From a map

Working from a map suggests so many new possibilities.

Only the other day I was mentoring a friend in writing, and I proposed the exercise of describing a fantasy land, the map of which was his actual hand. It’s a good exercise to get the creative juices flowing.

In a way I have done this to myself by throwing up the Titan map and saying that it is the generalised representation of the world in which we might do some future role-playing. That might sound a circuitous way of describing what is happening, but experience has told me that we seldom come back to a setting for more than a couple of sessions, no matter how promising. However, developing the idea is always a fun thing to do, even if it is never used.

So we have this enormous Empire, dominated by these general terrains per province. What lies outside those borders? Sea, course. And beyond that? Nothing. The boiling void. The edge of the world. The place from whence no sailor has ever returned.

Here’s another funny thing about green-field development. I start to work on word plays, just to see what happens. For example, having decided to use the Titan map I was considering the implications of the word. The Greek myths came to mind at once, as well as the implication of sheer size. Then I saw Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s Titan on my shelf. Now there is an opportunity to weave in material if ever there was one. I bought that setting donkeys’ years ago and never had a chance to use it. Now I can, and no one will ever know…

Campaign travel in The Empire Under Heaven

Between gaming sessions, I will roll a d6. The number indicated is the number of provinces the characters traverse, using the movement rules indicated by the Titan board. It takes a month to move through a region, so time between episodes is one to six months.

Where the characters land is where the next adventure takes place. The province gets a name at that time, and adventure designing starts. I may give a potted history of the intervening provinces, but it’s probably not necessary.

This method also allows us to age the characters, and suggests a reason why they are adventuring. More accurately, it proposes a question that begs to be answered: why have the characters been sent out of the capitol to see the Empire, a task that will consume years of their lives?

Empire Under Heaven map

Rather than use a map either of my design or ready-made, I am looking for a simpler episodic approach to these new ROAD&D games. All we really need to know is what the predominant terrain is like. What happened to get there is less important. This is because it is unlikely that we will have the opportunity for a long series of connected adventures. Our playing sessions are often separated by long periods of time. So each adventure has to wrap up in a session.

Personally, I don’t mind road trip role-playing: the getting there being just as interesting as the arriving, the trials and tribulations of life in the wild. But I am conscious that Greg hates it, and really it is a waste of the little time we have to play a session where ‘nothing happened’. None of us are students with time to burn any more.

So, here is a stylized map of the Empire Under Heaven. Yes, it is a copy of the map from Titan. Each region is a province of the Empire, showing the predominant terrain. When I design the story, I will roll a dice and move the party using the Titan rules, and then find the environment in which the action will occur. This then informs the way i describe the place, and will suggest some twists and opportunities.

The map uses, in effect, the stylization popularised by railway systems. Distances and proportions are regularised. It is the relationships between entities that are important. Each region is a province of the Empire, and we will discover what they are called as we explore them.

Alignment in ROAD&D OA

Revised Original Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Oriental Adventures. Parangaricutiro campaign.

Alignment has always been a tricky subject in D&D. It should be no more than another opportunity for role-playing, another handicap to act through.

Since there already seems to be an interest in using spells such as ‘Know Alignment’, whatever that could mean, I have to define what alignment means within the game so that Greg, Simon and Pep have some basis for interpreting the result, or acting within the parameters. So here is my ruling.

Firstly, we must decouple alignment from religion. Everyone has the same basic religion. It is the pantheon based around the Celestial Bureaucracy, ruled by the Celestial Emperor. Dozens, if not hundreds, of other divine beings exist, all fitting into this supernatural framework. Everyone knows this to be a fact and even though they may worship different divine beings at different times, at no time can anyone be accused of worshipping the ‘wrong’ god. Overlaid on this framework is the older understanding of shamanic/animistic religion. This is root of all superstition, and the characters are free to adopt as much or as little of this as they like, perhaps reflecting the level of cultivation or simplicity of their upbringing.

Alignment, then, refers to moral outlook, and this is a matter of core philosophy.

To be Lawful means that one holds the views of Confucius to be paramount. Bonds between people, politeness, respect, honour, politics. A man is measured by how he fits into his society. These are the things that matter in life.

The Buddhists are Chaotic. Everything resides within the individual and it is through individual action that release from the torment of life is achieved. Buddhists will willingly challenge authority when they perceive an injustice.

Neutrality is the view of the Taoists. Everything is exactly as it is supposed to be. This should not be interpreted as a ‘get along to get along’ attitude as there is no where to get along to. Taoists (try to) take whatever comes their way and make the best of it. Questions that torment Confucians and Buddhists seem trivial, even laughable to the Taoist who believes that everything they worry about ultimately does not matter.

The classification of Good and Evil is a largely Western invention. Simple tags of respect for life, or love of country do not really seem to fit this setting. Instead, then, since these words appear in the rules and spells query them, here is my interpretation. Good and evil refer to one’s demeanor.

To be Good means to be optimistic. To see hope in defeat. To see opportunity in failure. To believe that things tend towards happy endings as a natural consequence. Good people can be seen as stupid, niaive, or deluded. They can also be seen as bold, confident, and  cheerful.

To be Evil is to be pessimistic. To see selfish or unkind motives in others. To see the dark side of events around them. To believe that things tend naturally towards unhappy endings unless they take an action to make it otherwise. Evil people can be seen as cynical, distrustful or scheming. They can also be seen as careful, ruthless, decisive and clear-headed.

To be Neutral in this interpreation is to be without passion, without an emotional compass. Neutral characters in this dimension might be seen to range from those with some form of mental pathology (such as Asberger’s syndrome, or possibly a psychopath with no empathy), to someone who has a ‘balanced’ emotional view of life – whatever that might mean (and if someone claims that as an easy out then we’ll have to put it to the test).

Yes, this does mean that it is possible to get a Lawful Good monster that must be slaughtered, and a player character that is Chaotic Evil. The monster still gets slaughtered if it is necessary, and the character can still be friends with everyone and get along without it automatically resulting in party conflict. Sounds a bit more like real life.

The demon of Parangaricutiro

パラナガレエクテエロ
They were Weights & Measures agents for the Imperial Government, roles not particularly high on the scale of bureaucracy, though certainly high enough to command respect. Exams had to be passed in order to reach such positions of rank, and with the responsibility came the rights to inspect, to bear arms, to act on behalf of the Emperor in that particular portfolio. They were passing through Parangaricutiro on the way from somewhere to somewhere else.

Simon played the Magic User, Greg the Fighter and Pep the Thief (but later the Cleric when the  three of them decided that clerical skills would be helpful). ROAD&D (Revised Original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) rules were used, and I actually used them, more or less. When there were attacks I rolled the d20 and made my friends roll as well. There were listen and spot checks; knowledge and awareness checks. Spell casting I ran a little fast and loose, but at all times I took A, G and P at their word. If they said they cast a spell then the spell was cast, even if they did not really mean to or were just thinking out loud.

This is the abbreviated record of the session.

1) The characters learned as much as they could in the village following the invitation by Baron Yenorra to enjoy his hospitality at his stronghold.

2) The stronghold was in the building of an old church which was the last standing structure in a lava field that consumed the surrounding city a few generations ago. The entire region was devastated by this event, reducing it from a prosperous province to a back-water. The lighthouse on the coast had been abandoned and occupied by a wrathful spirit. A few years ago Yenorra, along with a few followers, had come south from the wastelands and had set himself up as the new Governor of the region. He was now seeking official recognition in this role – something that the characters could not actually give, but their presence added to developing a position of legitimacy.

3) As night fell they followed a boy carrying a lantern along the road that meandered its way through the lava fields. To either side, the party were shadowed by creatures that Simon’s owl familiar described as man-wolves. When asked, the guide advised the party that they were safe if they stayed on the road. Pep promptly decided to break away from the main party, but wisely stayed on the path.

4) Using an invisibility spell, Pep entered the stronghold and saw the Baron. He was an impressive man in full armour, waiting impatiently for the party to arrive. Just as Baron Yenorra turned away, the invisibility spell expired and Pep popped into sight. “Yo, dude. What’s hanging?” he said (or words to that effect). In a flash, Yenorra performed a beautiful turning fast-draw, rolling a natural 20. The sword stopped on Pep’s character’s forehead, drawing blood but not reaching the bone. (Only a natural 20 saved him from being slaughtered then and there.) After a moment of repressed fury, Yenorra turned his back and stormed away.

5) Over dinner, which was held in a open courtyard surrounded by an artificial stream and decorated with hanging paper lanterns, the characters observed that the baron was a severe man who had perfect manners. While his associates seemed ordinary enough, he did not become drunk. His questions and answers were always perfectly composed.

6) Following dinner the baron invited the characters to a tall tower to enjoy the view. Here they saw the blasted landscape and the lights of the village. The baron pointed out the direction of the abandoned lighthouse and expressed his intention to get it working again. Then, at the close of the meeting he mentioned that he collected antiquities and that an old suit of armour was stored in that lighthouse. Alas, a banshie haunted that structure and his men were unable to enter. If the characters could recover the armour he would be eternally grateful. Quick knowledge checks found that no one had heard of any noteworthy armour of this description.

7) During the  night, the characters overheard an argument between two servants. One wanted to impart some information. the other was too scared of the baron’s displeasure.

8 ) During the course of the next day the characters snooped and found their way to the cellar. There they discovered a statue that showed a saintly character slaughtering and skinning a demonic creature that bore an uncanny resemblance to Baron Yenorra. Astounded by this, Simon’s character investigated further and found a second statue that showed almost the same scene, but in this case the saint resembled the Baron. Amidst this confusion Pep’s character decided to summon the dead from one of the sarcophagi. The shade appeared, and while the characters discussed what they should ask, the venerable ghost complained about being disturbed and then, without having learned anything because they were too busy talking amongst themselves, the characters saw the ghost fade away. Suddenly, the Baron appeared at the top of the steps. He was again furious – apparently that magic had been cast in his house. But how did he know? It was clear that they characters had to leave.

9) At the lighthouse the next day they found that it was inhabited by a mouthy banshee. She abused the characters in jive and refused to cooperate with their questioning. Eventually they pieced together a story about defeating and skinning a demon and how she was now cursed to protect the skin. If it were recovered then the demon’s power would return in full strength.

10) After defeating the banshee (why so much violence?), the characters headed at top speed into the lava fields to find an open crevice into which the skin could be hurled and destroyed. The man-wolves homed in and Simon’s mage fire-balled them, stripping away their disguises to reveal that they were low-ranked demons. As Yenorra the demon and his troops encircled the party and prepared to destroy them, the thief (NPC) carried away the skin and threw it into a lava pit. As the skin shriveled and burnt, the demon was finally cast out from this plane, along with his minions.

Curious goings on in Parangaricutiro

Decisions, decisions. We need a structure of some kind for this coming session, but it must be flexible – as flexible as real life. This flexibility is controlled by only one person, though: the DM. So it is a presented setting, but a shared adventure experience.

I could start with a prepared scenario, but the reality is that it would take me a long time to load up all of that data. Longer, perhaps than it would to create from scratch. The compromise solution I have come to is to broadly define the setting and the story, and let the plot take care of itself. I need a big picture, in other words.

So here it is, in bullet point form:

• Imperial political structure; many provinces; players are agents of the government, which explains why they can wander fully armed.
• The region is now a frontier, but was once influential.
• Coastal; abandoned lighthouse as this section of coast no longer supports close shipping.
• Inland is a lava plain which is being slowly recovered by nature; in the middle of the plain juts a remains of a church; legend has it that a once great town squatted on the plain but the land split open and an oozing volcano devoured everything, leaving only the church to mark the spot.
• The church has been reoccupied by a warlord, making it his stronghold, who claims a title from the governement; the locals tolerate him; he has invited you to enjoy his hospitality while you are in the region.

Enough to go on with?

AD&D. My word

Received an unusual request from Simon the other day. After having declared that I will never play conventional role-playing again as it is too programmed and lacking in spontaneity, he calls and says he wants to play a an old-fashioned AD&D game. “One with some structure.”

This is just fine, in the great scheme of things, because it is better to play something linear than nothing at all. And the truth is that I have a great nostalgia for AD&D. It was, after all, what got me started in the creative fiction field.

So now I am preparing to DM my first conventional game in a very long time. Already I feel the old strings of power and control pulling at me. Already I want to define the setting, the economy, the manners, diet and fashions of the inhabitants. I want to understand the political structure and the ecology of the land so that I can present this to Greg and Simon and Guiseppe. This egocentric urge was one of the main reasons why I moved away from regular role-playing and into Mythic story telling. I felt guilty when I was DMing that I was dictating to the players. And as the player I felt frustrated that the DM was not presenting a world that I considered to be either logical, or even interesting.

Here’s the trick, then, to guide but not command: to structure but not regiment. At the end of the day it is relaxing to not have to create everything as you go – as one does in Mythic. I can appreciate this. At the moment it sounds as though Simon wants to be taken on a journey. That’s fun. I can come to that. I’m looking forward to it.

But while I will create the general background and elements of the story, I will use Mythic to elaborate, invigorate, and assist in driving the plot. Because I need to be taken on a journey as well.

Thoughts so far:

• Coastline
• Abandonned lighthouse
• Characters are officials (but this does not give them carte blanche to be bullies, they just have a reason for wandering around fully armed and poking their noses into other people’s business); Imperial structure with many provinces
• a sleepy town of no particular importance

PNZC Apes

PNZC Scenario Generator

After some great prompting, here is the scenario generator that Greg and I use to design our MDRG games. We roll a few times on this table, stop and ponder on the findings, and then weave the elements into a coherent story. We have found that the forces suggest themselves by this process, always keeping in mind that SBH is a game for 10 or fewer figures, and that we want to be fair with each other so that we get a decent game. No wants to play a thrashing.

The scenario basis for our games is the real differentiator for us. Without a good, interesting story that has twists, a skirmish game gets a little samey. That’s the way it feels to me, anyway.

PCNZ Generator

Same guys, ten minutes later

They were sprayed with Mr Hobby Top Coat Flat Matt.