Significance Waves and the Sentinel

Art by Virgil Finlay

Timetricks – mentioned in a prior post – was a TIMEMASTER™ supplement published in 1985.  With a subtitle of A Survivor's Guide to Time Travel, Mark Acres receives sole writing credit for the book.  The back cover clearly states, “Designed for use with the TIMEMASTER® game system.”  However, the preface suggests there may be readers “who are reading the book primarily for their own enjoyment...”  Such readers, “as well as those who are reading the book the first time to gain an overall familiarity with its contents,” are advised to skip the Continuum Masters' instructions, which “are always separated from the other text by a line of asterisks.”

Among other things, Timetricks explains the phenomenon of Significance Waves.  When a simple change to history is made, “The effects...occur instantly at all points on the Parallel futureward of the change.”  However, “Changes in events with a Significance Rating greater than 250 may cause a Significance Wave.”  (Original emphasis.)  Significance Waves manifest as a result “two tendencies in nature oppos[ing] one another:  the natural tendency for change to affect an entire Parallel instantly, and the Law of Preservation – the tendency of a Parallel to resist and/or repair historical changes.”  The probability of a Significance Wave occurring is...

...equal to the Significance Rating of the event changed (or the person who dies) divided by 10.  For example, the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk during World War II has a Significance Rating of 300.  Assume something prevents the evacuation. There is a 30% chance (300 ÷ 10 = 30) this change will start a Significance Wave...

Said waves “can be thought of as a series of historical changes which, instead of occuring [sic] all at once, gradually move futureward, while hours or even days pass at Time Corps HQ.”  The existence of a Significance Wave does not necessarily result in severe historical alteration.  “It is possible,” we learn, “that the Law of Preservation will eventually compensate for the wave’s effects.”  A Significance Wave will propagate for an amount of time in years equal to ten times the Significance Rating of the precipitating event.  So, the ramifications of preventing the Dunkirk evacuation would persist for three thousand years (300 × 10 = 3000).  “Three thousand years futureward of the event,” we read, “history will return to 'normal.'”  For every 'Standard Dating System' day that passes at Time Corps HQ, a Significance Wave will “roll forward” a number of years equal to the duration of the wave divided by a random number between one and ten.  In the Dunkirk example described above, “the Significance Wave...would move forward on the Parallel with a speed of anywhere from 300 to 3000 years per SDS day.”  It is possible for Time Corps agents to outrun a Significance Wave and “do something to stop its effects.”  Timetricks claims, “In this way, the effects of some major changes can be prevented from reaching 7154 or points futureward and wiping out the Time Corps.”

Significance Waves may be detected “by means of Paranormal Memory reports or by a report from the Sentinel.”  With regard to the Sentinel, the Travellers' Manual states:

          Nearly every Time corps mission stems from an incoming report of alien or renegade action along a Parallel.  The Sentinel, who was one a time agent, too, makes most of these reports.  From his position in the Out-time, he can watch all existing Parallels at once, and notice any travelers.  But the Sentinel occasionally gets lost in his own philosophical musings and we lose contact for a while.  During those times, an agent may report a historical change before we hear anything from the Sentinel.

Timetricks goes into more detail about the Sentinel:

          When it became obvious to the Corps that the Paranormal Intelligence Division had to have more help in detecting Demorean activity, a research program was undertaken which resulted in the Sentinel’s current posting.
          The Sentinel’s human consciousness was actually removed from his body and shot into Out-Time. There, it maintains itself as a living, timeless being, able to observe all history on all parallels at once.
          Of course, the shock of this transition was great. It was several years before the Sentinel telepathically contacted the Corps and began to report regularly on Demorean and renegade activities.  Now, the Sentinel’s reports are frequent, but not always complete or completely reliable...

Little else is told about the Sentinel, but the Guide to the Continuum mentions that the Sentinel – presumably when he still inhabited his body – “rubbed elbows with all of the philosophers and statesmen” in Athens of the 5th Century B.C.

“Out-Time” is also spelled “outtime” and, as shown above, “Out-time.”  Aside from its association with the Sentinel, the Out-Time is referenced in regard to the travel of chronoscooters.  If a chronoscooter disintegrates while in the Out-Time, its pilot is left “adrift in the eternal void” which is “the equivalent of character death.”  Apparently, the Sentinel is unwilling or unable to help out in such a situation.

Anyway, experiencing the passage of a Significance Wave is comparable to existing within a Philip K. Dick novel:

          The imminent arrival of a Significance Wave into a time period frequently seems to set off a rapid series of seemingly chaotic events.  It is as if the wave itself sent out small 'shock waves' a few days futureward of itself in order to announce its coming.  These 'shock waves' signal that the Parallel is about to change from the way things are historically to the way they will be after the Significance Wave passes through.  These chaotic events can be witnessed only by someone present in the Parallel at a point just futureward of the lead edge of the wave.
          For example, suppose a Significance Wave effect were to reverse the results of the 1984 American presidential election, and that the wave itself would continue into the 1990’s.  People living in, say, June of 1985 while the wave was approaching might find some strange things happening:  the sudden, unexpected resignations of President Reagan and Vice-president Bush; an emergency session of the Congress called to amend the Constitution, state legislatures convening in emergency session to ratify the amendment, election of Walter Mondale to the Presidency by the Congress, and so forth.  Of course, a witness in this chaotic time will not remember these bizarre events once the wave has reversed the election results; instead, he or she will remember Walter Mondale’s victory in November 1984 (that is, unless Paranormal Memory indicates otherwise).

It is possible for a Significance Wave to become a Temporal Disaster Wave.  According to Timetricks, a Temporal Disaster Wave “is to a normal Significance Wave what a tidal wave is to the normal gentle breakers on a quiet beach.”  Unlike a Significance Wave which eventually diminishes and expires, a Temporal Disaster Wave “grows in size and force, becoming stronger and stronger, until it crashes and breaks against the ultimate temporal wall, the Time Barrier.”  The effects of a Temporal Disaster Wave are not limited to a single Parallel; it “always causes a Ripple Effect on 1-10 other Parallels, plus any related Parallels whose points of relationship are affected by the [wave].”  (Original emphasis.)

The chance of a Significance Wave becoming a Temporal Disaster Wave is equal to one percent of the Significance Rating of the precipitating event.  Therefore, a Significance Wave generated by prevention the Dunkirk evacuation would have a 3% chance of being a Temporal Disaster Wave.

Mental Powers in Star Frontiers

Art by Virgil Finlay

A seven-page section of Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space is devoted to “the concept of mental powers, often referred to in other role-playing games as psionics.”  The Introduction to this section emphasizes the optional nature of these rules.  We are told that the referee need not “include these options in his game, and if he does omit them, it will not unbalance the rest of the system.”  This leads one to wonder if including the rules will unbalance the rest of the system.  In fact, three paragraphs later, we are warned that incorporating the rules “will...require more care in balancing the campaign.”  There is an option of limiting mental powers – the Guide refers to them as 'disciplines' – to non-player characters; either “to an NPC race or character type.”  Also, “In a future volume of Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space, some creatures may even have the option to use a mental discipline for communications or attack.”  As indicated in the previous post, the publishing of further volumes was a forlorn hope.

There are two types of characters who can use disciplines:  Mentalists (characters belonging to the Mentalist profession as opposed to the other professions) and enlightened (characters belonging to one of the usual professions).

During character generation, a Mentalist's Logic ability score can be increased to “between 75 and 90” by decreasing other scores on a one-to-one basis.  First, Strength and/or Stamina can be reduced.  Once both of these abilities are decreased to a value of thirty, “then the points can be taken from any other ability.”  A beginning Mentalist receives three disciplines/levels plus an additional discipline/level for every five points of Logic over seventy.  So, a Mentalist with a Logic score of 84 has five disciplines/levels to allocate.  This could be five disciplines at one level each, five levels in one discipline, three levels in one discipline and two levels in another, or any other combination.  Just like skills, disciplines have levels and Mentalists can purchase new disciplines (or increase the level of an existing discipline) by spending experience points in accordance with the Skill Cost Table.  The referee determines how discipline improvements manifest; either training and/or practice is necessary (like skills) or the discipline/level “comes naturally” to the Mentalist.

Beginning characters have twenty experience points to buy skills.  Presumably, this also applies to Mentalists and, also presumably, they can use those experience points to acquire or improve both skills and disciplines.  Like other professions, Mentalists have a list of skills; however, the list for Mentalists is rather modest.  Also, while other professions can purchase skills outside their list at a non-professional skill cost (which is twice the normal cost), Mentalists can only acquire skills from their list and they must pay at the non-professional cost.  Characters must pay ten points to join a profession, whereupon they receive an automatic skill that allows them to improve appropriate attributes.  Apparently, Mentalists don't pay ten points and there is no equivalent automatic skill.  Although we are admonished that “disciplines should never be confused with skills,” the title of the section is “Mentalists: The Optional Skills and Profession.”  We are told, “A Mentalist has profession discipline costs and non profession discipline costs.”  This is confusing in that there are no non-profession disciplines for Mentalists.

A beginning, non-Mentalist character with a Logic score of 80 or greater can be enlightened.  Such a character has one discipline/level for every five points of Logic in excess of 75.  During play, should an enlightened character's Logic be improved to a new five-point 'mark', he or she obtains a new discipline/level; no training is required.  A discipline/level is retained if the character's Logic score is somehow reduced below the amount required to attain that discipline/level.  Enlightened characters may not use experience points for disciplines.

There are forty-one disciplines, twenty of which are asterisked.  Enlightened characters can only have asterisked disciplines and Mentalists can acquire/improve them at half cost.  An example of an asterisked discipline is Confusion, which can only be used (successfully) twice per day.  If the Confusion roll is successful, it affects one target.  One might think that a target's Intuition/Logic would increase or decrease the chance of success, but one would be wrong.  The actual effect is determined by rolling 1d10 and consulting the Confusion Table:

Another asterisked discipline is Density, through which the character can increase or decrease his or her “body density.”  Additional asterisked disciplines include Trance I and Trance II.  Trance I allows a character to lower his or her metabolism while Trance II permits an increase of metabolism.  Why have one discipline that both lowers and increases density, but then have different disciplines for raising and lowering metabolism?

There are three flavors of telepathy:  Aliens, Animals, and Characters.  The Animal and Character versions are asterisked, the Alien discipline is not.  The description for the Character discipline states, “This discipline allows a character to enter another intelligent being's mind only for the purpose of conversation.”  The Alien discipline states, “This discipline allows a character to enter an intelligent alien's mind only for the purpose of conversation.”  The distinction between intelligent being and intelligent alien is not readily apparent.  The description for Character discipline concludes, “This discipline only allows for telepathic contact with intelligent player or nonplayer characters (including cyborgs),” while the Alien discipline concludes:

If the alien is extremely evil, or has a mind that could be incomprehensible to the character attempting to reach it, the referee might decide that a logic check is in order before any communication is attempted. If the user fails the check, he may be disoriented, stunned, at the alien's mercy, or even mortally wounded, depending on the alien and the referee's discretion.

Among the other disciplines are various psionic staples:  Telekinesis, Teleportation, Clairvoyance, Pyrokinesis, etc.  However, there is no discipline relating to precognition.  There is a Timeread discipline that permits a character to look back in time in a given location and an Analysis II discipline that “allows a character to read psychic impressions left on an object by the last person who used it.”

Given that mental powers are optional for Star Frontiers, there is little effort made to integrate them into the setting.  There are no items of equipment that interact with disciplines.  We learn that the Mentalist profession “is not so much a religion as it is a dedication to a way of doing things” and “Mentalists almost always wear some type of distinctive uniform (usually light blue) or medallion to signify their profession.”  Yet the only described organization regarding Mentalists is Star Law Psi-Corp, “a branch of Star Law specifically created for Mentalists.”

Psionics in Space Opera

Art by Virgil Finlay

In Space Opera, the Law of Conservation of Energy applies to psionics.  For game purposes, this means that some applications of psionics are quite difficult  – if not impossible – without the aid of Psycho-Kinetic Crystals.  In explaining the origin of these crystals, the rules supply more background information about the default setting of Space Opera :

...ForeRunners had developed a very high level Science of Mind, and one of the outgrowths of that science was the Psycho-Kinetic Crystal.  The PK Crystal or StarStone was discovered in the last days of the ForeRunner civilizations, immediately before the Final War which tore the vast interstellar empires apart and brought destruction to scores of thousands of planets.  While the exact operation of the PK Crystal is not presently understood, it is believed to be able to tap the energy fields of a parallel, high-energy universe, perhaps those of tachyon HyperSpace itself.

In physical terms, a StarStone is described as “a luminescent disk about 40mm in diameter and 10mm thick in the center, tapering at the edge to about 1mm thickness.”  In other words, it “has a characteristic lens shape.”  StarStones are inert until “keyed to the mental patterns of any living, sentient creature” of psionic capability.  Once keyed, “the PK Crystal will become starkly antithetical to any other life form which handles it when not in contact with the owner, acting as the most virulent poison possible so long as it is in contact with the uninsulated flesh of the being handling it.”  Should a keyed StarStone be separated from its owner for two to twelve months, it it is possible that it can become keyed to someone else.  This possibility is based on the Psionics characteristic of the prior owner; the higher the characteristic, the less chance there is that the StarStone can be attuned to another.  (The chance is always less than 50%.)  If the previously owned StarStone cannot be so attuned, “it will sublimate away.”

A character with a Psionics characteristic of ten or less is “psionically 'inactive' or 'dead.'”  Such characters cannot “exercise psionic talents” and possess something of a resistance to the casual use of psionics.  Characters with a Psionics score of one “have the capacity for ShuttleThought, their minds thinking on several levels at once in such a fashion that any Telepath attempting to read them receives only a confusing blur of mental images.”

A character with a Psionics characteristic of more than ten is “psionically 'open'” and is an amenable subject for psionics.  Such characters can be 'awakened' to “be able to exercise mental powers.”  Active users of psionic powers are called Adepts.

We learn that, “No character will enter the game psionically 'awakened.'”  However, three paragraphs later, it is explained that some characters “will emerge in the game with active psionic talents.”  This represents one of the annoying things about Space Opera :  misleading phrasing which ought to have been corrected with rudimentary editing.  Anyway, there are three conditions which may cause 'awakening.'  First, when an 'open' character successfully resists a mental attack, there is a chance of 'awakening' based on his or her Psionics characteristic.  Second, if an 'open' character is “exposed to an unsensitized PK Crystal,” there is a possibility of 'awakening' (again derived from the Psionics characteristic).  Failure may subject the character to a coma-inducing shock.  Third, a character with a Psionics score of 18 or 19 may be 'contacted' during his or her pre-game career.  Once per year, there is a chance (ranging from 30% to 85%) of contact.  We are told, “The reason why he was contacted, the persons who contacted him, the motive for their training him mentally -- these and many other questions remain unanswered because none of those so contacted can or will divulge the information.”  Additionally:

'Contacted' Adepts receive a PK Crystal from their mysterious mentors, unlike lower level PC's.  Also, whenever they lose their PK Crystals, a replacement seems to arrive within a reasonably short period of time, again from the same mysterious source.  It is not known why such Adepts have been singled out for such treatment, but it is believed that they have some part to play in the working out of a great plan to restore the ForeRunner levels of civilization and culture.

There are five fields of Psionic ability:  (1) Telepathy, (2) Telekinesis, (3) Teleportation, (4) Clairvoyance, and (5) Telergy (sometimes misspelled 'Telurgy') & Self-Awareness. (Only characters with a Psionics score of 19 can acquire Telergy & Self-Awareness.)  Each field has various powers associated with it; some powers appear in more than one field.  Each power (also called 'talent') is assigned a level between one and ten.  For example, among the twenty-five powers of Telekinesis there are:  Manipulation (level 1), Levitate (level 3), Cryo PSI (level 5), and Psychic Force (level 7).

The number of fields (as well as the highest level of power within a field) that an Adept can learn is based upon the Adept's Psionic characteristic.  For instance, an Adept with a score of 11 is limited to one field with a maximum power level of one; a score of 18 permits three fields with a maximum power level of nine.  Adepts with a Psionics value of 19 can learn all fields to the highest level.  To determine which fields an Adept (with a Psionics score of less than 19) can learn, a d6 is rolled for each field (other than Telergy & Self-Awareness).  The fields having the higher results are the fields the Adept can learn.

“Upon 'psionic awakening,' an Adept acquires the first talent in the appropriate list of talents for his psionic field.”  Other powers/talents must be learned as if they were skills.  (Presumably, this learning is self-taught.)  All powers of a given level must be learned before powers of a subsequent level can be learned.  'Contacted' Adepts start the game with a number of talents equal to the number of career years since the year of contact.  A 'Contacted' Adept learns new powers more quickly than other Adepts because his prior “mental training has already opened up large sections of the mind, and he has been taught how to develop his mental powers more rapidly than other psionics.”

In the vein of StarStones and ShuttleThought, several powers are named by merging two words into one (such as, FarSee, PainStop, SaneMind, and NegaField).
 
Using psionic powers drains an Adept's Stamina.  A StarStone reduces Stamina cost (as well as enhancing the effects of some powers and permitting the use of others).  The Psychic Force power allows an Adept “to tap the vast Force which can be keyed by a PK Crystal.”  Each day, an Adept with Psychic Force has a chance to increase his or her Stamina (presumably temporarily).  “At level/10,” the rules state, “the stamina boost [of 200%] becomes permanent and need not be rolled.”  (Recall that only Adepts with a Psionics score of 19 can attain tenth level powers.)  'Living Matrix' is a tenth level power available in every psionic field except Telekinesis.

Only a PC who has lived an exemplary life can attain Oneness with the Force.  This PSI status is equivalent to the levels attained by the Lensmen like Kinneson, Worsel, Trigonsee, etc., in 'Doc' Smith's Second Stage Lensmen, and simply is beyond the capacity of personalities that are not so integrated that they become Champions of Civilization and all that it stands for.

A 'Living Matrix' Adept has a beneficial modifier for mental attacks, spends less stamina when performing a successful Mental Attack (or resists a Mental Attack), and can more easily overcome mental domination.  Also, a level ten Telepath has a chance “of momentarily attaining Third Stage development.”  This means the Adept “can exercise any psionic talent he possesses without a PK Crystal but as if he had a PK Crystal.”

With Precognition (a level 5 Clairvoyance power), “The Adept receives a foreshadowing of a scene yet to come, usually up to 24 hours in the future.”  The StarMaster must “commu-nicate by notes” to relay the details of the precognitive vision to the player.  There is a cost of fifty points of Stamina and the Adept must be successful with a Shock characteristic roll “or be rendered unconscious for 1d6 hours.”  The chance of an exact prophecy (presumably rolled by the StarMaster) “is 2% × Intuition plus 1% × Clairvoyance level of the Adept.”  So, an Adept with the maximum score for Intuition and the highest level of training would have a 48% chance.  With an Intuition of 10, the minimum chance would be 25%.  Assuming the Precognition roll is successful, “the StarMaster will be bound to arrange matters in the meantime so that events will occur as prophesied.”  the   The following Designer's Note is offered:

Trying with prophecy of future events can prove difficult unless the StarMaster is prepared to think ahead to later developments in the adventure scenario.  If the StarMaster prefers, he will present 2 to 5 possible alternatives, depending on the complexity of the developing situation.  Some of the details will be vague, but the effect will be to alert the players in general to the possibility that some potentially serious or momentous events are about to transpire, and they will be able to make some preparations to meet the challenge.  Also, if no exact prophecy occurs, a very vague and probably irrelevant 'vision' will occur, or else no precognition at all.  The talent is, after all, rather erratic and undependable.

The Telergy & Self-Awareness field (available only to characters with a Psionic value of 19) allows an Adept “to develop his mind and body to their maximum potentials so that he can become fully attuned to the life principle which is the Force.”  This means that the Adept's characteristics of Strength, Constitution, Agility, Dexterity, Intelligence, Intuition, Leadership, Bravery, Empathy, and Awareness (in that order) can each be increased to the maximum value of 19.  When this course is complete, the Adept's “telergic studies are now finished [and] he is transformed into Transhuman status if he is human or humanoid.”  Also, “All Telergic Adepts will automatically acquire certain powers at a given level of their development,” among which are Heal, PainStop, SensoryBlock, and Revivify.

By the time a Telergic Adept attains maximum Awareness he or she must decide upon a moral disposition.

As he progressed in his psionic development, he came to understand there are two sides of the Force [and]...he must choose to serve the Light or Dark side of the Force, becoming a Champion of the best that Civilization has to offer or a self-serving villain who seeks personal power and self-aggrandizement at the expense of other beings.  There are no other alternatives.  A plain choice between Good and Evil must be made and, once chosen, there is no turning back from the path selected.

Light side Adepts (“like the Jedi Knights of StarWars” [sic])...

...will have before them the task of enacting the roles of almost superhuman Champions of 'humanity' and Civilization...It might be that they are the remnants of a once great Brotherhood suppressed by unscrupulous men who would enslave all races under an iron dictatorship.  Thus they become heroic revolutionaries seeking to overthrow a tyrannical empire.  Whatever the situation, they are men who stand for the Right and Just.

Dark side Adepts (“like the Black Lensmen of the Lensman series or Darth Vader of StarWars” [sic])...

...have before them the task of enacting the roles of the Enemies of 'humanity' and Civilization.  They are the power-hungry, the Destroyers and would-be Dictators, Adepts who have turned the Force to the service of their own personal ambitions.  However, that should not be interpreted to mean that they are given to cruelty for its own sake.  Rather, they are merely 'expedient' in their approach to obstacles.  Those who get in their way are neutralized or disposed of in the most efficient manner available.

An Adept who chooses the Dark side loses 3d6 from his or her Empathy characteristic value and thereafter has a maximum of 11 Empathy.  Recall that Telergic Adepts would have elevated their Empathy score to 19, so a Dark side Adept is throwing all of that effort away.  Also, “Service of the Dark side of the Force prevents the Adept from performing any curative procedures on others...”  In other words, there is a definite downside to choosing the Dark side and no benefit.

Normally, the maximum Psionics characteristic score for player characters is 16.  This means that a significant portion of the psionics rules cannot be used.  The rules state that “those players who wish to use psionics prominantly [sic] in their campaign should” use an optional rule where a roll of 96 - 100 for Psionics allows the player to convert a portion of their career characteristic allocation points to modify the Psionics value.  Specifically, “the rate of ½ profession DM per 1 point added to the psionics roll” would apply.  Humans, feline avatars (i.e., the kitty people who are not technologically inclined), and transhumans (i.e., Vulcans) can add up to fifteen points; other races can add up to ten.  Since a Psionics score of 19 requires 115 points, only humans, feline avatars, and transhumans can possibly can attain that score – and only if they roll 100 for Psionics and add the maximum number of points.  Even if the psionics enabling optional rule is adopted, there is a less than 1% chance that a character can be capable of becoming a Telergic Adept.  Perhaps there could be a psionic career that permits a Psionics modifier, allowing more of an opportunity to access the more advanced psionic abilities.

So, the Light side/Dark side Adepts are limited to characters with a Psionics value of nineteen and the mysterious 'contact' society focuses on characters with a Psionics value of eighteen or nineteen.  Given the rather finite number of people with such a score and the apparent pervasiveness of the 'contact' organization, some amount of coincidence between that organization and the Light side/Dark side Adepts would seem likely.  The rules, however, do not suggest this.

Fencing Styles in Dungeons & Dragons

Art by Virgil Finlay

In the early 90s, TSR published a series of “Historical Reference” sourcebooks for use with second edition D&D.  The fourth such sourcebook, A Mighty Fortress, presents a setting “drawn from European history comprising the 101 years from 1550 to 1650.”  Although the setting is self-contained, we are assured that “France, Spain, England, and the Holy Roman Empire could easily be transplanted into any setting, including Faerun and Oerth.”

Fortress describes two schools of fencing:  Spanish and Italian.

The Spanish style “can be learned as a weapon proficiency.”  It costs one slot but either rapier or saber proficiency must be purchased as a prerequisite.  “The Spanish school grants an AC benefit of +1...[and every] additional slot devoted to this proficiency increases the AC bonus by one.”  However, slots after the first can only be acquired once every three levels.  The AC bonus only applies when a character is using a rapier, saber, dagger, or is unarmed.  Like the Dexterity AC bonus, “If the character cannot move or see the attack coming, he does not get this benefit.”

The Italian style costs two weapon proficiency slots, and rapier proficiency is a prerequisite.  We learn...

...an Italian style swordsman cannot be attacked with a small- or medium-sized melee weapon if he has the initiative.  His opponent, regardless of his school, must win initiative in order to attack.

The Italian school also allows a character to parry attacks in a manner different from that detailed in the Player's Handbook.  After a character is hit, he may choose to parry by making an attack roll against his opponent; if successful, “the attack is parried and it has no effect.”  Every round, the character is entitled to one free parry.  Normal attacks can be “converted” to parries but such additional parries “must be declared before initiative is rolled.”

In order to parry, the character must have a dagger in his left hand or have some other sort of protection for the hand.  A leather glove, a cloak, or a floppy hat are the most common; a silk handkerchief is sufficient.

In 1986, Mayfair Games published a 'Role Aids' adventure called Beneath Two Suns.  This product is an “authorized and approved module” based on the Dray Prescot series of sword & planet novels.  By sheer coincidence, the Age of Dusk blog today posted a review of this adventure.  The superficial details I discuss here are largely distinct from the cogent Age of Dusk review, so your kind perusal of that review will not be a waste of your time (assuming you do not consider reading a review of a 32 year old RPG product to be a waste of time.  Then again, you wouldn't be here, would you?).

Beneath Two Suns takes place on the Antarean planet Kregen, specifically the city Zenicce (similar to Renaissance Venice).  In Zenicce, “bands of thugs and hoodlums” use Florentine fighting; hence, such rules are necessary.  Also, two of the provided pre-generated characters are trained in Florentine fighting.

Florentine fighting costs two weapon proficiency slots with rapier and dagger proficiencies as prerequisites.  Florentine fighting can only be used when armed with either (i.) a rapier and a dagger or (ii.) two daggers.  A character “using Florentine fighting is allowed twice as many attacks per round.”  However, unless a character using Florentine fighting has a Dexterity of at least 16, the character suffers “a -1 modifier on his to hit roll.”  Additionally, a character “engaged in Florentine fighting has his Armor Class increased by 1 (-1) against all close-in melee attacks,” but this modifier does not apply against attacks from the rear.

It is assumed that player characters participating in the adventure are not native to Kregen.  The adventure is intended for four to six characters of levels 6 - 8.  The “majority should be fighters” (but paladins are not allowed); however, we are advised to include “at least one magic-user of not higher than skill 6 and one cleric of skill 6 - 8 in the party.”  (“Skill” is Mayfair non-trademark-infringing-code for experience level.)  The Player Introduction implies that “smashing orcs” is “normal business” for the player characters prior to seeing the star Antares sparkle and being “mysteriously transported from Earth to [the] strange, wild planet called Kregen.”  This suggests there are orcs on Earth or – on a fantasy campaign world called Earth – the constellation Scorpio is visible.

The eight pre-generated characters are all from different time periods on Earth.  Some of these characters are Dray Prescot himself, a “Centurian” (sic), and a Victorian cutpurse named Careful Dodger.  Other characters have magical abilities; for instance, Lo Khan – a Mongol ranger – has the “Speak with Animals” spell available.  Evidently Greek, Tyresias Homer is a “Skill 8 Cleric” and is described as a “Healer.”  Additionally, Ramseus is a “Skill 6 Mage” who is a “Wise Man” of an unspecified time period and culture.

The Player Introduction also explains that – on Kergen – the player characters “are in slaves' chains and are dimly aware that [their] bodies have been functioning for several weeks without the benefit of [their] full consciousness...[and they] retain a dim memory of the past weeks and have learned something of [their] strange circumstances...”  This explains how the player characters have picked up something of “the universal language of Kregen.”  It does not explain how they can read a message in a bottle they find.  Perhaps the 'Read Languages' ability of the Victorian cutpurse (40%) comes into play here.

The player characters arrive on Kregen with “no items other than the clothes on their backs and the shoes on their feet.”  For the duration of the adventure, the belongings of the characters “are kept in 'limbo.'”  Given that first edition rules are in effect, the absence of material components and his spellbook would be especially problematic for Ramseus.

Wonders and Dreams and Worlds Ulterior

Art by Virgil Finlay

H. P. Lovecraft passed away on March 15, 1937.  That year's July issue of Weird Tales included “To Howard Phillips Lovecraft,” a memorial poem written by Lovecraft's friend, Clark Ashton Smith.  I provide that elegy below, seventy-eight years after Lovecraft's demise.

Ode to a Faceless God

Robert Bloch's “The Faceless God” appeared in the May 1936 issue of Weird Tales accompanied by the Virgil Finlay illustration shown at top.  Inspired by the drawing, H. P. Lovecraft submitted a poem to the magazine.  By the time the poem (above) was published in the July 1937 issue, Lovecraft had died.