Enter, The Other Mystics

The McFearson House, before the fire

Meanwhile, not far from McFearson Hill, down in the swine-commons east of Hamfest village, and at some time not long after the events recently told of the Fire and Water Wizards, there was another contest of wills between two siblings. This time we find ourselves in the company of Storm Wizard, none other than the brother of Fire Wizard and Water Wizard, and his younger sister, Juliet, the fourth in the alchemical set, a sweet young girl who loves the earth and healing and has devoted herself to the worship of the Golden Sheaf Goddess, Minvar.

It's just after sunrise on a blustery autumn morning in the yard of the Mr and Mrs Bellowick, and the swine are grousing around for grubs and rutting and and snorting while being cajoled by the two siblings back toward the barn. Out of the corner of his eye, a momentary glint of polished metal draws Storm Wizard's attention to a speck of a figure moving along the distant road-ridge up on McFearson Hill, heading toward the old burned out McFearson house. It's odd, he thinks, for anyone to be heading up there as it's been quite some time since old man McFearson took the remainder of his family and fled southward to Wheatsdale in the middle of the night after the fire where his daughter Pamela died (though some rumors to the contrary persisted, while other rumors claimed her ghost was seen in the window of her room in the old burned out house).

And so, dropping his chores like a hot potato, Storm Wizard insists his little sister remain behind to watch the swine and make sure that none of them wander out into the open pasture beyond the commons. Well, this was really not going to pan out that way, as she's a feisty little thing, and refused to remain behind. And so the two of them, grumbling for different reasons, headed up toward the McFearson Hill to see who might be up there. It was probably no one of interest, just a peasant, or a wandering monk, but there was something about the figure that struck them both as ... strange. Perhaps it was the black cloak, or the gait by which the figure moved. At any rate, they rushed along as fast as they could, and made their way past the Hogsworth homestead cutting across their fields, and over the Fox Brook Bridge. Before they made it that far, however, they were hailed by a little girl, a friend from the Monastery of the Golden Sheaf, who also insisted on coming along. And so the three of them marched their way up the long trail, edging the cliffs and finally made their way to the barn, into which they had briefly seen the unusual figure enter. By that time they were a lot closer, the person having apparently stopped along the trail long enough for the little troop to catch up. What they saw struck them as exceedingly strange. The figure was a beautiful red haired woman wearing a jet black skull cap with a widow's peak, and a long flowing black cloak, black chain-mail, and high black boots. Into the barn she vanished.

And so the young adventurer's made their way to the barn very carefully, sidling along the bushes and hedge that marked the old garden that once was the envy of the neighborhood but now a warren of rabbit holes and weeds. They slunk past the old burned out McFearson house, noting the second story window where the Hogsworth kids swore they'd seen Pamela McFearson's ghost in the moonlight not long ago. It was dreadfully creepy, and so they crept past as quietly as three field mice. And into the barn went Storm Wizard only to find that the strange woman had indeed vanished completely.

And so the siblings went inside the barn and searched it carefully, leaving Morgana, their friend from the Monastery to keep watch at the door. And so it was that they too found the strange Dragon Chest, and so it was that they too discovered that it was as immobile as if it had roots deep into the ground. And so it was that they discovered that indeed it very well might have, as someone, they could tell, had not long before tried to dig beneath the chest only to lose the rocks and dirt enough to find that it very much did go down into the ground. To this Juliette proposed that the chest was not a chest at all, but a coffin, perhaps. Storm Wizard roundly scoffed at this notion, but had no better suggestion either.

Quite out of the blue they heard a gruff, low, gravelly voice tell them in no uncertain terms that they'd best not trifle with that old Dragon Chest, and spinning around, in the far corner of the barn, sitting on the floor as though he had not a care in the world, was a furry little man in a red cap, wearing a green vest, and smoking a long stemmed pipe, gazing at them with small beady little eyes and a crooked little smile.

It came as a great shock to the two of them, and they recalled that not that long ago, just such a furry fellow and his furry friends were responsible for a great number of thefts at the last Spring Fair in Hamfest, least season. Storm Wizard accused the fellow, and there were harsh words spoken on both sides, and in the end the little fellow managed to work out a bargain with the two feisty children of old man Bellowick. If they agreed to leave McFearson Hill and never return, he would explain to them about the chest. And so, having made that bargain he told them that inside the chest were magical seeds which would never fail to grow a bumper crop and make whomever planted them wealthier than anyone else in the town. And so the two agreed, after another verbal tussle, to take some of the seeds and plant them in the spring, on the condition that they never come back to McFearson Barn again, and that they never tell a living soul where they got the seeds. Then the little man took out a small triangular key and fit it into the strange triangular lock on the chest and opened it up to reveal a chest full of small black seeds, and taking a handful, filled a small pouch, and gave it to the earnestly amazed children. Closing the chest with a thud, he vanished in thin air.

It wasn't long before they quarrelled about whether or not to leave the barn, or keep exploring it, since their agreement, technically, with the little man, was to never return, but they didn't agree on how long they would take to depart... when they heard rustling in the loft above. Climbing the ladder, Storm Wizard was suddenly shocked to find himself the recipient of a blinding flash of light and fell backwards. When Juliette tried to climb the ladder herself, she too was suddenly rendered unconscious, and so it was not for some time until Morgana managed to awaken the two, outside the barn, at the end of the day, laying in the old garden among the rabbit holes and weeds. They decided it would be a good idea to head home after all.

A cold wind blew down the hill side, as they trundled along blearily. They hadn't gone terribly far down the hill when they heard a loud rustling in the heavy undergrowth of the forest through which the trail lead them. It was getting dark. The wind was howling, and Storm Wizard, being that sort of fellow, marched off in the direction of the noise. Picking his way through the undergrowth he came upon a wild boar that had been rooting in the bushes, and turning on him with an angry snort, it charged him with it's sharp tusks, bloodshot eyes, and yellow saliva dripping from it's mouth. Now, it must be said that there are few in Hamfest who are quite as thin and gangly, under nourished and sickly as poor Storm Wizard, and so when the beast charged him his life was very much in jeopardy. Yet without hesitation, and with a steady hand and eye that belied his diminutive form, he barked out a thunderous chant and there was a sudden flash of lightening that flickered off his finger like some monstrous static charge, and hitting the boar in the head, blasted a black smoldering hole right through it's left eye, dropping it like a sack of rocks as it came skidding through the dirt up to Storm Wizard's little feet. Proud and defiant was Storm Wizard that evening, as they headed back to the their home across the fields.

And so they made it home and found themselves warm and cozy by the fire, puzzling over the strange black seeds, and all they'd heard and seen since leaving the swine-stead for McFearson Hill. A few days went by and they thought it might be ok for them to just take a quick peek at the hill and if possible, Juliette thought it was her sacred duty to find out of Pamela McFearson's ghost was indeed in that old house, and if so to help her to find her rest in the after life. And so they head back toward McFearson Hill one chilly morning not long afterwards. But this time they took two of their other brothers, Daniel and Brian, fighters both, and with them took the chance that others might have thought quite foolish.

It was a dangerous time of year, though, and before they could make their way over Fox Brook Bridge beyond the safety of their pastures and the swine-commons, they heard the howling of wolves approaching fast through the forest. They found a refuge in some rocks and took a stand. Four wolves came from the woods and assailed them viciously. It was a battle that none of them would soon forget, and by great luck and daring they slew the wolves and took their pelts as a reward and proof of their prowess.

And this is where we left things that day.

Kobolde of the Deep Mines

Oh there once was a Kobolde who lived under the earth, deep down in the dark places near where the giant spiders roam. Searching ever seeking for the secret vein, the often whispered, never found, blood-vein of of the mother load. Ever searching. Never finding. Long pointy fingers and little red nose, his eyes very beady, his hair like black straw, ever scratching, digging scraping, in the darkness where the giant spiders roam.

Water & Fire: The Wizards Join Forces

... And so, having found the strange goblin key, and having explored the mysterious tunnel beneath the McFearson Barn, the Fire Wizard and his henchman Fadin were heading back to town to get more men and materials for a more thorough exploration of their discovery when up the path came Water Wizard and his own henchman, Bob, having returned from Deep Gully Forest where they too met Robert and received some tidbits of information regarding the three stolen scrolls.

As soon as they saw each other the two Wizards began a dialog that cut steel for sharpness, and as it came about, Fire Wizard used his guile and cunning to persuade his brother to help explore the tunnel, telling him just enough to peak his interest in the tunnel, but saying nothing of the immovable Dragon Chest beneath the hay in the barn.

"Brother, you have accused me before the Guild of a theft I did not commit, and now you want my help.", said the Water Wizard.

"Brother, I only did it because of the pain you put me through. You have always been the better of the the two of us, and seeing the long way you have fallen has upset my mind greatly. I could do nothing else but assume it also must be you who stole the scrolls, which is the only reason I made the accusation. Surely you must see that I believe you must be the culprit."

"But you have no reason to do so. Where is your evidence?", asked Water Wizard.

"This is true. I have no evidence, but only my conviction. At any rate, perhaps we can find a way to resolve the matter completely. What if I told you that I have reason to believe that the scrolls are hidden nearby, and could show you something very intriguing that will make you wonder?", asked the Fire Wizard of his brother.

"Well, what is it?"

And so the Water Wizard related all that happened to him and Fadin since they entered the barn, save that small bit of information regarding the Dragon Chest's existence. They both looked at the hole in the marble circle, and inserting the key, found that it indeed opened into a shaft that dropped forty feet into the pitch darkness. They decided to send Bob down to investigate and if all went well, to tug the rope they dangled down with him. A few minutes later, with lantern in hand, Bob could be seen far down at the bottom of the shaft. The rope tugged, and so they followed, climbing down the iron rungs of the ladder on the north wall.

Standing at the bottom of the shaft they found the tunnel leading off East and West into darkness. It was an amazing tunnel, ten feet wide, and twelve feet tall, made of stonework so smooth and even that not so much as a single crack could be seen between any stones. Along the top of the corridor ran a pattern that both wizards believed was a script of some sort, very much unknown to them, for neither of them had ever seen any script like it. They also noted three large purple tapestries along the south wall, and looking behind them found behind the middle one a stone archway with a stout wooden door, bound by iron bands, and held fast by a dog face shaped lock, into which they had Bob insert the goblin key. Turning it they heard the door click. Opening it they found a long corridor vanishing off into darkness to south. They decided to split the group into two, and using a rope between them to keep contact, one pair of adventurers went West, while the other went down the south passage.

Fire Wizard and Bob went West, and as they ran out of rope and felt the tug of the other group, they saw in the distance ahead what looked to be a huge bronze door, and next to it what seemed to be a pull chain with a bronze handle. The other pair got far enough down the south passage to see that somewhere ahead of them the passage opened into a black space.

Conferring again at the base of the shaft, they decided to explore the south passage. It opened, they found, into a large room some fifty feet wide, and thirty feet long, completely empty, except for a door on the opposite wall. The dust on the floor had been disturbed recently in the direction of the North East corner of the room. They explored it, looking for any sort of secret door or opening but found none. So they went to the door on the opposite wall, which was also framed by a stone archway, and tried the goblin key. Again a click and the door opened onto a corridor some twenty feet long, ending in another door. At this they decided to turn around and try exploring the Western corridor and see what the bronze door looked like.

And so they came upon the huge bronze door, embossed with the face of a huge coiling dragon. Next to the door was a chain, the handle of which was also made of bronze. They then decided to have a look at down the eastern section of the corridor. Now this area was covered in moss and spider webs, and at the end of that corridor was another huge bronze door, and another chain with a bronze handle. Everything about these doors was so ornate and finely crafted as to beggar the imagination. They grew afraid.

"Surely this is a place, my brother, that we do not belong. I imagine that whatever these doors are protecting must be of great value, and very ancient. I fear to touch them. And I certainly suggest we refrain from pulling these chain-handles.", said the Water Wizard.

"I agree with you, brother. You are very wise. This place has not been touched for a very long time. While the area we explored on the other side of the purple tapestry through the arched doorway was recently trafficked, it is clear that no one has come down the East or West corridors in an exceedingly long time. Look at the dust that is built up on the floor, undisturbed, perhaps for eons. I have a feeling we should not be here.", replied the Fire Wizard.

"Let us return the way we came, and continue our exploration of the southern passage then.", suggested the Water Wizard.

"Brother, at the risk of contradicting your plan, may I avert my eyes from shame to suggest that we return to town briefly for more supplies?"

"What is it you need brother?"

The Fire Wizard answered that he would want to have Fadin return to town in order to get chalk, rubbing paper, pen, ink, and a crowbar.

"I should like to make rubbings of that script and any other thing we may find so as to bring it back to the Guild Hall that others may help us to decipher it."

"That is a reasonable suggestion, my brother. Let us go topside, and let Fadin return to town for the supplies. I would also like him to bring some fine white powder so that we may use it to detect subtle air currents. We may find secret doors that way."

And so they returned to the world above ground and Fadin went to town, an hour's walk away. While they waited Bob decided he could set a snare for rabbits outside of the barn in the old McFearson garden, but instead of setting his own snare, he found snares already set there, and a rabbit already caught in one. This got everyone to thinking ... is someone else lurking about on McFearson Hill?

So they decided to go and explore the old burned out McFearson house. This is the house in which the McFearsons, the only family in the area to prosper during the past five "hard years" that has afflicted Hamfest, used to live, before the fire, and the loss of young Pamela McFearson. They never found her body, but it was commonly held that she was consumed in the fire. Except by her boyfriend Robert, who later vanished trying to find some clue to her fate.

Into the house the three intrepid men went, burned out as it was. They found in the ruined kitchen a door which lead to the basement, and sending Bob down, found it was empty, and so they all went down and took a look around. They found crates in the main room, the same crates that the mice Generals had used for their Great Council during the War of the Mice and the Weasels, when the Hamfest Hellhounds Adventurers group saved Weeleena from the Weasel King's lair. But Fire Wizard and Water Wizard knew nothing of that story. In the crates they found red caps, and vests, and this made Fire Wizard think.

"I recognize these articles as the same as those worn by the Leaf People (the name he had come to give the Goblins who had attacked him in the barn, and then upon dying turned into leaves and bracken)."

"Indeed. Let us find out what is in the rest of the crates then." replied Water Wizard. And opening those, they found tools of various sorts, all new. Picks and shovels, and the like. At that moment they heard the floor board above them creaking, and took it to mean that someone was walking upstairs above them.

Suddenly, Bob let out a small cry, and said he saw "something" in the shadows of a doorway which lead into another basement room. Peering there and holding up the lantern they beheld several pairs of yellow tinted eyes staring at them from the darkness, blinking. Without hesitation Fire Wizard threw his dagger into the room, think the eyes may have been of rats. But instead of scuttling away, the eyes surged forward, and out sprang goblins.

Suddenly a great battle was engaged, and with magic spells flying, and swords and daggers flashing, and a goblin shooting arrows they fought boldly in the dark basement. Lumbering from a room came a great ogre, who Bob bravely blocked from entering the room by charging the doorway from which it came. And unseen, someone was casting spells at them from someplace, and in the end, both Fire Wizard and Water Wizard were rendered unconscious, and only Bob remained fighting the Ogre with great courage. Then Water Wizard awoke, but before he could do much or get far, another goblin awoke as well, and then Bob was knocked senseless by the ogre. A strange thing happened then. Water Wizard felt some great powerful spell come over him, and he grew sleepy, and then began to feel the hair on his head grow long, and his face took a new shape, and his fingernails grew very long and sharp, and he was transformed into a large ambling sloth that could hardly move, nor speak to cast his spells. And so it was that the three men were subdued.

Out from a doorway stepped a beautiful imperious woman wearing black chainmail, a black cloak, and a black skull cap with a sharp widow's peak. She had her goblins tie up the victims and pondered exactly what she wanted to do with them. First she took their items, and when she found the key she smiled and put it in a bag at her side. She then pondered... what to do with the trouble makers.

Finally she decided what to do, and gave them a red potion to drink. This caused the three men to lose their memories of anything that happened for the past twenty four hours, and so they awoke up in the barn, absolutely clueless as to how they came to be there, just as Fadin was returning from town with the supplies.

When the two brothers awoke sufficiently, they returned to bickering over the events surrounding the accusations recently leveled, and Water Wizard took Bob and with harsh words to his younger brother, began to leave. But then, as older brothers are sometimes wont to do, he remembered his father's injunction to be the guardian of his younger brothers and sisters, and so he turned around and apologized for his harsh words, and Water Wizard accepted this and so they became friends once again.

Imagine Fadin's surprise when he found that none of the men he left but two hours before remembered anything at all about the tunnels or the bronze doors or the battles they had fought. Strange indeed! And so he recounted the entire tale, and discovered that they remembered only up to what happened a day before. And using this information convinced them all that they had a big hole in their memory, and finally persuaded them that there were indeed strange tunnels beneath their very feet. He showed them the Dragon Chest, and that was enough to convince them. While they had no recollection, they now knew the story all the way up to when Fadin left for town, which meant that no one had any idea that there was a black clad woman lurking about.

And so they tried again to move the Dragon Chest, and all four men could not budge it even a tiny bit.

"I wonder why the goblins would not bring the chest down into the tunnels? Why leave it here in the barn?" asked Water Wizard, but to this none could answer.

So they used the crowbar, but that also failed. They tried digging around the chest and found that it was not sitting on the ground after all, but instead was a shaft that went down further than three or four feet. At this point they decided it was not a chest at all, but a shaft that went down into the tunnels. This discovery gave them pause. And at this they decided to go back to town and report their mysterious findings to Gravitavius, Grand Master of the Adventurers Guild from Glendale who had come a long way to obtain the scrolls which had been stolen.

---

This is the story from our actual play in the Elthos ODS Game Test, which went quite well.

The Perils of Game Testing

So I'm running the fourth in a series of game tests tonight. This series is to test the progression of levels for characters, and so each game they go up one level and we add their new stats, skills and whatnot. At the same time I'm using the game test to focus on the magic system. I'm also experimenting with World Weaving and Gamesmastering techniques, and infusing some ideas from my new Elthos Tarot System as well. So far so good. Oh, and I'm also using this series to test the Elthos ODS Web Application that does much of the GM grunt work for me. So it rolls characters and groups, and lets me assign properties such as skills, races, etc, and keep track of all the math for calculating Attack Levels, Armor Classes and so on. It pretty much could run the entire game if I added more code to handle some AI functions. Anyway, of course, since it's a relatively new application it has some bugs. So here I am rolling up a set of characters in a specific group, the Mordalia Gang. A bunch of goblins, a kobold thief, and an ogre, run by a beautiful mystic warrior mage in black chainmail. Woopsie, I forgot to include Hormund the Ogre. I go to roll him separately and KaPow! Application Fail! Now it won't load the debug symbols. Time is running out! And of course what do I do? I go and blog this. LOL. Ok back to work!

Wizard Wars

Once upon a time, sometime around the one hundred and fiftieth year of the New Kingdom of Oswaldia, in the lost colony of Glendale, somewhere within the mountain ranges of Oswald's Kingdom, there lived two brothers. Fire Wizard and Water Wizard. They were young and one was brash while the other was thoughtful. One day the Guild obtained certain scrolls written in a language so old that no one could decipher them. And one day, while the scrolls were being readied for transport from Hamfest to the Hill Town of Glendale, the underground chamber in which they were stored was bored into, and the scrolls were stolen.

Fire Wizard, seeing an opportunity to sabotage his arch rival, announced immediately that his brother, Water Wizard, had stolen them, to everyone's shock, especially Water Wizard's. A war of words broke out. In the end Water Wizard became wroth for the falsity of his brother, and demanded a duel. A Trial by Combat to prove his good name, and force Fire Wizard to recant his lying accusation.

In the field outside of Hamfest, over the hills and to the North, shrouded in a swath of snow, they met one crisp morning. Each had brought his retainers, stalwart men of arms, three each.

As the freezing wind howled through the nearby groves, a Judge summoned the two combatants to the center of the stone circle and stated the rules.

"Whomever shall blow out the candle on this rock, three times, shall be presumed the victor of this trial. You may stand in your places."

And the brothers stood. Around them were their retainers, who themselves brought four dogs each. And so the battle commenced and the warriors surged forward, the dogs leaping over rock and ice, all surging together to get to the candle, whom all believed could not be blown out so easily, even in this frost storm.

Dashing toward one another, acquiring a footing on the icy slate surrounding the pedestal upon which the flickering green flamed candle stood, with great shoving, and the welding of swords and the clashing of shields, the Fire Wizard seized the initiative, and blew out the candle, after the fourth try, having sustained injuries both physical and mystical.

Whatever his wounds, the wounds of Water Wizard and his friends were worse, and so he forfeit the field, and with a heart full of silent fury, returned to the Guild to plead his innocence.

It wasn't long afterward that rumors spread far and wide about the scrolls and a guard who vanished without a trace, and his aggrieved widow, and how the scrolls must have been magical, and the thieves bold and ruthless. None could say who would have been able to do this deed and how, but all eyes fell upon Water Wizard with suspicion.

And so it was that he argued his case before Gravitavius, Guild Master, who had journeyed all the way from Glendale to retrieve the scrolls, only to find them stolen. With insight far beyond the ken of normal men, Gravitavius discerned the truth. Yet, as a Guild Lord it was his duty to uphold the law of Oswald's Kingdom, and so he explained that a trial must be had, unless within seven days Water Wizard could prove his innocence.

One day, not long afterwards, while passing time in the Guild Outpost of Hamfest, the Fire Wizard, overhears a conversation while passing the dinning chamber. He recognizes the voice of the Guild Master, Gravitavius, whom he met once in far off Glendale where the main Guild Hall is.

"Do you think Water Wizard will succeed?"

"It is difficult to say, my Lord Gravitavius. However, if he fails, then the Guild will have to bring him to trial on the charges alleged by the Fire Wizard."

"But Fire Wizard has not produced any evidence, is that right?"

"That is correct. However, either way, we have little choice."

"You are right. While I can not say for certain, I have reason to believe the three scrolls were of great importance. They must be recovered."

"I understand, my Lord. Please leave it to me, and do not worry. I will take care of the matter and go with Water Wizard myself."

"Good. I am counting on you."

The conversation abruptly ends, and before Fire Wizard can peer around the corner to see who the other man was, the lamp at their table goes out, darkening the room, and they both gone, as if by magic.

And so, Fire Wizard set about plotting what he should do. And it came to pass that he was aroused to action, and finding a younger sibling gave him five pieces of iron to go and find his brother Water Wizard, in the fields and then in the town of Hamfest. Fire Wizard had in mind to look far off in Deep Gully, where Robert of the Green Rangers might be found, for it was he who first came to Hamfest bearing the three stolen scrolls. But first, other work must be done.

Finding that Water Wizard could not be found, he went himself to Hamfest to see if he could not find his brother. But Water Wizard could not be found as he was at that time investigating the chambers beneath the Guild Outpost to learn more about the nature of the theft, and perhaps discover the fate of the missing guard, which he did.

And so Fire Wizard found himself in the late afternoon at the Green Feather, talking with the bar tender of the tavern, and telling lies about his brother's guilt, and his need to find his whereabouts. When he called his brother's sweetheart a "floosy", the conversation took a sudden turn for the worse, as Fire Wizard absentmindedly insulted the girl's father, who happened to be the tavern keeper. With a scruff and wave Josiah the barkeep sent the boy away, and so he bought supplies, and headed off with his best man, Fadin, toward the far off forest called Deep Gully. No one goes that way for it is reputed to be dangerous with wolves and ghosts.

Along the way, as they passed over McFearson Hill, they passed the old McFearson house, burned out and devoid of life. The barn, disheveled looked haunted in the moonlight. But on they went, the two adventurer's, into the night, across the far fields, and to the edge of the dark, primordial wood. There they made a closed fire, and slept. In the morning the world was misty and cool, and as they walked along the edge of the forest they found a narrow animal path, and followed it into the dark forest.

Through many miles of thick wide trees over hanging with great canopies of leaves, over giant roots writing with snakes and insects, they traveled silently. Finally, they came to open clearing, at the center was Wolfstone Rock, where the Hamfest Hell Hounds, a now famous Adventurer's group from the Hamfest Guild Hall, had so recently adventured. They climbed the rock and found the rusted chainmail. They walked around the rock and found the tunnel into the rock. They lit their lantern and took a look inside, only to retreat from that long dark tunnel with the wolf tracks. Then the wolves howled from somewhere, and another answered the call from elsewhere. The two men took one of foot path southward, rather than the northern path, which was fortunate for them. After a long walk down a regular foot path covered with the hoof prints of horses, they came upon a man leaning against a tree, smoking a long stemmed pipe.

"What brings two men of Hamfest out this far into the dark wilderness?"

Thinking quickly, Red Wizard said the following lies:

"You may have heard of me. My name is the Blue Wizard. I have come all this way to find Robert of the Green Rangers, as I must find an answer to a mystery involving them."

Pretending to be Water Wizard, the Fire Wizard wheedled information from Robert of the Green Rangers, and telling lies in return. What he discovered was that the scrolls were in a language that he, nor the Guild Outpost Sargent could recognize, which alarmed them both, as this region so far as anyone knew, was never populated until the hapless colonists of Glendale found themselves stranded in these mountains by Watho and her brother Klingzor. And so it was decided that the scrolls should be shipped to Glendale for study, but the scrolls never made it that far. Someone stole them just prior to Gravitavius' arrival. This of course was news to Robert, who scarcely encounters news from the world of civilized men, far out in the wilderness as he and his men dwell. At this point Eiryn, the Fire Wizard, announced this his friend Falin, wished nothing more in life than to become a Green Ranger, the news of which caused Robert to raise the eyebrow of scrutiny. Return in a month, alone, he told Fadin, and you will be tested. If you pass the test, then you may join the Green Rangers.

With this information exchanged, and nothing else to be done, the two adventurer's departed back along a better path, as shown to them by Robert, back toward Hamfest. Along the way, as they were just leaving the dark cover of the woods, just in the nick of time, they spotted Water Wizard and a stranger coming over the crest of the hill. They hid, and let them pass.

Four hours later, after a brisk morning trek, they made their way back to the McFearson barn, determined to explore it. And lo, inside the barn, against the south wall, hidden in the straw, they found a beautiful, unmovable dragon-chest. Dark and silvery metal formed a square chest embossed with the form of a dragon, the face and head and mouth and fangs of which formed the frame around which was the strange triangular keyhole. The two men, tired and grimy as they were, in excited whispers, argued over what they should do with the chest, which neither of them could budge nor open. And then they heard a hiss and before they could think of what that sound was, they turned to see four hunched burly men with furry heads and arms, wearing red caps, brown vests, and wide belts, inching toward them with swords in their hands, and daggers. A battle commenced, in which fire bolts slew the creatures, and the others were bashed by Fadin's unerring sword, until only one remained living.

Pointing to a spot on the barn floor, with a tongue full of goblin gibberish, a key was pulled out from beneath his shirt, and into a tiny hole in the center of the marbles circle on the dirt floor of the barn fit a round, oddly tipped key. And as he did, the edges of a doorway showed upon the floor, and the Fire Wizard was saying "You know, as much as I favor your miserable company, it seems your usefulness is rapidly coming to an end, my little furry friend." But with the trap door opening, and a large dark square hole in the ground disgorged a huge gnarlesome face, head, shoulders and giant club wielding body, our heroes forgot entirely about the scrambling goblin, and concentrated their attention on the monstrosity that was exiting the trap door and bearing down on them with extraordinary malice.

Fire bolts and great slashing hacks of a sword, Fadin and Eiryn the Fire Wizard bested the monster and flung him back down the hole, where he died. And wrapping up the goblin in strong roped, they went down the latter, into the darkness below, and found forty feet below the earth, a tunnel, twelve feet tall, and twelve feet wide, vanishing off beyond their lantern light in both directions. Without further ado, they ransacked the body of the dead ogre whom they had slain, finding on his gruesome person a pouch filled with silver coins.

Up the ladder they returned, determined to get the remainder of their men and return to explore further the mystery. And so as they prepared to leave the barn they searched the bodies of the goblins they had slain, only to find them turned to leaves and sticks and briar's and blowing away in the wind. Infuriated, Fire Wizard took the remaining goblin, that little trickster, and holding him over the gaping mouth of the hole in the ground, let off a curse, and then let the goblin fall far below with a thud and a splat that signaled the end of the wretch.

And so it was that Fire Wizard found himself in possession of a strange round iron key that openned a door into a tunnel whose smooth crafted walls told of a craftmanship far beyond the talents of anyone of Glendale... And this was a great mystery to him and Fadin.

...

This is the game-play story thus far in the Elthos Autumn 2009 Game Test. The Campaign is named "The War of the Wizards".

The adventure left off there.

Spider Attack

Once upon a time in Elthos there was a primitive savage hero who crawled down into the dark places of the earth and fought with the monsters of the deep. He was named Orkule by his people, but the Elkron named him Gorundor for his fierce wrath.

GMing: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I've been Playing and GMing since 1978 so I've seen my fair share of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Gamesmastering. It's interesting to see how games go down, and its very instructive to consider what works and what doesn't work with this complicated craft. I think I'll take a few moments to outline a few of my thoughts on the topic, just for the heck of it.

The Good
The Good GMs that I've played with have a number of things going for them:
- Fascinating Worlds
- Command of their Rules
- Fast Math Skills
- Natural Improvisational Acting Ability
- Passion for the Game
- Zest for Adventure (in and out of the game)
- Some inkling of what players mean by "Hero"
- A sense of Story
- The ability to Play Wicked on behalf of Evil NPCs
- At least a basic understanding of Combat Tactics
- Graciousness when confronting disagreement
- Sturdiness when confronting disagreeableness
- Descriptive Narration Skills
- Organizational Skills
- Tons of Imagination

That's a lot. And all of them help to make for the Good GM.

The Bad
- Poor on all of the above
- Boring
- Unfriendly

The Ugly
- Egotistical Behavior
- Excessive Competition with the Players (I Win! You Lose! Ha ha! mentality)
- Dumb, Silly, or Disgusting Back Stories
- Excessive Fawning over Players (neediness)
- Vindictiveness
- Oh hell, all the human foibles, actually

I've pretty much seen it all. Now when GMs are Good, RPGing can be one of the most engrossing and awesome entertainment experiences in the world. You can completely lose yourself in a Great World. I've done that. Conversely, mediocre and Bad GMs can drain the life right out of you and make you want to fall asleep for a thousand years. And well, the Ugly? We don't even want to go there.

So my advice to GMs is study those points under the Good section above, memorize them, and try your best to work on getting good at those skills. There's a lot of room out there for Excellence in Gamesmastering, and only one person can turn you into one of the Good GMs. You.

That said, I don't think you could easily come up with a definitive answer to the question of what makes a Good GM under all circumstances, actually. Not one that everyone would agree on, anyway. This is because for the story aspect of the game at least it seems very much to depend much on what the group is in the mood for. Some groups want comedy. Some want horror. Some want random adventure and some want epic story. So to some degree "Good" GMing depends on the subjective preferences of the Players and what they are looking for from a game at any particular time. And players preferences are also subject to change depending on their moods. So a Good GM also has to have enough horse sense to look at the group of Players at hand and determine what they're in the mood for, and then play to that. Or, conversely, draw them into the genre s/he's the mood for and carry that forward into the game. I've seen both done well.

Ok, so all that in mind - Play On!

Elthos RPG Design Goals

Whenever you work on any project that is going to take a long time to complete, you have the risk of diffusion, where your interests and energies tend to draw you away from your goal toward other things. It is perhaps passing strange that in all the years that I've worked on Elthos, my attention has never wandered far, and I've maintained a relatively constant focus on the project. Some people would say, and perhaps rightly, that it is a bit weird. But then again, I don't look at Elthos as something To-Be-Finished, but rather as something that is, and will always be, in a state of continuous evolution.

I started Elthos RPG back in 1978 shortly after I was introduced to the original Dungeons & Dragons RPG. At the time I had no plans to publish it as it was simply one among many homebrews that were spawned in the early days of RPGs. It may come as a bit of surprise to those who never read the first three D&D booklets but Gary Gygax and David Arneson encouraged us to take his original rules and spawn our own individual systems from them. And so that's what many of us did. It's been a delightful hobby all these years, and I never seem to tire of it.

As for my own homebrew, I wanted it to meet certain design goals. Principally I wanted a system that would be easy to run. The original D&D was pretty easy to run, but it was still, even then, just a little too complex for my tastes. There were simply too many divergent charts, and rules. I wanted my RPG to have a single centralized mechanic for conflict and skills resolution, and as few charts as possible. Really, I wanted to focus on the story aspect of the game, more than the gamist aspect. To that end I came up with the idea of a General Resolution Matrix which pits Skill Level vs. Difficulty Level and comes up with a chance of success. Roll higher, and the character succeeds. A very simple system. I'm gratified to see that many systems since then have also decided this is a good way to handle conflict and skills resolution as it gives me a little vindication every time I see it. As there was not much to perfect with this idea, it has remained the central mechanic of Elthos RPG for 30 years. I did, however, did come up with several versions. One uses a 100 sided die for the resolution, then I had ones for three six sided dice, and now, I've boiled it down to one six sided die for the "One Die System", which is currently my new favorite.

I wanted to limit the tendency of ever expanding charts, and so I deliberately created core charts that would suffice for as much as possible, and so I tried my best to make those core charts as generic as possible so that I would not have to expand the number of them too much. In the past thirty years I've come to about 10 charts total. That's quite enough for me.

The third thing I wanted was for the system to be reasonably easy to run, with math that would not require too much brain power, since I wanted to reserve as much of that as possible for my favorite part of the game - the creation and running of my World, Elthos. To this end I've tried to make the Elthos charts as simple and clear as I can, mathematically, so that they are easy to remember, and take very little effort to expand with new items. The numbers in my world, now, have become very small. 6 is a big number in Elthos. 12 is almost unheard of. I like it that way. It makes the math easy.

These design goals culminated into the Elthos RPG, of which there are two versions; Elthos Prime which is the original larger system, and the Elthos "One Die System" (ODS), which is much condensed, though they both have the same general mechanics which are based loosely on the original D&D. Thus Elthos uses a Life Points system, with Skills and Classes, Experience Points and Levels. In that sense, it's not very original. However, it does resolve what I considered to be imbalances with the original D&D, and so as far as I'm concerned, it's a nice little system, which I am my players have been happy with for a long time.

In 1994 I decided to program my system, since it already had a modular and relatively simple resolution mechanism and a few simple charts. I conjectured that since it was far less complex than many of the other RPG systems that came out by then it should not be so hard to program. Problem: I didn't know anything about programming. Ancillary Problem: because I had no knowledge of programming, I had no way of estimating how long it would take to develop the system, and so as a result I vastly underestimated. That's ok. I've really enjoyed the process, and in the meantime made a career for myself as a programmer / analyst. The symbiosis has been helpful on both sides of the equation.

To help me in the process, and with some help from my dear friend David, I taught myself programming, and then got a job as a programmer. I learned database design, project management, and the skill of programming. And so it took me 12 years to finish the Elthos Prime Gamesmaster's Toolbox, which was based on my original 1978 rules. Then, in 2006, I decided to start over with a new web based application that would be much simpler to build, and much easier, therefore, to maintain.

And so, the the Elthos "One Die System" was born out of my interactions with The Literary Role Playing Game Society of Westchester. We were meet at a local pub and discuss the topic of "How to make better, higher, more literary quality RPG Worlds". It's an interesting group with an interesting topic. I decided it would be helpful to be able to use a very tight mini-system so we could experiment with ideas at the table, with just one six sided die, and very few, easily memorized, charts. And so this is how the Elthos ODS was born.

The Elthos ODS Web Application took three years, and is quite close to being finished (I honestly believe that, but have to laugh because I know just how wrong I can be about such things). It's design goals are fairly straight forward: provide Gamesmastering services such as character generation, print outs, and help to manage and maintain the back story and history of the world and it's campaigns. I'm using it now in play testing mode. The play tests are also going over the rules and how well they work, to make sure that they're simple, yet effective. Overall, it goes well. Albeit, veeeerrrryyyyy slowly. As always.

And no, I don't expect to actually ever Finish. It is a work in progress, and if I have anything to say about it, it always will be.