Rufus Scott

Dungeon 23 – Week 9

Boss battles are not necessary for a good adventure, but they sure can ensure a great one. Having a big enemy every not and then to contend with raises the stakes, and also boosts the feeling that you are making great progress.

Layer one of my megadungeon doesn’t really have a major boss. The leader of the Principles is slightly stronger, but not by a great margin. The leader of the Tungsten Line is very much Boss material.

So far in this dungeon, negotiating with the clans within can prove fruitful. Whilst the rest of the Tungsten Line are semi-rational creatures, ‘The Tungsten Supervisor’ is not going to let any unauthorised personnel wander ‘his domain’. When the party have to contend with this strange creature, the rest of the clan will be more than happy to look the other way; they aren’t fans of their Supervisor either…

Queen of Hearts – Greatest Disney BBEG?

Alice in Wonderland has had quite the cultural impact. Dozens of movies, games and other stories are either directly inspired by this tale, or overtly live in it’s ideas and imagery. No other story is quoted or referenced as a short hand for “this story is going to be quirky”.

However, very little is made of the Queen. Alice is named or quoted, lots of stories throw in a white rabbit, so many characters emulate the cocky, spirit-guide, Cheshire Cat model, but the Queen of Hearts (or characters like her) are few and far between.

The journey Alice goes on is more fascinating than her destination.

Which is not a good start for the Queen of Heart’s chances as The Ultimate Disney Big Bad Evil Guy.

A Guard Watches a Gate

Night approached relentlessly. The sun had slipped behind the walls of Valderin and the silhouette of the city was imbued with a soft amber glow. Yet soon, that light would be snuffed out, and darkness would take hold.

Paledos stood amongst the Legionnaires on the Southern Redoubt. From this defence, the City Guard could protect the farm folk outside the city walls, and provide an early warning from assault . As the guards on the stone wall looked out across the horizon to the east and south, Paledos admired the city behind them. His prey. His plaything.

Dungeon 23 – Week 8

Let’s make some robots!

I’ve not made too many creatures for my Megadungeon yet, because I haven’t landed on what game I want to run it in yet. I default to 5th Edition D&D, but I’ve also been introduced to Old School Essentials recently, and in the recent issues with WOTC, I’ve been giving Pathfinder the side-eye.

Having said that, building monsters is fun. To me anyway, and I’ve been looking at the robotic, colour-coded ‘Sentries’ in my notes and wondering what they would look like.

Jafar – Greatest Disney BBEG?

I’m of the firm belief that any boss reaches greatness by the reveal of “a final from”. If your Big Bad gains access to their final form by tricking the heroes, that’s a big pile of bonus points. Then, if your BBEG has another final form, but that last form is their undoing… well, there you have a fitting end to your adventure.

In short, Jafar looks like a real contender from the outset.

We’re looking for the best ‘Disney villain as the Big Bad Evil Guy’ for your Table Top RPG. Why? Why not. There have been so many superb Disney villains, and whilst power level or general awesomeness are fine ways to measure a villain, how much you would want them inspiring your Games Master’s campaign is more intriguing debate to me.

<< Last week, Cruella gave it her best shot.

This week, we measure the potential of Jafar.

The Folly of Serious Games

Let me start out by saying that I am a big fan of The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 2. I’m still not sure if I’m happy with the story so far, on the whole, but the fact that I’m still thinking about it tells you something.

However, my gosh, are both games goofy sometimes.

Dungeon 23 – Week 7

Nobody poops in a Table Top RPG. Our characters eat and drink – in some games that’s how you heal – and we need to pay some attention to where the next meal is coming from. We have to think about what we’re wearing, at least in terms of armour. But we never need to care about where and when we poop.

Of course, we don’t really need to roleplay our bathroom breaks. I just found it odd the other day, when I was adding bathrooms to my mega dungeon, that I don’t remember the last time I saw a toilet on a battle map.

It’s not how I expected to break ground with my map making. But it does help to make the ‘dungeon’ feel like the clans can live and survive here, as well as allowing the party to have a toilet break without trekking all the way back to a bush outside…

Cruella de Vil – Greatest Disney BBEG?

“If she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will” is a bold statement. Not only does it imply that Cruella is the scariest thing imaginable in the world 101 Dalmatians, but the same character that sings that line is standing up the fur-obsessed villain just a few scenes later.

Scary, to some extent, sure. Hateful, despicable and unsettling, definitely. If you’re looking for inspiration for a villain in a Table Top Role Playing Game, Cruella gives some great ideas on how you can make a your main evil guy a great source of grief for your players.

But is Cruella the Greatest Disney BBEG?

Dungeon 23 – Week 6

365 rooms feels like a lot. That’s where the challenge lies, after all. Part of my logic in filling in all 28-31 rooms of each floor is by deciding that my Mega Dungeon is very much ‘lived-in’. It’s a structure designed for people to live and work in, so you need all the spaces that requires. Bedrooms, office rooms, work stations, amenities. All these things tick off a room or two.

The layer for February is a production facility. It was established to build technology en masse. The engineers and workers here were working around the clock to construct a way past a world altering event. So as well as some big factory rooms, each space is either dedicated to managing this huge project, or giving the staff their living quarters.