I wish there was one thing, one quote I could give you that would explain how to make magic wondrous. There is not. Bummer I know, but lots of the stumbling blocks to making magic appear wondrous is too much player knowledge. Players are (if you're lucky) a curious lot. They are going to read the books (most likely all the books for a given game) because they're excited about playing. They're going to want to know what abilities their new found magic has. Here's a thought...
Don't tell them in terms of mechanics of the game. Give them details about past wielders, past exploits of the item, or maybe even no details at all. There are examples I wrote for a game here. I presented these legends to the players as plot hooks. They could choose to search for the fabled weapons.The game never materialized (real life gets in the way a lot) but the few paragraphs I did write for the magic items can easily be transferred to a different game. As I didn't write up stats for any of those weapons, I can use them in different systems too.
Another thought...
Remove spells like Detect Magic and Protection. Give serious thought about real life human perception. If you have a decent level of awareness, you know when you're being watched or followed. Sometimes on very rare occasions, an average human can even have moments of prescience. Try incorporating something like that into your games. Human senses can perceive things not normally seen. Think about the electronic din that is ever present in today's world. Most people ignore the noise as a matter of course. Until the power goes out, and it gets REALLY quiet. It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. If the PC picks up an item, they might be able to feel the thrum of power coursing thru the item. Maybe cursed items whisper to the wielder.
Think about what makes a magic item desirable. Set aside any mechanical benefit and focus on the story of the item. Would you rather have a +6 Defender short sword or The Sword of Kaz? The next time a PC finds a magic item, don't immediately roll for what it is. Decide instead on the vibe the item gives off. When the PC picks it up for the first time, is it relaxing? Does it fill them with feelings of trepidation? Is that other worldly shine on that blade because it's magic or just amazingly well crafted.
Magic that you don't know about can be very wondrous. The PC finds a small trinket in a pile of treasure. Carrying it with them, they wouldn't know that it could absorb a fireball spell, until an evil wizard casts it at them and the spell fizzles. Later while getting ready to bed down for the night, they notice their trinket is shrunken, wrinkled, and sort of grey.
To shorten what could be a lengthy ramble by me about different magic items, I'll just say...
The narrative, story intensive leanings of the gaming community lately can work in your favor with regards to magic. You're the GM, hang the mechanics and have fun. The less your players know of how you make the sausage, the better. If you don't tell them their bright shiney new long sword is just a +1 weapon, you can have it save their bacon when they really need it. Wondrous magic cannot be defined, it must be experienced.
I'll see you next month on the Carnival.
Happy Gaming!
Friday, February 15, 2019
Monday, January 28, 2019
The world of Caldera
In my January contribution to the RPG blog carnival, I put forth that maybe a mideval world arranged like the Ancient Greek city states would be interesting. If you go back and read some previous posts, you might have figured out that if my brain latches on to something, it chews on it relentlessly. So...
Almost immediately ideas started spewing forth from the chaotic swirl of grey bumpy stuff in my skull. This is how it actually happened in my head.
Each city state would be located in a huge caldera. There will be a lake in the bottom. The outside slopes of the caldera would be incredibly fertile farmland. Some of the calderas will have notches cut in the sides from where the water escapes the caldera, some will have underground rivers. Of course any DM worth his dice is now asking himself "What caused the calderas in the first place?" I had a brain fart. Took me about an hour of bouncing ideas off the wall before I found something I liked. The calderas are the leftover scars from a war between Earth and Fire Elementals.
Moving on to Gods in the world. I wanted to stay as far away from the standard D&D god model as possible. Each city state would have a patron goddess. All divine entities are female in this world. At the top of the goddess ladder is Gaia. She gave birth to the four Elemental goddesses. It was at this point, I got a little tripped up again. I didn't want the patron goddesses to be as raw as elementals. Now we come to the Ur, the first ones. There are an infinite number of Ur goddesses. This gives the DM and the players the ability to create a goddess for anything.
I still don't know where the idea came from, but I grabbed it and ran with it. The ocean goddess died or was captured during the elemental war, her sister the river goddess is despondent. The consequences of this is that the oceans of this world are teeming with monsters. Ocean travel is not safe or advised. Sea monsters are going to be fun. What if some of the calderas are filled to the top with water? Would monsters live in those? Is there some way the monsters could leave the caldera? Maybe an underground system of rivers. Oooo, an entire Underdark under water! Time to break out Dragon magazine #267. :-) Aquatic Drow?
At this point I remembered a couple of maps I doodled a few weeks earlier.
Now I have 3 continents for the world. With that much open ocean, I'll have plenty of room for undiscovered, secret, and lost islands. (I have since filled in the maps even more than they are here)
AAANNNDDD... While typing up this post, I had a few more ideas.
Aquatic Drow need to be tribal and wild. Sahuagin will be bigger and more savage. The only way to traverse the oceans is in giant armored ships. I'm thinking waterbourne, mechanically inclined dwarves. They hunt the sea monsters and mine Ice diamonds from ice bergs.
Currently I'm still thinking up goddesses and coming up with city state names. I just had to get this out of my head to make room for more.
Happy Gaming!
Almost immediately ideas started spewing forth from the chaotic swirl of grey bumpy stuff in my skull. This is how it actually happened in my head.
Each city state would be located in a huge caldera. There will be a lake in the bottom. The outside slopes of the caldera would be incredibly fertile farmland. Some of the calderas will have notches cut in the sides from where the water escapes the caldera, some will have underground rivers. Of course any DM worth his dice is now asking himself "What caused the calderas in the first place?" I had a brain fart. Took me about an hour of bouncing ideas off the wall before I found something I liked. The calderas are the leftover scars from a war between Earth and Fire Elementals.
Moving on to Gods in the world. I wanted to stay as far away from the standard D&D god model as possible. Each city state would have a patron goddess. All divine entities are female in this world. At the top of the goddess ladder is Gaia. She gave birth to the four Elemental goddesses. It was at this point, I got a little tripped up again. I didn't want the patron goddesses to be as raw as elementals. Now we come to the Ur, the first ones. There are an infinite number of Ur goddesses. This gives the DM and the players the ability to create a goddess for anything.
I still don't know where the idea came from, but I grabbed it and ran with it. The ocean goddess died or was captured during the elemental war, her sister the river goddess is despondent. The consequences of this is that the oceans of this world are teeming with monsters. Ocean travel is not safe or advised. Sea monsters are going to be fun. What if some of the calderas are filled to the top with water? Would monsters live in those? Is there some way the monsters could leave the caldera? Maybe an underground system of rivers. Oooo, an entire Underdark under water! Time to break out Dragon magazine #267. :-) Aquatic Drow?
At this point I remembered a couple of maps I doodled a few weeks earlier.
AAANNNDDD... While typing up this post, I had a few more ideas.
Aquatic Drow need to be tribal and wild. Sahuagin will be bigger and more savage. The only way to traverse the oceans is in giant armored ships. I'm thinking waterbourne, mechanically inclined dwarves. They hunt the sea monsters and mine Ice diamonds from ice bergs.
Currently I'm still thinking up goddesses and coming up with city state names. I just had to get this out of my head to make room for more.
Happy Gaming!
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
January 2019 RPG Blog Carnival: In My Campaign: Divine World Building
I am again intrigued by the RPG Blog Carnival.
January topic: Divine World Building
This topic speaks to me. This is usually where I start building new worlds. It should be noted that at any given time I have 3 operationally active worlds going in my head. No, I won't go into all of them, just the just the nuts and bolts of how to get there. Most people I know start with a map, I prefer to start with the pantheon. This will inform my placement decisions for population, ancient threats, etc...
What I am going to discuss, is how the gods you create can do most of the heavy lifting for you in your world building. I ask questions and then answer them. This process helps me to get the ball rolling and ideas flowing.
Ask yourself: How many gods are there for your world? Answering this can tell you how many lands and races are on your world.
Will there be one god your pantheon springs from, someone they answer to? Are they all equal in power? Do they fight? Think about the ancient Greeks. Multiple kingdoms each worshipping a different god. Some were allies some were enemies. If they fight, are they separated by natural obstacle or great distance? If obstacle, then what kind? Several kingdoms separated by mountains would make for an interesting map.
If you're having trouble coming up with gods for your campaign, try looking at the creation myths from the ancient cultures of Earth. Again I would refer you to the ancient greeks. If you find you don't have the time or inclination to read about them, there is a show streaming called "The Great Greek Myths" excellent resource. Ancient Greek myths tell us that first there was Gaia the Mother Earth. She and Uranus the Sky had four sets of children. The Titans, the Hekatonkheires, the Cyclops, and the Giants. Most of us know what happened next, the Titan Kronos ruled over the earth only to be imprisoned by his son Zeus. But what happened to Gaia's other children?
Determining what creatures and cultures came before the gods in your campaign can tell you what remains of their civilizations, creating some of the dungeons and ruins your PCs can explore. There is another resource out there that can help with that too. Look for How to Host a Dungeon. It's a solo game to help GMs create dungeons for adventuring. By changing what civilizations are available and expanding it from the dungeon level to a world, you can determine where ancient ruins are on your world.
Figuring out how involved the gods are in your world can also assist you in world building. Are your gods engaged with the populations on your world or are they aloof and uncaring? Do they walk among the inhabitants? Do they use the races of your world as pawns in a larger scheme? If they're benign and helpful, did they provide active assistance or merely guidance? Answering these questions can give you artifacts and magic items for your world. In one of my worlds, the goddess Rane gave her followers a sheaf of silver plough blade that brings bountiful crops. Her sister goddess Rale helped her followers by gifting them a silver scythe that tells them when it's best to harvest and helps preserve the harvest.
Battles between deities can give interesting geographical features or areas of special interest. Magic dead zones, permanent storms, recurring natural disasters. Say the father of your pantheon kills a legendary dragon in the distant past. The dragons body get covered by a forest, all the trees in the forest no longer have leaves, but instead have dragon scales. The Elf kingdom living in the forest harvests the scale leaves and makes armor out of it... OK, so I was watching Black Panther while I wrote this. So sue me. :-)
Dead or forgotten gods can provide you with ready made campaigns. I'm currently designing a campaign around the Greyhawk deity Tharizdun. Tharizdun was imprisoned by the other gods because he wanted to destroy everything and take the universe into chaos. Move forward to present day, and Zuggtmoy has co-opted all of Tharizdun's abandoned temples. With the help of the infamous Iggwilv, the evil queen of fungus now hopes to unleash a spore storm upon the world. The PCs have to find each of the temples and destroy them before Zuggtmoy can complete the ritual.
These are just scratching the surface of how creating a pantheon can help you build your world. I could go on, but I need to go work on some stuff for my campaigns. So I leave you with these few ideas, in the hopes it will inspire you and spark ideas of your own. I'll be back next month with February's topic. Making Magic Wondrous.
Happy Gaming!
January topic: Divine World Building
This topic speaks to me. This is usually where I start building new worlds. It should be noted that at any given time I have 3 operationally active worlds going in my head. No, I won't go into all of them, just the just the nuts and bolts of how to get there. Most people I know start with a map, I prefer to start with the pantheon. This will inform my placement decisions for population, ancient threats, etc...
What I am going to discuss, is how the gods you create can do most of the heavy lifting for you in your world building. I ask questions and then answer them. This process helps me to get the ball rolling and ideas flowing.
Ask yourself: How many gods are there for your world? Answering this can tell you how many lands and races are on your world.
Will there be one god your pantheon springs from, someone they answer to? Are they all equal in power? Do they fight? Think about the ancient Greeks. Multiple kingdoms each worshipping a different god. Some were allies some were enemies. If they fight, are they separated by natural obstacle or great distance? If obstacle, then what kind? Several kingdoms separated by mountains would make for an interesting map.
If you're having trouble coming up with gods for your campaign, try looking at the creation myths from the ancient cultures of Earth. Again I would refer you to the ancient greeks. If you find you don't have the time or inclination to read about them, there is a show streaming called "The Great Greek Myths" excellent resource. Ancient Greek myths tell us that first there was Gaia the Mother Earth. She and Uranus the Sky had four sets of children. The Titans, the Hekatonkheires, the Cyclops, and the Giants. Most of us know what happened next, the Titan Kronos ruled over the earth only to be imprisoned by his son Zeus. But what happened to Gaia's other children?
Determining what creatures and cultures came before the gods in your campaign can tell you what remains of their civilizations, creating some of the dungeons and ruins your PCs can explore. There is another resource out there that can help with that too. Look for How to Host a Dungeon. It's a solo game to help GMs create dungeons for adventuring. By changing what civilizations are available and expanding it from the dungeon level to a world, you can determine where ancient ruins are on your world.
Figuring out how involved the gods are in your world can also assist you in world building. Are your gods engaged with the populations on your world or are they aloof and uncaring? Do they walk among the inhabitants? Do they use the races of your world as pawns in a larger scheme? If they're benign and helpful, did they provide active assistance or merely guidance? Answering these questions can give you artifacts and magic items for your world. In one of my worlds, the goddess Rane gave her followers a sheaf of silver plough blade that brings bountiful crops. Her sister goddess Rale helped her followers by gifting them a silver scythe that tells them when it's best to harvest and helps preserve the harvest.
Battles between deities can give interesting geographical features or areas of special interest. Magic dead zones, permanent storms, recurring natural disasters. Say the father of your pantheon kills a legendary dragon in the distant past. The dragons body get covered by a forest, all the trees in the forest no longer have leaves, but instead have dragon scales. The Elf kingdom living in the forest harvests the scale leaves and makes armor out of it... OK, so I was watching Black Panther while I wrote this. So sue me. :-)
Dead or forgotten gods can provide you with ready made campaigns. I'm currently designing a campaign around the Greyhawk deity Tharizdun. Tharizdun was imprisoned by the other gods because he wanted to destroy everything and take the universe into chaos. Move forward to present day, and Zuggtmoy has co-opted all of Tharizdun's abandoned temples. With the help of the infamous Iggwilv, the evil queen of fungus now hopes to unleash a spore storm upon the world. The PCs have to find each of the temples and destroy them before Zuggtmoy can complete the ritual.
These are just scratching the surface of how creating a pantheon can help you build your world. I could go on, but I need to go work on some stuff for my campaigns. So I leave you with these few ideas, in the hopes it will inspire you and spark ideas of your own. I'll be back next month with February's topic. Making Magic Wondrous.
Happy Gaming!
Friday, December 28, 2018
The Ravensvale Coven
For anyone curious about the process I use when designing stuff...
Sitting here this morning, drinking coffee and surfing twitter. One of the many humans I follow on Twitter, a certain Madame Hyvemynd posted a little something of her life in Japan.
"Japan: Where gangs of old people wander through the neighborhood on winter nights, banging two blocks of wood together, as a way to remind residents to be careful with their oil/gas heaters and not burn their houses down."
Normally I not nearly focused enough in the mornings to give serious thought to anything. (Welcome to the life of a coffee zombie) However that one sentence sparked an interesting thought. Not having anything resembling mental discipline this early, I answered her with...
"There is background for a ttrpg town there..."
Almost immediately, my non-caffeinated lump of mildew laden gray matter spit out this...
"I'm thinking the old witch in town, on the eve of the full moon. Wanders the streets clacking two pieces of wood together, as a reminder to residents to lock their doors and shutters. Because a Night Hag wanders to town on the night of the full moon."
It didn't take long for that idea to romping off on it's own, opening up ancient story ideas I have filed away in the kludge of unrealized hooks and adventures that occupies the library dwarf living in my cranium. So know I ask you to picture and short, harried looking individual. Scurrying around a room, piled high with old books, small scraps of paper, and general untidiness. This is the great library of ideas and snippets that is my brain. In bursts an anemic looking clown that begins riffling thru all the stacks of paper, and starts stuffing random pieces of paper in it's mouth. The dwarf looks startled at first, then calmly picks up a trash can and catchers mitt, sedately waiting for the inevitable avalanche of the recently created wild idea that just wandered in...
The Ravensvale Coven
At the foot of Bushka mountain, in the region of Kharkusch, lies the small village of Ravensvale. If the PCs stop for resupply and rest, they might notice a few strange things about the town. First, there are no male children in the village. Yes, there are few older men, but none of them is under the age of 15. Second, all the children in the village wear masks depicting goblin faces. They never take them off. The PCs can ask anyone in town why all the children wear masks, and the locals will only point towards a small hut at the edge of town.
Approaching the small hut, the PCs will notice a wisp of smoke rising from the chimney and the pleasant scent of heavily spiced rabbit stew wafting from the disheveled dwelling. Should the PCs knock, a short, very plump old woman that calls herself Corrina will invite them in for tea. Corrina is actually the Faerie Queen Titania in disguise. During the course of their visit, Corrina will tell them of the Crazy Old Hag Dorothy Doorknobs, that lives on the mountain. The Old hag commands an army of goblins. The Hag has the Goblins watching all the villages in the area, looking for unattended children. If the children are spotted by the goblins, Dorothy will visit that child's house and spirit them away in the night. All the parents in the village hide their children from the goblins by giving them masks of Goblin faces to wear until they reach puberty.
So far, that's all the fluff I've come up with. What is actually going on is...
Dorothy Doorknobs is Baba Yaga. She lives in a cave, high up on the mountain. Baba Yaga has imprisoned the Erlking (The Goblin King) and is using his power to turn children into Goblins for her army. Before she managed to imprison him however, he managed to curse Baba Yaga. She can longer go out of her cave as Baba Yaga, she must forever appear as Dorothy Doorknobs, a crazy old crone that will do nothing but scream obscenities and throw doorknobs at anyone caught on the mountain. This adventrure is just starting to coalesce in my head space. I know there will be a variety of Hags to battle, maybe a Wytchfire, and lots of Fae to deal with. The PCs will be asked by Corrina to free the Erlking and free the village of the murderous Goblins.
Here's to hoping it inspires some ideas of your own. So until next time...
Happy Gaming!
Sitting here this morning, drinking coffee and surfing twitter. One of the many humans I follow on Twitter, a certain Madame Hyvemynd posted a little something of her life in Japan.
"Japan: Where gangs of old people wander through the neighborhood on winter nights, banging two blocks of wood together, as a way to remind residents to be careful with their oil/gas heaters and not burn their houses down."
Normally I not nearly focused enough in the mornings to give serious thought to anything. (Welcome to the life of a coffee zombie) However that one sentence sparked an interesting thought. Not having anything resembling mental discipline this early, I answered her with...
"There is background for a ttrpg town there..."
Almost immediately, my non-caffeinated lump of mildew laden gray matter spit out this...
"I'm thinking the old witch in town, on the eve of the full moon. Wanders the streets clacking two pieces of wood together, as a reminder to residents to lock their doors and shutters. Because a Night Hag wanders to town on the night of the full moon."
It didn't take long for that idea to romping off on it's own, opening up ancient story ideas I have filed away in the kludge of unrealized hooks and adventures that occupies the library dwarf living in my cranium. So know I ask you to picture and short, harried looking individual. Scurrying around a room, piled high with old books, small scraps of paper, and general untidiness. This is the great library of ideas and snippets that is my brain. In bursts an anemic looking clown that begins riffling thru all the stacks of paper, and starts stuffing random pieces of paper in it's mouth. The dwarf looks startled at first, then calmly picks up a trash can and catchers mitt, sedately waiting for the inevitable avalanche of the recently created wild idea that just wandered in...
The Ravensvale Coven
At the foot of Bushka mountain, in the region of Kharkusch, lies the small village of Ravensvale. If the PCs stop for resupply and rest, they might notice a few strange things about the town. First, there are no male children in the village. Yes, there are few older men, but none of them is under the age of 15. Second, all the children in the village wear masks depicting goblin faces. They never take them off. The PCs can ask anyone in town why all the children wear masks, and the locals will only point towards a small hut at the edge of town.
Approaching the small hut, the PCs will notice a wisp of smoke rising from the chimney and the pleasant scent of heavily spiced rabbit stew wafting from the disheveled dwelling. Should the PCs knock, a short, very plump old woman that calls herself Corrina will invite them in for tea. Corrina is actually the Faerie Queen Titania in disguise. During the course of their visit, Corrina will tell them of the Crazy Old Hag Dorothy Doorknobs, that lives on the mountain. The Old hag commands an army of goblins. The Hag has the Goblins watching all the villages in the area, looking for unattended children. If the children are spotted by the goblins, Dorothy will visit that child's house and spirit them away in the night. All the parents in the village hide their children from the goblins by giving them masks of Goblin faces to wear until they reach puberty.
So far, that's all the fluff I've come up with. What is actually going on is...
Dorothy Doorknobs is Baba Yaga. She lives in a cave, high up on the mountain. Baba Yaga has imprisoned the Erlking (The Goblin King) and is using his power to turn children into Goblins for her army. Before she managed to imprison him however, he managed to curse Baba Yaga. She can longer go out of her cave as Baba Yaga, she must forever appear as Dorothy Doorknobs, a crazy old crone that will do nothing but scream obscenities and throw doorknobs at anyone caught on the mountain. This adventrure is just starting to coalesce in my head space. I know there will be a variety of Hags to battle, maybe a Wytchfire, and lots of Fae to deal with. The PCs will be asked by Corrina to free the Erlking and free the village of the murderous Goblins.
Here's to hoping it inspires some ideas of your own. So until next time...
Happy Gaming!
Thursday, December 6, 2018
The Curse and the Legend.
"Where is your mistress, little man?' The armored man asked the boy. "She is in her hut by the corrals sir."
"Take me to her please." It was almost comedic, the sight of a six foot six inch man following a boy that barely came up to his waist. The duo set off at a brisk walk towards the old woman's home.
Many of the tavern denizens could only stare at the pair of tall strangely dressed women as they took seats across from one another in the dimly lit common room. "Why are we here?" asked the the rougher looking of the two sisters. "Because Liam is looking for the monster that slew his sister and father. Quit asking May." Missy replied in obvious annoyance. "You've asked me that question every day, sometimes twice a day for three weeks now." the half-elven sisters continued their conversation in low tones, until a leather clad, slightly built elf plopped down at the end of the table. "Find us any decent work Ferix?" May asked of the new arrival. "Nothing that won't require judicious use of steel and brawn." The elf responded. "I'm always up for a good fight" Missy's sister broke in, "May we're supposed to be searching for the lich, not running off and getting in fights at every turn" Missy has always struggled to keep her sister's wilder urges in check, when they were not at home in their mountain village. "Liam is dad's oldest friend. We BOTH promised dad we would help him."
May leaned in close to the table and asked in hushed tones "Have you guys seen Paladras?" "Not since we got to town, he tied off his horse and disappeared." Ferix looked around nervously "Typical, half dragons are sneaky." The three companions continued talking while they waited for their friend to return.
The armored warrior almost had to crawl through the tiny door to the witch's hut. Once inside, he stood up to his full height. The witch looked impressed. "If anyone can destroy the evil in the valley, it must be you." she mused. "How did you know my sister's name?" Liam eyed the old woman warily. As he did anyone that wielded the mysterious powers. Yes, his god answered his prayers, but he still did not fully trust arcane practitioners.
"It is a gift given to me by virtue of my bloodline." The witch could sense the large man's distrust. "I am distantly related to the monster." She had never confided in anyone, but felt that this warrior of the heavens could actually defeat the evil that has terrorized her homeland for so long. "You may want to sit Liam, this is quite a long tale." The witch sat down next to her fireplace and gestured to a chair opposite.
"This tale comes from my Grandmother's grandmother. The original Lord of the Valley, Jean Marc D'Amberville, had a prosperous life in the valley. He and his kin have spread out and thrived. He and his wife had five children.
As the Fates are fickle, Jean Marc's happiness did not last. His wife died suddenly making him distraught and bitter towards the world. Jean Marc, being not happy with the Fates, started studying the Arcane arts to master the Fates and prevent and further trauma to his family.
Jean Marc spent many years studying the Arcane arts. He called on many supernatural entities to aid him. Some of them were only appearing to assist him, some were genuinely interested in helping. During his time of studying, Jean Marc met Androgoras. She was beautiful, talented in the arcane arts, and willing to assist Jean Marc. It did no take long for Androgoras to fall in love with Jean Marc, if she had only known.
What Androgoras did not know, is that Jean Marc was being courted by dark powers. What Jean Marc did not know, is that Androgoras was a Sphinx. It was only after Androgoras revealed her true nature that the Dark powers promised Jean Marc limitless power, if he would sacrifice the powerful being that loved him.
Jean Marc was so blinded by visions of power, he didn't hesitate to betray Androgoras. Jean Marc subdued her and dragged her to a cave at the head of the valley. There he performed the dark rites and rituals meant to allow the dark powers to bestow the infernal gifts upon him. He was not prepared for the events that followed.
With her dying breath, Androgoras cursed Jean Marc. Not only did the curse afflict Jean Marc, it afflicted all the D'Amberville children, save the youngest child of his youngest daughter, my grandmother's grandmother. Thus she did leave a way for her love to be returned to the light of truth.
The tainted blood will be redeemed, by true blood that is yet unseen.
My grandmother's grandmother was told that couplet by the maid that smuggled her out of the valley, just before the curse took her. The maid worked for the youngest of the D'Amberville daughters, Ophelia. A darkness of 500 years descended on the valley, and it is still there to this day. It was at that time, the Bloodroses started taking over the valley. Now they are everywhere. These roses seek out and drink blood.
So many adventurers have forayed into the valley over the years, none have returned.
As promised Champion, I will name the monster that murdered your sister. Elizabeth, the oldest of Jean Marc's daughters, was cursed to roam the eternal night of Bloodrose Valley as a Vampire. It was she that murdered your sister."
The old woman poked idly at the small fire in her hearth and awaited a word from the stunned knight sitting across the room from her.
"Take me to her please." It was almost comedic, the sight of a six foot six inch man following a boy that barely came up to his waist. The duo set off at a brisk walk towards the old woman's home.
Many of the tavern denizens could only stare at the pair of tall strangely dressed women as they took seats across from one another in the dimly lit common room. "Why are we here?" asked the the rougher looking of the two sisters. "Because Liam is looking for the monster that slew his sister and father. Quit asking May." Missy replied in obvious annoyance. "You've asked me that question every day, sometimes twice a day for three weeks now." the half-elven sisters continued their conversation in low tones, until a leather clad, slightly built elf plopped down at the end of the table. "Find us any decent work Ferix?" May asked of the new arrival. "Nothing that won't require judicious use of steel and brawn." The elf responded. "I'm always up for a good fight" Missy's sister broke in, "May we're supposed to be searching for the lich, not running off and getting in fights at every turn" Missy has always struggled to keep her sister's wilder urges in check, when they were not at home in their mountain village. "Liam is dad's oldest friend. We BOTH promised dad we would help him."
May leaned in close to the table and asked in hushed tones "Have you guys seen Paladras?" "Not since we got to town, he tied off his horse and disappeared." Ferix looked around nervously "Typical, half dragons are sneaky." The three companions continued talking while they waited for their friend to return.
The armored warrior almost had to crawl through the tiny door to the witch's hut. Once inside, he stood up to his full height. The witch looked impressed. "If anyone can destroy the evil in the valley, it must be you." she mused. "How did you know my sister's name?" Liam eyed the old woman warily. As he did anyone that wielded the mysterious powers. Yes, his god answered his prayers, but he still did not fully trust arcane practitioners.
"It is a gift given to me by virtue of my bloodline." The witch could sense the large man's distrust. "I am distantly related to the monster." She had never confided in anyone, but felt that this warrior of the heavens could actually defeat the evil that has terrorized her homeland for so long. "You may want to sit Liam, this is quite a long tale." The witch sat down next to her fireplace and gestured to a chair opposite.
"This tale comes from my Grandmother's grandmother. The original Lord of the Valley, Jean Marc D'Amberville, had a prosperous life in the valley. He and his kin have spread out and thrived. He and his wife had five children.
As the Fates are fickle, Jean Marc's happiness did not last. His wife died suddenly making him distraught and bitter towards the world. Jean Marc, being not happy with the Fates, started studying the Arcane arts to master the Fates and prevent and further trauma to his family.
Jean Marc spent many years studying the Arcane arts. He called on many supernatural entities to aid him. Some of them were only appearing to assist him, some were genuinely interested in helping. During his time of studying, Jean Marc met Androgoras. She was beautiful, talented in the arcane arts, and willing to assist Jean Marc. It did no take long for Androgoras to fall in love with Jean Marc, if she had only known.
What Androgoras did not know, is that Jean Marc was being courted by dark powers. What Jean Marc did not know, is that Androgoras was a Sphinx. It was only after Androgoras revealed her true nature that the Dark powers promised Jean Marc limitless power, if he would sacrifice the powerful being that loved him.
Jean Marc was so blinded by visions of power, he didn't hesitate to betray Androgoras. Jean Marc subdued her and dragged her to a cave at the head of the valley. There he performed the dark rites and rituals meant to allow the dark powers to bestow the infernal gifts upon him. He was not prepared for the events that followed.
With her dying breath, Androgoras cursed Jean Marc. Not only did the curse afflict Jean Marc, it afflicted all the D'Amberville children, save the youngest child of his youngest daughter, my grandmother's grandmother. Thus she did leave a way for her love to be returned to the light of truth.
The tainted blood will be redeemed, by true blood that is yet unseen.
My grandmother's grandmother was told that couplet by the maid that smuggled her out of the valley, just before the curse took her. The maid worked for the youngest of the D'Amberville daughters, Ophelia. A darkness of 500 years descended on the valley, and it is still there to this day. It was at that time, the Bloodroses started taking over the valley. Now they are everywhere. These roses seek out and drink blood.
So many adventurers have forayed into the valley over the years, none have returned.
As promised Champion, I will name the monster that murdered your sister. Elizabeth, the oldest of Jean Marc's daughters, was cursed to roam the eternal night of Bloodrose Valley as a Vampire. It was she that murdered your sister."
The old woman poked idly at the small fire in her hearth and awaited a word from the stunned knight sitting across the room from her.
Friday, July 14, 2017
The first of the Wanderers of Hgathe
The
Bellcaster
I’ve been
tinkering with 5th edition stuff lately. Been tinkering with lots of
stuff, but primarily 5th edition. The old school vibe I got from 5th,
immediately made me of the 1st edition AD&D Bard class. So I
started thinking of what interesting combinations would yield nifty things.
I’ve had an idea for a character concept for a while, just haven’t had a chance
to play one. A Bellcaster. A wandering craftsman that roams the countryside from
village to village, casting bells for towns and villages. As I’ll probably
never get to play one in a game, I starting thinking of a way to incorporate
into a 5th edition game.
Letting my
mind wander off with an idea, never leads to anything simple. It actually
sparked an idea for a whole new game world. Hence, The Wanders of Hgathe was
born. There won’t be any gods in this world. There will however be Wanderers.
These will be super High level entities, maybe not immortal, but very long
lived. They will be able to create magic items.
I have
several ideas for the various Wanderers, the first of which is the Bellcaster.
These are what I will be calling composite classes. Like the 1st Ed.
AD&D Bard, they start off as one class eventually switch to another class,
and then ending up as the third and final class which then bestows unique
abilities according to the flavor desired.
So far the
Wanderers I’ve come up with are…
Bellcaster
Mystic
Seeker
Seer
Councils of Wizards
Lore Keeper
Witch
A Bellcaster is a wandering craftsman. S/He usually starts
their career as a fighter, then at 8th level they will
switch careers and become a bard. Learning the magic contained in music, the prospective
bellcaster will again switches careers at 8th level of bard, to that
of wizard. The Bellcaster is at this point an apprentice bellcaster and should
be studying under a bellcaster of at least Craftsman rank.
After a year of apprenticing under a Craftsman Bellcaster the
character can strike out on their own as a Journeyman Bellcaster.
Lvl Prof
Bonus Feature Title
1 +5 Chime
of Opening Apprentice
2 +6 Bell
of Calling Journeyman
3 +6 Bell
of Alarm Foundryman
4 +6 Bell
of Calm
5 +7 Bell
of Inspiration Sr.
Journeyman
6 +7 Clockwork
Bell tower Craftsman
7 +8 Wisdom
of the Spheres
8 +8 Gaze
of the Astronomer Master
Craftsman
9 +9 Clockwork
Orrery
10 +10 Secret
of the Music of the Spheres Master
Bellcaster
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Random Terrain Generation for HexCrawl type games
Sorry it's been a while. I was distracted by 5th Edition D&D and tinkering with Miss Peregrine's game in Cypher system.
EDIT: A MUCH IMPROVED LIGHTER FLUFFIER SYSTEM HERE.
One of my
pet projects since I started playing the game. Has been random terrain
generation. The tables in the 1e DMG, are ok. Not exactly what I was looking
for, but they do exist. There are tons of random map generators online, most of
them are for dungeons. The few that exist for terrain generation are
sortaokmaybenotsomuch. They are missing something vital to outdoor exploration.
Most of them, that I have found, lack any sort of table that will give you
terrain features or items of note. Northing for an intrepid band of adventures
(or a random generation crazy DM/GM) would find out in the wild.
Hence my
latest project…
First task
was to define all the different terrain types that I would be using. I did a
basic google search that yielded the usual grunchtun of results, and after
perusing a few of the lists I settled on 20 items for terrain types.
Terrain
Type Table
1 Arctic
2 Tundra
3 Scrub Forest
4 Conifer/Evergreen Forest
5 Boreal Forest
6 Mixed Forest
7 Broadleaf/Deciduous Forest
8 Grasslands
9 Plains
10 Prairie
11 Marsh
12 Swamp
13 Wetland Forest
14 Tropical Forest
15 Jungle
16 Savanna
17 Desert
18 Rift/Crevasse or River
19 Sink Hole or Lake
20 Hills or
Mountains or Ocean
The original
plan was to just roll a 20 sider and generate terrain…. Yeah ok, stop laughing.
I probably rolled 10 to 15 times. Had I used that map, one would have thought
Mother Nature was smoking an elicit substance… For the life of me, I’ve never
heard of an arctic swamp.
So I sat
down and tried to figure out some way to even out the results. What I finally
came up seemed to work a bit better.
D12 roll Effect
1
Water
Feature
2
Transition
Up
3
Stays
the same (feature)
4-9 Stays the
same (empty)
10 Stays
the same (feature)
11 Transition
Down
12 Terrain
Feature
You start
off by picking a starting terrain type. Then roll a d12. These are prompts so
the aspiring cartographer can create a basic framework for overland terrain.
Water feature means there is something of note in that hex. Same terrain, just
add a water feature. River, stream, lake, pond, just something. Transition
Up/Down means you a roll a d20 note that terrain from the terrain type table,
and work your way to that new terrain type. If you roll an 18,19, or 20 just
add that particular feature to the hex you a currently in like a rift. Or add
some cliffs or a beach and start and ocean. Keep in mind this whole thing is to
give you prompts, not do the work for you. If a result doesn’t make sense,
reroll it. I only start off a map using this method, eventually as I get some
of the hexes laid out, I will abandon these tables and just lay out what I
think makes for an interesting area of the world.
For the
“Stays the same (Feature)” entries on the table I came up with a list of
features.
Items Descriptors
Well Abandoned
Sm Tower Forest
Sm Keep Arctic
Lg Tower Desert
Fortress Ruined
Castle
Village
Walled Town
City
Shrine
Cairn
Tomb
Graveyard
Necropolis
Dungeon
Sm Church/Temple
Lg Church/Temple
Stone Circle
Fairy Ring
This is
where Google image search is your friend. Take an item, add one or two descriptors
in the search bar, and Bob’s yer uncle, you got a feature now. Again, and I
can’t stress this enough… These tables are meant as prompts only. If you get it
into your head that you’ll be able to roll up a complete wilderness map with
these tables, you’d be wrong. It’s merely meant to make it a little easier.
Feel free to alter them to suit your own style of world building.
Happy Gaming!
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