I can see a few possible uses for this.
First, a player agrees to start out with an insane character, someone who just finished up their time as a goat. It can be tricky, but having a character who is mad can add all sorts of fun and complications to a story.
Second, what do the players do when they discover that their bounty (who must be captured alive) has been turned into a goat? Especially if their employer is not the forgiving type.
I would love to see how players deal with trying to get close enough to examine an artifact that has such a nasty effect based solely on proximity.
I like it; the powers are focused and balanced while the history gives it depth and fully explains its existence.
I love mythical feel. The language rather effectively paints a picture not only of the mythology but also of how cultures can meld together.
I suppose that a priest can only perform that ritual once, though.
Oh great. Now that I know this is here, I feel compelled to read them all. I will vote when my eyes stop bleeding.
I don't remember many of the details of my very first character. Just that he was a Vrusk (think giant ant body with a humanoid torso) from Star Frontiers. My older brother finally gave in and taught me how to play (but only because he was bored and his gaming group wasn't meeting that day.)
I consider my first real character to be a Barbarian from 1st Ed AD&D, built from the wholly unbalanced and completely fun Unearthed Arcana rules. I was probably about 12 or 13, his name was Grunt Slash, and he excelled at wenching and brawling. The biggest danger to his health and sanity was a halfling thief who resembled Tasslehoff Burrfoot in many ways and had "picked up" a startling array of dangerously wild magic items (I think we took his wand of wonder away after he sent someone to another dimension.)
We usually had the radio playing during that long campaign and so a lot of 80's pop songs make me wax nostalgic. I found it is decidedly not romantic to tell a woman that Cheap Trick's The Flame makes me think of a bloodthirsty barbarian. :)
I haven't played any weird west yet, but I am intrigued by it. This sub is the kind of thing that makes me more interested.
A nice change of pace for skeletons in general. Very useful in upping the stakes against the players.
I've seen references to this for months and I always meant to read the whole thing, but, well, you know...
Some interesting considerations. I was once on the player's side of the equation for most of a summer and I agree with what has been said. Game mechanics were mostly ignored in favor of heavier role-playing. I rarely interacted with more than one NPC at a time. I got myself into a few jams, similar to what has been described (no other players to reality check my ideas.) I was lucky to have a creative and forgiving GM.
Good article manfred. I especially liked ephe's idea about using solo gaming to warm up a group.
This appeals to me because it requires the players to think their way past one, rather than just charging in with weapons drawn.
Ghouls are creepy all on their own, without goat heads and intelligence. I like these and hope to find use for them.
This was pointed out to me after I was 7 days into a goal of posting for 8 days straight. I should have known MH would have something covering the idea ;)
So I'm tacking a few extra days on my goal to do the 10 in 10.
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A nice collection of useful ideas.
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