Markdoc

Re: How much of "typical fantasy setting" actually intersects with "medieval europe"? Like anything, depends on the GM and players. We played in some "realistic" Chivalry and Sorcery games set in historical periods - a short series of mystery-solving adventures as monks in 1500's Spain, inspired by "the Name of the Rose" and a longer campaign set during and immediately after the first crusade where we were a bunch of land-hungry and/or pious knights aiming to christianise the holy land. Both games were absolute blasts and remain among my fondest roleplaying memories. I also played a "fantasy England" game of Chivalry and Sorcery set in Wales. That obviously departed more from historical simulation, being as what it involved our characters in the Goblin Wars, but if you swapped out "Goblins" with "Welsh" it would not have played very differently We've also - using Hero system - played a Dark Ages England game set in Mercia during the Saxon invasions, which was relatively "true to life". So it can be - and occasionally is - done, but in general, fantasy roleplaying deals with medieval realities barely at all. As noted, you typically have knights (but not real feudalism), Castles (but not really resembling real castles in either design, placement or function) and agrarian societies (but not usually resembling real ones very much). Fair enough - they're fantasy worlds. What irks me a little more is how often GMs (or writers) don't even try to make their own worlds internally consistent. cheers, Mark

Re: Spell Active/ Real Cost in Average Games I don't use point limits. It's a lot more trouble than it's worth, IMO, since some traditional (in gaming fantasy) spells are surprisingly expensive while some cheap spells (like flash, or forcefield) are hugely effective. Instead, I'd recomend controlling spells, either individually (by defining them yourself), or systemically (for example, by requiring a skill roll - high active point spells will need correspndingly high skill rolls). In most of my games I control active points multiple ways - by requiring spells to take skill rolls *and* by requiring "Mana" to cast (Long term Endurance) for example *and* by having magic styles which only grant access to a limited range of spells (so you don't get a swiss army mage who has the right spell for every encounter). cheers, Mark

Re: Would you allow this?

Re: Need Magic System Advice

Re: Would you allow this? My call would be no. Without more information, he'd be able to get a rough copy: what such a person *could* look like. This is what the OP actually allowed and to me seems both logically consistent and mechanically fair. Sure. DNA is DNA. The time limit is how long DNA remains reasonably intact. A 1000 year old freeze-dried body might yield a fine sample, where a sample from blood lying 24 hours on the asphalt sidewalk in the sun won't. However, you won't get a copy of Honest Abe: you'll get the information that the target is a white human male, with brown eyes and black hair. You might guess that he had hyperthyroidy because the copy has big hands and feet and prominent facial bones. But Abe Lincoln looked quite different at 18 than 45, and would have looked very different with a full beard or no beard at all - so what the shapeshifted copy will look like will depend on some guesses. Chances that you'd get something that looked exactly like (or even recognisable as) Abe Lincoln from a DNA copy are so small as to be essentially negligible. Agreed. To me, making a rough (and it would be very rough, without more information on the target) copy via DNA is not only logical, but presents no real issues in gameplay. What you are likely to get would be even rougher than most police renderings, without information on age, weight, hair, etc. cheers, Mark

Re: Would you allow this? Agreed. The character has paid points for shapeshift - allowing him to mimic other forms. In addition, he has paid for the cellular adder, allowing him to mimic those forms down to the cellular level. In the case you described, he did just that. As far as I can see, all this stuff about "he didn't pay for analyse" is so much flibbertigibbit. He didn't pay for analyse. True. But he wasn't analysing the DNA. He paid for the ability to mimic and he mimicked. Basically, after reading all the discussion so far, I still have a hard time seeing the relevance of most of the arguments. Analyse DNA would give you the ability to determine lots of things - such as the relatedness of two DNA samples, the presence of inobvious mutations and so on. Shapeshift - even as described in this incident - gives you none of that. It may allow you to make some guesses based on the appearance of the individual copied. That's it. There is necessarily some overlap, but there's also overlap between EB and HKA - that doesn't mean they are precisely the same power. Basically your call sounds good to me, and I'd go with it. cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go! Khatz attempts to locate the escaped swimming smuggler using his magical scrying gift on some items he left behind (his bow), and sees that he is heading for a narrow alley in a dark, narrow city. After discussion about where this could be they decide it _might_ be in Darkwall, according to a local who has visited the place, as it is built against a cliff. After some debate they spend a couple of days becoming familiar with their new ship and then take the Sea Ghost down to Blackwall, Gen throwing up all the way. Darkwall is a ways inland up a river which drains the swamp that largely blocks access to the castle and town from the west, and shifting sandbars make it necessary to take on a pilot. They wait at the mouth of the river, and eventually someone notices them and paddles out in a coracle. His name is Brill, and when they get him to talk, he tells them stories of strange and unnatural goings-on in and around Darkwall. For example: last year a fisherman was found on the edge of the swamp, flayed and nailed to a raft. Local conclusion: THEY were trying to make him look like THEM (the players have difficulty information out of Brill, who doesn’t exactly trust them, and has a thick local accent to boot). And years ago a merchant's boy visited the comely and ageless witch or fortuneteller who lives at the edge of the swamp the swamp made the mistake of staying overnight. He claims he saw THEM come out of the swamp and bargain with the witch for men's skins so that THEY can walk abroad, for THEY had no skins of their own. The players quickly grasped the idea that THEY and THEM should be understood as inhuman creatures that live in the swamp. Now, Brill tells us, the boy drinks. Lamoniak's new henchman Anton says he has heard of these things without skins from his mother. It's an old story, and they do lure people off the path and into swamps, etc. They dock at Darkwall, which has a cheerful and welcoming atmosphere similar to Innsmouth. It lies in a bay of the river, climbing against high black cliffs, and well-defended at the upstream end of the harbour by a sturdy fort. A bridge with a drawbridge crosses the river to grazing meadows and woods on the far side, beyond which lies the celebrated swamp. They ask after visiting Samadrians of the innkeeper, Brill's brother and find out that a ship has been in port with a half dozen merchants on board, surely their Samadrians. Leaving Bellona and Castor to guard the Sea Ghost they approach the fort, and begin to get some surprises. The guards on the gate do not react with surprise to the Horse Silas. They barely pay attention to the party; they are too busy discussing philosophy! And when the players make their usual fuss about having to leave their swords, they let them take them in! At the next pair of guards, however, only Lamoniak may keep his sword; the rest of them must disarm. Silas is led off to the stables, this time with proper amazement and awe. They are shown into the solar at the top of the keep, a square stone room hung with banners, furnished with old but good wooden furniture, and decorated with a nice assortment of weapons. Here Lord Thorn of Darkwall is busily at work. He is a big friendly man in his 50's with a look of having spent much time in outdoor pursuits. The only notable things about him are a gold chain that he wears beneath his shirt, and a gold ring. He greets them heartily and immediately asks if any of them can help him - with writing poetry. He's quite serious. His desk is covered with papers, all of them well written-over. Khatz volunteers, and Thorn takes to him as a fellow artistic spirit. The next few minutes are spent deep in consideration of Thorn's latest piece, a flowing and visionary work of poetry. This all seems so improbable that they ask cautious questions. Thorn is generally oblivious to their raised eyebrows, though occasionally he gets a _vague_ look on his face. The Lord of Darkwall tells them that he gets his inspiration from dreams, and his favourite themes are clearly dark and gothic. He explains that he used to do everything _but_ poetry, things like war and hunting, and that he only started writing poetry about a week ago. Now it is all he wants to do, and he is actually very good at it. He can't give them a reason for the abrupt change in lifestyle. Aquila spots an ornate gold inkwell on Thorn's desk and enquires. It came from 'a bunch of merchants who came through town' a week or so ago, and was more precisely purchased off a ship's captain, the late Captain Balar who used to own the Sea Ghost. Thorn also really wants to learn to play music: it was he who wrote the letter found in Balar's cabin requesting musical instruments. They ask him about the swamp, and he acknowledges that there are 'fae' in there, and that people sometimes go missing. Recently there have been a couple from the town... and perhaps a couple from the road through the swamp as well. Thorn invites them to a private feast that night! Or rather, he invites Khatz, if Khatz will set Thorn's latest work to music and perform some of his own compositions. The rest of them are welcome too, as an afterthought. Khatz goes back to the inn to get composing, and Aquila has a quiet chat over a few beers with a couple of miners whom he spotted fishing from the dock. They work in Darkwall (the cliff behind the town) which is a silver mine. But the mine supervisor is at home painting, so these two are off work. After a bit of hedging they produce the local gossip that 'something funny' is happening in Darkwall. People disappear one day and come back _different_ or mad. Like Lord Thorn. They warn Aquila to 'be careful' in the town, without giving a reason. Lamoniak presents himself to the harbourmaster (and innkeeper) as the new captain of the Sea Ghost. He learns that the late Captain Balar traded in general goods and occasionally took passengers. On his visit before last - on the way south to Houndsgard - Balar stayed two days and his passengers never left the boat. But a large box was delivered to the castle without the harbourmaster inspecting it (he doesn’t expect goods going to the castle – they are Lord Thorn’s property, after all) and it was returned empty - arrows? Aquila and Lamoniak rejoin the rest of the group and they are given a guided tour of the town by a castle flunky. Despite his embarrassment and best efforts they see some interesting sights. The blacksmith is making something out of wood in his back yard, a sculpture of a lovely young woman. When they opffer him some work, he stops just long enough to sharpen Aquila's sword, then gets back to work. He has no idea why he has suddenly started carving wood - he just suddenly felt like it a couple of weeks ago, and had to 'get it out of his head', it being the sculpture. They hear a female singer in a third storey room singing beautifully in a language none of them recognise. They make their way to the main street and find the merchant's boy who stayed with the witch of the swamp. That was many years ago, and he is now a merchant himself. But he still remembers that night very clearly and says that the fey creatures he saw were 'half-man, half-monster, and all skinless'. His name for that sort of creature is Nuckelavee, though he’s not sure if this is singular or plural. During their chat with the merchant their guide admits that 'something is wrong' in the town. Both guide and merchant are astonished to hear that Lord Thorn is writing poetry. According to their guide, Thorn had until recently been quite worried about the situation here; he had dismissed some soldiers of the garrison because he didn't trust them, and he seemed to be fearing an attack on the town. Then a week ago he 'went funny' and took the dismissed soldiers back into his service - the philosophers they met at the gate to the keep. Kelsan and Aquila ask questions about the witch in the swamp. She often orders fancy goods from the merchant: sugared plums, gold necklaces, etc, and pays with gold or with favours such as fortune telling. The merchant has a boy who delivers the goods to her, but the boy was chosen for his distinct lack of comeliness, so he doesn't expect any problems. Khelsan and Aquila notice that the merchant has a fancy-work brass casting for sale, a lovely little statuette of a mermaid. He wants 20 silvers for it, but it is really high quality and would be worth far more in the city. It was made by a former miner who lives at the upper end of the town, who has recently developed an interest in making jewelry. For some reason the merchant looks shifty as he tells them this. The other merchant on the main street whom Khelsan and Aquila enquire after had left his shop and gone out that morning, a break from routine that his neighbours found rather unusual. Khelsan and Aquila head up the town to look for the maker of the statuette, appropriately named Art. They find his humble house on one of the highest streets, near the gate at the top end of town. In the main room the table is covered with plaster, ores, wax and other tools of his occupation, and enamels which his wife is working with. Art is an excitable, voluble chap who needs little encouragement to babble enthusiastically about his art. He has only been making things for a couple of months, but he is already producing masterpieces. He says he started with simple brooches, and the inspiration just comes to him in dreams. At the moment he is working on a statuette of a serpent woman. He is looking rather pale and scrawny, so Khelsan gives him two silver pieces! Khatz finishes putting Lord Thorn's poem to music. Then he composes his own poem about a king who was induced to spare the life of a marauding dragon with the gift of an enchanted harp, which bewitched him so that he neglected the safety of his kingdom, allowing the dragon to maraud in peace. Khatz tries it out on a couple of villagers in the inn, and one points out 'That's an allegory, in't it?'. His friend's shocked reaction shows how deeply suspicious the people of Darkwall are of this strange outbreak of culture in their midst. While Khelsan and Aquila are tracking down art and artists, Gen and Lamoniak return to the castle and ask to speak to the Lord's steward. He has gone to the temple in the town, so they follow him there and invite themselves into the inner room where he is talking to the priests of the Horned Man and the Laughing God. The steward is a brusque older man who is not the least bit contaminated or artistic. After Lamoniak has presented their credentials, including their dealings with the supernatural, expressed their interest in the strange happenings in Darkwall, and offered their services should they be considered useful, the steward instructs the priests to 'show them the body!'. In a back chamber is the body of a very old man - but all the Darkwallers swear that he is only about forty. They tell them that the deceased had become obsessed by morbid poetry and had been getting sicker for several months. There is a small wound in the side of his neck, and the corpse is sunken and pallid, as if all his blood has been drained away. The steward and the priests tell them everything they know about this mysterious phenomenon. It started only a few months ago with the miners, and now a third of the town is affected. When pressed, they admit that while they don’t know of it, their Lord might have gone into the mines. The steward is in truth deeply shaken by the change in Lord Thorn, formerly a bold and warlike man well suited to defending a rich mining town from the enemies and things beyond its gates. The steward has taken his own steps to combat this strange menace without quite knowing what he is fighting - he has sent the Lord's son to stay at a distant outpost, and he won't be allowed back until this is over, whatever this is. The players express an interest in visiting the mines, so the priests identify a sane miner whom they can interview at the temple tomorrow. On the other hand, all these questions have aroused some suspicions - the priests warn them that they are not keen to let the Church Militant loose in Darkwall. A few years ago the town burned some Church Militant members for trying to kill a harmless old madman who had wandered into town. Nothing more can be done that night; they return to the castle with the steward. Before the feast Gen slips down to the kitchens and cadges some bunches of garlic from a kitchen boy, sharing it out among the party. The feast is a small and intimate gathering; only the castle inhabitants and the characters. While they eat they are entertained by three women dancing in a graceful and sinuous manner, a style none of them has seen before. The players note a definite theme of women and snakes is emerging. Lord Thorn is deeply moved by Khatz' performance of his poem, but Khatz' allegory on an enchantment that interferes with good government goes right over his head. Some of the castle's other inhabitants react with suspicion, and the steward scowls at Khatz. They sleep that night protected by garlic hanging at all the windows of their rooms. cheers, Mark

Re: Need Viking Data It is around - it showed at a local cinema here last year (though only for a short time). That version was danish subtitled, but I don't doubt that other versions can be found if one cares to hunt: it's a bit of a cult film. Look under the English title "When the Raven Flies". There was a sequel (Shadow of the Raven) but I don't know much about it. cheers, Mark

Re: Would you allow this?

Re: Cool Guns for your Games

Re: Cool Guns for your Games It's like a derringer. Gold and enamel versions of those were made back in the 19th century, too, which should tip you off to the market. I was at a museum with my dad, looking at one of the really tiny derringers as a kid and I made a similar comment. He just laughed and said "It's made small so you can keep it in your purse. If you ever need to use it, your target will be close enough that you can stick the muzzle in his ear." cheers, Mark

Re: Need Viking Data

Re: Monk Actually, I would allow a -1/2 limitation to "not while armoured" since although the character does not plan to use weapons or armour, he is giving up a significant advantage, in terms of free equipment. That limitation also balances off with the "equipment of opportunity" limitation which essentially all free equipment implies (lose your sword, you lose your HKA - until you can grab another). We have actually used exactly this approach in some FH games, and it seemed to balance OK. The only caveat is that the GM only allowed such a limitation where it was appropriate. We didn't allow combat luck to stack with armour, so it wouldn't apply there, to take one example. cheers, Mark

Re: Walking Directions To Mordor One does! One totally does! cheers, Mark

Re: kind of fantasy You asking me to explain a Japanese term? Ahhhhhh ... difficult. Seriously though, I'm not surprised it was hard to work out - depending on context, taisei can mean road, gate or route, not necessarily physical I was using it in the commonest sense, though, meaning a Gate. In Feudal Japan, it was common practice for the local authorities to set up gates (taisei) on roads and check everyone who passed though. You either had to have papers (with the stamp of a high official, describing you, your journey and your destination) or have a standing arrangement (a peasant who went every week to market in the same town, for example) or risk arrest. Important roads (big commercial highways or small roads through strategic regions) usually had permanent taisei, staffed by many samurai and doshin. They weren't just at the borders either - important roads had dozens of them, and every city or town of any importance had them on the approaches. Castle towns even had them internally: to go from one suburb to the next, you needed papers or a good explanation. You couldn't just wander around town as you felt like it. But in addition, there were "wandering taisei" - a group of samurai would take a small road at random, block off the sides with a bamboo fence backed up with archers and then spend a few days interrogating everyone who passed through. If you turned and tried to escape when you came around a corner and saw a taisei, you could be legally shot down. Basically, the whole idea was to stop criminals and ne'er do wells like player characters from traipsing around the countryside at will. In my game, I kept it, though made sure the players either had suitable passes, or made getting around taisei part of the scenario. But then for me it was win-win: taisei are a big part of the atmosphere of Japanese travel and also a useful railroad trick for the GM. The player's can't just take off somewhere at random: they need either passes or have to be prepared to deal with taisei. In Blood of the Immortal, it's also a major feature: big-deal swordsman Manji nearly gets himself killed trying to get papers, while Rin near cuts her stomach open and uses the excuse of having had a cæsarian section to get past one (long story). In Usagi Yojimbo they also appear, although it's mostly just an occasional plot device: Usagi has some kind of "general use" pass from a Daimyo and Gen never seems to have any problems, despite his lack of papers. In Lone wolf and son, however, the instantly recognisable duo wander the roads pretty much at will. I don't seem to recall them ever having taisei problems and they sure as hay-ell don't have legal papers... cheers, Mark

Re: Seven Wonders of the Totalitarian World Also, I think there's some confusion here over the post-communist eastern European countries where statues of Russians - like Lenin and Stalin - were torn down, and post-communist Russia - where they pretty much all stayed up, or were moved to less conspicuous locations. cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go! Gen gives the alchemist's gold candlestick to the temple for healing magic for everyone, as much as they can take. Khatz still being a walking pincushion, he takes lodgings with full board and sick care at the inn, and doesn't leave his bed for a week. Gen also returns belatedly to the alchemist's house to search for Sanbalet's book of magic and the large bag of silver he received from the Samadrians, but the villagers already have ransacked the place! Even the panelling has been torn off the walls in some rooms to search for the treasures supposedly hidden behind them. The villagers have also taken Sanbalet's sea chest, though Gen does find a loose flagstone, that lifts to reveal only a few traces of red and blue wax. A leather wine bottle bearing a lightning bolt symbol lying in the corner of the room has been slit open, and as its neck carries traces of the same sort of wax, so they conclude that the flagstone hid a stash of smuggled spirits. Lamoniak has a friendly chat with Aton the smuggler - he wants a henchman, and if Aton helps them take the Sea Ghost and works for Lamoniak, the armiger Kris won't have him sent to the galleys. Aton starts earning his keep by telling them more about the Sea Ghost: it is a 1-masted cog, and only a small crew (about 4) is the minimum needed to sail it, though there are more crew on it at the moment. They have just enough people who can sail a ship: Kelsan, Bellona, Aton and Katz. Castor inspects the alchemist's books. One is on alchemy, and could possibly teach him how to make a Philosopher's Stone. It also contains a fake Midas spell, to give objects the appearance of gold (they hastily inspect their looted treasures, but they seem to be genuine). They devise a cunning plan! Aquila will use his Disguise gift to alter his appearance to look like Sanbalet - he gets to work studying the dead magic user's features, and they have his rather bloodstained clothes cleaned and repaired. Aquila/Sanbalet will row out to the Sea Ghost with Khatz and Aton as smugglers, taking with them Lamoniak playing an eccentric lordling eloping with the fair Lady Bellona, who is willing to pay well in gold to be shipped beyond the reach of her father. Gen will be transported in an arrow crate to be hauled up onto the Sea Ghost, much the safest way for everyone, since he’s afraid of deep water so is not much use in the boat. Khelsen will be making a pincer manouvre in a fishing boat from Salterton, as he cannot fit into the smuggler's row boat with the rest of them . Just before they go out to the Sea Ghost, Castor will cast the fake Midas spell on a handful of copper coins; Lamoniak will fumble and drop these on deck as distraction for the crew and a signal for them to attack. Nine days go by. They move into the alchemist's house, and set a villager to watch on the tower for the Sea Ghost. When the light of the ship is spotted at the dark of the moon they send the return signal, apparently correctly, since the ship drops anchor and waits for them to approach. They row out and manage to get abourd without too much trouble. After a little tense conversation with Captain Balar, who is getting increasingly suspicious, Lamoniak scatters his well-displayed gold coins, half the smuggler crew dive for them, and the characters launch their attack! A swashbuckling fight ensues! Among many dramatic moments, Bellona strikes Captain Balar a mighty blow in the chest, which knocks him through the railing and overboard. He is wearing chainmail, and sinks at once. An archer in the crows nest shoots at them, and as the fight winds down Khatz goes scrambling up the ratlines to get him, at which the archer takes fright and dives into the sea. Khelsen and Aton immediately row after him, but in the darkness he escapes by swimming. They anchor the ship, since it was drifting towards the cliffs, and examine their prize. The ship had been crewed by eight, of whom they had killed seven, including the captain (GM’s note: he is wearing a water-breathing charm on a cord around his neck, so is not in fact dead, but the players don’t know that). They search the late Captain Balar's cabin. Both the bunk and the desk are on gimbals, and the cabin also contains a bearskin rug, another chair and a lantern. In the sea chest they find a sextant, some bottles of good wine, clothes, a leather pouch with several hundred silver coins (some Samadrian ones among them) and a few gold coins, a logbook and the captain's rutter (a list of landmarks rather than a map). There are letters - including several from three different wives, all under the impression that they are the one and only Mrs Balar, in Theyre Tpwn, Houndsgard and a village - and two interesting ones, the first unsigned and requesting arrows, the second signed Blackwall and instructing the captain to cancel the arrows and send musical instruments instead. Is this a forgery or a cover-up? A false bottom in the sea chest reveals a second captain's log with interesting notes such as 'box of arrows' (underlined) and 'passengers discharged at Houndsgard – the players work out this is probably the Samadrians. These passengers paid 1200 silvers for their passage (which is a lot!); about a half of this is still in the leather pouch. Aquila searches the cabin and under the hollow box bed finds a space down into the hold where there must be a false wall. This mini-hold contains a box of arrows, and smells of many humans packed into too small a space. There are shreds of ripped cloth caught on the rough timbers, which Khatz gathers carefully for future analysis. In the prow of the ship is the mate's cabin with two hammocks, a portable iron stove, a little table on gimbals, wooden chairs, boots and lanterns, and a bowl of fruit. From the bodies of the smugglers they get knives, shortswords and 40 silvers. At dawn Aton rows Lamoniak and Gen to shore where Gen borrows a qurrock and they scour the coast in opposite directions, trying to find where the escaped smuggler got ashore and catch him - but without success. cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go! After ransacking the merchant’s house, Khelsen and Bellona go to interrogate Sanbalet and find to their horror that his cell is empty, though apparently undisturbed. Fortunaely for them, they are not so easily fooled and check his cell minutely – he’s actually still there. He had tried to escape by turning invisible in his cell, but Aquila searches it and finds him. He is wearing the garb of a magic user-priest of the Smiler cult, the trickster god, and by his accent comes from this island, Ostragaya. He says that the captain of the smuggler's ship is called Balar, and Sanbalet says he doesn't know if it is ever coming back here. He claims he knows nothing of any Samadrians, but according to Castor (who’s using his truth spell in the background) he *does* know that the ship *is* coming back some time within the next 2-3 weeks. He also works out that Sanbalet really didn't know anything about the Samadrians or about cultists, but is worried about something to do with the smuggling that he didn't want the players to find out. Kris - the local armiger - gives up in disgust, and the party goes out for dinner with her, sitting on the balcony of the inn for privacy. The inn is packed tonight and everyone is cheerful - they've just taken down the town's moneylender, Alys, which at the very least means no payments for a while. Over dinner Castor points out that if the ship is coming back, they have the smuggler's code sheet with the moon-phase symbols and lamp signals, and that they can hopefully manage to lure the smugglers in to the coast where they can - theoretically - catch them. They decide to try interrogating the smuggler Aton again tomorrow. Aquilla and Gen stand guard over the cells that night, but all is quiet. In the morning they peer through the grating into Sanbalet's cell and see his body in the same position as the night before. They open the doors - he is dead, and sitting in a wide pool of blood! Apparently, he sharpened his belt buckle and cut his own throat. Could there have been outside influence?? But when they inspect it properly, the body proves to be an illusion. Aquila is reasonably sure that no one had come past him, and so he searches the cell again. When he pokes a sword-point up into a corner of the cell, Sanbalet appears and blinds everybody with a flash of light! Bellona atttacks, as she can fight blind, but Sanbalet slips by her. In the corridor outside, he grabs a dagger off Aquila’s belt, but though blinded, Aquila grabs his robe and draws a dagger of his own. The two of them grapple and stab each other with daggers before Khelsen comes up stuns Sanbalet by hitting him with the hilt of his dagger. They drag him back into the cell, leaking blood in all directions, where he really does die, to their disappointment. They find no evil cultic symbols or tattoos on his body, but Bellona keeps his belt buckle as a souvenir. In Theyre Town, Lamoniak sees the guard captain for a second breakfast, and tells the whole story. He gets to repeat it that afternoon to the lord's steward/magician/tax auditor, a wrinkly old guy with a hat and a staff called Kehan. It is arranged that they set out for Salterton at once; the guards on the city gate salute Kehan with deference as they pass through. Kehan has a good qurrock and rides well, and on the journey back he listens well, but gives very little away in return. Back in Salterton they try interrogating the smuggler Aton again, and learn that the Sea Ghost is a caravelle or cog. He claims that 'one of the guys in Theyre Town ' must have put the Samadrians on to the smugglers, but he knows no names. The Samadrians did mention a 'castle' and 'home', Sillith and 'a town in the south' as being their destinations - the town must be Houndsgard, where they are probably changing ship. They send pigeons to Theyre Town with a message be sent on to Houndsgard to arrest both the crew of the Sea Ghost and the Samadrians. Aton also speaks of an unusual order for weapons, from a lord in the eastern part of Ostragaya, which explains the crates of arrows. Smuggling is a hanging offence, but that goes double for smuggling weapons. Strangely Aton says the order was from a lord, who could presumably buy them openly, so the players are puzzled as to why he is using smugglers. The arrows come from Theyre Town, where they think somebody may be stealing them from the city armoury! There were too many for one trip, thus the crates left in the cave. Kris the armiger tells them that the only city with a lord down the eastern coast between here and Houndsgard is Darkwall, a mining town with a castle, three days' sail away. She thinks that the lord may have been arming up because of the Gyres, a family of bandits and dispossessed ex-armigers called 'the Lords of the Hills', who could potentially be rebels. Lamoniak and Kehan, who calls himself 'an emissary' arrive after dark and leave their animals at the inn before finding them at the armiger's house. She doesn't recognise Kehan, but his warrant is in order. Kehan questions the party and they repeat their story. He agrees with their interpretation of the code sheet, that the signal is dependant on phase of the moon to avoid duplicating of the code by outsiders. That night Khatz meditates over a handful of their qurrocks' feathers in a quiet spot in the forest, attempting to track them and Ned. He sees Ned - and their qurrocks! - on the way to a village, on a mound in the mountains with open country all around, which from his description might be Doorn. They send a message there by pigeon that morning, bearing Kehar's stamp, to arrest Ned and return the qurrocks safely to Gen's father's farm. In return they promise to take the smuggler's ship for the armiger Kris. Also that day they return to the alchemist's mansion, to clean up the house so the town militia can watch there for the smuggler's ship while they rest. The dead bodies in the caves are starting to smell, and are consigned to the sea. They break apart the boards over the door marked 'Danger' in the cellar. The door is not trapped, and it opens to reveal a dingy room to the left, away from the sea, which contains broken furniture and human bones. The latter promptly stand up and shamble towards them! A hard battle ensues, with Khatz falling nobly in combat several times and the rest of them getting generally beaten. At last they retreat back out the door and bar it with a rope so only one skeleton can get at them at a time... Then they pick them off one by one. Inside the room Aquila locates a hollow spot on one wall, and Khelsen smashes open a heavy wooden door, to reveal an alchemist's laboratory - with the alchemist still inside! The room is full of collapsed lab equipment and shelves of glassware. There is a crowded work table, and behind it a fine large chair containing the alchemist's skeleton, which does not stand up and shamble towards them. They remove its skull just in case. There are papers scattered everywhere, books, recipes, lists of chemical ingredients. Under the dust and mess on the table are shiny things - a golden candlestick and candle (also gold), five golden discs, a heavy golden skull, a golden rose and a golden apple. There is something magic in the skeleton's hand - an ovoid black stone - and something else on the table. Aquila opens a secret drawer in the table and finds the alchemist's leather and brass bound spellbook. Castor takes care of this, while Bellona takes the black stone, and Khatz carries off other books and scrolls. In short, they take everything of value, including an anonymous silver ring from the alchemist's bony hand. Then they return to Salterton for a few days of well-earned rest.

Re: Cool Guns for your Games Oh, you want power? How about an over and under .30 cal HMG/40 mm grenade launcher? OK, it's not real, but still... cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go! Not yet. The rest of the players have decided (next session, we last played the day before yesterday) to "cure" him by seeking the help of the nearby sorceress. She demands .... uh ... certain services from comely young men seeking her help (Khatz is COM 18, IIRC). Only trouble is, she looks more or less like a bipedal toad when not wearing her illusion (see the Clark Ashton Smith story "The Mother of Toads") for details: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/143/mother-of-toads I plan on having a few severely traumatised players before this one is over cheers, Mark

Re: Seven Wonders of the Totalitarian World I don't wonder why. I think "Compensation complex". Seriously. So many of these guys (and gals - not to forget Ceausescu's wife) not only build giant ugly monuments, but they publish books, or plays, or scientific publications - and then ensure everybody reads them by making it the law. The words "seriously expletive-deleted up" springs to mind. cheers, Mark

Re: Are Hero characters too rugged?

Re: Are Hero characters too rugged? Another - not quite so drastic alternative - which makes falling a bit scary, but doesn't mean you take BOD from falling off your chair - is simply to add one point of penetrating to every dice of falling (a house rule from my game). That way, short falls rarely inflict damage even on unprotected folx, whereas longer falls almost always do, and very long falls are usually fatal. cheers, Mark

Re: Awareness.exe I had a character with a similar ability, if not quite as high powered (Bo Zhao from Mike Surbrook's Kazei 5 game: a cyborg cop with a link to vast police and corporate databases). I bought it as a follower (a computer) and mindlink (wireless access). Since the follower was basically just a brain in a tank, I could spend all of his points on giving him a huge INT, a mass of KS.s and AK.s and a mass of sensors (with indirect and telescopic) limited by angle of view and weather (satellite arrays). The character described could cheaply buy a follower who could then sink 350 points into skills and high INT that way, giving her a vast array of skills with a ridiculously high roll (especially if she buys skill modifiers like Traveller, in which case she gets CHA-based rolls at 2 points a go) and still have plenty of points to use on buying enhanced senses for her personal use. If you want to get gross, allow the AI to have a Mimic pool for skills, and give it computer hacking skills, allowing it to hack into any database and then use the VPP to "leach" any useful information out of that system. A 100 point VPP for KS's and AK's should give you all the information you could ever want. cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go! Yep. And just the thing for a GM crushed by too many demands on non-gaming time I'm recycling a modded version of "Temple of the reptile god" in the current sessions, which has caused me vast amusement so far: last session (which will get posted eventually) the party confronted the evil sorceress (actually a Leanne Sidhe) in her lair - and then spent the entire evening roleplaying a witty conversation with her, before retiring in some confusion amid whispered arguments. Gen: "She's enchanted the villagers! Now she's enchanted Lamoniak and Khatz! She's a sorceress! Attack her!" Bellona and others : "We don't know that - actually we haven't seen her do anything. Sure, Lamoniak is acting weird, but then, he always does. And nobody seems to be getting hurt - they all like her. Maybe she's just genuinely nice." Of course, they haven't found the pit of bones which is all that's left of the town's kiddies, yet Meanwhile, under the influence of the charm, Lamoniak has decided he'll give up adventuring and become an artist. He's just rented a nice atelier.... cheers, Mark