|
Alien Rope Burn posted:It's not a question of fairness to me. It's a question of awareness. I've actually met the guy and had him be amazingly considerate to a young fan. I also had him explode in my face. I've also had him apologize for exploding at me. Does the one time he was lovely to me wipe out all the other times? Well, I don't like painting things with one brush. It doesn't excuse what he did, but understanding what was going on in his life at least goes some way towards explaining it, and I find that a lot more interesting than being purely dismissive. I don't think you need to be more critical, I'm just not sure why every time someone brings up the notion that John Wick might be kind of an rear end in a top hat GM you feel the need to rush forward to try and, I don't know, whatever this is that you keep doing. I'm sure that Abby Soto and Phil Brucato are also more than the dumb RPG books that they publish but I still reserve the right to judge the two of them based on things like Straw Feminist Rapemurder Snuff Vore-stravaganza and Dog: the loving. I've also heard people say that Gareth-Michael Skarka in real life is absolutely nothing like how he is on the internet. Is that true? Is he maybe secretly the nicest guy in the world and all his blustery assholishness is just some sort of show for the rubes? I don't really care tbh, I'm comfortable painting him one brush and calling it a day.
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 06:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? Dec 3, 2024 06:22 |
|
|
Hell, maybe Ryan Dancey donates to charity and takes in rescue animals.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 06:20
|
|
|
Our review wasn't really ask that much about Wick the guy anyway, just a few asides. So one of our listeners(and a lurker here), just sent us a microwave sized box containing the following: GURPS Discworld GURPS Hellboy Blue Planet (with Moderators Guide and Fluid Mechanics) Feng Shui Godlike (with Will To Power and some adventures) Ray Wininnger's Underground The Whispering Vault Underworld Kobolds Ate My Baby Nexus: The Whispering City Kult Witch Hunter: the Invisible World King Arthur Pendragon And what I consider to be the Arkenstone of this hoard, Everway. Amazingly we didn't have a single one of these yet. So good.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 06:43
|
|
|
I remember GURPS Hellboy being about as dry as Melba toast, but that looks like a pretty righteous haul you just landed.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 06:45
|
|
|
I figure that other than maybe Varg, who I believe is in jail for racism related crimes, every RPG person we call a motherfucker in these contexts has the unspoken caveat of, "In the context of trad games, and possibly also has some lovely opinions."
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 06:54
|
|
|
I'm pretty sure Varg Vikernes went to jail for literally killing a dude.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 07:11
|
|
|
Invoking Varg is kinda cheating in 'worst RPG person' discussions, because everyone else is just garden-variety amateur jerks and Varg is a genuinely evil person who happens to make RPGs that reflect his interests. Looking solely at his RPG output, he's merely quite lovely, but it's hard to overlook his long and storied career of murder, racism, and arson.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 07:29
|
|
|
 Part 1: Building a Better Villain With Lists (Fun Fact: That might not be Annabelle on the cover. It might be an older version of Monica. It appears to be art left over from another aborted movie project. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Who knows.) Annabelle Deville posted:First, lets put it out there shall we? I'm not the villain of the story. No one is. That's how mortals thing, very black and white, very good vs. evil, very childish. One of the complaints I and others have about Witch Girls is that when a witch does something bad to someone, usually a mortal who can’t defend themselves, they are usually not punished for it. And when it happens, it rarely amounts to more than a light slap on the wrist. Many of these characters also just seem to be evil for the sake of being evil and do not have reasons behind the way they are. (Though we all know the real, unspoken answer is “because fetish”.) Presumably, Annabelle Deville’s guide to mystical mayhem Wicked Ways was written in part to fix that. It was released along with Respelled and Coventry. Unlike Coventry, it seems to have incorporated the new rules. Like the other two, the book starts off with a comic. It’s about Lucinda and Annabelle meeting up at Not!Starbucks after meeting each other on a social networking site for witches. They bond over their mutual interest in turning people into things and possibly destroy an entire city. I’m not going to write a long summary of it because I don’t need to write one. That’s literally all the comic is. Instead, have a series of pictures.            By the way, Monica and Janette were the ones that encouraged the two to sign up for the site. (“Monica said I should make a magic friend account I thought it was another of her silly attempts to "help me out of shell." [sic]) So aside for Helena and Millicent’s lovely parenting, those two are to blame. Also, aside for one comic that Harris didn’t see the need to publish with full pages (thus making it nearly unreadable), this is the first time Annabelle is seen smoking. It will come as no surprise to anyone that Soto wrote the comic. Harris is on solo writing duty again, along with editing and, interestingly, the cover art which I don’t believe for a second. If he can draw that well, why does he bother commissioning people who are worse than him? (It would definitely save him money in the long run.) Soto is on graphic design, typesetting, layout (none of the page numbers are in the space where they should be, and I hope you like burnt orange with neon green accents), and proofreading, as well as art duty with four other people. A “Deborah ‘Yankee Diva’ Dodge” is listed as the book’s “Muse”. Dodge is/was Harris’ S.O. and Denora Desade may be her self-insert. (That, or Harris went out of his way to find a girlfriend who looks like her and has the same initials. Also, why was I able to find a wiki page for her?) According to the table of contents, there should be a foreword from Brooke Horn, the actress who was going to play Annabelle in one of the umpteenth aborted Witch Girls movies, before the rest of the book. There is no foreword. (There is a blank space next to the Table of Contents and disclaimers (“Don’t smoke or drink if you’re underage. Don’t be wicked.”) where it probably should be though.) Unless it’s talking about the quote at the top. That quote is one of many from Annabelle scattered around the book. The book starts off by trying to emphasize that they’re going for cartoon style villainy, not real world style tragedies. Wicked Ways posted:We say wicked and not evil as we're covering more standard story book villainy and not real world style madness and atrocities. This is just a game after all.  It then explains that the main purpose of the book is to help Directors and players build better, more rounded villains and morally dubious characters for their games. (Along with helping directors run “wicked” games.) Which is fine. But unfortunately, it feels like hollow lip service compared to what is actually shown from the NPCs’s actions. Hell, you don’t need to look any further than the opening comic for this very book to find a contradiction. There’s no reason for most of those transformations other than “that sounds like fun”. And while there are updated character sheets for some of the designated villains here and in later books with some token attempts at giving them some motivations behind their shittiness, they don’t really do much and again, feel incredibly hollow. Especially considering that there is nothing indicating that Harris is really trying to distance the game from its older materials and fluff. A new version would have been a great opportunity for him to completely overhaul the fluff. But again, that would require  .There’s also the fact that designated good characters like to indulge in some of the same actions as the designated villains. I also don’t think that Annabelle would endorse a book that implies that she’s anything less than a powerful sorceress capable of destroying you with a pointed look with no deep insecurities or issues fueling her actions. Anyway, this chapter is mostly just lists of ideas for reasons, means, and goals for wicked characters. They’re all valid reasons, but the way nearly all of them are written seem to have at least one thing that seems… off to me in their reasoning. First up is Catalysts: reasons why a character would decide to be wicked. These are:
Annabelle Deville posted:...my cousin Janette once tried to use silly mortal psychology to figure out "what's wrong me" The only thing she discovered that me imploding her bedroom was a far larger issue than my personal ones. When I said the comics tend to forget that Annabelle is evil, I mean it. The two get along really well in the comics and rarely raise a spell on each other. She probably got the idea to do that from Lucinda. She does make everyone around her worse. Next is a list of possible goals that wicked characters might have.
Annabelle Deville posted:... Most people don't understand the burden of being better than everyone else. In fact most people live a life with little r no meaning. Even among my own kind many are just satisfied with being a face in the crowd. Next is the methods that wicked characters use to achieve their goals (or, as the book calls them, “methods of the madness”). A lot of these are just the Seven Deadly Sins and some don’t really fit with their category name.
Wicked Ways posted:The key to a good wicked characters are the key to making any kind of character and not falling into the same cliches that are common to villainous persona. This comes after a bit that talks about villains who might do long winded monologues. Such characters have a time and a place. And honestly, if you’re going for more cartoon style villainy, this might be the place for them. Also, what do clichés have to do with villains who are villains 24/7? Up next:  : Witch Edition
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 07:35
|
|
|
Yay, more fetish comics with smoking school children. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 08:16
|
|
|
Adnachiel posted:[*]Normal: “Yeah, I’m wicked. But you’re wicked too.” Normals think the entire world is full of assholes that are out to get them and that they need to harm them first. Honestly, kind of a valid mindset to have in this setting.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 09:00
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Our review wasn't really ask that much about Wick the guy anyway, just a few asides. The Whispering Vault! That game is so beautifully weird and surreal that I've always wanted to play it but I've never been able to properly express how weirdly beautiful it is. Please tell me that that's one of the games that's not too deep in you "to review" backlog.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 09:11
|
|
|
I had almost forgotten how much I loathe Witch Girl Adventures, makes me want to run a game dedicated to murdering that kind of magic user(actually that would make for a good campaign, a group of assorted supernatural beings ganging up to murder these Witches cause they are being too blatant and open with their magic, and it's threatening an already fragile Masquerade/truce with a government monster hunting agency, that will literally burn the city to the ground to contain this if necessary)
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 10:09
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Our review wasn't really ask that much about Wick the guy anyway, just a few asides. That sounds like some great material for the next year. Lucky you and shout out to the lurker in question.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 10:49
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Our review wasn't really ask that much about Wick the guy anyway, just a few asides.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 12:49
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Our review wasn't really ask that much about Wick the guy anyway, just a few asides.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 13:22
|
|
|
Feng Shui original or modern spicy? Likewise, which Pendragon edition?
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 13:23
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Our review wasn't really ask that much about Wick the guy anyway, just a few asides.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 13:23
|
|
|
That cover art looks like someone stole a Zelda-themed picture from DA.Just Dan Again posted:Metaplot! I picked Rocket Age to do this time because it's the complete opposite of my hate-crush, Unhallowed Metropolis. I always found it incredibly vexing to spend 100 pages on London and then a paragraph or two fr the rest of the world because you weren't supposed to play there unless you eventually might be able to. And as much as I love SLA for being a weird Scottish punk's nightmare, I agree that the metaplot does it no favors. I wasn't so sure on the short timeline of Rocket Age but in retrospect I think they did it in the span of 1931-1938 so nobody could get too complacent exploring the solar system. There's not a lot of over-arching plots and even with the extra books only one of them seems to follow a series of adventures. I do appreciate a good game that's willing to offer a lot but not feel stretched thin.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 13:30
|
|
|
 Winter: Local Gods Henge are the bridge between people and nature, but local gods are pure nature. Their existence has nothing to do with humans. Each one has their own territory, outside of which they have no interest in what goes on. Gods have powers significantly greater than henge, but are nearly powerless outside of their own territory. The larger the territory, the greater the god. Powers of Local Gods There are some powers allowed to all local gods, then each type also has special powers of its own. Any god can use these: Speak to Animals (0) Regardless of species, gods can communicate with animals that live in their territory. Does not stretch to animals that live elsewhere but just wandered in. Guardian (0) Know everything that happens in their territory. If a button falls to the bottom of a lake, the lake's god knows exactly where it is. Change (?) Transform, as per henge. Local gods generally have animal forms, but they're things like spiders or frogs instead of rabbits or dogs. Vanish (3) Disappear into the god's territory, becoming completely invisible. However, while vanished, the god can't do anything other than subtly communicate. Carry Out (5) Take something inside the territory and guide it to the border to leave. Can't be used on an unwilling target. Pond God Henge 4 / Animal 2 / Adult 3 / Child 1 Animals: Turtle, Fish, Snake, Shellfish, Frog Ponds are quiet, stable places supported by calm, relaxed gods. They might get angry if you do too much fishing or pollute the pond, but they are seldom scary. Power: Water-Strider (5) Make anything float in water, no matter how dense. Can let humans or animals walk on water. Story Fragments Someone needs the god's help retrieving something that fell into the pond. Someone falls into the pond and calls for help. A god might ask a fox to make it rain. River God Henge 6 / Animal 3 / Adult 1 / Child 3 Animals: Fish, Snake, Centipede, Otter Rivers are ever-flowing, and their gods are whimsical. Sometimes they'll suddenly decide that something must be done, and become selfish and self-centered. River gods aren't fond of humans, and might cause a flood if angered. Power: Soak (8) Make a bucketfull of water fall down wherever you want. To avoid getting soaked requires an Animal check above the god's Henge check. Inflicts a Surprise check of Henge+3. Story Fragments The god mistakes something that fell mistakenly into the river for trash and gets angry. A god is troubled when she uses her Soak power on a child and the child catches cold. A moody river god falls in love with a human. Forest God Henge 5 / Animal 1 / Adult 1 / Child 4 Animals: Fox, Deer, Bird, Raccoon Dog, Giant Spider, Tree A single large forest could have several gods. Forest gods tend to be very old, and enjoy life at a leisurely pace. They're very lonely, and might not want to let new friends leave. Power: Lost in the Woods (6) Make people become lost on changing forest paths. Can affect multiple people, but the cost must be paid for each one. Lasts until scene end. Power: Darkness (12) It becomes dark as night, transformation costs changing accordingly. All humans in this darkness with a Child of 3 or higher have all their other attributes reduced to 0. Story Fragments Children come to play in the forest, but the god won't let them leave. Local animals leave the forest, and the god becomes worried and wants to find them. A forest god asks the henge to bring someone to her, but they take the god into town instead. Mountain God Henge 4 / Animal 7 / Adult 3 / Child 3 Animals: Bear, Boar, Snake, Fox, Spider, Centipede One mountain, one god. Ruling a mountain is a lot of work, so mountain gods tend to be very responsible, creating rules and requiring the residents to abide by them, other gods included. Mountain gods are extremely old, conveying profound emotion merely by their existence. Power: In the Mist (16) Mist too thick to see through engulfs the mountain. Humans can't freely move through it, and the god can lead those trapped in it wherever she wishes. Lasts until scene end. Power: Rain Shower (20) Sudden torrential downpour. Makes you cold and wet, but has no other special powers. Set one foot off the mountain, and it stops immediately. Story Fragments A mountain god doesn't want to let any humans come to the mountain. A child gets lost on the mountain and falls asleep, and the god asks the henge to come get them back home. Field God Henge 2 / Animal 2 / Adult 0 / Child 6 Animals: Bird, Fox, Rabbit, Deer, Snake There are smaller fields close to town, and bigger ones far from town. Their gods tend to be kind, curious and naive. They're more likely than other gods to leave their territory, becoming quite vulnerable when they do. They're quick to befriend children who pass into their territory. Power: Sunny Day (16) Push away all weather to create a pleasing, warm sunny sky. Gives 4 points of Dreams to everyone in the field other than the god. Lasts until scene end. Story Fragments The henge accompany a field god into town to make sure she doesn't get lost. A field god gets attached to children or henge and doesn't want to let them go home. A field god who's left the field might not know the way back. A field god starts crying because of something someone did. Ocean God Henge 6 / Animal 4 / Adult 0 / Child 2 Animals: Fish, Turtle, Snake, Octopus, Crab Actual ocean gods are too distant to ever meet in this game - these are more of shore gods. They have a low opinion of humans, like river gods, for similar reasons. They know nothing of the world beyond their shorelines aside from what the occasional bird or bird henge tells them. Power: Sea God (8) Calm or rouse the waves crashing down on the beach. Make floating things wash up on the beach, or wash things from the beach out to sea. Can't be used on something that's too heavy. Story Fragments Something is lost in the sea, and someone must ask a local ocean god to get it back. Something strange washes up on shore, and the god needs help deciding what to do with it. People litter in the sea, and the god gets mad and sends waves at them. Local Gods in Stories The gods are more powerful than henge in their territory, but outside of their territory they're far weaker than henge. They aren't enemies to fight, nor are they allies who will always help. They might give advice, and might ask favors of henge when necesasary. Local gods look over their land and its inhabitants. Players cannot participate as local gods. The range of things they can do is too broad and too vague, and they're impervious to the limitations of common sense. Narrator only.  Next: Hitotsuna Town.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 13:35
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Our review wasn't really ask that much about Wick the guy anyway, just a few asides. Kobolds Ate My Baby was one of the first RPGs I ever played a one-shot in. It's pretty simplistic, but also a great example of adversarial roleplaying done for laughs rather than as a creepy power trip.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 14:01
|
|
|
You should definitely do Nexus: the Infinite City back to back with Feng Shui, since the latter is a weirdly specialized evolution of the former.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 14:14
|
|
|
Today is April 15, 2016. Three years ago today, I started the first iteration of the Torg read-through. It's three years later, I've restarted once, and I'm still only like halfway through the stuff I want to get through. Three years of writing about Torg. What the hell am I doing with my life?
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 14:37
|
|
|
Evil Mastermind posted:Today is April 15, 2016. Well I guess it is in Australia.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 14:49
|
|
|
Perhaps writing about Torg is your very own Darkness Device and soon you'll become a conquerer.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 14:50
|
|
|
Hey if this is a contest to see who's the most insane, I put myself on the hook to write about not one, but two editions of Immortal.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 14:53
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Well I guess it is in Australia. The hell is wrong with me today?
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 14:55
|
|
|
On this note, expect the next In Nomine update by Sunday.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 14:55
|
|
|
theironjef posted:Our review wasn't really ask that much about Wick the guy anyway, just a few asides. I have every one of those except Discworld. Do Underworld next.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 16:15
|
|
|
Nessus posted:I figure that other than maybe Varg, who I believe is in jail for racism related crimes, every RPG person we call a motherfucker in these contexts has the unspoken caveat of, "In the context of trad games, and possibly also has some lovely opinions." I know that I make a big deal out of going FIIIIIIEEEEELDS in every single one of my reviews of his games, but I get the impression that he genuinely enjoys games and wants them to be fun. Even if his idea of fun is deviant from ours and even if he's not very good at making games. Never actually seemed like a bad person, just maybe a slightly crazy one. Also, not sure if people were aware, but there was a Kickstarter for a Kult revival a while back, which seems to have succeeded. Apparently the only thing that's really missing from the English version is the translation, so I'm looking forward to reviewing Kult a second time!
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 17:32
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:I know that I make a big deal out of going FIIIIIIEEEEELDS in every single one of my reviews of his games, but I get the impression that he genuinely enjoys games and wants them to be fun. Even if his idea of fun is deviant from ours and even if he's not very good at making games. Never actually seemed like a bad person, just maybe a slightly crazy one. After penning a game literally called Tournament of Rapists my opinion of Chris Fields has shifted to "guy deliberately playing the edgelord card for free publicity," even if that particular debacle was also a result of DTRPG loving up.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 17:46
|
|
|
Ratoslov posted:Invoking Varg is kinda cheating in 'worst RPG person' discussions, because everyone else is just garden-variety amateur jerks and Varg is a genuinely evil person who happens to make RPGs that reflect his interests. Looking solely at his RPG output, he's merely quite lovely, but it's hard to overlook his long and storied career of murder, racism, and arson. Yeah, I'm not sure how you'd equate anything I'm saying with defending a seeming pedophile or a legit racist killer, but somebody did, and I have to express bewilderment. Evil Mastermind posted:Three years of writing about Torg. Well, at least you have a conceivable end point. I don't know that I can ever actually finish Rifts, given the rate new books continue to come out, and there's a legit question of how far to take it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 18:07
|
|
|
...RIFTS books are still coming out? Who is buying them?
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 18:14
|
|
|
Alien Rope Burn posted:Well, at least you have a conceivable end point. Mors Rattus posted:...RIFTS books are still coming out? 
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 18:17
|
|
|
Calde posted:Then we're back to discussing Beast and it's examples of play, I suppose. Beast: You deserve what happens to you. drrockso20 posted:I'll keep that in mind, Kamen Rider Amazons is definitely making me want to do something with this idea(cause it has quite a bit of a WoD vibe to it) Kuuga should also be worth looking into with the semi-deconstruction going on and antagonists who justify the "monster of the week" format in a very effed up way (I've probably mentioned it somewhere in the last thread, but they're basically serial killers competing for a high body count - with our without self-imposed restrictions - for promotions. One of them chopped people's head off while walking past them in such a way that they still had time to turn around. Another one killed people by injecting spines into their brains and playing a J-Horror game of "You'll die in 3 days" with them, which drove several victims to commit suicide. Oh, and their leader is Tokusatsu Caine). Asimo posted:Yay, more fetish comics with smoking school children. I wonder what kind of lung cancer you can get from smoking people. Does your lung slowly turn into Belial from Basket Case? Doresh fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Apr 14, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 18:25
|
|
|
Doresh posted:I wonder what kind of lung cancer you can get from smoking people. Does your lung slowly turn into Belial from Basket Case? Witch Girls witches are immune to all mundane diseases and aren't affected by (I assume only the bad effects) of tobacco and alcohol. So all the little witch kids can smoke 10 packs a day of people cigarettes and drink nothing but 40s and never have any health problems. I assume it's specifically there to take out the "smoking is bad for you" reason when someone objects to Lucinda smoking. Adnachiel fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Apr 14, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 19:32
|
|
|
Winter: Hitotsuna Town The six sample henge from the book have a home, and that home is a place called Hitotsuna Town. The Towa River separates the north and south sides of the town, and there's only one bridge across it. With the addition of the train station, the north side has become the center of town. A good chunk of the town is taken up by fields and rice paddies. There are no buildings over three stories tall - the only ones even that high are the school and the hospital. Cell phones only get reception at the train station and parts of town hall. Every house has running water, but that was a more recent development than you might expect. Hitotsuna Station The train tracks follow the path of the Towa River. There's only one attendant, and the local line is only open in the mornings and evenings. No express trains come at all, and at rush hour there's two trains per hour. Landslides or fallen tress can sometimes interrupt train service through the mountains. There are shops around the station - a general store, vegetables, meat, pharmacy, liquor, et cetera. The bank and post office are along this part of town. Many of these shops double as homes - this is the heart of Hitotsuna Town during the day. Town Hall A two-story building that's stood since the 1920s. There's a small library attached, mostly from what townspeople have donated personally, giving it kind of a used book store feel. The community hall is used to prepare for festivals, and sometimes for movie showings or local performances. Hitotsuna School A combination elementary school and middle school, still only gathering about a hundred students. Each class is about twenty students split between two grades. Older students often help younger students, and it's generally a lively, noisy place. Shrines and Temples There's two main Shinto shrines in Hitotsuna Town. On the north side of the river is Misuzu Hachiman Shrine, home to a fox henge named Suzune. On the south side is Hitotsuna-Nushi Shrine, dedicated to the local river god. There's also a Buddhist temple, a small building with sizable grounds used for festivals and the like. Haunted House A Western-style house on the outskirts of town. Local gods or foxes will tell you it's from the Meiji era, and there are rumors of ghosts. Details of what's going on there are left up to the Narrator.  Bodies of Water The main one is Towa River, running through the town from east to west. During long rains, it can overflow. People often fish or walk dogs along the riverbank. Children swim there in the summer. Towa is too long and wide for a single river god to watch over the whole thing, so it has several. In the middle of it is a sand bank called Hebiko Island. It's accessible by one unreliable bridge, and is home to Towa Gozen, a snake god overseeing this part of the river. There's also the Suzunari River, gushing down from the mountains and joining Towa River. There's Miko River, flowing from the hills that are home to a farm and shrine. There's Gokou River, coming down from Mt. Kaminaga and overseen by the centipede goddes Gokou-hime. Beyond all that, there are various reservoir poinds around town, dotted with lotus flowers or used for fishing. Each have their own gods. Mountains Mt. Misuzu is on the north side of town, and is a habitate for foxes and raccoon dogs. There are tiered fruit fields on the mountainside, so farmers from town often go here. The name means 'deep bells', a reference to olden times when people going up the mountain would be led astray by bells rung by the foxes. Mr. Kaminaga is on the south side of town, and is less hospitable - the only paths there are the ones made by animals. The mountain is governed by a spider goddess named Kaminaga-hime. When humans come to her mountain she drives them off with mist and rain, but she is kind to animals and henge.  Creating your own Town Making a town for Golden Sky Stories is a bit different from other RPGs. Things like shops, banks, and hospitals are important for humans, but not necessarily important for henge at all. Decide what kinds of places you need for your stories, then make those first, and let the rest flow from there. For an easier kind of customization, use Hitotsuna Town as a base, but add or change things as you see fit.  Riko's Big Mistake, Part 4 quote:They couldn’t stop the move, but...  And that marks the end of this Golden Sky Stories writeup. I hope you get a chance to play it some day, and I hope the experience adds flowers to the story of your life. Next week, back to talking about Dracula.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 19:33
|
|
|
 Psionic Artifacts of Athas part 3: A Brief Interlude So, I mentioned at the start of the review that Psionic Artifacts of Athas is basically a setting specific version of the more general Book of Artifacts, just a bit more schizophrenic and with a lot of lamer, mostly destroyed artifacts. So in the interest of sharing some actually good artifacts of Athas, I figured I'd go ahead and include the artifacts from the Book of Artifacts that come from the Dark Sun setting.  The Obsidian Man Of Urik The Obsidian Man is a statue of pure obsidian in the shape of a man dressed like a nobleman. The statue is 12 feet tall and perfectly shaped and proportioned with no signs of chisel-marks or tools...the surface is perfectly smooth. The statue was discovered in an obsidian mine in the Smoking Crown mountains when miners came upon the figure buried in a seam of black glass. They chipped away until they managed to completely unearth the statue, under orders from the templar in charge of the mine, and loaded it up to transport to Urik and present it to king Hamanu. However, the journey would last several days and the first night they stopped and in the morning they found 13 people gruesomely crushed to death during the night. The templars were too eager to deliver the statue to the king so they decided to push on. Every night more men were murdered. Naturally the templars suspected the statue, especially since its guards were among the ones killed, but each morning it was back in its place, unmoving. Dozens of people died during the journey. Finally the Obsidian Man was brought to Hamanu who examined the figure for several hours...ultimately unable to discover anything he retired for the night in frustration, leaving 20 half giants to guard the statue and went to his library to research the matter. However, in the middle of the night he was disturbed by the sound of battle. He rushed out just in time to see the entire guard defeated and the gates of his palace smashed open. He followed the trail of the Obsidian Man, encountering it in the middle of the city where the two did battle. Eventually, badly wounded, the sorcerer-king finally defeated the Obsidian Man and created a golden circlet to bind it to his will. With experimentation Hamanu discovered the Obsidian Man had several unusual powers but he never could find any clue to its origin or nature. He also learned that daylight rendered the Man immobile and powerless. Seven years ago a young templar (for reasons unknown) removed the circlet from the Obsidian Man's brow and was immediately killed. The statue escaped the city, walking out into the desert and disappearing. Two years ago the golden circlet itself was stolen from king Hamanu's palace. The thief was never caught and no sign of the circlet has been seen since. You see, that's a good artifact background, mysterious, intriguing and not just another "Rajaat or a Sorcerer-King made this". Something even one of the sorcerer-kings finds mysterious and dangerous is a good sign as well. The Obsidian Man is mainly a kind of super-golem. It has 150 hp, AC -5, gets two attacks per round (THACO 5) and inflicts 5d12 damage per hit. It's movement rate is 15 and it has a strength of 25. It can only be harmed by metal weapons of +3 or greater enchantment. It is immune to all psionics except psychokinetics, and all magic except for cone of cold, Stone Shape(which does 1hp of damage per level), and Stone To Flesh (which sets the Man's AC to 10 for one round only). All of its saves are as a 20th level fighter. Reducing its hp to zero does not destroy it, merely making it inert until the next night at which point it reanimates with full hp. In addition it can Fly on command for one hour per day. It can also create a wall of fire once per day that lasts an hour. It can stone shape by touch and cast passwall at will. It also has a ranged attack, a beam of black fire that inflicts a flat 25 points of damage (save for half) and a 60 yard range. Finally, it can cast finger of death once per week. The curse of the obsidian man is that its a mindless killing machine who obeys no orders. The golden circlet can control it, but even with that it must be allowed to kill a sentient being every night or it will turn on its controller. It also drains the life of the user if commanded to use an invoked power, permanently draining 1 hp. suggested means of destruction are exposure to 24 hours of continuous sunlight or cutting out its heart with a +5 weapon and throwing it into the lava of the smoking crown mountains.  The Psychometron of Nerad The Psychometron is a small clear gem about an inch in diameter, mounted in a headband of gold and leather. The creator of the Psychometron is Nerad the Wise, the first preserver to attempt an Avangion transformation. Unfortunately he was not as secretive as he should have been and the Dragon hunted him down. Anticipating his defeat Nerad gave his most valuable possession, the Psychometron, to one of his retainers and instructed her to flee with it. The woman took the circlet to a community of Villichi in the Tablelands in order to seek aid and shelter. Since then the Villichi have used it to defend themselves in times of need (if you aren't familiar, the Villichi are a society of albino psychic amazons). The Psychometron grants a +2 to saves and all power scores for telepathy and metapsionics. It also contains 150 PSPs (which regenerate at 25 per hour), It also radiates nondetection and blocks all attempts to scry or locate the owner psionically or magically. If the Psychometron is within the radius of a defiling effect it sacrifices 1 PSP per yard to keep the defiler magic from destroying the area. This doesn't stop the spell, just the defiling side effect. It also includes the following psionic abilities which can be fueled by its own PSPs or the PSPs of the wearer: aura sight, aversion, awe, complete healing, contact, displacement, energy containment, mind bar, mind link, radial navigation and teleport. The curse of the Psychometron is fairly mild, it is imbued with Nerad's personality and drives, leading to artifact possession. Victims become driven to end slavery and oppression, the rule of the sorcerer-kings in particular. Suggested means of destruction are feeding it to an Earth Drake or keeping light from touching it for 99 years.  The Rod of Teeth This is a bone club studded with human teeth and covered in strange runes and symbols. It is a relatively minor, but interesting, artifact. The Rod was carved by a defiler named Atlak-Ta, the fetish keeper of Lalai-Puy, sorcerer-queen of Gulg over 600 years ago. It was passed on to his apprentice and since then has moved through the hands of several powerful defilers over the years. The rod is treated as a Rod of Absorption, able to store one spell-level per tooth in the rod (currently 33). However, whenever a charge is used there is a 10% chance a tooth falls out. It also functions as a +2 weapon (inflicting 1d8+2 damage) and grants its bearer a +2 to saves against necromancy. In addition, a wizard struck by the rod must save Vs spells or lose 1d6 spells (highest first) which are transferred to the wielder who can cast them as though they were a wizard (or if they are a wizard, they're added to their currently memorized spells). The curse of the rod is that anyone using it has their alignment eventually shifted to chaotic evil. Every time it is used there is a 5% chance that the rod actually steals the entire mind of the wizard, not just their spells. The struck wizard's mind replaces the rod-wielders and killing the original body. The new entity has the physical stats of the rod wielder and the mental traits and class abilities of the victim. leads to an interesting possibility of an evil wizard or psionicist intentionally allowing a powerful minion (like a half giant) to beat them with the rod until they mind swap. The rod becomes powerless once it loses all of its teeth or returning all the teeth to their original bodies.  The Silencer Of Bodach My personal favorite artifact, even if it is a "Rajaat made this" artifact. Also, let me say the really nice, clean black and white art of the book of artifacts really puts the wobbly, cartoony work in the Psionic Artifacts of Athas book to shame. The Silencer is a 7 foot long, 7 inch wide sword made from the same red metal as the Scorcher. During the cleansing wars the silencer was crafted for Irikos, the "left hand of Rajaat" and got it's name from the city of Bodach. Bodach was an extremely powerful "neutral city" during the Cleansing Wars. Using the sword, Irikos slew the armies of Bodach and sacked the city...however the wizards of Bodach worked together to cast a powerful spell, killing both themselves and Irikos. Only the silencer itself survived. The weapon was found in the ruins of bodach by an adventurer who used it to gather an army of raiders and bandits. However, she overstepped herself and engaged in a full-on assault of the city of Balic. The sorcerer king and his armies slaughtered the desert savages. The sword was carried away into the desert by one of her lieutenants. The Silencer is a +5 Two Handed Sword which can be used one-handed like a longsword. It also cuts through any non-metal substance without resistance, ignoring non-metal armor and even carving through solid stone at 10 feet per round. It also grants its owner a +2 AC bonus. It can be swung in huge arcs to magically attack everyone (-4 penalty) within a 10 foot radius. three times per day it can project a bolt of force which, if it strikes the ground or a building, acts as the earthquake spell. if it strikes a creature it inflicts 5d10 damage. And 3 times per day it can protect its owner with a Tower of Iron Will. Plus 3 random abilities from enchantment, and one from protection. The curse is bloodlust, every day the weilder must make a save or lose a point of wisdom. and it inflicts artifact possession, driving the wielder to acts of violence and conquest...plus a fanatical loyalty to Rajaat. That's it for this interlude, back to the main book with the next post. oriongates fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Apr 14, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 19:37
|
|
|
Mors Rattus posted:...RIFTS books are still coming out? Yeah, who would play broken games that are decades old in this hobby? It's ridiculous to even think of.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 20:25
|
|
|
oriongates posted:For those who don't know, back in 2e there was a product called the Book of Artifacts, basically a big collection of the most high-powered magic items around, the kind you build campaigns around. The Book of Artifacts was, from what I recall, not too bad other than a tendency to copy-paste artifacts directly from existing campaign settings with absolutely no explanation or preparation, such as a cutlass from Spelljammer or the psychometrion, an item from Dark Sun, and an odd decision that pretty much every Artifact should have some powers that are rolled randomly. Because what's a TSR era book without some random tables? At the time, it was a complete waste of a 10-year-old's limited funds, but in hindsight, it was a vitally important purchase. All of the charts, references to other charts, and references to stats like Bend Bars/Lift Gates warned me away from playing a game as awful as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. All 4 of those artifacts made it in exactly as you've posted them, IIRC. I seem to recall InQuest magazine in the 90s consistently criticizing TSR for consistently publishing sourcebooks that were collections of material copypasted from earlier books.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 20:32
|
|
|
|
| # ? Dec 3, 2024 06:22 |
|
|
Mors Rattus posted:...RIFTS books are still coming out? I should either finish Nightbane or abandon it and start in with System Shock one of these days.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 20:43
|
|