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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

[RPG] UWoM Blood Magic-

Hi,

I am starting to weigh the pro's and con's of various magic systems I have created over the past ten years, and am currently trying to retain the most D&D-friendly, while still Urutskan, system for the game.

Blood Magic can be blamed directly on Groakes (a subscriber here and a friend from Mike's Moorcock's Miscellany site) when he gave the extant .pdf version a whirl and created a character and a critter, and fought a sample battle.
--It was just the kick in the seat that I needed to solidify the setting's unique qualities, and so I am trying my best to make it my best effort.

So far, I have tentatively rejected my d6 constructive die pool method, due to recent development on my Spectral Index (semi-unified-mechanic colour chart abomination) which operates on an index of one of 16 ratings with a 2d12 roll in place of the flat d100 rolls I had been using.
--Both have their strengths, but I think the 2d12 is fastest and most D&D-friendly, which actually does matter to me. Since both contain the same Colour Logic, it really is simply a matter of design aesthetics.

What I can tell you so far is that the Magic system will be based on pairings of the Sanguine Elements and one of the six character Abilities (Conviction, Agility, Fighting, etc.) in a manner similar to Ars Magica or the slightly pared-down version found in the ultra-rare Lords of Fantasy rpg from the '90's, in which a magicker would combine, let's say, Create and Air to do something defined by what Create entails, and what Air is and can do. However, tying it to the sixteen Sanguine Elements and pairing them with the six Abilities will give a bit more internal consistency to the system's outlook on the setting.

Players of all characters would define six Blood Magics for each character that further their particular character's idiom (perhaps through Tags like, 'grizzled veteran' or something vaguely 'Narrativistic') while providing lateral development potential more than increasing one's rating in any of the six apart from 'super-powers' or the like in the Latter Autumn era.
--This would then reduce the frequency of dedicated magickers ubiquitous in other RPGs.

However, this then diminishes the connection to canned spell lists and the like, which certainly have a lot going for them.
--Hmm.

I know that some of you are decidedly interested in an UWoM that is most-compatible with D&D and the simulaclones of late, while others (Groakes, and perhaps also Rob Kuntz at this point) are more inclined to have UWoM be true to its milieu rather than attempting to shoehorn it into an ill-fitting mould. My own inclination is, of course, a happy medium between the two.

Comments, requests, thoughts?

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

An old Tunnels and Trolls character of mine...-

This game was run by my dear friend, Brian Penn, using the Minarian setting of the old TSR boardgame, Divine Right, although using his heavily house-ruled Tunnels & Trolls setup.
---

NAME: H'Yuz Almshare Ki Taanvaaq're
|>Subtlestly Wrought Power, I Proceed from Spirit, a Sylph, not of this earth, but of the Highest Ever-Wise Glory, and dispatched as [His] angel<|

6'8"; female; elf; ash-wood white skin; dark purple hair; grey-blue left eye, right eye: leather patch; thin, cold lips; somewhat disingenuous smile; Piercing gaze. Lean and wiry build.

Taanvaaq is an amazonian elven woman draped in a mottled green tunic with matching breeches. Wears mottled green leather armour; armed with a sword-breaker, and a battered scimitar. An outcast among Elves of Neuss for deviant behavior, Taanvaaq was unable to complete her Wiccan initiations, and now wanders the outlands. Prone to interest in Gunnes and Alchemy rather than vernal traipsings, Taanvaaq blew-up a powder keg she found off a frequently traveled road through the nearby glade. A child was injured, losing her hearing, and Taanvaaq was cast out. She then entered less isolated lands, and began to interact with other kindred. She has heard many snide remarks regarding Elves, and so she has become the opposite. Gregarious, not-overly witty, and has gone out of her way to befriend any willing Dwarf she has met. She has a great love of the outdoors, but is equally delighted with tools and chemicals. Her main goal [was] to become an accomplished Gunnes user, Gunnesmith, as well as an Alchemist. After a very costly trek through the Goblin Mountains, Taanvaaq pursued a warlock who had been supplying the goblins, hobgoblins, and other dark kin with weapons, armour, and bare supplies. As he had been the impetous for the killing in the mountains, Taanvaaq spared no effort in avenging the blood of her lovers and friends.
Taanvaaq launched herself off Djaks and scrambled for a few yards on all fours. By the time she had her footing, she leapt over a fallen tree and did not miss a step upon landing; leaves scattered behind her.

By raven wing I speed my flight; by wheeling hawk I learn to fight; by moon above to give me light; I pass unhindered through the night; to taste the blood of my foe's life; by fire, water, earth and sky lead me through in the Maker's might!

But to others her chant was a ravening howl that receeded into the darkness.

She pursued him into the Eastern Lands, from whence he hailed, and after slaying him in a filthy alley, discovered that he was an official to the Great King. Now with a bounty upon her head, and Immerian charges of dissertation, and possibly murder, she has made refuge in the province of Anatom.

Most recently, she founded the Order of the Blood Star, serving the king of Anatnom to search out the goblin hordes that are infiltrating the walled, mountain pass city.

---

Taanvaaq finally overcame an anti-magical curse that had befallen Anatnom which would have prevented the mystical device, the Dawn Star, from shining over Anatnom and exposing her infiltrators and enemies, had she not succeeded in empowering it through her self-sacrifice.

I later had her appear as a minor divinity who helped those who love the land, but Taanvaaq always had a frightful wild side, and this manifested in a great likelihood of her slaying her petitioner if the cause was unjust or duplicitous.

She is a bitter-sweet character to Brian, due to her suicide through which her blood was used to cast a 'wish'/'prayer' to let the watery blood-red light shine in the darkness --a recurring theme as readers of this blog may have noted.
--To me, she was my only successful player character in nearly thirty years of gaming, insofar that she accomplished her goal.

Her name, and that of her created Magicked weapons, are derived from the Vrun language.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

[Playtest Campaign] 15th, January-

Before starting the session, we hammered out Tybylt's particular sort of magic, which, at this point is still derived from canned sources, namely the 3.5 Shadow Magics, and the Warlock, but will eventually be drawn entirely from the native Urutsk 'constructive magic' rules. I've been too diffuse already to dedicate time to the magic system, and I am unwilling to write up a bunch of canned spells -- the Retros and Simulcs do that job well, as does the above edition -- but it just isn't my vision of magic, and hasn't been for decades.

After that, I had Ashta spend some of her free Adventure Points on purchasing competency in the Aelbaan Technology she has become increasingly exposed to and comfortable with, due to her partial Aelbaan ancestry (Western Isles Vrun).

I rolled my trusty d12 about a dozen times to divine a loose line of internal inquiry, in which I determined a future encounter that 'made sense' given the current situation, as well as the main point, namely, to introduce more stuff/tech for the PCs to have the opportunity to procure/purchase/trade-for, etc.

My d12 methodology is ubiquitous:

* Frequency/Intensity/Proximity of Encounters (in the extant Referee's Manual .pdf)

* Clock-overlay directions ('I've got your 6', man, now advance up to that cover and survey our 10 o' clock.') I extend this to geographic scale to determine the general continental region, and then use refinements of these rolls to determine exact origin not only at the governmental/national, etc. level, but even districts, quarters, and so forth.
--Don't mistake my organic Top-Downism for Non-Oracularism. ;)

* Intensity of Reactions, etc.

* Quality of goods, etc.

* etc.

My SO and her brother were regarding my mostly silent, unwritten die-rolling burst, and then I recapped what had happened the session prior.

While many moments in the play were notable, I will condense further, as there is so much to cover (we wrapped a bit after 1 AM, having played for at least seven hours).

* The Aelbaan sphere was utilised to assist the friendly ground forces, until a missile attack was partially deflected by Tyb, using the Wand of Plant Control, and partly due to the geometry of the craft. The payload was some sort of alchemical viscous fluid that appeared to possess both corrosive and electrical properties (in fact it is a Plasmatic Acid payload, aboard a small cruise missile).
--Using the sensors, a flight path was reverse-projected, and the firing craft, a sailing vessel about a mile offshore, was identified and set after. Much futzing about resulting in that ship going down, but only after the Humanoid crew (4) who were overseeing a literal skeleton crew (16) gave the party a bit of trouble, including the Humanoid captain using a beefier version of the Jaunt-type spell trying to scuttle his ship so as to prevent its weapon from being captured.

* Back over the island, the initial resistance by the pirates was crushed, but only at the cost of most of the local ships (including the WICE Misty Sea), and heavy loss of life. Her captain, Qeurryk, lost his left arm and foot, but was saved alive.

* Dealing with the wounded. Dealing in a cultural context with the need to dispose of the dead. During this time, as captives are being centralised, it becomes apparent that a large number of the pirates are unaccounted for.

* Accusations of individuals harbouring the pirates begins to erupt into street 'justice', and in the subsequent Truth and Reconciliation trial, dozens of names are brought up, but between eyewitnesses and sphere/probe sensor logs, fifty percent of those in question are cleared of wrongdoing, while a new thirty percent were proven to be guilty, mainly upwardly-mobile businessmen and noble houses.
--The second trial results in Tybylt's executive decision to draw and quarter by horse those found guilty of the greatest offences. Three are killed before two are ready to spill the names of fellow traitors. The entire merry Tea-Time Magical group, and all but one member of House Ahzenbakh, including the Ahzenbakh kennel master, are directly implicated. Tybylt does nothing yet to alert them of his knowledge of their treachery. At the same time, the two final to be d/q'd are instead stripped of 90% of their wealth, and exiled. Private individuals who, out of humanitarian drive, provided shelter to individual pirates (as in the case of three boys who served with the pirates) were never brought to trial.

* As a prison is being constructed, it is determined that up to 20% of the prisoners are Humanoids, and Tybylt decides to keep their number separated, and refuses to bring them to swift execution (as is the way across most of Urutsk, especially if the Humanoids have attacked a Human population centre). Instead, he has a second facility built for them, and begins to investigate the connection between the Humanoids and the pirates. This exposes the contract-work the very organised (and strangely 'civilised' [the religious leader claims to be a starship captain, and possess a following of over 250,000 of his Abbekqorru kinfolk, apart from being a Class III Phaser technician]) Humanoids had with the pirate network. A hinted-at number of agents of his are somehow able to blend in with the Human population (the Half-Abbekqorru's Humanesque ability to shape-shift, like a jackalwere).

* Salvaging sunken cargo, etc. underway with Ashta, Qeurryk, and another highly Aelbaanesque WI Vrun, Yan Tsurmen, utilising the Aelbaan sphere's TK abilities to greatly speed up and make safer the operation. Six days and all of the PMH containers are centralised for Doran's arsenal. Ashta finally bunks down after sleep deprivation begins to catch up with her.
--Instantly she is whisked away by some unknown force and brought up through the atmosphere to an Aelbaan ship that de-cloaks as she is brought inside and thoroughly interrogated as to the whereabouts of Delver Denab. She overhears that while his sheath (cadaver) had been handed over to them (see the post regarding the underground Dryvv ship sections, etc.), they cannot account for the whereabouts of his spirit. As she is being returned, one of the congress slips something into her mind/brain and she has to deal with that.

* Negotiations with the Abbekqorru leader results in his being allowed to speak freely with his leaders of hundreds and tens, dressed in full armour and weapons, and he informs his people that they are now under contract with the Governors of Doran. Plans to utilised one thousand of them for tunnel-clearing operations (to flush-out the remaining pirates) are initiated.

* Ashta struggles with the news that her prefrontal lobe is being altered by an Aelbaan protein so as to develop her latent Psionic powers (the Aelbaan are powerful psionics). She eventually chooses to have it removed and go back to being herself rather than risk being brought 'into the fold' against her choice. The operation is performed by the Abbekqorru, and assisted by Mela, but the ship, now an extension of Ashta, merely trimmed the protein chain so to, in a hypothetical future, allow Ashta to willingly activate Telekinesis.
--I explain that, in effect, Ashta can now control the craft without much in the way of conscious thought.

We held it there.

Friday, January 15, 2010

[Playtest Campaign] 8th, January-

With the DropBox testing confirming a success, I hope to tidy-up a few files and share them with you and the rest of the Interwebs. Thanks! :D

I've got the game today (to the best of my knowledge), and wanted to provide a brief catch-up on last session:

* The party returns to the first island they visited (the one with the Dryvv Shadowship/city underground), where piratical types are checking out their ship, but not doing much more than provoking their crew. Holes through the sails and other light harassing by the PCs before they and their very shallow draught ship set sail out of the Flooded Plain, back into deeper waters.

* A-ha! Except, there are pirates in the shallows, just at the bottleneck, and some combat was involved. Telekinetic weapons are far superior to cannon, BTW. ;) Minimal sinking involved, maximal show of superior force, as well as using the sensors on the Sphere to determine which of the ships was the pirates' cargo/treasure vessel (the one out in open waters, dontchaknow?), and a threatened sinking of that craft was met with compliance in allowing the party's damaged (torched and shot-up) sailing ship to escape to open waters.

* Maurvys Island was the party's switch-point where they had traded their middle-draught ship for the shallows ship. Rumours that all the ships and guns in port had been snatched up by what appeared to be a pirate attack fleet a week earlier (the party have been away from Doran now for about 3 weeks). Tyb purchased about twelve one-pounder deck guns, hired another ship of fighting sailors, and then met an out of work, decommissioned WICE tallship and her restless crew. The captain of 200 Royal Marines recognised Tyb and his countrywoman, Ashta, as the governors of Doran, and determined an equitable price for his ship's services in the defence of Doran, their former port city.

* Nearing the island, the PCs spot over 200 ships surrounding Doran, with the port in flames, and cannon upon the hill (where the noble houses are located) firing down into the warehouse district. An undersea battle with an unknown, tentacled mammal (like a tentacled narwhal) threatens the sphere, and it is dragged down by the creature until it is finally repelled. A ship is sunk once it is determined that within its hold are thousands of containers of ammunition or fuel (the PMH pellets described in the Weapons/Armour articles), with plans to scavenge it after the enemy is repelled.

* Street fighting. Orphanage set ablaze. The sphere is a tremendous psychological weapon against the pirates. Fighting in the hills. Two-headed dog hunter/killer sweep teams sent out by the noble houses. The Magical Tea Time group Tyb is part of has a redoubt protected by a big shield-type spell. Underground entrance to the Ahzinbakh noble house. Tesseract redoubt in the Escher-like labyrinth complete with robot guards.

So, that's where we begin today.

I hope your gaming goes well this weekend.

Ciao,

Testing DropBox: Please test this link...thx-


Hi F/folks,

I've decided to give DropBox a try and have loaded a copy of the newer (but still out of step) PC Control Sheet.pdf.
--Do you mind (trying) downloading it? I certainly hope it works. Building Character: Market Daze will be easiest to read in .pdf format, and I want this to work for you OS types who have given so freely of your time and effort (labours of love aside).

Thanks,

Thursday, January 14, 2010

(not) Hosting .pdfs, and how you can get a cookie!-

You see, doc, once this weird stuff was going on with my Firefox, I couldn't upload to Google Docs or even MediaFire. I have stuff to host, but don't know what's preventing me from doing so.
--Any suggestions?

"Yes. Write a blog entry asking your tech-savvier friends to assist you. Perhaps entice them with free stuff useable with their particular brand of roleplaying games. Either that or cookies. Everyone loves cookies."

Hmm... I guess you're right, doc.
--Cookies, hmm... How would I send them all cookies?

Other Blog Re-Post-

While not planning on using it myself, I thought this was fun for the types of games I read you folks dig.

LINK