Presenting Tabletop RPGs to the general public - on TV

All I can say is, it was cool!

So, without further ado, here's me presenting the tabletop RPG on a Bulgarian TV. Look at the first clip on the linked page. I'm the guy whose name begins with the green and brown shirt, whose name begins with "A". That letter is the same in Cyrillic alphabet, so you should recognize it.

http://www.bitelevision.com/playgasm-na-21-dekemvri-rolevite-igri-hobi-za-dobra-kompaniya-i-uyutna-atmosfera-pogled-otvatre-na-eskejp-staya-i-koi-sa-top-3-pri-natsionalnite-otbori-vav-fifa-18/

Sorry, no translation is actually available. But that show was the first time I was sorry for not owning a deadtree edition of Traveller!

Presenting (tabletop) RPGs to the general gaming public

I was on a gaming show (called Gamegasm) today. We were invited to publish RPGs to the general gaming public.
Overall, I believe it went well. We showed some gaming books. A friend brought Pathfinder and Dark Heresy. I'd brought Eclipse Phase, Under the moons of Zoon, Low Fantasy, Crimson Blades, and Sorcerers of Ur-Turuk - as well as three out of the four Bulgarian gaming titles ever published. (The one I didn't bring, "Adventuring with sword and magic", is actually the one I like best and have played the most - but it turned out I don't have an intact copy of it).
That's the first time I was sorry I'm (mostly) a PDF-only guy. I wish I had a Tekumel sourcebook, and Exalted corebook, and a Traveller book to show! And maybe Kuro RPG, while I'm at it?
But I didn't, and since I learned about it on Thursday, and we were invited for Saturday, well...I don't think even Amazon could have brought one of those to my door fast enough!
Ah well. You do what you can with what you've got at the moment! And that's what we did.

Was it enough? We'll see! What I do know is, we were invited for a follow-up. And the guy wants to record a gaming session, and air parts of it on the TV.
I said "only if you yourself participate". His answer: "of course, it wouldn't be fair otherwise!" We have an agreement, and exchanged FB coordinates.
Overall, I'd say that's a success.


*Fun fact: before the show the host came to us to ask us to give more detailed answers. In his defense seems he's had negative experiences with an Youtuber who answered too much with "yes, it's exactly like this" or "no, it isn't".
Just remember: we were three guys with experience in GMing. I simply cut him short and said "there's many questions where you'll get a different answer from each of us, in turn, and they will all be correct - so don't worry".
We kept our word. He later admitted he felt like he's been interrupting us (and was right, but we didn't mind - we all knew the time constraints).

*Practice, practice, practice: Well, we inverted that one, out of necessity. In fact, we didn't have almost any time to practice our performance...except we took a cab, and worked a bit while travelling. We reached the conclusion that we can easily explain that...if the public is into geek/nerd jargon. Conclusion: we needed refining our pitch! (I have pitched PRGs a lot to new players, often successfully - but I always tailored the pitch to the specific group, after observing them. On TV, you don't get to do that).
So, while waiting for our turn, we used the other guests - we were waiting in a kind of lounge - as "test subjects", with their permission. We tried to explain to them what RPGs are, and refined the explanation until they got it. Then we used a version of this explanation on the show.

*Note: 25 minutes is what we had. We wanted to show an RPG session, too...but in that timespan, it would have been kinda difficult.
Then again, we were invited to do a follow-up. We'll see what we can do.

*Questions: I wonder how it's going to work when we shoot a session. I mean, how much can you show in 25 minutes? (Well, that one is easy: exactly a 25-minutes worth of material. Compared to a 4 hours+ session. Riiight).
Should I use something fast, like an indie one-shot title? Or should we do the trick of all Youtube sessions, and shoot a whole session, but edit it to an acceptable length by only showing the important moments?

*When is it going to be aired? Well, the show would be aired on 23rd, I think. They usually upload it to Youtube afterwards.

Traveller PCs

Sometimes you roll a character for fun.
And then you realize you've just learned the protagonist for the next "Fast and Furious"...

Name: Wan An Xia
Age: 42
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Characteristics:
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 12
Endurance: 8
Intelligence: 13
Education: 9
Social: 4
Skills:
Computers-0
Streetwise-1
Language-0
Medic-0
Drive(wheeled)-3
Flyer(winged)-0
Melee(Blade)-1
Steward-0
Trade-0
Melee (unarmed)-5
Admin-1
Flyer (rotor)-1
Athletics(strength)-0
Gun Combat(slug throwers)-3
Recon-1
Vacc Suit-1
Persuade-1
Mechanic-1
Career History:
Career: Citizen = Terms: 3
Career: Army = Terms: 2
Career: Merchants = Terms: 1
Rank History:
Career: Citizen = Rank: 2
Career: Army = Rank: 2
Career: Merchants = Rank: 1
Event History:(characteristic, skill and benefit effects are applied automatically)
Life Event: You`ve gained a new Contact
Citizen Event: Your business expands, your corporation grows, or the colony thrives.
Citizen Event: You befriend a superior in the corporation or the colony.
Citizen Mishap: Hard times caused by a lack of interstellar trade costs you your job.
Army Event: You are given advanced training in a specialist field.
Army Event: You are assigned to a planet with a hostile or wild environment.
Merchant Event: You are given advanced training in a specialist field.
Age Event: At the age of 42 your Endurance and Strength were reduced by 1 point

Benefits:(characteristic, skill and benefit effects are applied automatically)
Cr 50000

Revolver
Ally: Corporate Executive
Weapon: Monoblade
Combat Implant: Subdermal armour
Free Trader

Got to wonder, what kind of a catch did the Free Trader come with?

Situation and skill

I found a post on Tales to Astound that talks about something that has been bugging me for a while now.
(OK, I apologise for taking it out of context a bit - the author is actually talking about impartial Refereeing. But I've got that part down, and am more interested in his intro...)

In older games (Classic Traveller, OD&D, according to the author of Tales to Astound), a roll of the dice answers the question "is your solution going to work, given the situation, with the situation including character skills".

When you move to skill-based systems with the skill roll being central (pretty much all other versions of Traveller, Runequest, GURPS...) the same question becomes "is your character skilled enough to deal with the situation".

I agree with the author that the differences are subtle, but potentially important. One of this approaches is all about the situation, the other is mostly about your skill, with the situation providing bonuses and penalties.

Are we giving too much "weight" to skills and attributes (and other "who the character is" bits on the character sheet)? When you pull someone's legs from under him, you don't need to roll Athletics to see the result. He falls. He might even manage to make a handstand, but keeping his balance is out of the question, unless you really had no idea how to do that move.
You can roll Athletics to see how bad the fall is...but if the other guy is manipulating your legs, it depends mostly on the other guy, and what the floor is covered with (admittedly, the "depends on the other guy" part could be subsumed in the dice of the Athletics roll...)
In short: are today's system trying to make it seem like more depends on factors we can control, and lessening the role of luck and the environment? (I'm honestly not sure).

Then again, there are enough situations where skill is the deciding factor. How do you model that?

Questions, questions. If you've got answers, tell me!

What I know is this: tonight, I played Call of Chthulhu 7e, and the game actually worked just fine based on the situation.
The evil sorcerer went down when my dilettante (no special skill with guns) just went next to him, while the anthropologist in the group was distracting him with a rapier cane. The evil sorcerer and his zombie were attacking the poor anthropologist.
Me: Tell me where I am at the beginning of next round (no battle mat).
Keeper: You're 4 meters from the sorcerer, and 9 meters from the anthropologist who's trying to free the sacrificial victim while the zombie is attacking him.
Me: I shoot the psycho mesmerist in the face at almost point-blank.
The Keeper gave me two bonus dice (new mechanic in CoC7e), with which my skill was enough to pull up the shot. All because I didn't shoot from a distance, but waited to close in.
Then I killed the zombie by toppling a pile of crates on it, and while it was pinned down, I shot it behind the ear. Until it stopped moving, which wasn't on the first shot.

It worked just fine. Granted, that's due to me making sure to improve my odds...but basically, an untrained character who would have Skill-0 in Traveller, pulled off winning the fight quickly and decisively - by acting while the enemy was being distracted, and using the environment.
To me, it made sense things would work like that. And they did, which was nice.
Was that a good balance between skill and situation? I don't know enough about guns to tell, but it seemed to be.

Friday Night Fight 2e: The Third Match, First TKO

The first round against Edgar Garcia began as I'd planned it. I outboxedhim with long flickers, which he didn't expect, then I blocked a straight and put a hook in his ribs and an uppercut in his gut, pushing him to the ropes. Then I bashed him in the face with power hooks, again and again, and again.
The last one put him on the canvas, in the first minute. He got up on the count of 8, but obviously didn't want to get hit again, and his eye was swelling.
Well, too bad, boy, 'cuz you're going to get some right away!
I got on him right after the Referee said "Fight!", bashing him with a straight right from the bat. He tried to punch me, but I was fine with eating a few and paying back. And right now, he had no head for technical dodging, so payback was a bitch. I could tell by his face.
Then came my left swivel hook, but he managed to escape the close fight. I landed another hook into his body, then he gave me a stiff jab in the face. I managed a cross-counter on the next jab, surprising everyone - myself included - but he threw his head in the other direction, and danced away again.
No luck. Now was my time, and I almost shoulder-charged him. Yes, I ate a jab on the way in, but I pushed him to the ropes, and after a quick combo, just as he was trying to strike left, I just met him with a forward-leaning straight right, throwing him back in the corner with a swollen lip.
In the corner, I unleashed a barrage of strikes to his head. His brow started bleading, and he fell down, at 2:32.
Just as I was wondering whether he'd get up, the Referee stopped the fight. Win by TKO!
I didn't bother to ask the judge's records. But I looked at the trainer, and made a gesture like a cross counter. He grinned.
The bastard had managed to drill it into me, after all, although it wasn't the decisive blow. But the next time...who knows?
What matters is, my skills were indeed improving.

Next opponent: Hector Soto! The guy is slow and doesn't like training as much as he should...and yet he's got a better ratings than me with the bookies?
Screw that noise! I'm going to plaster him on the ground.

Friday Night Fight 2e: The Second Match

The match with Lamar Hart before the trainer had stopped shouting at me. At least he'd stop doing that during the match!
Too bad it's another Smoker...only three rounds of silence!

First round:
I began by closing with a hook that he defended. He met me with a jab that I admit I felt. Then another.
And then I dived under the damn jabs and hit him in the ribs, and again, and then I clocked him in the kisser, and on the ear, pushing him back to the ropes.
Then I kept bashing him, finding his eye, which started to swell. I swear the referee was considering a standing KO, but the guy raised his gloves, no problem, and even hit back.
Then I started going for his head. Hit him with a good left hook, then a right. I bet his ears were ringing!
So I continued with an uppercut to the jaw, of course. I thought he was only holding because of the ropes! 
And then he managed to cover up while I was trying to give him a big swing, and managed a clinch. Lucky bastard.
Well, we were still in the first part of the round...

I closed fast, but he met me with a right straight, putting me on the ropes. I tried to lean back and hook, and somehow the nooks of our elbows met in the air, and we got into a clinch. I guess he'd had the same idea.
We both used the time until the end to recover as much as possible, and then he managed to clinch me a couple more times, because we both knew him to be in worse shape. But it was an unanimous 10:9 for me.

Second Round
The less one says about the second round, the better. If it wasn't for the first round, I'd be sorry for not delivering the blood the public had come to see.
I mean, I clocked him once or twice, but not nearly enough to be decisive. The judges decided that the round was 10-10, the motherwhorin' bastards.


The Third Round was 10-10 again. He got a jab or two on me, and I got a left hook in, but it didn't connect well.
Too bad he wasn't a chick. The mudwrestling might have had a point, then.
Sure, given the first round, I'm the winner. But the trainer's going to beat me sore with the pads!

Well, I got some fame out of it, or should I say, notoriety.


Next opponent is Egar Garcia, said the trainer. Classical swarmer, not much of a punch, but steady and has quick reflexes.
I wondered whether he's scared already?
He'd better be. I'll give him all the reasons he might need.

Friday Night Fight 2e:

This post is about the actual play of a wargame, for a change. Namely, it's Friday Night Fight 2e by Two-Hour Wargames (interesting name for a company, I'll admit).

Now, you'd ask, what happened? Why is Asen playing a boxing ("skirmish"?) wargame, and solo?
Well, I was bored. And I was looking for another of their games, Red Streets Blue Mats, which is about playing a NHB-style fight by yourself.
Didn't find it in the Wargaming Vault, though. So I bought this one, and resolved to see if it can do Rocky, or Hajime no Ippo.
Judge for yourself. I'll only give you an account of the match from the point of view of "my boxer".


Luke Zabiewski was born to fight, they said. Often, while spilling out their teeth.
He was never slow to punch, and seemed eager to hurt people.

I had a lot riding on that match. But Jack Wilingham didn't exactly worry me. He had no weak spots, some said.
I preferred to think of it as "he had no strong spots".
A shortsighted brawler...heh. I intended to do short work of him.
I hoped he'd see my face well before the lights go out for him, but we had a 3-rounds Smoker to resolve. 

(Stats-wise, Luke is an average skill, with aggression that's totally noteworthy).


1st round:
Gained a point during the stalking part. However, all I achieved in the first part, was a clinch. Or rather, several clinches. Screw that guy! Who stalls for time in the first round?
It kinda repeated itself...meaning, I actually landed a jab, and went on to slugging it out. Well, at least this time I scored another point, and was trying to press my advantage. I tried my best shots...and the bastard clinched me again. WTF?
I think he's really scared. I mean, I know most of my rivals are - I have a reputation - but I expected better of this guy!
Still, I'm winning on points...
Points! Hah, that's a joke!

2nd round
I started the next round by aggressively smiling - showing my teeth, really - and a flurry of attacks, which netted me a point.
But then the bastard went on me like a madman, bashing me in the kisser and taking me to the ropes.
Well, that's what we're talking about! Yeah, baby, let's start an exchange!
...except we ended in a clinch. Bastard hits harder than he looks!
After the referee broke us up, I tried to clear my head, but the ringing in my eyes still prevented me from hearing the public. Probably for the better.
The fight was slow in the second half of the round. And I've got no doubts the scorecards gave him that round, after he outboxed me.
I'll show you outboxing, you mother...ahem!

3rd Round
Didn't manage to recover fully, but I still want to bash him! He went into attack mode, again.
Instead, however, I gave him a good jab, and he danced away. Or he tried to - I followed him with another couple jabs, and leaft hook. Sure, I gained points, but more importantly - this time, it was his turn to go to the ropes!
He tried to cover up, sure. And I kept bashing him, through and around his guard, from all possible angles, splitting his lip and chasing him to the corner.
After that, I kept bashing, ringing his ears, swelling his eye, and hooking him in the body. He tried to counter, but I swayed back and landed another shot on his nose, instead.
It was maybe luck, and maybe my trainer's advice had worked. But this made me thinking that it was time to focus on his head...So I did, and after a couple tries going for his temple the point of his jaw, I slipped a shot to the side of the jaw instead. He felt down with a satisfying thump, let me tell ya!
He did manage to get up, however. I knew it wasn't a good enough shot, but hoped he'd stay down.
Didn't matter. He had no head for boxing, not now. He was trying to hang up to the end, and we both knew it. I was on him like stink on shit, hitting him with a jab on the way in, and kept attacking him.
We ended the round in the clinch. Was that his specialty or what? He should try wrasslin' at this rate!
But it was clear who had won, right? I mean, he'd just got knocked down.
Sure enough, the judges gave me the win. It was even an unanimous decision!
I looked at my enemy. He hadn't fallen. Should I bash him again?
He looked startled, as if he'd felt what I'm thinking, somehow. So I turned my back to him, and went to my corner.
I was going to get an earful for not finishing him, and I deserved it.

My next enemy was going to be some Lamar Hart. Better boxer than WJ or me, they said, but he forgets himself when he thinks he's ahead. Add to it that he doesn't like being punched...
I didn't expect to see much issues with him, not once I got to punch him.
The trick was going to be to land those first punches.

So, that's it for today...and for a couple days more, I suspect. But it was hugely entertaining, so I'd expect to play it again!

My Tekumel Campaign

This isn't an Actual Play Report. But it's probably the closest I'm likely to get to an APR for my Tekumel campaign (which is currently on hold).
Mostly, it's info the characters had uncovered.

Here's things I can share with you...strictly non-canon (hear me, Tekumel Foundation:D?), of course!

1. There's Grey Ssu, and Black Ssu. You know you're in trouble when you see the Red Ssu: roughly average height between the Grey and Black, same form, masters of Ssuavate...they're the "commando forces". And they know strategy and tactics, too!
2. If you see the Green Ssu, you're doing fine: those are field researchers. It is in your best interest to kill the Green Ones ASAP, because they're skilled in remaining unseen, planting incendiary devices, and pulp-science-enhanced-unwholesome-acts. Of course, they avoid doing either when in their own territory!
3. The appearance of Green and Red Ssu might be tied to recent genetic experimentation by the Black Ssu. The purpose of such is unknown.
4. Another hypothesis is that they might be stages for the Ssu. I mean stages in the lifecycle of the species - like the egg-caterpillar-cocoon-butterfly cycle, except with generations of individuals. If this might be possible, it is unknown whether either Red or Green are the last stage.
5. Zuur is more and more being used to de-stabilize select human settlements. Usually those that get the cheapest sales are also those that have the most strategic position from the last place where the Red Ssu had been noticed.
6. The Food of the Ssu has been surprisingly versatile lately. Sometimes, it looks like plants that are edible to humans...but remains poisonous. Worst part of it: some people swear that small patches are able to move. The smaller the patch, the faster the move...one wonders what a single "Ssu vegetable" would be capable of!

And that's it for today. Stay tuned for the next update!

Open RPG Day: Feng Shui 2 One-Shot

This Saturday, I ran Feng Shui 2 on the Open RPG Day in Sofia. 

A warehouse full of Red Lotus thugs, led by a sorcerous "dailo" is processing cannibalistic magical ingredients.

A ninja named Kenji is watching from the beams under the roof, as a police car crashes inside. Cai Tao, a cop from the Occult Investigations department jumps out and offers them a surrender.

Just as this happens, the back door opens, and Granny Hu (pictured below on the right) enters, holding a mobile phone. "Sorry, young man, but do you know how to read that message I've received?"

That's how the game began. Soon after, the thugs realised that Granny Hu has an alternate form. The one on the left is still Granny Hu!

(The player sketched the pictures herself - just to show me what her Creature looks like. You can see her DeviantArt on the picture).

And now a better shot of Granny Hu. Hoping the player would ink the monster, too, at some point...

And then they defeated the sorcerer who was sacrificing the mooks to protect himself, found clues for the plans of the Red Lotus, and discovered they all have a grudge with Big/Red/Fat Chu, a Lotus sorcerer. Oh, and there was a portal to the Netherworld.

Things proceeded from there, in typical Feng Shui manner. In the Netherworld, they learned about the Chi War (by meeting exiles). Kenji got hired by the Lotus as a hitman. The name of his first target was...Cai Tao. The head was to be delivered to Big Chu.

Of course, they improvised a news story proving that Cai Tao has been kidnapped, and went to meet him.

Kenji got cursed with financial ruin, but they killed Chu, who was the focus of their melodramatic hooks. The killing blows - delivered in the same shot - were both suitably bloody for HK cinema (explosions on both attacks).

And then Kenji took out an MP5K and shot the whole clip into Chu's body, for good measure. After that, he reloaded.

Threatening Kenji with ruin brings out the worst in him, I can report.

Stunning Beauty Chronicles, part 8 (WHoOG)

It's time to summarize a few more sessions. Link to the previous update.

Last time, we realized it's time to begin the long path to Bone Kingdom. But first, we had to gather some entourage.

We signaled the Two-Timing Cockerel that the Jade Maidens are here. He went to talk to "the beautiful one", Zhun Bo, and returned thoughtful. "She's in love with someone", he said, being an expert in love matters, "but her sister Zheng Di is also beautiful".

My wife went to talk to Zhun Bo, because she was curious. When she returned, she shared her observation that the Jade Maiden's tone changed when she was speaking of Brother Wolf.

And she had asked her if she'd like to come and help us on a mission that might help Brother Wolf. She said she could destroy any magic items she finds!

(Pay attention: any items we find are obviously not found by her).

The next morning, both Zhun Bo and Zheng Di were ready to depart. Another person we didn't expect was also with us.

The Well-Kept Lion!

My wife sneaked into Brother Wolf's fortress and told Mirror Boy to come with us. And she committed arson, destroying the room with the mirror, and breaking another mirror to leave charred remains behind.

She barely arrived, and Brother Wolf's student - the hald-deaf one with white-streaked hair - caught up with us. She also wanted to join.

Did she hope we'd find a way to heal her? Or was she just bored? We didn't inquire, and just offered her a place in our column.

Soon after, we had a double marriage (presided by the Righteous Scholar - also known as "my pen-pal" - with me assissting him). Two-Timing Cockerel married the witch's daughter that we'd found in the village (see the previous update) and Big Sister married the Well-Kept Lion.

We kinda had helped to arrange this... Like, we noticed he is talking a lot with her, and both are almost equally tall.

"Well-Kept Lion, what do you think of Biggest Sister? She's a servant of the clan now, and we look after our own!"

"She's nice! I can grapple with her without breaking her."

"Care to marry her? You'd make a good husband for her - you're tall enough. But if you don't, I should keep looking - she needs a good, tall one that she wouldn't look at from above...too much!"
"It's a bit sudden..."
"Sure, just let me know before we reach the next village."

He went to talk to Biggest Sister. Then the two asked me to add them to the ceremony, which is how we had a double marriage.

I know my wife discussed life, philosophy and the future plans with her niece, Two-Timing Cockerel's daughter. I guess it was a lively discussion, because at some point, they left and returned with their clothes in relative disarray. Nothing surprising for the Silken Robe Society...or for any other xia clan: for those of you with a mind in the gutter, the two had fought, not f...
Oh, and I'm proud to announce that my wife had won.
I also hear she had sparred with one of the Jade Maidens (surprisingly, Zheng Di - the calmer one that's not in love with anyone...yet). How or why this happened, I'm not sure at all. I guess it was another discussion (she mentioned something about discussing family and the uses of magic items, but I wasn't interested in the content).

I'm just proud to announce that so far, Stunning Beauty Team had scored a 2:0 in the spars.
Me? I almost sparred Zheng Di, too (and only learned about my wife's spar later), after we discussed their sect's policy on marriage and progeny - namely, they support celibacy and adopt homeless children, who grow as "adopted by the sect". While I agree with the latter part, it seems to me that this isn't properly Dehuan: without the children being adopted in a family, who would take care of their ancestors' spirits after they pass away?
We do have our own practices in Silk Robe Society, yes - but those practices in no way prevent us from doing the right thing. My brothers and sisters, for example, receive a monthly donation since I've been rich enough to afford it, and my venerable parents receive a greater one.
For some reason, however, Zheng Di took my philosophical objections as an attempt to persuade her to do something about it. I was trying to have a discussion, dammit! I mean, I know the Two-Timing Cockerel is likely going to pick her up, make her fall in love, and marry her - he's got practice.
What I really wanted to see was how her views would change after that! But to do that, I needed to know what her views are now.
Screw her (not literally). She was so unconcerned with politeness that I almost considered getting rude* without a formal challenge! Then I considered issuing a formal challenge - though I don't believe power proves anything (or else, Da Su Su would be in the right...which is impossible for someone as stupid as her).
And then my displeasure with her manners took over, and I simply left with a "ok, I guess we're on the same side, at least - we'll keep our side of the deal**, no need to . Been avoiding her since then, too - which means I've been hanging out with Mirror Boy and the Righteous Scholar (both of which would be on the Jade Maidens "to kill" list, if they knew those two are actually magic items and not humans).

One day, Mirror Boy found a path in the forest. Well, he didn't really find it...he could only sense it, and only with his eyes closed.
Luckily, it happened when me and my wife were nearby, so he told us so. We put hands over his eyes and he lead us in the forest...to a girl that looked great. The boy looked her with his mouth wide open, which reminded me I had to give him a bees-and-birds speech, and explain why women are necessary for procreation of humans and how that works, exactly (remember - technically Mirror Boy only has a father...though I have my own theories).
We followed the path, and found a fox demon. She offered to take some of our power, and an epic battle followed, in which... we captured her. (With the help of TTC - Mirror Boy ran to call his daddy...literally).
Then we made her an offer, because my wife wanted a fox pet. Regular nourishment for service (it doesn't kill people with our level of kung-fu)...or a honour place in my wife's rack, in her new guise as "fox skin".
No, fox demons don't get fair treatment as prisoners. And that's my wife's good side, anyway...
Foxy almost ran away, but being curious, she returned. And in the end, she agreed to our conditions, giving us a vow. We, in turn, vowed to chase her to the end of the Middle Kingdom and beyond, should she renege on her vows.
More importantly, in the cave - a former temple of some "phoenix" sect - we found some wall paintings showing a secret Phoenix technique.
We had Righteous Scholar copying it, and then we did our best to destroy the entry to the temple.

Later, my wife had a discussion about life, the universe, and fate - with Zheng Di. Sister Fox was mentioned, and Zheng Di mentioned the possibility that it might be that her fate is to die from this poison. She also pointed out that Brother Wolf is killing people in order to prolong his sister's life.
My wife returned in a hurry, got a horoscope reading, and found out that yes, indeed, Sister Fox was fated to die by the poison. Only the Life-Preserving Stone had prevented it for so long.
So my wife sent Foxy to steal the stone from Brother Wolf.
The fox returned with the stone.
Multiple lives had been saved. But Sister Fox was going to die at the end of the month. Such is life.
Me? I was glad I didn't have to make that decision myself - she only announced it in retrospect, as my PC is her PC's husband.


*In the wuxia sense of "getting rude", also known as "applying boot to the butt".
**As mentioned in the previous episode, my wife actually concluded it in such a way that we don't need to help them find magic objects.

Musings after reading World of Gor and Tales of Gor

I have nothing but good words about the World of Gor. It is an almost invaluable* the world-setting as presented in the novels. Period. No objections on it.

I have, so far (I haven't read it to the end, but I'm close) one objection on Tales of Gor. (As an aside, do you know how often I have that few objections? It's an amazing feat that Desborough's book only provokes that few objections from me).

What is that one thing that I disagree with?

"Only the Panni** have systematized unarmed combat. The rest of Goreans rely on (natural ability)". I might be paraphrasing it slightly.

But this contradicts the books - in many, many places.

First, it is known that even peasants practice wrestling. Wrestling is always the first systematized style to emerge wherever humans live, but rarely remains the only one, unless the practitioners wear heavy armour (not the case on Gor). And given how many empty-handed styles have evolved from the use of weapons, it just makes no sense to me.

Second, the fighting slaves are mentioned to be "the real masters of unarmed combat" on Gor. Who trains them? (Hint: probably warriors, if they're lucky). And I can't believe the Caste of Assassins would have overlooked the use of such techniques to quickly subdue and kill a target that's hard to reach with weapons - say, a rich Merchant.

Third, Tarl and others repeatedly show quite high levels of mastery of the unarmed combat in the series. Here's an example I found in Magicians of Gor.

"I seized one of the lads by the wrist and, drawing him quickly across and about my body, and over my extended right leg, flung him to the stones, where I held him, my grip shifted now to the palm of his hand, his wrist bent, far back. He screamed with pain. Another fraction of a hort, the least additional pressure, and his wrist would be broken."

That's a move that's well-known to everybody who has ever trained in martial arts. But I don't remember Tarl having been a fighting slave - and anyway, he was doing such moves after the first time he was on Gor, while exiled on Earth.

Another example is at the end of the books where an Earthman brought to Gor obtains freedom (after being a Fighting Slave...sorry for not digging the exact title, but I can guess it was Something of Gor).

There's a moment when a group discusses killing a man empty-handed. One of the men gathered says something like "maybe, but only if you're very strong".

An Warrior corrects him: "It doesn't require strength, just skill".

The former Fighting Slave merely nods and confirms.

Thus, I'd conjecture that unarmed combat should be an option for both Warriors and Peasants, not to mention Assassins (and former Fighting Slaves). Though of course, weapon skills should be higher and more valuable - but one can hope the fighting system itself would take care of that!

That aside, I admit I'm tempted to produce a table for Gorean Chess. It sure seems to have...unexpected possibilities!

*Well, technically, I know exactly how much it's worth - just check the price on Drivethru;). But if you plan to run this game, you really want the setting book.

**Japanese transplanted on Gor.

The story of my Exaltation

That's about my current character, the Patrician of the Realm (in Exalteds's...
Last session he got Exalted. As the GM put it, "you can't get any better as Solar material than that" (Solars are Exalted by the head of the setting's pantheon, the most powerful god of them all - and are thus the most powerful Exalted. She thinks they're also the most arrogant...which I wouldn't dispute).
How did I prove myself arrogant enough to get Exalted (after quite a few sessions of play)? By negotiating, believe it or not!

It was a good negotiation with Fair Folk. These are, in Exalted, the kind of "fairies" you see in old tales - the kind that come, charm you, steal your soul, and age your body beyond repair;).
Then they make a tale about it, because Fair Folk are creatures of tales.
Now, one you have a picture of the Fair Folk in mind, imagine meeting old, powerful Fair Folks which were powerful enough that decades ago to have captured a Lunar Exalt, chosen by the second greatest goddess out there. (How did I know that? Well, that's the Lunar that had accompanied me to that place, as she had volunteered to guard me - I'm starting to think she's developing a thing for me...)
Imagined those Fair Folk? Good.
Those are the Fair Folk I negotiated with from the position of strength.
Before becoming an Exalted myself - remember, I was still an unproven mortal.
After transgressing on their turf, which - in that area - would grant them "rights" over my soul.
Insolence, you say? It's part of the genre!
Hey, the very reason we were there was totally S&S: my mentor in sorcerous arts sent me to harvest the poison of a ancient god-snake as big as several houses. We were in the process - the god-snake didn't mind, as nothing less than a deer counted as worthy of his menu, and he likes when people use his poison to make medicine - when the Fair Folk came.

Thing is...in this place, the mortals live on the huge trees, hundreds of meters high. The Fair Folk and undead, by ancient contract, don't go up - but anyone who gets down, can be freely feasted upon.
As they put it after appearing at midnight, "by an ancient contract, you're ours - but please amuse us, we're willing to listen to your pleading..."
Me: "Well, I'm rich. I can buy 10 slaves and lower them to you here, or 20 slaves".
"An unscrupulous one? I like that! Let's negotiate."
"...but for 20 slaves, you make a volt-face, leave, and make sure we're not disturbed by anyone else in the next two days and nights".
I was willing to suffer their presence in the vicinity for the next couple of days.
And, as I pointed out to them, they can kill me in unimaginably awful ways, or they can get 10 or 20 other souls to feed on in the same way.
"She alone is worth more than that", they said, pointing to my Lunar companion.
"You don't stand a chance to catch her, anyways."
"We had captured her already. Didn't she tell you?"
"When was that?"
As it turned out, 50 or 60 years ago. The Exalted live for much longer.
My character had been around Exalted (Dragon-Blooded Exalted, but still) his whole life. He just smirked, knowing that in 50 years, an Exalted martial artist, like the Lunar, can go from initiate to master.
"Good luck capturing her again. Anyways, I'm negotiating for myself - she can climb those trees back faster than you can imagine, I've seen it. So, what's your word?"
Basically, I got them to the point where they wanted the slaves, and they wanted me. Decision points...
So the solution of the fair folk lady was to try and seduce me to give them both. With loads of Willpower, I resisted - much to her dismay - though she was tempting, and my character does like seductive women like her.
Of course, I knew she could just decide to take my soul anyway. So my rejection was formulated in the language of stories.
"No, much as you're beautiful...it's still a no. Though it's tempting!"
"Then why don't you come?"
"Ah, but consider what the story would be: I met a beautiful fair folk lady, and we fucked in the forest. Sounds like a young buck vaunting his exploits! Boring! But then, consider instead this story: I came across a beautiful woman of the Fair Folk, seductive as a dream, who wanted me for her bed - but despite me wanting her as well, we could never do that, for the mortals are too different. So we separated, still longing for each other...Now, that's a story! It speaks of wishes unfulfilled, of burning lust and desire left unsatisfied - because of higher reasons. It is a tragedy to the participants, and hints at deeper truths and plot devices at work, and yes, maybe, of a continuation!"
She was instantly sold, and thus the negotiation concluded;).
And when they left, I was feeling great, excited and powerful, while the Lunar almost had to pick her jaw off the grass.
Not the least, because I was shining in gold.
With the colours, and caste mark, of the Swords of the Dawn.
My laughter erupted. I went after the Fair Folk, and used that surge of power, such as I haven't felt since then, to kill the hobgoblins guards of the Fair Folk Nobles, to break off the man's hands and legs, and knock the lady out. I brought them back.
I had noticed the Lunar felt all tense just by seeing them.
"Was any of them displeasing towards you during your captivity, dear?"
"He most certainly was!"
I handed her my knife, handle first.
"Start cutting him. If you cut him too little, I'll finish him off."
She took her time, and he was dead at the end. In the meantime, I bound the woman before she would wake, and spoke with the ancient god about myself.
What was I now?
Was I really the incarnation of an all-powerful sorceror who would destroy my soul, as the Immaculate Monks had taught me?
Should I suicide?
"In all fights, the history is written by the victors, do you not know? The ones that lost are always guilty!"
Of course, being a Patrician, I'd seen that already, first-hand...my Dragon-Blooded Exalted brethren had no qualms about acting like that in front of me.
"Some of them were mad. Others were still kind, and caring", was the ancient god's verdict. "It's up to you what you would become".
In a way, that made it even harder to decide what to do next.

Interview with the lead designer of the Gor RPG

In other news, the Gor RPG is out!

And I interviewed the game designer, James Desborough from PostMortem Studios, for my blog.

If you need an intro, you can assume I said "Hi, Mr. Desborough. Let me ask you a few questions about the Gor game you just published for my Characters and Flashing Blades blog".

Question by Asen Georgiev and the CaFB blog: Mr. Desborough, please assume I don't know what Gor is and have never read any novels (which would be utterly wrong, but you get the idea). How would you present me Gor as a setting for RPGs? 

Answer by James "Grim" Desborough: I would say that it is a setting in the tradition of Planetary Romance. I think it has a lot in common with Barsoom, but where that was - perhaps - challenging the propriety of its era (with nudity and treating 'coloured' people as equal and superior) Gor challenges more of our sexual preoccupations and gender politics. That was part of a general cultural shift in the 60s and 70s with both 'free love' and the pill making an impact, but also the impact of feminism. 

Another way you could put it, I suppose, is as the bastard child of Conan and Velikovsky, with a dash of BDSM aesthetic and a fetish for the classics.

Q: You said it yourself: Gor is known as a world with heavy BDSM elements. Are you going to try and market the book to members of that particular sub-culture? 

A: I'm unsure exactly how to reach them as a market. Perhaps advertising on Fetlife? *Chuckle* I don't know. I've more focussed on trying to reach the existing (soft) RP communities in Second Life and webchat etc. 

Q: I see that you clearly present Gor as a "pulp" world, which - I agree - is how it started, and how it should be. But how does that jive with the d6 system, which can be notoriously lethal? 

A: Gor is a pretty lethal world too. Pulps can certainly be very lethal. I've compensated for this some by providing an 'honour' system, to simulatneously encourage 'Gorean' behaviour and to insulate a little from the deadliness. 

Q: Why did you pick Gor as a setting, especially since we both know it's got, how to put it, "associated cultural baggage"? 

A: I've enjoyed the books since I was a teenager. I've always thought that it would make an interesting setting for a roleplaying game given its fantastical elements, well developed societies and cultures and the 'frisson' that comes with that baggage. I'd written lots of homebrews and ideas for it over the last 25 years or so and then decided to take the plunge. Part of it's just because I like the books, some because of their personal meaning to me (and no, I don't think all women should be slaves or any of that other nonsense, I just mean they mean a lot to me). Part of it is because the double standards around sex and violence in games has always bothered me and part of it is because I was told I couldn't or shouldn't, which is a red rag to a bull. 

Q: Bondage and slavery is part of the novels the setting is based on, and slaves aren't exactly treated kindly. How do you suggest the GMs should proceed if the PCs are captured - a fate that has (repeatedly) befallen even Tarl Cabbot, the protagonist of most Gor books? 

A: Slavery is much more apparent in the books than it is canonically in the societies that Norman presents in his books. The figures he gives are that - perhaps - 5% of the population are slaves and the majority of that are male work slaves, out of sight and out of mind. So the impression many have isn't necessarily accurate... that said, slavery is - thematically - a huge part of the books and the world and so unavoidable. Slavery presents a good alternative to total-party-kills and there's always a chance to escape or, thematically, to become happy in that bondage and turn one's master or mistress to one's side. That's another recurring theme. For my part, I'd 'metagame' it a little, see what the players wanted and plot the following games that way. 

Q: Slavery  does indeed present a good alternative to total-party-kills. Does the system provide for means to capture someone? A threshold where the characters are incapacitated, but not yet dead; grappling (that's easier to apply than the grapple rules in d20, preferably!); less-lethal strikes; or others? 

A: There's a limited 'death spiral' inspired by one of the few good things about D&D4e and the capacity to render people insensible. So it's anticipated to an extent. I may expand on that some in a supplement. One of the next supplements will have rules for 'breaking' people, applicable to NPCs only, torture and slave training. The slave training thing is rather Gor specific, but torture is something that's common in games but not much addressed. I felt that the necessity to handle this kind of thing for a game created an opportunity to tackle that. 

Q: While you say that there's always a chance to escape and this happens in the novels, and I fully agree with your "metagame" approach - hopefully it's in the GM's advice - I'd argue that it's much more common for the protagonists in the novels to turn the tables on the master or mistress when said master or mistress is in trouble. It's also a recurring theme (and a good reason to NOT have slaves). It's *usually* the secondary characters that get used to it and try to bring the Master/Mistress to the other side. Are you addressing those options in the GM advice section (both "slaves are going to betray you", and "you can betray your master to his or her enemies, though watch out if you do")? 

A: Not so much, I've more tried to anticipate the PC side of things since 'loss of agency' is always a bummer when you're a player. 

Q: In the Gor novels, John Norman - or rather his protagonist Tarl Cabbot, I'd argue - has taken multiple stances that would be offensive to contemporary readers (to note: women are happiest as slaves, that homosexuality is unnatural and doesn't happen in a "sane" society, and that Earth's society is trying to emasculate men - I'm probably missing a few). Does the world book address those matters? How? 

A: I don't know that this is entirely true. Homosexuality is relatively prominent in one of his books as a plot-point and the Panther Girls are certainly implicitly if not explicitly, lesbian or bisexual. Men and women of Earth prove to be quite capable when on Gor - Jason and Tarl especially. 

I take these, at least the ones I agree exist as part of the world he presents, to be fictional precepts upon which the world is build, same as any other game. 'There are multiple intelligent races', 'Magic exists', 'Aliens have visited Earth in the past' seem little different to me than similar thought experiments around sexuality etc. For my part I think it's the realm of fantasy, common fantasies as that, so it doesn't bother me so much. I see reality and fantasy as distinct and trust readers to make the same distinction, just as I do with being wandering murderhobos! 

You can see an argument being made for a 'state of nature' being superior in some ways to our artificial world of concrete and plastic and I think some people have sympathy for that. It is, of course, a naturalistic fallacy but still, I think that's part of the appeal of the fantasy for some people - as it is with survival and post-apocalyptic games and fiction. 

I don't particularly address these things, I do try to contextualise them within our society as it exists now, something I got criticised for already, though I thought it was important. Rather I try to emphasise that your game world is your own. I don't think I get to dictate how people should play. I can only control what I mean and recommend. 

Q: I haven't read all the Gor books, so I guess I've missed which one has relatively prominent homosexuality (but some quick Googling suggested it's Magicians of Gor - Asen and the CaFB blog). What I do remember is that in Blood-Brothers of Gor, the character thinks how relationships between males are due to a deficiency in Earth's sexuality. Let it be clear, are you treating such statements (or those about slaves) as true in the universe of the game, or as only true in-the-head-of-Tarl? 

A: I've suggested that these things are less common, and that trans is likely less common too - Red Savages not withstanding - and that intersex conditions probably barely exist (Goreans are rather unforgivingly Spartan when it comes to children). I have, however. This isn't a personal judgement, just the way I have interpreted the world and how it might treat these things. The homosexuality aspect I've taken from the book that covers it, but a lot had to be inferred. Given so much of Gor's inspiration comes from the Greeks and Romans though... I don't think people have much to worry about. It was important to present the world as written. I didn't feel it was my place to interpret, but to suggest. 

Q: The setting also has the Priest-Kings imposing a world-wide technological embargo on Gor, which purposefully limits weapon technologies (they kill the perpetrators in a rather impressive fashion, for the uninitiated). What should the GMs do if a PC tries to make a gun? 

A: In the books the Priest Kings have become more distant and intervene less and less. It can take some time for such interventions to happen. I would start with a small chance of them being found out and destroyed for making or using such a weapon and crank up the chance the more and more they use it, while having NPCs etc warn them. The Priest Kings would likely prefer to eliminate them in front of an audience so... I wouldn't pull any punches, but I'd take my time. 

Q: The system you picked for this project is the d6 system. Why do you think it is a good fit for the Gor setting? 

A: I'm anticipating getting some 'noobs' into gaming via Gor. It already has a vibrant online roleplaying community in forums, chatrooms and Second Life - something I found out when doing research. As such I wanted the game to be accessible. D6 was used to power the West End Games version of Star Wars, which was also an heroic, science-fantasy game, so it seemed like a good fit. Second to Red Box D&D, D6 was probably the gateway drug to gaming for a lot of people in its time and so it seemed like a good fit. Character templates also work great for Gor's castes. 

Q: I think that d6 is probably at least fourth (after Vampire and maybe the d100 games, Runequest included) as a gateway to the hobby, but I do know that there is a Gorean roleplaying community. Are you trying to market your game to those people? If so, how do you explain to them why they need a system for the games they are already playing? 

A: I've suggested it primarily as a resource - the worldbook too. It's my hope that the game may provide a common ground for these many different RP communities, but we'll see. I am trying to appeal to them, with some success. We'll see how things go though. 

Q: Kinda related to the above, but not quite - does the way you present the setting differ in "World of Gor" and "Tales of Gor" ("Setting book" and "System", respectively)? I could see the setting book being more about the general society, while the game book being more focused on the details that concern PCs... 

A: I give a broad overview in 'Tales' and much more detail in 'World'. Some info is repeated. If you really want to dig deep into the setting then 'World' is necessary, but you could cope without it - and some understanding of the books. 

Q: Since I'm addressing the differences between the two books, let me ask about the system, too. What would you say to people that would take World of Gor, and use it with another system of choice? 

A: Go ahead! Whatever floats your boat!

As a system hacker myself though, I'm always interested in how people tweak systems and find inspiration all sorts of places. I daresay Tales could still be useful to them on that basis. 

Q: I understand that Tales of Gor has to be accessible. But you also mention that the future adventures would contain some additional rules. Does that mean that Tales of Gor is somehow "incomplete" as a game, from the point of view of RPG hobbyists? 

A: It's complete, adding additional rules etc to supplements is more intended to add value that pure adventures simply don't have and to tackle problems and ideas that couldn't justify page space in the main books. Think of it as... DVD extras, or Director Commentary. 

Q: Also, can you give us a list of what kind of rules are added in your current adventure? I wasn't able to find such a list in the adventure's description. 

A: The Tower of Art adventure contains rules for adding 'specialities' to your characters, particular areas of expertise in their skills. It just allows a bit more customisation and personalisation. I suspect a lot of additional rules will be similar, complications and special cases that aren't necessary for new players but will increase the complexity and depth for those that want that. 

Q: I hope it wouldn't offend you when I state that your reputation in RPG circles is best* described as "controversial", especially when it comes to certain topics that other people consider more sensitive than you do. It's also fair to say that most of your critics don't really appreciate Gor. Was picking Gor as a setting (at least in part) a big "fuck you" to your critics? 

A: I've been reading the books since I was 15. This project took years to pull off, unfortunately, it should have been much quicker. That's a lot of time, effort and sleepless night JUST to stick the middle finger up at someone. Is it partly a 'fuck you'? Sure, but it's also a genuine labour of love. 

After years of harassment etc. I still don't really understand my critics. I share most of their political viewpoints, just disagree on tactics. What seems to set me at odds is my differentiation between reality and fantasy and my commitment to free expression. I don't see either of these things as bad. 

Asen: Thank you for your time, Mr. Desborough!

*For the benefit of readers, I have to note that Mr. Desborough is a veteran game designer with multiple games to his name. However, that's 1) not part of my question and 2) even some people that have never read one of those books have heard the critics levelled at him. 

Feel free to copy and paste that interview, to use it commercially or non-commercially, as long as you mention the name of the interviewer Asen R. Georgiev. Of course, the responsibility for any further use is on you.

My Low Fantasy/Mythras setting

I am working on my own setting (and might publish it this time...). I already posted two NPCs from it.

So, here's what I want from said setting:
A place where weapons and emotions are the only magic.
That's the setting I'm working on...dual-statted for Low Fantasy RPG and Mythras (I've been toying with the idea of making it tripple-statted for Cepheus/Traveller, and/or one of The Riddle of Steel clones, too - but neither is part of it yet). 

Why, you ask me? It resolves "the supremacy of spellcasters" and the complaints about "how can I do a monk and why do I need a weapon" in one fell swoop. And I just like weapons being magic.

Emotions 
Since there's no magic, and a person can only be so strong and skilled, people are your only real, nigh-infinite resource for achieving greatness. You can't defeat an army...but you can lead your own army. Or you can work the army's strategist into committing a mistake, and defeating himself.


And the only way to control people, as we all know, is to appeal to their emotions. (Of course, that means finding out what they want, first. And catering to people's emotions is always taxing). 
And some of the people you meet are weapons with spirits inside. Others are demons. Both can give you great power...at a cost, because they also have emotions. Granted, not all of them have the emotions you'd consider sane, but then that applies to those people of flesh, blood and human parents, too... 

Swords (and other weapons) 
It's important to note that the Spirit Weapons aren't always swords. Sometimes, they're something else, but always have steel parts (making shields and iron-shod staffs eligible).

One thing is for certain: they're virtually indestructible, and never need sharpening (nor is it possible, even if they're less sharp than you wanted them to be - as might be the case with some anti-armour implements, if you ever get to a place where people walk around mostly naked). You never clean rust, nor does it impact the functioning of the weapon, if it's there (on some rare* cases). 
Last note: a true demon can never become a weapon. Only once-godlings can, and they can only be weapons. Because weapons are holy.
Don't hope to have both, though. Neither of them are into sharing, and even less are into sharing with another kind. To find two different ones that don't mind, is so unlikely as to be virtually impossible. 

The POWERZ of thy sword! 
First and most obvious: they give you bonuses and penalties on some Passions. And they demand that you indulge in those that they give you bonuses for, and avoid those where you have penalties...at least they don't make it harder for you to obey. And obeying makes you happy (that's listed here, because a naturally violent person who gets another shot of magic weapon-inspired violence might become a murder machine with no special powerZ needed - but you get those anyway). Keep in mind, it's never just "violence+20%", it's "violence against equals", "violence against groups", and so on. It's never "Love+20%", it's "love for your lawful wife+20%", or "love all the nice women+20%". 


The next thing you get...depends on the weapon's personality. 
A weapon that can be any other weapon? A weapon that can fly to your hand? A weapon that can help you teleport, as long as you already are wielding it? A weapon that sheathes itself in flame, or ice, or spits lightining or acid in the enemy's face? An weapon that gives you wings? An weapon that executes your wishes, but at a price? 
The important thing is, they all have an...call it "theme". That's because they all have spirits inside, dontchaknow, and spirits have...well, personalities. 
And all NPC personalities have a "theme", even if the "theme" is "person living in the Wild West and driving cattle around". Or, for a fantasy game, "a normal Nemedian guy who hopes his skill at arms would help him get ahead in life". 
Or, in the case of weapons, The Noble Eagle, the Principle of Cutting, the Principle of Insertion, and The One Who Spots Everything (beware of ever meeting The Ruthless Ferret, though - he kills for fear, profit, pleasure, glory, infamy, food, because someone was in reach and his head was conveniently situated to shear off, and because once you start, you might as well go for the full round...) 

The Noble Eagle has the powers of Sight (including through objects), See Magic, Flight, Paralysis, Telekinesis** and Longevity. He wants riches,  power, but be ready for you your sex drive to take a plunge: eagles fuck once a year, after all, and he finds it distracting. 


Farseer also gives you Sight, but also DarkSight, See Magic, and only then Flight (to get to better vantage points), and Longevity. He's quite close to The Noble Eagle, but while he respects the Eagle, the Eagle secretly envies Farseer. His desires are Curiosity, Respect, and Sex (being able to see people naked either makes you horny, or jaded, but being jaded doesn't match well with his curiosity). However, he lowers your desire for mass violence: Farseer prizes understanding and showing off the knowledge so obtained, not killing off. He very much wants battles with worthy opponents, though: what's better than figuring out the weakness of a man with no weaknesses? 


Cleancutter is probably his stellar opposite, yet the two are, for some reason, close friends. Cleancutter allows you Power Cuts, Transformation (of Cleancutter, not yourself - you can always carry him like a knife, if only a knife is allowed, or as a glaive, if you face a horseman), Spirit-cutting, Wounding, and allows you to sever causality to get what you want by merely making a symbolic cut in the air. However, something is going to happen, as a price: when you cut the strings of causality, expect backlash! (Also: karma is a bitch). 

You get the idea.


*Rusty weapons are alternately said to have spots on their souls, or to be weeping...forever. Or both. 
**You suck being an eagle if you can't carry your prey off, if it's struggling, and eagles are long-lived. 

P.S.: Those are the versions of Farseer and Cleancutter that I'm using. They might well be different in your campaign.

Farseer, Lord of Glorious Battle and Cleancutter, Red Rainbow Amidst The Rain Drops!

I'm running a campaign for Low Fantasy RPG, on-and-off...meaning "any time that the WHoOG campaign isn't running for one reason or another". We are playing Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, and I'm behind with the updates again - it's just that we play more often than that!

I'm also planning to make it into a setting supplement...or mini-supplement, we'll see. I'm not even trying to hide that my main inspiration for that are the Books of Twelve Swords by Fred Saberhagen, the French RPG Bloodlust, and Earthdawn's magic items. (Well, I hear Dave Arneson himself has been putting magic swords in his setting as important part of the magic, but I don't know anything else. Either way, it's nice to know I'm following good tradition!)
The first thing that you'd notice if you played in this campaign, would be...that there's no Wizard class. Want magic? Find an item.
Most such items are weapons. For a reason that's part of the setting's lore.

And now, let me introduce you two NPCs from this campaign!

Farseer, Lord of Valorous Battle looks like a slender Type XIX (with side rings), according to Oakeshott's typology. He's black as night, and carries a symbol of the Iron God (which I decided to adopt in my setting...though he might turn out to be just a namesake).
He's made of cold iron, of course.
The first power he always gives to any user is the ability to see the invisible, including in the dark. This was already used to notice a dryad hiding in her own tree. (Previous unscrupulous owners have used it to see through clothes, as Farseer would tell you - not that he's hinting at anything...he's not a pervert at all!)
Later it might be upgraded to "seeing magic emanations".
Then, he'd give you the power of sprouting wings (for a time), and then having them retract.
And if he likes you well enough, then he would make you unaging. Forget
He has one more power that he seldom grants to any user. Speculations abound as to what is might be: Does he teach the owner deadly counters, coupled with sixth sense? Grant stunning beauty? Allow the limited use of a Forbidden Wish (1/lunar month)? Immunity to fire? Control over water?
Is it even only one power, or does he just hold back several things he doesn't give access to, except as required?
One thing is for sure: Farseer doesn't want you to kill many people. He wants you to avoid fights, except with enemies that would provide a valorous combat. He's very much a "quality over numbers" guy!
And yes, the sword is a "he", most definitely, as he'd tell you if you ever met. It's just an accident most of his wielders have been female, and good-looking at that...funny coincidence, that!
Or, as it often works with those blades - is it a coincidence?


Cleancutter, Red Rainbow Amidst The Rain Drops looks like a mix between a Peidao and a Bulgarian sabre, with slightly bigger guard. And he's white...like the bones long-dead gods, some would say.
Cleancutter is also silvered, which might or might not explain his colour.
The first power he'd give you is the power of sudden, deep cuts. Which is something all swords do, in a way - but he can decapitate an enemy regardless of armour (which normal swords can't do).
The second power he would reveal is his ability to change shapes temporarily. So, if you need to enter a palace, you could have Cleancutter as an inoffensive dagger on your belt (though he'd remind you about that...) A rider attacking you? Cleancutter can be your halberd or pike. Someone grappled you? Cleancutter can become tigerclaws affixed to your wrist.
The third power is his ability to drink souls of your enemies, and grant you parts of their abilities (or just of their lifeforce, should you need it - and yes, if you didn't need it, this can prolong your "natural" lifespan a lot, preventing aging, much like Farseer's ability).
His fourth power is the ability to hurt even targets that are far away.
His fifth and subsequent powers are subject to speculation, too. Does he grant true agelessness, regardless of killing? Does he cause wounds that can never stop bleeding, unless the user touches them with his blade again? Does he give you the power of bladedancing, which can allow you to protect a single target against any attack, even at the cost of your life? Does he allow you to stop any attack (1/ lunar month)? Does he hew the weapon of any enemy when you defend?
Or does he, as some claim, allow you to cut the binds of causality, granting you a Forbidden Wish for seemingly unconnected actions - but possibly at a terrible price?
Or, conversely, does he allow you to cut the ties that bind enemies to what they cherish? No doubt there would be a price for the ability to sever the love of the grieving wife for her perished husband, or the like - but what would it be?
Questions, questions...and no answers in sight. But a few things are for sure: he likes women (not as targets), money, and slaughter - not necessarily in that order. He's a "quantity over quality" kind of guy, unlike Farseer. And he's slower to give you his trust, but readily adits what (and how) he wants you to do.
Oh, and you should never call him Vorpy. Only Farseer gets away with that, at times...and he hates the price so much, he tries to avoid it.


Important: all magic weapons in my setting have the one obvious power of never needing sharpening, anti-rust measures, or the like. That's a separate power in Low Fantasy RPG which I decided to make a default in my setting.
But then, they're the only way to gain magic powers of any kind, so it makes sense to preserve them!

Funniest reason for a ban EVER:D!

First: apologies for using smilies in the text, although they don't register as smilies to Blogspot/Blogger. I generally avoid it, but ut's appropriate today. You'll see why in a moment...

So: It seems I've been banned (for a day) by RPG.net...:)

OK, their site, their rules. Fine by me, this post isn't complaining about the fact! We obviously had differences of opinion with the moderators, but they also have the administrative rules;).

I might return to it again or not. I doubt too many people would miss me, anyway (and most of the posters that were fun to talk with seem to have migrated to theRPGsite).

However, the reason is nothing short of funny.

Yes, it says "smiley-assisted threadcrapping after multiple warnings".
REmember, that's on a forum which limits the number of smilies per post to 10! So I'm not banned for excessive use of smilies*, but for using them in an especially evil way. That was more or less what the previous warning said, too.
I think "finding a way to weaponize smilies" is definitely ROFL-worthy (and probably worthy of 1 day or more without RPG.net).

I also think there's only one appropriate thing to say to this, and it is:

*And we obviously differ in opinion about whether it was threadcrapping. To me, it was clarifiying a cultural difference (between Eastern/Southeastern Europe and North America, in this case).
For a place that claims to be tolerant of all cultures, RPG.net definitely doesn't show any tolerance to clarifying the differences between some of them.

Stunning Beauty Chronicles, part 7 (WHoOG)

And there I am, writing our latest...exploits? Again, it's not a single session, I've got enough material to write that I'm not grouping them according to the sessions' start and finish (and sometimes writing more than one in a single update). 
Semi-mandatory link to the previous update. 

The boss approved the plan - he wasn't hot for Biggest Sister, but he recognised her as a worthy ally. More importantly, he recognised her as an woman...and hurting her emotionally by hurting her brothers? 
There's stuff you don't do when the Two-Timing Cockerel is about! Just sayin', in case it becomes relevant, ya know. (Fun fact: the same goes for my PC as well. I suspect it's time for the Yu clan to become matriarchal again: our women seem to be the pragmatic ones!) 
I talked with Biggest Sister, and persuaded her she should find a good man to marry, because she needs to continue the family line. The spirits of the ancestors have to be venerated by someone, even after she dies and joins them! 
She mentioned  Brother Wolf is "kinda a fan of TTC". I remembered it for future uses! We also had a long conversation about life, the universe and our places in it. She also mentioned Brother Wolf has a Sister Fox who's sick...they're former students of Old Raisin, it seems. 

So we left at noon, planning to get to Brother Wolf's fortress in the evening. Biggest Sister was leading us...she left when we approached a place with some guards' stronghold (I thought it's a small one, the GM didn't explain - not that it matters, given that we had no plans to fight). 
What the guards saw: 2 men and 13 beautiful women* were walking towards them. That's why they were still suspicious, but not overly so. 
What really happened: A combined number of 33 Qi levels were walking towards some people who had no Techniques. (My student should get to 1st Qi level soon, but isn't there yet). 
"Where you going?" 
"Towards the fortress!" 
"What do you want?" 
"A place to rest! We're traveling for our personal work, isn't your boss accepting guests?" 
"OK, we'll give you an escort!" 
They gave us a detachment of 20 men. 
We politely told them to stand between in the center. "It's safest there, in case anyone attacks us", as we explained. They thought us to be stupid, but obeyed. We brought them to the fortress safe and unhurt, and with that our obligations to them was fulfilled! 

There, we talked with the majordomo, because Brother Wolf was on a job of unspecified nature. The man wanted to give us...not the best rooms, shall I say. I just looked at him. (Of course I'm dealing with this: I'm actually the lowest-ranked Yu member in the group - even my wife is higher, because she's born in the clan, and I joined by marriage. It's a good thing they even listen to my "advice", isn't it? 
Well, I also get to talk to servants and other "small men" when there isn't an even lower-ranked person around). 
"Do you have any idea what's Brother Wolf going to do to you when he learns you put the Two-Timing Cockerel, whom he respects, in rooms like this? Seriously? Do you know who he is?" (I wasn't lying, remember). 
"I don't know..." 
"Shut up! Now you'll give us better rooms, and then I'm not going to mention it. Or else, I will, and Brother Wold shall punish you for offending someone he respects... You sure you want that?" 
A man who punishes prisoners by maiming? You don't want to make that one angry. The servant got green-ish in the face (but still, no detectable traces of orc blood - or for that matter, of any orcish presence in the setting). 
"Please, leave your belongings here for now, and we'll show you better rooms after dinner, if that wouldn't be too much of a bother for the respected gentlemen?" 
"It's acceptable", I allowed, bowing. "Our luggage can rest in any place for a while". 
"Very well, gentleman - you'd also get to meet Sister Fox, she's feeling better now. There's periods when she's worse, so please try not to worsen her state!" 
Us, worrying a sick person? Who do you think we are? 
(And yes, we can also rest anywhere, people. But we're in China now, even if it's Mythic China: if you don't demand respect, nobody'd give you any. People that deserve it, know to demand it as well. 
Respect, I mean! Shut up with the dirty sub-conscious already!) 

In the meantime, we got to meet Sister Fox. We asked the boss to do his Peacock routine...meaning, he should look the way he looked when courting his wives. He smiled and said he's always doing the same. 
I didn't tell him that I hope he gets reborn as a beautician. He'd like that, I think, but it's an ill omen to talk about someone's death before he dies. 
And yes, that includes the edgecases where you know the exact latest day when he'd suicide if he hasn't died before. 
Meanwhile, my wife was sneaking across the fortress. She returned with news that the basement has more guards than the walls, and never having seen the prisoners. 
On the other hand, she had found a weird room with a mirror. A mirror she recognised as stolen from the compound of the Yu family! 
Not only that: a boy with a body like mist got out of the mirror, and asked her what she wants him to look like - common courtesy, you know. And he proved he can mirror anyone he has seen... by becoming... the Two-Timing Cockerel. Whom he called "father". 
She tried to ask about his mother, but he didn't know the concept. At the end, she explained "like a father, but female", and invited him to our rooms to meet his "father". 
TTC was kinda surprised. And I could only think how he's such a peacock that even his mirror had become alive...trying not to chuckle the whole time. 
It was a happy family reunion, other than that. And it helped us to spend the time until dinner. (And of course, we call the supernatural one "Mirrorboy" now. Though maybe we should be calling TTC that - I mean, how much time do we have to spend in front of a mirror to get the mirror to become sapient?) 

So, there we were, charming Sister Fox who seemed kinda out of it, but was trying her best to play good host. We quickly confirmed that she seems both educated, and unable to harm a fly. She told us they'd been the students of Righteous Maiden (Raisin), and has no idea why they had to leave. She also volunteered that she's been struck by a poisoned arrow while they were recovering an artefact named "Life-Conserving Stone", which Raisin considered "evil" and wanted to destroy. The place it was hidden was a maze of traps, Sister Fox explained. Since then, nobody's been able to cure her condition, which seems to worsen at times... 
I felt pity towards her, but then we all suffer consequences for our parents and siblings' behaviour**, don't we? 
So I asked her when do we expect the other guests? 
"What other guests?" 
"Those your brother invited to stay in the basement of the fortress. Maybe we should go and open their cages?" 
"It's frowzy, fusty and wet there! My brother would put nobody there?", she was sincerely outraged. 
"All the more reason to invite them up here so they could get a respite, right?", I argued in turn, offering her my hand. "Let's go right now! We can't let anyone be unhappy with Brother Wolf's hospitality!" 
Oh, the irony that was wasted on her due to her drugged-up state! She just took my hand*** and let me guide her down, despite the objections of the servants. The guards, of course, didn't stop Sister Fox and me! 
The only one that tried to stop us was a girl with silvery hair and a single black strand, and bright clothes. She introduced herself as "Niece", so I assumed she's either Brother Wolf's lover, student, or both (if she was his wife, she'd have been introduced to us guests at the table). She tried to claim those people down are robbers and brigands. 
"Even the brothers of Biggest Sister?", I feigned my surprise. "Impossible - I know them and her! And why did he cut off the hand of one of them?" 
Sister Fox was nearly in shock, and she followed me. The Niece tried to grab her, but I intercepted her hand. 
"Don't you dare!", she hissed. 
"Stop me!", I hissed back, and kept dragging Sister Fox down. She looked in my eyes, and realized she's a cun**** away from death. 
I hate people that try to stop me from rescuing kidnap victims. And I wasn't alone. She was, though, and I knew that: her lover/master power depends on the kung-fu masters not even getting close - or they'd save their relatives. People who train Kung-fu would also be dangerous: a rival may tempt them with faster training. 
Consequently, she was probably the only Ranked Fighter. And if she was to call the army... 
Well, she saw in my eyes I'm going to kill her before they arrive and leave Sister Fox to lament her. And she didn't want Sister Fox to get upset, which violence would surely accomplish. 
"Now shut up", my wife petted the side of her face. "We can help her heal. That's ultimately why you need all those prisoners, right?" 
I looked at her and nodded. We were both thinking of a very powerful person with remarkable poison skills, that we were connected to. Only a poison user can heal poison! 

As expected, the dungeon was frowzy, fusty, wet and everything else you expect from the prison of such a person. Biggest Sister brothers weren't the only ones there - seems like kidnapping relatives was Brother Wolf's "trick for compelling obedience". There were also torture racks, there, and bloody cleavers. 
And well, that speaks volumes for Brother Wolf's character, doesn't it? 
His sister, however, almost went cathatonic upon seeing this. I couldn't even get her to order releasing the prisoners. 
"See what you did? You..." 
"We're going to cure her", me and my wife said more or less simultaneously*****. "Now call Biggest sister's brothers. We'll go up the stairs, and leave the other brigands behind. Obviously Biggest Sisters' brothers being here was a mistake, wasn't it?", I added. 
"A mistake...yes", she said and we let them free on the way out, leading Sister Fox away. In a way, I pressed as far as I could, and got less than I wanted. She accepted a minor loss, and order the brothers to be kicked out of the dungeon at once. 
In short, we both cut our losses, and smiled, hoping to gain more from continued cooperation. 
And I had a plan how to get Sister Fox's mind away. 
"Those people were probably brigands, judging by the treatment", I said. "If such people aren't punished, they would disrupt the basics of the state, and cause great suffering! But in doing so, one must be careful to address any mistakes of justice. I think we're in the clear on both accounts, now?" 
"Yes, yes, we are", they both confirmed (one of them - through clenched teeth, the other - sincerely actually believing it). 
"Great! Now, I must also apologize for the scene, but I had to take care of my host's reputation as a just person. The great teacher says a good guest defends his host's honour as his own, after all. You're familiar with the teachings, right?" 
And then we discussed the finer points of the guest-host relationship in the Dehua******, like cultured people, over tea. Sister Fox joined with delight: it seems she's reading a lot, since her health doesn't allow her to train any more. When I excused myself and returned with my "pen pal", she was delighted! 
The Niece felt kinda left out. Not only did she know less, she also seemed not to hear everything. 
Me and my wife looked at her irises, and concluded she's got the qi channel leading to her ear, disrupted. It was either inborn, or the result of kung-fu. We also concluded she'd need a Nei Gong master if she was to recover, but it was doable. However, I am probably the only guy with any Nei Gong skills in the Yu family! And my Qi wasn't powerful enough to even learn such a technique. 
...yet. But I was training for this very reason, wasn't I? 
It seemed, however, that she had assumed this to be a normal illness. 
So I promised that that if she doesn't find a cure before I get powerful enough, I'm going to come back and cure her. It was the right thing to do! 
And then we went to sleep, after Sister Fox became kinda tired - she's not big on the stamina thing, you might have noticed - and we didn't want to be nasty to her. The rooms were nice. 
And after a while*******, we even went to sleep the dreams of the righteous. How often does any xia get to save 6 young boys? 

The next day, we got to meet Brother Wolf. Just watching him move was enough to tell us one thing: his kung-fu is more powerful than TTC's, and about on par with Da Su Su! 
Cool. A potential ally, we thought in synch. 
He demanded to know what were we talking about. I mean, "that poison has no cure". 
"Somehow, she's alive. If she is, a real Kung-Fu master can cure her", we replied, following the evidence the whole setting provides. 
"I'm a real kung-fu master!" 
"But you're not a poison user", I pointed out, flattering******** him. "To fight poison, you need to know poison. Just like how your student has been hurt by a Nei Gong technique, and you need a Nei Gong technique to cure her, you need a poison user to undo what poison has wrought". 
"So what do you suggest?" 
"We suggest to get you in touch with someone as powerful as you, but who's an accomplished poison user: Da Su Su, ever heard of her?" 
Then we negotiated the price, but it was clear he'd accept. And it was true: "if she can cure my sister, I'd help her against that enemy you mentioned!", he promised. We didn't mention the name, of course - what use is it to him, if he doesn't believe we can cure his sister? 
I guess the discussion of poison made him think, because he started debating ethics. We debated why Raisin destroys Qi-using artifacts - she considers them "evil", a view he doesn't subscribe to: to him, power is power, it's your job to use it right. 
My wife agreed. I didn't tell him that if he's maiming kids to get their sister to serve him, he's failing the "use your power right" job. Hard. 
Instead, I merely stated that there are means to get power one doesn't use, and means that are fine. He told me I'm "still too young", which I conceded. My character is young, indeed! 
So I promised to search for him in 5, 10 or 15 years, if my views have changed, and tell him. He seemed satisfied, and I abstained from talking about cruelty and compassion. 
I mean, what do you expect of me? To argue with him when my wife is backing him? My character has been married to her for a while - he can't be stupid enough to make THAT mistake! 

So, we sent the grateful Biggest Sister to carry a message to DSS. While she was away, we had her brothers join our training*********, and with the blessings of TTC, decided to hire all seven of them as Yu Clan servants. We often life-long service, money and protection - as well as training, except in the family's secret techniques: overall, a ten thousand times better deal than the one they'd got from Brother Wolf. 
Actually, I wanted to make her my blood sister, making her part of the clan - it's not like all of us have to be the smartest, and she's honest and owes us already - but my wife and TTC vetoed it. None of them was beautiful enough to get in the Silk Robes Clan! 
Yes, there are appearance criteria for becoming Yu that are harder to cover than to achieve kung-fu mastery. Why do you think they call us "the clan of the beautiful people"? 

Meanwhile, me and my wife were taking care of the business. We hired workers with promises of training (followed by on-the-job instruction), and helped an unhappy woman to recover her kids that her mother-in-law had kept after she became an widow. She's going to be the round-the-clock herbalist in one of our establishments, now (with possible stints as an worker up for additional remuneration, if she decides to try)! 
Our most interesting find, as we were walking among the downtrodden? 
An orphan girl who had already mastered her Qi. It seems her mother was a herbalist-feng shui, but she tried and failed to heal the wife (or was it the mother?) of a local Big Man...and was consequently subjected to stoning. Then of course, the girl started practicing, imitating the cranes and monkeys in the environs, or something. (Or maybe she was just beating trees with her stick, imagining they are the Big Boss). It helped her make a leap. 
We have gone there to make her a business offer... but instead, we asked her to come and join us. 
I mean, come on...beautiful (that's why we were there - remember our line of work), knows Kung Fu, and has no reason to stay? Sounds like someone the Two-Timing Cockerel would love to woe! It's up to him if she'd fall in love, of course. 
Worst case scenario, we'd make her an offer. Or I'd get a sworn sister. But she seems just right for the Yu clan! 
So we went to see the Big Man. All three of us. There was no talking: we just beat his guards (I'd made my wife swear she wouldn't kill anybody), dragged him and his family out, beat him to an inch of his life**********, and burnt the house. 
Then we came back to our place (we were guests of the Brother Wolf). Two people have arrived: 
One was Raisin. I went to express my respects (and gave her a pause upon introducing myself as Yu). My wife was following her to see where she would go after that... 
We really want to be introduced to her disciples! 
The other was Biggest Sister. She accepted the offer to be hired, and said she was looking for a suitably tall husband - but had bad news from Da Su Su. 
"This poison is impossible to heal!" 
My wife had a crisis of faith. The "fuck that bitch, I thought she's good at least at something, but obviously - no" kind of crisis of faith (and yes, it's a quote). 
We had to decide now what to do. But it seemed logical that we should now go to Bone Kingdom as soon as possible!
Maybe we'd find an enemy on the way. We had just enough XP to get to 3rd Qi level, now, and had to test ourselves!
And meanwhile, we just might help Two-Timing Cockerel to get another wife, or three. He's got a countdown and an unfulfilled goal, remember?

*Me, my wife, my student, Two-Timing Cockerel, his 10 wives, and his daughter. Everybody in the Yu clan is beautiful, of course! 
**Remember: Mythic China, like in Mythic Europe, or Mythic Rest-of-Asia, "responsibility" is a group affair. 
***Not literally touching me, I assume. You don't touch anyone's sister, unless you have certain intentions...and even then you'd better be ready to survive the brother's assault. Granted, xia are often more relaxed: we touch people as a matter of fact, even if it's just in order to hurt them. Anyway, following me would be enough. 
****3,33 cm, figuratively: very close. "An inch from" would be the equivalent in other measurement systems. 
*****No dice were involved in this reaction being simultaneous. 
******Fantasy Confucianism. No dice were involved in this discussion, either: the GM just checked my character sheet and saw I have the required Knowledge skill. And she knows I know that kind of things, anyway, and actually wasn't surprised at me quoting Confucius. Yes, I assume that unless mentioned in the setting, there's no difference between "fantasy Whatever" and "the historical Whatever" when I play (or when I run, though that's irrelevant right now). 
*******You don't need to know more on that account. 
********In the system, you have reputation that applies to your friends, and reputation that applies to your enemies. Except if you're a poison user: then both your reputations are "poison-user"...friends know that they have a poison user on their side, at least. The enemies know they're facing a poison user - which is kinda scary. We haven't yet explored the fact that the name for Dian Xue is "poison hand" (and another name is "demon hand"). 
*********The youngest one is 6 or so, it's time to get him started! I hurry to tell you that at least, it's the oldest that's lacking a hand. He's been trained in some kung-fu already, and is slightly ahead of my own student. Two of his brothers have also learned to master their Qi. 
 **********We're lucky that nobody with a Qi level can kill by mistake: even with a sword, we always know we can make a telling attack merely incapacitating. Of course, what that says about my wife is up for discussions!