Thursday, September 26, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
12 Questions from the Octopi Lord
From here:
A powerful and very capable arcane inventor by the name of Gillerneine. He had his bones sucked out of his body by vengeful merfolk after he'd tried to steal away a mermaid he'd fallen in love with, and now was a meatblob in a glass-jar-helmed mechanical diversuit. He was motivated by love for this mermaid, and devoted his life to the exploration of the seas in an attempt to be reunited with her. He joined the game first as the employer of the players, inviting them to accompany him on an expedition to a lost island that only he knew the location of and the players needed to get to. But on the night before the expedition he laced their drinks with a hallucinogen that revealed visions of each characters beliefs, hopes and fears, and the players HATED him for prying so deep without their permission. I really misjudged how strong their reactions were going to be.
For the next few sessions the mistrust only worsened, with Gillerneine trying to pry a powerful artefact from the players' control while onboard a giant mechanical flying turtle that because of said artefact was slowly becoming awakened and sentient. There was an attempted mutiny by the players, an uncomfortable compromised reached, and a bruised truce made; both parties needed each other to complete their respective missions. Great tense "I hate you but need you" from both groups.
So several high seas sessions later they finally find their way to the lost jungle island, where the really important supermacguffin is being held by the bad guys. Jagged jungle terrain, difficult to negotiate— especially in a mechanical diversuit. And so it happens that while they're scaling a slimy, root covered rockface, Gillerniene fails his climb check, slips, and falls backwards down towards the rocks.
Naturally, as a major NPC I'm thinking I better give him a close call and let the players rescue him and one-up him. Random roll indicates that Kozun the stoic rockdwarf monk is the guy who can save Gillerneine. "So Kozun— Gillerneine's horrid glass helmet echoes with his scream as he falls right past you— what do you do!?!"
There's about two seconds of consideration before Kozun's player replies: "Nothing."
Which probably would have been fine, had Gillerneine not shattered his helmet and speared his brain on a broken branch at the bottom of the cliff. Bad time to roll a crit to the head.
So yeah, Gillerneine.... or The Gaurhoth, a First Age Werewolf Demon in my Middle Earth campaign who had (the players chose all these btw):
• Tortured the Woodelf
• As a foul spirit, defiled the Shieldmaiden's ancestoral barrow and ran off in her dead mother.
• Killed the Shieldmaiden's brothers.
• Tortured and maimed and still imprisoned the Gondorian Knight's betrothed.
• Raped and sired an unborn child in the womb of the Beornlinga healer.
Kill Bill, Tolkien style.
What is your favorite organization behind wrong-doing in your setting?
The Un. Void-worshipping black hole cultists and non-entities determined to eat our Universe and shit out a new one in theirs.
What is the most interesting location you ever staged a battle in?
Recently? A blazing firefight in a University lab in a prestigious city tower built upon the back of a mountain-sized beetle that was being mounted by two other city-beetles in a state of drug-fuelled sexually frenzy.
Yeah. No pictures of that.
What is the most interesting chase scene you ever had in a game?
I like starting new campaigns with chase scenes, especially for Star Wars games. I think the best chase I've kicked off with is the game starting with the smuggler's dropping out of hyperspace with an Imperial Star Destroyer hot on their tail, a brown smear of a junkworld and an orbital belt made out of blasted battlecruisers. Watching the players squirm as they try to deal with the TIE Fighters, the live animal cargo going berko, not flying right into a spacewreck, and working out how the hell the Empire can track them through space all at the same time has always been great fun to run.
I like starting new campaigns with chase scenes, especially for Star Wars games. I think the best chase I've kicked off with is the game starting with the smuggler's dropping out of hyperspace with an Imperial Star Destroyer hot on their tail, a brown smear of a junkworld and an orbital belt made out of blasted battlecruisers. Watching the players squirm as they try to deal with the TIE Fighters, the live animal cargo going berko, not flying right into a spacewreck, and working out how the hell the Empire can track them through space all at the same time has always been great fun to run.
Picture not really relevant. But still cool.
What is the most evocative scenic location you have used in a game?
It's really hard to do evocative scenic location wrong when you're playing Star Wars:
http://gibletblizzard.blogspot.co.nz/p/star-wars-malicrux-peril.html
What is the most interesting one-of-a-kind unique monster in your games?
The problem I've always had with my games is that I usually save the one-of-a-kind for the big boss at the end, and when you're as fickle a gamer as I am the players don't normally get to see them. That said, Kindred of the East lends itself to some really wild and unique eastern vampire demons. Squicky!
The problem I've always had with my games is that I usually save the one-of-a-kind for the big boss at the end, and when you're as fickle a gamer as I am the players don't normally get to see them. That said, Kindred of the East lends itself to some really wild and unique eastern vampire demons. Squicky!
What is the most tantalizing artifact, relic or tech you have ever used in game?
The Malicrux Peril. Everybody wants it, no-one knows quite what it is.
What is the most world shattering thing a player has ever got up to in your settings?
Unintentionally giving away the location of the players' homeworld to a horde of bloodthirsty, worldshattering spacetoads. And they did shatter the world, split it right down the middle with their little froggy lazers.
Unintentionally giving away the location of the players' homeworld to a horde of bloodthirsty, worldshattering spacetoads. And they did shatter the world, split it right down the middle with their little froggy lazers.
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What is the strangest death of a character in game you have run?
For NPCs, the Unfortunate Incident of the Man and the Cliff, as detailed above.
For PCs... the DCC Zero, laden with treasures exotic and wondrous, who climbed into the Well in the Keep found in Sailors of the Starless Seas. He just.... vanished. For ever.
What is the most intriguing challenge, trap, or non combat obstacle in your games?
MY MIIIIIIIIND.
MY MIIIIIIIIND.
Or the puzzle trap I made for Secret Santicore, p30-35.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33463820/Secret%20Santicore%202011.pdf
What is most interesting ability or character option you have added to your game?
Unless you're playing Tolkien I'm not the biggest fan of the trad fantasy races, unless you do something wicked with them like the races in Dark Sun. So normally I make new races for each setting. Nothing Amazing, just different.
What is the strangest mash up or weirdest system hack you have made in gaming?
I'm not normally one for system hacking (though I have a fantasy heartbreaker someone back there) and don't normally go for mashups unless it's in the setting, like say Rifts. Man I played a fuckton of that game back in the day.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
SECRET SANTICORE 2013
Secret Santicore 2013 is nigh!
But this year I've had to abdicate in favor of the Chosen One:
Joey Lindsay from Metal vs Skin will be running the show.
If want to help out head over here, read the FAQ and muck in.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Three Pieces
Two pieces from Tony Dowler's amazing Dee Dee's Seattle Survival Guide that came out earlier this year and a character commission for an Apocalypse World Hardholder.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
MUTANTOR! Color Art
My muse is funny.
She harshes out on projects all the time, puts them into cold storage for aaaaaages
then suddenly BAM MUZE SEZ DO NOW JEZ.
So these three pieces turned up for MUTANTOR! over the last 24 hours. Go figure.
Guess I better start writing up MUTANTOR! again.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
THE SCHLÄCHTERSTERN ROT
The Schlächterstern Rot lurks in the border regions between deepest space, the Astral Plane and Pandemonium. Its tumultuous geometries visible from the worlds of the Prime Material Plane only in hallucinogen-laced dreams of artists, astronomancers, mathemagicians, and failed suicidialites.
Once depicted in reality — through written account, trigonomic puzzling or other creative expression — it becomes visible to the authors in their waking hours: a heavenly body with hellish hues appears in the night sky where once a black nebula might have blotted out the stars. Others will only see it after hearing or reading of its existence, but once seen, it remains. It travels against the flow of stars each night, confounds astrological predictions, causes beasts to behave in queer manner, and gives rise to unrest among those of weak will and fearful disposition.
As more and more minds attend to its presence it grows in stature, feeding on thought until it lingers large and low in the night sky. From the capitols of civilization to the wilds of farthest barbarica, all those who have envisioned the Schlächterstern Rot come to see it hovering immediately overhead, just beyond the clouds. Even those of stern mind now view it with apprehension. All know its name.
And so the Schlächterstern Rot will hang there, like a star of Damocles, until the people of the world it orbits manage to solve the conundrum of its presence and it departs without harm; or should they utterly fail to accept the discreet invitations of its subtle ambassadors, the star vanishes, taking all memories of its visit with it, and replacing all such thoughts with horrific visions of butchery and decay. These thoughts are not memories, but warnings of impending doom. For in the wake of the Schlächterstern Rot, all worlds it leaves behind are plunged into a thousand years of bloodshed and slaughter, all worlds it leaves behind are rotten with war.
It draws near; plaguing the babblings of the drunkard, confounding the lies of the stargazer, haunting the angles of the polygonimist and causing the unborn to howl in fear.
The Schlächterstern Rot is almost here.
Once depicted in reality — through written account, trigonomic puzzling or other creative expression — it becomes visible to the authors in their waking hours: a heavenly body with hellish hues appears in the night sky where once a black nebula might have blotted out the stars. Others will only see it after hearing or reading of its existence, but once seen, it remains. It travels against the flow of stars each night, confounds astrological predictions, causes beasts to behave in queer manner, and gives rise to unrest among those of weak will and fearful disposition.
As more and more minds attend to its presence it grows in stature, feeding on thought until it lingers large and low in the night sky. From the capitols of civilization to the wilds of farthest barbarica, all those who have envisioned the Schlächterstern Rot come to see it hovering immediately overhead, just beyond the clouds. Even those of stern mind now view it with apprehension. All know its name.
And so the Schlächterstern Rot will hang there, like a star of Damocles, until the people of the world it orbits manage to solve the conundrum of its presence and it departs without harm; or should they utterly fail to accept the discreet invitations of its subtle ambassadors, the star vanishes, taking all memories of its visit with it, and replacing all such thoughts with horrific visions of butchery and decay. These thoughts are not memories, but warnings of impending doom. For in the wake of the Schlächterstern Rot, all worlds it leaves behind are plunged into a thousand years of bloodshed and slaughter, all worlds it leaves behind are rotten with war.
It draws near; plaguing the babblings of the drunkard, confounding the lies of the stargazer, haunting the angles of the polygonimist and causing the unborn to howl in fear.
The Schlächterstern Rot is almost here.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
From the Ashes
From the Ashes is a postapocalyptic rpg from James MacGeorge, detailed on his blog here. James kindly approached me to do a number of pieces for him, and I'm very proud of all the work I've done. Here's five of them:
THE BLOAT
THE PROPHET
THE HUMAN TOUCH
TECHNOZOMBIE
TOTALITARIANTS
THE BLOAT
THE PROPHET
THE HUMAN TOUCH
TECHNOZOMBIE
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
The Further Adventures of Man Rider
Session Seven: Cobalt Reach: Man Rider spends first weeks as avatar of Akayle Ozph wisely: sleeps in Manning's backpack. Wakes up to find covert mission to rescue a goblin child stolen by gnolls. Man Rider infiltrates gnoll fort. Mission goes horribly wrong. Discovered. Chaos ensues, but Man Rider in his element. Manages to grab child, give it Potion of Cloning, and leave the copy behind before finding tunnel open up beneath him. Slides down escape shaft. Saves the baby. Saves the world. Man Rider considered great hero by local goblin leader. Introduces leader to cult of Akayle. A good day.
Session Eight: Cobalt Reach: Man Rider wakes up mid-trajectory. Has been hurled from Manning's backpack into room full of enemies. Not a great start to the day. Flails about ineffectually, but able to distract the enemy enough that fellow adventurers are able to flee from the demilich that Manning accidentally creates. Man Rider is trapped. Hides in fort. Chums up with goblin slaves. Escapes several days later. Pleased to be alive.
Session Nine: Cobalt Reach: Man Rider running late. Big battle: siege of the gnoll fort. Shield of Missile Attraction proves awkward around ballistas and catapults. Man Rider commands goblin detachment in "flanking manoeuvre" feint. Attempts to lure foes behind walls to far side while main force does what it's meant to do. Man Rider and the Nameless Mount get bored. Order goblin detachment to circumnavigate the fort while the two infiltrate the fort for planned mayhem. Plan fails miserably. Man Rider and Co pinned down, while main force breaks wall on far side. Yay! Bad guys run away to fight real enemies. Man Rider survives. Is rewarded with a scroll of mutation from General Gustav. Tempted to cast on Captain Manning. Casts on self instead. Gains six tentacles. Three heads. Rearranged face. Massive torso. Beak. Terrible smell. Man Rider pleased.
Session Ten: Cobalt Reach: has been several months since hibernation spent in contemplation; emerges to find Man Rider especially useless in exploration of Echo Palace. Not very effective in combat against anything, including the jackal men disguised as dryads. Ignored by god. Causes Mutation on self: gets a turtle head. Jackalmen sorcerers dissolve Shield of Missile Attraction with Acid attack. Best news all week. Survives battle. Makes up for lacklustre fight by defiling some old guy's tomb. Learned that Heward's Mystical Organ is somewhere in tower. Everyone runs away. Man Rider sad. Organs made him the freak he is today. Promises to return.
Session Eleven: (Flailsnails) Joins cadre of powerful warriors summoned across space and time: wakes up in Hexenbracken. Vision from Akayle Ozph: seek out the mutating Insect skull. Heads south in vague direction if skull. Meets a knot of pennangallan heads, innards all tied up; Seyl, Knight of Chaos (and excellent mount) applies the Gordian School of knot appreciation. Rewarded by freed pennangallans with ritual to summon demons. Press on, meet red fire goblins. High fives all round. Press on, meets halfling caravan lost in the wild. Cheeky halfling calls Man Rider retarded. Man Rider mutates halfling, emancipating and emaciating him. Seyl suggests punishment not finished, advises Man Rider of mutagenic potion in backpack. Man Rider fails to resist sweet sweet mutation juice, drinks potion instead. Gets really fucked up: infested with mutation-inducing parasites that cause transformation for every round in combat. No need to seek out Insect skull now. Instead, now has ADD, Sense Good, Touch of Confusion, Enhanced Touch, Medium, and can Transform Shape for a few hours. Also, parasites will probably kill him in two months when they emerge. Good news: Man Rider is going to be a dad! Lastly, Summoned Mount in combat and rode Brad Pitt in Troy getup facewards. Felt great.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
I cast Summon Man Rider!
SUMMON MAN RIDER
Can be summoned whenever any Summon X spell is cast.
School conjuration (summoning) [see text]; Level bard 1, cleric 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time grab the two nearest dice, roll'em and subtract the lowest result from the highest. that many rounds. that or how ever long it takes for me to wrap up whatever I'm doing and plug in.
Components V, S, F/DF (an offering worthy of Akayle Ozph)
Range a party member close by (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect one summoned Man Rider
Duration until I have to get back to work or grab a kid.
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
This spell summons Man Rider, paladin of chaos and avatar of Akayle Ozph, to any location in the Flailsnailsverse. Maybe*. If he's available, Man Rider appears on the shoulders of any character within the caster's party that the caster decides, and that character must serve as Man Rider's mount for the duration of his summoning, which lasts until either the caster dispels him or Man Rider is required elsewhere in the multiverse. Once cast Man Rider appears and acts immediately, on the caster's turn. Man Rider's mount is treated as being heavily encumbered while they serve as Man Rider's steed.
If the caster can communicate with Man Rider they can ask him to attack particular enemies or perform other actions. While Man Rider will try to act in the best interests of whoever summoned him, he is an avatar of chaos and may prove somewhat unreliable and is prone interpret requests in strange and peculiar ways. He won't fuck you over though. Maybe.
As a summoned creature Man Rider cannot summon or conjure other creatures, nor can he use any teleportation or planar travel abilities except to return to his lair in the Snails Quarter when he's got to bail. Also, Man Rider can't be summoned into an environment that cannot support him— there must be shoulders available for him to mount, and no frickin' lava.
Man Rider is currently a 4th Level Paladin of Chaos, CN in alignment, has detect order instead of detect evil, and gets a cut of XP for any deeds performed while summoned.
*Totally depends on whether I can spare 20 minutes when you message me, but if I'm free I'll drop in to whatever G+ game you've got going. The caster MUST announce they are cast this spell before checking to see if I'm available. If I can't make it the spell fails.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
MONSTER JEZ WEEK
Reposting from G+: it's not often you get four products you're involved in hit the market at the same time, but yeah this happened: A Thousand Dead Babies by Zzarchv Kowolski (illos, maps, design), Qelong by Kenneth Hite (maps, design), Secluisum of Oprhone of the Three Visions by D. Vincent Baker (design, some maps), and Fuck for Satan by James Raggi (some illos, maps, design) all came out in the last coupla days. Go get'em folks.
And while I've got your attention, go snaffle up Porphyry: World of the Burn by Kyrinn S. Eis (illos, maps, design), and keep me warm and fed. Pick them up here:
A Thousand Dead Babies
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/110659/A-Thousand-Dead-Babies?src=s_pi
Qelong
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/117257/Qelong
Seclusium of Orphone of the Three Visions
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/117258/The-Seclusium-of-Orphone-of-the-Three-Visions
Fuck for Satan
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/117261/Fuck-For-Satan
Porphyry: World of the Burn
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/116251/Porphyry-World-of-The-Burn?term=jez+gordon
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
PORPHYRY: WORLD OF THE BURN Art and Map Prints!
Posters, matted prints and framed prints of the full page art and maps from Porphyry: World of the Burn are now available through Redbubble.com!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
PORPHYRY: WORLD OF THE BURN available now!
PORPHYRY: WORLD OF THE BURN is now available thru lulu.com with a special introductory 15% off the cover price. Gawn, you know you want one.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Saturday, April 13, 2013
DCC: Funnel Runners
Some thoughts on funnel runs.....not that I'm an expert on them, and I've only read through a handful of modules, but I'm starting to get some very clear ideas of what I think is needed for a really good one, and some house rules on how I'll do them from now on.
NO ELVES
Or dwarves. Or halflings. Racist? No. Looking for a richer gaming experience? Definitely.
Three reasons: the hook for zero level funnel runs is that up til this point in time, where your four little zeroes cross the threshold into that first dungeon, they have had miserable, pointless, banal and bathetic lives of drudge and toil. The motivation for entering the dungeon is the chance to leave all that behind, to escape the quiet horror of the slow death. As soon as you add elves and dwarves to the mix, you're already making that prior life just that little bit more magical, something different and otherworldly. Elves and dwarves kill that grinding mood. Also, especially with elves, if they lived this grim life prior to adventure, where the hell did they pick up that mithril sword they get at 1st level? Wouldn't you take it into the dungeon with you?
Secondly, consequence of play: cause DCC opted for race as class, there is no surprises in store for elves, dwarves, and halflings. As long as you make it out of that funnel run alive, there is no class choice to be made. You are what you are, which for me means a lot of the game play is diminished. There's no need for these three races to go looking for wizard tomes or the lost artefacts of dead religions, or finding the holy weapon or even stealing the jools and sneaking about real quiet like. These demonstrations of class leanings have no meaning for elves dwarves and halflings. Humans on the other hand, and the players that have an idea of how they want to steer them, must desperately search every room for the arcane source that will impart the eldritch teachings to their wannabe wizard. They will send their guys with the beefy physical stats into the front line, armed with whatever rusty weapon they can find; they will hold their weaker zeroes back, sending their little 1HP guy in only when there's a clear advantage, a kill steal or a backstab to put down the horror they're facing or hurling assorted pieces of gear into the fray from a safe distance. They'll send their smartest zero into translate the dusty runes, and their most personable zero in to deal with the talky stuff. Human zeroes get the chance to show their potential, and demonstrate their proto-class. And most importantly for the characters who survive, their players get to make the decision about which class the survivors pursue.
Human characters gives the players far greater meaning to the decisions they make and the consequences of their choices.
Lastly, darkvision. You take a bunch of humans and drop them into a pitch black dungeon, you automatically have fear, you automatically promote resourcing as they scramble to get their source of illumination sorted, you give the denizens they face a clear target to kill, and force the players to choose which character is brave enough to carry the torch. As soon as you add a character with darkvision you kill all those possible sources of tension, which to me is a shame. A funnel run is meant to be the scariest fucking thing these zeroes have ever done. Darkvision kills the scares.
NO ALIGNMENTS.......yet.
Again, running with the notion that the zeroes' lives up to this point have been banal and dreary, I strongly doubt they have had the opportunity to side with the Forces of Law and Chaos. They might be good people, or bad, but most likely vaguely law-abiding, free-willed and occasionally selfish like the rest of us. You'd have a hard time convincing me that most zeroes are anything but Neutral.
So a funnel run that contains events triggered by characters of a particular alignment are wasted on me.
Instead I want a funnel run that allows the characters to demonstrate their potential alignment: situations with hard choices that force the characters to make tough decisions, the outcome of which is a clear demonstration of someone who is Lawful, someone who is Neutral, and someone who is Chaotic.
The events within the funnel run that favour a particular alignment should be triggered by what the players choose then and there, a direct result of player's actions.
Ideally, there should be several situations like this that will help harden the players' alignment leaning for their characters. And for those characters who survive, the Judge and the player can examine how the characters behaved and now have a much clearer idea of what alignment they should be given.
THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITIES
Running with the notion that the funnel gives human characters the chance to demonstrate their future class in play, there needs to the opportunity for each future class to evolve.
Future warriors are sorted here. They're guaranteed a good fight, and that which doesn't kill them will usually cough up good weapons and armor to loot. Anything that requires Strength checks allows them to demonstrate their physical prowess. The guy with the biceps holding the collapsing stone door open for the others to escape through? He's the fighter. Judges should keep an eye out for players constantly trying to use their surroundings to their advantage in combat, cause they're the kind of players who'll get them most out of Warrior's Mighty Deeds ability later on.
Characters destined to become thieves need situations that provoke roguish activities. The chance to disguise themselves as one of the enemy and move freely among them, the chance to take advantage of the shadows and cover that the environment provides to ambush their foes, or demonstrate their high Agility by providing dynamic dungeon settings that require balancing, climbing and nimbleness to access key features or rewards. Any player worth their weight in salt should be able to spot these opportunities and try to make the most of them, as long as those opportunities are there. A dungeon made solely of passages 10' wide and regular shaped rooms is a poor proving ground.
Proto-wizards need to find at the very least one source of arcane power that will be the catalyst for their journey along the path of magic. Preferably two, if you have players with an eye towards wizards who also want to stand apart from each other. (Quick aside, looking forward to running a DCC cabal where all the characters are wizards). Ye olde tome of spelles is the default, but a good funnel run should have something far more unique and imaginative. See Snakes as Books for a brilliant example. A means to communing with a possible patron, or free one from its prison, or (if you're a bastard Judge who doesn't automatically level up funnel runners who survive their first dungeon) information about where a patron might be found, along with urgent reasons to go there (so that, at the end of that second adventure, the wannabe wizard has the means to become a full-fledged one). You also want opportunities for characters with reasonable Intelligence to shine, but not in a dry and dusty manner. Translating the mysterious runes to learn a secret about the ruins you're in is one thing. Translating the mysterious runes that hold the key to your imminent death as the trap is activating? Much more exciting.
Aspiring clerics.... I find them the hardest. There's no occupation in the DCC list that indicates religious leanings, so a good funnel run needs to provide the player with an opportunity to learn about and then connect with the divine. But a Finger of God moment reaching down (or up) to bless the character is a Big Deal, the kind of thing that will alter the perceptions of all the characters and not just the one who wants to be the cleric. And there's the other thing. How do you know that the character who makes the connection is one that the player wanted to turn into a cleric? It's a tricky balance, but a good funnel needs to provide the opportunity for aspirants to volunteer for the divine contact without making it essential to successful completion of the funnel. And like two wannabe wizards, if you have two aspiring clerics, and they want to worship different gods, you need to provide multiple opportunities. A solution is to provide an opportunity to contact a particular pantheon of gods, but with different individual deities for different characters. Also note that having a cleric in the party will have a very big influence on the directions and adventures the party undertakes. Two clerics of opposed deities are going to make for a difficult game for the Judge. Lastly, especially when using prefab modules, you need to make sure that any divine opportunities and deities fit within the cosmology of your gameworld.
THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH
You need to lock your zeroes in the dungeon. As soon as they realise they're in over their heads, they'll want to (wisely) run away and find someone more capable or get better gear for the job. Nuh uh. This is about forcing the zeroes to rise to the occasion. If they can get out before it gets rough, they won't rise, they'll dribble away.
MINE'S BETTER
This is total self promo here, but I've used my Weird Urban Occupation List for four different groups of characters now, and every single time the players have chosen to base their characters' personalities on this list. It's weird, some of it I have no idea what it means, some of it's a bit ewwwww, but it always provokes good reactions from the players as they read out what occupation they got. Plus the unusual equipment has always provided a good laugh. Decapitating a zombie with a dead cat is win. Basically there's no way I could use the original DCC occupation list now. Just too dull.
If you want 4 Zeroes from that list ready to go, just click the link below to go to Purple Sorcerer's autogen:
Purple Sorcerer: Weird Urban Character Generator
SO NO ELVES.... EVER?
Not at all. If you want elves or any other non human race, just let any player who didn't make it through the funnel run with a character to spare include non-humans in their list of options. Or, if you feel like that's rewarding someone who shouldn't be, let the players unlock alternate races by exploring regions of your campaign where nonhuman reside. Been to the Little Lands? Sweet, now halflings are on the table. Been to visit the Molten King of the Iron Core? Dwarves are now available. And so on, depending entirely on what races you're going to allow. Reward good interaction with your world with more options for your players, and they'll keep exploring.
And that's all I've got for now.
NO ELVES
Or dwarves. Or halflings. Racist? No. Looking for a richer gaming experience? Definitely.
Three reasons: the hook for zero level funnel runs is that up til this point in time, where your four little zeroes cross the threshold into that first dungeon, they have had miserable, pointless, banal and bathetic lives of drudge and toil. The motivation for entering the dungeon is the chance to leave all that behind, to escape the quiet horror of the slow death. As soon as you add elves and dwarves to the mix, you're already making that prior life just that little bit more magical, something different and otherworldly. Elves and dwarves kill that grinding mood. Also, especially with elves, if they lived this grim life prior to adventure, where the hell did they pick up that mithril sword they get at 1st level? Wouldn't you take it into the dungeon with you?
Secondly, consequence of play: cause DCC opted for race as class, there is no surprises in store for elves, dwarves, and halflings. As long as you make it out of that funnel run alive, there is no class choice to be made. You are what you are, which for me means a lot of the game play is diminished. There's no need for these three races to go looking for wizard tomes or the lost artefacts of dead religions, or finding the holy weapon or even stealing the jools and sneaking about real quiet like. These demonstrations of class leanings have no meaning for elves dwarves and halflings. Humans on the other hand, and the players that have an idea of how they want to steer them, must desperately search every room for the arcane source that will impart the eldritch teachings to their wannabe wizard. They will send their guys with the beefy physical stats into the front line, armed with whatever rusty weapon they can find; they will hold their weaker zeroes back, sending their little 1HP guy in only when there's a clear advantage, a kill steal or a backstab to put down the horror they're facing or hurling assorted pieces of gear into the fray from a safe distance. They'll send their smartest zero into translate the dusty runes, and their most personable zero in to deal with the talky stuff. Human zeroes get the chance to show their potential, and demonstrate their proto-class. And most importantly for the characters who survive, their players get to make the decision about which class the survivors pursue.
Human characters gives the players far greater meaning to the decisions they make and the consequences of their choices.
Lastly, darkvision. You take a bunch of humans and drop them into a pitch black dungeon, you automatically have fear, you automatically promote resourcing as they scramble to get their source of illumination sorted, you give the denizens they face a clear target to kill, and force the players to choose which character is brave enough to carry the torch. As soon as you add a character with darkvision you kill all those possible sources of tension, which to me is a shame. A funnel run is meant to be the scariest fucking thing these zeroes have ever done. Darkvision kills the scares.
NO ALIGNMENTS.......yet.
Again, running with the notion that the zeroes' lives up to this point have been banal and dreary, I strongly doubt they have had the opportunity to side with the Forces of Law and Chaos. They might be good people, or bad, but most likely vaguely law-abiding, free-willed and occasionally selfish like the rest of us. You'd have a hard time convincing me that most zeroes are anything but Neutral.
So a funnel run that contains events triggered by characters of a particular alignment are wasted on me.
Instead I want a funnel run that allows the characters to demonstrate their potential alignment: situations with hard choices that force the characters to make tough decisions, the outcome of which is a clear demonstration of someone who is Lawful, someone who is Neutral, and someone who is Chaotic.
The events within the funnel run that favour a particular alignment should be triggered by what the players choose then and there, a direct result of player's actions.
Ideally, there should be several situations like this that will help harden the players' alignment leaning for their characters. And for those characters who survive, the Judge and the player can examine how the characters behaved and now have a much clearer idea of what alignment they should be given.
THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITIES
Running with the notion that the funnel gives human characters the chance to demonstrate their future class in play, there needs to the opportunity for each future class to evolve.
Future warriors are sorted here. They're guaranteed a good fight, and that which doesn't kill them will usually cough up good weapons and armor to loot. Anything that requires Strength checks allows them to demonstrate their physical prowess. The guy with the biceps holding the collapsing stone door open for the others to escape through? He's the fighter. Judges should keep an eye out for players constantly trying to use their surroundings to their advantage in combat, cause they're the kind of players who'll get them most out of Warrior's Mighty Deeds ability later on.
Characters destined to become thieves need situations that provoke roguish activities. The chance to disguise themselves as one of the enemy and move freely among them, the chance to take advantage of the shadows and cover that the environment provides to ambush their foes, or demonstrate their high Agility by providing dynamic dungeon settings that require balancing, climbing and nimbleness to access key features or rewards. Any player worth their weight in salt should be able to spot these opportunities and try to make the most of them, as long as those opportunities are there. A dungeon made solely of passages 10' wide and regular shaped rooms is a poor proving ground.
Proto-wizards need to find at the very least one source of arcane power that will be the catalyst for their journey along the path of magic. Preferably two, if you have players with an eye towards wizards who also want to stand apart from each other. (Quick aside, looking forward to running a DCC cabal where all the characters are wizards). Ye olde tome of spelles is the default, but a good funnel run should have something far more unique and imaginative. See Snakes as Books for a brilliant example. A means to communing with a possible patron, or free one from its prison, or (if you're a bastard Judge who doesn't automatically level up funnel runners who survive their first dungeon) information about where a patron might be found, along with urgent reasons to go there (so that, at the end of that second adventure, the wannabe wizard has the means to become a full-fledged one). You also want opportunities for characters with reasonable Intelligence to shine, but not in a dry and dusty manner. Translating the mysterious runes to learn a secret about the ruins you're in is one thing. Translating the mysterious runes that hold the key to your imminent death as the trap is activating? Much more exciting.
Aspiring clerics.... I find them the hardest. There's no occupation in the DCC list that indicates religious leanings, so a good funnel run needs to provide the player with an opportunity to learn about and then connect with the divine. But a Finger of God moment reaching down (or up) to bless the character is a Big Deal, the kind of thing that will alter the perceptions of all the characters and not just the one who wants to be the cleric. And there's the other thing. How do you know that the character who makes the connection is one that the player wanted to turn into a cleric? It's a tricky balance, but a good funnel needs to provide the opportunity for aspirants to volunteer for the divine contact without making it essential to successful completion of the funnel. And like two wannabe wizards, if you have two aspiring clerics, and they want to worship different gods, you need to provide multiple opportunities. A solution is to provide an opportunity to contact a particular pantheon of gods, but with different individual deities for different characters. Also note that having a cleric in the party will have a very big influence on the directions and adventures the party undertakes. Two clerics of opposed deities are going to make for a difficult game for the Judge. Lastly, especially when using prefab modules, you need to make sure that any divine opportunities and deities fit within the cosmology of your gameworld.
THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH
You need to lock your zeroes in the dungeon. As soon as they realise they're in over their heads, they'll want to (wisely) run away and find someone more capable or get better gear for the job. Nuh uh. This is about forcing the zeroes to rise to the occasion. If they can get out before it gets rough, they won't rise, they'll dribble away.
MINE'S BETTER
This is total self promo here, but I've used my Weird Urban Occupation List for four different groups of characters now, and every single time the players have chosen to base their characters' personalities on this list. It's weird, some of it I have no idea what it means, some of it's a bit ewwwww, but it always provokes good reactions from the players as they read out what occupation they got. Plus the unusual equipment has always provided a good laugh. Decapitating a zombie with a dead cat is win. Basically there's no way I could use the original DCC occupation list now. Just too dull.
If you want 4 Zeroes from that list ready to go, just click the link below to go to Purple Sorcerer's autogen:
Purple Sorcerer: Weird Urban Character Generator
SO NO ELVES.... EVER?
Not at all. If you want elves or any other non human race, just let any player who didn't make it through the funnel run with a character to spare include non-humans in their list of options. Or, if you feel like that's rewarding someone who shouldn't be, let the players unlock alternate races by exploring regions of your campaign where nonhuman reside. Been to the Little Lands? Sweet, now halflings are on the table. Been to visit the Molten King of the Iron Core? Dwarves are now available. And so on, depending entirely on what races you're going to allow. Reward good interaction with your world with more options for your players, and they'll keep exploring.
And that's all I've got for now.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Reincarnation, New Feierland style
New Feierland is the most horrible place in the universe, and my favourite place to go adventuring in. It's run by Trent B on G+, and while playing it I've witnessed some of the most hilarious situations and unfortunate deaths, usually at the same time. Hopefully Trent will make it available to the masses at some point in the near future. It's too good a game not to.
Anyway Lame Jimmy Headshot Groinstab --- deftly played by Reece Carter --- got himself killed, and the question of reincarnation came up.
The muse struck, and suddenly this New Feierland Reincarnation Table appeared:
Roll d100:
01. Mud
02. Shit
03. Dirt
04. A sheep's arse dag
05. A special snowflake. You melt.
06. A dog fart
07. A whiff of halitosis
08. Galoshes
09. A broken rake
10. A blunt knife
11. A fork with all its prongs snapped off
12. Mud
13. Bad luck mud
14. The drool in the last mouthful of beer
15. Bootwipings on a doorstep
16. The toenail clipping in a harlot's bed
17. A grub
18. Shit
19. A stale cup of milk
20. The grit in someone's eye
21. Captain Alistair's belly fluff
22. His righthand man's sock
23. Rancid tripe
24. Guano
25. A mournful one-legged seagull
26. The squirming tail dumped by a lizard
27. The runt in a litter of sewer mice
28. Mud
29. The puddle in a cart track
30. One of Lady Chesterton's Spoodles
31. A slab of meat in a butcher's window
32. A pig trough
33. A pig
34. A happy pig
35. An unhappy pig
36. A fly
37. Mud
38. A lame mule
39. The most whipped nag in town
40. Shit
41. The Outhouse at the pub
42. The hivemind of one dog's worth of gnats
43. A mangy dog
44. A mangy one legged dog
45. A soggy teatowel
47. Soiled bandages at the hospice
48. A very special flavour of shit
49. A cup of tea. Tepid.
50. Mud
51. A lonely tinker's widow
52. A rusty hammer
53. A songbird in a landlord's cage
54. An off key piano
55. A hat, out of fashion
56. A headless chicken
57. Shit
58. The cat that all the kids love to kick
59. A mud filled wellington at the bottom of a paddock
60. The stuffing in a lost teddy bear
61. The rotten cork in a bottle of fine wine
62. A bent knife
63. The necrotic bite in an old man's arm
64. A two headed calf
65. A door knock resting down the bottom of the harbour
66. The most beautiful thing the world will never see
67. Shit
68. A gestalt creature made of fish heads
69. The personification of all New Feierland's regret
70. A dried out quill
71. Mud
72. A fence post
73. A cracked bell in a church
74. A three legged stool with only two legs
75. A handless jug
76. The itch in the middle of someone's back
77. A freckle
78. Shit
79. A mop
80. A whip that never cracks
81. Arseworms in the nearest person
82. A sputtering candle
83. The handkerchief of a sweaty man
84. The shit stain on the side of a toilet bowl that everyone tries to piss away
85. A dead child's diary
86. The tick in a cow's ear
87. A disappointing meal
88. The fifth horn on a three eyed goat
89. A bucket of lard
90. Mud
91. A bloated toad
92. A blind raven
93. The oldest person alive; you have Tourette's
94. A well loved merkin
95. The beer trough at Cooper's
96. A New Feierland baby
97. The saddle of an obese and flatulent man
98. A mud shit melange
99. An adult of the race of your choosing
100. A new god
Blank DCC map
Someone on the DCC RPG G+ community
wanted a blank map for folks to co-create. Muse bit me. Here you go:
wanted a blank map for folks to co-create. Muse bit me. Here you go:
Also there's 216 entries. So if you need something random, you can use three d6 dice to choose.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
HUSK: History of a Hollow World Part VII
There's a whole bunch of references here to races and whatnot. I'm sure not all of it will make sense (I mean it does to me, but I wrote the thing) but check out the previous entries on the people of Husk over here (Part I) and here (Part II).
And for the previous posts on the History,
Part I is here, Part II is here, Part III is here, Part IV here, Part V is here and Part VI is here.
c 2,000-1,600 YEARS AGO
THE SHATTERING
The end result was the breakdown of social systems provided by the Viperium. The Orb was plunged into an new era of isolation and separation, but from this shattered empire arose may new and varied societies. Some good, some bad, but all free to choose the world in which they lived. For the first time in their history, as told to them by their former slave masters, The Children of the Narghwa were free. Once this realisation had sunken in, the Children began to express this freedom.
THE SHATTERING
The end result was the breakdown of social systems provided by the Viperium. The Orb was plunged into an new era of isolation and separation, but from this shattered empire arose may new and varied societies. Some good, some bad, but all free to choose the world in which they lived. For the first time in their history, as told to them by their former slave masters, The Children of the Narghwa were free. Once this realisation had sunken in, the Children began to express this freedom.
The greatest effect of the departure of the Narghwan overlords was the almost desperate attempt for each of the Child Races to establish their own unique culture and identity. Free of the homogeneous doctrines of the Viperium each people sought to distance themselves from each other, to mark themselves as an individual race in their own right. Millennia of repression were cast aside, and new prophets and visionaries sprouted every day, proclaiming their ideas that strove to lift their race out of the quagmire of Viperian blandness. New religions and beliefs spread like wildfire – if the Viperium was not the divine empire, then any race was eligible to be descended from Gods. Heretics and blasphemers suddenly held sway. A plethora of new faiths sprang up and died, then rose again in some new form. Eventually a core number of faiths and beliefs took hold and grew into the numerous practices seen across the Orb today. Some have fallen by the wayside; other, newer religions have taken their place. Whether there is a correct religion, or a universal truth, none knows, save that the majority of faiths recognises the right of an individual to choose their own path to god. Tolerance of differing views, and celebrating such differences is to be expected. The Mocker was widely admired and venerated, being incorporated into many religions. Most organised faiths began searching for pre-Viperium relics that might give credence to their beliefs. Sadly, few artefacts have ever been found.
The Shattering became a time of great upheaval, with millions of different peoples migrating to lands where their physical forms were more acclimatised. In the starkness of sudden free will people sought the comfort and safety of familiarity, and members of the different races began to unite with others of their kind, to share their experience of what it meant to be who they were. It was during this time that many of the unique cultural mores of each sentient race were defined, and many still hold a powerful sway even today. It is perhaps even more remarkable that the different races were able to unite given the scale, the immense size of the former Viperium, and the complete breakdown of social systems such as communication and transport.
The Narghwans lust for control meant that they had shared little of their knowledge with their underlings. The technology had remained in the hands of the Viperium since their schism with the Bhulkulbs, and with its collapse came the loss of much of the scientific knowledge stored in the Narghwan minds. The great devices they used in running the Viperium soon ground to a halt, and from there the rest of Narghwan society quickly unravelled. The monoliths and factories of the Viperium fell silent, and were destined to become ruinous testaments to their bygone power. The secret of Mogramid operation died with the passing of the Viperium, and they have remained unused to this day. Only the oldest forms of transport where available to the freed peoples of the Orb. Some took to the domesticated beasts that ploughed the lands to feed the former slaves; some retained or rediscovered the art of ship building, and a handful of the flying vessels that once filled the air remained in operation, but even they succumbed to wear and tear, and with only a small number of replaceable parts the flying machines were eventually grounded forever. The various colonies on the planets and moons were effectively cut off to all save the strongest and most enduring flying creatures, and contact with these isolated peoples was very difficult to maintain. Only the most dutiful of the freed slaves remained to operate the Lighthouses that communicated across the Orb, and for centuries this was the only method of communication maintained between the Orb and the Little Worlds, til at last one by one even the Lighthouses fell into ruin.
THE PASSING OF THE MOCKER
Despite the speed of social breakdown across the remenants of the Viperium several cultural forces managed for a time to maintain control over regional areas across the Orb. The majority were fortunate warlords who still held within their ever-dwindling arsenal a collection of powerful weapons with which to enforce their command. Yet two particular social movements outlasted these warring factions. The first was the Followers of the Flesh – those who sought to emulate the act of self-sacrifice as laid down by the Carcassanc over 600 years prior. Since then it had flourished into a organisation that wielded considerable influence among the Children of the Narghwa, and whose power structure lay outside the confines of the Viperium and thus survived the downfall relatively intact. The Fleshites maintained their organisation throughout the Shattering, and continues to function even to the present day, albeit in a somewhat different form.
The other force to be reckoned with in the earliest days of the Shattering was the cult of personality that formed around the Mocker. He was a living saviour to the Children of the Narghwa, and although he fought hard to maintain his independence and privacy it was impossible for him to shake the burden of gratitude of the people he had freed. He spent several years in seclusion recording his thoughts and teachings, then returned to the battle against tyranny that had risen in the form of the Bhulkulbs. It was a long and tiring campaign that spanned three continents and two decades. With the final defeat of the Bhulkulbs the Mocker retired from public life to a secluded monastery in Gweir Kraom, where he spent the last of his days among the Gurruun. In his notes he remarked on the irony that in freeing the world from tyranny he had imprisoned himself with fame.
And that, folks, is the end of the History of the Hollow World. At least as far as I wrote it ten years ago. What follows are some notes about what areas would remain civilized in the Post-Viperium world and the dark age that enveloped it, as well as a few notes on some of the key events leading up to the present day in the setting.
THE SCATTERED KINGDOMS
Numerous small kingdoms and citystates are formed, and centuries of skirmishes and little wars ensue as battle one another for resources, technology, and ideology amid the ruins of the Viperium.
CRADLES OF CIVILISATION:
CRADLES OF CIVILISATION:
Where sentients maintained the vestiges of civilisation (C: Climate B: Beliefs R: Races)
The Behkatar Coast – C: Temp B: Mockerlands R: Mixed
Chanka Chee – C: Temp B: Mockerlands R: Mixed, Cheebac
Klul – C: Hot B: Mockerlands R: Mixed
The Ruins of Serpentia – Carcassancara – C: Hot B: Carcarrancan R: Mixed
Barambay – C: Humid B: Mixed R: Mixed
Asharca Demons – C: Humid B: Viperium Faithful R: Mixed
Juddahud River Sinvashi – C: Hot B: Mockerlands R: Mixed, Cheebac, Ahkule
Gardens of Eredreem – The Potentiate of the Rhinde - C: Humid B: World Eater R: Rhinde, Mixed
Benopoca – C: Cold B: Self; Wounded World R: Mixed, Horrm
The Chiss
Harioc
FORBIDDEN LANDS:
FORBIDDEN LANDS:
Where civilisation survived but the borders were closed.
The Shapelands of Pushpanoi – The Playgrounds of the Guruun – C: Dry B: Artifice R: Guruun
The Ghardan Peninsula – Refuge of the Narghwans – C: Temp B: Viperium R: Narghwan; Slaves
WILDERNESS:
WILDERNESS:
Where all vestiges of civilization where lost.
Behkatar Desert
Djarkarshi Desert – Ahkule
Sinvashi Plains –
Plains of Karjnivarj – Horrmlands
The Ruined Lands of Vinvasleen – The Wrong, The Breed
The Stormlands of Avrusheen – The Duskyr
Calishe
The Seedling Jungles – Jyxi and Fael
Jungles of Eredreem
Klulkhun
Behkatar Desert
THE LAST CENTURY IN DETAIL
THE LAST CENTURY IN DETAIL
After a time, countries begin to form as particular kingdoms rise in power over their neighbours, til after a few centuries most regions are dominated by particularly powerful countries with surrounding tributaries. All manner of social systems arise as they are separated by vast distances and physical barriers – with the age of migration coming to an end, there is less transfer of new ideas. This time would be comparable to the era of 250 BCE.
c 1,600-1,300 YEARS AGO
ISOLATION AND RETROLUTION OF THE CULTURES
THE HUAJYJI HUNTERSTORMS
THE SCHWIERLING AMBASSADOR
THE FLESHSPHERE MIGRATIONS
THE EHLURI EMERGENCY
RISE OF THE LICKER CULTS
c 1,600-1,300 YEARS AGO
ISOLATION AND RETROLUTION OF THE CULTURES
THE HUAJYJI HUNTERSTORMS
THE SCHWIERLING AMBASSADOR
THE FLESHSPHERE MIGRATIONS
THE EHLURI EMERGENCY
RISE OF THE LICKER CULTS
All done. Thanks for sticking with it.
HUSK: History of a Hollow World Part VII
There's a whole bunch of references here to races and whatnot. I'm sure not all of it will make sense (I mean it does to me, but I wrote the thing) but check out the previous entries on the people of Husk over here (Part I) and here (Part II).
And for the previous posts on the History,
Part I is here, Part II is here, Part III is here, Part IV here, Part V is here and Part VI is here.
c 2,000-1,600 YEARS AGO
THE SHATTERING
The end result was the breakdown of social systems provided by the Viperium. The Orb was plunged into an new era of isolation and separation, but from this shattered empire arose may new and varied societies. Some good, some bad, but all free to choose the world in which they lived. For the first time in their history, as told to them by their former slave masters, The Children of the Narghwa were free. Once this realisation had sunken in, the Children began to express this freedom.
The greatest effect of the departure of the Narghwan overlords was the almost desperate attempt for each of the Child Races to establish their own unique culture and identity. Free of the homogeneous doctrines of the Viperium each people sought to distance themselves from each other, to mark themselves as an individual race in their own right. Millennia of repression were cast aside, and new prophets and visionaries sprouted every day, proclaiming their ideas that strove to lift their race out of the quagmire of Viperian blandness. New religions and beliefs spread like wildfire – if the Viperium was not the divine empire, then any race was eligible to be descended from Gods. Heretics and blasphemers suddenly held sway. A plethora of new faiths sprang up and died, then rose again in some new form. Eventually a core number of faiths and beliefs took hold and grew into the numerous practices seen across the Orb today. Some have fallen by the wayside; other, newer religions have taken their place. Whether there is a correct religion, or a universal truth, none knows, save that the majority of faiths recognises the right of an individual to choose their own path to god. Tolerance of differing views, and celebrating such differences is to be expected. The Mocker was widely admired and venerated, being incorporated into many religions. Most organised faiths began searching for pre-Viperium relics that might give credence to their beliefs. Sadly, few artefacts have ever been found.
The Shattering became a time of great upheaval, with millions of different peoples migrating to lands where their physical forms were more acclimatised. In the starkness of sudden free will people sought the comfort and safety of familiarity, and members of the different races began to unite with others of their kind, to share their experience of what it meant to be who they were. It was during this time that many of the unique cultural mores of each sentient race were defined, and many still hold a powerful sway even today. It is perhaps even more remarkable that the different races were able to unite given the scale, the immense size of the former Viperium, and the complete breakdown of social systems such as communication and transport.
The Narghwans lust for control meant that they had shared little of their knowledge with their underlings. The technology had remained in the hands of the Viperium since their schism with the Bhulkulbs, and with its collapse came the loss of much of the scientific knowledge stored in the Narghwan minds. The great devices they used in running the Viperium soon ground to a halt, and from there the rest of Narghwan society quickly unravelled. The monoliths and factories of the Viperium fell silent, and were destined to become ruinous testaments to their bygone power. The secret of Mogramid operation died with the passing of the Viperium, and they have remained unused to this day. Only the oldest forms of transport where available to the freed peoples of the Orb. Some took to the domesticated beasts that ploughed the lands to feed the former slaves; some retained or rediscovered the art of ship building, and a handful of the flying vessels that once filled the air remained in operation, but even they succumbed to wear and tear, and with only a small number of replaceable parts the flying machines were eventually grounded forever. The various colonies on the planets and moons were effectively cut off to all save the strongest and most enduring flying creatures, and contact with these isolated peoples was very difficult to maintain. Only the most dutiful of the freed slaves remained to operate the Lighthouses that communicated across the Orb, and for centuries this was the only method of communication maintained between the Orb and the Little Worlds, til at last one by one even the Lighthouses fell into ruin.
THE PASSING OF THE MOCKER
Despite the speed of social breakdown across the remenants of the Viperium several cultural forces managed for a time to maintain control over regional areas across the Orb. The majority were fortunate warlords who still held within their ever-dwindling arsenal a collection of powerful weapons with which to enforce their command. Yet two particular social movements outlasted these warring factions. The first was the Followers of the Flesh – those who sought to emulate the act of self-sacrifice as laid down by the Carcassanc over 600 years prior. Since then it had flourished into a organisation that wielded considerable influence among the Children of the Narghwa, and whose power structure lay outside the confines of the Viperium and thus survived the downfall relatively intact. The Fleshites maintained their organisation throughout the Shattering, and continues to function even to the present day, albeit in a somewhat different form.
The other force to be reckoned with in the earliest days of the Shattering was the cult of personality that formed around the Mocker. He was a living saviour to the Children of the Narghwa, and although he fought hard to maintain his independence and privacy it was impossible for him to shake the burden of gratitude of the people he had freed. He spent several years in seclusion recording his thoughts and teachings, then returned to the battle against tyranny that had risen in the form of the Bhulkulbs. It was a long and tiring campaign that spanned three continents and two decades. With the final defeat of the Bhulkulbs the Mocker retired from public life to a secluded monastery in Gweir Kraom, where he spent the last of his days among the Gurruun. In his notes he remarked on the irony that in freeing the world from tyranny he had imprisoned himself with fame.
And that, folks, is the end of the History of the Hollow World. At least as far as I wrote it ten years ago. What follows are some notes about what areas would remain civilized in the Post-Viperium world and the dark age that enveloped it, as well as a few notes on some of the key events leading up to the present day in the setting.
THE SCATTERED KINGDOMS
Numerous small kingdoms and citystates are formed, and centuries of skirmishes and little wars ensue as battle one another for resources, technology, and ideology amid the ruins of the Viperium.
CRADLES OF CIVILISATION:
Where sentients maintained the vestiges of civilisation (C: Climate B: Beliefs R: Races)
The Behkatar Coast – C: Temp B: Mockerlands R: Mixed
Chanka Chee – C: Temp B: Mockerlands R: Mixed, Cheebac
Klul – C: Hot B: Mockerlands R: Mixed
The Ruins of Serpentia – Carcassancara – C: Hot B: Carcarrancan R: Mixed
Barambay – C: Humid B: Mixed R: Mixed
Asharca Demons – C: Humid B: Viperium Faithful R: Mixed
Juddahud River Sinvashi – C: Hot B: Mockerlands R: Mixed, Cheebac, Ahkule
Gardens of Eredreem – The Potentiate of the Rhinde - C: Humid B: World Eater R: Rhinde, Mixed
Benopoca – C: Cold B: Self; Wounded World R: Mixed, Horrm
The Chiss
Harioc
FORBIDDEN LANDS:
Where civilisation survived but the borders were closed.
The Shapelands of Pushpanoi – The Playgrounds of the Guruun – C: Dry B: Artifice R: Guruun
The Ghardan Peninsula – Refuge of the Narghwans – C: Temp B: Viperium R: Narghwan; Slaves
WILDERNESS:
Where all vestiges of civilization where lost.
Behkatar Desert
Djarkarshi Desert – Ahkule
Sinvashi Plains –
Plains of Karjnivarj – Horrmlands
The Ruined Lands of Vinvasleen – The Wrong, The Breed
The Stormlands of Avrusheen – The Duskyr
Calishe
The Seedling Jungles – Jyxi and Fael
Jungles of Eredreem
Klulkhun
Behkatar Desert
THE LAST CENTURY IN DETAIL
After a time, countries begin to form as particular kingdoms rise in power over their neighbours, til after a few centuries most regions are dominated by particularly powerful countries with surrounding tributaries. All manner of social systems arise as they are separated by vast distances and physical barriers – with the age of migration coming to an end, there is less transfer of new ideas. This time would be comparable to the era of 250 BCE.
c 1,600-1,300 YEARS AGO
ISOLATION AND RETROLUTION OF THE CULTURES
THE HUAJYJI HUNTERSTORMS
THE SCHWIERLING AMBASSADOR
THE FLESHSPHERE MIGRATIONS
THE EHLURI EMERGENCY
RISE OF THE LICKER CULTS
All done. Thanks for sticking with it.
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