THE FIRST CKG EVER!

[Breakdaddy]

Quick question about the digest format: is it hard to read?

Quick answer: YES

Then again, Im 40ish and already a bit blind so that's subjective.

[Tadhg]

Wow, those are little and COOL!!

[Tadhg]

BD, thanks for posting those tidbits! Now it's time to ORDER!!

Let's go people . . to the TLG order page!! [Heh, actually I think most of you have done so already, time for me to get crackin', eh?]

God Bless us Castle Keepers everyone . . and all of youse players!!

TrollZAH!

[Breakdaddy]

Rhu:

[Tadhg]

Rhu:

Btw, who is your avatar . . it sorta weirds me out a bit, cause I'm not sure of what that dude is doing.

[Breakdaddy]

Chapter 3 is really small so this will be a quick one:

Here we have a treatise on the effects of equipment on the roleplaying of a PC; room and board, costs tables and discussion; rations; renting and purchasing lodging and a short list of trading goods like chocolate and others. Now we get to some tables and discussion on the carrying capacity of animals, land transport and even ships along with several descriptive blurbs that differentiate the various conveyances. Also onboard weaponry for ships is discussed.
Next we have an extended list of available equipment with some interesting standouts like the baghdad battery (which is based on an actual object). Blurbs explaining this new equipment are interspersed throughout the chapter and finally we have a discussion on maintaining one's equipment.

/chapter 3

Chapter 4: Non Player Characters is the next chapter.

[Breakdaddy]

Rhu:

Btw, who is your avatar . . it sorta weirds me out a bit, cause I'm not sure of what that dude is doing.

Haha! It's Andy Samberg from Saturday Night Live (among other things). A hilarious dude, IMO!

WaRNING: NERD HUMOR FOLLOWS:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/bea70a ... om-fastboy

[Tadhg]

Chapter 3 is really small so this will be a quick one:

Here we have a treatise on the effects of equipment on the roleplaying of a PC; room and board, costs tables and discussion; rations; renting and purchasing lodging and a short list of trading goods like chocolate and others. Now we get to some tables and discussion on the carrying capacity of animals, land transport and even ships along with several descriptive blurbs that differentiate the various conveyances. Also onboard weaponry for ships is discussed.
Next we have an extended list of available equipment with some interesting standouts like the baghdad battery (which is based on an actual object). Blurbs explaining this new equipment are interspersed throughout the chapter and finally we have a discussion on maintaining one's equipment.

/chapter 3

Chapter 4: Non Player Characters is the next chapter.

Excellent.

How many total pages in the book?

Avg. per chapter, if possible or estimate?

Which chapter seems the most excellent so far??

Keep it coming, Sir Breakdaddy!! That is if you feel up to it, man.

[Tadhg]

Rhu:

Btw, who is your avatar . . it sorta weirds me out a bit, cause I'm not sure of what that dude is doing.

Haha! It's Andy Samberg from Saturday Night Live (among other things). A hilarious dude, IMO!

WaRNING: NERD HUMOR FOLLOWS:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/bea70a ... om-fastboy

I think he creeps me out, because he looks like he's about to cast a spell on me!!

[Tadhg]

Rhu:

Btw, who is your avatar . . it sorta weirds me out a bit, cause I'm not sure of what that dude is doing.

Haha! It's Andy Samberg from Saturday Night Live (among other things). A hilarious dude, IMO!

WaRNING: NERD HUMOR FOLLOWS:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/bea70a ... om-fastboy

That vid was extremely funny!! REminds me of Run/DMC Christmas in Hollis!

[Breakdaddy]

Chapter 3 is really small so this will be a quick one:

Here we have a treatise on the effects of equipment on the roleplaying of a PC; room and board, costs tables and discussion; rations; renting and purchasing lodging and a short list of trading goods like chocolate and others. Now we get to some tables and discussion on the carrying capacity of animals, land transport and even ships along with several descriptive blurbs that differentiate the various conveyances. Also onboard weaponry for ships is discussed.
Next we have an extended list of available equipment with some interesting standouts like the baghdad battery (which is based on an actual object). Blurbs explaining this new equipment are interspersed throughout the chapter and finally we have a discussion on maintaining one's equipment.

/chapter 3

Chapter 4: Non Player Characters is the next chapter.

Excellent.

How many total pages in the book?

Avg. per chapter, if possible or estimate?

Which chapter seems the most excellent so far??

Keep it coming, Sir Breakdaddy!! That is if you feel up to it, man.

Total pages: 290
Avg per chapter: varies WIDELY, looks like upcoming chapters are going to be huge compared to the ones Im on now
Best chapter so far: Love the new powers in chapter 1 for epic characters. Lots of cool stuff in the spell section but I think chapter 1 wins so far.

[Tadhg]

Chapter 3 is really small so this will be a quick one:

Here we have a treatise on the effects of equipment on the roleplaying of a PC; room and board, costs tables and discussion; rations; renting and purchasing lodging and a short list of trading goods like chocolate and others. Now we get to some tables and discussion on the carrying capacity of animals, land transport and even ships along with several descriptive blurbs that differentiate the various conveyances. Also onboard weaponry for ships is discussed.
Next we have an extended list of available equipment with some interesting standouts like the baghdad battery (which is based on an actual object). Blurbs explaining this new equipment are interspersed throughout the chapter and finally we have a discussion on maintaining one's equipment.

/chapter 3

Chapter 4: Non Player Characters is the next chapter.

Excellent.

How many total pages in the book?

Avg. per chapter, if possible or estimate?

Which chapter seems the most excellent so far??

Keep it coming, Sir Breakdaddy!! That is if you feel up to it, man.

Total pages: 290
Avg per chapter: varies WIDELY, looks like upcoming chapters are going to be huge compared to the ones Im on now
Best chapter so far: Love the new powers in chapter 1 for epic characters. Lots of cool stuff in the spell section but I think chapter 1 wins so far.

Thanks man!

[Rigon]

BD, I envy you, you lucky bastard.

R-

[Breakdaddy]

Chapter 4: Non Player Characters. Once again, I must make the disclaimer that I will not cover everything here, merely the highlights. Omissions are my own fault and not an indicator of missing info in the CKG:

We start off with a definition of what makes an NPC an NPC. We have a brief discussion of the merits of classless vs classed NPCs. We have a wonderful reminder that complex rules can be ignored in favor of a more robust roleplaying experience with a focus on fun. Some guidelines on "winging it"/running NPCs on the fly are given. A brief discussion of how to integrate a rich history into an NPC.
Now we have the discussion on Adherents, which are characters that interact with the PCs regularly but are played entirely by the CK. Extended rules for creating adherents are presented as well as a large table of adherents from Acrobat to Zoographer. Descriptions are provided for the adherents presented in the table. Next we see how to develop the adherent and differentiate between the transient and permanent adherents. Now we learn how to locate and hire adherents. Next we see construction rules for adherents that are able to construct items. We then learn how to properly supply adherents to maximize their effectiveness and how to retain their loyalty. A morale mechanic tailored towards adherents is presented.

Next we have a treatment of Henchmen. They are different from adherents in two key ways: they tend to travel with the party much more frequently, and may or may not be played entirely by the CK.We next see a couple of pages dedicated to creating, locating, and developing the henchman. We have tables for the henchmans class; we read about where they can be found, best methods to retain them, and a discussion of the "network" of PC relationships that might producs memorable henchmen. Now we get in to hiring the henchman. His terms of service, his standard starting fees, expenses, goals, responsibilities, and compatibility with the overall group. We now see several tables that will tell us whether the negotiation bore fruit and the henchman will say yes to the characters and become their henchman. We now see a section on how to keep the hench happy, equipped and loyal.

Now we have Hirelings. They are non classed NPCs that are hired by the group for specific tasks. We go over three more pages with the same type of information that we went over for henchmen, but targeted towards the hireling. Included are rules for monsters/creatures as hirelings. Pretty cool stuff IMO. Also included are rules for maintaining the loyalty of intelligent magical items and how to build their personality.

Finally we have a section dedicated to how NOT to use an NPC. Finally we close out this chapter with a section on balance and a small section on the player characters as hirelings for NPCs.


/chapter 4

[Breakdaddy]

BD, I envy you, you lucky bastard.

R-

HAHA!

[Breakdaddy]

Rhu: You're Welcome!

[DeadReborn]

Thanks for the rundown BD. Everything sounds great so far. Can't wait to get a copy.

[Breakdaddy]

Next up is PART 2 of the CKG: Worlds of Adventure.
The Overland is the focus of chapter 5. There is a TON of information here. This is entering "World Builder" territory a-la the gygaxian fantasy series book of the same name. Same type of material. I love this stuff. I wont even try to tackle this chapter right now. Ill get back with you cats....

Pages 83-149 cover overland, city, underground, and air/water based adventures respectively.

[Breakdaddy]

Thanks for the rundown BD. Everything sounds great so far. Can't wait to get a copy.

No problem dude

[gideon_thorne]

Ya. Dude stole my copy.

[Breakdaddy]

Ya. Dude stole my copy.

WHOA! My thread has resurrected PETE!

[Frost]

Ok, I'm starting to drool. I want this thing. Can't wait for the hard back.

[gideon_thorne]

Ya. Dude stole my copy.

WHOA! My thread has resurrected PETE!

Well, in case you hadn't noticed, I'd been working my ass of on putting together that copy you absconded with.

[gideon_thorne]

Hard back, hell. I want a set of those pocket editions. I love pocket sized game books.

[Breakdaddy]

There is no way I can do justice to chapters 5-8, so I'm not going to try. I will tell you that my general impression is that it is like "World Builder" meets the 1st Edition AD&D DMG (the campaign building portion, anyway). It starts out with a strategic overview of world building and drills down to a very granular level covering subjects like volcanic vents, burrowing creatures, traps, and ship to ship combat. Aerial combat is covered and I have a hard time believing so much was stuffed into these chapters. Good job to whoever wrote these chapters! Tables are interspersed throughout. This is by far my personal favorite portion of the CKG so far. Chapter 9 is called "Equipment Wastage". I will try to cover that for you guys.

[Breakdaddy]

Ya. Dude stole my copy.

WHOA! My thread has resurrected PETE!

Well, in case you hadn't noticed, I'd been working my ass of on putting together that copy you absconded with.

There's more than just the one copy, I promise!


Great job on the art, as usual!

[serleran]

For my part in the CKG, you are most assuredly welcome. I eagerly await one so my paws can see the glory.

[Breakdaddy]

For my part in the CKG, you are most assuredly welcome. I eagerly await one so my paws can see the glory.

You wrote those chapters? I thought you might have had something to do with those. Well done, if so!

[Rigon]

BD, I envy you, you lucky bastard.

R-

HAHA!

Naw, dude, if I lived there, I probably would have snuck into the TrollDens and made off with my own copy.

Thanks for the updates. I jonesing for my copy.

R-

[serleran]

Well, I won't claim credit for things I have not seen, but I can say, based on what you've listed, some of what I submitted has been imprinted. There should be, hopefully, more serl-work later in the book. The CKG was a massive project and all those involved are hereby commended for bringing it to existence. Especially Steve.