23 June 2010
Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
Retrospective: Alma Mater
JUN 23, 2010 12:30A.M.
In the annals of this hobby, there are only a handful of RPGs that can
claim to be “notorious” and 1982’s Alma Mater is one of them. Written
by Steve Davis and Andrew Warden and published by a company called
Oracle Games in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Alma Mater is one of those games
about which most people have strong feelings one way or the other.
Subtitled “the high school roleplaying game,” it takes its inspiration,
according to the authors’ acknowledgments from “movies like American
Graffiti, Animal House, Grease, Meatballs, and Prom Night, as well as
the television series The White Shadow.” Almost anyone who grew up in
the 70s to early 80s probably understands these references immediately,
which are important to keep in mind, as Alma Mater is very much a
product of its time.
The game came with a warning on its back cover, indicating that it “deals
with mature subject matter and is not suitable for children under 14
years of age.” The introduction also stressed this point, noting that it
“contains some rather mature subject matter, especially in regards to sex
and drugs. We are not making a stand for or against either, but both are
common in modern high schools.” It’s because of this that the game
enjoys such notoriety — as well as its illustrations, including many by old
school legend Erol Otus (who drew the cover illustration depicted here).
At the time, some within the hobby were scandalized by Alma Mater,
with its rules for drug addiction, pregnancy, and constructing explosives
in chemistry class. Reading it now, though, I find it more puerile than
scandalous, with many of its more sensational elements reflective of
Hollywood’s depiction of high school than anything occurring in reality.
1
That said, the idea behind Alma Mater is not without merit. Its basic
premise — creating a fresh high school student and then playing out his
or her high school career, with success points garnered in academic,
general, and social areas — is an intriguing one. Indeed, I am surprised
no other games covering this subject have ever been written so far as I
know. Alma Mater characters have seven randomly generated attributes
that determine their qualifications to enter one of seven classes: average,
brain, cheerleader, criminal, jock, tough, and loser. Each class grants
access to certain skills and, sometimes, special abilities. Skills cover most
of the activities that teenagers would likely engage in, as well as those
that cinema and TV shows suggest they do. There are rules for combat,
random encounters, doing homework and taking tests, dating, getting
sick, and many other aspects of high school life. Taken together, they
provide a good framework for adjudicating most of the events and
activities of one’s high school years. Alma Mater also include sample
high school (called Central High) and an adventure.
I never owned Alma Mater back in the day, but I knew others who did. It
had an aura of “dangerousness” about it, because it was difficult to
acquire — you had to order it direct from the publisher, as I recall — and
lots of people thought it would bring the hobby into even greater
disrepute. And of course it had all those naughty Erol Otus pictures in it,
which, I’ll be perfectly honest, I found far more disturbing than
titillating. Otus is the perfect artist for fevered dream fantasies but not
my first choice when it comes to depicting salacious scenes of
Hollywood-style high schools. Having later had the chance to examine it
very thoroughly — I’ve still never actually played it — I can’t shake the
feeling that, had it not been for the uproar it caused, no one would
remember it today. It’s a fairly mediocre implementation of a potentially
clever idea, hampered by its self-serious attitude about its subject
matter, an attitude that’s all the more odd given the unreality of the
world it depicts.
Except for Erol Otus, I don’t recognize the names of anyone associated
with this game and I didn’t even realize that its publisher was Canadian
until I recently re-examined the 48-page rulebook. I can’t shake the
feeling that there’s some great history associated with the game’s origins
and publication, but, if so, I’ve never come across them. Instead, all I
recall are the denunciations the game received at the time and the way
that certain rebellious teenaged gamers, like my friend’s older brother,
cherished their copies. It’d be very interesting to learn more about this
odd little game and the circumstances behind its creation.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
ROGUE FEED
Grognard’s Grimoire: Knocker
JUN 22, 2010 04:10P.M.
The text in the quote box below is hereby designated Open Game
Content via the Open Game License.
Dwarf, Knocker
No Enc.: 2d6
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 60’ (20’)
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 1+2
Attacks: 1 (weapon)
Damage: As weapon
Save: D1
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: VI, XX
XP: 27
Knockers are aberrant, insane beings accidentally created
through an error in the carving process by which dwarves
propagate their kind. They are wild-eyed, almost feral
demihumans of similar stature to their dwarven kin but much
thinner and with somewhat sharper features. Their skin is
pale and they favor unkempt clothing and armor that weirdly
enables them to blend in with stone, granting them the ability
to hide in shadows in such surroundings on a roll of 1-3 on
1d6 (and surprising opponents with the same probability).
Consumed with a lust for gold, gems, and precious metals,
knockers hate other dwarves, against whom they wage
constant guerrilla warfare. Fortunately, they similarly hate
most other creatures, which means they rarely have allies in
their war against their kin. Foolhardy and mad, most
knockers do not have a long life expectancy. Those that do
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23 June 2010
survive grow more powerful as a result. Consequently, 50% of
all knockers encountered with be 2nd-level Dwarves and, in a
group of 10 or more, there will always be a 4th or 5th-level
Dwarf amongst them. Knockers favor the use of polearms and
axes and rarely use missile weapons. All knockers radiate an
aura of confusion (as per the 4th-level magic-user spell of the
same name) and anyone who comes within its 30’ radius
must save vs. spells or suffer its ill effects for 12 rounds.
By all rights, there should be no more knockers than there are
gnomes — likely fewer given the lives these savage beings
lead. Yet, somehow, there are more. Indeed, in some
subterranean areas, knockers inexplicably exist in very large
numbers, suggesting that either there are other means of
creating these beings than through an error in carving or they
have a means to reproduce themselves. There are
longstanding rumors that knockers steal inert dwarves and
transform them into more knockers, but no evidence of its
truth has ever been found.
ROGUE FEED
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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
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Spellslingers for Hire (James A. Smith)…………………11
The City-State of Khosura, Part I (Gabor Lux)....………12
Inter-Session Events (J.E. Badelaire)……………….…..24
Purchasing Potions (Eric Minton)……………………...25
The Hobgoblin God’s Crown (James Quigley)…………27
In My World… (Calithena)…………………………….40
Den of Villainy (Antii Hulkonnen)……………………..43
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3
23 June 2010
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Witches of N’Kai (Caleb Jensen)……………………...113
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ROGUE FEED
Dwimmermount, Session 42
JUN 22, 2010 12:11P.M.
Session 42 saw the characters exploring Level 5 of Dwimmermount, after
having descended to it by means of an elevator they discovered on Level
4. Their initial survey of the level made it clear that they’d already been
down to this level by means of a teleportation device earlier in the
dungeon, a fact made all the more certain by the detailed maps and notes
Dordagdonar has been keeping since they started their expedition.
Consequently, the party was very wary. They knew that Level 5 was home
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net
to a goodly number of Termaxian cultists, along with their werewolf
allies, and that the Termaxians were both magically potent and in
telepathic communication with one another. Thus, an attack against a
single group of the cultists would almost certainly result in the
appearance of more cultists in fairly short order.
Consequently, much of the session was spent carefully examining the
area of Level 5 in which they were currently located, paying attention to
means of entrance and exits. The party rightly felt that the best course of
action was to proceed into those areas from which they were least
vulnerable to an attack on multiple fronts. Unfortunately for them, this
was no easy task; there were many entrances, doors, and corridors in
their immediate vicinity. Barring extreme luck on their part, they would
likely have to be on their guard at all times.
Both Brother Candor and Dordagdonar possess rings of invisibility (yes,
I am aware that this makes me a bad person). They decided to scout
ahead invisibly to get a better sense of where danger might lie. As it
turned out, a large room not far away was occupied by a Termaxian
adept and four soldiers wearing azoth-infused armor. A plan was
formulated: Brother Candor would cast silence 15’ radius into the midst
of them, thus preventing the adept from casting spells, while
Dordagdonar would send a fireball at them. Of course, they’d both then
be rendered visible, but they hoped that their plan would result in
sufficient chaos that they’d not suffer to much for it.
Things went somewhat as planned, with the adept retreating to a corner
of the room out of view, while the much-harmed warriors closed in to
engage in melee. The rest of the party rushed to the defense of their
comrades and battled ensued. It did not last long, though, as
Dordagdonar quickly tired of combat and cast a stinking cloud on the
group. None of the warriors made their saving throws and thus doubled
over, retching and coughing. They were soon dispatched before they had
the chance to move out of the cloud.
This left the adept alive, but, as the stinking cloud would still be active
for several more rounds, no one in the party could dare to pass through it
to get to him. Brother Candor’s earlier fear proved correct, as the party
saw three werewolves and three more Termaxian adepts rushing down a
corridor from another room — alerted by the stranded adept, no doubt.
The party pulled back to brace themselves and to break line of sight on
the adepts. The werewolves put up a fight for a few rounds, but were
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23 June 2010
eventually slain. In death, their bodies reverted to those of human beings
wearing nothing but wolfskin cloaks (that were later confirmed to be
magical in nature).
The other adepts, however, did not make an appearance, prompting
Dordagdonar to again become invisible and sneak down the corridor to
see what was happening. The adept were no longer in sight; in their place
was a young white dragon slithering down the hallway toward the party’s
position. This was the dragon they’d seen earlier in a room that was
likely close by, so Brother Candor and company were distressed at the
prospect. Dordagdonar, meanwhile, was skeptical and advanced toward
the dragon so that he could use his wand of paralyzation on him. This he
did, but the wand seemingly had no effect upon it, which only heightened
his skepticism. Now visible after having used the wand, he swung at the
dragon with his sword, scored a hit, and the it disappeared, revealing
itself to be the illusion he suspected it to be.
The disappearance of the dragon was a cue for the Termaxian adepts,
who’d used their own invisibility spells to hide themselves to come into
view, pelting the elf with magic missiles and nearly slaying him (I believe
he came within 1 or 2 hit points of death — never let anyone tell you
magic missile is a useless spell!). By this time, Brother Candor and the
rest of the party had arrived to fight the adepts. A melee followed, with
several other near-deaths, but the whole thing ended with the use of hold
person, which resulted in all three adepts being easy pickings for the
party.
At this stage, the PCs were low on hit points and spells but the decision
was made to press ahead at least a little more. Several other rooms,
including one with a spring-loaded arrow trap, were explored before the
party found a filthy, rank room that was home to at least three trolls.
Needless to say, this frightened them quite a bit. Trolls are tough
opponents even when fully prepared for them, but the party was not.
Rather than face them, they quickly tossed down several flasks of oil,
ignited them, and retreated back to the elevator to make their way to the
surface for re-supply.
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 23 June 2010

ROGUE FEED to a millennium for most dwarves.

Spam, Marvelous Spam
JUN 22, 2010 10:39A.M.
Anyone else’s blog being hit with a massive amount of spam in the
comments to old posts? I’ve never been convinced that spam was an
effective way to sell anything, but, assuming it was, would attaching a
comment to a post that’s over a year old be the best way to do so?
• Gnomes occupy an odd place in dwarven society, being
simultaneously a source of embarrassment, for the line of dwarf
with a gnome in it will inevitably die, and pride, for gnomes are
what enable the dwarves to create the enchanted items that
maintain their dwindling society.
• Consequently, most gnomes are kept hidden away within dwarven
strongholds; outsiders rarely hear of them, let alone see them.

• Needless to say, gnomish adventurers are extremely uncommon.

ROGUE FEED
• Many gnomes believe that there is a way for their kind to reproduce
Yet More on Dwarves and and work hard toward finding the means to do so.

Gnomes
JUN 22, 2010 09:48A.M.
(I’m pleased to see that these posts have struck a chord with a lot of
people, judging by the unexpectedly large numbers of comments and
emails I’ve been getting in relation to them. I’ll also confess to some
surprise at the amount of “scientific” thinking being applied to the
question of dwarven reproduction in my campaign setting, both because
it’s not a mode of thought I typically employ when designing a fantasy
setting and, more importantly, because there are many unknown
variables that make such extrapolations difficult, if not impossible, to
make reliably. I mention this not to discourage such discussion, which I
actually enjoy, but only to point out that one is likely to reach very
different conclusions than I have — to the extent I have any conclusions
at all — given the differences in our methods of world creation.)
Here are some additional facts on dwarves and gnomes:
• There are many tall tales of gnome-only enclaves in the southern
lands, who are self-sustaining after having discovered the means to
propagate themselves.
And that’s pretty close to the extent of what I currently know about
dwarves and gnomes. Since, so far, the campaign has not focused at all
on dwarven society, I’m frankly surprised that I know even this much,
but it’s a topic that’s obliquely related to several other aspects of the
campaign, such as the quest for immortality and the identity of the
Makers, so I’ve given it a little bit of thought.
ROGUE FEED
REVIEW: Oubliette #1
JUN 22, 2010 09:00A.M.

• Judging by the immense sizes of dwarven strongholds, many of

which are now completely abandoned, there was once an extremely
large population of these beings. Some of the largest such
strongholds could likely have housed millions of dwarves, whereas
now most are home only to thousands.

• The one-son tradition doesn’t seem to be based wholly on

superstition. There’s evidence that, in the past, dwarves routinely
created more sons and strife resulted. The dwarves refer to this
time simply as “the Tumult” and note sadly that dwarves turned
against not only each other but also the Makers (the mysterious
god-like beings some non-humans revere rather than the gods of
Men). Once order was restored, the Makers forbade the dwarves to
have more than one son each or dire consequences would ensue.

• The dwarves say that, as bad as having a knocker for a son is, much
worse can result from a second or subsequent son carved in
violation of the Makers’ dictum.
• Unlike elves, dwarves are not immortal. In time, they will revert to
the stone out of which they were carved but the process takes close
I find myself in the unusual circumstance of having read and reviewed
issue 2 of the old school fanzine Oubliette before having read issue 1.
Unlike a novel or movie series, reading a periodical out of order won’t
spoil any surprises or make it harder to enjoy earlier issues, but it does
give one a slightly different perspective. In this case, what’s most evident

5
Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net 23 June 2010

is how much Oubliette has improved in the span of a single issue. Make Don’t Buy This If: You’d prefer to come up with your own ideas rather
no mistake: issue 1 is very good indeed, well worth the $2 cost for this than using those of others.
PDF. Nevertheless, I did feel a certain sense “regression” as I read the
first issue, as if I were going back in time to see a tall building before it
had gotten very far off the ground.

Issue 1 is shorter than its successor (only 35 pages instead of 50) and its
content “rougher,” feeling a bit more like a first draft than the content of
issue 2. Even so, there’s a palpable energy to the content; it’s clear that
everyone involved in Oubliette is enjoying himself and wants to share
that enjoyment with others. A good example of this is the 9-page
“Halfling Proof Fence,” which, while described as a “tournament-style
adventure” is more like a competitive miniatures game using the
Labyrinth Lord rules to simulate goblins pursuing escaped halfling
slaves, with the player whose goblin achieves the most points in this
endeavor being proclaimed champion of the tribe by the goblin chieftain.
The adventure cleverly employs wandering monster tables and other
random elements, along with geomorphic maps, to represent the varied
challenges of chasing down escaped halflings through a subterranean
environment. There are also two pages of counters for use with “Halfling
Proof Fence.”

Like issue 2, there are installments of “Monster Club,” providing

inventive ways to use standard monsters, in this case trolls and (as you
might expect) goblins. A 3-page overview of the “Inheritance” campaign
setting is provided and, while it’s probably not to everyone’s taste, it’s
well done and contains some interesting ideas. Also included is a partial
map of the campaign area on which I was delighted to see Michael
Curtis’s Stonehell as a location. There’s also a short article providing
common sense advice on “Designing House Rules for Labyrinth Lord,”
along with some examples of its principles in action. In a similar vein
there’s a treatment “Alternative Subdual Rules for Labyrinth Lord,”
which I quite liked. “Improvised Traps” offers an elegant system for
characters who wish to create traps on the fly. The “Good Shop/Bad
Shop” feature details “The Rentalist,” a business where one can rent
specialized magical items for a fee. Rounding out the issue are reviews
and the first installment of “The Song of Sithakk” fiction serial.

Issue 1 is, as I said, a bit more rough around the edges than issue 2, but it
nevertheless possesses most of its successor’s best qualities, such as the
aforementioned infectious energy and delightfully quirky illustration
style. At $2, one can’t really complain about its price, even if, after the
excellence of issue 2, issue 1 pales looks a little less impressive by
comparison. Taken in its own right, though, issue 1 of Oubliette is a good
value, with lots of inspiring material. It’s definitely a first effort, with all
that that entails. Still, I’m happy to recommend it to anyone looking for
new ideas to add to their Labyrinth Lord campaigns, or indeed any old
school fantasy game.

Presentation: 6 out of 10
Creativity: 7 out of 10
Utility: 6 out of 10

Buy This If: You’re looking for more ideas and resources for use in your
old school fantasy campaign.