If you haven't read the rest of the Barley Hedgeman series, it begins here with Part One, continues here with Part Two and then Part Three, and finally Part Four.
Alandrya and Barley took the same road as all the other elves, though they were an afternoon behind them. She was an easy traveling companion; she liked to talk and to laugh and even on occasion to sing and Barley found himself with little distasteful work: setting up the tent, digging the latrine, and polishing her arms and armor at the end of every march. He could not make distance as well as she could, for he was smaller and incapable of the great loping strides that carried elves across the earth like ghosts, but even so he was silent when he wished it having learned in his youth the secret to creeping through forest and glen.
She assured him that they would catch up with the other elves before long. "We move faster than them even with your little legs," she said. "An army's a slow thing on the move, even an elvish one. They're mustering on the borderlands now."
The way was fine and green, shielded from the plains by oak and maple trees. Old stone walls of long-abandoned farms were heaped up on either side. Every once and a while they would pass some great elvish manse crumbling into the earth, its white stones and painted columns slowly being reclaimed by the tall grasses. Sometimes there was a fountain or a statue that Alandrya stopped to admire before they passed on. Barley liked those places; there was a sort of melancholy about them, the same sad quality he saw in the long-lived elves.
Ruminations on fiction, roleplaying, and assorted irritants.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Planning and Pain
Character creation can be divided into two general categories when it comes to RPGs. There are those which are planned and crafted by the players from the start, and there are those which are randomly determined by the dice. Of course, this is not a perfect system of division: planned characters don't necessarily remain planned and in some systems can advance organically rather than according to the preordained order that the player has decided upon. Some systems incorporate more planning than others do, while other systems have no element of chance in character creation at all.
There are certain advantages to either system. Neither is "wrong," or without merit, but each has strengths according to its function. Planned characters excel at allowing a player to start a game with a fully realized concept. They get to play "what they want," using the rules to design a character that is as close to the one they imagined as possible. This is perfect for systems where most player-characters are exceptional or none are. The reason for this is simple: if you can be exceptional at character creation and you are allowed to plan, most people will be. This skews the demographic of player characters unless the system already takes this into account.
It's very hard to play a normal man in 7th Sea, for example, since you are meant to be a swashbuckling hero. Even if you avoid taking a sword school, you'll still either have a wide variety of skills or be very good at some.
There are certain advantages to either system. Neither is "wrong," or without merit, but each has strengths according to its function. Planned characters excel at allowing a player to start a game with a fully realized concept. They get to play "what they want," using the rules to design a character that is as close to the one they imagined as possible. This is perfect for systems where most player-characters are exceptional or none are. The reason for this is simple: if you can be exceptional at character creation and you are allowed to plan, most people will be. This skews the demographic of player characters unless the system already takes this into account.
It's very hard to play a normal man in 7th Sea, for example, since you are meant to be a swashbuckling hero. Even if you avoid taking a sword school, you'll still either have a wide variety of skills or be very good at some.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Discussions on Knights and Knaves
So I discovered a new wargame over the weekend, one that I actually wanted to write about on Monday but forgot completely. I've yet to actually give it a try (I get a lot of resistance from certain members of my IRC crowd whenever I suggest using Maptool to play wargames), but from reading over the rules, I'm excited as excited can be.
The game is Knights and Knaves, a free game for use with any kinds of miniatures designed by Historic Enterprises Online, which is a company owned by two fellas that make these rules. Insanely, for whatever reason, the K&K rules appear to be much more historically accurate, detailed, and clever than anything I've ever seen sold for money. These guys have a real understanding of the period and they bring that to bear in a great way.
The rules are made for skirmish play, but I suspect with a little tweaking they could also be used for grand armies and Crusading companies. They are historical, so they don't have things like orcs or magic, but again I think this could be altered by a clever fellow. Harkening back to what I said about Do-It-Yourself gaming, this is the apotheosis of that design. This was home-made and appears to be home promoted. They don't ask for a single dime (if I was working, I'd send them some money just on principle) and yet their product is so much better than what's out there that I'm blown away. Field of Glory, Warhammer Fantasy, none of them hit it quite on the head like K&K does.
The game is Knights and Knaves, a free game for use with any kinds of miniatures designed by Historic Enterprises Online, which is a company owned by two fellas that make these rules. Insanely, for whatever reason, the K&K rules appear to be much more historically accurate, detailed, and clever than anything I've ever seen sold for money. These guys have a real understanding of the period and they bring that to bear in a great way.
The rules are made for skirmish play, but I suspect with a little tweaking they could also be used for grand armies and Crusading companies. They are historical, so they don't have things like orcs or magic, but again I think this could be altered by a clever fellow. Harkening back to what I said about Do-It-Yourself gaming, this is the apotheosis of that design. This was home-made and appears to be home promoted. They don't ask for a single dime (if I was working, I'd send them some money just on principle) and yet their product is so much better than what's out there that I'm blown away. Field of Glory, Warhammer Fantasy, none of them hit it quite on the head like K&K does.
Monday, May 28, 2012
The Nature of Adventure
Most of my inspiration comes from every day activity, believe it or not. Adventures, adventure-sites, and even the design of cities is generally compounded from various experiences I have throughout my day. I tend to pay close attention to little things in nature, like what the ground looks like as it cants, or how the stone face of a hill emerges from the soft earth.
I don't know why, but standing out amongst the trees and the rivers in nature inevitably gives me ideas. Even if it is just how to better run a random encounter, I find myself perpetually thinking of things that could go on in that environment: from an attack by orcs (how long would I have till they were upon me? What distance would I be able to see them at) to a raid on a backcountry still that turns out to be more than it seems (a CoC conceit I've been holding in reserve for a long time).
Wilderness encounters are all over the OSR of late, which is strange since I've been meaning to write this particular article for several weeks. Had I followed my own schedule of what to post when, I would have written it around the time of the highest wilderness-encounter hubub due to an idea that had been fomenting since I was in San Francisco. That, of course, is the notion of wilderness encounters, particularly ones that aren't simply violent shake-ups with bands of roving orcs. One of the things the now-defunct Grognard was supposed to provide was a section on encounters with various complex entries that could be added to encounter charts.
I don't know why, but standing out amongst the trees and the rivers in nature inevitably gives me ideas. Even if it is just how to better run a random encounter, I find myself perpetually thinking of things that could go on in that environment: from an attack by orcs (how long would I have till they were upon me? What distance would I be able to see them at) to a raid on a backcountry still that turns out to be more than it seems (a CoC conceit I've been holding in reserve for a long time).
Wilderness encounters are all over the OSR of late, which is strange since I've been meaning to write this particular article for several weeks. Had I followed my own schedule of what to post when, I would have written it around the time of the highest wilderness-encounter hubub due to an idea that had been fomenting since I was in San Francisco. That, of course, is the notion of wilderness encounters, particularly ones that aren't simply violent shake-ups with bands of roving orcs. One of the things the now-defunct Grognard was supposed to provide was a section on encounters with various complex entries that could be added to encounter charts.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Levelling Out
Everyone should be the same level. I should be allowed to make characters that are level 8 from the get-go. Experience needs to be handed out equally so everyone can gain their levels at the same time, and rewarding different classes for achieving different amounts of experience is outrageous. Levels themselves are a terrible notion and need to abolished. These are but some of the complaints I've heard about levels in my tenure as a DM. Some of them ring more truly than others: I have played and enjoyed many rpgs that do away with the concept of levels altogether such as BRP (particularly its incarnation as CoC), Hârnmaster, 7th Sea, and Aftermath!) but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate why they're used as shorthand for advancement.
Levels are a fast and easy way to determine how powerful a character is, for one thing. It works as a rapid shorthand for understanding just where they stand in the scale of might and it obviates the need to track all manner of niggly little advancements that would otherwise not be tied to level. I actually prefer the Hârnmaster/Aftermath method of skill improvement over levels, but those games are a bitch to teach to anyone who doesn't have an advanced math degree and the patience of a particularly peaceful deity.
The most common issue that I actually run into in my games is level disparity. Because I have a tendency to run lethal games and because Danny has a tendency to constantly be recruiting new players, we have a high character turnover rate. New people join in on old games, or old people watch in horror as some manner of awful creature slaughters their character. Either way, it leaves a core party (composed of the original two adventurers in this case, Crispus and Oloz) that is hovering on the door of level 5 while new players must join in at level 1.
Levels are a fast and easy way to determine how powerful a character is, for one thing. It works as a rapid shorthand for understanding just where they stand in the scale of might and it obviates the need to track all manner of niggly little advancements that would otherwise not be tied to level. I actually prefer the Hârnmaster/Aftermath method of skill improvement over levels, but those games are a bitch to teach to anyone who doesn't have an advanced math degree and the patience of a particularly peaceful deity.
The most common issue that I actually run into in my games is level disparity. Because I have a tendency to run lethal games and because Danny has a tendency to constantly be recruiting new players, we have a high character turnover rate. New people join in on old games, or old people watch in horror as some manner of awful creature slaughters their character. Either way, it leaves a core party (composed of the original two adventurers in this case, Crispus and Oloz) that is hovering on the door of level 5 while new players must join in at level 1.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Excerpt: Kavalson's History of Arunë
Today is an excerpt from one of my big sourcebooks for Arunë, Orvius Kavalson's History.
Of the Kingdom of the Undying
Amongst the giants of Alhame there was born one whose mastery of magic was beyond those of the greatest Gigantine masters. As a boy he unraveled mysteries that elder sages had long troubled over, and it is said that he made alterations to the ancient runes that bound the flow of the Dragon's Breath and his writings made them stronger. He was named Athesphatos by his people and rose in his life to be called a living Titan. But ever and anon his thoughts drifted to the pain of mortality among all things that live save for the Dragon of the Earth alone. So at last he thought upon the skein of magic, which also is timeless, and he turned his mind often to the solution he saw therein. For the mind of Athesphatos lurked in corridors of knowledge twisted and strange. Thus came he to the understanding of the Necromantic Art at long last.
The Giants had never before shaped their magics to the reanimation of fallen flesh, nor the preservation of that which had aged past its time. Yet, the great Titans of their people could knit wounds with a thought and the Breath of the Dragon long was known to sustain the injured. Before the awful mind of Athesphatos turned upon the task, none before had questioned deeply how these strange arts worked. Then was Athesphatos called also Moros, which means "deathly-wise." For as yet his obsession had not burdened his soul with darkness, but before his end he would be called not Athesphatos Moros but Moros Aklaustos, the unwept.
Of the Kingdom of the Undying
Amongst the giants of Alhame there was born one whose mastery of magic was beyond those of the greatest Gigantine masters. As a boy he unraveled mysteries that elder sages had long troubled over, and it is said that he made alterations to the ancient runes that bound the flow of the Dragon's Breath and his writings made them stronger. He was named Athesphatos by his people and rose in his life to be called a living Titan. But ever and anon his thoughts drifted to the pain of mortality among all things that live save for the Dragon of the Earth alone. So at last he thought upon the skein of magic, which also is timeless, and he turned his mind often to the solution he saw therein. For the mind of Athesphatos lurked in corridors of knowledge twisted and strange. Thus came he to the understanding of the Necromantic Art at long last.
The Giants had never before shaped their magics to the reanimation of fallen flesh, nor the preservation of that which had aged past its time. Yet, the great Titans of their people could knit wounds with a thought and the Breath of the Dragon long was known to sustain the injured. Before the awful mind of Athesphatos turned upon the task, none before had questioned deeply how these strange arts worked. Then was Athesphatos called also Moros, which means "deathly-wise." For as yet his obsession had not burdened his soul with darkness, but before his end he would be called not Athesphatos Moros but Moros Aklaustos, the unwept.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Picking Pockets
Pockets, as we know them, did not exist until the 17th century. Before this, the things we call pockets were actually worn on the outside and were generally known as purses. This can be become extremely difficult to tell your players when there is a thief skill called "pick pockets." But don't worry! You can still be saved! Look at the online etymology dictionary and explain everything to your players in these terms:
So there you have it; honor preserved, and historical accuracy (or historical verisimilitude if you want to be precise) achieved.
Now that we're on the subject, we can talk about thieves in AD&D. They've got something strange going on, some confluence of two different philosophies about playing smashed together. AD&D 2e was the the turning point, the crux that lies between player skill and character skill. It deals with a little of one and a little of the other. Go much further back and your games are all player skill. Go one iteration ahead and your games are all character skill. Only in 2e are we stuck in the balanced limbo where some of both is required.
- pocket (n.)
- mid-14c., "bag, pouch, small sack," from Anglo-Fr. pokete (13c.), dim. of O.N.Fr. poque "bag," from Frank. *pokka "bag," from Gmc. *puk- (see poke (n.)). Meaning "small bag worn on the person, especially one sewn into a garment" is from early 15c. Mining sense is attested from 1850; military sense of "area held by troops surrounded by the enemy" is from 1918. The verb, with implications of dishonesty, is from 1630s. Pocket-knife is first recorded 1727; pocket-money is attested from 1630s. Pocket veto attested from 1842, Amer.Eng.
So there you have it; honor preserved, and historical accuracy (or historical verisimilitude if you want to be precise) achieved.
Now that we're on the subject, we can talk about thieves in AD&D. They've got something strange going on, some confluence of two different philosophies about playing smashed together. AD&D 2e was the the turning point, the crux that lies between player skill and character skill. It deals with a little of one and a little of the other. Go much further back and your games are all player skill. Go one iteration ahead and your games are all character skill. Only in 2e are we stuck in the balanced limbo where some of both is required.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Canned D&D
The first feedback I received on the Adventurers' Guide was that player's don't want to read more than one page of setting material. Bundled right along with this revelation was the fact that any DM who writes a setting manual of any kind is suspect, that they are automatically placed into a dangerous category of nutjob who probably won't run a good game. To me, this is bizarre; it led me to think about the way that D&D has changed since I started playing it, which is a topic that seems to get a frequent workout here.
The assumption that home-made D&D settings are somehow inferior to the boxed products seems to underlie that statement. Let's not even begin to try to unpack the sadness of the claim that reading a book is too much work for someone who wants to play a roleplaying game; the inherent contradiction there must rest for another time. But really, it brings home a shock that I've experienced all over the internet: people simply don't like homebrewed material. It looks like D&D has gone from something you make to something you buy, which is a true loss for the community. The same clearly can't be said about the OSR, so there's some hope yet, I suppose.
The assumption that home-made D&D settings are somehow inferior to the boxed products seems to underlie that statement. Let's not even begin to try to unpack the sadness of the claim that reading a book is too much work for someone who wants to play a roleplaying game; the inherent contradiction there must rest for another time. But really, it brings home a shock that I've experienced all over the internet: people simply don't like homebrewed material. It looks like D&D has gone from something you make to something you buy, which is a true loss for the community. The same clearly can't be said about the OSR, so there's some hope yet, I suppose.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Calling all Cars
POSTPOSTSCRIPT: Dear folks, I've decided against actually taking this down. I've made some substantial changes to the format and layout as well as the content of the Adventurer's Guide and in the coming weeks I'll post a later version for review.
Today, for the space of two weeks, I am making available a text-only version of the Adventurer's Guide to Arunë. The purpose of this is not to distribute a finished product, but rather to garner information from you, my audience, about what you'd like to see in the Guide, whether or not its interesting to you, and how it can be made more so.
I started working on it a few months ago with the intention of making a digest for players to read that would be easy to get them into the setting and give them some basic information about the world of Arunë, specifically the northerly regions known as Atva-Arunë that are more-or-less the play zone of the setting so far. While Suda-Arunë and Arunë-Oriens may be yet to come, they are not at a design stage where I could bring my own players there, let alone advise people that would have no recourse to my notes to run those regions.
Anyhow: I beg of you, download the Adventurer's Guide and peruse it for flaws. Tell me if it is too dry (I've heard that comment before and I'm still thinking on how to solve it). Tell me if it is too dull, or too silly. Tell me if it doesn't contain enough information! Don't tell me that it doesn't have art, I know that; Danny and Steve are both working very hard on providing enough art to fill its covers.
Email me at kestar@gmail.com, simply write a post here, write on my Facebook wall, send me a message on Obsidian Portal... whatever gets the job done to let me know your suggestions.
Thank you, all. The download link is here. I apologize that it's rapidshare, but it's the best I can do at this juncture.
EDIT: I've heard rumor that the download link isn't working. I'm trying desperately to fix that even as we speak.
POSTSCRIPT: Here is a second link, from mediafire.
Today, for the space of two weeks, I am making available a text-only version of the Adventurer's Guide to Arunë. The purpose of this is not to distribute a finished product, but rather to garner information from you, my audience, about what you'd like to see in the Guide, whether or not its interesting to you, and how it can be made more so.
I started working on it a few months ago with the intention of making a digest for players to read that would be easy to get them into the setting and give them some basic information about the world of Arunë, specifically the northerly regions known as Atva-Arunë that are more-or-less the play zone of the setting so far. While Suda-Arunë and Arunë-Oriens may be yet to come, they are not at a design stage where I could bring my own players there, let alone advise people that would have no recourse to my notes to run those regions.
Anyhow: I beg of you, download the Adventurer's Guide and peruse it for flaws. Tell me if it is too dry (I've heard that comment before and I'm still thinking on how to solve it). Tell me if it is too dull, or too silly. Tell me if it doesn't contain enough information! Don't tell me that it doesn't have art, I know that; Danny and Steve are both working very hard on providing enough art to fill its covers.
Email me at kestar@gmail.com, simply write a post here, write on my Facebook wall, send me a message on Obsidian Portal... whatever gets the job done to let me know your suggestions.
Thank you, all. The download link is here. I apologize that it's rapidshare, but it's the best I can do at this juncture.
EDIT: I've heard rumor that the download link isn't working. I'm trying desperately to fix that even as we speak.
POSTSCRIPT: Here is a second link, from mediafire.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Something Kreativ
The Questions:
1. What's your favorite song?
This is an extremely difficult question to answer for me, as my musical tastes are quite fluid. Led Zeppelin and Frank Zappa are my most important mainstays, but recently I've been listening to Mumford and Sons, particularly the sad 1930s ballad Dust Bowl Dance.
2. What's your favorite dessert?
Unfortunately this question is not about my favorite desert (the Sahara?) but my favorite dessert. I'd have to say the zabaglione at Café Dante's in New York City.
3. What do you do when you're upset?
Lots of things. Pace, take out my anger physically on inanimate objects (really upset) or yell. I also try to calm down quickly, as I hate being upset for long periods of time.
4. Which is your favorite pet?
Cats, since I was a boy.
5. Which do you prefer? Black or White?
I'm not sure! I suppose I'd say black, one of the colors of the Milean sigil.
6. What is your biggest fear?
Death, both of myself and those who I love.
7. What is your attitude?
Cynical and mean, usually. You know, grumbly.
Ten Factoids:
1. I studied medieval studies in graduate school but I've been chronically unable to get into a PhD program.
2. I wrote a so-far poorly received book set in the 10th Age.
3. I don't watch any sports, though I understand why people do. This was definitely a hindrance when I lived in Boston.
4. I hate Michael Moorcock. I don't find Elric of Melnibone interesting or well written. I love Tolkien beyond measure, as well as Dunsany and Glen Cook.
5. My favorite setting for any D&D edition ever is Planescape. I love philosophy, both of the postmodern and the classical kind.
6. I spent last year in China teaching English to children in the city of Nanchang. Playing Dungeons and Dragons was extremely hard there due to the 12 hour time difference between me and the IRC channel I run.
7. I originally made the 10th Age in highschool. Back then it was the 8th Age, and it was much more Tolkienesque and painted in terms of strict black and white rather than shades of gray.
8. I live with my in-laws right now and have absolutely no job.
9. I love to cook, and I frequently make truffle-ganache, french food, and pasta with Jocelyn. I have recently taken it into my head to cook ancient Roman food using Apicius' On Cookery as a guide.
10. I learned Photoshop long ago to make color maps for the game Myth II: Soulblighter... I've used it nonstop ever since for all manner of things.
Seven other Blogs:
1. Out for Blood
2. Bruce Heard's Blog
3. Daddy Grognard
4. Howling Tower
5. A Paladin in the Citadel
6. Akratic Wizardry
7. Medieval News
The Transformation
This morning I come bearing a journal entry and some artwork from Danny, the fellow who plays Oloz. The first is Oloz-as-was, and was drawn early in his career. The second is Oloz-as-is, and was drawn yesterday.
I have seen my own corpse. I have taken this journal from his, my? body. I lifted my blades, my rings, my shield... I have taken from the dead before, these very things, even. I am no stranger to theft or to looting, and yet I am disturbed greatly!
Perhaps what disturbs me most of all is that this was no different. I scarcely recognize that brutalized, brutal face, all its lumpen features and fire-slicked scarring, those glassy little eyes. How can I look into my own eyes and not see myself? Maybe this is the only way that it could ever be? After all, what makes up a person? The body? I would say that it is not so. My body has changed, and though I have seen much that almost none alive could boast of beholding, and learned, gained from it, what was 'me' has migrated. The dead man in whose book I write was Oloz, and I am Oloz, but the shell we left behind is just that.
 |
| Oloz as an orc in his freeman's toga |
Perhaps what disturbs me most of all is that this was no different. I scarcely recognize that brutalized, brutal face, all its lumpen features and fire-slicked scarring, those glassy little eyes. How can I look into my own eyes and not see myself? Maybe this is the only way that it could ever be? After all, what makes up a person? The body? I would say that it is not so. My body has changed, and though I have seen much that almost none alive could boast of beholding, and learned, gained from it, what was 'me' has migrated. The dead man in whose book I write was Oloz, and I am Oloz, but the shell we left behind is just that.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Giancarlo of Venice
At Mike(of Really Bad Eggs)'s request I've done up the statistics of Giancarlo of Venice, the character from the Giancarlo stories I've been writing on and off. If I've done everything correctly, this is how it should all shake out.
His height and build is Average and Thin, thus granting him a +1 to his dexterity.
He is a Gentleman (born to a moderately wealthy Venetian merchant and banker).
He is a Citizen of Venice, his family name (which has yet to be revealed) appearing in the Golden Register of those families which hold citizenship.
He has 10 base hp, with no bonus for strength, +2 for high Endurance, and +1 for high Luck, giving him a total of 13. His Encumbrance Value is a base of ten, with a -1 for strength, +1 for endurance, and no modifier for dexterity (leaving him with 10.)
Having 12 skill points (1 extra point for wit and 1 extra point for luck added to the base of 10.) He's a Gentleman, having been raised in the banking practice of his father. Spending his skills he winds up with the following spread:
Banking (costs 2 points, trained by his father)
Carousing (2 points)
Etiquette (1 point)
Languages (1 point for French and 2 points for German... not enough for Croatian, but I'll say he bought it with experience at some point)
Seduction (2 points)
He knows the Italian Style of Fencing which I believe gives him an expertise rank of 10 in the foil, rapier, longsword, baton, main gauche, and buckler. He has a +1 to-hit with a lunge or thrust, and with two extra points left over he buys expertise upgrades in rapier and longsword.
He takes the flaw of Duelist (he has not yet been able to refuse a duel!) and uses that point to buy another rank of expertise in the longsword, granting him a rating of Experienced with most of his weapons, a Scholar with the longsword, and an Expert with the rapier.
He has only 12 Livres to his person (he is always poor!) and makes no yearly income as his father gives him no stipend. His social rank began at 7, but by his carousing and mercenary work (and the dishonorable way in which he fights, etc.) I figure it's not a far shot to grant him a social rank of 5 instead.
| Strength | 7 |
|---|---|
| Dexterity | 12 |
| Endurance | 14 |
| Wit | 12 |
| Charm | 9 |
| Luck | 16 |
His height and build is Average and Thin, thus granting him a +1 to his dexterity.
He is a Gentleman (born to a moderately wealthy Venetian merchant and banker).
He is a Citizen of Venice, his family name (which has yet to be revealed) appearing in the Golden Register of those families which hold citizenship.
He has 10 base hp, with no bonus for strength, +2 for high Endurance, and +1 for high Luck, giving him a total of 13. His Encumbrance Value is a base of ten, with a -1 for strength, +1 for endurance, and no modifier for dexterity (leaving him with 10.)
Having 12 skill points (1 extra point for wit and 1 extra point for luck added to the base of 10.) He's a Gentleman, having been raised in the banking practice of his father. Spending his skills he winds up with the following spread:
Banking (costs 2 points, trained by his father)
Carousing (2 points)
Etiquette (1 point)
Languages (1 point for French and 2 points for German... not enough for Croatian, but I'll say he bought it with experience at some point)
Seduction (2 points)
He knows the Italian Style of Fencing which I believe gives him an expertise rank of 10 in the foil, rapier, longsword, baton, main gauche, and buckler. He has a +1 to-hit with a lunge or thrust, and with two extra points left over he buys expertise upgrades in rapier and longsword.
He takes the flaw of Duelist (he has not yet been able to refuse a duel!) and uses that point to buy another rank of expertise in the longsword, granting him a rating of Experienced with most of his weapons, a Scholar with the longsword, and an Expert with the rapier.
He has only 12 Livres to his person (he is always poor!) and makes no yearly income as his father gives him no stipend. His social rank began at 7, but by his carousing and mercenary work (and the dishonorable way in which he fights, etc.) I figure it's not a far shot to grant him a social rank of 5 instead.
The Uses of Reincarnation
In all my years as a DM I have only seen the spell reincarnation in action twice. The first time it was a sort of punishment (after all, how easy is it to be resurrected? Let's make sure you can come back as something stupid!) but the second time it was... much more.
The second use of reincarnation was much more thought out, and actually integrated with the setting design. Returning to life has always been a troubling question to me purely based on demographic problems. After all, if you can be brought back from the dead at any time, what's to stop powerful magnates from just reversing their own murders? Why doesn't every god ensure that their favorite kings and heroes live until a ripe old age and die of natural causes? For that matter, at that point why don't they just renew their aging bodies and make sure they live forever?
The solution I came up with for the 10th Age is probably not the solution that everyone else would stumble upon because it makes the game much harder and more restrictive for the players. The god of death, Akem, is a jealous god who guards the natural order fiercely. Those who die are simply not released from his realm. Resurrection magic is highly restricted since it must defy him and he has been known to go into open holy war in the past against faiths that break his restriction and snatch back the dead from his realm.
The second use of reincarnation was much more thought out, and actually integrated with the setting design. Returning to life has always been a troubling question to me purely based on demographic problems. After all, if you can be brought back from the dead at any time, what's to stop powerful magnates from just reversing their own murders? Why doesn't every god ensure that their favorite kings and heroes live until a ripe old age and die of natural causes? For that matter, at that point why don't they just renew their aging bodies and make sure they live forever?
The solution I came up with for the 10th Age is probably not the solution that everyone else would stumble upon because it makes the game much harder and more restrictive for the players. The god of death, Akem, is a jealous god who guards the natural order fiercely. Those who die are simply not released from his realm. Resurrection magic is highly restricted since it must defy him and he has been known to go into open holy war in the past against faiths that break his restriction and snatch back the dead from his realm.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Hired Blade (conclusion)
Today I have the conclusion of The Hired Blade for you guys. I have also made a collection of my short stories available on amazon for the kindle here, if anyone is interested. The first portion of the Hired Blade is here, if you want to start from the beginning.
I awoke again and found myself surrounded by sea-green darkness. Helena was there next to me, seated upon a chair by a silver mirror, and she was wearing pants and a silken shirt. I sat up, feeling my bones protest wearily, and the sheets that had covered me rolled down from my chest to pool at my waist. "I have had strange dreams," I said, eager to find that my voice had returned to me.
"You were delirious," she responded. Her accent was strange and musical, her voice like the plucking of a Roman lyre. "But now you've come back to the world and you can be of service."
"Service?" I asked, furrowing my brows. The last thing I was hoping for from Helena was to give her service, unless it was service of the pudenda which she was looking for. "What do you mean?"
"Well," she said, some what testily I may add, "I saved your life. Don't you think you owe me a little something in return?"
"I would not call it little, signorina," I said with a smile as I hitched back the covers a little more.
"Not that," she said, playfully slapping my belly. I had once had a quite magnificent belly, toned and oiled, but all that had gone to waste in the cellar cell where I had been held. "Besides, if you tried to take me right now you'd shiver to pieces."
I awoke again and found myself surrounded by sea-green darkness. Helena was there next to me, seated upon a chair by a silver mirror, and she was wearing pants and a silken shirt. I sat up, feeling my bones protest wearily, and the sheets that had covered me rolled down from my chest to pool at my waist. "I have had strange dreams," I said, eager to find that my voice had returned to me.
"You were delirious," she responded. Her accent was strange and musical, her voice like the plucking of a Roman lyre. "But now you've come back to the world and you can be of service."
"Service?" I asked, furrowing my brows. The last thing I was hoping for from Helena was to give her service, unless it was service of the pudenda which she was looking for. "What do you mean?"
"Well," she said, some what testily I may add, "I saved your life. Don't you think you owe me a little something in return?"
"I would not call it little, signorina," I said with a smile as I hitched back the covers a little more.
"Not that," she said, playfully slapping my belly. I had once had a quite magnificent belly, toned and oiled, but all that had gone to waste in the cellar cell where I had been held. "Besides, if you tried to take me right now you'd shiver to pieces."
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
These waters are wide but shallow
A lot of players that grew up using 3.x and 4e have a real problem when coming back to 2e. I've noticed it repeatedly, and its very persistent across the board. Even one of my longtime regulars was once of this mindset before his complete and ultimate conversion to AD&D (I believe at my own hands). It's a strange hang-up that has to do with player choice and freedom and character creation, and I believe I can explain its root causes and the types of character it actually winds up creating.
I feel like I might be flogging a dead (or at the very least dying) horse here to state it, but 3.x and 4e are, (as 5e will be also, I'm sure) the product of a player's revolution. To protect themselves from bad DMs the players established ground rules about what they would allow and what they wouldn't. The chief and most noxious of those rules is that player choice means everything, and what the player wants goes; after all, the game is about fun, right?
The problem that I'm talking about specifically is the lack of creativity in character creation. Players of the later editions have come to identify creativity with playing monstrous races and picking strange classes. It's an easy sign of creativity if you are allowed to be a race that is rarely played (say, gnolls) and a class that is extremely specific (say, magical chef). These "concepts" dominate play in the modern systems. Elves, dwarves, etc. are often derided as being boring or even, in one case that I speak of from life, un-fantastical.
I feel like I might be flogging a dead (or at the very least dying) horse here to state it, but 3.x and 4e are, (as 5e will be also, I'm sure) the product of a player's revolution. To protect themselves from bad DMs the players established ground rules about what they would allow and what they wouldn't. The chief and most noxious of those rules is that player choice means everything, and what the player wants goes; after all, the game is about fun, right?
The problem that I'm talking about specifically is the lack of creativity in character creation. Players of the later editions have come to identify creativity with playing monstrous races and picking strange classes. It's an easy sign of creativity if you are allowed to be a race that is rarely played (say, gnolls) and a class that is extremely specific (say, magical chef). These "concepts" dominate play in the modern systems. Elves, dwarves, etc. are often derided as being boring or even, in one case that I speak of from life, un-fantastical.
Monday, May 14, 2012
The Silver Standard in a Fantasy Setting
Before I launch into a discussion of fantasy economics, I'd just like to apologize for going dark last week. One of my two cats, Bodega Bay, had a stroke and I did not feel up to continuing the blog immediately following her death.
Anyhow!
I have heard the argument, repeatedly, that because D&D uses the gold standard it is somehow not as realistic or representative of the middle ages as certain other RPGs that I could name (Hârn, for one). While it is true that D&D generally does not represent the middle ages very well, I would put forth the argument that this is not because of the gold standard in coinage. Indeed, I have tried to align the 10th Age far more with the historical middle ages myself, and yet I never changed the coinage from gold to silver. For a number of reasons, I don't believe that silver coinage represents anything fundamentally true about the medieval period, and I shall enumerate that belief here.
Anyhow!
I have heard the argument, repeatedly, that because D&D uses the gold standard it is somehow not as realistic or representative of the middle ages as certain other RPGs that I could name (Hârn, for one). While it is true that D&D generally does not represent the middle ages very well, I would put forth the argument that this is not because of the gold standard in coinage. Indeed, I have tried to align the 10th Age far more with the historical middle ages myself, and yet I never changed the coinage from gold to silver. For a number of reasons, I don't believe that silver coinage represents anything fundamentally true about the medieval period, and I shall enumerate that belief here.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Elegy for a Friend
Socius mihi Morpheum est. Illa est evanescere.
Sed non! Luctus hic deterret et semper amor.
Campiorum Elysii intra me, ad me propinquus.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Unboxing: The Mahabharata
A few days ago, Jocelyn and I got our hands on a board game that was tucked in the back of a shop beneath some other things. There were only two copies of it, and they seemed to have been forgotten there. Always interested in new board games, we took a look at it. A strange white box greeted us and the game's cover promised something new and exciting; the Mahabharata, it read, India's Epic: experience an ancient legendary adventure.
Always a sucker for strange new board games, we of course bit. Our collection grows apace and this felt like a good addition. The Mahabharata smelled faintly of Indian spices and had clearly been made by hand by someone who felt the epic had not gotten the treatment in the public eye that it deserved. When we got home, we opened it up immediately to have a look at its contents.
Always a sucker for strange new board games, we of course bit. Our collection grows apace and this felt like a good addition. The Mahabharata smelled faintly of Indian spices and had clearly been made by hand by someone who felt the epic had not gotten the treatment in the public eye that it deserved. When we got home, we opened it up immediately to have a look at its contents.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Fiction: The Hired Blade
This is another Giancarlo story, inspired by one of Black Vulmea's Field of Honor entries. As always, I hope you enjoy reading it!
I, Giancarlo, often find myself in places that would set other men to trembling. I do not recall what led to my imprisonment, but I was released from the castle dungeons of Bajnski Dvori in April of the year seventeen hundred and twenty of our lord. My purse was light again, as it always was between wars. I seem to recall some affair with a Croat noblewoman but by the time I stumbled into daylight that was all over. I blinked away the cruel lances of the sun that prickled my eyes. How strange to be dry as a bone in a place called Vincia, of all the lands on God's earth! The Romans, those noble ancestors of ours, had once tilled this land as wine fields and when I came forth from the miserable little château that the Both dared to call a castle, I hadn't had a drink in months.
The landscape was covered in firs and pines, one of the reasons I despise Croatia. I have no use for trees unless they've been made into a mast or hacked down and fashioned into a carriage for a culverin. I gave them the figs as I stumbled forth into the Croatian spring. My legs were still weak from my time beneath the Both manor and I must confess that I looked drunk as I lurched across the well-trimmed lawn. Servants eyed me unpleasantly, that much I remember, and I recall biting my thumb and grabbing my cock at more than one of them. Croats! May God take them all down into hell! There is no race so perversely servile and yet at the same time so grotesquely determined to do harm to the body of Italy!
I, Giancarlo, often find myself in places that would set other men to trembling. I do not recall what led to my imprisonment, but I was released from the castle dungeons of Bajnski Dvori in April of the year seventeen hundred and twenty of our lord. My purse was light again, as it always was between wars. I seem to recall some affair with a Croat noblewoman but by the time I stumbled into daylight that was all over. I blinked away the cruel lances of the sun that prickled my eyes. How strange to be dry as a bone in a place called Vincia, of all the lands on God's earth! The Romans, those noble ancestors of ours, had once tilled this land as wine fields and when I came forth from the miserable little château that the Both dared to call a castle, I hadn't had a drink in months.
The landscape was covered in firs and pines, one of the reasons I despise Croatia. I have no use for trees unless they've been made into a mast or hacked down and fashioned into a carriage for a culverin. I gave them the figs as I stumbled forth into the Croatian spring. My legs were still weak from my time beneath the Both manor and I must confess that I looked drunk as I lurched across the well-trimmed lawn. Servants eyed me unpleasantly, that much I remember, and I recall biting my thumb and grabbing my cock at more than one of them. Croats! May God take them all down into hell! There is no race so perversely servile and yet at the same time so grotesquely determined to do harm to the body of Italy!
Monday, May 7, 2012
Every Table is Sacred
A few days ago I broke my silence on the Wizards of the Coast website concerning D&DNext. The question posed by the developers was one concerning the new feats in 5e and namely whether or not they should have roleplaying effects, combat effects, or exploration effects or all three. I was irritated at the very way the question is posed, and I posted a response that suggested that new abilities should make sense in totality; if someone can breathe fire, it makes sense to allow a ruling that says their fire breath also sets things on fire, boils water, etc.
I received a lot of positive responses... but amongst those, I was soundly schooled by a nameless lizard-avatared woman about why rulings were bad. She put forward the argument that rules should be ironclad and stay the same from table to table. The game system must be our baseline, and only from there, with a complete and comprehensive all-encompassing ruleset mapped out should individual tables modify them. I couldn't disagree more.
I received a lot of positive responses... but amongst those, I was soundly schooled by a nameless lizard-avatared woman about why rulings were bad. She put forward the argument that rules should be ironclad and stay the same from table to table. The game system must be our baseline, and only from there, with a complete and comprehensive all-encompassing ruleset mapped out should individual tables modify them. I couldn't disagree more.
Friday, May 4, 2012
I've been workin'...
Everyone loves a good story. Stories, after all, are probably the reason why you're roleplaying in the first place. Tolkien, Dunsany, Vance, Cook, Martin, Howard, here are your reasons to pick up a copy of Dungeons and Dragons and play it. They all weave such good stories of the fantastic that one can hardly resist them. Who among us does not wish to emulate the fantasy greats and tell stories of our own? I certainly do. Every time I read some good fantasy I curse that I did not write it, that my own fantasy is not near as engaging or powerful. But here's the thing: I don't take that desire with me into my Dungeons and Dragons games. They just don't seem to be compatible.
"Why not?" you would be very well in asking. What prevents me from writing out the plots that I would otherwise insert into my fiction as adventures? What prevents me from involving my players in the self-same stories that I want to write myself? There are a myriad of reasons, but they can all be summed up with a single idea: the railroad.
You see, stories are not about branching paths and choices. They are about a plot that drives them. Characters in books (other than choose-your-own adventures) cannot make choices other than the ones they do. Sometimes, if an author decides that he does want them to make different choices, he must go back and rewrite large sections of the tale. But there is always an operative theme, motif, and throughline in a book even if you don't always see one. The only themes or motifs that exist in Dungeons and Dragons are that life is cheap, the world is dangerous, and small things matter.
"Why not?" you would be very well in asking. What prevents me from writing out the plots that I would otherwise insert into my fiction as adventures? What prevents me from involving my players in the self-same stories that I want to write myself? There are a myriad of reasons, but they can all be summed up with a single idea: the railroad.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
The Outrage of War
In conflicts, people die. Sometimes they die in terrible, horrible ways. Young lives are snuffed out forever indiscriminately. But sometimes it's not just people that suffer, it's all of history.
There's a report going around now in the news that the marvelously well-preserved crusader castle and archaeological site, Krak des Chevaliers, has been looted. As if that weren't enough, the Syrian government has occupied it and is using it as a fortress; in order to get their tanks into the courtyards, they have bulldozed part of the walls.
Death is inevitable. Destruction of our past is not. Some may think me cold-hearted to care more for artifacts, rare manuscripts, and archaeological sites than I do about people; but one way or another mortality catches up to every human on earth. The same need not be said for precious historical sites.
This matches in every way Caesar's fire of the Library of Alexandria, which robbed the late classical world of some of its greatest texts. It matches the mob's attack on the Serapium centuries later to finish the job. It is of the same caliber as the archaeological plundering during the fall of Iraq. It is as evil as the bombing of Montecassino and the destruction of her beautiful doors, which we can never study again. It is, in short, a horror. Our history is something that, once destroyed, we can never recover. This, more than any other element in this whole Syrian war (and don't get me wrong, I feel for the people Bashar al-Assad is murdering) rends my heart.
I have no words to express my grief at the ruin of Krak des Chevaliers or the nearby medieval mosques. The loss of our history is the loss of ourselves, of us all. Palmyra is in danger as well, if reports can be trusted, a great and ancient spread of Roman ruins occupied by Assad's forces to be used as a staging ground.
But perhaps Plautus already knew all of this, for after all... homo homini lupus.
 |
| Krak des Chevaliers, before the recent damage |
Death is inevitable. Destruction of our past is not. Some may think me cold-hearted to care more for artifacts, rare manuscripts, and archaeological sites than I do about people; but one way or another mortality catches up to every human on earth. The same need not be said for precious historical sites.
This matches in every way Caesar's fire of the Library of Alexandria, which robbed the late classical world of some of its greatest texts. It matches the mob's attack on the Serapium centuries later to finish the job. It is of the same caliber as the archaeological plundering during the fall of Iraq. It is as evil as the bombing of Montecassino and the destruction of her beautiful doors, which we can never study again. It is, in short, a horror. Our history is something that, once destroyed, we can never recover. This, more than any other element in this whole Syrian war (and don't get me wrong, I feel for the people Bashar al-Assad is murdering) rends my heart.
I have no words to express my grief at the ruin of Krak des Chevaliers or the nearby medieval mosques. The loss of our history is the loss of ourselves, of us all. Palmyra is in danger as well, if reports can be trusted, a great and ancient spread of Roman ruins occupied by Assad's forces to be used as a staging ground.
But perhaps Plautus already knew all of this, for after all... homo homini lupus.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The Art of Losing
If you've ever played a pre-Wizards D&D, if you are part of the OSR, then you know you can't always win the fights you get into. It's a surprise for a lot of players that started with 3.x or 4e; like a JRPG those players sometimes assume that because something is present, the DM wants you to fight it. My evidence is anecdotal rather than statistic, but I've seen it dozens of times and heard stories of dozens more told by the very players who had that attitude. This article isn't to contest that one way or the other, but to talk about what player's should be prepared for.
If you feel sudden warning bells when you face something, perhaps because of the way it's being described or perhaps because it has just torn thousand-pound brass doors from their sockets and is brazenly storming a temple of a respected god, there are plenty of things you can do. Every loss doesn't need to result in being smeared to a fine paste of reddish meat upon the ground and walls, but the impetus to save your party must come from you.
If you feel sudden warning bells when you face something, perhaps because of the way it's being described or perhaps because it has just torn thousand-pound brass doors from their sockets and is brazenly storming a temple of a respected god, there are plenty of things you can do. Every loss doesn't need to result in being smeared to a fine paste of reddish meat upon the ground and walls, but the impetus to save your party must come from you.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Fiction: Beyond the Hedge (part 4)
Barley sighed and pushed back the bread from before him. The trencher was empty, the bacon picked, and the porridge eaten from the bowl. He stayed, contented, and forgot about the danger that threatened Cairaw. A smile touched his lips as he sat, for he was remembering his father, and those were always pleasant memories. When he left the Oarsman he came back to himself. Just outside the door, crushed into the gravel of the little path that wound through Cairaw's hills and turf-roofed cottages, there was a broach. It was a silver thing, fashioned by cunning elvish work to resemble a dragonfly. A warriors pin, for a cloak of blue or green that would cover glimmering mail. He ran it over his fingers, savoring coolness of the metal against his flesh.
He wondered who had lost this broach. What elven warrior now wandered without his cloak? He placed it into his scrip, to rest atop the few silver coins he carried. Perhaps someday that elf would come back through the village of Cairaw, and then he could give it him. If not, it was another trinket to honor the memory of his da'. He could place it on the wooden desk where the scrolls and rubbings of ancient stones were kept.
He wondered who had lost this broach. What elven warrior now wandered without his cloak? He placed it into his scrip, to rest atop the few silver coins he carried. Perhaps someday that elf would come back through the village of Cairaw, and then he could give it him. If not, it was another trinket to honor the memory of his da'. He could place it on the wooden desk where the scrolls and rubbings of ancient stones were kept.
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