The gods are angry and I don't care !!!

This is a tiny bit rant and a lot my own experiences in gameplay and world-building:

Over the last two days I have been having a discussion, a disagreement really, on YouTube with a vlogger. The disagreement was about the place of gods in a campaign and their role in granting clerics or paladins their "spell" abilities, etc.

The video I was responding to was about how to world build. The vlogger maintained that one creates their world from the top down, beginning with the gods of the world. Top down world-building is one approach, but it is not the only one. Bottom up campaigns work, too. Many world begin as tiny sandboxes with no thought about the gods of that world. Over time the sandbox may grow and details like that fall into place as they are spontaneously or choice-fully revealed after that world has begun its existence. I have no problem with top down design. Granted, that may mean starting with gods, but not necessarily. This was my initial assertion, as I stated that one of my campaigns has no gods in it.

As the discussion progressed, I pointed out that clerics and paladins were allowed to gain "spells" in the 2e Complete Cleric's Handbook & the Complete Paladin's Handbook without worshipping any deity whatsoever. They could choose to follow an ethos, force or cause. Alternately, they could do the usual thing and follow a deity. They could gain spells from the deity they followed or by a natural force, greater being (non-divine) or just through dint of their personal faith in their cause/ethos. The vlogger was adamant that was not possible, even though I quoted the Complete Paladin's Handbook sections that stated these things. He maintained that would be a game design flaw.

Some people may think that clerics and paladins gaining their abilities without divine assistance is a game design flaw. I believe that would be a matter of personal preference, as there is no Uber-rule of RPGs that states one or the other is permitted and the other is verboten. I consider the vlogger's opinion to be that: an opinion. I find that limiting just what can and cannot be allowed by a GM is fictional rules lawyering or close-mindedness. I challenged him to expand his notions of these things, but he remained unconvinced.

It is not that I wanted to convince him, of the correctness of my opinion, rather I wanted him to see that it has been done before and that the things we disagreed upon were really personal choices, not the unshakable foundations of Atlas upholding the world. It's OK to disagree on anything game related.  No one has to agree with me, but I also do not want to be told what I can and cannot do in my own personally created game world. As a real world example, which is translated into game settings such as Kara-Tur,

While my next statements are not a precise exposition of a particular "religious" philosophy,  I thought of the classic Theravadan Buddhist monk and how that makes an excellent game example of what I positing. They worship no gods. Even if the gods exist, according to Buddhism, they are also subject to Karma, Maya, and interdependence, etc. So where does a real world monk's mental and moral strength come from? Where do the abilities that some have to control their bodies in ways that most cannot? From the Buddha within, which is not some external being, but the state of being and non-being, itself.

This convo did not upset me, but it brought me into contact with something that is the antithesis of what the gaming community on Google+ and Facebook is all about: rulings, not rules.

My special world, Sylvaeon, exists without gods. It does have great beings, but there are no divine strictures on how clerics or paladins may function within their normal abilities. I feel in matters of world-building and its effects upon characters, that the GM and the dice should roll as they will.

Jeffrey
(DM Retro)

Fairies of Autumn

Autumn in Sylvaeon is both a time of solemnity and celebration.
As the leaves turn with all of their majestic colors, it is a time of fading. The flowers and leaves depart for a time, from Autumn into the season of dying, which is the Winter. Yet, with the withering of the blossoms and the falling of the leaves, the magic of Sylvaeon is not diminished. Each petaled flower, each fallen leaf is but a fairy waiting to be freed again, only to come back in the Spring.

As they are released, the beloved little friends come before She-of-Auburn-Hair for that season's celebration with all of the citizens of the Seelie Court.

She-of-Auburn-Hair greets each one with a kiss and a gift. The time for festivity and preparation for the long Winter begins...

Effects Using Polearms

This is a woodcut showing an unhorsing during a joust!

I like the shattered lance that the unhorsed guy got on the opposing knight. If he hadn’t gotten unhorsed while doing so, he would have won the round for the fact that his lance splintered striking his opponent.

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Draft of Custom Attack Style(s) and Effects Using Polearms for RuneQuest 6 (and similar percentile rulesets) by Jeffrey Osthoff

Factors that affect the game mechanics of using polearms against an opponent in combat:

1. The polearm has what is called a Very Long reach.

2. When parrying against a hitting attack by a polearm, a successful parry with a Medium-sized weapon deflect half damage; Short weapons deflect none. Weapons of Large size or greater deflect all damage that a polearm would have inflicted.

3. A successful “attack” with a set polearm causes doubled damage to a charging opponent.

4. An attack with a polearm against a mounted opponent that is a critical success is eligible to have the Effect of “unhorsing” or dislodging the mounted opponent from their mount if the attacker so desires. This is done by hooking the opponent with the polearm, concussing the rider, etc. as the attacking character chooses.

5. However, the mounted character with a remaining action point can attempt to parry with a Large-sized weapon or great er OR uses a Dodge or similar manoeuvre can avoid the forced dismount if they are also critically successful. Damage done during the attack is treated as per #2 above.

6. A fallen rider also takes any applicable falling damage caused by the forced dismount.

7. Any remaining actions that a fallen opponent has are lost for the rest of the combat round.

 

8. If charging with a polearm or using it set, any damage caused to the weapon by a shield, parry, etc. counts against the weapon's own hit points and may cause it to break. Damage caused to an opponent by impalement may also cause further Incapacitation as per the Impalement Effects Chart on p.147 of the RuneQuest 6 rules book.

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This is just a draft and there are a few things I want to add, remove and refine about it. Any comments, criticism or help is appreciated!

-Jeffrey

First Run in Allterra Game

Late last night, I was able to run Duke Barclay and Kyrinn S. Eis through a few hours of an alpha version of my Allterra fantasy faux-China setting.

I have decided to combine the setting name into one, and it is now: Legends of the Celestial Empire.

The PCs visited a city portion of the setting.

Ichiro Daiku (Duke's foreigner, a Japanese Samurai) and Shen Mei Xiu (Kyrinn's Martial Artist, a native to the empire) are the very first characters to play in Allterra and in my setting specifically.

What does WFRP have to do with China?

my recently (re-)acquired WFRP 1st edition hardback

Yeah, what does Warhammer Fantasy Role Play have to do with China?
To be honest, not a whole lot, unless you take the weird fantasy elements of WFRP, mix in Kung Fu movies, a bit of twisted history, some gonzo from Big Trouble in Little China and mix them all together. I will be giving some more teaser information in an upcoming post.

That is going to be some of the flavor of my Allterra Project setting: Legends of Wei - The Celestial Empire. It is a fantasy faux-China setting.

Allterra is a shared settings "world" which will have several GMs. Each will run their own setting, with PCs transferable between settings. My portion of the Allterra Project is humming away.  I am currently working on game mechanics and my sandbox setting, itself.

Allterra will run on several different game systems, with characters converted back and forth for transference between settings, if need be. Allterra will also be Flailsnails Compatible. Indeed, if it were not for the original Flailsnails Conventions, this in-progress project would possibly not have even been conceived. In this regard, much is owed to those original masterminds, Flailsnails GMs and players that have participated in it. I have enjoyed Flailsnails games much myself. It is in that spirit that I am hoping Allterra will give back to the Flailsnails community by being Flailsnails Compatible.

In fact, Brother Damien Bernard, my now 5th level Cleric, was made specifically for Flailsnails. I used the Lamentations of the Flame Princess: Grindhouse Edition to generate Brother Damien. As a retro clone, the LotFP system had the feel of weird fantasy to it, so I chose it above others.

an interior shot of the score I got for 20 bucks...and it's a first GW printing straight from the UK!!!  (Click for a larger image)

With Legends of Wei: The Celestial Empire, I want to impart a flavor that is a bit sweet and sour ;)

The influences that I choose besides those that come from my own head are an important factor, so I guess that is what Warhammer Fantasy Role Play and a host of other things have to do with China.

(more to come...)

Judges Guild Goodies

Recently I made a score of some related Judges Guild publications for Runequest.

All three were in the original shrink wrap and in near perfect mint condition! It was a thrill to unwrap a "new" Judges Guild product after so long.

I got them at a decent price, so it wasn't as painful as purchasing some of the more sought after JG products. You can click on any of these images for a larger view.

Of special interest to me was the "main" of the three-pack: the City of Lei Tabor.

To be honest, I had never even heard of this one before. "Back in the day" there were some good rule systems/settings that I never got to play, because either I didn't have the loot to get them or no one I knew played those systems. With my acquisition of the Avalon Hill Rune Quest Deluxe boxed set and

Lei Tabor, I have a mini campaign in my hands.

What is interesting about the City of Lei Tabor is that is what I would call the Runequest equivalent of the excellent Judges Guild City State of the Invincible Overlord. At 96 pp, Lei Tabor packs just as much of a wallop as City State, as regards publication size. Similar weirdness, encounters and places to get into trouble at in Lei Tabor are given in a similar manner as how City State was set up. The best part about that format for Lei Tabor is that it is much cleaner and has a larger type font than CSIO did.

The contents of the City of Lei Tabor read just like you would imagine a Runequest City State would: History, Map, City Night Life Encounters, etc.

I will be using Lei Tabor as a template for one of my Allterra Project places of interest. Hopefully I will get as much bang-for-the-buck from these three Judges Guild products as possible.

Spring in Sylvaeon: Passing of the Seasons

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In Sylvaeon the season has passed from Winter to Spring.

One character, Smyrynel, witnessed the rite of The Passing of the Seasons. This druidic rite occurs at the equinoxes and solstices. During these times, the most powerful druids of the Realm gather to pass the Staff of the Seasons from the keeper of the prior season to the druid that guards and guides the next.

The druid Mellion appeared to Smyrynel as she was tending the earth planting pine seeds at the end of her retreat to the cave shrine at the Shattered Cliff.  Mellion transported Smyrynel in spirit to the rounded pavilion set in a secret glade. The pavilion serves as the focal place of the ritual of The Passing of the Seasons and The Staff of the Seasons serves as the focal object.

When Smyrynel first saw Mellion, who had finally arisen from his period of Winter sleep, he held the staff. It had ice and snow upon it, but they were melting. At the top of the staff, amidst the ornate carving, were small unopened buds. Once they had arrived to the place of the ritual, Smyrynel saw the pavillion covered in snow. Around the pavilion were standing stones similar to what she had seen before. A snowshoe hare hopped in the snow beneath the pavilion. A cardinal sat in the bare branches of an oak tree. The scene was quiet and serene.

Eventually, druids robed in various colors marched in procession into the sacred grove, taking their places around the pavilion in a ring. Mellion ascended the steps to the pavilion and held up the staff, announcing that according to the ancient custom that he would now pass the Staff of Seasons to the one who would guide Spring. A woman garbed in a robe that shifted slowly across the color spectrum, which created scenes of Spring bloom and life upon it, ascended the pavilion with Mellion. Mellion held out the staff to her, which she took. Covering his head with his cowl, Mellion left the pavilion. The woman let the cowl of her robe drop, revealing that she was an elf. She held aloft the staff and it instantly began to bloom. The snow melted almost instantaneously from the pavilion as the tree budded fort and tender leaves came from the buds. Birds began to fly under the pavilion and chipmunks and other animals seemed to be foraging. The scent of earth wafted into the previously sterile environment. As a brief, gentle rain passed through the pavion, the smell of ozone filled the air.

Now, with the passing of the seasons, the woman left the pavilion and the druids turned to acknowledge Smyrynel with a short bow. They filed away as they had came. The simple but important ritual was complete.

Spring has come to Sylvaeon once again.

(In honor of Spring, I have also changed the blog theme from Winter, back to a Spring one.)

The Paladin's Guide to Reforming Goblins

The Paladin's Guide to Reforming Goblins
(a lesson in training goblinoids from Session #10 of the Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon)

Previously, thirteen goblinoids had surrendered to the party at the Moon Well. Great evil had been wrought under the leadership of the goblin shaman, as the Red Moon was summoned.

The problem that the party had was that goblnoids had never surrendered before. In the past they either fought maniacally to the death or ran away to fight again another day. Some of the PCs wanted to kill them outright anyway, but Sir Parcifal decided that an attempt to reform the goblinoids should be made.

The party marched their prisoners to the Warden Outpost. Once they arrived, Parcifal began the process of reeducating the goblinoids. One spoke the common tongue, so he was the go-between for the Paladin and the rest of the creatures. The Sword SIster Airyka spoke their tongue, so she made sure that everything was as Parcifal said. She also helped oversee the dastardly little devils and maintain some semblance of order when things would go wrong.

In a conversation with the  only of the unlucky 13 goblinoids that could communicate with him, Parcifal discovered that they did not understand the concepts of hope and freewill; knowing only fear, servitude, strength and weakness. As a man of virtue, Parcifal began to lecture the goblinoids about ethics and civilized concepts, during which the goblinoids stared blankly at him. One even fell asleep. Later, the green-black miscreants became even more bored, because they had no mischief to do. To relieve the monotony, they began to poke each other with sticks or knock one another over the head with rocks.

Seeing that this approach was not working, the Warden Master GIldaril suggested that Parcifal give the goblinoids the task of building their own shelter somewhere outside of the Outpost. Parcifal took a risk that eventually turned out to be a wise decision: he marched them to the river to resettle them in an area somewhat removed from the Outpost. It was risky, because the little terrors were not under the direct supervision of the Wardens anymore.

Gibble, the goblin that spoke the common language, announced that the thirteen had decided that they wanted to build a fort, like the Wardens had. Parcifal agreed and gave a hatchet to Gibble with the instructions that Gibble would give it to the one most capable of using it -  Gibble announced that he was and raised it in triumph, announcing that he was now the leader of the thirteen goblins, at which they all cheered. At last, the goblins set to work in a pathetic attempt to replicate the fort. Airyka had to teach them how to cut and drive small trees into the ground as post and how to make lean-to shelters as places to sleep. The goblins renewed their efforts, taking to the work gleefully.

However, during the night, the goblinoids began to fight amongst themselves again, as there were only 6 shelters built and there was thirteen of the goblins. Only 2 could fit into a shelter at a time, so one hapless goblin was kicked out of every shelter and decided he was going to drag one of his brothers out of a shelter, so that he would have room to sleep. Airyka had to break up the fight and made another shelter. Now everything seemed to be alright… but it was not, because later in the night the goblinoids were fighting again about who would et single occupancy of the new shelter. The next day, Airyka made sure that each of the malcontents had made their own shelter to sleep in and that solved the problem.

After some days of working, a five foot high post wall was created and a wooden gate attached. The goblin fort was ready! Working together finally made the goblins more of a team and there was less trouble over time.

Once the fort was finished, Gibble asked if the goblins would continue to receive rations from the Wardens or if they could have weapons and go hunting. Airyka was a bit concerned about giving the little greenies weapons, but Gibble convinced Parcifal to lend them a dagger so that they could sharpen makeshift spears for themselves. Parcifal allowed the goblins to go out in pairs. Because their were thirteen, the goblins drew lots using darker and lighter stones, determining which one would remain behind at the goblin fort. Parcifal approved, as the goblins were showing increased signs of community and less aggression when conflict or self-interest came into play.

Charging them not to go more than a day's journey away, Parcifal released the pairs to go hunting. Some did not return that night. Parcifal rode off to find them the next day. He found some sleeping in the woods, no more than a day's journey away. Upon seeing Parcifal, they waves and showed him the squirrels they can hunted, chattering at him in their incomprehensible language. Hoisting their kill, they marched confidently back to the fort without being told to.

Upon seeing that it might be possible for the goblins to exist now as a cohesive community, he set up a shield with the White Rose standard of the Lady over the small gateway. The goblins jumped and cheered, because in their minds, they were now just like the Wardens and their outpost.

Before taking leave, Parcifal charged the creatures with a few simple guidelines, which Gibble scratched into wood with his claws. Parcifal said he would return sometime to check on them. The goblins waved goodbye to the paladin and the sword sister and began their new existence as semi-reformed goblins.

Hopefully they will not cause too many problems in the future  ;)

More Recent Additions To The RPG Collection

I have had many issues purchasing from IPR which I will not go into detail about here, but I am happy that I FINALLY got my copy of A Dirty World. This Film Noir-type game has simple mechanics. I hope to play it soon! This is a 70pp,  about digest-sized printing and it really is a beauty.

The Wilderlands of High Fantasy purchase may come in handy with my Sylvaeon campaign in several ways.

Firstly, I love this Judges Guild wonder and I could easily use most of it straight up as an easy way to generate encounters when my brain goes dead. JG stuff is the goodness! I am very pleased with this purchase... besides some minor wear, the thing is in great shape and is as usable as the day it was printed!

Secondly, I am gathering resources and thoughts for creating more of my own wilderness terrain and encounter charts. I have gotten great advice from people and am scouring everything I can get the time to, but eventually I will have a way to practically let random hex generation & encounters blossom of their own accord! When i first started the Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon campaign the Wilderlands of High Fantasy was one of the first things I thought of and having it in my grubby hands I remember why!

Session #8 in the Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon

The events of session #8 in the Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon were perhaps a hallow victory for the party.

click for larger image

The last session ended with the encounter with the goblinoids back in their home turf and also with the mysterious "Old Man" (see previous post). The wizard, Kelvin the Curious was still wreathed in the black flames cast upon him by the Old Man. Trying to put the flames out in the snow availed naught. The black fire was not burning Kelvin's skin, but was consuming his very essence, so he called upon the aid of his Wyrd to cause them to subside.

Night now descended as the waxing crescent of the Silver Moon rose. Deciding to move on towards the North, where a few of the goblinoids had escaped to and where the Moon Well that was reported to be in peril lay, the party pressed on into the darkness. Soon a strange phenomenon that none had seen before illuminated the Northern skies. A red aurora that seemed to sometimes have the shape of a dragon from the old tales lit up the night. Smyrynel's Kite companion returned with a message that "new" Wardens would meet the party... and Sedgewick the giant snowy owl arrived shortly afterwards to confirm the message that wardens would join the party to the North.


During the night, whole families of animals were seen to move through the forest to the south, fleeing the direction that the PCs were moving towards. After a brief daytime rest, the party continued to follow the tracks in the snow of the fleeing goblinoids, who made no attempt to cover their escape, but were moving post-haste deeper into their territory. During the day as large black cloud swallowed up a flock of hundreds of crows that were also fleeing from the north. As night descended again, the red aurora was seen again and the aurora pillar was originating just up ahead of the group.

 Coming upon the Moon Well clearing the PCs heard the cries of "Lady have mercy!", as to their horror the beheld the burning sacrifice of an elf and a chanting goblinoid shaman... and to the polluted moon well which had become the center of great evil caused by the green-black menaces. Some goblinoids worked to mine slag while others heated it in a huge kettle. An eight foot tall hulk of their kind was pouring the boiling mess into a hole in the moon well ice, as another hulk tried to push down one of the giant standing stones around the moon well. Yet another standing stone near the shaman and his grim sacrifice had been turned into a totem. It has been augmented with large, bat-like wings and a red moon crescent was painted upon it in the elf's blood.


The party decided to split into three groups in order to attack the three main congregation of creatures... rushing in on horseback, they had the surprise!

Airyka and Brynn, the two sword sisters fought one of the hulks and several lesser goblinoid and had a tough melee against them. One sister was pounced on the hulk, while the other dispatched the other goblinoids, but ultimately it took them both to take down the foes together.

The male paladin, Parcifal tried to save the elf, but was blocked by the alpha Black Wolf that he had encountered once before and grudge battle between them ensued; swords and teeth flashing! Kelvin was "called out" for a wizard duel by the Shaman and it got pretty nasty after spells were exhausted - the shaman kicking the Wizard with his clawed feet, biting and trying to knife him!

Oban the Ranger and Smyranel the female elven paladin/druid rode across the frozen moon well, avoiding the horrid red aurora pillar at its center. On the other side they faced two of the black wolves, which brought down Oban's horse. The miners were entangled by Smyranel in the wintered thorn vines that snaked across the lower forest floor. Then the hulk began to pound mercilessly on Smyranel as she sliced it again and again. Oban shot arrows at the hulk to further wear it down and managed to kill one of the wolves that had caused him to have to leave his horse.

At the end of the battle, tall men with fair skin and blondish hair, dressed in heavy chain mail and furs
(quite unlike the usual Folk of the Realm) came crashing through the woods, killing goblins that were fleeing into the clearing from them.

Eventually only the alpha Black wolf and one of his pack members escaped... before the shaman was dispatched, it cackled and pointed to the sky, saying it did not matter that he lived or died because "he now comes"... the "he" being a large red light in the sky that was larger than a star.


The moon well is still tainted as the evils of the goblinoid tribe continue their course... there is a new red light in the heavens.... an unknown group of new humans has arrived on the scene... what will next week bring?

Players Hex Crawl Map of Sylvaeon

This is the world as the players know it after six sessions in the Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon

Love, Romance & Fantasy

Love, Romance & Fantasy
(I posted this on my old blog, but for Valentine's Day I thought it might be nice to repost it here)

There are lots of books and movies that combine romance and the fantasy genre. One could easily have chosen Labyrinth and gotten extra points for mentioning a movie that has an “L” name, but I had to “go with my heart” on this one. So, I chose to star this post with my favorite romantic fantasy/comedy: The Princess Bride.

Every time I watch it I want to engage in a Chatty Duel, storm the castle and do inconceivable things! I laugh, I cry (manly tears, of course!) and the tale never gets old. Other stories have hilarity, lovers’ spats, adventure and obstacles to overcome in pursuit of True Love, but none intertwines Fantasy in them quite as wonderfully! The tale feels like a romantic D&D adventure. 

(Note: The videos – except the last one – have “embedding disabled by request”, like half of the things on YouTube these days, so double click on them if you wish to watch them in YT, sorry)

I could go into the characters in The Princess Bride, but the romance and tension between the main characters, Westley and Buttercup are really what makes the movie a Fantasy Love Story. I guess I am a romantic sap or something, because even though I know the “Real World” doesn’t always quite function this way, I still believe in the mushy ideals of The Princess Bride.

My first serious girlfriend was a Roleplayer. I introduced her to D&D when I was 17. I would play my gritty hack-n-slash character with The Boys. I am sure my character in that game wasn’t very romantic at all. However, my girlfriend I and would take time to have intimate 1-on-1 sessions, where either of us would be the GM. My character in “Our Game” was romantic, playful and Roguish… the perfect Gentleman Scoundrel! I think it was just my teenager-almost-a-man ways coming out in my alter Ego, but it was a lot of fun. Our roleplaying sessions remind me a lot of The Princess Bride, in retrospect, but the movie hadn’t even come out yet and I was unaware of the book at that time.

"As you wish."

There is a place for romance in fantasy, however not every fantasy roleplaying game is going to have it. Because of the nature of the group and/or GM, etc. it might not be an aspect at all of many campaigns, but some do incorporate it.

When I got older, I was in one long-term campaign that had the element of romance as one of the underlying aspects. The group was composed heavily of couples that gamed together. It was funny to see how we, as couples, gamed when things were not going so well at the time in our relationships. Little jabs and such might happen across the gaming table, but nothing severe. I still laugh to this day about some of the things that happened. The dynamics of real life romances at work in our game – even if it wasn’t always sunshine and roses – was sometimes just like in The Princess Bride.

A little laughter, a little tears, a little romance, a little fantasy is good for the soul.

As I end this post, I wish to bring to your attention Storming The Castle. I own it and enjoy it very much.
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