Banned In Germany And The Montreal Massacre

Metagaming's Hitler's War is a fast-playing World War II simulation. You can play the entire second World War in about four hours.

It's not a bad little game, if you are into the genre. It has the unfortunate distinction of displaying several swastikas on the front cover, artwork which essentially results in it being banned in Germany.

It doesn't help that Hitler, himself, is displayed prominently on the box, with his signature salute. That salute is also illegal in Germany.

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The Montreal Massacre occurred on December 6, 1989.

Twenty-five-year-old Marc Lépine, armed with a legally obtained rifle, entered a classroom where he separated the male and female students. After claiming that he was "fighting feminism", he shot all nine women in the room, killing six.

He then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, specifically targeting women to shoot.

Overall, he killed fourteen women before turning the gun on himself. His suicide note claimed political motives and blamed feminists for ruining his life. The note included a list of nineteen Quebec women whom Lépine considered to be feminists and apparently wished to kill.

As a result of the Montreal Massacre, Canada instituted a national gun registry.

Banned In Germany And The Montreal Massacre

Metagaming's Hitler's War is a fast-playing World War II simulation. You can play the entire second World War in about four hours.

It's not a bad little game, if you are into the genre. It has the unfortunate distinction of displaying several swastikas on the front cover, artwork which essentially results in it being banned in Germany.

It doesn't help that Hitler, himself, is displayed prominently on the box, with his signature salute. That salute is also illegal in Germany.

************************************************

The Montreal Massacre occurred on December 6, 1989.

Twenty-five-year-old Marc Lépine, armed with a legally obtained rifle, entered a classroom where he separated the male and female students. After claiming that he was "fighting feminism", he shot all nine women in the room, killing six.

He then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, specifically targeting women to shoot.

Overall, he killed fourteen women before turning the gun on himself. His suicide note claimed political motives and blamed feminists for ruining his life. The note included a list of nineteen Quebec women whom Lépine considered to be feminists and apparently wished to kill.

As a result of the Montreal Massacre, Canada instituted a national gun registry.

Joining The Grindhouse Gang

I'll freely admit, i've been jealous of those of you whose Lamentations Of The Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-playing Grindhouse Edition has already arrived. My jealousy has since turned to joy: My Grindhouse Edition arrived today!

Joining The Grindhouse Gang

I'll freely admit, i've been jealous of those of you whose Lamentations Of The Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-playing Grindhouse Edition has already arrived. My jealousy has since turned to joy: My Grindhouse Edition arrived today!

Bunnies & Burrows RPG

Bunnies and Burrows was published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1976, just two years after the publication of the original Dungeons and Dragons little brown books.

B&B is a 36-page role-playing game of intelligent rabbits. When I first learned of this game's existence, in the late 70's, I initially presumed that it, along with Tunnels and Trolls, were published as some sorts of satirical pokes in the eye of D&D.

B&B is anything but. While it takes its inspiration from D&D, it was designed to be played "straight", by emulating the real world, as seen through the eyes of rabbits. The game is frustratingly open-ended: it provides little in the way of suggestions as to what sorts of misadventures your Bunny alter-egos may become entangled in. A B&B gamemaster, and the players, will have to be imaginative to come up with compelling situations and challenges.

Not surprisingly, considering the publish date, the illustrations appearing in Bunnies and Burrows are not unlike those in the original D&D LBB's. Amateurish. Here we have a representation of one of the Bunny character classes: Seer. Ahoy there, mateys, have ye seen me spell components? This Bunny looks like a cross between pirate and magic-user.

Here we have another Bunny character class: Scout. Apparently these Bunnies have the advantage of riding other Bunnies, as they perform their scouting duties.

This next Bunny is a Herbalist, and is testing some herbs to determine their effects. B&B has a rather complex set of rules for adjudicating the effects and uses of various herbs. It predates by several years the AD&D medicinal herbs rules found in the DMG, yet the B&B rules are just as detailed.

Empaths are the Jedis and Clerics of the B&B universe, being able to both heal other bunnies and deal empathic damage. Capes are optional.

Storyteller Bunnies are the extroverts and leaders of the burrow. They have an improved chance of pursuading other Bunnies, and get bonuses for mating. Apparently Does like Bucks that can make them laugh.

I can't help but notice that this next Bunny is wearing a backpack. I'm not sure if the creature he has discovered is a rat. Now would be a good time to have a dagger or other weapon handy.

B&B includes eight different Bunny classes, or professions. When adjudicating combat between Bunnies, the following chart is used to determine the effectiveness of an ability.

The above illustrations are by Charles Loving. The two illustrations, below, are by Jeff Dee. The illustration below accompanies rules for adjudicating the effects of pests and diseases upon a burrow.

B&B also includes rules for avoiding and springing traps. Here we have another Jeff Dee illustration, of a Bunny narrowly avoiding the effects of a beartrap.

Bunnies and Burrows has its own character record sheet. The influence of D&D can be seen here, with the inclusion of the six standard attributes, along with two additions, Speed and Smell. Smell, of course, referring to the ability of the Bunny to detect scents, not the reverse.

Bunnies & Burrows RPG

Bunnies and Burrows was published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1976, just two years after the publication of the original Dungeons and Dragons little brown books.

B&B is a 36-page role-playing game of intelligent rabbits. When I first learned of this game's existence, in the late 70's, I initially presumed that it, along with Tunnels and Trolls, were published as some sorts of satirical pokes in the eye of D&D.

B&B is anything but. While it takes its inspiration from D&D, it was designed to be played "straight", by emulating the real world, as seen through the eyes of rabbits. The game is frustratingly open-ended: it provides little in the way of suggestions as to what sorts of misadventures your Bunny alter-egos may become entangled in. A B&B gamemaster, and the players, will have to be imaginative to come up with compelling situations and challenges.

Not surprisingly, considering the publish date, the illustrations appearing in Bunnies and Burrows are not unlike those in the original D&D LBB's. Amateurish. Here we have a representation of one of the Bunny character classes: Seer. Ahoy there, mateys, have ye seen me spell components? This Bunny looks like a cross between pirate and magic-user.

Here we have another Bunny character class: Scout. Apparently these Bunnies have the advantage of riding other Bunnies, as they perform their scouting duties.

This next Bunny is a Herbalist, and is testing some herbs to determine their effects. B&B has a rather complex set of rules for adjudicating the effects and uses of various herbs. It predates by several years the AD&D medicinal herbs rules found in the DMG, yet the B&B rules are just as detailed.

Empaths are the Jedis and Clerics of the B&B universe, being able to both heal other bunnies and deal empathic damage. Capes are optional.

Storyteller Bunnies are the extroverts and leaders of the burrow. They have an improved chance of pursuading other Bunnies, and get bonuses for mating. Apparently Does like Bucks that can make them laugh.

I can't help but notice that this next Bunny is wearing a backpack. I'm not sure if the creature he has discovered is a rat. Now would be a good time to have a dagger or other weapon handy.

B&B includes eight different Bunny classes, or professions. When adjudicating combat between Bunnies, the following chart is used to determine the effectiveness of an ability.

The above illustrations are by Charles Loving. The two illustrations, below, are by Jeff Dee. The illustration below accompanies rules for adjudicating the effects of pests and diseases upon a burrow.

B&B also includes rules for avoiding and springing traps. Here we have another Jeff Dee illustration, of a Bunny narrowly avoiding the effects of a beartrap.

Bunnies and Burrows has its own character record sheet. The influence of D&D can be seen here, with the inclusion of the six standard attributes, along with two additions, Speed and Smell. Smell, of course, referring to the ability of the Bunny to detect scents, not the reverse.

Really? What's The Point?

Really? What's The Point?

Cunning, Comedy, Casual Cruelty?

If your answer to this question was The Dying Earth RPG, you'd be right.

The Dying Earth RPG is a role-playing game intended to emulate the world -- and words -- contained in Jack Vance's Dying Earth series of novels and short stories. You'll note that I did not include "Combat" in my alliterative title. I did this for a very simple reason: The Dying Earth RPG actively discourages you from engaging in mortal combat, and the game system reinforces that by making combat very deadly. You only need to take a couple of blows before your character is out-of-commission, or more likely, dead.

What then is The Dying Earth RPG about? It's about clever repartee, social combat, cunning subterfuge, laughter, and casual cruelty.

Clever Repartee

The principle game mechanic of nearly any role-playing game is the system governing the accumulation of experience points. Experience point award mechanics are important in role-playing games, as they are the mechanism permitting character upgrades. The experience point mechanic of an RPG is thus a powerful communicator of what is expected of a Player. In The Dying Earth RPG, experience points are ONLY awarded for clever repartee. No experience for combat. No experience for treasure. Just witty dialogue, elegantly framed in the Vancian style, and delivered with impeccable timing. Therefore, The Dying Earth RPG is a game like no other: it is a role-playing game to its very core.

Social Combat

I'm not a big fan of social combat systems. My reasoning is that those combat systems either encourage conflict between players (PvP conflict typically happens as a matter of course, but i'm not interested in encouraging it) or govern the interactions between player and DM (in which case, as a "fair" DM, you should be able to judge when you have been verbally bested and concede defeat, without having to resort to a die-roll). The Social Combat system in The Dying Earth RPG is based on dice pools. Each player (and any encountered NPCs) has a dice-pool made up of d6's, and can continue spending dice from their pool until they or their opponent has exhausted theirs. Scoring a 1-3 means failure, while a 4-6 means success, with the 1 and 6 being catastrophic failure and incredible success, respectively. Depending on your roll, your opponent may have to expend more, or fewer dice, to respond to your success or failure. This mechanic feels artificial to me, as I would rather engage in the actual role-playing, of two combatants trying to convince the other of the superiority of their position, but the dice-pool is a reasonable substitute, for those who are uncomfortable "talking with funny voices".

Cunning Subterfuge

Like the characters in Vance's Dying Earth books and short stories, each of the Player's characters are lazy, self-absorbed, covetous, avaricious, and arrogant. So are most of the NPC's they encounter. Therefore, the game resolves around the planning and execution of cunning strategems to gain wealth, comfort, power, prestige, fineries, and delicious food, with as little effort and risk as possible.

Laughter

As was mentioned earlier, experience points are awarded for clever repartee. This is accomplished through a mechanism whereby the DM provides several Vancian phrases to each player, prior to the start of the game session. They must weave those phrases into the game at some point during the session. For those who deliver their line, at an innapropriate time, no experience points are awarded. For those lines delivered when appropriate, but eliciting no positive response from the other game participants, one experience point is awarded. But when the line is delivered, and elicits positive responses, propels the adventure in a humorous or unexpected direction, or garners laughter from the other players and DM, two or even three experience points are awarded by the DM. Therefore, Players are encouraged to ham it up, directing the in-game conversations in such a way as to allow for the delivery of their appointed lines.

Casual Cruelty

Casual Cruelty, or "man's inhumanity to man", is a common theme in the tales of the Dying Earth. You see this in the Liane the Wayfarer stories, or in Cugel's treatment by, and of those he encounters in "The Eyes of the Overworld". The author of The Dying Earth exhorts the DM to insert scenes of casual cruelty (sparingly), establishing the nature of the cruelty, and allowing the imaginations of the players to fill in the horrifying details. He opines that a successful scene of casual cruelty will nag at the players after the game, as they think more fully of the implications.

The Dying Earth RPG allows you to run the full gamet of emotions during a role-playing session, from hilarity to horror. The Dying Earth RPG is clearly not for your typical hack-n-slasher, and is more appropriate for your more cerebral gamer. What I love about this game is its respect for the Vancian source material, and its overt discouragement of mortal combat, which is a refreshing change from the direction Dungeons and Dragons has recently been drawn to.

Cunning, Comedy, Casual Cruelty?

If your answer to this question was The Dying Earth RPG, you'd be right.

The Dying Earth RPG is a role-playing game intended to emulate the world -- and words -- contained in Jack Vance's Dying Earth series of novels and short stories. You'll note that I did not include "Combat" in my alliterative title. I did this for a very simple reason: The Dying Earth RPG actively discourages you from engaging in mortal combat, and the game system reinforces that by making combat very deadly. You only need to take a couple of blows before your character is out-of-commission, or more likely, dead.

What then is The Dying Earth RPG about? It's about clever repartee, social combat, cunning subterfuge, laughter, and casual cruelty.

Clever Repartee

The principle game mechanic of nearly any role-playing game is the system governing the accumulation of experience points. Experience point award mechanics are important in role-playing games, as they are the mechanism permitting character upgrades. The experience point mechanic of an RPG is thus a powerful communicator of what is expected of a Player. In The Dying Earth RPG, experience points are ONLY awarded for clever repartee. No experience for combat. No experience for treasure. Just witty dialogue, elegantly framed in the Vancian style, and delivered with impeccable timing. Therefore, The Dying Earth RPG is a game like no other: it is a role-playing game to its very core.

Social Combat

I'm not a big fan of social combat systems. My reasoning is that those combat systems either encourage conflict between players (PvP conflict typically happens as a matter of course, but i'm not interested in encouraging it) or govern the interactions between player and DM (in which case, as a "fair" DM, you should be able to judge when you have been verbally bested and concede defeat, without having to resort to a die-roll). The Social Combat system in The Dying Earth RPG is based on dice pools. Each player (and any encountered NPCs) has a dice-pool made up of d6's, and can continue spending dice from their pool until they or their opponent has exhausted theirs. Scoring a 1-3 means failure, while a 4-6 means success, with the 1 and 6 being catastrophic failure and incredible success, respectively. Depending on your roll, your opponent may have to expend more, or fewer dice, to respond to your success or failure. This mechanic feels artificial to me, as I would rather engage in the actual role-playing, of two combatants trying to convince the other of the superiority of their position, but the dice-pool is a reasonable substitute, for those who are uncomfortable "talking with funny voices".

Cunning Subterfuge

Like the characters in Vance's Dying Earth books and short stories, each of the Player's characters are lazy, self-absorbed, covetous, avaricious, and arrogant. So are most of the NPC's they encounter. Therefore, the game resolves around the planning and execution of cunning strategems to gain wealth, comfort, power, prestige, fineries, and delicious food, with as little effort and risk as possible.

Laughter

As was mentioned earlier, experience points are awarded for clever repartee. This is accomplished through a mechanism whereby the DM provides several Vancian phrases to each player, prior to the start of the game session. They must weave those phrases into the game at some point during the session. For those who deliver their line, at an innapropriate time, no experience points are awarded. For those lines delivered when appropriate, but eliciting no positive response from the other game participants, one experience point is awarded. But when the line is delivered, and elicits positive responses, propels the adventure in a humorous or unexpected direction, or garners laughter from the other players and DM, two or even three experience points are awarded by the DM. Therefore, Players are encouraged to ham it up, directing the in-game conversations in such a way as to allow for the delivery of their appointed lines.

Casual Cruelty

Casual Cruelty, or "man's inhumanity to man", is a common theme in the tales of the Dying Earth. You see this in the Liane the Wayfarer stories, or in Cugel's treatment by, and of those he encounters in "The Eyes of the Overworld". The author of The Dying Earth exhorts the DM to insert scenes of casual cruelty (sparingly), establishing the nature of the cruelty, and allowing the imaginations of the players to fill in the horrifying details. He opines that a successful scene of casual cruelty will nag at the players after the game, as they think more fully of the implications.

The Dying Earth RPG allows you to run the full gamet of emotions during a role-playing session, from hilarity to horror. The Dying Earth RPG is clearly not for your typical hack-n-slasher, and is more appropriate for your more cerebral gamer. What I love about this game is its respect for the Vancian source material, and its overt discouragement of mortal combat, which is a refreshing change from the direction Dungeons and Dragons has recently been drawn to.

Sayonara To Synnibarr

My copy of The World Of Synnibarr is off to Andreas Davour of The Omnipotent Eye.

I have mixed emotions about Synnibarr's departure. At 475 pages, it is far too long to qualify as a game of imagination, since that many pages of rules and setting sucks the imagination out of any game.

Instead, it is better thought of as a historical document, representing the imagined universe of Raven c.s. McCracken, flawed though that universe may be.

Still, letting go is hard to do, as Synnibarr is a signpost in the history of role-playing games.

Admittedly, that signpost is buried deep in a dark and boggy valley. Raven's own personal history is also rather storied, which is why i'm hesitant to throw any large rocks at him, or his game.

But both the World Of Synnibarr role-playing game, and most of the accompanying art, is pretty mediocre.

There seems to be little that is novel, either in the game design or in alternate visions represented by the artwork.

But before letting Synnibarr go, I thought I would capture the best of the artwork to share with my readers. Others have highlighted the worst of the worst when it comes to Synnibarr artwork, so there's no need to cover that ground again.

Below is my favorite illustration from Synnibarr, and it is so incongruous, next to the rest of the artwork, to merit special consideration.

The illustration shows to combatants, locked in battle, in what appears to be a very conan-esque scene. The illustration is out-of-place for two reasons: one, this is a highly visceral, raw, action-packed illustration, with a great deal of motion and emotion. You can almost hear the scream of the axe-wielding warrior, the sing of the other warriors blade, the crash of sword against shield. This illustration is out of place, as the rest of the artwork in Synnibarr is overwhelmingly static or science-fiction-y.

Two, I have seen little in Synnibarr to suggest that it is a swords & sorcery role-playing game. I'd love to know which of the stable of credited Synnibarr artists produced this: it is one of the few pieces of Synnibarr art that I truly love.

Here's another piece of art from Synnibarr that also warrants recognition.

I call this illustration two moons (in reference to the two moons in the sky, and not for some other less tasteful reason). It shows two Amazons, being surprised by a black panther. This illustration is notable for the same reason as the other illustration, in that it has a very ancient greek vibe to it, which is not in fitting with the assumed setting of Synnibarr, which is a planet/spaceship, includes modern weapons and science fantasy and super powers. This illustration also possesses some interesting energy, as if the two Amazons have been caught quite unawares by this large cat.

There you have it. The above are, in my opinion, the only notable illustrations in the World of Synnibarr game book.

Sayonara To Synnibarr

My copy of The World Of Synnibarr is off to Andreas Davour of The Omnipotent Eye.

I have mixed emotions about Synnibarr's departure. At 475 pages, it is far too long to qualify as a game of imagination, since that many pages of rules and setting sucks the imagination out of any game.

Instead, it is better thought of as a historical document, representing the imagined universe of Raven c.s. McCracken, flawed though that universe may be.

Still, letting go is hard to do, as Synnibarr is a signpost in the history of role-playing games.

Admittedly, that signpost is buried deep in a dark and boggy valley. Raven's own personal history is also rather storied, which is why i'm hesitant to throw any large rocks at him, or his game.

But both the World Of Synnibarr role-playing game, and most of the accompanying art, is pretty mediocre.

There seems to be little that is novel, either in the game design or in alternate visions represented by the artwork.

But before letting Synnibarr go, I thought I would capture the best of the artwork to share with my readers. Others have highlighted the worst of the worst when it comes to Synnibarr artwork, so there's no need to cover that ground again.

Below is my favorite illustration from Synnibarr, and it is so incongruous, next to the rest of the artwork, to merit special consideration.

The illustration shows to combatants, locked in battle, in what appears to be a very conan-esque scene. The illustration is out-of-place for two reasons: one, this is a highly visceral, raw, action-packed illustration, with a great deal of motion and emotion. You can almost hear the scream of the axe-wielding warrior, the sing of the other warriors blade, the crash of sword against shield. This illustration is out of place, as the rest of the artwork in Synnibarr is overwhelmingly static or science-fiction-y.

Two, I have seen little in Synnibarr to suggest that it is a swords & sorcery role-playing game. I'd love to know which of the stable of credited Synnibarr artists produced this: it is one of the few pieces of Synnibarr art that I truly love.

Here's another piece of art from Synnibarr that also warrants recognition.

I call this illustration two moons (in reference to the two moons in the sky, and not for some other less tasteful reason). It shows two Amazons, being surprised by a black panther. This illustration is notable for the same reason as the other illustration, in that it has a very ancient greek vibe to it, which is not in fitting with the assumed setting of Synnibarr, which is a planet/spaceship, includes modern weapons and science fantasy and super powers. This illustration also possesses some interesting energy, as if the two Amazons have been caught quite unawares by this large cat.

There you have it. The above are, in my opinion, the only notable illustrations in the World of Synnibarr game book.