tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16739592203361634342024-03-05T09:12:56.123-05:00Dungeons & Dutch OvensA blog for food and RPGsOpiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-11261165400038021422019-05-09T15:26:00.000-04:002019-05-09T15:26:45.167-04:00Gi, The World of a Thousand Gods: Solo RPG set-up<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the previous blog post, I had talked about the setting I was writing up for a solo RPG session I want to do. This post will drill down the specifics of the setting as well as the magic and the character I'll be playing. </div>
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The game itself is using Fate Core. For the most part, it's unchanged. The only glaring difference is the magic system I plan on using. I wanted magic to be simple but feel like magic, not just re-flavored skills. However, the concept of using the skill system present in Fate Core as a start was interesting , simple, and couldn't be ignored. I decided to expand on that a bit and add my own little twist to it that will be easy to follow and minimize book-keeping.</div>
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<span style="color: #e69138;">Magic in Gi</span></h3>
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So right now, the only magic that exists in the setting is divine magic, called <b><span style="color: #e69138;">Theurgy</span></b>. Theurgy flows from the presence of the city-gods who form as the cultural, social, and political centers of the cities they protect. The priests that can channel this power are called <span style="color: #e69138;"><b>theurges</b>,<b> </b></span>and they generally are in the higher ranks of the temple's hierarchy than lay priests. Theurges have a direct connection to their city-god and act as the deity's administrative staff. They handle day-to-day business, running temples and the city, missionary and ambassador work, war-time leadership, and a variety of occupations depending on how much control the temples have over daily life. The goal of each theurge is to become closer and closer to their patron deity, ultimately becoming a part of them at the end of their lives.</div>
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Because of their connection, the theurge can channel the divine breath of their god to achieve miracles. These miracles are themed around three characteristics of the city-god; Physical, Mental, and Dominion. These characteristics are simple one-word tags that describe the god, not unlike Aspects. A city-god's physical characteristics could be strong, healthy, lithe, and beautiful. Their mental ones could be clever, wise, brave, and foolish. Dominion is the specific spheres of influence that city-god reigns over. So they could be a goddess of war, or a god of merchants, etc. Generally, I find picking two or three tags for each characteristic is enough to set up a tutelary deity for a theurge.</div>
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The ability to use magic costs one skill and one refresh. The theurge buys a skill called <b><span style="color: #e69138;">Theurgy</span></b>. This skill grants a set of Fate Dice used to power spells called <b><span style="color: #e69138;">Olam</span></b>. You gain an amount of Olam equal to the value of your Theurgy skill. A +3 Theurgy skill will grant you three Olam Dice. Casting a spell requires using an appropriate skill narrated through the lens of your city-gods characteristics, and spending at least one Olam dice. The GM sets the difficulty of the spell before casting, then the theurge adds any number of Olam dice to their skill roll, up to their maximum amount. After rolling, the theurge takes the best four results on their dice and checks to see if they succeed or not.</div>
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<i>For example, Daniel is a theurge of Kor, the strong, reckless city-god of competition and sports. He has Theurgy +3, which gives him three Olam dice. Daniel needs to lift a car off of an innocent bystander, but requires the strength of his god for help. The GM decides this will be a Great (+4) Difficulty. Daniel uses Physique +2 to lift the car, and adds 2 Olam dice to it, under the narrative permission that Kor is a strong god. After rolling six dice, Daniel gets 3 pluses, 2 blanks, and 1 minus. Choosing the best of four dice and adding his +2 from Physique, Daniel scores a total of 5 and saves the bystander.</i></div>
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Spells are themed after the citygod's Characteristics and thus should be narratively centered around them, while remaining flexible in their application. The spells are generally instantaneous or at most short-lived effect.</div>
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A theurge must be able to breathe in the magic breath of their god and have Olam dice to cast spells. If the theurge runs out of Olam dice or they are choking/suffocating, they cannot cast spells. If a theurge's breathing is restricted, they can choose to spend their lowest available consequence to push through and cast anyways. A theurge can regain Olam dice in one of three ways. First, a full-night's rest followed by a daily devotional to their city-god restores their Olam back to full. Secondly, a theurge can visit a holy place attuned to their god to regain a certain amount of Olam (1 to 3 seems good). Thirdly, in a pinch, a theurge can sacrifice an available consequence to regain Olam dice back. 1 for a Mild, 2 for a Moderate, and 3 for a Severe. </div>
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While the Theurgy Skill isn't rolled for casting spells, it can be used for other actions. Mostly tied to the Overcome action, a mage can use Theurgy to interact with magic objects and places. Ley lines, places of power, relics, sigils, and other foci. Theurgy can also be used to detect magical auras as well as meditate, ask a question and receive a vague omen from their city-god. </div>
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<span style="color: #e69138;">An Example of a City God</span></h3>
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Olephi is the city-goddess of Alephdria, a sprawling metropolis in a temperate area of Gi. Olephi is strong and has an intimidating stature. She is wise and stern. She also the goddess of liberty, reason, and defense. So, if we were to write her up in a statblock, it would be:</div>
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<b><span style="color: #e69138;">Olephi</span></b></div>
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<b>Physical</b>: strong, intimidating</div>
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<b>Mental</b>: wise, stern</div>
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<b>Dominion</b>: liberty, reason, defense</div>
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A theurge of Olephi could cast spells that are centered around these narrative aspects of their goddess. Perhaps they could channel Olephi's wisdom to solve a problem. Or create a shield with her defense characteristic. Or frighten a crowd with her intimidating aura. </div>
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That's it about magic. I wanted it to be limited but flexible and dependent on the difficulty modifiers of each spell. I'm curious what people think about this at their first glance. I'm currently writing up the sessions to post before vacation. I just want to post a blurb about the character I'll be playing first before commiting to the game.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-45188808215376338212019-05-08T15:30:00.000-04:002019-05-08T15:30:36.674-04:00The World of a Thousand Gods: A New Setting for Solo RPGs<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the last couple of months, I've been inspired to write up a brand new setting to play in. The idea was inspired by several video games, books, and movies I'd been consuming in that time. This setting is a contemporary fantasy, which is a genre I've had hang-ups with in the past. Generally, I don't like how contemporary fantasy keeps the fantasy hidden away from the mundane world, either as a different world entirely (like Narnia) or under the guise of some conspiracy (like V:tM). I also am not looking to do something like Shadowrun, where magic just suddenly appears. For this, the supernatural and magic elements need to be front and present in my setting, and always has.</div>
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A good example would be Eberron, which has elements of the Edwardian era, World War 1 and post-war era, and pulp from that time period while still maintaining the fantastical elements. I simply want to fast-forward the clock even more. Something with the trappings and technology of modern-day Earth, but with the magic and wonder of fantasy existing with it.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art from Final Fantasy 15</td></tr>
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The aesthetics of Final Fantasy 7, 8, and 15 are two examples are what I'm looking for. Sprawling cities protected from the monsters of the outside world. Dragons, mages, and monsters exist alongside smartphones, automobiles, and assault rifles. Of course, in a world where monsters and magic are real, things will have to be set up differently. And thus, the world of Gi was born. One inspired by this artwork as well as ancient Greek City-States, Roman tutelary deities, modern-day Japan's mixture of the spiritual and secular, and the video games <i>Dominions 5, Final Fantasy 7. 8. and 15</i>. Add in a dash of Gnosticism and proto-Judaic religions and shake well!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art from Final Fantasy 15 (Insomnia)</td></tr>
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The world of Gi is one of petty gods and the city-states that they protect and dwell in. The Twilight of the Gods happened many millennia ago, yet the new generation of true gods never came. In their stead, spirits of the land made a covenant with humans and other races to create large city-states for protection against the terrible monsters of the world. In return, the peoples of Gi give these tutelary gods offerings and worship, as well as manpower for their wars of divine conquest. The thousands of years of holy wars, alliances, and politics have led to a modern-day world of sprawling city-states in a cold war with each other. Superpowers have formed into coalitions of pantheons that must fight against enemy city-gods, the wandering monsters from an invading outer realm, and growing allure of materialism.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art from Final Fantasy 7 Remake</td></tr>
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Here lies the heroes. They can be monster hunters that protect the satellite townships and highways from wandering monsters. Or they are the theurges of a city-god, sent as missionaries, ambassadors, or crusaders to neighboring city-states. Or police trying to keep the peace when a riot between humans and orcs breaks out. Anything is possible in Gi, the World of a Thousand Gods</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.hitc-s.com/i/237/fft0_jp_trailer_ffxv_demo_stills_approved_usa_09_117973.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://cdn.hitc-s.com/i/237/fft0_jp_trailer_ffxv_demo_stills_approved_usa_09_117973.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screen from Final Fantasy 15</td></tr>
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This setting will be using Fate, as I want to learn how to use that rule system more and more. I plan on doing more solo RPG sessions in this setting as a way to enjoy it and world build in it. I'd love to run this with a group eventually, but my schedule leaves that uncertain for now. However, the main things I'll post about in the future will be centered around this. Magic (called theurgy), religion, history, monsters, and city-states. I also plan on having some actual plays this coming week on the blog. Gotta get that done before vacation next week. But, it feels good to be excited about world-building again. I can't wait to do more about this setting.</div>
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Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-71770517207043739782018-11-09T10:57:00.002-05:002018-11-09T10:57:52.529-05:00SGAM Ryuutama Session 1: Tholo the Peddler<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">This is the first session of my Ryuutama game for SGAM. The goal of this first week is to try out a RPG I've never played before. I've heard some talk about the game Ryuutama and some of its themes and mechanics. So, I thought I'd give it a try.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: inherit;">A Brief Bit About The Game</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ryuutama is a Japanese TTRPG that is made for beginners in mind, to teach people about Western TTRPGS like D&D. The game itself is labelled as <span style="font-style: italic;">honobono</span>, which is a more pastoral, heart-warming style of game. It has a charm and style that reminds me heavily of Studio Ghibli films as well as the Dragon Quest video games, both of which I'm very fond of. Instead of a focus on dungeon delving and combat, Ryuutama's adventures revolve around travelling, exploration, and meeting new people. You gain experience by exploring different sections of the map, with more difficult terrains and weather granting more XP. You also gain XP from combat, but you only get it from the toughest encounter of that session. The standard classes of fighter, mage, thief, and cleric are replaced by professions, like merchant and farmer. In addition, there are three Types that dictate how your character approaches obstacles. They are Attack (the fighter), Technical (the skilled), and Magic (the mage). There are only four attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Spirit) and the scores are all even numbers from 4 to 12. They are tied to the different dice you have. So if you have a Strength 6, you roll a d6 for your checks. Skills don't exist. You just roll the correct combination of attributes and meet or beat a Target Number to succeed. So for Perception, you roll Dex+Int. If my Dex is a 4 and my Int is a 6, then I would roll a d4+d6. Rolling snake eyes is a fumble, while rolling either boxcars or the maximum of each dice is a critical check.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What is interesting about this game is that it has a GMNPC called the Dragon (or Ryuutama). In the implied setting, these dragons latch onto travelers and feed off of adventures and stories. The Dragon has some GM moves that can either help the players along, or complicate their lives a bit. As the players go through different sessions, this Dragon actually will level up and gain new abilities (called Benedictions and Reveils). After some time, the dragon will grow enough to fly off and leave an egg for the players. The game is an interesting blend of the different styles of Western TTRPGs. There are aspects of classic OSR style gaming with exploration and hexcrawling being big, but also some characteristics of narrative games and story games with the Dragon GMNPC. What I really like about the game is the implied setting, where people simply just decide to travel the world and see new things. It's a rite of passage in a way and while it can seem like a flimsy way to explain why there are adventurers, I think it works with the theme of the game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I decided that I would give this game a try. Presented below is the first session of Tholo the Peddler, a merchant that has decided to uproot and travel north of his village of Gretelburg. The dragon I chose is the basic Green Dragon (a Midori-Ryuu) named Bard. This dragon is all about exploration and is the suggested one for beginners. For things like random weather, procedural terrain, and encounters, I use The Perilous Wilds' generators as well as Save Vs Dragon's free hex terrain generator found <a href="http://savevsdragon.blogspot.com/2012/06/hex-crawl-week-day-5-d30-hex-terrain.html" target="_blank">here</a>. For music, since I was inspired by classic JRPGs I played as a child, I used Dragon Quest's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7JFo8mXeaE" target="_blank">Unknown Lands</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYisHwIxhlg" target="_blank">Never-Ending Journey</a> for travelling, and Final Fantasy VI's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKf8cHlT4cs" target="_blank">battle music</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tholo is a young man of lithe build with tawny skin and white hair. Today, he is embarking on his journey, a rite of passage to the people of Gretelburg. Tholo hopes to get a taste of the adventuring life, even if only for a few weeks. With his pack animals fed and equipment set up, Tholo sets out!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is April 7th, and it is bright and sunny outside. The weather is clear but unseasonably hot for springtime. Tholo wipes the sweat off his brow and travels through the grasslands along the dirt path with his two pack mules and loyal dog, Uno.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Terrain+Weather Difficulty Class</b> (This is the Target Number to beat with the checks down below): 7. Grasslands are fairly safe, but the heat is making it a bit rough.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Condition Check</b> (this is Tholo's current fatigue level): 8. Tholo is feeling pretty good.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Travel Check</b> (this is to see if an injury or exhaustion happens): 8. Tholo doesn't encounter any hardships.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Direction Check</b> (this is to navigate the wilds): Tholo is travelling the roads, so he doesn't get lost.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Encounter</b>: Yes, Friendly.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As Tholo travels north, he spots a wagon on the side of the road with two people by it. They seem to be fixing the wagon wheel and having a rough time of it. Tholo lends a hand, helping the couple fix their wagon to get back on the road. Gratefully for the assistance, the couple introduce themselves as Gregori and Priscilla. Both are newlyweds that have decided to leave their professions and become mail carriers. They go between the frontier towns, bring mail and supplies to them. Greg and Priss also sell things occasionally, dabbling in the mercantile arts here and there. Tholo asks where they are going, and Priscilla says they are going north to Hanselboro from Gretelburg to drop off supplies. Tholo offers to travel with them for a time and the couple agree. The trio set off to the north.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Camping Check</b> (this is to see how they rest for the night and regain HP and MP): 8. </i>The trio have a restful night under the stars, enjoying the cured fish and each other's company.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>April 8th</b>. The group is still travelling along the prairies. The weather is pretty hot and muggy, and now there's a rainstorm slowing the party down!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>DC</b>: 8. Grasslands are hot and visibility is low due to rain and wind</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Condition</b>: 9. Tholo is feeling pretty great</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Travel</b>: 8. The trio doesn't encounter any issues travelling</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Direction</b>: Despite the rain, they are still along the worn roads so don't need to make this check.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Encounter</b>: No</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The rains pelt the canvas-covered wagon, but this doesn't stop our intrepid adventurers. Instead, they talk about their lives before going on their journeys, their goals and dreams, and their homes. Gregori was a bricklayer at a town called Rumplestilton. His claim to fame was helping to rebuild an old bridge that led into the town. Priscilla was a fisher-woman at the same town, responsible for bringing in trouts and bass to the dockside mongers. Both ran into each other during the reopening ceremony of the bridge and decided on a whim to go on their journey together. Greg and Priss fell in love, and when they returned, they had a quaint wedding and decided to live out on the frontier as mail carriers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tholo is happy for the couple, and their story inspires him to push forward on his journey even longer. He remarks about how his father was an owner of the village's general store, and that's where Tholo got the itch to become a travelling peddler of wares and goods. But first, he wants to go onto his journey to prove to his family and himself that this is a good idea. He's had Uno for a year and the boxer dog is a great companion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Camping</b>: 9</i>. The rains clear up some, though there is no starry night tonight. Tholo can't sleep well, as the ground is muddy and uncomfortable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>April 9th</b>. The trio approach a forested area. The rains from the previous day have cooled the area off, but now there is a nasty thunderstorm brewing above Tholo and the gang.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>DC</b>: 11. Forests are harder to traverse, and the thunderstorm is slowing the party down greatly.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Condition</b>: 2. Tholo is feeling Out of Shape. He gets the [Poisoned:4] Status Effect, which drops his Strength down to a d4.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Travel</b>: 7. Because of his food poisoning, it complicates travelling. He is at Half HP [8 HP].</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Direction</b>: 9. The road is less defined here and the rains are making it hard to travel. The trio only go halfway through the hex.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The heavy rain and winds have made it harder for Tholo and his crew to traverse the forest road. The wagon slows down some as Tholo and Priscilla try to keep the canvas from flying off and Gregori tries to keep the pack animals calm. As they travel, they see a bunch of logs and trees have fallen onto the road, blocking their travel! Tholo is suspicious, but before he can check it out, the shrill cries of something terrible ring out. It's an ambush! Four calico konekogoblins jump from the thickets, clubs in hand, and ready to waylay the trio.</span></div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: inherit;">Round 1</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Greg is first to react. He draws his short sword and strikes at the first cat goblin. He is able to hit the creature, but barely grazes the cat's shoulder. Priss is next, and she barely misses the second konekogoblin. The koneko strike together, but only the second one lands a hit on the beleaguered Tholo. Luckily for our sick protagonist, his armor helps deflect most of the damage. Tholo has one hand over his sick stomach and the other on a dagger. He strikes at the first konekogoblin that Gregori hit and lands a solid hit, knocking out the first cat monster.</span></div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: inherit;">Round 2</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gregori goes again, smacking the second koneko with the flat of his blade. Priscilla tries to hit the second one again, and lands a mighty blow on the feline creature, almost knocking it out! The remaining konekogoblins attack, but all miss. The third one missed so terribly that he drops his weapon on the ground! A boon for our heroes! Tholo takes advantage of this and strikes at the second konekogoblin, felling him in one swoop!</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Note: the critical fumble combat effect for the koneko was something I added. I felt it made sense for the scenario, but it's not actually a part of the rules.</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: inherit;">Round 3</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Here I decided to make a morale roll against the konekogoblins' Condition, since they are now outnumbered. They failed their roll and will now run away. This isn't a part of Ryuutama, just something I generally do for combat in my games</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The remaining two konekogoblins realize that these travellers aren't nearly as easy to ambush as others before them. And so they take off, leaving their fallen cat comrades to the trio. Unsure of what to do to the would-be highwaymen, Tholo and Priscilla tie them up. Using the pack animals and their own two hands, the crew are able to move the logs in about an hour. As they set up camp, Tholo looks at the hungry konekogoblins they captured and feels a bit of pity for them. He takes some of his cured fish rations and give them to the two cat monsters.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Negotiation To Befriend the Konekogoblins: DC 9; I rolled a 13!</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The konekogoblins are a bit cautious at first as Tholo approaches, but he presents the cured fish to them and unties the monsters. They sniff the fish as they stare at Tholo to judge his intentions, but soon, hunger takes over and they gobble the food down. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Camping</b>: 7. </i>It's a rough night for the quintet, and they don't quite regain all of their Health and Mental focus for the night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>April 10th</b>. The party is still in the same hex as before, but now it's a clear and beautiful day!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>DC</b>: 8. The weather is clear and temperate, so it's just a matter of travelling through the trees.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Condition</b>: 8. Tholo is able to kick the food poisoning and feels a lot better. [Poison; 4] is now cleared.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Travel</b>: 9. There aren't any hitches in their journey to leave the hex.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Direction</b>: 11. Despite the roads being unclear, the trio make it through to the next hex.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Encounter</b>: Yes; Passive</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tholo and his compatriots travel deeper into the forest, making it to a fork in the road. Hanselboro is more to the west from here, while Tholo wants to keep going north, into the heart of the forest. Gregori and Priscilla warn our hero that in the depths of the overgrown forest, few humans reside. Instead, the spirits of the forest as well as monsters dwell there, waiting to prey on travelers like Tholo. Not one to be dissuaded, Tholo appreciates the concern, but knows that he must continue this journey to prove to himself that he can be a travelling merchant. The konekogoblins, inspired by the kind treatment of Tholo and his willingness to go on, decide to stay with Greg and Priss as helping hands. Priscilla is a little hesitant, but Gregori is more than happy to expand their mail carrier business to their first two employees. Tholo waves goodbye to his newfound friends and heads northeast, ever deeper into the forest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Along the fading road in the afternoon, Tholo spots something on the ground. Footprints! Giant footprints! Whatever made these prints must be huge! Curiousity overtakes fear, and Tholo runs headfirst into the true wilderness of the lands. What has made these prints, and will Tholo survive the perils of the deep woods? We'll find out in the next session!</span></div>
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<br />Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-67989421576235513892018-05-03T14:07:00.001-04:002018-05-03T14:07:08.462-04:00Hero Southern Community Solo Session #3: Danger Room Isn't In The Budget<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Can you believe that I started this solo game almost a year ago? I can't. I actually have a great deal of solo sessions with my ICONS Superhero Community College in my journal. I'll be taking the next couple of weeks to typing them out and publishing them on the blog. In truth, this was actually my second real session, but like the one before it, this was done over the span of several smaller sessions over the week. This one is more of a role-playing prelude to the main adventure. There is a lot of strong language here, so be advised this write up isn't for all ages. Hopefully everyone enjoys it!</i></div>
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Raul and CJ are dragged to Student Services, after coming to blows during a rescue exercise. There is a long silence as the two are in the waiting area. </div>
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<i>Does CJ say anything to me?:</i> Yes And Twist!</div>
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After a good ten minutes of the young men not saying anything, CJ finally breaks the silence.</div>
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"This is your fault," CJ mutters to Raul.</div>
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"How the hell is this my fault?" </div>
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"You can't take a fucking joke!" CJ's voice gets louder. "You couldn't stand that I beat you and I'm better at this than you or your roach friend!"</div>
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Raul stands up, body tense and fists balled, "Are you kidding me? You've been acting like a piece of shit to me since high school. This is just more of your bullshit that I can't just get away from!"</div>
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CJ bolts up, ready for round two of their fight. "Well, maybe if you didn't act so full of yourself, I wouldn't have to knock your punk ass down a couple of pegs."</div>
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"Both of you, shut up and get into my office! NOW!" an older woman's voice interrupted the two. They both turn to see the school disciplinarian, Lady Mist.</div>
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<i>New NPC: </i>Lady Mist. In charge of dealing with infractions. Has the ability to summon and control a harmful fog.</div>
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Raul and CJ sit down in front of Mist's desk. Mist directs their attention to her television and plays the events of their fight.</div>
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"Now, you both are aware that fighting on school grounds is a serious offense, right?" she says sternly.</div>
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"He started it!" Raul yells. "This asshole has been tormenting me since we got here."</div>
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Mist stops CJ before he can get a word it. "Using your powers on school grounds against another student is illegal and a serious infraction. The punishment is suspension and if you do it again, you are permanently expelled from the campus."</div>
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She turns off the TV and leans back in her chair, "Not only that, but you'll be put in the superhero databanks as ineligible for other schools for at least four years. Meaning neither of you will be accepted to any academy or superhero team in the country. Is that what you both want?"</div>
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Raul and CJ begrudgingly look at each other and say in unison, "No ma'am..."</div>
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"Good," Lady Mist stands up and opens the door.</div>
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"So... so we're not suspended?" CJ asks, confused.</div>
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"Not today, no. This is your first day, and no one got seriously injured. Mark my words though, if I see either of you in this office again, you'll both be suspended for two weeks. Do I make myself clear?"</div>
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"Yes, ma'am," the boys say together again.</div>
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"Good. Now get out."</div>
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The two young men leave her office and glare at each other in silence, before splitting off on their own way.</div>
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<b><i>* * *</i></b></div>
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The next day, Raul made sure to come in on time. After almost getting suspended from HSC, his parents came down hard on him. The pressure is on to not screw up.</div>
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<i>How does the school react to yesterday's fight?: </i>I drew Air, which means Chaotic but Friendly.</div>
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Everyone seems to have mixed feelings about Raul's outburst from yesterday. However, most people seem to side with him over CJ about the whole ordeal. Still, Raul is embarrassed over the fight and tries hard to keep to himself some.</div>
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He sits down next to his new friends from yesterday. Melvin won't stop talking about their mission from yesterday to Alex. Jordan seems to be on her phone, half listening while browsing Facebook. CJ walks in, just barely on time, and sits away from Raul. They both exchange dirty looks, but it is too early in the morning to be getting into fights.</div>
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<i>I draw a card for the next adventure. Seal Rural Obstacle. The Element is Earth and the Rune is Authority and Power</i></div>
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The bell rings and Mr. Arms walks into the classroom.</div>
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"Sorry for being late class," he began, looking a bit disheveled. "We've been setting up a special exercise for the class today. After yesterday's quiz, I graded your actions and concluded that you all need to work on your teamwork." His eyes briefly gaze towards Raul and CJ before returning to the rest of the class.</div>
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"A lot of you have interesting control over your powers, but you need to learn to work with and rely on your team. Therefore, we are skipping the written portion of today's lesson and moving straight to another training exercise."</div>
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The class groans a bit, as many are still tired from yesterday's exercise. As Mr. Arms tries to calm down the class, a woman walks into the room. </div>
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<i>Who is this NPC?:</i> Vector, an Indian woman with the ability to create wormholes and transport people. She looks to be in her late 40's and has her hair tied up in a bun.</div>
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"Good morning class," Vector begins. "Today, we are all going on a special field trip that will push your limits of communication and teamwork. If you're going to be working with the bigger academies or the larger superhuman community, you need to learn how to work together. Lone wolves don't last long in this business."</div>
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"Tell that to Black Hood, lady," CJ smirked at the perceived cleverness of his outburst. Black Hood was a hero from the 80's in Miami that took on the drug lords of that time.</div>
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"Ah yes the Black Hood," Vector took off her glasses to clean them off a bit. "As I recall, his sidekick was Sparrow, right?"</div>
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The classroom grew quiet and things got uncomfortable.</div>
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"Yeah, it was Sparrow. A young man, about your age, Mr. Jacobs. I forget, what happened to him?" Vector mused.</div>
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CJ shifted in his seat, "He was... gunned down by the mob."</div>
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Vector shook her head, "That's not all, Mr. Jacobs. What else did they do?"<br />
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"Lady, everyone knows what he did! Why are you asking these stupid questions?" CJ started getting upset.</div>
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"Because, that's the fate of a superhero that goes in half-cocked without support. Do you want your head mailed to your teammates? Or to your mother?" Vector finished cleaning her lens.</div>
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CJ muttered something incomprehensible, ceding the argument.</div>
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Mr. Arms tries to put the class back on the rails. "Now class, follow Mrs. Vector to your training session. It will be a fun one."</div>
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Vector flicks her wrist and a blueish purple portal swirls into existence. The class is a bit hesitant to enter, but one after another, each student goes through.<br />
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<b>* * *</b></div>
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Raul steps out of the other end, feeling a bit queasy from the wormhole. 'That's not something I want to do again,' he thinks to himself. He squints his eyes at the bright sun in the sky. Curiously, it was higher in the sky than it should be. 'Isn't it morning? Why does it look like noon?'<br />
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The heat and humidity kicked in, feeling even hotter than South Florida. As Raul's eyes adjusted, his mouth dropped in shock. Around him, he could see wild buffalo grazing across a wide expanse of grass. Far away, Raul could make out a pride of lions sunbathing. And in the distance lay a huge mountain range that Raul has only ever seen in books and as default computer wallpapers at school.<br />
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"Mrs. Vector," Melvin was the first to speak up. "Where on Earth are we?"<br />
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Vector smiled and spoke. "Everyone, welcome to Tanzania! And that there," she points to the mountain range dramatically, "is Mt. Kilimanjaro!"<br />
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Raul couldn't believe they are halfway across the world. He turns to Alex and Jordan, both equally stunned.<br />
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"This can't be real," Jordan whispers. "It... it has to be some kind of illusion. Or VR..."<br />
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Alex nods, "Yeah, or like, holograms or something..."<br />
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"No way this school has money for a danger room," CJ interjects. Raul scowls but he couldn't disagree. He could feel the hot air and smell the wildlife around him.<br />
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"This is the real deal guys," Raul concludes. "We're going straight into the fire."<br />
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Vector snaps to get the students back on track. "Today, we will be splitting you all into teams of two. Team A will be the 'superheroes' while Team B will be the 'supervillains'. Team B will be attempting to break an' evil fire demon' from its prison in the volcano up there."<br />
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She motions towards Mt Kilimanjaro, then back towards the students. "Team A, it is your job to go up there and stop the ritual before it's too late. You will be on a time limit, so you will need to work together to act quickly to stop the villains."<br />
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Raul swallows in fear. "This is the second day and we're already going up a volcano?" he whispers.<br />
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"Take it easy, I'm sure the volcano is dormant or whatever," Alex jokes, but Raul could hear the worry in his voice.<br />
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Vector puts her hands on her hips. "Now, we'll divvy you up into your teams. Everyone will have two hours to prepare, then it's go time!"<br />
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<i>Do I get put on the Hero team or Villain?:</i> rolled Evens for Hero team<br />
<i>Is CJ on my team?:</i> No But<br />
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Once again, Raul is spared from having to work with CJ. However, it looks like CJ is the team leader for the villains. In addition, it looks as though Melvin got drafted to the villains' side. He waves despondently at Raul, sad he can't help his new friend out. Still, Raul knows that he has to make up for yesterday. He walks to his team and prepares for his next exercise.<br />
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<i>To Be Continued...</i></div>
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Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-88688222449995717512018-04-20T11:22:00.002-04:002018-04-20T11:22:46.088-04:00Upcoming Solo Sessions<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the great things about solo gaming is that it gives you a good excuse to try other RPGs. If you're like me, you probably have like 60+ games on your shelf or drive that will never get played. Especially if all your players want to do is play D&D. So now I can try things like Traveller, ICONS, Fate, and more in different settings that Ive always wanted to try.</div>
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In the last month, I've done a lot of offline solo gaming that I want to write up on the blog and share. Below are some pictures of RPG hauls and actual gameplay. I've used Untold Adventures Await for the GM, which has had its pros and cons. In the future, I plan on trying out the Lone Wolf Adventure Game starter that I got from my FLGS, as well as continuing my fantasy Mythras campaign that I started almost a year ago.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/161933632963870720/435191017495461899/KIMG0690.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/161933632963870720/435191017495461899/KIMG0690.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soon...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/161933632963870720/434363909722603521/KIMG0688.jpg?width=780&height=585" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="780" height="240" src="https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/161933632963870720/434363909722603521/KIMG0688.jpg?width=780&height=585" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing through a Gamma World-inspired Fate Core game</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/161933632963870720/436906748620701706/KIMG0694.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/161933632963870720/436906748620701706/KIMG0694.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I've continued the ICONS RPG in my private journal</td></tr>
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Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-26992425815723221052018-03-22T13:41:00.000-04:002018-03-22T13:41:35.307-04:00Back Into the Solo Saddle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://media.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2008/jan/ranger_200-9fd7135dc9e487dc237b814ce0a13a4072da83d6-s300-c85.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="200" height="320" src="https://media.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2008/jan/ranger_200-9fd7135dc9e487dc237b814ce0a13a4072da83d6-s300-c85.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
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It's been quite a long couple of months of silence. The usual holidays, work, and personal stuff seemed to keep me from posting or gaming much. Now that things seem to be slowing down some for me, I feel I can get back into the swing of things.</div>
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What I want to do most is to continue doing solo RPGs. I really enjoy them when I'm doing them. The biggest problem for me is getting started. It seems like pulling teeth to try and sit down and roll dice for a solo adventure. Some of it is the mental energy required to be both the PC and the GM. Some of it is my inherent inability to focus. Especially when I'm at my computer, surrounded by social media and video games. Some of it is lack a time. Good perfect storm of stuff to stop me from soloing. Which is a shame because I really do like doing it.</div>
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But no more. I want to try something to help push me to solo RPGs more. So I want to take a page from my exercise routine and have myself accountable to people that may want to read my AARs. I want to try and get at least one Solo Session Report in a week and post it to the GooglePlus community. In this way, it'll keep me motivated to do more solo gaming. Maybe even do things like posting resources and my own little oracle I like to use. That's mostly what this blog is about. Using the community to help me push through and enjoy solo roleplaying more.</div>
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So the first solo session I want to have will be using Untold Adventures Await as the oracle, with ICONS being the main game I want to use. I plan on continuing the Superhero Community College game I did a while back. After that, I want to continue a sci fi M-Space solo game I'm almost done with, and maybe even give Ironsworn a try. </div>
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I'm also down to try any advice anyone wants to give me. There are a lot of prominent posters on the Lone Wolf and I can always use the help!</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-53658223600730060972017-10-01T15:27:00.000-04:002017-10-01T15:27:02.077-04:00A Simple Set of Agency Rules<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/16/feb/16xcom2loading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="620" height="192" src="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/16/feb/16xcom2loading.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mission Start!</td></tr>
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Between the M-Space campaign I'm running on Wednesdays and the hours I've sunk into XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, I've come up with a simple set of rules for my players to run their Scout agency. This is for sending out fire teams of explorers and troubleshooters to do some side missions while your team does the cool adventuring. Great for frontier exploration campaigns, but you can tweak them to be for scientific research, surveying, and even war and trade. Made with M-Space and Mythras in mind, but I want to make one for Traveller/Cepheus Engine.<br />
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The link is <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vKW6c7kTvfKL-8MmPMSAgaW-II_t4O6hzNVEI_J6-Bo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #e69138;">here</span></b></a>. Tell me what you think.Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-36244580877103139742017-09-28T12:21:00.001-04:002017-09-28T12:21:06.293-04:00Space Governments Musing<div style="text-align: justify;">
In its most simplistic explanation, a government and its effectiveness in maintaining security and loyalty over its citizens is dependent upon transportation and communication. As all have improved, it's been possible for nations to grow larger, keep their holdings, and maintain their borders. Once you get into space, however, geopolitical borders and control go out the window. This is especially true the slower you make transportation and communication between two star systems. If everything is done with wormholes (or any relatively short hyperdrives) and instant ansibles, then it's a lot easier to have sector-spanning star empires. It's easier to get military ships to defend your planets from pirates or enemy alien attacks. You can send supply aid quickly in case of a natural disaster. Or, you can stop those damn space Yankees from revolting and throwing your supplies of space tea into the space Boston Harbor.</div>
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But, the slower things are, the harder it is to maintain security, loyalty, and control. So, if you have something like Traveller's jump drive, it's going to be more difficult to set up the big grand empire. In a setting where travelling to a star can take a week or more<br />
per parsec, you would need a less centralized government to keep your outworlders happy about their independence, but planetary governors to keep them loyal to your government. A standard unitary sphere couldn't work like that. So what kind of governments could you see in such a setting? Luckily, a lot of this can be seen in settings like the Third Imperium of Traveller, as well as several of the 50's to 70's sci fi that inspired it and many modern takes on the space opera genre.<br />
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A note here. I'm no political scientist. I'm just a cook that has an interest in sci fi cultures and politics. So these are just rudimentary explanations done with the intent to provide interesting ideas for sci fi games within the constraints of a slower FTL drive. They aren't meant as a treatise on why one is better than the other.</div>
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<b><span style="color: orange;">Anarchist Communes</span></b></h3>
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This is one I see a lot in transhumanist RPGs and literature, such as Eclipse Phase and The Culture series. Essentially, due to the vast distances and time that transportation and communication must cross, enforcing control over a planet is difficult. So these planets have to make due on their own in a lot of cases. Now, this really can only work if either there are a lot of resources available on the planet, or they have advanced mining and nanofabrication machines that can literally print what they need. If you are lacking either of those, then the colony is entirely dependent on either their patron, trade, or neighbors. Still, it's an interesting culture to see in space, and one that can be pretty alien to many of your players.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Feudal Empire</span></h3>
Whether it's Dune or Traveller's Third Imperium, a feudal space empire dominated by houses is another possible government that one could see across the vast gulfs of space. One could see it as a fairly decentralized monarchy, with each planet owned by a house of nobility. There would be a great deal of tradition and honor laws to keep people loyal to the capital world, and the capital world would have to have a large space fleet to keep a good military presence. Basically replace tithes and levies with taxes and militia prospects and you've essentially got a cool and interesting space empire.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><br />Republic Confederation/Federation</span></h3>
With this, much like Star Wars's Galactic Senate, you have a union of worlds that want to retain some independent government over their planet and holdings, but still have an overarching government that runs things between the members. Stuff like trade and economics, social and civil rights, law and order, military, and foreign policy. The overarching government is the federal government, while the individual worlds would be the world government. People in America are fairly familiar with the federation, while a confederation is more decentralized. This puts more power into the world government and they are more likely to be different governments from each other than in a federation. Unlike the feudal system, where the members are all subordinate to the capital, the federation/confederacy members are generally equal (at least on paper). People in these federations would be united against a major threat. Think something like the Klingons and Romulans, or the Zerg in Starcraft. Because of the remote distances and transportation times, sticking together against enemy empires is a good reason to form a federation.<br />
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Similar to the federations and confederations, an alliance is a cooperative union of planets that remain very independent and under control over their own populace, but have banded together for mutual defense or economic trade. Unlike the federation, this one is much looser and laws (usually called treaties or accords) are decided on by the members. This can be mutually beneficial, or it can lie more in the realms of realpolitik, with each trying to get the most from their relationship with the least give. An alliance is great because the worlds can be completely different governments and cultures from each other but still be together. So players can go to a monarchy one adventure and deal with social intrigue and nobles, and the next, they can deal with someone tampering with the bureaucracy of a republic's elections. Worlds would unite either for resource trading or to go against a common, but less powerful enemy. Like pirates and raiders, or other free worlds looking to exploit them. Maybe even a budding galactic empire looking to grow quickly.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Trade Empire/Cartel Plutocracy/Kleptocracy</span></h3>
This is a set I like. You can have a group of worlds united under several different companies, corporations, and conglomerates. Each planet is a client state under a specific corp rather than a government agency. Perhaps the government of the capital world prefers the private sector to fund colonial and trade efforts. Or, perhaps you can go full cyberpunk and the government is bought out by the different corporations at the expense of the citizens. Or maybe they simply are the government, with CEOs also holding government positions and social mobility being very limited or non-existent. Or perhaps the government retains control, but focuses less on claiming holdings for themselves and more on setting up trade agreements for either mutual or personal benefit. These could be balanced for the benefit of both parties, focused on the benefit of one, or the detriment of the other. Think Venice or Portugal during the Age of Discovery, or England and America during the 1800s with their aggressive trades with China. You can actually go a lot of ways with this beyond the usually evil megacorps you see in cyberpunk. The groups of corps in similar industries could form a cartel that controls the price of their exports. It'd have to be something not readily available or some sort of service or luxury (or even drugs). If you really want to make them the bad guys, you can have them form a kleptocracy, where they steal from their own people to supplement their own expenses. These worlds can be great for games of traders, political intrigue or, for the kleptocracy, rebels trying to overthrow their government.<br />
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That's all I have. I'm actually using a lot of these ideas for my current sci fi game that I'm running on Wednesdays. I like being able to add different types of planets and governments to make them feel like the players are entire a different world. I've actually had a lot of fun making the Trade Empires and Cartels in my game. What are some other empires and governments one could see in a sci fi setting of slower FTL ?<br />
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Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-72926728166278037502017-08-13T14:48:00.001-04:002017-08-13T14:48:33.141-04:00Blow the Bridge<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've been chatting with a friend of mine about table-top gaming and how to avoid railroads but still have a semi-structured and cohesive plot for a campaign. It can be cool to want to run an epic adventure module with friends, especially some of the adventure paths like Age of Worms or Rise of the Runelords. As much as I like sandbox gaming with a bold group of players, sometimes I do long for a more structured adventure path that still takes into account the actions of the players. So to answer my friend, I remember something told to me by my lead cook.</div>
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One of the things his old boss talked about was called "blowing the bridge". Basically, the bridge is some goal or task that needs to get done. It doesn't matter how the bridge is blown, as long as it's blown up by the time he gets back. In this case, the bridge could be cleaning the kitchen, or getting through some prep quickly, or pushing through a rough service. He doesn't care if someone takes a lot of smoke breaks, eats on the job, or imbibes in their chefly vice (nose candy is fairly popular in the food industry), as long as ultimately the job gets done correctly and by the deadline. </div>
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Now, say what you will about the philosophy in terms of physical and mental health of a chef (and believe me, we are not mentally healthy in the slightest), the idea is something that has stuck with me when I design my campaigns. For me, when I have some scenario in mind for the players to run through, I segment the goal of the players as the proverbial 'bridge'. I try not to throw too many limitations on their methods, though I am a believe that limitations breed innovation. But in general, I don't care how the players blow the bridge, as long as they go and accomplish their goal. Now, depending on the method of blowing the bridge, it can lead to some serious fallout and consequences. Which for me is great, since the players are literally doing my adventure hook creation job for me. So with that, even in a more structured adventure path/module/fox hunt style of game, you can still have the freedom of player ingenuity and cleverness take the forefront to tacking a problem.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-2806680678287898472017-07-30T12:37:00.001-04:002017-07-30T12:39:34.556-04:00Styles of Aliens<div style="text-align: justify;">
So in the last post I talked about aliens and how many I wanted and such. I think the important part about aliens is how strange should we make them. There are all kinds of alien types out in science fiction, some made to be more familiar to us humans and some meant to be mind boggling strange. In M-Space, they have a Strangeness meter about them that shows how different an alien is from the baseline of an Earthling. It goes from 1 to 100, where 1 is practically a human, 50 is some where in the middle, and 100 is really really strange. I've actually used that in many of my games since, including Stars Without Number and Cepheus Engine. It's a really handy tool to gauge your aliens. So I made up a little silly scale for people to use when making their aliens, based mostly on Hollywood special effects</div>
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<a href="https://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/star-trek-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="620" height="167" src="https://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/star-trek-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Stage One:</b> Big Ears/Ridged Foreheads (BERF)</div>
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<b>Strangeness</b>: 1-25</div>
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<b>SFX</b>: Makeup and a mask</div>
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This is a common one to see in a lot of media. It's familiar to the players since the aliens look so much like humans, and easy on the budget both for Hollywood and the GM. Sometimes it's something really low key, like different markings on the skin, or something more like pointed ears or antennae on the forehead. I've always liked blue aliens, so the Andorrans were always pretty cool to me. Star Trek is big on this obviously, as are many of the aliens from Stargate, Eldar from WH40K, and some of the aliens from Defiance.</div>
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<a href="http://www.rebootreload.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/437-05-mass-effect-alien.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.rebootreload.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/437-05-mass-effect-alien.jpg" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="800" height="320" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Stage Two</b>: Actor in a Rubber Suit (ARS)</div>
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<b>Strangeness</b>: 26-50</div>
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<b>SFX</b>: Rubber Suit, Some Prosthetics and Make Up, A little CGI</div>
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This is the sweet spot for me in terms of xeno sophonts. The ARS still have a mostly humanoid body, but are different looking enough to make them feel alien. Most of the Mass Effect aliens are like this, as are some of the Star Wars aliens.</div>
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<a href="https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/b/be/Alien-Queen.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120926115100" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="800" height="292" src="https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/b/be/Alien-Queen.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120926115100" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Stage Three</b>: Complex Alien Puppetry (CAP)</div>
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<b>Strangeness</b>: 51-75</div>
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<b>SFX</b>: Complex Puppets, Some CGI, Stop Animation, two or more people operating it</div>
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The CAP is where things get pretty strange for the aliens. This is where you get quadrupeds (or hexapeds or more [or less]), strange alien limbs and heads, and other unusual, but recognizable shapes. A lot of the original trilogy Star Wars aliens are like this, as are some of the Xenomorph from Aliens, and Farscape. God I loved Farscape. While not strictly alien, many of the monsters in Ray Harryhausen's Dynamation films could also be under this.</div>
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/Silence_in_the_Library.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="408" height="226" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/Silence_in_the_Library.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Stage Four</b>: Undeterminable Sapient Lifeform (USL)</div>
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<b>Strangeness</b>: 76-100</div>
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<b>SFX</b>: CGI, Film Tricks, Animation</div>
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This is the weird stuff. USLs are aliens that don't look like anything we as humans would identify as life. Clouds of intelligent plasma, sapient suns, living techno-organic metals, creatures of living energy, or shadow monsters can definitely fit the bill. What's important is that the alien is truly alien, Some good examples are The Blob from the original 50's movie, the shapeshifter alien from John Carpenter's The Thing, the Shadow Aliens and Sun Alien from Doctor Who, the C'Tan from WH40K, and the ELS from Gundam 00 Awakening of Trailblazer.</div>
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This post marks the 30th and last post in my 30 Days of Blogging Till I'm 30. It's was an interesting and fun thing to do, though I'm kinda glad it's over now. So now I'm going to take a break and enjoy my 30th birthday tomorrow.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-36900970532705257692017-07-29T11:55:00.002-04:002017-07-29T11:55:57.653-04:00Twenty Parsecs: Aliens<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've been rummaging around in between my two long weekend shifts. Stayed too late at work and woke up too late to blog about anything substantial. Tomorrow is the end of my thirty day challenge, and I promise to have something longer and with more meat in it. So aliens.</div>
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I'm wondering how many aliens I want in the game. I'd like the scope to feel a bit more personal, so I kind of want to do what Starcraft did and have just two aliens, or even just one. Keeps the setting more tightly knit I feel, and allows me to really sit down and detail more about the aliens. Much easier when there is only one or two, rather than ten or twelve like your standard space opera.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-39695025915659136112017-07-28T12:35:00.000-04:002017-07-28T12:35:51.517-04:00Twenty Parsecs: The Commonwealth<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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One thing that I've been rummaging through my head is how I want the Commonwealth of Free Planets to feel like. I definitely want to keep a frontier feel about it, but at the same time, I do want points of human and alien civilization so that I can have interesting urban and political adventures. For this I've found a great deal of inspiration with Starcraft, the implied setting for D&D 4e, and the TTRPG Clement Sector.</div>
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Both are settings that take place out in a frontier area and have their fair share of worlds to explore and colonies to meet with. But they also have that 'points of light' style of campaign where you can have large capital worlds that the players can run through for fun. So using Starcraft's Terran Confederacy/Dominion as an example, for every Korhal capital planet out there, you'll have plenty of Mar Sara backwaters out there for 'lawless adventuring'. Which to me, is the core of exploration. Lawlessness and lack of social rules and etiquette so the players can (and many times have to) use their wits to overcome difficult obstacles. While the points of civilization are mostly safe havens until trouble happens (or they go looking for it). Then they have to use the same wit and canny but with the limitations of the social center they are in. Which to me, can bring about the most innovation and ingenuity from players. Conflict + limitations = ingenuity.</div>
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So the Commonwealth have been there for centuries. With a decent enough population growth, I see most of the Core Worlds with a population in the tens to hundreds of millions. Most would be centered around the first colony of the planet, with many of the later ones acting as satellite cities. You'd probably have the occasional colony far away for reasons unknown (resources, religious, or simply tired of the main colony's shit). Leaves plenty of undiscovered wilderness on the planets for intrepid players to explore, while still having cities for other adventures. I'm thinking five main core worlds would be good enough, with the oldest being the most populated and probably the capital. Soon I'll have to give these planets names and maps, but for now, it's a bit up in the air.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-26082949738804143732017-07-27T13:49:00.003-04:002017-07-27T13:49:46.798-04:00Twenty Parsecs and FTL<div style="text-align: justify;">
Getting a new puppy acclimated to a new house and new people has been a full-time job in of itself. It's been fun at the very least, and I'm working muscles that haven't been used in years. In the meantime, an idea for the sci setting I was thinking up called Twenty Parsecs (I really like that name).</div>
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While there is definitely FTL, it's new for both sides and not super face. Going a parsec takes a week and this sector is very very far away from Earth. But, even with a week, they could still get to Earth in a year. That's partially why I had FTL development take so long. It doesn't really make much sense if they have been separated for centuries if they can simply go to Earth in a year. So I'm thinking that FTL for the Commonwealth of Free Planets is in its infancy, only a decade old. With this, planets are focusing on reconnecting with each other via trade and transport, instead of travelling to an Earth that may simply be a fable.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-32289544988612907022017-07-26T15:01:00.001-04:002017-07-26T15:01:33.838-04:00Dog Eat Dog Days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWrjmTa5O5UbMD_nDjnHHE6awUhSKH9E-46nVzwYI71dBweOEIprUgzKBj735qUmtrfVlHtTeCd7u6WRL8Cn0KvNzCiDgeCyazoF884I1VqV1maa3O6MUBd4gMZTUcL98fDqzcYXFIrYU/s1600/JamesonPupper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWrjmTa5O5UbMD_nDjnHHE6awUhSKH9E-46nVzwYI71dBweOEIprUgzKBj735qUmtrfVlHtTeCd7u6WRL8Cn0KvNzCiDgeCyazoF884I1VqV1maa3O6MUBd4gMZTUcL98fDqzcYXFIrYU/s320/JamesonPupper.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Too pooped to blog with a new puppy that adores play and the outside world. I'm way too out of shape to be playing with a puppy.<br />
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Also, GMs, let your players have dogs as NPCs, even if they aren't a ranger. It's fun, not game breaking, and just something totally awesome.<br />
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That's all I have today. I'm going to go pass out now.Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-79449681143518107422017-07-25T11:57:00.000-04:002017-07-25T11:57:44.449-04:00Campaign Space Ship: NECI Sigrun<div style="text-align: justify;">
This here is the spaceship that my players have been using for their game of M-Space. While it's mostly just been a plot device to get to the planet from the Ark, this time around, it'll get put through its paces in actual space combat. For those more knowledgeable of M-Space, you'll notice that the speed, engine power, and armor is low. This is to represent a lower tech ship on the cusp of achieving fusion drive, somewhere between Traveller and Orbital 2100. Many of the added stats like tonnage were mathematical formulas I used to convert Traveller stuff to M-Space.</div>
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I plan on working with either Blender or Unity to combine the 3D models of the ships and planets to make cool landscapes with them. It's something my players certainly will like. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/161933632963870720/339115983811772417/unknown.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="800" height="316" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/161933632963870720/339115983811772417/unknown.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NECI Sigrun (created using the Galactic Civilization III Ship Builder)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: orange;">New Earth Colonial Initiative's Sigrun</span></h3>
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<i>Pathfinder</i>-Class</div>
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<b>Size</b>: 58 (290 Tons, 52 meters/170' 7" long)</div>
<b>Armor</b>: 2 AP<br /><b>Speed</b>: 5 (Delta V: 80 km/s)<br /><b>Handling</b>: 3<br /><b>Distance per Month Traveled</b>: 200 Mkm<br /><b>Fuel per Month Traveled</b>: 3 tons<br /><b>Fuel Capacity</b>: 10 tons<div>
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<table style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); box-sizing: border-box; color: #232323; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; text-align: center; width: 500px;"><tbody style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>Name</b></span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>d% chance</b></span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><b>HP</b></span></td></tr>
<tr style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Cockpit</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 1-4</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">2</span></td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Engines, Thrusters</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 5-13</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">5</span></td></tr>
<tr style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Engines, Maneuver</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 14-22</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">5</span></td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Sickbay</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 23-30</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">4</span></td></tr>
<tr style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Crew Quarters</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 31-40</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">9</span></td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Cargo Hold</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 41-45</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">5</span></td></tr>
<tr style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Railgun</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 46-47</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">1</span></td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Railgun</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 48-49</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">1</span></td></tr>
<tr style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Engineering Lab</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 50-51</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">1</span></td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Crew Common Area</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 52-66</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">8</span></td></tr>
<tr style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Hanger, Rover</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">67-74</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">4</span></td></tr>
<tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Hanger, Shuttle</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 75-92</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">10</span></td></tr>
<tr style="background: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Sensors</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"> 93-100</span></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0px; padding: 0.5625em 0.625em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">3</span></td></tr>
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The NECI Sigrun is the premier spaceship for the Initiative Scouts. It is outfitted with two railguns for defense, a standard nuclear thermal rocket, and a life support system to last a crew for six months. The Sigrun has a connection to the ark AI, Noah, for information and orders from the higher echelons of the NECI. Able to traverse 1.3 AU in a single month and scan for all kinds of minerals and chemicals to locate important resources for the survival of humanity. The Sigrun can fit a standard crew of 9, including pilots, surveyors, and an engineer, all of which crossed trained to be survivalists, scientists, and security for the planetside away team.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-557140019723114912017-07-24T12:54:00.001-04:002017-07-24T12:55:41.377-04:00M-Space Campaign<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/images/4057/198027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="619" height="320" src="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/images/4057/198027.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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This coming Wednesday, I'm continuing my M-Space colonial campaign by using the above module with some changes to the adventure here and there. The main focus isn't going to be on the alien, though it will play a large part in harrying the players. The focus will be on the ship itself and a crew member cryogenically asleep in there.</div>
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While my game has been more of a episodic sandbox of exploring a hostile planet with a lethal atmosphere, there has been a sort of metaplot that the players have found. Some context. The players were on an ark leaving a dying Earth for a new planet through a wormhole. The plan was to set them there, set up shop, then bring resources back to Earth to help everyone survive. However, the ark stayed in the wormhole for 86 years before letting the players out, then closing forever, leaving them stranded away from a now dead Earth. As the players explored the planet, they found a crashed human ship called the FEI Icarus, despite the fact that the PCs were the first to make planetfall. Whats more, is that the spaceship has a more advanced power plant and an unusual engine in it that is more advanced than anything the player's or their colonial initiative has. </div>
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So the question is, who are these humans and where did they come from?</div>
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In the next session, the players are going to the second planet of the star system to investigate an unusual radio signal. What it'll end up being is the sister ship of the Icarus, the FEI Iapyx. Inside will be the discovery of a lifetime for them. Evil hydrocarbon aliens, a rogue AI protecting the Iapyx, and the only living crewmember of the Iapyx, trapped in cryostasis.</div>
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The discoveries the players make will be this:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Earth and humanity still live on! Though in a much different state than they left it.</li>
<li>The Iapyx and Icarus were ships testing an Alcubierre warp drive that sort of worked, but left the Icarus marooned on the planet the players were on, while the Iapyx simply got lost.</li>
<li>The warp drive and the fusion power plant can be retrofitted by the player's engineering after some time.</li>
<li>The players are on the other side of the galaxy.</li>
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<div>
This will advance the metaplot by a great deal, and it will give the players a chance to upgrade their spaceship to take them beyond the confines of the stellar system. Just gotta do some more stuff for the module Wednesday and I should be a-ok. I plan on having the crewmember in stasis for a time due to health reasons, before revealing more about the state of Earth. But in the distant future, I do plan on having the colonies encounter Earthlings. And it won't be pretty.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-27361975705843235042017-07-23T13:55:00.001-04:002017-07-23T13:55:50.484-04:00The Great Kitbashed Campaign<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/offworldtradingcompany.gamepedia.com/a/a0/OffWorldTC_Buildings_03_full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/offworldtradingcompany.gamepedia.com/a/a0/OffWorldTC_Buildings_03_full.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the game Offworld Trading Company</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />The current game I'm running is an M-Space/Mythras game, where the players are colonists, explorers, and security for the last of humanity aboard a giant ark ship. It's been a fun game with a new system for all of us. We're still getting used to how Mythras does things and keeping track of things like special effects, hit location, luck points, and action points. But I feel it's made a much more meaning game with how it does combat. And I really enjoy the more skill based system as opposed to class and levels.</div>
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One of the things I like is the way they do spaceships. Everything is bought in modules and most of the actual cosmetic design is left up to the GM and players. I personally made the ships similar to Traveller with a bit of tweaking and math here and there, but kept it lower tech. Like something from Orbital 2100. No fusion drives, no FTL, no artificial gravity. It means travelling to the different planets in the new star system can take a little longer in game, but it gives the players some time for their characters to do their own things. One is building battle droids and researching a fusion drive they found. Another is focused on making their weapons better. And now that their colony is close to up and running, there can be more human interaction for them (since near everyone is in cryo stasis).</div>
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The game is a huge kit bash of sci fi rules systems (and one fantasy!). The base is M-Space and Mythras, with more and more from Mythras coming into play as we learn the rules more. For the creation of solar systems and planets, I ended up using Mindjammer and Traveller, with an extended table for creating gas dwarfs, ice giants, and gas giants. Much of that comes from Freelance Traveller's article about gas giants, because so much has changed since Book 6: Scouts was published. Mindjammer has some extended stats for planets, like temperature, gravity, and radius that I honestly like for flavor and world-building.</div>
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With the colony coming close to running, I've turned to the OSR for this. Stars Without Number has a supplement called Suns of Gold, which details a cool systems for running colonial holdings. In addition, there is Adventurer, Conqueror, King, which has a very robust set of rules for domain holdings, population growth, armies, and taxes. I've done a bit of massaging between the two and have a system that does the best of both systems. It's a bit simpler than ACKS, but unlike SoG, it has more of the land holdings and resource harvesting to get more raw materials for the colony. The colony starts with 5000 people, and the goal is to hit 100,000 citizens so that it can become self-sustaining. This is more of a side game, played in-between sessions throughout the week. And really, only for those interested in that style of game.</div>
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We are very close to beginning that, and I think one of the best things I like about the colonial game is that the players can see real, tangible results in a world with little law and order set up. And I think that's why they've really enjoyed the game so far. It's been a real pleasure.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-85088153077083209602017-07-22T12:23:00.000-04:002017-07-22T12:23:24.391-04:00Twenty Parsecs: The Setting in Broad Strokes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Local_Interstellar_Clouds_with_motion_arrows.jpg/1200px-Local_Interstellar_Clouds_with_motion_arrows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Local_Interstellar_Clouds_with_motion_arrows.jpg/1200px-Local_Interstellar_Clouds_with_motion_arrows.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Was thinking a bit more on yesterday's article a bit more. I feel I should amend something. I guess while I love just about all sci-fi, it's space opera that really does it for me, alongside spacefaring hard sci fi. Military sci fi doesn't do it for me much anymore, but I partially blame its overabundance. It is a common theme since in many ways, that would be the future equivalent of the D&D adventurer. Can't really blame it honestly, since it really works. And, any time I say the word 'space marine', I get a litany of Warhammer 40k quotes about burning heretics and never suffering xenos. Gets old hat quickly. Cyberpunk is a mixed bag for me, though I love some of its tropes appearing in some Transhuman fiction. </div>
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So, Twenty Parsecs. How do I imagine it? I'd like to subvert a lot of the expected tropes used in sci fi. First thing, no colonies vs homeworld. At least, not at the beginning and not as the main focus. I've seen enough Expanse and Gundam to last a lifetime, so I don't feel the need to do a spacer revolution for this. Rather, I want this to be about two cultures, separated by the vast gulfs of space and time for centuries, reconnecting and the trials and tribulations that come from it.</div>
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The first is the Commonwealth of Free Planets, a confederation of five core human worlds that exist 20+parsecs away from Earth. Each one was part of a generation ship many centuries ago, though most of the common folk have long forgotten that past. The planets have been united under a common lineage but have, over the years, changed enemies and allies alike, like squabbling siblings. Still, they get along enough with themselves and their alien neighbors these days. Many of the survival protocols set from the onset of the colonization program almost a millennium ago have become almost doctrine. Survive, reproduce, build, adapt. The planets have, until recently, looked inwards to ensure their own survival, but the last couple of decades have seen them finally branching out beyond their cluster.</div>
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Then there is the Republic of the Earth Cluster. Like the Commonwealth, the Republic is made up of several core worlds in the Local Star Cluster, but much more united under a representative democracy. With their own history has been several eras of war, peace, and a futile attempt at keeping an interstellar empire centered on Earth. Now, Earth keeps a light touch on its outer colonies, though still remains the capital and in charge of their Republic. Unlike the Commonwealth, Earth has yet to find sapient life forms. In many ways, this gives them a more humanocentric view on the galaxy when compared to the Free Planets, who regularly trade with, befriend, and make war (or love) with aliens. </div>
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There will definitely be more culture shock differences as I flesh them out, but I think the key adventures would lean more on social intrigue and on planet adventures. I'm not too keen on wilderness exploration as a major focus, only because my current game is already all about exploration. Plenty of room for city and spaceport adventures for the players. Of course, I'd like to have a main conflict in the setting, as a sort of metaplot I can fall back on when the more episodic adventures run their course. Maybe most or all the players are all Earthlings that are the first to enter Free Planet space. This would allow them to rub shoulders with the leadership of the Free Planets while still able to have adventures with the common folk. I'll have to think about it a lot more.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-80440730812280189102017-07-21T14:40:00.002-04:002017-07-21T14:40:35.164-04:00Sci Fi Setting Idea<div style="text-align: justify;">
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For as long as I can remember, I've always loved sci fi. Books, movies, video games, and RPGs. While my desire to play or run in a fantasy, superhero, or other RPG game has always waxed and waned over the months, I'm always in the mood to run or play some sci fi. There's just something about exploring new worlds, encountering new aliens, and dealing with new technologies and cultures that has always spurred my imagination.</div>
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I'm currently running an M-Space colonial game, where the players are on an ark colonizing a hostile new world to ensure the survival of humanity. It's been a fun and interesting ride, and I've been blessed by some of the best players a GM could ask for. Still, I always like to brainstorm new ideas for future campaigns, especially with the Microscope game I wish to do, and this is one that I've thought about a bit. Here is one.</div>
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<span style="color: orange;">Twenty Parsecs</span></h3>
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<i>Humanity has, through the use of slow generation ship, colonized many of the planets outside of the Local Interstellar Cloud. Through long gulfs of space and time, they have lost contact with Earth, their homeworld simply becoming the place of legends and folklore. That is, until recently, when a space exploration vessel has crashed on the rim world Morning. The locals have discovered a real, bona-fide Earthling in their midst. What happens to Morning and the other colonies when this discovery is made? And is this the only Earthling that made it, or simply the vanguard of a larger force?</i></blockquote>
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The name comes from Asimov, who calculated that at 20 parsecs, you can no long see the Sun in the night sky. The idea behind this is a political and locale adventure where the world as the players know it is being turned upside down. Earth, the fabled cradle of humanity, is real, and this is something that can shake the very foundation of the Union of Free Planets. Some may accept them with a cautious curiosity, while others may see the explorer(s) as a threat to their identity and independence. Whether or not the Earthlings come in peace, I haven't decided. I like the idea of keeping them mysterious and different, as it will have been several centuries since humans left Earth. I prefer a bit more of an optimistic theme for this campaign, but with the lingering fear of an unknown friend or enemy. I haven't decided on whether there are aliens here or not, but if there are, I prefer them to be crazy lifeforms, not humans with different ears and foreheads. I'd probably stick with M-Space/Mythras combined, with some elements of Traveller/Cepheus Engine thrown in there. Though I have been tempted to go back to Traveller for nostalgia sake.</div>
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There are other ideas I have for settings that would be fun, but I'll detail them another time.</div>
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Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-75365059634180631552017-07-20T13:06:00.001-04:002017-07-20T13:06:30.700-04:00Continuing a Solo Microscope<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/319567268549885954/337331851985158145/KIMG0583.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/319567268549885954/337331851985158145/KIMG0583.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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I'm getting into my work week now, and since I have the house alone to myself, it means I'll be fairly busy with work and housework for the next week. That means it'll be hard to really get into a game of Microscope until at least Sunday. Luckily, that should give me some time to sit down and figure out what I want from this.</div>
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So first, the "players".</div>
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I'm thinking about making four players, each one representing a different facet of making a history. They are the following"</div>
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<b><span style="color: orange;">Player 1 "The General":</span></b> The general loves military history and battles. They are more likely to create scenes about war, whether it's the actual battles or the time leading up to or following a war.</div>
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<b><span style="color: orange;">Player 2 "The Politician":</span></b> The politician loves social intrigue of leadership. Economics and trade, real politik, and Machiavellian machinations suit them well.</div>
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<b><span style="color: orange;">Player 3 "The Zeitgeist":</span></b> The zeitgeist loves cultural movements, scientific innovation, and philosophical dialogue. Many of their scenes will be about advancements or regression in science, the arts, and reason.</div>
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<b><span style="color: orange;">Player 4 "The Explorer":</span></b> The explorer loves the frontier and discovery. Scenes by the explorer include the discovery of new worlds and cultures, or lands of plenty.</div>
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These four players should be enough to do a good game of Microscope. What I plan to do is to use an oracle like GMA deck or Tangent Zero's Dice and interpret the icons in a way that would fit what each player would do. While it's still going to be biased towards my thinking, the random icons should inject a form of chaos to make the histories varied while keeping them coherent. I'll also have the standard Yes/No, And/But, Twist! dice for basic stuff.</div>
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The only thing I'm not sure how to model is the concept of Pushing a different idea. Obviously, it's kind of hard to push an idea or vote for one when I'm ultimately the only person doing it. I've thought about maybe having a d6 I roll for an idea Push if it hands on a 1, and adding +1 to it if it doesn't land on a one. But I'm curious how others would model someone pushing. </div>
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A lot of this will really take putting myself into the minds of the four players above. I tend to be more of the Explorer myself, so that one will be the easiest. The Politician might be the hardest for me to grok. </div>
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If anyone has more advice for running something like this and setting it up, I'd love to hear about it!</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-35032438742625836142017-07-19T16:41:00.000-04:002017-07-19T16:41:11.592-04:00My First Microscope<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/319567268549885954/337331851985158145/KIMG0583.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/319567268549885954/337331851985158145/KIMG0583.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Last week I went out to my local gaming store and I picked up a copy of Microscope. I had heard of it before, but I never really gave it too much thought. The book looked sleek and I had heard good things about it, so I decided to pick it up and give it a try. </div>
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Giving it a read, the game seems interesting though a bit hard for me to grok. Never really played a story game like this before, the closest really being Apocalypse World and FATE if those count. I have some players that <i>might</i> be interested, but the setting building seems interesting enough to me that I wondered something. Could you do a solo RPG of this?</div>
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It feels like it would be really difficult, since the idea is to gather together a myriad of different ideas for a setting. But I'd like to know if anyone has ever done a solo game of this before and how it turned out.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-77822010614035945452017-07-18T14:30:00.001-04:002017-07-18T14:30:40.228-04:00Map of Mars: Dying or In Progress Terraforming<div style="text-align: justify;">
A couple of weeks ago, I made up a map of Mars after terraforming. Recently, I was inspired by +Michael Gibbons and his B/X Mars collection to do up a different sort of Mars. One in the veins of a dying Barsoom, or, a futuristic Mars in the midst of terraforming. With this, I went back to Grand Designer, tweaked some things a bit, then ran it through G Projector and GIMP for some touch up. Hope you all enjoy!</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFmUvxiPIMQCy0k8miR8QUKE8i94fVfqmOT0IIEnw67aRlL35Xnz704B8aAY087oejxgw4GdCavaws4q4DY5mhsoAKwlV9GRRk7xUZQ_PcWYyZBHvD0Z3DmZISQ8MiIxn_rtnnxepVvA/s1600/Dying+MarsRender3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="1440" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFmUvxiPIMQCy0k8miR8QUKE8i94fVfqmOT0IIEnw67aRlL35Xnz704B8aAY087oejxgw4GdCavaws4q4DY5mhsoAKwlV9GRRk7xUZQ_PcWYyZBHvD0Z3DmZISQ8MiIxn_rtnnxepVvA/s400/Dying+MarsRender3.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot of a dying Mars, slowly gaining its reddish hue</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWrt19F-Mzr0p7_9xlHc-odMgBRQcr3csFNwBZqFPgOHFgx7Z49brUoxFBWjmpRjH0lBUKArl4W8UAe8ba_Kxj_FHYYwmTkFvfhbOhWhvB7JBaQoaMA6bDV61y7KE240WCkItUpg3bVNA/s1600/DyingMarsMap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1502" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWrt19F-Mzr0p7_9xlHc-odMgBRQcr3csFNwBZqFPgOHFgx7Z49brUoxFBWjmpRjH0lBUKArl4W8UAe8ba_Kxj_FHYYwmTkFvfhbOhWhvB7JBaQoaMA6bDV61y7KE240WCkItUpg3bVNA/s400/DyingMarsMap.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Mercator map of a dying Mars for a more gameable experience.</td></tr>
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Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-42715384687505415892017-07-17T13:47:00.001-04:002017-07-17T13:47:40.401-04:00Solo Supers Sneak Peak Character 2: Cori the Corrosive Woman<div style="text-align: justify;">
As I write this, I'm typing up the next solo session that I completed over Thursday and Friday. Sadly, a long work week in the kitchen has left me fairly beat, so it'll take some time to get that write up out. In the meantime, here's another little sneak peek at a character coming up for my solo supers session.</div>
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<span style="color: orange;">Cori Jeong</span></h3>
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<b>Origin: Transformed</b></div>
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<b>Attributes</b></div>
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Prowess: 5</div>
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Awareness: 8</div>
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Coordination: 5</div>
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Strength: 4</div>
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Intelligence: 5</div>
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Will: 6</div>
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DP: 5</div>
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Stamina: 10 </div>
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<b>Powers</b></div>
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Corrosion: Limit (Non Organic targets only); 5</div>
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<b>Specialties</b></div>
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Pilot: +1</div>
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Medicine: +1<br />
Weapons: +1</div>
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<b>Qualities</b></div>
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Keeps People at Arms Length<br />
Unsure About Powers and Usage<br />
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Cori Jeong doesn't have much to say about her past before the incident. According to her, Cori is an only child that comes from two Korean parents in Los Angeles and that they disowned her for joining the Air Force. An accident happened at her base in the R&D department, setting the whole place ablaze. Cori ran back in to save a scientist trapped in the burning building, only to get some strange goo exploded onto her. It turns out that they were experimenting with a bacteria that could break down plastics, metals, and other materials. When it got on her, Cori's body changed. She found she could control the bacteria through her hands as a bluish silver goo to eat away at non-organic material. Once her time in the Air Force was up, Cori left to try and enroll into a supers academy to better control her powers, but was only able to get into HSC. She's here to get knowledge and confidence to use her corrosive powers.<br />
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Cori is 24 and a 5'11 thin Korean woman, with hair down to her shoulders. She has a light tan complexion and glasses. Cori is fairly friendly and fun loving, but gets straight to the point in a conversation. She is prone to getting lost in thought and always dodges questions about her family and childhood.</div>
Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-70559534316752795812017-07-16T12:39:00.001-04:002017-07-16T12:39:46.358-04:00Inside Outer<div style="text-align: justify;">
This was a monster from a dream I had last night. There are no stats or abilities, just a description for inspiration. Art accompanying it. A good sort of catharsis to get off my chest after a rough night.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lazerhorse.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Zdzis%C5%82aw-Beksi%C5%84ski-night-creeper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.lazerhorse.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Zdzis%C5%82aw-Beksi%C5%84ski-night-creeper.jpg" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="690" height="400" width="344" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Zdzisław-Beksiński</td></tr>
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I had a dream last night. I was back home in South Carolina, in the little swampy area I grew up with as a child. Maybe I was a child in my dream or an adult, I cannot remember. All I could remember was that I was scared, being chased by something terrible. I would look around the trees and brushes in the humid evening but never see it. But I'd find signs of it. Bodies of people it 'fed' on. What was striking was that everyone's face was inside out. Blown open. And deep down inside, I knew the creature took their soul this way. Erasing their identity violently and drawing out their spirit. For food? For fun? I don't know how, that's just how dreams work I suppose. All I knew was that I didn't want to be next. There was a real, palpable fear that came from it. Would I die alone in these swamps I once called home? Would the creature get me and carve my face out, burrowing for my soul? As my sleep cycle ended, I finally saw the creature, as above, based on that painting I saw years ago. It's strange how a myriad of things from your past can make their way into your dreams at night. But it just crouched there, waiting for me to make my next move. We stood there for what seemed like years and I felt like an old man. The creature said one thing to me before it finally attacked my face.</div>
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"I'm not hungry."</div>
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Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1673959220336163434.post-22830388398870338872017-07-15T11:04:00.002-04:002017-07-15T11:05:37.555-04:00Sneak Peek Character: Obi the Gravity Man<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've already done my second session of the solo game, finishing it yesterday. Sadly, Saturdays are my long shifts in the restaurant, so I don't have a lot of time for writing it out. Instead, here is a character sheet for one of the new cast members, Obert Martin.</div>
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<b><span style="color: orange;">Obert 'Obi' Martin</span></b></h3>
<b>Origin: Birthright</b></div>
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Prowess: 3</div>
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Awareness: 7</div>
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Coordination: 6</div>
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Strength: 4</div>
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Intelligence: 4</div>
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Will: 4</div>
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DP: 3</div>
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Stamina: 8 </div>
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<b>Powers</b></div>
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Gravity Control:Extra (Telekinesis); 6</div>
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<b>Specialties</b></div>
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Leadership: +1</div>
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Drive: +1</div>
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<b>Qualities</b></div>
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Devout Worshiper<br />
Shoulder Bearing Burdens<br />
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Obert, or Obi Wan as most of his friend call him, is a Haitian man born to impoverished family in Little Haiti, Miami. He was raised as a devout Christian and this is still important to his life, though there is always a sort of battle within him between the spiritual and the secular. When he was only 11, Obi was struck by lightning and barely survived. With it, however, he was gifted with the powers to control gravity. Seeing this as a gift from God, Obi's parents have since been pushing him to become a superhero to not only save others, but also pull them out of poverty. But deep down, Obi isn't sure if the superhero life is really for him. He failed the exam to get into the larger academies, but his parents instantly enrolled him into HSC. Obi doesn't want to let his family down, but he also doesn't really want to be a superhero.<br />
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Obi is 18 years old and has dark charcoal skin, a shaved head and a thin mustache. He's very respectful, growing up in a strict household. Generally polite and in a good mood, but most of the time seems deep in thought.<br />
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Opiyelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02417788307268767696noreply@blogger.com0