The Ciaren Campaign: Cartography

The DnD game I've been running that I may have mentioned a time or two has thus far been without a (published) map.

This is that map.


Each square is more than a month's travel time.

Ta'ae(far right) is where the first adventure took place; the characters assaulted the city, fought its defenders, and watched its citizens flee even as their own army was destroyed in the battle.

Lot-U is the subterranean city the players arrive at halfway through the second adventure. It is where, in all liklihood, the characters took a little trip and left a bunch of cavedwelling hippies with a sack of baby Kobolds. It is virtually right under Ta'ae (as in "beneath it"), but is depicted in its own square for the sake of visual clarity.

Caul d'cath (mispelled on the map) is a quiet crossroads town that's only gotten quieter since the start of the war and the drop-off in adventurer traffic. There, the adventurers likely left a mysterious woman with her wolves in the woods around the unsuspecting town. But they totally drove off those Marauders.

Sevel is a trading post/fortress in the wilderness that serves as a source of protection and supplies for the wizards who study and maintain the ancient Gate. It's about two weeks travel from The Gate, but is depicted in its own square for the sake of visual clarity.

The Gate is the destination for the players. While the wizards who tend the gate were tricked into letting the Droves Army through the Gate by the Ciaren commander Behqueru (who died at the end of the first adventure), they aren't exactly Ta'ae citizens and tried to remain neutral in the conflict. That means they may not be too angry since Ciaren still exists and Ta'ae doesn't, but who really knows? I guarantee you right now that the characters' passage through The Gate won't be dependant on completing some redemptive fetch-quest.

Ciaren, the characters' homeland, is, relative to this map, in the nearest bathroom.

The Game's the Thing: The Core of Roleplay

I mentioned to Josh that we could simultaneously do a Novel Writing Month challenge as a way for him to get back in to writing and for me to continue writing. He countered with a ludicrous (sorry dude) idea that we make a roleplaying game together. In the spirit of challenging myself I gave us thirty days to come up with a system. With that in mind, I've started considering the very essentials of roleplaying.

Most roleplayers have their own reasons for playing, but the reasons are common enough for most players. Many players crave virtualism; they want to act in a world where the normal restrictions don’t apply. Whether that restriction is their inability to shoot fire from their fingertips to burn down an orphanage or their inability to express how they feel or an inability to communicate to others their creativity. When players seek exploration, they want to learn about a setting, a place, or a person. Some players explore through the setting, some do it by advancing the story to see what comes next, while others create a character and explore their response to situations as that character encounters them. Much like virtualism, people who play to escape want to be in a fantastic setting, not so much for the setting or the people, but because it gives them an escape to focus on something else for a change, something straightforward that can usually be solved by punching instead of whatever their real life problems are. The fourth major reason people play roleplaying games is because it’s a social activity. Their friends are doing it, so they do it to interact with their friends. Taken to extremes, they don’t really care if the party lives or dies because, hey, at least they’re meeting people.

Playing Favorites excerpts, pt 09

Every Tuesday, I post excerpts from my best-selling at not-selling super blog, Playing Favorites

So, I don’t care about a single thing about Cable up to the point that he quit whatever X team he was on at the time and starting paling around with Deadpool. That at some point, he said, “All this fighting and shit…what if we just…stop that?” And started to use the fact that he’s from the future to try to make the world a better place. And the world hated him for it. Yeah. Fuck yeah. Sure, it’s not going to work, because even if Marvel Comics was going under tomorrow, they certainly wouldn’t end the Marvel Universe with Cable bringing about world peace. Kang the Conqueror would come riding in from a time swirl on the shoulders of Galactus talking about The Great Menace of the Future, which is actually a super-Hulk made from the bodies of six smaller Hulks. Now, I’m not saying that super-Hulk would punch something hard enough to break time-

-because that would be dumb-

The Game's the Thing: Three Campaigns, Part Two: The Father

The Ciaren Campaign

My first DnD game and the only game I'm currently running (technically). While I've only run three full adventures over eleven sessions or so, I think it's been a success. I attribute much of that to two factors: frequent play and minimalism.

MHz

Frequent play does a lot to keep momentum up. Players remember facts and characters. They stay energized and anticipate playing. I picked up a regular schedule (mostly), which keeps me pushing forward on stories and gives players time to get their own affairs in order for play. Especially for me, learning a new system, it keeps the rules fresh in my mind and running the same adventure over and over again helps. Even better, I'm running on a six adventure timer. I don't have to worry about Adventure 7 or 10; I don't have time. If I there's villain in Adventure 2, he's going to have to show up again by Adventure 6 or not at all. There's aren't--and can't be--a lot of interwoven plot threads where X affects Y because it's just six sessions and I don't have time for that bullshit. Sure, there are vague ideas about the second arc, assuming the first ends well, but I'm simply refusing to think of it until I'm done with this one. I'm focusing on, maximum, six stories at a time, usually self-contained. I've found it very liberating, which brings me to my next point.

Maybe Soapbox Sunday Wasn't the Right Day to Start Following People

Being right on the heels of two other dry posts on roleplaying games doesn't help.

Too bad.

I followed most of these people because they also listed Magic: the Gathering as one of their interests and they had pretty cool blogs. Most of them seem to do Magic more consistently than my weekly It's the Magic feature, but ItM hasn't really been my biggest draw, so it's no big.

Sunday Morning Soapbox: Temo Party

I don't like the Tea Party. I don't think there's too much to like about them. I think they're naive, self-centered whiners who want to act like everything that's going wrong in this country is the fault of elected representatives in Washington. Basically, I hate them more than the Democrats and Republicans because they have the audacity to be naive.

Howevercomma I do like the fact that their naivete is pushing them towards cutting the budget. Drastically.

Yes, there are cuts to things I'm uncomfortable seeing cut, but I'm less comfortable with a system where we're consistently promised smaller government and less spending, but we're consistently running a deficit for something of allegedly vital importance. This Huffington Post article mentions the (unsurprising) fact that most Americans generally want the government to spend less, but hesitate to enumerate exactly where less money should be spent. Education? Medicare? Department of Homeland Security? Those are all good things, and no one wants to have less of good things.

I think that the biggest problem here is that everything called something remotely like "Department of Kicking Sick Puppies" has already been axed; cutting in the middle of what's left only opens politicians up to looking like the villain, while cutting at the extremes (or else making a big show of the same) at least makes you popular with your constituency. But if you're going to debate the buget at all, your actions have to be significant and they have to be taken with the knowledge that we just can't pay for everything we want. Even if you can pay for Planned Parenthood for the next five years or so, what about the ten after that? The twenty? Same question about Social Security. Health Care. Look, Planned Parenthood, Social Security, and Health Care are all good things; they save and improve lives, but if the government won't answer the hard questions about how to pay for them, not just this next year, but in perpetuity, then they have to accept that these programs won't survive when the US quits paying for things on our credit card. Our government will have to resign itself to either spending its money more wisely, or doing less with less. It's called, 'living within your means,' and I guess that for a lot of people who have the money and resources to get elected, it's strange to have so little means in relation to your wants.

I don't believe, as the article I linked says, that Americans secretly like big government. I mean, everyone likes getting money, but that's a subject for another blog entirely. I also don't think that this is a Republican vendetta against women. I think that it's more common for women to need social services, so when Republicans--as they are wont to do--cut social services, women suffer. It's not part of a malign plan against the sex cursed with the lack of a Y-chromosme, it's just that the people with the greatest needs are the first to suffer when the government quits supporting those in need.

Yet, this news article says some things that dovetail better with my own reckoning(add grains of salt to taste); the sound and fury new house (roadhouse) will pass any ridiculously partisan bill that they want to jack off their constituents, blame the senate for not going along, and please their fan base without ever worrying about upsetting the status quo. The senate democrats shouldn't shoot this bill down; they should amend it to ridiculously cut spending for pro-conservative programs and raise taxes on organizations they don't like. Responsible, irresponsible spending cuts might very well do a lot to balance the budget. If our elected officals fought as hard to save money as they did to spend it, we wouldn't be facing a massive national debt (we'd probably be facing a wide variety of other threats too numerous and varied to fully explore here, but I digress). Simply refusing to pass a budget and/or failing to cut spending won't solve anything and either side playing an absolutist game doesn't serve anyone's interest.

It seems that regardless of the outcome, a sweeping, conservative-backed bill presents a win-win for the right. If it fails and the economy doesn't get back on track, then the conservatives can pass any legislation they want come 2013. If it succeeds, then regardless of the passage by Democrats and The President, it's hailed as a victory for the right. If it's passed and fails--either fiscally, in the public eye, or both--then the Democrats get the blame for allowing it to happen. The only real winning scenario for the left is if it's shot down, Washington keeps spending, and the economy picks up so that by 2012 no one's talking about deficit spending anymore.

In all fairness, some Democrats are trying to cut spending. Some have suggested tax increases and cuts to other programs; I'm supportive of this, though dubious about anyone paying more taxes, even the easily-vilified "rich" (although, let's face it, considering the income gap, I'm not that dubious) until the government learns to spend more responsibly. Representative McCollum (D-MN) suggested that the millions of dollars spent by the military on advertising on NASCAR vehicles could be spent somewhere else, the response to which was an incoherent fax which defies any other description with mere words:

I've actually run out of "what the fucks" for these sorts of things. I am "what the fuck"ed out. I had a whole bag of "what"s, "the"s, and "fuck"s to pull phrases out of, and all that's left in there is an IOU from my country's political discourse, which only gets me about a quarter of the way through "fuck."

The Doom Effect-Telekinesis/Telepathy

Telekinesis

Level: 3
Quantum Minimum: 4

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Telekinesis
Range: (Quantum + Power Rating) x 10m

Area: N/A
Duration: Maintenance

Effect: The character moves things with thier mind.
Action: Full Action

Description: This power allows a nova to move objects and even living beings with their mind.

This is a technique power. For each dot the nova has in this power, they choose one technique which they may use. Novas may use techniques they haven’t chosen, but doing so incurs a +1 difficulty and costs and extra quantum point.

With the exception of Flight, Telekinesis does not have any action/reaction forces associated with it, a character cannot be pulled or lifted by pushing off of something larger than they are or by holding something they are pushing.

You may not have more successes on a Telepathy roll than twice your Telepathy Power Rating.

Blast/Crush: The nova can use their Telekinesis to crush bones and inflict other wounds on a target. Does [Quantum x 2] levels + (Power Rating x 3) dice of bashing damage. It can be dodged normally.

Guide: The nova can guide a physical attack, adding dice equal to their Power Rating to its damage and/or attack. The nova divides up to his Power Rating in dice amongst the attack dice pool or damage dice pool of a physical attack. This is usually a held action triggered by a friendly attack.

Example: Pull-Man has Telekinesis 3 and Guide. He uses Guide to help with the attack of his ally, The Green Samurai. He spends three quantum points adds 2 dice to The Green Samurai’s attack, and 1 dice to his damage dice pool before The Green Samurai attacks.

Levitation: The nova can lift themselves into the air and fly. They can fly (Power Rating x 2) + 20 meters per action, or (40 x Power Rating) km/hr out of combat.

Lift: The nova can 25 * 2^Successes kg. And move it Power Rating x 5 meters as a minor action.

The nova may also use their Telekinesis against a living target as a Hold attack (pg 244), which is sustained as a minor action, as long as it is successful.

Telepresence: The nova can manipulate objects within their Telekinesis range as if they were there. For any roll requiring manipulation of physical objects, the nova may as if they were performing that action. The nova is limited by the smaller of their dice pool relevant to the action or their Telekinesis dice pool, in addition for any other penalties for not being present (being unable to see screens or readouts, not being able to hear warning signs, etc., etc..).

Inherent in Telepresence is the character’s ability to ‘feel’ the weight and resistance of certain objects within their Telekinesis range by ‘frisking’ them. This allows the nova to use their Perception in areas they can’t physically be in, again limited by their Telekinesis dice pool. Note that they can only tell rough masses/resistances of things. If an object resists a telekinetic probe, it could either be very heavy or well secured. A successful Perception roll by a suspicious party can reveal a Telekinetic frisking of a room, though a botched roll can reveal it just as well.

Telepathy

Level: 3
Quantum Minimum: 3
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Telepathy
Range: Variable

Area: N/A
Duration: Variable

Effect:
Action: Full Action

Description: A technique power focusing on reading minds (if you can believe it). To use Telepathy, roll Manipulation + Telepathy against the target’s Willpower (unless the target is willing), then choose a power to use.

Like other technique powers, you choose one technique that you're trained in for each dot you have in Telepathy. You may use 'untrained' techniques at a +1 penalty and the cost of 1 additional quantum point. Unlike other uses of Telepathy, you must declare what untrained technique you're using before you roll. 

You cannot have more successes on a roll than twice your dots in Telepathy.

Alter Memory

Range: Line of Sight

Duration: Maintenance

Prerequisite: Read Minds & Speak

The nova may alter the subject’s memories. Successes on the roll determine how extreme those changes can be. One success can change trivial memories, two successes can change minor memories such as birthdays and anniversaries. Three successes can pull up important memories like vital personal information and embarrassing secrets. Four successes can change anything; national security codes, dark secrets, and traumas too deeply-seated to even be consciously thought about.

The altered memories only last until the power wears off, though they may be made permanent by spending a dot of permanent willpower. Like Read Mind, the subject is aware of the nova invading their mind and can stall the changes for a turn with the expenditure of a point of Willpower.

Fool

Range: Line of Sight

Duration: Maintenance

Successes on the Telepathy roll act as automatic successes versus any attempts for the target to detect the nova. If the target doesn’t suspect the nova is around, then they cannot even roll to detect them.

The use of enhanced senses does not reveal the nova because this effect is mental in nature. However, Psychic Shield dice may be added to the subject’s roll.

Every attack against the target by the nova reduces the nova’s automatic successes by one, until the nova reuses their Fool or becomes visible.

If the target succeeds, the nova is fully visible. If they fail, but are still aware of another presence, they may attack the nova as if blinded.

This power only works against one target at a time, and only protects the nova.

Overload

Range: Line of Sight

The character may roll Telepathy versus the target’s Willpower. Successes deal bashing damage to the target.

Read Minds

Range: Line of Sight

Duration: Maintenance

The nova can read the mind of someone. They can’t necessarily talk with them, but the person knows that someone can read their mind. They know who the reader is immediately; if they know the nova, they can put a name to the face. If they don’t, they’ll recognize the nova instantly should they ever meet.

This allows the nova to read that person’s surface thoughts, as well as to find one simple fact per success per full action. More private or complicated facts may require additional successes, and the target may spend Willpower to prevent the release of any facts for a turn.

Speak

Range: Line of Sight

Duration: Maintenance

The nova speaks to the target. The target may respond in kind or simply attempt to ignore the nova. A nova may speak with up to their Telepathy Rating other characters, and maintain that connection (either on ‘separate lines’ or on a ‘conference call’) indefinitely, even if the characters are no longer within line of sight.

Other characters with Telepathy may Channel powers through this connection or use Read Mind to break into it with a successful opposed Telepathy roll. Other characters with Telepathy (whether they have Speak or not) do not count towards the maximum characters a nova may support. In fact, multiple telepathic novas may ‘network’ in this way to support a larger set of characters.

Channeling

May use other Mental powers and Telepathy techniques through Detect Mind, bypassing Line of Sight ranges on many Telepathy techniques. Non-Telepathy powers used this way have a dice pool limited by the character’s Telepathy dice pool.

Detect Minds

The character has Sense (Sentient Minds). The character can also seek a specific mind within the area of their Sense(250 meters per dot of Telepathy). If they seek someone they know, they only suffer a +1 penalty. If they have only a vague idea of who/what they’re looking for (like “hot dog vendor” or “whores”), they suffer a +2 penalty. If they’re looking for a specific person with very little information about them (“the hobo I almost hit while running at Mach 5 last Thursday”), it’s a +3 penalty. One success on the roll gives a general sense of the target's location and direction. Five successes will tell you exactly where they are.