Articles and discussion on Roleplaying including Shadow World, Forgotten Realms.
If this guy invites you over for D&D—ACCEPT!
Althan malleable metals?
Is it me???? No, it’s definitely THEM.
A must have tool for every GM.
A must have tool for every Jacque Cousteau.
Are these Runes, Glyphs, Sigils or Symbols?
Does a post-money society work?
What’s your collection look like?
I saw GAGS THE CLOWN and it made me wonder if any GM’s had used a truly “creepy” NPC in their game. Mysterious cloaked figures, black armored knights, damsels in distress are all standard tropes in fantasy RPG’s but who has created a really disturbing or uncomfortable character? Peter is running a haunted house adventure and that cries out for creepy NPC’s!
I’m not referring to terrifying in an alien/demonic/Agothu sense—more of an extreme Bill Ferny type. The character doesn’t have to be scary because of any intrinsic power or ability—it’s more a function of their behavior or appearance. I think jesters and clowns are creepy characters and the recent popularity of The Joker, and Harley Quinn makes them a good template for an interesting NPC. I always liked Korbal Broach from the Malazan series.
I don’t think I’ve ever introduced such an NPC in my games, but I’m developing a character to be used in one of my module projects I’m working on. It’s easier to write up: I think roleplaying this type of NPC would be hard. Purposefully acting unpleasant or disturbing doesn’t come easy to most people. Plus, my group would probably just try and kill anyone that creeped them out too much!
I thought I would skip my “Weekly Roundup” for a player challenge. The challenge: suggest an interesting, creative or clever RM profession/magic item combination. The basic guidelines:
Of course I’ll go first as an example. When I’m not GM’ing, I’m almost always a Warrior Monk. (Caylis, who gets occasional mentions in some RM books). I think I like the simplicity of a non-spell caster and the minimalist nature of the Monk after the intensive, detailed process of being a GM. Playing a Monk goes all the way back to my earliest days of playing AD&D and our Court of Ardor campaign in ’83. I didn’t worry about hoarding gold, armor, losing items etc. I liked the self-reliance of a Monk in AD&D (Feign Death, hitting as magical weapons, immunities) and always strived for some of those same abilities in RM without opting for the Mentalist spell casting version Monk.
With that in mind, my favorite go to item for my monk is the “Ring of Free Action” or some iteration of it. This was an actual AD&D item that had far more expansive powers than an RM spell. In RM the closest is probably “Underwater Movement”, only a 5th lvl spell on the Closed Mentalist list “Movement”. That’s a pretty modest item to get make into a Daily X item and frees the Monk to operate underwater and use martial arts without restrictions. It’s not an overtly powerful ability but can really add to game play, combat choices (if near water)and group abilities.
What’s your combination? I received a suggestion yesterday that made sense. What’s a contest without a prize? If we get at least 10 responses the winner of the best suggestion will get a brand new copy of the Iron Wind (the 80’s edition). This is “new, old stock” I bought from ICE when they were shutting down. Never been used but aren’t individually shrink wrapped. There may be the option to get the Cloudlords of Tanara instead but I’ll have to check to see what we have left.
Winner will be determined by the criteria above: originality in pairing, uniqueness, power of item (the lower the better) and of course the swimwear segment!
One of my previous blogs discussed the “Many Flavors of Shadow World” and I felt like expanding on a few specific adventure environments that we’ve used that really enhanced our campaign.
What were your most unique adventure environments? Share your game stories!
You slowly open your eyes, paint stabbing through your head and your body aching from head to toe. Gradually, your surroundings come into focus. Above, a smooth stone roof dripping cold water. Moving your head cautiously you realize you are in a small stone room blocked by rusting narrow bars. You are not alone. Other bedraggled figures are likewise laying on the floor. All appear to be bruised, their clothes in tatters and are moving feebly taking in their surroundings.
In the distance you hear the squeal of hinges, a heavy door scraping against the floor and metal clanging on metal. Footsteps approach, methodical and clad in metal boots. You and your fellow prisoners manage to sit upright and await your captor. From around the corner a metal horror appears glinting in the flickering torch light. A towering armored figure is revealed, adorned in full plate covered in razor edges down the greaves and vambraces. Instead of hands, the ends arms end in weapons: on the right a circular cutting blade and on the left a 3 pronged stabbing tip.
Your mind is frantic…what is this figure? A man, a creature or something else? You look around, realization dawning that none of these other people are familiar to you. In shock you can’t recall how you arrived here. You have no recollection of the past…or who you are….
This is the player introduction for one of my first RM games (pre-Shadow World, mid 80’s). The players find themselves in a bare cell with no memories. They don’t know their past, how they got there, their skills or even their professions. I’ve run this 4-5 times over the year as both a short “tournament style” adventure and as the start to longer campaigns.
Besides designing pre-gen characters (which can change some of the adventure obstacles and challenges) the adventure can be quickly set-up. No need for backgrounds, history or even gear! It can organically evolve into a longer campaign and allows the GM to adapt player backgrounds as the narrative unfolds.
This works well if you want your players to gradually immerse themselves into the larger SW plots but prefer to keep it simple at the start. The memory loss can be later attributed to Andraax, Lorgalis or another important NPC.
This adventure was also the start of my journey towards a “no profession” game. What I realized is that my players didn’t fall into GAAP (Generally Accepted Adventuring Practices—that’s an accounting joke btw) because they didn’t even know what profession they were playing. There was a novelty and newness to their behaviors that was more akin to a player’s first roleplaying experience than a seasoned RPG’er. As the players attempted various actions they were able to recover some of their abilities. Even then it wasn’t obvious what the profession was. Their actions were driven by the narrative and not their abilities or group assigned roles.
Anyway, as an interesting start to your SW campaign or as a stand-alone adventure for a game day it’s a great hook.
Welcome to RolemasterBlog’s first “Weekend Roundup”. Here we will feature interesting links, stories or news items that might be of interest to RPG’ers or curious minds!
The price of fashion. Getting around in ARMOR.
What a bunch of NERDS!
Celebrities aren’t the only ones PLAYING D&D.
What every growing boy needs…the CRATE OF DOOM!
Cryptonomicon…I don’t think so. Try the CODEX SERAPHINIANUS.
Interesting article on PROTO LANGUAGES.
The Gods of Death in Shadow World. RESURRECTION discussion.
You call that a KNIFE?
Till next time!
A recent forum thread started me thinking about the “tensions” between a game setting and a game system. Specifically rulesets and worlds published by the same company (not like Peter’s use of FR for his RM game). Certainly Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms were designed to incorporate the full breadth of the D&D rules, but what issues are created when a game world doesn’t fully embrace the system it’s meant to support? MERP is a good example of this. The original modules used the RM rule set, but that rule set never really fit the low magic world of Tolkien. ICE eventually introduced MERP, which stripped out many of the professions to better fit the setting.
So let’s examine RM (in all its’ variations) and Shadow World. The two always seemed slightly “out of phase” to me. While some argue that SW is very “kitchen sink”, it has elements and mechanisms that break from normal RM standards. RM’s origins as a slot in system meant that it duplicated a lot of D&D material and had quite a bit of generic content. Shadow World however, is a very specific setting that often throws away RM rules or requires some re-calibration to make things work just right. Some examples:
This ambiguity between RM and Shadow World is much different then Numenera whose rule set and setting were created hand in hand. The setting informs the rules and the rules drive the setting. Is there a solution? Does there need to be one? Perhaps not, but it probably doesn’t help to have this divide between the rules and the setting. Like MERP before it, I think the Shadow World setting would be helped by having a modified RM rule set.
Can you think of any other companies that have a rule set and setting that don’t quite match up?
I thought I would go a bit off normal topics to discuss Netflix’s most recent series: Stranger Things. The series is a nod (actually more of a trope head-butt) to 80’s science fiction and fantasy and written and directed by brothers steeped in early fantasy gaming. The show starts with a group of boys playing D&D in their basement—the game narrative establishing the plot and structure of the rest of the series.
Unlike E.T., which depicted some type of RPG’ing, the boys in ST are clearly playing D&D and the show references the game several times—plus it contains a few D&D product placements as well. These young boys are the protagonists of the story, and while they are characterized as “brainy nerds that get picked on”, the show clearly frames them in a positive light. The values of trust, loyalty, friendship between the boys is clearly contrasted against the shallow friendships of the bullies and popular kids. In a longer story arc, character redemption is not portrayed as the nerd who triumphs and gets their girl but as the popular rich kid who learns the lessons of friendship and learns humility. (Pretty in Pink?)
Without tackling the technical details of filming, it seems that almost every shot is evocative of an 80’s movie. On the most basic level, the show is an homage to Spielberg, Carpenter, Stephen King and Cameron but tropes and references are so dense and wide ranging that they still keep popping in my head.
Just a few that struck me:
There is no doubt that early 80’s gamers have become key players in Hollywood/TV myth making and this show is a love story to that era. I think it was a positive depiction of gaming and just maybe it will spur a few 40-somethings to get back into gaming or teach their kids!
What references did you pick up on?
The gold coin. Since the introduction of basic D&D, the gold coin has been the foundation of fantasy gaming. Experience is awarded based upon gp’s collected; superior equipment is bought and encumbrance rules are built around the ability to carry loot and coinage. There is broad consensus that under the gold coin is silver, then bronze, copper, tin (steel) and above are platinum and perhaps some setting specific coins (mithril or laen).
But all coins are not created equal. Mercantile economies tend to use widely accepted and valued metals for their base, while more insular societies can use lesser metals or unique materials and price controls to establish value. In general however, the value of coinage is driven the type and content of its metal base. Given this, the intrinsic value of a Gold Crown from Rhakhaan could differ greatly from the Gold Note issued is Sel-kai. With all the varied cultures in Shadow World it became quite a project to map all the various currencies, establish a baseline value and create a currency exchange chart. An easier approach is to heavily discount foreign currency when used is another culture.
However, if you are running a geo-political or commerce style campaign, then currency values may play a greater role and require some additional guidelines. For our SW setting, I decided to focus on the three major currency/economies as a baseline and then apply exchange rates as needed for other local currencies. Despite the presence of Essence Flows, Kulthea has 3 major economic forces: governments or institutions with a world reach, engage in commerce or practice sophisticated monetary policy. These three groups are: Eidolon/Sel-kai government, the Navigators and the Alliance.
Eidolon/Sel-kai
Due to its central location the reach of its mercantile and banking businesses and the trade routes established by its Sky Ships, Eidolon is probably the most powerful economic force in the hemisphere. Sel-kai also has benefited from the Minister of State Enik Foor, who helped introduce representative currency (Diamond, Platinum and Gold notes) and added milled edges to the coinage to reduce coin “clipping”. Eidolon coinage can be found in most any tradeport throughout the hemisphere and is considered a stable and trusted currency. For our campaign, we use Sel-kai currency as the baseline exchange.
Diamond Note dn = 100 gp
Platinum Note pn = 10 gp
Gold Note gn = 1 gp
1 gold piece (orlin) gp = 10 sp
1 jade piece jp = 2 silver pieces
1 silver piece (sellin) sp = 10 bronze
1 bronze = 10 cp
1 cp = 10 tin
The Alliance aggressively expands its empire through trade and colonialism and not militarily. Once they’ve replaced or subdued leadership they institute a number of administrative and cultural innovations: legal contracts, taxation, trade and monetary policy. The Alliance uses a unique currency that mixes representative, fiat and fractional value currency which it aggressively promotes for major trade and commerce but allows local currency to continue for daily life. The Alliance currency are “trade bars”, (mini ingots 6” x 1” x 1” serial stamped made from a variety of bullion but whose value is set and backed by the Alliance) and credit notes (Letters of Credit backed by the Alliance). The small size of these trade bars and the disconnect between their commodity value and trade value facilitates ease of use for merchants and eliminates debasement (clipping or sweating).
Gold Bar = 20 Silver Bars
Silver Bar = 20 Copper Bars
Copper Bar = 50 Gold Notes (Sel-Kai)
Credit Notes: Amounts as required.
Navigators
The Navigators have introduced a true fiat currency that was initially used for Navigator services but is now accepted as legal tender by merchants in larger cities. These Navigator tokens are 5 sided “coins” approximately 2.5” across and made of a goldish metal holding a flat crystal disk in the middle. (These are actually memory storage disks from the Taranian civilization and are virtually indestructible. The Navigators uncovered a huge cache of them late in the Second Era). The Navigators will use these tokens whenever possible to promote their use and as a profit center to fund their activities.
1 “Guilders” = 10 Gold Notes
For a great book series that combines emerging economics, monetary policy and high adventure in the 17th and 18th centuries I highly recommend The Baroque Cycle.
As we gather here, of primary importance is to answer this question: what is this “Viir”, as we now call it, this seeming essential force that permeates our planetary system? Let us review. It’s been almost 75 years since our orbital sensors first detected these energy emissions. Tachyon detectors, plasma traps, electron screens and a variety of other particle shields all registered this force—all of them. Is it all of these? Or is it something altogether new to our reality?
We are close to locating its source within our system—perhaps in the gravity well between the planet and its second moon. What do we know? It’s unclear if this energy is modifying and transmuting our physical laws or subsuming them. The “Viir” seems to fundamentally change both ionic and covalent bonds for molecular and macromolecular structures. In practice this energy field is also distorting chemical interactions and material structures most acutely—its effect on life forms and our planetary biome is still under analysis.
…Perhaps most perplexing and disconcerting is that the background level of the field seems to be growing….
…..We are now monitoring two dozen subjects that have exhibited unusual sensitivity to the Viir. We have yet to isolate the specific epigenetic mechanism that allows for this, but our experiments lead us to believe that the subjects are increasing their sensitivity through time and effort. It is our belief that sensitivity acts as a feedback loop, allowing these subjects to conversely manipulate these fields to some unknown effect.
Notes on the “Viir”
Excerpts from Emergency Meeting,
Althan Imperial Science Committee
Like every fantasy game setting, Kulthea is a world of magic, bathed in energy flows (Essaence) which provide the underpinnings for magical abilities. Unlike many other settings however, the Shadow World is also identified as being in our “known universe”, (the planet Ceril VII). This makes Kulthea somewhat unique: a fantasy setting within our real world with an aberration of the physical laws of existence. Of course this is a game, so a bit of hand waving can gloss over any logical discrepancies.
For those that play a cross-genre setting (other Sci-fi and fantasy) or want a consistent framework for the magical systems then some more details need to be considered. Over the years we’ve put together a framework during our own rewrite of Spell Law and for arbitrating Essaence effects during gameplay.
We’ve also posted up some basic rules for magic and technology on the RM Forums here.
What is Essaence?
The Essaence is a fifth energy along with the Strong Force, Weak Force, Electromagnetism and Gravity and interacts with and modifies our physical laws. Unlike these other forces which are normally produced or manipulated with technology (depending on technology level), the Essaence is also “bio-manipulative”; able to be controlled by living beings who have or developed sensitivities to this energy. Because this is a non-native energy, alien to the established physical rules of the universe, it interacts with the other forces in unusual ways.
Source. Where does the Essaence come from?
Per the MA, a rift was created by interdimensional travelers allowing energy to seep into the Kulthean system. But what does that mean? The Kulthean planetary system is moving through the galaxy—is the source a fixed point? If so, where? The Essaence gateway is a keystone between dimensions that allows the continual seep of Essaence. This object (asteroid) is at the Lagrange Point between Orhan and Kulthea—providing a continuous stream of energy to the planet and the moon. Depending on their orbital positions, the Essaence will also interact with other moons/planets. (Most notably Charon, Essaence power there will wane and wax. The Night of the Third Moon coincides with the greatest amount of Essaence energy reaching Charon.)
Is Essaence unique to Kulthea?
Apparently. A group of Ka’ta’viir left Kulthea in the 1st Era looking for other manifestations of the Essaence. (the Old Ones-who later came back in the Interregnum as the Earthwardens). This means that Essaence powers will not work outside the Essaence envelop around Kulthea, Orhan and on occasion the other satellites. However, unique Essaence imbued materials and alloys (Laen, Eog Ethloss etc) will retain their material qualities, (i.e. pure crystals that are fabricated in zero g).
Fundamental Impact.
The Essaence is a physical force but non-native to our plane of existence. On Kulthea this means it has changed reality on a quantum/physical level. We see two obvious effects. Chemical interactions and material changes. Both of these shoe-horn well into the established SW narrative. Chemical reactions and associated technologies are both rare and unreliable in SW. Also, Kulthea has a number of native “magical” /superior materials and alloys beyond normal material science. Changes to the established physical laws on Kulthea are the result of the Essaence interacting with the other 4 forces.
Spell Casting.
The Essaence was first discovered by a handful of sensitives and then explored by Althan scientists. Over the millennia, the Essaence has become fully immersed in the biology of SW. Humanoids, creatures and flora have absorbed this power, imbuing special natural abilities and/or the ability to willfully shape the Essaence into unique effects (spells). Now, almost all native flora and fauna have developed Essaence sensitivity to some extent, although the ability to manipulate it may take training.
The Realms.
Spell casters draw Essaence directly from their surroundings and into their “well”—through practice their ability to hold more power and draw it more quickly grows. The standard RM “Realms” are just different mechanisms to call upon the Essaence and manipulate the physical world. Therefore we don’t differentiate between energy sources by realm: multipliers, adders etc. are Essaence. There is no need for pools of PP’s for each specific realm, or averaging PP’s for hybrid users. Channelers provide their own power just like Essence or Mentalism, but the spell formation is drawn from their patron God.
Foci and Flows.
Casters can tap into both Foci and Flows but there are dangers as well as benefits. Adventures taking place after the loss of the Northern Eye should see an increase in Essaence fluctuations, spell failures and other random effects of spell casting.
Treating the Essaence as the “fifth force” gives us a solid framework for creating new spells, set unclear parameters on spell effects and provides a solid framework for magic in our campaign.