November 28th, 2014
Dimlix the Dwarf slammed his hammer down hard upon the chest, causing copper coins to shoot out on all sides. He loved a good exploding chest (be it treasure or ogre) and, besides, he hated standing about waiting for the party’s thief, Jinko, to assess if the chest was trapped. It was easiest to just smash it and deal with the consequences.
Dimlix quickly fell to knee and sifted through the scattered copper, ever vigilant for a glint of something shiny or golden. It was, however, an old bone on a bit of rope that caught his eye. The Dwarf typically did not waste time on curiosities; he liked cash in hand and hated bartering trinkets to wizards. However, when he touched this thing, it grew warm in his hammer-hardened hand. “What manner of treasure are you?” he breathed upon it from under his heavy helm.
And then looked over at the Game Master for more info…
Lucky Bones
These are the supercharged bone fragments of a legendary magical or mystical creature. They possess a lingering power that aids those who keep them near. If their keeper is of the same realm, all he/she must do is to call down their power and it is immediately bestowed. If the keeper is not of the same realm, the power costs a spoint to activate.
The bones can be used thrice per day (three charges) and will be one of four types (roll a d6):
1-2: Allows holder to re-roll 1s and 2s on their Damage Die roll.
3-4: Allows holder to force their opponent to re-roll 5s or 6s on their Damage Die roll.
5: Allows holder to re-roll a failed Invulnerability test.
6: Allows holder to force an opponent to re-roll a successful Invulnerability test.
Olde Bones: There is an INI% chance that the bones possess all of the abilities noted above.
Now… Let’s roll this out and find out what kind of bones we have!
First, roll a d6 to determine realm: Magic or Mystic.
–Roll a d6: 1-3 Magic, 4-6 Mystic. I roll a “4”. These bones are Mystic.–
Second, roll a d6 to determine the type of bones (on the table above).
–I roll a “4”. An opponent re-rolls 5s or 6s on their Damage Die roll.–
Third, check if these are Olde Bones via an INI Roll, (2d10 + 2d6)%.
–I establish a 21 INI% base, but roll 26% on the test. No such luck!–
The Game Master can now tell Dimlix what he has found: a bone from a mystical beast, one that would be fearsome enough to force an attacker to quiver at their sight. But what beast? And what bones? The Kreator thinks hard and has a flash of inspiration:
“You hold in your hands the talus of the mystic androsphinx.
Each time you call upon it, a terrible roar shall make your foe quake!”
Dimlix the Dwarf takes a moment to secure the talus to his belt.
His gaze turns back to the Game Master…
“And how many copper pieces did you say there were?”
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November 15th, 2014
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November 8th, 2014
Grandult the Mage looked down at the iron grate in the dungeon floor and bemusedly announced, “In a hole in the ground there lived a Gnobbit…” His adventuring party gathered round and looked down with him.
“It’s quite the nasty, dirty, wet hole, ain’t it?”, remarked Gurk the Goblin Ranger as he bit into a fresh rat.
“How long have you been thus trapped, oh Gnobbit?”, Grandult asked.
A suffering voice from the shadows of the dungeon trap murmured, “About a week… Will you free me, kind Mage? I have valuable skills that may be of use to your party.”
“Your skills seem to get you stuck in some very tight spaces”, chortled the Mage.
“We shall pass!”
He turned to go.
“Wait!” cried the Gnobbit. There was a moment of silence. A furry hand came up through the grate. In its palm sat a simple golden ring…
“I can offer you this…”
It’s Random Trove Roll Time!
Enchanted Ring of…
This ring holds one Mage or Sage spell. There is INI% that it holds two spells (and these need not be from the same realm).
First, determine the percent chance that the ring holds that extra spell by rolling an INI score: (2d6+2d10).
–I rolled a 19 for my INI score.–
Second, make a D% roll versus this mark.
–I failed this roll; the ring holds a single spell.–
Third, select a random Mage or Sage spell by shuffling the WEGS Old Skool spell deck and drawing the appropriate number of cards.
–I drew this Mage spell:–
Jumpin’ Jazzophat
The wearer has the ability to jump like mad!
The ring holds four charges, which are spent to blast its spell (no Cast is required). The blast requires the wearer to succeed an INGENUITY% or GRACE% test (as per the spell). No charge is spent on failed activations and no spoints are due for a successful blasting. The wearer maintains the spell upkeep (Spante).
An amazing benefit of this ring is that the ring itself bears the enchantment, not the wearer. The spell functions at a Level 4 blasting level. In this case, the ring grants the wearer four enchanted jumps (see spell description for full info).
Each dawn, if on the finger of its living (or even undead) host, the ring renews one of its charges; it cannot hold more than four. Note that a ring will not divulge which spell it holds unless it is on a host’s finger. It is the Kreator’s call whether removing the ring comes with a spoint drain penalty (similar to Fervor or Magic Drain). Enchanted rings do not like being separated from their host.
Grandult reached for the ring, but the Gnobbit quickly withdrew his hand.
“Free me first and the ring is yours…”
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November 3rd, 2014
–Shuffling Horror Week Update: Day 7, Halloween, Game 10–
The final game of Shuffling Horror Week took place at Game Masters in northern Pittsburgh, not very far from the area where George Romero filmed our game’s muse, Night of the Living Dead. Surely, this was a sign that a zombie victory was in the cards tonight. The Shuffler and his zombies were one game away from winning the series. This game would determine if they had what it takes to cause a total zombie apocalypse!
Imagine the Shuffler’s shock when 11 players packed the table for this final game. This was going to be a BIG finale and would require the Shuffler to pull out all the stops. He knew this throng of Pittsburgh players would not yield their home turf without a good fight! He dealt each a single survivor and then started the first reel.
There was one consolation from the start: the deck had the twelfth survivor, that one unused survivor, in it as a zombie.
OK… It wasn’t much of a consolation…
In large games of Pittsburgh 68 (seven of more survivor players), it is suggested to restrict the initial spoint distribution to the survivors. Such a tactic helps to balance the game from the start (and gives it that “Apocalypse Already In Progress” feel). The Shuffler started each player with four general spoints. This meant that there were 44 general spoints in play when the game began (11 players with 4 each). In addition, he set aside 20 spoints for the Sanctuary cards (12 for The Cellar and 8 for The Car). This brought the spoint count to 64. He threw another 4 spoints onto the table and brought the total to 68. The game was capped at this amount. (This rule is found on the last page of the rulebook).
The horror was now ready to begin!
Reel 1: 10 cards, 11 Survivors versus 1 Zombie player. The first ten minutes of the full was full of weapons, Killing Machine, The Cellar, and Scream Queen. It was a ridiculous walk in the park for the Survivors. Luckily there was a Stumble, Clutch and Surge to keep things interesting. Still, no survivor fell and it looked like we were on our way to a Scooby Doo. The Shuffler only needed to eliminate a single survivor to give him a little wiggle room.
Reel 2: 20 cards, 11 Survivors versus 1 Zombie player. This reel was head-to-head conflict, as every Shuffling Horror card was triggered: Stumble, Surge, Lurch, and Clutch. The plot devices, Run For It and Hold Them Back also helped to cause some chaos for the group (these cards REALLY help with big group balance) – not to mention a never-ending three card zombie bonus. The net effect of all these Zombie Master bonuses was a heavy spoint drain for the survivors. They were in pretty bad shape, but both sanctuaries were now in play. The reel ended with the first survivor eliminated. Most importantly, the Shuffler had assembled five full throngs – and it stayed this way until the end of the game…
This Can’t Be Beat!
Reel 3: 15 cards, 9 Survivors versus 2 Zombie players. It was a struggle for the Survivors, and two more were eliminated. The Cellar was destroyed, too, leaving only The Car to hide in (of course, the Shuffler dealt a Backseat Zombie into it). Things weren’t looking so good for Pittsburgh…
Reel 4: 10 cards, 7 Survivors versus 4 Zombie players. The final ten minutes of the film! From the start, the survivors showed grit. They focused on clearing the reel to trigger the final round. One survivor dashed into The Car and found Four Lone Zombies within. The Sheriff stayed put and quickly picked these zombies off with his rifle. This heroic action would seal his fate: the final wave of zombie attacks was nigh!
The Endgame: To win, the remaining seven survivors had to survive the onslaught of the four zombie players. Two survivors jumped into the Car. One more survivor fell. Six still standing: three in the car, three without. Throngs of lone zombies circled the car, but it held up to their attacks.
The Shuffler was still poised with five full throngs and was the last attack to go; he focused his attacks on those outside the car, but all succeeded their flail tests. On his final attack, the Shuffler rolled snake-eyes on the Sheriff, eliminating one final player.
Or Can It?
At the film’s end, five Survivors remained.
Five had been zombified by the Shuffler and his undead cohorts.
Not a zombie win, but not bad for a night’s work!
Shuffling Horror Week 2014 ends with no true winners…
Just survivors with a zombie problem that they have to deal with in the sequel!
The 2014 Series Ends In A Dead Heat!
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November 2nd, 2014
–Shuffling Horror Week Update: Day 7, Halloween, Game #9–
It was a dark and stormy Halloween night when the Shuffler and his zombies crept into Pittsburgh for the final two games of our Shuffling Horror Week series.
With the series tied at four wins each, Team Zombie would need back-to-back victories to win. Their first destination: Games Unlimited in Squirrel Hill. The store was prepared with appropriately colored team dice for this occasion: black and gold!
Three Survivors players arrived to be the first line of defense for Pittsburgh. The Shuffler dealt each three characters and the horror got underway. While they held it together in Reel 1, the survivors suffered heavy casualties in Reel 2. The zombies only grew more ravenous when the first player fell as that reel ended. The second player joined the undead ranks at the start of Reel 3 and, shortly thereafter, the final player was whittled down to her last character…
And it was unrevealed!
Imagine the Shuffler’s horror when the Last One Standing was revealed as The Kid Sister. She was the bane of his existence since her unbelievable victory earlier in the week. Unfortunately for her, the Kid Sister could do nothing but stand there looking horrified (as the Reveal counted as the player’s final action).
It was now three Zombie Players versus one Survivor Player.
The Kid Sister was not so lucky this time around.
Pittsburgh’s first line of defense fell…
The zombies were one step closer to winning the series! They began their undead shuffle to the north. Fittingly, this final game would be the one played closest to the area where Night of the Living Dead was filmed.
Slow Moving Zombies Rule!
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