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Rivergate Campaign Begins…

January 13, 2011 in Campaign, Immortals' Wake, Rivergate by Fitz | 1 comment

Last night we started our once a week online campaign for Immortals’ Wake: Rivergate and once again, WR&M proves worthy of admiration. Concept to character in less than 5 minutes.

Unfortunately that’s as far as we went, but let me introduce the two characters… My friends Kevin and Mike are the only two players in the campaign at this point, but hopefully we’ll attract others over time.

Kevin created what he calls a “Marine” – basically a tough sailor used to doing battle at sea. Not your average sailor.

Name: Looyis (pronounced like “Lewis”), or Loo for short
Description: 5’3″, close cropped blond hair, full beard, scar from above left ear to just under left eye (sword cut)
Stats: Warrior: 5, Mage: 3, Rogue 2
Skills: Athletics (Warrior), Swords (Warrior), Awareness (Mage)
Talent: Sailor
HP: 11
Fate: 2
Mana: 6
Defense: 8
Equipment: Sword, Dagger (x2), Adventurer’s Kit, Iron Rations (2 weeks), Backpack, Torch (x5), Leather Armor
Money: 184 sp left over

And Mike created a sailing buddy who has some woodworking skills…

Name: Neb
Description: TBD
Stats: Warrior: 3, Rogue: 5, Mage: 2
Skills: Bows (Rogue), Daggers (Rogue), Acrobatics (Rogue)
Talent: Craftsman (Wood)
HP: 9
Fate: 5
Mana: 4
Defense: 8
Equipment: Adventurer’s Kit, Backpack, Woodworking Tools, 2 sets of clothing (1 normal, 1 travel), Bow, 20 Arrows, 4 Daggers, and Leather Armor
Money: 166 sp left over

These two sailors have just disembarked on the docks of Rivergate’s Docktown and are going to figure out what they’re doing next… when we meet again next week.

So there you have it. We’ve started! Let’s see if we can continue the trend and figure out what kind of trouble Loo and Neb may get into in future sessions.

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Immortals’ Wake: Top Ten Things to Know About Rivergate

January 12, 2011 in Campaign, Immortals' Wake, Playtesting by Fitz | No comments

With a new online campaign about to start, I thought I’d provide a few tips and hints to get things started for my players.

Top Ten Things to Know About Rivergate

  1. Rivergate is divided into two major sections by a 20 ft high seawall simply known as “The Wall.” West of the Wall lies Docktown, sometimes called the Darkside because some areas are in perpetual shadow. East of the Wall lies Uptown, which comes to life with the sunrise.
  2. The Open Market is open sunrise to sunset every day above the Wall but not every merchant may be available every day in the maze of stalls.
  3. Somehow, the Reeves, the Goons of Docktown, or the sisters at the Temple of the Mother probably know what’s going on or who to ask.
  4. The Magus will offer you knowledge and/or magic items at a price, but may choose not to help you.
  5. In case of emergency, the warning bells throughout Rivergate will ring. Bell ringers are stationed throughout the town and will relay the alarm until it is heard Uptown and Docktown.
  6. The Drunken Demon is Uptown’s least reputable establishment.
  7. “The Pearly Gale” recently docked and several sailors and passengers disembarked with wild tales of Secundus, the new colony far to the northwest. Some appear haunted by their experiences.
  8. Uptown, the Rebus Crew has laid claim to a rash of recent burglaries. Reeve Lelas seeks any information that will lead to their eventual arrest.
  9. Dockmaster Dyn seeks independent help with a small matter of disappearances along the docks.
  10. Talk of Demons recently has gained the attention of a small contingent of the Order of St. Greggor rumored to be on their way from the Grand Basilica of the Mother in Belan’si far to the southeast.

Beyond that, make sure you grab the main rule book for Warrior, Rogue & Mage from the Stargazer Games site.

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Rivergate: Visiting the Temple

December 30, 2010 in Immortals' Wake, Rivergate, World by Fitz | No comments

The Church of the Mother operates all over the continent, but not all holy places can be as grand as the Grand Basilica. As such, many smaller temples and shrines have been built and maintained throughout cities, towns, and villages across the lands.

In Rivergate, you will find a small Temple of the Mother’s Grace. Though small, every sermon and ceremony is packed wall to wall to hear Abbess Amrin speak the words of the goddess and the Maker. Amrin rules the Temple with an iron fist, but an open heart. She will put up with no foolishness beneath her roof but will move heaven and earth if you earn her trust and love. As old as she is, you’d probably wonder if she *was* the Mother’s sister in her childhood, but her eyes still radiate a warmth and love nobody can deny.

Her sermons draw folks from all walks of life – laborers, merchants, artists, sailors, and anyone else seeking a bit of salvation. Though well schooled in the scriptures, the Abbess often uses humor and local events to drive her points home.

Most nights she can be found giving those who need it a helping hand, a bit of bread, or a sympathetic ear. And those who don’t live up to her expectations are likely to get an earful and forcefully set back on the path.

But if you’re hurt, whether emotionally or physically, you should find your way to the temple. The Abbess and her helpers will do their best to fix you up and set you on your way.

The Temple itself seems simple from the outside, though taller than many other buildings in town. Two giant doors lead into the main hall. To the right of the doors is the bell used to call worshippers to service and sound the alarm when needed. A series of bells are located throughout Rivergate and bell ringers are always nearby to ring messages from the gates to the docks. Two statues – St. Samrak and St. Issal – stand on either side of the door signifying the church philosophies of hope and healing. A series of gargoyles around the domed roof announces to all that no evil is welcome within these walls and that the rules MUST be obeyed.

Inside, the doors open into the main hall with the inside of the dome painted to represent the four phases of the Mother’s life at the cardinal points of the room. East is discovering her faith (with the rising sun). South represents her journey to spread the word. And west represents her final journey to the Maker’s paradise (with the setting sun). Several pews all align towards the east and a raised dais. It is there where the Abbess and her helpers give their sermons.

Through the southern doors is a small area where the sisters sleep and eat. Separated by a cloth divider when needed, half of their living space becomes a hospital with several temporary cots.

If you are seeking shelter or just need to talk, the Temple of the Mother’s Grace is there to help and set you back on your path.

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Odd Thought: Steampunk Dream Gear

December 12, 2010 in Inspiration, Magic, Nevermeet Press by Fitz | 1 comment

Though I missed the window for the Nevermet Press contest for free loot if you provided some feedback about their Loaerth & Feywyrd fantasy/steampunk setting, I had an odd thought the other night I thought I’d share.

Ever since seeing Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the cool goggles that allowed Hellboy to see the cat-eating creature of faery in her true form <shudder> have come up in my head from time to time. The concept of goggles that would allow the wearer the power of “true sight” isn’t new, but it was fun to see it brought into a practical application by Guillermo del Toro and company.

The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing
Image via Wikipedia

I’m not sure why this popped up in my brain the other day, but here’s the thought…

Baron Von Empyrus, a self-trained doctor of the abnormal arts, has always had a fascination for dreams. That unhealthy fascination may come from the fact that he himself has never had a dream that he can remember. As a result, he began observing subjects sleeping and discovered that some reported leaving their bodies and traveling in a dream world.

Once that piece of the puzzle fell into place, he began researching what some call the “Astral” plane – a hidden place for dreamers and those mentalists with the ability to get there. He began pairing science and magic to find a way to see into this realm. That resulted in the Dream Goggles, a pair of heavy glass and copper spectacles strapped firmly to the wearer’s head that allows them to see the previously unseen.

But that wasn’t enough. He could watch his dreamers dream, but wanted the ability to manipulate them on the other side.

That led to the creation of the Dream Gloves, which give the wearer the ability to reach into the Astral plane and interact with things. Unfortunately, this caused unimaginable suffering and pain in the victims trapped in the dream world. The Baron not only grappled with them, but in some cases tore them apart, causing irreparable harm to their spirits. And when you die on the Astral plane, your body will eventually wither and die back on in our realm.

When a “patient” of the Baron’s finally escaped and told the authorities what was going on, he was stopped. But the goggles and gloves were never recovered…

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Rituals Outside the Box and an Invitation

December 8, 2010 in Immortals' Wake, Playtesting, Rules, WR&M by Fitz | No comments

In my last post, I chatted about some of the difficulties I was having with Divine magic and how rituals fit into the mix.

Warrior, Rogue, & Mage has a few different parts to the magic system. You have Mana, which is the magical energy a caster can use to create a magical effect. You have a personal spellbook containing spells from the various Circles of magic. Each higher Circle basically provides a bit more gusto for your effects. Add to that the concept of Enhancements, which are basically Mana-fueled power-ups, and Rituals, which allows a single caster to cast higher level spells when in a group.

Pentagram with a circle around it
Image via Wikipedia

Seems pretty reasonable doesn’t it?

However, as per usual, I seem to have painted myself into a box and created artificial boundaries. I was so happy that I found WR&M that I used it to build a new set of walls around myself. The rules are great, but I found myself wondering how to shoehorn a few things in.

Today I was reminded by Corvus that you have to take a risk sometimes – or as he put it – “No guts, no glory.” :)

As a result of this FACEPALM moment, it came about that perhaps these aren’t walls at all, but doors instead. And maybe it’s time for a little remodeling. The upshot is that for Divine spells of the priesthood I’ll end up with three or four Circles of spells and a 5th Circle of ritual-only spells that can’t be cast by a single caster. I won’t know for sure that’s going to be the final approach I’ll take for Divine magic, but it’s a start. And with a little playtesting, I ought to see any kinks that show up.

Once I get Divine and Superstitious spells fleshed out a bit, I’ll need to do some serious playtesting anyway.

So that brings me to the second part of this ramble. Would anyone be interested in a WR&M campaign online in an IRC chat one night a week? I’m thinking with one session for a couple of hours a week, we could explore the port town of Rivergate and see how the rules work in the setting.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

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How to Extend Rituals in WR&M

December 6, 2010 in Immortals' Wake, Rules, Seeking Feedback, WR&M by Fitz | 1 comment

With a Divine spellcaster, the magical energy used to achieve an effect is channeled through the caster’s faith in a supernatural force. This force can be as straightforward as believing in a deity or more open-ended or philosophical such as the belief in a cosmic consciousness, the spirits of nature, or the ghosts of ancestors past. And though the end result of casting may be the same as a wizard, many Divine casters use personal rituals.

When we were working on Moebius Adventures we always loved the concepts behind ritual magic. These are the bigger spells that could only be done with larger amounts of casters, magical energy, components, or skill to gain bigger effects. For instance, a one-person Teleport spell could be transformed into a much larger Gateway to move additional people or equipment.

Rituals are broadly defined in WR&M as a way for participants to “pool their mana” to meet the DL requirements for higher circle spells that might be otherwise out of reach. Partcipants are still beholden to the mana cost for the spell and any spell enhancements, but the difficulty level is reduced by 1 if it’s done in the minimum time (1 minute for 1st circle, 5 minutes for 2nd circle, etc.).

Ultimately my question is this… Though this application of ritual magic is good – shouldn’t it be able to do more than that? Or am I looking at this the wrong way? Should it work more like there’s a 4th Circle spell – Mass Last Rites – with bigger bang that should only be performed by mighty powerful priests or a group of priests on the same mission?

For Divine magic, I’m thinking about rituals like:

  • Last Rites
  • Focus (Worry Beads, etc.)
  • Lay on Hands
  • Blessing
  • Inoculate (Cure Disease)
  • Detox (Cure Poison)
  • Protection
  • And so on

It gets more interesting when you look at how the effects are applied and how they stack if they’re done with friends.

For instance, let’s say a priest is delivering Last Rites to a dead or dying person. Perhaps this ritual helps their soul get to the afterlife. Perhaps it blocks them from rising as the walking dead. Perhaps it is nothing more than a way to make their family and friends left behind feel better.

If you take Last Rites into the wild where it’s simply a priest and the deceased, that’s one context. If you have a priest performing the ritual in a temple, church, or other holy place, that’s a different context that perhaps lends more weight or strength to the ritual. And if you add in more priests all performing the ritual at the same time, that’s yet a different context that lends additional strength to the ritual.

Let’s look at it from a different angle. What happens if Last Rites is a way to settle the restless dead – your textbook zombie? It may take a minute for a priest to do the ritual on a zombie – and it may require touching the zombie on the forehead with holy oil. Not necessarily a great position to be in obviously.

Perhaps if you and your priest friend both are doing the ritual, you can knock off the requirement to touch the body and affect a zombie at a distance. Add another priest and maybe you can affect a group of zombies. Add more priests and maybe you can affect a much larger group of zombies… Can you imagine a group of priests all performing a ritual while wandering through a town infested with zombies – and watching zombies fall around them like driftwood?

So maybe in the Last Rites example, there would be three spells – Last Rites (1st or 2nd circle), Last Rites in a Holy Place (2nd or 3rd circle), and Mass Last Rites (4th circle). And it would be up to the priest (or priests) to decide when to go it solo vs. with a group.

As you can see, I’m still trying to figure out how to best integrate some of these ideas with WR&M and am getting there slowly.

What do you think?

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IW:Rivergate – Superstitious Magic, WR&M-style…

November 23, 2010 in Immortals' Wake, Magic, WR&M by Fitz | 2 comments

Hi all…

So I’ve been looking at how to merge some of the magical philosophies of Immortals’ Wake with WR&M over the last few days. Spells are a bit different when you have to fit them into four different “Circles” instead of having an arbitrary number of levels.

The first realm of wizardry I’m trying to work on is Superstitious Magic. It’s sort of voodoo, but not really. More playing on Old Wives’ Tales and such to avoid walking under ladders, crossing black cats’ paths, and so on.

Superstitious Magic preys on people’s beliefs to create magical effects. This can be as simple as calling upon some deity or force aligned with or opposed to an opponent’s belief. For instance, a blessing would ask for positive influence over a person, place, or thing. But a curse would invoke negative influence.

I’ve only started working on this, but have the First Circle started at least… “FTIL” references From the Imperial Library, the magic supplement for WR&M written by Brian Brousseau.

First Circle

Dead Man’s Claws: Caster’s hand becomes cold and clammy with sharp fingernails to claw at an opponent for 1d6 damage. Same as Painful Touch (FTIL).

Mummy’s Caress: Wrapped in an the bandage from an embalmed body, the caster grasps an opponent, causing 1d6/2 damage and heals the caster by the same number of points. Same as Lesser Vampiric Touch (FTIL).

Snake’s Kiss: Caster wipes the blood of a serpent on the intended victim, making them feel sickly and weak. Same as Poison Touch (FTIL).

Gravemud: Caster throws a clod of mud from a grave at up to 2 victims. Same as Painful Blast (FTIL).

Stinkeye: Caster gives one intended target the evil eye. Same as Stun (FTIL).

In addition, I’m looking at adding a few spells…

Breaking Touch (Shatter, Destroy) (First Circle) – Touch attack to a specific item. The item’s owner must make a DL7 Mage roll or have the item take 1 point of damage. Each level of enhancement can either increase the DL by +1 or increase the damage done to the item by 1. For example, a successful casting against a piece of clothing would destroy it quickly, but it would take multiple attempts to break a sword. (See the Material Strengths table.)

Repair (Fix, Mend) (First Circle) – Repairs 1 point of damage to an item. Each level of enhancement can increase the number of points repaired by 1.

Unbidden Growth (Curse of Hair, Enlarge, Embiggen): Touch attack that causes the item or body part on the target to grow wildly for one round. Person must make a DL9 Mage roll to resist or suffer for 1 hour. Each level of enhancement increases the DL by +1.

Change Size (Enlarge, Reduce, Grow, Shrink): Touch increases or decreases person’s size by 50% along with any worn or carried possessions (backpacks not included). All Warrior checks are at +3, but Rogue checks are at -3 when enlarged or -3 to Warrior when reduced. This spell lasts entire encounter. If cast on unwilling target, target gets a DL 11 Mage roll to resist. Each level of enhancement adds +3 to the DL.

Material strengths vary by type. Cloth is weak (1 pt), then there’s leather (3 pts), wood (5 pts), and steel (7 pts). Not sure these are the final values for the material types, but it’s a start.

Any thoughts? Please feel free to leave them as comments or e-mail me directly at info(at)moebiusadventures(dot)com.

–Fitz

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Additions to WR&M for Immortals’ Wake

November 17, 2010 in Books, Immortals' Wake, Rules, WR&M by Fitz | 1 comment

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been looking at extending the already cool system for Warrior, Rogue, and Mage for my new project. I’m trying to incorporate a few of the concepts we developed for Moebius Adventures as well as some new skills and talents.

For example, at character creation time in the base W,R,&M book, you get 3 skills and a talent. I’d like to tweak that slightly so that players pick skills based on different broad age groupings. So if I’m playing a young character, I should pick 2 skills with an eye towards childhood and 1 with an eye towards adulthood. Or if I’m playing an older character, perhaps only direct 1 skill to childhood and the other 2 to maturity.

I’m not quite sure yet how that will play out. I suspect that most players with such a small set of skills would focus on the usable skills for the character as opposed to how their childhood went. Perhaps this will be an optional rule players can use to help them define the life of their characters up to the present. I definitely don’t want it to get in the way of what players want – just to propose it as an option.

Beyond that, some of the new skills I’m considering adding include:

  • Animals (Mage): The ability to train and control animals. This would mostly be for domesticated animals, but could be expanded to wild animals as well.
  • Art (Mage): The ability to create a visual, auditory, or other sensory work to evoke an emotion in an audience.
  • Food (Mage): The ability to cook, prepare, and preserve food for consumption or storage.
  • Games (Rogue): The ability to play various games and apply strategy.
  • Performance (Rogue): The ability to perform (via acting, dance, or some other skill) in front of a crowd.
  • Wilderness (Warrior): The ability to hunt, track, trap, and live off the land in the wilderness to survive.

In addition, there are thirteen different wizardry skills ranging from Alchemy to the Supernatural, each with a particular spell book and magical philosophy. The first book will only cover a couple of these more closely tied to the sea – Supernatural Magic (similar to Voodoo) and Divine Magic (prayers to deities or forces of nature to help with a particular aim). I figure sailors (in fiction at least) have always been a superstitious lot and can use all the help they can get when rough seas come around.

Talent-wise, I’ve only really come up with one so far:

  • Healing: The ability to heal oneself or others using Mana.

I’ve thought about a few other possible talents that may come out of the old Random Fates list from the Moebius Adventures books, but haven’t defined them so far. These would be relatively minor talents such as the ability to see ghosts, knowing what direction they are pointing in regardless of position, and so on.

The existing skill lists in the base W,R,&M book are perfectly open-ended, so I don’t want to add too much clutter to it. My goal is to define these additional options for the rules and focus on the world of Immortals’ Wake. Each subsequent book will further define additional magic and talents as well as flesh out additional areas.

What do you think?

(By the way, if you’re looking for more details about WR&M – check out the website here at Stargazer Games.)

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Friday Links for October 30, 2009

October 30, 2009 in Friday Links, Inspiration, Resources by Fitz | 4 comments

Hey all…

Yes, I’m a bit late this week. Sorry about that. First ugly cold of autumn for me and work has been keeping me busy. That didn’t stop a whole mess of people coming up with some interesting articles to keep us all thinking about gaming. :)

Friday Links Banner 150x150We’ll get the list started off this week with some Halloween-themed posts:

  • Dungeon’s Master has an awesome Zombie Survival Flowchart this week, which made my week. Definitely check it out! I started giggling as soon as I hit “Are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse?” -> no -> “You wet yourself.” -> “Do you change into clean clothes?” :) Zombie Survival Flowchart
  • And from Dungeon Mastering, we have an awesome summary of all things “zombie”… You must know your enemy to combat it! And it definitely helps to follow rule #4 – “Find the Necromancer.” :) Zombie-pocalypse

A few posts about magic:

  • Tankards & Broadswords today brought up using magic actually inspired by the realms of the occult, wicca, and so on. And though I won’t be sanctioning trying to summon beings from the lower planes in real life, I have to admit to a fascination with the “rules” of magic practitioners in the real world. Great food for thought, whether your campaign is in a fantasy realm or the “real” world!Putting Some Real Magic in Your Gaming
  • At Troll and Flame, I found myself presented with an idea that I’d bounced around with Mike (our GM) a number of times. “Magic Missile” is a pretty boring spell name when you think about it. I changed it to “Finger of Death” so I could give your enemies the “finger” whenever we were in combat… The solution in the article is to NOT name the spell – but let the player name it. What a concept – easy way to get the player involved in the world by defining a part of how his character interacts with it!Magical Monday – Personalized Magic

A few posts about the RPG industry:

  • The Seven-Sided Die has an interesting article about the cost-effectiveness of POD and shipping, which I found very interesting because I’ve used Lulu for publishing Moebius Adventures Core Rules. It is definitely not cost effective for one copy, but gets more cost effective the more copies you buy.A Comment on POD and Shipping
  • LivingDice has a very interesting way of looking at the RPG business model, from The Citadel to the Beer Garden and finally to the Bazaar. Anybody involved in publishing (or trying to, like myself) RPGs should give it a look and see what they think. I know I’ll be spending some brain power on it.The Citadel, the Beer Garden, and the Bazaar
  • Another article about RPG business comes from Wondrous Imaginings by Joe the Lawyer… He contends that D&D at Wizards of the Coast might not have gone the same way it has if it had focused more on PR and customer service. It definitely makes me think that PR & customer service should be high on the priority list for any small game company or game designer. Honestly that’s a good idea in any business. :) The Role of Customer Service in a RPG Company

And finally, a scattering of posts on a variety of other topics:

  • Over at the Sea of Stars, I found a well-thought-out view of evil and why evil characters work in a campaign. It’s along the lines of my own idea that there really is no good or evil, but an individual working toward a goal. If you think it’s ok to chop off a few heads along the way, you might be evil. :) Game Theory: Moral Dilemmas – Playing Evil
  • At Abstract XP, we get a bit of a primer on the difference between plot and story. And it’s a great refresher if you haven’t considered the difference for a while (like me!).Plotting Adventures: Part One
  • Also in the vein of defining “evil”, at the World of Alidor blog we find them discussing a greedy, but not quite evil god named Yol. But what really got me thinking was the comparison of evil to a deadly virus like ebola. Sure, it can spread, but it typically kills so quickly that it dies out and becomes dormant, waiting for the next opportunity to strike. I like the analogy. :) The Good, the Bad, Gods and Spirits of Alidor
  • Critical Failure – the GURPS Podcast pointed us at a great article on the anatomy of Japanese folk monsters, with some amazing images. You have to love the Japanese for their dedication to detail, even if it’s for a mythological creature!Potential Encounters: Anatomy of Japanese Folk Monsters points you to… Anatomy of Japanese Folk Monsters
  • And lastly, in the category of “go ahead, lay some history on me” we have an amazing article on the Persian Empire from the Sea of Stars blog… This is another one I’m going to have to devour a piece at a time to milk as much as I can out of it. :) Through the Lens of History 5: The Great King

As per usual, thanks to all the writers of these great, thought provoking posts! Have a great weekend and a wonderful Halloween!

–Fitz

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Moral and Ethical Ambiguity, Part 4 of 4 – Conclusions

October 22, 2009 in Articles, GMing, Inspiration, Rules by Fitz | No comments

So from the first three parts of this series (part 1, part 2, part 3), you hopefully have seen some of the thought that went into our slightly different take on alignment for Moebius Adventures. Again, this is totally portable and could be used with any system I think.

RPGBlogCarnivalLogocopyBut does it work? The jury’s still out. Ultimately, this may not be a usable alignment system. But it provides some interesting flexibility that the traditional good/evil scheme may not. If nothing else, perhaps it offers some methods for fleshing out characters in addition to a traditional good/evil alignment.

I think that new players should focus on the basic alignment grid of Good, Neutral, and Evil. But more advanced players may want a bit more play in how they approach decisions for their characters in a given world.

When conflicts arise between different levels of morality, it definitely gets interesting.

Let’s say that someone is trapped in a burning building and your character has enough time to safely extract the individual from harm. A character with a light moral alignment (+6 to +10) would save the individual, since Man is more important than Nature (in order of moral codes). A character with a gray moral alignment (-5 to +5) may or may not aid the trapped person. Is the person a friend? Would there be a possibility of a reward? These things may tip the scale one way or another. A character with a dark moral alignment (-6 to -10) might have started the fire or help the fire burn other nearby buildings. Maybe they consider cities dirty, unnatural structures and seek to, like Nature, clear the area for new growth.

Considering these qualities of Morality and Virtue provide some interesting insights into how our characters deal with the world around them and the people in it.

Hopefully I haven’t put anyone to sleep with this series. I think it’s philosophically interesting to approach roleplaying from more abstract ways than the old “good vs. evil” scheme.

Thanks for your time!
–Fitz

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