|
Viewing 1 - 13 out of 13 Blogs.
 Having had a chance to play this game, now, I can say that it lived up to all my expectations. The system is incredibly simple yet effective. My entire family can sit down at the table and enjoy it. Heck, even my 4 yr old has managed to get into a game or two.
So, you all may be asking yourselves what does this game really have to offer me?
For GMs
A chance to work with a different sort of setting. Leave your monsters and traps behind and enter a world where you have to think from the animals' points of view. I find that this is a really challening and fulfilling genre to write in.
Coming up with stories and encounters that fit the setting but that still allow for the sense of adventure and majesty you want in an RPG can seem tough at first but after a few tries it all falls into place. You do have have a certain sense of whimsy to make it all work, but I think you'll find it worthwhile.
For Players
A chance to play something different. Playing an animal character is a new experience. Without hands, equipment and possessing the smallest of stature, you really do have to fall back onn your role-playing skills to get throug hthe adventures. When you are a mouse or a frog, the world is indeed a very big place.
Your adventures tend to be about survival and the mystery of the world outside your confined little community (The Wood). Danger lurks in nearly everything. Man, other animals, natural disasters and combinations of any of these. How you deal with these is greatly determined by the things nature has granted you (unless you have somebody playing a gnome).
What sorts of things can I do?
The game lays a lot of this out for you, but I'll share the few adventures I have run or am working on.
In one of my adventures farm animals have escaped from the nearby farm and have strayed into the woods causing no end of trouble for the creatures of The Wood. The PCs must come up with a plan to try and get the animals out of their home before they cause more damage or, even worse, bring the farmer and his dogs into the wood looking for them.
Another of my adventures was a very quick story of exploration as the PCs went to the river to investigate a strange thing one of the NPCs had seen there. What they found was a toy boat. What was fun is seeing how the animals interpreted and responded to this find.
A recent tale was a sort of ghost story where the creatures of The Wood are being haunted by something in the trees that shows up on moon-lit nights and stares down at them. What the creatures do not know is that the thing that rustles and crackles through the tree is simply a plastic bag, carelessly discarded by Man and blown on the wind.
Encounters
Encounter in TFTW tend to be with other animals. Avoiding Man is best as most encounters with humans tend to end poorly. Rats seem to be the orcs of this game. They are the common foe and always seem to turn up wherever you are. Foxes as well as owls and kestrels are your greater threats with weasels and stoats falling someplace in between. These are by no means the only animals in the game (it includes rules on how to create new animals within the system) and I have used rats as useful NPC encounters as well (they know things). Even the nastiest of predator can be an ally at times.
Conclusion
Tales from the Wood is a splendid game that offers experienced gamers something new to play. For new gamers it is a simple, non-threatening system that they can cut their role-playing teeth on. If you are a family gamer, this is a game you can play with the whole family in which just about anyone can find something they like. This is also a good game to lure RPG-curious folks into.
Thanks for reading,
Eli
Tags: Rpg Role-playing Review Fantasy Animal
I recently re-discovered a game I had picked up ages back. It's a charming little game called "Tales from the Wood".
This game is designed to capture the adventure and splendor of classic books and series of books such as "Watership Down", "Duncton Wood" "Farthing Wood" in all their whimsy and majesty. The players take the role of small woodland creatures commonly found in the woods and surrounding areas of the English countryside as well as classic gnomes.
The adventures center around the animals and gnomes dealing with hostile animals, the environment and exploring the mysteries of a world much larger than they are. In addition to other animals, there is Man to worry about and the "evil" that he brings into the world.
At first the game seems like a very kiddish game, but the more I read it, the more I realised that it had the potential to be every bit as magical and complex as any other RPG. The game is told from the POV of animals and it is assumed that without the right Lore skills, the animals will understand little of the world that is not natural.
The system is simple and character generation is quick if not a little simplistic. There is a bit of an artificial morality designed into the game, with the sides divided into "The Way" and "The Bane". This is a thematic choice to create drama more so than any attempt at realism with animals of "The Bane" being mostly cast into that role along the lines of common human prejudices (rats, crows, weasels, etc).
If you are lookng for a fun game that harkens back to those stories you may have enjoyed as a child or if you are looking for something different for an occasional one-off or even and angoing game, give this little gem a look-see.
"Tales from the Wood" is available through DrivethruRPG & RPGNow in PDF format for $2 and well worth it.
Thanks for reading,
Eli
Tags: Rpg Role-playing
The third session of my pulp game was this past Tuesday and I have to say it was the most exciting and madeningly fun one yet. I am afraid there was just too much happening in too many popping, bouncing, explosive scenes for me to do it justice, but I will try.
In the prior session the heroes had managed to locate the general area of the origin of the strange radio singals that they had determined were controlling the robot army that was holding Wall Street hostage. So, with this knowledge and a few ideas, they put a plan into motion.
Brian Steel (adventurer) came up with the idea of taking the team's minisub along, rigging it with a length of chain that The Iron Devil (Inventor/Hero) would wrap around the screws and rudders of the submarine they were searching for. Meanwhile, TID and Reggie (Pilot/Mercenary) modified Reggie's pocket radar device to emit the same detonationfrequency they had recorded earlier when some of the robots seemed to self destruct explosively. This gave them a remote detonation device for the explosive device they took from the one machine man they had captured.
Finding the mercenary submarine hidden in a fogbank someplace in the Atlantic, they landed, deploying their minisub under the cover of the spray it produced. They then manuevred their large Ant-22 seaplane around to a position that allowed for a fast getaway. Under a flag of truce Steel and Reggie rowed to the U-boat to parlay with the mercenaries. While this was going on, TID was under the water chaining the U-boat's drive systems.
TID returned to the seaplane and docked behind the cover of one of its massive hulls while the parlay continued with Steel and Reggie trying to pay off the mercenaries and get them to abandon their evil endevour. The talk broke down, the U-boat captain was used as a meat shield and then the robot bomb was detonated sending U-boat crew scampering as our heroes plunged into the ocean and began a swift paddle back to their plane which at the first signs of hostilities had revved the engines up and was now turning to bring it's machineguns and 20mm cannon to bear. A wonderful firefight/retreat ensued and the heroes escaped into the air.
Just as the heroes thought they had made their escape, the U-boat unexpectedly and inexplicably launched two torpedoes. These torps ended up popping up out of the water only to reveal themselves to be some sort of strange aerial attack robots, propelled by a propeller-like collar and armed with MGs in the nose cone. This resulted in a dogfight that smacked of the Falcon in Star Wars versus TIE Fighters. Defeating the flying torpedoes the heroes once again took to returning to New York, convinced that all that was needed was to clean up the machine man menace.
That is when a looming shadow fell over their plane as something descended out of the clouds. A huge airship came into view, grappling their plane and hauling it inside.
The rest of the session was the heroes' attempt to escape and was highlighted with the following...
- Reggie leading an escape from the brig and going toe to toe with a Killer McGillacutty, prize fighter turned mercenary
- Steel sneaking through the hangar bay, cargo hold and finding a super bomb in the bomb bay of the aerofortress.
- The Iron Devil being wooed by the evil Dr. Von Drakken in a wonderful, cheesey German-accented monologue and eventually having to battle a robot bodyguard.
- The super bomb getting stuck in the bomb bay doors while armed.
- The aerofortress going completely dead after Dr. Von Drakken escapes in a rocket pod.
This was an incredible game and there was a lot of joking and pulpy schtick thrown around. The players played their characters well and each of them contributed much to a collective mayhem that was so much turbo-fueled pulp adventure goodness.
All the players came out of it with a lot of ideas and speculation about what the future would hold for their characters. They also gained a new NPC ally in one of the Mercs - an American named Darrel who was a bit of a hick mechanic type.
Fun..fun...fun...
-Eli
Tags: Pulp Rpg Role-playing Two-fisted
In the last installment of my introduction to the D&D setting of Ravania, I gave you some insite into the types of humans that occupy the land. This time around, I'd like to introduce the variouys other races. Most of the standard demi-human races of D&D's other worlds are found in Ravania, though they often take different forms or have evolved a different outlook, given the harsh climate and nature of the land. There are some new races either borrowed from some of the supplimental resources for 3.5ed (e.g. Uldra) or created or modified on my own. In many cases, they have been given names, but in those cases, I have listed their "standard" name in parenthsis.
DEMIHUMANS Alif (Elves)It should come as no surprise that there are elves in Ravania. Their kinship with the faeries that make up the majority of the Spirits of the Land means that the elves are not alone, despite the dark shadow that has befallen the land. The elves of Ravania tend to keep to their own communities, having found a log time ago that the superstitions of the humans of Ravania can easily work both good and evil. The largest of the elf settlements is a city far to the east called Halidir by the elves and Nostrigrad by the humans. Here in this city of towering ice are said to dwell the Winter or Ice Elves.
Alphir (Half-Elves)
Alphir are the offspring of unions between humans and elves. The are like the half-bloods of their kind found anywhere else in the world except that they stand out even more in the dire land of Ravania. Alphir are often held in high-regard in villages and settlements, being seen as a link to the faeries and Spirits of the Land. It is not uncommon to find Alphir as mystics or scholars, folklorists and wisemen among villagers. Like other demi-humans, Alphir are not looked upon so favorably at court being viewed with mistrust and suspicion for their ties to the old ways and the wild places of Ravania.
Dhampir (Half-Vampires)
Extremely rare, and both revered and reviled, the Dhampir are the strange result of a vampire’s attack on a woman in the late stages of pregnancy. Normally, a woman not far along loses her child due to the trauma of vampiric attack, but in a rare few, the evil negative energy exchanged in the attack transforms the unborn child into a supernatural being with the powers of both the living and the undead. Often these children grow to be hunters of the undead, seeming to gravitate to the human communities that foster them more than they do their non-living progenitors.
Dwarge (Dwarves)
Dwarves are reviled in Ravania. Though the dwarf race was once a presence in the Land of Ravens, they have been brought into decline ever since they were blamed for the great Winter Curse that befell the land. Whether this is true or not, and to what extent, is unknown to most. An ancient, closely-guarded secret to those who do know it has forced most dwarge to live in seclusion in isolated holds, no bigger than a stronghold. Those that remain are spiteful and bitter, and often quite evil. Their skills and abilities have been turned to doing wrong in most cases and their ancient bloodlines horde powerful magic and secrets.
Nunli (Gnomes)
Gnomes have suffered from the slander of their dwarven cousins. The fact that most humans have difficulty telling a gnome from a dwarf means that a gnome is imparted with the same suspicion, prejudice, and outright hatred that dwarves are. Unlike the dwarves, famous for their grudge-bearing prowess, the gnomes have taken this in stride. Ravanian gnomes keep to themselves in settlements of their own kind. These settlements are usually built in remote areas where the gnomes can follow their studies and academic pursuits in peace. Such gnomish settlements are often compared to monasteries.
Rilki
A race of diminutive people, similar to halflings, the Rilki live a detached, wild existence. Rilki people are known to be boisterous and friendly but also suspicious of outsiders and fearful of those people and things they do not understand. Rilki have a close kinship with the creatures of the wild and make use of wolves as mounts and pack animals, speaking with ravens freely.
Uldra Uldras are small fey that dwell in the arctic wilderness, living at peace with the natural world. In particular, uldras are quite fond of the wild animals of the world, and see themselves as the guardians and protectors of such creatures, especially in cases where civilization encroaches. Although they generally prefer to avoid conflict, they are quick to rise in the defense of local wildlife. (See Frostburn).
HUMANOIDS Ravania is not just home to races of humans and demi-humans. There are other races that also fill the far-ranging expanses of the eternally frozen land. Most of these other folk exist in relatively small numbers, compared to the major peoples of Ravania. They form strongholds or small territorial lands, which though known are seldom recognized by the more civilized folk. There are those, however, who keep themselves to the shadows and live within or around the common folk of the land. Still others, namely the Druug, have formed a vast horde, challenging that of the Tajads made up of a coalition of humanoid species and led by the dread Ravanian ogres known as Huraags.
Kenku
The mysterious Kenku are a race regarded with suspicion and fear by most of Ravania. The frozen empire sports many a tale of the shady exploits of these odd crow-men. Sneaky and cunning, the creatures haunt nearly every corner of Ravania, even the urban sprawls of the Ravnik cities and the wild spaces east of the Deep Forest and the eastern expanses of the Yalskawald. It is said that the Kenku are ancient among the races of the Ravania and hold private secrets of the land that no other mortal can dare imagine. Of course there is no way for any man to know for certain.
What is true and well known is that the Kenku are perfectly happy carrying any any manner of dark misdeed for the right price or at their cryptic whims. Kidnappings, murders, espionage, even conspiracy are all within the scope of any Kenku's bag of tricks. Given the right contacts, and they have endless numbers of them, a Kenku can network himself into any position and acquire any piece of information.
Sibhir (Dark Elves)
As the elves are graceful and full of life, the Sibhir are lewd and full of wickedness. In their glacial fortress, they worship their patron goddess Loveathir and pay her homage by conjuring all manner of great evils and lavishing in the vile natures. They far east of the Great Wastes are theirs and any creature setting foot within their realm is subject to their merciless whims.
The Sibhir are elves, but they are greatly changed since falling from the light. Skin tones usually run a more earthy tone, grey and a luminous white being common. Sibhir tend to wear their hair long but ornately dressed, the silky strands being white, silver, sometimes even golden in color. Their shifting eyes seem to favor the colors of ice.
The men of Ravania have few dealings with the Sibhir, being far enough away to escape their meddling, but in the east, the Tajads and the Druug do feel their icy touch. Often, it is through these savage hordes that the Sibhir extend their reach to other parts of the land.
Ogres
In many lands, ogres are a wilderness menace and the denizens of dungeons deep, seldom encountered but greatly feared. In Ravania, ogres are frequent and range over a territory as vast as the empire itself. They form savage bands, raiding and pillaging villages and caravans as well as engaging in all other manner of banditry. But, that is not the limit of their villainy.
The ogres of Ravania are a diverse species ranging from common ogres to huge breeds with mixed giant heritage called Huraag. They are also known to to breed with nearly anything whether it will have them or not, which has produced all manner of fowl offshoots and half-breeds. These crossbred monstrosities have been the source of many legendary creatures throughout the history of Ravania. Such creatures often live as solitary outcasts but occasionally exceptional examples may take on the role of chieftain of a band or sometimes form several bands into tribe-like groups.
Sverdlinka
Relatives of the common goblin, the Sverdlinka are a vile and hardy species which are uniquely adapted to the harsh climates of Ravania. Sverlinka are not purely humanoid, carrying some fey blood but of tha blackest sort, making them crafty and intelligent.
Sverlinka are masters of trap and trick and can be found in all locations across the Ravanian expanses. Common tricks include babysnatching, poisoning of wells, tainting of crops and livestock, murder, larceny, even extorsion, making them one of the most frequently encountered and most reviled races in all the land.
Once again, I hope you have unjoyed this post and look forward to any comments or feedback you might have.
Thanks,
-Eli
Tags: Ravania Rpg Role-playing D&d
Last night was the second session of our Two-Fisted Tales of Adventure game and it was a riot. The players seemed really into it, with funny accents and character schtick all around. At the end of our last session they had followed a mysterious German naval officer to a warehouse pier in the harbor district. So, we opened with the heroes sitting in the cab deciding what to do. They decided that trying to enter through the front door was not a good idea and that they would try to look around the sides to find another way inside. Searching around the outside, they found a stack of crate that would put them in reach of a skylight window. Reggie, the airman, was the one chosen to check out the window while Steele (explorer/adventurer) stood lookout. While they did this, Kinsley (inventor), wandered down the pier to check the other end. Long story short. Through the window they heard the German interacting with some New York thugs talking about payoff as well as a strange radio signal that they could not identify. Then they discovered a U-boat hidden under the pier, sporting a strange radio emitter. After trying to stop the Uboat with it's own deck gun and failing they had to flee. One thing led to another and the city was overrun by an army of machine men rising fro mthe wreckage of the huge airship that had exploded earlier. There was a daring abduction of one of the machine men using a tow truck and when we finally left off they had manage to track down the source of the control signal. Fade to black... The game is fun. And though the plotline may not be the most original, it is definitely fun and as true to the genre as I can be. The action and adventure has been so infectious that for two sessions we have completely spaced rolling dice.
Tags: Pulp Rpg Role-playing
Over the years I have found that I like playing the underdog role. Now, this is not to say that I play weaklings or such all the time, but I do find that I like to play the characters that fit the role of hero less than some. This, however, has often led to conflicts in gaming groups.
There is a perception, among many, that playing the underdog is somehow not taking your character seriously or somehow intentionally sabotaging the party's chances of success. I think there is a concern, with these players, that my underdog character will somehow have less to bring to the game.
Statistically, this may be true, but not always. Most of my underdog characters were built from solid backgrounds with solid resources and other useful bits built into them. Though I might not have the strength or power of other characters, the well-tooled background and role-playing elements of my character AND their unassuming status in the game world turned out to be quite an asset after everyone quit griping.
Underdogs can be really fun to play. Whether it is the fledgeling superhero, the rookie pilot, the novice cleric or the wizard's apprentice, they all bring a certain charm and character to a game that can round out an otherwise angular set of gaming archetypes.
Tags: Rpg Commentary Role-playing
I mentioned in my previous blog, a game of Star Wars that I attempted to run, that failed shortly after it began due to scheduing conflicts. The game was called "Star Wars: A Child's Tale" and was set well before the prequels, during Yoda's prime and when Chewbacca was just a boy.
The game told the story of four force-talente siblings, seperated in their early childhood and sent into hiding to escape the fate of their parents during a political upheaval on their world. Using pregenerated characters, custom-tailored to the players who would be playing them and a host of environments and NPCs that were detailed and plotted just as intricately, I hoped to spin a yarn worthy of the Star Wars saga.
It didn't go very far, but it was much fun while it lasted. I thought I'd share the opening parts to the campaign. Imagine that these "scenes" follow the traditional scrolling introduction text found in all Star Wars features.
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...
A beleaguered officer looks through a battered pair of rangefinders, his face turning rather grim at the sight before him. As his shoulder begin to slump, a voice snaps back his resolve, “General..”
The young orderly waits. Wearing a suit of battered battle armor and clutching for dear life to a long-barreled blaster carbine, the hopeful expression of the young boy wait eagerly for his commander’s response.
Closing the handles of the trench-mounted rangefinder up against the main frame, the officer turns, “Report scout.”
The words are cool, calm, and concise.
“The Orgot are massing for another advance on our position. They have amassed another legion of warriors.” The final words seem to sap the strength from the young scout, and his voice wavers into a question, “We cannot continue to resist much longer, General.”
“I am aware, Scout, but we will continue to fight as long as it takes for…” The General trails off, looking around at the tired, battle hardened, battle wearied faces of his comrades.
The Scout interjects before his commander has a chance to finish, “As long as it takes for what, General?” Young eyes lighten with a sense of hope.
“For a miracle,” the General says curtly and turns to activate the rangefinder again.
He looks through the monochrome green display that cuts through the night; a night illuminated by countless fires from countless wrecks and the piles of bodies the Orgot burn to mask their advances. Behind the masking haze, shadows mill about, looming like specters.
The camera filters up, following the cinders from the burning bodies and we transition to the crackling fire at the center of a forest camp, the sounds of a fight can be heard in the background as well as that of good-natured jibing…
INTRO SCENE ONE – BELA
You are sparring with Hulka, the Rastad (a reptilian race) herder who you have always known as you protector, mentor and father. Though you are not of the same race, Hulka has always treated you as one of his own, instructing you in the best ways to defend yourself, to think justly and to manage the herds of Spiny-legged Tag Rats farmed by the hundred by the people of Malafast, the world you call home.
Hulka strikes at you with a flurry which has always defied you abilities and chuckles as you fall, offering you a tender hand. Lifting you to your feet he smiles and nods, ‘Enough practice for this night, tomorrow we take the Tag Rats to Waymoon city for market.
A look of concern marks his features as he sits at the fire and begins to ladle food from a deep cooking pot. He has been father and teacher to you and his silence is something new. It is he who has taught you in the ways of the universe, of nature, of yourself. His strong but caring hand has guided yours through trial and tribulation.
The silence goes unbroken through your dinner and remains so even as your settle into your tree-top shelter, the mewling of Tag Rats nowhere near as conforting as it has been all these years. Troubled, but trusting in Hulka’s judgement, you slip into sleep.
The next day you are taken to Waymoon where you are put into the care of a mysterious droid called, “Teekay” (TK-12). Hulka does not allow you to stay and insists on you leaving with the droid. It is explained that your leaving is necessary and that you will be taken to a small tramp freighter and loaded up with some secrecy.
The trip is long and lonely with only the droid and a few distant crewmen who do not bother with you. The camera follows your gaze out a view port and to the passing Star. You jump into hyperspace and then…
INTRO SCENE TWO – DELZ Hot. It is the only way to describe the time of day that you have been forced to labor in. Your Guild Brothers and you had been sent to the Karlov Craigs to pick Shade Snails from under the rocks for the evening meal.
Shade Snails; whoever thought they were edible would have to have been a monk or – guildsman. The thunder of another transport shuttle rattle the canyon walls, sending gravel showing down where water once ran and you cannot help but watch, marveling at the machinery that moves people from one world to another.
Seeing you dreaming again, Taki, your Rhodian friend nudges you, “Guildmaster Farka catches you lazing about, he’ll send you down to the grease sump again.” The dreaded stench of the sump trickles into you memory again and you cringe.
It is then that the Dust Cat strikes. With its waling attack call its eight powerful feet press Taki into the sand and gravel under its 200 kilo weight. It is too late for Taki, but perhaps you might be able to save yourself and your Guild Brothers.
Thinking quickly you grab one of the large snail knives used to pry the mollusks from the rocks. Though not intended for combat, the blade is strong and heavy and the cat is occupied with others. Driving your terror deep within you, you focus, finding a piece of lashing wire and tying it tightly to the knife’s metal hilt.
As the Dust Cat continues its attack, you must dodge and duck, all the while keeping your plan at hand. Racng beneath the savage beast you scampers across scraping gravel, tearing deep gashes in your legs, but reach your goal, the collector skiff.
Tearing open the utility panel you quickly splice the trailing metal wire into a power connector and turn to face the fearsome creature. A moment of focus once more and you move through the steps of your next move in your mind.
As the beast wheels to face you, you duck low and charge full on, stunning the predator for a moment, but the moment is all you need.
In a quick change up, you spring from a rock, vaulting over the Dust Cat’s head as it scoops down to try and gore you. As you sail over it you find your mark, driving the heavy blade into the armor at the back of its neck. Not enough to kill the creature, it simply howls in defiance as you land on your feet, heart pounding in your chest.
With the lashing wire and its coupler in your hand, you sprint for the collector skiff and the open utility panel. You can feel the cat’s breath gusting at your back as you draw closer to the vehicle.
As your persuer lunges for the kill, you reach the panel and as you attach the coupler and activate the power feed, the creature is suddenly rendered helpless as killing voltage seers through its flesh, leaving but a smoking husk.
The Dust Cat defeated, you take a moment to collect yourself and then gather the surviving Guild Brothers who return, with you, to the guild Stronghold, bearing the bodies of the fallen, including that of your friend, Taki. The Guildmaster is, of course, unhappy. Berating you all for your carelessness he sends everyone to their cells to study their schematics and equations, all but you.
You are asked to remain and when the chamber is cleared of all but you and the Guildmaster who takes a moment in private to thank you and commend you on the bravery you displayed in battling the Dust Cat. Also impressed are two previously unseen figure. They are introduced as your new guardians.
It is explained that your marks in your guild trials have reflected mastery beyond your years and that your studies and lack of inspiration when it comes to the day to day task assigned to you reflects a desire to be elsewhere. These newcomers, he continues are here to take you to another world, a place where new challenges await beyond those to be found in a far out of the way guild of tinkers.
The next day you are taken to Mochi station. Your new guardians are not all that warm, seeming to intentionally stay distant, reminding you even more of the loss you feel leaving your friends at the guild behind. As a new, uncertain future looms in your mind, you find yourself at the foot of a boarding ramp, looking into the dark interior of a rattled old tramp freighter. You steel yourself and step up into the shadows of the unknown. The ramps closes behind you and seal with the loud crackling sound of mag seals and hydraulics locking into place…
INTRO SCENE THREE – BREN The lash of the taskmaster’s force scourge cuts your back again. This is the norm for you. Day in day out, cultivating the fungus mines for the smugglers who own you. You still remember shreds of your past – a happy life of bliss with loving parents and a family of your own. But all that has been gone since you were a small child, razed away by the scorching blaster fire.
Life for you is that of a slave, filled with resentment and sorrow for what you have lost. You have grown strong though, able to summon strength when all around you are unable to go on and then continue long after others have perished. Though they abuse you and chide, belittle and rack you with constant pain, your keepers and their masters fear you. You have seen it in the way they watch you: in the way they tense when you are angered. If only there weren’t so many of them, you might think of testing their resolve.
You are just finishing emptying another cart of fungus into a collector when an explosion erupts just outside of the mine entrance. The force throws you back, overturning the cart and shredding the collector. Blaster fire can be heard, balanced by the shrill terror of panicked smugglers. You recover quickly, able to move your shackles in the path of a stray blaster bolt and freeing yourself.
The madness continues around you. Slavers fall at the hands of unseen aggressors. Are they friend or foe? Are you to be freed only to be added to the coral of another slaver? Then the sound of crisp, electronic voices can be heard approaching.
As the armored troopers come into view, one of them removes his helmet, wincing at the smell of dank fungus mixed with charring flesh and the pungent odor destruction, “Prince Bren. We are Tarentine Royal Guards. We come to bring you home.”
Home? What home? Questions real in the confusion which has followed your sudden liberation. The only homes you have ever known have brought you pain and sorrow. You feel a moment of hatred toward these men who have “rescued” you, a hatred undeserved but none-the-less too real. Stifling it you decide to hear them out and as the truth is explained, you resign yourself to your new fate. A new home awaits, perhaps this one will prove better.
The Royal Guards lead you to a shuttle, hidden away in a nearby cavern. Settling into a medical bed and tended to by a shining medical droid you allow yourself to rest, for once. You feel safer than you have for some time for some reason. A sense of hope returned to you, you drift away and dream of a beautiful place…
INTRO SCENE FOUR – NARA The soft light of the Davinite sun filters through the shades of your quiet conservatory. As is often the case, the afternoon finds you in quiet contemplation, allowing yourself to reach out. Your adopted parents, Lord and Lady Shava have always treated you as nothing less than their own child, a considerable accolade considering their already extensive family.
As a member of the Davinite royal family you have enjoyed the love and warmth that the constant companionship of many siblings can bring. Even before you chime of the conservatory door interrupts your meditation, you seem to know that your closest sister, Mata is waiting outside. Pressing the button to open it, you allow her entry into your sanctuary. The distress on her face instantly confirms the sorrow you sensed and she rushes to your side.
“Nara, it’s awful,” she begins, causing you to wonder what could be so awful in a paradise such as Davintine. You choose to remain silent, patient, allowing your sister to continue.
“There are men here. Soldiers. They say they have come to take you away. Take you home.”
This is most distressing. Though you have always known that you were not born to this family, you have always considered it home. Vague memories of a place before Davintine have haunted your thoughts, but always too vague to allow you any true memory. Soothing your worry, you produce a smile and offers a conforting hand to your sister. Trusting in the wisdom of your parents, which has never failed you, you reassure Mata and go to your parents.
You find them waiting with a pair of officers, by their uniforms. The faces of your mother and father give you no cause for alarm and as the soldiers bow to your arrival the motion you to join them in a side chamber, leaving your gathered sisters and brothers behind to wonder.
The older of the two officers is introduced to you as Captain Armadon. It is explained that the Captain is here to take back to the home of your birth, a planet called, Tarentine and that it is a dire time for your birthplace. The Captain continues to spin a tale of woe deep into the night, seeming to feel confident and comfortable in your presence. When he has finished you can feel a great weight pressing down upon you.
Returning to your chambers that night, knowing you must leave the following morning, you say your good byes to your sisters and brothers. With what Captain Armadon has told you, you know it is very possible you will never see them again, but you do not tell them this. The truth of it would be a darkness none of them should be burdened with.
Mata remains after the rest of them has left and the tears show that she is not to be so easily placated. The bond you two have shared tugs at your heart as the sorrow builds in her and at that moment, you sense something that has never been felt from your dear sister, but what it is you cannot tell.
As you speed away from the landing pad in the battered shuttle which brought Captain Armadon, you find comfort only in your meditation. Something troubles you about your sister, Mata and feelings she betrayed the night before, but this too is put to rest as you center yourself, concentrating, feeling the universe about you…
Tags: Star_wars Rpg Campaign
In all my years of gaming (and there are many), there are certain things I have wanted to run as a game that I have either been unable find the time, or that I have not been able to figure out how to run. Many of these are niche games or one-offs that really won't or would be difficult to run as ongoing games. Here is a brief list of ideas -
SOMETHING IS HAPPENING...
This is the game idea where my players make characters completely blind of the situation at hand. Usually taking place in the real world, these game ideas often involve the players playing regular folk.
The action in this concept takes place as some event unfolds around the characters either involving them directly or indirectly, at first, but ultimately leading to them to having to figure it out and help resolve it. This idea is different from a regular mystery-based RPG in that the players themselves have no idea what sort of genre they are playing in.
PEASANT HEROES
This is one that I have played before but never seemed to work well. It involves the players making really low-level characters with common professions who find themselves in the roles of heroes. My current D&D game "Homeland" is sort of like this, but even in this game the characters started out as 1st-level in regular classes.
This setting appeals to me because of its connection to classic folklore, myth and popular fiction. How many times have we read the story where the local peasant boy, home-body hobbit, or reluctant slave makes good?
TRAGIC STORY
Tragedies are always fun to watch, but are a bitch to play. First of all, who wants to play a tragedy? I mean, if you think about it, you really are setting yourself up for some sort of failure, right? The answer to this is that tragedies make for good stories and good drama.
It is easy to incorporate tragedy into a game, but this usually occurs and an aside to the players/character and seldom actually involves the fates of their characters. A superhero may lose his beloved uncle, but he continues on. The party may lose their favorite NPC henchmen who has bee ntheir constant companion, but they still get to count the coppers at the end of the campaign.
I have actually played a tragic character on a couple of occasions. The one that stands out most was the heroic death of my droid character in a Star Wars game where the often dismissed and ridiculed, wannabe bounty hunter droid saved the whole party when I chose to have him sacrifice himself to cover the escape of the other heroes. It was great to play and I remember it being a nice dramatic point in the game.
But I have still been unable to run a game with a tragic twist.
EPIC COMING OF AGE HERO'S TALE
A staple of fiction once more, but seemingly impossible to conduct. I once tried this with a Star Wars game where I pregenerated four Force-talented youths and created a backstory that involved them being hidden at the corners of the galaxy and then brought back together to save their homeworld.
This game went well for the first few sections, each character made for a particular player and capitalizing on their talents and likes and dislikes. There were many characters and cameos by known personalities in the SW universe. Much fun was had by all, but it was killed by a long pause in the gaming schedule which evidentally killed the spirit of the game.
In any event, there are more, but this is a brief smattering of some of the ideas and the problems I've encountered in running them.
Thanks again for reading,
-Eli
Tags: Rpg Commentary Star_wars
MEN OF RAVANIA
The men of Ravania are a mixed lot. It is not clear who the original inhabitants of the land are, but it is a claim disputed openly by Tajads, Uskovs, and Kasar alike and in secret by the Corvini. Whatever the truth may be, Ravania is now a cauldron of cultures bubbling in a volatile mix with the imigrated, ruling Ravnik people doing their best to control the unforgiving land and its caustic people. CORVINI Corvini are an ancient people who wander in nomadic, extended family group. Thought to be one of the original people of the land, they are a mysterious and secretive people. Corvini are said to be brothers of the ravens and surely, in their language, their name means Raven-kin. Corvini live their lives as performers, beggars, fortune-tellers and thieves. Occasionally these gypsy people will enlist their skills to those more organized or powerful than they or form their own bands for one purpose or another. What is certain is that the Corvini hold a key to the secrets of the lands darker secrets and perhaps they alone understand what evil has befallen the land. KASAR Kasars are semi-civilized feudal horse lords that one roamed wild and savage like the Tajads. They have not abandoned the old spirits of the land in favor of the new more orthodox gods and goddesses of the Ravnik people, but they have learned to emulate them enough to keep themselves in their good graces. Though they have made great strides toward civilizing themselves, they are still looked at as half-wild and afforded only the most basic consideration from the more courts of Ravanian imperial life. Kasar lords, called Streltzi rule through strict defense of ancestral lands handed down through the generations. They are led by elite noble who fight as cavalry, they and their households. These nobles command armies of armored household footmen as well as levied serfs and slaves. RAVNIK The Ravnik people are native to the lands to the northwest of Ravania. Though similar in culture they were a distinct ethnic group from the Jarlsmen (norsemen) of the land of Ridjarl that was their neighbor. When they were forced from their lands by the Jarlsmen, the fled south along the great river water ways of Ravania subjugated the Kasars and Tajads horse tribes until they were the undisputed rulers of the western reaches of the land. They gave the land their name and it became known as Ravania. The Ravnik people are ruled by an emperor called a Tsar and his feudal governors called Druzhina. TAJAD Wild barbarian horsemen native to Ravania, the Tajads are renowned as fierce, savage, and wicked warriors. They are vile by the standards of most people and are feared throughout the eastern areas of Ravania as a scourge, ranked with forces of nature. The Tajads are known as evil worshippers of ancient forbidden powers and hold Yadj, a sort of Death Hag as their mother goddess. It is said that all manner of dark rites, including sacrifice and cannibalism are performed in her honor. Tajad clan leaders are known as Kahns. URSKOV The Urskovs are a tribe of barbarians similar to the Tajads and the Kasars except that instead of developing a nomadic horse clan tradition, they settled into the deep forests of Western Ravania. Though the Urskovs do no openly oppose the Ravnik imperialists, they are also not allies and do not consider themselves subject to their laws or their gods. Urskovs are stalwart, brawny folk and are often recruited by the other people of Ravania as mercenaries to bolster armies where they make excellent shock troops fighting on foot and wielding savage blades and axes. Urskovs are followers of the old ways and do not take kindly to the orthodox gods being forced on them. They have been known to inflict cruel punishments upon those who try to "enlighten" them. These folk claim direct lineage from a totemic bear god they call Gravul. Urskovs are led by tribal leaders known as Draku. YALSKA Yalska are Jarlsmen (norsemen) who have traveled inland along the great rivers of Ravania and settled into various trading posts in the interior of the land. The Yalska have a culture that is similar with the Ravnik rulers of the land and as such find it easy to integrate with the rest of Ravanian society. Freely trading between Ravnik, Kasar, Tajad, and even Urskov peoples, the Yalska make a tidy living selling goods as well as information back and forth. Several particularly successful Yalska lords, still using the traditional title of Jarl, have set up strongholds in the wilderness from which they control model fiefdoms. Such fiefdoms are allowed to exist by the Ravnik nobility as long as they make no trouble for the nobility. They do serve a useful function in the East as a buffer against invading Tajads and rebellious Kasars as well as the Druug (humanoid) hordes.
I hope you have enjoyed this peak into the human denizens of Ravania and welcome you back next time when I'll present the various demihuman and humanoid species which are featured in the setting.
Thank you for reading,
-Eli
"In by sun's set or in the ground" - Ravanian saying.
Tags: D&d Rpg Campaign Ravania
I have mentioned in previous posts, a land in my primary campaign world of Artaera, Ravania, and I thought I might share some of it background and the evolution of the setting. So, here is the first installment.
Ravania started out as a place marked on the edge of the regularly travelled area of my campaign world, east of the world's central kingdom named Blackmoore (an homage). It was a mere footnote in the worl and a place to be dealt with later. When later came, I found myself suddenly having to flesh the place out on the fly. So beloved was the area that I decided to flesh it out.
The names given to those first spots on the map had a decidedly Eastern European flavor and so this gave me a good solid place to work from. During the adventures in Ravania I had built this up and developed a sort of pld vs. new conflict in the human inhabitants which pitted the old beliefs of the peasants and original people of the land against a rising politically aspirant new regime of both thought and belief being backed by the nobility of the originally imigrated ruling class.
The backdrop for all of this was a land plunged into an eternal frost by an ancient curse who's true nature and origins were kept hidden or even forgotten. The land was dark hostile and populated by ancient the living dead and powerful fey spirits of the land. The people lived a fearful and difficult exsitent ruled by superstition and tyrany (much of it necessary).
I tried to borrow a linguistic style which was inspired by but not necesarily slavic in origins. Many terms and names were borrowed and used similarly but not exactly as they were in historical Earth's Eastern Europe region. Ravania, as it is recognized in the world, is HUGE and covers a region that is easily the size of most of the rest of the central region of the campaign world. Most of it is wild and actually terrtory occupied by various peoples/creatures hostile to the Ravanian rulers, but still claimed nonetheless.
I hope you enjoyed this first glimpse of Ravania. In the next post I'll share some of the human cultures that exist within Ravania.
Thanks for reading,
-Eli
"The wise man listens to ravens" - Corvini proverb.
Tags: Rpg D&D Campaign World-building
One of my favorite creature types are fey. I've always been a huge fan of faeries myths and legends, especially the more old world beliefs where they really were treated more like spirits of the and and such. The big problem is that most game worlds pretty much treat them like just another monster. Sure, they are a faerie, but they are so pretty much in name and stats alone. As for their natures, the stories around them, or their place in the world, they are reduced to a butterfly-winged kobold or a tree-stepping obstacle.
In my games I have tried to restore the Fey to some of their former greatness. In my main campaign world of Arteara (homebrew that evolved organically since high school) I have worked them back int othe landscape and made them a true part of the world. I use faeries as NPCs, patrons, foes, friends, contacts, just about any role open in a game. I've even had a few Fey PCs. Putting the Fey folk into your world is really a pretty simple thing and it's all about the small things and just a good bit of role-playing.
Example One - In a particular part of my world known as Ravania (very much a slavic-themed setting) the people are very much connected to the faeries who they call "The Spirits of The Land". When my party spent the night in one of the inns there, they noted all manner of trinkets, charms and such hung by doors, windows, and chimneys.
As they were languishing in the common room toward the end of the night, they observed one of the barmaids laying out a saucer of milk, tankard of meed and some honey cakes at the great fireplace.
In the morning, as they sat down for breakfast, they noticed the dishes cleaned and stacked at the fireplace as well as several baskets woven from twigs and spider silk filled to the top with dead mice, rats, roaches, etc.
The party never saw the faeries, but their presence and importance in the world was definitely felt. The inkeeper and his staff/family had left an offering and in return their home/business had been cleansed of harmful pests. Of course this was just a glimpse, but from then on, the characters were mindful of the fact that there were more than townfolk about.
Example Two - In another kingdom of my world, much more conventionally fantasy, a deifferent party came across a strange, diminutive man fishing in a stream from a gnarled tree. He seemed agitated, on the verge of a fit. The party learned that he was trying to catch a mysterious white fish. The party agreed to help the old man catch the fish in exchange for one of the wishes it was said to grant.
So, the party manages to catch the fish. The fish is definitely no ordinary fish and sets out to sway the party from handing him over to the old man who he claims is not what he appears to be. The party, faced with the choice of trusting fish or man and the potential loss of a powerful wish decide to hand the fish over to the man.
Much to their dismay, the man gobbles the fish down in one bite and then, in a twinkle and a spin (using whimsical descriptors like this also helps making Fey seem more fey), transforms into a Trow and after taunting, belittling and then finally thanking the party disappears. The party is left empty-handed but fairly warned of the tricks and politics of of the faerie realm.
The party took away a bit of wisdom from this encounter and from then on were a bit more thoughtful in the choices they made and were less hastey to let greed rule them.
Using the Fey in your game world can be quite rewarding for players and GM alike. For the GM, it gives you a chance to play the fool but with purpose. Coming up with strange superstitions or whimsical observances can enrish your setting and allow the GM to play some lither hearted encounters. Faeries need not always be light and fluffy but even when they are wicked, they do it with a certain style.
For players it is a good way to break up the usual encounters with somthign a bit different. It can also offer new ways for characters to practice beliefs without having to go all out religious. Folk beliefs are something that every character can access.
There are more good things about Fey in games but that couldmean going on forever.
Thanks,
-Eli
Tags: Fey Faeries D&D RPG Commentary
One setting I have wanted to run a D&D game in is a prehistoric setting. I have been hammering ideas together, trying to form a framework that I am happy with. After milling some ideas around and soliciting the folks on the Roleplayers group on LJ, I think I have a pretty solid idea for a setting that is both new, yet retains some of the familiar elements of a fantasy world.
The basic premise was to design a setting that captured the savagery and primal nature of prehistoric societies while keeping elements of fantasy. This turned out to be a bit more challenging than I had originally imagined. Rather than revisit the entire creative process, this is what we (and I use we because the input of others was instrumental in making it all gel).
In the beginning (how biblical) there was a world of heat and fire and immense saurian beasts. The world was still forming in those days. Where other worlds had abundant resources, this world seemed lacking but it did have an abundance of magical energies, flowing naturally through the lands effecting those things it came in contact with and gathering in spots which became places of power.
Into this landscape appeared the dragons, the first of the world's "wise" races. The dragons were the results of the world's natural magics on the saurian denizens of that early warm time and they grew in power quickly, learning to harness and control the power that ebbed through them.
Next came the dwarves and elves, though not called that at that time. They were the first humanoids to appear, a manifestation of the elemental and magical energies that congeled in pits and pools and darkened glades. Eager and blessed with their own wisdom and will, these new creatures ventured into the world, only to find it a dangerous place and themselves ill-equipped to cope with it. The dragons and their saurian kin drove the elves and the dwarves to the corners of the world - elves into the mountains and the dwarves into the blasted wastelands where they were forced to dig to escape their flying harrowers.
The world developed and grew colder and as the saurians lost their grip on the planet and died out or retreated to its remaining warm parts, the dragons went dorment and the age of the warm-blooded creatures came about. Though the world never turned to ice, as it did on our own, it was a much colder place where wood, stone, and bone were the only real natural resources to allow for survival.
Into the new cold world came men and the beginnings of orcs and orgres and such. By then the elves and dwarves had found their own niches in the world. In the mountains, the elves found pools of magic and areas where the energies of the realm had saturated the minerals of the peaks. The wastelands where the dwarves had retreated, proved rich in meteoric iron, the world's only ready supply of metal deposited in the world's volitile past.
Now man has spread. Safe from dragon tyranny and blessed to live in the world from which he evolved, he has flourished. Men exsist in many different states of society from the barely surviving, roaving gatherers and and hunters, to those who have settled in rich fertile lands. In some places towns and even a city of mud have risen with hundreds if not thousands of men gathered in one place. There is even tale of a place where walls of stone, not bone, wood or mud, rise into the sky.
Religion in this world is new as well. Ancestors, spirits, and elementals are the most commonly observed beings of divinity. Totemic shamans and clans, secret societies and brotherhoods and ancient rites passed through the generations of tribes are as much organization as can be found in most places. Still, there are places where cults have formed around the aspirations of men, or beasts or even dragonkind and the first glimmer of true gods begins to take form...
This is a rough overview of how things are. I also have an idea where halflings have arrived in the main campaign area, having migrated from across the sea much like the early islanders did through the Pacific Ocean region.
Humanoids fill the gap that in a prehistoric Earth was occupied by Neanderthal and other early, parallel homonid species. One the tenants of this setting was to keep the world nasty and primal. Even magic is handled as a primal force, with only elves having any real control. The quest for magic parallels the quest for fire with humans gathering it where they can find it, trying to sustain it.
This is also designed to be a world without the stereotypical giant lizards that populate every other prehistoric or lost world setting. I wanted to give some screen time to the shaggy, big-toothed, horned, ,trunked and generally cool and unsung denizens that occupied prehistory. To that end I am even using the Linnorms as the basis for dragons in this world instead of classic dragons. Other menaces will include fey, elementals and even construct types (usually spontaneous manifestations of gathered magical energies). Undead would also appear, but mostly in the form of ethereals sorts or those who could be the result of spontaneous leaks from the Negative Material or the result of the world's magical currents.
Thanks for reading,
-Eli
Tags: Prehistoric Fantasy Rpg Commentary
Ah the pulp genre. Let it be said that there are fewer genres that are more freeing and whimsical than that of pulp. While my D&D groups is paused, waiting for schedules for key members to line back up, the remaining available players and I (the GM, always the GM) have ventured into the realm of pulp adventure.
Using an interesting, non-OGL system called "Two-Fisted Tales of Adventure" we have set forth heavy in cliche and schtick to indulge in adventures not of history that was or the future that is but of the world that should have been on its way to a future that never was. Our characters are quite basic staples of the genre - Explorer, Inventor, and Heroic Ace and all of them with their bulging muscles and chizled jaws (the characters, not the players) drip with both adventurous potential and pulpish aplumb.
Why do I like this sort of setting?
YOU CAN'T GO WRONG!!!
Let me summarize the opening adventure.
New York celebrates the arrival of an amazing new airship from 1935 Germany. This is a monster of an airship with two huge rigid gas chambers and a central hull. Thrilling technologies of the future!!!
Anyhow, the heroes, having numerous cnnections through their backgrounds are invited to the big society shindig in honor of the airship's crew. They spend the time schmoozing, carousing and avoiding various society denizens and the mysterious german military officers. Among the officers they spy a navy man - odd among Luftwaffe officers. They talk, getting him drunk enough to spill some before the officers rush out of the party in an obvious rush and with some apprant panic.
Later, as the party winds down, the heroes are departing, several fingers of scotch, a few lipstick-staned napkins bearing numbers and even a job offer or two the richer. Just then (gotta love that lead in) the city is rocked as the mighty airship burst into flames, exploding at its moring point on the Empire State Building and careening to the city below in a ball of flames and wreckage. As the city races toward the inferno, the heroes notice a cab racing with as much urgency away from the tragic disaster with a very familiar naval cap showing in the back seat.
Being the ever vigilant and heroic types that they are (and feeling that the Kriegsmariner officer might have lied to them), our heroes hop a cab, paying a king's ransom in fair to buy instant loyalty fro mthe cabby and speed off (driving casually) after the fleeing cab. They follow it to the warf district and see the naval officer step out, seeming surprisingly sober and stroll into a dark and waiting warehouse. The last thing glimpsed by our heroes is an alpine-hatted, fair-faced, shifty fellow bearing and eagle-crest and jackboots, checking the door. The doors close...
Tune in next week...
This was an incredibly fun session to run. Not once did I really feel any pressure to get things "right". Using general knowledge of history, the genre and mostly an idea of how I wanted things to be, everyone had a great time. Cheesy accents, campy dialog, wacky inventions and slippery plot holes and devices all seemed right at home and they should have.
It was a very freeing game session after months of building plot and keeping with the setting of a fantasy world. In a pulp game there is absolutely no reason and nothing physically keeping the players from easily going from deserts to city streets, then to a lost world and then to a kingdom under the sea. Anything fits.
The current adventure involves mad scientists, a plot to ransom America, a radio-controlled robot army and mysterious figures who are not what they seem to be. Come on the villain in this scenario is named Dr. Drakken!!!
Anyhow, enough said. Pulp rules.
-Eli
Tags: Pulp RPG Commentary
|
