Categories
Game Group My Game Ideas Roleplaying

Immaryln The Great

Last night [in 2005, mind you], I was working through a game I’d like to run– several times, in different systems. I’m not sure where I’ll wind up, but I’m interested in finding out.

Core Concept: Historical feeling, low magic fantasy fiction. (Deryni, Time of the Dark, and Tigana are all models.) The players will be important members of society– princes, dukes, and their heirs. A few game styles are also possible.

  • Leading Lives— the PCs are the elite of the Kingdom, and have a bond to each other. Meanwhile, others undermine the Kingdom– for greed or other reasons. The PCs cooperate at keeping the Kingdom together, preventing secession, assassination, and conquest.
    • Lord Burtley’s Retinue— a noble and his retinue solve the kingdom’s problems, as spies and secret agents
      • Power Politics— the PCs all play powerful influences at the Kingdom level, competing to influence the King. Several parallel mini-games; low priority.

Similarly, a few game systems suggested themselves– none quite right, but several very close– or just requiring a little pruning.

Your Role in the Kingdom

If you want a random rank, roll 1d6. Otherwise, pick whatever you feel will be most interesting to play.

1: Princ(ess)

2: Duke

3: Earl

4: Baron or King’s Bastard

5: Knight or Noble’s Bastard

6: Non-noble (aide de camp, Sergent of the King’s Guard, etc.)

For Random birth order, roll 1d4 as child number. Then roll 1d6 for total number of children– if the roll is less than the number you rolled as birth place, you’re the last born.

You could also choose a position in the church:

1: Primate

2: Archbishop/Seated Bishop

3: Iterant/Traveling Bishop

4-5: Priest

6: Abbot or other specialty group’s leader

Magic: Magic is limited– feared by many. Any known wizard is exiled from the church. (Alt: psionics/mind powers exist, but magic doesn’t. If so, people with psionics are members of the Zaird, subject to specific drugs, and excommunicated when discovered.)

The church still burns wizards in the back country, though the King has put an end to that in more cosmopolitan areas. There are rumors that the church works with rogue wizards, using their services and forgiving their sins. Church wizards are the lowest of the low– doomed to hell unless they forswear their powers altogether.

Immaryln DnD

The initial thought about how to implement it. I’m constraining a lot by default, though stuff could be added back in, just at the cost of focus.

Characters start at Level 3. Max HP for all 3 classes. Any of the 3 can be used for the x4 skill points.

The skill list is compressed– mostly combining skills, but a few promotions of Knowledge (x) to primary skills, since they’ll have greater focus in this style game.

Character Races:

Human only.

If using psionics, elf-analogue w/ special restrictions.

Character Classes: Quick Look

By the book: Fighter, Rogue, Scout, Knight, Barbarian, Marshal, Swashbuckler

Non-casting variants from Complete Warrior: Ranger, Paladin

Improved to PC: Expert, Aristocrat, Adept(?)

Casters, limited to 1/2 levels: Wizard, Sorcerer, Warlock

Alt Casters: Psions, Ardents

Not allowed: Everyone else. (Sure, you can be a commoner or a warrior, but you have better options.)

Detailed:

Fighters, Scouts, Knights, Barbarians, Marshals, Rangers, and Paladins are different fighting styles found in the armies of the Kingdom. Swashbuckler is a common combat style practiced by nobles.

  • Fighters are the core of the army; probably 80%+ of the army is fighters. The class is great for captains, guards, and many more.
  • Scouts are the typical army scouts, who move ahead of the line of march, gather information, etc. Second most common in the army.
    • Rangers are a rare subset of Scouts; their isolation probably keeps them out of the army. Their animal companions make them notable.
  • Knights are dedicated knights, or nobles who have had knight training.
  • Marshals are the army’s leaders in battle. (? if used)
  • Paladins are knights of holy orders
  • Barbarians are rare, hailing from the clan areas of the kingdom
  • Swashbuckler is a common combat style practiced by nobles.
  • Experts. Experts can spend their 10 skill points on any skills they choose, up to the level +3 cap. “Expert” phases usually have different names: scholar, diplomat, professional, and priest are all possible roles taken with the expert class.
  • Aristocrats get a bonus “noble feat” for each level of Aristocrat taken.
    • Example Noble Feats:
      • Favored by the King: +10 on diplomacy checks with the King
      • Trusted Seneshal: While you are away, your seneshal keeps things running smoothly. Use your full Administration skill, even when in the field or otherwise unable to administer your domain.
      • Elite Troops: Taken once, you have a squad of highly dedicated troops, who you can trust to take on important tasks. (Ftr2, with a Sergent Ftr3.) Taken twice, it’s a company of 3 squads (each as above), led by a Ftr4 Captain. Taken three times, you have almost 200 highly trained troops– as 3 companies above, plus a Marshal 5. (The King’s Guard is 200 strong.)
      • Aide de Camp: You have a highly skilled assistant who often travels with you. He begins at 2nd level (any class, you create and control him), and advances at each odd level you hit. (So 3rd at your 5th, 4th at your 7th, and so on.) He can accomplish many tasks independent of your direct involvement.
      • Fostered Out: You fostered with another noble family, and retain strong ties. You have +10 on diplomacy checks with your foster family.
      • Rich Domain: Your domain is particularly prosperous, allowing you to extract more wealth at a lower tax rate
  • Wizard: A wizard can have only 1/2 of his character levels in the wizard class. The other class can be anything else– aristocrat and expert are common.

Immaryln in Primetime Adventures

Exactly like normal PTA, just concentrating on dueling in tight spaces, power politics, armies on the march, etc. The “mind powers” as a human looking race (Deyrni style) opens up lots of options for conflict, intrigue, and war. Plus the debates over the soul, keeping the people while trying to change a hostile religion, and more.

Categories
DnD My Game Ideas Roleplaying

Reclaiming Ludmerea

Images flicker: Moldering gems in skeletal hands; stone ruins ransacked, rebuilt, storm broken and resurgent.

Storm drowned lands, Mikpos wagering in Tavern Debina, goblin lairs in Kuopio’s sandstone ruins, Giants striding from a howling Maelstrom, adventurers sharing reconnaissance over wine, Kithkari stretching 8’ tall, stern Dvaerg dodging Rakshasha claws, a mail gauntlet grabbing a verdigris helmet, magenta rain rebounding from golden light, elegant silver Mikpos nails clutching a copper stylus, shadows spilling from a cracked Iron door, a pair of savage hobgoblins circle with bronze headed axes, a Kithkari calf boiling blood into ironjaw wolf trap, lifting an ancient skull clad in gold runic mask remnants, Tyhlos the White breathing icy frost at a leaping Vikari warrior, a mail clad giant strides through swirling and eerie mists of limbo, firelight glimmers through a storm cracked tower, barbarous Lizardmen feasting on long pig, iridescent plants floating in a candy yellow river that flows uphill, grand Mount Rättvik melted by a Chaos storm, iron and copper exposed and gleaming; heroes returning to Redewall laden with antiquities.

A scene: A cunning Vikari warrior pauses in the deep shadow of Mount Nijmegen’s iron topped peak, living bow taut in his left hand, darkwood arrow nocked. The breeze shifts, blowing from the purple bruise of cloud ahead, carrying the scuffing sound of claws on worn basalt, ascending the narrow trail. From behind, Gwendolyn Goodge calls out in a voice tinged with nerves and laughter, “Orm, are you posing or…” but her voice quiets at his gesture. Janssen marches forward, joining the pair in the rattle of chain, loud in the sudden still. 

Janssen’s bushy eyes raise in silent question. Orm’s answer to the implied question is low, “Two threats.” A gesture at his feet, showing scuffed trail dust and a patched boot mark, “Goblins, a day old, maybe. Heavy mark; not furtive, they’re probably lairing nearby — Umeå’s ruins, at a guess. But… hear that?” Birdsong cut off sharp as Orm pivots smoothly, his arrow pointed at the claustrophobically close treeline. The acorn arrowhead caught the wolf in the shoulder as it burst from the brush; with a howl of chilling fury it raced forward, the wound shrinking in an eyeblink as it lunged towards the ranger.

At Gwendolyn’s incanted gesture, the beast was thrown sideways; reeling from the spell’s force its claws scrabbled across the bare rock, then cartwheeled into the underbrush and vanished. The trio scanned the trees, ready for the renewed assault… but answering howls downtrail underscored their poor position. Janssen’s stubby finger stabbed out at the streaked sky. “Chaos storm hits in under an hour; we get clear of the beasts and the storm’ll scour our trail.” The patter of stinging rain, burning like lye, pursued them as they reascended the stony trail. Behind them the undergrowth melted like cotton candy in the acrid rain…

Setting Overview

Redewall is balanced at the western edge of Civilized World of today – but seven empires, most long fallen, bestrode the chaos wracked lands to the west.

Storms of Chaos sweep from World’s End in the extreme west, changing the very stone and soil where their transformative rains fall and mists drape. When the mist clears, wonders and beasts from elsewhere are often stranded in the storm’s wake.

Redewall serves as a base camp for explorers of wild Ludmerea. A few hundred townsfolk support a local garrison that defends the civilized kingdoms of the east from Chaos Peoples, their warbands… and stranger things stranded by Chaos Storms.

The small town also supports a mix of peoples unlike any other in the world – dreamers of great fortune rub shoulders with practical “exploration companies” that methodically probe the plains, sifting the wreckage of fallen empires for powerful artifacts and odd commonplaces of previous days. Idle soldiers swill beer alongside loremasters, antiquarians, and factors for the great merchant Bank of Aglaia and the many political houses of Civilization. The small powers of eastern Ludmerea fence with agents of the Winter Kingdoms and distant Zakynthos, all keeping an eye on the adventuring bands that journey into the wildlands and return with wonders of ancient days and beguiling baubles of Chaos – tiny ripples at the edge of the civilized world that can shake even the Kingdom of Rogaland, or the bustling metropolis of Cratais.

Scholarly researchers seek famed artifacts and chaos imbued reagents to enhance their research – or ancient spell formulae they can rediscover or “invent” for prestige. Grifters, conmen, and petty thieves seek to redistribute fortunes from those who brave the wastelands.

While many civilized people sneer at the wildlands, many kingdoms- even empires- have arisen from those monstrous peoples. Wave after wave of Chaos sweeping the land has deposited countless humanoids- some appearing a dozen years ago after a Chaos Storm stranded them, while others have bred in the swamps and pristine mountains for millennia – ever since Ludmerea was anchored into existence by the Worldloom that the ancient Vikari used to pattern Chaos into today’s known but ever changing lands.

Races of Ludmerea

The five civilized races who call Ludmerea home are the Vikari, Kithkari, Mikpos, Dvaerg, and Muhner. From a great distance, they can be described so:

Vikari are Elves with a viking flair. Play a Vikari if you want to be a character from a long lived and patient people with a cruel past.

Kithkari are renowned as cunning pranksters, savage shapeshifters when their back is to a wall. Play a Kithkari if you want to play an heir to wild magic, with inherent size shifting as only the most notable trait of a very unusual people.

Miklos are urbane halflings, the first to write and early masters of trade. Today they’re best known as bankers, confidence artists, and wizards — but always trendsetters.

Daverg are dwarves, with a history of respected rulers and breakthroughs in metallurgy and storm breaking. Play a Daverg to come from a dependable, respected people known for their strength and wisdom.

Muhner are humans, able to commit to specialization early in life with an intensity that no other race can match. Thanedoms founded by Muhner lie shattered in Ludmerea’s west; today most Muhner in Ludmerea rove in kin groups.

Categories
Game Group My Game Ideas

Bartholomew “Flint” Roberts

Aspects
Former Pirate Looking for Redemption
Training with Uncle Iroh/Picks Fights & Dominates
Books keeps my ship tuned & souped up
Cellblock’s got skills, but will let me down
(TBD)

Skills

SpacefaringPhysicalSocial
Gunnery +4Athletics Discipline
Pilot +1Fight +1Empathy +1
Tactics +2Notice +2Investigate +1
Technology +3Shoot +2Provoke
Sneak +3Rapport

Stunts
Danger Sense: +2 to create advantages to detect ambushes and concealing intent
Pugachev’s Cobra: Once per game session, in an engagement, you may use the On Their Tail action against someone who is on your tail-switch places with them on the maneuver chart

Categories
My Game Ideas

Bolan Spells

Spell Slots

Cantrips

Categories
Apocalypse World My Game Ideas

Apocalypse World: Inspiration

Last night and this morning, I was seized by a setting for AW, a setting that excites me. It’s a very specific vision at its core, but with lots of easy messing.

The core is the Central Valley, post disaster. Like normal AW, we’ll play to discover what happened, etc. But some elements will be stable, part of the pitch.

The core idea is that it’s our topography–though minus today’s functioning dams, so we get back Tulare lake, etc. Lots of marshy areas return, but the lack of groundwater (due to current and anticipated pumping) remains, so everyone’s dependent on catchments.

The weather’s like today but worse. Winter brings back dense Tule fog everywhere, with a side of ashy grit. Spring and fall are each a seized month of bliss, before temperatures head over 100 for months. (Basically, today + humidity from the surface water, without a/c, with some climate change to add 5-10 degrees.)

Play will focus on the little towns; Fresno/Clovis and Bakersfield are gone and barren, irradiated. Hell, maybe every city with a population of 20,000+ on this list is gone–burned in the troubles. Assume that everything built post 1970s won’t work. In AW, it was built to fall apart, like fireplaces as decoration rather than useful heat sources.

Categories
FATE Games My Game Ideas Roleplaying

Bookwyrm in one week?

How can Bookwyrm have stolen up on us so quickly?

While I have the bones of the scenario planned, I guess it’s time to reread the rules and start buttoning things up for next weekend.

I ran Roiled Spirits: Darkness Over New Orleans.

Categories
My Game Ideas

Mage: Prepwork 1

The last thing that I want to mention is the five questions that are the main part of character creation. These questions get to the root of the character. What does the character want, what do they appear to be, what are they really, what brought you into the world, and what just happened to you. These questions a designed to give you a lot of freedom to design your character and a lot of hooks for the game master to tie the character to the setting and to drive the story.

Categories
FATE Games Games My Game Ideas

King Brion’s Heir deconstructed PCs

I’m going to create the PCs as three “snap together” segments to create a complete character. The idea first came to me when planning out my Spirit of the Century game, but I realized that I’ll work well too for this–and prevent me from falling into “it should follow the novel” expectations. I’ll pass out blank character sheets and

Core Concepts

  • High Concept: The Rightful Heir
  • Trouble: Precious, but still a kid
  • Skill: Empathy +4
  • Stunt: You’d be a fool to cross me: +2 Provoke when overcoming opposition by reminding them that you’ll soon be king.
  • High Concept: Deyrni Duke (or Duchess)
  • Trouble: Reviled by the Church
  • Skill: +4 Deyrni Power
  • Stunt: +2 to Notice Deyrni Power manifestations
  • High Concept: King Brion’s Brother
  • Trouble: Obligations to the Throne
  • Skill: +4 Fight
  • Stunt: Leader of Men: +2 to Rapport with Pages, Squires, and Knights trained at Rhemuth.
  • High Concept: The King’s Confessor
  • Trouble: The Episcopate has many demands
  • Skill: +4 Rapport
  • Stunt: +2 Stealth to avoid the notice of your superiors.
  • High Concept:
  • Trouble:
  • Skill: +4
  • Stunt:

Strong Elements

  • Aspect: Deyrni Halfblood
  • Skills: Lore, Deyrni Power +3
  • Stunt:
  • Aspect: Hidden Deyrni
  • Stunt:
  • Skills: Deceive, Stealth +3
  • Aspect:
  • Stunt:
  • Skills:
  • Aspect:
  • Stunt:
  • Skills:
  • Aspect:
  • Stunt:
  • Skills:
Categories
FATE Games My Game Ideas Roleplaying

Recent finds

Simple World, a purpose built Apocalypse World hack for one-shots.

FAE con “pregens” — an excellent technique. I can’t get no…

Making characters was fun. I didn’t want to do full char gen at the Con, even with a simple game like FAE. Too long, or more likely, choice paralysis. Nor did I want to do full pregens as a big part of Fate’s fun is the group making the decisions. So I mooted a card based idea, and ran with it in the end. I wrote 6 high concepts onto cards and let the players pick.

This got great buy in straight away. None of this is set in stone and I deliberately wrote Aspects with flex in them. Then, Troubles, on another six cards, and again with plenty of flex and some obvious conflicts written in.

At this point the players were brainstorming away and looking at each other’s picks. This was a big plus for me. Usually with pregens, players are so intent studying their own paper that they don’t pick up on the other PCs. With this, everyone was super aware of the party, all of it.

Then I put out some rules in the form of some pre picked Approach numbers, written on cards, taken straight from the FAE book. (see page 10). Easy. Then I killed the entire party.

Categories
FATE Games Games My Game Ideas Roleplaying

Gaming After Action Report 8/16

Lessons Learned

  • A good group of people makes for a good night, even if the game derails–or never includes a moment of interesting challenge.
    • Self: You know how you write against bait and switch game pitches? Then you provide half a setting, leaving out the twist? Prime example, dude!
  • If you don’t take the time to get everyone on the same page, you won’t be playing the same game. That only frustrates everyone when the action comes.
  • Character creation in Fate is fun. Aspects are great, as is collaborative story building. (After the initial “crap, brain freeze” that everyone gets their first time generating their adventure.)
  • A setting of intrigue and betrayal is very hard to build in two hours of game play. Duh.
  • Following the setting’s logic leads to boredom. When in doubt, let drama determine what happens next and cobble together a matching explanation.
  • When your wife presents reasonable limitations (such the tunnel and portal size restricting the availability of the helicopter that will derail your prep), thank her and say, “Yes, that”.
  • On the other hand, you know how the original setting had everyone uploading languages so easily? That was clearly to avoid the situation from the game where the talky character couldn’t do his thing because he didn’t speak the language. Total failure there.
  • Even more: when you’re working from an existing setting and modifying it, write down the modifications. I kept wrestling with Schrödinger’s organization–it was simultaneously a 30 person startup with limited staff and budget that needed to prove itself to survive another funding cycle AND the powerful, somewhat corrupt bureaucracy that it would become.
    • Speaking of which: Yes, you need to establish a base where I’ve prepped–we need a proof of concept before we invest several billion more! We need to demonstrate our relevance, or SDI will steal our budget. Etc. Lots of bureaucratic reasons were available to limit the adventure to the prepared area, but I spaced on them all in the heat of play.
  • While prepping, I kept thinking I that I needed to make org charts, names, and relationships withing the agency. Instead I researched historical information (that wound up being leapfrogged). Yup, I needed that prep, more than just about anything else that I could have prepared.
    • Speaking of which: I should have shown the ‘uploading data’ scene on camera, not just hand waved it. Yes, I needed to get to the adventure… but it missed a great grounding piece of setting.
  • Dude, you know and love European history. Just set it there with hand-waving. Plus, that doubly reinforces the requirement to keep the site that’s picked–it’s the only place that the host countries will permit, or that we can sneakily create overseas.

Long story short: Don’t fall in love with a setting and shoe horn it into a format and story length that don’t play to its strength. Prepare a setting that works in two hours and save your haunting setting for a long form game down the road.

Again, it was a fun night, even though I spent the actual “game play” part of the night beating myself up about the lack of interesting action and interaction. I picked up the wrong setting tool.