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A new "Approach" to Heroes of Oz

All righty, folks, another quick update for y'all. I'm finishing up on revising Instant Oz, and it will be going into layout shortly. Also, Evil Hat finally released the open content for Fate Core and Fate Accelerated Edition, so I'm also preparing a FAE version for your enjoyment, too. Just to give you an idea of what an Oz character looks like in Fate Accelerated, here's Red Reera the Yookoohoo: http://bit.ly/11CbbO4

But first, I will finish and upload the updated Fudge game. Here's the thing, though: There's going to be two versions of the Fudge game going  up. See, FAE has this great way of building characters: instead of distributing levels for WHAT your character can do, she has Approaches, defining HOW she does it instead. I just fell in love with this. The game has six Approaches: Careful, Clever, Flashy, Forceful, Quick, and Sneaky. How cool is this? So when you go to do something, you tell the GM how you're doing it and roll against it. In FAE, your Aspects tell you what you can do, and aren't leveled; just the Approaches are. I think this is a real innovation here. So, when doing all this revising, I decided to swipe the Approaches method and convert it to Fudge (easy enough, considering Fate's origins). So far, it seems to work like a charm.

Just to give you an idea of what I've been up to, here's how I have Dorothy statted up, both for the standard version, and for the Approaches version.

First off, here's the updated Ladder: Outstanding Superb Great Good Fair So-So Awful "Fair" is still the "average" for Heroes, just like in Plain Vanilla Fudge. So, having that, here she is, first using the regular (updated) rules: Type: Human Body: Fair Brains: Fair Heart: Great Agility: So-So Friendship: Good Talent (Kansas Farm girl): Good Gifts: Forceful Personality: +2 to Friendship when confronting someone socially; Princess of Oz Trouble: Honest to a fault And now the Approaches rules: Concept: Kansas farm girl and princess of Oz Careful: Good Clever: Fair Flashy: Fair Forceful: Great Quick: Good Sneaky: So-So Gift: Forceful personality: +2 when Forcefully confronting someone socially Trouble: Honest to a Fault I will be uploading both revised versions of Instant Oz (complete with a couple of adventures, to make it even more "instant") to RPGNow and to this web site, and then I'll put up a poll for you, the players, to vote for which you like better. See, I'm kind of leaning towards the Approaches method, but I still like the work I've done with the other rules, so I can't make up my mind which to make the default version. Therefore, it'll be up to you, and whichever version you like more, that's what will become the one, true Heroes of Oz RPG. -Mike

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Statted up: The Tin Woodman - FATE Edition

Last time, I posted the official stats for The Tin Woodman for Heroes of Oz. I got some good feedback with it, and I'll be posting more stats soon (and while we're at it, who would you like to see?). For those not aware, the FATE system is a build of Fudge, the same game system that powers Heroes of Oz, and was released by the folks at Evil Hat Productions. Some of the ideas that are in FATE show up in my own Storybook Fudge (see here for more on that), but I love FATE as it is, especially the version that shows up in the Dresden Files RPG. They did put a system resource document (SRD) of the rules from DFRPG , so I decided to try it out by building Nick with it, and I'm rather pleased with the results. You can read the rules here for yourself. Partially, I did this for fun, but the other reason was that we're looking into doing a FATE version of Heroes of Oz later. I've had people get excited when I've mentioned that, so it's something to consider. I wouldn't mind putting that out. I did use the DFRPG for a little help when picking Nick's stunts, and I'm pretty satisfied with what I came up with for him. Feel free to leave some comments on either these stats or even the previous ones I posted. Nick Chopper, The Tin Woodman of Oz Aspects High Concept: Master of the Ax Trouble: Rusts solid when wet Raised in the Munchkin Woods Hollow Body of Tin Has a kind, but not loving, heart Nickle-plated emperor of the Winkies "Unlike you meat people, I never tired or need food" Skills Superb: Weapons Great: Presence, Rapport Good: Conviction, Survival Fair: Might, Performance Average: Alertness, Intimidation Stunts Wall of Death - Nick is good enough with his ax that he can take on multiple opponents that are attacking within his zone. Best Foot Forward - Nick is just a sweet guy, and gets a +1 to rolls when making a first impression Natural-born Leader - People, especially the Winkies, look up to Nick, so he gets a +1 when commanding a group, and when coordinating a group efforts, moves 1 time increment faster Personal Magnetism - Since people are drawn to Nick in a friendly manner, he recieves a +2 to rolls for getting passive reactions to him. Stress Physical OO Mental OOOO Social OO Other Stats Power Level - Feet in the Water Skill Cap - Superb Skill Points Spent - 25 Fate Point Refresh - 2

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Statted Up: The Tin Woodman

Okay, it's been way too long since this site has been updated, so it's time to change that. To start with, let's take a look at my personal favorite. Once a flesh-and-blood man, Nick Chopper fell in love with the wrong woman, and his ax was cursed to cut him to pieces (the whole sordid tale is recounted in The Tin Woodman of Oz). Remade with a tin body, he continues on as the Tin Woodman, never tired and always ready to lend a hand. His new tin body didn't have a heart, but an adventure to see The Wizard of Oz changed that, and now he carries the softest and kindest heart in all the land of Oz, and has even earned a position as the Emperor of the Winkies.

Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman

Abilities Fair Body Fair Mind Great Heart Good Agility Superb Friendship Benefits Master of the Ax: Nick's ability is Superb when using his ax Emperor of the Winkies Has made many friends across Oz Troubles Rusts solid when wet Extremely vain - loves to talk about how superior his tin body is compared to "meat" ones. An optional Trouble to consider: Nick's ax was cursed by the Wicked Witch of the East. What's not specified is whether his ax is still cursed as he continues to carry it, or if he got a new one later. Since it's cursed to cut off flesh body parts, it no longer works against the Tin Woodman, but if someone else were to try and use it, they might also be in for a trip to the tin smith. Design note: I originally considered giving Nick a Trouble of Pacifism, but then I realized that he's had no trouble taking a life if doing so protected his friends or innocent people. He also offered to rally the Winkies to fight against the Nome King's army in The Emerald City of Oz, so, unlike Princess Ozma, he doesn't really have a problem with violence.

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Statted Up: Nyan Cat

This isn't the post that I promised, but I woke up in such a strange mood, I had to do it. I think this character would be so at home in Oz. Presenting... Nyan Cat! (Note: I've researched as much as I can, but couldn't find a reference to gender, so in these stats, it's a girl)

Nyan Cat

Type: Animal (Cat with a cherry Pop Tart for a body) Body: So-So Mind: Good Heart: Good Agility: Superb Friendship: Great Benefits: Singing makes people happy Flies through space Can get into the darnedest places Subplots: Diet of candy; vegetables are poison to her Many natural enemies due to having a cherry Pop Tart for a body Despite her high Agility, has a limited range of movement