House on Contract

As you all know, Suzi and I will be moving so she can attend grad school next fall and we put our house up for sale. We got a contract on it yesterday, only 6 weeks after listing. That's a remarkably short wait, especially considering we living a small town of around 14k. So if all things go according to plan, our house will be sold by the time we have to move. That's a great relief.

Origins 2011

Went by Origins today and bought a day pass. It seemed quite a bit more busy than last year and the dealer's hall had definitely more dealers. I picked up some old Dungeon mags along with some RoleMaster and some Stephen Micheal Sechi AD&D compatible stuff. All in all, fun day trip.

#@!%^*! Viruses

I've just spent 6 hours removing a particularly nasty virus from my system called Vista Anitvirus 2012. Fucker hijacks all your .exe files and makes them unexecutable. You have to use the administer login to bypass, and run a full scan (non McAffe - which is, surprise, surprise, surprise the antivirus software I use) to finally nail it down and remove it.

2nd virus in about 15 years, however, so my average isn't too bad. This one was my own damn fault for closing a pop-up not using the right-click on the tab bar method or the Ctrl-Alt-Del method to completely shut down my browser when I think something's hinky.

Island Parameters - World's Apart

In Traveller (at least the OGL version I'm using, that is..) a beginning character first generates abilities and then picks a certain number of background skills based upon what type of home world your character comes from as well as from a general list. I'll be doing the same thing in Worlds Apart.

This means I need to look over the Traveller worlds and determine what types of islands could be analogous to them as well as making sure that newly appropriate types of home islands are available.

In Traveller the worlds and their associate skills are:

Agricultural:            Animals 0
Asteroid:                Zero-G 0
Desert:                   Survival 0
Fluid Oceans:         Seafarer 0
Garden:                  Animals 0
High Technology:   Computers 0
High Population:     Streetwise 0
Ice-Capped:          Vacc Suit 0
Industrial:               Trade 0
Low Technology:   Survival 0
Poor:                     Animals 0
Rich:                     Carouse 0
Water World:        Seafarer 0
Vacuum:               Vacc Suit 0

Right away certain things are just out: Asteroid, Fluid Ocean, Water World, and Vacuum are not going to happen in the World's Apart concept. Some things are going to change in concept, but still exist, such as High Technology and Industrial. This, of course, also brings up the skill list as well. Obviously there won't be Zero-G, Computers, and Vacc Suit skills in a World's Apart. This means I'll have to do some more designing into the void.

After thinking a bit about what I'd like for the tone of the game, the following list comes to light:

High Magic               Magic 0
Low Magic               Science 0
High Population        Streetwise 0
Low Population        Survival 0
High Technology      Trade 0
Low Technology      Navigation 0
Arid                         Survival 0
Lush                        Animals 0
Hot                         Survival 0
Cold                        Survival 0
Rich                        Carouse 0
Poor                       Agricultural 0
Agricultural             Agriculture 0
Industrial                Trade 0
Archipelago            Seafarer 0
Atoll                       Seafarer 0
Large                     Language 0
Small                     Leadership 0

Several things now pop out. There are varying level of magic on each island This adds a lot of diversity to the setting, for not every land has the same mystical underpinning. It also means, of course, that I'll have to mechanically determine just what Low and High magic means for spell casters. Also, I've "rationalized" the climatic variables a bit, so now there's hot and cold, wet and dry islands. I've also put in a few descriptors, such as Archipelago and Atoll. On the skills end, I've got Magic and Navigation as new skills that don't already exist in Traveller.

Another example of designing into the void is done. Next is skills. Skills will be rough.

Bunnyshark

Just got in a slew of illustrations from Eric Lofgren. My fav is the bunnyshark, it's so cute and so terrible at the same time - perfect! They live only to hop, eat, and make more bunnysharks.

And its stats...

Bunnyshark
Mutated rabbit (Basic)
C1 A6 S-3 F1 R-3 I3 W2: Ego 4: Health 10: Fortune 6
Movement 15/132 (swim at .25)

Description & Information: A bunnyshark is a common rabbit featuring the head of a great white shark where its normal bunny head should abide. Two floppy bunny ears frame their toothy maw. They live only to hop, eat, and make more bunnysharks. Independently they are of little concern for an adult mutie, but in packs they can be deadly. They are found in any temperate environment and typically outcompete the regular small predators. They can breathe underwater for short periods of time (up to 10 minutes).

Intrinsic Powers
• Possess senses greater than human, +2 on any auditory sense conflicts.
• Bunnysharks attack with a bite, dealing +1 piercing damage per hit and a +4/ rank 2 combat condition.

Limited Use Powers
• Bun Mob (1 per day): If there are more than 10 bunnysharks in an attacking pack, they may enter a frenzied state, wherein their Combat is increased to 3 and they deal +3 piercing damage per hit.

Worlds Apart - The Big Picture

The two main synonymous concepts between Worlds Apart and Traveller are the Forever Sea (space) and  Islands (worlds). Lets revisit the two introductory paragraphs of Worlds Apart...

Long ago, the god of the soil and the goddess of the sea became lovers. Their union created the Ur-world composed of numberless islands in an endless sea. Upon these islands other creatures were born from the labors of other gods. These creatures grew and learned and prospered for countless generations, sailing upon the welcoming seas. After eons, after the rise and fall of hundreds of empires and kingdoms, Soil and Sea argued and rent the Ur-world asunder. The once-welcoming seas now stranded any that dared travel beyond the sight of land in a gigantic never-ending ocean upon which they died from privation. The once-interconnected islands were stranded alone, only able to communicate with other nearby islands, for a ship needed to keep some type of shore in sight to avoid the terrible fate of those stranded in the Forever Sea. Each island or group of islands became independent worlds set apart from their brothers. This new and terrible isolation lasted as along as the era before it, and many new creatures, new gods, and new peoples were born during the long separation.

This age of isolation ended when an unidentified goddess, allegedly a daughter of Soil and Sea, taught the peoples the secret of taming elementals to create ships that could navigate through the Forever Ocean. She believed that a return to the first age would rekindle the affections that Soil and Sea once had for each other. Unfortunately, the discovery of her gift of knowledge was met by anger and rage by all of the gods, both new and old, and she was imprisoned in the sky, transformed into a cloud cursed to move forever against the wind. But the wondrous gift of Obstinate Cloud (as she is named by those who tell her story) could not be undone, and the peoples of the islands began to explore a newly boundless world in their strange voyager ships.

Right away the similarities are obvious. For the longest time people were unable to communicate with other distant islands which each developed its own unique culture, but now, through the use of voyager ships (the knowledge of which was given by a rogue God) the many peoples can once again interact. These two concepts are, IMO, very important to the flavor and feel of both games.

For ease of use, Traveller uses the term "World" when it means solar system and Worlds Apart uses the term "Island" when it means "a single island or group of islands that are all within sight of each other when sailing." Islands can have many different compositions, ranging from the size of a continent to a single small atoll, from a long peninsula of visibly-connected islands to a large archipelago. Using our world as an example, a single island could be Australia, the entire Eurasian/African super-continent, or the Hawaiian Islands. The diversity that can be encountered is grand.

It is this diversity that is integral in creating the Fantasy Opera feeling I'm aiming for with Worlds Apart. The possibilities are almost endless, and the GM is responsible for meshing all these things together. Imagine the great ports of our world throughout history - Carthage, Constantinople, Ostia, Malacca, Singapore, London, Calcutta, etc.. - but in a fantasy environment where trade is possible throughout a giant interconnected web of different civilizations and every conceivable difference of human appearance and dress. Now mesh this with the presence of non-human races, which although still few in number and rare in presence, add additional spice to an already powerful curry of adventure.

That's Worlds Apart. It's the unlimited spice palate from which a GM can create whatever meal he would like.

Father's Day Sunday Un-Seriousness

As is always the case with Dad, he gets to play second fiddle to Mom. I'll make a Mother's Day Sunday Un-Seriousness but I'll forget about Dad on his day.  So without further ado, here's the Dad version - bestowing the unique thing that is Fatherhood upon the younger generation....

Sunday Un-Seriousness

Don Keen Gallary

Just wanted to draw some more attention to the Don Kenn Gallary. He's put up a few more since I last mentioned it - my fav of the bunch being below. Go check out his work, it's very evocative.

Designing Into the Void: The Pre-Assumption

Before getting into this one, I should say that I probably won't be posting tomorrow. We're selling our house and we have some people coming by to look at it (for the second time) tomorrow so I'm going to spend quite some time making sure it looks as good as it can. Wish us luck! That said, on to the design thoughts concerning Worlds Apart.

One of the biggest problems that a designer encounters is what I call designing into the void. That is, making design decisions based upon the gut-level inkling that you may like to do some undefined thing which you haven't thought of yet with it during later periods of design. Designing into the void is making decisions before you have any reason to make them. It's, IMO, integral to design. Many, if not most, of these Void decisions will be cast away as the design comes into greater focus. You'll find that what you thought may be useful (though you had no idea *how* it would be useful) actually isn't useful and you cast it aside.

I've done this concerning character statistics in Worlds Apart. Traveller has the following stats for all characters which I'm going to use wholesale:

Strength (Str): A character’s physical strength, fitness and forcefulness.
Dexterity (Dex): Physical co-ordination and agility, reflexes.
Endurance (End): A character’s ability to sustain damage, stamina and determination.
Intelligence (Int): A character’s intellect and quickness of mind.
Education (Edu): A measure of a character’s learning and experience.
Social Standing (Soc): A character’s place in society.

There is also another statistic called Psionic Strength (Psi) that only comes into play when the characters have an opportunity to see if they're Psionic. Worlds Apart has no psionics (we've got magic, bub) but there is a need for that stat, reskinned. So Worlds Apart has Magical Strength (Mag).

Now here's the designing into the void bit. I'm going to have all characters have a Magical Strength. Why? Well, I have no idea really, but I think that sometime down the road (when I get to designing spells) that I'll really want to have a stat that I could use as an opposed stat for things such as resistances. Now, will I actually use Magical Strength in that way? I don't know, but as of right now, I have the option because I've designed into the void.

I think it's a good decision even though I have absolutely no information to make such a claim. We'll see. :)

Tech Levels: Traveller to World's Apart

The first thing to consider for Worlds Apart is tech level. The reason for starting there is two-fold. Firstly, it's the first thing in the Traveller SRD. Secondly, it is the backbone upon which pretty much else is built: it's the listing of assumptions for the game. It's a high-level decision setting the tone of the game.

Traveller has 15 listed Tech Levels (TL) and allows for the possibility of higher TLs. It, being a game of sci-fi game of space adventure in the far future, reaches far into the future at the higher tech level, with all of human history being TL 7 and lower. Below is the Tech Level table from Mongoose Publishing's Traveller.

TL 0: (Primitive) No technology.
TL 1: (Primitive) Roughly on a par with Bronze or Iron age technology.
TL 2: (Primitive) Renaissance technology.
TL 3: (Primitive) The advances of TL 2 are now applied, bringing the germ of industrial revolution and steam power.
TL 4: (Industrial) The transition to industrial revolution is complete, bringing plastics, radio and other such inventions.
TL 5: (Industrial) TL 5 brings widespread electrification, tele-communications and internal combustion.
TL 6: (Industrial) TL 6 brings the development of fission power and more advanced computing.
TL 7: (Pre-Stellar) A pre-stellar society can reach orbit reliably and has telecommunications satellites.
TL 8: (Pre-Stellar) At TL 8, it is possible to reach other worlds in the same system, although terraforming or full colonisation are not within the culture’s capacity.
TL 9: (Pre-Stellar) The defining element of TL 9 is the development of gravity manipulation, which makes space travel vastly safer and faster.
TL 10: (Early Stellar) With the advent of Jump, nearby systems are opened up.
TL 11: (Early Stellar) The first true artificial intelligences become possible, as computers are able to model synaptic networks.
TL 12: (Average Stellar) Weather control revolutionises terraforming and agriculture.
TL 13: (Average Stellar) The battle dress appears on the battlefield in response to the new weapons.
TL 14: (Average Stellar) Fusion weapons become man-portable.
TL 15: (High Stellar) Black globe generators suggest a new direction for defensive technologies, while the development of synthetic anagathics means that the human lifespan is now vastly increased.

One of the first things we need to ask is "what's the design reason of TLs?" In Traveller, they determine relative power ranks for what types of weapons, armors, vehicles, vessels, and other equipment exist. Basically, the "material stuff" that occupies the game realm. This means that TLs play an integral role in the "treasure" aspect of the game. They're about stuff, and stuff is what players like to gain

The second question is "Why so granular?" There are 15 listed levels, why not 7 instead? The reason, of course, is to provide a wide range of possible stuff, especially when creating science-fictiony stuff that doesn't actually exist. It allows the stuff in the game to have a wide range of power. This makes for more mechanically interesting options. It also allows for at least the appearance of greater diversity among locations.

Now we run into our first problem in creating a fantasy game from the Traveller rule's set. Were I to use the RAW (rules as written), I'd end up with only TLs 0-3 for Worlds Apart as I want it to be a fantasy game, not a tech-fantasy or science fantasy and I'd end up losing all the advantages I just listed in having a many step range.

Its these two answers that leads me to create a TL chart for World's Apart that is in the same style as that in the rules from which it is spawned, but of simply lesser technology increments. Below is the TL chart from Worlds Apart.

TL 0: (Primitive) No technology
TL 1: (Primitive) The Middle Paleolithic
TL 2: (Primitive) The Upper Paleolithic
TL 3: (Primitive) The Neolithic (agriculture begins)
TL 4: (Primitive) The Copper Age
TL 5: (Primitive) The Early Bronze Age
TL 6: (Primitive) The Late Bronze Age
TL 7: (Primitive) The Early Iron Age
TL 8: (Primitive) The Late Iron Age
TL 9: (Primitive) The Early Medieval Age
TL 10: (Primitive) The Late Medieval Age
TL 11: (Primitive) The Renaissance
TL 12: (Primitive) The Age of Sail
TL 13: (Primitive) The Very Early Industrial
TL 14: (Primitive) The Early Industrial

You'll note that I've chosen to extend all the way into the Early Industrial. This means that there are locations out there resembling the early-early/mid 1800's (sans gunpowder and explosives, of course - this is fantasy.) I've put in the (Primitive) to indicate to Traveller players that all of these TLs are TL 0-3.

Well there you go. The first in what is going to be many installments about the game and my thoughts about its design. The TL table for Worlds Apart. If you have any thoughts or comments, please post - all of this is far from being carved in stone.

Traveller for the Worlds Apart Fantasy RPG .... Why?

As discussed in the last post, Worlds Apart is going to use the Traveller system as hacked by me from the Mongoose OGL version. This, of course, begs the primary question of...

Why Traveller when there are so many other good fantasy systems already out there?

Primarily, because I want to avoid the bildungsroman typical of almost all fantasy role-playing games. I want the game to start with experienced characters who have a history. I really like that aspect of Traveller and want to import it into a fantasy system. Also, since I think a large part of the gaming audience is now 30+ years of age, I think it would be a nice change to play someone closer to all our ages rather than some 18 year-old, snot-nosed punk whose just mastered sword-swinging. :)

Player and GM investment into the character creation system is going to be an integral part of the first play of Worlds Apart. The first session will consist of the players discovering and determining their backgrounds together. I envision a round-robin system of character creation where first one player goes a term, than another, and then another. When events come up like contacts or such, the main player (the one who's rolling up his character at the time) can ask for input from the other players to make the event as written down come to life in the game. Also, this character creation process will serve as a world-building process for the GM. As the players create their backstories, the GM will be expected to work those backstories into his world.

My secondary reason for wanting to use Traveller is the way it handles "unknown locations" creation as well as the focus on trade. I want a game of exploration and trade and I think the system is a great one for that purpose.

My tertiary reason of using Traveller for a fantasy game is that it hasn't been professionally done before (at least to my knowledge). I am running a business and trying something new is always important. I'm hoping that there are two demographics to hit with this game; those that are intrigued by the world and the game and those that already like Traveller and would like to give it a spin doing fantasy.

And my final reason for using Traveller is that, damn it, I *like* it and I've always wanted to give a fantasy game a shot with it. :)  One of the few perks of being your own boss is following your muse. I want to follow mine.

Worlds Apart - A Fantasy Role-Playing Game of Exploration and Trade

I've mentioned Worlds Apart briefly before, but I'd like to speak a bit more about it. My earlier post was about what level of detail should I go into during the creation process of this new RPG I'm working on. After some long thought, I've decided to say "screw it" and take the big risk and invite all my readers into my mind and my creation process of Worlds Apart.

I figure that, after all, if you don't care about what I'm thinking, why the hell are you reading my blog?

One of the things that I've always liked about science fiction is the boundlessness of the scope. It really is everything imaginable - especially when one gets more into the "space opera" realm. Most fantasy games, on the other hand, are fairly limited in scope - if by no other reason than travel time and distance makes the size of the world that can be explored significantly smaller.

Worlds Apart is me wanting to have the scope of "space opera" in a solidly fantasy game. I want a bit of the ole space opera around, but in a game without the space. Worlds Apart has been itching at me for quite some time now, at least a few years, percolating in the back of my mind.

I'm going to use the Traveller system as published by Mongoose Publishing. I've always been a big fan of Traveller and I'm itching to take Mongoose's version apart and Frankenstein it into what I see in my head. So before I begin I'd like to thank Mongoose for making it OGL.

Well, that's the "big" secret. I'm going to try and do a Traveller fantasy game, but not swords & sorcery, not high fantasy, not grim 'n gritty, but a genre that I don't know if it even exists, a Fantasy Opera.

I'll talk more about Worlds Apart in later posts, of course, but I thought I should first introduce the system and the general feeling I'm trying to go after.

Thanks for reading!

Want Something Urban and Horrific?

Well then, build an adventure around finding a Seeder. It's got a great vibe to it - scandalous and horrific. This would work best in the stereotypical debauched giant urban center where everyone one from the known world can be found rubbing shoulders. In a city of 100 languages, a seeder would blend in easiest. The Seeder is a critter from Malevolent & Benign.

SEEDER
SIZE: Medium (6 ft. tall)
MOVE: 120 ft.
ARMOR CLASS: 7
HIT DICE: 2+2
ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE: 1-4, 1-4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: None
RARITY: Very rare
NO. ENCOUNTERED: 1
LAIR PROBABILITY: 50%
TREASURE: Individual: 100-400 gp
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
LEVEL/X.P.: 3 / 110 + 2/hp

General information: The seeder is a bizarre urban predator, its attacks provoked not by hunger, but by the drive to propagate its species. The seeder is nocturnal, and it is commonly found lingering in the shadows and alleys near bawdyhouses, cabarets, and taverns. It manages to survive in the urban environment through illusion, skill at disguise, and strong instincts.

A seeder can change self at will, but it also relies upon disguises that hide its alien nature. It will commonly have several different sets of clothing, and it favors regions that promote covering the body, such as cold areas where warmth is required and very hot areas where protection from the sun in gained.

A seeder carefully selects only the most prodigious male fornicators as its victims. It lies in wait for them in the shadows. When its chosen target comes drunkenly stumbling by, the seeder attacks. It does not harm the victim, but instead grapples him and releases a soporific gas that knocks out the target while erasing short-term memories. A save against poison prevents this. Those that fail are unconscious for one turn and lose memories of the past hour.

The seeder then replaces its victim’s reproductive cells with its own. Commonly the seeder takes the victim’s money as well. A victim of such an attack is rarely aware of what has taken place, as the procedure leaves no obvious physical changes or pain, and most simply believe themselves to have been mugged. However, whenever the victim mates with a female of its species from then on, the offspring of the union is a seeder. Of course, since the seeder chooses its victims carefully, this may go unnoticed until long after the man has fathered dozens of children in cities and towns scattered all over the land.

Seeder babies initially appear to be rather ugly examples of the mother’s race. They mature quickly; after a few weeks they molt within a few hours into true seeders and attempt to escape from their parents. Seeders reach adulthood in eight months.

Cutting off the offending parts is the only way to prevent reproduction once a victim has been seeded. The only way to reverse a seeding is to cut
off the offending parts and regenerate them.

Languages: Seeders understand common, although they cannot speak it themselves. A seeder cannot speak, only emit an unnerving clicking noise.

Physical description: The seeder is humanoid in shape, but its body is black and chitinous with sharp talons at the end of its hands. Its mind is distinctly alien.

Breaking Bones to Teach Them a Lesson

Alternate views on reality are one of the things that draws me towards fantasy/sci-fi.

As invertebrates, snailmen find the notion of a skeleton completely unnerving. They view arthropods and other creatures with an exoskeleton with somewhat less suspicion; yet they naturally view invertebrates as the pinnacles of biological design. Snailmen believe that covering the skeleton with layers of flesh indicates that the creature is hiding something, a belief continually borne out in their voluminous folklore on the subject. They take gleeful pride when breaking someone’s bones (even a friend’s) with their blunt weaponry as it is sure to "teach the skeleton inside a lesson."