Game aid: Summary sheet

In order to get the players more informed and to answer a few questions I've put together a One sheet summary of the basic rules and basic adventuring activities.

The sheet also contains some rudimentary equipment lists and some other goodies, so hopefully it'll be a very useful addition. I imagine each player having one along with their character sheet, referencing things like where the game is at in a combat round, how to make attacks and defend oneself and how to deal and take damage.

This document, and other downloadable things, can as always be found on the Downloads page.

Comments are very welcome, the document is by no means finished, it is still an alpha version, and so I look for improvements. Also, using this in the playtests will hopefully improve it.

Playtest 3: The evening of the giant critters

As we started our dwarven explorer had scouted ahead, while the cleric, Viggo and his new found barbarian elf friend Savannah stood about in the dark chatting.

The rogue found a tunnel up ahead from whence he heard strange animal sounds. The barbarian got worried after a while and ran after the rogue, and suddenly the rogue heard noises from behind as well!

A classic stand off moment, with the barbarian and rogue was the result.

Is it OSR?

This is of course a long standing discussion among all sub groups of all things. What can be part of it, what can't? Are you with us or against us? You're either in or out, and there are not grey areas. OSR as a sub culture of RPGs is no different, and going through the forums one can find all sorts of (sometimes heated) debates on the subject. But here is my view of it, serving as a motivation of sorts as to why Solum has OSR in the title, and also perhaps giving the reader an insight into what sort of a game it is.

On the wiki page for OSR (old school revival/renaissance/rules/retro-clones) role playing games it states that the movement "takes its inspiration from the very earliest editions of D&D". It mentions a few prominent games: Castles & Crusades, OSRIC and refers to a page about  Dungeons & Dragons retro-clones. This is all good stuff, and fun.

Playtest 2: Gaining momentum...

Second round of play testing started with the players exploring the main hall of the dwarven mines and the treasury. The rogue quickly determined that the lock is a well made and tricky one, requiring one or several minutes of peace and calm to pick.

Simultaneously the elven barbarian kept lookout, and that was a good thing, because she saw first one, then the other, of the two doors open, and goblins pour out into the hall! The adventurers felt trapped, and I allowed them ample time to discuss what to do...

Playtest 1: Razor Hills treasury

Last night we had our very first play session ever! This is a short report on how it went.

Character creation

Character creation turned out to be swift, as is the goal. Because no one had really read the player's handbook a fair bit of rule explanation was needed, but that is minor.

The main point of concern was the fact that characters have a die type in their basic abilities rather than a fixed value. The way this is presented in the rules may have to be refined.

The characters are: Elven warrior with 5 hp, dwarven rogue with 3 hp.