I've been mulling over a d12 based system for a little while now, and I have the dice mechanic more or less worked out. My only big thing now is rolling doubles.
System so far is thus: roll 2d12, subtract the lowest from the highest, and add a skill value between 0 and 3. Compare that to a target number.
At first I thought rolling double 1 and double 12 would do something special, either bad or good, but then I thought about the poor numbers in the middle, and wanted to give them something to hope for.
The current idea buzzing around my head is have them play out for the 4 seasons. Only problem now is working out the spread. Do I have 1-3, 4-6 and so on, or 1 4 7 10 and 2 5 8 11 and so on as sets. I don't want to make it too complicated, but I don't really want to involve other dice like a d4 at all.
Avoiding complication is why I'm trying to avoid each double doing a different thing, but I don't want it oversimplified with odds and evens or 1-6 and 7-12 (although I may give up and simplify to Summer and Winter if I have to).
Any feedback much appreciated.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Wrapping up the Dresden Files from before the winter break
Ok, so I've gotten a little lax with posting this past little while. Blame a whole slew of things, but mostly Skyrim. It's been far too long to write a detailed account of what exactly happened, but I can detail it with some obvious highlights.
The Mexican got a lot closer to the horrorific wildfae Bill the Babykiller. He managed to kidnap a police officer, who was tortured and flayed, and possibly made into a bed of some kind, which the Mexican was fine to sleep in. His home became the Nevernever, specifically Bill's little glade of nasty. At one point, looking at him in the Sight, he was seen carrying a dead baby. He managed to accidentally kill some children at an ICU at a hospital because of his magic hexing the technology keeping them alive. This was enough for Bill to give him some formed of Sponsorship...
The Ectomancer was able to bind the ghost of a ancient wizard (a necromancer we took to calling Sir Rothbert of Bainbridge, because why not?) Sadly, she bound him to a cuddly toy bunny rabbit. She was paid a large sum of money to introduce the bunny rabbit to Walter, which obviously did not end up in our best interests.
The Mexican was shot and beaten inside a Church by the Mortal and Lycanthrope. It being a full moon (we had been keeping track), the Lycanthrope more or less melded the Mexican's face with the floor. His player immediately drew up a new character, who I shall be calling the Tanninomancer (all her powers came from tea).
Other than witness the death of the Mexican, the Priest only really managed to get drunk with Clint the Ferromancer. He briefly met the rest of the Baltimore 'God Squad', but didn't understand why a Catholic priest was actively working with a Rabbi and an Imam.
My Cryomancer got himself a cold iron gauntlet from Clint. He then managed to get an athamé dagger made out of the stuff too. The Ectomancer had Clint craft full armour for her from the stuff.
The Warden was found shot through the head outside the bar. His cloak, sword and staff were collected by another Warden a few hours later. My Cryomancer had by this time taken any other items from about his person.
The Ectomancer was being schooled in basics of magic by Bunnybridge (see why he might have turned against us?) He also kept trying to get her to read his book (the same book which was responsible for the Doom hanging over the Cryomancer). The Mortal did find an original copy of Bunnybridge's book on Craigslist, but touching it caused uncontrollable fear and he shot it several times (the pages have subsequently healed. They are made of skin after all...) The Ectomancer's soul in the Sight is starting to show signs of tentacles...
The Lycanthrope and Mortal stole a boat. They had their faces changed several times, notably the Mortal wandered around looking like the Warden briefly, before they became Jake and Elwood Blues. The Mortal's magic grandfather, an old Indian medicine man, did not approve of his 'wearing the white devil's skin'. Somehow, they've managed to retain the boat by moving it to a swimming pool (that Lycanthrope is very strong).
Walter invited all the magic practitioners in town to a little meeting, gave the standard 'join me or die' speech, then detonated several devices across the city, causing havoc. It became apparent that Walter and the Blight were co-existing because in the Sight, he was two people.
After spending time working on a ritual, my Cryomancer managed to speak to a leyline. This wasn't a good idea, since he then managed to form a pact with the biggest leyline in town, and barely came out of the deal retaining his humanity.
Walter was summarily defeated with several gunshots, wild punches from a very angry Lycanthrope, and an eventual punt of the box containing the Blight spirit into the Nevernever.
The Mortal is currently reading some basic magical textbooks. He is enjoying them much more than Bunnybridge's book, since they don't scare him when he touches them, and they're made of paper.
The Mortal and the Lycanthrope have taken over the reins of Walter's gang. We'll see how well that works out for the 'shoot first, ask questions later' duo.
The Cryomancer is now upgraded, and since he's now labeled as the White Champion of Baltimore (powered by the leylines of the city), I'll refer to him in future posts as the White Champion. I suspect the GM may introduce a Black Champion after I suggested that such a thing could exist.
The Ectomancer is now known as Bainbridge's Apprentice, so I might refer to her as the Apprentice. There's nothing scary and forboding and Star Wars-y about that, after all...
And that's about it I think. I'm sure people will find things to add that I've forgotten.
The Mexican got a lot closer to the horrorific wildfae Bill the Babykiller. He managed to kidnap a police officer, who was tortured and flayed, and possibly made into a bed of some kind, which the Mexican was fine to sleep in. His home became the Nevernever, specifically Bill's little glade of nasty. At one point, looking at him in the Sight, he was seen carrying a dead baby. He managed to accidentally kill some children at an ICU at a hospital because of his magic hexing the technology keeping them alive. This was enough for Bill to give him some formed of Sponsorship...
The Ectomancer was able to bind the ghost of a ancient wizard (a necromancer we took to calling Sir Rothbert of Bainbridge, because why not?) Sadly, she bound him to a cuddly toy bunny rabbit. She was paid a large sum of money to introduce the bunny rabbit to Walter, which obviously did not end up in our best interests.
The Mexican was shot and beaten inside a Church by the Mortal and Lycanthrope. It being a full moon (we had been keeping track), the Lycanthrope more or less melded the Mexican's face with the floor. His player immediately drew up a new character, who I shall be calling the Tanninomancer (all her powers came from tea).
Other than witness the death of the Mexican, the Priest only really managed to get drunk with Clint the Ferromancer. He briefly met the rest of the Baltimore 'God Squad', but didn't understand why a Catholic priest was actively working with a Rabbi and an Imam.
My Cryomancer got himself a cold iron gauntlet from Clint. He then managed to get an athamé dagger made out of the stuff too. The Ectomancer had Clint craft full armour for her from the stuff.
The Warden was found shot through the head outside the bar. His cloak, sword and staff were collected by another Warden a few hours later. My Cryomancer had by this time taken any other items from about his person.
The Ectomancer was being schooled in basics of magic by Bunnybridge (see why he might have turned against us?) He also kept trying to get her to read his book (the same book which was responsible for the Doom hanging over the Cryomancer). The Mortal did find an original copy of Bunnybridge's book on Craigslist, but touching it caused uncontrollable fear and he shot it several times (the pages have subsequently healed. They are made of skin after all...) The Ectomancer's soul in the Sight is starting to show signs of tentacles...
The Lycanthrope and Mortal stole a boat. They had their faces changed several times, notably the Mortal wandered around looking like the Warden briefly, before they became Jake and Elwood Blues. The Mortal's magic grandfather, an old Indian medicine man, did not approve of his 'wearing the white devil's skin'. Somehow, they've managed to retain the boat by moving it to a swimming pool (that Lycanthrope is very strong).
Walter invited all the magic practitioners in town to a little meeting, gave the standard 'join me or die' speech, then detonated several devices across the city, causing havoc. It became apparent that Walter and the Blight were co-existing because in the Sight, he was two people.
After spending time working on a ritual, my Cryomancer managed to speak to a leyline. This wasn't a good idea, since he then managed to form a pact with the biggest leyline in town, and barely came out of the deal retaining his humanity.
Walter was summarily defeated with several gunshots, wild punches from a very angry Lycanthrope, and an eventual punt of the box containing the Blight spirit into the Nevernever.
The Mortal is currently reading some basic magical textbooks. He is enjoying them much more than Bunnybridge's book, since they don't scare him when he touches them, and they're made of paper.
The Mortal and the Lycanthrope have taken over the reins of Walter's gang. We'll see how well that works out for the 'shoot first, ask questions later' duo.
The Cryomancer is now upgraded, and since he's now labeled as the White Champion of Baltimore (powered by the leylines of the city), I'll refer to him in future posts as the White Champion. I suspect the GM may introduce a Black Champion after I suggested that such a thing could exist.
The Ectomancer is now known as Bainbridge's Apprentice, so I might refer to her as the Apprentice. There's nothing scary and forboding and Star Wars-y about that, after all...
And that's about it I think. I'm sure people will find things to add that I've forgotten.
Monday, 7 November 2011
More on Sands of FATE
My current design name seems to be Sands of FATE but I think I might have to change that, given how close it is to Strands of Fate.
Whilst I'm working on how the powers/magic might work, I'm doing some more design work on the setting itself. I thought about using Islam itself, but realised that, given I have very little knowledge on the subject, it might be best to change it and have a pervasive religion that is very heavily based upon Islam, but is not Islam itself. Whether this is more offensive than getting important details of a real world religion wrong, I can't really say. So feedback on that appreciated, as always.
In days past, when the world was young, the peoples of the world worshiped many different gods, spirits and idols. Whether these were different understandings of the true nature of Elohim, the Hand of Fate, or whether they were the machinations of evil Daeva or misguided men, we cannot say.
What we know as truth is that the Prophetess Mursaliah, may she be praised, was visited by the Wardens of the Most Benevolent, and gifted with the words of the Qitab. Within those words were the methods by which all, both man and jinn, could live a good life, and go on to an eternity in paradise.
As one, people from the Great Garden City to the City of Waves embraced the teachings of the Qitab, knowing its words to be the true path to the Almighty Elohim.
Those that chose not to follow the true path were cast out from society, but still managed to survive in many ways. Those men that made pacts with the Daeva are believed to have been the forefathers of the Shaitan, the men with horns, arcanists, conjurers, necromancers. Those jinn who gave in to the urges of the Qareen, the voice that whispers corruption, became the Ghilan, evil shape-changing eaters of rotted flesh.
Whilst the Qitab continues to guide the Followers of the True Path, the Qareen continues to whisper to the hearts of men and jinn alike. It is only through prayer and pilgrimage that one can follow in the footsteps of the Prophetess. With the guidance of the current Calipha, all the peoples of the known world seek to better themselves and achieve an eternal paradise.
Whilst I'm working on how the powers/magic might work, I'm doing some more design work on the setting itself. I thought about using Islam itself, but realised that, given I have very little knowledge on the subject, it might be best to change it and have a pervasive religion that is very heavily based upon Islam, but is not Islam itself. Whether this is more offensive than getting important details of a real world religion wrong, I can't really say. So feedback on that appreciated, as always.
In days past, when the world was young, the peoples of the world worshiped many different gods, spirits and idols. Whether these were different understandings of the true nature of Elohim, the Hand of Fate, or whether they were the machinations of evil Daeva or misguided men, we cannot say.
What we know as truth is that the Prophetess Mursaliah, may she be praised, was visited by the Wardens of the Most Benevolent, and gifted with the words of the Qitab. Within those words were the methods by which all, both man and jinn, could live a good life, and go on to an eternity in paradise.
As one, people from the Great Garden City to the City of Waves embraced the teachings of the Qitab, knowing its words to be the true path to the Almighty Elohim.
Those that chose not to follow the true path were cast out from society, but still managed to survive in many ways. Those men that made pacts with the Daeva are believed to have been the forefathers of the Shaitan, the men with horns, arcanists, conjurers, necromancers. Those jinn who gave in to the urges of the Qareen, the voice that whispers corruption, became the Ghilan, evil shape-changing eaters of rotted flesh.
Whilst the Qitab continues to guide the Followers of the True Path, the Qareen continues to whisper to the hearts of men and jinn alike. It is only through prayer and pilgrimage that one can follow in the footsteps of the Prophetess. With the guidance of the current Calipha, all the peoples of the known world seek to better themselves and achieve an eternal paradise.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Wednesday Dresdnesday
Yes, I mispelt the title on purpose!
This week a very interesting time was had in Nevermore. Also, mildly scary.
I'll begin with the new character, who had to leave early and didn't get to interact with the rest of the group. We shall call him Mr Demon. Guess what he does?
Mr Demon works in a library. He processes new library cards... particularly for children... by getting them to tell him their name... Yeah, dude may be entirely evil, certainly misguided.
His adventures involved bustling about the library and noticing some interesting trends in borrowing behaviour. It seemed a lot of books had been taken out (particularly in a certain restricted section) regarding faeries. And also a large number on ferrous metals. He set about researching this, and the connection between them (cold iron! Yay!)
The rest of the group began with the Lycanthrope receiving a job from the new gangleader in town, known to us only as Walter. Walter wanted to know why a house the Lycanthrope had recently robbed had fallen down, and whether or not it was connected to a certain crazy Mexican wandering around town.
The crazy Mexican awoke in his university office to an alarming crashing noise, as the large pile (weighing in tons) of cold iron piled in the middle of the floor decided to take a trip downstairs, and take a shortcut to do it. Not wanting it to seem like his fault, he used magic to blow a hole in his ceiling. Which revealed blue sky. He fired off a fireball into the blue just to make sure the edges of his new skylight looked scorched from where the 'cold iron meteorite' had crashed through.
Pure Mortal went looking for answers to his magical Indian tribe's past, calling on a local shaman to meet him in Starbucks. He didn't find out much, and when he went to leave almost got arrested due to a tip off from the Priest last session. He managed to lose the cops, book a room at a motel with his credit card (to lead the cops away out of town) and then listen to his answerphone messages. Walter wanted him to meet up with the Lycanthrope and help him investigate a knocked down house and Mexican. He went off to find him.
The Ectomancer needed a job, as paid medium work wasn't working to well. She headed over to the university campus in the hopes of some office work, especially in the history department. She instead ran into the Sorcerer, whilst a crowd of people talked about falling rocks and fireballs. Knowing his madness was catching, and unable to find any jobs at the university, she headed off, stealthily followed by the Mexican.
The Cryomancer needed some help shaping his cold iron into something. He put some feelers out, and came back with Clint, a ferromancer, and arranged to meet him later.
In the meantime, he bumped into the crazy Mexican stalking the Ectomancer down a street, noticed he had a new cold iron shovel, and asked for his help in shaping the cold iron instead. Before she ran away, the Cryomancer was able to give the Ectomancer some job contacts.
The Sorcerer managed to give himself a nasty migraine shaping cold iron into a bracer, then wandered off back to the university to recuperate in his office.
The entire building had been cordoned off whilst the metal lumps were moved with a crane. Whilst the Sorcerer argued wildly with a police officer to be let through, the Lycanthrope caught up with him. As the Lycanthrope attempted to help by moving the Mexican, he got angry and lashed out wildly with his shovel, hitting the Lycanthrope in the face.
As police rushed in, the Mortal arrived but lay low and watched the scene. Whilst the Lycanthrope (a known criminal and suspected murder) and the Sorcerer (a suspected criminal and the real murderer) were carted off, the Mortal jumped in a taxi cab to follow.
Pulling a gun on the driver and telling him not to slow down, he shot out a tire of the police van carrying them (the Sorcerer deliberately holding back his hexing until his own plan was ready). As the van stopped and police appeared, the Mortal managed to take out three and open the van. The Lycanthrope headbutted and knocked out the Sorcerer before he could do anything silly, and the two managed to drag him off to Walter's.
The Ectomancer ended up near a junk yard as the truck carrying a large amount of cold iron pulled up. She immediately bought it all, and had it hauled to her place, where she covered every window and doorway with it. Then went off and got herself a telemarketing job (which involved a lot more stress trying not to accidentally hex any of the equipment).
The Cryomancer met Clint in the local magic bar, showed him the already completed bracer but wondered aloud if it could be hardened in some way (perhaps with some kind of folding technique as used with swords). Clint agreed, and even to a rush job for cash. He offered to throw in a design for free, and the Cryomancer went for some runes he'd been working on. Then he sat in the bar, researching local leylines and their intersections using a map he had drawn.
The Mortal, Lycanthrope and Sorcerer were arrayed in Walter's office. When the Sorcerer woke up though, rather than waste any time, he opened a portal to the Nevernever and leapt through, closing it behind him. He'd accidentally taken the Lycanthrope with him however.
The Mortal was told what had just happened by Walter (who, for unknown reasons, was all too aware of what had just transpired). Since the Mortal was agitated that his friend might be lost forever, he suggested finding a wizard who could use a tracking spell, and suggested the magical bar as the place to find one (how he had known of the bar is anyone's guess at this point, since no one in the bar knows much about Walter at all).
In the Nevernever, the Sorceror and the Lycanthrope found themselves standing on the surface of a burning ball of something, which reverted to being called 'the Sun'. The Sorceror attempted to find a path back to somewhere he knew, and ended up descending and invisible staircase inside the glow. Along the way, they both walked past some kind of building in the glow, but couldn't make out a purpose for it.
The Nevernever being what it is, and the nature of time being what it is, it seemed to take them years to walk back to familiar ground. They both ran into the affectionately named Bill the Babykiller, a wildfae who may or may not be the Erlking, Lord of the Hunt.
The Sorcerer seemed very anxious to have the Lycanthrope tell Bill his name, so he instead gave him his nickname. He managed to find an open portal to the real world and go through it, only to find himself at the scene of the crime for the murder he didn't commit. The Sorcerer went off in search of more adventure in the Nevernever. Since they'd both been walking for years, they had managed to swap languages, the Sorcerer having learnt the Lycanthrope's native Russian, and vice versa.
The Lycanthrope headed back to Walter to catch up on what he'd missed over the past few years, only to find he'd been gone for about an hour.
The Ectomancer had been heading to the bar to burn off the pain of a horrible day's work, and ran into her old acquaintance the Mortal. As they both walked into the bar, the large doorman asked the Mortal to check his possessions, where he dropped three pistols on the counter.
Inside, he asked around, and the Cryomancer was instantly able to help him sort out a tracking spell with the Warden, who was sat at the end of the bar. Using skin cells and blood from the blow to the face left on the shovel, the Warden was able to pinpoint the Lycanthrope as being in the warehouse district, not the Nevernever. And on a map, he was clearly back at Walter's. The mortal set off back there, but not before the Cryomancer absconded with the cold iron shovel.
A nice long post, but a lot did happen! Looking forward to next week, although starting to worry that the Sorcerer is going to pick up Sponsored Magic from the wildfae! It's his player's plan after all.
This week a very interesting time was had in Nevermore. Also, mildly scary.
I'll begin with the new character, who had to leave early and didn't get to interact with the rest of the group. We shall call him Mr Demon. Guess what he does?
Mr Demon works in a library. He processes new library cards... particularly for children... by getting them to tell him their name... Yeah, dude may be entirely evil, certainly misguided.
His adventures involved bustling about the library and noticing some interesting trends in borrowing behaviour. It seemed a lot of books had been taken out (particularly in a certain restricted section) regarding faeries. And also a large number on ferrous metals. He set about researching this, and the connection between them (cold iron! Yay!)
The rest of the group began with the Lycanthrope receiving a job from the new gangleader in town, known to us only as Walter. Walter wanted to know why a house the Lycanthrope had recently robbed had fallen down, and whether or not it was connected to a certain crazy Mexican wandering around town.
The crazy Mexican awoke in his university office to an alarming crashing noise, as the large pile (weighing in tons) of cold iron piled in the middle of the floor decided to take a trip downstairs, and take a shortcut to do it. Not wanting it to seem like his fault, he used magic to blow a hole in his ceiling. Which revealed blue sky. He fired off a fireball into the blue just to make sure the edges of his new skylight looked scorched from where the 'cold iron meteorite' had crashed through.
Pure Mortal went looking for answers to his magical Indian tribe's past, calling on a local shaman to meet him in Starbucks. He didn't find out much, and when he went to leave almost got arrested due to a tip off from the Priest last session. He managed to lose the cops, book a room at a motel with his credit card (to lead the cops away out of town) and then listen to his answerphone messages. Walter wanted him to meet up with the Lycanthrope and help him investigate a knocked down house and Mexican. He went off to find him.
The Ectomancer needed a job, as paid medium work wasn't working to well. She headed over to the university campus in the hopes of some office work, especially in the history department. She instead ran into the Sorcerer, whilst a crowd of people talked about falling rocks and fireballs. Knowing his madness was catching, and unable to find any jobs at the university, she headed off, stealthily followed by the Mexican.
The Cryomancer needed some help shaping his cold iron into something. He put some feelers out, and came back with Clint, a ferromancer, and arranged to meet him later.
In the meantime, he bumped into the crazy Mexican stalking the Ectomancer down a street, noticed he had a new cold iron shovel, and asked for his help in shaping the cold iron instead. Before she ran away, the Cryomancer was able to give the Ectomancer some job contacts.
The Sorcerer managed to give himself a nasty migraine shaping cold iron into a bracer, then wandered off back to the university to recuperate in his office.
The entire building had been cordoned off whilst the metal lumps were moved with a crane. Whilst the Sorcerer argued wildly with a police officer to be let through, the Lycanthrope caught up with him. As the Lycanthrope attempted to help by moving the Mexican, he got angry and lashed out wildly with his shovel, hitting the Lycanthrope in the face.
As police rushed in, the Mortal arrived but lay low and watched the scene. Whilst the Lycanthrope (a known criminal and suspected murder) and the Sorcerer (a suspected criminal and the real murderer) were carted off, the Mortal jumped in a taxi cab to follow.
Pulling a gun on the driver and telling him not to slow down, he shot out a tire of the police van carrying them (the Sorcerer deliberately holding back his hexing until his own plan was ready). As the van stopped and police appeared, the Mortal managed to take out three and open the van. The Lycanthrope headbutted and knocked out the Sorcerer before he could do anything silly, and the two managed to drag him off to Walter's.
The Ectomancer ended up near a junk yard as the truck carrying a large amount of cold iron pulled up. She immediately bought it all, and had it hauled to her place, where she covered every window and doorway with it. Then went off and got herself a telemarketing job (which involved a lot more stress trying not to accidentally hex any of the equipment).
The Cryomancer met Clint in the local magic bar, showed him the already completed bracer but wondered aloud if it could be hardened in some way (perhaps with some kind of folding technique as used with swords). Clint agreed, and even to a rush job for cash. He offered to throw in a design for free, and the Cryomancer went for some runes he'd been working on. Then he sat in the bar, researching local leylines and their intersections using a map he had drawn.
The Mortal, Lycanthrope and Sorcerer were arrayed in Walter's office. When the Sorcerer woke up though, rather than waste any time, he opened a portal to the Nevernever and leapt through, closing it behind him. He'd accidentally taken the Lycanthrope with him however.
The Mortal was told what had just happened by Walter (who, for unknown reasons, was all too aware of what had just transpired). Since the Mortal was agitated that his friend might be lost forever, he suggested finding a wizard who could use a tracking spell, and suggested the magical bar as the place to find one (how he had known of the bar is anyone's guess at this point, since no one in the bar knows much about Walter at all).
In the Nevernever, the Sorceror and the Lycanthrope found themselves standing on the surface of a burning ball of something, which reverted to being called 'the Sun'. The Sorceror attempted to find a path back to somewhere he knew, and ended up descending and invisible staircase inside the glow. Along the way, they both walked past some kind of building in the glow, but couldn't make out a purpose for it.
The Nevernever being what it is, and the nature of time being what it is, it seemed to take them years to walk back to familiar ground. They both ran into the affectionately named Bill the Babykiller, a wildfae who may or may not be the Erlking, Lord of the Hunt.
The Sorcerer seemed very anxious to have the Lycanthrope tell Bill his name, so he instead gave him his nickname. He managed to find an open portal to the real world and go through it, only to find himself at the scene of the crime for the murder he didn't commit. The Sorcerer went off in search of more adventure in the Nevernever. Since they'd both been walking for years, they had managed to swap languages, the Sorcerer having learnt the Lycanthrope's native Russian, and vice versa.
The Lycanthrope headed back to Walter to catch up on what he'd missed over the past few years, only to find he'd been gone for about an hour.
The Ectomancer had been heading to the bar to burn off the pain of a horrible day's work, and ran into her old acquaintance the Mortal. As they both walked into the bar, the large doorman asked the Mortal to check his possessions, where he dropped three pistols on the counter.
Inside, he asked around, and the Cryomancer was instantly able to help him sort out a tracking spell with the Warden, who was sat at the end of the bar. Using skin cells and blood from the blow to the face left on the shovel, the Warden was able to pinpoint the Lycanthrope as being in the warehouse district, not the Nevernever. And on a map, he was clearly back at Walter's. The mortal set off back there, but not before the Cryomancer absconded with the cold iron shovel.
A nice long post, but a lot did happen! Looking forward to next week, although starting to worry that the Sorcerer is going to pick up Sponsored Magic from the wildfae! It's his player's plan after all.
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Arabian elementalism
Applying the ideas of elemental manipulation from Avatar: The Last Airbender and trying to drop it in a medieval/Renaissance Arabian setting has given me some ideas regarding how I would have it interact with the world.
I was searching for ways that the elementality of the djinn could follow through into other areas of their life, or might spring up around them involuntarily. The original idea was for the sword of an Ifrit to either set ablaze when he was angry, or else singe and burn at the best of times, and having the Eloi's blows land with small thunderclaps. But I was having a hard time with subtle offensives for the Dao and Marid. So far the best I've come up with is the Dao's blows simply having the weight of stone behind them, and the Marid to flow around a fight and dodge easily.
Having them have access to the signature water whip or stone armour/gauntlets occasionally seen in the cartoon series was already a given.
Other ideas that I've currently got involve the current djinn as being the descendants of humans and true djinn, hence their lesser abilities and more human appearance. I think the corrupted djinn may be the formation of the Ghilan, or perhaps the djinn who did not become a part of humanity are the ones that turned that way. Seems that a Ghul would not follow the Word of Elohim (or however I name the overarching religion).
I've dug up a bunch of books on Arabian culture that I'm going to power through in the next few weeks. I'm hoping to take a look at both Persian and Mesopotamian cultural roots too. I'd like for this to work on several levels of culture.
I had a thought regarding removing humanity altogether, and having the world of the djinn be the one played in, but I wasn't sure how happy I was with that, given how I'd like the bad guys to work. We'll see though. Would certainly lend an edge to how people would see the world as different.
As it stands, I think the different djinn are the ones in touch with elemental forces, whilst humanity is able to harness the arcane in both good and bad ways. Piety and prayer will avoid corruption, but there'll be plenty about, from pickpockets and hashish dens to necromancy and demonic bargains.
Also, packs of street rats with different skills, abilities, and skin colours from blue to red to grey are already running around sandy bazaars in my mind.
I was searching for ways that the elementality of the djinn could follow through into other areas of their life, or might spring up around them involuntarily. The original idea was for the sword of an Ifrit to either set ablaze when he was angry, or else singe and burn at the best of times, and having the Eloi's blows land with small thunderclaps. But I was having a hard time with subtle offensives for the Dao and Marid. So far the best I've come up with is the Dao's blows simply having the weight of stone behind them, and the Marid to flow around a fight and dodge easily.
Having them have access to the signature water whip or stone armour/gauntlets occasionally seen in the cartoon series was already a given.
Other ideas that I've currently got involve the current djinn as being the descendants of humans and true djinn, hence their lesser abilities and more human appearance. I think the corrupted djinn may be the formation of the Ghilan, or perhaps the djinn who did not become a part of humanity are the ones that turned that way. Seems that a Ghul would not follow the Word of Elohim (or however I name the overarching religion).
I've dug up a bunch of books on Arabian culture that I'm going to power through in the next few weeks. I'm hoping to take a look at both Persian and Mesopotamian cultural roots too. I'd like for this to work on several levels of culture.
I had a thought regarding removing humanity altogether, and having the world of the djinn be the one played in, but I wasn't sure how happy I was with that, given how I'd like the bad guys to work. We'll see though. Would certainly lend an edge to how people would see the world as different.
As it stands, I think the different djinn are the ones in touch with elemental forces, whilst humanity is able to harness the arcane in both good and bad ways. Piety and prayer will avoid corruption, but there'll be plenty about, from pickpockets and hashish dens to necromancy and demonic bargains.
Also, packs of street rats with different skills, abilities, and skin colours from blue to red to grey are already running around sandy bazaars in my mind.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Yet more Dresden
I'm a bit behind on collecting together my thoughts, but here's the recap of Wednesday's session.
Crazy Mexican sorcerer attends the Priest's first mass in his new chapel. It does not go well for the mostly elderly congregation, as their hearing aids cease to function due to hexing. Priest is most unimpressed, but after mass gets a sense of being needed elsewhere.
With his Jesus-sense tingling (this is what he referred to it as), he set off apace. Sorcerer followed him, and when it became apparent that the Priest was much faster, used his shadow magic to grab his feet every time they hit the pavement. The Priest managed to dispel that quickly, and hightailed it out of there!
The Priest found himself in a dark alleyway, where a homeless man asked him for change. Very quickly, the homeless man burst from under a mass of trash to show he was in fact a Red Court Vampire. The Priest managed to force him out into the sun using his holy aura and burning touch attacks.
Meanwhile the ectomancer summons up a wizardly ghost to learn about faeries. She doesn't want them coming around and leaving her any more cryptic messages, and finds out that cold iron is the key. She goes off searching the city's magic shops, then instead the junk yards.
My cryomancer spent the night researching faeries that killed children, without getting very far. He can still see the image of a faerie surrounded by dead babies in pinpoint accuracy thanks to the Sight, so is a little hasty with shopkeepers trying to get some cold iron. A police officer manages to calm him down a little.
He bumped into the ectomancer, realised that they were both looking for the same stuff, and they team up.
The Mexican decided he needed some cold iron as faerie protection for next time he ended up in the Nevernever (which he plans to do with alarming frequency), so used a thaumaturgical ritual to allow him to literally sniff out cold iron.
After coming across the ecto- and cryomancers, he finds a bountiful source of it in the walls of a large house. Possibly as the walls, or at least their main support. It is certainly unclear at the time.
The Priest headed to the magical bar in town, and made up for seeing a vampire burst into flames by drinking. The ecto- and cryomancers turn up, the latter for work. He owes the ectomancer an iced coffee too.
The local Warden is talking to the Priest about what's happened, and introducing himself. The cryomancer catches his eye, and tells him that the Mexican went looking for cold iron, but was worried (as a parolee of the Doom himself) that he may have killed with magic. Warden got angry and left.
Sorcerer enters the house and hears maniacal cackling from somewhere inside. He can't get the cold iron out of the walls from inside, so goes back outside. Breaking himself quite severely in the process (getting a migraine and a phobia of laughter), he manages to pull all of the iron out of the house, and it condenses in a large ball in front of him. The house promptly collapses as the Warden shows up.
Whilst the Sorcerer has used magic to aid in killing someone, he actually buried the man alive using his trusty shovel (did I mention he's been carrying that the whole time?). The Warden lets him off with a caution, and uses magic to pull a fully-formed sword from the ball as he walks away.
Sorcerer uses his own magic to form a cold iron shovelhead for his shovel, then goes to get a bunch of Mexican labourers to help him move the ball back to his office at the university (where he is living).
The game ended there. It got a bit manic and sort of difficult, what with a Vampire: the Masquerade game happening at the other end of the room, sometimes quite loudly (too many badly played Malkavians). More next week!
Crazy Mexican sorcerer attends the Priest's first mass in his new chapel. It does not go well for the mostly elderly congregation, as their hearing aids cease to function due to hexing. Priest is most unimpressed, but after mass gets a sense of being needed elsewhere.
With his Jesus-sense tingling (this is what he referred to it as), he set off apace. Sorcerer followed him, and when it became apparent that the Priest was much faster, used his shadow magic to grab his feet every time they hit the pavement. The Priest managed to dispel that quickly, and hightailed it out of there!
The Priest found himself in a dark alleyway, where a homeless man asked him for change. Very quickly, the homeless man burst from under a mass of trash to show he was in fact a Red Court Vampire. The Priest managed to force him out into the sun using his holy aura and burning touch attacks.
Meanwhile the ectomancer summons up a wizardly ghost to learn about faeries. She doesn't want them coming around and leaving her any more cryptic messages, and finds out that cold iron is the key. She goes off searching the city's magic shops, then instead the junk yards.
My cryomancer spent the night researching faeries that killed children, without getting very far. He can still see the image of a faerie surrounded by dead babies in pinpoint accuracy thanks to the Sight, so is a little hasty with shopkeepers trying to get some cold iron. A police officer manages to calm him down a little.
He bumped into the ectomancer, realised that they were both looking for the same stuff, and they team up.
The Mexican decided he needed some cold iron as faerie protection for next time he ended up in the Nevernever (which he plans to do with alarming frequency), so used a thaumaturgical ritual to allow him to literally sniff out cold iron.
After coming across the ecto- and cryomancers, he finds a bountiful source of it in the walls of a large house. Possibly as the walls, or at least their main support. It is certainly unclear at the time.
The Priest headed to the magical bar in town, and made up for seeing a vampire burst into flames by drinking. The ecto- and cryomancers turn up, the latter for work. He owes the ectomancer an iced coffee too.
The local Warden is talking to the Priest about what's happened, and introducing himself. The cryomancer catches his eye, and tells him that the Mexican went looking for cold iron, but was worried (as a parolee of the Doom himself) that he may have killed with magic. Warden got angry and left.
Sorcerer enters the house and hears maniacal cackling from somewhere inside. He can't get the cold iron out of the walls from inside, so goes back outside. Breaking himself quite severely in the process (getting a migraine and a phobia of laughter), he manages to pull all of the iron out of the house, and it condenses in a large ball in front of him. The house promptly collapses as the Warden shows up.
Whilst the Sorcerer has used magic to aid in killing someone, he actually buried the man alive using his trusty shovel (did I mention he's been carrying that the whole time?). The Warden lets him off with a caution, and uses magic to pull a fully-formed sword from the ball as he walks away.
Sorcerer uses his own magic to form a cold iron shovelhead for his shovel, then goes to get a bunch of Mexican labourers to help him move the ball back to his office at the university (where he is living).
The game ended there. It got a bit manic and sort of difficult, what with a Vampire: the Masquerade game happening at the other end of the room, sometimes quite loudly (too many badly played Malkavians). More next week!
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Using d12s regularly - ideas for a system that uses them
A recent posting on Google+ about the lack of use of the d12 got me thinking about ways in which to use it effectively. Talk of a tarot/zodiac system made my mind jump to Feng Shui. Whilst I haven't had any experience of playing it, I loved the setting idea for it. I can barely remember the mechanics, but I seem to recall a lot of d6s.
Anyway, ideas that immediately jumped to mind were a mish-mash of various ideas. Here's a shortlist of stuff floating around at the moment.
Anyway, ideas that immediately jumped to mind were a mish-mash of various ideas. Here's a shortlist of stuff floating around at the moment.
- 'Exploding' dice on a 12, so automatic reroll.
- Rolling a number of dice and aiming for a target number on each, each success more than the first a cool good thing happens.
- Automatic fail on a 1. Something bad happens because of it (even if other dice roll successes - bullets ricochet in bad ways, your lie you speak is entirely convincing but you give off a physical tell that the bad guy now has a chance to notice, etc).
- Favoured skills/maneuvers that drop the difficulty. You need a 9 to pull off a fancy stunt, but you do it all the time. Drop down to an 8.
- Base difficulty I guess would be around a 7 for something that usually requires a roll. Maybe a 6 if it's something anyone (even a lowly NPC child) could do.
- Some kind of point-buy system to get skills and maneuvers, max dice per skill probably 5.
- Unsure if I'd use base stats, might throw in FATE's aspects for character description/plot hooks/previously mentioned favoured abilities.
- Bennies get you an automatic success like a temporary willpower point in oWoD.
I have a feeling I might actually try and playtest this soon. Have some interesting ideas of where to take this.
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