And then one day you find, ten years have got behind you

Wow. I wish I had something more original to say than "the time has gone by so fast," etc., but that's kind of the extent of my thoughts on the topic.

No, I haven't been arrested or had a kid. (My girlfriend's not likely to get me pregnant.) 

Obviously I haven't been as active in the online RPG "community," such as it is. Nor have I gotten to run or play any tabletop stuff for a while; I did get to play the Kithain version of my Gnome character Roywyn in an online game for a few months, though.

The Earthworld version of Pock - an archivist
named Robin Rawlings. Art by Spacey.

 

That's not to say that I've been idle, even where RPGs are concerned. I actually published my own rules-lite game, and two setting books for it - one a short and sweet elegy of Christian monastic vampires, the other a fantasy heartbreaker several years in the making. But none of these are currently available online - just in zine form. I kind of like it that way - there have been sales, so presumably a few people like my stuff, but I haven't heard from them because they have no way to contact me. Just like the bad old days of pay phones and backwards jeans.

A number of my old mutuals have since deleted their blogs, sometimes with an explanation beforehand, sometimes not. But I of all people know how precious a treasure is privacy.

Anyone still hanging around, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you, especially with how isolated everyone seems to be lately.

~ Fuzzy 

Heraldry of Anareth

Just putting some basic images of the shields in my fantasy setting here. All images are from drawshield.net.

House Rules: Satyrs and Trolls for Savage Worlds Deluxe

Been a while... again... Sadly our gaming situation hasn't improved, although if the pandemic ever ends that might (might) change. In the meantime, I wanted to at least put something out there that other people can use. Here are my builds for the Satyr and Troll (aka Ogre) species in Savage Worlds; they're meant for the Deluxe edition (and built using those rules), but probably will work fine in the new Adventurer's Edition as well.

It's all Faun and games until someone gets drunk...

 

Maps, Re-Revisited

So for the last few months, I've been doing more revisions to my fantasy setting. One of the things I'm trying to do going forward is make myself less reliant on computers, because RPGs have always been a way for me to step away from the computer, television, smartphone, refrigerator, etc.

One of the things I'm doing is remaking the maps of my setting, plotting them out on standard square graph paper. (I've actually been doing this for over a year now, since I haven't had much else to do aside from work.) Despite my admiration for hexes aesthetically and mathematically, the square is much simpler; plus, it would be extremely easy to transfer to video-game form if that flight of fancy ever takes off.

To that end, the other night I decided to brute-force it by making dozens of squares on Google Drawings, and arranging them in a grid. This is a lot more tedious than, say, Hexographer, but it allows me to work on the maps whether I'm at home or at the library, due to the cloud access. I've finished a topographical map already, but it took me less than five minutes to copy and change it to a political one. Each square is 24 miles to a side; I'll post some pics of my digital and penciled topo maps once I have more time.

Pink: Principality of Le'var. Green: Kingdom of Duemerus.
Yellow: Principality of Tadea. (Blue is water, orange is lava.)

In other news, I've been reconsidering a lot of my gaming interests, which coincides with one of my partners gaining interest in running a game. The V5 version of the World of Darkness is pretty well put together, though sadly I missed the opportunity to back the new Mind's Eye Theatre book. And the more I read of Tunnels & Trolls (5th Edition, for those keeping track), the more I like its approach.

Back It Up

So, my computer got so screwed up by malware (installed via software I've used hassle-free for years) that I had to do a complete system restore. Fortunately most of my pictures were preserved, and most of my games were already on my external hard drive; but one of the things lost was my file I've been using for my world map in Hexographer.

Fortunately I had a few screenshots of parts of the map, so I won't have to rebuild the entire continent from memory. I've made a little progress already, and finally bit the bullet and upgraded to Worldographer - the interface takes a little getting used to, but it runs so much smoother. I'm also being more careful with my files, and have copied a backup of my work so far onto my external drive in addition to sending it to one of my partners.

Lesson learned: Back up your data before you have a total system failure.

My reconstruction so far; hopefully I can at least finish the Kingdom.

Alembics & Alchemists

I've been doing some more of my hysterical tinkering with the AD&D rules (treating 2e as an extensive revision of 1e, which is basically what it is in practice). A sticking point comes up with me where the wizard classes are concerned; there's some desire to have a third one, besides mages and illusionists. One of my favorite ideas I've been chewing over is the alchemist.

Trimming the Fat: The Final Trimension

(Continuing on from the previous posts here and here, as well as some of my thoughts on gnomes here and here. Unlike its namesake, hopefully this installment won't be a tepid retread with Mako in a minor role.)

In my quest to build the perfect portable gaming kit, I decided that where the rules are concerned I need something small and lightweight - not just mechanically, but physically. White Box (a digest-sized and very beautifully laid out redesign of Swords & Wizardry White Box) fits the bill, and it's dirt cheap too. If my players insist on adding additional classes, it's pretty easy to integrate the ones from Swords & Wizardry Complete, and only slightly more difficult to add the few additional ones (bard and illusionist) that aren't found there.

Old is Gnew

Following on from my previous post about gnomes and dwarves, further work has led to further thought. As I am wont to do, I was meticulously combing through the original Dungeons & Dragons booklets (including the Supplements), for the purposes of assembling the text therein into a single thick Men & Magic volume. The idea was to make something a bit like Mothshade's "Men & Magic Compilation", except in print-friendly digest format and using the original words almost exclusively. Doing so led me to discover rules details I hadn't noticed before, including this little tidbit from page 5 of Supplement I: Greyhawk.

Dwarves are about four feet tall, stocky of build, weigh 150 pounds, shoulders very broad, their skin a ruddy tan, brown or gray, and are of various types (hill, mountain, or burrowers) (such as gnomes).

There it is, in Olde Gygaxian - a statement that gnomes are just a type of dwarves. Gygax would change his mind later with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and future authors would continue to have gnomes as a separate but similar species. But in Duemerus? This is my setting, and my game, so I can do whatever the heck I want. And I want to have gnomes just be dwarves again.

The Continent

(Scale: 1 hex = 24 miles)

This is the Continent. No name for the entire landmass has yet been adopted by its denizens, but it can be easily divided into the three political powers that govern it: the Principality of Le'var (home of the Thelvi) to the west, the Principality of Tadea (home of the Tades) to the east, and the Kingdom of Duemerus in the center. While Le'var and Tadea are racially homogeneous apart from the rare itinerant traders or merchants, Duemerus is home to a number of sapient species, only some of which have attained control of significant parts of the land.

Humans are the most numerous species, and the ones who wield the greatest political power; the King of Duemerus is a human, therefore making the Kingdom as a whole human-dominated. Alliances with some of the other demihuman and humanoid species have been in place for varying periods of time. The counties of Dyreton Greens, Mitropoli, Molemond, Oakenvane, and Walteria are controlled by human forms of government (usually republicanism).

Dwarves have been allied with humans since before the Elven Schism, but chose not to interfere in that conflict due to their resentment over the essentially forced annexing of their mountainous homes. The counties of Alkahest, Beggar's Isle (mostly used for prisoners), and the Ebon Hills are controlled by the dwarvish monarchies.

Elves are nearly as numerous as humans, but much of the territory that was the domain of the high elves and wood elves has now been taken and transformed by the Thelvi. The only county under their oligarchic form of government is the West Woods, although that county includes the second-largest city in Duemerus (Lacke) as well as two of the Kingdom's four major lakes.

Gnomes and halflings are less numerous (the former even more so), and have had the fewest armed skirmishes with humans due to their similar cultures. The only county firmly under joint gnome/halfling leadership (a democratic system, with republican provisions should population become too large) is Blaylach, which includes the only significant gnomish settlement (Nual).

Hobgoblins, though extremely capable in military terms and often employed as mercenaries, are not as numerous as other species, owing to their low birth rate. They control the county of the South Coast, though several small human settlements have been built there under their supervision; their government is tribal and autocratic.

Orcs are usually relegated to the status of resident aliens in others' counties, although the low human and elf populations of the Forester's Wilds has allowed it to fall under the control of the Grullgar tribe. Their culture is tribal, similarly to that of hobgoblins.

There are also three counties whose ownership is disputed. Lakespar is a site of contention between the Forester's Wilds (who wish to expand their territory), the capitol county of Mitropoli (who wish to do the same), and the West Woods (who wish to surround the Forester's Wilds, and thereby reclaim it for themselves over time). Rollins is disputed between dwarven, halfling, and human ownership, on the basis of several small but long-lived villages and shires being present in the county. The twin islands of Gyll are the object of a longstanding feud between the humans of Westerburg and the hobgoblins of Ystu, due to the islands' strategic importance as harbors.

EDIT: Just noticed that one of the names on the map is incorrect. I'll fix it next time I boot up Hexographer.