2.0 Card Eratta

As I work to create a set of larger cards that Sue can read and play using I am making some changes in the cards.
These changes are from player commentary. Thanks for passing on your thoughts. Your input will improve the game.

Card Errata page on the website.

When life knocks you down...

Get on your feet, look it in the eye, smile, and say "My Turn".

It has been too hot in the work area to get much done, and now that the weather has cooled down, we had a triple murder last night across the street from us.

Interesting world we live in.

Mark

Reavers, a story overheard

The original Reavers twisted their Elethay/Reaver abilities into being Jikadell Hags. True they are witch like, but they are a terror in combat as well.
Dersias Kilvan once said that "If you are lucky a Hag will kill you with magic, the unlucky survive the magic."

The true Elethay Reavers became a tiny virtually unknown cult preserving their skills and name.

It is said that on Deathday Elethay herself appeared at their mountain hide away. She spoke to all of the hundred Reavers and laid down her covenant, as reported by Dersias.
"No Reaver shall have authority or power over another individual, be they Reaver, mortal or Bloodkin. They shall work alone, or with others, to protect Elethay's works and gain revenge against the Hags, Necromancers and Jikadell for what was wrought this day." Then Elethay commanded them to go forth, reveal themselves and begin the work.

After Elethay had left, the six Reaver Councilors summoned the community to prepare to go to war. Then the six faced each other, swore fidelity to the covenant, and, facing each other, they slew themselves, leaving the Reavers leaderless.

You may well ask how far can we trust Dersias's accounts. We do not know. Of the man we know nothing. Only bits and pieces of his writing have survived the Dark Times that followed Deathday, so we do not know if he wrote first hand accounts or wrote down the stories as they were told to him. We have confirmed, through spirits, that such a historian existed, but little else has been learned.

It seems to me that the Pylos, or their agents, when they were destroying history, took a special glee in eradicating the works of Dersias Kilvan.

That is all for today, the wrenders shall have to wait for another day, I tire now and would take a few drinks so that I may try to forget the horrors that sobriety bring me. Hmmm, what? Why did the Pylos want to destroy history? That should be obvious. They wanted a blank slate onto which they could write their propaganda and call it history. Now, go away.

Mark

Dragon Storm and more news.

I have made a number of updates on the website.

The Errata, Comments, Feedback section of the site has been expanded. We are pulling the Beta site and the Guild site into the main site so they will be easier to find. It is going to take 3-4 months to get this done. Forms for questions, comments and updates have been added.

We have been posting comments, articles and errata on the site as we go along, but people are not used to it, so few have found it. Things like the link to the Skype gamers, the Article on making your own flaws and more are there.

In Health news we have had another set back. During the seizures and ongoing trauma, Sue has contracted an eye disease. It is now under control, but she has suffered permanent eye damage. This is going to affect how, and what, we do as we go along. For twelve years the income of Susan's art supported DS during the Classic/Deluxe Era. As of the introduction of 2.0 DS became self supporting, and is even making a small income. This is extremely lucky as we are now going to have to rely on DS for our primary income. Your support in the conversion is much appreciated and we need you to continue to support DS 2 and help expand the game. You have our sincere thanks.

So that Sue can read the DS cards I am creating a set of over sized cards for her. To do this I am having to rebuild the cards. I have found a way to make cards that can be expanded and contracted to do this with. This differences are small, so all is well as far as using existing cards. It also means I am going over every card for 2.0 and making small corrections. I am also looking at the comments people have made on the cards and a few are getting changes. I will be listing the changes that affect play in the Errata page on the website. Once we get that done there will be a free exchange program for some cards.

We are looking forward to seeing our DS loyalists at Storm Con in a few weeks.

Good Gaming to one and all!

Mark

Reloaded Beta PDF's

Some of the Beta PDF's were not coming up right. I forced a reload to get them up and they seem to be right now. If you check and find something not downloading, let me know.

Our StormCon Plans

Well, life continues to mess with our schedule, so here it is:

We spent today chasing doctor appointments.
Susan is on some new medications, we will see how that goes, and what the effects are.
We have an early appointment and we will be arriving at the con during the first gaming session.
We will set up, talk to people, deliver orders and con cards, and be there through the first break.

We will be back early Saturday and stay as long as Sue can.

Mark

Newsletter sent! And some Beta thoughts.

This will come as a shock to many of you, but we sent out a newsletter. If you did not get it, you either never signed up, or your email address has changed.

To update your email, contact Tim at tim@kennardweb.net. He is handling the Guild list now.

I uploaded a new Universal Beta 2 PDF. I thought I would add a few thoughts about the cards. As you know, not all Beta cards will ever see print, they are out there for your entertainment and for us to get your opinions.

Battle Moves is an experiment to reduce the number of cards in play. While some of us do not mind keeping track of several active cards, others want it simple. Battle Moves is made to look at some simpler combinations. We shall see how it works.

Shifted Boost is designed to compensate for role-playing choices. As an example, I have a gargoyle who likes rocks. His fists are rocks, he wants to use them. With the current cards I am penalized for making that choice. This card let's me play the way I want without taking a no Melee weapon penalty. The tricky part of this card is that it is meant for actual forms, like Gargoyle, not for being a Tigrean. We also don't see it working for small forms. However, a player may have a good explanation why she should be able to use it in a Pegasus Horse form, so we added "Ask GM" to let role-playing work. Power players will want to abuse this card, so despite the card covering a needed category, it may never see print.

Dual Weapons. In DS 2 we are keeping extra attacks to combat trained people, but anyone could use two weapons. The biggest advantage of having Dual Weapons is that they are harder to defend against. The New version gives a damage bonus most of the time. There is a roll to succeed, although good role-playing may get you the bonus without a roll at all. To make faster games I also added a simplified roll GM's may want players to use.

Totally alert was in the Awareness/Perception set, but it seems like something that should be Universal. Almost more of a role-playing skill than one that would be limited to a specialist.

Nightvision, like Totally Alert, was in the Perceptive type skills, but it should be Universal. Everybody and their sister had Nightvision in Classic DS. We have been looking for a way to limit Nightvision. After several different experiments, we think being a Boon will restrict Nightvision to just those characters who have a good reason for using up a Boon slot.

Keep checking on the Beta's. Keep trying them. I know there should be a form on the page to deal with comments on these and when I can carve out the time I will get that done.

See you at Origins!

Mark