“Goober! GOOBER! Get back here right this instant!” Rrac waved his hooked hand in a vaguely threateningly way at the wolfish dog that was running toward something it heard in the woods.
The pair of elves looked down at the hook-handed crofter. “If you can’t control that beast, it would be best we leave it behind.” Narsal he redheaded elf commented in his sing-song voice.
“Now, now, the beast has proven its worth several times over.” Nuadeen, the blond elf pointed out.
“I could put a bolt through its ear.” Giloc offered.
Rrac whirled around to face Giloc “Aside from the fact that you couldn’t even hit the ogre, as big as she was, if you so much as pet Goober the wrong way, I’ll...”
“Erts?” The hollow cheeked youth looked up at the elves before quickly dropping his gaze. “Go get the dog.”
Dropping his large pack, the boy leapt off the path and into the woods after Goober. Erts followed the deer trail until it emerged at a fenced in field, a flock of sheep scattering away in absolute panic. In the center of the flock, one of the sheep was knocked down, picked up, and smashed down again hard by a monstrous man-wolf-thing. Erts’ scream died in his throat as the thing looked at him. Dropping the body of the sheep, it’s face already red with blood, the man-wolf sprinted the far too short distance between them. Stopping near enough that Erts could smell the things breath, thick with the tang of blood. “Go back to the path, and say nothing.” It pointed a bloody claw at the boy. “Understand?” it snarled.
Erts’ mouth moved, but no sound emerged.
“Go!” the teeth snapped right in Erts’ face.
Erts stumbled backwards, tripping over a root, his mouth still silently moving. Rolling over, he pushed off the ground and ran down the path as quickly as his scrawny legs could carry him.
Narsal, elf, hp4, Longsword, Leather, Shield, lawful merc
Naudeen, elf, hp4, Longsword, Leather, Shield, neutral exile
Rrac, human, hp5, Hook Hand, Club, Leather, Shield, Neutral Crofter
Gilloc, human, hp4, Light Crossbow, Neutral Serf, Common-Goblin dictionary, Never Satisfied
Erts, human, hp2, Dagger, Neutral Beggar
Goober, war dog, hp11, Leather & Shield equiv., Neutral Werewolf
A little while back, Meatshields was updated to include dogs... and apparently werewolves!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Zeteh Zandana - Cosmology of my Home Setting
More thoughts on my home setting:
As cool as Planescape is, I hate the cosmology that goes with it. The idea that everything fits neatly into a plane of a specific alignment, that it’s set up as a giant wheel, that there are elemental planes, para-elemental planes, quasi-elemental planes, energy planes, etc. is both stupidly overly complicated, and for the most part incredibly boring!
Look at that mess! And somehow it all wraps together in Sigil...
Now, 4e cleaned things up quite a bit. The Mortal world has a pair of reflections, the Feywild and the Shadowfell, and they are pretty much what they sound like. Ravenloft? In the Shadowfell. The court of Oberon and Titania? Feywild. It fits together with the implied cosmology of most fairy tales so much better than the Great Wheel ever did.
The Astral Sea will be much like it’s usually portrayed, including dead gods, strange worlds, demi-planes, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe/Callahan's Bar/The Captain’s Table/etc., and of course Sigil itself. The currencies of the realm are magical power and souls.
What about the gods? I’m going to stick with the idea that there are no gods, per se, but rather the immortals from classic D&D. Mortals who have become so powerful they ascend to demi- and lesser-god like status. They live in realms that float in the astral sea, and interfere as much or as little as they like in the mortal realms. Clerics and other “divine” characters may worship these immortals, and their worship does have an impact on the immortals’ power and standing, but divine power does not derive from individual immortals, but rather from all of them. That isn’t to say that an immortal can’t focus on one individual and boost or block them, but it takes effort and energy on their part. This will allow divine characters to choose just about any god or ideal to worship.
Demons and devils? I’ll stick with the 4e idea that they all come from the elemental chaos. The upper levels of it resemble the classic idea of the underworld, and the deeper you go the more twisted and chaotic it becomes. Players will never visit the lowest levels, as reality breaks down if you go too deep, and this blends right into the far realm - aka outside the player’s universe. I’ll never send my players there, but it’s a great place for *things that are not meant to be* to come from.
As cool as Planescape is, I hate the cosmology that goes with it. The idea that everything fits neatly into a plane of a specific alignment, that it’s set up as a giant wheel, that there are elemental planes, para-elemental planes, quasi-elemental planes, energy planes, etc. is both stupidly overly complicated, and for the most part incredibly boring!
Look at that mess! And somehow it all wraps together in Sigil...
Now, 4e cleaned things up quite a bit. The Mortal world has a pair of reflections, the Feywild and the Shadowfell, and they are pretty much what they sound like. Ravenloft? In the Shadowfell. The court of Oberon and Titania? Feywild. It fits together with the implied cosmology of most fairy tales so much better than the Great Wheel ever did.
The Astral Sea will be much like it’s usually portrayed, including dead gods, strange worlds, demi-planes, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe/Callahan's Bar/The Captain’s Table/etc., and of course Sigil itself. The currencies of the realm are magical power and souls.
What about the gods? I’m going to stick with the idea that there are no gods, per se, but rather the immortals from classic D&D. Mortals who have become so powerful they ascend to demi- and lesser-god like status. They live in realms that float in the astral sea, and interfere as much or as little as they like in the mortal realms. Clerics and other “divine” characters may worship these immortals, and their worship does have an impact on the immortals’ power and standing, but divine power does not derive from individual immortals, but rather from all of them. That isn’t to say that an immortal can’t focus on one individual and boost or block them, but it takes effort and energy on their part. This will allow divine characters to choose just about any god or ideal to worship.
Demons and devils? I’ll stick with the 4e idea that they all come from the elemental chaos. The upper levels of it resemble the classic idea of the underworld, and the deeper you go the more twisted and chaotic it becomes. Players will never visit the lowest levels, as reality breaks down if you go too deep, and this blends right into the far realm - aka outside the player’s universe. I’ll never send my players there, but it’s a great place for *things that are not meant to be* to come from.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Slavery and D&D
I never considered using slaves in my D&D games until I read the Al-Qadim setting and found them listed in the equipment section. I remember being shocked at the thought, my 12 year old brain thinking it was crazy for TSR to do that. Seriously pushing the envelope!
Ok, yes, I was a fairly sheltered 12 year old.
I remember that I quickly shifted our game to Al-Qadim and introduced slavery, and for about a week it was edgy and interesting.
After that... it just dropped away. I don't think I ever removed slavery from my game, it just stopped coming up.
During High School and College I was running a lot of Forgotten Realms, and since that setting doesn't have slaves as the default, the only time it came up was when fighting off a drow or Zhentarim slave raid on a village or town.Or freeing slaves from a previous raid. While they weren't generally heroes, they weren't interested in keeping slaves. My 3.x games were pretty much the same, with slightly more heroic tendencies... slightly. On the other hand they were just as likely to use the "rescued" slaves as meatshields/hostages if they weren't given what they felt they were owed for rescuing them.
My 4e game is set in the default "points of light" Nentir Vale, and the PC's are clearly Heroes, so the only slaves they'll likely encounter will be the kind they go and rescue. Actually, they've already done that...and even gave back a reward once.
As for my (rarely run and desperately in need of fleshing out) old school game? Slavery is probably in there somewhere, but I haven't decided how prominent a feature I want it to be.It wouldn't bother me to have it as a significant part of the campaign, but it also wouldn't bother me if it didn't come up.
So I'm curious how common slavery is in your games, and how involved PC's are in it. There are 2 polls off to the right, let me know!
I think it's stupid that I feel like I have to say this... but here goes: Slavery in the real world is and was a terrible practice, both throughout history and today. I do not support slavery in any way. This is a blog about a fantasy role playing game that combines aspects of history and fantasy to create a realm of imagination. If you can't handle that, go play Candyland.
Ok, yes, I was a fairly sheltered 12 year old.
I remember that I quickly shifted our game to Al-Qadim and introduced slavery, and for about a week it was edgy and interesting.
After that... it just dropped away. I don't think I ever removed slavery from my game, it just stopped coming up.
During High School and College I was running a lot of Forgotten Realms, and since that setting doesn't have slaves as the default, the only time it came up was when fighting off a drow or Zhentarim slave raid on a village or town.Or freeing slaves from a previous raid. While they weren't generally heroes, they weren't interested in keeping slaves. My 3.x games were pretty much the same, with slightly more heroic tendencies... slightly. On the other hand they were just as likely to use the "rescued" slaves as meatshields/hostages if they weren't given what they felt they were owed for rescuing them.
My 4e game is set in the default "points of light" Nentir Vale, and the PC's are clearly Heroes, so the only slaves they'll likely encounter will be the kind they go and rescue. Actually, they've already done that...and even gave back a reward once.
As for my (rarely run and desperately in need of fleshing out) old school game? Slavery is probably in there somewhere, but I haven't decided how prominent a feature I want it to be.It wouldn't bother me to have it as a significant part of the campaign, but it also wouldn't bother me if it didn't come up.
So I'm curious how common slavery is in your games, and how involved PC's are in it. There are 2 polls off to the right, let me know!
I think it's stupid that I feel like I have to say this... but here goes: Slavery in the real world is and was a terrible practice, both throughout history and today. I do not support slavery in any way. This is a blog about a fantasy role playing game that combines aspects of history and fantasy to create a realm of imagination. If you can't handle that, go play Candyland.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Quest Complete. Reward: Old D&D Minis
A couple of weeks ago I helped a friend of a friend move in. As a thank you, he gave me a box of old minis.
They all came in this box.
My first thought? Cool!
My second thought? They're so small...You could probably get away with using the fighters in this set as elves, or even tall halflings if you used them with modern figures.
There are a few snapped blades, but nothing that I can't fix. I feel kind of like I completed a quest - Help Person Move, gain 48 New Classic Minis.
Also, I really need to build a light box for taking pictures of minis...
My first thought? Cool!
My second thought? They're so small...You could probably get away with using the fighters in this set as elves, or even tall halflings if you used them with modern figures.
There are a few snapped blades, but nothing that I can't fix. I feel kind of like I completed a quest - Help Person Move, gain 48 New Classic Minis.
Also, I really need to build a light box for taking pictures of minis...
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Sunday Inspirational Images: Theodor Kittelsen
Sometimes I come across a series of pictures which make it very hard to pick just one for this series. Today's post is an excellent example of that.
These are only a sample of the pictures I found at the ever inspirational blog Monster Brains. Click the link to check out even more!
These are only a sample of the pictures I found at the ever inspirational blog Monster Brains. Click the link to check out even more!
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