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Shadow World Speculation. Who are The Xiosians?

One of the more dense and information rich sections of the Shadow World Master Atlas is the timeline. By the 3rd Edition of the Master Atlas, the timeline has reached 25 pages and would be much longer if it incorporated all the local and regional timeline material found in other SW books. Plus, the timeline is growing: since the original release of the SW Master Atlas Boxed set I believe the timeline has increased by at least 9-10 years (6045 to 6054 TE).

My recent posts about a definitive, final Master Atlas proposes that the dated timeline be removed to another channel. A few years back, my brother Matt (Vroomfogle) started the Nomikos Library; an online database that collected all the timelines and had various search filters.

In any event, the timeline is a rich resource for a GM, not only offering unlimited adventure hooks but providing endless opportunities to explore Kulthea in different times. Sprinkled throughout the time though are many unanswered questions, cool hints and vague references that Terry has yet to explain or explore in detail. One of my favorite:  the Xiosians.

The Xiosians were first mentioned in the original Master Atlas: Warrior-Priests that were servants of the Masters of Emer and rode flying magical chariots. In Emer I we got a few more pieces of the puzzle with several mentions:

Warrior-mages on huge steeds begin purging the wilds in central Emer, driving out the ubiquitous Gark and Lugrôki hordes. These knights are harbingers of thecoming of the Masters.

They rule through an order of warrior-mages (the Xiosians)

It is believed that the Changramai are disenchanted Xiosians who left
the service of the Titans (In fact, some are

Corruption spreads through the Xiosians as well.

I was always fascinated by these references and decided to flesh out a background for the Xiosians myself. So putting what few clues I had together…

  1. Warrior servants of God like beings
  2. Flying magical conveyances

…I thought this sounds like another group of mysterious warriors that fly on magical steeds and purge the wilderness: The Cloudlords of Tanara. I wanted to tie together a number of loose ends: the origins of the Changramai martial culture, ancient militant orders with ties to the Althans/Ka’ta’viir, mysterious warrior cults and the genetic origins of special warriors like the Cal-chah and Guarlu. I had an idea that tied them all back to the 1st Era.

The Althans and the Ka’ta’viir are primarily an advanced intergalactic imperial society. But there is also a strong oligarchy element of immensely wealthy merchant families. It’s not a leap to assume that both leaders and powerful “Houses” would have their own security force to provide defense, corporate espionage and personal protection. This is not an original idea. The Romans had their “Praetorian Guards“, the Emperor had his Royal Guard, and in Dune: every Major House had it’s own army, formally independent from the Emperor‘s own military forces. (the Dune setting fit’s well with the Althan/Spacemaster/Kulthea dynamic).

As an highly advanced society, these personal guards would be genetically and biologically enhanced with superior speed, strength, healing etc. Ka’ta’viir and various Houses would want to customize their soldiers to their own aesthetic and design whims; perhaps based on distant racial lineage, or for practical purposes. These super-soldiers were mostly destroyed or scattered at the end of the 1st Era along with their Althan and Ka’ta’viir masters but remnants of them still remain. Some advanced genetic traits were passed down from individual survivors on Kulthea; operational bases were discovered with Xiosian equipment, fighting skills were passed down through many generations.

For me this was a good solution. Again, it ties up loose ends, fits well into canon for the most part and feels right. Here is a my material on the various “Xio Cadres” that ties into the Xiosians mentioned in the MA, Cloudlords, Changramai as well as others:

Xiosans

Obviously, playing a pure Xio warrior or even a partially full blooded Xio could be unbalancing. But I incorporated 2 significant drawbacks for Xio: behavioral inhibitors against Ka’ta’viir and the inability to use Essence/increase succeptibility to Essence effects. Of course, a player with only a small amount of Xio ancestry would have less inhibitors but conversely would have less genetic benefits as well.

Finally, since Priest-King of Shade is languishing in development limbo I thought I would share three vignettes from the book. They deal with the Tor’lan, a race descended from the ancient Xio warrior caste.

Of the Tor’lan

…apparently the Kinn have traded with them for generations, but little is known of the Tor’lan, the Giants of the Sullen Mountains. Brutish and uncivilized barbarians they are called, and they seem to have little interest in lands or conquest—they are rarely seen, content in their high mountain retreats.

We were heading south along the Ember Road, an ancient trade route that winds precariously through the mountains. Our caravan must have been watched, for just a few moments after we made camp, figures stepped from the shadowed edge of the jungle. All three were imposing specimens: tall, broad and heavily muscled—their size reminiscent of the Zor or Myri of Jamain but their skin was dusky and their facial features seemed cruder. Dressed in furs and dark leathers, they were adorned with a variety of crude fetishes: skin inks, bone jewelry and metal armlets. Tokens were woven into their long black hair. As they approached our camp site I realized the scale of the trees behind them had skewed my perception: these men were giants, much larger than the Zor and perhaps approaching 8’ in height and weighing over 250 pounds. They stopped 10’ away, and I swallowed a brief feeling of unease. The three stood confident and relaxed, and while their hands were loose at their sides and far from the grips of the huge swords strapped to their backs, I had no doubts that they would draw swiftly with little provocation. After examining us for but a moment, one stepped forward and spoke a clear greeting in Korsi, the trade tongue common to these western lands. I had made contact with the Tor’lan.

The Journals of Arand de’Mel

Loremaster Field Report. 5898 TE.Excerpt p. 131

 

On my third day with the Tor’lan I was allowed to travel upland into the mountains escorted by several other warriors. The air was still humid but cooler under the jungle canopy and we moved swiftly and with few rests. I still had not learned much about these imposing warriors, but we had established rudimentary communication through Korsi, the trade language common along the Storm Seas. I was always a quick study and their tongue bore a strong resemblance to higher, loftier languages, reinforcing my suspicion that their culture was a remnant of something far more ancient.

We maintained a strong pace as our path steepened and got rockier—I was feeling pressed keeping up with my companions, but they barely seemed winded. At times our trail climbed almost vertically—without guidance I would have been challenged to navigate the route. After several hours of strenuous climbing we reached the edge of a broad plateau high in the Sullen Mountains. While the lip of the plateau was broken and worn, I could see that the plateau was dressed with enormous smooth paving stones. Some were cracked, broken or tilted, but their craftsmanship was unmistakable: this was the work of the Althans.

Loremaster Field Report. 5898 T.E. Excerpt p. 147

 

I sat in preparation on a warm paving stone of the plateau. Around me a dozen Tor’lan stood forming a wide circle, large powerful barbaric figures, seemingly elemental in their strength and stillness that they projected. I thought back to the simple instructions from my guide:  Prepare. Fight. Honor. The words seem ritualistic and I could only guess at their deeper intent and meaning. My opponent would be a youth, not yet a clan warrior but with some battle training. I secretly felt that they underestimated me, for they had not yet seen me fight. I had trained with the Bikal Sword Masters in Sel-Kai and learned the two weapon attack forms of the Duranaki. I had traveled with Changramai Monks and witnessed the battle forms of a Void Knight. I had been tested in combat numerous times. While physically imposing and intimidating, the Tor’lan seemed crude in their manner and styles. I was determined to be a gracious guest and fight at whatever my opponent’s skill.

The far side of the circle parted and a warrior stepped into the circle. Taller and lean from youth rather than heavily muscled, his tanned skin also had fewer tattoos than the warriors I had traveled with. His hair was braided into numerous shoulder-length tails and he wore only a simple grey hide breastplate and leggings. He held a long heavy bladed sword, though not as large as the back-sheathed swords the other massive warriors wielded. He was taller than I, perhaps by a hand but not overly so. His reach would be comparable and though he moved confidently, I felt my speed and skills would quickly overwhelm his slight advantages in size and strength.

I looked down at my weapons. I wielded a longsword in my right hand and a Loari parrying knife in my left. In fairness I thought I should drop the knife, but the young warrior’s heavier weapon would still be an advantage against my two blades.

I rose to my feet and walked slowly to the circle’s center while my opponent watched with dark eyes, his face expressionless and bland. Were he in the city streets of Sel-kai his only notable feature would be his unusual height. He nodded slightly and raised his sword high and to the side, an unusual guarding position for a long blade. Crossing my weapons I returned the nod. Without further delay I stepped forward and lunged with both blades, hoping to reach inside is guard. Before my lead foot had touched the ground, a precise blow to the side of my head knocked me sideways onto the ground. I hadn’t seen the warrior move but he must have struck with the pommel of his sword. I shook my head, pushed off the stone and considered the barbarian. He still stood as if he hadn’t moved while my own head was still ringing and my footing felt less sure. Crossing my blades, again I approached just outside of his reach. Wary of his speed, I would not make the same mistake twice. I spun, both blades turned in a flat arc, my longer blade carving a path toward his left side while my shorter blade was held higher to block any movement of the opposing sword. I was half way through my attack and I saw the warrior move—almost quicker than I could fathom. Stepping back and to the side, just avoiding the tip of my longsword, his left hand dropped from his sword grip and tapped my left shoulder. I felt a shock run through my arm and my hand involuntarily dropped the dagger as my fingers went numb. I was exposed, but the warrior made no counter-attack. My mind reeled for I had seen a similar move practiced by the Changramai elite!  After this there is not much to relate. The remainder of the battle was a blur: every one of my attacks was blocked or avoided, seemingly without effort. My movements seemed clumsy and slow compared to the graceful barbarian. For perhaps two or three minute we fought and finally, when I was covered in sweat and aching from carefully placed strikes, I stepped away from the center.

The circle was quiet and the surrounding warriors watched me: their expressions were inscrutable but I felt I had failed some test. Much later I learned the truth: the warrior I dueled was just a young student; his training had been measured in only a few years.

Not long after, I witnessed the full battle skills of an adult Tor’lan warrior…pray that they never have reason to go forth in anger or war…

Loremaster Field Report. 5898 TE. Excerpt p. 204

So can you incorporate Xiosians into your campaign? They may be a better alternative than having a player with Ka’ta’viir heritage, or may give a boost to a non-spell user fighter if they have some limited Xio ancestry. Or you can build a campaign around uncovering the Xio heritage that is imprinted in any number of cultures or organizations around Kulthea.

Certainly, the players could encounter an original Xio warrior; perhaps they were in chronogenic suspension. They might make a great ally against a Ka’ta’viir–they would be able to provide advice and assistance but couldn’t directly fight the Lord of Essence due to the genetic conditioning. Xio Cadres had both high tech equipment as well as ceremonial garb (like the Cloudlords kit) but many of the cadres consisted of very large warriors, so keep in mind that much of the equipment would not fit a smaller size player. It’s cool when they find 1st Era Battle Armor…only to realize they can’t work the neural interface and it’s just too large!

 

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The compelling fantasy art of JB Clark.

One of the obstacles in creating high quality RPG supplements is access or affordability of quality artwork. Consignment artists may be too pricey for a small publisher or individual and clip art may not give your product the polish that you’d like to create. Some publishers revert to using “open domain” art–oftentimes older art no longer protected by copyright.

During a recent search for cool, older artwork I came across some sketches by JB Clark. At first I thought this was fairly recent artwork, but incredibly, much of it is dated to the 1890’s! JB collaborated with William Strang and together they illustrated the Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Ali Baba and Sinbad. Of course these were all fantasy/fantastic adventures and their illustrations captured that classic fantasy feel we often call OSR art style. JB is particular compelling and did some great illustrations for translations of some writings of Lucian of Samosata.  One of Lucians more known works is True Story. This was meant to be a tongue and cheek work of science fiction and fantasy. It deals with outer space, interplanetary lifeforms and interplanetary warfare! Not bad imagination for a writer in c. 150 AD! Reading through it I realized it would make a crazy and highly stylized fantasy campaign.

I find this art so similar to the pen/pencil line art common in early RPGs. They feature “action” or “movement”, the characters are often armed and it features strange, fantastic creatures.

Check out the art above…is the top figure reaching for a sword stuck in blood? Is he prodding the liquid? It looks like the other two figures are calling to him to stop!  This feels like an image out of an old D&D module doesn’t it?

How about the picture below. A ship is in the background and it looks like the crew has disturbed a Roc nest!

Here is one more–pretty self-explanatory!

Do you know of any older artwork from the 19th century or earlier that would work in modern fantasy RPGs?

 

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I.C.E. and early Dragon Magazine Ads

Like many of you, my first exposure to Iron Crown Enterprises was through advertising in Dragon Magazine. Looking back at the ads, they seem simplistic and perhaps crude in their execution, but then they were strangely compelling. A combination of ad copy and art effectively conveyed the “gritty” and “realistic” feel of Rolemaster.

I thought it would be interesting to go through some of the very first ads in Dragon and explore how they changed and progressed over time. One thing to note–ICE had page #3 for all of their ads so it was one of the first things readers saw. That probably helped alot.

August 1980. #40

Iron Crown Enterprises very first ad was in Dragon Magazine #40 from mid 1980. I don’t recall this one as my very first Dragon was #46. Obviously hand drawn and colored using the runic script that ICE had in their early product versions (arms law, spell law, iron wind). Interestingly,  this ad featured both Arm’s Law and the Iron Wind. Two things of note: this is only 1 of 2 ads that incorporated color and this first ad did not have their Iron Crown graphic.

September 1980. #41

This ad is just awesome! The large warrior, the hawk in the background, a spear and wooden shield. It’s very similar to the Syrkakar warrior in the Iron Wind and I’m guessing it’s the same artist. This ad adopts the bleak black/white aesthetic that ICE maintains for almost all their Dragon advertising. Just cut out the order form, include a check and mail it off! Those were the good old days. Still no Crown Logo though…

October 1980. #42

And there it is…the Iron Crown logo!!! This is mostly the same ad copy as the previous month. I find the ad a bit bland but you start to see the logo and company name style being established. Notice the talons on the hands holding the logo.

November 1980. #43

This is a slight variation on the previous month but it starts to highlight some RM rule differentiation. But first, it’s the first use of the Arms Law tag line (below the crown, may be hard to read):

“Because a mace is not an arrow or a scimitar, there is …”

December 1980. #44

So this is only the second ad that uses color in Dragon Magazine. This is notable because it features Pete Fenlons cartography style and evokes the topographical Tolkien style map. A huge leap from the cartoonish hex maps being used in D&D. Notice that they dropped the Iron Crown graphic.

January 1981. #45

Similar to the previous month, but shows the growing professionalism in ICE’s ad design. The monolith border frames the ad and eliminates the blank margins and the copy is mostly done in typeset fonts rather than script style. This ad does not include the Iron Crown graphic.

March 1981. #47

This feels like a step back. Although the stone borders evoke the early Arms Law cover it’s all copy and no real graphic. It seems like ICE wanted more space dedicated to explaining and describing their rules and setting. A lot to read!  2 Iron Crowns though!

April 1981. #48

Ughh…what happened here? This seems like someone just wrote some stuff with a typewriter and mailed to Dragon. No graphics, art, logos… Terry, if you read this do you remember how ad design decisions were made? Why not just repeat a previous ad?

September 1981. #53

After several months of repeating past ads, ICE used this ad for the introduction of Spell Law.  OVER 2000 spells!!!!!! I know that caught my eye back then. This was the first of a series of ads that used white lettering and dense combat vignettes on a deep black background for contrast. Love this art–anybody know who did them?

December 1981. #56

The next month a similar ad with slightly different art. I like this because it shows the character on the right casting a spell onto the other figures sword! Simple but implies so much about the RM spell system.

March 1982. #59

Updated. 1/12/2020.

Not sure how I missed this, but what a curious, non I.C.E. advertisement. Looking at subsequent Dragon editions, this appears to be a filler ad for space above the 2/3 page for Hobby Game Distributors. My guess is that Claw Law was being introduced but they didn’t have a full page ad ready yet. The staff at Dragon put this together using the line drawing “cartoon aesthetic” common at the time.

May 1982. #61

For me, this was one of I.C.E.’s most iconic ads. Again the sharp white on black background contrast. A single warrior against a pretty formidable looking foe. The large moon in the background. Of note is that like many of ICE’s artwork the warriors presented seem rather under-equipped. No platemail armor, huge swords, glowing magic items. Mostly spears and wooden shields. I thought that also implied a lot about the game mechanics and really intrigued me before I started playing RM.

August 1982. #64

The last piece of the Rolemaster system: Character Law! Plus this ad is the permanent return of the Iron Crown logo. This artwork feels very “D&D”: a more traditional armored warrior with a shield and a funny looking monster. hmm.

So that’s a quick look at some early ICE advertising in Dragon Magazine over a 2 year period. Later ads introduced MERP modules, and the Loremaster series. The Loremaster ads was interesting because it announced Cloudlords of Tanara as the first module in the “new line” with upcoming modules being the Iron Wind, Vog Mur and Shade despite the Iron Wind having been one of ICE’s first products.

What’s your favorite I.C.E. ad?

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A Definitive Shadow World Master Atlas. What should it contain? Pt. 3

From the earliest days of the 1980 World of Greyhawk Folio, it’s been expected that comprehensive fantasy settings include a “Master Atlas” or a “Gazetteer” to set the tone and include fundamental information about the world. Nine years late, ICE introduced Shadow World: Master Atlas Boxed Set.

The first Master Atlas set the stage for the new Shadow World line–an expansion of the original Loremaster Series published between 1980-1984.  SW was now a professionally published product with a glossy presentation. The original boxed set included to books: the World Guide & Inhabitants Guide plus a poster size color map of the hemisphere. It was a great start to world building, but it never felt complete until combined with Jaiman: Land of Twilight and Emer: The Great Continent. Between those 3 products (all written by Terry Amthor) a GM could piece together a coherent and in depth profile of Shadow World augmented by the original Loremaster books (Iron Wind, Cloudlords of Tanara & Vog Mur). Since then, Terry has expanded SW Canon with 3 Emer regional books, Powers of Light and Darkness, 2 city books (Haalkitaine & Eidolon) plus Xa’ar in NW Jaiman. In the queue are Wurilis (NE Jaiman) the final Emer regional book and a re-write of Jaiman. Once those are completed, GM’s and gamers have an extremely robust overview of the two “main” continents: Jaiman and Emer.

It’s difficult to say if Terry will ever be able to tackle a third (or more) continent in such a comprehensive way with multiple books, but no one could argue that there isn’t enough material for years or even decades of game play with existing Shadow World material. And even with all the current SW books, both Emer and Jaiman have plenty of room for new material, short adventures, city books  and smaller regional supplements.

However, despite 4 editions of the SW Master Atlas, these books are hardly comprehensive. “World” level information is often found scattered throughout the other regional SW books, important cultural information is left unaddressed and various topics could use more campaign level information. In Pt. 2 and Pt. 3 I covered a number of these items that could be included, but I thought I would print off the Table of Contents for my own “Master Atlas” to show what could be in new version. I actually have 40-50 more pages that I haven’t incorporated into the master file, but this one is 281 pages.

Click below to download my own “Definitive Master Atlas Table of Contents” :

DMA ToC

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Shadow World. What would a definitive Master Atlas look like? Pt. 2

There has been endless speculation about adapting Shadow World to the RMU ruleset, but every year that goes by only makes the task of converting all the Shadow World books into the new format less and less likely. On top of that Terry is methodically going through older source books and updating them and adding new content still using the RM2 ruleset. A third iteration of that process seems hard to imagine.

So where does that leave a new, revised Master Atlas? Last spring I wrote a blog post on this subject, but now with the Rolemasterblog having new readers and another year gone by in the RMU development process I thought I would revisit this topic.

To me, it seems unlikely  that SW will ever have a comprehensive reformat to fit the RMU rule set–that would be over a dozen books? But that doesn’t mean that there can’t be a final Master Atlas that creates a definitive baseline for Shadow World and any or all future projects. In my mind, the DMA (Definitive Master Atlas) would set SW Canon, tackle a lot of the unaddressed issues and become the road map for any third party books (if that ever occurs). Of course, as egdcltd commented, you could also make the DMA system agnostic. To me, that’s a very interesting idea!!!

If you’ve followed my “Misc SW Material” thread on the RM Forums, you may realize that many of those partial files are part of a much larger document–our own, in house, DMA we’ve been adding to for 30+ years. Our own book is around 350 pages and that doesn’t include charts, illustrations/art, graphics or any Flora/Fauna material. A strong pass-through edit and I’m fairly confident that a DMA could be 500 pages. Is that possible to publish or print in hard copy format? I personally have no idea, so please weigh in on that.

Ok, so what would a DMA include? There should be guidelines on what material qualifies as “world spanning”, “canon” or appropriate for a Master Atlas and not just a regional source book. Should it incorporate some of the material found in the original Gamemaster Law? The Shadow World Players Guide was well received: although it was mostly collated content, the presentation, art and production value were topnotch. A definitive Master Atlas might only need 100-200 pages of new material, culling of 50-100 pages (timeline removed?) and the addition of 100 or so pages of material found in other source books that are better suited for a MA. I think much of the Powers could be incorporated into the DMA while information on the Iron Wind, Raven Queen or Silver Dawn should be more regional in nature.

What would be on your list for a Definitive Master Atlas?

  1. Should the ever changing timeline be removed and handled elsewhere?
  2.  Should there be a final Essence Flow & Greater Foci map of the hemisphere?
  3. What organizations  or content are “world-spanning” and what is “regional”.
  4. Is there any material in other SW books (canonical) that should be moved to a DMA?
  5. What topics or material should be included or expanded upon?
  6. Should a DMA be all encompassing or should it be a multi-book endeavor. For instance, it could be 3 parts: a MA, a Flora/Fauna supplement and a Gazetteer with a variety of maps and keys  that expands upon the geographical chapter in the current MA?
  7. A box set with hardcovers?
  8. A map supplement that has every map every printed for SW–new detailed maps of all the continents with key locations, some poster maps. Some enlarged city maps?
  9. Could this be a Kickstarter project to fund great artwork, mapmaking, a wiki  and project management?

Yes, there are already 4 versions of the Master Atlas, so is this even possible or worth discussing? I think the only issue is new content that would need to be written or approved by Terry. The rest, much like the Players Guide, would be editorial and organizational.

Any thoughts?

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Shadow World Overview: The Messengers of the Iron Wind.

One of the bedrocks of the Shadow World setting are the detailed organizations that Terry has created: Loremasters, Navigators, the 8 Emerian Orders,  and the Dragonlords, just to name a few. These groups drive the plot and can be aids or foils for the players and be used throughout a lengthy Shadow World campaign.

One of the very first of these groups is The Iron Wind detailed in I.C.E.’s first publication. An order of Dark Priests (of High Imla Arna – “The Evil High Priests”), they were the secret tentacles of the Unlife that insinuated themselves into local cultures.  There were Six Orders described in the Iron Wind, along with a order of assassins known as Messengers of Syrkakang. This became the kernel that Terry expanded upon in subsequent books.

Jaiman, Land of Twilight expanded on the material in the Iron Wind with more information on the Priests of Yarthraak. At this point the Messengers were still “of Yarthraak”, but later were changed to “Gorath”. Frustratingly, the Messengers were only hinted at, and the only additional details were found in the adventure “Living Prison” and not the “Legacy of the Sea Drake”.  It wasn’t until Powers of Light and Darkness that Terry fully fleshed out the Six orders of Arnak, both Priests and Messengers.

Terry is fantastic at writing organizations with flavor and cool equipment, and in my opinion, the Messengers are some of the best for the PC’s to encounter. The Messengers can be seen as the militant arm of each of the six Orders of the Priests and have their own style and abilities. In my own campaign I treat the Messengers as semi-spell users; each has their own unique spell list to augment their inherent power and adds atmosphere to the encounters.

Why do the Messengers work so well?

  1. The Messengers are 9th-10th lvl, which is a good power level for most PC’s and that can scale by adding or reducing to the # encountered.
  2. Anonymous, frightening with cool gear and armor, the Messengers lack higher level agency, so they make a great “mindless” foes.
  3. They evoke a number of familiar tropes found in movies and literature. That makes them both familiar and alien if introduced properly.

So let’s review the various Messengers, where they can be found in books or perhaps how to introduce them into your Shadow World campaign.

Messengers of Al-athuul (Lyak)

Description. The Messengers and their birds (both familiars and
mounts) reside in a great roost in the eaves of the Lyak
Tower, ready to serve the Priestess at a thought. The Messengers wear light green quilted cloth armor, blue cloaks of feather fall and wield swords and light crossbows.

My thoughts. As presented, Al-athuul are perhaps the least interesting of the 6 Messenger types, but would make great foes in Tanara and Urulan. Especially as combatants against the players hooking up with the Cloudlords–aerial battles anyone!!!! I added “Raptor Masks” to their kit to bring a more chilling appearance  similar to the other orders.

Where to find them. Messengers of Al-athuul can be found in the revised edition of Cloudlords of Tanara. They appear in the timeline in a few descriptions and as a possible encounter for medium level (6-10th) players. Messengers of Al-athuul would be great for a “cat and mouse” pursuit with the players on foot and the Messengers flying high overhead. This could create a fantastic tension as the group tries to escape or evade the Messengers with an occasional divebomb attack. Like the Stukas @ Dunkirk!

Spell List. My BASiL list for Lyak (the Priests get the list as well) was predicated on the concept of a “hunting bird” with spells that added more innate dread to the players (they are prey!). The combination of spells “Hunting Cry”, “Keen Eye” and “Dive Attack” allow the Messengers to circle high above on their mounts searching for targets. Then, when they find the players, they can cast their “Hunting Cry” and leap from their bird for an attack!

Lyak

Messengers of Gorath (Yarthraak)

The Messengers of Gorath are outfitted with weapons
designed of materials that do not rust or warp if
wet, as they are often charged with errands that require
them to operate on or in the sea. Their clothing is of a
seal-hide that repels water and keeps them warm on
land or under sea. Their helms are fashioned like great
nautilus shells and allow them to breathe water as well
as air, and the armor of the Messengers is a lightweight
scale-mail made up of thousands of shimmering scales
of black mother-of pearl. Their gloves are covered with
shark’s teeth spikes. On land the messengers ride grey stallions, while at sea their mounts are killer whales they control with
special whistles. Each has a black seagull as a familiar.

My thoughts.  Their nautilus helm, possible water environments and the shimmering scale armor gives them a great presence. It reminds me of an old 70’s movie that had warriors from Atlantis emerging from the Sea.

Where to find them. The prominence of the Jaiman source book makes Yarthraak one of the better known Arnak orders. In addition they are featured in short adventure the “Watchtowers of U-Lyshak“. With so many adventure opportunities in South and Southwest Jaiman, the use of these Messengers is very flexible. If you have the players travelling by boat, an encounter with the Messengers would be pretty cool.

Spell List. My BASiL list for Yarthraak focused more on underwater environments where spells would be needed for the Messenger to act.

Yarthraak

Messengers of Syrkakang (Gaath)

Description. The messengers’ helms are in the shape of a dragon’s
head and allow them to become invisible 3x per day.
Their white leather and steel gauntlets allow them to
strike with their fists as hammers, and their armor is of
white Wyvern hide.

My thoughts.  Who doesn’t love “Dragon Warriors” wearing white leather and having armored fists!

Where to find them. These Messengers should be featured in any adventuring in the Mur-Fostisyr. They are found in The Iron Wind and Xa’ar books.

Spell List. I wanted this list to be pure “Dragon Man” style magic.

Gaath

Messengers of Kulag (Athimurl)

Description. Masters of snow and ice, the Messengers of Kulag
are at home in the worst arctic storms. They come upon
the unwary to fulfill the directives of the cruel priesthood.
Each is armed with a baw and wears armor made
from the hide of white Wyverns. They have reversible
white/brown cloaks, and gauntlets with retractable
claws—useful in combat and for climbing ice-walls.
Their boots are also equipped with cleats that allow
them to run on ice and packed snow with the same
ease as dry land. The Messengers ride great white Snow-
Cats and their familiar is a Snowy Owl.

My thoughts.  Kulag shares much of the same Northern Jaiman territory as Syrkakang so it’s important to differentiate the two. In Powers, Terry explains that Athimurl is more subtle and secretive, but that may be a bit lost on the players. While Gaath is also “snow aspected” I play up the Dragonman aspect of Gaath and allow Kulag to be the real “Snow Warriors”.

Where to find them. These Messengers should be featured in any adventuring in the Mur-Fostisyr, northern Jaiman and should be included in the upcoming Wuliris supplement Terry has been working on. They are also included in the Xa’ar sourcebook.

Spell List. I used this list to emphasize the Messengers ability to travel fast over snow and ice terrain. Powerwise, it might be one of the weaker lists for offensive spells, but Kulag have Snow Cats as mounts and should be formidable fighters.

Athimurl

Messengers of Ulkaya (Dansart)

Description. Often accompanied by several large hyena-like dogs,
the Messengers go muffled against the dusty air of the
wastes. They have clawed gauntlets that allow them to
strike with the power of a great cat. Their helms are
fashioned to resemble dog-heads, with lenses in the eyes
to not only protect against dust but also allow the wearer
to see at night as if it were full day. Their armor is reinforced
leather, and each carries the deadly bola-like
weapon know as the gé.

My thoughts.  I love this faction. Wastelands, ruined cities, deserts, scavengers. It all has a very post-apocalyptic, Mad Max, feel to it that works great in Shadow World.

Where to find them. Messengers of Ulkaya are mentioned in Haalkitaine, but are featured prominently in The Grand Campaign. In fact, the Zorian Wastes (Part VII of the Grand Campaign) can (and should!) be inserted into any ongoing Shadow World campaign.

Spell List. My goal was to expand upon the feral feel that Terry has established. I was inspired by the feral dog/hyena aspect.

Dansart

Messengers of Shaynar (Thargonaak)

Description. Like the other Messengers, they ride through the
night on missions to bring fear to the indigenous peoples.
Their familiar is a huge black Bat and their steed is a
black stallion. More stealthy than most, they have voluminous
black cloaks like batwings, belts which allow
them to become Invisible, and helms fashioned like
frightening bat-heads which render them undetectable
by magic. In some regions these terrifying warriors are
called the Messengers of Kynagaax.

My thoughts. There is some confusion about the name of these Messengers. In Powers, they are known by Shaynar or Kynagaax. In Xa’ar they are named Kynagaax in the text, but labelled Chyna’ak in the Index. Certainly, they may go by different names by different cultures. Either way–these guys are evil batmans!!! I could add a ton of cool gear to their utility belts.

Where to find them. Messengers of Shaynar are mentioned in Haalkitaine, but haven’t really been highlighted in any works so far. The leader of Thargonaak is the Pale Man so Terry may have more in the upcoming Jaiman sourcebook. In my campaign, I have introduced these Messengers as enemies of Priests of Reann. They make a great nighttime encounter for the group.

Spell List. Ok, I was inspired by the Dark Knight for this list!

Thargondaak

If you haven’t used Messengers in your Shadow World campaign, give it a try! And, if you want to punch up their powers add the spell lists above for more interesting powers. Have fun!

 

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Artists wanted.

We’ve discussed the difficulty in finding good artwork or artists for our projects. In that vein, if there are any artists, mappers or layout professionals that read this, I have work for you. Among the various projects:

1. A banner graphic for Rolemasterblog.com

2.  Finalized art, layouts and maps for Priest-king of Shade.

3. City map for Non-ta-taku.

4. Layout and item graphics for BASiL.

5. Layouts for Legends of Shadow World.

6.  Layout for Book of Pales.

7.  Art, layouts and maps for Empire of the Black Dragon.

if you have ability, talent or interest let me know,

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Rolemaster Deconstruction: Daily X Magic Items.

Back from vacation and thought I would dip my toe back into blogging with a short deconstruction article! Today I wanted to address “Daily X” items and the mechanics around it.

When I first started with RM, the Daily X magic items were great: they softened the power of traditional permanent items found in D&D and they worked well with the Imbedding spell lists. These items were also a great way to augment player shortcomings or add spell capability to non-magic users.

My only real issue is the “Daily X” part itself–that the spell abilities “recover” at the start of the next day. Sort of an instant charge that occurs at 12:01. I’ve had players abuse this before; they scheduled attacks right before midnight hoping to use their Daily X items right before, and then again, right after midnight. Certainly that’s an annoying exploit and a sensible GM may arbitrarily stop that…but that’s not how the rule reads.

To avoid this type of rule abuse, I changed “Daily X” definition to a per/hour calculation. So a Daily V item could be used up to once per 5 hours or a Daily I every 24 hours. This certainly nerfs the Daily X items, but I also have Battle Runes, permanent imbeds and other options in the BASiL lists to fill in those gaps.