Tag: rpg

Bruno’s House Rules!

Matthew Lowes

Periodically people email me about their Dungeon Solitaire games, sometimes with questions, sometimes with reports of amazing games, and sometimes with their own creations and house rules. It’s always a joy to hear how people are enjoying the game, adapting it, and delving deep into everything Dungeon Solitaire has to offer.

Every once in a while, someone comes along who has delved very deep indeed, and over the last six months or so I’ve had the pleasure of hearing from one such Dungeon Solitaire super player. Bruno, from Quebec, has explored not only Dungeon Solitaire Campaign Mode and the ALL-IN rules using the Devil’s Playground expansion, but he’s developed his own set of house rules for playing massive LoS-DP Campaigns with his own custom-made cards and enviable table setup.

Bruno has graciously provided some notes and references for his house rule to share with you. And while you may find them difficult to immediately interpret if you haven’t delved into the rules as far as Bruno has, it will at least give you some idea just how far you can take this game. And if you’re developing your own set of House Rules for LoS-DP Campaigns, I highly recommend looking into Bruno’s Rules for some great ideas.

Note that Bruno’s original references were all in French, but he’s been kind enough to provide us with English versions. He has made a few corrections or addendums to his rules, and I’m including those as well. You can even download his scoresheet as a printable PDF. Enjoy!

Bruno’s Setup

Here is way too much info about my Dungeon Solitaire world.

Photo 1. My homemade deck.

Photo 2. A table setup.

Bruno’s House Rules Campaign Scoresheet

(PDF Available here)

Bruno’s Notes

  • Abacus to keep score of 10 HP.
  • 5 tiles that I turn over when 13t or 15t is on the doom track, and 17-18-19t when a heavenly Gem is found (I don’t turn these last 3 often…)
  • Checkers pieces to keep track of the house rules. Golden spell (natural color) and Dark Spell (dark brown).
  • 1d10 (to roll for 6-7-8m+Full Armor), 1d4 (to roll for spells), and another dice to represent if a class is in play.
  • One tarot deck for drawing in town (evaluating gems, maintaining party, expenses). Campaign Scoresheet Background info. Mine was mostly in French. I made one in English. English is my second language, so please forgive me if my English is not up to par. As for the Scoresheet itself, it is so packed with stats and info/reminders that it is mostly for personal use. It would be hard for someone else to know how to score his/her game! Still, everything is there and a passionate player could find his way in my dungeon!
  • It is a double-sided scoresheet to score 40 games (19 on the first page, 21 on page 2).
  • House rules are at the top of page 1.
  • Then, the top Gray area would be to register the stats/records after the 40 games played.
  • Then the scoresheet. I packed info in the header column and here, it gets confusing. Because of lack of space, info not pertaining to the column at hand can appear.
  • And again, for lack of space, I had to improvise scoring places inside a column for secondary stats (for example, number of Skeins and gems, number of times I scored 4K or 3-Graces, etc.)
  • Finally, at the bottom of page 2, a reminder of some important rules from the books. So, in the gray area at the top of page 1.
  • (Arrow and infinity symbol) = Record number of consecutive exits
  • (Top treasure) = Best single score from the column below
  • (#3Ge-#3Sk) = Number of times I found all 3 Gems or all 3 Skeins
  • (#Heavenly : Total Gem) = number of heavenly gems found: total number of gems found. For example: 1:40
  • (#Skeins); total number of Skeins found
  • (Top XP): Best single score from the column below
  • (#2ndQ): Number of times I found a second Queen without effect
  • (Top Score), for example, C1/45640/4 (Campaign/# of Heavenly Gem found/ best XP Score/Rank.
  • (Keyhole): Number of times I found 16t-Shifting terrain without effect
  • (#4K – #3 Graces): Number of times I found all 4K or all 3 Graces
  • (54 diamond – 54 red shield): Number of times I found all 54 pts diamond or 54 pts red shield
  • (% Exit): Number of exits divided by 40 games = %
  • (number of turns total from exits divided by number of exits) = average number of turns per exit
  • (#Golden spell- #Dark spell) = Number of spells accumulated
  • (Top Death) = Simply to register your most common death. For example crpt 18% Clarification of the House rules about the Second Queen (Divine Favor) found without effect.
  • I Turn a Queen, then trap-6. I win the turn, leave the Queen in the turn and pick up a Golden Spell (at the end of the turn) which I can use starting with the next turn or later.
  • I turn a Queen, then the Dragon, then a second Queen. Here, the second Queen is not without effect. Per book rules, against a Dragon (and Lich, Abomination, Diabolical Machine, Hell Gate), a Divine Favor grants +1. It has an effect, so no Golden Spell in this case. Clarification of my previous email I gave an example to go for a Dark Spell (the missing 3-diamond). I forgot to mention that it was the last treasure missing to have all 54 pts of diamond.

Bruno’s Rules

The game is fantastic, and I tweaked two things that were a bit off.

  1. In LoS Campaign, we could find 110 points of treasure (excluding evaluating gems). In LoS-DP, 240 points! The result is that you have so much money that, in town, it removes all decisions from the game. Do I pay to remove crpt-curses, to maintain party, to recruit? Yes, Yes, Yes. I have so much money. Why not? In LoS Campaigns, I had to borrow a few times to keep going. It was stressful on the next delve to go further, find more treasures to get out of the red. Now, with so much money, that is another facet of the game that is not in play. I would add that in Campaign mode, some expeditions are really short. If I start with a crpt in the first few turns, I do get out quickly, sometimes in 3-5 turns. However, do that too many times, and you won’t have any money left. That is also not in play much because you quickly have so much money.

Solution? I increased all amounts by 50 % (except the Character ranks).

The game is tighter now. You’ve got to be careful with every decision in town (and have to risk more turns to find treasure/gp).

  1. The new character class “Magic User” is too powerful compared to the other classes, so that it renders them useless. Before, it was a tough decision to choose the right one (all classes were pretty even). And at rank4, you can take it a second time to have a total of +4d4 per expedition!

Solution? I removed that class from the game. However, overall, it is a tough game and we need all the help possible. The idea of the +d4 is great, so I included it in a way that brings many tough decisions into play. Hang on!

A. I added 7 ways of gaining a “Golden spell” that grants you each time a +1d4 (against any encounter or to gain 1-4HP).

If you can take into town:

  1. 3 gems (0/40)
  2. 3 Skeins (0/40)
  3. 100 points and more worth of treasure (excluding evaluating gems) (4/40)
  4. 4 Kings (0/40)
  5. 3 Graces (0/40)
  6. played more than 29 turns (0/40)

and

  1. Got a 2nd queen without effect (my dead card concept) on a turn (Golden spell earned at the end of the turn) (2/40)

I played 40 campaign games per book rules. In parentheses, I noted the number of times that situation could have occurred. So rarely. But now that I added the Golden Spell, there are many fun decisions in play to risk going for spells (and to better those stats).

  • Do I play a Disarm mechanism (or even a blessing) against an easy 5trap? No. But what if there are the 4th King and the third Gem on the turn? If I get out alive, I will receive 2 Golden spells in town.
  • Do I drop treasure one of my 4K and risk losing that Golden spell or do I battle to keep that option alive?

etc.

B. I added 7 ways of gaining a “Dark Spell” (remove to the bottom of the deck all of these: 1crpt + curses (Dungeon Plague/Dark Star) + 1 torch + 1 ration + regain all HP)! The jackpot!

  1. Find a Heavenly Gem (1/170)
  2. Have a perfect game: 3 Skeins-3 Gems (Never did it)
  3. 54 points (2-10 of diamond) (Never did it in LoS-DP)
  4. 54 points (2-10 of red shield) (Never did it in LoS-DP)
  5. Beat my own record of treasure points (100 points min.) (excluding evaluating gems)
  6. Beat my own record of consecutive exits (min. 10)
  7. Beat my own record of turns (min. 29)

So pretty much impossible. Hence, it does not tip the balance of the game. But bliss if you get one. Early on, the Records (5-6-7) will yield a few Dark Spells, but once a good record is set, it will be hard to gain it. Records to beat are set forever.

Again, many fun decisions and more memory will be in play. Let’s say that I missed the 3 of diamond on a previous turn. But I remember where it is and I turn the Portal. Do I go for it (but I still have to exit the dungeon to bring the proof into town) or go for a safer haul of magic items elsewhere that ensures that I will exit the dungeon?

Decisions pop up everywhere! I’ve made a nice detailed scoresheet to record all those stats. Love to get into town, do business, party a bit and register everything.

Finally, I kept my other dead card option from LoS campaign, 16t. If I turn it without effect (no Companions to kill or discards to shuffle), the shifting terrain creates a “keyhole exit”. I take the 16t in hand and I can play it to represent 1 turn for this expedition only. Obviously, it is to play it on the last turn to exit safely when things are tight.

I use nice wooden checker pieces (natural for Golden Spell, dark brown for Dark Spell) that I put on the table to represent what is available.

I think I’ve found the perfect setup. But then again, Dungeon Solitaire keeps expanding in my mind! So who knows! Thanks to you for having created that world.

#

If it can be useful, I tweaked one rule pertaining to the Dark Spell. Before, #6 was Beat my own record of consecutive exits (min. 10).
I changed it to #5 for Every series of 10 Consecutive Exits.
To be clear, that would be 1 Dark Spell gained after 10 consecutive exits, another one after 20 consecutive exits and so on.

Correction #1

B. I added 7 ways of gaining a “Dark Spell” (remove to the bottom of the deck all of these: 1crpt + curses (Dungeon Plague/Dark Star) + 1 torch + 1 ration + regain all HP)! The jackpot!

  1. Find a Heavenly Gem
  2. Have a perfect game: 3 Skeins-3 Gems
  3. 54 points (2-10 of diamond)
  4. 54 points (2-10 of red shield)
  5. For every series of 10 consecutive exits
  6. Beat my own record of treasure points (100 points min.) (excluding evaluating gems)
  7. Beat my own record of turns (min. 29)

#

Correction #2

As mention before, I had increased all amounts by 50 % (except the Character ranks-XP). However, I had forgotten to change the GP of the Noble ranks (castle upkeep).

Scoring Example

###

Finally! Tarot-sized Dungeon Solitaire

Matthew Lowes

It’s been a few years since the Labyrinth of Souls and Devil’s Playground solitaire games launched on Kickstarter. Dungeon Solitaire continues to do well and gain new fans as hapless souls wander into the Dungeon.

With the Kickstarters we stuck to poker-sized cards to keep costs down, but as a tarot game it was always my intention to offer tarot-sized cards as well. It’s taken longer than I expected, but the new cards are now available on DriveThru Cards. I’ve also redesigned the faces to make the art as large as possible on already larger cards. The results are stunning and a fantastic addition to the Dungeon Solitaire line.

Here’s a few cards from the Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls tarot solitaire game:

Tarot-sized cards are also available for Devil’s Playground expansion and stand-alone game:

The larger cards come band-wrapped to keep the price down, but tarot-sized boxes are an easy find. If you’re looking for an update to your Dungeon Solitaire games, look no further. I like the new design and may update the poker-sized cards at some point as well. There may also be an Omnibus Rulebook on the horizon.

If you’re new to Dungeon Solitaire, you should know the cards come with free starter rules and the full rulebooks with many game variations can be purchased separately as PDF on DriveThru Cards or as a paperback on Amazon.

Hope you’re all doing well and enjoying life to the fullest. Once again, thanks to everyone playing Dungeon Solitaire the world! Keep on delving. :)

Dungeon Solitaire: Tomb of Four Kings — Korean Language Edition

Matthew Lowes

Ever since I posted the free print-and-play download for the first Dungeon Solitaire game, the dungeon has been expanding. And it’s been wonderful to hear from fans all over the world. A few fans have even offered translations into other languages. I’m super excited to announce we now have a Korean language edition of Dungeon Solitaire: Tomb of Four Kings. The translation by Dan looks fantastic and is ready for free download, print, and play.

I’m so grateful to Dan for putting in the hard work to make this Tomb of Four Kings translation. It looks fantastic and maintains all the original artwork and formatting. It’s a joy to share this game with others, and I’m so happy to be able to expand the audience with Korean speakers.

Tomb of Four Kings can be played with a regular deck of playing cards, and will always be a free download, no matter what language you speak. English, Spanish, and Korean editions are now available for download on the Games page. See you all in the dungeon! :)

Weird Roleplaying Starter Edition

Matthew Lowes

I am releasing a free starter edition for Weird Roleplaying, a universal RPG system designed for for quick character creation, streamlined preparation and gameplay, and easy adaptability to any genre, setting, or source material.

As far back as 2013, I started looking to develop rules-light RPG rules that could be used with a wide array of adventure modules and setting material. I wanted to be able to run games in different genres, using anything I found interesting, without having to learn new systems or switch between systems.

Of course, I started by looking at the universal systems that were out there already. But they were either too minimal or too rules heavy, or they didn’t have the kind of straight-forward approach I wanted. So — as these things go — I wrote my own rules. Inspired by weird fiction throughout the ages, I called my game Weird Roleplaying.

I tested a couple core variants before I settled on the current system, and I’ve been running my games with it ever since. If you grew up playing old-school games like original D&D, Gamma World, and Call of Cthulu, like I did, the feel of these rules will be familiar. And yet, Weird Roleplaying is a thoroughly modern, streamlined ruleset that makes it easy to run games in any world you imagine.

The starter edition is a fifty page, black and white, print-ready rulebook that includes six quick-start settings. The bare-bones setting material is ready to use as is, and provides clear examples of how to tailor the core rules for different genres.

I am working on a complete rulebook that will have a color cover, illustrations throughout, additional content, expanded setting materials, and possibly even some adventures. Keep your eye out for future updates regarding a possible Kickstarter and launch date. Until then, I hope you enjoy the Weird Roleplaying starter edition as much as I have.

Three Days Left for Devil’s Playground Kickstarter

Matthew Lowes

It’s been an exciting month, and an amazing success so far thanks to all the enthusiastic backers and supporters of the Dungeon Solitaire games. The Devil’s Playground Kickstarter smashed its initial funding goal in under 24 hours, and has gone one to hit seven stretch goals. We are on the cusp of another stretch goal with three days left to get in on the Kickstarter.

Time to get into the dungeon, and get in on the great rewards! There are high quality red-back cards for both the Devil’s Playground and the Labyrinth of Souls games, both featuring incredible, original artwork by artist Josephe Vandel. Included in the rulebook are a stand-alone dungeon delving game, Labyrinth of Souls expansion games, an all new card-based territorial wargame with multiple variations. And by getting in now, you will get two Kickstarter exclusive cards with special rules for incorporating them into your games.

In these last three days, please help spread the news by sharing this post or the Kickstarter page with your friends and gaming groups, on your blogs and especially on social media. This kind of word of mouth really makes a difference.

There is nothing more I can say, except to thank you deeply for all your support, enthusiasm, and encouragement. These games can only reach their full potential with the support of backers like you. And so I leave you with a few words from the introductory material for the Devil’s Playground rulebook, words taken from Malhak the Great’s Tome of Demonology:

At last, thoughts fall like shooting stars in the gravity of awareness. Some burn with the light of blinding suns, others with the light of a dim candle. But all catch fire and burn out. Nothing ever remains. Yet until that time, the soul is a house divided. It is a devil’s playground, at war with itself and everything it encounters.

I have seen the pox-ridden skies Illeanth, and the vermilion seas of Yoon. I have conversed with voices in realms of unending darkness. I have nosed perfumes so exalted that a single whiff bore a thousand years of bliss. I have walked with the first ragged tribes of humanity, and I have tasted ashes in the fallen ruins of their great civilizations. I have seen the arcs of eons and heard the silence that reigns in the depths of space.

And yet, all of these experiences have been but dreams within dreams within dreams. For in the emptiness between thoughts, there is no good or evil, no up or down, no light or darkness, no backward or forward, no past or future. There is no sight, no sound, no taste, no smell, no feeling. There is only that which cannot be uttered.

Until the sun rises beyond the distant mountains, until the spring comes, until we wake again, we remain lost in a dungeon of our own making. Until the illusion of the mind itself is destroyed, we wander in its depths. And though we ourselves designed the patterns its winding halls, we do not know the way out.”

The Art of Josephe Vandel

Matthew Lowes2 Comments

Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls and Devil’s Playground have both been the fruit of a wonderful collaboration between myself and artist Josephe Vandel. The rich world of dark fantasy he has created in the cards has been the perfect representation of the adventures, ideas, and themes I have been endeavoring to evoke in the rulebooks. And yet he has surprised me again and again with the scope and the imaginative originality and detail of the artwork.

Josephe’s skill as an artist were evident from his prior work, but the Dungeon Solitaire art has exceeded my expectation at every turn. So many pieces arrived on my screen to wide eyes and an agape jaw. The unexpected, the beautiful, the horrific, the weird, and the wonderful are all on display. He has delved deep into dark realms of the psyche, and researched rich architectural details. Time and again he has delivered pieces that are highly original and highly evocative.

We were absolutely thrilled by the funding success and reception of the Labyrinth of Souls, and are super-excited that so many backers have already made the Devil’s Playground Kickstarter such a success. We’ve had a lot of fun working together to create something incredible and unique for the gaming community. We talked quite a bit about what the Labyrinth of Souls and the Devil’s Playground are about thematically, and while Josephe has always been incredibly receptive to feedback and any direction I wanted to give, it has rarely been needed. I have been more than happy to give him plenty of latitude to express his vision, and the incredible results speak for themselves.

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to collaborate with Josephe and for his contributions to Dungeon Solitaire. He has created something extraordinary in the Labyrinth of Souls and Devil’s Playground decks. At once, his illustrations are evocative, dark, and filled with symbolic depth. And ultimately, the cards have the same classic and timeless quality I hoped to achieve with the rules. Taken as a whole, the decks present a unified vision and a grand space for the imagination to play in.

This is just some of the incredible art featured in Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls and Dungeon Solitaire: Devil’s Playground.

Check out the Dungeon Solitaire: Devil’s Playground Kickstarter now!

Devil’s Playground Kickstarter is Already a Great Success!

Matthew Lowes

The Dungeon Solitaire: Devil’s Playground Kickstarter was launched on February 1st, and reached base funding in under 24 hours! It has since smashed through five stretch goals, and we are well on our way to the sixth. New stretch goals have been announced and new card art by Josephe Vandel has been revealed in a number of updates. And there’s more to come as we move into the middle of the campaign.

Thanks to all the backers have pledged already, and all our supporters who have shared the Kickstarter with friends and gaming groups, and on their blogs and social media. This kind of word of mouth really makes a huge difference!

I am super excited about all the content we’ll be including in the game, and looking forward to hitting more of our stretch goals! Support the Kickstarter now, and help us get there.

If you haven’t check out the dungeon-delving fantasy card game that is Dungeon Solitaire, the original game, Tomb of Four Kings, is available for free, and is playable with a standard deck of playing cards. The greatly expanded tarot game, Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls, launched with a hugely successful Kickstarter in 2015. The rulebook is available in print on Amazon and other online book retailers, and in PDF through DriveThruRPG, and custom tarot cards are available through Gamecrafter.

The Labyrinth of Souls has also inspired a series of stand-alone novels published by ShadowSpinners Press, with books by Elizabeth Engstrom, Christina Lay, Eric Witchey, Stephen T. Vessels, and myself so far, with new books on the way by Mary E. Lowd, John Reed, Cheryl Owen Wilson, Lisa Alber, Cynthia Coate-Ray, and Pamela Jean Herber!

I am more excited than ever that Dungeon Solitaire: Devil’s Playground is now in the works, once again expanding the labyrinth into the uncharted realms of the imagination. We’re going to deliver another great game!

Dungeon Solitaire: Devil’s Playground — Kickstarter!

Matthew Lowes

Dungeon Solitaire: Devil’s Playground has been in development for a while, and has now launched an official Kickstarter campaign to reach its full potential.

Artist Josephe Vandel and I have teamed up again to bring you this new evocative fantasy adventure that includes a 54 card custom deck, with both a stand-alone game and expansion rules for the Labyrinth of Souls tarot game. There’s going to be gorgeous full-color artwork, higher quality cards, and plenty of extras. Creating the Labyrinth of Souls was a dream come true, and I am super excited about this new game, the new artwork, and the expansion rules. I hope we can all make this incredible journey together again, from Kickstarter to production. We’re planning to make the Devil’s Playground a reality, and we’re looking forward to delivering another great game!

If you don’t know what Dungeon Solitaire is, it’s a dungeon delving fantasy card game. The original game, Dungeon Solitaire: Tomb of Four Kings, is available for free, and is playable with a standard deck of playing cards. The greatly expanded tarot game, Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls, is available in print on Amazon and other online book retailers, and in PDF through DriveThruRPG, with custom cards available through Gamecrafter. The Labyrinth of Souls has also inspired a series of stand-alone novels published by ShadowSpinners Press, with books by Elizabeth Engstrom, Christina Lay, Eric Witchey, Stephen T. Vessels, and myself so far, with new books on the way by Mary E. Lowd, John Reed, Cheryl Owen Wilson, Lisa Alber, Cynthia Coate-Ray, and Pamela Jean Herber! And now, I am super excited to be creating a third Dungeon Solitaire game and once again expanding the world of Dungeon Solitaire.

Check out the Dungeon Solitaire: Devil’s Playground Kickstarter now, and support the creation of another great game!

Never Too Late Gifts

Matthew Lowes

With the holiday season in full swing, I probably should have posted this sooner, but hey it’s never too late for great gifts for yourself or loved ones. With that in mind, I’d like to highlight the ever increasing line of Dungeon Solitaire and Labyrinth of Souls books and games. So below are some links, including one for a free game. Book links are through Amazon where you can still get two-day shipping, but note that books can be found through other online retailers as well.

Dungeon Solitaire: Tomb of Four Kings is a free print-and-play game that uses a standard deck of playing card — perfect for whiling away the holiday hours and indulging your inner introvert at family gatherings. Download the PDF here, find a deck of cards, and you’re ready to play. A Spanish Edition is also available.

Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls is an expanded tarot version of Dungeon Solitaire. The 152 page rulebook contains Basic, Expert, and Advanced versions of the game, as well as a variety of exciting variants, including Two-Player, Dragon’s Lair, Undead Hordes, Megadungeon, Campaign Mode, and Cartomancy! This game can be played with any tarot deck, or with the custom Labyrinth of Souls tarot, with 10 extra arcana cards. Cards are sold separately and available through Gamecrafter with PDF Basic Rules included.

 

Labyrinth of Souls fiction from ShadowSpinners Press offers a series of stand-alone novels inspired by Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls. The Labyrinth of Souls is a manifestation of a mythic underworld, existing at a crossroads between people and cultures, between time and space, between the physical world and the deepest reaches of the psyche. It is a dark mirror held up to human experience, in which you may find your dreams… or your doom. Each Labyrinth of Souls novels features an adventure into a unique vision of a mythic underworld. Get ready to delve into the Labyrinth in a totally new way! Click on the book of your choice below, and look for more Labyrinth of Souls fiction coming out in 2018!

    

Symphony of Ruin Released

Matthew Lowes1 Comment

It’s been a busy summer for Dungeon Solitaire! The second Labyrinth of Souls novel is out and available now through Amazon and other online book retailers in print and ebook editions. Check out Symphony of Ruin by Christina Lay.

This is a wonderful story, full of adventure, humor, magic, mystery, and heart. Remy, the former street urchin and rat-catcher come alchemist’s apprentice, is an absolutely lovable character. His haphazard, not-quite fully educated approach to magic is delightfully funny, and both his high ambitions and his incredible knack for getting in over his head are charming throughout. The City in which he lives is a fantastically realized setting, from its high castle to its teetering slums, from its winding streets to its labyrinthine catacombs.

It’s incredibly awesome to have so many great authors working on this series of stand-alone novels inspired by the Labyrinth of Souls. I hope you’ll have a chance to check them out. The third novel will be out next month: The End of All Things by Matthew Lowes (me). And the fourth book, Little Death by Eric Witchy is schedule to come out in September.

Finally, here’s an update on other Dungeon Solitaire developments:

The new Dungeon Solitaire game will be called Dungeon Solitaire: Devil’s Playground, and will be both a stand-alone game and a Labyrinth of Souls expansion. Game development and artwork by Josephe Vandel is already underway. The cards will feature full-color art this time around and having seen a few pieces already, I can tell you they’re pretty mind-blowing. The date for the Kickstarter is not set, but sometime in the fall is a good bet.

Last but not least, although still in the development stages, we have a Dungeon Solitaire phone and computer app in the works. This is still a teaser since I have no estimates on when it will be released yet, but I’m super excited for this to happen!