The Website is Down (Not really)

Greetings Wastelanders,

I have not had a chance to think of anything interesting to post, due to the recent fire. I have taken a haitus from game mastering and the work on Overburn has been put on the back burner. I have still done a work on the game here and there, but not enough to post an in depth update.

Another member of my group has agreed to start his own D&D 3.5 campaign and I am quite stoked (fire puns may ensue) about the possibilities. I have never liked the orcs in D&D, prefering more fleshed out versions in other games. But, the GMs world proves more interesting than the stock race from D&D, as a result, I am playing a Sharaki. Sharaki in the game world is a race of ork that was a slave race to the illithid and bred with other races to make a smarter orc. They managed to escape the illithid during a rebellion and they are a seperate distinct species of orc in the world. I am also playing a twin brother to another player in the game, so the game should prove interesting.

With Overburn I have made some progress with the species of the game, trying hard not to copy the awesomeness of the Fallout series. I currently have seven different species in the game that I am happy with. Hopefully, I'll be able to post more information on the different species, but they need a little more work.

As always, please feel free to comment.

Taking Initiative of Initiative

Despite everything that has been happening, I have been trying to keep up on my six-month plan for OverBurn. While my notes are a scattered and unrefined, I have to call a success for May. I was able to finish my three goals for that month.

May

• 6 month Plan
• Chapter Outline
• Core mechanics

I wanted to have more of an actual rough draft for the the core mechanic, but I have found that putting my ideas to cohesive words to be more difficult than I thought. To recap, here are my goals for this month.

June

• Archetypes
• Races
• Skills

I am well on my way with this section as I have nine basic archetypes, or classes if you will, and four unique species; I don't know why we call them races.

The mechanic I wanted to discuss in this article is 'Initiative'. Initiative plays a crucial part in combat and there are several types to consider: Fixed rating, roll once per combat, roll every round, count down (rolled or fixed), count up, speed or advantage. The initiative that I am leaning to is a simple d6 roll and you count down from 6, this is different that the count down method, but it gives a pecking order to initiative. Why did I choose this method? because it is quick and easy. It allows for the round to be more dynamic as different people take the lead each round and must contend with unexpected combat shifts. It also keeps initiative quick so that it is not another aspect that bogs down combat.

There are some additional rules that I am adding to make combat more interesting. For one, a character cannot take an action against someone who is die-a-metrically opposed on the die. This means your init and your opponents init can not add up to seven. If you are going on a 6, you cannot attack someone going on a 1; if you are going on a 3, you cannot attack someone going on a 4; etc. I do not think this will be overly detrimental to players, but should add a few interesting situations. I am curious as to peoples opinions of Initiative and what they prefer to use. Also, if you have any questions on the ones I have listed, I will be happy to elaborate.

Equipment: Solar Crank Flashlight

In the post apocalyptic future, light is provided by the sun, moon, and stars. Cities and towns have been thrust back to the dark ages and having decent lighting at night requires some type of open flame. Candle makers are once again in high demand, but every little apocalyptic town may not have someone skilled in the arts of candle making.

Most flashlights are useless since batteries have long since expired. Anything that can provide light without needing to be ignited, would be worth killing for to the right people. While I was out, I came across this flashlight from Goal Zero. It is a LED flashlight with solar cells for recharging. For those times when you do not have the sun to recharge the batteries, there is a a hand crack to recharge the light. I thought this would make a highly prized item in a post apocalyptic world. If you would like to get one yourself, they run 39.95 and you can purchase it at your local Target.