[OSR] Real places in RPG [8]: Majlis al-Jinn cave

 Majlis al-Jinn

Staying in the "desert mood", I want to present you the second largest cave on earth, the Majlis al-Jinn.

It means the "gathering place of the Djinns". How could we leave out this place 😊?

This gigantic cave under the plateaus of the Oman desert is a single chamber measuring about 310 metres by 225 metres (over 6 soccer fields of base surface!)

From above

It actually looks like 3 black holes in the ground, nowhere anybody sane would like to get it (unless a loved one was falling down)

The smallest hole is about 2 meters wide, while the biggest (on the middle of the image) could easily swallow 3 cars at the same time...

From the top, it's difficult to make anything out in the cave, 120 m further down

Inside

Once inside, it's another matter completely: The sun comes through the 3 holes, in fierce rays of light...

Photo by Yousef Tuqan: DSC_17

There the ambient light is in the yellow tones, because of the reflection on the walls and floor.

All sort of animal bones litter the ground under the holes, these having not survived the 120 m drop.

You can see on the photo how small humans are in comparison, one is under the left ray of light.

Lake?

After a heavy storm, some water can be found in the cave... If the climate outside was more temperate (or at least rainy), this cave could be an extremely big water reservoir or underground lake. No hole leads out, but one might exist, caved in under tons of rubble, allowing excess water to seep through.

Djinns?

In most Arabic legends, free Djinns live in this kind of gigantic caverns.
It is easy to imagine that a magic force has created these caves, because of their majesty, eerie size, and awe-inspiring proportions.

Typically, Djinns grant wishes, but for a price, and often interpret the wish in the worst way possible. Only the craziest and most desperate persons would seek their help.

1D12 reasons to seek a Djinn

Desperate times call for desperate measures. If you want your player characters to meet a Djinn, you need to prepare them for the encounter:

• have an NPC tell them where to find a Djinn and how dangerous they are
• Put the characters in a very bad situation (see table)
• Apply pressure until they have no other choice left ("there are times where all choices are bad choices"). Have their allies arrested, or obligated to lay low. Attack their finances (you don't have  to take their finances away, just make them temporarily worthless, like coins from an enemy kingdom). Have the authorities and the sultan's men track them. Don't let them sleep or heal their wounds. Let them go to daddy-Djinn...

D12	Reasons to seek a Djinn
1	A character in the group died, and no clergy will or can perform a resurrection
2	The love of your life has been kidnapped and no one else can find out their location
3	A curse has been bestowed on a party member and its state is worsening by the hour
4	A ransom for someone important to the party has been issued, but how should they find that much money?
5	An important object was lost in Aether by the destruction of a bag of holding. Who else could locate it?
6	A character caught the Sandplague. Their heart will soon start to turn into sand, if not cured...
7	A dangerous cult think you are the perfect sacrifice to their dark deity. You need a new identity
8	A party member killed the beloved Sultan's son by mistake. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide
9	A caught spy gave your names as its accomplices'. And you thought he was just a resourceful guide
10	The captain of the ship that brought to the city is accused of piracy. You arrrrr now hunted as pirates
11	Someone paid a big bounty to have the best assassin in the known world chasing your party
12	You need passage to the City of Brass, where many Djinns & Efreets live

What could the Djinn want from you

A Djinn will not give you three wishes, only in Disney does that kind of thing happen...

Not only will the Djinn try to corrupt your wish with a technicality, he will want from you something in return. Something you'd prefer never to lose.

D12	Compensation for a Djinn's service
1	The fiery part of your soul. You can't be resurrected without it
2	Your ability to love
3	Your reputation. You will always get defamed ever after
4	Your firstborn. Beware of the Djinn's wrath if you made a vow of chastity
5	All your good memories of your parents. You keep the bad ones, though
6	Kill someone very near to you in the future, when asked for it
7	A quest to set free an innocent spirit. But, can an Efreet really be innocent ?
8	Kill a minor god of a small pantheon and bring back their divine essence
9	Bring them back the heart of the Emir's young daughter, literally
10	Give away some of your life experience (yeah, you'll loose levels)
11	Give away 33 years of your life expectancy (or considerably more for longer living races)
12	Your ability to read and to ever be able to learn it again (not proposed to barbarians)

What else could the cave be?

If you're not into Djinns & Efreets, the cave could also be:

1. The mating ground of sandworms / sand dragons
2. The pit in which all the dead are thrown - a necromancer's wet dream
3. The entrance to the tomb of Pharao-King Psamtik 66th
4. The Hall of grievances of the Wraith-King of the desert (only appears when the full moon shines vertically over the main hole)
5. A refuge for the sand giants, before they disappeared
6. The antechamber to a circle of teleportation, hidden under the rubble
7. the brooding ground of a serpentkin race
8. A ruined stonelift to the underworld
9. The place of worship nearest to the body of a slumbering non-euclidean chtonian entity
10. An abandoned Mythril mine. Maybe there's ore left?
11. The nearly depleted quarry for the bood-stone pyramid
12. The temple where all the known true names of demons where engraved in the walls

Community

Don't refrain from sharing your thoughts in the comments, I normally validate the comments quickly.

For a longer conversation, you can join the discord of my publishing outlet (from outer space games):

From outer space games Discord

or the Facebook group focused on my creations:
From outer space games on Facebook

Real places in RPG post series

1. Living tree root bridges
   
2. Cats' alley - Medieval cities & fire
   
3. Harihar Fort - endless staircases, fortifications & magic
4. Eternal Flame Falls
   
5. Fingal's Cave
   
6. Die Rakotzbrücke or the Rakotz / Devil's bridge
   
7. Izadkhast Caravanserai
   
8. You are here

[OSR] Real places in RPG [7]: Izadkhast Caravanserai

Izadkhast Caravanserai

Location

70 kilometers north of Abadeh next to Izadkhast city, in the Iranian Desert.

This place is on a road that has always  fascinated me: The silk road. This was a network of mainly land trade routes going from China to western Europe. It's by no mean only one road, lots of branches have been created during its centuries of existence, with the rise and fall of powers along its tracks and the ever changing taxation on the goods going along that road which have dictated its course...

Recommended music to read this post: Prince Of Persia OST - A Fight Of Light And Darkness

"File:Izadkhast Old Caravanserai Iran.jpg" by Alireza Javaheri is licensed under CC BY 3.0

Why Iran?

I know most of you probably have some prejudices against that country, but its situation on the silk road and relative war-free recent history lead to a country full of historical and cultural treasures, but few tourists at the same time (which is important if you're searching for images).

Caravanserai?

Etymologically meaning a "palace for caravans", a caravanserai was a roadside inn where travelers and merchants could rest and recover from the day's journey. They supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North Africa and Southeast Europe, at which point most caravans and merchants continued on with their travel using the sea ways of the Mediterranean sea.

You can compare them to the fortified Inns of medieval Europe, because they served the same purposes:

• protecting travelers, merchants, and caravans from adverse weather (sand storms, flash-floods, storms)
• offering a nightly refuge in security from marauding bandits and wild animals
• serving as a place of exchange for wares, rumors, and information
• Trading place between local farmers and artisans with the passing merchants

The network of these palaces was tight enough that you would normally not have to sleep in the dangerous wilderness.

Inside

"Neyestanak Caravanserai Inner Courtyard 2007-01-01" by Kaveh Hosseini (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Typically, after stepping through a fortified entrance portal, you would enter into a spacious court, around which niches and roofed accommodations can be rented. These were somewhat spartan, and meant as well as stables for the beasts of burden.

Some richer caravanserai would also offer access to a public bath, and access to a mosque (with a place for ritual ablutions)

Some of these palaces were also situated in towns, but their court would be much smaller, but the buildings much higher, offering lodging for the town population in the higher floors (an independent stream of income in case of bad times for commerce). These are then named Khan, Funduq, or Wikala.

Fantasy Economics

Unless you have a very developed network of cheap teleportation circles, or a very advanced technological level allowing advanced sea travel or railways, you'll need this kind of inn networks along the most commonly used trade routes of your fantasy world.

These inns are an excellent starting point for a new campaign, even though they might not be different enough from a tavern for the most experienced readers.

I recommend reading what you can find on Oleg's trading post, a renown fortified inn with a central role in the start of the "Kingmaker" campaign. But if you're playing in an Arabian Nights setting or Dark Sun, you're gonna want to read more on caravanserais.

It's worth mentioning that import goods, particularly those that come from far away, have to cost a lot in a medieval setting, because transporting them takes a lot of time, is dangerous, and wares often get taxed along their transport. This is why silk was so expensive back in the days where nobody knew how to make it in Europe.
You have to wait for Louis the 14th's economical policies to start royal workshops (the beginning of the industrialization in Europe) and his economical espionage forays, to see silk production in Europe.

Adventure seeds around the caravansarai

I hope these adventure seeds will help you give life to this place and you'll want to include it in your campaign (as a fortified Inn or Caravanserai, both would work)

D12	Adventure seed
1	A group of bandits is ambushing the caravans & needs to be dealt with
2	A group of bandits attacks only the wealthiest of merchants. Who is informing them?
3	A feud between the local lord & the next on the road makes travel unsure. Can you help find an arrangement?
4	When you enter the courtyard, everyone & all animals were slain, & the wares destroyed. Was it the whim of a Djinn?
5	The Caravanserai is quarantined, but the merchants met the day before were not sick. Poison or malediction?
6	A thief posing as a merchant robbed another one blind and disappeared on a secondary road. Can the wares be recovered?
7	A dangerous cult infiltrated a few caravans and prepare a mass sacrifice of merchants to invoke a bloodthirsty Abomination
8	A sandstorm has been raging on the sarai for abnormally long. Can the PCs find the mischievous air-magic-user?
9	A troop of the Sultan is bringing a dangerous Felon to the capital. Their accomplices will try to free them tonight
10	The Sarai fell under the control of mercenaries that racket the caravaners and use the inn keepers as slaves
11	The Sarai refuses to pay its dues to a local guild. The guild has build a siege around the building.
12	Last night, the religious shrine was desecrated and a minor relic was stolen. It must be retrieved

Community

Don't refrain from sharing your thoughts in the comments, I normally validate the comments quickly.

For a longer conversation, you can join the discord of my publishing outlet (from outer space games):

From outer space games Discord

or the Facebook group focused on my creations:

From outer space games on Facebook

Real places in RPG post series

1. Living tree root bridges
   
2. Cats' alley - Medieval cities & fire
   
3. Harihar Fort - endless staircases, fortifications & magic
4. Eternal Flame Falls
   
5. Fingal's Cave
   
6. Die Rakotzbrücke or the Rakotz / Devil's bridge
   
7. You are here
8. Majlis al-Jinn Cave
   

[OSR] Real places in RPG [6]: Rakotzbrücke

Die Rakotzbrücke

or the Rakotz / Devil's bridge 

Location

This old bridge is situated in the easternmost part of Germany and has fascinated me for a while: its own reflection on the water always make it seem to be a portal into a new world. Those that read this blog often might know: I love parallel universes...

Legends of the bridge

The architect of the bridge started to work with a spirit on the bridge's construction, promising the spirit the soul of the first being to cross the bridge. However, when the bridge was finished, the architect hushed a dog to cross the bridge as the "first crosser", and the spirit holds a grudge.

Another legends says that passing under the bridge in a boat on a day of half moon lets you travel to another world...

1983, tourists tried to do this and disappeared, never to be seen again...

It is forbidden to cross the bridge, nowadays (under the pretense of "dangerous construction")

Trolls

I wrote about bridges before in this series of posts, but since the one depicted was make out of roots, and I imagine (D&D) trolls to be on the heavy side of creatures, I did not mention trolls at that bridge.

It is a typical fantasy trope to have trolls guarding bridges (I think Tolkien started it). It's always an interesting kind of encounter, with a clear objective: coming to the other side more or less unharmed or not broke. Trolls guarding should be able and willing to communicate, which makes this kind of encounter more interesting.

They most of the time just collect tolls and eat those that won't pay.

Tax collectors

The legend of the bridge trolls is also a metaphor for the toll collection that happened on bridges in the European middle ages. Constructing a bridge was a costly business, and the lords that had invested in the creation of the bridge would appoint a tax collector to the bridge, the collected money would pay this person and a part would go back to the lord. 

The collector were also responsible for the upkeep of the bridge they were guarding.

A doorway, but where to?

This bridge and it's reflection on the water look so perfect it is natural that the human mind would see here a door to another world:

• Where we see a door to a fairy realm, our forefathers certainly saw something much more gloomy. Calling this one the Devil's bridge is almost certainly an indication that the people from the past thought it to be a doorway to the underworld, the world of the dead.
• In a Planescape-esque realm, that could also be a doorway to the plane of Order, or maybe Water.
• The duality of the bridge over the water and it's reflection "under the water" could also mean an access to a place of duality, like the house of a 2-faced god (like the Roman Janus).
• This could also be part of a series of portals used to bring ships from one place to another remote one...
• In Birthright, this would certainly be a door to the shadow world, opening when the half moons aligns with the bridge, releasing hordes of undeads & skeletons, but also letting halfling back into their lost territories, on the search of a lost love or treasure (actually anyone could cross, but halfling know their way on the other side)
  
  

Guardians

A portal is an extremely valuable asset and anyone controlling it can name a steep price for its usage.

D 12	Guardian
1	A saltwater merfolk tribe. They control both sides and have a side business selling salt. Only their outcasts are left to stay on the lake-side of the portal.
2	An old troll widower and his young and brash son. Their liege is on the other side. He also controls passage *over* the bridge
3	4 Gargoyles, that only come to life when the portal is active. The locals fear them while they are in stone form nonetheless, fore their
4	The Tax collector pretends to be a cleric protecting the village from a flood of undeads and racketeering money to "keep the door closed", on top of crossing the bridge
5	A Giant frog (over 2 m high) rules over a big tribe of toadfolks, a humanoid frog mix, about as big as goblins, but extreme good and strong swimmers
6	A young Water-dragon that fell in love with a dragon turtle. They will only accept payment in the form of things that might help her grow as big as him.
7	A giant squid guards the other side. The only way to get through the portal is to get pulled by a gigantic tentacle from the other side
8	Water elementals thrive in the lake but do not allow any boat on the lake, unless a payment in salt-water pearls in paid beforehand, naturally...
9	Nobody guards the bridge. For a good reason: on the other side is the hideout of a ruthless pirate crew. They sometimes sell booty and fish at the nearest village
10	Supposedly, each time you cross the portal, an evil twin is created that crosses it in the other direction, bringing havoc in your life
11	The portal can only be crossed swimming. Men are transformed in dolphins and women in sirens
12	The portal only lets through wearer of tridents without metal armor. On the other side, a gladiator fight is organised, and the owner gets an audience with the goddess of the sea

Unspeakable destinations

Beyond the portal, you could find dangerous places, like:

D12	Place
1	Carcosa
2	Pandemonium, capital of the demons
3	Mino's Labyrith
4	Hellish Swamp
5	Sewers of Sharn
6	Plateau of Leng
7	Morgana's lake on Avalon
8	A dragon-turtle roost
9	Oubliette - the dimensional city no one escapes
10	The Sea of Blood - stained by the blood of a dying titan
11	One arm of the Styx river
12	Near the mouth of Jörmungandr, the World Serpent

Inspiration

This place really makes me dream, so I created an artwork featuring it. Here it is, just for your pleasure:

I really like this piece of art, hope you guys & gals, too !

Community

Don't refrain from sharing your thoughts in the comments, I normally validate the comments quickly.

For a longer conversation, you can join the discord of my publishing outlet (from outer space games):

From outer space games Discord

Real places in RPG post series

1. Living tree root bridges
   
2. Cats' alley - Medieval cities & fire
   
3. Harihar Fort - endless staircases, fortifications & magic
4. Eternal Flame Falls
   
5. Fingal's Cave
   
6. You are here
7. Izadkhast Caravanserai
8. Majlis al-Jinn Cave

[Europol-X] Which game system ?

 Europol-X

Game system

I envision Europol-X as an investigative RPG, with an healthy dose of action and then some sense of wonder, once the possibility to "step sideways" has been discovered.

Therefore, I need a game system which will support these ingredients.

I could certainly brew a D&D based system (3rd edition proved it was possible, with Spycraft for example), but somehow, it feels like too much work, for a system that would be working, sure, but not supporting the gameplay any more than any other generic system.

GURPS has a lot of support for this kind of elements (even a completely described ecosystem for time and dimension travel), but as much as I love reading the GURPS books for their ideas, I can't see myself running that system (Don't like how perception is handled, for example)

TORG also has support for dimension travel (dimension war, to be precise), but the power level is a notch too high for this project, nearing cinematic level.

Don't start me on Rifts, I've never put my nose into one of the books, but from what I heard, the system is too outdated too, for my taste.

My favorite Game of the last 10 years is Mutant Year Zero.
I love the game for its perfect support of the system to the kind of fiction to be emulated (post-apocalypse).

So I started to work on a "Year Zero Engine"-adaptation for dimension war. There is a SRD online, it's actually quite easy.
I developed a 1st draft for a character sheet, and I like it.

But after a dinner break, I had one of these moments of realization:
This is not the right system for this project.
So I lose some work, sure, but in the end, better see now that attrition is not an important part of this game and that this system does not support the investigative play-style more than any other generic system (so it basically has the same problem as D&D)

Square 1 ?

Somehow yes...

There are still alternatives that I can think of:

• Savage Worlds is a good candidate (it can run Rifts, so it could definitely work), but the power level might be too high and the system is not OGL
• The Strange by Bruce Cordell is also about dimension hopping and could work quite well, but is also not OGL
• The Chronicles of Darkness would work too, and normally they'd be my favorite (they have the right amount of support for action and investigation) but I'd like to maybe publish Europol-X one day in a zine format, so I need an OGL game system (or one I've developed myself)
• The same problem exist with Modern AGE: they have a multiverse setting, but the system is not OGL either (and probably too technical for my taste)
• Develop something else, unique? If I had a second life, maybe?

But as you see, nothing seems good enough. There is a very cool, simplified, and streamlined version of D&D3 to play investigative cases in a native reservation (like the books of Tony Hillermann) that was published in France. The processes of the Bureau of Indian Affairs are certain.

Well, we'll see... I'll sleep on it and you'll be amazed at the wonderful character sheet i've built, that probably will never be used 

[Setting] Europol X - Setting overview

Europol-X

My love for parallel universes

This is a setting I've longed for since the first time I've heard of the concept of parallel dimensions.

I love time travel and alternate history, and they can meet in the concept of parallel dimensions.

I always find it difficult to make dimension travel "believable".

And in the past, I couldn't think of a plausible way to make the players travel.

Influences

Lately, I've had great influences in the science-fiction spectrum that I want to use as inspiration.

First and foremost, I want to talk about the "merchant princes" books by Charles Stross, which are a masterfully written story about dimension travel, but also a masterpiece of reflection on the subject of interactions between forces set on parallel universes.

Second, I'm re-watching the show FRINGE and it's a gold-mine for the beginnings of a dimension-travel-agency.

Third, the 2005 South-African TV-series Charlie Jade, which has only 3 worlds (ours, an utopian-hippie reflection, & an early-cyberpunky-dystopian reflection), which also depict credible interactions between universes

Last, there is a bunch of settings I'd like to send my players to, but never will have the chance to, otherwise... A lot of them are described in the GURPS alternate earths books (I & II), GURPS infinite worlds, some alternate history settings or novels (The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson, the Fvlminata rpg game setting, a bit of fantasy, some Shadowrun-esque, some nazi dystopia like The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick) and I'll steal stuff from the Strange (at least the system, which is perfectly tuned for dimension travel) but I'll drop the process of translation - I don't like that a character changes when changing to an alternate reality.

Bits of time travel shows (like Quantum Leap, Terminator, Primeval, Counterpart, and many others) might find their way into this setting.

The Cosmogony

I envision the multiverse as a d20 with each of the sides being one of the realities.

Each reality could have access to it's 3 "neighboring" sides (the sides on each of the 3 sides of its triangle) and the opposite side (on a die: one and twenty, two and nineteen, and so on).

Players would play as members of a secret unit of Interpol, the section X, which is tasked with resolving "paranormal" cases. Other such units exists internationally (as division of the FBI, FSB, or any state police organisation you fancy), but I've decided to play in Europe, hence the choice of Europol.

Main plot would be a cold war between our reality (Earth Prime, as we call it) and Earth Second, a slightly more technologically advanced reflection of our reality, where 9/11 happened differently and Covid-19 never left China.

The 20 Realities in short

For the place of the numbers on the convex regular icosahedron (d20) we will use this model (which should be standard)

Our earth (Earth Prime) is situated on the side numbered 20 and Earth Second is logically situated on the side numbered 1 (the other 18 realities have not yet been discovered, as of the beginning of the campaign).

In my campaign, the other realities on the 3 other sides of the icosahedron will be Pan-Germania (a reality where the Nazi and their Imperial Japanese allies won WWII - side number 2), Al-Kīmiyā (an arabic-persian dominated world where alchemy works - sometimes), and Batuutaa (where the world was conquered by the Dogon Empire, using their astrological prescience techniques)

D20	Description of the local Reality
1	Earth Second: slightly advanced early cyberpunk reality. Their US, Chinese, Russian, and European governments know of dimension travel, the Quantum Rupture and have access to advanced Fringe-science gadgets. They spy on our reality and try to destabilize it. It is fairly certain that they started the Covid-19 infection centers in Italy at the beginning of 2020
2	Pan-Germania: In this dystopian reality, Pearl Harbor never took place, Charles Lindbergh was elected president in 1940 and Nazi Germany conquered Eurasia with their Imperial Japanese allies. They then conquered north america, with the Nazi overtaking all US and Canadian territories east of the Rockies and the Empire of Japan the West Coast
3	Zǔguó-Ming: The Black Plague decimated the whole world but the Americas and China under the Ming dynasty. The main powers are Ming-China, the United Tribes of America, the Polish-Lithuanian Empire and the African rivals: the Kingdom of Nri and the Kingdom of Imerina. Early 19th Century technology and Chinese colonial hegemony.
4	Rule Britannia: the world is dominated by the colonial views of an unchecked Victorian England. Main powers are the Crown, the landed aristocracy, the Anglican Church, and the colonial companies. All persons not born of English descent are considered inferior, at best. Most are legally enslaved by the colonial companies. Early 20th Century technology.
5	Roma Eterna: Instead of disappearing in decadence, Rome reinstated the Republic and used Chinese black powder to create weapons (and not only fireworks) and gain victory over the barbarians. Eurasia and Africa are all parts of the Great International Roman Republic, a network of federal city-states with a great deal of autonomy. Early renaissance technology but much better guns. America was never "discovered".
6	Sovietica Materna: Instead of fighting an arms race with the USA, the USSR continued to grow its influence and took over Europe, mostly through the democratic process. Accessing European technologies and foremost the microchip allowed the USSR to better plan their economy and be a competitor to the USA while allowing a much better standard of living to all its citizen (and not only the russians). The technology level is equivalent to ours, but surveillance technology is everywhere and the world wide web is segmented. The balance of powers is different, but the world is similar to ours.
7	Necrotica: This world was quite similar to ours up until the 1980ies when a pandemic did hit their reality like a truck on the highway. Thing went from bad to worse when the dead started to rise again with a hunger for human flesh. Only a few islands (Iceland, Madagascar and New-Zealand) have achieved the feat to ward off the zombie pandemic completely.
8	Batuutaa: Early in history, the Dogon Empire developed ways to predict the future by means of astrology. Their empire has spread over the whole African continent and around the Mediterranean Sea. Their society is planned years in advance, family is the core value and social peace is achieved through prescient politics. Population control is strict to avoid depleting the natural resources. Low technical level, but high life expectancy.
9	Solar Federation: Creation after WWI of the European Commonwealth, which would grow twenty years later in the Human Commonwealth (all of Europe and their colonies, with equal rights and access to development). Landing on the moon in 1939, worldwide political unification under the Human Federation in 1945. Landing on Mars in 1969. Trojan independence wars in 1991. Creation of the Solar Federation in September 2001. Advanced technology and strong welfare state with a lot of personal freedom and private sphere.
10	Pharaohland: Old Egyptian Gods exist and their prophet, the Pharaoh Akhenaton CCXXIV rules over the Mediterranean basin, the Arabic peninsula and the silk road. Technology is a mix of antic artisanship, advanced agricultural techniques through genetic selection, advanced seafaring techniques but wind-powered and bronze age metallurgy. Advanced divine magic for true believers can turn the scales of a battle, even against modern weaponry.
11	земля трех дочерей (zemlya trekh docherey): Baba Yaga and her two sisters have taken an interest in the fate of humanity and helped scientist melding high technology and magic. During WWII, the sisters decided that humanity did not deserve to be free and took over governments. Baba Yaga rules over the Soviet States, Mala Yaga over Asia southern of Mongoly, and Mengma Yaga over Europe. Technomagic surveillance state akin to a kind of theocracy. Transhumanism and compulsory human trials are the norm, not the exception
12	Transylvania: Vampire exists and have conquered Eurasia from their East European roots. They won dominance over the Werewolves in Europe, but they still continue to resist the vampiric oppressors. Vampire have the advantage of being able to create new vampires at the whim of a bit, whereas lycanthropy is only hereditary. Technological level is ~1950ies.
13	Atlantis: The Ancient Astronauts left earth during the Antiquity, taking off with their into the stars. 1947, they came back and declared Australia to be the new Atlantis. They have enforced peace on the whole planet and warring parties have been known to be disintegrated into thin air. Every year, 666 willing candidates are taken into the stars and never come back. Technological stagnation without wars mean technology like the year 2000. Ancient Astronauts' technology seems to be magical.
14	Al-Kīmiyā: During the middle ages, Persian and Arabic scientists discovered ways to treat the Black Death and could easily take over a decimated Europe. The Democratic Califates Union now spans over all North-Africa, Europe and Near-East and borders with the Indian Mughal Empire and the Russian Orthodox Empire.
15	Draconia: No big bad meteor hit earth to extinct the dinosaurs. Some of them evolved into the Dragons. Using their magic, dragons created elves, dwarves and other humanoid beings. Around 10.000 years in the past, humans started to appear and have spread all over the world and prosper in each of the Dragon Empires
16	Azteca: advanced blood-magic techniques have allowed the Aztec empire to conquer most of the american continent and send back the Europeans into the ocean, not without stealing their technological wonders. Currently, while the Europeans power fight for their colonies in Africa and Asia, the Aztec Empire prepares to invade them using their flying pyramids. Advanced blood magic and Napoleonic technology level in Europe and Russia
17	Pace: Here, all humans live in harmony with nature, in small societal structures, independently from each other, without technology. The clan delegate can speak with the spirits of nature to ensure that everyone is healthy, well fed and happy. Weapons are unknown. Wrath of nature is the only natural danger.
18	Tyberium: Instead of immigrating to the united states, Nikola Tesla gets recruited by the Soviet Union and develops Tesla-coils based weaponry. Nazi Germany never attacks further east than Poland, but conquers Western Europe and North Africa completely. The US annex Canada. A peace treaty is signed between the main 4 powers (US of North America, USSR, Nazi Germany, Japan Empire) but evolves in a ruthless cold war with shady alliances.
19	Echo: This world runs very similarly to ours, but with a 555 years delay. Right now, the most important man on the world is a visionary, an artist and scientist named Giovanni Da Rambaldi, working for the Duke of Florence, but way ahead of his time. He might be the first to pass through to an alternate reality without creating a Quantum Rupture
20	Earth Prime: Our world, which has been infiltrated by agents from Earth Second and their technology. They spy on us, destabilize the main powers and field test the worst of their technology in our reality

Quantum Rupture

It is possible to "slide sideways" to another reality, when possessing the correct brain chemistry (which can be attained through zen meditation) and willing your body to get through (the sudden change of state from complete zen to absolute willpower is the hard part of sliding). Those two requirements are the same as for Psi powers.

It is also possible to tear temporarily cracks in the fabric of reality to pass through to the reality on the opposite side of the icosahedron, but these cracks never heal fully and could lead to the complete destruction of all realities linked on this icosahedron.

Feedback ?

So, do you have any feedback on these "worlds"?

Is there a world you think should be included but is not here?

Would you like to play in such a constellation of worlds?

Would you be interested in more content for this in Zine format?

Please be kind and answer in the comments !

GM's Binder 01 - Tutorial for new Brewers

 What's GMBinder?

GM binder is a site that helps you create and layout homebrew rpg content.

You'll find the site at www.gmbinder.com

It is mainly oriented towards easily emulating D&D5 layout, but can be used for quite other different styles. Doing D&D5 is easy, so we will only talk about this in this tutorial.

Why use GMBinder?

If you are completely new to the layouting process of a book, RPG book being even harder to layout, it is a good place to start.

GMBinder uses markdown for its primary content which is quite easy to learn, and allows you to use CSS and html for layouting purposes. Those skills are easy to develop using free online tutorials and can be a great asset on your resume (C.V.), so it's definitely not "lost time"

Hey ho ! Let's go !

First you'll need an account. I won't show you that, you're not that stupid...

1. Create a new document

There is a button for that on the top right corner of the page


a) In the popup window, give it a name (you can change it later). I'm gonna make a book version of one of my blog posts.

I am a premium user, so I'm not sure if you can edit the document setting, but if not, it's OK to use the default anyway.

b) Just save the document settings.

2. Erase everything

You should read the stuff there before, but what you need is a fresh start.


Create your title

a) Click on snippets



b) Select "Part Header (PHB)" ant then click on "Insert"




c) Type in our document title after the "#" and your subtitle after the "#####"
In my document it will be :


<div class='partpage'>

# Fingal's Cave
##### Real places in RPG 05

</div>



small explanation:
outside of the <div class='partpage'> line starting with a # will behave like an HTML <h1> and
line starting with a ##### will behave like an HTML <h5>.
In our case, the class "partpage" brings a few extras (like centered text and the nice image around the title)

After the closing of the div, on a new line, add this text <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> (the number of times you need to insert <br> may vary)

It is not the best way to have the text not written under the title image, but it is the easiest one. (the better way is to use some <div>-tags)

4. Write and organise your document

Now start writing your document.
Start the Main categories with a "## " at the beginning of the line, and their undercategories with a "### " at the beginning of the line.
You can go further down through adding another # after that, up until 6#, but you probably won't need that much layers.
If you don't like one layer, let's say what the GM binder shows with ###, you can always just skip it.
What is important is CONSISTENCY ! All your titles at ##, and all your subtitles at ##### is OK, as long as you keep it consistent


5. Add an image
Click again on snippets and select image
the following text appears in your editor side:
<img src='image_url' class='image-location-top-right-bottom-left'>

Replace the 'image_url' part with a link to your image (you need to host it externally - i recommend imgbb.com, but there are several good alternatives)
Add in the tag : width='320' to have your image exactly the size of one column (if the image is too high, you can resize the image changing the 320 value)


In my document, the code looks like that: <img class="image-location-top-right-bottom-left" src="https://i.ibb.co/k1dy6fd/7-X-1-Strange-Marches-OD-D-Cover.png" width="320">
 
6. Create a column break
You can add a /columnbreak manually, to skip to the next column at a moment you deem appropriate. GM Binder's does it automatically (most of the times at least), but not really at the best point.
Try not to have a header or subheader alone at the bottom of the page, insert the column break before...
You can also add a column break with the snippet button or with the shortcut Ctrl+. (or Cnd+. on mac)
On a new column, if you are on the first page, you might need to add this text <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> at the beginning of the column too.


Create a page break
Once your second column is full, you need to enter a page break to go over to the next page and continue there to write.
You can add a /pagebreak manually, to skip to the next page or /pagebreakNum to skip to the next page AND give the actual page a pagenumber.
Those can also be found as snippets and can be added with the shortcuts Ctrl+; (or Cnd+;) and respectively Ctrl+' (or Cnd+') on a US keyboard (I know for a fact that it's different on a german keyboard)
8. Create list
That's easy: just put a star (*) at the beginning of each line of the list for an unordered list (bullet points)
For an ordered list (numbers), uses the corresponding button, five buttons farther to the right from "Snippets"


9. Insert a table
That's the trickiest i'll show you today.
It's not particularly complicated, but it's time consuming...

a) There is a snippet for that (actually 2). Go there and select "Table".

As a default, the following text appears:

| d8 | Loot |
|:---:|:-----------:|
| 1 | 100gp |
| 2 | 200gp |
| 3 | 300gp |
| 4 | 400gp |
| 5 | 500gp |
| 6 | 600gp |
| 7 | 700gp |
| 8 | 1000gp |

First line is the table header.
Second line describes the orientation of the text in the table (|:...:| means centered, |:...| means justified left and |...:| means justified right)
each following line is a line in the table.

b) what about 3 column tables ?
You will then need to add manually pipes (|) to each line to have a 3 column table.
example:

| d8 | Loot |Magical?|
|:---:|:-----------:|:---:|
| 1 | 100gp |no|
| 2 | 200gp |no|
| 3 | 300gp |no|
| 4 | 400gp |no|
| 5 | 500gp |yes|
| 6 | 600gp |yes|
| 7 | 700gp |yes|
| 8 | 1000gp |yes|


With those basics, you should be able to create your first documents.

For details and cool shenanigans, i'll probably create new tutorials!

Have fun !

Create RPG stuff and share it !



For the ZIMO community, I've done a workshop on video, a kind of tutorial, of the basics of GMBinder:

I'll do another one with more advanced stuff next week, so if you liked this one, tune in next week to learn how to use GMB for any project, not just D&D stuff !

[OSR] Real places in RPG [5]: Fingal's Cave

 Fingal's Cave

Fingal's Cave is a sea cave on the island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, which is uninhabitated and known for its natural acoustics. 

It is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed basalt columns, which are similar to the Giant's Causeway's (in northern Ireland).

The cave is named after the hero of an epic Poem by James Macpherson, and is supposed to have started building the giant's causeway between Ireland and Scotland.

"Fingal's Cave on Staffa - photo by dun_deagh (Flickr)

Caves

Our human relationship to caves has always been very dualistic: It was probably the first habitat where our ancestors took refuge, but it is also a place where one of our oldest enemy reigns quite undefeated: Darkness.

It is no wonder that our first instinct as a human when encountering a cave is to want to secure it, from wild animals, enemies, or even bad weather. 

Does our survival instinct want us to purge that dark place? Is that the reason why dungeon delving is so popular?

Deserted?

The Island of Staffa, belonging to Scotland, is unsettled.

Is it because of the Cave?

Is it unsettled or unsettled by humans?

What could live here?

Trolls

My first association with this place was that it must be a troll's lair.

Probably a troll eating lots of fish, since there seem to be no source of mamals-meat in the vicinity...

But I imagine hardy settlers trying to conquer this island only to be gobbled by this ancient troll. Who amasses the belongings of the settlers in his cave... Which in turn brings more adventurers to his door.

A kind of antic "delivered food service", on a very unregular basis.

Pirates' Lair

Those villains might even be of the lazy type:
Shipwreckers!

Everybody knows it's not safe to sail in sight of the desolated island of Staffa, but it is a much shorter route to reach Ireland, so audacious captains may try their luck to gain half a day of sea time (this is completly invented - just so you know).

Since the island is supposedly deserted, if a fake lighthouse at night seem to shine on the island, captains tend to think they have arrived in sight Little Colonsay and its quiet coves...

What happens next is a boat stranding on shoal, and a horde of pirate coming to finish of the crew.

The pirates then move their loot into the labyrith town made of cave complexes carved of the basalt.

Sea singers

A very old and interesting part of marine folklore, sea singers can be great enemies for a seafaring party. They don't have to be bad per se, though. But they also can be flesh-eating manipulative merfolks that look pleasant to the eye.

What happens if a PC falls in love with one of those "monsters"?

And what do you do with the offspring?

In any case, if there is treasure at Fingal's, king of the Sea-Elves, to be found, you'd better have a lot of potions of water breathing at the ready.

Door to another place

A cave can also be an entrance. It could lead to different kind of places:

• A volcanic underwater realm bathed in warm slightly sulfuric waters, where alguae produces light and filter the water. What civilization could live down there?
• The lair and resting place of a gigantig sea serpent. It attacks a ship from time to time, but it also feeds the Jörmungandr, the world serpent that prevents the oceans to fall of the edge of the earth.
• The entrance to the watery part of the underworld, where you need to go if you want to petition a drowned person. And you really need to ask Captain Ahab how he tamed that megalodon that is drowning the fleet of good King Agassiz...

OSR

Since I post these musings under the tag of OSR, i might give you a table.

Some of the ideas are taken from the article, other are new stubs to kickstart your imagination (if the picture was not enough)

D20	What is this place?
1	Entrance to a secret pirate society
2	Lair of Jörmungandotir, offspring of the World-Serpent
3	Antechamber of the court of Fingal, king of the Sea-Elves
4	Marketplace for humans and an underwater civilisation
5	Lair of an immortal fishing troll, last known companion to Sherkhan the Mad Archmage
6	Slumbering place of Fingal the Accursed, formerly builder of bridges between continents
7	Door to the murky and dark underwater underworld
8	Lair of a vicious and tidiness-obsessive Water-Dragon
9	Church of cultists praying to the deep ones
10	Place where sea singers come to the surface to seduce land-dwellers
11	Door to an underwater volcanic realm of wonders
12	Birth place of the Cyclop, son of Poseidon
13	Laboratory of a crazy geomancer - with a love for basalt (and golems)
14	Basalt portal leading to the alien quarter of a dwarf city
15	Reunion place of the Assembly of the Masterless Basalt Golems
16	Abandonned empty mining site of black pearls and basalt soul-stones
17	Entrance to the Basalt-Labyrinth where lay the wellspring of stone-to-flesh-water
18	Entrance to the palace of the Medusa, owner of the last teleportation circle
19	Former abode of the demigod Basaltus and lobby to his Forge
20	Sea-faeries bank of the lost memories. Each one is stored in a basalt column

If you need crazier results, roll a few D20 in order and make it the history of the place. Good luck tying up those lore tidbits together.

I hope this place has jogged up your imagination and that you will use it in one of your games.

If you do, i'd be glad if you could leave a comment to tell the adventure.

Real places in RPG post series

1. Living tree root bridges
   
2. Cats' alley - Medieval cities & fire
   
3. Harihar Fort - endless staircases, fortifications & magic
4. Eternal Flame Falls
   
5. You are here
6. Die Rakotzbrücke or the Rakotz / Devil's bridge
7. Izadkhast Caravanserai
8. Majlis al-Jinn Cave

[OSR Sci-Fi Horror] Sample Art

Quick and dirty Art

You might remember that I teased a new OSR project, last week.

The design crew (that's me and a friend) has decided to go for a very OSRish approach, not only concerning the rules, but also the Art which will be included in our next RPG.

I wanted to present you some of the Art I've developped for that game, because i'm kind of very proud of it.

The Setting

The setting will be a planet of horror, settled by a satanic cult who achieved to break some Seals, align the stars, or create an arcane apocalypse (no one really knows, and those who know... don't tell...)

CyberDemonPunk

So it's a futuristic setting, with cyberpunk elements (don't think only of chrome, but more of very powerful megacorporations, poluted ecosystems, and galactic misery apart for the top 0,1%), with black magic, and demons. No Angels, no other arcane powers than the dark art.

Yes it will be pretty bleak.

If you think of Doom, right now, yes, that's a major influence (along with Blade Runner, Transhuman Space, Dead Space, and a bunch of others)

The (quick and dirty) Art

I've spent a day developping a method to create Art quickly and used it for the Art you are about to see.

I'll probably make a tutorial out of my method, once the game is out.

The first art took a while, but now I need less than 2 hours for each image (and would take much longer to make it "undirty" - #StillLearning)

You can find those images on ArtStation too, where I also will add newer art pieces, later on (and will not add them into this post)

The firedemon

Wreaking mayhem and playing fire in a plaza? Yes, that's a typical fire demon

The Chainsaw-Massacre-Demon

This is probably gonna be our Cover. This is the first art piece I created.

What noise could have troubles this Demon? I'll wait for your answers in the commentaries

The quick and agile Demon

 

Most of the life on the planet is settled deep under the earth. These swift jumpers are rarely seen not in packs, and are a bane for travellers.

Demonic Infighting

 

Demons would not be demons if they were not bickering under themselves. It's always a good thing for the colonist when they steer their anger at each others...

The Patrolling Cyborg

  

Cyborgs are human brains implanted in a robotic body. There is no reason for anxiety, they are mentally stable and not prone to PTSD or loss of humanity. Never. Not at all. Remember these are the good guys.

And good guys go to bars, don't they?

The sad Cyborg

 

Why is he sad? He's working in one of the few places over the surface of the planet, at the equator.

Well why do you think he's sad?

That's all for today!

As always, comments are welcome (and I normally publish them quickly - no bots allowed here though...)

[DIY/OSR] D10 Table: Who profits from the troubles? 2020 RPG blog carnival - random encounter tables

Who profits from the troubles?

Thomas Bewick - Wood engraving from a Robin Hood book - 1795

Buisiness as usual

We all know the drill. You arrive at a village at the edge of the civilised world. The atmosphere is gloomy, the good folk is suspicious of strangers and the town elder comes to you as soon as you get your beer at the obligatory tavern.
This village has a problem. And you are here to solve it, because your are the heroic protagonist of this story.
Still, researching in the village you happen to find out that a group or a person is profiteering from the troubles in the village.
It can be related to the story or a red herring, that’s up to the DM, but it brings depth to the story.
It's the kind of encounter that allows you to flesh out a settlement, presenting new NPCs and clues to follow, while improvising...

So who profits from the troubles?

D10	Profiteer
1	A cleric of an infamous god has declared the troubles to be announcing the end of the world! He is quickly recruiting desperate villagers into his apocalyptic cult. Will the PCs resolve the troubles swiftly enough to prevent a mass suicide?
2	A travelling peddler offers goods at prohibitive prices that are ideal to resolve the troubles. He doesn’t seem to have anything else for sale. Fortunately for him, demand is high and he’s the only one stocking these items/services
3	A local druggist sells very cheaply small hemp dolls to protect from bad luck. At first it works well and their owners are safeguarded from the troubles. But soon they turn pale and look exhausted. The druggist appears to be younger by the day…
4	The lord of the barony downstream delivers free food and help, while bad-mouthing the local holder of the authority, who is away on a diplomatic mission
5	A caravan of merchants from the neighbouring duchy has installed their camp near the village. They offer "relocation-serfdom-contracts" to those who lost everything to the troubles. That particular duchy has not abolished slavery, but the villagers do not know that...
6	An archmage from BigTown upon GreatRiver arrived and proposed to eradicate the problem. As a reward, he only asks for a small favor: to be allowed to raise the dead and use them as workforce for the next 10 avernian years
7	A hero pretends to be able to resolve the troubles by himself “for free”  IF but only IF the whole village swears to praise his name at every occasion, declare their unlimited admiration for him to every out-of-towner & rename the village after him. Maybe write a song about his heroic deeds, too?
8	A band of adventurers claiming to have cleared an unholy temple near Troll-Forsaken-Hamlet offers their protection for a hefty sum to the isolated farmhouses. Sure they bleed the farmers dry, but nothing happens to them anymore. Only Old MacDonald who wanted to terminate his business relationship with them was brutally hit by the troubles only a week after booting them from his farm…
9	The main political adversary of the lord mayor always arrives first on any site hit by the troubles and sow clues implicating his rival. Who informs him of the incidents, though? Is he an accomplice of the Baddies™?
10	Doctor John Georges Darkfist asserts to protect anyone from the troubles, all you have to do is sign (in blood) a contract surrendering your shade to the doctor, but only if you were to die within the next 50 years (small print nullifies that clause and specifies that the shade is the resting place of the soul)

Acknowledgement:

This table partly stems from a discussion on a french discord channel, on the discord from CasusNO, which has now taken it's own life. Half of the entries are mine, but a big thanks for their entries to :

• Loris 
• Boulash
• AsgardOdin 🦉

RPG Blog Carnival: What is that?

Blogger carnivals are a way for a group of bloggers to all simultaneously write about the same topic. They are a great way to build community and dialogue across many different blogs at once.
This benefits fans and readers of those blogs because they have the opportunity to explore lots of different viewpoints in a short period of time.
It also benefits the bloggers because they get new readers to stop by. It also helps with SEO. Everyone wins.

Our host this month is www.geeknative.com

RPG Blog Carnival: My point of view

I read about this online and loved the idea. I had already posted something on this topic at the beginning of the month, but I decided to created this post from our little brainstorm on discord, to bring more stuff to read to the table. And I really liked the entries on this D6-democracy (that bloated a bit over 6 entries).
And since i'm a dumbass, I had not seen it is about ENCOUNTER tables...
So i'm a bit off-topic - but not completly, since all these are also possible encounters, in the broad acception of the word...
I guess i'll have to work on  proper encounter table until the end of the month

[OSR]D66 Manifestations that evil is lurking

D66 Manifestations that evil is lurking 

 Konrad Lykosthenes - 1557 - Woodcut from Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon

Introduction

I read a lot of modules, lately (some are even reviewed on this blog) and what a lot of them lack is backstory. Our good hearted murder hobos are always looking for evil to fight it. But how does that evil manifest?

Manifestation?

Well, your basic villager won't call it a manifestation. They might name it the mark of the devil, a bad omen, a curse, or anything superstitious-sounding.
And unless your characters witness the phenomenon (another word the peon won't use), it's all hearsay... Who knows what right, how inflated the rumor was and whose interest it serves if it's a plain lie...
Anyhow, roll 3D66 and start building your dungeon/encounter around those 3 manifestations!

D66	Sign that evil is around
11	River turns red
12	Wells smell of rotten eggs
13	Moon is orange and bigger
14	Cows die and explode
15	Sheeps attack humans and try to eat them, showing blood injected eyes
16	Cats gather around. They seem to discuss or plot something
21	Graveyard's earth is turned over. Every. Morning.
22	Fishes fly out of the water
23	Skeleton of mammoths & dinosaurs roam aimlessly the countryside at night
24	Crystal balls stay milky & unreadable
25	Tarot readings always uncover 1) XII: Death 2) XV: The devil 3) XXI: The tower (longer readings show 4) XII: The hanged man 5) 0: The fool [you are the fool!])
26	Wine turns to vinegar after one hour of opening a bottle
31	Crows fly loudly around the village?
32	All cats’ fur slowly turn black, a shade of gray every day (we all know there are 50)
33	Kids start to grow white hair
34	An enigmatic wind covers the village with a snow of ashes, falling from midnight to sunrise
35	The wells and rivers dry out, although it rains every day
36	Everyone’s shade seem smaller and greyish instead of black
41	The moon stays full, every night
42	Rats swarm the city during the night. Cats don’t go out or get savagely rend
43	Rain of frogs. Most of them even survived!
44	Domestic animals give birth to mutated offspring (missing limbs, double heads and so on)
45	Anybody drinking alcohol gets a crippling headache the next day
46	Swarms of flies bother anyone and their livestock
51	Everyone's pee is reddish (maybe beetroot fest was last week?)
52	Everyone wakes up at night from nightmares
53	Every day, at 11:11 am, it hails for 11 minutes
54	The sky shows "northern lights".
55	The whole sky is clouded, all the time, except for a hole around the sun and a halo around it
56	The village is surrounded by 5 cloud masses, with lightning going from on to the next (forming a pentagram in the sky)
61	The water of the nearby lake is green and bubbling, stinking of rot. All fish in the lake died
62	Flocks of fireflies mask the glow of stars because of their numbers
63	Gigantic mushrooms grow overnight. They are inedible
64	Every night, freezing rain makes the ground icy and dangerously slippery until noon
65	It rained blood. The blood is rotting now
66	Every night, a commoner is turned to stone. His or her face shows a state of ecstasy

Do you miss any kind of ill omen in this list?
Then, add it in the comments!

Edit: Well, apparently, Phil Viverito was missing the 2 following strange occurings. He posted that in the comments on mewe and I decided (with his accord) to post them here, because they are great ideas !

1. 1 out of 100 doors does not lead to the space visible or reasonable congruent area beyond the doorway. Sometimes, entering one door will allow access to a different home in the village. If these entrances go someplace outside of the village, no one has come back to complain.
2. When it rains, some puddles are 6 feet deep. Others appear to be deeper, but no one knows how deep because that person never surfaces after falling in.

Check his blog at https://www.theseoldgames.com, there is a lot of cool stuff there, too !

Somewhere else

If you want to knwo "what's the deal with this town", I recommend this blog post by archons march on

Small challenge !

If you create an adventure or dungeon based on this table, I would try to layout it nicely with GM Binder and publish it here on the blog ! (and do a bit of editing, if you want that too)
C'mon ! Let's use this table !