<![CDATA[Pen & Paper Games - Blogs - Inside lives a goblin that feeds on indecision. by fmitchell]]> http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/blog.php/222-Inside-lives-a-goblin-that-feeds-on-indecision Pen and Paper Games hosts a very powerful, but easy to seach and join database of players and game masters in the United States and Canada. Our forums are also a great place to find the most recent news, product releases, tips, and rpg discussion. en Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:10:22 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/pnpg_style/misc/rss.jpg <![CDATA[Pen & Paper Games - Blogs - Inside lives a goblin that feeds on indecision. by fmitchell]]> http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/blog.php/222-Inside-lives-a-goblin-that-feeds-on-indecision Maybe running a game ... (part 2) http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1775-Maybe-running-a-game-(part-2) Sat, 03 Nov 2012 16:40:07 GMT We ended up creating characters for Tunnels & Trolls, and I ran them through The Dungeon of the Rat, a new-ish GM adventure from RPGNow.

Then real life intervened. We've met twice in as many months, both times to run Dragon Age. It's an interesting system and an interesting world, but I'm not sure whether we'll return to T&T, do DA instead, or what. (Including just drift our separate ways.)

That got me thinking about another campaign I'd like to get started, an Old School / Weird Fantasy place called Erebus. If anyone's interested, I've put a rough draft of the player information online, as read-only Wiki pages:

http://www.frank-mitchell.com/games/erebus/

There's several TODO items and places to improve, but if anyone wants to send me feedback I'd take it in the spirit it was given.

Also, RuneQuest 6 rocks ... but putting together a campaign for THAT would require several SAN rolls without a) using lots of third-party material or b) cutting out most of the magic and monsters. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1775-Maybe-running-a-game-(part-2) Maybe running a game ... http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1739-Maybe-running-a-game Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:18:52 GMT The GM of my current group wants to take a break, so I've volunteered to run something. Of the five billion options I presented, these seem to be the most popular:

  1. Eldritch Skies, which I reviewed incompetently on RPG.net a couple of weeks ago.
  2. RuneQuest (Mongoose Legend, possibly upgrading to RQ6 when it comes out), setting either Elric of Melnibone or Pavis in Glorantha. (Although I've yet to read Age of Treason, and perversely I'm itching to try something Malkioni.)
  3. Tunnels & Trolls, mostly published adventures to start with, because after Warhammer Fantasy we need a game with people casting "Take That You Fiend!".
  4. Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2nd edition, maybe the "Crown of Kings" campaign, again to try a simpler system.
  5. Barbarians of Lemuria, or its Aftermath spinoff, is a maybe.


Stars Without Number or Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies would be cool, since I'm a little tired of bog-standard fantasy, but no real interest from the rest. I'd like to reserve my grand "old school" campaign -- LotFP:WFRP, standard Swords & Wizardry, or Crypts & Things -- for a different date and time, simply because once I start it I'd like to keep going for a while.

In any case, if and when I start something I'll be sure to blog it. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1739-Maybe-running-a-game Alignment Heresy and A Reformation: Alternate Alignments http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1717-Alignment-Heresy-and-A-Reformation-Alternate-Alignments Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:08:34 GMT Law and Chaos might have no relevance in some campaigns. DMs may decide to forego alignments completely, or create an alternate system. A new... Law and Chaos might have no relevance in some campaigns. DMs may decide to forego alignments completely, or create an alternate system. A new system should include a Neutral or Unaligned option, and at least one active alignment.

Monopolar alignments contrast with Unaligned, but have no true opposite. Spells detect merely its presence or absence. Examples in gaming include Shadow from Midnight and Chaos from Warhammer. One could also make this force positive, like Gnosis, a knowledge of how the world really works. An alignment toward the "Uncanny" would imply an affinity with magic, faerie, the supernatural, or however one describes it; it's neither good or evil, but it might upset psychically sensitive folks and animals.

Bipolar alignments work similarly to Law/Chaos: Good/Evil, Man/Nature, Sky/Earth, Matter/Spirit, just about any duality that a GM can clearly articulate and players can understand.

The "Good"/"Evil" axis presents one major difficulty: when does a being register on a Detect Evil spell? Thinking bad thoughts? Commiting a crime? How bad a crime? Ramifications of such definitions have fueled some very long threads, so it's simpler to treat Good and Evil the way LotFP treats Law and Chaos: Good characters consecrated themselves to the Forces of Good, and Evil characters have sold their soul to the Forces of Evil. Only clerics, paladins, and angels detect as Good, and only anti-clerics, anti-paladins, and demons detect as Evil. Good seeks universal peace and happiness, Evil seeks an eternity of suffering and fear; petty theft and acts of charity change nothing. Clerics and paladins (and their opposites) can never deny or escape their role in the Great War, so a drunken whoring ex-paladin might suddenly get his powers back just as demons descend on his town.
Multipolar alignments might follow any theme: the elements (three Hindu, four Western, five Taoist or Buddhist), the colors of Magic: the Gathering, the principles of Creation, Preservation, and Destruction, or just about anything else meaningful. Each should be independent and atomic, although some might oppose each other more strongly: Fire and Water are mortal enemies, but Water and Earth might form an alliance of convenience.

Note, however, there's no point in alignments unless they have some meaning in the game world. By this I mean more than spells and game mechanics. If a campaign doesn't revolve around Good and Evil, if both aren't palpable forces in the cosmos, then don't use them. Think of Chekhov's gun: if you introduce Good and Evil in the beginning, you'd better use them before the end.

The Temporal Alignments

Here's an alignment system I've been toying with. In addition to the standard OD&D three, there are three others representing three factions fighting over the flow of time.

Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic: See the LotFP definitions.

Entropic: Entropy devours all. Time grinds mountains into dust, dust into atoms, atoms into brief burst of light. Only a fool opposes the inevitable decay of all things. Chaos understands change, but deludes themselves into thinking their dance will continue forever. History tells itself stories to make sense of time, but it knows where the story ends. Law and Flux spread false hopes of escaping oblivion; only by accepting one's doom can one find peace.

Fluid: Time is always in flux. Only the eternal Now exists; the past is a story, the future unwritten. Blink and the world can change completely, quite literally, and the old world is a half-remembered dream. Sometimes the new world makes sense, sometimes it's cruel and random, but there's always the next one. Law and Chaos can play their games; to be free one must shed fear of the future and chains of the past.

Historic: Time is a chain of causes and effects, not always predictable at the time but sensible in hindsight. Entropy is but the tick of the clock, Law but the perception of the future implicit in the past. Chaos is but order unrecognized, and Flux the delusions of poets and mystics.

Imagine them arranged on a five-pointed star. Neutral lies in the center. On each point, clockwise, sit Fluid, Chaotic, Entropic, Historic, and Lawful. Points next to each other sometimes ally against a common enemy, but each point is an implacable enemy of the two opposite points.

So great, but what's the point? The notion of a Time War and time travel as a weapon crops up in a lot of science fantasy: Doctor Who, Fritz Leiber's The Big Time and related stories, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and the infamous Temporal Cold War plotline in Star Trek: Enterprise. In gaming one finds Super Genius Games' Time Thief and Time Warden classes for Pathfinder and all manner of time-travel RPGs. Add to the mix John Wick's "The Flux", a "meta-RPG" in which players shift universes, characters, and game systems while pursuing the same goals and facing incarnations of the same antagonists.

So, imagine among the pseudo-medieval and gothic shenanagans three powers vie for the future and past of the world. The Historic faction wants a clean timeline with no paradoxes or loose ends, employing academics and time-hopping Men in Black alike. The Entropic faction are nihilists who know the cosmos will end with a whimper and a gulp, and just want to cut to the chase. The Fluidic faction sees Entropy chomping and History dragging out the inevitable; its outside-the-box strategy involves shifting between universes to find a solution, or failing that escape.

The PCs stumble upon this struggle while killing things and taking their loot, probably by experiencing the Flux for themselves. In the process they face Time Wardens of History and Corruptors of Entropy (whatever they end up being). Maybe the PCs gain Time Thief allies, or new/replacement PCs choose that class.

Maybe this is too high concept for an Old School D&D game, but some AD&D players killed gods and took their stuff back in the day. This Time War campaign doesn't rely on characters reaching high levels, since opponents are either humans with gimmicks or godlike beings with limitations. Players need only venture through gates to other times and worlds and follow clues to stopping the apocalypse ... which is pretty Old School in my book. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1717-Alignment-Heresy-and-A-Reformation-Alternate-Alignments Alignment Heresy and A Reformation: Shades of Neutrality http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1716-Alignment-Heresy-and-A-Reformation-Shades-of-Neutrality Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:58:26 GMT In Moorcock's writing the Cosmic Balance is a force unto itself, albeit less forceful than Chaos or Law. Agents of the Balance battle Chaos's attempts to dominate worlds. (Law, apparently, is too lawful to violate the Balance, which doesn't ring true to me.) AD&D had a similar concept in True Neutral, a notably tenet of Druids. Unlike regular neutrals, who for the most part don't care about things that don't affect them, True Neutrals are neutrality extremists, intent on correcting any tilt towards Law and Chaos. One could take this to absurd levels -- for every new Church of Law, build a temple to Nyarlathotep -- but crusaders against the encroachment of Law who reluctantly ally with Chaos sounds like a great premise for a campaign.

Within neutrality one can posit several shades between Law and Chaos. "Lawful Neutral" and "Chaotic Neutral" sound boring. Let's use more descriptive and flavorful names.

Imagine, for example, that Law doesn't have a monopoly on benevolent deities. "Neutral" deities have no allegiance to Law and Chaos, but they have their own biases and purposes.

Chthonic: Known also as the Dionysian deities, the Chthonic powers represent man's passions, irrationality, and selfish desires. Many Chthonic deities present an inoffensive facade to laymen, but the inner circle propitiate them with orgiastic rites.

Bacchus, god of wine, exemplifies the Chthonic deities. To most people Bacchus is a happy drunk, patron of hedonists and pub crawlers. On nights of the new moon, priestesses of Bacchus's inner circle imbibe large quantities of wine and hallucinogenic herbs until they become a mindless frenzied mob. These Bacchae attack any man or beast in their path and rend them limb from limb as sacrifices to Bacchus. Bacchus also drives men into alcohol abuse, despair, and death.

Despite a resemblance to Chaos cults, Chthonic cults don't want to remake the world, and frequently support the status quo. The facade of civilization allows the Chthonic deities and their worshippers to indulge their dark urges. Not all Chthonic beings are destructive, but all are dangerous.

Humanistic: Sometimes called the Apollonian deities, they are patrons of civilization, arts, and sciences. Their creeds encourage reason, excellence, and learning; ignorance, laziness, and emotion-driven decisions are anathema. This faction of gods includes mainly tutelary gods and household gods, but include Menrva, goddess of war and wisdom, and the prophet/trickster/hero Sabazios which southern barbarians worship as a god.

Some might call them biased toward Law because they value rules and predictability. Unlike the Church of Law, Humanistic deities provide no divine guidance, but enourage self-reliance and virtue for virtue's sake.

Primal: Primal deities guard the natural world against the depredations of humankind. They are not inimical to all humans, as their human devotees prove. Humans are part of nature, and humans may fell trees and hunt if they honor the spirits after doing so and take only what they need to survive. Any mortals felling a whole forest, slaughtering herds, or riddling a mountain with holes will face their wrath. Prominent among the Primal faction are the Beast Lords, each of whom rule and protect a single species of animal.

Unlike most Neutral beings, Primal gods and their adherents do care about the state of the world ... from their point of view.


So, how does this matter? Bacchus and Menrva are both Neutral, but their goals and philosophies are diametrically opposed. Their cults might not include clerics and paladins, but their members have distinct motivations, ready-made allies, and potentially weird and unexpected abilities. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1716-Alignment-Heresy-and-A-Reformation-Shades-of-Neutrality Alignment Heresy and A Reformation: Pruning the Nine Alignments http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1715-Alignment-Heresy-and-A-Reformation-Pruning-the-Nine-Alignments Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:53:35 GMT D&D 4th Edition assumes that the most important distinctions are between Good and Evil, for some definition of Good and Evil. What if we consider Law and Chaos as primary? Three of our alignments then become Lawful, Unaligned, and Chaos.

Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil could round out the set ... but really, people follow the Law always think of themselves as doing so for the Greater Good, and there's little difference between capricious and malevolent. Let's try something interesting.

Using the LotFP/Carcosa versions of alignment (again), here are our five alignments:

Lawful: The Powers that Be have chosen you for a great destiny. What that destiny is, you don't know, but you have faith they will lead you to it. It's all part of the Divine Plan. (Examples: Luke Skywalker, King Arthur, Buffy Summers.)

Lawful Evil: The Powers that Be have chosen you for a destiny ... as a monster, an object of terror, a warning to others. You are the Left Hand of the Gods, but nevertheless you do Their will. (Examples: The Operative from Serenity, Leto II from God-Emperor of Dune, the Angel of Death)

Unaligned: Sometimes you believe someone is watching over you, and sometimes you think it's all random. But you don't know, really, and the answer doesn't really matter in your daily life.

Chaotic: We live in a huge, uncaring universe, where incomprehensible powers could extinguish what we call "reality" at any moment. All one can do is gather power and survive as long as possible. (Examples: almost every H. P. Lovecraft character, Elric of Melnibone, Roy Batty.)

Chaotic Good: In an uncaring universe, nobody will save us but ourselves. As the vampire said, "If nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do." Justice, peace, and happiness are all the more precious for being transitory, so preserving a small portion even one day is a victory. (Examples: Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, practically all hard boiled detectives, agents of Delta Green.) ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1715-Alignment-Heresy-and-A-Reformation-Pruning-the-Nine-Alignments Alignment Heresy and A Reformation: Introduction http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1714-Alignment-Heresy-and-A-Reformation-Introduction Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:48:01 GMT D&D's various alignment systems provoke a lot of discussion, partly because they have multiple interpretations and multiple purposes. To quickly review changes across editions:

Original D&D and Basic D&D had only three alignments: Law, Neutrality, and Chaos. (One version of Basic, I forget which, added "Good" and "Evil". Not Lawful Good or Chaotic Good, just "Good".) Essentially it represented which "side" a character was on in an epic struggle, and spells could detect alignment. If I recall correctly, in OD&D Clerics could only be Lawful or Chaotic, and Chaotic clerics had "evil" replacements for a Lawful cleric's "good" spells.

AD&D introduced the familiar ninefold alignment system: one from column A (Lawful, Neutral, Chaotic) and one from column B (Good, Neutral, Evil). Alignment restricted available classes, and the number of alignment-sensitive spells and class abilities grew. Debates about the meaning of Lawful, Chaotic, Good, and Evil abounded, and explanations in both AD&D and 3.5 official publications were maddeningly vague in some respects lest someone take offense.

D&D 4e pared down the list of alignments to Lawful Good, Good, Unaligned, Evil, Chaotic Evil; Lawful and Chaotic became intensifiers and not powers in their own right. For the first time, alignment had no mechanical ramifications except for choice of deities, and even then a cleric or paladin of any god could be Unaligned. Alignments became moral stances or ideals, and official publications strongly discouraged (Chaotic) Evil PCs.

To sum up, the original designers of D&D borrowed an idea from Michael Moorcock solely to arrange "sides" in a wargamey sense, and subsequent editions "fixed" it by expanding it to encompass philosophy and ethics. After several attempts at exegesis by players and game designers alike, alignment is now a vestigial system, D&D's equivalent of an appendix which does nothing. At least 4e alignment doesn't randomly kill people, as far as I know.

Alignment as it stands is fairly useless, but my relatively new interest in old school gaming unearthed two interesting uses of OD&D alignment:

1. Lamentations of the Flame Princess: Weird Fantasy Role Playing (whew!) explained alignment as a cosmic affinity, not a moral or philosophical choice. Lawful beings believe the universe had a plan, and they have a part in that plan. Chaotic beings see a universe shaped by vast uncaring powers that could wipe out this island of safety and order at any moment. Neutral beings, the vast majority, might swing one way or the other depending on circumstances, but lack the certainty of Lawful and Chaotic individuals. Spells detect Chaotic alignment and ward off its influence. Interestingly, all Clerics must be Lawful, and all Magic-Users and Elves must be Chaotic.

2. Carcosa, an OD&D supplement now published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess, uses a similar but more specific scheme. Lovecraft's eldritch horrors -- and things like them -- are very real in Carcosa. Chaotic beings worship them, Neutral beings try to avoid them, and Lawful beings staunchly oppose them. As in LotFP, Lawful isn't necessarily good, although Chaotic is either evil or insane.

These definitions, harking back to Moorcock, got me thinking about what alignment could mean. The next three posts are three thought experiments. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1714-Alignment-Heresy-and-A-Reformation-Introduction WHAT is THAT? http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1685-WHAT-is-THAT Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:42:36 GMT "What is that THING you're using as an avatar now?"

Silly question.

It's one of these:

]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1685-WHAT-is-THAT My house, my rules ... http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1684-My-house-my-rules Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:51:31 GMT Participating in Jim Raggi's forum about his new game brought up some other random game design thoughts. Here is as good a place as any.

FATE

Dispense with fixed stunts. Instead, I'd adopt a house rule (which I can't find a reference for now) that allowed players to "lock" an aspect to behave like a stunt: substitute one skill for another, grant a "permanent" circumstance bonus, a new function for an existing skill, etc.

Add experience in the form of adding personal Aspects, based on events in play. (Adding to skills is a little messier, especially for those of us who like the Skill Pyramid.)


GURPS

A radical redesign would eliminate the standard attributes (ST, DX, IQ, HT). Anything directly dependent on them would use a base of 10. Characters could increase derived attributes and skills through existing advantages: Extra HP, Extra FP, Strong/Weak Will, Talents (for some cluster of related skills), etc.

Another radical redesign would change the basic mechanic into 3d6 + modifiers, roll HIGH. Skills (and ST/DX/IQ/HT if they still exist) become bonuses or penalties. Roll-over mechanics makes computation of difficulty penalties easier, and allows GMs to use secret target numbers or levels of success. The bell curve of 3d6 makes calculating appropriate target numbers a little trickier than, say, in d20, even if they're on approximately the same scale.


Other

An idea I've been toying with for a while is "skills and only skills", inspired by Castle Falkenstein, some versions of D6, Basic Roleplaying/Legend, FATE, and GUMSHOE, among others. It's exactly what it says: characters have only "abilities", with no mechanical distinction between innate characteristics and learned skills. "Strength", "Health", and the like are just another ability, or cluster of abilities. Abilities need to be largely orthogonal, although "occupations" or the like may make certain combinations cheaper to reflect commonly associated abilities like Athletics and Health. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1684-My-house-my-rules A brief Jubal Early interlude http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1683-A-brief-Jubal-Early-interlude Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:19:13 GMT Novels and games always show wise graceful elves and grim greedy dwarfs. Does that seem right to you? Novels and games always show wise graceful elves and grim greedy dwarfs. Does that seem right to you? ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1683-A-brief-Jubal-Early-interlude Uncounted Worlds, part 3: Other Modes of Travel http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1671-Uncounted-Worlds-part-3-Other-Modes-of-Travel Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:53:28 GMT Many worlds believe theirs is the only timeline. Even "time travelers" believe in only one real timeline; the others cease to exist when the past changes. Previous timelines become inaccessible through linear time travel, so nothing in their science disproves their theory.

Sufficiently advanced travelers have means beyond these simple "time machines". World Jumpers can identify a parallel time line in infinite-dimensional space and "jump" to it directly. Jumpers typically arrive at a point in space-time equivalent or at least analogous to the point they left. Consequently, jump does not create a cloned timeline, since the jumper is not native to that time line, nor did he move backwards along it.

  1. Infinity Unlimited perceives the multiverse as a series of parallels and echoes arranged in "Quantum Levels". According to their theories, manipulating the timeline moves it among Quantum Levels, making it more or less accessible to "homeline". A rival organization from another timeline, called Quantum, holds to similar beliefs. In fact, their flawed method of locating timeline causes timelines to become less or more accessible as new branches appear.
  2. The near-godlike Probability Walkers unconsciously shift themselves among actual and potential timelines depending on what they desire. One group called Amberites believe that only their home timeline is "real", and all others are "shadows". Sightings of another group of reality-warping Lords have yet to be confirmed.
  3. A civilization of quasi-crustacean fungoid creatures have spread throughout spacetime in multiple universes, including those normally hostile to organic life. These beings are notorious for infiltrating less advanced planets and stripping them of whatever resources they need.
]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1671-Uncounted-Worlds-part-3-Other-Modes-of-Travel Uncounted Worlds, part 2.1 (Consequences of Time Travel) http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1660-Uncounted-Worlds-part-2-1-(Consequences-of-Time-Travel) Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:56:48 GMT Time travel, as described, moves a traveler back and forth along timelines. From the perspective of a naive time traveler, there's only one timeline that changes every time the traveler changes the "past".

Some other consequences of this model:

  • Travel to the absolute past is impossible. Every trip backwards forks a new timeline; the original past still exists.
  • The traveler enters a world that started identically to a particular moment, but will drift based on travelers' actions. Depending on a chain of events resulting from their actions, this timeline will be lost in the "fuzz", form a hysteresis, or fork off into a brand new timeline.
  • The "fuzz" demonstrates a tendency for timelines to drift back toward their parent. Stepping on a butterfly will go unnoticed. In most cases a human being, even with advanced technology, must expend considerable effort to convert their parallel into a major timeline ... although accidents do happen.
  • If travelers want to "fix" an altered timeline, they must do so right then. Travelling forward and then back will put them in yet another copy of that timeline; even if they convert this copy into a hysteresis the branch they created on their last trip will still exist.
  • A second trip backward will put would-be rescuers in yet another parallel timeline.
  • Some travelers attempt to aid their fellows by traveling to an earlier time. Even if travelers make no changes to the timeline that aren't lost in the "fuzz", their aid has at best a 50% of reaching the intended target. Odds approach 1 out of 2 to the Nth power, where N is the number of branches forking off the timeline between the time the aid arrives and the time the original travelers receive it. ("Interesting" time periods might have thousands of branches.) An intervening hysteresis has a 50% chance of delaying help until its two loops meet.
  • Travelers can reliably receive support from their home time through a continuous gateway between two times. Advanced time travel technology can "lock" onto a particular timeline without maintaining a continuous connection, as long as no further branches emerge from that timeline.


P.S. The observant might note that the "fuzz" consists of hystereses which are too brief or too similar to the major timeline for most travelers to notice. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1660-Uncounted-Worlds-part-2-1-(Consequences-of-Time-Travel) Uncounted Worlds, part 2 (Conventional Time Travel) http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1659-Uncounted-Worlds-part-2-(Conventional-Time-Travel) Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:09:57 GMT The preceding hypothesis solves some classic time travel paradoxes, if we assume the following rules. * When a person travels backward in time,... The preceding hypothesis solves some classic time travel paradoxes, if we assume the following rules.

  • When a person travels backward in time, he removes himself from the time stream.
  • A traveler is not "cloned" when a major event creates a branch. Rather, he follows the branch that results from his presence.
  • When a person travels forward in time, he follows the timestream he's currently in.
  • A traveler retains all his memories and physical possessions, even if they no longer line up with current history.


The Grandfather Paradox

Shooting one's grandfather creates a decision point. In one branch, the traveler disappears -- or is retroactively erased -- from the point of view of observers within the time stream and time proceeds as it always did. In another branch, where the traveler ends up, the grandfather is dead, history changes (perhaps dramatically), and the traveler is now an anomaly, a person without a past.

Ontological Paradoxes, a.k.a. the Bootstrap Paradox

Information or objects "bootstrap" from a parent universe to a new branch. For example, a time traveler jumps backward to give something to his past self. This creates a branching point: along one timeline, the past self never received the object, and in the other he did. The traveler will remember the original timeline in which his past self never got the object.

This gets trickier with information. For example, someone travels backward in time to dictate Hamlet to Shakespeare. Who, then, wrote Hamlet? The time traveler may say the Shakespeare of the original timeline who never received the book. However, this presumes Shakespeare (or someone using his name) would have written Hamlet without interference.

The Predestination Paradox, a.k.a. Causality Loops

Since all possibilities happen simultaneously, a traveler creates a new decision point and a new timeline when and where he travels into the past. In one timeline, he disappeared into a time machine and history proceeds as if he ceased to exist; in the other, he arrives to begin the causal loop. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1659-Uncounted-Worlds-part-2-(Conventional-Time-Travel) The Uncounted Worlds, part 1 http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1658-The-Uncounted-Worlds-part-1 Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:05:13 GMT This and following posts describes an alternate worlds / time travel idea I might possibly use in some future campaign. Constructive comments are... This and following posts describes an alternate worlds / time travel idea I might possibly use in some future campaign. Constructive comments are welcome.


The "Many Worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics posits that a new universe springs into existence to account for all possibilities. The massive number of quantum events each second would spawn billions of universes. For all practical purposes, there are four categories of alternate timelines:

  1. "The fuzz" consists of universes which differ unnoticeably or trivially from each other. A few extremely powerful beings can manipulate the fuzz to their advantage, but for most travelers it simply makes crossing timelines harder. The "fuzz" ends once one gets far enough into interstellar space; with less matter fewer alternate universes spawn. Consequently, universe jumping becomes much easier in interstellar space. Faster-than-light travel between planets or star systems can also dump the unaware into an alternate version of that planet.
  2. A hysteresis arises when an event creates two timelines resolve to the same end result. The alternate timeline essentially merges back into the branch, creating a single timeline again. Many time travelers try to "set history right" by converting a major divergence into a hysteresis.
  3. At major decision points, different versions of the same event create distinct alternate universes called "branches" or "timelines". New branches arise naturally at points where a small change can have huge consequences, although travelers from other timelines can, unwittingly or deliberately, interfere with history and spawn another branch. Ethicists debate whether "cloning" a universe in this way is ethical because it creates life, or unethical because these new residents suffer the consequences of an altered time line.
  4. Beyond the branching alternate worlds lie the Anomalies: worlds of fantasy, worlds where sapient reptiles rule, worlds with different physical constants and natural laws. The further one travels from one's home universe, the more variations accumulate, until universes can no longer sustain carbon-based sapient life.
]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1658-The-Uncounted-Worlds-part-1 I have too many thoughts ... http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1492-I-have-too-many-thoughts Sun, 02 Jan 2011 04:43:03 GMT For a while now I've been claiming I'll start a new game Real Soon Now ... as I have been for years. Partly I'm worried that it will be Orc Lands all over again. (Or the V:tR campaign I joined last year.) Partly I just can't decide on a concept.

At the end of the final CompCharGen article I listed 26 concepts for a next game. The list changed somewhat: "Elysium" is on the backburner, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" has a pilot, and Stars Without Number joined the Games I Want To Run list.

Unfortunately, I've added another idea called the "Shadow-verse", inspired by C. J. Carella's Witchcraft, Buffy, Angel, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, and the Hack/Slash comic. (All released or in development by Eden Studios, so guess which system is most likely?) Minor influences include The Laundry Series (and RPG) and the Shadow Chasers setting from d20 Modern. It's essentially urban horror/fantasy, with hunters, miracle-workers, monsters, slashers, vampires, other walking dead, and witches battling each other without the mundanes catching on. (Add spirits and eldritch horrors to taste.) Nothing too original: Wicce from Witchcraft, Inspired from AFMBE, Slashers from World of Darkness and Hack/Slash, magic from Buffy, and yet another remix of vampires. (E.g., sunlight isn't lethal to vampires, but reports of vampires flying or turning to mist are apocryphal.)

So yeah, another possibility among too many. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1492-I-have-too-many-thoughts Comparative Character Generation: The Final Chapter http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1387-Comparative-Character-Generation-The-Final-Chapter Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:21:42 GMT Just to finish off the series, I've completed the last Comparative Character Generation essay. It covers more than a dozen other systems in a paragraph each, then comes to some unsurprising final conclusions. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1387-Comparative-Character-Generation-The-Final-Chapter Comparative Character Generation: Anyone Care? http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1329-Comparative-Character-Generation-Anyone-Care Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:30:55 GMT I had planned to do two more "Comparative Character Generation" articles/reports/rants/things, but I'm not so sure.
  1. I've lost interest in doing the games I mentioned last time. My infatuation with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition is over, Mongoose RuneQuest II is mostly the same as Basic Roleplaying, and Unisystem as a whole doesn't do anything new.
  2. My original reason for these things, figuring out a system for my next game, proved faulty. My biggest problem is players, not systems.
  3. Does anyone even read these things?

So, if I decide to do one more, it will probably contain one or more of the following:
  • A quick overview of other game systems with interesting points.
  • A rundown of the game worlds I might do, and what games seem best suited for them.
  • Some kind of "conclusions" from all this nonsense.

That's IF I decide to do one more. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/1329-Comparative-Character-Generation-Anyone-Care The Time Lord Problem http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/985-The-Time-Lord-Problem Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:38:46 GMT After watching the Doctor's recent regeneration for the Nth time, I realized how to solve a persistent problem in Doctor Who RPGs: Time Lords rock, companions suck.

A traditional solution is to make all players Junior Time Lords. The Buffy game gives non-Slayers more Drama Points, and I'm sure some Doctor Who game has tried a similar equalizing factor. Another suggestion I've heard is that the Time Lord is an NPC Patron, who makes the Companions do all the work.

But what if, in a Doctor Who game, the one Time Lord "dies" every few sessions, and his player passes the character sheet to a new player? "A new man steps in," indeed.

In Ars Magica troupe play, players alternate playing their mage, their companion, and a grog (bodyguard/redshirt). So it could work ... ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/985-The-Time-Lord-Problem <![CDATA[Another "Comparative Character Generation" essay; Two to go.]]> http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/984-Another-quot-Comparative-Character-Generation-quot-essay-Two-to-go Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:24:33 GMT I've written another in the Comparative Character Generation series. I'm only going to do two more, since a) I've examined most of the systems I'm likely to find players for, as far as I know, and b) my real problem isn't the system I run.

So if anyone wants to see something besides PDQ, PDQ Sharp, FATE, Fudge, GURPS, BRP, MRQ, MRQ2, WFRP2, WFRP3, Unisystem, Barbarians of Lemuria, NWoD, Savage Worlds, Risus, or several variations on d20 ... speak now. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/984-Another-quot-Comparative-Character-Generation-quot-essay-Two-to-go Orc Lands suspended ... http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/371-Orc-Lands-suspended Fri, 15 May 2009 13:35:28 GMT Three weeks ago, the players and I decided to suspend the Orc Lands campaign, due to the lack of new players and the number of times one absence... Three weeks ago, the players and I decided to suspend the Orc Lands campaign, due to the lack of new players and the number of times one absence cancelled the game.

I'm going to move the game to play-by-post at some point, although I'm not sure whether I should continue to run it as BRP. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/371-Orc-Lands-suspended <![CDATA[D&D, Warhammer, and Traveller]]> http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/369-D-amp-D-Warhammer-and-Traveller Thu, 14 May 2009 04:51:27 GMT Another installment in my continuing attempts to decide on another game to run. This time, I consider True20, Warhammer and Traveller... Another installment in my continuing attempts to decide on another game to run. This time, I consider True20, Warhammer and Traveller, as well as various forms of D&D: E6, generic classes, and retro-clones. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/369-D-amp-D-Warhammer-and-Traveller <![CDATA[Musings on running a D&D campaign]]> http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/293-Musings-on-running-a-D-amp-D-campaign Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:32:41 GMT I've posted some musings on possibly running a D&D campaign on my website.

Part of a really slow series: Part 1 and Part 2 ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/293-Musings-on-running-a-D-amp-D-campaign <![CDATA[Weird RPG Idea #1: "Yes, We Are All Individuals"]]> http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/291-Weird-RPG-Idea-1-quot-Yes-We-Are-All-Individuals-quot Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:26:55 GMT Most RPGs differentiate the PCs as much as possible: classes, skills, special abilities, what have you. What if all the players started the game... Most RPGs differentiate the PCs as much as possible: classes, skills, special abilities, what have you.

What if all the players started the game with the same character, say the same model of android just off the assembly line? Every player decision during the campaign adds to the character's abilities, or in some cases disabilities.

Would this be fun? Or annoying? What mechanics would you need to model this sort of game? ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/291-Weird-RPG-Idea-1-quot-Yes-We-Are-All-Individuals-quot Orclands Session 2: Mar 1, 2009 http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/288-Orclands-Session-2-Mar-1-2009 Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:17:29 GMT The Story So Far

The Village of Red Briar

Red Briar resembled an armed camp, thanks to the War Chief, Swift Sword. He's convinced of an imminent attack from the Blood Axe tribe, the Over-Sea Folk, the now-disappeared Shadow Foot tribe, the Stone Home tribe in the mountains, or possibly neighboring Ashen Hand villages. He trust no one ... except Saddle, who humored him as long as possible.

Gray Cloud, the Peace Chief, acquiesces to Swift Sword's every whim, and the Shaman, Drums Loudly, rants about vague portents of doom.


The Village of Solace

Solace, the "village of the dying", rests at the bottom of the Old One's Hill. It isn't so much a village as a shantytown. Young healers and shamans from other villages minister to the dying, most victims of the Wasting that comes with old age; neighboring farms donate supplies to keep the inhabitants comfortable. Solace has no walls, and only accidental guards.

A medic caught sight of Saddle, Thinks Much, Oaken Arm, and their guards. He went to get the closest Solace had to a leader: So-Re Yellow Hair.

Forty years ago, a chief of the Ashen Hand rescued a human girl from a Blood Axe raid that killed her parents. Her name was So-Re, as the People pronounced it; they named her Yellowhair and raised her as a member of the Ashen Hand. She went back to her people when they founded their village of Kalar Vale, across the river. They declared her a witch and attempted to burn her. Her adopted tribe rescued her, but not before the fire scarred and crippled her. She settled in Solace. Scholars from the Ashen Hand often visited to learn the language and customs of the Over-Sea Folk.

In the presend-day, Yellowhair approached on a wheeled cart. Saddle told her his mission, and asked how he could meet the Old One. She referred him to her adoptive father, Ten Bear Axe, now drawing his last breaths in Solace. Ten Bear Axe, in turn, told him to wait at the foot of the path to the Old One's door; if the Old One stood in the doorway, it was safe to go up.


The Old One

Saddle stood at the foot of the path for nearly an hour before the Old One appeared in the doorway: a tall, angular figure, swaddled in unbleached linen, even its face unseen within the depths of its hood. Saddle trod up the path, and into the doorway.

The Old One's chamber had no lights. Sunlight from outside revealed a floor and ceiling of packed earth, braced with stone beams. Its only furnishing was a rough-hewn stone chair near the back, and, behind it, a hide-curtained doorway to further, unguessable depths. The Old One sat in its stone chair, and Saddle sat on the earthen floor before it.

The Old One's speech sounded like a barely-heard whisper, yet intelligible as if it were right in one's ear. It asked what mattered most to Saddle: his village, his tribe, or his world. Saddle, a true Ashen-Hander, replied his tribe, and the Old One asked whether he had the wisdom not to use a weapon that saved his tribe and damned the world. In that case, Saddle replied, he would not use the weapon.

"Your true enemy lies in the West," the Old One declared at last, "in the Wastelands beyond the mountains. Look for allies among your enemies, and enemies among your allies."

With that, the Old One stood. The interview was over.


Welcome to Stormhold

Saddle, Thinks Much, Oaken Arm, and their two bodyguards approached Stormhold, a settlement like none they had ever seen before. Across the farmlands rose a stony hill, an outcropping of the Copper Mountains just beyond. A high, white wall encircled the hill like a crown. Just visible within the outer wall were a few tall buildings and an inner wall, likewise of white stone, with trees and buildings peeking out from behind it. In the center of the inner wall rose a citadel, the home of the High Chiefs, guarded by five towers around the perimiter, and a high tower at the very center.

Having climbed the winding road to Stormhold, they negotiated past the surly but somewhat lazy gate guards to the maze of roads beyond. Never had they seen so many of the People in one place. The main road opened up into a bustling, noisy marketplace. Instead of bartering, the people of Stormhold bought and sold with small metal ingots, oblong with a hole at one end to thread onto a leather lace, and stamped with a mark of authenticity from the High Chiefs.

Realizing they had little to barter, the group found themselves wondering how to find food and lodging. Oaken Arm and the guards found room in the soldier's barracks, and Saddle decided to try his luck at the local Shaman's Lodge. The "lodge" itself was a multistory building, with a supercillious guard at the front. Only the sight of the Shining God's Sigil convinced him that they had important news for the Chief Shaman.


Sun Behind Mountains, the Chief Shaman

Saddle and Thinks Much were shown into the Chief Shaman's room. The Chief Shaman, Sun Behind Mountains, was an older and larger orc, with a deep, mellifluous voice. Saddle told him his story, with a little unease; as he looked around the room, Saddle notices Spirit Traps and other tools used in dark rituals to bind and enslave spirits. (True, an honest shaman could use a Spirit Trap to seal away evil spirits, but still ...) Saddle's unease increased further when Sun Behind Mountains beheld the Sigil; he did not draw back, but if anything gazed at it avidly.

Nevertheless, he pledged all his support to their mission. He would call a High Council meeting to discuss the events across the river, and the warnings of the Old One. He also provided room and board, and any clothing or equipment the pair might need.


Armor from Heaven's Hammer

Taking advantage of the Chief Shaman's generosity, Saddle and Thinks Much decided to upgrade to scale armor. The Chief Shaman's majordomo accompanied them to the shop of Heaven's Hammer, reportedly the finest blacksmith among the Ashen Hand. (Stormhold boasts of having the best and brightest of every field within its walls.)

Heaven's Hammer herself promised to forge the scales, and took some initial measurements for the armor. As she did so, she warned Saddle and Thinks Much that Sun Behind Mountains reputedly shows too much interest in the Wastelands, and wonders of the Ruined Cities. She also advised them that of the council, only Swift Lightning, the aging High Sheriff, was a man of unimpeachable integrity. She then left her apprentices to take detailed measurements, and promised the armor in two days.

Now even more apprehensive, Saddle and Thinks Much returned to the Chief Shaman's lodge.


Council of the High Chiefs

Two days later, Saddle and Thinks Much picked up their new armor. Dropping it at the lodge, they dressed in fashionable Stormhold clothes (provided by Sun Behind Mountains) and proceeded to the Citadel.

The vaulted ceiling of the High Council chambers soared heavenward. Antique statues and tapestries ringed the vast space, lit by sunlight through stained-glass windows. More than fifty people, including merchants, scribes, and others of uncertain occupation, sat at the huge table before the twin thrones of High War Chief Stone Shield and his wife, High Peace Chief Copper Chalice. Of the comparative throng, though, only a few seemed to have power: the High Chiefs, Sun Behind Mountains, General Iron Hand, the general's ally Raining Cloud the scholar, and Two Gold Fist whose monopoly on Copper Mountain iron made him wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice. (Swift Lighting still has influence because of his position and years of service, but the others have more allies on the council.)

Once again, Saddle told his story, with Thinks Much and Oaken Arm corroborating. The Sigil shocked everyone save Sun Behind Mountains. Iron Hand asked detailed questions about the Blood Axe tribe, and about the black-powder weapons the Over-Sea-Folk used. Raining Cloud asked more about the Over-Sea-Folk, in particular Thinks Much's and Audrey's rumors about the Imperial Legions. Sun Behind Mountains underscored the Old One's warning about the Wastelands, and advocated an expedition to go there. The High Chiefs asked little, mainly about the Blood Axe threat and the mood in other villages. At last, the Council dismissed Saddle and company to deliberate.

A day later, they handed down their decision: recent events, while disturbing, did not warrant a trek into the Wastelands. The Council believes the best course of action would be to shore up its defenses, and advise other villages to do the same.


Long Shanks

The evening after the Council's decision, Saddle found a note in his lodgings:

The fools in this town don't realize their danger. Meet me at sundown in the North East corner of the market.
After some discussion, Saddle and Thinks Much went.

Many stalls were packing up as the sun set, and others offering alcohol and other decadent delights had set up business. At the meeting spot, a tall, broad-shouldered orc detached himself from the shadows, dressed in rugged clothing and animal skins. He introduced himself as Long Shanks.

He said he knew what happened in council, and he believes it's a great mistake. He also knew for a fact that the humans can and will sweep away the Ashen Hand, just as they did the Shadowfoot. He wanted to lead an expedition into the Wastelands to find a weapon powerful enough to stop the Sarkennian empire, and secure the Ashen Hand forever. He needed a "couple of lads" to watch his back. He freely admitted he wasn't an educated man, so he thought a shaman and a scholar would prove useful when dealing with ancient artifacts.

After that prologue, he asked:

"So, are you in?"

They were.


GM Notes

Still struggling with the low player count, and with challenges for a shaman and scholar.

This session, not unsurprisingly, was wholly roleplaying save for the occasional skill roll. It was pretty taxing for me. I also think my acting needs work.

The big challenge will be next session, where the campaign starts its second act. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/288-Orclands-Session-2-Mar-1-2009 Orclands Session 1: Feb 15, 2009 http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/208-Orclands-Session-1-Feb-15-2009 Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:58:22 GMT (Yes, this log is horribly late. I hope to catch up before next session.) *The Story So Far* Intruders! All the People of the Ashen Hand... (Yes, this log is horribly late. I hope to catch up before next session.)

The Story So Far

Intruders!

All the People of the Ashen Hand have a duty to stand watch at the borders of their lands. Saddle the shaman and Thinks Much the scholar, as residents of Green Plains Village, spent their mandatory two weeks standing watch at a camp near the Swiftwater River, within sight of the Over-Sea-Folk settlement on the other side.

Across the river, both Saddle and Thinks Much saw a small band of what looked like Blood Axe tribesmen creeping toward human lands. Thinks Much, who has studied the Over-Sea-Folk (a.k.a. the "Sarkennians"), realized that the Over-Sea-Folk can't tell one tribe from another, and would likely retaliate indiscriminately. Saddle, with a sickeningly familiar sensation, felt a voiceless thought drop into his head: Stop them.

Along with Sergeant Oaken Arm of the regular militia, and his five other soldiers, they forded the river and attempted to surprise the raiders. Unfortunately, Thinks Much stepped on a twig, and the raiders turned and braced for battle. Saddle, a former hunter, nocked an arrow to his bow and aimed at the nearest ... but his hand slipped, sending bow flying and arrow careening in another direction. Readying shortswords and spears, the Ashen Handers attacked.

Neither group outnumbered the other. Thinks Much and Saddle held their own against better-armored and better-armed raiders, although Saddle sustained a nasty wound to his arm that threatened to make it useless. As Oaken Arm disabled his foe and turned the tide, farmers from the Over-Sea-Folk arrived and fired their thunder-rods. Both tribes fled ... but not before one of the Blood Axe dropped a golden trinket. Saddle snatched it up ... and nearly dropped it again; it bore the symbol of the EYE, dread sigil of the Shining One.

Thinks Much caught a glancing blow from a musket ball, and decided it was time for everyone to leave. He and Saddle tried to follow the Sergeant through the underbrush, but lost him. Thinks Much, who knew the area, made for high ground, to get his bearings. Instead, by a tree at the top of a hill, they met a human female.

Audrey

The female guarded herself with her staff, but Thinks Much told her their situation in his best approximation of the Sarkennian language. She noticed Saddle's wound, and reluctantly beckoned them to follow her.

At her cottage, she patched up Saddle's wound with expert hands, and talked. A lot. He talked about the Sarkennian monotheistic religion, her birth on an island nation in the Empire far to the North, her reputation as a witch among the other humans ... just about anything and everything. She asked about the battle between Blood Axe and Ashen Hand. Saddle showed her the Sigil of the EYE; she didn't recognize it, but promised to look among her books, mostly kept under the floorboards, safe from the Inquisition.

Before Saddle and Thinks Much left, a small boy peeked into the room; she put him to bed, and then escorted the pair back to the ford.


Passage to the Spirit Realm

Back in Green Plains, Thinks Much consulted his books to learn more about the Sarkennian Empire, particularly the Imperial Legions that Audrey mentioned in her chatter.

Meanwhile, Saddle met with the senior shaman Red Moon. After the events of the previous evening, Red Moon suggested that Saddle journey to the Spirit Realm. With Red Moon's help, Saddle went into trance, and began his journey.

Red Moon's spirit guide appeared to Saddle in the form of a Deer, and led him leagues away to a hill overlooking Solace, the village of the dying. Saddle and the spirit-deer arrived at the door set into the side of the hill, marked with three megaliths. In the doorway stood a tall figure hidden in robes of undyed linen: the Old One.

The Old One's cryptic questions and remarks led Saddle to wonder whether the Blood Axe had gone over to the Shining One. The Old One bade Saddle to meet in Solace for further information.


The Council of Elders Decide

The Council of Elders met two days after the Blood Axe raid, with Oaken Arm, Saddle, and Thinks Much. The War Chief, River Breaks Bridge, ignored the Over-Sea-Folk and wanted to attack the Blood Axe. Yellow Leaf, the healer, seemed to have never considered that we could speak to the Sarkennians. Red Moon was very concerned about the behavior of the Blood Axes. Peace Chief Second Ox wanted to avoid any war, and Silver Hammer the blacksmith wanted a decision from the High Chieftains in Stormhold.

When Saddle, upon Red Moon's advice, showed the Sigil to the Elders, all were shocked; River Breaks Bridge, enraged, wanted to invade the Blood Axe immediately. With the extra evidence, though, the Elders decided to send Oaken Arm, Saddle, and Thinks Much (with two guards) to Stormhold and the High Chieftains. On the way, they would stop at Solace to consult the Old One.

The Mound

Two days on the road, Thinks Much suggested leaving the road for a short-cut to the next village, Fertility. They made camp in the shadow of a large hill.

Thinks Much noticed soil scraped away from the base of the hill, exposing a stone slab hastily put back in place. The group pried open the door, and exposed a stone passageway leading to a buried tomb. They passed through one large chamber decorated with a stone altar and bas-reliefs of an unknown style. Passing into a smaller chamber that intersected a circular passageway, Saddle noticed doors behind two large shields, also unknown design. He peered into the door slightly ajar, and noticed statues of wood and stone, weapons not forged by the People, and ornate boxes and chests. One chest lay open, revealing glittering jewels set in gold, also never forged by the People.

As Saddle touched the chest, a tall figure of solid shadow appeared behind the group and shouted, "DREGO NIN BAR!" It vanished. Needing no further prompting, the group left the tomb and resealed it. Saddle said a prayer to pacify the spirits.

That night, at midnight, Thinks Much saw a shadowy figure emerge through the tomb door, and skim across the downs toward the next village.

The Village of Fertility

Arriving at Fertility the next day, Saddle and Thinks Much asked around. The bucolic and complacent residents eventually pointed to the farm of Silent Stone, where strange "pranks" had been occurring. Upon further investigation, they found that Silent Stone's son, Sun Above Clouds, had stolen jewelry from the tomb along with Clever Hands the tailor's son and Running Dog son of Iron Head the warrior.

Catching the three boys in the act of splitting the take, Saddle and Thinks Much retrieved most of the jewelry. A few small samples had been sold to the local jeweler via a local crime boss. With the timely appearance of the Apparition, the jeweler gave back the jewels and melted-down silver. Their return to the chest appeased the ghost, and it returned to its endless slumber.


GM's Notes

Whew ... a lot happened. Maybe I'll summarize a bit more.

But at the time I felt like I had to stretch out my material as long as possible. I only wrote two paragraphs about Fertility, but I improvised about an hour of play from it. Even then, we ended about fifteen minutes early. (I had anticipated the PCs going further into the tomb, but they proved smarter than that. Next time I won't have a spectre bellowing "GET OUT" in a foreign tongue.)

I only have two players, which is a bit frustrating, especially since neither is especially combat-oriented. (All orcs know how to use weapons, but neither is a combat-monster by any stretch.) That means I can't fill time with battles. I could lean more to Spirit Combat and ritual magic, but I'm still working out my custom Spirit Magic rules, and I don't want to fall prey to "netrunner syndrome", leaving my other player bored.

Speaking of combat, BRP combat seemed kind of tedious: hit, parry, hit, parry, hit, parry, ... I'm eschewing tactical maps, which may or may not be part of the problem; Spirit of the Century combats had lots going on besides two parties whacking at each other. Maybe I'll try for more enemies with less defenses, or one big enemy. Maybe I also need to make the terrain an important part of any combats.

For this session and the next, most of the real action has been in negotiating and information gathering, which is fun but exhausting. If the PCs continue riding the rails, I'll have to find other challenges for them, like traps and mysterious artifacts.

In general, I think I did pretty well for someone who hasn't GMed much, and hasn't run a real campaign since college, oh so long ago. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/208-Orclands-Session-1-Feb-15-2009 The Orc Lands: An Introduction http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/152-The-Orc-Lands-An-Introduction Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:25:18 GMT The Orc Lands is a BRP-based campaign I'm running every other week. All the PCs are members of the People -- what humans call "orcs". They live in a land haunted by spirits and the Forest Folk, mysterious beings who guard the deepest forests.

In the time of legend, the People built great cities and created wondrous devices in what is now the Wasteland. Somehow, according to legend, they fell under the sway of the Shining God, whose symbol was an eye, and that led to their ruin. To this day, the People have many superstitions about eyes; they never refer to eyes except in euphemism, never make eye contact for more than a second, and never draw a representation of an eye. (Dots are OK, but blank circles push the edge.)

These days, the People lead brutal lives. Most live in savage tribes of hunter-gatherers, jealously defending their territory from others. A few, called "Mad" by their fellows, still venerate the Shining God and decorate themselves with the symbol of an EYE.

On the other hand, a few tribes have struggled out of barbarity towards civilization. One such tribe is the Ashen Hand, named after its legendary founder. So far, all PCs are members of this tribe.

Recently, the Over-Sea-Folk, who call themselves "humans", have settled, or invaded, the Orc Lands. One remote settlement lies on the other side of a river that forms part of the boundary between the Ashen Hand and other wild tribes like the Blood Axe. The Over-Sea-Folk bear thunder-tubes that smell like sulfur and throw pellets of lead with uncanny speed. For now, the Ashen Hand leaves the Over-Sea-Folk alone, but many are worried.

In this blog, I'll present a log of the story so far, and personal comments about my experiences as GM. I haven't run an actual campaign in years; perhaps my stumbles will enlighten, or at least amuse, others. ]]> fmitchell http://www.penandpapergames.com/forums/entry.php/152-The-Orc-Lands-An-Introduction