend to be my favourite eras in history.

     

    I found the "Renaissance" rules by looking for rules I though would suit this, and I think I may have found the "The Depth's of Winter" adventure first which lead me to the rules.... Either way, I loved that adventure, and would like to see more in that vein. I have read on the Cakebread and Walton web site, a sequel is in the coming, but I would want more. Does anyone else know of other easily portible adventures along those lines? Or have ideas or suggestions for adventures like that? I'm a lazy GM, and would sooner buy something like that than write my own (although writing does intrigue me, but finding time to play is a challenge enough without adding the added challenge to find time to prepare and write in order to play).

     

    Cheers.

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