When Science Catches Up With Your World

I got a bit of a thrill today when I found an article in Daily Science that validated something that I've done a few times in my world.   The story ... our Heroes had been shrunk down to tiny size and were riding on the backs of aphids through a tangle of vines on the wall of an old ruined tower in order to escape the deadly attack of a wolf-wizard and his shadow-dogs.   Whenever they got within range of a human they noticed that their gigantic opponent seemed to move much more slowly than in 'real life', and they were able to spring away in time to escape.

As it happens my sci-fi conjecture for my world turns out to be exactly how insects escape from human attacks!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130916102006.htm

Neat.  :)  How cool is that?  Ever have that experience with your world?

A New World - The Present

The Vigilantes

The next phase of the Closed Beta Test has been running since August and it's been going great.  One of my play testers, Chris, has GM'd a lot of worlds and systems and is giving Elthos ODS a whirl.   We're playing in his world named "The Present" and we're playing costumed vigilantes on a mission to protect the citizens from criminals while the police spend their time waddling around the local Duncan Donuts.

We've got four Vigilantes - Pericles the Mexican Wrestler and Saint of Luche, Scotty the wild roughian, The Paladin the religious zealot on a mission from God, and Black Out, a kid with technical savvy and a hyped up sense of idealism.   And a mysterious benefactor, named The Patron.

So far we've had three adventures.   The first one was our introduction where we met the Patron and setup our HQ in an old warehouse on the edge of town.   The second was where we investigated an attack on a local Synagogue by Skin Heads.  The third where we were setting up cameras around a nearby Synagogue and wound up in a violent confrontation with the Skin Heads.   Luche was the first to attack, but it was definitely Scotty who had the most impact on the villains.  Three of them died.  One by Scotty backing up their own van (white) over one, and the other two who died when Scotting backed the van up the stairs into the doorway of the then burning Synagogue.   The rats had thrown Molotov cocktails into the place, and Scotty, well, got his revenge, though he didn't intend to actually kill them.   The next adventure was the escape, which didn't go as well as I'd hoped.  Black Out wound up being caught by the police, but because he's under age, and pretended not to know anything, they let him go.  He got a real ear chewing from his mom.  And that's when he decided to leave home, and go live at the HQ so he could pursue his Vigilante goals.   All the while questioning whether or not Vigilantism is truly noble, or not.

It's been really fun, and really interesting!   What do you think of Costumed Vigilantes?  A noble cause in a time of Chaos - or a can of worms destined to turn?

Credit:  The above drawing was done by one of the Play Testers, Milo Barasorda (playing Pericles), a phenomenal RPGer, and artist!  Thanks Milo!

How Tolkien Leads the Digital Revolution

I ran across this article today... hmmm... rather interesting how Tolkien's awesomeness has influenced the world, isn't it?

How Tolkien Leads the Digital Revolution

New Feature - Group Cloning

Pistachio Nut Shell Pieces, yes.  :)

Things are coming along well with the game testing, and the modifications to the Elthos Web Application are making steady, albeit museum-speed, progress.  The latest game tests were a bit disrupted by the fact that the web application can auto-generate adventure groups, and I created two groups of six fighters each for the tactical board game - however, my players, who tend to be more observant than I, noticed right away that the two groups were different.  Very different.   The Adventure Group Generator randomizes the rolling of Characters within the group.  So while you can create two Adventure Groups defined as six fighters of maximum 3rd Level, you can't get it to generate two groups that are exactly the same.  In this case, Adventure Group A was far heftier in terms of bonuses from higher Requisites than Group B.   So whoever got Group B was kinda under the gun in a big way.  I thought that was kind of cool and random.  But my players pointed out - it unbalanced the test results.   We're testing combat tactics in the board game aspect.  Ok ok!   Off to the salt mines!   So.... I needed to clone Group A.   But I have no Clone Adventure Group feature on the web app.   Correction:  I had no Clone Group Feature.  Now I do.  And it works marvelously!  :)

What Are Clerics Good For Anyway?

I read recently John Four's brief comment on the fact that Clerics tend to be thought of in some RPGs as Heal-Bots.  I was thinking about this earlier today, actually, while reading a book on ancient religions.  It does seem that in a lot of games I've seen that Clerics do tend to be type-cast in the Adventure Party as the quiet guys who stick to the rear so that when the fighting class Characters are wounded they can step up and pronounce the mystic mumbo-jumbo for healing, and that's that.  Their mission accomplished they return to the rear and wait for their next chance to perform their useful function.

Occasionally I've seen one or two get involved in some philosophic debate about the alignment of an item, and once in a blue moon, set the party direction based on their Deity's perceived Will, usually guessed at by the cleric and based on some half-vague description of the Deity's nature from some dubious source like the GM. Roughly speaking that's how things have gone, more or less, with a few notable exceptions.

For my world, I want to change all of that.

Here's a sample of what I mean.

Elthos is played in the Age of Heroes of my world. Civilizations themselves are not entirely new creations, but some are older than others, and some have already vanished beneath the sands of time. The Elkron, the Deities, hover enigmatically in the distance with their All-Seeing Eyes trained mostly on one another, or on the top of their enormous temples located at the centers of the huge metropolises dedicated to each Elkron. One day the King of one such city, after many decades of wars in the name of his Elkron, and after years of prayers in the Ante-Chamber of the Holy Chamber requesting to be allowed to build a new Temple for his Great and Mighty Sovereign (the idea of which came to him in a dream in his youth), receives word in a vision: "Now is the time. You have been chosen by the Elkron to build the new Temple of Palamir."

The King, overwhelmed with joy, wakes up. He immediately goes to his High Priest, and tells the vision. He is told to wait by the High Priest, who also had a dream regarding a New Temple. The next month, the King has a second dream-vision. In this one he is shown sacred symbols, which are related to the construction of the Temple, it's location, orientation according to specific stars, and the date on which construction should begin. Yet the dream is confusing. The King does not know the symbols. He goes immediately to the High Priest. Together they pray and meditate and the High Priest researches every aspect of the dream calling upon his acolytes (ie - a Player Character), to find certain books in the House of Sacred Texts, and bring them forth. These texts reveal that the combination of symbols and dates provides extensive detailed information regarding the topics of the dream. But the King is still confused. He does not feel capable to build the Temple, as the vision he received showed a structure so immense and complex that he could not imagine how to instruct his people build it.

Another dream comes to him in which the Elkron appears in his Glory to explain that the King shall indeed build the Temple, and it will be done according to the Plans created by two Young Elkron who will arrive from the East with special knowledge, tools, and instructions, and that they will help the King in every detail. "With the Temple completed, the prosperity of the land will increase two fold, the waters will fill the canals in due season, the crops will yield a double harvest yearly, the sheep will produce double their folds, and beneath the earth silver and gold will be revealed in plenitude." Now the King is satisfied. He feels he is able to proceed because the Elkron is going to guide him in every detail of the work.

From that point on missions are sent out under religious auspices for many things. Workers must be organized and ceremonially purified. Grievances and legal sentences must be resolved and the people brought into a state of divine favor. The entire Nation must contribute so that the blessings of the new Temple will flow everywhere evenly. The priests must all conduct services and ceremonies. 

Not to mention that Devils must be cast out. Demons must be slain. Beasts and Monsters must be hunted down and destroyed.  The most dangerous of these Adventures will often be carried out by the King and his Knights personally.

But also, materials from other nations must be brought from afar for the construction of the Temple according to the Elkron's plan. Therefore Clerical Emissaries must be sent forth in Divine Regalia to the other Nations, and tributes received.

All of which creates conditions for a huge outpouring of Clerical activity.  And so the Player Character Clerics will have plenty to do. And during those times, not be relegated to the role of Heal-Bots alone.

Rounds of Play Testing

Since the completion of the 2009-2013 RPG Test, which came out great, and produced a remarkable book (coming to ~850 pages, single spaced in MS Word), we have now launched into the next phase of Game Testing.   The Board Game Rules.   The focus for these tests is on specifics related to the tactical rules.  I want to polish those up, and get a final PDF on them.  

I"m also working with a friend of mine to look at the possibilities around using Construct2 to create the board game side of this thing, that will be playable online (or offline) via a web browser using HTML 5.   That should be interesting!  

But one thing at a time.  Board Game Rules.  

Current Tactical Map for Board Game Rules Test

This is the board we are using.  At first we used pistachio shells for pieces.  Yup.  In fact they were easy to work with and we could use slashes on them to indicate hits taken.  And they're tasty to make.  Can't be that combination. 

We then went on to create, using the website, actual tactical pieces and played with those.  The numbers printed on each piece turned out to be a bit bothersome in that they're small and you have pick up the piece to look at them.   One of my wonderful play testers suggested just printing the number of the piece on each piece, with the name of the character, and then having a printout of the stats relevant to the board game.   That's a good idea.  I programmed that this week.   If all goes well we will be testing that tonight. 

So far so good.  Keep going.  :)

April RPG Carnival - GMing for a Ship of Fools - Round Up

Yup! Seems like the Ship of Fools sails on many seas. And just as lopsided, tilted and lilting as everywhere else. At least we know, we're not the only ones.

As for the recap of entries... there were not as many as usual for this topic, but the entries we got were all very interesting, amusing, and informative.

Shortymonster linked us to a forum on his topic of "Keeping the Players Alive in Spite of Themselves!" ... that thread went pretty far, and a lot of great points are made.

Unknown over at AsparagusJumpsuit demonstrates how his Ship of Fools managed to turn negatives into positives in "You Can Lead Players to Water, But…" or what to do when one player tries to make himself Captain of the Ship of Fools.

The Ship of Fools

Mike at Campaign Master gave us "Refloating the Shipwreck", the most thorough analysis of Player and GM mistakes, and what to do about them, imaginable. It's incredibly thorough, comprehensive, and ... wow! Great advice!

Seth at Kobold Enterprises gave us "Dear Gods!" an example of the Ship of Fools wallowing adrift on becalmed waters.

Yosimoshe at Bleeding Scroll contributed "When Players Go Wrong...", a concise example of what happens when one player suddenly rams the Ship of Fools aground onto the rocks.

And lastly, Lowell at Age of Ravens sent along "Ship of Fools" a tale of two players who managed to make life on the Ship of Fools a lot less fun that it should have been.

And such is life when sailing on the stormy seas, amid the chaos and hell of outrageous fortune - only to be sunk without a trace to the bottom of the briny deep with the others on your Ship of Fools.

Thanks everyone for your contributions!