4 Reasons Why Describing Your Tabletop RPG Character is Important

The Character Description Section from every edition of Dungeons and Dragons

Since the guys at JADE can't be trusted to hold on to their character sheets, I keep them all safe and sound in separate binders divided by edition. With access to so many characters sheets I often flip through to see what kind of characters the guys have created and to see what information they are filling out on their sheets.

The one common thing I noticed was that on most of the sheets in my binders, the Player Character description sections were either empty, or woefully lacking.
I wanted to make a case for filling out these important details in game, so here are the 4 reasons you should fill out the Player Character description sections.

Akelius Flint

1. The Details Can Change the Game

Having these descriptions on your sheet will change the outcome of scenarios. Let me explain; if you have your exact height recorded and are quite small it can be easier to hide behind terrain. However if your character is very large then there might not be anything in the same area to hide behind. Either way, that small detail changed what you could do in the game; making it more interesting.

To cite an example that happened to me in a game, my character Aeklius Flint in Hymns of Vagabond Game 8 was wanted by the Serratic League on suspicions of theft. To throw off the guards I shaved my beard, and altered my character description to match, making it much harder for them to identify me in an age before photography. Having the character details filled out actually saved Flint's life in this case, and if that isn't a game changer I don't what is.

John Applewood

2. You Will Be More Attached to Your Character

Beyond knowing more about what your character looks like and how they act, having filled out this information will make you more attached and invested in the character you are playing.

Creating Elijah's character John Applewood took an entire evening. We had to fill out each section of our 6 page 2nd AD&D character sheet including the large character description section. When Elijah was done he really felt like he knew who his character was, and that came through in his role play. In game he was able to talk as though he had a past in the area, and was able to lean on his traits, and in some cases physical size to roleplay through situations.

The time he spent creating his character was well worth it.

Sharky McCoy

3. Your Sheet Will Seem Less Barren

Sharky MCoy's Character Description section is the most filled out of any of the 5th edition sheets I have here... And it is sparse to say the least. Just look how empty the page looks. It is begging to be filled with information.

In 5th edition, they also devoted an entire page to describing and setting up your character's back story, ops obviously they also thought it was important. Don't be lazy, fill it out and use your character sheet to its potential.

Raymond E. Howard

4. It's Fun

Part of role playing is coming up with a character, and having a description of who they are and what they look like is an important part of that Not only can it be fun to go into this level of detail with a fictional character, but beyond that you can get pretty funny while still providing meaningful information.

Look at how Dave described his Barbarian. Eyes: Disarming, Hair: Flowing, and Skin: Glistening. He used the character descriptions to describe aspects of his character, while still having a laugh. Despite his roughness there is a softness to his eyes making him more approachable. His hair luxurious and flowing, and you can imagine his muscled skin glistening with oil or sweat. Dave did a lot with a little here, and really showed off his wit; coming up with an amazing way to describe your character that continues to give me a chuckle to this day.

So if you don't already start filling out those character descriptions, and enjoy what they have to offer to the game and around the tabletop. who knows it may just save your character's life someday. And as always, happy gaming.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

15mm Minotaur Minions

With JADE's on going D&D 3.5 Campaign: Maze of the Minotaur, and the threat of a minotaur uprising increasing, I thought it would be appropriate to have a few minotuar miniatures to stand as the minions of the greater minotaurs we hunt.

While most of theses guys are from 15mm Co, the guy in the centre here is from Splintered Light miniatures, I just figured I would paint him at the same time.

The 15mm Co minis aren't as nice, but there are a lot of them, and that makes up for it I think.

Although I do love the shileds these 15mm Co guys are holding. Must be a lot more morbid an image for a Minotaur... Like a human skull for us.

These guys are a little silly. Looks more like they are doing a sword dance then actually fighting.

Despite their silliness at times they all work wonderfully for a horde of Minotaur minions, the likes of which we cut our way through in recent games of Maze of the Minotaur.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

15mm Goblin Archers

The Goblin War is coming in JADE's 1st ed AD&D Campaing hymns of a Vagabond, and that means I need tons of Goblin minis to handle the battles, and the eventual escalation towards using the Battle System.

These Goblin Archers are from Mirliton Miniatures and are the first minis from them I have painted in the 15mm scale. I must say I am impressed with the quality.

i don;t know what it is about these guys, but somethign about there design reminds me of the 70's. they are a little taler then what the modern concept of a goblin is, and maybe they are just reminding me of older minis for days yonder.

Maybe they are reminding me of the Orcs from Ralph Bakshi's animated Lord of the Rings from 1978. I can't quite put my figure on it.

Either way i know they will be an important figure on the table, and I have even already used them in a game. Although I confess I painted them for Game 12 of Hymns of a vagabond, so I suspected as much.

Now with winter coming in that campaign, these guys might be slightly under dressed. But what can I do, I doubt they make 15mm Arctic Goblins.

I am sure I will eventually need more than 8 of these guys but for now they will have to do. See them in Hymns of a Vagabond game 13, where we try and storm a goblin stronghold.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

GURPS: Too Generic, or Just Generic Enough?

Earlier this year I got my hands on a copy of the 3rd edition of Steve Jackson's Generic Universal Role Playing System or GURPS. It was my first exposure to the game, and while I am aware they are currently on the 4th edition of GURPS, 3rd Edition gave me access to the only reason I wanted to play GURPS in the first place: GURPS Old West, which has not been ported forward to 4th edition.

I have wanted to play an Historic Old West tabletop RPG for some time and GURPS also gave me a lot of options for expansion and exploration so I figured I would give it a go!

We played about a half dozen games of Old West GURPS over a month before returning to our usual campaign cycle. We all really liked the system and came away with a positive feelings about GURPS,. We even snagged a few more modules including the Horror and Swashbuckling Modules.

But this being said, since we played around in the old west for while, we haven't done much since. So here is the break down of what we thought of the system.

In GURPS there are skills for everything! If you can think of it, they have a rule for it, and the guys weren't able to stump the list without venturing into the realm of absurdity. So you have a lot of flexibility across a lot of different time periods, to actively reflect the skills those people might have.

Creating your characters is easy and utilizes a point system that is a refreshing change from the usual  dice systems you find in tabletop RPGS. It is admittedly a little involved, and take some time but you can very easily create a fully fleshed out character.

Perhaps my favourite thing about GURPS is that the modules are informative and well researched. They also contain useful game information, and my Old West book's pages are already worn from looking back so many times.

Definitely a great system for so many historic settings, and for anyone wanting to experiment with cross-genre gaming.

Despite having modules for dozens of campaign settings and information, there is nothing about GURPS that particularly lends itself to any setting. The very nature of a generic system means that it is designed to accommodate all contingencies. When it comes down to it, if you took away the Old West Module, the only thing different would be the Items and weapons my players had access to.

Nothing about their stats would change, aside from an lost skill here or there, and honestly even without any of the modules to help, you could run just about any setting in a limited way.

I guess what I am saying is that the the historic nature of the game feels a little hollow, as if something you toss over the GURPS system to make it look like the Old West, but it doesn't quite feel like the Old West. If that makes any sense.

For me, GURPS is a little too generic. I think it is great for the occasional one-off game, and I would even play it for a short campaign. But beyond on that I feel as though the system would wear thin on me. I want something a little more hearty, something designed to suit a setting rather than attempt to suit any setting.

In the end though, I would recommend GURPS in any edition to anyone, and if you are looking for something specific they will probably have it. But be warned it may lack the depth in game play mechanics you are looking for. If you were hoping that the Old West had a system for handling Duels you would be disappointed. So as a Gamer Master you will need to do some more work to bring the scenarios to life.

What do you think? Is GURPS too generic? Or just Generic enough?


Written by: Andrew Gregory

#Characteroftheday Dice News

Hi Everybody,

Yesterday afternoon we officially sold out of the first run of the #characteroftheday dice. I first want to thank anyone who bought a set; we could not have imagined such an overwhelmingly positive response.

To anyone who still wants a set - don't worry, we are restocking. The second run of #characteroftheday dice have been ordered and we will have more available in a few weeks. So sit tight, you can still get yours!

Since everyone is wanting to know, I can definitely say that yes we are making the the 5th Edition sets and they will be available early next year.  We will have more announcements on that in a few weeks, but I can say that they will be totally compatible with 5th ed Dungeons and Dragons and that they will be larger then the current #characteroftheday set.

We will put out an announcement as soon as we have more #characteroftheday dice and more news to give you. Thanks for waiting!


Written by: Andrew Gregory

15mm Cowboys

When we started playing Steve Jackson's Generic Universal Role Playing System (GURPS) using the Old West setting, we realised pretty quickly that we needed some miniatures on the table.

Gun combat was simply too fast and deadly and we really needed something to accurately account for distance, cover, position etc. I have had my eye on these cowboys from Blue Moon Manufacturing for a while now, and I finally had an excuse to snag them.

This guy is my favourite because he is obviously based on Clint Eastwood's character from A Fist Full of Dollars, For a Few More Dollars, and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

This fellow is the soon-to-be Sheriff "Quick-Draw" Willy. Dave's character in the first game we ever played. He really is fast with a pistol.

The main villain in Dave's game was this fellow: Texas Red. Just like the Marty Robbins Song. Though, since "Quick-Draw Willy's six gun was so fast, he didn't actually rob him and only had one of his henchmen shot.

One of "Quick-Draw" Willy's comrades: Daniel Mayer. The two of which survived a gun fight with the corrupted sheriff and the deputies of their small town.

This scared looking fellow is Silas Tanner: A priest who's stage coach was attacked by bandits while crossing New Mexico. This was my cousin Adam's character for his first game.

The main villain in Adam's first adventure is the outlaw known only as "El Diablo" I am sure we will have more adventures where Silas Tanner and El Diablo meet.

Adam's character Silas survived his adventure, but he did not save the woman kidnapped by El Diablo, and the Southern Gentleman who offered to assist him (above) was killed in the process. A sad day.

I am sure more Wild West adventures are in store, and of course that means more minis soon to come.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Max Flailer

Whether or not that is his real name, Max Flailer joined the Arachnophobia party in game 6 and even managed to travel back in time with Thomas the Chronomancer within moment of meeting him. Needless to say Max's time with the party would be a tumultuous one.

His addition to the group brought the party up to nine members, five of which were player characters. This was a feat that wouldn't be accomplished again until many games later, but his time with the group was short lived.

It took me forever to find a 15mm guy with a Flail, who wasn't on horse back or wearing Full Plate Mail. What I needed was a peasant with a flail, and though Max Flailer in game had nothing but the clothing on his back and a flail, the best I could do was this fellow in a Kettle Hat from 15mm Co... Which is now called Alternative Armies... The mini I actually ordered only had a fabric cap on, but I honestly didn't feel like quibbling over something that cost $2.

And So Max Flailer joined the party, lasting for no longer than the first encounter of game 7, in no less than 2 separate timelines. So Characters just aren't meant to be.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

P.S. After his death at the hands of an Owl Bear, the guys kept Max Flailer's flail as a party item until it was lost during the Penkurth Massacre. However, the players went back in time to the beginning of the Arachnophobia campaign, and during this time around, they never actually encountered Max. So in Theory he is still out there. And who knows... He might pop up some day.

D20 Call of Cthulhu Vs Chaosium Call of Cthulhu

Since 2011 I have hosted a Call of Cthulhu game of Halloween Night. Most of the time we have played using Chaosium's 6th Edition Call of Cthulhu System, but this year we decided to try something different.

Since we didn't have a copy of the new 7th edition Chaosium Call of Cthulhu game we decided we would check out D20 Call of Cthulhu. Since most of my players would be Dungeons and Dragons veterans, the d20 system came naturally to them, and they were able to help those who had not played many rpg's create their characters. So that was in truth a large reason for our change to D20, but  as we played we noticed some important differences between the two.

The System

So obviously the differences between a d100 system and the d20 system can be measured in leaps and bounds. But in a general sense, the d20 system lends itself to a role play experience that has more successes. The potential modifiers you get to each roll can greatly raise your chances of success. On the other hand, a d100 system, while you can pump and individual stat to make it almost impossible to fail, that is to the detriment of your other skills, making success not uncommon but certainly less so

So over all I found that the d20 system gave my players a few more successful actions then I was used to.

In terms of set up, d20 system is undoubtedly easier to follow. Call of Cthulhu uses a system of rolls and mathematical calculations to create your character, and the d20 system just has a slicker design.

Regarding Character depth, and options during character creation. I think Call of Cthulhu beats the d20 system there. The list of skills is extensive and allows you to create a very well rounded and believable character.

The Game Play

I was a little hesitant to use the d20 system at first. My experience has been the more powerful the players, the more likely they were to be brazen and bold rather then frightened for their character's lives; which of course, this being horror, I wanted achieve the latter. However I didn't find that was case when I actually came host the game. My players were terrified, and despite noticing that they had more successes among their rolls (as I expected). I didn't notice anything different in their game play.

As far as I was concerned both Call of Chutlhu and the d20 system run as smoothly as each other.

The Verdict 

If were to host a long term Call of Cthulhu Campaign, I would use any edition of the Classic Chaosium version. However if you are only interested in dabbling in Call of Cthulhu, for a one-off game or a very short campaign. I recommend the D20 system version for its ease and set up. For our Halloween games the d20 system works perfectly. Although I do hope to us Chaosium's 7th ed to host a full campaign in the future.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

Nigel the Porter and his Mule Daisy

In Game 4 of Arachnophobia the group met Nigel the porter who offered his services and that of his mule to the party for a modest fee. However, my group wasn't all that interested in taking Nigel along with them, and wanted to buy the mule.

Nigel refused explaining that he was in fact very attached to his mule, and when asked to name a price gave the outrageous figure of 200gp. The porter explained that they would be taking away his only source of income, and he would need that much money to get a fresh start. But the group read something else into it.

They all felt that he was far to attached to his mule, and figured he was... Abusing it. And of course (since this Dungeons and Dragons after all) they have been plotting to steal the mule ever since.

Other then a few inquiries, they haven't made any moves yet, but with them fleeing the small village of Remfeld in the night, I am sure they will make attempt it soon. It shouldn't be too hard to steal from a sleeping farm village.

Of course I painted Nigel thinking that they would welcome a porter along with them. Who wants to carry their own stuff after all? However, since I am always prepared I do have a 15mm mule on its own, so I will also have to get that ready as well.

Typical.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

15mm Dwarf With an Axe

Another mini that I meant to have ready for Arachnophobia Game 1, but have only recently finished with game 6 on the horizon, is this dwarven fellow.

This guy is from Khurasan Minatures and is a great generic dwarf. Though, I would have made the arms a tad bigger.

But all in all a great dwarf mini, and our first male dwarf on the mini shelf, so that is pretty cool. Aside from Dave's Conquest of Frey Campaign where we have the option to play as Dark Dwarves, there aren't many people who are interested in playing as members of that broad mountain dwelling race. So they have been largely unneeded among my collection.

But in an effort to expand and diversify I figure I would finally finish him up, and I am sure we will have use for him soon, especially in our Hymns of a Vagabond campaign where we seem to be going deeper and deeper in Dwarven lands.


Written by: Andrew Gregory

15mm Priest

So I had meant to have this Cleric painted some time ago so that she could play a part in Arachnophobia Game 1... Well with Game 6 just around the corner, I finally have this mini painted.

We also had a distinct lack of non-death clerics on the minis shelf, and she resets the balance. Now this absence was largely because very few of us actually play clerics, but there has been some interest of late so hopefully we will see her again in another game.

This mini is from Khurasan Miniatures, and I think it is an awesome sculpt.


Written by: Andrew Gregory