Daily Zen-

My Homepage

If a fleeting thought conjures the whole,
How can I describe Reality in figures?
While empty moonlight on the water shows everything,
The mirror of No Mind reflects only Nothingness.

- Baekoon Kyunghan (1299-1375)

Cross-Pollination-

Superhero Necromancer's fine blog is back in action, HERE.

[Playtest Campaign] 19th, March-

Roughly two weeks after the fall of the house of Ahzenbakh and the dispelling of the Shorrannin-induced psionic delusion of the goat demon/green flame, the Governors of Doran have re-located to the old Ahzenbakh mansion, having granted the old Governorial mansion to lady Miren, who has changed her last name to Sovalt. In the exchange, Miren Sovalt has been made the Dean of the Governor's Academy, and the unused rooms set up as dorms for the most excellent students (comprised both of orphans of the pirate attack, as well as children of the entitled and wealthy eager to have the best education [read as: status] afforded their progeny).

Business dealings have brought the purchase of much of the island by the Guild Council to the Governors' attention, and a reception was held by said group in the hopes of securing their favour/capitulation. It was an interesting set of conversations as deals were made to have the Guild Education system integrated with the Academy, in exchange for a cut of all profits from Guild business. Likewise, Mela Mela's apothecary businesses and weapons shoppes have been brought into the fold, as it were, with Mela now an official Doctor of Medicine, and the author of the Pharmaceutical Purity Standards (as well as fronting her own independent regulatory investigations agency of the industry). Tyb also met Marnharnnan businessmen who were affiliated with the Kherstic League (possibly undercover), who urged that the Governors make the effort necessary to purchase and protect frontier parcels on the mainland. Mela was approached by a Marnharnnan woman who identified herself as an agent of the Marnharnnan Defence Agency, and asked Mela to make the trip to a region of the Riverland Peninsula to aid in diagnosing and treating an unknown illness growing to epidemic proportions.

With Mela and Darius off to the mainland, Tybalt (actually Tybylt based on the meaning of his name, --my mistake. I'll have to go back and edit all of these posts with the incorrect spelling.) and Ashta were preparing to set off on the journey to the realm of the Shlzm who transported the Sphere to the Shadow Plane to further 'her' self-repairs. To this end, Tybylt travelled to visit the Sphere, and encountered some extremely long-limbed creatures fascinated with the scintillating 'pearl' in the deep glooms of that realm. The Sphere stated that she would be well enough to get underway (save low fuel) in a matter of hours. Upon return to the Mundane Realm, Tybylt [Oh, look, a squirrel! ;p ] decided to launch his anti-smuggling operation in earnest, and affected a cover identity, Yihi ('Ending Song'), a flautist of moderate renown.

Setting off, he studies outside talent and determines that a former Guild Council assassin, gone freelance and worked over for her infidelity, was the best choice in the region, and hires the woman. She now goes by the name, 'the Swan'. Their first circuitous and wending ploy is to procure an extant smuggling operation. Surface investigation brings them to a small rocky island only large enough for a few dozen warehouses, brothels, and stables, with a periphery of moored boats serving as the rest of the town's services (inns, taverns, shops, etc.).
-- >> The merchant to be whacked is in fact the good and loyal individual, and his lover/partner is the one with the gambling debt that is dragging the business down. Yihi and the Swan bail on that plan and as they are discussing their next move, there is a knock on the door. Special Investigators from Doran are there to arrest Yihi. Tybylt/Yihi grabs Swan and uses his shadowy powers to E&E from them. An illusion later, and the last member of the team is thrown off their actual location and Tybylt and Swan drive off with the carriage occupied by some unknown person, whereupon he purposefully wedges the transport into an alleyway too narrow to open the doors, and they dip on the horses until they send them in different directions. The two find a sleazy inn operated by a former player's first character (the psychopathic scumbag in the adventure detailed in the earliest Dragonsfoot-link =---> posts), and stay there just long enough to Plane Travel via Shadow, back to Doran. Tybylt drops his guard and lets slip a few references that allow Swan to realise who he really is, and she then informs him that the reason she went freelance was because the last Guild contract she'd been given was on him, roughly two months prior (post-pirate-attack).

Ymyk, the LGS co-owner's character (the one with the alternating personalities due to a bad dual brain mutation), locks himself in a closet in the new mansion until Tybylt and the Swan arrive (introductions all around), whereupon Ymyk takes Tyb to the gambling house he (as the crime boss identity, Zhakun) owns, and the underground complex annex rife with newly-set traps protecting the subterranean warehouses. Ymyk hands the whole operation over to Tybylt (as Yihi) [still with me?], who accepts once he lays down righteous smack upon an enforcer who looked to be the most trouble of the bunch. Another thug, Kleph, loses a few fingers on a scythe-blade drawer trap, but has the new boss to thank for one of Mela's regeneration potions (it will still take weeks to fully regrow them, but they will regrow). Introductions of the work crew are made, and each is re-interviewed for by Yihi.


I totted-up the Glory sums for the characters, with (no surprise) Tybylt clearly in the lead, with Ashta about 2/3rd his junior, and Mela next by a fair margin.

The tandoori food was yummy. :)

Update 19th, March-

This Week's Top 5 List of Stuff-

* Intro/Overview of the game, Die-Rolling Conventions, and the obligatory What is a RolePlaying Game?

* Putting the Fight in Fight Dice

* Duty, Glory, and Honour as the social-currency of the system (Playtest starts this session).

* M. Thomas' Aroshi critter write-up

* I am currently working on the South East section of the map of the Marnharnnan continent, as that is the section most applicable to my Playtest Campaign.


Tandoor lunch planned for the game. :)

[RPG] Random Appearance and Distinguishing Features by Ethnicity-

Copyright (c) 2009, 2010 Kyrinn S. Eis

Appearance & Description-

##.Skin-......Hair-....Eyes-.........Distinguishing
.....................................Features-
18.True Black.White....Red...........Long Chin, Pointy
.......................................Ears & Nose
17.Blue-Black.Silver...Pink..........Wide-eyed &
.......................................High Cheeked
16.Aubergine..Dk Grey..Steel Blue....Chiselled Features
15.Dk Grey....Raven....Deep Blue.....Smooth Complexion
14.Blue-Grey..Lt Grey..Ice Blue......Sharp Features
13.Lt Grey....Peppered.Dk Green......Lean yet Soft
12.Grey-Brown.Sable....Md Green......12 Fingers & Toes
11.Chocolate..Auburn...Lime Green....Narrow Face
10.Cocoa......Chestnut.Hazel.........Long Neck
09.Dk Mustard.Dk Red...1Green/1Brown.Long Arms or Legs
08.Mustard....Black....1Green/1Blue..Heavily Freckled
07.Dk Tan.....Red......1Blue/1Brown..Ropey Musculature
06.Tan........Orange...Hazel.........Webbed Hands & Feet
05.Ivory......Rust.....Amber.........Independently
.......................................Focusable Eyes
04.Lilly......Dk Blond.Orange........Claws
03.Pink-Tan...Honey....Lt Brown......Fangs
02.Red-Tan....Sunshine.Brown.........Move 2x on 4-limbs
01.Maroon.....Golden...Dk Brown......Gills
0-.True Red...White....Black.........Subdermal Chitin

* Dokirin: 2d6-02 any of Skin, Hair, Eyes for any of Skin, Hair, and Eyes, 2d6+04 Distinct (1x)

* Durn: 2d6+6 Skin, 1d6+6 Hair, 1d4+7 Eyes, 1d6+12 Distinct (3x)

* Khark: 2d6-02 Skin, 1d6+6 Hair, 2d6 Eyes, 1d10-01 Distinct (2x)

* Khem: 2d4 Skin, 1d6+04 Hair, 1d12+1 Eyes, 1d12+06 Distinct (1x)

* Vrun: 1d6+1 Skin, 1d20-02 Hair & Eyes

* Western Isles Vrun: 1d4+02 Skin, 1d20-02 Hair & Eyes, 1d12+06 Distinct (3x)

* Yaesh: 1d10-01 Skin, 2d6+06 Hair, 2d8-02 Eyes, 1d20-02 Distinct (1x)

* Yirinn: 1d4+2d6-01 Skin, 1d12+01 Hair, 1d10+7 Eyes, 1d6+12 Distinct (1x)

:: Subject to change

Romance Monsoon & Mutant Scavengers of the (not so) Ruined Earth-

Check this [censored] out.

I heartily approve. :D

[RPG][General] A brief aside, and More on Fight Dice-

With too few players available this past Friday, there was no game.
--Instead, after the SO got off work, we played Guillotine, which I greatly enjoy.

This morning, after breakfast, I had her roll up a Villains & Vigilantes character, and I then rolled one up for a silly, 'stop the super crooks' fighting scenario.
--I think she was more entertained by my character illustrations and the 'funny voices' than anything inherent about Powered individuals, anti-heroes or villains.
---The duo are the Frienemiests! -- Friend/Enemy Feminists:

* Danger Jane: 'Like the Punisher, but a chick.' -- her quote.
* Chequer: My Woman of Colour super-charisma, street-fighter with her own brand of energy-drink-soda. 'Chequer Cola, I love it!' -- With a Charisma 37 selling it, you'll love it too. ;)
---

Okay, that silliness aside, let's get back to Fight Dice that do the fighting.

I'm still too heavily invested in my 2d12 action mechanism to abandon it, but I've thought about rolling the Fight Dice alongside them, taking the highest roller of the FD to add to the 2d12s. This would make their inclusion of immediate value not only in the Strike, but also in the Damage, as every block of 5 greater than what necessary to Strike results in a Critical iteration:

1st +5: Maximum damage
2nd: Maximum + 1 rolled
3rd: Max. + 2x rolled
4th: Max. + 3x rolled
etc.

So, rolling a 5 or 6 on the highest Fight Die will generate a base-level Crit on an average roll of 13 versus a non-combatant-type (an unarmoured individual [AC10] in d&dish terms), and it only increases from there, with a rolled 30 (24 from the 2d12 + 6 from the highest d6 FD*) is looking like 17 over the non-combatant-type 'to-hit', resulting in Max. + 2x rolled damage. Ouch.

So, if I were to adopt this routine, multiple FD would nudge the Strike results ever closer toward Crits, without adding a lot of maths, as only the highest FD result would be added.
--I like this idea, as it plays with the positive probabilities without assuring high-FD creatures/characters vicious Strikes and Damage, meaning that a 0- or low-FD creature could still theoretically hold their own against a brute -- but not making this 'likely'.

Using this method would replace the FD# as a flat addition to Strikes, although Ability Score (and other) mods would still factor.

* = Shrimpy critters would be rolling d4s, Humanoids rolling d8's, and truly monstrous things would be rolling d10's or higher.

Thoughts?