Interesting links found around the internet this week. More can be found on the previous list found here. The original inspiration for all of this is weaver.skepti.ch End of Week links. You can find even more links on the newly-automated weekly blogroll on r/OSR or the RPG Blog Carnival or a roundup of non-blog news on Third Kingdom Games roundup.
Cavegirl's Game Stuff has Another take on demihumans as social constructs.
Chicagowiz's Games proposes Session summaries in 500 characters of less!
Codex Anathema wraps the April RPGBlogCarnival in Hemos creado un entorno
The Lair of Secrets kicks off the May RPG Carnival: Changing Gears
Wizards were on folks mind this week:
The Cosmic Orrery shared Wizards Rule The World (badly)
3d6 Polar Bears wrote Kill The Wizard (AWAB)
Coins and Scrolls gave us OSR: Eight Diseases of Wizards
Grumpy Wizard asks How Do I Play a First Level OSR Thief?
u/Shieldice gives us a D6 Wizard's Tower Generator
Alchemist Nocturne writes On Rules-lite or Rules light
08 May 2023
06 May 2023
Attributes for shaping the Planes
This is a response to Monsters and Manuals WizardKnighting Planescape - where he posits an alternative Planescape with mechanics better reflecting the ability and imperative to shape the planes.
Read it all, it is good stuff, but the relevant piece for this is "In Planescape, one of the idealised things that PCs are supposed to be doing - it is suggested - is reshaping the planes through their actions [or] by acting in the name of a God (although the writers called these 'Powers') of one kind or another, they can literally physically enlarge his or her sphere of influence. And, of course, the PCs can themselves aspire to ascend to Godhood and carve out a realm of their own, individually or collectively. [...] There is an unwritten but much better version of Planescape out there in the ether, in which PCs' stats are largely to do with belief and values, and they roll against these stats in order to effect change in their surroundings."
This is a very interesting take - I agree with the critique in that the setting and a bunch of the adventures made it clear that such things should be happening - Recruiters in Well of Worlds is about exactly that. Sig
My immediate reaction to 'other stats about belief and values' is to think of Spire/Heart. There Dark Elfs start a revolution with all the different stats like wealth, blood, magic to stress to get things done. For this ether-Planescape it could be belief (strength thereof), alignment, might, whatever - a bunch of stats that would fit to different circumstances to stress/flex. Playing Spire for me it took a lot to get away from 'I hit it' to 'stress silver to just pay the guy to look the other way' but once I got into the groove it gave a much better sense of getting things done without going blades drawn all the time.
Spire had stats of -
Blood: Physical damage and exhaustion.
Mind: Mental stress, instability and insanity.
Silver: Loss of money or resources.
Shadow: Loss of secrecy, damage to cover identities, police and government attention.
Reputation: Loss of social standing in a group or community.
I like the range there, lots of different ways you can get burnt, which I would like to flip to become what are the many ways that one can mystically affect the planes. Sig, City of Blades is nominally a Blades in the Dark refit of Sigil that is kind of the right system in kind of the right setting but is not looking to achieve the effects we want - it does have the stress system but it is focused on personal prowess, kinetic action and the like - not this more cosmic, warping of realms idea.
My initial thoughts are on a model with axis of matter/mind and dominating/persuasive:
Strength of Will = push through resistance, shape the stuff of a place around you like a cloak
Arcane Cunning = twist to shape, recognise the threads of fate and pluck and tease them to your preference
Belief = resonance, pull others to your vision, be as a beacon
Dreamworking = envision the thing and convince others they perceive it too
Read it all, it is good stuff, but the relevant piece for this is "In Planescape, one of the idealised things that PCs are supposed to be doing - it is suggested - is reshaping the planes through their actions [or] by acting in the name of a God (although the writers called these 'Powers') of one kind or another, they can literally physically enlarge his or her sphere of influence. And, of course, the PCs can themselves aspire to ascend to Godhood and carve out a realm of their own, individually or collectively. [...] There is an unwritten but much better version of Planescape out there in the ether, in which PCs' stats are largely to do with belief and values, and they roll against these stats in order to effect change in their surroundings."
This is a very interesting take - I agree with the critique in that the setting and a bunch of the adventures made it clear that such things should be happening - Recruiters in Well of Worlds is about exactly that. Sig
My immediate reaction to 'other stats about belief and values' is to think of Spire/Heart. There Dark Elfs start a revolution with all the different stats like wealth, blood, magic to stress to get things done. For this ether-Planescape it could be belief (strength thereof), alignment, might, whatever - a bunch of stats that would fit to different circumstances to stress/flex. Playing Spire for me it took a lot to get away from 'I hit it' to 'stress silver to just pay the guy to look the other way' but once I got into the groove it gave a much better sense of getting things done without going blades drawn all the time.
Spire had stats of -
Blood: Physical damage and exhaustion.
Mind: Mental stress, instability and insanity.
Silver: Loss of money or resources.
Shadow: Loss of secrecy, damage to cover identities, police and government attention.
Reputation: Loss of social standing in a group or community.
I like the range there, lots of different ways you can get burnt, which I would like to flip to become what are the many ways that one can mystically affect the planes. Sig, City of Blades is nominally a Blades in the Dark refit of Sigil that is kind of the right system in kind of the right setting but is not looking to achieve the effects we want - it does have the stress system but it is focused on personal prowess, kinetic action and the like - not this more cosmic, warping of realms idea.
My initial thoughts are on a model with axis of matter/mind and dominating/persuasive:
Strength of Will = push through resistance, shape the stuff of a place around you like a cloak
Arcane Cunning = twist to shape, recognise the threads of fate and pluck and tease them to your preference
Belief = resonance, pull others to your vision, be as a beacon
Dreamworking = envision the thing and convince others they perceive it too
03 May 2023
Review: Plethora of Potential Partners
tl;dr: A zine to give you more in the toolbox than 'roll Charisma to seduce the NPC'.
This was a Zinequest 2023 "A DnD supplement to fill your games with romance and romantic intrigue" by Evil Pigeon Games out of Nottingham, UK. At its core this is a supplement to give you more in the toolbox than 'roll Charisma to seduce the NPC'. No doubt some will roll their eyes and say 'play something other than D&D, I beg you' which is fair, but as the old story goes answering a question with "I wouldn't start from here" is not helpful. This is for when you have a campaign already spun up or you're running a published adventure that you don't want to convert to some other system but you still need some sort of framework for NPC relationships.
Best viewed as a relationships bolt-on for games that don't go deeply into that plus some mechanics and a whole bunch of pre-made NPCs to drop in and use. We have shelves of books of combat opponents and a fair selection of shop-keepers and other NPCs to populate the world with - it is useful to see a broad selection of NPCs worked through specifically with links, hooks and persistence in a campaign in mind - you may not use them exactly but seeing it all worked through it useful if you want to add it to a game that is not already set up for such things.
This was a Zinequest 2023 "A DnD supplement to fill your games with romance and romantic intrigue" by Evil Pigeon Games out of Nottingham, UK. At its core this is a supplement to give you more in the toolbox than 'roll Charisma to seduce the NPC'. No doubt some will roll their eyes and say 'play something other than D&D, I beg you' which is fair, but as the old story goes answering a question with "I wouldn't start from here" is not helpful. This is for when you have a campaign already spun up or you're running a published adventure that you don't want to convert to some other system but you still need some sort of framework for NPC relationships.
Best viewed as a relationships bolt-on for games that don't go deeply into that plus some mechanics and a whole bunch of pre-made NPCs to drop in and use. We have shelves of books of combat opponents and a fair selection of shop-keepers and other NPCs to populate the world with - it is useful to see a broad selection of NPCs worked through specifically with links, hooks and persistence in a campaign in mind - you may not use them exactly but seeing it all worked through it useful if you want to add it to a game that is not already set up for such things.
01 May 2023
Shiny TTRPG links #118
More can be found on the previous list found here. The original inspiration for all of this is weaver.skepti.ch End of Week links. You can find even more links on the newly-automated weekly blogroll on r/OSR or the RPG Blog Carnival or a roundup of non-blog news on Third Kingdom Games roundup.
Homicidally Inclined Persons Of No Fixed Address writes on Gygax’s Finches
I Cast Light! gives us OD&D: Opium, Dunsany & Dreamlands Part II
Castle Grief Collective has Mass Hex Appeal
False Machine thinks up a primeaval setting in WALLS OF ICE
Zedeck Siew's Writing Hours continues a magnificent Dungeon23 run with THE DREADWHALE UWL KINI-QIKANA
Adventures Buffo gives us Materialist Campaign Creation
Monsters and Manuals gives us WizardKnighting Planescape
Le Chaudron Chromatique creates Where Once Was The Sea...
Something Something Dice has A little idea called “wibble”
Homicidally Inclined Persons Of No Fixed Address writes on Gygax’s Finches
I Cast Light! gives us OD&D: Opium, Dunsany & Dreamlands Part II
Castle Grief Collective has Mass Hex Appeal
False Machine thinks up a primeaval setting in WALLS OF ICE
Zedeck Siew's Writing Hours continues a magnificent Dungeon23 run with THE DREADWHALE UWL KINI-QIKANA
Adventures Buffo gives us Materialist Campaign Creation
Monsters and Manuals gives us WizardKnighting Planescape
Le Chaudron Chromatique creates Where Once Was The Sea...
Something Something Dice has A little idea called “wibble”
29 April 2023
Blog Carnival: On creating elements for a setting
To participate in this months blog carnival - hosted by Codex Anathema on the topic of On creating elements for a setting I want to write on some of the tools I draw on to do this.
The first block are deterministic - me staring at what there is and building it out myself. The second block are the generators I use to twist the straight-line thinking of my own ideas and surprise my players.
Block One - Following the Obvious Leads
The first piece is generally the campaign theme - what is the premis of this game? Recent examples have been 'expedition into a lizard kingdom', 'outlaws set up shop in the ruins of an ancient empire', 'dragonblooded nobles delve into the secrets of their great house'. From that I generally get a few things that need to be explained or included from the get go.
If there is a general motif that can be identified, I try and collage in ideas around that. For the dragonblooded nobles, each noble house was of a certain draconic lineage - so how do they lean into that? How do they interact with the actual dragons still living around the place? What does this realm think of dragonslayers?
One of the guiding stars for me for worldbuilding is geography is destiny - even with magic in the world it holds. Looking at who is beside who, what is the terrain, where are the rivers, the connections, etc, these provide ideas for the setting. If the sea is nearby, what of the things that live in the oceans? If there are mountains, what of those that live on and under the mountains?
Often at this point a cultural analogue (or group of them) becomes apparent - and those can be a useful hook to fish for other ideas. I like to choose a 'substrate' and then log the differences - a campaign a while back was an imperial chinese setting which had Wang Liangs in the flower of their ascendancy - so how do very long lived rules who can speak to each other telepathically change the setting? When all the architecture is scaled up for them? Too large for horses, how do they prefer to get around?
Block Two - Introduce Randomness with Generators
The first block are deterministic - me staring at what there is and building it out myself. The second block are the generators I use to twist the straight-line thinking of my own ideas and surprise my players.
Block One - Following the Obvious Leads
The first piece is generally the campaign theme - what is the premis of this game? Recent examples have been 'expedition into a lizard kingdom', 'outlaws set up shop in the ruins of an ancient empire', 'dragonblooded nobles delve into the secrets of their great house'. From that I generally get a few things that need to be explained or included from the get go.
If there is a general motif that can be identified, I try and collage in ideas around that. For the dragonblooded nobles, each noble house was of a certain draconic lineage - so how do they lean into that? How do they interact with the actual dragons still living around the place? What does this realm think of dragonslayers?
One of the guiding stars for me for worldbuilding is geography is destiny - even with magic in the world it holds. Looking at who is beside who, what is the terrain, where are the rivers, the connections, etc, these provide ideas for the setting. If the sea is nearby, what of the things that live in the oceans? If there are mountains, what of those that live on and under the mountains?
Often at this point a cultural analogue (or group of them) becomes apparent - and those can be a useful hook to fish for other ideas. I like to choose a 'substrate' and then log the differences - a campaign a while back was an imperial chinese setting which had Wang Liangs in the flower of their ascendancy - so how do very long lived rules who can speak to each other telepathically change the setting? When all the architecture is scaled up for them? Too large for horses, how do they prefer to get around?
Block Two - Introduce Randomness with Generators
26 April 2023
d30 Archmage status flexes
Status seeking among archmages or what does the mage who has everything want?
This is rooted in a snip I recall from The Status Seekers about how once all material wants were met, a person sought status. Considering how a mage is effectively a post-scarcity entity in a world that is not there yet, they are competing for status with other mages.
Some things like political power, wealth, etc. can also be contested by lesser beings such as dragons, nobles and others that many archmages hold as beneath their notice. To gain status among other archmages, truly preposterous amounts must be gathered - a world ruled without challenge, every ounce of gold ever mined - scales no mere non-magician could hope to even consider.
Many of the things archmages pursue reflect the fact that only the opinions of their fellow archmages count, like the most esoteric of high art, often the uninitiatied will be unable to appreciate the glory of their achievements - but this is not for them, their opinions do not matter.
The below table of goals are also what its realm/lair/demiplane can be expected to be built around - the attainment and maintenance of whatever status display it has deemed worth while.
d30 status flexes of an archmage
1. Most dangerous beast collection - caged or free-roaming
2. Most ludicrous home - e.g. lava moats, bubbles on the Negative elemental plane, carried by a megalodon
3. Most ancient ruin inhabited - proportional to the dire reputation of the creators and the amount of their dangerous defenses left intact
4. Epic rituals - the more dangerous for the most frivolous gain the better
5. Most esoteric addiction - maintained through incredible effort to source supplies e.g. time travel to gather an extinct herb
6. Most unlikely political machination - holding some polity in place against significant destructive forces
7. Greatest realm sponsored - being known as a champion of a place and effectively accepting any and all challengers where/when they choose
8. Quantity of vassals - having nations, tribes, cults and organisations operating under your banner
9. Unlikeliness of servitors - getting everything done with really impractical servants - spring breezes, turtles, an order of blind monks
10. Stamp on the land / territory dominated - sheer scale of land indisputably dominated - nothing moves without their will
This is rooted in a snip I recall from The Status Seekers about how once all material wants were met, a person sought status. Considering how a mage is effectively a post-scarcity entity in a world that is not there yet, they are competing for status with other mages.
Some things like political power, wealth, etc. can also be contested by lesser beings such as dragons, nobles and others that many archmages hold as beneath their notice. To gain status among other archmages, truly preposterous amounts must be gathered - a world ruled without challenge, every ounce of gold ever mined - scales no mere non-magician could hope to even consider.
Many of the things archmages pursue reflect the fact that only the opinions of their fellow archmages count, like the most esoteric of high art, often the uninitiatied will be unable to appreciate the glory of their achievements - but this is not for them, their opinions do not matter.
The below table of goals are also what its realm/lair/demiplane can be expected to be built around - the attainment and maintenance of whatever status display it has deemed worth while.
d30 status flexes of an archmage
1. Most dangerous beast collection - caged or free-roaming
2. Most ludicrous home - e.g. lava moats, bubbles on the Negative elemental plane, carried by a megalodon
3. Most ancient ruin inhabited - proportional to the dire reputation of the creators and the amount of their dangerous defenses left intact
4. Epic rituals - the more dangerous for the most frivolous gain the better
5. Most esoteric addiction - maintained through incredible effort to source supplies e.g. time travel to gather an extinct herb
6. Most unlikely political machination - holding some polity in place against significant destructive forces
7. Greatest realm sponsored - being known as a champion of a place and effectively accepting any and all challengers where/when they choose
8. Quantity of vassals - having nations, tribes, cults and organisations operating under your banner
9. Unlikeliness of servitors - getting everything done with really impractical servants - spring breezes, turtles, an order of blind monks
10. Stamp on the land / territory dominated - sheer scale of land indisputably dominated - nothing moves without their will
23 April 2023
Shiny TTRPG links #117
Another week of deep delving the TTRPG hinterwebs. More can be found on the previous list found here. The original inspiration for all of this is weaver.skepti.ch End of Week links. You can find even more links on the newly-automated weekly blogroll on r/OSR or the RPG Blog Carnival or a roundup of non-blog news on Third Kingdom Games roundup.
u/JacktheDM has a key insight into why *players* like 5e in The OSR, Lonely Fun, and why I believe many D&D alternatives entirely miss the point of why people will never leave 5th Edition
Rosalind Chapman suggests No one cares about anything that happened 1,000 years ago.
Tabletop Atelier proposes How Bingo Can Revolutionize Your D&D Game
Busy Wyvern gives us Slaying the Scheduling Dragon
Hack & Slash writes On the Creative Crocodile Conundrum
Grumpy Wizard asks What’s your “Appendix LP?”
Bruce Heard gives us Aerial Bombing
Dr. Jesse Olsen, University of Melbourne on Phys.org writes Why Dungeons and Dragons is good for the workplace
u/JacktheDM has a key insight into why *players* like 5e in The OSR, Lonely Fun, and why I believe many D&D alternatives entirely miss the point of why people will never leave 5th Edition
Rosalind Chapman suggests No one cares about anything that happened 1,000 years ago.
Tabletop Atelier proposes How Bingo Can Revolutionize Your D&D Game
Busy Wyvern gives us Slaying the Scheduling Dragon
Hack & Slash writes On the Creative Crocodile Conundrum
Grumpy Wizard asks What’s your “Appendix LP?”
Bruce Heard gives us Aerial Bombing
Dr. Jesse Olsen, University of Melbourne on Phys.org writes Why Dungeons and Dragons is good for the workplace
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