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 Circle of Hands Chapter 1: Original Metal Chapter 2: Iron Folk Chapter 3, Part 2: Ventures The third chapter covers both character creation, which I went through in the last update, and creating Ventures. Remember that in Circle of Hands, play is concerned entirely with a group of Circle knights going to investigate some problem or issue they’ve heard about, and never with courtly intrigue or other matters that might be part of “downtime” in other fantasy games. Edwards advocates a low-prep method where you use random rolling to generate a location, some problems, some named characters, and some “tripwires”--more on that later--and let the adventure emerge from the PCs playing off of those things. Like character creation, Venture generation involves rolling three dice, then combining, matching, and subtracting them in various ways to generate a template. It’s all very simple, but I’m not going to go into the tedious details about how you take the lowest die and then add it to the red die to blah blah blah. I’ll focus on the building blocks of a Venture. To start, I roll three dice: black, white, and red. They come up 6, 2, and 2. The first step is Location. Because two dice match, the Venture isn’t in Rolke. It’s in Tamaryon, the large inland pastoral region. I also need to come up with a name for the specific community where the Venture takes place. The options are all Germanic names, based on names and geography. If I were being cheeky, I’d go with “Altdorf,” but instead I like Luttenbruck, meaning “little bridge.”  At this stage, you’re also meant to imagine this community’s daily life and struggles, and as many little details of its culture as you like. I’m thinking of a farming community, not of particular strategic or economic importance to the surrounding region, somewhat backward and insular because it suffers mightily ever couple generations when the floods are bad enough to surmount the bridge. The second step is Components. These are the problems the Circle knights will be dealing with, and the method generates 1-3 of them. Some of them are crises that the knights will try to resolve in order to build goodwill. Others are opportunities the knights will try to take advantage of. And Amboriyon and Rbaja are forces the Circle opposes on principle, with no expectation of reward. Humanitarian crisis: War, oppression, famine, disease, or natural disaster. Edwards wants you to focus on human agency in causing or responding to it. Social tension: Conflict between the social classes has reached the breaking point. Poverty, clan feuds, and humanitarian crises play well into this. Circle knights confuse social rank just by being there, and knights from the region will have some insight into the conflict. Opportunity: The Circle sees a chance for peace, trade, or any other kind of cooperation with the community. This should be a milk run, but it’s easy to screw up. Knowledge: Some foreign or lost technology, a map, a revelatory fact, or something similar is in play. The fact that the Circle knows about this at all means it’s being actively contested. Monster: A creature of Amboriyon or Rbaja, or other fantastical beast. Such creatures are never just out in the woods waiting to be hunted; they’re fixated on a community or more likely, connected to it. Knowledge: Some valuable knowledge in the form of a strange technology, a map or book, a secret, etc. has come to the Circle’s attention. It’s not just sitting there; someone is using it or people are struggling for it. Monster: Circle knights fight such things to earn goodwill for the Circle. Rbaja: A Rbaja wizard, demon, or magical zone. A living nightmare. Amboriyon: An Amboriyon wizard, eidolon, or magical zone. A light that seduces and destroys. The dice method works out so that Ventures in Rolke are more likely to be low-intensity, and both humanitarian crisis and Amboriyon never occur by themselves. The only result I get is Rbaja. I’m imagining a vile sorcerer camping out near an isolated community. The third stage is a quick one, using a die result to set the tone. Harsh: Hardship, tough decisions, personal loss Grim: Injustice, oppression, desperation Squick: Gore, agony, atrocity My results give me Harsh. I’m thinking of a blasted wasteland beyond the pastures, where people go and don’t come back, that the knights will have to enter to deal with the influence of Rbaja. Next I need to determine the total number of Components. My dice give me two Rbaja components. I decide that Luttenbruck is troubled by both a Rbaja zone and the wizard who created it. Finally, create named characters connected to each component. Since I only have Rbaja, I need three characters connected to the problem. Each character needs an 8/5/4/2 stat spread, their profession, and their social rank written down, but that’s the easy part. Baron Heinrich Sieghild is the de facto leader of the community by virtue of his family connections to a prominent clan chief up north, and his possession of a quaint and perpetually undermanned guard tower by the old bridge. Though it occasionally wounds his pride, he’s content to do “what’s best for everyone,” i.e. what’s best for his wealthier and more powerful cousins. Ingeborg is the spiritual leader of Luttenbruck, one of the first people to resettle after the last bad flood. In her capacity as priestess and midwife, she’s universally respected for the sheer number of people she’s mothered, grandmothered, godmothered, delivered, and/or married. Ingeborg feels like Luttenbruck still hasn’t really found its feet, and is pressuring Heinrich to make the community more well-defended and self-sufficient. She’s wise, but impatient to see big change happen in her lifetime. Gerhard Sigvald is the town’s only skilled metalsmith. That wouldn’t be the case, but a month ago, Gerhard’s son Lambert went into the dark wood with one of Ingeborg’s granddaughters, Gerda, and didn’t come back. This has strained their lifelong friendship, and they are both pressuring Heinrich to “do something” about it.  Edwards recommends maps, though they aren’t necessary. Not a big map of the whole community, but smaller-scale maps of dangerous and important locations. The last step is tripwires. Tripwires are events with a specific trigger, with shocking and game-changing consequences. They’re not traps, or tricks, or goals for the PCs to achieve or avoid, since they don’t know about them. If anyone else goes missing, Heinrich will be goaded into leading a search party into the woods, with disastrous consequences. If the wizard’s lodge is disturbed, she will flee back through the woods to the village, with the intent of making a big mess, kidnapping Gerda, and fleeing. If the PCs or anyone else interrogates Gerda, Ingeborg will close ranks and shun the Circle knights. Edwards tells you right out that you should be aiming for “soap opera.” The NPCs just have their own lives and agendas, which get bound up in the Components and lead to action and drama. No one has to be a diabolical villain, or a lunatic, or part of a secret conspiracy in order to move the plot along. (Except wizards. loving wizards.)  Beginning Play A Venture begins with each player picking a knight to play. Don’t play the same knight twice in a row, but when you play a knight, they’re yours. Honor what’s been established about the character through play, but you don’t have any obligation to their creator’s original vision or anything like that. Your roleplaying prompts are on the character’s sheet--Traits, Profession, and Key Event. The GM only tells the players what region they’re going to, and some sketchy details about the most obvious Component. You aren’t summoned to the king’s chambers and sent on a mission; the Circle doesn’t work like that. You heard about a problem and a group of you decided to get involved. Another important thing to remember is that a great deal about your characters is immediately visible, and the people you meet are no fools: they recognize your regional accent, your Circle badge, and probably know your social rank and profession from your manner and dress. A group of people different from each other, showing up armed and with a retinue, perhaps showing evidence of being touched by both black and white magic, is something these people have never seen before. Next time: GMing individual scenes, rolling dice, and a bunch of little stuff.
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Jan 28, 2019 03:29
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Alien Rope Burn posted:
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Jan 28, 2019 04:05
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Cythereal posted:For a Florida perspective, are the Seminole and the Seminole Wars brought up in this new Deadlands bit at all? Deadlands is very West-centric. Beyond national politics the individual states and regions east of the Mississippi River don't get much play. The last two big books centering on Back East for the North and South respectively were made in the 90s, and a planned Trail Guide* for said regions in Reloaded were scrapped due to time constraints. Unfortunately the Seminoles do not have much of a presence in Deadlands as far as I can tell, Last Sons or no. *mini-campaign
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Jan 28, 2019 04:08
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Drakyn posted:How many rifts did it take to get a monster all the way from Okanagan Lake, BC, to Lake Ontario? None, it just took one typo from me. The book gets it right. Whups! Thanks for pointing this out, fixed.
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Jan 28, 2019 04:37
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Emerald Empire: Gotei's Finger Most ports are run by a single clan, as with towns in general. They tend to have a bit more social mobility than normal, as the trade guilds send heimin to participate in the court. However, as heimin, they remain limited to observation, mingling between court sessions and handing in reports. Some ports are on clan borders, but because of how important ports are to the economy of the Empire, these ports are often ruled by direct Imperial control, to help avoid clan tensions and to encourage fair trade. Port towns tend to be far more diverse than other areas, with visitors from many clans and followers of many religious practices passing through. Most people in a port town will be strangers, and locals tend to be very wary of scams and thieves, which are common. Violence also becomes an issue, especially around areas catering to sailors. Gotei City is the capital of the Islands of Spice and Silk, a day's sailing east of the Crane coast. It is easily the busiest of Rokugan's international trading ports, in large part because of the city's relative acceptance of gaijin. It also is one of the more socially mobile places in Rokugan. It's not common, but a heimin sailor can, in theory, become a ship's captain, and owning a ship in the Islands of Spice and Silk is like being a land owner elsewhere - it means you're noble. While the captains are still commoners on mainland Rokugan, all captains in the Islands are treated as minor nobility, period. However, the vast majority of Mantis ships remain controlled by samurai captains. For all that, the Islands remain Rokugani. If they weren't, the Mantis would have no claim to being a clan at all, and their piracy could be seen as an attack on the Empire rather than economic competition between clans. That means that, officially, the gaijin ban is in full effect. In practice, the ban is applied only when someone gains advantage from doing so. To avoid the perception of violation, however, the Mantis ensure that all gaijin know that, when speaking to an Emerald Magistrate or other Imperial bureaucrat, they must do certain things and answer certain ways. Most notably, they should always claim to be loyal vassals of the Mantis, whether or not that's true. The Mantis are even more open and friendly to outsiders than the Unicorn, and especially so in Gotei City. Gaijin religions and cultures are incorporated into a loose set of superstitions informally observed across the city, and formal decorum is barely observed at all compared to the mainland. The Scorpion often joke that Gotei makes Khanbulak look like Otosan Uchi. However, while the permanent residents of Gotei City may lack in some social graces, they are largely honorable. The code of sailors may not always perfectly match Bushido, but on the whole, most of Gotei City adheres to some version of Bushido's tenets. That said, they consider the distinction between merchants and pirates to be rather fluid. However, no matter what, Yoritomo and his ancestors have always believed safe harbor to be an absolute. Serious or lethal crimes are harshly punished in Gotei City, and few happen there. However, no law exists on the open sea. Gotei is split into two main areas. The Palace of the Mantis serves as a Mantis fortress and home for its samurai. North, past the Path of Thunder, is Gotei Harbor, where the sailors from all lands gather to trade. It is rowdy, but not usually especially dangerous. However, it is ugly as hell, with no unifying aesthetic and no plan whatsoever in its development. It is said the lanterns of Gotei Harbor can be seen from half a day's sailing away. The wharf is some 750 yards long and incorporates no less than six architectural styles, with variable height and materials. It uses a number of piers to increase capacity, and no two piers are the same. Gotei Harbor has neither harbor masters nor tariff assessors. The big players pay tribute to Yoritomo, but smaller groups are allowed to do as they please, paying tribute only when they need a favor or require an audience. Notable places in the city include Gaijin's Path, a long street of shops, opium dens, businesses and religious centers run by foreigners. While Rokugani are, by a small margin, still the majority, many of the businesses on Gaijin's Path are run by and for gaijin. There are Ivory Kingdoms and al-Zawiran temples, teachers from many lands, all kinds of things in a concentration found nowhere else, even Khanbulak. There's the infamous brewhouse called Sen'in Brew House or the Napping Sailor. It is where sailors go to celebrate success, and it is always packed, no matter what time it is. The lower floor may have upwards of six crews drinking at once, either sake or the much stronger araki liquor made from dates, tea, honey and hot water. Upstairs is calmer and more relaxed. In a back alley along the Path of Thunder, you can also find the Library of Chartmaster Kanidoko Itte, marked by the symbol of the Paverrese compass rose. Itte is an old woman with a sharp cane and a sharper tongue, but she holds a secret fondness for many of the local ship captains, and most experienced captains will consult her before a major voyage. Rumor has it that her home has a basement linked to any number of secret passages that run to far off lands, and her visitors are described as anything from vicious gaijin to demons of shadow. One thing is definitely true, though: her underground complex houses a massive library of sea charts. Only her favorites are ever invited down into it, where she keeps the maps and rare charts that lead to distant ports. They are often hired to deliver messages or small cargos for her. quote:Gotei City Rumors Our NPC is Captain Byakko of the Takarabako. Byakko is Yoritomo's fifth cousin, and as boys the two spent a lot of time together. Despite Byakko's relative inexperience, Yoritomo favors him and has given him the Takarabako, a three-master kobune, and has assigned Lady Aguri, a young but highly skilled shugenja whom Yoritomo's uncle has adopted, to watch over the young man and keep him safe. Byakko is much more interested in exploring than in piracy or running errands for Yoritomo, though he is extremely loyal to the Mantis Champion and desperate for approval. He wants to gain enough status to convince his cousin to fund an expedition southwards, to a rumored land of great deserts, endless reefs and strange creatures that drop from trees and emerge from the waters in hordes. Byakko wants to be the first to map its coastline. Adventure seed: Captain Byakko is looking for samurai to guard Yoritomo's gift to the Emperor after his own retainers have gotten mysteriously sick. While he hates to trust outsiders with such a job, he believes the PCs can handle it due to their reputation. The cargo is allegedly the lost Kaiu Blade, sacred weapon of the legendary Crab hero Hida Daisuke, which may well improve the Mantis' reputation with both the Emperor and the Crab Clan. Byakko will lead the PCs to the Vault of Heaven, to get the blade with great ceremony and a stern lecture from Yoritomo. While the PCs escort the sword to the wharf, gaijin bandits wielding curved swords attack, apparently aware of the cargo. Further, ronin will block the path as the PCs finally reach the pier after fending them off. The ronin leader, a woman clad in all white, is an infamously disgraced member of the Crane Clan, accompanied by a Scorpion poisoner believed long dead. Next time: The City of the Rich Frog.
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Jan 28, 2019 15:46
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Oh hey, Australia is canon now.
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Jan 28, 2019 16:58
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Emerald Empire: Wealthy Toads The City of the Rich Frog is one of the most important river ports in the entire Empire, at the junction of Three Sides River and Drowned Merchant River. It is a vital economic nexus for the Dragon, Lion, Unicorn and the minor Dragonfly Clan. In older times, it was just the Village of the Rich Frog, and even then it was one vital as a port. For centuries, the Dragon and Lion contested its ownership, and when the Unicorn returned, so did they. Weary of the fighting, the Emperor declared it an Imperial holding, sending an Imperial governor to run the port. Now, it is neutral ground. The governor relies on ronin deputies over clan samurai to enforce law and order, and because conflict is common, some of those ronin families have been in service to the magistrates and governor for generations. They have taken the family name Kaeru, and will accept any capable warrior or administrator into their ranks no matter what their past is. Despite the ban on fighting over the port, the clans still compete for economic advantage there, and it is not rare for them to conspire against each others' cargo or leak cargo manifests to bandits. The local ronin are another point of conflict, as each clan attempts to influence them and coopt them. The ronin make a great show of appearing neutral while playing the clans off each other for maximum profit. The city is divided into three clan-controlled districts, each with its own security and facilities. The Imperial Governor maintains a manor at the center of the river junction, handling taxes and tariffs from there. The Unicorn District covers the entire west bank of Three Sides River, with a black granite wharf of impressive size. Most goods, usually coal, lumber and textiles, are immediately taken from ships to wagons, moving deeper into Unicorn lands for storage. They maintain a few purple-roofed stone buildings, including a tower on the southern end of the wharf which is tall enough to fire arrows all the way across the river. Iuchi Shichiro, an elderly samurai, uses the tower to oversee trade for the Unicorn clan. He's held the post for 20 years and has been talking about passing it on to one of his seven sons and heading out on one last ride. The Lion District covers the east bank of Three Sides, south of Drowned Merchant River. It is one of the most important Lion trade hubs, where they trade food and clothes for iron and stone . The ranking samurai is the young and eager Akodo Minami, who obsesses over security and prays to the Fortunes for any valid cause to send her 3000-strong forces across the Drowned Merchant to attack the Dragonfly. The Lion maintain no traditional wharf or warehouses, instead surrounding their part of the banks with a wall dating back to the more violent days. Instead of a wharf, they use an ingenious system of canal gates, using the river current itself to move goods into huge storage complexes for food and textiles that straddle the canals inland, where they can be unloaded safely. The Dragon presence tends to confuse other clans. They give use of the profitable riverbank to the Dragonfly Clan, focusing instead on a small collection of shrines at the river junction. Fifty soldiers garrison the shrines, as if expecting some threat from the water. Their leader is Tonbo Kuma, a powerful Dragonfly shugenja whose family has run the local Dragon holdings as long as anyone can recall. They are a thin, androgynous shugenja who speaks rarely. The northern and eastern banks of Drowned Merchant River hold a modest wharf that is sometimes used by Phoenix travelers, with any goods they buy floated downriver into Phoenix lands. On the north side of Drowned Merchant is an artificial basin with eleven wharfs and one open side, with corresponding to a month of the year identified by animal statues and iconography. A large lantern is moved one step clockwise each sunrise, forming a communal calendar. At the river junction itself, growing from the water, is the oldest and largest willow in the entire Empire, Saibanshoki. Its trunk is twenty yards across and covered in strange, centuries-old carvings. At the base are five small berths for boats and a staircase heading to the governor's mansion. Legend holds that the willow tree's shade hides the home of a mischief-loving frog spirit, the god of the river junction, and that the evening song of the frogs is that spirit's love song for the kodama spirit of the tree. The manor extends out over the river, shielded from the summer sun by the immense willow tree. Above the court chambers is the governor's office, where agents use flag signals to communicate with the tariff assessors and customs agents, as the sound of frogs can often make shouting impossible to hear. quote:Rich Frog Rumors Our NPC is Miya Tetsua, Imperial Governor. He has been the governor for seven years so far. While his otokodate handle inspections and assessments ably, his time is full of the interclan disputes over river use, cargo damage and other tedium. The only thing that has kept from hurling himself into the river is his study of the arts and the presence of Tonbo Kuma. Tetsua tries to be impartial, but he is deeply fond of Kuma. The two play Go weekly, as Tetsua tries to learn more of the mysterious shugenja. Adventure seed: The PCs are sent to a dinner with Miya Tetsua and several local clan representatives. While dining, the governor is told that a strange ship has gotten caught on one of the berths of Saibanshoki. There is no crew aboard, and the deck is covered in large chunks of jade. All present immediately lay claim to the ship, and after much debate, Tetsua asks the PCs to go investigate and determine which clan owns the ship. While the deck is laden with treasure, there is absolutely nothing below decks. However, when the PCs emerge from the ship again, they find it is now sailing through Gaki-do, the Realm of the Hungry Dead, and they are under attack by hungry ghosts! Eventually, the ship sails through some undefined organic mass and reaches a thick, rotting tree that looks like a dark reflection of the Saibanshoki, upon which is perched a large, phoenix-like bird spirit. The PCs may return to Rokugan by either healing or destroying the spirit tree, though its destruction will unseal a passage to Gaki-do hidden in the governor's mansion. Healing it will seal the evil away for another century. The final part of chapter 2 is all about crime and law. The Rokugani justice system is a thousand years old, and it relies on a mix of unbiased investigation, subjective testimony based on social status, religion and pragmatic efficiency. The handling of a crime begins with a magistrate or team of magistrates investigating a crime, with the presiding magistrate typically making a judgment based on a combination of witness testimony (with credibility based on social status) and confessions (often gained by torture). Physical evidence, no matter how compelling it is, often has no real place in the process. When found guilty, criminals are given swift and often lethal punishment. It is generally considered that the safest way to live is to never interact with the justice system if at all possible. Until the 100s, the legal system was handled by a largely arbitrary patchwork of law, with most conflicts between samurai handled via iaijutsu dueling (which is a tradition continuing to modern days). However, it was inefficient to duel over every offense. At last, Emerald Champion Doji Hatsuo realized the law was being applied haphzardly and without justice, and he turned to the renowned judge Soshi Saibankan to establish a consistent and comprehensive legal system for the Empire as a whole. From their analysis, they realized they needed fair and predictable enforcers of justice, and so they created the Emerald Magistrates, a group of samurai who would become the front line of the justice system, enforcing the law, investigating crimes and even executing judgments. Next time: The Emerald Magistrates
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Jan 28, 2019 17:11
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Urban Jungle You should see the other guy. So, Gifts are mostly as they were in Myriad Song, though obviously lacking in stuff like exosuits, space magic, and ray-guns (though wouldn't that be swell to spring on some goodfellas?). There are some general trends in the changes to Gifts, though: For one, there are more 'passive' Gifts. There's even more focus than before on '+d12 in circumstance' Gifts, which makes sense with a general attempt to tone down the number of dice you roll. The Gift of Strength, for instance, is completely out because it would've been a source of +d8s to Fighting (and with way less gear, the Burden system is gone anyway) and they're trying to keep the dice a little more constrained in Urban Jungle. There are now two kinds of Gifts: Basic and Advanced. Basic means somebody, somewhere, starts with that Gift or Soak trait. Advanced means it can only be earned through EXP or Goals. Relatively few Gifts have prerequisites. Interestingly, no-one can start with Veteran anymore, for instance. And things that used to be 'spend an action to refresh' like Sniper Shot are now just 'If you have the Sniper Gift, +1 to range bands of ranged weapons', etc. Bullet Conservation, especially, has been combined with the Ammo Die system to be a much better Gift. It raises the size of your Ammo Die by 1, since you're shooting less and hitting more, representing a skilled shot or trained soldier. This not only lets you roll more 1s before you need to reroll, it also makes you less likely to roll a 1 in the first place. Much more useful than 'Damage Flat but use no ammo' (though that was really useful for counter-chains in MS). The big thing that changes is that lacking 3 free Gifts means you can no longer raise your starting Traits at creation. No more playing a Mercenary with d12 Career getting +d12 to Shooting and Fighting and then piling an extra d12 Tactics bonus on there 8 'o clock, day 1. Considering that was a starting/pre-made PC suggestion that behavior was very much an intended option in Myriad Song, and given that it has been quite pointedly taken out here, the intention to avoid that kind of starting specialization is clear. What I wonder about is if that's a function of genre, a function of a desire to keep d12s even more rare and 'special' (since they're the die that can theoretically win any contest as long as you have one), or just a desire to normalize power levels at creation a little more. I'd guess it's a combination of all three. There's a clear attempt to simplify the system in Urban Jungle, compared to Myriad Song and Ironclaw 2e. It's an attempt backed up by genre, mind you; this is Film Noir, it's not exactly the kind of storytelling that's driven by what model of power armor you've got. What matters is that hitman just pulled a Chicago (Excuse me, 'Tricogha', which is like Chicago and Detroit at the same time because apparently my home city ain't important enough to crime to get its own lightly fictionalized place and gotta share billing with Chicago) Typewriter outta his violin case, not exactly what make and model it is and if it's a laser cannon or if he's a wizard. Similarly, Urban Jungle is a lot less combat focused on the whole. You're playing a gangland crime drama (by default) set in an urban center. Guys getting whacked is meant to be kind of a big deal. Thus, the Gifts are a lot more focused on how to commit crimes, accomplish stuff, and have adventures without necessarily topping a guy. Sure, you'll probably have stand-offs and gunfights, someone's going to try to order a hit on someone or you're going to have to rough up some thugs, but you're not space adventurers wandering a hive of scum and villainy. Similarly, people got telephones and telegraphs and poo poo and the federal government's always looming above the cops if things get too hot, so it's a little harder to get away with really big crimes that make a lot of noise, like throwing dynamite and grenades downtown. Thus, you're a lot less likely to be walking around with a rifle, or using one at all. Also, you might think a Gift like +d12 to Firefighting tasks is kinda meh, but then you read the description and it's also helpful to committing insurance fraud and making it look like an accident. The game knows what you're gonna get up to with these Gifts and they're built to support it. Now, the main thing I'm excited to try out in this system is the new damage system, and I'm gonna go into detail on the Soaks because I think they open up a really interesting design space for how to deal with taking damage compared to the Myriad Song/IC2e system. I mentioned it before, but for completeness, if you take a point of damage you can't Soak in Urban Jungle, you drop. You're not dead, you're down. There are variant rules for bleeding out and stuff, but by default someone has to make the decision to put another in your head after you fall over to actually kill you off. You get some randomized DR from Body and any Endurance dice you've got, but nobody has any kind of Armor anymore; you're all too busy wearing trenchcoats and sharp suits and cocktail dresses. At the same time, things do less damage. There's no such thing as Weak/Slaying damage anymore, or Flat damage. All Damage is just the basic 'Damage+X' type, so a base of damage, +1 per successful attack die. The most powerful weapons in the game 'only' do Damage+4 base (though some Gifts will give +2 damage), so keep that in mind when we get to the numbers on Soaks. Still, removing stuff like Slaying simplifies damage immensely, and with only a few kinds of weapons and attacks to worry about, they don't exactly need concepts like Weak/Slaying/Flat or the massive number of #Conditionals to mechanically differentiate 50+ weapons. It's a good place to cut down some complexity because there no longer needed to be complexity to include everything and distinguish it. To use a Soak, you look at a pile of damage you haven't been able to stop with Body+Endurance vs. 3, and start tapping Soaks. You do this until you exhaust all your Soaks (and drop with unsaved damage) or until you reduce damage to 0 and stay up. Soaks have different recharges, and different values, but the most important rule is if you spend a Soak, you spend the whole Soak. Say I've only got 1 damage left to get rid of and I only have a big 4 point soak left on my sheet; I gotta tap that even though I'm 'wasting' 3 points of it or I drop. I can't tap it now and then throw out the other 3 points when I get capped again next round. I will be listing all the Soaks, because there are few enough and I want to talk about why they make me intrigued from a mechanics-driving-fiction perspective. We already talked about Distress Soak -4 back in Type; it's an amazing Soak, with the caveat that you get it once per session. But the CONCEPT of it is what interests me: That you can add a bonus to a once a session Soak rather than them all being about penalties and dramatic complications. Yeah, it's an unreliable Soak since you can't recharge it during the session, but the idea that you not only resist a ton of damage (4 damage is, by itself, a 2 dice success with most serious weapons just flat negated) but also snap all your buddies nearby out of panic and get them rushing to rescue you? That's really cool and an interesting way to mechanically simulate someone being the heart of the team, or otherwise so sympathetic that everyone wants them to make it through the episode and clenches up a bit when they're getting shot at. Frenzy Soak -2 is simple. You soak 2 damage when you exhaust it, and you recharge it by hitting someone with an attack or Counter. Only a few Types start with this, and one of them I'm a bit less fond of, but this is a very helpful and consistent source of damage reduction. I'm not very fond of the Broken Type starting with Frenzy-2 and Noncombatant, because it means one way or another they won't be using half of what they started with; that Soak and that Gift are in direct opposition. Noncombatant is +d12 to defenses until you attack or counter (then it won't reset for 24 hours), and you can't recharge Frenzy without attacking or countering. I know it's an intentional contrast for the person who tries to avoid fighting back and then snaps in a rage, but I'm not a fan of putting the two abilities in direct opposition like that. Hurt Soak -3 is our old buddy Hurt from the other systems, except it no longer gives enemies a damage bonus against you. Since any unsaved damage can drop someone, they don't need to muck around with +1 Damage Hurt or +2 Damage Injured to help get people over damage thresholds to actually drop opponents anymore, which is another benefit of the Soak system. If you have access to Hurt and spend it to negate 3, it doesn't actually penalize you in any way. You just can't use it again until the next scene, after you've had a little time to wash the blood off and hold a damp cloth to your bruises for a sec. You'll still be visibly injured after getting Hurt, even when it's recharged, but this is the kind of damage cinematic heroes take all the time without really slowing down after a couple seconds of rolling around and groaning in pain. It's a good baseline for Soaking damage without really no-selling it. Injured Soak -4 is Hurt's big brother. You only recharge Injured with 8 hours of rest and a square meal. You'll still look like poo poo when you get up, but you'll be able to take another bullet if you really have to. A PC who's been Injured has actually been shot, or needs stitches, or is gonna have a nasty new scar, but they're still up, still moving, and still good to go. You don't suffer any actual penalties from being Injured aside from it being really obvious you've gotten into some serious trouble, so throw on some bandages and tell people they should see the other guy if they think you look hosed up. EVERY character has Panicked Soak -2. They mention this a couple times, but I'd have put it in bold at the beginning of the Basic Soaks section personally. Every single character can choose to become Panicked (same as in Myriad Song, can't actually attack until rallied or until you break line of sight and hide for a turn) to negate 2 damage. You recharge this when you Rally. The idea behind this is it gives everyone a way to soak some damage, but more importantly it also gives you an actual incentive to really consider running away or surrendering when Panicked. After all, Panicked Soak was probably your last Soak, and if you're out of Soaks the next hit has a good chance of dropping you. Is it really worth it to stick around and try to rely on Counters now? Sneaky Soak -2 works well in conjunction with Panicked Soak -2, because it gives you 2 points of Soak but also recharges if you Hide for a turn. Dropping out of a fight and taking cover when you're eating bullets and near misses and running out of ablative Damage Reduction is a good idea anyway, so this a pretty practical thing to have around. Gives you a second to decide if you want to dive back in or get while the getting's good. Winded Soak -1 doesn't soak much damage, but it recovers by just spending a single action in combat to catch your breath. It's one of the easiest to recover Soaks in the game. Good for when you need to top off another Soak or just barely got tapped. The kind of thing that's more valuable the more base Body+Endurance you've got, since then it's more likely you'll run into a situation where you need just 1 more damage taken care of. There are also Advanced Soaks, and they include an interesting detail: As far as I can tell, you no longer get hitstunned every time you get hit. Instead, there's the Dazed -2 Soak, which causes Dazed in return for taking away 2 damage. Dazed is just Reeling from the other games with a slightly less awkward name. Also note that Recovering in combat will not only cure Dazed, it will also immediately recharge your 1/Recover Gifts and Soaks. So a Dazed -2 character with Winded -1 can get them both back when they shake off the Daze next round. Recover recovering all your X:Action Gifts at the same time is probably why there are so many fewer of those in Urban Jungle, and specifically why some were converted to Passives; I'm guessing they were found to be too action economy intensive in Myriad Song and they wanted to try something different here. The Fumble-4 Soak has someone shoot your gun out of your hand or something when you mess up an attack and get countered, OR mess up your own Counter. It's a big Soak, and only usable once per scene, but it's a nice example of 'dramatic development instead of dropping' Soaks. Rampage -2 Soak is barely a Soak. It removes 2 damage, and that's good. You can only use it once per rest, and that's not. But the point of Rampage isn't the Soak. It's that after you've spent it, you get +d12 to ALL Counters you make until it Refreshes. I love this concept for an advanced power. Yeah, you're out of damage reduction, but now you're goddamn mad and you're going to be a nightmare to actually finish off. That's it for Soaks in the core book, but the concept gets me excited and they're a good proof of concept. For one, they remove the need to have 'damage floors' to actually end a fight, and they help deal with the way damage would ramp up quickly from conditionals and Hurt/Injured in order to make it possible to go down. They also make it easier to potentially avoid Panicking from every serious hit. What hits do to you is now much more variable based on what Soaks you have. They also add a sense of resource management to dealing with damage. I also like the idea that you can add fiction drawbacks or complications or developments to them in place of 'you drop'. This is the kind of system that can help you build scenes and make combat more than just 'shoot man, kill man'. Similar, the idea that you can hide activated bonuses like Distress and Rampage in with Soaks has a lot of future potential if you wanted to build a more action-oriented and cinematic system with the concept in the future. In general I see a lot of potential for the Soak system that wasn't there in the base damage system from Myriad Song, and I'm excited to test it out in play and see how it feels. If it works as well as I hope, it will open up a lot of interesting things to do in the future, and this is probably the new mechanic that seems the most intriguing to me. I am a huge fan of introducing ways to have complications (and loss conditions) outside of 'you're dead' to combat since I tend to like stable PC casts. Similar, the Soaks also let them completely strip out the old Saving Gifts. No need for everyone to have Combat Save when everyone has Panic Soak and at least one other. Those were fun in IC2e and Myriad Song, but evening those out also makes sense for the genre since they want to play up 'a guy with a gun is a serious dramatic complication and threat' rather than 'you can't be taken out in 1, no matter what'. Next Time: A small sample of samples.
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Jan 28, 2019 17:32
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Emerald Empire: Tough on Crime The Emerald Magistrates are the senior-level justice officials of Rokugan. They can be easily identified by their badge of office, a jade sphere, and their emerald-colored haoris. Their jurisdiction covers the entire Empire as defined by the Charter of the Emerald Magistrates, and they are thus a de facto national police force, reporting to the Emerald Champion. However, despite their wide-ranging powers, they rarely handle local crimes. Instead, their focus is on major crime and unrest which is seen to represent grave violation of Imperial law or which otherwise threatens the peace on a regional scale or greater. While the Charter is a substantial document, drafted by Soshi Saibankan, it can be boiled down to three major points. Firstly, the Emerald Magistrates are concerned with major crimes - treason, crimes of a national scope or crimes involving organized blasphemy or the Shadowlands, fugitives crossing clan or territorial borders, or general disorder. If they become aware of lesser crimes, they are to inform authorities of the appropriate jurisdiction. Secondly, Emerald Magistrates are empowered to oversee Imperial tax collection and tariffs, issue Empire-wide travel papers and protect dignitaries. They may enter any location in the Empire and may arrest and question any person in the pursuit of their duties. However, if this involves a samurai of higher station or social status than the Magistrate, they must obtain a writ from the Emerald Champion or their target's daimyo or lord in order to do so. Thirdly, Emerald Magistrates may generally not address purely local law enforcement concerns, but may intervene in any crime in progress. They may not become involved in blood feuds, nor may they receive any gifts or compensation for their duties. This means that Emerald Magistrates have wide-ranging but limited powers, usable only in relation to major crimes that hold Imperial implications. Thus, the Emerald Magistrates are appointed directly by the Emerald Champion on behalf of the Emperor, and are only chosen from those who have proven themselves worthy of the honor. They may be taken from any clan - even, in rare cases, a Minor Clan. While they retain clan affiliation, they are expected to work from the perspective of the Empire as a whole. While they often work alone, it is not uncommon for groups of Emerald Magistrates to operate as teams if significant crime is suspected. They generally are accompanied by a sizable retinue of assistants as well, and have limited power to levy troops if required as part of their duties. Local lords must assist them as much as possible, so long as the assistance is reasonable and conforms to the Charter. A team of Emerald Magistrates is noted as a great PC group, given they can be of many clans and are able to interact easily with senior officials as well as facing foes like criminal gangs or maho-tsukai cults. However, the GM is reminded that the Magistrates are bound by their charter, and that PCs will need to be careful not to overstep their admittedly broad authority. There is an additional office of Imperial magistrates: the Jade Champion. This was a position made early in the Empire's history to fight illegal and blasphemous magic. A small contingent of Jade Magistrates was founded to answer to the Jade Champion. The position has been vacant for several centuries, however, and there are currently no Jade Magistrates as a result. The duties of the Jade Champion and Jade Magistrates are currently handled by the Emerald Champion and Emerald Magistrates, with assistance from groups such as the Kuni Witch Hunters, the Asako Inquisitors and the Scorpion Kuroiban. Clan Magistrates are similar to their Emerald counterparts, but their jurisdiction is limited to within the lands of a single clan. Outside this territory, they hold no special authority. They are more likely to become involved in local crimes and investigations within their jurisdiction, but usually only if local magistrates are not available or need help. Most of the broad powers of the Emerald Magistrates are available to them within their area of jurisdiction, and the two groups often work closely together when the Emerald Magistrates are in the territory of the appropriate clan. This also serves as a way for clan leadership to ensure any investigation represents their interests and can keep aware of what the Emerald Magistrates are doing in their lands. Clan Magistrates are appointed by provincial daimyos, and tend to be assigned either to patrol assigned territories and holdings or to oversee important locations. The job is highly prestigious and generally reserved for accomplished samurai. While a Rokugani may well go their entire life without ever meeting an Emerald Magistrate, Clan Magistrates are a common sight and typically have a better understanding of local customs, grievances and viewpoints, as well as the lay of the local underworld. This can make them valuable resources to visiting Emerald Magistrates. Clan Magistrate groups are noted as less flexible for PCs, since they're single-clan, but can be useful for a single-clan game focused on that clan's lands. The main limit will be the territorial limits of their authority, after all. Starting PCs are more likely to serve as yoriki assistants to magistrates, of course, which gives them a chance to learn the ropes with a mentor before they get promoted. Magistrates are in general accompanied by various subordinates, known as auxiliaries, that assist in their work. These include yoriki, samurai that serve as assistants to the magistrates. Yoriki hold limited judicial powers, typically revolving around the routine matters of common investigations of crimes committed by samurai, and they must report any findings to their magistrate. They hold more expansive power to deal with crimes committed by commoners, including, usually, the authority to render summary judgment and punishment. Doshin are deputies to the yoriki, and while they may be samurai, they are more often heimin. Like the yoriki, the powers of the doshin are restricted largely to routine investigation, and typically only to crimes committed by peasants. Magistrates may occasionally have hinin assistants to perform specific duties considered inappropriate for a samurai to handle, such as the physical handling of corpses or the torture of suspects to obtain confessions. They may also temporarily draft samurai as yoriki or even form bodies of troops, but this is only done with consultation from local lords or governors, and only to deal with specific problems, such as a cult or criminal conspiracy that poses a threat beyond the normal capabilities of the magistrate and their retinue. Once a crime has been investigated, assuming formal charges are laid, the matter then goes to a formal judicial court. Typically, the judge is the most senior magistrate available, but if the accused is particularly important or is a samurai of sufficiently high status, the judge may be a local governor or daimyo. However, normally the judge is of little consequence, as the accused has already confessed by the time the trial begins, either voluntarily or under torture, and the judge's role is primarily to bring formal weight to the proceedings and announce sentence. However, some magistrates, particularly those of the Kitsuki family of the Dragon Clan, will put aside custom and sit in judgment. This is very much an exception case. In most cases, the only factor of consideration in addition to confession is the testimony of witnesses, and it must be assumed as a result of the Celestial Order that the testimony of those with higher status is "more true" than those of lower status. Thus, effectively, only the word of the highest rank in a case matters. In the early years of Empire, this was extended to testimony by kami and spirits, who were considered to be of the highest possible rank. However, this caused issues. Elemental kami view reality in a way fundamentally unlike humans do, and their testimony could be vague, confusing and heavily reliant on the interpretation of the shugenja serving as their intermediary, whose biases could unintentionally (or deliberately) color things. The practice of spirit testimony changed after the infamous trial over the murder of a Lion general. A Kitsu Medium summoned the ghost of the victim, who confirmed the Lion accusations against a Scorpion samurai. However, after the testimony, the Scorpion produced the Lion general alive. No one is sure what the Kitsu actually invoked, but it's known that after that trial, Imperial decree forbade all testimony by spirits and other nonhuman entities. The Kitsuki family of the Dragon tend to give considerable weight to physical and circumstantial evidence, and may base their findings at least partially on their assessment of evidence. This has caused a lot of debate and concern among the more traditional sorts, and some even call the Kitsuki's Method blasphemy, as it implicitly undermines the celestial order by suggesting that evidence may outweight the word of a samurai, impugning their honor and the status of Bushido. Outside of Dragon lands, however, use of the Kitsuki's Method is rare. To date, though, neither the Emperor nor the Emerald Champion has ever seen fit to forbid its use, so it continues to be valid despite the controversy. Most judicial courts are handled wherever and whenever is most convenient for the magistrate and witnesses, most often in the magistrate's own receiving hall. Only a few places, mostly large cities such as Otosan Uchi or Ryoko Owari Toshi, have permanent courts. These usually take the form of open courtyards with a shaded dais for the judge, the judge's sergeant-at-arms and the court scribe. A smaller dais is prepared for witnesses and their retainers. The courtyard, called the white sands of judgment, is always a flat area of white sand where the accused kneels. The sand is meant to reflect the heat and intensity of the sun on the accused, symbolizing the role of the Heavens in overseeing judgment. In poor weather, any suitable location may be used instead. Trials are typically public, unless a judge has reason to rule otherwise. Once the accused kneels, the scribe will read the crimes they are accused of, followed by their confession. The judge may ask questions to clarify points of the confession or learn more about the accused, and they may allow witness testimony, which may influence the verdict. Judges that favor the Kitsuki Method may also examine evidence or even question witnesses. Once this is all done, the judge delivers the verdict (almost always 'guilty') and the sentence. All decisions are final and the sentence is carried out immediately, with one exception. This exception is that when samurai are involved, if there is any doubt as to the guilt of the accused, either the wronged party or the accused may issue a duel challenge to the other. Unless the judge believes the challenge is issued flippantly or as a desperate move to avoid just punishment (which is itself criminal), they usually allow the duel. Duels of this sort are normally to first blood, but in grave crimes, a duel to the death may be allowed. The result of such a duel is considered to be the will of the Heavens and thus beyond reproach. If the accused wins, they are exonerated and immediately freed. If they lose, their guilt is irrevocable, and the sentence applies. Next time: Judgment
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Jan 28, 2019 19:29
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Always good to have some I like settings having these various 'These obviously make sense as a PC group, but also still have limited authority and have to work around it' groups. Also actually needing evidence and having procedure helps create adventures.
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Jan 28, 2019 19:35
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FFG has also, in one of the pre-written adventures, made it clear that Emerald Magistrates are bound by political convenience as well as the truth. Like, sometimes it's better to report that nothing suspicious was found or blame some patsy who is guilty of some lesser crime to avoid the greater disruption that revealing the actual truth would bring. That's fun for moral dilemmas for PCs!
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Jan 28, 2019 19:53
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CSI: Rokugan has always been one of my favorite campaigns. I just ask the players to answer the additional question of "what did you do to get this political appointment" and ship them off to Ryoko Owari. It even works for un-Magistrate character types, like the Hiruma bushi who just happened to pull a Seppun diplomat visiting the wall out of the way of a goblin's arrow. The poor thing nearly tore her hair out dealing with the city, and was heard once to remark "at least the Shadowlands are honest."
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Jan 28, 2019 20:47
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Emerald Empire: Russian Novels Something Something Once an accused is found guilty, the judge will announce their sentence and punishment. The form of punishment is normally based on the crime, but politics and favoritism may alter things, and sometimes a daimyo, governor or other party may influence a sentencing for their own purpose. Punishments are almost always public, as a deterrent to crime. Minor offenses are those, primarily, conducted by samurai against those of inferior status or against commoners. This can include assault causing harm, gratuitous or unwarranted harm to a commoner, public brawling, minor property damage or minor cases of theft or smuggling. In most cases, the perpetrator is required to apologize and make restitution to the wronged party, but little else is done. Other punishments may include fines or house arrest for a period. In the case of a crime committed by a samurai against a commoner, even if it would otherwise be considered a serious offense, the magistrate may not even bother investigating or may perform only a cursory investigation before issuing a summary judgment. In these cases, punishment is usually little more than a requirement to make token restitution to the samurai to whom the commoner was a vassal. However, it should be noted that samurai sometimes favor certain peasant vassals, and a lord may be a patron to peasant merchant or crafter. If a crime is committed against a favored vassal even by a samurai and the lord is sufficiently influential, the matter may well be taken more seriously by the magistrate. However, it will still probably not be considered more than a minor offense. Serious offenses are those committed by samurai which are not considered grave but which still require significant punishment. Usually, they will be committed against the accused's social betters or against those of equal status. Crimes against those of significantly inferior status are minor offenses at worst, usually. Serious offenses include murder, unwarranted assaults on other samurai that cause serious injury, theft or smuggling of goods of significant value or other serious property crimes, as well as avoiding or escaping lawful custody. A death caused in a legal duel or to an enemy during war is not a crime, ever, but a killing in an unsanctioned duel or a duel to first blood could be considered murder depending on the circumstances. A samurai convicted of a serious offense might be sentenced to death, but would almost always be permitted seppuku, and being cast out as a ronin for a serious offense is exceptionally rare. More often, punishments will be imprisonment, significant fines, restitution to the wronged, or a public reprimand. Reprimands require a samurai appear in public, announce their crimes, and offer apology to the wronged. Because Rokugani society is obsessed with appearances and face, this is a very heavy punishment. Commoners are executed somewhat more often for these crimes, but in general will still mostly face imprisonment, public flogging or other punishment tailored to their crime, such as the loss of a hand for theft. Grave offenses (for samurai) are those crimes committed against the Emperor or their family, or against senior Imperial officials such as the Emerald Champion, Imperial Advisor, the Great Clan Champions or daimyo, or the daimyo of Imperial families or Minor Clans. They also include treason against the Empire and any crime with an Empire-wide scope, such as large criminal enterprises. Further, being involved in use of illegal magic or participation in blasphemous cults are always grave offenses, as is arson. Punishment for grave offenses is almost always death. The form of execution varies by crime and the character of the convict. For those of good character, a judge may mercifully order a quick death or even allow seppuku to cleanse the honor of the accused. However, for vile offenses or those perpetrators deemed of low character and morally deficient, slow and agonizing death is preferred, usually by torture, such as burning or boiling alive. As an alternative to death, a samurai convicted of grave crimes may be cast out of their clan and family, becoming ronin. To most, this is worse than death, for it is a loss of identity and place in the Celestial Order, consigned to the fringes of society and shunned by the honorable samurai of the Empire. Commoners convicted of grave offenses are killed, period. Usually, their deaths are brutally swift, as they are not worth the time of an elaborate death. This brings us into Chapter 3 - farms and villages. No matter how sophisticated or powerful a civilization, it needs food, water and basic resources. The Kami knew this, and while each taught different lessons, all made clear: farm the land and learn to craft. That fueled the Empire and its population growth. Everything from that simple start. By ancient law, dating back to the first Hantei, all land belongs to the Emperor, its custodian on behalf of the Heavens. Of course, it is manifestly impossible for even the Emperor to directly administer all of the land. That would be silly. Thus, a system of tenancy was developed, in which the Emperor delegated control of the land to the clans, administrated by the clan champions. They then further subdivide the land to daimyos, who subdivide to their lordly vassals and on down. At the bottom of all this delegation are the common people, the farmers that manage the soil and crops directly. It is vital to understand that no matter where you go on the chain, all land is owned by the Emperor, despite all this delegation and allocation of it. Now, obviously, not all land is equal for all purposes. Fertile land isn't rare, but tends to be concentrated in particular parts of the Empire - usually, along rivers and coastlines. Other areas might be too mountains, too wet, too dry, too forested or too barren for serious agriculture. However, such lands might be useful for other purposes, such as lumber, medicinal plants, minerals or stone quarries. Even then, it is the commoners who perform the labor that actually exploits those resources. More on that later; the key here is to realize that the bedrock supporting Rokugani society is the heimin. The farm is the building block of the Imperial economy, and farming is the single most common job in the entire Empire, simply because everyone needs food. The farms produce food and collect it in villages, where it is transported to the towns and on to the cities. In return, the villagers receive goods and services of various kinds, from finished products to military defense from banditry. This is what drives the Imperial economy. Farms largely cluster around fertile lands, close to each other for mutual security and pooled labor. This is what ends up forming villages. Some villages grew bigger from there, into towns or cities, but most have not. Most villages remain small, relatively isolated communities made almost exclusively of heimin. Some farms never even got that far, located in isolated areas, and isolated farms scattered across the rural landscape between and surrounding villages is just how things are in much of rural Rokugan. Other villages may form around fishing, mining or lumber. Given the isolated nature of much of Rokugan, the clans and Empire rely on various methods to communicate their will to all of their people. Clans often dispatch their own couriers or get information from traveling samurai going about their business. The Imperial Heralds of the Miya family travel through the land to spread word of Imperial edicts and new laws. The Barefoot Brethren are a sect of the Brotherhood of Shinsei devoted to the worship of Koshin, Fortune of Roads, and travel the land to carry the messages of samurai and commoner alike as well as to spread news. Carrier pigeons are also occasionally used by pragmatic samurai. They were introduced first by the Crane and then later reintroduced by the Unicorn. Most of Rokugan is of a temperate climate, enjoying the full range of seasons and temperatures. This is particularly true of the Lion and Scorpion territories. The Scorpion lands on the windward side of the Spine of the World tend to get more rain and snow, while the Lion lands are known for clearer skies, though with enough rain to nourish the wide plains. The Dragon and Phoenix lie in the cool north, with mild summers and terrible winters. The Phoenix lands on the coast are more temperate, while the high elevation of Dragon land is even colder, and some Togashi monasteries are snow-clad all year. Despite their lands being in the north, the Unicorn have warmer years than their neighbors due to the warm winds from the western side of the Great Wall of the North mountains and the Spine of the World. The southern lands, home to Crane and Crab, are generally the warmest, often reaching subtropical climes. The coast and the parts of the Crab near the Twilight Mountains are particularly wet and rainy, which some outsiders say is the reason the Crab are so humorless and dour. Weather plays a huge role in rural life. Even the most careful farmer can't account for all changes of weather, and in the growing season, heavy rain can damage flood and damage fields, while too little is a drought that causes crop failure. Storms can destroy crops with hail. The elemental imbalance that currently afflicts the Empire has only made all this worse, threatening to turn what had been local weather issues into regional or even Empire-wide disasters. It doesn't help that several parts of the Empire are prone to natural disaster in the first place. The coasts are vulnerable to tsunamis, massive waves caused by underwater earthquakes. A mere three years ago, the Crane plains were flooded by a series of tsunami that contaminated vast amounts of land with salt and mud, forcing them to be left untilled. Earthquakes happen inland, damaging buildings or roads as well as the dikes and irrigation systems required for rice production. Volcanos erupt occasionally in the Spine of the World range or the Great Wall of the North, spewing ash over vast areas, and wildfires can ravage the forests and grasslands in the hot months of late summer. The heimin are always the ones hit hardest by such disasters, especially in the rural regions. They must rebuild entirely from nothing, often, and while aid may eventually arrive, it may take days or even weeks. Even then, it is reliant on the kindness of the local lord, the availability of resources and the importance of the area. War may also damage farms, as the movement of armies crushes them, or battles destroy property, either deliberately or by accident. Refugees may be displaced en masse, and they are no longer seen as productive servants of the Empire, but as a strain on resources. Bushido and practicality both mean that samurai try to avoid doing harm to the local peasants, however. It is not compassionate, and further it damages the resources samurai rely on. Unfortunately, sometimes harm can only be minimized in times of war. Further, aggressive or thoughtless samurai may sometimes deliberately target heimin in order to weaken the foe's ability to wage war logistically and economically. This is rare, but it does happen. Unsurprisingly, samurai tend to put a great focus on restoring peasants to productivity as fast as possible after wars end. In remote villages, samurai are often only seen when they come to collect taxes. Even those in more traveled areas are rarely visited often, and then only by those passing through. Thus, a samurai's arrival in a village of heimin and hinin is almost always a major event for the locals, a sign of something big going on. Most villages refuse to be surprised by it, however. Except in the depths of winteR (when few travel anyway), heimin are typically at work in the fields around the village, and will use discreet forms of signaling (which vary wildly by community) to pass news back to the village of a samurai arriving before they actually get there. This generally prompts most of the heimin and all of the hinin to find a reason to not be in the village center, so as to avoid unwanted attention. Any villagers up to unsavory activities will almost certainly use this warning time to hide the evidence of their activities as best they can. They do not always succeed, of course, making for story hooks. The rest of the heimin, including the village leaders, will place themselves in position to greet the samurai and offer hospitality. All involved know the samurai will likely not accept it. If the samurai are magistrates and it's tax time, the taxed goods will be presented. The goal of the commoners will always be to avoid offending the samurai while giving them every reason to be on their way as soon as possible, so that life can return to normal. Next time: Being a samurai in rural lands
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Jan 28, 2019 21:54
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Halloween Jack posted:
Thanks for reviewing this! I really appreciate a game that tries to do "gritty" without meaning "you're a shitfarmer who sucks at everything and will probably die of infection."
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Jan 28, 2019 22:50
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Crimes committed by peasants are within the jurisdiction of local authority. So in the case of an inconvenient crime can't they just grab the nearest peasant, extract a confession, try them and execute them? By the time more senior authorities arrive a few hours later it's all wrapped up, nothing to do here. (Whether or not the crime was actually comitted by a samurai is irrelevant) Also, what do they do if a torturer fails? Presumably this means that the person they were torturing is innocent, which in the case of a heimin who has been ordered to torture a samurai could be a problem for them. The Lone Badger fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Jan 28, 2019 |
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Jan 28, 2019 23:20
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The Lone Badger posted:Crimes committed by peasants are within the jurisdiction of local authority. So in the case of an inconvenient crime can't they just grab the nearest peasant, extract a confession, try them and execute them? By the time more senior authorities arrive a few hours later it's all wrapped up, nothing to do here. Technically, you can do this, but when a crime is committed against a samurai the wronged party or their family is usually going to demand a more thorough investigation, and if the senior authorities decide you just tried to cover poo poo up, you're in deep poo poo.
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Jan 28, 2019 23:22
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 Rifts World Book 20: Canada, Part 14 - "After the visitor has left, the child will be beaten and quite possibly killed and eaten (01-50% chance)." For some reason, we have a header the reads "Demons, Spirits, Shamans, & Magic", because I guess those all go together? I guess the notion is that all the demons are supposedly Inuit in nature, so they get lumped in together. In any case, we'll start with the demons. Demons  "Whuh?!" We'll start with the Demon Bear, which as far as I can tell owes more to the Marvel comic New Mutants (and the villain of the same name) than anything to do with indigenous mythology. In general, bears get a good rap in Inuit myth- the worst I could find was Torngarsuk, a prominent god that sometimes appears as a bear and is a bit of a trickster. On a vaguely related note, Torngarsuk is also referenced in the story "The Call of Cthulhu" as an aspect of the elder god. So at least they didn't draw on that... Anyway, the demon bear is product of a demon that can only possess bears and only in Alaska, Canada, Siberia, or Greenland. That's a very specific purview, Mr. Demon. Personally, that's why I don't live that far North; here, the demon bears can't get me. It likes killing things, either people or animals, though sometimes it'll kidnap a person to lure in more people to kill. Rifts World Book 20: Canada posted:Demon Bears are relatively uncommon (Inuit seldom see signs of more than 1-6 in any given season)... Uh, Siembieda, you do know... like... there's four seasons in a year? Running into an average of 14 demon bears a year isn't "relatively uncommon". "Hey, Panikpak, who'll you think we'll lose in this month's demon bear attack?" "Oh, I was thinking of losing my parents this time, they're due for their bear reaping." Rifts World Book 20: Canada posted:Alignment: Diabolic! Diabolic! Diabolic! Maybe you just need to look at things from a demon bear's point of view for a change, Palladium. You come to a world, you just want to murder all the things, and here comes the game designer who wants to judge your passion. Probably ought to eat him, bear. Since I'm not legitimately wishing death on any game designers, and hope for a happy, fruitful life for everybody at Palladium, let's talk about the stats. The demon bear actually doesn't have as much M.D.C. as you might expect (average of 136), and for all its played up in the text... is mostly just an angry mega-damage bear that regenerates unless you chop off the head and burn it (or throw the head/body into the sea), and takes half damage from technological weapons. However, it's weak against magic, and takes mega-damage from stone weapons. It even has a penalty to save against magic, so any shaman or wizard with a save-or-suck spell can make short work out of the murderbear.  Baba Yaga goes West. Next, we have the "Cannibal Woman" D'Sonoqua, a child-enslaving, child-eating "hag" who lives out in the woods alone, save for maybe some evil assistant. Apparently these are women who make deals with a Generic Alien Intelligence to become evil child-eating demons, either for vengeance or general murderousness. She pretends to be an innocent old woman, and kidnaps people (mainly kids) to eat. They apparently sometimes use herbology to make themselves useful and appreciated by local communities and- heyyyy wait a minute. While, D'Sonoqua in indigenous myth does pick up children and puts them in her basket for later kid stew, she's a big, hairy, unclothed giant. This sounds a lot more like a different myth - Baba Yaga and other cannibal witches of Asian and European lore. In fact, she's so much so I have to wonder if this was either leftover material or inspiration from Rifts World Book 18: Mystic Russia shoehorned in. Of course, it emphasizes more than just the horror of a old lady who cages children for tasty treats. It emphasizes the horror of numbers:
If Baba Yaga with a culturally appropriated name wasn't enough, apparently Russian Demons occasionally show up, and we're pointed to Rifts World Book 18: Mystic Russia for that and Night Witches and Hidden Witches, which are apparently in Canada. Yes, we're three Inuit demon entries down and haven't seen a legit Inuit monster yet. Well, after striking out, we do get something that actually resembles that on the next pitch.  Literally one of the most terrifying beings in the world. You scared? Sedna is... actually... from Inuit myth? You're shocked, I know, I am too. Of course, this time around, she's a "sea hag" and "god-like spirit of the sea" because "god" would have just been too succinct. She's basically a cranky, naked, moist old lady who can control the sea and its lifeforms, in case you didn't get enough terror of crinkly ladies above. She's basically represented as fickle as hell - if she likes you or the respect you show, she'll calm the seas and give you extra fish, and if not, you get a storm. Sometimes she comes above water in human form, and is apparently so old and so ugly that she has a Horror Factor, but those who show her kindness anyway will be blessed by her and she'll give them all sorts of favors. Despite it emphasizing her being "anarchist" and "cruel", mostly she doesn't sound so bad, just spiteful to those who demand things of her. In any case, she's a 3,900 MDC old lady with a variety of water powers and spells, as wells as a variety of loosely weather-themed spells. However, anybody who views her in her true form is subject to a Horror Factor of 19, because as we all know, a chilly, naked old lady is scarier than most gods or demons. Moreover, anybody that sees her has an 80% chance of developing a phobia of the "Northern Waters". Yes, this game has a saving throw vs. insanity mechanic, but forget about that here - it's just a flat chance that 4 out of 5 characters go seafeared with a glance upon her. Non-Inuit shamans and druids see the chance drop to 65%, mind - a lifetime of dealing with the supernatural can improve your chances by 15%! And because "Youngsters hold a special place in Sedna's heart.", "Young children and maidens under the age of 21" have the chance drop to 45%. It's always... interesting to see mechanics that get GMs to ask: "Your character's 20 years old. Is she a virgin?"  Don't think of it as cannibalism, think of it as just an appreciation of very rare people. The final part of the sasquatch trilogy comes in the form of the Windigo Demon, which is a cannibal, simian giant who loves eating human flesh and skulls, pretty much in that order. They'll sometimes eat animals, but humans are their tastiest treat. Though they're "lesser demons" from another dimension, there is at least a nod to the myth in that you can become a windigo by giving yourself to an unnamed "Alien Intelligence" or "Windigo God" and committing a sacrifice, and devouring your companions to escape starvation counts. In any case, they're mostly just your usual super-strong demonic thug sort, are vulnerable to weapons made from the bones of sea animals (must suck for the inland tribes...), and have a positively murderous save-or-suck paralyzing scream that can render you helpless for 1d4 rounds. And even if you save successfully against it, you "lose initiative" automatically. So a mean GM with a typical pack (let's say about four) could just have one scream, all PCs lose initiative, repeat scream until all PCs fail saves (since they'll have about 23 attempts to do so before the PCs can act), then have them go to town, repeating screams once per round as necessary. But, of course, good GMs wouldn't do that, even by accident! Erin Tarn said that there weren't any giant beavers, but thankfully, she's wrong, because we've got Wishpoosh, The Demon Beaver. Apparently based on a Nez Perce legend where Coyote had to stop an devil beaver named Wishpoosh, it turns out there are a lot of Wishpoosh. (The plural seems to be the same as the singular.) They basically like griefing humans by messing with or sinking boats, messing with fishers, changing the direction of waterways through dams, etc. They're strangely sneaky for one-ton beavers. They're not necessarily bloodthirsty, but they're merciless and don't care if somebody gets hurt or killed by their tricks. They can make magic waves by slapping their tail, fell trees with their bite, make dams super good, and get some limited magic, like making beavers do their will. However, they're weak against maple wood, and choke if fed acorns or maple seeds (as in the myth). Also they hate Native Americans specifically, like you do. I just have to say I'm proud of them for including an evil magic beaver. I'm glad they went there. I wish they were a little more nuanced and there could be more interactions that weren't at the end of a rail gun, but, you know. Giant evil beaver. Also since this book came out in the nineties it was a ripe time for beaver jokes which I'm sure was a treat. Next: Spirit North. Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 02:22 on Jan 29, 2019 |
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Jan 29, 2019 02:16
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Alien Rope Burn posted:We'll start with the Demon Bear, which as far as I can tell owes more to the Marvel comic New Mutants (and the villain of the same name) than anything to do with indigenous mythology. In general, bears get a good rap in Inuit myth- the worst I could find was Torngarsuk, a prominent god that sometimes appears as a bear and is a bit of a trickster. On a vaguely related note, Torngarsuk is also referenced in the story "The Call of Cthulhu" as an aspect of the elder god. So at least they didn't draw on that... Terrible Opinions fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Jan 29, 2019 |
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Jan 29, 2019 02:49
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Terrible Opinions posted:I've seen a few instances where Inuit mythology relates something that is clearly a polar bear attack as a non-bear supernatural. For instance the qungnirjuaq is an evil giant that specifically relates to pressure rdiges and breaks in the ice and pressure ridges, but behaves a lot like a polar bear. That being said, it bears no relation to the bear in RIFTS. Yeah, I wouldn't doubt it's somewhere I couldn't find, but wolves and dogs get a much worse rap up North as far as I could tell. I think I ran across at least three different types of evil canine.
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Jan 29, 2019 02:56
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If a hinin tortures someone to death without gaining a confession, that hinin is probably dead. But, y'know, hinin.
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Jan 29, 2019 03:34
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Big Mad Drongo posted:Thanks for reviewing this! I really appreciate a game that tries to do "gritty" without meaning "you're a shitfarmer who sucks at everything and will probably die of infection." (Like, it's a cliche in fantasies and westerns for a laconic hero to wander into town, refuse to make conversation with anyone, get prodded into a fight by clueless jerks, and brutalize or kill a bunch of them as a result. Edwards tells you flatly that doing this just makes you a psycho._ Anyway, it has that in common with L5R, and it's something that always takes a lot of buy-in from the players. Hite and Laws have joked that D&D and Warhammer are analogous to periods like the Thirty Years War, when there was sufficient dislocation to create wandering murderhobos.
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Jan 29, 2019 04:23
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Mors Rattus posted:If a hinin tortures someone to death without gaining a confession, that hinin is probably dead. What does his master do? "My idiotic servant misinterpreted my orders and arrested/tortured the wrong person, I will make sure his family is punishes. " ? Or do you try and catch it before it gets that far and send for a better torturer? The Lone Badger fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Jan 29, 2019 |
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Jan 29, 2019 04:33
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I think that’s a situation that’s hard to generalize. Probably produces something the GM can use to make life interesting, though!
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Jan 29, 2019 04:36
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Halloween Jack posted:Anyway, it has that in common with L5R, and it's something that always takes a lot of buy-in from the players. Hite and Laws have joked that D&D and Warhammer are analogous to periods like the Thirty Years War, when there was sufficient dislocation to create wandering murderhobos. I have to say I think that's completely intentional in Hams, though, given the fact that the Empire is basically the 30 Years War HRE but with a few key anachronisms, some fantasy elements, and the fact that things might be getting better if you work at it. Hell, they even treat adventuring like it's something complete weirdos, edge cases, and psychos do (until you make enough money doing it, or achieve enough, then everyone always knew you were going to turn out well when asked). Unlike the D&D case where 'wandering killer' is generally treated as a respected profession celebrated by most people. E: "Standard" D&D and stuff like Forgotten Realms is actually consistently fascinating to me in how insane and monstrous of a setting it often presents if you think about it, all in the name of trying not to think about it, so to speak. Night10194 fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Jan 29, 2019 |
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Jan 29, 2019 04:42
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 Marshal’s Section  War’s Domain The first section of the Marshal’s handbook provides some detailed backstory expanding on the origins of Raven, the first of the Reckoners’ Servitors. I’m going to paraphrase things here, as a lot of it details his various plots and machinations both past and present. Building off what was said in the first post, Raven’s secret to immortality was a literal Fountain of Youth of the long-dead Anasazi. After gathering the Last Sons and breaking open the Reckoners’ prisons guarded by the Old Ones, one of the latter by the name of Jordrava escaped at the expense of literally losing his heart. His body became a corpse in the Grand Canyon, his spirit powerless to affect the world or witness the events of time’s passing. After their victory, Raven gathered together the Last Sons to discuss new plans. First came a restructuring of their organization and thus the birth of the Order of the Raven. The Last Sons would spread the word of Raven among Natives who suffered from colonialism and were willing to do anything to resist. A few of the most trusted Last Sons would take on the false identity of Raven for the dual purpose of turning his legacy into something larger than the self while confusing their enemies over contradictory reports of his sightings. A few of the false prophets even grew to believe they were the genuine article in due time. The real Raven for his part ventured to California around 1865. There, he learned of the ancient pictograms of long-passed tribes and their connection to the spirits of the earth, as well as the ludicrous stories of Emperor Norton I. Quite a bit of this part is detailed in the Flood Plot Point Campaign, but long story short Raven activated the pictogram glyphs to trigger a statewide Great Quake, formed the Rattlesnake Clan of sorcerers to provide more warriors for the Order of the Raven, and manipulated the dreams of the Chinese warlord Kwan to appoint Emperor Norton I as an incompetent proxy ruler when the time came to seize power. He also went south of the border into Mexico, helping form a secret society of Aztec sorcerers who influenced Mexico’s aristocratic emperor to invade California. When word came of the Sioux Nations’ victory against the United States in 1872, Raven ventured north and took on the identity of the Hooded One. The Order of the Raven drew the bulk of its forces from this territory by building up a rapport with Sitting Bull, who was convinced to join the Order of the Raven in secret. Discovery of ghost rock in the Black Hills led to violent conflicts with white settlers and Sioux Nation braves. The United States sent an army division lead by George Armstrong Custer to break the Native spirit. This is where history departs: the Battle of the Little Bighorn (aka the Battle of the Greasy Grass to the Sioux and Cheyenne) results in an American loss, but Custer is not killed. Crazy Horse, Red Bear, and the Hooded One, who by now is a respected warrior among the Sioux Nations, take Custer hostage. Raven said that the man’s life is at their whims, and he “mercifully” granted him the opportunity to retreat and spread tale that the Sioux Nations will never be broken. Raven claimed that this warning would teach the USA not to mess with them, but he privately knew an arrogant man like Custer would seek vengeance. Jordrava was reborn due to the unintentional efforts of the Explorer’s Society during an expedition to the Grand Canyon. Rutherford Ellington Dillenger* put Jordrava’s preserved heart into the cavity of the Old One’s corpse in a moment of desperation from attacking monsters. Thanking them for their revival he traveled North America, learning of how bad things have gotten since the Reckoning. He later indirectly founded the Ghost Dance Movement by appearing in a vision to the Paiute Native American Wovoka, who presumed that Jordrava in his vision was the “Creator.” Regardless, the Ghost Dance Movement spread, especially when its beneficial effects became known among its more learned shamans. Alas Jordrava made an error in returning to the Hunting Grounds to find an old medicine rock of his; he got ambushed by an evil spirit and remains captured in its terrible lair to this day.** *he was one of the Society’s senior members during the previous Plot Point Campaign, the Flood. **or at least until the PCs spring him free In the current time of September 1880, Raven’s plots are coming to fruition. Emperor Norton is now the figurehead ruler of northern California, the demoted and now-rogue George Armstrong Custer is building an army of several thousand irregular hired guns and low-down varmints in order to invade the Sioux Nations. The news of slaughtered miners gives him the perfect opportunity to swoop in as a savor and “liberate Deadwood.” Sitting Bull is now insane and more than willing to plunge his people into war if it means killing every white person on the High Plains. He’s even gone so far as to allow the desecration of the Black Hills via a secret deal with the Iron Dragon rail baron Kang. The rail baron set up a secret illegal mining operation to extract its ghost rock, and in return supplies the Order of the Raven with guns, explosives, and mad science devices. One way or another, War is coming. What I’d Change: I’d would not make Sitting Bull a Ravenite and instead replace him with a Wicasa of my own creation. In the real world Sitting Bull was not only one of the most famous Native Americans, he was also a celebrated figurehead among many indigenous people for fighting to preserve his people’s autonomy from US aggression. Turning him into an insane villain, along with one who would compromise the Sioux Nations’ ceasefire with the United States for some equal opportunity bloodshed is a pretty big departure from how the man acted in real life. Technically speaking Raven speaking to him in dreams caused him to go insane, although this is not explained in either the Marshal’s Handbook or the Last Sons until his relevant stat block entry in the final chapter.  Setting Rules Each of the Deadlands Plot Point Campaigns features a set of new rules pertinent to the specific locale and the Reckoner which holds sway over the area. In the previous campaign the Flood, we had inflated prices, food spoiling quickly, and how giving into cannibalism risked turning into literal monsters in keeping with Famine. Here the Reckoner of War holds sway, and nothing generates hatred and fear like violence. Overall, people in the Native American nations and the Disputed Territories are on edge and Bad Impressions are easy to make. Even if not in an active battle zone the memories of border ruffian depredations, Indian raids, rail war skirmishes, and more keep people distrustful of newcomers. Resentment, anger, and grief cause situations to quickly escalate and just about everyone is openly carrying a firearm or other weapon. As such, PCs suffer a -2 modifier on rolls on the NPC Reaction Table for initial impressions, which means that NPCs never start out Helpful and rarely Friendly. On that note, the default Deadlands Reloaded tends to avoid the issue of real-world systemic racism. Via this sidebar in the Player’s Guide the designers wanted more of a “post-racial” alternative history:   Well minus the Neo-Confederate stuff, the Last Sons subverts this HARD. Real-world, widespread racial fears are a recurring element in this Plot Point Campaign, primarily between white settlers and soldiers and Native Americans. You probably guessed earlier based on the fact that Intolerant can be taken as a Hindrance by PCs, but it’s not just the province of individuals, either. I counted two NPCs who the PCs have to work with as part of a Plot Point or Savage Tale express either distrust or contempt for the other side of the divide in some way, and a quest where Ghost Dancers are initially reluctant to rescue a nun from a group of Ravenite raiders on account that she’s an unknown white woman deep in Sioux territory. There’s also the factor of the situation in Deadwood where the local white settlers and Sioux/Cheyenne Natives are deathly afraid of starting another war due to the very real chance either side’s society will not survive the second round. And the in-game text doesn’t shame or condemn them for this: both sides have normal people who quite rightly view any instance of inter-racial violence in or around Deadwood as the match that strikes the dynamite that kills everybody. Moving on with the review, we cover Battlefield Horrors. The mass graves of battlefields scattered throughout the Midwest are teeming with undead monstrosities and the atmosphere is perpetually dark and gloomy. The Fear Level in these areas is 1 higher than usual, and those who die here draw 3 additional cards to determine whether or not they come back Harrowed.* *sapient PC-friendly undead option who share their body with an evil spirit in addition to their own soul. Following are rules for the Ghost Dance. Basically the Ghost Dance Movement is a pan-Indian religious and political organization. It foretells Native Americans regaining autonomy of their traditional lands, an end to colonialism, reuniting the living with the dead, and more good stuff if sacred dances and moral living of its participants are followed. Basically the rituals of the Ghost Dance can be learned from one who knows it, provided you have the Arcane Background (Shaman) and invest d6 into Knowledge (Ghost Dance). The dance itself is a group-focused activity where everyone in a war party or village must participate for hours on end. The one leading the Ghost Dance makes a Knowledge roll to cause at least one event to happen per success and raise: they can reduce an area’s ambient Fear Level by 1 in a 20 mile radius, improve the chances of a dead character coming back Harrowed or even alive and fit as a fiddle, or forcefully cast out the manitou spirit sharing a Harrowed’s body albeit at the expense of causing said Harrowed to perish and go on to the afterlife. Ghost Rock is covered, that miracle fuel which just so happens to be an artificial creation of the Reckoners. We have some basic information repeated here, particularly what happens when a ghost rock boiler overheats or is damaged in combat.* We also get game stats for Ghostfire Powder, a refined version of the substance whose creation is known only to the highest echelons of Hellstromme Industries. The stuff is responsible for the creation of the Ghostfire Bombs used during the Battle of Lost Angels in the Flood Plot Point Campaign. A small barrel can cover a Large Burst Template and is treated as a Heavy Weapon, igniting all flammable substances, dealing 2d10 damage per round, and can cause instant incapacitation on a failed Vigor (-3 penalty) roll. A Ghostfire Bomb does the same but covers two square acres.** *big explosions **87,120 square feet, or 26,554.176 square meters for our non-US readers. As you can imagine, Ghostfire Power is incredibly strong, and being hit with a Ghostfire Bomb almost assuredly means certain death for PCs caught anywhere but the outskirts of the blast radius. The Hunting Grounds gets some rules for traveling about it it, which will be useful as one of the Plot Point adventures takes place entirely within its confines. It is basically Deadlands’ all-purpose spirit world/afterlife, and while the name intones a naturalist/shamanistic connotation it appears differently to people depending on their religious views of the afterlife. Native Americans see the spirit realm as a giant tree.* The faint outline of a hardwood tree takes up half the sky, and the various realms appear on different portions of the tree. The actual Sky is the dominion of the gods and the most virtuous of people; the Boughs are where visiting mortals commonly visit traveling ancestors; the Trunk is home to most spirits and is a dark place of tunnel-like passages, vines, and pits; the Roots are the gateway to the Deadlands and thus most of it is controlled by the Reckoners; finally the Deadlands are the land of the Reckoners, a dark wasteland built upon the foundations of an eternity of fallen leaves and branches. The Deadlands are home to legions of manitous and kidnapped souls serving as slaves. *once more that indigenous monolith writing strikes again. This perception of the Hunting Grounds changes to whatever closest religious equivalent exists for travelers, and in the case of an interfaith party the one who gets the highest Spirit roll imposes their interpretation of the Hunting Grounds upon their companions. We cover various rules specific to the place: for one, the entirety of the Hunting Grounds is Fear Level 0 save for the Deadlands which are Level 6, although this does not mean the former is happy and safe. Characters who travel here without using a physical portal do not carry their equipment with them, not even their clothes, although any totem spirits they have manifest as allies with stats to the closest animal equivalent. For Harrowed their possessing manitou is much stronger here and local spirits hate the dead guy. Spellcasters recover Power Points at twice the normal rate, but mad scientists and those with technological trappings have a more difficult time casting their powers at a -2 penalty. Hucksters get a good deal, as their Deal with the Devil power cuts out the manitou middleman and they can “draw” the power from their surroundings with no chance of backlash. However this power is not infinite, for excessive use summons manitous angry at the huckster for “cheating.” We get new Relics which are Deadlands’ equivalent of magic items. They are unique items filled with potent emotional weight, usually formed from the hopes, dreams, and failures of some particularly heroic or villainous soul. They grant potent powers to their wielders, but many have a Taint which colors the user’s personality in some manner. The relics detailed here include Crazy’s Horses’ Coup Stick which allows the wielder to draw a Fate Chip whenever they first count coup on a dangerous opponent; Ghost Guns of unknown origin but evil disposition which never run out of ammunition and give bonuses on Intimidation, but at the expense of adding the Bloodthirsty, Mean, and Vengeful (Major) hindrances; Harrowed Boots which give those who die wearing them a greater chance to come back Harrowed but cannot benefit from helpful spells cast by a Blessed; Tom “Bear River” Smith’s Spurs which increase one’s Intimidation die but grant the wear the Mean hindrance*; an Unholy Symbol of an evil cult which comes imbued with a single Black Magic spell but has a wicked soul which tries to possess a user much like a Harrowed’s manitou; and finally Wild Bill Hickock’s Six-Shooters, a pair of Colt Navy revolvers which reroll 1s on Shooting rolls (barring snake eyes) but make it so that anyone who shoots you in the back deals a bonus 2d6 damage. *a bit unimaginative when you look at Ghost Guns We top off this section with rules for Stampedes, Telegraphs, and Wild Weather. All three are rather situational: stampedes are an opposed Agility or Riding roll to either get out of the way or round up a panicked herd, with failure imposing quite a bit of damage as you’re run over. Telegraphs are a semi-reliable long-distance communication device which can be tampered with by mischievous spirits known as gremlins. A table of various negative effects is provided: doesn’t get through, delayed message, scrambled/misinterpreted message, etc. Finally Wild Weather covers the historic Long Winter of 1880-1881. On the High Plains a record-breaking 132 inches* of snow covered the ground, resulting in impassible railroad tracks, mass flooding when it eventually melted, starvation from ruined crops, etc. Blizzards can last 2d20+2 hours and freeze up even mad science vehicles, while heavy snow and storms can impose penalties on movement and physical-based actions. *3.35 meters  Strange Locales By far the longest part of the Marshal’s Section, Strange Locales details all the towns, landmarks, and other points of interest in War’s domain. Like the Flood we get each location’s listed Fear Level along with relevant Savage Tales in the area to complete. Before diving into locations proper we get an outline over each of the six major rail companies and where they stand in the seemingly never-ending Great Rail Wars. Union Blue is the state-funded rail company of the United States, and they’re not looking too good lately. Their last saving grace is running a line through cattle country in Kansas to increase shipping revenues, perhaps as far south as the Santa Fe Trail. Black River is notable for being managed by women known as the Wichita Witches and is a heavy player in Bleeding Kansas’ wars. Its owner Mina Devlin is a ruthless woman who trains the most promising rail warriors in black magic. Although she had a secret alliance with Union Blue, that deal soured and now she’s their primary competitor in seizing rail lines for cattle country. Iron Dragon managed to do the unthinkable and cut a deal with Sitting Bull to build rail lines through the Sioux Nations. In fact it is the only legal port of entry for foreigners to enter, with a rail line connecting to the haven town of Deadwood. The rail baron Kang is playing a tricky game, having set up an illegal mining operation in the Black Hills to trade guns for ghost rock. The Sioux Ravenites doing business with him care more for crushing the white settlers than maintaining the sanctity of their land.* *The Black Hills are a place of great cultural and spiritual significance to the Lakota tribes. Dixie Rails is the closest thing the Confederacy has to an official rail line, being owned by one of the dearly departed Robert E. Lee’s nephews. It is in dire financial straits, with the lion’s share of resources and rail warriors stationed in western Missouri and unable to contribute heavily to securing Kansas’ rail lines. Wasatch is sitting pretty after building the first transcontinental railroad. Its owner Darius Hellstromme accomplished this in the prior Plot Point Campaign, the Flood by using the powers of Mad Science to dig a literal underground railroad from the Rocky Mountains all the way to southern California. As of now he’s taking a bit of a background role, trying to secure alliances and deals rather than outright warfare. Hellstromme’s current pet projects have him holed up in Deseret’s City o’ Gloom, aka Salt Lake City. Bayou Vermillion cuts through the Confederacy’s Deep South and American Southwest, placing it far from the Disputed Lands. However rail baron Simone LaCroix has a secret project to cause harm to his northern competitors. Beyond regular spies and saboteurs he secretly built a special train with an adjustable carriage to ride on the gauges of other rail companies. These “Night Trains” became legendary scourges of towns and depots throughout the American heartland as its undead hordes poured out and laid waste to all they could get their hands on. Fun Fact: One of Deadlands Classic’s most infamous adventures is the eponymous Night Train, where the PCs get caught up in the middle of one of these “night of the walking dead” raids. The adventure was intentionally designed in a Tomb of Horrors like fashion where Total Party Kills are almost guaranteed. Now come the Strange Locales proper! Abilene: The oldest cow town in Kansas, this rough and tumble place connects to a Union Blue rail line but there’s more than a few Confederate sympathizers in town to lead to spirited political debate in the form of fist-fights. Tom “Bear River” Smith is a former US marshal, but more of a lawman than the actual sitting sheriff whose predecessor was gunned down by a supernatural cowboy known as the Revenant. The town’s also home to a mansion the locals believe is cursed on account of various mysterious accidents befalling the builders. Amarillo: In time this will become a populous city, but as of 1880 it’s a tiny town in the middle of nowhere in the Texas Panhandle. Cowboys, ranch hands, and anyone involved in the cattle industry comprise the majority of its transient citizens. Bear Butte: This mountain in the Sioux Nations is considered holy ground to the tribes living within its borders. Sioux and Cheyenne pilgrims leave offerings on its cliffs for the Creator, and the land is regularly guarded by braves ensuring that outsiders do not desecrate this place. Bear Butte’s sacred reputation isn’t just for show: spellcasters receive a +2 bonus on casting magic related to exorcism, healing, and costs half the usual Power Points. Bismarck: Situated at the northeast border of the Sioux Nations and Dakota Territory, Bismarck was so named by Iron Dragon officials hoping that the name’s resemblance to a contemporary German chancellor would encourage immigrants from that nation to set up shop. The place is a diverse frontier town home to Native American traders, white locals and laborers, and a large Chinatown. Black Hills: To say that the Black Hills are important to the Sioux tribes would be an understatement. It is their ancestral lands and where all manner of holidays, ceremonies, and religious rites take place. In addition to existing gold deposits the Reckoners seeded the place with extensive veins of ghost rock to act as a shining jewel to settlers and spawned more than a few violent conflicts. As part of the Deadwood Treaty of 1875 the tribal elder Wicasas allow very limited mining rights to the towns’ inhabitants. The $100 fee and regulations merely spurred miners on to set up covert illegal operations, and those caught by Sioux patrols without a legal claim end up roughed up or killed if they resist arrest. The trail to the Black Hills is lined with poles displaying corpses of the latter as a warning. When Custer invades, the number of “pole men” increases exponentially. Black Mesa: This tall mountain stands in the middle of Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Beyond its obvious namesake the place is famous for being a magnet for the supernatural. The Order of the Raven set up one of their strongholds here and mercilessly hunt down and slay anyone without a membership tattoo caught snooping around. At Fear Level 5 it’s one of the most scary locales in the Last Sons. Cauldron: The second of the Fear Level 5 locations, this place was so named for the caldera present. One of the bloodiest battles of the Great Rail Wars took place here, and after a month of fighting the fallen began to walk as undead. The rail barons in question presumed their opposition was harboring some secret weapon and thus poured even more fighters and resources into the area which only made the problem worse. The fighting’s died down but the small town here hasn’t been the same; horrific wailing emits from the caldera at night, and people hear voices in the wind whispering past sins in their ears. The entire place is still riddled with mass graves, shelled-out automatons, and burned steam wagons. Cheyenne: This place gots its beginnings as a boomtown, and it has the theaters, hotels, and saloons to show for it. Its location on the Denver-Pacific* line means that it’s a popular location for upper class ladies and gents for its preponderance of fancy shops. There’s even a Freemason Lodge here which has been corrupted by members delving into the dark arts. *a minor rail company owned by Smith & Robards, the major mad science competitors of Hellstromme Industries Coffeyville: Built at an Indian trading post next to what is now the Coyote Confederation, Coffeyville sits by a Black River rail line which gave the place quite a bit of financial prosperity. The fertile soil does well for the farms and milling, and entire warehouses and freight cars full of crops ship their goods across the West. Deadwood: Perhaps the most iconic town in this entire sourcebook, Deadwood is a little slice of Union surrounded by Sioux Country. Native Americans are allowed inside the town but are given a wide berth by the populace given that the racial tension is thick enough to be cut with a knife. Union soldiers are a heavy presence, and during Custer’s invasion their numbers become supplemented by irregular troops. This causes the Sioux Nations to violently retaliate, with both Old Ways* and Ravenite braves making temporary alliances of convenience to strike at the invaders. *Religious pledge to the spirits not to use modern industrial technology. We get a sidebar detailing the Deadwood Creek Treaty and its major provisions: the US government recognizes the Sioux Nations’ as a sovereign territory, none of their soldiers are allowed within the Nation’s borders,* non-Native Americans require special permission by a tribal council to live within said borders, those who are found outside Deadwood or off the sole trail and rail line leading there will be escorted by a party of braves to the border, mining rights require expensive fees, mines can only be owned by individuals and not companies, no mine may be worked by more than five people at once, and any miners found violating these rules have their mines collapsed and are thereby ejected from the Sioux Nations. *It doesn’t mention if the ones currently in Deadwood before Custer’s invasion are an exception in regards to the treaty. Denver: The biggest city in Colorado, Denver is the other big rail hub besides Dodge City. Wasatch, Union Blue, Black River, and Denver-Pacific all have rail lines here and due to the ceasefire treaty between the Union and Confederacy both countries left the state unclaimed. As a result, Denver gets representatives from both sides of the Mason-Dixon line and even rail companies without track who need to keep an eye on the competition. In spite of housing a major covert Agency office and anti-firearm ordinance within city limits, Denver’s still a violent place and half of its City Council is riddled with bribery and corruption. The Agency operates a Supernatural Research Facility here for the study and use of all items and monstrous remains of an abnormal nature. They even have a special Star Chamber which is capable of binding a Harrowed’s possessing manitou to the ritualist’s service. Derry’s Ford: This small Colorado town is unusually low-key and quiet. It used to be home to a cult by the name of the Church of Holy Flame, but it burned down in 1876. Devil’s Tower: Known as Bear Lodge Butte to the local Natives, this gigantic column of rock can be seen for a good long way on the horizon. Recently the Sioux began speaking of sighting strange monsters lurking in the shadows around the area at night, possessing strange artifacts which can melt the flesh off one’s bones or freeze the blood in their veins. The Rail Baron Kang made an offer to destroy the monsters in exchange for building a rail line to Deadwood. Ever the crowd-pleaser, Kang made a deal with said monsters to stop their attacks and stay in Devil’s Tower in exchange for providing them with the human flesh of captives Iron Dragon wanted disappeared. Kang got his rail line, and today his company maintains guard around the area. The guards also secretly trade with Ravenites here to provide them with firearms and ammunition.  Dodge City: Lost Angels has been claimed by Wasatch, so now all the other rail barons want a piece of the pie in Kansas’ most violent city. As of now Black River and Union Blue rail lines run through town. In addition to rail wars sabotage, passionate Northern and Southern partisans are eager to look for any excuse for a fight, and masked riders at night kill civilians in the name of patriotism. Buffalo hunters have gotten more well-armed on account of the nearby Sioux sabotaging efforts at depopulating their primary food source. Blood runs thick in Dodge City, but so does the stream of money for these many industries. Dusky Jewel: Kang’s secret mining operation in the Black Hills is a small town built into the back of a canyon guarded by a wall of ghost steel armor. With barbed wire and gatlings lining the top, the Dusky Jewel is far too well-armed for the Sioux to put a stop to it. There are also other factors at play: Kang has leverage over the Wicasas on account that he can release his hold on the monsters in Devil’s Tower, and he can reveal Sitting Bull’s allegiance to the Order of the Raven to the other elders. Fargo: Although known for its harsh winters, its wheat fields are the primary food supplier for Deadwood. The Wells-Fargo & Co. shipping company used to have headquarters here before Iron Dragon bought them out. During the Plot Point Campaign the Long Winter of 1880 will snow the town in and desperate times will cause people to resort to cannibalism. Jayhawk Flats: This is one of the most pro-Union towns in Kansas, if one couldn’t already tell by its name. Its citizenry is known for their decades-long vanguard against Southern border ruffians, and its stranger claim to fame is the town’s complete lack of mirrors. Three years ago on All Hallow’s Eve every single mirror in town turned black and shattered, and others brought into town today turn the same ebony shade. This bad luck manifests as a -1 penalty to all rolls for situations regarding luck and random chance such as gambling. Laramie: This Union town became located within Sioux lands unintentionally, although currently no action has been taken against the settlement due to the problems in Deadwood and Dusky Jewel. An alliance of cattle barons were the effective rulers of Laramie, but after the recognition of the Sioux Nations their wealth and influence have faded. Lawrence: This Kansas town wears its scars like so many others of the recent decades, but as of 1879 it has the epic Battle of Broken Rails to show for it. This massive clash between four different rail companies destroyed half the town. The victorious Union Blue is doing its best to win the people's’ trust back by shipping in supplies for rebuilding. The town is more racially diverse than usual due to being a former Underground Railroad nexus as well as sporting a lot of Chinese immigrants. Medicine Wheel: Cheyenne Natives tend to a pattern of stones laid in the earth known as a Medicine Wheel. This configuration is important to the local nature spirits, and its remote location from any trails or rail lines means few people visit. Powers related to healing or spiritual insight gain a +2 bonus on rolls when cast here along with half the normal amount of Power Points required. New Jerusalem: This would be yet another no-name burg in the Weird West where it not for a terrible event four years ago. New Jerusalem and its inhabitants were transported to another dimension and enslaved by alien beings before mysteriously returning to its original location in 1880. Beyond the obvious psychological scars, sounds are strangely muted and nothing echoes. New Varney Flats: This town had the unfortunate honor of falling victim to a Night Train attack in 1876. The survivors long moved elsewhere, with those unconnected to the events moving into the new ghost town only to encounter another set of troubles. The large population of buffalo hunters means more clashes with Native tribes, and the hunters use the town as a base of operations for raids into the Coyote Confederation. Perry: Known as Hell’s Half-Acre even to residents, Perry is famed for having over 100 saloons and a multitude of other entertainment-based businesses. The place is also home to a huge number of Union agents keeping tabs on the Deep South. Confederate counterspies sent more than a few of them into numerous shallow graves outside of town. Quivira: This ruined town is one of the last sites of the now-vanished Wichita tribe. It is located deep within the Coyote Confederation and well known to its citizens. The Confederation’s leaders gather here during the winter to meet, greet, negotiate, and make policy for the year to come. Salina: This town is the first spot in Union Blue’s construction project to build a spur south to New Varney Flats. This will link the line with Black River, and Mina Devlin is none too fond of this idea. Her efforts to sabotage this process are at the hands of Baron LaCroix, who relishes the thought of another convenient access point for his Night Trains to wreak havoc in Kansas. Tallulah: Although nominally neutral in the Civil War, the townsfolks’ desire to “avoid politics” has been taken advantage of by the Confederacy to set up Texas Rangers in town. When some unknown monster began kidnapping miners the Rangers went to work hunting it down and thus earned Tallulah’s trust. Captain Jim Pinto operates an import company to secretly arm a Confederate army with the eventual plan to strike at supernatural threats in the state. Topeka: Even though the man himself was given a dirt nap, undead Bloody Bill Quantrill’s still fighting like it’s 1865 and Topeka, Kansas is his favorite target for raids. The town is extensively fortified by Union Blue rail warriors, and the local Lincoln College hosts an extensive library second to none. The all-women College of the Sisters of Bethany is an Episcopal center of learning whose students sport a high amount of mad scientists among their number. This has given more than a few rumors of witchcraft in the college, and the Sisters merely play along by staging phenomena created by sufficiently enhanced technology. Wichita: The local sheriff is known throughout the region for his relentless pursuits of criminals even into the Coyote Confederation, but he’s not who troublemakers should worry about. Headquarters of Black River’s Wichita Witches, these dangerously smart and ruthless women are fast on the draw with both pistol and whip. In the event of truly deadly opposition they can call in their trademark black magic.  Worm Canyon: The third Fear Level 5 location in this chapter, this is the most remote and dangerous place in the Sioux Nations. Even the local braves do not venture here save in very big war parties, and even then only when they absolutely must. The place is home to subterranean serpent-like monsters known as rattlers, 40-foot tentacled monstrosities who burrow through the earth like a fish swims through water. A strange cult lead by the self-appointed Queen Ursula worships the rattlers as gods. She and the rest of the cult do their part to honor the worms by dying their skin purple, living in filth, literally singing their praises, and offering them human sacrifices. With the places’ bad reputation making the last part harder to come by, Ursula’s taken to posing as a prospector looking for gold in the area and offering what few travelers she can find safe passage to help spread the word. The sacrifices take place on an altar overlooking the forlorn badlands, and at Fear Level 6 the surrounding area is a certified Deadland. Victims are slain by being pushed off a cliff to a squirming clutch of young rattlers below to have their souls consumed. Adventures in the Disputed Lands The final part of the Marshal’s Section provides an adventure generator for Game Masters who want something more novel rather than the existing Plot Point and Savage Tale quests provided in the book. Basically it is divided as such: first the generator details one of six likely adventuring motivations to act as the backdrop. They range from monster-hunting and freelance troubleshooters to simply traveling from Point A to Point B. Second is a d10 table to determine the Affiliations of involved NPCs, such as Union/Confederate soldiers and outlaws. Third is the Trouble in the case of PCs acting as troubleshooters, which can range from gathering a posse to hunt down kidnappers or a villainous/hostile faction setting up a secret base in the region to cause trouble. Fourth are Complications, possible twists on existing encounters such as freak weather swooping in to a ghostly visitor haunting a PC with cryptic hints and troubling proclamations. This section also provides random encounter tables for both the Hunting Grounds and general travel if the Game Master doesn’t wish to use the sample regional tables from the Deadlands Marshal’s Handbook. The Hunting Ground encounters can be quite deadly if a lone PC rather than a group is adventuring there, which is quite possible if they have Contact Spirit World and don’t have the ability to take others along for the ride. The encounters in the real world are nothing special, most of which are meant more as springboards for future adventures than complete encounters in and of themselves. Thoughts So Far: This chapter has a little bit of everything. The new relics are thematic, the locations varied over a large portion of land, and the detailing of the Hunting Grounds is a valued addition considering the place has been hardly detailed in prior Deadlands works. The Strange Locales strike a good mix of supernatural evil and mortal folly, and the Balkanization of fighting rail barons provides plenty of adventure opportunities and intrigue. Join us next time as we cover the first half of the Last Sons Plot Point Campaign!
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Jan 29, 2019 10:47
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Fun fact on Ursula's cult: The giant worms, the cult, and Ursula herself are an example of Shane stealing from himself, as they all first appeared in a product he wrote for Bloodshadows, "The Wilderness".
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Jan 29, 2019 13:03
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Libertad! posted:
This is a throwback to a Deadlands Classic adventure Adios A-Mi-Go, which is a crossover with Chaosium's Call of Cthluhu rpg. 
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Jan 29, 2019 13:56
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Ehhh, it's full of interesting ideas and good places for adventures but we can already see "the Neo-Confederacy is awesome guys!" stuff leaking back in. That's a hard dealbreaker for me even if I love the Great Rail Wars concept and company ideas. Those old 90s Back East books really dumped on the Union hard, and rather made it clear that the authors want their special perfect Confederacy that nobody can criticise and will turn out to be in the right all along.
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Jan 29, 2019 16:19
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Emerald Empire: Goshi Goshi While the relationship between samurai and commoners may seem simple and brutal, it is more complex than it first appears. In general, samurai prefer to spend as little time as possible in rural areas, which lack the amenities to which they are accustomed and where they have few peers to hang out with. Most samurai tend to believe little of importance happens there, despite the fact that they know it's where food comes from. Most samurai do, at least, recognize that without the labor of the heimin and hinin, the Empire would collapse. Typically, a samurai in a rural farm or village is there because their duties require them to be. Those that serve as courtiers or messengers must travel, sometimes over great distances, which means passing through rural lands. For some, such as the Miya Heralds, this is even routine. They become used to the harships of the road, and some even come to prefer villages to the bustling, businesslike towns and cities, though they tend to be considered weird by other samurai. Samurai moving between castles also have to do this, but generally do so as quickly as possible. Magistrates are often found in rural areas as part of their duty to collect taxes and uphold the law. Some samurai are even required to live in rural areas, such as because they are a magistrate for a remove region. Usually, these assignments are a form of punishment for incompetence or wrongs that aren't actually illegal or don't warrant more serious penalties, or to neutralize embarrassing relatives or political foes. In times of war, samurai also spend a lot of time in rural areas, marching and fighting. Samurai that reside in rural lands with commoners are known as goshi, countryside warriors. Goshi retain the status and authority of their rank, but it is not rare to find them working in the fields alongside the peasants they oversee, either. The most extreme example of this are the Sparrow Clan, whose entire membership is effectively made of goshi. Due to their more rustic nature, goshi are often mocked by more sophisticated samurai, and the term is often used as a slur. In some exceptional cases, a peasant may be given special privileges of the samurai caste and be granted the authority of a goshi. They may even be given the right to bear swords, have audience with their lord or use family name. These goshi are found only in the most remote regions, where appointment of a true samurai is often impossible. Goshi in general tend to be much closer to the heimin they supervise than other samurai would be. Because of this, the local heimin are often extremely loyal to them, and they often have a lot of power within their local area. Samurai do not, generally speaking, pay taxes. Tax is derived from wealth, which is created via labor, which samurai do not do. In reality, of course, many samurai do engage in commercial activity, albeit usually via intermediaries. These enterprises are taxed, but that is only a small portion of the Imperial and clan tax revenue. Most taxes are paid as a proportion of the goods produced in rural lands. This is typically taken as a fixed proportion of produced goods, such as a farmer paying one out of every ten koku of rice they produce, with one koku being about five bushels. The actual amount will vary based on the amount of rice and other goods produced, the local weather's effects on the crops and the desires and needs of the lord involved, of course. Most lords make a real good-faith effort to balance the taxes they demand against the needs of the heimin, because overtaxing is counterproductive and can cause unrest. However, they are also uncompromising about what they do demand. Any attempt to avoid paying the full tax owed is considered a serious crime and will be punished severely, up to and including execution of those involved, as a deterrent to others. Official history records only a few instances of peasant uprisings, generally described as local and quickly defeated. In truth, riot and revolution have been distinctly more frequent, some quite widespread. The most common cause of this unrest is poor treatment by samurai. The Celestial Order is great and all, but the heimin and hinin are no less resentful of ill treatment, poor living conditions and heavy taxes than anyone else. Further, the tedious life of commoners in the Empire is fertile ground for charismatic, populist leaders. Most recently this has been seen in the Perfect Land Sect, a heretical Shinseist movement that preaches equality among all castes via the salvation of Shinsei. Once the fires of revolution against injustice are lit, they can spread quickly indeed, leading to a full-on peasant revolt. Samurai tend to respond quickly and brutally to these revolts, as they are after all a crime against the Heavens themselves. Armies are sent out to put down the rebels, and all believed to be rebel leaders will be summarily executed. Most samurai recognize, however, that potential unrest is never really that far away, and that the cost of avoiding it is constant vigilance and merciless punishment of anyone that even contemplates rebellion. The rural population is still the majority, even with the massive growth of cities. Small villages cannot depend on irregular merchant traffic, and must become self-sufficient in most ways. While those near a major road may see frequent travelers, more isolated communities often go years without seeing any outsiders but the tax collector. With permission from the village head or local lord, a peasant might visit nearby towns for trade or to find a craftsman, but these journeys take time and danger that make them impractical for most peasants. The rural world is a small one, most of the time, and most peasants never travel more than ten miles from the place they were born. Neighbors become extended family over the generations, as the lack of travel means that most villages are heavily interrelated. Local food is the staple, and anything that can't be made or grown locally is a precious delicacy. Villages will differ heavily just based on what can be gained locally and what skills the locals have. The arrival of visitors may be cause for celebration or fear, depending on the region. In regions with poor security, after all, outsiders are usually bandits, and the locals are rarely welcoming. On the other hand, some isolated villages are more accustomed to outsiders being traveling merchants and welcome visitors, looking for stories of different lands. The local region's ruling clan also has an influence on these views - Crane villagers are often excellent hosts, while Crab villagers are brusque and standoffish. Obviously every villager will show proper respect and reverence for the Imperial government, but often the idea of Empire has only limited practical relationship or relevance to a village. They identify first as members of their village, often far moreso even than their clan, as both clan and Empire can seem very distant for a rural peasant. In part this is from isolation, but it's also because they often get only limited benefits at all from the Empire's services. They pay taxes and, if ordered, perform military duty. In return, they get very little. In many parts of the Empire, the roads are not well maintained and the military does little to check the local brigands. Thus, the citizens often quietly resent the tax they pay, and it is only a mix of religious teachings and fear that keep them in line with the Empire. Regions that have a generous or sympathetic daimyo, however, tend to see more patriotic peasants. Heimin that are regular recipients of protection and aid from their lord are less resentful of their duties and taxes, and some villages even receive funding from samurai to improve the area, particularly for roads or irrigation. While this is rare, it often inspires deep and lasting loyalty. Samurai visiting a village will generally start by stopping in with the local village leader, who will usually have a nicer home with a receiving area for guests as part of the payment for their added responsibility. For the duration, the leader will attempt to be a gracious host, drafting other villagers into service to help as needed with providing any comforts the samurai may desire. These will be limited by what's available, of course. Cuisine is usually limited to a single seasonal vegetable, any rice that's around and no real spices. The rice is itself a luxury, as most of the peasants will dine primarily on millet. The accomodations are also going to be limited. The village leader will have the best furniture in the village, but it will still be crude by most samurai standards unless a great craftsman lives nearby. Sleeping mats are probably uncomfortable, and any privacy is going to be from a simple paper screen. Few samurai, as a result, choose to stay in villages for any extended period. This is good, because extended stays will likely compromise the village's production ability, as many heimin will need to ignore their duties to play host. Fortunately, they can at least draw the goods used to serve the samurai out of the taxes set aside for the lord. Of course, if a visitor uses too much of this, the lord may seek compensation from the visitor's own lord, and the village leader will probably become worried about the tax, since they'll have to explain it to the tax collector. This is only exacerbated if the samurai involved is from a rival clan, making any reimbursement less likely. If a village's lord is not kind enough to accept the shortfall, the village leader may well be punished. Monasteries are often deliberately located in isolated and rural areas, to give the monks more chance for reflection without intrusion. Many villages have a monastery no more than a few days away. Religious rites, funerals and weddings may well be blessed by wandering monks if no priest can be found. While many of the shrines that are central to a village's identity will have an assigned priest, it isn't always so, and a small village may not even have a shrine. Monks will regularly visit such places to provide for the spiritual needs of the heimin and hinin that live there. Because of their distinctive outfits, particularly the common saffron ones, monks can be easily recognized even from a distance, and so farmers will often spot them well in advance of their arrival. This gives plenty of time to prepare, often involving cooking a special meal, alerting the locals responsible for a village shrine or just cleaning up and getting presentable. The arrival of monks is usually cause for a small celebration, and monks are always honored guests. They won't be served with the same generosity as a samurai, but the villagers will not hesitate to feed and serve them well. The monk will be given a chance to visit the local shrines, meet with the village leaders and speak to the villagers as a whole. Those that seek special insights or blessings may meet with the monk privately, at their own home or a local shrine. Many villagers will continue work while the monk or itinerant priest is visiting, though, because the work still has to be done. They may have to wait until evening to meet the monk, using the time usually meant for prayer. Thus, visiting monks are much less costly than samurai. A village's water supply will be a vital shared resource, usually a stream or reliable spring. Life for the heimin begins with fetching water for drinking and cleaning, and the water is also used for any local crops or gardens. The labor of each day is planned in advance, based on the season. In growing seasons, which are all but winter, the farmers will spend the day in the fields, which the village typically shares communally. As long as the sun is out, they will work to plant, tend and harvest. Tools are usually of shell and bamboo, as metal is very precious and will usually corrode if used in rice patties. As needed, the villagers will help each other construct new buildings, such as houses. If foraging or fishing are viable locally, heimin will work together on these tasks as well. In winter, the farmers typically maintain their tools in preparation for spring. Childcare is handled communally, with some villagers caring for the kids of multiple families so that more people can work in the fields or mines. This tends to mean that each generation has very close social bonds. Artisan heimin, like blacksmiths, brewers or weavers, will not take part in communal labor. They may assist with large construction projects or similar, but they typically work alone as their duties require specialized skills. Every village has jobs only the hinin can do. Refuse must be hauled, fertilizer made out of poop, the dead must be prepared for cremation, livestock slaughtered, game animals hunted. Leather is a necessity, but only hinin can work a tannery. The hinin live lives of small miseries, their homes apart from the heimin villagers. They may get water only once all others have done so, or they may have a segregated well, further from the main water source. When doing their work, which often smells foul, they must avoid the heimin or suffer abuse. Because villages are small enough that everyone knows everyone by sight, there's no way to hide their status. Their work is exhausting and demeaning, and even during festivals, they suffer verbal abuse. Hinin will only be a small proportion of a village, as their work is not enough to support large numbers. In isolated farms, there may only be a single hinin, or a single family in small villages. This means they have very few peers they can interact with. Village hinin have no real chance to escape their lot, and can rarely even move away. Unless they marry a member of another caste from a different village, they are unlikely to be accepted far from home. Unsurprisingly, many hinin turn to banditry, their only real escape from their daily hells. The risk of death is lessened when your life is shoveling poo poo, after all. However, most hinin do not do this, and would never even think of leaving their community. The more devout among them believe that their only real hope for a better life is unquestioning duty, to reincarnate into a better life. The practical just know that survival outside the village is much less likely. Next time: Village design
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Jan 29, 2019 16:32
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You gotta admire Kang's pragmatism, he's just as evil as Helstromme but much better at recruiting useful monsters.
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Jan 29, 2019 17:40
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Emerald Empire: Buy The Farm Villages tend to focus on a single specific local resource, with most villagers harvesting that resource as their main duty. What they eat and have available is entirely determined by the region's resources, and a village that raises silkworms probably has more silk clothes than a mining village, say. Mountain villages often rely heavily on hunting and have scandalously common use of leather. Bamboo, of course, is found nearly everywhere, and gets used for just about everything. All buildings in a village will have a purpose, whether that's being homes, part of the village's main trade, or supporting the work of the village. A fishing village probably has a shipwright and simple drydock, while a mining village will often have a smithy to maintain the tools. A village's size will also often have an influence on what kind of things are available - fifty people don't usually need a dedicated smith, but 500? They sure do. As noted prior, the most consistent samurai presence in any village is the tax collector. Often they are a magistrate, and when they show up, they assess the village's yield. A tax, often in the form of rice, even for villages that don't make rice, is then levied based on that yield. The percentages are based on the often confusing demands of the Emperor, clan champions, local nobles and bureaucrats. If no rice is available, the village leaders will negotiate with other villages to trade what they do have for rice, possibly at a regional market. Who the tax collector is will often figure highly into considerations, as the assessment is done after meeting with the village leader and reviewing village records. Diligent tax collectors may also inventory the village's assets personally, including food reserves. The frequency of tax collection varies by region and the preferences of local samurai. Annual visits are common in areas where storage is difficult due to infrastructure or climate, while every five years is more regular where significant changes in production are less common. That means you need fewer tax collectors, but the villages and samurai must both have more capacity to store lots of rice. Many tax collectors are fair and just, but not all. Some village leaders are also prone to cooking the books, for good or bad. In some villages, the tax collector's visit may be somber and stressful, as villagers worry their hidden reserves will be found or they may suffer a heavy tax. In others, it may be cause for a festival, as the villagers decide celebration and sake are the best ways to appease the tax collector's baser desires. Samurai are rare in a village, but their rank gives them essentially infinite power over the residents. Sure, there's going to be consequences at some point for being dishonorable in your actions, but isolated villages have no real direct recourse. They can't refuse anything you ask, either. A samurai can justifiably expect to be able to just wander into a village and shout at people until their demands are met. They can expect a prompt response and gracious service, and if they don't get it, they are empowered to punish the villagers as they desire or take anything they want. While an honorable samurai would never damage a village while visiting, not all are strict adherents to Bushido, especially if there's no real chance of getting caught. There's only very limited security or oversight in rural areas, and it's up to an honorable samurai that witnesses dishonorable actions in rural areas to fix things, because no one else is going to. Because samurai are rare in rural areas, banditry is a major problem. Bandits who live carefully and prey on well-chosen targets while staying hidden or on the move can go unpunished for decades. Some villages even tolerate it, seeing it as just another tax to pay. Others, however, recognize that the bandits lack the divine mandate of rule and understand such complicity is impious. Without samurai, the job of fighting bandits falls to the doshin, the peasant law enforcers. While magistrates must appoint doshin, they typically do so with advice from the village leaders, and a leader may appoint acting doshin in some cases if magistrates stop by only rarely. Doshin have authority to wield weapons and gather enforcers, especially to eliminate bandits. They have to enforce the law in the area, after all, at least for heimin and hinin. In most villages, homes will cluster in a single area around a common road, to maximize arable land. Most shared buildings will also be in that cluster unless there's a reason for them not to be, such as a shrine requiring some specific piece of local geography. Butchers, smithies or other bad-smelling places may also be put farther away. All residences will probably look similar but for minor decorations, except that of the village leader, which will have more than one room. Shoji screens are commonly used to subdivide these homes. In poorer villages, homes often double as living space for livestock, but in wealthier villages, this job will be done by barns, unless the weather is nice enough most of the time to just let them sit in pasture except during extreme weather events. Nearly every village will have a shrine or temple, as peasants are deeply tied to the land and vulnerable to the forces of nature. In very small farms, this may just be a nook where prayer is offered, but in other places it may well be the biggest building in the village. Large shrines will often have a dedicated priest or shrine keeper who doubles as a local spiritual leader, and truly exceptional shrines may even draw in local pilgrims. The shrine will always serve as an emotional and spiritual center for village life. Some villages may also have shops, maintained out of the home of the shop-owner, but they will usually sell only things that are locally relevant. There are often other places for locals to gather socially, as the shrine is not appropriate for everything. A village near hot springs may have a bath house for the community, or one along a major road may have an inn. Only very large villages will have more than one or two of these places, however, as they are expensive to maintain. Almost all villages farm at least a little unless the geography absolutely doesn't allow it. Most rely heavily on irrigation systems, such as artificial ponds and canal systems to redirect local water. Some even use complex networks of wooden pipes to reduce water lost to evaporation. A very rare few may even divert enough water to provide in-home water access in the form of flowing pools or basins. This is very labor-intensive to maintain, and is considered a shared job, with the village often gathering to do maintenance. In the case of an emergency failure, the entire village will work to make repairs. Common crops vary by region. Beans are a critical protein source for much of the Empire, and most villages grow some soybeans, just because it's easy and everyone eats them. Mung and red adzuki beans are also common. Beanstalks are grown, then dried and threshed, sometimes processed into miso or tofu. Most villages grow some rice because it's used for taxes, but if water is too precious for a rice paddy, they will have to trade for it. Wheat, barley, buckwheat and millet are common grains through the Empire, and most are easier to grow than rice, requiring less water. However, they are also less tasty to Rokugani and much less valuable. Barley and wheat are more often used for fermentation, and villages that grow them may rely on brewing for income. Most villages have a few fruit trees, but some support entire orchards. Plums, apricots, peaches, persimmons, apples, pears, melons, various citrus and cherries are common fruits. Fruit trees rarely need much watering due to deep root networks, but they are still well cared for because they can last for generations. Fresh vegetables are important food, and cucumber, squash, cabbage, kale, yam, burdock, carrot, radish and onion are all common crops. Many are easy to grow in small gardens, even for non-farmers. Preference is often for those that, like onions, can be easily stored for long periods. Tea leaves are a vital crop, but they need dedicated plantations and a lot of processing. Tea plants can produce for generations, though. They are grown densely, cropped to waist height, and harvested biweekly for the entire growing season. This requires a lot of labor, and processing must be done quickly, before the leaves degrade. Farmers also often grow fibrous crops for textiles, such as hemp, cotton, flax or bamboo (which can also be used for construction and food). Mulberry leaves are used to feed silkworms, indirectly being considered fiber crops. Fiber farmers often spend a lot of time on spinning thread and weaving as well. Rokugani farmers don't really rely heavily on livestock. Poultry is most common, especially chickens. Oxen and cattle are primarily draft animals, as their meat is believed to be unclean. If a village has a tannery they may have more cattle than normal, but even then, not too many. The other major form of livestock is silkworms, critical to the production of silk. Farms with large silkworm populations also grow a lot of mulberry leaves for them to eat. Next time: Specific villages.
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Jan 29, 2019 18:59
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Loxbourne posted:Ehhh, it's full of interesting ideas and good places for adventures but we can already see "the Neo-Confederacy is awesome guys!" stuff leaking back in. That's a hard dealbreaker for me even if I love the Great Rail Wars concept and company ideas. Sounds like they'd make for a good Let's Read if anyone ever gets around to them. I don't think I will myself anytime soon, on account of how big the Reckoners Series books are to cover. Dedman Walkin posted:This is a throwback to a Deadlands Classic adventure Adios A-Mi-Go, which is a crossover with Chaosium's Call of Cthluhu rpg. You'll be pleased to know that this town will feature in one of the Savage Tales later on. By popular demand posted:You gotta admire Kang's pragmatism, he's just as evil as Helstromme but much better at recruiting useful monsters. Hellstromme: "Why recruit monsters when you can build more automatons?"
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Jan 29, 2019 22:24
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Kang: it's always automatons with that gwai-lo  why don't he just build himself a big metal body of he likes it so much?!
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Jan 29, 2019 22:40
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Loxbourne posted:Those old 90s Back East books really dumped on the Union hard, and rather made it clear that the authors want their special perfect Confederacy that nobody can criticise and will turn out to be in the right all along. I remember the first GURPS Alternate Universes book had a Union/Confederacy split where the Union was no-nonsense and kind of a bunch of joyless Prussians, when it's like "Yeah and on the other hand they're fully racially integrated and higher technology than your precious confederates?" And of course I think they had the Confederates backing off on slavery, too, although that was a Confederacy in 199X instead of 187X.
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Jan 29, 2019 22:52
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Mors Rattus posted:. Hinin will only be a small proportion of a village, as their work is not enough to support large numbers. In isolated farms, there may only be a single hinin, or a single family in small villages. This means they have very few peers they can interact with. So how does that work? Unless the heimin intermarry with them, something I can't imagine they'd be keen on, you're only going to have a single generation of hinin.
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Jan 29, 2019 22:54
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The Lone Badger posted:So how does that work? Unless the heimin intermarry with them, something I can't imagine they'd be keen on, you're only going to have a single generation of hinin. In a pragmatic sense they probably communicate with each other at county fairs and festivals and so on, after they get spit on by the heimin. (Kazuma Hinin the poo poo-shoveller is probably doing it for a few years rather than being a thrall.) Since this is a 90s RPG I expect bandit sex crimes to be cited, if anything is cited at all.
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Jan 29, 2019 23:04
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The Lone Badger posted:So how does that work? Unless the heimin intermarry with them, something I can't imagine they'd be keen on, you're only going to have a single generation of hinin. People still fall in love, and peasants are allowed to marry for love, so sometimes they do in fact marry heimin. But generally speaking? If you're from a tiny-rear end village, you go on a pilgrimage and find a marriage partner in another tiny-rear end village nearby. Sex crimes are not cited. e: also this book was published literally a few months ago, this is the most recent edition and the first edition under the new owners. Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Jan 29, 2019 |
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Jan 29, 2019 23:06
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Nessus posted:You could probably do some cross-line round-ups of Confederate apologia and see if you can trace particular ideas back to particular authors. I don't think I've seen any Confederate nostalgia worse than Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex. ...Yeah, it's a game about riding dinosaurs on Martian colonies, and the victorious Confederacy is super-duper cool while the Union is an Orwellian beehive state.
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Jan 29, 2019 23:07
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Emerald Empire: Bug Town Buzzing Fly Village is a small village in the Kitsu family lands of the Lion, in Rugashi Province. It is only a few days out from Rugashi City, a major trade hub of the region, and gets fairly regular traffic, especially from merchants heading out from the city. The Buzzing Fly Brewery is known for a distinctive sake that has gotten a lot of attention from traveling merchants, its brewing method a secret but known to involve an unusual strain of rice not shared with outsiders. Merchants celebrating success or drowning sorrows often visit the brewery and attached sake house, usually spending some of their profits on cases of sake to give as gifts. The success has grown the brewery and increased its capacity and workforce, but they're running law on farmland to grow their special rice, which is limiting batch sizes. The family that runs the brewery is now negotiating with their neighbors to get them to also grow the rice. The village was originally a farming community, and it still is mostly farmers. However, the brewery's expansion has caused the village to swell to over 500 people. It is centered on a small stream crossed by a wooden bridge. The brewery and mill sit on the stream, drawing water from it, and the combined building is the largest in the village. The village is surrounded on all sides by rice paddies, on both sides of the river. The smell of steaming rice and fermentation are extremely strong, as is the sound of the grindstones turned by the waterwheel. In the evening, the sake house fills up with laughter and raunchy singing. quote:Buzzing Fly Village Rumors Our NPC is Brewmaster Reiha, head of the brewery. She is the proud inheritor of recipes dating back twelve generations, and the recent success and expansion of the brewery has been a challenge. She is reluctant to break from tradition to make even necessary changes, fearing that the additional demand will be only temporary, but has overseen some expansion. Sales have kept up with production for several years now, and she is being forced to consider other ways to expand. She is reluctant to take risks, but feels she may have to. One big factor pushing her need to expand is the Scorpion spymaster that currently has her under his control. When she initially began expanding, she needed capital and made some poor and unscrupulous decisions about how to get it. Somehow, the Scorpion learned this and is now blackmailing her to gain secrets about any passing merchants or Lion samurai that head through the village. Reiha is very reluctant to keep up this charade, but she is terrified of the dishonor she would suffer if anything was revealed. Adventure seed: While heading through Rugashi Province, the PCs encounter a Lion bushi on the road. He's quite pleasant, happy to speak of the virtues of the region and eager to invite the party to drink with him at the Buzzing Fly Brewery, which he claims is the best in all the Lion lands. Over the course of the stay, he drinks far too much and begins to spill secrets about Lion deployments. To the party's surprise, Reiha keeps the booze flowing, apparently encouraging this irresponsible action. The party must decide if they want to protect the Lion's honor or figure out Reiha's motives. The Lion warrior will not appreciate efforts to sober him up or preserve his honor, and will drunkenly challenge those who try for questioning his stamina. If the PCs accuse Reiha of some trickery, she may attempt to poison them in order to preserve her secrets and her business. Anbasukai Village is in Senseki Province, and it's a nice if isolated mining village near the Great Wall of the North range. The village is centered on a beautiful shrine, the Earth's Heart Shrine, dedicated to the local mountain kami. The main danger of the area is earthquakes and landslides, but most agree that without the regular care and sacrifices of the shrine, it would be much worse. The high altitude means it is chilly even in midsummer and viciously cold in winter, which sometimes draws summer pilgrimages. The village appears to have more residents and homes than it can actually feed, because more workers are needed for the mines, and so it depends heavily on imported food. Further, there is a disproportionate number of people in the village that move like warriors even if they work in the fields or mines. This is because Anbasukai is one of the most valuable Unicorn holdings in the province. The vast cave network under the village is rich in iron ore, and the Unicorn use concealed defenders to keep the mine going. More than half the village are actually soldiers that work the fields and mine when not training. Their training is performed inside the tunnels of the mine, to keep them concealed. Heavy security is sent with every ore shipment, and these security forces often return with the caravans bringing in food and tools. The village was founded only after the Unicorn discovered the vast wealth of the land, when Utaku Anbasukai stumbled across ore samples when trying to find the mouth of a stream. He was shocked by the mineral reserves and quickly reported it to his clan, with the village getting founded shortly after. quote:Anbasukai Village Rumors Adventure seed: After visiting Earth's Heart Shrine, the PCs learn the village needs guards for an ore shipment coming up soon. The original guards were injured in a landslide and can't travel. The mine's leader asks the PCs for help, and it's clear no one else is available to do so. The ore is intended for Shiro Ide, which will be a long trip. The ronin Uchida will be part of the security detail, but he does not have honorable intentions. On the trip, he approaches the PCs about his plan to divert the shipment to Ryoko Owari Toshi and ship it downriver, to the Kaiu Wall. He intends his Crab contacts to put it to use immediately. Uchida explains that the Crab need iron far more than the Unicorn do, and that they could use this ore to make weapons and armor to keep the Empire safe. Ultimately, though, this is definitely Unicorn property, and no one has legal authority to take it. If the PCs work with Uchida, they will have failed in their duty, and this could be a grave dishonor. Alternatively, if they personally deliver the ore to the Crab, they will be honored as heroes for it...but if the truth about how they got it comes to light, their heroism will be tainted by dishonor. Uchida is the NPC, a ronin hired by the Unicorn to serve as one of the guards at Anbasukai. He has worked tirelessly in the mines to keep up the appearance that he's just a simple peasant, remaining upbeat despite the work and showing great skill in the secret training drills. However, Uchida is in fact a former member of the Crab Clan, and while he is ronin now, he believes fiercely in the necessity of the Crab in defending Rokugan. He fears the use of the iron by the Unicorn will be frivolous, and feels it is his duty to divert some of the ore resources he can manage to get to better service to the Empire. Next time: Fish and Tea
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Jan 29, 2019 23:25
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Halloween Jack posted:You absolutely could, because the Lost Cause was a semi-coordinated deliberate propaganda campaign, and a lot of scholars have dedicated books to debunking it. Or do you mean in roleplaying specifically?
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Jan 29, 2019 23:26
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