Monday, February 8, 2010
Great Links: Ben Monroe's HQ
Back to regular blogging tomorrow-- however I followed a link from Robin Laws' site to a really, really interesting session report here. I think that's a brilliant approach to building a one-shot game and really plays into the strengths of HeroQuest as I've seen them. In fact it is sort of stupidly brilliant in that "why didn't I think of it" way. I've been considering how to try out HQ2, and I think I will probably have to borrow that collaborative model.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Still a Geek
Will be slow posting this week as I'm answering questions over at rpggeek. I expect that will trail off later as people realize this just gives me the opportunity to write long and self-aggrandizing digressions on role-playing. If you haven't taken a look yet, check out the thread. Thanks to everyone who has posted questions and I encourage everybody to post there. My players will be rewarded, a not so subtle hint.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
I am RPG Geek of the Week (literal, rather than metaphorical)
As some of you know I've been much enamored of rpggeek-- the companion site to boardgamegeek.com. Both of them can be reached through the geekdo address. I've been posting and helping with item entry on the rpg side of things for some time.
Anyway, this week I got chosen as the "rpg geek of the week". For that honor I get to field questions from users and generally boost my ego by getting to talk about games. I encourage everyone to come over and check out the thread which you can find here. You can post questions, and certainly players in my games will be rewarded appropriately for doing so. So yes, this is pretty much a billboard to inflate my self-image, but something I've been working towards for a while, so please go over and check it out. If you haven't already set up a user account it is easy to do so.
I have an overview post on what I think of the geekdo site which I hope to get posted tomorrow.
Anyway, this week I got chosen as the "rpg geek of the week". For that honor I get to field questions from users and generally boost my ego by getting to talk about games. I encourage everyone to come over and check out the thread which you can find here. You can post questions, and certainly players in my games will be rewarded appropriately for doing so. So yes, this is pretty much a billboard to inflate my self-image, but something I've been working towards for a while, so please go over and check it out. If you haven't already set up a user account it is easy to do so.
I have an overview post on what I think of the geekdo site which I hope to get posted tomorrow.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Webcomic Round-Up
Gene asked me what webcomics I was reading, so I pulled the list from my reader-- there are a few that I used to read that either lost me (Superosity) or vanished (Elf Only Inn). But this should be a fairly complete record with a few obvious ones left out. I've put an asterisk at the end of of the ones I really think are worth going through the complete archives for.
Achewood (http://achewood.com/)An acquired taste for some-- for a bit I'll be just going along with the strip and then he punches me between the eyes.
Basic Instructions (http://basicinstructions.net/) Sometimes funny, but usually falls in the middle for me.
Bear and Kitten (http://www.south20th.com/) Often odd, but usually amusing.
Beaver and Steve (http://www.beaverandsteve.com/) No longer in publication, but has some great stuff in the archives.
Bigger than Cheeses (http://www.biggercheese.com/) No idea why I read this, except that it is absurd.
Daily Dinosaur Comics (http://www.qwantz.com/index.php) An acquired taste.
Daisy Owl (http://www.daisyowl.com/) One of my favorites, low-key but quite funny.(*)
Diesel Sweeties (http://www.dieselsweeties.com/) I run hot and cold on this one.
Digital Pimp Online (www.digitalpimponline.com) Home of Joe Loves Crappy Movies and a couple of others. He has an interesting style, but updates infrequently.
Evil, Inc (www.evil-comic.com) Very classic. I really only keep it in my feed because it is such a quick read each day.
Hark, A Vagrant (http://www.harkavagrant.com/) Consistently the funniest comic I read. (*)
Instant Classic (http://www.instantclassic.net/) Not sold on this-- it went off for a time and then came back. overly convoluted story.
Overcompensating (http://overcompensating.com/)Usually quite funny.
Multiplex (www.multiplexcomic.com) Has pulled the drama tag a couple of times, but overall I really like this comic for the characters and setting.
Nukees (http://www.nukees.com/) Smart and odd-- has been going for a long, long time. A more classic strip.
Octopus Pie (http://www.octopuspie.com/) Interesting, but I sometimes skip episodes of this. Probably will drop out of my cycle eventually.
Order of the Stick (www.giantitp.com/comics) Used to be quite funny, but now seems like a lot of work to get through.
Penny Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com/) Come for the comic, stay for the text.
The Princess Planet (http://www.theprincessplanet.com/) Absolutely worth going through the archives. (*)
Questionable Content (http://questionablecontent.net/) Still a fav, almost entirely based on the characters.
Rob and Elliot (http://www.robandelliot.cycomics.com/) Had some funny moments, but updates infrequently now and often isn't that great.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (http://www.smbc-comics.com/) Has some misses, but generally the comic that makes me laugh more than any other. (*)
Shortpacked (www.shortpacked.com) I run hot and cold on this one.
Snowflakes (http://www.snowflakescomic.com/) Still trying to figure out if this is worth reading-- they have two plotlines going on right now and it kind of dilutes the effect. It is school-based so that makes me keep reading it.
Something Positive (http://www.somethingpositive.net/) A comic you love or hate based on your love of extended character stories.
Wasted Talent (http://www.wastedtalent.ca/) A recent addition-- interesting to see how her style has evolved through the archives.
The Non-Adventures of Wonderella (http://nonadventures.com/) Often wrong, but awesome at the same time. This comic (http://nonadventures.com/2007/10/06/gator-aid/) is one of my all-time favorites. (*)
Wondermark (http://wondermark.com/) I usually enjoy this and he often has some oddball additional material on this site.
XKCD (http://xkcd.com/)Make me a sandwich.
Achewood (http://achewood.com/)An acquired taste for some-- for a bit I'll be just going along with the strip and then he punches me between the eyes.
Basic Instructions (http://basicinstructions.net/) Sometimes funny, but usually falls in the middle for me.
Bear and Kitten (http://www.south20th.com/) Often odd, but usually amusing.
Beaver and Steve (http://www.beaverandsteve.com/) No longer in publication, but has some great stuff in the archives.
Bigger than Cheeses (http://www.biggercheese.com/) No idea why I read this, except that it is absurd.
Daily Dinosaur Comics (http://www.qwantz.com/index.php) An acquired taste.
Daisy Owl (http://www.daisyowl.com/) One of my favorites, low-key but quite funny.(*)
Diesel Sweeties (http://www.dieselsweeties.com/) I run hot and cold on this one.
Digital Pimp Online (www.digitalpimponline.com) Home of Joe Loves Crappy Movies and a couple of others. He has an interesting style, but updates infrequently.
Evil, Inc (www.evil-comic.com) Very classic. I really only keep it in my feed because it is such a quick read each day.
Hark, A Vagrant (http://www.harkavagrant.com/) Consistently the funniest comic I read. (*)
Instant Classic (http://www.instantclassic.net/) Not sold on this-- it went off for a time and then came back. overly convoluted story.
Overcompensating (http://overcompensating.com/)Usually quite funny.
Multiplex (www.multiplexcomic.com) Has pulled the drama tag a couple of times, but overall I really like this comic for the characters and setting.
Nukees (http://www.nukees.com/) Smart and odd-- has been going for a long, long time. A more classic strip.
Octopus Pie (http://www.octopuspie.com/) Interesting, but I sometimes skip episodes of this. Probably will drop out of my cycle eventually.
Order of the Stick (www.giantitp.com/comics) Used to be quite funny, but now seems like a lot of work to get through.
Penny Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com/) Come for the comic, stay for the text.
The Princess Planet (http://www.theprincessplanet.com/) Absolutely worth going through the archives. (*)
Questionable Content (http://questionablecontent.net/) Still a fav, almost entirely based on the characters.
Rob and Elliot (http://www.robandelliot.cycomics.com/) Had some funny moments, but updates infrequently now and often isn't that great.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (http://www.smbc-comics.com/) Has some misses, but generally the comic that makes me laugh more than any other. (*)
Shortpacked (www.shortpacked.com) I run hot and cold on this one.
Snowflakes (http://www.snowflakescomic.com/) Still trying to figure out if this is worth reading-- they have two plotlines going on right now and it kind of dilutes the effect. It is school-based so that makes me keep reading it.
Something Positive (http://www.somethingpositive.net/) A comic you love or hate based on your love of extended character stories.
Wasted Talent (http://www.wastedtalent.ca/) A recent addition-- interesting to see how her style has evolved through the archives.
The Non-Adventures of Wonderella (http://nonadventures.com/) Often wrong, but awesome at the same time. This comic (http://nonadventures.com/2007/10/06/gator-aid/) is one of my all-time favorites. (*)
Wondermark (http://wondermark.com/) I usually enjoy this and he often has some oddball additional material on this site.
XKCD (http://xkcd.com/)Make me a sandwich.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The School Campaign: Examples from Libri Vidicos IV
Another part of example materials drawn from my own steampunk fantasy school-based campaign. As I talked about in the first post on this topic, Libri Vidicos strongly centers the school as the campaign premise. It has run well over the last two and half years, with some of that strength coming from a dynamite player group and some of it coming from the player group being willing to buy into the whole HP inspired premise- working and playing with those genre conventions. We've just moved into Year Three and I provided some ominous prologue bits for the the players. These echo the prologue vignettes I did for the first two years.
Somewhere in the dark places
“If I may...” Began Lady d'Ambreville.
And of course the thunder cut off her words. She wondered a how much of that was deliberate, how much an echo of his master's temperament.
“I'd been expecting you earlier.” Said Mr. Y- quietly.
“Situations, changes, and I have some other news to report to you. But I have a question first.”
“Go on.” Mr. Y- finally turned to look at her and as always she found herself looking away.
She hesitated, angry at herself for the reaction. Then she finally spoke, “Would you consider this a victory then?”
Mr. Y- looked out across the stone courtyard, the storm handing around it. “A victory? Yes, not a complete one and I'll admit it is not exactly as I wished it. I had hoped for perhaps another year of secrecy, another year to put things into motion, but with magics such as these one can never count on things to fall out where you would wish.”
He paced a little, moving forward past her. “I'd hoped for more distraction, but we've gained much from the death of the Grandmaster. It will take their new leader some time before she can get her house arranged. And she has less of an idea of what is happening than the Dwarf did. Her agendas will aid us. Other things have fallen more to my liking there as well...”
Jacqueline followed slowly, waiting a beat before pressing her point. “What about Souldain? He was there...”
Mr. Y- stopped again. “Souldain was expected in part-- and he'll be back now more readily at the table. Now we know he lives and he'll be in fear again. He can't have Libri Vidicos exactly as he wanted it. Besides he'll have to come back, since we have something he wants...”
Mr. Y- gestured over to the raised platform, where Jacqueline could see the woman standing, the flashes of the storm silhouetting her. The d'Ambreville was relieved she was so far away; even as one of the Undead, that one bothered her. Not that the other agents didn't, especially Mr. Y-'s equal, that which had been Gallaen. But that was was simply broken, this other was wrong.
“But you said you had news...” Mr. Y- spoke this darkly, some threat lying behind it-- a demand for explanation of her tardiness.”
“Yes...it seems our little friends from Darsksoul went to Khinsai, and met with one of the Nithians. Then, after having done that, they traveled to Algasane's lands. They survived that, but apparently our allies were there as well, though they've said nothing of it.”
“Interesting...” Mr Y- held the note for a time. He gestured and within a moment some of the others had appeared. “Not entirely unexpected that they would look there-- we are allies of convenience, after all. We offer them a share in what is coming and tway to turn the circle to their advantage. But we have to wonder about the students. They've proven to be more resourceful than I'd given them credit for.”
“I've underestimated them.” He looked around to see if any would speak to his admission of fault. “That ends now.”
She who had been Gallaen walked forward. “Even if it means...?”
He broke in before she could finish the question. “We will make or break him this time. Time has come around full circle and we will not be stopped when we are so close.”
And the dragons swept overhead again, their wing beat the beginning of the drum beat that everyone could hear pulsing now.
“We still march in shadows, but soon the third will be among us and then we will strike in daylight, and nothing-- especially not a school of children, will stop us.”
In the Grandmaster's Chambers
Avansa Nullproof emerged from the chamber, she'd hoped for a moment to rest and compose herself, but she could see from Master Aeochs' presence that she'd have no such luxury. She looked and saw her Assistant Headmaster propped in a chair, leafing through papers and shaking his head.
“Master Simples, so good of you to finally join us.” She said and moved over to the chair opposite, sitting to hide her unsteadiness. Aeochs silently moved the tea service over close by her arm.
The goblin looked irritated. “My plans for the summer were set before I was roped into this position and if I recall correctly from our discussions, you encouraged me to go, said everything would move as we'd decided...and now I'm looking through all of this. So many changes, beyond what we'd discussed...”
She cut him off. “The situation has evolved...” Nullproof took a sip of her tea, strong and hot. It calmed her a little. “I made changes as quickly as I could. There was not time or means to contact you. We can negotiate on the adjustments as the semester commences.”
Simples held forth one sheet of paper. “I notice a strong shift in the teaching staff. Retirements and former instructors brought in. There's something of a pattern in those shifts, if I may be so bold.”
“Even Master Direlond cleaned house when he took this position.” Nullproof tried to keep anger out of her voice. She'd been expecting this confrontation, but hoped to be more ready for it.
“Yes, but Direlond emerged from a civil war which nearly tore this school apart. Those instructors had struck against the school itself.”
She set her cup down. “I think we face nothing less than that now, Master Simples. If Libri Vidicos is to survive, she needs people who can be trusted. And as Grandmaster of this school, that means I need people in whom I have faith. People who will look to the greater good of these things instead of turning to flights of fancy, radical shifts in policy and dangerous interventionism. Libri Vidicos has stood as it has because it has maintained itself. When it has reached beyond itself, it has been dealt blows. I will not have that again.”
The goblin paused. “Ah, a compelling case. So that is why you called The Warlock back? Banned by Direlond and an outsider who has not been in the school for years?”
Nullproof slowed herself, she'd walked into that gambit too easily for her liking. “There is no one better suited to maintain the internal security of this school.”
Simples nodded. “Just so, just so. You know I recall those words being used to describe Tyrenski...and we found his body stuffed underneath a bed just before everything went haywire. Before Darsksoul...”
“Stop.” Nullproof held her hand up. “We can have this argument all day, but I do not have the time or the stren...patience for it.”
Simple's face shifted. “You been at the chambers...I'm sorry, I should have known. Did you learn anything more?”
“No.” Nullproof shook her head trying to keep the lie away from him as much as she could. He would know she wasn't telling the full truth, but they'd come back to that later. “I'm unsure of why the school gave us no candidates this year. Luckily we had enough on our own lists to create a class. Mostly the wealthy or the highly placed, with a handful of others our scouts spotted. At least this year there will be fewer to draw on the scholarship fund.”
Simples frowned, seeing her evasion, but as she'd hoped, not wanting to press her on the topic. He rose from the chair. “Well, we'll come back to these matters later,” he raised the sheaf of papers. “I'll want so concessions from you in the future. And I'll want to full story of what you have seen.” He bowed curtly and left the room.
Nullproof sank into the chair, finally allowing herself to relax. Aeochs silently glided around into her vision.
“The Warlock requests authorization, a full remit and allowance for what needs to be done.” As always, he kept any judgment or inflection from his voice.
She thought a bit, thought on what she'd seen. Thought about the letter Direlond had left for Darsksoul, and the one he'd left for her. Had he seen his own destruction? Was his game still playing out?
“I want to remain apprised, but...tell him he has it,” she said wearily.
Aeochs left and Nullproof waited a bit. Would she tell him? Tell him what she'd seen. How she'd seen the Grandmaster who would follow her and had been terrified....
Somewhere in the dark places
“If I may...” Began Lady d'Ambreville.
And of course the thunder cut off her words. She wondered a how much of that was deliberate, how much an echo of his master's temperament.
“I'd been expecting you earlier.” Said Mr. Y- quietly.
“Situations, changes, and I have some other news to report to you. But I have a question first.”
“Go on.” Mr. Y- finally turned to look at her and as always she found herself looking away.
She hesitated, angry at herself for the reaction. Then she finally spoke, “Would you consider this a victory then?”
Mr. Y- looked out across the stone courtyard, the storm handing around it. “A victory? Yes, not a complete one and I'll admit it is not exactly as I wished it. I had hoped for perhaps another year of secrecy, another year to put things into motion, but with magics such as these one can never count on things to fall out where you would wish.”
He paced a little, moving forward past her. “I'd hoped for more distraction, but we've gained much from the death of the Grandmaster. It will take their new leader some time before she can get her house arranged. And she has less of an idea of what is happening than the Dwarf did. Her agendas will aid us. Other things have fallen more to my liking there as well...”
Jacqueline followed slowly, waiting a beat before pressing her point. “What about Souldain? He was there...”
Mr. Y- stopped again. “Souldain was expected in part-- and he'll be back now more readily at the table. Now we know he lives and he'll be in fear again. He can't have Libri Vidicos exactly as he wanted it. Besides he'll have to come back, since we have something he wants...”
Mr. Y- gestured over to the raised platform, where Jacqueline could see the woman standing, the flashes of the storm silhouetting her. The d'Ambreville was relieved she was so far away; even as one of the Undead, that one bothered her. Not that the other agents didn't, especially Mr. Y-'s equal, that which had been Gallaen. But that was was simply broken, this other was wrong.
“But you said you had news...” Mr. Y- spoke this darkly, some threat lying behind it-- a demand for explanation of her tardiness.”
“Yes...it seems our little friends from Darsksoul went to Khinsai, and met with one of the Nithians. Then, after having done that, they traveled to Algasane's lands. They survived that, but apparently our allies were there as well, though they've said nothing of it.”
“Interesting...” Mr Y- held the note for a time. He gestured and within a moment some of the others had appeared. “Not entirely unexpected that they would look there-- we are allies of convenience, after all. We offer them a share in what is coming and tway to turn the circle to their advantage. But we have to wonder about the students. They've proven to be more resourceful than I'd given them credit for.”
“I've underestimated them.” He looked around to see if any would speak to his admission of fault. “That ends now.”
She who had been Gallaen walked forward. “Even if it means...?”
He broke in before she could finish the question. “We will make or break him this time. Time has come around full circle and we will not be stopped when we are so close.”
And the dragons swept overhead again, their wing beat the beginning of the drum beat that everyone could hear pulsing now.
“We still march in shadows, but soon the third will be among us and then we will strike in daylight, and nothing-- especially not a school of children, will stop us.”
In the Grandmaster's Chambers
Avansa Nullproof emerged from the chamber, she'd hoped for a moment to rest and compose herself, but she could see from Master Aeochs' presence that she'd have no such luxury. She looked and saw her Assistant Headmaster propped in a chair, leafing through papers and shaking his head.
“Master Simples, so good of you to finally join us.” She said and moved over to the chair opposite, sitting to hide her unsteadiness. Aeochs silently moved the tea service over close by her arm.
The goblin looked irritated. “My plans for the summer were set before I was roped into this position and if I recall correctly from our discussions, you encouraged me to go, said everything would move as we'd decided...and now I'm looking through all of this. So many changes, beyond what we'd discussed...”
She cut him off. “The situation has evolved...” Nullproof took a sip of her tea, strong and hot. It calmed her a little. “I made changes as quickly as I could. There was not time or means to contact you. We can negotiate on the adjustments as the semester commences.”
Simples held forth one sheet of paper. “I notice a strong shift in the teaching staff. Retirements and former instructors brought in. There's something of a pattern in those shifts, if I may be so bold.”
“Even Master Direlond cleaned house when he took this position.” Nullproof tried to keep anger out of her voice. She'd been expecting this confrontation, but hoped to be more ready for it.
“Yes, but Direlond emerged from a civil war which nearly tore this school apart. Those instructors had struck against the school itself.”
She set her cup down. “I think we face nothing less than that now, Master Simples. If Libri Vidicos is to survive, she needs people who can be trusted. And as Grandmaster of this school, that means I need people in whom I have faith. People who will look to the greater good of these things instead of turning to flights of fancy, radical shifts in policy and dangerous interventionism. Libri Vidicos has stood as it has because it has maintained itself. When it has reached beyond itself, it has been dealt blows. I will not have that again.”
The goblin paused. “Ah, a compelling case. So that is why you called The Warlock back? Banned by Direlond and an outsider who has not been in the school for years?”
Nullproof slowed herself, she'd walked into that gambit too easily for her liking. “There is no one better suited to maintain the internal security of this school.”
Simples nodded. “Just so, just so. You know I recall those words being used to describe Tyrenski...and we found his body stuffed underneath a bed just before everything went haywire. Before Darsksoul...”
“Stop.” Nullproof held her hand up. “We can have this argument all day, but I do not have the time or the stren...patience for it.”
Simple's face shifted. “You been at the chambers...I'm sorry, I should have known. Did you learn anything more?”
“No.” Nullproof shook her head trying to keep the lie away from him as much as she could. He would know she wasn't telling the full truth, but they'd come back to that later. “I'm unsure of why the school gave us no candidates this year. Luckily we had enough on our own lists to create a class. Mostly the wealthy or the highly placed, with a handful of others our scouts spotted. At least this year there will be fewer to draw on the scholarship fund.”
Simples frowned, seeing her evasion, but as she'd hoped, not wanting to press her on the topic. He rose from the chair. “Well, we'll come back to these matters later,” he raised the sheaf of papers. “I'll want so concessions from you in the future. And I'll want to full story of what you have seen.” He bowed curtly and left the room.
Nullproof sank into the chair, finally allowing herself to relax. Aeochs silently glided around into her vision.
“The Warlock requests authorization, a full remit and allowance for what needs to be done.” As always, he kept any judgment or inflection from his voice.
She thought a bit, thought on what she'd seen. Thought about the letter Direlond had left for Darsksoul, and the one he'd left for her. Had he seen his own destruction? Was his game still playing out?
“I want to remain apprised, but...tell him he has it,” she said wearily.
Aeochs left and Nullproof waited a bit. Would she tell him? Tell him what she'd seen. How she'd seen the Grandmaster who would follow her and had been terrified....
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Book Finds for Game Resources
Chicago
This weekend we went into Chicago, and ate beyond my stomach's means. Describing that would be a post in itself. Gene and Lisa are incredibly hosts-- able to move us through an amazing number of things in an organized way while still feeling like a nice, relaxing weekend.
Still reeling from an Ethiopian meal we went to Powell's Bookstore which is apparently close by Loyola. I'd forgotten what a really good used bookstore is like. As always I keep my GM's lens on when out searching for various things.
In and among the sci-fi/fantasy paperbacks I found a couple of Dave Duncan books I was missing, Book Three and Four of “A Man of His Word”. Now I just have to find volume two and I'll be set. Well, close-- I still have a number of other Duncan books I want to track down. I think he's an underrated genre author-- everything he does is solid and interesting, but perhaps not as flashy as some more modern approaches. Still he can be beaten for really thorough world building which he lays out clearly and plays with inventively. I found a copy of John Brunner's The Sleep Look Up to replace the one I lost and Richard Cowper's The Road to Corlay. That latter book I think I remember starting to read, but not finishing. It has a Colin Murray cover which I love so I picked it up for a buck.
The best find among the paperback fiction was Trevor Hoyle's Through the Eye of Time. That's the second volume of a trilogy I read years ago that was tremendously strange in a Stanislaw Lem kind of way. I've had the first volume for years but haven't tracked down the other two. Now I just need the third. I suppose I could go and find them on Amazon, but I like having some stuff I hunt for in places like this. So a good haul-- though no Norman Spinrad, Tim Powers or Howard Waldrop.
For game resource books I found a number of nice and cheap volumes. Oxford University Press has a series of handbooks for various mythologies in nice trad paper format. I picked up the volumes on Hindu and Chinese mythology new for $5 apiece. They aren't deep, but will be useful both for the wushu game and if I get around to running Scion again. Each volume has a 'chronology' of mythic events, a general overview, encyclopedia entries on gods and topic and a list of other resources for investigating the mythos in more depth (including electronic resources). So a very good buy for that price.
Sherri found a great illustrated book on ballroom dancing as well. That might seem a stretch for gaming, but it has a purpose. She's been thinking about activities for her character in the Changeling campaign which would give her a better opportunity to interact with non-Changelings. The PCs have been told by the freehold that they need to find a group or place to join to maintain their ties to the real world. So this will be a nice resource for me if I do scenes there-- since I really have no idea of what is involved. I love these kinds of things and being able to spin out deeper background color at the table.
I'm not sure exactly how I'll use it but the weirdest find was Secret Cinema: Gnostic Vision in Film. It is an academic film criticism and analysis book, which means some slogging through. It has been a few years since I've read this find of film analysis and I have to reorient myself. But the gist of the volume is that some recent films (obviously The Matrix and Donnie Darko, but also Dead Man and American Beauty) have a deep undercurrent of Gnostic philosophy (or Cabbalistic or Alchemical which he directly ties in, though I'm not sure he entirely makes his historical case there). Amusingly he references Flicker right away in the footnotes to the introduction. I want to read through this and see if I can replicate his analysis as applied to perhaps anime or even rpgs-- not for anything scholarly, but just to see how loose the theoretical construct is. More importantly I'm curious about how he defines Gnostic themes-- and if some of what he talks about can serve as an undercurrent in a campaign.
The best find at Powell's was another copy of Robert Turcan's The Cults of the Roman Empire. I'd lost my other copy in the fire. For the longest time you could only find a copy for over $100 on Amazon, but it now seems to be back in print. Still the copy I found is in great condition and only cost a little over $10. I still want to do an Ancient Rome game one day-- perhaps the Hellboy Rome game I mentioned before. This book looks at the various foreign cults of the period and how they existed or got integrated into Roman life and culture. It is a nice model for syncretism for that setting or perhaps for other fantasy campaigns. It has lots of great color and detail, with less on the theoretical analysis of the religious shifts. I suspect that will prove useful at some point in the future.
Finally we went to the Art Institute on Monday, which reinforced my general skepticism of a lot of modern art, particularly installations. They had a new exhibit on the Arts & Crafts movement which frankly seemed weak and badly staged. Still out of that I discovered the name Kitaro Shirayamadani. So far as I can tell Shirayamadani was apparently worked at Rookwood Pottery from 1885 to just after WW2. He was Japanese and helped bring or at least worked with “Japanism” in the Arts & Crafts movement. I don't know much about him, but that has to be an interesting story-- being an art and Japanese in Cincinnati during that time. The vase of his they had on display was a strange mix of Japanese color and design with a sort of Midwestern style images of flying geese I believe. The note on the item suggested he went back home for several years in 1915, so I'm curious about that as well. There seems I be a dissertation on him available which I want to track down. It is these kinds of characters that fascinate me-- great for use in games later.
But probably the most interesting thing about the trip this time was getting to see the Thorne Rooms. I don't believe I'd ever seen these before. I've been going to the Art Institute since I was a kid so they either had them put away or I missed them. The Thorne Rooms are exquisitely crafted dioramas of rooms from various periods, fully furnished and decorated. I've done some miniatures and worked with a miniaturist for a while, but these things we unbelievable. The level of presentation, detail and craftsmanship was amazing. On that level they are brilliant inspiration for the table-top gamer. However what prompted me to pick up the book with photos of each of the rooms was something else. I try to read historical source material with an eye to finding visual details I can throw into scenes. I made a bunch of notes about interior decorations and design in the Regency period to use in the Steambuckler campaign. This book has great examples and images of those rooms and rooms of many differing periods and places. That should be great for future travels in the Libri Vidicos campaign, especially if they go to mansions or country estates. Plus the book itself is lovely.
South Bend
Have to thank Rob for pointing out the New Year's Day sale at the local remaindered bookstore. I found some interesting things there-- some real surprises and treats. In and among the comics and graphic novels section I found significant runs of the Doc Savage and The Shadow reprints recently done by Nostalgia Ventures. Each volume collects two stories from the old pulp novels. They aren't done in chronological order, but do have some nice notes and background material in them (including classic illustrations). The first volume of The Shadow anthology, for example, includes a Lester Dent (the creator of Doc Savage) Shadow story. I'd read about that story in the Duende History of the Shadow and it was great to finally be able to read it. I grew up reading from my sister's collection of Doc Savage novels and even reading them now, they hold up as goofy, two dimensional but ultimately interesting. I picked up the first two volumes for each line; the store had about the first dozen of each and maybe in the future I'll pick up some more if they're still there. A great resource for doing pulp adventure games.
I found a good and cheap copy of Jo Clayton's final unfinished novel-- Drum into Silence. It is the final volume of a trilogy I'd avoided picking up before because I wasn't sure if it would ever be completed. Now I have to hunt down the first two. I've mentioned before that Clayton's one of my top ten for fantasy/sci-fi writers. I'm hoping when I finally get to reading the series as a whole it will be worth it. I also picked up a really nice and cheap copy of Umberto Eco's Baudolino. I hadn't cared for The Island of the Day Before and thought Foucault's Pendulum was less original than people gave him credit for. However mention of Prester John on the back of the book made me pick it up. I'd mentioned that legendary figure in my City of Ocean game (another thread which traces back to Ken Hite's Suppressed Transmission).
Finally I picked up Chinese Calligraphy: From Pictograph to Ideogram: The History of 214 Essential Chinese/Japanese Characters. It has a historical look at the evolution of individual characters, but examples. More importantly it presents a nice overview of central cultural concepts and ideas in Chinese society. I hope that will be useful for providing color and background details for my wushu game. I don't necessarily need to be historically accurate, but I want to be able to impart the flavor of the setting.
Research
On a related note, my niece asked for suggestions for her research project for the semester, so I threw her a number of ideas which appealed to me. Whether she'll like them or find them doable is another question:
1. Japanese History: the impact of weapons control and disarmament. See for example the laws requiring the peasants to turn in weapons in order to be melted down for religious statues-- use of these rules to maintain control over the populace. Also see parallel with the period when the Japanese gave up gunpower weapons. Considerations of the impact of that development on later encounters with the West.
2. Marco Polo from the Other Side: A consideration of how other cultures saw Europe when they first met them (China, Japan, etc).
3. Prelude to Star Wars: An examination of literature of the fantastic in the 19th Century-- its prevalence, impact and how that affected later writers.
4. The First Police: British dislike of social control meets the needs of a growing metropolis in London-- how several major cases there led to the creation of the first real police force. Alternately: forensic and crime detection systems in the late 19th and early 20th century: photographic systems, cataloging and so on.
5. How history gets told: a look at a single major event (like the fall of Constantinople or Rome) and how historians in three different eras told the story and defined the causes. A case study in historiography.
6. Music and War: A consideration of the impact of WW2 on classical music: displaced composers, destroyed orchestras, the Nazi purge of Jewish composers and musicians, the soviets use of music as a propaganda tool.
7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Novel: A look at genre fiction in China-- most of what we take for granted as martial arts movies actually come out of books, both historical (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and more recent (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxia) interesting to consider how a culture can have a whole genre of literature that doesn't really get translated outside the country but has a tremendous impact. For America that would be westerns.
8. Puritanical Backlash: A look at the shift in cultural ideals from the Regency Period in England to the Victorian Moral Codes. The former we associate with a kind of permissiveness, but the latter ends up being so strict even today we think of Victorian as kind of restrictive and uptight. Is there a parallel with the modern conservative movement.
9. Paints and Pigments: Historically the secrets of how paints and colors we mixed were tightly controlled by artists. Those chemical secrets allowed them to create certain kinds of effects. Might look at that and how the rise of the chemical industry allowed anyone access to those secrets.
10. Sir Francis Walsingham: the Great British Spymaster of the 1500's.
11. Ready Access to Information: how the advent of the cheap printing press-- allowing broadsheets, flyers and newspapers-- parallels the impact of modern technologies for the dissemination of technology.
12. Any god will do: A look at how the Roman Empire dealt with foreign gods-- integrating them into the culture and adding them to the fashionable trends. The practical means to which the Romans put the gods as a mean of civil unity and control.
13. Corporations as Persons: A look at the Supreme Court decision which granted personhood to corporations in the United States. How that decision came about and how is affected later legal decisions in the US and the development of the American Economy.
This weekend we went into Chicago, and ate beyond my stomach's means. Describing that would be a post in itself. Gene and Lisa are incredibly hosts-- able to move us through an amazing number of things in an organized way while still feeling like a nice, relaxing weekend.
Still reeling from an Ethiopian meal we went to Powell's Bookstore which is apparently close by Loyola. I'd forgotten what a really good used bookstore is like. As always I keep my GM's lens on when out searching for various things.
In and among the sci-fi/fantasy paperbacks I found a couple of Dave Duncan books I was missing, Book Three and Four of “A Man of His Word”. Now I just have to find volume two and I'll be set. Well, close-- I still have a number of other Duncan books I want to track down. I think he's an underrated genre author-- everything he does is solid and interesting, but perhaps not as flashy as some more modern approaches. Still he can be beaten for really thorough world building which he lays out clearly and plays with inventively. I found a copy of John Brunner's The Sleep Look Up to replace the one I lost and Richard Cowper's The Road to Corlay. That latter book I think I remember starting to read, but not finishing. It has a Colin Murray cover which I love so I picked it up for a buck.
The best find among the paperback fiction was Trevor Hoyle's Through the Eye of Time. That's the second volume of a trilogy I read years ago that was tremendously strange in a Stanislaw Lem kind of way. I've had the first volume for years but haven't tracked down the other two. Now I just need the third. I suppose I could go and find them on Amazon, but I like having some stuff I hunt for in places like this. So a good haul-- though no Norman Spinrad, Tim Powers or Howard Waldrop.
For game resource books I found a number of nice and cheap volumes. Oxford University Press has a series of handbooks for various mythologies in nice trad paper format. I picked up the volumes on Hindu and Chinese mythology new for $5 apiece. They aren't deep, but will be useful both for the wushu game and if I get around to running Scion again. Each volume has a 'chronology' of mythic events, a general overview, encyclopedia entries on gods and topic and a list of other resources for investigating the mythos in more depth (including electronic resources). So a very good buy for that price.
Sherri found a great illustrated book on ballroom dancing as well. That might seem a stretch for gaming, but it has a purpose. She's been thinking about activities for her character in the Changeling campaign which would give her a better opportunity to interact with non-Changelings. The PCs have been told by the freehold that they need to find a group or place to join to maintain their ties to the real world. So this will be a nice resource for me if I do scenes there-- since I really have no idea of what is involved. I love these kinds of things and being able to spin out deeper background color at the table.
I'm not sure exactly how I'll use it but the weirdest find was Secret Cinema: Gnostic Vision in Film. It is an academic film criticism and analysis book, which means some slogging through. It has been a few years since I've read this find of film analysis and I have to reorient myself. But the gist of the volume is that some recent films (obviously The Matrix and Donnie Darko, but also Dead Man and American Beauty) have a deep undercurrent of Gnostic philosophy (or Cabbalistic or Alchemical which he directly ties in, though I'm not sure he entirely makes his historical case there). Amusingly he references Flicker right away in the footnotes to the introduction. I want to read through this and see if I can replicate his analysis as applied to perhaps anime or even rpgs-- not for anything scholarly, but just to see how loose the theoretical construct is. More importantly I'm curious about how he defines Gnostic themes-- and if some of what he talks about can serve as an undercurrent in a campaign.
The best find at Powell's was another copy of Robert Turcan's The Cults of the Roman Empire. I'd lost my other copy in the fire. For the longest time you could only find a copy for over $100 on Amazon, but it now seems to be back in print. Still the copy I found is in great condition and only cost a little over $10. I still want to do an Ancient Rome game one day-- perhaps the Hellboy Rome game I mentioned before. This book looks at the various foreign cults of the period and how they existed or got integrated into Roman life and culture. It is a nice model for syncretism for that setting or perhaps for other fantasy campaigns. It has lots of great color and detail, with less on the theoretical analysis of the religious shifts. I suspect that will prove useful at some point in the future.
Finally we went to the Art Institute on Monday, which reinforced my general skepticism of a lot of modern art, particularly installations. They had a new exhibit on the Arts & Crafts movement which frankly seemed weak and badly staged. Still out of that I discovered the name Kitaro Shirayamadani. So far as I can tell Shirayamadani was apparently worked at Rookwood Pottery from 1885 to just after WW2. He was Japanese and helped bring or at least worked with “Japanism” in the Arts & Crafts movement. I don't know much about him, but that has to be an interesting story-- being an art and Japanese in Cincinnati during that time. The vase of his they had on display was a strange mix of Japanese color and design with a sort of Midwestern style images of flying geese I believe. The note on the item suggested he went back home for several years in 1915, so I'm curious about that as well. There seems I be a dissertation on him available which I want to track down. It is these kinds of characters that fascinate me-- great for use in games later.
But probably the most interesting thing about the trip this time was getting to see the Thorne Rooms. I don't believe I'd ever seen these before. I've been going to the Art Institute since I was a kid so they either had them put away or I missed them. The Thorne Rooms are exquisitely crafted dioramas of rooms from various periods, fully furnished and decorated. I've done some miniatures and worked with a miniaturist for a while, but these things we unbelievable. The level of presentation, detail and craftsmanship was amazing. On that level they are brilliant inspiration for the table-top gamer. However what prompted me to pick up the book with photos of each of the rooms was something else. I try to read historical source material with an eye to finding visual details I can throw into scenes. I made a bunch of notes about interior decorations and design in the Regency period to use in the Steambuckler campaign. This book has great examples and images of those rooms and rooms of many differing periods and places. That should be great for future travels in the Libri Vidicos campaign, especially if they go to mansions or country estates. Plus the book itself is lovely.
South Bend
Have to thank Rob for pointing out the New Year's Day sale at the local remaindered bookstore. I found some interesting things there-- some real surprises and treats. In and among the comics and graphic novels section I found significant runs of the Doc Savage and The Shadow reprints recently done by Nostalgia Ventures. Each volume collects two stories from the old pulp novels. They aren't done in chronological order, but do have some nice notes and background material in them (including classic illustrations). The first volume of The Shadow anthology, for example, includes a Lester Dent (the creator of Doc Savage) Shadow story. I'd read about that story in the Duende History of the Shadow and it was great to finally be able to read it. I grew up reading from my sister's collection of Doc Savage novels and even reading them now, they hold up as goofy, two dimensional but ultimately interesting. I picked up the first two volumes for each line; the store had about the first dozen of each and maybe in the future I'll pick up some more if they're still there. A great resource for doing pulp adventure games.
I found a good and cheap copy of Jo Clayton's final unfinished novel-- Drum into Silence. It is the final volume of a trilogy I'd avoided picking up before because I wasn't sure if it would ever be completed. Now I have to hunt down the first two. I've mentioned before that Clayton's one of my top ten for fantasy/sci-fi writers. I'm hoping when I finally get to reading the series as a whole it will be worth it. I also picked up a really nice and cheap copy of Umberto Eco's Baudolino. I hadn't cared for The Island of the Day Before and thought Foucault's Pendulum was less original than people gave him credit for. However mention of Prester John on the back of the book made me pick it up. I'd mentioned that legendary figure in my City of Ocean game (another thread which traces back to Ken Hite's Suppressed Transmission).
Finally I picked up Chinese Calligraphy: From Pictograph to Ideogram: The History of 214 Essential Chinese/Japanese Characters. It has a historical look at the evolution of individual characters, but examples. More importantly it presents a nice overview of central cultural concepts and ideas in Chinese society. I hope that will be useful for providing color and background details for my wushu game. I don't necessarily need to be historically accurate, but I want to be able to impart the flavor of the setting.
Research
On a related note, my niece asked for suggestions for her research project for the semester, so I threw her a number of ideas which appealed to me. Whether she'll like them or find them doable is another question:
1. Japanese History: the impact of weapons control and disarmament. See for example the laws requiring the peasants to turn in weapons in order to be melted down for religious statues-- use of these rules to maintain control over the populace. Also see parallel with the period when the Japanese gave up gunpower weapons. Considerations of the impact of that development on later encounters with the West.
2. Marco Polo from the Other Side: A consideration of how other cultures saw Europe when they first met them (China, Japan, etc).
3. Prelude to Star Wars: An examination of literature of the fantastic in the 19th Century-- its prevalence, impact and how that affected later writers.
4. The First Police: British dislike of social control meets the needs of a growing metropolis in London-- how several major cases there led to the creation of the first real police force. Alternately: forensic and crime detection systems in the late 19th and early 20th century: photographic systems, cataloging and so on.
5. How history gets told: a look at a single major event (like the fall of Constantinople or Rome) and how historians in three different eras told the story and defined the causes. A case study in historiography.
6. Music and War: A consideration of the impact of WW2 on classical music: displaced composers, destroyed orchestras, the Nazi purge of Jewish composers and musicians, the soviets use of music as a propaganda tool.
7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Novel: A look at genre fiction in China-- most of what we take for granted as martial arts movies actually come out of books, both historical (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and more recent (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxia) interesting to consider how a culture can have a whole genre of literature that doesn't really get translated outside the country but has a tremendous impact. For America that would be westerns.
8. Puritanical Backlash: A look at the shift in cultural ideals from the Regency Period in England to the Victorian Moral Codes. The former we associate with a kind of permissiveness, but the latter ends up being so strict even today we think of Victorian as kind of restrictive and uptight. Is there a parallel with the modern conservative movement.
9. Paints and Pigments: Historically the secrets of how paints and colors we mixed were tightly controlled by artists. Those chemical secrets allowed them to create certain kinds of effects. Might look at that and how the rise of the chemical industry allowed anyone access to those secrets.
10. Sir Francis Walsingham: the Great British Spymaster of the 1500's.
11. Ready Access to Information: how the advent of the cheap printing press-- allowing broadsheets, flyers and newspapers-- parallels the impact of modern technologies for the dissemination of technology.
12. Any god will do: A look at how the Roman Empire dealt with foreign gods-- integrating them into the culture and adding them to the fashionable trends. The practical means to which the Romans put the gods as a mean of civil unity and control.
13. Corporations as Persons: A look at the Supreme Court decision which granted personhood to corporations in the United States. How that decision came about and how is affected later legal decisions in the US and the development of the American Economy.
Friday, January 22, 2010
A Few of My Favorite Magic Items (Part II)
Second and probably last part of my recollection of my favorite magic items from the various campaigns I've run:
Elf-Slaying Blade: In a very early session of a Rolemaster campaign, the group (joined together by a shipwreck) found a stash of treasure, having cleared out some psuedo-lizard men in a cave. What they found was pretty modest, but among the items was an Elf-Slaying blade. In Rolemaster terms this meant that the sword rolled criticals on a particularly nasty chart. Part of the background of the setting was that the current Elvish populace descending from slave/servants of awful and unholy Sidhe. So I'd put the sword there as a reference to that history and foreshadowing that perhaps the Sidhe might make an appearance later in the game.
One of players immediately went batso insane, since he was a half-elf and demanded that this group of people he'd been with for less than twenty-four hours destroy the item. An argument ensued about the relative evil or such a weapon, given that the power was fairly modest. It ended with the half-elf not getting his way. So, of course, during his watch he used his rogue abilities, stole the sword and threw it down the steam flue they were camping by. In the morning the group looked around, the tracker followed the tracks the ten feet over to the flue, and then the magician cast a resist heat spell and climbed down to retrieve it. No one said a word to the rogue. Ironically, the half-elf rogue died long before he had a chance to see the elf-slaying blade become useful in the later part of the game. It was one of those times where a small item led to strange interactions in the group.
Flaming Oil of Slipperiness: Had player who was particular unpleasant to NPCs on repeated occasions. After the group had managed to do some good, they spoke with an artifact and magic items dealer who offered them a few small rewards for their efforts. Before the guy can even get things distributed out, the problem player is whining and bitching about stuff and insulting the NPC. So naturally he doesn't get any gift. Which leads the player to shift gears and desperately and transparently try to suck up to the NPC. He finally relents and gives the character a vial of “Flaming Oil of Slipperiness”. The PC leaves with the group, cackling at his brilliance.
It would be several sessions before someone pointed out that any oil is in fact flammable and slippery.
The Nail of Silence: Rolemaster had a lot of interesting small items, and I enjoyed looking for those with no obvious combat use. The Nail of Silence created a 10' sphere of silence whenever it was driven into wood. That seemed like a decent item, one which could be used perhaps to cover a break in or for an infiltration. However, the group quickly found another use.
One character had a habit of saying whatever came into his head, regardless of the situation. Not necessarily insulting, but often revealing a little too much about the group's plans and weaknesses. The other player installed a block of wood on his backpack and one player had the assignment to jam the nail into the wood if the group was about to interact with an important NPC.
Kirst Arca: Another one from Rolemaster, an artifact weapon which was pretty puffy as I recall. I always enjoyed doling out toys since they really didn't upset the balance of power and usually made for more interesting combats. In any case, the player Alan happened upon the weapon while the rest of the group was battling it out with Vampires and Chaos cultists on the floors above. The group was under siege, with no apparent way out. Alan found both the artifact and a secret escape tunnel. I leaned on him pretty heavy “Wow...an artifact and your ticket home. You know if you go back upstairs to join your compatriots, this door will shut and lock...I mean, you've know those guys for what, all of two weeks...”. I could see him seriously thinking about it, but he turned me down, went back upstairs and the group managed to break out of the cordon-- with most of the group seriously wounded or near death. As exciting as that was, making Alan the player struggle with the tension between the delicious treasure/certain safety and having to help his friends was even better
So Kirst Arca (an axe IIRC) became Alan's signature weapon, the one he slept with and made soft pillows for. And it had a particular trick of being a 'limb-severing' weapon in Rolemaster-- meaning if he got a limb specific hit on the charts it would lop off. Which Alan did, repeatedly, throughout the campaign, but always and inevitably leg hits. I'm not sure if it was an accident of the charts or what, but he left behind him a trail of one-legged bad guys all the way up to the end.
Wound Transferring Wand: I really don't think I can do justice to this item. Or at least I can't do justice to the session in which it really came into play. The item itself was a little suspect- essentially it allowed someone to touch another person and switch wounds with them. Scott, who ended up with the item got called to a secret meeting. A friend of his had been kidnapped in order to secure Scott's cooperation. Scott instructed the rest of the group to stay back as he'd been ordered to come alone. Scott entered into the basement to be faced with his friend tied up and several bad guys, one with a knife to his friend's throat.
Even as they began to negotiate, the rest of the party waited at the top of the basement steps in secret. Then Sir Crank “accidentally” fell down the stairs. The situation went immediately pear-shaped, and the bad guys cut Scott's friends throat. Even as the blood began to spray, Scott shot froward and touched the wand to the tied up man, taking the horrific throat wound onto himself. And then things got ugly. There followed a chaotic melee filled with a variety of fumbles-- with the gushing neck wound flying from person to person-- essentially they'd get hit with the wand, blood would spray a fumble would occur and then in the confusion someone else would get hit from it. At one point Dave's character, who'd been tunneling in another way using an elemental, slid down in and immediately got hit with the wound. It was a bizarre confluence of mayhem and fumbles, but with the group managing to finally hit one of the baddies with it and making it stick.
The Summons Stone: A pretty clever item, I'm pretty sure came from a supplement. When activated, the stone would suck a target into it, storing it in stasis. However, only one target could be stored in the stone at a time. When another was placed within, whoever or whatever was in it at the time would be released. (I think any target could only be hit by it once). They had found the stone and then in the middle of a particularly deadly dungeon level they used it on some big creature, only to release a really potent child of an evil race. He'd been stuck in there by a rival thousands of years before. Luckily the kid had no concept of what was happening, so the group managed to turn him at least neutral (and prevent him from zotching the whole group).
Of course later on when they needed to use the stone again, they had to let out the monster and fight it-- which happened a couple of times. In the end they found the item more useful for sneaking people past guards or over borders. It was a potent item, but with a decent drawback.
The Necklace of Ilvir: I've used the Harnic pantheon in other contexts for a long time-- long enough they my conception of them has significantly shifted from the original material. Ilvir in the game is a figure of change, but also of tricks-- almost always to undercut another persons position, self-image or role. So when, Barry the half-demon found what was clearly a relic of Ilvir, a necklace, he should have been more wary.
Instead, his character threw it on. A promptly became fully human, which was not something he wanted. Especially when he got back to the group and found his demon mount now wanted to kill him. There was much gnashing and wailing, made worse because his character didn't know how to cry and more let out a long, unmodulated shriek.
Still later in the campaign, Barry found himself in the house of another player's (Derek) family. Barry was introduced to Derek's brother, sick and suffering from wounds he'd suffered in battling the undead. So, when Barry found himself alone with the injured brother he threw the necklace over him. And the brother promptly turned into a bird and flew away. Again, not what he'd expected. Barry left quickly and never told anyone what had happened.
The Golden Disc: Rolemaster has delving and attunement as easy ways to determine how a device works and what it does. GURPS has fewer of these options, or at least a character needs to be built for that kind of information. The party, after a series of really awful battles had finally come to a treasure vault, filled with magic items. Some were pretty obvious, the blades, for example. But others were less so. One player, Barry, determined he was going to figure everything out by trial and error. After working through, he was left with a single object, a two foot wide apparently metal disc. He spent about a half hour of game time trying various things, desperate to unlock the secrets of the disc. Finally he threw it. At which point it flew away, out the door and vanished.
I turned to Barry who was still processing what had happened. “Who does your character hate?”
“The Thonak,” he answered a little too quickly. You see, the Thonak was essentially the Sauron of the campaign, the big bad sitting in the evil land, dispatching armies out. Barry's eyes went wide when he realized what he'd done. [Cut to imagined scene of the Thonak addressing his troops when suddenly he's beaned by a big metal frisbee].
Ironically, the when the group left the dungeon, the magic on it made them forget they'd been there-- all they knew was that they'd appeared in the desert with a bunch of loot. And Barry's character didn't remember that he'd sent a seeking disk after the Big Bad. That came back to haunt him later when the Thonak killed him, ripped out his soul and mounted it in the disk on his wall.
Holy Grail as Coke Bottle: One of my favorite bits in the City of Ocean campaign was lifted from Ken Hite's Suppressed Transmission articles. Barry and Shari's characters got involved with an art exhibition revolving around images of the Holy Grail-- especially images outside the Arthurian Mythos. As the show started to come together, it gained power, resulting in it becoming a hot spot for jumped up mages and those who wanted to control the destiny of the city. In the end they realized/managed to make a Coke bottle into the Holy Grail-- based on a number of mythic associations. (Thanks to Shari for reminding me of this)
Elf-Slaying Blade: In a very early session of a Rolemaster campaign, the group (joined together by a shipwreck) found a stash of treasure, having cleared out some psuedo-lizard men in a cave. What they found was pretty modest, but among the items was an Elf-Slaying blade. In Rolemaster terms this meant that the sword rolled criticals on a particularly nasty chart. Part of the background of the setting was that the current Elvish populace descending from slave/servants of awful and unholy Sidhe. So I'd put the sword there as a reference to that history and foreshadowing that perhaps the Sidhe might make an appearance later in the game.
One of players immediately went batso insane, since he was a half-elf and demanded that this group of people he'd been with for less than twenty-four hours destroy the item. An argument ensued about the relative evil or such a weapon, given that the power was fairly modest. It ended with the half-elf not getting his way. So, of course, during his watch he used his rogue abilities, stole the sword and threw it down the steam flue they were camping by. In the morning the group looked around, the tracker followed the tracks the ten feet over to the flue, and then the magician cast a resist heat spell and climbed down to retrieve it. No one said a word to the rogue. Ironically, the half-elf rogue died long before he had a chance to see the elf-slaying blade become useful in the later part of the game. It was one of those times where a small item led to strange interactions in the group.
Flaming Oil of Slipperiness: Had player who was particular unpleasant to NPCs on repeated occasions. After the group had managed to do some good, they spoke with an artifact and magic items dealer who offered them a few small rewards for their efforts. Before the guy can even get things distributed out, the problem player is whining and bitching about stuff and insulting the NPC. So naturally he doesn't get any gift. Which leads the player to shift gears and desperately and transparently try to suck up to the NPC. He finally relents and gives the character a vial of “Flaming Oil of Slipperiness”. The PC leaves with the group, cackling at his brilliance.
It would be several sessions before someone pointed out that any oil is in fact flammable and slippery.
The Nail of Silence: Rolemaster had a lot of interesting small items, and I enjoyed looking for those with no obvious combat use. The Nail of Silence created a 10' sphere of silence whenever it was driven into wood. That seemed like a decent item, one which could be used perhaps to cover a break in or for an infiltration. However, the group quickly found another use.
One character had a habit of saying whatever came into his head, regardless of the situation. Not necessarily insulting, but often revealing a little too much about the group's plans and weaknesses. The other player installed a block of wood on his backpack and one player had the assignment to jam the nail into the wood if the group was about to interact with an important NPC.
Kirst Arca: Another one from Rolemaster, an artifact weapon which was pretty puffy as I recall. I always enjoyed doling out toys since they really didn't upset the balance of power and usually made for more interesting combats. In any case, the player Alan happened upon the weapon while the rest of the group was battling it out with Vampires and Chaos cultists on the floors above. The group was under siege, with no apparent way out. Alan found both the artifact and a secret escape tunnel. I leaned on him pretty heavy “Wow...an artifact and your ticket home. You know if you go back upstairs to join your compatriots, this door will shut and lock...I mean, you've know those guys for what, all of two weeks...”. I could see him seriously thinking about it, but he turned me down, went back upstairs and the group managed to break out of the cordon-- with most of the group seriously wounded or near death. As exciting as that was, making Alan the player struggle with the tension between the delicious treasure/certain safety and having to help his friends was even better
So Kirst Arca (an axe IIRC) became Alan's signature weapon, the one he slept with and made soft pillows for. And it had a particular trick of being a 'limb-severing' weapon in Rolemaster-- meaning if he got a limb specific hit on the charts it would lop off. Which Alan did, repeatedly, throughout the campaign, but always and inevitably leg hits. I'm not sure if it was an accident of the charts or what, but he left behind him a trail of one-legged bad guys all the way up to the end.
Wound Transferring Wand: I really don't think I can do justice to this item. Or at least I can't do justice to the session in which it really came into play. The item itself was a little suspect- essentially it allowed someone to touch another person and switch wounds with them. Scott, who ended up with the item got called to a secret meeting. A friend of his had been kidnapped in order to secure Scott's cooperation. Scott instructed the rest of the group to stay back as he'd been ordered to come alone. Scott entered into the basement to be faced with his friend tied up and several bad guys, one with a knife to his friend's throat.
Even as they began to negotiate, the rest of the party waited at the top of the basement steps in secret. Then Sir Crank “accidentally” fell down the stairs. The situation went immediately pear-shaped, and the bad guys cut Scott's friends throat. Even as the blood began to spray, Scott shot froward and touched the wand to the tied up man, taking the horrific throat wound onto himself. And then things got ugly. There followed a chaotic melee filled with a variety of fumbles-- with the gushing neck wound flying from person to person-- essentially they'd get hit with the wand, blood would spray a fumble would occur and then in the confusion someone else would get hit from it. At one point Dave's character, who'd been tunneling in another way using an elemental, slid down in and immediately got hit with the wound. It was a bizarre confluence of mayhem and fumbles, but with the group managing to finally hit one of the baddies with it and making it stick.
The Summons Stone: A pretty clever item, I'm pretty sure came from a supplement. When activated, the stone would suck a target into it, storing it in stasis. However, only one target could be stored in the stone at a time. When another was placed within, whoever or whatever was in it at the time would be released. (I think any target could only be hit by it once). They had found the stone and then in the middle of a particularly deadly dungeon level they used it on some big creature, only to release a really potent child of an evil race. He'd been stuck in there by a rival thousands of years before. Luckily the kid had no concept of what was happening, so the group managed to turn him at least neutral (and prevent him from zotching the whole group).
Of course later on when they needed to use the stone again, they had to let out the monster and fight it-- which happened a couple of times. In the end they found the item more useful for sneaking people past guards or over borders. It was a potent item, but with a decent drawback.
The Necklace of Ilvir: I've used the Harnic pantheon in other contexts for a long time-- long enough they my conception of them has significantly shifted from the original material. Ilvir in the game is a figure of change, but also of tricks-- almost always to undercut another persons position, self-image or role. So when, Barry the half-demon found what was clearly a relic of Ilvir, a necklace, he should have been more wary.
Instead, his character threw it on. A promptly became fully human, which was not something he wanted. Especially when he got back to the group and found his demon mount now wanted to kill him. There was much gnashing and wailing, made worse because his character didn't know how to cry and more let out a long, unmodulated shriek.
Still later in the campaign, Barry found himself in the house of another player's (Derek) family. Barry was introduced to Derek's brother, sick and suffering from wounds he'd suffered in battling the undead. So, when Barry found himself alone with the injured brother he threw the necklace over him. And the brother promptly turned into a bird and flew away. Again, not what he'd expected. Barry left quickly and never told anyone what had happened.
The Golden Disc: Rolemaster has delving and attunement as easy ways to determine how a device works and what it does. GURPS has fewer of these options, or at least a character needs to be built for that kind of information. The party, after a series of really awful battles had finally come to a treasure vault, filled with magic items. Some were pretty obvious, the blades, for example. But others were less so. One player, Barry, determined he was going to figure everything out by trial and error. After working through, he was left with a single object, a two foot wide apparently metal disc. He spent about a half hour of game time trying various things, desperate to unlock the secrets of the disc. Finally he threw it. At which point it flew away, out the door and vanished.
I turned to Barry who was still processing what had happened. “Who does your character hate?”
“The Thonak,” he answered a little too quickly. You see, the Thonak was essentially the Sauron of the campaign, the big bad sitting in the evil land, dispatching armies out. Barry's eyes went wide when he realized what he'd done. [Cut to imagined scene of the Thonak addressing his troops when suddenly he's beaned by a big metal frisbee].
Ironically, the when the group left the dungeon, the magic on it made them forget they'd been there-- all they knew was that they'd appeared in the desert with a bunch of loot. And Barry's character didn't remember that he'd sent a seeking disk after the Big Bad. That came back to haunt him later when the Thonak killed him, ripped out his soul and mounted it in the disk on his wall.
Holy Grail as Coke Bottle: One of my favorite bits in the City of Ocean campaign was lifted from Ken Hite's Suppressed Transmission articles. Barry and Shari's characters got involved with an art exhibition revolving around images of the Holy Grail-- especially images outside the Arthurian Mythos. As the show started to come together, it gained power, resulting in it becoming a hot spot for jumped up mages and those who wanted to control the destiny of the city. In the end they realized/managed to make a Coke bottle into the Holy Grail-- based on a number of mythic associations. (Thanks to Shari for reminding me of this)
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