tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1319639353493682552024-03-13T09:29:10.614-07:00The Luminescent Lich JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-6358709030619671722023-12-14T19:42:00.000-08:002023-12-14T19:43:12.904-08:00Masters of Carcosa Part 2<p><br /></p><p> This post originally appeared on my substack. You can view it and subscribe here:</p><p><a href="https://twilightdreams.substack.com/p/masters-of-carcosa-part-2">https://twilightdreams.substack.com/p/masters-of-carcosa-part-2</a><br /></p><p>-------------------------------</p><p>Where I last left off, I had a general pitch for my Masters of Carcosa campaign as well as a pieced together setting and hexcrawl using Geoffrey McKinney’s Carcosa hardcover book and module.</p><p>However, I also had one issue. I found the original hex map in the module not really to my liking:</p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #c7d0d7; color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><div class="captioned-image-container" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #c7d0d7; color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; margin: var(--size-32) auto;"><figure style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px auto; width: 728px;"><a class="image-link is-viewable-img image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; align-items: center; border: 0px; cursor: zoom-in; display: flex; flex-direction: column; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; width: auto;" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; display: flex; position: relative;"><picture style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg 1456w" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":1055,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":4819408,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null}" fetchpriority="high" height="1055" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9db56d78-89ff-48bd-8d1b-2b9558613937_2400x3312.jpeg 1456w" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="1456" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; align-items: center; background: var(--color-bg-modal); border-radius: 6px; cursor: pointer; display: flex; height: var(--size-32); justify-content: center; opacity: 0; position: absolute; right: var(--size-12); top: var(--size-12); transition: all var(--animation-timing-fast) var(--animation-smoothing); width: var(--size-32);"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 " fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></div></div></a></figure></div><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #c7d0d7; color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /><br /></p><p>It had that classic hexcrawl look and feel but I had a number of issues with it:</p><p>I found the colours to be too high contrast.</p><p>I found the white hexes and numbers hard to read.</p><p>I found it lacked info that I wanted to include. I needed two versions of the map. One which would be GM facing and include an overlay that would show all the hexes that had an encounter in them (not all hexes had an encounter) and another map which would be player facing and not have this information. I also wanted to include some things like roads and water trade routes as villages would be more important in my version of Carcosa. They’d kind of be the basic building block of civilized interaction and each one would have it’s own weird style of government and theme.</p><p>It used the traditional hex numbering of one axis being one pair of numbers and the other axis being another pair. So like 38XX in a column and XX11 being the row so you get 3811, 3812, etc. While this may be sacrosanct to some, I find such methods of labeling axis make it very hard to read what hex follows what hex and whether to flip forward or back when looking them up in text.</p><p>I wanted to add a number of my own hexes and things to the hexcrawl. To put my own twist on the setting.</p><p>So all together I came up with the following. I don’t claim to be an artist but I think my lessons learned may help others:</p><figure class="frontend-components-ImageGallery-module__imageGallery--shoTe" data-component-name="ImageGallery" data-drag-handle="true" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #c7d0d7; color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; margin-inline: 0px; width: 728px;"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-flexDirection-column pc-gap-8 pc-reset" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 8px; text-decoration: unset;"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset frontend-components-ImageGallery-module__imageRow--RFMqP frontend-components-ImageGallery-module__length-2--F3EXK" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; display: flex; gap: 8px; height: 350px; text-decoration: unset;"><picture style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; display: flex; flex: 1 1 1px;"><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fca4e89f0-7b6a-421e-8231-53aaaff5b570_763x561.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fca4e89f0-7b6a-421e-8231-53aaaff5b570_763x561.png 720w" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="frontend-components-responsive_img-module__img--Pgjj2 frontend-components-ImageGallery-module__image--g2yvp frontend-components-ImageGallery-module__medium--uFsr6 frontend-components-ImageGallery-module__zoom--eQKQQ pencraft pc-reset" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fca4e89f0-7b6a-421e-8231-53aaaff5b570_763x561.png" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fca4e89f0-7b6a-421e-8231-53aaaff5b570_763x561.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fca4e89f0-7b6a-421e-8231-53aaaff5b570_763x561.png 720w" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; cursor: zoom-in; display: block; height: 350px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; object-fit: cover; text-decoration: unset; width: 360px;" width="720" /></picture><picture style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; display: flex; flex: 1 1 1px;"><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb8e932d8-98a6-40f6-bc3e-3d9d8eefb865_763x561.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb8e932d8-98a6-40f6-bc3e-3d9d8eefb865_763x561.png 720w" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="frontend-components-responsive_img-module__img--Pgjj2 frontend-components-ImageGallery-module__image--g2yvp frontend-components-ImageGallery-module__medium--uFsr6 frontend-components-ImageGallery-module__zoom--eQKQQ pencraft pc-reset" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb8e932d8-98a6-40f6-bc3e-3d9d8eefb865_763x561.png" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb8e932d8-98a6-40f6-bc3e-3d9d8eefb865_763x561.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb8e932d8-98a6-40f6-bc3e-3d9d8eefb865_763x561.png 720w" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; cursor: zoom-in; display: block; height: 350px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; object-fit: cover; text-decoration: unset; width: 360px;" width="720" /></picture></div><figcaption class="frontend-components-ImageGallery-module__imageCaption--JESLj" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--color-secondary-themed); font-size: calc(var(--font-size-14) + var(--font_size_body_offset, 0px)); font-weight: var(--font-weight-regular); letter-spacing: var(--letter-spacing-14); line-height: var(--line-height-20); text-align: center;">Carcosa Maps</figcaption></div></figure><p><br /></p><p><b>Carcosa Maps</b></p><p>The colours have less contrast and I find overall more pleasing and easier to read.</p><p>The hexcrawl uses letters along one axis and numbers along the other. I find this is much easier to parse and much easier to immediately know at a glance that column H is after column G and row 3 after row 2. Additionally, the label for each hex is in the middle of it.</p><p>The GM map has the hexes with fixed encounters labelled with a white overlay. Overall I don’t think you need a fixed encounter in every hex. I find you need to give players room to breathe, to feel like they’re traveling across a landscape where there may be just random road encounters or wandering encounters or nothing at all, rather than another fixed location.</p><p>If you look on my maps you’ll see villages (with names) and white column things that are supposed to be towers. The villages are villages and the white towers fortresses. I decided to do things this way because I found a number of the hexcrawl entries featured fortress like locations, basically lairs or bases of operations by factions with a single leader who could project force out from his base.</p><p>The players starting village, Refuge, is the village with the red outline around it’s hex.</p><p>Overall I was fairly proud of the results and it worked pretty well in play. Still, after playing for several months if I were to juice up another hexmap or create one of my own I’d do the following:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Center the Hexmap</b>: if you’re going to start the players off in one location, and that location is probably, or supposed to be, a base of operations. Then center the hexmap on that hex. I made the mistake of putting Refuge, the players starting village they were responsible for, in the south. It took several days of travel to get to the northern city. The further the players travel from a place the less likely they are to return to it as exploring new hexes is more fun. If you put their base of operations in the center where all the ‘new’ hexes are equidistant, they’re more likely to venture out then venture back in loops. This has them interacting with the NPCs in the their base of operations more regularly.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Common map Symbols</b>: as explained above I had a symbol on my map for villages and a symbol for fortresses. If I were to create another hexmap I’d go even further and create symbols for like 5-6 common adventuring sites, things like lairs, ruined buildings, magical standing stones, inns, etc. I would do this because while, as the GM, you’ve read the text of the hexmap and know what kind of things are to be found and roughly where they are, the players haven’t. The entire point of a hexcrawl is it’s supposed to be self-directed by the players. But if the players don’t know what kind of things lie out there in the hexworld, they’ll have a hard time setting their own goals. You can do this by dropping a lot of adventure hooks but you can also do it by simply making that information discernable on the map. In my opinion the hexmap should be something the players want to study. Not just a empty chessboard they move their pawn around. Additionally, if they do learn things in a hook, like the knights you met come from the Fortress of the North Wind to the North, they can look on the map and be able to figure out and see which Fortress is the actual fortress.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Common Resources</b>: while the hexmap should contain a good number of truly unique and strange locations. I do think there should be 5-6 common adventuring sites. While this may make it seem like a bunch of hexes are kind of copy-pasted, I also think these adventuring sites should be thought of as resources. They aren’t just weird locations the players poke around in and leave. They are things which the players, or other factions can control and fully exploring and controlling them gives them increased power in the setting. Like a fortress can house troops and project physical force into the surrounding land. A ruined building hosts lost magical artifacts. A lair hosts a monster which disrupts the land around it and probably a hoard. Magical standing stones increase certain types of magic in their hex, etc. Once the players figure out what map symbol represents what, and what the resource is they’ll very often come up with all kinds of plans and schemes of how they want to use it and which other ones they want to explore next. They’ll begin to gain power in the world that comes from more than just GP or XP and which they begin to feel an attachment too.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Gameboard not just mapboard</b>: I find hexcrawls are unique in the sense that they are not just a bunch of static adventure locations on a larger map. What I attempted to do, and I think succeeded to some degree, is made my hexmap feel like a living breathing world. I did so through the aforementioned things, but I think most of all is thinking of and treating my hexmap like a gameboard of a fancy boardgame, rather than just a RPG map. Where I would physically move the players token about. I thought of the common types of static sites as resources and the other villages as separate factions. The leaders of some of them would even leave their village and move about to the main city of pillars for a fall time festival, etc.</p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-10057541358883728242023-11-21T16:56:00.000-08:002023-11-21T16:57:02.414-08:00Dark Entries by Robert Aickman<p> This post originally appeared on my substack. You can view it and subscribe here:</p><p><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/twilightdreams/p/masters-of-carcosa?r=48ejp&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web">https://open.substack.com/pub/twilightdreams/p/masters-of-carcosa?r=48ejp&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web</a><br /></p><p>-------------------------------------------</p><p>Because it’s the season for spooky stories I decided to finally get around to reading the copy of Dark Entries by Robert Aickman that I bought a while back.</p><p>Robert Aickman was a British short horror story writer who wrote almost exclusively strange tales. They’re not quite horror stories, more weird and spooky then horrific. He’s not super well known but they republished his stuff recently in a couple of volumes, one of which is pictured above.</p><p>His style is hard to describe but overall he’s pretty good. He really has a unique way of telling a story. He’s a bit different from most writers of weird tales. Most writers of the weird tend to really create an atmosphere through description of setting. Lovecrafts overwrought prose and Poe’s purple prose are kind of good examples of this.</p><p>Aickman is a bit different where the sense of strangeness and tension tends to almost come more from the characters, their relations, and the built environment. Something kind of feels ‘off’ in his stories in a twilight zone kind of way where it’s like the main character has woken up and everything is the same but something is different and only the main character notices it. It also makes his stories feel very British, especially mid-century 1950’s British, where you can tell the characters have a strong sense of what’s ‘proper’ and different class divisions and societal relations. So when something does seem ‘off’ it becomes very magnified because of British culture.</p><p>When I say ‘off’ I don’t mean anything obvious like the character looks like a scoundrel and is probably the guy you’d pick out in a police lineup as the murderer.</p><p>Additionally, his stories aren’t completely moralistic where you have a bunch of normal characters and then one quirky character not following the rules who’s existence is supposed to give a lesson on society. I also don’t mean ‘off’ in this manner either.</p><p>I mean ‘off’ in the the sense that the occurrence of the strangeness makes us realize how much we rely on social norms to grant context to what’s happening before us. Where it brings to light the artificiality or arbitrariness of a lot of ingrained social things.</p><p>For example, imagine you had to visit the doctor, a doctor you’ve never seen before, and you go to his office and find that it’s in the basement of a building where you have to go down a set of stairs into the unit. And then once in the unit instead of white walls, they were carpeted with shag green carpets.</p><p>Now these two things, location in a basement, green shag carpet walls, there’s nothing really wrong with them, nor is there really any reason why a doctors waiting room couldn’t be these two things. But all the same, if you were sitting in that doctors office you’d probably thing, hey, this doctors office is kind of weird.</p><p>I think it would feel this way because based on everything you’ve learned about doctors offices in the past; your experiences, seeing them on tv, you have a certain unconscious idea of what one is and isn’t, of how the receptionist should and should not treat you. Additionally, our entire middle class corporate modern society has been built up, more and more, around an idea of sameness where we expect all doctors waiting rooms to look the same, all restaurants to feel the same, all receptionists to follow the same script.</p><p>When it’s not like that, it feels weird and you begin to wonder why and flounder about a bit. You sense an artificiality of things, begin to become aware of your own biases.</p><p>Aickman’s stories are kind of like this. A lot of them tend to have fairly conventional plots. One story is basically a zombies attack a town story, another a ghost story, etc. However, what makes them weird very often isn’t the actual most blatant supernatural thing that’s occurring. Very often the supernatural thing that happens kind of happens offscreen. What makes them weird is feeling of a break in reality, the creation of a liminal space, due to the small details in things seemingly being ‘off’.</p><p>Additionally, a lot of his stories tend to end ambiguously. Where we know something happened in the end, probably have a good idea of what happened, but still aren’t quite sure why or what exactly happened. A lot of them kind of left me scratching my head being like huh? WTF just went down? Now with most writers I find the ambiguous ending more often than not feels unsatisfying. The stories feel unfinished or things in them symbolic in an unmotivated fashion.</p><p>However, with Aickman’s stories this didn’t really happen. The ambiguous endings weren’t that frustrating. Partially because of the simple plots, where at the end of the zombie story they escape, etc. at the end of the ghost story he continues out of his train station on his way, etc. Where overall you know what happened. But all the same, there’s an ambiguity to cause and effect in his stories, to the strange characters, to the odd little details.</p><p>It’s an ambiguity that made me want to re-read some of his stories and I’m normally not a person who likes to reread stories. I find what makes them so compelling in this manner is the strangeness of the little details makes you wonder if there is some kind of hidden motivation or reason to things. Is something sinister afoot? Is the shag green carpet walls of the doctors office the way they are because it hasn’t been changed since the 70s? Is it the way it is because the doctors office recently took over the building and hasn’t had time to renovate? Is it because of the personal taste of the doctor? Are such walls hygienic? Should I be concerned?</p><p>I find it no wonder that Robert Aickman (based on a description of his life in the forward) was probably what is best termed a lifelong small ‘c’ conservative. You know the type of person. The guy who enjoys being part of a historical society in his country, who likes routine, who probably has a boring office job but is kind of the cornerstone of the office, who likes to order the same meal every time he goes out at the same restaurant. In fact, in many ways I don’t think the stories he wrote could have been written by another type of person because he is keenly, keenly aware of the unconscious societal expectations we have around relationships and our built environment and how disconcerting they feel if they’re off.</p><p>As the truth of the matter is, I think we all have a different tolerance for unexpected weirdness in this way, no matter how accepting we may claim to be. Like at what point would you leave that doctors waiting room? Would it be the green shag carpet walls? Would it be a lack of any other patients waiting? Would it be a fish tank bubbling away with nothing inside? Would it be a much too friendly receptionist? I think that as you begin to add on more and more compounding things that are ‘off’ (without any context or explanation) there reaches a point where all of us would just be like, this doesn’t really feel like a doctors office, I’m leaving.</p><p>In our own way we are all just simple animals living in a built environment of brick and concrete, of glass and upholstery. And like any animal removed from it’s natural habitat, we react with confusion and startlement, feel the depths of the weird.</p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-53643930795045818462023-10-19T17:50:00.004-07:002023-10-19T17:50:36.025-07:00Masters of Carcosa - Part 1: The Pitch<p>This post originally appeared on my substack. You can view it and subscribe here:</p><p><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/twilightdreams/p/masters-of-carcosa?r=48ejp&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web">https://open.substack.com/pub/twilightdreams/p/masters-of-carcosa?r=48ejp&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web</a><br /></p><p>-----</p><p>For my last campaign I decided to run a Masters of Carcosa game. It ran for several months and overall I think was a success. I’m going to cover various aspects of it in a few posts.</p><p>I’ve been wanting to run a Carcosa game for years. I own the Geoffrey McKinney’s Carcosa hardcover book. While I do think it’s an awesome book, I couldn’t really figure out how to best make use of the material.</p><p>That was until I saw a series of posts by the blogger Ramanan Sivaranjan who detailed his Masers of Carcosa campaign. It was an idea so good I decided to steal it! Additionally, I also had Geoffre McKinney’s carcosa hexcrawl modules that very few people seem to be aware of, probably because they’re only available in print off of lulu.</p><p>So I decided to mash all of these things together, plus Masters of the Universe, the gonzo science fantasy TV show, into a single campaign.</p><p>I decided on this mashup mainly because I like the idea of Carcosa. A horrible far future world at the end of time with different races of different coloured people (red, green, black, white orange, etc.) living in stone age villages among the remnants of ancient super science and magical civilizations.</p><p>However, I find the actual Carcosa book leaves a lot to be desired. It does have a hexcrawl. But I find a lot of the hexes are fairly abstracted and overall not all that fun. The whole culture and peoples of the world really aren’t detailed that much or in interesting enough ways to lead to meaningful adventure.</p><p>In contrast, the carcosa hexcrawl modules are much, much better. Overall, I’d say while the Carcosa book has the spell rituals and science fantasy weapons and gives a clear vision of the world in some ways, the hexcrawl modules have more concrete gameable content. I’d highly recommend them in this regard, especially if you have the Carcosa hardcover book and want to make use of it.</p><p>Anyways, I also decided to mash it up with masters of the universe to, well, make the whole setting feel less bleak and be more fun. I wanted the players to feel somewhat empowered, to not just have them slogging through a world full of misery where everyone is cruel and/or suffering all the time. I didn’t draw any elements directly from Masters of the Universe, used a lot of the art from that show as inspiration and explanation for things and to convey the general tone and vibe of the world. </p><p>I created the following pitch:</p><p><b>Masters of Carcosa</b></p><p>Beyond the farthest galaxies viewed by the greatest telescopes. Beyond the limits of our universe lies another place — a place of magic, myth, sorcery and science. At the end of time after all the other stars have gone out blinks one star, one last red dwarf slowly dying, casting a red glow upon one last spinning planet.</p><p>Dread Carcosa. </p><p>The terrible world of Carcosa is peopled by the 13 races of men and the Great Old Ones they fight, fear, or worship. Primitive tribes fight amongst one another and amongst themselves. Strange technology, magnificent architecture, and horrific sorcery tell the tale of ancient civilizations now long extinct. The men and women of Carcosa try and eke out a quiet existence against this backdrop.</p><p>To the North of the Thaggasoth peaks lies the village of Refuge. Those who have escaped the Jale slavers to the East have found sanctuary here, forming a small refugee community. This unlikely situation—men and women of all the races living and working together—is made possible due to the town’s wise and powerful leaders. Refuge has been spared from the common xenophobia of Carcosa.</p><p>Those who feel adventurous hunt the vile spawn, The Star Children, avoid the Jale Slavers, and venture out in search of strange space alien technology, avoid mutant dinosaurs, and explore the wilds of this world.</p><p><b>Format</b></p><p>You are all random adventures summoned, in a great ritual, from the past by Leela, the leader of Refuge, a small society of escaped slaves. They view you all as mythic heroes from the past (despite being random unskilled adventurers who might have been summoned by mistake) who can help protect and champion their small starving village in the wastes of Carcosa. </p><p>The universe is dying, the last planet, Carcosa, is filled with all the broken remnants of the past. The dangers are many, slavers, races of strange reptilian men, strange ancient technology, cthuloid cults, horrific monsters. You’d be exploring a hex map, encountering all these things, dealing with whatever strange forces may threaten the survival of the small village that is your newfound home and trying to improve it and perhaps lead it to glory.</p><p>I stole the idea of them being in a village of escaped slaves from Ramanan Sivaranjan. Additionally with the premise being that they’ve all been summoned from the past in a great ritual I opened things wide where they could pretty much be any race/class they wanted and come up with whatever gonzo character they desired. They’d be totally fish-out-of-water characters.</p><p>I tend to strongly prefer to have the players be fish-out-of-water characters, even if it’s something as simple as being from the next village over. This way they don’t know much about the setting and the players and their characters are effectively experiencing and learning about the world in the same manner.</p><p>The champions of the village angle also helped frame the campaign and gave the players strong agency over something in the world. While it may be full of horrible cthulhu like things and dread sorcery and cruel and evil people, they’re village was at least nice and they would have at least their small patch of the world that they could shape and grow how they wished.</p><p>I think that the more strange and hostile your world is, the more you need to give the players stronger agency over some part of it, otherwise the world is too strange and hostile for them to exercise much agency. If they can’t exercise much agency and are continually reacting to things much more powerful then them, they’ll have trouble setting goals of their own and will probably grow bored or disengaged with the campaign.</p><p>Anyways, enough for now. For my next post I will blog further about the hexcrawl map I compiled for the campaign.</p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-91753346193031817202023-09-30T11:53:00.002-07:002023-09-30T11:53:35.521-07:00Review of Demon Bone Sarcophagus<p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This review came from my substack which is located here:</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">https://open.substack.com/pub/twilightdreams/p/critique-of-demon-bone-sarcophagus?r=48ejp&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">----------------------------------</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Demon Bone Sarcophagus (DBS) is a 129 page system neutral (although decidedly OSR) adventure by Patrick Stuart with art by Scrap Princess. Patrick Stuart is one of the more well known authors in the OSR scene, having completed several books in the past that I own and enjoy and which are highly regarded critically.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">It’s with some reluctance I can’t say the same for DBS. I will get the easy things out of the way first. The highs in it are very high but the lows are very low and overall it’s a bit frustrating where the book feels about 80% complete.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">There seems to be at least one editing mistake on every page. If polished a bit more it could have been very good, perhaps even a masterpiece, but as it stands it feels kind of incomplete. Beyond the simple editing mistakes, if I were to run this it would require a lot of prep to help smooth over the frustrating parts.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">After reading it I have done a lot of thinking about it. To this end I’d thought I’d write a more in-depth critique rather than a simple review. Mainly, to see how I would have done things differently in my own adventure writing. So lets begin.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Backstory</b></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">To begin, DBS is the first adventure in a 3 part series (of which I do hope the other 2 do get published despite my frustrations with this first volume). DBS starts off with a 3 page history about the Nobility of Fire and the Empress of Fire. The Empress of Fire is the character within the Demon Bone Sarcophagus and is entombed in a trap and trick filled dungeon that is the main meat of this adventure.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">While 3 pages may not seem like a lot for a backstory, it’s broken up into multiple sections, spans a fair amount of time with various characters, factions, and summarized historical plot points.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">It’s a lot to digest and remember. So much so, that beyond the basics I really don’t remember much even after reading it twice.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Most of it seems not super pertinent to the adventure at hand. It may be referenced in the later adventures in the trilogy, but it is a fairly large information dump up front. Overall I think it would have been better to really try and modularize this information. To maybe give us the most recent events in this adventure and then as we get to the second or third adventures give us more of the backstory once we have encountered and understood the events and characters referenced in this one.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I also think the adventure could have done a little better at showing and not simply telling. That information presented at the beginning could have been broken up and presented better during the adventure. The adventure does attempt to do this to some degree. There are cultural artifacts within the dungeon that come from the Fire Nobility, but they don’t exactly exposit the presented backstory. There are NPCs you can meet within the dungeon which were involved in the history in the backstory but the text kind of just says they can answer questions regarding the history etc. The actual book doesn’t really do a lot to break up this text for you (like in bullet points or something) and I imagine involve a lot of flipping to at the table, scanning, and trying to figure out how much or how little to tell the players.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Additionally, the backstory at the beginning feels a bit self-indulgent where it feels a bit overcomplex and overwritten. Overall, I am of the opinion, that narrative in RPGs should be short, and fairly dramatic. Think Shakespearian plays. They very often only have a handful of main characters and maybe 3 intertwined plots at most. In Shakespearian plays It’s also fairly easy to determine who’s the good guy, who’s the bad guy, who’s the clown, the character relations, what everyone’s goal is, etc.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">There is a fairly tight five act structure and they usually take place in one overall locale. While events may have happened in the past, there is an emphasis on the present and how things are coming to a head. While the plot and characters may seem simple when you summarize them, there’s a surprising amount of depth to them.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I think RPG narrative is best this way simply because it’s very hard to communicate complex plot to the players. Tabletop RPGs are primarily an oral tradition. So is theater in this manner where you’re watching, but mostly listening to characters dialogue and understanding a story in real time through the spoken word.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>The Opening</b></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">DBS probably starts with one of the best openings I’ve read in any RPG. The adventuring party comes across the remains of a couple of factions which have mascaraed each other in the desert. It’s very obvious that there was some kind of misunderstanding, that something has gone wrong, that all hell broke loose and you’re left trying to figure out what happened.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In reality, it involves “four groups of conspirators, plus two different groups of security operatives, plus a giant sloth“. This feels like waaaay to much to me. The Alexandrian has a three clue rule. I’d like to propose some kind of inverse law. Like, the only three factions at a time rule. I find if there are any more, especially if they’re kind of entwined in some previous plot like the above listed groups, it quickly becomes very hard for the players to piece together who’s on who’s side and what the fuck is actually going on. There is such thing as too many clues, too many things going on.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Three factions is all you need. Three. If you have two they quickly become a duality of good guys vs bad guys. But three, that helps kind of keep some ambiguity. Six? Six, is way to much and just feels overcomplicated. Why have two different conspircies’. Just have one. If you have to much the players will have a hard time figuring out and understanding things and if they have a hard time figuring out and understanding things they’ll stop caring about things. I think less is more in this regard.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Implied Setting</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The implied setting of DBS was kind of confusing to me at first. Every adventure, whether it likes it or not has an implied setting. While I came to kind of understand it better after reading through it all, there were a couple of things that felt kind of strange and random to me about the various groups in the opening. One of them wore only wooden armor and seemed tribal themed. Another of them were agents of a powerful corporation. Another was a guy with a bunch of trained baboons.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This kind of felt incongruent to me at first. Like what’s the general level of technology? Stone age? Medieval? High renaissance? Where are we and how connected is the setting? We seem to be in the desert but the women warriors are tribal themed? Is there a jungle nearby? For the corporation, are we talking East India themed? Or like more modern as the agents kind of seem like the Pinkertons or something? What’s the general culture of the area? European? American West? Colonial?</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">While it may seem like I’m being nitpicky, and this is probably a critique that’s more my personal preference than anything. I always like my adventures to have a fairly understandable implied setting. Like, medieval Europe, or 17th century, or East Asia, Lord of the Rings, Dreamlands, etc. I don’t care what it is in particular, or even if it fits with my current campaign world. But something known. This is even more important for adventures that are weird, which DBS is and which I enjoy.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The reason I like this is because it provides a common language of tropes, ideas, images, and terms for me and my players to grasp onto. Everyone knows what an elf is. Everyone knows what a spaceship is. Or what a wild west town is.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Roleplaying is about creating an emerging narrative together. It’s very hard to do so if your implied setting feels very random. If it’s too random, like oh, you’re all popcorn people in a land with twin suns that was ruled over by ancient squid people, then the players don’t really have much of an opportunity to come up and set their own goals and has to kind of just go along with whatever the GM has planned. And the GM doesn’t really have much of a choice but to go on what the adventure says as there’s little for them to expand and extrapolate on with their own imagination based on what they already know.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now to be clear, DBS isn’t that bad in this regard. Some of what I read, like the wooden armour made sense as I read further on (or well I think it does. I think some characters are wearing wooden armour because it seems like metal doesn’t work or is bad in the Zone? Which appears in a future adventure?). But overall the implied setting that I got from DBS was that of something like Dr. Who. Where it is interesting, but kind of a mishmash of a lot of different genres and things, all treated like normal.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Which to be completely honest, isn’t my favourite kind of implied setting but some people seem to like it so your mileage may vary.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Disjointed Nature of the Adventure and Lack of Motivation</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">As mentioned previously the adventure starts off in the aftermath of 6 different factions facing off because of two different conspiracies. The ground breaks open during the fighting and a bunch of characters from these factions fall into the Tomb of the Empress of Fire.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">These characters are all chasing each other in the Tomb of the Empress of Fire. The conspiracies they are all involved in seem to involve the Frictionless Blue Glass Merchant company and it’s very valuable frictionless blue glass. Frictionless blue glass seems to come from the plane of fire or was invented by the Fire nobility or some such thing. I</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">So these two discrete elements, the characters and conspiracies (active element) and the tomb (passive element) seem to be connected in a very roundabout way but as far as I can tell (I may be wholly wrong, I’ve only read through it once) I don’t think there is a direct connection.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">That is to say, the conspirators just happened by random chance to fall into the tomb. They don’t know what the tomb is about or really care to be in it. What they desire is to get each other.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">And while the tomb is very interesting, and probably contains a lot of information about further things in the 2nd or 3rd adventure, it’s kind of, in the present of the 1st adventure, unrelated to the conspiracies and conspirators.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This I kind of find disjointed and a bit of a problem as it provides very little motivation for the players to really explore either of these two elements. I think either they’re going to learn about and decide to get involved in the conspiracies and fuck off from the tomb which seems to be a deathtrap anyways, or they’re going to think the tomb is cool and not really care much about the characters within it who are involved in some kind of conspiracy and trying to get each other.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In putting these elements in competition with each other I think it does a disservice to both, especially because two other adventures are supposed to follow this one. If the players become interested in the tomb, and either disregard or kill all the conspiracy characters stumbling around the tomb, where is the motivation for them to become involved in the conspiracies involving blue glass and the Zone that seem to be present in the 2nd adventure? And likewise, if they abandon the tomb and simply head out to the Zone after siding with a character within the tomb, they probably won’t learn much about the Empress of Fire, her history, and the Fire nobility, things that seem heavily involved in the third adventure.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">To some degree I think in play this might not be a huge issue. Most players probably explore the tomb a bit and explore the different characters and conspiracies enough running around in it. But I can’t help but feel that it’s going to lead to both elements half explored and the importance of stuff lost on the players, which may lead to the importance of further things lost on the players. Not so much through their own actions, but because two different elements were vying for their attention and interest and while they had no way of knowing at the time, both turned out to be of importance.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>The Random Dynamicism within the Tomb</b></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now we’re kind of getting to the nitty-gritty. The tomb is comprised of a bunch of rooms. Every room has some kind of fixed element that (most of the time) is something the players can interact with. There is also an encounter in every room with a monster or a character involved in a conspiracy or an NPC monster. However, all these encounters are random. Where you roll on a little table and it’s like character X is doing Yin this room. Like just entering it, or fighting this other character, or investigating thing Z.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I think I kind of get what Patrick Stuart was trying to do. A bunch of characters have fallen into the tomb haphazardly. They stumbling about it and are trying to find and/or kill each other. Instead of having them in fixed locations where they ‘come alive’ when the players enter their specific room, they can be found throughout the tomb and seem to move about.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This is all fine, but when I think about what would happen in play it feels a bit frustrating. The first reason is every time the players enter a room I have to stop play, roll a dice, check on the table, see what monster/character is in the room and what they are doing. And these aren’t simple monster/characters like an angry Orc boss who is eating some mutton. They’re interesting and complex characters who all have a full page spread in a different section of the book about what they’re about and who they are allied with etc.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">So most likely after rolling on the table I’m going to have to flip to their character page and be like who the fuck is this guy again? Is he allied/enemies with someone the players have met already?</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Additionally, I feel like I’d kind of be on thin ice after a few rooms and repeated characters. Like oh, the players met this character two rooms ago. What if they killed them? Do I roll again? How did they just enter from the far door when the room they met that character in is behind the characters? Oh, they’re going to attack the characters again? But they had to run away last time? Or they’re supposed to attack but previously became allied with the characters.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I know the easy answer to this is just simply make stuff up based on what seems sensible. But I really kind of feel like it might get hard after a few rooms. As I’m essentially not making stuff up about what they’re doing. That would be easy. The table provides that. Instead I’m left to make stuff up about why they’re doing what the table says they’re doing. Especially when it contradicts what happened in previous interactions with the characters. Now that is much harder. Especially when these aren’t simple one or two line characters. They’re complex characters with their own backstories and motivations.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">So while the dungeon may seem more dynamic because the conspiracy characters that have fallen into it are dynamically stumbling about it, the mechanism which they do so has added a lot of cognitive load to me as the GM. And I’m not sure if the effort is worth the payoff.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Fact Based Rooms</b></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">About 90% of rooms within the tomb are highly imaginative, interesting, and well designed. About 10% are not. They seem highly imaginative and interesting at first glance, but lack interaction and are basically just ‘fact’ or ‘history’ rooms.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">An example that really stuck out to me is R36-Histories and Historians. The first paragraph and general read out-loud is:</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">“The room is lined with thick clay jars, the floor coated with a fine layer of ash.“</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The text goes on further to explain that some jars are small, some large. They are all sealed. The large ones contain the ash of historians who studied the primordial Demon wars, powerful but corrupting knowledge that draws the attention of powerful beings. The small ones contain the ash of the histories of these wars. The souls of the historians are bound within these jars so they cannot be summoned etc.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Now overall this is a fantastic and interesting idea. But it feels more like the kernel of an idea than a fully fleshed out room. As so far we’ve simply provided some background facts or history for what in reality, and more importantly, what the players will immediately experience, is just a room full of clay jars.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">There’s really not much to telegraph the history of these jars or suggest possible avenues of interaction. Yes, I can probably improvise if the players decide to do stuff like cast speak with dead on the ash. But as far as I can tell there’s really nothing about the lay jars that even suggest there’s the ash of important people in them.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Very little of the interesting things about this room is telegraphed to the players. And very little support is given for further implications. It’s all very abstract. Like if a player does cast speak with dead on the ash of the historian, what does the historian look like? What languages do they speak? Will they willingly divulge what they know? Does speaking what they know cause a demon to appear?</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Yeah I can make all this up, and yeah the initial idea is very interesting, but in general the details of the room are written more in a fact based way than a perspective of someone who is seeing the room for the firs time and interacting with shit.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Should I buy this?</b></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Overall I don’t regret buying DBS. I love Patrick Stuart’s work and as frustrating as DBS is, it’s still very imaginative. I also know DBS had a very troubled production history. Multiple things went wrong outside of Patrick Stuart and Scrap Princess’ control and I get the feeling it left them burnt out and probably not making a ton of money off this project. However, I also kind of feel like it unfortunately kind of comes across in the end result.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">The book isn’t necessarily bad, poorly written, or poorly designed, as much as it just simply feels unfinished. If more attention had been paid to the various editing errors, more rooms been polished a bit more, more feedback given to some of the design, I think it could have been a masterpiece. But as it stands now, it’s simply not.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I do truly hope that Patrick Stuart does the other two books in this trilogy. I don’t know if I’d ever run the first as it stands now. It would require a fair amount of prep and I’m not sure if it would be worth the payoff. However, if this adventure did lead into other more polished adventures I could see it being worth it. I also feel like if I had the full arc of the three adventures it would be easier to see what I could tweak and re-arrange and scrap without the whole house coming down.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="color: #404040; font-family: Lora, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Still it’s worth the read. It’s one of the more imaginative things I’ve read all year and does kind of stick in your head.</span></span></p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-725943023962908212023-09-14T18:53:00.002-07:002023-09-14T18:53:38.492-07:00Substack Blog To all those who follow this blog or happen to come across it. I have decided to create a substack account and continue this blog there. It seems to have a much better interface and makes subscribing easy. I've begun subscribing to other substack blogs and enjoy getting their posts emailed to me. To all those who wish to follow me you can do so here:
<a href="https://twilightdreams.substack.com">Twilight Dreams</a>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-30811950431370530272022-02-16T19:13:00.002-08:002022-02-16T19:14:37.540-08:00How to Conduct Research when Worldbuilding<p>I prefer to run my games in a quasi-historical 17th century setting.</p><p>I have read a fair amount about the 17th century in order to try and make my settings more interesting.</p><p>I have also seen a lot of products that use the 17th century as a setting or incorporate historical things into their adventure.</p><p>Some of them are good, in my opinion many of them are not. Well, most often not <i>bad</i>, just not good, just kind of average despite the work that went into them.</p><p>I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how to incorporate research into an adventure, campaign, or setting.</p><p>I think most products that try to incorporate real world research aren't that great because a lot of people approach research the wrong way. I think there are two main things to consider if you want to do some research to incorporate into your setting/adventure/campaign, regardless of what that setting/campaign/adventure is. </p><p>1. What information are you going to present?</p><p>2. How are you going to present this information?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">What information are you going to present</h2><p>You're first goal when deciding to do some research should be to figure out how much you want to do and what information you want to narrow in on.</p><p>One thing I always keep on returning to is this image from the book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6465940-booklife">Booklife by Jeff VanderMeer</a>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/aVXRYjd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="450" height="800" src="https://i.imgur.com/aVXRYjd.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><br /><p>Booklife is a book about writing, traditional story writing. It's an interesting book, and the above picture always stuck in my mind when thinking about RPGs.</p><p>It kind of illustrates how in any given place there is almost an infinite amount of things to know about a place.</p><p>This knowledge is often collected into overlapping abstract frameworks, each framework acting like a 'slice' of understanding. They are, of course, all kind of interconnected, but things are much more manageable when examined slice by slice.</p><p>I think one of the biggest mistakes when doing some research is people research indiscriminately. They'll cast a wide net and try to incorporate as many facts about a place and time into their product as they can.</p><p>I find the best RPG books that involve research don't just present facts. They present systems: slices of in-depth knowledge that the players have to figure out, figure out how the things in the framework are connected, can be manipulated.</p><p>The best example of this I can think of is Veins of the Earth. Based on Patrick Stuart's bibliography he read a lot of stuff about caves and spelunking. He choose to really hone in on this, on what it's like to actually explore an underground cavern system. He picked one system of knowledge, geology, and incorporated it really well into his RPG product. </p><p>I think in this manner it's best to pick 1 or 2 slices of knowledge about a time/place and really use it to highlight what makes that particular time/place interesting. </p><p>If I were to do an ocean going campaign about exploring the south pacific I'd probably do botany and biology, all the flora and fauna the players might encounter, how they can use it, what may harm them, etc. In this case I'd probably have the tribes and peoples there encountering be a little more generic and make the campaign more about mapping and specimen gathering.</p><p>Or I could flip this and have the flora and fauna more generic, more just background, and make anthropology the slice I'm choosing to focus on. Where the Players, if they hope to survive, will have to interact with various native tribes who have unique customs and may or may not be hostile. Where they find themselves on the edge of colliding worldviews. </p><p>Both games could be interesting, deeply so, but I think because they choose to deeply explore a narrow topic. Like an iceberg they present systems the players don't know much about, or have a general conception of, and force them to explore them.</p><p>I don't think the particular system of knowledge matters much as long as you explore it in a deep way. Fashion, crops and bugs, the trade of pottery and glassware, beekeeping, weapons and blacksmithing; they may all seem mundane on the surface but if you present the players with an interesting dynamic historically informed system to explore and manipulate, it'll become interesting as they come up with ideas, try out hypothesis, and deal with the consequences. </p><p>I also think by honing in on just one system of knowledge if helps make the system overall more believable and the game better. To make a setting work you're going to need aspects of it that are generic, that may not be historical accurate, that are just kind of background elements. If you try to have everything too historical or incorporate too much research your game either becomes very dry, or very confusing. By choosing what to focus on and letting all else just recede the game is much more manageable and general themes can emerge. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2>How are you going to present information?</h2><div>Once you've figured out the 1 or 2 topics you want to research and make the game about I think the next step is figuring out how present this information.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>D&D at heart is a conversation. It's how the content is conveyed in the medium of TTRPGs. This conversation most often deals with describing immediate things.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is in contrast to something like literature. It's fine to read a book with long passages with interioralism, where you hear the characters thoughts and feelings. </div><div><br /></div><div>Or in contrast to film which is very visual and can present information in sweeping shots or scenes cut together where space and time don't matter much.</div><div><br /></div><div>But it's harder to convey information about the world or story this way in D&D. D&D happens in real time. In D&D you are trapped to the viewpoint of the characters. There is no cutting away. Additionally, you are trapped to the external reality of the characters. It's generally considered bad form to tell a character what they're thinking or feeling or just tell them what NPCs are thinking or feeling.</div><div><br /></div><div>Most information conveyed to players is going to be conveyed through their immediate reality. To this end I think when you have done some research, or when doing research you have to be continually thinking, how does this manifest physically? </div></div><div><br /></div><div>As it's the most immediate, physical manifestation, that characters will be interacting with. Knowing or getting right the name of the King at the time to me is less important than knowing who the players want to talk to if they want to talk to some representative of the king and how exactly one goes about interacting with the nobility.</div><div><br /></div><div>To this end based on the picture above I think you can present the general layers of knowledge in some of the following ways:</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<colgroup><col width="64*"></col>
<col width="192*"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
Anthropology</p>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm;" width="75%"><p>
Folklore about monsters, common religious rituals, social
attitudes and taboos, etc.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
Archaeology</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="75%"><p>
Material culture, historical sites, architecture, ruins, treasure,
valuable objects, etc.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
Biology</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="75%"><p>
Medicine and healing, farm animals, monsters, etc.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
Botany</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="75%"><p>
Crops and farming, flora in area, seasons and growth, etc.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
Geology</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="75%"><p>
Landscape and travelling, weather, metals and weapons available,
etc.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
Historiology</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="75%"><p>
How history of place is chronicled, how much is known vs how much
has been lost or remains unknown, propaganda vs history, who
determines what is historically important, etc.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
Political Science</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="75%"><p>
Political structures and how to petition the people in them, basis
of political power, how many factions there are, etc.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
Psychology</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="75%"><p>
Common beliefs about the nature of mind/body/soul, common
behaviours, etc.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
Sociology</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="75%"><p>
What drives people in the society, how people are organized,
etiquette, crime and punishment, etc.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><br /></div><div>It can take some practice, and I don't think even the above list is super refined, but learning to really translate a system of abstract knowledge into it's most immediate physical manifestation can be hard at times but I think is key to making a good TTRPG product.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-56429454161300260702022-01-22T15:26:00.002-08:002022-01-22T15:28:18.316-08:00Social Currency in your campaign world<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.dungeonsolvers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/dmxp_067-illo-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="640" height="341" src="https://www.dungeonsolvers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/dmxp_067-illo-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>I've had an idea tumbling around in the back of my head ever since I read Patrick Stuarts <a href="http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2020/05/soft-ass-d.html">post about using food as a means of granting XP instead of gold</a>:<div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">Optional Rule - XP for served food. I strikes me that one diegetic element which serves this softer play in a manner similar to that in which Gold serves standard Old-School play (encouraging ambition, conflict but also lateral thinking and problem solving), is food.</div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">Sharing food with someone, being tolerated in their personal space, talking to them, being invited to share, are all major social milestones.</div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">Kids bloody love food, as any kids series will show (I am also a fan myself). Getting special foods, and especially being *served* special foods, and sharing food and certain drinks, is almost a marker of your integration into local societies and your ability to integrate others.</div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">If the old witch serves you Tea, that’s one point, if you can get her to bake you a cake, that’s another, or provide a feast for the Village, that’s a treasure hoard.</div></div></blockquote><div><div><p>It's kind of percolated into the idea of having a social currency in your campaign/setting world that is different from the hard currency like gold or silver or whatever. Partially as a means to add an interesting dimension to your setting and partially because I think it fits in well with how most player/NPC interaction tends to go where it's transactional.</p><p>Or well in most of my games it tends to be transactional. If the NPC has no reason to not tell the players something I tend to just tell them whatever they want to know. As, the more information the players have the better decisions they can make and the more interesting the game is. I tend to not hide information from players.</p><p>If the NPC does have a good reason for wanting to withhold information, the players usually have to make some kind of deal with the NPC to get it. In a lot of games this tends to end up as vague favors or deals that they owe the NPC. So in this sense there is already an unintentional sense of social currency, the "favor".</p><p>However, I also find that most of the time favors aren't really followed up on and tend to be vague. I think it's much more interesting to define an explicit social currency for your setting. </p><p>This could be something simple like food. Where, as mentioned in the False Machine post, each NPC is a simple village person who has a favorite food. Getting to know people's favorite foods and getting them for them goes a long way to getting them to open up and deal with you. Food in this way functions as a social currency and gives the setting a certain theme and aesthetic. </p><p>But a social currency doesn't have to be food. It could be something like humiliations. Like if you're setting is a high court full of scheming lords and ladies they might want to have nothing to do with you unless you humiliate a rival lord, the more public the better. The players then have to think up a creative way to humiliate a rival NPC and get away with it. Performing humiliations has a social value in the setting and grants it an interesting theme.</p><p>Or if you want to go a more classic route, you could use true names. Where characters or monsters or spirts have a true name. When you discover somethings true name it serves as a bit of a commodity, where you can let others know it in order to gain something you want, perhaps at the risk of betraying the persons whose true name you know.</p><p>Another one could be secrets. Where each NPC has a dark secret and if you find it out and tell other NPCs you can gain their trust. Although I find secrets a bit abstract. I think it's better to try to have something with a bit of tangibility to it.</p><p>Like maybe signet rings or letters of renown which signify official trust? Or handkerchiefs from maidens who have chosen the party as their champions? Or medals? There are a ton of things in the real world that we use to signify things socially to each other. </p><p>Overall by having a defined social currency, maybe even a list of them if it's something like letters of renown, I think can really flavour a campaign and make it interesting. It gives the players something to look out for that they know will give them an edge in social interactions that are transactional in nature. </p><p>I think the most important part is having the social currency recognized as being valuable by more than one NPC. It stops the players from having to do a boring favor for one NPC they want something from and then another favor for the next boring NPC to gain their trust. They can come up with their own schemes and ideas on how to get the social currency and drive the adventure that way and then 'spend' the social currency on whomever they want. </p><p><br /></p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></span></div></div>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-81394129258748647882022-01-11T15:15:00.013-08:002022-01-11T15:21:54.343-08:0017th Century Character Starter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2f/73/3b/2f733b819919767b552024670d851971--knee-length-skirts-male-clothing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="400" height="594" src="https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2f/73/3b/2f733b819919767b552024670d851971--knee-length-skirts-male-clothing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>So I've decided to start a new campaign. I like to run my campaigns in a quasi-historical earth set in the 17th century. Kind of low magic, gritty at times, a sense of pitiful or pathetic characters who are trying to get by, rather than heroes.</p><p>It includes things like:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Random nationality chart including sample names.</li><li>Comprehensive system to handle languages.</li><li>A way to generate the base 6 stats that creates an interesting backstory at the same time (based off of 5 Torches Deep Origins).</li><li>Some starting equipment packages by class.</li><li>A list of 117 interesting starting items to roll on in addition to basic starting equipment. This list was largely taken from (http://udan-adan.blogspot.com/2018/02/when-all-you-have-is-hammer-item-based.html). The items in it are non-magical items meant to help in out of the box problem solving.</li></ul><p></p><p>You can view it all here:</p><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YD565KW862IdoNdNEaQoc8SF9UwkkwF/view">https://drive.google.com/file/d/14YD565KW862IdoNdNEaQoc8SF9UwkkwF/view</a><br /></p><p>I've put everything in the PDF as it is way easier to display that way rather than copy-pasting it all into my blog which tends to format all the tables wrong anyways. But you can view a sampling of some of the tables the PDF contains:</p><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Nationality</h2>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<colgroup><col width="8*"></col>
<col width="24*"></col>
<col width="22*"></col>
<col width="21*"></col>
<col width="58*"></col>
<col width="64*"></col>
<col width="60*"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr>
<td colspan="7" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm;" valign="top" width="100%"><p align="center">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(Continued from above)</b></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="3%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">7</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Holy Roman Empire</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Austrian or Prussian or
Bavarian </span>
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">German</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Adam, Benke, Eggerd,
Ewald, Hans, Heinz, Hermann, Jakob, Johann, Kurt, Lutke, Mathias,
Michael, Thomas, Volrad, Wulff </span>
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Angnes, Beatrix, Clare,
Dorothea, Elsebeth, Engel, Fye, Katherina, Margarete, Gretel,
Martha, Ursula, Walpurg</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Asch, Bärendorf,
Blumberg, Dietrich, Dürnbach, Faust, Frankenhamer, Gottschau,
Hart, Kelheim, Leipzig, Martin, Raun, Schlaggenwald, Stein,
Wildstein </span>
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="3%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">8</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Mugal Empire</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Indian </span>
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Persian or Hindi</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Aamir, Abhay, Adnan, Ajit,
Ashwin, Asim, Beibek, Chandan, Darshan, Deepak, Farrukh, Gohar,
Haroon, Jagdish, Kavi, Mandeep, Nadeem, Naveen, Pardeep, Raja,
Sandip, Sujay, Vasu, Vivek</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Aarthi, Anisha, Chandra,
Diksha, Gita, Hira, Indrani, Jayanti, Kala, Kasi, Leela, Mitra,
Nilima, Rina, Sadia, Shanta, Sona, Tara, Zarina</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Atwal, Babu, Balay,
Chatterjee, Johal, Kapoor, Kumar, Madan, Raval, Saraf, Shetty,
Walia</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="3%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">9</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Principality of
Transylvania</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Transylvanian </span>
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Romanian or Hungarian </span>
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Anton, Apostol, Cezar,
Cosmin, Costache, Dacian, Darius, Dorin, Fane, Filip, Florin,
Grigore, Ivan, Leonard, Mihai, Sebastian, Stan, Valerian, Vlad</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Adriana, Amalia, Anca,
Bogdana, Cecilia, Corina, Emanuela, Lavinia, Magda, Monica,
Rodica, Sofia, Violeta</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Adam, Alexandrescu, Barbu,
Cojocaru, David, Fischer, Gheata, Grosu, Hofer, Ion, Lupu, Matei,
Muller, Popa, Zamfir</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="3%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">10</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Maritime Republic of
Venice, or Genoa, or Ragusa</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Venetian, Genoan, or
Ragusan.</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Italian or Croatian </span>
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Achille, Alberto, Amore,
Battista, Bernardo, Carlo, Cleto, Dino, Enzo, Fabio, Franco,
Giacomo, Giovanni, Giuseppe, Leone, Nero, Omar, Peppi, Roberto,
Teo</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Agata, Ambra, Ave, Celeste,
Concetta, Diana, Dina, Elvira, Felicita, Flora, Gisella, Leonara,
Lisa, Luna, Orietta, Rina, Rosanna, Silvia, Teresa, Vita</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Accardi, Ajello, Barone,
Bianco, Bruno, Costa, De Luca, DeVille, Fabbri, Fontana,
Guiluliani, Longo, Marino, Pepe, Sartori, Vinci</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="3%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">11</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Kingdom of France</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">French</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">French</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Adrian, Baptiste, Benoit,
Claude, François, Frédéric, Guillaume, Hubert, Jacques,
Jean, Martin, Pierre, Philippe, Simon, Valentin</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Aimée, Ambroise,
Béatrix, Catherine, Colette, Dauphine, Éloise, Hélène,
Jacqueline, Judith, Louise, Madeleine, Olive, Rachel, Rose,
Robine, Yolande, </span>
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bascon, Bertrand,
Boucher, Chevalier, d'Aigneville, de Bessay, de Champanges,
de Fumechon, de Lagny-sur-Marne, Dumont, Dupré, Gasteau,
Martin, Pichon, Rousselle, Thiboust</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="3%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">12</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ottoman Empire</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="9%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ottoman </span>
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Greek or Arabic or Turkish
or Persian </span>
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Abd al-Aziz, Abdul, Alekos,
Abu Bakr, Akram, Anwar, Asif, Bassam, Fareed, Gamil, Hamid,
Jaffar, Kareem, Mehmed, Noor, Omar, Kara, Raheem, Saeed, Wael</span></p>
<p><br />
</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alekos, Angelos, Costas,
Giannis, Lazaros, Nikos, Silas, Stavros, Stephanos, Thomas</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="25%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Adila, Aya, Farah, Fatima,
Hadya, Jameela, Latifah, Raja, Safiya, Waheeda, Yara, Yasmin,
Zakiah, </span>
</p>
<p><br />
</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Angela, Domna, Eleonora,
Evi, Fotini, Ioanna, Kilo, Olympia, </span>
</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sophia, Tasia, Thalia,
Zoi</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="23%"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ahmad, Ali, Ayad, Burhan,
Darwish, Faez, Habib, Hakim, Hussein, Jabal, Kazem, Maamoun,
Taleb, Zaman</span></p>
<p><br />
</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alexopoulos, Artino,
Cirillo, Drakos, Hatzi, Kazan, Leos, Lykaios, Nephus, Othonos,
Tsitak</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 class="western"></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;">Lifepaths</h2><p></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Each character starts off with 8 in each ability score. Then they
make three lifepath rolls to determine their past history which
modifies their ability scores accordingly. Each lifepath roll beyond
three forces a roll on the Misfortune table. Players can roll a
maximum of five times.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Lifepath Rolls:</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Drive + Early Life</li><li>Drive + Failed Career</li><li>Drive + Fallen in With</li></ul><p></p><h2><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 423px;">
<colgroup><col width="32"></col>
<col width="245"></col>
<col width="120"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<b>1d6</b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<b>What drove you onward...</b></p>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm;" width="120"><p>
<b>Modifier</b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
1</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
Salvation and Redemption
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="120"><p>
+2 WIS, +1 CON,
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
2</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
Love and Passion
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="120"><p>
+2 CON, +1 CHA</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
3</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
Restlessness and Curiosity</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="120"><p>
+2 DEX, +1 INT</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
4</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
Boredom and Apathy</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="120"><p>
+2 INT, +1 STR
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
5</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
Misery and Suffering</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="120"><p>
+2 STR, +1 WIS</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
6</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
Ambition and Delusions of Grandeur</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="120"><p>
+2 CHA, +1 DEX
</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 363px;">
<colgroup><col width="32"></col>
<col width="245"></col>
<col width="60"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr>
<td colspan="3" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm;" valign="top" width="353"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Early Life</b></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1d12</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Description</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Modifier</b></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Militaristic</b>: coming
from a long line of men who have served, you grew up playing with
toy soldiers and hearing stories of war. You longed for the day
when you could serve gallantly and bring honour to your family.</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 STR</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">2</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Itinerant</b>: you grew
up with your family living in a wagon, trading items here and
there, your father doing odd jobs where he could find them.
Whether because of persecution, or the call of the open road, your
family lived in many places and spoke many languages.</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 CHA</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">3</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Servant</b>: your mother
was a scullery maid, your father unknown. You grew up in servants
halls of your employer. Working for them just as your mother did,
always seen, never heard, until you decided enough was enough.</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 DEX</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">4</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Seafaring: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">you
grew up on a small town or village on the coast. The open sea
called to you every morning and the gulls awoke you. Songs were
sung as the catch of the day was delivered and all eyed the ocean
carefully when storms rolled in.</span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 DEX</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">5</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Agricultural</b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">:
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">you grew up in one
of the many small agricultural villages that dot </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">the
land</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">. One of many
brothers and sisters, you worked the farm and life was hard. Life
was dictated by the seasons, both spiritual and earthly, a time
and place for everything.</span></p>
<p><br />
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 WIS</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">6</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Nomadic: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">you
grew up taking care of your families herds. Moving with the
seasons, you brought them to graze upon the open grasslands in the
summer and sheltered in the forested vales in the winter.</span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 CON</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">7</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Nobility: </b>once upon
a time you had it all. You lived in an ancestral hall with a
silver spoon in your mouth. Then one day it was gone, the rest of
your family killed.</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 CHA</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">8</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Religious Urban: y</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">ou
grew up cloistered in a tight knit religious community. You
attended religious schools and celebrated religious holidays with
your community. At times persecuted, the pain of one was shared by
all within the community.</span></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 INT</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">9</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Mountain Folk</b>: you
are from the mountains and the proud folk that fill them.
Forestry, mining, it doesn't matter, you learned much from the
hard but friendly folk that you grew up among.</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 STR</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">10</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Town</b>: you grew up in
a tall house in town. Your father was a tradesman and your life
was filled with the teachings and gossip of the town.</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 INT</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">11</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Impoverished</b>: you
grew up in the streets of a big stinking city. Wild dogs your only
friends, cats your competitors, other orphans your comrades.</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 CON </span>
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="57" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">12</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="245"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Pastoral</b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">:
you took care of your family's flocks, letting them graze upon the
hilly meadows in your youth. Long hours you spent guiding them,
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">watching life slowly
move by</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="60"><p>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">+2 WIS</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>
<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 363px;">
<colgroup><col width="32"></col>
<col width="242"></col>
<col width="63"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr>
<td colspan="3" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm;" valign="top" width="353"><div><span style="color: black;"><b>Fallen in with...</b></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
1d12</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div><b>Description</b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div><b>Change</b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
1</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div>
Musketeers of the Guard
</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 STR</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
2</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div>
Conspiracy of the Black Hand</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 DEX</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
3</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div>
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 INT</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
4</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div style="font-weight: normal;">
East India Trading Company</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 DEX</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
5</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div>
Church of Starry Wisdom
</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 WIS</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
6</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Merry
Mountaineers</span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 CON</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
7</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div><span style="color: black;">The Butterfly Troupe</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 CHA</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
8</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Cult</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
of Diana</span></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 CHA</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
9</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div>
Veterans of The Thirty Years' War</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 STR</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
10</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div>
Grand Freemason Lodge of Scotland</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 INT</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
11</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div>
Northern Outfitters</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 CON
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="32"><div>
12</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="242"><div><span style="color: black;">Society of Jesus, The Jesuits</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><div>
+2 WIS</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></h2><h2>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p><br /></h2>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-74589510365089745872021-07-15T14:36:00.000-07:002021-07-15T14:36:18.957-07:00Organizing RPG rules by timescale<p>Over the past couple weeks I've been working on my homebrew rules (basically a combination of Whitehack plus a half dozen other OSR sources). If you've been following this blog you've likely noticed this a bit as I've posted various ideas and and impressions of rulesets that I've read and house rules of my own.</p><p>I began writing out my thoughts on the importance of danger, time, and resources in a bit of an introduction to OSR style play:</p><blockquote><p></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While a RPG game can have many settings, and evoke many different
narratives, this ruleset seeks to evoke the importance of danger,
time, and resources, as the interplay of these three things help
create dramatic tension.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Danger</b>: Let us begin
with danger. It is the most obvious factor in play. Danger comes in
many forms and tends to add tension and consequences to action. Real
and unpredictable danger is what makes an RPG session more than just a
session of improvisational drama or comedy.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Time</b>: Time is
important. Time can only ever be expended, never truly be recovered
by the players. The passage of time is the Referee’s greatest tool
in bringing alive the world around the players, in showing the
players that their actions have consequences and creating a
meaningful game.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Resources</b>: The
players have resources. These range from items to abilities to
contacts in the world to knowledge about the world. Resources are used by the players to interact with the world, circumvent danger, and come
up with novel solutions to problems.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">These three things
are not interesting by themselves, no one likes a game that's all
about micromanaging your inventory. But it's because the interesting
bits (narrative milieu, setting, npc characters, mysterious
locations, etc.) aren't conveyed through the rules. Instead the view
of this ruleset is that the rules act to structure interaction with
these interesting bits. These interesting bits are built through play
and a setting shared by the players and GM.</p><br /><p></p></blockquote><p> None of this is particularly new. But it did get me thinking about things and how rules are structured. For example if you open up most RPGs and look at the table of contents:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNpEhpPikLBWf0nLgS4B2nRvDjJ6XYrn9-8aSV8JG06-MJ1npuyzAPQXjh6bmAfdMteRAjZX91ej82s0Gq7HwDynBM_vcmBLdq_puQRXVsOFq7xuhIJyAZnXphY0jz9i6L9WPTsY1Uvr0G/s1101/image_2021-07-06_215450.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="765" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNpEhpPikLBWf0nLgS4B2nRvDjJ6XYrn9-8aSV8JG06-MJ1npuyzAPQXjh6bmAfdMteRAjZX91ej82s0Gq7HwDynBM_vcmBLdq_puQRXVsOFq7xuhIJyAZnXphY0jz9i6L9WPTsY1Uvr0G/w445-h640/image_2021-07-06_215450.png" width="445" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtOzEToOStKtBL2Z9w3CflnlKH2kEEGLNV4emufit99bfhHkfxlKLnS5CWdWMbx5BNwbvYJJyBJBTgrtL2v1O-ZriCGc6rr7HLvxMPOOn0DMTZLTwjWKrmnEWlORzcrdKbPFetWhyphenhyphenHCHg3/s1100/image_2021-07-06_215719.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="796" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtOzEToOStKtBL2Z9w3CflnlKH2kEEGLNV4emufit99bfhHkfxlKLnS5CWdWMbx5BNwbvYJJyBJBTgrtL2v1O-ZriCGc6rr7HLvxMPOOn0DMTZLTwjWKrmnEWlORzcrdKbPFetWhyphenhyphenHCHg3/w290-h400/image_2021-07-06_215719.png" width="290" /></a></div><br /><p>They tend to be pretty similar regardless of the edition or game. You have a section on character creation, a section on combat, a section on magic and spells, a section on items, a section on special conditions like drowning, fire damage etc. And if you're lucky you'll have a section on other game procedures besides combat like exploring. </p><p>Overall most RPG books tend to organize their contents by <i>category</i>. While this makes sense for other types of books I feel like it can end up making RPG books more confusing and dense in some ways. I think the OSR is partially a reaction to this where a lot of how the game was played traditionally isn't covered in the rules, and a lot of original OSR blogging was about different modes or styles of play that weren't covered in your standard ruleset (like hexcrawls). </p><p>As stated above I view the rules as sets of instructions which provide a structure for the players to interact with the setting and the things they find in it. In other words, a set of <i>procedures</i>. This idea isn't particularly new and another big point of the OSR.</p><p>However, for any given situation in the game there are different sets of instructions (often termed mechanics) which you could use to resolve interaction. For example take a chase. You could resolve it by simply flipping a coin. Heads the players get away, tails, the enemy catches up to them. Conversely you could resolve the interaction through a play-by-play of the players and Referee taking turns describing and resolving what they do and rolling dice. Like the players attempt to topple an apple cart to block the enemies. One of the players rolls and is successful and so the apple cart is toppled. The enemies roll to jump over the cart, etc.</p><p>The difference between these two procedures to resolve the players interaction with the world is their level of abstraction. Flipping a coin is resolving things with a high degree of abstraction. Doing a play-by-play resolves things in a low level of abstraction. I think neither is inherently better than the other, it depends on what kind of game you want to play. </p><p>However, I think it's important to note of that what is being abstracted is <i>time</i>. That whatever set of rules, whatever procedure you make up or choose to resolve a player interaction with the world, it is going to abstract time in a certain way. Furthermore, you are probably going to want to abstract interaction in varying degrees. A game that resolved everything with a flip of the coin probably wouldn't be very fun to play. Neither would a game that tried to resolve everything in a very complex play-by-play with tons of dice rolling for every little action.</p><p>In this manner I don't see the rules in a game as an almost abstract mathematical modeling of the world where you're attempting to come up with a set of attributes or rolls or mechanics or whatever that you can use to model everything in how an imagined world works. </p><p>Instead I see the rules as a set of compartmentalized procedures that exist like a set of Russian nesting dolls where each describes a different level of interaction. Once I started viewing rules this way I thought, hey, instead of organizing an RPGs contents by <i>category </i>I think they should be organized by <i>time </i><i>abstraction </i>essentially by timescale<i>. </i>It just seems much more intuitive for me.</p><p>For example, I think there are about 5 different timescales used in most OSR games:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Timescale - Characters:</b> This section has the static rules that represent the game world where time is not a factor mainly basic character creation and dice mechanics.</li><li><b>Timescale - Encounters:</b> In this section time is generally measured in seconds to minutes and called an encounter. In an encounter there is often an adversary that will react quickly to the players and whom they have to react quickly to. Time is of the essence. Danger is often fraught!</li><li><b>Timescale - Exploration:</b> In this section time is generally measured in hours. The players are most often engaged in exploring a location that is not immediately hostile, generally room by room or area by area.</li><li><b>Timescale - Traveling:</b> In this section, time is measured in days where the players are traveling over great distances. Most of the day is assumed to be spent in the drudgery of travel with the chance to come across something interesting, along with certain time taken up having to do important logistical tasks related to travelling.</li><li><b>Timescale - Seasons:</b> In this section time is generally measured in months and represented by seasons where the players have decided to spend an extended period of time in a (hopefully) safe and civilized location.</li></ol><div>Now, I don't think any of these concepts or the procedures in these various sections are new. But I do think organizing and thinking about RPGs in this manner is. I don't think I've come across a rulebook or RPG that really organized itself in this way or to this degree.</div><div><br /></div><div>I find organizing rules this way makes them much easier to understand and reference at the table. The referee just has to think, what are we doing? At what pace are things happening? If danger is present and things are happening fast, then I should probably look for rules within the Encounters section. If they're really slow with little danger present, probably in the Season section.</div><div><br /></div><div>I find thinking about rules this way also really helps to find what level to abstract things to when making new procedures. Like take my chase example from above. Imagine a typical chase from a movie. Running through a market square. Stuff is happening pretty fast. You'll probably want to resolve things on the Encounter level of abstraction. It seems to naturally fit there. </div><div><br /></div><div>But also, what about more long distance chases? Like the party see's a group of enemies on the horizon and they begin to chase them? Well, that's a different level of abstracted time that seems to fit in with traveling. You may need some procedures there also. Maybe call it pursuits instead of chases as it better describes the situation. Maybe a "chase" can even lead to a "pursuit" where the Referee is able to seamlessly switch from different levels of abstraction. If the players escape the bad guys in the market square and get out of the city, they find themselves being pursued across the dusty plain. You as the Referee can switch from the one scene to the other, switch from the one set of procedures to another.</div><div><br /></div><div>Additionally, by grouping your procedures based on the level of abstracted time, you're able to come up with some core mechanics for that level of abstracted time. For example in Encounters to me one of the core mechanics is having an initiative order. Where things are happening fast. Who goes before who and does what is really important because actions are resolved in sections. </div><div><br /></div><div>So if I were making chase rules for this level of abstraction I'd probably include an initiative order. Where while the party is running as a group, they all have to make some kind of attribute roll in order to outrun whomever is chasing them. If a person fails, they begin to stumble a bit and lag behind. The next person in the initiative order has a decision. Do they try and grab whomever is lagging and help them to their feet and run faster? Do they try and create a distraction by toppling that apple cart? Do they turn and fire an arrow at an enemy and hope that causes some commotion? </div><div><br /></div><div>Likewise, if I were to make a set of procedures for pursuits I'd probably use the the core mechanic for that level of abstracted time. Mainly, by using a hexmap for travelling and the concept of a watch. Where each watch represents eight hours. Where the players have to decide, do we try to march faster and cover more ground than we normally could in 8 hours? Do we explore the hex we're in and try to setup an ambush or just hide? Do we try to go slower but conceal our trail? Where are we going? Which route should we choose on the hexmap? What do we want to spend our 8 hour watches doing?</div><div><br /></div><div>If you have a couple really good core mechanics or procedures for each level of abstraction, it becomes pretty easy to modify or interpret them to handle new interactions and situations in the world. Oftentimes the hardest part is picking the the level of time abstraction that feels right, a task made much easier and more intuitive if the rules themselves are arranged by order of time abstraction.</div><div><br /></div><div>In conclusion, ever since I had this little revelation about organizing RPG rules this way I've been revising my house rules in this format. It's been a bit slow going and is tedious at times. I don't think anything that I've talked about is particularly new in the OSR scene but I have found in re-organizing my house rules like this has forced me to fill in a lot of gaps. </div><div><br /></div><div>As mentioned before I'm using Whitehack 3rd edition as the base for my homebrew ruleset. When I'm done writing it up I'll probably post it here on my blog for all to read. I don't think I would ever publish it or have ambitions to that end. I've stolen waaaaay to many mechanics and rules and things from various OSR systems to feel comfortable publishing it. </div><p></p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-29463102994976457002021-07-07T14:51:00.000-07:002021-07-07T14:51:35.898-07:00Decolonizing Your OSR Game<p>So the issue of whether or not D&D is racist and/or colonialist with overtones of 80s American capitalism seemed to have reared it's head again as it seems to every couple of months.</p><p>I'm not going to write about these views in particular. <a href="https://feartheswarth.wordpress.com/2020/02/28/the-truth-of-colonialism-in-dd/">Other people have written about them in better ways than I could at length</a>.</p><p>I always find myself feeling like a middle child when this topic comes up, kind of stuck between my older sibling (hardcore TSR oldschool grognards) and my younger sibling (5th edition fanboy's) as they argue vehemently all over twitter while I just kind of stand to the side ignored by mom and dad.</p><p>I do think there are some problematic themes in D&D. But I don't think the issue is as polarized as this topic is often treated and talked about. Where either you run your table with all the problematic content in it's 80s glory, or you remove anything that could be seen as problematic to anyone and run a game that begins to not resemble D&D much anymore and is firmly family friendly.</p><p>I don't think the issue is so stark and there are multiple ways to decolonize your game and keep it interesting. In fact, some of these things I (and I think the OSR sphere) have been doing for a while and have been doing so not for any particularly 'woke' reasons (at least not initially) but because they lead to a much more interesting game.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>1. Use the Early Modern Period as Inspiration instead of the Medieval Period or Tolkienesque Fantasy</b></p><p>I know this is kind of a general point but I find a very useful one. In terms of the general level of technology and political/cultural organization that goes on in most D&D settings and games, it more closely resembles the Early Modern Period (approximately 1400 or 1500 to 1800). </p><p>It's kind of the sweet spot. You have individualism becoming a thing, the printing press and rising literacy, the beginnings of capitalism, the beginnings of scientific investigation, and the rise of the nation state. </p><p>Anything earlier and it's really hard to understand the thinking and perspective of the people who lived back then. Anything later and technological development begins to change things so much it wouldn't really be D&D.</p><p>It may seem weird to suggest this time period to <i>decolonize </i>your game as it's kind of when colonization was happening and the slave trade was in full swing.</p><p>But I find reading up on actual history of this era really forces you to discard general romanticized ideas it, of both the oppressor and oppressed that are often formed after colonization happens. It also gives you an idea of how and why colonization happened and who benefited. And it often gives you gives you insight into what these colonized societies were actually like before they were colonized, (as pre-contact history of colonized places can be fragmented). </p><p>If you're going to play a game set in the past with multiple cultures, being knowledgeable on how colonialism happens and what leads to colonialism, can help you portray the setting in a way that's sensitive and multifaceted rather than pretending that colonization as a form of conflict simply doesn't exist or is a simple affair.</p><p>Knowing how and why colonialism happened also helps with coming up with reasonings as to why conflict between nations and cultures is not taking the form of overt colonialism and racism. If you know what societal structures, institutions, and forces lead to colonialism, then you can probably come up with societal structures, institutions, and forces in your game that prevent it. I don't think colonialism and racism are inevitable, but a certain degree of conflict, posturing, and cultural misunderstanding is. </p><p>I tend to take this approach in my games. I don't like to have any systemic colonialism or racism in my games. But I do like to have multiple cultures and nations and am not going to pretend like racism and colonialism is not an inclination of humankind and that individual cultural conflict can't be handled in a way that creates interesting and engaging situations and stories.</p><p>Like, do we really want to help or sign on with these pirates? They were all once captives themselves and half were refugees, but they do seem to like to raid costal villages of an unfriendly nation a lot.</p><p>Or, this trading company has opened an office in this foreign city. The two cultures get along okay, and exchange needed goods, but there's been cultural misunderstandings and conflicts in the past. Do we want to side with one over the other? Do we want to even get involved? Which cultures is better? Can one culture be better?</p><p><br /></p><p><b>2. Get rid of evil humanoid races and just have humans</b></p><p>One common criticism of how D&D may be racist is it's depiction of evil humanoid races as inherently evil who, depending on what art of what edition you're looking at, may resemble people of colour. </p><p>It's part of the whole Civilization vs Wilderness theme in D&D where the 'civilized' cultures are generally modelled after European ones and the 'wilderness' cultures are modelled after indigenous or nomadic cultures.</p><p>A great solution I find to this is just replace them all with humans. Humans are pretty good at being awful to each other. Banditry and groups of people living outside the law were also very common in the early modern era. Simply replace all your generic bad guy humanoids with actual humans. You don't need to have an actual untamed wilderness to have dangerous people about. Bandits in the countryside kind of ensure that even in the middle of a settled, western European nation state, you can still have an area without a lot of law and order.</p><p>As an added twist you can vary encounters with them to make some of them morally gray. Like are these bandits bandits because they were farmers and their crops failed and they need a new way to feed themselves? Or are they ex-soldiers who don't give a fuck commanded by a sadist who genuinely loves his job? </p><p>Also, by having humans as your generic enemy with interesting motivations it makes the actual monsters and strange creatures more strange and interesting in comparison.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>3. Have starting cultural backgrounds instead of races or ethnicities</b></p><p>A lot of games will let you play as other races with racial traits or abilities. Some games which tend to use humans more will let you pick a starting ethnicity.</p><p>I tend to just let players roll a local starting culture for their character instead. This local culture represents experiences a character has had and communities that they have been part of that have granted knowledge about a particular place, way of life, and social class. Culture tends to be the main thing which ideals, attitudes, and practices are transmitted from human to human anyways. More so than race or ethnicity. This stuff isn't genetic after all.</p><p>I tend to opt more for a local culture that is reflective of a certain lifestyle in a certain geographic place than one defined by a nation state. While the idea of a nation state was forming during the early modern period it was still all somewhat ambiguous. People probably identified first and foremost with the local village and lifestyle they were from and then larger more collective things like the nation state they found themselves part of. </p><p>I use this chart and let my players pick their nationality after based on what area of the world the game is set in:</p><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<colgroup><col width="20*"></col>
<col width="53*"></col>
<col width="183*"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
1d12</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Name</p>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
Description</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
1</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Agricultural</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
You grew up in one of the many small agricultural villages that
dot most landscapes. One of many brothers and sisters, you worked
the farm and life was hard. Life was dictated by the seasons, both
spiritual and earthly, a time and place for everything.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
2</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Nomadic</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
You grew up taking care of your families herds. Moving with the
seasons you brought them to graze upon the open grasslands in the
summer and sheltered in the forested vales in the winter.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
3</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Itinerant</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
You grew up with your family living in a wagon, trading items here
and there, your father doing odd jobs where he could find them.
Whether because of persecution or the call of the open road, your
family lived in many places and spoke many languages.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
4</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Religious Urban</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
You grew up cloistered in a tight knit urban religious community.
You attended religious schools and celebrated religious holidays
with your community. At times persecuted, the pain of one was
shared by all within the community.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
5</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Seafaring</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
you grew up on a small town or village on the coast. The open sea
called to you every morning and the gulls awoke you. Songs were
sung as the catch of the day was delivered and all eyed the ocean
carefully when storms rolled in. Some people in the village would even go on fishing expeditions that lasted months or even years.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
6</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Nobility</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
Once upon a time you had it all. You lived in an ancestral hall
with a silver spoon in your mouth. Then one day it was gone, the
rest of your family killed by your uncle.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
7</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>Free Town</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
You grew up in a tall house in town. Your father was a tradesman
and your life was filled with the gossip of the town. It was a small but industrious community, proud of it's work and civic ethos.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
8</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Impoverished</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>You grew up in the streets of a big filthy city. Wild dogs your
only friends, cats your competitors, other orphans your comrades.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
9</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Servant</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
Your mother was a scullery maid, your father unknown. You grew up
in the servants halls of your employer. Working for them just as your
mother did until you decided enough was enough.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
10</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Mountain Folk</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
You are from the mountains and of the proud folk that fill them.
Forestry, mining, it doesn't matter, you learned much from the
hard but friendly folk that you grew up among. You can drink almost anyone under the table.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
11</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Pastoral</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
You took care of your family's flocks, letting them graze upon the
hilly meadows in your youth. Long hours you spent guiding them,
making sure none got lost. Most of the time spent outdoors you learned how to navigate and survive in the rocky landscape.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="8%"><p>
12</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="21%"><p>
Militaristic</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="72%"><p>
Coming from a long line of men who have served, you grew up
playing with toy soldiers and hearing stories of war. You longed
for the day when you could serve gallantly and bring honour to
your family.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><p>So if the game was located primarily in Western Europe and two characters rolled a 6 one might be a minor ex-noble from Lyon, France while another might be a minor noble from Genoa, Italy. They've have insight into local intrigue and would probably have more common understanding with each other than a pastoral goatherd from the French Alps even though the two French characters are from the same nation state. </p><p>I find this creates more flexible and interesting backgrounds than race. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>4. Have your world be post-apocalyptic</b></p><p>In most OSR games the players are delving into ruins and looting treasure. At heart this is somewhat problematic as that treasure probably belonged to someone. While this is a core part of OSR games I think it you can make your games a lot less problematic if you make the culture the treasure comes from long dead culture. </p><p>While characters are still looting treasure (they aren't exactly conducting archeological excavations) it's generally a little less problematic if the people they are looting it from has no real living descendants or cultural connection. </p><p>It's also less problematic if the culture is some weird culture like the dungeon was built by an alien culture from the stars on a windswept isle. Or a bunch of giants made from living stone living deep within the mountains dug out the dungeon and then abandoned it.</p><p>And less problematic if the culture was kind of evil, like the strange religious cult that inhabited the dungeon practiced human sacrifice and used to raid others.</p><p>These aren't perfect solutions but I find most players are willing to accept them.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>5. Have no land be truly uninhabited</b></p><p>Humanity has pretty much spread all over the globe and lived in just about every type of geography you can find. I'm not talking about modern times, I'm talking about pretty much the last couple thousand years. While population density may vary greatly, there are very few parts of the earth that have ever truly been unclaimed. No matter how few people there are living in a place, no matter how spread out they are, generally someone will consider every part of the earth their home and belonging to them. </p><p>This may make it seem like it's hard to have wilderness but it kind of feeds into making the world post-apocalyptic. If every part of the earth has had humans living on it and considering it their home, as time goes on and cultures drift and conflict happens, you're going to end up with tons and tons of ruins and remnants of these old cultures, regardless of how few people live in the region currently. </p><p>Indigenous peoples in an area should be seen as more than just obstacles or potential conflict. They are the ones who best know how to live in and navigate the geography. They are the ones who probably know where the ancient ruins are that the players are most interested in and what is dangerous about them. </p><p>If you read the accounts of expeditions of early explorers, most times they survive purely by the help or advice of the natives. Navigation and exploration of an area should be very, very, difficult for the players if they don't get to know the local indigenous people and their culture. Doing so can create a lot of interesting gameplay. Like how do they feel about the ancient culture that built the ruins? Do they see the treasure as a resource to be exploited or lost technology to be regained? Something to be protected as a heritage treasure? Something that can help them understand their forgotten past? A painful reminder of the past? Do they actively re-use parts of these ruins (stone from ruins used to build present day buildings etc.)? </p><p>Additionally, frontiers tend to from not because a land is empty wilderness but because it's the rough geography and mutable borderlands in-between two, often competing, cultures. They tend to be full of competing factions and interests and ripe for adventure as the two competing cultures press up against each other. Instead of having a civilization vs wilderness setup, make it a borderlands. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>6. Keep the weird things relatively uncommon and very weird</b></p><p>This is another big one. Have a firm distinction between your weird or strange elements and your recognizable more normal elements.</p><p>I personally hate the overall trend that seems to be present in most WOTC materials to normalize the fantastic or weird elements in fantasy in order to present a setting that seems well thought out where fantastic things are part of daily life. This is both present in low magic stuff like the Forgotten Realms and high magic stuff like Eberron.<span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-size: 14px;"> </span></p><p>In my settings people are aware that there are weird things in the world. They're aware that occult magic is real and exists. That strange creatures can be found in certain area's. That there is much unknown about the world. But is the average peasant really exposed to all this? No, probably not. In the early modern era people rarely travelled more than 30 miles from their village. While weird things exist, it's really not part of the daily lives of most people and most people in my setting are fine with that. They avoid the weird because it's dangerous and likely to kill them.</p><p>I find integrating the fantastic elements of the setting into the daily lives of the people to much makes the interesting parts of the setting way less interesting and tends to open itself to problems. If you want to try to explain everything about your weird elements and have everything logically congruent you're going to have to fill in a lot of 'gaps'. When you fill in gaps you tend to draw upon what you know about the normal real world to make it feel realistic. This creates real world analogues. The more you do this the more you open yourself up to interpretation that these fantasy elements represent real world things and thus comparison to these real world things.</p><p>The easiest thing I find is to just draw on and use actual history for the normal stuff in your game and keep your weird stuff very, very weird, at times without much of an explanation to the players. The weird stuff just <i>is</i>. </p><p>I find the work the OSR is doing to make the weird things weird again has, whether it intentional or not, helped decolonize D&D and remove problematic elements in some ways more than the work WOTC is doing by simply rewording references or removing material.</p><p>Patrick Stuarts <a href="http://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2014/03/black-glass.html">conception of what the Drow could truly be like and how strong their hate could be</a> to me does more to remove a lot of problematic elements from the Drow, more than anything WOTC has done. Where after reading his description of them it's pretty clear they aren't just dark skinned BDSM themed matriarchal goth elves. They are something different, something that feels beyond the human range of emotion, of expression, of thought. Something that feels alien because it's so irrationally extreme.</p><p></p><p><br /></p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-59943078946381091612021-06-30T16:15:00.007-07:002021-06-30T16:15:55.070-07:00Experience Points for Different Modes of Play<p>This <a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/2021/06/experience-points-should-encourage-risk.html">a follow up for my other post</a> thinking about experience points and design considerations about them. In this post I will try to use those guidelines to come up with some solutions.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Experience Points for Different Modes of Play</h2><div>In my previous post I talked a bit about how there are different modes of play in most OSR games and that XP for treasure only really rewards dungeon crawling. This is great if your players are mostly dungeon crawling. Such as exploring a megadungeon and only really going back to town at the end of the session, mainly to sell and buy stuff. It's not so great if your players are doing other things like hexcrawling which is supposed to be an activity in of itself and not just something you do to get to the dungeon to dungeoncrawl.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think for each major activity of play you need a different way to gain experience points. It's why I think a lot of OSR blogs develop experience point rewards for exploration. However, I also try to want to satisfy the other main guidelines I created:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. XP rewards should not be given for something the players will already do</div><div>2. XP rewards should encourage risk</div><div>3. XP should be given at the end of a session</div><div><br /></div><div>You can read my reasoning for these guidelines in my previous post.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Three Main Activities of Play</b></h2><div>The main modes of play that I would want to grant XP for in my games are:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. <b>Dungeon Crawling:</b> composed of encounters and exploration of rooms.</div><div>2. <b>Hexcrawling:</b> composed mostly of traveling about the map.</div><div>3. <b>Investigating something big in the setting:</b> composed of seeking out answers for various aspects of the setting.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are arguably other major activities of play. Such as spending time in town buying and selling items. But I wouldn't grant XP for engaging in such things as players are likely to do them anyways and they contain very little risk. XP should be used to encourage player risk, and given as a reward for players successfully taking a risk. Dungeon Crawling and Hexcrawling definitely involve lots of danger and risk. Investigating knowledge, not as much, it's a bit more dependent, but I think there are some cases where there is genuine risk. I'll explore that more when I come to that activity.</div><div><br /></div><div><h2><b>XP in Dungeon Crawling</b></h2></div><div>For dungeon crawling I'm just going to use the tried and tested XP for treasure via carousing with the following rules:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Carousing </b></div></blockquote></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Carousing is the easiest and the main way for character to gain experience points, especially in earlier levels where they have yet to venture very far from their starting settlement. In short, carousing is action taken in a settlement in which the group spends a large amount of their hard earned money, having a good time about town, blowing their fortune as they blow off steam, before becoming desperate enough again to raid another crumbling ruin for treasure.</div></div><div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>Carousing lets a player turn money directly into experience points at a 1:1 ratio. First they choose an amount of money to convert into experience points. Then they roll on the following table to see how their bender went. After they may have to roll on the carousing mishaps or fortunes table to see how their relationship with people in the settlement has changed.</div></div></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 340px;">
<colgroup><col width="59"></col>
<col width="263"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="59"><p>
2d6</p>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 0.1cm;" width="263"><p>
Result</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="59"><p>
2-6</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="263"><p>
Experience is gained. However, you've all made fools of yourself
in some manner. Roll on the carousing mishaps table.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="59"><p>
7-9</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="263"><p>
Experience is gained.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="59"><p>
10+</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="263"><p>
Experience is gained. You've all had a stroke of good luck! Roll
on the carousing fortunes table!</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div></blockquote><p> </p><div><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 552px;">
<colgroup><col width="32"></col>
<col width="241"></col>
<col width="252"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<br />
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="241"><p>
Mishap</p>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 0.1cm;" width="252"><p>
Fortune</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
1</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Start a brawl. You all are involved in a brawl that gets out of
control. Start the next adventure with a black eye and -1 health
per level. The local tavern keeper is no longer quite as amicable.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Jackpot! One of you strikes it rich at the card tables! Gain level
x 100 coins.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
2</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Minor misunderstanding with local authorities that you’re unable
to smooth over. You all spend the next 1d6 days in jail. Now seen
as local troublemakers.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Gain a local reputation as the life of a party! Those of ill
repute much more friendly and see you as one of their own.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
3</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
One of you insulted a local person of rank. They will hold a
grudge unless you all publicly apologize and humiliate yourself
before them.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Whoa what a trip! The strange powder you sniffed revealed mystic
truths about the universe. Young people in the settlement see you
as cool and not one of the squares.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
4</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Hangover from hell. The first day of adventuring all luck rolls
are done with a bane.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Well fed, well rested, and ready to go! The first day of
adventuring all luck rolls are done with a boon.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
5</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Gambling binge. You’re party owes a collective debt to someone
you don’t want to owe money too.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Citizens arrest! You catch some criminal in the act and are able
to restrain them until the authorities arrive. You are seen as
hero’s by the settlement for a short time.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
6</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
You've ruined the local economy! Your excess spending means that
all prices are now double until next season.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
The local blacksmith, due to your influx of cash, has been able to
order in an exquisite weapon that he’s willing to sell to you
guys for the normal price.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
7</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Major misunderstanding with local authorities. All weapons,
armour, and magic items confiscated until fines and bribes
totalling 1d6 x 1000 coins paid.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
The local clergy see you guys as protectors of the settlement.
They offer you a blessing before your next adventure.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
8</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
When in a drunken stupor and in some trouble, you sought refuge in
a church. They took care of you but now as repayment have begun
hounding you to perform a charitable act.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Impressed by your ability to drink for days and keep standing, a
local hireling is willing to join you on your next adventure if
you wish at no initial cost.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
9</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Invest all your spare cash in some smooth-tongued merchant's
scheme. Turns out it’s bogus! One of the towns merchants flees!</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Invest all your spare cash in some smooth-tongued merchant's
scheme. Turns out it’s real! It returns 75% profits next Season.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
10</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Due to a lost game of darts at the tavern. You make bitter enemies
with a local rival adventuring party.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Your ability to carouse with the common folk as lead them to see
you as one of their own. The peasants of the settlement are
thankful to have you around. You receive free room and board in
this settlement of poor quality.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
11</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Beaten and robbed. You are waylaid by a bunch of thugs during your
drunken carousing. Loose 1d100 coins.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Your time spent carousing has let you in on some juicy gossip. You
learn one secret about a person in authority.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
12</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
The roof! The roof! The roof is on fire! Accidentally start a
conflagration Roll 1d6 twice. 1-2) burn down your favorite inn
3-5) some other den of ill repute is reduced to ash 6) a big chunk
of town goes up in smoke. 1-2) no one knows it was you guys 3-5)
one other person knows you did it 6) everybody knows.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
A local elder has warmed up and begun to approve of you despite
your antics. They let you in on a secret about a nearby
adventuring site.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><p> </p><p>The above table I use is a modified version <a href="http://jrients.blogspot.com/2008/12/party-like-its-999.html">of Jeff Rient's one</a>. It's meant to make the gaining experience points a little more interesting and to change the characters relationship with the settlement their in to make their interaction with it a little more dynamic.</p><p>XP for treasure meets all of my guidelines. It encourages risk, it is done at the end of the session, and it's given for something they wouldn't normally do. They have to purposely search for treasure in the dungeon and seek it out. I make the players choose between spending the coins on equipment and things and spending it on XP. I kind of like this as it keeps them somewhat broke.</p><p><br /></p><h2><b>XP in Hexcrawling</b></h2><div>Hexcrawling is a bit more difficult than dungeon crawling. I don't want to just give a straight XP amount for every hex explored or new place discovered. Most of the time, players are going to do this anyways as a normal part of moving around the map, even if it's just to get to the dungeon. I want to encourage them to take risks. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm going to borrow a rule I found in <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/258182/Neoclassical-Geek-Revival-Dyson-Logos-Edition">Neoclassical Geek Revival by Zzarchov Kowolski</a>. Basically in it he had a rule where for every room the players explored they'd gain cumulative XP. So if they got 10 XP the first room, they'd get 20 XP the second room 30 XP the third 50 XP the fourth, 80 XP the fifth etc. I'm going to do something similar but for hexcrawls and call it Telling Tall Tales.</div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><div><b>Telling Tall Tales</b></div></div></div><div><div><div>Telling tall tales is another way characters can gain experience points. It involves spreading word of your travels and exploits, generally telling tall tales in places like taverns, at court, to the high and the low, shamelessly boasting and self-promoting, and to simply entertain or achieve status.</div></div></div><div><div><div><br /></div></div></div><div><div><div>This method of experience gain is generally used during the mid levels as the characters begin to venture from their starting settlement more and more and begin to explore the world that surrounds them.</div></div></div><div><div><div><br /></div></div></div><div><div><div>Telling tall tales lets a player gain a certain amount of experience points for every hex of the hex map they have explored since they last left the settlement. The experience gained is cumulative per hex. This is calculated by giving 30 XP for the first hex and adding the previous two hex's together for every additional hex. A table below is provided as an example.</div></div></div></blockquote><div><blockquote><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><br /></p></blockquote><div><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 276px;">
<colgroup><col width="63"></col>
<col width="195"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
Hex Total</p>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
XP Amount</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
1</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
30</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
2</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
30</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
3</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
60</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
4</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
90</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
5</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
150</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
6</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
240</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
7</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
390</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
8</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
630</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
9</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
1020</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
10</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
1650</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
11</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
2670</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
12</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="195"><p>
4320</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;">Once the players have calculated how much experience points they will gain they need to roll on the following table to determine how their telling of tall tales went. After that they may have to roll on the Telling Tall Tales Mishaps and Fortunes table to see how their relationship with people across the land has changed.</p></div></blockquote><div><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 340px;"><colgroup><col width="59"></col><col width="263"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr valign="top"><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="59"><p>2d6</p></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm;" width="263"><p>Result</p></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="59"><p>2-6</p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="263"><p>Experience is gained. However, you've all made fools of yourself in some manner. Roll on the Telling Tall Tales mishaps table.</p></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="59"><p>7-9</p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="263"><p>Experience is gained.</p></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="59"><p>10+</p></td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="263"><p>Experience is gained. You've all had a stroke of good luck! Roll on the Telling Tall Tales fortunes table!</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 552px;">
<colgroup><col width="32"></col>
<col width="241"></col>
<col width="252"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="32"><p>
<br />
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="241"><p>
Mishap</p>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 0.1cm;" width="252"><p>
Fortune</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
1</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Inspired by your tales of treasure the road to places you've
explored becomes clogged with fortune seekers slowing your travel.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
The local authority, upon hearing of your discoveries, is willing
to buy maps of your travels for 1d6 * 1000 gp.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
2</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Jealous of your fortune, a rival adventuring party begins to trail
you next time you set out with ill intentions.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Enamoured by tales of your exploits, a local orphan child has
begun tending to your belongings in hopes you'll bring them along.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
3</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Word of your mighty deeds has spread. A mighty warrior has arrived
in the settlement to challenge the strongest among you to single
combat.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Word of your crimes have spread. There is now a bounty of 1d6 *
1000 on all your heads across the land.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
4</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Word of your brave exploits has spread. A powerful wizard has
arrived in the settlement to challenge the wisest among you to a
wizards battle.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Due to your exploits in a region you have explored, you have been
granted a deed to a small tract of land and honorary title by the
local authority seeking to capitalize on your popularity among the
common folk.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
5</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Sensing a power vacuum, bandits have moved into a location you
recently explored and begun raiding the countryside. People are
not happy.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Your recent explorations have opened up the land to new
settlement. The roads become full of travellers seeking a new
beginning. A sense of optimism and hope is in the air.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
6</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
The local authority does not like you intruding upon and causing
mischief in lands they see as their own. They forbid you from
venturing into them again.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
You've become well known among merchants as experienced
travellers. They let you in on the location of some exotic trade
goods if you're willing to accompany them there.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
7</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Too late! Your explorations and exploits have upset the unseen
balance of things. One enemy you thought defeated or vanquished
has struck back! Something big has happened! Refugees begin to
flood the area.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
A powerful but frail wizard seeks you out. They've found the
location of a small trove of spellbooks and wish you to accompany
them there.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
8</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Your heroics have garnered many unseen enemies. Assassins strike
out in the dead of night. Defend yourselves!</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Word of your righteous deeds has spread among the common folk. You
can always find poor accommodation for free in any settlement.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
9</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Fire! A major forest fire is occurring in several hexes. People
are fleeing the area.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Because of your growing renown, a local merchant is willing to pay
you for endorsing their products and/or services.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
10</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Flood! A river or body of water has flooded occluding travel in
the area.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
In telling tales of your travels, you encounter some old
travellers with tales of their own. You learn the details of three
unexplored hexes.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
11</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Pestilence! Plague has broken out in a random settlement. A
quarantine has been put in place.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
A strange monstrous beast has been seen in an area you recently
explored. It's capture or scientific notes on it's behaviour would
be worth a lot of money.</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="32"><p>
12</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="241"><p>
Word of your exploits has reached the ears of the local authority.
They have 'granted' you a non-voluntary audience with them. You
suspect they are becoming concerned about your growing fame and
popularity.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="252"><p>
Strange visitors from beyond time and space have been seen in an
area you recently explored.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>So while they players aren't likely to gain a level from exploring a few hexes. The amount of XP they gain really begins to ramp up the more they explore. This encourages them to not just make a beeline between the town and the nearest dungeon, but to push into the wilderness a bit, to wander, to seek out the dark corners of the map. The deeper into the wilderness they go, the more dangerous it gets and the more they begin to run out of health and supplies, and the more XP they gain. </p><p>The Telling Tall Tales Mishaps and Fortunes table is meant to make gaining XP this way a little more interesting and kind of reflect the characters growing renown. Where people are taking note of them and it feels like the landscape and setting is reacting to them. I find something like this is needed every once and a while so the landscape isn't just a static thing that only moves when the players interact with it. That dramatic things can happen that they have no control over or never saw coming. In this manner the table is meant to change the characters relationship with the landscape.</p><p><br /></p><h2><b>Unravel a Mystery</b></h2><p>The world is full of strange mysteries. I think players should be rewarded for seeking out answers to them. These aren't small monster of the week mysteries, like who stole the chickens or where did the bandits run off to, but larger mysteries about the strangeness of the setting. Engaging in them means the players are often pursuing a very open ended quest and not just decided to tackle the low hanging fruit of lets just clear another bandit lair this week, or lets just come up with some quick scheme. </p><p><br /></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><p><b>Unravel a Mystery</b></p></div><div><p>The world is full of strange mysteries, age old questions, and wonderous places. Things from so long ago their origins are unknown, or seem to exist wholly outside reason. Things that just are, that are whispered about.</p></div><div><p>This method of experience gain is generally used during high levels as the players seek to truly plumb the depths of their world and try to explore and unravel the mysteries of it's age old wonders.</p></div><div><p>These wonderous things are not plot goals. They are often just that, <i>things</i>, not people, or events. or happenings. They can be pursued or ignored as the players wish. Taking this action represents the players returning to a settlement with some form of proof about the wonder, some form of answer to it's mystery.</p></div><div><p>Each mystery is phrased in the form of a question. The players must explain to the Referee the 'answer' to the mystery. What exactly is a sufficient answer is up to the Referee and players to determine but generally involves being able to sufficiently answer who, what when, where, where, why, and how about the mystery. Once they do they must roll to see how such an unravelling went. For the unravelling of such a mystery often comes as a shock or surprise to the wider world. It will often draw attention from those with great power and influence who will invariably seek to exploit it and the players knowledge about it.</p></div><div><p>There is no set value for the XP reward but it's in the 10,000-100,000 range. Mysteries are highly dependent on the setting but a couple examples are provided below:</p></div></blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>What lies up top Bald Mountain?</li><li>Does the lost city of Xu exist?</li><li>What happens when you put the Rod of Many Parts together?</li></ul></ul><div><p>There is no table of mishaps and fortunes to roll on for unraveling a mystery. Age old mysteries are important enough and specific in nature that each should have natural consequences from their pursuit. Big players in the setting will take notice if the characters are successful in their investigation of them.</p><p></p></div>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-87368856068835039652021-06-15T19:17:00.000-07:002021-06-15T19:17:14.751-07:00Normalizing Treasure and XP Progression<p>This <a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/2021/05/experience-points-should-encourage-risk.html">a follow up for my other post</a> thinking about experience points and design considerations about them. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Normalizing Treasure and XP Progression</h4><div>I find most XP charts used in the OSR seem to be largely copied and pasted from older versions of the game without a lot of thought into why the are the way they are, or the progression of advancement they provide. </div><div><br /></div><div>Based on my experience as a Referee I find most XP charts for level advancement require an absurd amount of gold if you're using a XP-for-treasure rule. So much so, that characters either don't really make it past the first couple of levels, or after a while I just begin levelling them every couple of sessions or adventures.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think both treasure values and XP progression needs to be normalized. My first solution is to first come up with a standardized value for treasure and then come up with a revised XP chart based off of this. </div><div><br /></div><div>This is the chart I'm going to use. If the players found any treasure in an adventure I'd probably ignore it's written value and just roll on the below chart when they go to sell it. I find adventures tend to vary wildly in the value of treasure they have so having a chart like this that calibrates treasure to XP progression in your game is necessary.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also find keeping track of the worth of treasure during an adventure to be kind of tedious and don't like just telling the players the worth of the treasure when they find it as I think they should have to try and figure out what to keep and what to leave behind on their own. As a result I'd just roll on this chart when it came time to sell.</div><div><br /></div><div>It has 4 general tiers of treasure. </div><div> </div><div></div><div><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 646px;">
<colgroup><col width="91"></col>
<col width="357"></col>
<col width="79"></col>
<col width="85"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="91"><p>
Name</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="357"><p>
Description</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm; padding: 0.1cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="79"><p>
Value</p>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.1cm;" width="85"><p>
Average Value</p>
<p>(d10 = 5.5)</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="91"><p>
Equipment and Coins</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="357"><p>
Pretty much all of the standard equipment players can buy
themselves and whatever small pocket change that would be on
someone or in their trunk. This treasure is rarely hidden well.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="79"><p>
1d10 * 10</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="85"><p>
55</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="91"><p>
Treasure
</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="357"><p>
All non-descript treasure items. Things such as gems, silver
goblets, bolts of fine silk, golden necklaces, exquisite painting.
Things that aren’t unique, but are generally recognizable as
being valuable. This treasure is often hidden and takes some effort to find.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="79"><p>
1d10 * 100</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="85"><p>
550</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="91"><p>
Exquisite Items</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="357"><p>
Items that are of a particular unique nature. Either in their
craftsmanship or material. They immediately strike one as one of a
kind or something you don’t often come across. May or may not be
magical. Things such as ebony bow with strange wire bowstring,
silver gong with ancient runes and echoing boom, blood red opal
that burns from within. This treasure is almost always hidden and often very dangers to recover.</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="79"><p>
1d10 * 1000</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="85"><p>
5500</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="91"><p>
Legendary Items</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="357"><p>
Items that are legendary. You often hear about them before you find
them. Typically highly magical in nature in a way that could break the campaign/setting. If you do find them without hearing about them first, they're probably really, really hard to remove from the area and will often cause trouble. Once found, the question is often, not how do we sell this, but what do we do about this. </p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="79"><p>
1d10 * 10,000</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm 0.1cm 0.1cm;" width="85"><p>
55,000</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not going to factor in the Equipment and Coins type treasure into my XP calculations. I always kind of consider it kind of an upkeep cost where the players are probably going to spend around the same amount of what they find to rest up and restock after the adventure.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm also going to leave out legendary items as they'd be the goal of some kind of grand quest. They're not found very often or randomly.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, in a given adventure I'm probably going to assume about 20 rooms or so. This would be something that in my experience would probably take 2 or 3 sessions to cover. If you assume one third to half those rooms have treasure, but only about 25% of it is probably found by the players, that gives you approximately 5 treasure caches. This seems like a good amount of an average adventure.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now I'm going to assume 3 of those caches have Treasure Items in them, and 2 also have Exquisite Items. Given the average value of all this it works out to be this grants a total of 12,650.</div><div><br /></div><div>Split five ways for an adventuring party of 5 this equals 2530 coins at the end of the first adventure. Rounded to 2500, I think this is a reasonable amount and all the numbers I've used so far in these calculations kind of reasonable in the sense that the players aren't finding goblets worth 1000 or giant gold statues only worth 100 coins or some such thing. There feels like there is a proportionality to things and the numbers make sense given our modern understanding of money. 2500 coins kind of feels like a good amount for the average 'paycheck' for a dungeon crawl. Nothing that's going to let you retire but enough to let you live the high life for a bit before becoming desperate enough to go on another adventure.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm going to use this baseline of 2500 coins for what it takes to go from level 1 to 2 as I think characters should advance to 2nd level after their first adventure. I'm using a standard adventuring party of 5. Most of my players frequently begin a campaign with two characters but I find they'll tend to gravitate to one of their characters over the other so it's up to them if they want to level one faster than the other.</div><div><br /></div><div>From here I'm going to increase the amount required each level but also pay attention to how many sessions of adventure it would take to gather that much if :</div><div>2500 individual share = 20 rooms = 3 sessions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Worked out this grants the following:</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 381px;">
<colgroup><col width="44"></col>
<col width="75"></col>
<col width="72"></col>
<col width="63"></col>
<col width="85"></col>
</colgroup><tbody><tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="44"><p>
Level</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="75"><p>
Total XP</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="72"><p>
Diff. XP</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="63"><p>
Diff. Sessions</p>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 0.1cm;" width="85"><p>
Total Sessions</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="44"><p>
1</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="75"><p>
0</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="72"><p>
0</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="63"><p>
0</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="85"><p>
0</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="44"><p>
2</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="75"><p>
2,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="72"><p>
2,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="63"><p>
3</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="85"><p>
3</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="44"><p>
3</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="75"><p>
5,000</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="72"><p>
2,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="63"><p>
3</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="85"><p>
6</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="44"><p>
4</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="75"><p>
7,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="72"><p>
2,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="63"><p>
3</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="85"><p>
9</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="44"><p>
5</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="75"><p>
12,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="72"><p>
5,000</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="63"><p>
6</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="85"><p>
15</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="44"><p>
6</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="75"><p>
17,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="72"><p>
5,000</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="63"><p>
6</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="85"><p>
21</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="44"><p>
7</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="75"><p>
22,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="72"><p>
5,000</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="63"><p>
6</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="85"><p>
27</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="44"><p>
8</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="75"><p>
30,000</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="72"><p>
7,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="63"><p>
9</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="85"><p>
36</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="44"><p>
9</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="75"><p>
37,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="72"><p>
7,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="63"><p>
9</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="85"><p>
45</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="44"><p>
10</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="75"><p>
44,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="72"><p>
7,500</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="63"><p>
9</p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="85"><p>
54</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>So, to reach level 10 one character would need 44,500 coins and a party of 5 adventurers 222,500 coins. While this doesn't seem like an astronomical amount the main way for players to get it is from dungeon crawling not from domain level play (which I dislike). Doing so, would take them approximately 54 sessions. Assuming 1 session per week this whole process would take a little over 1 year. The first 5 levels in three months and three weeks, the remaining 5 levels the rest of the year. </div><div><br /></div><div>All this is also assuming that the players do not get XP and their treasure. They get it <i>for </i>their treasure. In my games they have the choice of either spending their money on buying things like hirelings and equipment and other bigger ticket stuff like gypsy wagons or horses, <i>or </i>converting it to XP. This would further slow XP gain a bit as there are probably times when they are going to want to spend 5k or so on some elaborate scheme or another. There would also be wasted XP invested in characters who die, or if players choose to level multiple characters at once.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have not tested any of these presented rules and all my calculations are kind of back of the envelope and rough, but overall I think most of my assumptions are fair and it all kind of ensures that players can reach higher levels through actual play in a reasonable number of sessions and not just DM fiat. </div><div><br /></div><div>I also think having five major caches per 3 session adventure is fair and an easy thing to remember. For most rooms the players will be finding small amounts of coin and equipment. But then once or twice a session they find a major cache of treasure. They have to try and discern what 'tier' it's in (fake treasure like glass gems could pose a further challenge) and right before they go to sell it, I randomly roll to ascertain it's true worth.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-40868063714493047432021-06-03T14:20:00.002-07:002021-06-03T14:20:42.536-07:00Experience Points should Encourage Risk<p>There has been a lot written in the OSR blogsphere on various experience point systems and how to grant experience points. The two main ways being; the classic granting of experience points for treasure brought back to town, or a more exploration based approach where XP is granted for encountering new things.</p><p>Overall I find that no single one person has really figured out a clever system to grant experience points and that even in my own attempts something still feels missing. I don't think I'll solve this problem but after reading several other blog posts about the issue it's all gotten me thinking about it. To this end I have come up with the following design considerations. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>1. Most XP progressions require way to much XP at higher levels</b></p><p>To begin, I very much like the system of gold for XP. It's kind of my default way to grant XP. However, I find that after a couple of levels as the XP requirements begin to inflate, it quickly begins to feel a bit ridiculous where players begin to need absurd wealth to advance in level. </p><p>I know that in older versions of the game, this lead to domain level management where player characters begin to become rulers of mini-kingdoms as they push back the wilderness. Where they'd be making money from other means than just finding treasure in dungeons to sell.</p><p>Overall, I tend to prefer my games to not involve domain level play and stick to exploration and dungeon crawling. So while gold for XP does work in earlier levels I feel like it begins to loose impact in later levels as the amount of wealth needed is so much that it kind of becomes out of reach.</p><p>One thing that I think is sorely needed in most OSR systems is a recalibration of the XP charts as most people seem to just grab an existing one without thinking about the progression much.</p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>2. XP should not be given for something the players will already do</b></h4><p>Another very strong design principle for XP systems I think is that players shouldn't be rewarded for something they would already do. I can't remember where I originally read this, I think I read it in someone else's blog somewhere, but but overall once I heard it I found it to be a trap most XP systems fall into. </p><p>If your players are going to very frequently encounter and kill hostile monsters, then granting them XP for doing so is kind of meaningless. </p><p>If your players are stuck kind on your rail-road quest line then granting XP for achieving certain milestones or plot points, is kind of meaningless.</p><p>If your players are going to be exploring a dungeon and finding gold sitting out in the open then granting XP for it is kind of meaningless.</p><p>In all these cases I think granting XP for stuff the players are very likely going to be doing already is meaningless as it's being given out as neither a real incentive nor a real reward. Just something the players get for just playing the game.</p><p>Overall, I think there is nothing wrong with this on the surface, but if this is what you are doing, it's usually a lot simpler to just level a the character every set number of sessions. Like 3 sessions and you reach level 1. Six sessions and you reach level 2. Or just level everyone at the end of every major adventure. Just level your characters this way and don't bother tracking all the little fiddly thing they are going to do anyways.</p><p>Players generally expect to level every once and a while to keep the game interesting. Most OSR games I've played begin with doing gold for XP for the first few levels. Then because of XP bloat and the free ranging shenanigans that most adventuring parties get involved in as they reach higher levels, I tend to just level them every once and a while after a big adventure or 'score'. I think this practice is fairly widespread. </p><p><b>3. XP should encourage risk</b></p><p>I think it's kind of a common misconception that XP is like a reward that can guide player behaviour. I think it can a little bit. But I don't think I've ever had a player really do something up front for the XP. Overall I find the general setting of the game and the rest of the rules you are using will guide player behaviour a lot more than how they gain XP.</p><p>If your game has a lot of crunchy rules for fighting and your players encounter hostile monsters a lot, in a fantasy world full of hostile monsters, I think most of the time they're going to end up fighting the monsters rather than talking to them, even if you grant XP for talking to them. </p><p>The rules and setting of your game, in my opinion, should be the real things which try to influence player behaviour and the style of game you're playing. And if they aren't supporting the desired style of play, then you probably need to find a different system and achieve greater buy in from the players about the setting. </p><p>Then what, or should, XP encourage? I think it should encourage risk. It's one reason why I do think XP for gold works so well.</p><p>If the players kill a bunch of bandits in a dungeon and find gold coins in their pockets, it's not really 'treasure' to me. The players are kind of just doing something they'd normally do. </p><p>However, if they hear the bandits stole a bunch of expensive silk bundles and have them hidden away in their lair somewhere, or if they come across a giant diamond sitting in the middle of a (presumably) trapped filled room, then it's doing something different for me.</p><p>In this case the treasure is encouraging the players to take a risk. They're not just delving into the bandit lair cause the mayor asked them too and they want to develop a greater relationship with the mayor and happen to find gold in the process. </p><p>They're seeking out that particular bandit lair and doing things like thoroughly searching it increasing their risk because they know that the increased risk will lead to an increased reward. They're trying to obtain the giant diamond despite the traps because they think it'll be a big payout.</p><p>Some XP systems are kind of explicit about this where they only give XP for treasure recovered and brought back to town, not gold made through investments or something.</p><p>XP should encourage risk because a smart player tends to be a cautious one. A game played too cautiously tends to be boring. XP for treasure helps as it often directly encourages risk. </p><p>This all kind of became really clear to me in <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/258182/Neoclassical-Geek-Revival-Dyson-Logos-Edition">Neoclassical Geek Revival</a> where Zzarchov Kowolski basically had a rule that for every dungeon room explored, the amount of XP given for it would be cumulative. </p><p>So you'd get like 10 XP for the first room. Then 20 XP for the second (total of 30). Then like 30 XP for the third (total of 60). Then like 40 XP for the fourth room (total of 100). </p><p>The difference is kind of subtle. Giving out a flat 10 XP per room explored doesn't really encourage risk as it's what the players would already be doing. But by making it so you gain more XP for each new room, you're directly encouraging risk. And risk is what keeps the game fresh.</p><p><b>4. Grant XP at the end of the session</b></p><p>Another major design consideration I think for XP is that it should be rewarded at the end of the session. Every time I or the players have to engage in paperwork, I find it takes us out of the evolving shared narrative. Having to track XP gained during a game for various things I think detracts from play and in my experience tends to be forgotten.</p><p>It's one reason why I'm kind of against giving XP for things the players already do or coming up with long lists of things the players can gain XP for like XP for hex explored, or new monster seen, or riddle solved, or trap overcome, etc.</p><p>These things aren't bad if at the end of the session you can look back and remember exactly what the players did, but for a lot of things, it's hard to remember. Thus I think it's much easier to tie XP to some other form of paperwork that players are already doing. Like items they have collected, or maps they have drawn, then essentially have them do an entirely new form of paperwork.</p><p>Also, I think XP should be given as a group. If you give XP for a specific activity, like killing boss monsters, it's not really fair to classes who aren't great at killing boss monsters. XP can be split up, but once again, doing so in the middle of combat after a monster is killed tends to distract from the game. If XP is given at the end of the session it allows players to discuss as a group, who gets what, and why, without it distracting from the actual game. </p><p><b>5. Make sure you grant XP for different activities of play</b></p><p>One of the reasons why I think a lot of other OSR bloggers come up with various XP systems is because if you play the game a lot you begin to realize that there are different major activities of play. XP for treasure really only rewards risk in one activity of play, mainly dungeon crawling.</p><p>Once players have completed the beginning dungeon or two they tend to spend more time exploring the landscape and setting, most often in a hex crawl. In the hexcrawl there is often less opportunity to find treasure as there is less of a narrative reason for treasure to just be sitting out in the open in the wilderness unclaimed. This kind of leaves players unable to gain XP in a mode of play that takes up an increasing amount of time as they play.</p><p>The argument can be made that there is still treasure in dungeons which the players are seeking out, but it kind of just makes hexcrawling more the thing you do quickly to get to the dungeon and not really a thing in of itself. As a different major activity and mode of play, it should have a different way of rewarding the players for risks they take during it.</p><p>The same I think can be said for information gathering and investigation. Basically players talking to NPCs and interacting with setting elements to learn more about the setting. Usually doing so is in pursuit of treasure and can lead to treasure, but it's not really rewarding risk in this particular mode in of itself. It can also be very hard to reward risk in this mode of play as very often there isn't a lot of risk to begin with. </p><p>Regardless, I do think it's important to make sure you are rewarding players taking risks in all the different major activities of play in your game, to try and encourage them to explore things and not just see those modes or activities as things they do to get to the real 'meat' of the adventure. </p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-69025400966573042612021-06-01T14:45:00.003-07:002021-06-01T14:45:38.195-07:00Impressions: Knock! Magazine<p>Knock magazine is a 212 full colour magazine that is a collection of OSR gaming things. Articles, charts, random tables, classes you name it. </p><p>What I think really separates Knock from other such magazines is it's layout which is full of colour and very slick:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Kecetxl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="560" height="400" src="https://i.imgur.com/Kecetxl.png" width="280" /></a></div><br /><p>Overall its a fairly easy and enjoyable read. I finished it in a day or two. It has a variety of things and I would say I found more than the usual amount of useful information and tables I generally find in such collections.</p><p>The one other thing which I do think really separates it apart from other such magazines or efforts is that it has a large number of famous blog posts from the OSR scene. Some of which I had read, some of which I had not.</p><p>For years the best advice I could kind of give someone asking what is OSR and who was interested in the scene was to suggest a few blog posts or articles that gave good advice on what makes OSR games different from other RPGs. </p><p>The OSR is kind of getting to the point though that some of the original blogs and posts are no longer really with us, or at times hard to find. Boomarks become outdated and sometimes you don't feel like searching through someone's blog with 100's of posts just to find that one article you kind of vaguely remember as the original kernel for an idea you had or how you play the game. </p><p>Knock magazine is really doing everyone a bit of a service but helping to collect and preserve this information. The first issue was pretty good and has gotten everyone's attention and I'm interested to see what the next one is like. </p><p>I hope it continues for a while and kind of becomes the unofficial Dungeon Masters Guide of the OSR. In many ways I think it's struck on the perfect format for an OSR DMG. It's easy to read, written in a casual, fun manner and it's not for any one particular system. It contains a variety of engaging articles and useful random tables and things that really makes you consider, what do I want my game to be like? What am I excited about?</p><p>Being creative and flexible enough to play things out with your players to see what happens is probably the most important part of the OSR mindset to me. And Kock really inspires this.</p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-16737345187540164872021-05-27T15:03:00.008-07:002021-05-27T19:38:39.143-07:00Review: Deep Carbon Observatory (Remastered)<p> From the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/312481/Deep-Carbon-Observatory--Remastered">drivethroughrpg</a>:</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>....</i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>The adventure is suitable for a lucky mid-range party, a stupid high-level party or an exceedingly clever low level party. It is difficult, with a meaningful possibility of character death. </i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Players start in the town of Carrowmove, devistated by an unexpected flood, then travel through a drowned land where nature is turned upside down and desperate families cling to the roofs of their ruined homes, hiding from the monstrous products of a disordered world, through the strange tomb of an ancient race, to a profundal zone, hidden for millennia and now exposed, and finally to the Observatory itself, an eerie abandoned treasure palace, where they will encounter a pale and unexpected terror which will seek to claim their lives.<br /><br />Should you find them, and defeat their guardians, the treasures of an ancient culture will be yours.<br /><br />At the final point of the Observatory is a glimpse of another world.</i></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"> </span><a href="https://i.imgur.com/RzVReVA.png" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="622" height="640" src="https://i.imgur.com/RzVReVA.png" width="498" /></a></p><p style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">The basic setup of Deep Carbon Observatory is there is a strange underground observatory (more on this later) that was hidden at the bottom of a man made lake. The man made lake was formed by a dam built long ago, perhaps to hide the deep carbon observatory forever. The dam has recently broken flooding everything downstream, including a bunch of villages, and for the first time in what seems to be eons, the deep carbon observatory is exposed. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">On the su</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">rface Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) can seem to be a bit of a linear adventure. It's divided int</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">o three main parts: </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">The beginning at the town of Carrowmore. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Travel upriver</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Exploring the Deep Carbon Observatory </li></ul>The town of Carrowmore is a chaotic place, basically a disaster relief area. It serves as an introduction where the players have the opportunity to encounter a bunch of different characters in different states of distress that potentially turn into competing parties who are trying to reach the DCO first. The adventure throws you into the thick of things this way and has you dealing with meaningful situations.<p></p><div>The river journey, which makes up about two thirds of the book is somewhat linear where the players are travelling up a meandering river encountering all kinds of things, including golems which ran the damn, people in distress due to the flooded landscape, and various strange creatures. They can become sidetracked multiple ways and learn more about the DCO as they do so. Additionally, they'll encounter the competing adventuring parties, the most prominent, the Crows.</div><div><br /></div><div>The observatory is an adventuring site but one you kind of traverse going deeper and deeper until you arrive at the telescope at the bottom.</div><div><br /></div><div>Despite it's linearity, DCO does what few other adventures accomplish or even really try. It gives a sense of the classic journey quest. I've blogged a bit about this before, <a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/2019/11/weirdcrawl-power-of-quests.html">there is a power in quests</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The closest thing I'd imagine DCO kind of plays out a bit like (I've only yet read it) would be Captain Willard's journey in Apocalypse Now. Where he's heading down the river in boat in the midst of the Vietnam war, heading into the heart of darkness to find the mysterious Colonel Kurtz.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is the same sense of mystery, of journey, of danger, at the heart of DCO. All your characters may have reasons for deciding to explore down the river, trying to make it to DCO. But there is also that lingering sense of, we're doing it because it's there. Because it's strange. Mysterious. Powerful. Even if we don't quite know exactly what it is.</div><div><br /></div><div>What makes DCO so captivating as an adventure, is that it tells the story of what happened not through words, but through encounters. Encounters that at times feel very D&Dish but also very strange. Kind of like a much darker version of Adventure Time. Patrick Stuart is really good at specificity, at detailing things in evocative ways that even if you've seen them before in other games, they feel unique and strange.</div><div><br /></div><div>Even before you reach it, you know the DCO itself is powerful, as there are some powerful people also trying to get there first. Mainly, a rival adventuring gang called The Crows. They are probably more badass than the players' adventuring gang and if the players try to take them on unprepared or head first they're going to get slaughtered.</div><div><br /></div><div>DCO is the best kind of adventure where it sets the board, the stage, and then lets you as the Referee and players move the pieces around. To riff off what happens. To try and subtly thwart the players in different ways. To make them consider their route, their approach to DCO and exactly what they are willing to do to get to it. </div><div><br /></div><div>It provides just enough of a goal and loose framework for the players (follow the river) to stop them from getting confused or lost. But has enough interesting situations that they come across to make them stop and evaluate how it'll fit into their goal.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Observatory </h4><div>I want to spend some time talking about the observatory. It's kind of hard to explain. It's a downward facing telescope built into a giant stalactite in a cavern. It uses the strange properties of a type of moth that can distort space to peer into the earth through various layers of rock. Sounds weird? It is.</div><div><br /></div><div>The strange (presumably underground) race that built it is even stranger. They seem highly intelligent and advanced in a technological sense. Overall what makes the observatory so interesting is that it really gets fantasy science/technology. Most fantasy science/technology tends to be some device powered by some magic crystals or some such thing. Basically a magical machine with a magical power source with magical powers. It doesn't feel scientific or technological, more just a handwave excuse to have some magical device.</div><div><br /></div><div>DCO is different. It feels scientific. The principles it uses to work are reasonings based off the natural properties of this strange moth that can distort space. It feels technological in the sense that it's a device which is taking advantage of a discovered natural law in an intelligent manner.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is what makes it so terrifying as a player. You begin to realize that whomever built the DCO is smart. Whether codified or not, they have some sense of scientific theory and principles, unlike everyone else in the fantasy setting. They are operating under an entirely different paradigm of thought. They are taking advantage of things in the setting in ways that even you, as a player, are probably not thinking of.</div><div><br /></div><div>The DCO feels more like a Lich lair than any lich adventure or lich themed thing that I've ever read. There's a sense of cold intelligence to it, a sense of rationality, and at times, cruelty. </div><div><br /></div><div>You never meet the builders of the DCO (presumably the drow like race detailed in Veins of the Earth). You do get to meet the horrific giant they left behind in the DCO though.</div><div><br /></div><div>But you really get a sense of them, these drow. That they're like how the drow were originally imagined before Drizzt Do'Urden became a thing and kind of ruined them. They're a race of highly, highly intelligence, highly cruel elves who live under the earth and you hope that's where they stay. As they are as capricious as they are inhuman. </div><div><br /></div><div><h4>The Art and Layout</h4></div><div>The art is by Scrap Princess. It's pretty amazing. That dark evocative scribbled look but also emblemic of classic D&D things and slightly cartoony. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/uCQGcNF.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="800" height="366" src="https://i.imgur.com/uCQGcNF.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>It's horrifying but at the same time if it were smiling almost like an adventure time character?</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">The layout is pretty good. Or well good in the sense that it's a book you can totally use at the table and a lot of attention has been paid to making it useable at the table. Aesthetically, it's a bit jarring, kind of Patrick Stuart doing his best at making a very useable book.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Innovations:</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Best quasi linear adventure I've ever read. Really nails the format.</li><li>Rival adventuring party an awesome idea that can really turn things up to 11. First time I think I've seen it used so well.</li><li>Actually making an adventuring site feel ominous and kind of terrifying.</li></ul></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Buy if....</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>You want to run a cool medium length adventure that's dark but also weird and humorous at times (there is a giant platypus monster) and not just grim-dark.</li><li>You like adventures where you're going to have to make moral choices in tough situations. </li><li>You're new to DMing. I think it would make a decent starting adventure. Make sure you read it over maybe twice but it's general linear journey is easy enough to grasp for you and your players. It's going to get a bit messy but that's part of being a DM.</li></ul></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Downsides:</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I think now, after the kickstarter, it's only available in PDF. EDIT: apparently you can buy a<a href="https://falseparcels.bigcartel.com/product/deep-carbon-observatory-remastered"> print version here</a> while supplies last.</li><li>It's not suitable for all ages.</li><li>It does take some time to fully read and digest although is definitely laid out nice enough to run at the table. You will just want to read it all first though.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-72967170956569352312021-05-20T15:39:00.005-07:002021-05-20T15:39:42.732-07:00Theming leveless spells<p>I like level-less spells. I find using them and allowing them to scale in power by the discretion of the Referee and player to be a really elegant way of having magic in OSR games. For my ruleset I use the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/250888/Knave">1d100 level-less spell list from Knave</a> by Ben Milton.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/qYsJmpW.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="728" height="193" src="https://i.imgur.com/qYsJmpW.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>I like to use the Knave set of spells because they're also very utility focused. They allow the caster to do interesting things, but mostly to overcome situations and manipulate environments rather than do damage in combat. I like for fighter type classes in my games to be the class that is really good at combat, the specalist/thief type to be okay in combat but better at skills, and the magic-user to be really weak but good at random problem solving.</p><p>However, I do find that using a level-less spell list like this of simple spells tends to make magic seem a little bland or pedestrian. At first I was going to use some kind of spell name generator to theme a characters spells but couldn't find a good one.</p><p>However, I came across the idea of using grimoires in the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/131873/Hark-A-Wizard">Hark A Wizard supplement</a> by Zzarchov Kowolski. In it he details that it made his game more interesting because grimoires containing spells tend to be evocative and give something for the Wizard players to track down to learn new spells. If you'v ever played Call of Cthulhu, which he cites as an inspiration, you know what this is like. He listed a bunch of samples:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/DRaLaYB.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="449" src="https://i.imgur.com/DRaLaYB.png" /></a></div>I liked this idea, liked it a lot where for each grimoire I would randomly select a Knave spell. The grimoire itself would theme the spell. Like for example, if I randomly selected <i>Adhere</i> to be found in Constellations of the Western Pole (celestial themed), I'd probably making a ruling that whenever you cast the spell the object you are casting it upon is covered in a glowing luminescent fluid that swirls and is like some unknown state of matter and causes things to get stuck to whatever touches the object by some unknown force of attraction. <div><br /></div><div>If you found a different grimoire with the same adhere spell, it would be described in a totally different way and have a different manifestation. I found this also fit very well with how I liked to portray magic in my game. Where magic is something very dangerous and esoteric that mad hermits, outsiders, insane people, and power hungry occultists, pursue. Magic-user player characters aren't natural born wizards or have learned it in a school. They have stumbled across an esoteric, barely comprehensible grimoire and are largely self-taught.</div><div><br /></div><div>I further combined this with the additional idea of blasphemies as presented i<a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/199568/Broodmother-SkyFortress">n Broodmother Skyfortress Jeff Rients</a>,</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/xqb2gvL.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="578" height="243" src="https://i.imgur.com/xqb2gvL.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>His grimoires included the concept of a blasphemy. Basically some truth that would be horrifying to the people of the setting. His game was set in early modern Europe so they were generally about religious things.</div><div><br /></div><div>While I liked this idea, I found the religious based blasphemy's didn't really pack the punch I wanted. I wanted the <i>players </i>not just their characters to feel shocked or trepidations about them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Out of this, I came up with the idea of having each grimoire including a occult truth. Basically some fundamental hidden truth about the world or society. That no matter how outlandish would immediately become true about the setting of the game upon that character reading the grimoire and learning it's spell. If the occult truth was that society was secretly run by shapeshifting lizardmen, then boom! That was now true for the setting, and the players might want to become a little more suspicious of their rich patron the Duke. If the occult truth was that exposure to moonlight caused gradual madness, then boom! The players might want to make sure they're sleeping in tents and avoid those wandering about with a lunatic grin. And the players might be a little more hesitant about reading whatever grimoire that they come across. Where they have to ask themselves are they willing to risk messing up the setting for an extra spell? </div><div><br /></div><div>So overall I ended up combing all these ideas into something like the following example grimoire:</div><div><br /></div><div>-----------------------</div><div><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Titles</b>: Proverbs of the Unknown Philosopher, The Eternal Mountain, The Quivering Reed</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Description</b>: This
simple chapbook is composed of reed paper pages in-between sandalwood
covers bound together by small leather hoops. Written delicately
within using a stylus and black squid ink are the 36 proverbs of the
Unknown Philosopher. These simple kaons have driven many a hermit to
madness and are said unlock the innermost door.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Language</b>: Japanese, Sanskrit </p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Occult Truth</b>: All
beings (including player characters) reincarnate up or down the great
chain of being upon death. It is possible to trigger memories of
other lives.</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Random Spell: </b></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Champion:</b> a champion from another dimension is summoned. It is able to answer most questions, and may aid you if it finds you worthy.</p></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Manifestation: </b>the champion appears as a warrior monk with black marble skin and ruby red eyes. They have taken a vow of silence and cannot speak but can convey things through gestures. They respect those who are exhibit calm and mindfulness in all matters. <br /><p><br /></p></div>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-22810322438399644452021-05-17T19:14:00.005-07:002021-05-20T15:29:21.138-07:00Impressions: Sharp Swords and Sinister Spells<p>Sometimes when reading some OSR related something I'm more interested in skimming it or reading it fairly quickly to get a sense of what it's about, what I can use it for, and possibly most of all, what ideas I can steal from it. Then as something I intend to use wholesale. Instead of writing up a full objective review I type up my impressionistic, often opinionated thoughts on it. This entry is one such rambling.</p><p><b><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/198163/Sharp-Swords--Sinister-Spells">Sharp Swords and Sinister Spells</a></b></p><p>This system is comprised of two books. Sharp Swords and Sinister Spells (SS:SS), and it's Addendum. </p><p>The main book is a fairly well put together roll under system that is pretty streamlined and elegant. It feels like something that's been playtested and come about from a homebrew ruleset where someone has simplified the rules into a nice simple set that uses a lot of OSR conventions such as usage dice.</p><p>If I weren't such a fan of Whitehack I'd probably use it as overall I prefer roll under systems. Or to put it another way I'll probably combine elements of this with Whitehack as there are some things I think it does more elegantly and the two make for good companions. I like Whitehack overall but feel it has a lot of fiddly bits that come over from B/X where this system feels much more streamlined and to embody design philosophy of the OSR a bit more in some ways.</p><p>The Addendum book I'd suggest to anyone really. It's kind of a GM guide with tons of random tables and alternative rules. It's nice to flip through and anyone could probably find something useful for their game.</p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-21169134541908867182021-05-13T16:36:00.000-07:002021-05-13T16:36:06.305-07:00Using a language tree instead of a language skill system<p>I've always struggled about what to do with languages in OSR games. They always seem like a binary thing. The players find some writing in an ancient tomb detailing something about it. It's written in ancient Greek or elven or whatever. If the players know the language, great, they get that interesting little bit of information. If they don't then they don't get that information. </p><p>But what if the information is necessary to solve some kind of puzzle in the dungeon? Do you just give it to them? Tell them to leave the dungeon to go find a translator? Fudge a dice roll? And what about learning new languages? How do you know which one to choose? And who wants to have their character spend time learning a new language? No one. Or at least in my experience no one.</p><p>Still, there is something very appealing to having that ancient tomb writing being in a a dead somewhat spooky language. Or having the random peasant only able to converse in Dutch. To making the players work a bit to uncover the information or struggle to communicate. </p><p>For a while I used Lamentations of the Flame Princess' approach to language. When a character comes into contact with a language they don't know they make a 1d6 skill roll to see if they know the language. If it's successful, they know the language and add it to their sheet. If they fail then they don't know the language and add it to their sheet as one they don't know.</p><p>While this isn't bad it still left a bit to be desired for me. It felt like your character just happens to suddenly know a language. Additionally, most times, one person would just put a few points into languages and then be the official translator for the group as they'd always be the one to suddenly know the new language. Overall, it's a good solution but didn't feel super organic to me. </p><p>If one character knows one language wouldn't it make it easier to know another language like it? Like Italian and Spanish? What if there was a way to see how close languages are to each other, or how they evolve from each other... like some kind of tree...</p><p>Then it basically hit me. This is, in fact, a huge part of the field of linguistics. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/nTBh6yY.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="800" height="537" src="https://i.imgur.com/nTBh6yY.png" width="640" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/IndoEuropeanTree.svg</i></div></i><p>I could just use a language tree in my game to track languages, their relation, and how easy/hard it would be for a character to read a new language.</p><p>To begin I created a simplified tree. I like my games to be set in a quasi early modern era, European centric, world, so I'm using real world languages. Create one with fantasy languages for your own setting if that's more appropriate. I'm going to use the following:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBZkggJeNLTHfMHdJft7NUHVBOesRyCC4Y0M4APlL_PyQx0Ooyd4V3POmGLuvZgZj3FtURa5GLMlBP-OYOVEuKd6rp2s314qteqglhPqIPdqYk2RG4dMs0AZYRX-rLtTg38qMFfOxj7djU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1547" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBZkggJeNLTHfMHdJft7NUHVBOesRyCC4Y0M4APlL_PyQx0Ooyd4V3POmGLuvZgZj3FtURa5GLMlBP-OYOVEuKd6rp2s314qteqglhPqIPdqYk2RG4dMs0AZYRX-rLtTg38qMFfOxj7djU/w640-h412/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>In it I have 22 languages (the white blocks). These languages would be all the languages I'd use in my game. If a module or something used a different language I'd just substitute. The players know up front how many there are and what they are. </p><p>All players know whatever common language they are using (generally whatever the language is of the country they're located in) plus one additional language for their ethnicity. Spellcasters I also usually give an extra language to. If I have four players that's a usually a good 5-6 languages among them. Not bad. I'd then circle them on this chart. </p><p>If a player wants to read a language they don't know already then I'd navigate to it on the flow chart counting the nodes. So to go from Dutch to Czech is four steps. I would then apply a penalty of 4 of some kind to their roll to see if they could read it. So maybe something like they have to roll under their intelligence but do so by adding +4 to the die roll. The exact mechanic doesn't matter. Just have it scale per nodes traversed. </p><p>I would make them do this roll every time they wanted to read a scrap of writing in a language they didn't know. Maybe sometimes they're able to piece together what it's saying in Czech based on similarities to their own language and bits of pieces they may know of it. Other times, what it's saying is to difficult or complex for them to discern. But if they know Russian, it's likely to be easier.</p><p>Regardless, by having it all mapped out it makes it easier to quickly determine how hard it is going to be to read a certain language. It also kind of makes sense intuitively where languages that tend to be in a close region, and which are similar to one you speak, you stand a greater chance of being able to read. And if a language is from an entirely different group with no line to it, you're going to need to find someone who knows a language from that group. </p><p>Having the languages presented this way also allows a player to be strategic when learning a new language. They could go for an entirely new language group like Semetic and learn Arabic which would allow them to potentially read four new languages that they could not at all before.</p><p>In this manner I think it strikes a balance between allowing players to read different languages they come across as well as encouraging them to have their characters learn new languages. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-5818775927131860662021-05-10T19:13:00.002-07:002021-05-10T19:13:33.439-07:00Impressions: Neoclassical Greek Revival<p>Sometimes
when reading some OSR related something I'm more interested in
skimming it or reading it fairly quickly to get a sense of what it's about, what I can use it for,
and possibly most of all, what ideas I can steal from it. Then as
something I intend to use wholesale. Instead of writing up a full
objective review I type up my impressionistic, often opinionated
thoughts on it. This entry is one such rambling.</p><p><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/131963935349368255/581877592713186066?hl=en#"><b>Neoclassical
Greek Revival </b></a></p><p>Overall it's a roll high + add modifiers d20 type OSR game with
your basic stats, although named slightly different. </p><p>It feels like a home-brew rule set in both a good and bad way.
Good in that there are some ideas in it that I've never seen anywhere
else before. Bad in that it has the sense that it was developed over
years, choices and crunch piling higher and higher in a bloat that is
a bit more crunchy than I prefer in my OSR game. It also seems a bit
more combat rule orientated than I prefer. Still I will give it kudos
for:</p><ul>
<li><p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Very flavorful
traditional fantasy racial classes that actually make them
interesting beyond the 5edition type stereotypes</p>
</li><li><p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Uses a funnel to
generate characters (it's not unique to NGR but any system which
uses a funnel gains +1 respect).</p>
</li><li><p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The easiest and most
sensible multi-classing system that I have ever seen.</p>
</li><li><p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Trademark item that
can become signature magic item as the character levels and
adventures</p>
</li><li><p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Bard character who is
actually socially focused</p>
</li><li><p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">A system that
encompasses things like stealth and trying to influence someone in a
robust manner</p>
</li><li><p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Weapons have tags
that define how they act</p>
</li><li><p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Robust inventory
system where you have containers like sacks and 'slot' based
inventory.</p>
</li><li><p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Cool use of grimoires</p>
</li><li><p align="left">Several different ways of gaining XP that go
beyond gold for XP. Things like milestones and
exploration/travelling.</p>
</li></ul><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">For the amount of ideas in it, the rule book is surprisingly short at about 100
pages, which is good in my books. I'd rather read a short 100 page
rule book than a 500 page overwritten behemoth. The rules do feel a
bit terse in the sense that I had to read things a few times before
understanding them and you'd definitely have to have played RPGs a
bit to probably not get lost. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Still, I'd probably recommend it. It's
something I'm probably going to loot the ideas from more than
actually run as is, but oh boy is there a lot to loot and a lot to think about. Overall it does seems like a well thought out system, if a bit
different from most of what is out there, and slightly overburdened. I feel like another edition of this book with better explanations and examples of some things would go a long way.</p><p>
</p><p>You can tell it began as a home brew rule set developed over years
of play. You get a sense of what playing at that table would be like
and what has really worked for the GM. I wish more people would
publish their home brew sets like this. It makes the hobby stronger
and kind of gives insight into what actually works at the table, even if it's not exactly the type of table you'd run. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-90069554731651952082021-05-06T19:02:00.008-07:002021-05-06T19:02:54.740-07:00Creating monster behavior instead of monster abilities<p> In <a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/2021/05/my-players-never-use-combat-rules.html">my last post</a> I talked a bit about in the past I've often tried to include more complex combat rules to make OSR combat more interesting, but players rarely engage with them.</p><p>One of the biggest reasons for this I felt was because combat in OSR is inherently <i>reactionary</i>. Players don't really plan to get into combat and I find don't plan extensively for it. Most times monsters are obstacles and you never know what you're going to run across. Getting into direct combat with them tends to be the worst solution to getting around the obstacle they represent because combat uses up a lot of resources and is often high risk.</p><p>As a result, if they do get into direct combat, I find most players are just content to spend a few turns slogging away at the monster, preforming attack rolls back and forth, trying to do as much damage and kill it as quickly as possible in hope they can get lucky with the dice rolls. Either defeating it, or deciding after a few turns to cut their losses and run away to come up with a better plan. Or well, this is often how combat goes if what they are presented with is kind of your average combat encounter. Fighting some bandits or a troll or something.</p><p>There is nothing wrong with this at heart, but I do think it is good, every once and a while, to try and do more to make combat interactions interesting. Previous editions of D&D have sought to make combat more interesting primarily by giving monsters more unique and interesting abilities. This tended to end up with bigger and bigger stat blocks with 4th edition being the worst:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/zOwlVZ1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="800" height="389" src="https://i.imgur.com/zOwlVZ1.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Where it basically turned D&D into a miniature game (and a pretty decent one if that's what you're into but I am not).</p><p>5th edition has toned it down somewhat:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/qZn1vfP.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="726" height="485" src="https://i.imgur.com/qZn1vfP.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>But it still kind of remains that in both cases the are both describing monster abilities. Little special attacks and actions the monster can do.<div><br /></div><div>While I do think this adds some variety to combat, I find it also tends to lead to strategic bloat. Where combat is thought about in a purely strategic abstracted terms. Like, if monster does X, then I need to do Y. If I'm at position in Z in the imagined space and want to react in Y manner I need to do B. You begin to move further away from imagined narrative elements to miniature or board game like elements. </div><div><br /></div><div>The best way I think to counter this is to not think about monster abilities but think about monster behaviour. Abilities are things they can do. Behaviour is more holistic, concerned with why they are doing the things they do, their <i>motivation</i>. This may seem like I'm making monster design into a amateur theater class but I find the following method works very well.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Creating Monster Behaviour</h4><div>First we start off with a basic monster name, description and stat block. I'll use a goblin from OSE for illustrative purposes:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/IIt3RA3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="800" height="334" src="https://i.imgur.com/IIt3RA3.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Now, to begin, it's not too bad. It's kind of got some behaviour encoded into it through having them attack dwarves on sight and hating the sun. However, it's kind of all mixed up in other information about it including abilities, the composition of the encounters you'll have with them, and how they can differ from combat encounter to combat encounter . What I try to do to really define a monsters behaviour is pull from a list of different key words.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>ALWAYS</li><li>NEVER</li><li>PASSIVELY</li><li>DESIRES</li><li>AVOIDS</li><li>MISTAKES</li><li>CURIOUS</li><li>ORGANIZED</li><li>DECIETFUL</li><li>SPITEFUL</li><li>SINCERE</li><li>POLITE</li><li>COMPASSIONATE</li></ul><div>I try to make these keywords very action orientated, where they describe behaviour. I try to use more verbs, adverbs, than adjectives. I'll then use these keywords to describe monster behaviour in a short sentence. So:</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Goblin</b></div><div>Small grotesque humanoid with pallid earth coloured skin and glowing eyes.</div><div>AC 13</div><div>3 HP</div><div>1 attack 1d6</div><div>SV 14</div><div><br /></div><div>ALWAYS attacks dwarves.</div><div>AVOIDS the sun at all costs.</div><div>COMPASSIONATE towards creatures smaller than it. </div><div>NEVER attacks alone, even if you can't see the other goblins.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Right away I find this presents a much stronger sense of how the monster actually behaves and gets the GM thinking about how it would strategize and attack in battle. </div><div><br /></div><div>Like maybe it has the bravest among it attack first halfheartedly, and when everyone is focused on it, the others attack from behind or slink out of hidden holes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Or maybe it attacks with it's pet rats scampering all over, nipping at the characters toes. Or they simply throw spiders they breed at the players. </div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe they attack the players at twilight outside in overwhelming numbers and if the players can figure out they avoid the rays of the sun they can learn to escape them.</div><div><br /></div><div>It also tends to create a variety of monster abilities so the players don't just see goblins and automatically assume they're going to have daggers and attack in a group or something, maybe one has a poisoned dagger. There are many ways a goblin might fulfill it's behaviour of always wanting to attack a dwarf. Maybe it hates dwarves so much it runs at the nearest one and jumps on him trying to bite him (bites which carry infection) in a suicide charge. Maybe it waits until the party is sleeping before trying to stab the dwarf to death in his bed. Maybe it hides in the shadows and tries to drive the dwarf to fury by mocking them continually. </div><div><br /></div><div>In all these cases I find it pretty easy to riff off of the monsters behaviour when described this way. I think this is because when you understand how a monster relates to the things in the world around it, you understand what it's likely to leverage in combat. Just like you kind of know if the players discover they have a cheap supplier of vials of oil they're ALWAYS going to carry them and leverage them in combat via oily moltov cocktails, creating a slippery floor, creating fire arrows, etc. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-17028850541304161722021-05-03T18:43:00.000-07:002021-05-03T18:43:04.105-07:00My players never use combat rules<div>If there is one section of the rules that I see a lot of OSR authors blogging about and trying to find new ideas or solutions for it's combat rules. I think generally for the following two reasons: </div><div><br /></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li> The fighter in most OSR rulesets seems lackluster. Wizards have spells. Thieves skills. Fighters, just are good at well, fighting. </li><li> Combat in OSR rulesets tends to be abstracted. It can turn into a slog fest where both sides just trade blows until one side dies. </li></ol></div><div><br /></div><div> I know I've spent more than my fair share of time coming up or tweaking combat rules. In general most tweaks to combat rules tend to take two different approaches: </div><div><br /></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li> <b>Improve the fighter: </b>give the fighter the ability to preform signature moves that change what is being done beyond just trading blows. This could be something very specific like a fighter who has some kind of ability to trip enemies with their spear. To a more freeform 'maneuver' ability like Dungeon Crawl Classics mighty deeds where the player rolls a deed dice and if comes up a certain number they get to perform some kind of special maneuver in addition to their attack. </li><li> <b>Improve the tools of the trade:</b> grant special maneuvers to the weapons themselves where the fighter is an expert at using the tools of his trade and to make the weapons themselves more interesting. For example a pole-axe can attack from farther away, a mace reduces an enemies armour. </li></ol></div><div><br /></div><div>While I do think these two ideas are not bad solutions. I find players still don't engage with them much. And you can absolutely forget about players using various 'modes' of combat. Such as fighting defensively where you get some kind of bonus to your defense at cost of your attack. I have played several editions of DnD and can maybe think of 1 or 2 occurrences where someone actually remembered these modes of combat, or specific combat maneuvers from the rulebook and used them. I'm glad that OSR seems to have largely done away with them. </div><div><br /></div><div>As for the solutions OSR rulesets tend to provide. For solution 1 I find players will use combat maneuvers only if the combat situation really prompts them. They tend to not think of them as signature moves and more just a response to the situation they are being presented. So, if you present them with a fight against a bandit they won't think of using a trip attack. However, if you present them with a situation where they are fighting a lumbering troll with long spindly legs, they are maybe more likely to think, hey if we trip this guy, the fight will go better. </div><div><br /></div><div>As for solution 2, I find players rarely engage in micromanaging their inventory or combat 'builds'. They tend to just pick a weapon and armour type, and stick with it. I think this is partly because most times you don't know what kind of things a dungeon is going to contain. Yes a mace may be better against armoured opponents, but if you don't know if your next combat encounter is going to contain heavily armoured opponents why bother bringing along the mace? I find players hate micromanaging their inventory. I know I hate it. Even if I have room for multiple weapons, I'm very unlikely to bring along extra ones just in case I come across that one enemy type it's good against. </div><div><br /></div><div> I find the commonality between these two things is that combat in OSR style games tends to be very <i>reactive</i>. The players are simply reacting to what kind of combat encounter they are presented. If you don't present them with an interesting one they'll simply just default to trading blows until hopefully, as quickly as possible, one side is dead. If things go bad for them, then they'll just try to run away.</div><div><br /></div><div> Now, I do think it's very valuable to have some kind of general rule for combat maneuvers where the players know that yeah, they don't just have to attack, they can jump on the giants back or throw sand in the knights eyes or something. That there is an easy way to resolve such things. In my games I tend to use ability checks. </div><div><br /></div><div> I also think it can be valuable to give a fighter some kind of defined combat 'theme'. Like, hey, your guy is from the mountains up north, he's really good at fighting giants, tripping them and jumping on them. Or your guy used to be a gladiator, he's good at fighting dirty. These kind of backgrounds or themes get players thinking about their characters and I think go further for them actually making up or using some kind of signature move than just giving them a mighty deed ability. </div><div><br /></div><div> Additionally, I think one of the things about the fighter class that only really becomes apparent in play, is that if all the other characters are shit in combat by having low attack scores (as is the case in most OSR rulesets) the fighter really does stand out and feel empowering even if most of what their class is about is simply that their attack bonus increases +1 every level. IT doesn't seem flashy on paper, but I find in practice when the players do get into combat the fighters really shine and are the ones who are actually taking down enemies. I've gone back and forth on combat rules over my years of playing, adding, removing, tweaking, revising. In conclusion the only things I find that have really stuck are: </div><div><div><br /></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li> Make the fighter actually good at combat and the other classes shit. This is most commonly done by having the fighter be the only class whose attack bonus increases every level. If nothing else do this.</li><li> Make sure everyone knows that they can respond to a combat situation in ways other than trading blows. Want to swing off a chandelier? Cool, you can. Want to jump on the giants back? Cool, you can do that too. </li><li>Give the fighter a theme. Your fighter was a gladiator? Cool, He's really good at fighting dirty and throwing sand in people's eyes. Your fighter was a legionary? Cool, he's really good at using his tower sheild to protect others who fight alongside him. </li><li>And probably most forgotten thing of all. If you want your combat to be interesting. Don't make more combat rules. Make your monsters and the combat situations your players find themselves in more interesting instead.
</li></ol></div></div>JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-67503891919629256632019-12-14T21:57:00.002-08:002019-12-14T21:57:31.073-08:00Weirdcrawl: Investigating the Weird and WondrousThis post is a part in a series on creating a weirdcrawl campaign where the focus is on seeking out and exploring strange wonders in the wilderness far from civilization. <a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/p/weirdcrawl-index.html">For the full series click here.</a><br />
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<a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/2019/10/weirdcrawl-generating-weird-wonder.html">In a previous post</a>
I came up with a weird wonder along with six different facts about it
based upon answering a series of questions. I'm going to revise things slightly so I have one answer per question:</div>
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<h3>
<b>The Moon Pool</b></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ae-Ryup-X_Yu3aZXyWoicxZS9VCPAg_62-ieNU3ITW7mU_ZNAb3xLTG2Z0Y2CzRBugkBZwTbXjS7t0opOnnhGUvCNMjDHUk1YG31PrstgMani-ndts6Fu5HxjMxvlz7aphRleFVLXQC2/s1600/moon+pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="632" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ae-Ryup-X_Yu3aZXyWoicxZS9VCPAg_62-ieNU3ITW7mU_ZNAb3xLTG2Z0Y2CzRBugkBZwTbXjS7t0opOnnhGUvCNMjDHUk1YG31PrstgMani-ndts6Fu5HxjMxvlz7aphRleFVLXQC2/s320/moon+pool.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
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<li><b><i>Who </i>guards it? </b>The Moon Pool is a haunted place, a place where strange creatures called the Forgotten dwell. They are the watery dead, empty hollow men and women who walk about. Some recently dead, some having died many years or even eons ago. They forever walk about lost amid the endless pools of the swamp, forever seeking to remember who they once were, what they have forgotten. Strange tales abound about encounters with them.</li>
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<li><b><i>What </i>is it physically? </b>Few know about it, but deep within the Black Basin lies a pool of
silver water so bright and luminous it looks like a sliver of the
moon. It is known as the Moon Pool. It is said
to have been sacred long ago and was worshiped when the moon was young and the swamp a
forest. Many who venture to it do not return.</li>
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<li><b><i>When </i>was it forgotten? </b>Once long ago there were people who dwelt in the forests before the
swamp. They worshiped a sacred pool. They used to make offerings of silver to it and every so often one of the strange necklaces of the old swamp folk turn up, dredged up from the
bottom. Every so often one of their crumbling moon markers can be
found in the swamp. No one knows why they abandoned the swamp.</li>
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<li><b><i>Where </i>is it located? </b>It is said the Moon Pool lies westward beyond the last bend of the river Olb but can only be found on nights of a full moon and that one can only be lead there by the urging of a tormented soul.</li>
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<li><b><i>Why </i>was it forgotten? </b> Long ago, in funeral rite, the people from before the swamp would place their tormented dead within the waters of their sacred pool to grant them a peaceful rest as it's waters cause forgetting. The flesh of the corpse would sink from it's bones which would would arise as shimmering moonlight and their skeleton would arise to dance amid the stars. It is not known why but to keep it secret they all drank from the pool to forget it's existence. From then on it has become a lost place, only the Forgotten knowing the way to it's shore. </li>
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<li><b><i>How </i>do you interact with it? </b>The howling of lost and vengeful spirits can be heard above the waters of the Moon Pool. They howl for they know the awful bargain of the pool. From spirit to flesh, and flesh to spirit the pool can transform. And so the vengeful spirits swirl about the pool desperately wanting to clothe themselves in flesh again to wreak their vengeance, but unwilling to forget the awful grudge that drives them. Desperation mounting, at last, unable to bear it no more, they enter the waters of the Moon Pool. When they arise from it they arise clothed in flesh seeking to remember the grudge they have forgotten.</li>
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I have done my best to keep the answers to these questions terse and with little overlap between them. These six paragraphs is the entirety of the lore I would create for the moon pool and what I would relay to the players. However, I would not present this information to
the players all at once. Their journey is to the Moon Pool is to be a quest! I would present them in a more
investigative format.<br />
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Investigative Adventure</h3>
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As the primary activity in my campaign is the players seeking out weird wonders deep in the wilderness, an investigative structure fits well this goal. While investigative adventures tend to be common in other RPGs they tend to be relatively rare in OSR games.<br />
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OSR games, especially D&D orientated ones, tend to emphasize freedom of player choice. Investigative adventures are hard because if structured too rigidly then the players are pulled from location to location looking for clues, unable to advance to the next location until they have found the crucial clue. If structured to loosely the players might be confused as to what direction to take, unsure or unable to piece together all the clues, and overall feel lost as to what they are supposed to do or how to measure their progress or form goals.<br />
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The first thing that must be realized when structuring a investigative adventure is that it is information that is the real reward and measure of progress, not gold collected, not rooms explored, not monsters killed. It is information that allows the players to form goals about what they want their characters to do and what their next step is, and to see how much progress they have made.<br />
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In this manner the above six bits of information about the Moon Pool serve as the real rewards for the players investigations. As they seek out and learn more about the moon pool they will be better able to formulate further ideas and plans.<br />
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The six clues outlined above form a 'flat' hierarchy of information where each clue is not more important than any other and each can sought out and learned in any order. This is intentional to try and maximize player choice. It's also intentional that players can choose, if they wish, to seek out he wonder after discovering the 'where' clue (or even find some even more clever way of doing so). It is up to them to decide when they feel they have learned enough to make the journey worthwhile, and probably more importantly, feel they can survive it.<br />
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If they seek out the wonder knowing too little about it then they will likely remain confused about what exactly it is and how it works and return with more questions than answers. The possibility of an unsatisfactory conclusion to their journey is once again purposeful. Knowledge is it's own reward.<br />
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Artifacts</h3>
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In order to help facilitate adventure, it is best that the six clues be embodied in objects or people in the game world that the player characters can seek out and interact with. I think this goes well with D&D based OSR games as in them there is an emphasis on loot and items and it's much easier to quest after something tangible.<br />
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I am calling these things artifacts. Not in the traditional D&D sense, but more in the archaeological sense. They represent physical things that are found that tell us something about the past.<br />
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Creating an Artifact</h3>
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There are four ways the fragment of lore can be transmitted each with a different challenge associated with it based on it's method of transmission. </div>
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<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 666px;">
<colgroup><col width="40"></col>
<col width="87"></col>
<col width="513"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="40"><b>1d4</b></td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="87"><b>Method </b>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 0.1cm;" width="513"><b>Challenge</b></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="40">1</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="87">Pictorial</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="513">Seeing the visual display, which is probably immovable, and making sense of
what it's trying to depict.</td>
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<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="40">2</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="87">Written</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="513">Obtaining the written object and deciphering it.</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="40">3</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="87">Verbal</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="513">Getting someone to tell you the information and recording it.</td>
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<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="40">4</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="87">Magic</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="513">Conducting a ritual to gain the information through extra-sensory or magical means.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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I have created four charts to further define the artifact. Roll a d20 and cross reference to determine its form:<br />
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<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 665px;">
<colgroup><col width="36"></col>
<col width="128"></col>
<col width="162"></col>
<col width="136"></col>
<col width="161"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="36"><b>1d20</b></td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="128"><b>Pictoral</b></td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="162"><b>Written</b></td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="136"><b>Verbal</b></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 0.1cm;" width="161"><b>Magic</b></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">1</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Paintings</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Scrolls</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Poem</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Scrying</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">2</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Sacred architecture</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Tablets</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Ballad</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Speaking with the dead</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">3</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Metalwork
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Book or Tome
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Legend</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Speaking with a demon</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">4</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Sculptures</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Engraving</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Recounting</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Speaking with a spirit</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">5</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Ceramics and Pottery</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Fragments and scraps</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Insane ramblings</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Viewing past events</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">6</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Jewelry
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Letters</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Oral history</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Viewing future events</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">7</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Tapestry</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Chronicle</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Speech</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Using astronomical events to find location</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">8</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Fresco</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Last will and testament</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Riddle</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Dowsing
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">9</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Mosaic
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Map</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Eulogy
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Mind Reading</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">10</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Illuminated illustration
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Travelogue
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Rant</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Summoning, Binding, and Torturing</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">11</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Hieroglyph
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Philosophical/Metaphysical treatise</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Lecture</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Speaking with Monsters</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">12</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Petroglyph</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Encyclopedia</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Conversation</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Dimensional traveling</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">13</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Altarpiece</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Encoded Document</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Debate</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Unearthly visions</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">14</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Bas-relief</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Religious or Occult text</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Play or performance</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Time travel</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">15</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Carving</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Scientific Observations</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Audio recording</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Contacting the Outer Spheres
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">16</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Graffiti</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Official missive</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Chant</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Speaking with Animals</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">17</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Model or maquete</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Compendium</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Coded language</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Mind-meld</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">18</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Globe</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Leaflet</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Echo
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Magical illusion</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">19</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Embroidery</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Suicide note</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="136">Sound</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="161">Summoning a guide</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="36">20</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="128">Etching
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="162">Schematic</td>
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<h3>
Fragments of Lore for the Moon Pool</h3>
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Taking the above information I can apply it to the above 6 clues. I will roll randomly for each and from it create a description of the main challenge the players will face and the hook. A hook is an inciting incident that doesn't tells them a bit about how they may find the fragment of lore. Kind of, oh, I don't know that, but I know <i>who </i>may know that. It points them in the direction of the fragment. </div>
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<b>1. </b><b>Who guards it?</b></div>
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<b>Hook:</b> a party of travelers enters the gates of Vorba bearing the slain bodies of their comrades. Hungry, wounded, and miserable, they beg for help and tell tales of being attacked by strange cold skinned dead things in the night, deep in the swamp.</div>
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<b>Fragment (Verbal: </b><b>Recounting</b><b>): </b>the man who was on watch at the time knows best what these things are. Unfortunately, he has slunk away from his fellow travelers to drown himself in drink. If found and convinced to talk he will recount details of the attack. A host of tallow skinned strange men and women came upon him when he was on watch that night. Their skin was cold, their eyes a milky white and they muttered continually, one of them calling him brother, accusing him or murdering it, although he swears he has no brothers or sisters.</div>
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<div>
<b>Clue:</b> The Moon Pool is a haunted place, a place where strange creatures called the Forgotten dwell. They are the watery dead, empty hollow men and women who walk about. Some recently dead, some having died many years or even eons ago. They forever walk about lost amid the endless pools of the swamp, forever seeking to remember who they once were, what they have forgotten. Strange tales abound about encounters with them.<br />
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<b>2. </b><b>What is it physically?</b></div>
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<b>Hook:</b> In a tavern smelling of old ale frequented by students, a priest in a frumpled frock drinks with celibate monks. He is about to be fully ordained and they all sing old ditty's and hymns in celebration. He remarks how he is going to be baptized in the baptismal fount of the grand cathedral of Vorba, Our Lady Victorious. To any who listens, he lets slip that the baptismal font in the cathedral is said to be older than the city itself and is made from a strange metal. </div>
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<b>Fragment (Pictoral: Metalwork):</b> underneath the grand cathedral in a grotto few but those the Bishop allows to visit, lies a large metal basin made of a strange silver metal. It is perfectly round and has been set into the bedrock like a pool. It appears to predate the church. The water gleams brightly, dappled with light, no matter the darkness. Strange etchings of an auroch trampling a serpent adorn its rim. </div>
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<b>Clue:</b> Few know about it, but deep within the Black Basin lies a pool of silver water so bright and luminous it looks like a sliver of the moon. It is known as the Moon Pool. It is said to have been sacred long ago and was worshiped when the moon was young and the swamp a forest. Many who venture to it do not return.</div>
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<b>3. </b><b>When was it forgotten?</b></div>
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<b>Hook:</b> in the market place, amid the finely woven carpets from the east and the black briarwood of the north an old jewelry vendor with a crippled back sells a strange necklace. Primitive, made of large links of a silver metal with the image of an auroch dangling from it's end it is like no other. Rubbing his chapped hands he drives a hard bargain. If any shows interest in his tale, with a craven grin he tells them he will tell them more about it if they buy it.</div>
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<div>
<b>Fragment (Verbal: Poem): </b>the jewelry vendor once attended the halls of storytellers in the north. He is acquainted with the poem of the god Islador, an ancient creation myth of the ancient forest people and the pool they worshiped. He will recite it to the players if they buy the necklace. However, he knows the necklace is the centerpiece of his collection and draws much attention to his stall. He will only let it go for an exorbitantly high price or in trade for a similarly unique item.</div>
</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Clue: </b>Once long ago there were people who dwelt in the forests before the swamp. They worshiped a sacred pool. They used to make offerings of gold to it and every so often one of the strange necklaces of the old swamp folk turn up, dredged up from the bottom. Every so often one of their crumbling moon markers can be found in the swamp. No one knows why they abandoned the swamp.<br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b>4. Why was it forgotten?</b></div>
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<b>Hook:</b> the maidens of the Peatsmen are said to be the keepers of the history of the roaming boat clans for it is they who embroider the old stories onto their wedding dresses. Each dress contains the history and legends of the clan depicted in colourful thread. Yur Zhdanov, a scholar, is seeking out several well experienced travelers to help him collect several such dresses to study.</div>
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<b>Fragment (Pictoral: Embroidery):</b><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </b>the wedding dresses of the maidens of the Peatsmen are treasured. They are not made to be given away or traded and each is specific to the recently married maiden who made it. Only they can decode the full story of what the embroidery conveys, stories that are passed down from mother to daughter in secret. If several such dresses are collected they show the reoccurring symbol of the Moon Pool and starry skeletons. If decoded by the maidens who made the dresses, the full tale can be learned.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Clue: </b>Long ago, in funeral rite, the people from before the swamp would place their tormented dead within the waters of their sacred pool. It would grant them a peaceful rest as it's waters cause forgetting. The flesh of the corpse would sink from it's bones. It's skeleton would arise as shimmering moonlight to dance amid the stars. It is not known why but to keep it secret they all drank from the pool to forget it's existence. From then on it has become a lost place, only the Forgotten knowing the way to it's shore. </div>
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<b>5. </b><b>Where is it located?</b></div>
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<b>Hook:</b> a clan of Peatsmen in the swamp is in disarray over their disgraced prince who recently died in a duel with another clan. The entire clan is in mourning and the funeral rites last many weeks. The matriarch refuses to bury her son until his soul can be laid to rest.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Fragment </b><b>(Magic: </b><b>Mind-meld</b><b>)</b><b>: </b>in order to find out why the princes soul is tormented the party must conduct a ritual to mind meld with the recently deceased prince. They must gather black saw-grass, the eye of a blue eel, and a powder of fragrant glass the traders bring far from the south. In the darkness of a new moon they must sing the ancient incantations and place their palm upon the Prince's head in which their minds and his, pulled from the afterlife become conjoined. They receive visions of the Moon Pool and feel his urging for it.</div>
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<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Clue: </b>It is said the Moon Pool lies westward beyond the last bend of the river Olb but can only be found on nights of a full moon and that one can only be lead there by the urging of a tormented soul.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<div>
<b>6. How do you interact with it?</b></div>
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<b>Hook:</b> Grigory "The Great" Ivankov is a wizard of ill repute has created a machine to record and play the voices of restless undead spirits. He seeks a brave group of individuals to travel deep within the swamp to one of the crumbling 'moon markers' within the swamp. These are haunted obelisks with holes that line up with the moon. No one knows who built them but the whispering of evil spirits is heard about them. He wishes to record their voices there.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Fragment </b><b>(Verbal: </b><b>Audio recording</b><b>)</b><b>: </b>If recorded, the spirits, in insane howling voices, obsessively speak of the temptation of the Moon Pool. Recording them, of course, draws them like a loadstone and they will be loath to simply return to their aimless roaming of the swamp. </div>
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<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<b>Clue: </b>The howling of lost and vengeful spirits can be heard above the waters of the Moon Pool. They howl for they know the awful bargain of the pool. From spirit to flesh, and flesh to spirit the pool can transform. And so the vengeful spirits swirl about the pool desperately wanting to clothe themselves in flesh again to wreak their vengeance, but unwilling to forget the awful grudge that drives them. Desperation mounting, at last, unable to bear it no more they enter the waters of the Moon Pool. When they arise from it they arise clothed in flesh seeking to remember the grudge they have forgotten.</div>
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<h3>
Following the Trail of Information</h3>
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In the above one weird wonder is outlined with six different trails to clues. A campaign would have multiple wonders in the wilderness, each with six different hooks. The players would run across them primarily in civilized areas and have to decide which they wish to pursue and more importantly which they feel are connected to each other.<br />
<br />
There are some repeating motifs across the six hooks. These serve let the GM riff on things and help them help the players make connections as they narrow in on what weird wonder they are pursuing. The GM might tell the players that the baptismal fount and the strange necklace seem to be made of the same metal connecting those leads for the players. They might even to go so far as once the players have managed to overcome the challenge of the fragment, to summarize the clue in it's entirety to the players. In investigative games, the real interesting fun come not from finding information. It comes out of what the players decide to do with the information they find. Do they trust all of it? How will they leverage it? How will it effect their current relationships? Their future plans? At what cost did the information come?<br />
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<h3>
Civilization holds the Clues</h3>
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<div>
Overall the hooks for each clue are meant to be random type encounters that the players can have in civilized locations or not to far outside civilization. I place them mostly in civilized locations as the easiest way to get information about something is from another person, so civilized locations have a greater chance of someone knowing something about something, if not the final clue, then something that will help them towards the clue. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Civilized locations tend to also create small quickly resolved situations that are easy to role play and help expand the setting and characters detail by detail through play. I also find these sorts of situations at the beginning of an adventure help build suspense and interest in the end goal. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
A natural turning point is when the players decide to actually set out into the harsh wilderness to find the weird wonder. Before, they are still safe in civilized lands. After they set out, the journey will be long and arduous, there is no easy turning back. Once they set off, what they find lacking will test them in body and soul. </div>
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In my next post I will detail this second half further.</div>
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JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-39424379135484158182019-11-06T22:16:00.001-08:002019-11-06T22:16:02.309-08:00Weirdcrawl: The Power of Quests<div style="text-align: center;">
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There is a power in Quests. </div>
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Frodo and Sam's journey into darkest Mordor, the only thing sustaining them, their friendship. Tiny amidst the darkness that surrounds them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMDv2Dutg3he2SW5QVvx2LjlwSy52QvCSIzkvONN9KGHW0SO2tge1kdN9-5vTxZH0IwRmG6w-siH9y2yP_hqwcT1KTL6IFaNHyS3cZwmWqjY2xQpXW09VJB8YSVNy018U56F5KHgDcv4up/s1600/9f310527daa24a7aec91213c738f4801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="900" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMDv2Dutg3he2SW5QVvx2LjlwSy52QvCSIzkvONN9KGHW0SO2tge1kdN9-5vTxZH0IwRmG6w-siH9y2yP_hqwcT1KTL6IFaNHyS3cZwmWqjY2xQpXW09VJB8YSVNy018U56F5KHgDcv4up/s400/9f310527daa24a7aec91213c738f4801.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Doomed Captain Ahab after his white whale, driven by the madness that is only calm when it contemplates itself.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7h4BewQgLOHsCziTofg5LwAITYBz_DcqzHUiuBWcMzP4tp55H2fcErz4gXm9PUtRJdTwW7t6S5nWFOa477LvhBxOA8lkkMD9ikHdk79yGY2QFpNsIdqVYQHEa9y9zTOd8bj6r4dSaqAG/s1600/nejm199204093261519_f1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1122" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7h4BewQgLOHsCziTofg5LwAITYBz_DcqzHUiuBWcMzP4tp55H2fcErz4gXm9PUtRJdTwW7t6S5nWFOa477LvhBxOA8lkkMD9ikHdk79yGY2QFpNsIdqVYQHEa9y9zTOd8bj6r4dSaqAG/s400/nejm199204093261519_f1.jpeg" width="285" /></a></div>
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Indiana Jones chasing a trail of adventure, seeking the rumored relic, stumbling across the dangerous and exotic in equal measure. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU64MmzADKnSwAyMt9wpFSoeY4PRMDpTe4yJUp7fhds3elYBAJfo1afBs97__-ZVXe56Mwh2BF5iL5fvkfDrUutBsdtGk1LCxOPkzRfY4v3dLICz0s0a8m2oFj9xx-7Jfpjd9gjI6FABgG/s1600/0838da547954795c81859998a7ee5295ca9a2073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU64MmzADKnSwAyMt9wpFSoeY4PRMDpTe4yJUp7fhds3elYBAJfo1afBs97__-ZVXe56Mwh2BF5iL5fvkfDrUutBsdtGk1LCxOPkzRfY4v3dLICz0s0a8m2oFj9xx-7Jfpjd9gjI6FABgG/s400/0838da547954795c81859998a7ee5295ca9a2073.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Captain Willard heading down the river in a lonesome boat in the midst of the Vietnam war, heading into the heart of darkness to find the mysterious Colonel Kurtz.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFNni552hqEQS2waZYWNOn_CSDwT56fsQtDHnVDwupvPagNfulWk_QrGzswcrg3PYXBaaDjxEu-ZWgvS-t4K1qAF3I15XSrFx79L0jXrUFYFD2PdYNk0Avf4LrmfbLAg8sx_yE76xotqy/s1600/apocalypse-now-final-cut-trailer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="948" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFNni552hqEQS2waZYWNOn_CSDwT56fsQtDHnVDwupvPagNfulWk_QrGzswcrg3PYXBaaDjxEu-ZWgvS-t4K1qAF3I15XSrFx79L0jXrUFYFD2PdYNk0Avf4LrmfbLAg8sx_yE76xotqy/s400/apocalypse-now-final-cut-trailer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There is a power in quests.<br />
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I am using the term quest loosely here. Quests tend to be most associated with the fantasy genre. I tend to define quest focused stories as those that involve an protagonist traveling into unknown physical terrain (although also often psychological) after a singular obsessive goal.<br />
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I find stories involving quests compelling. I find they can also be great tools for helping focus a campaign giving it direction and purpose.<br />
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<a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/p/weirdcrawl-index.html">So far in my series about creating a Weirdcrawl</a> I have created this basic setup:<br />
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<a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/2019/09/weirdcrawl-geographical-considerations.html">You have civilization at one end.</a><br />
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<a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/2019/10/weirdcrawl-generating-weird-wonder.html">And a strange wonder at the other end.</a><br />
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Before continuing, I'd like to take a step back now because I don't want a weirdcrawl to just be traveling to a wonder. I want it to be a quest. While there is lore and setting information about the wonder, the real story is not the wonder, it's the one that emerges during the journey to it.<br />
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<h2>
Atmosphere in RPGS</h2>
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Most RPGs don't talk much about atmosphere. I think because most of the time because it feels like something that belongs in the realm of traditional storytelling. Atmosphere in literature is commonly defined as being formed through an authors choice of descriptive language. If applied to RPGs in this manner it tends to lead to a lot of boring read out loud text and a GMing style that tends to restrict player choice or comes across as hamfisted in trying to set a tone.<br />
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However, I think it's important to talk about atmosphere in RPGs because a thematic and emotional atmosphere is going to be created at the table no matter what a GM does. I think atmosphere in RPGs can be defined in the following manner:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The emotional sum of player reactions to things they encounter and interact with in the setting. </blockquote>
If a game is to be interesting, most things the players encounter won't be of neutral emotion. Encountering an ordinary peasant on the way to market isn't a very interesting or engaging encounter. Encountering one who is acting suspiciously and is hiding something horrific, or a very earnest with a family of seven in tow who is begging for your help, is much more engaging.<br />
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If your game features a lot of horrific and disturbing things, it's likely to have an atmosphere of horror. If your game is more upbeat and full of fanciful creatures it's more likely to be one of wonder and curiosity.<br />
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In this manner I think an atmosphere can be created in RPGs through paying attention to what kind emotions surround the content that players are presented with in the setting. I think trying to cultivate an atmosphere is beneficial as it helps connect sessions together emotionally and thematically. If they are exploring a war ravaged land with lots of poor and starving people, there's likely to be themes of the horrors and futility of war arising. This can add depth and context to each session.<br />
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As players explore a setting, I think they shouldn't just learn more and more about it, they should <i>feel </i>more and more strongly about it.<br />
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<h2>
A Variety of Wonders</h2>
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In the weirdcrawl I am constructing I think the setting should contain a variety of wonders that evoke a variety of atmospheres. Playing a game with the same emotional content and atmosphere gets boring after a while. The first time you venture into an evil swamp full of horrific things might be fun, but the tenth time going somewhere dark and nasty, not so much.<br />
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Additionally, by having wonders with a different sense of atmosphere, it also allows for the player to select what kind of game they are comfortable with and enjoy the most. If they don't like horror, they don't have to journey to the Obsidian Statue of the Forgotten Leper King in the swamp. They can decide to journey to the Graveyard of the Porcelain Elephants instead.<br />
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In either case the structure of the journey would stay largely the same: the party has a wonder, an end goal that they are traveling too and are going to encounter all kinds of obstacles along the way and have to make decisions about how to best get there and at what cost. But just like how just like how each example movie or book I listed above has a different atmosphere, so too can each wonder.</div>
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<h2>
Creating an Atmosphere in a Weirdcrawl</h2>
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There are two dichotomies that I think are useful to consider when trying to create an atmosphere for a weird wonder:</div>
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<div>
<b>Beauty/Revulsion:</b> beauty being the pleasing aesthetic qualities of a thing and revulsion being the unpleasant aesthetic qualities of a thing. A typical example of this would be our appreciation of the finely proportioned human body and our revulsion towards dead or rotting flesh. Beauty and revulsion can be used to create an immediate <i>visceral </i>reaction to something.</div>
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<b>Whimsy/Dread:</b> whimsy being a pleasurable curiosity and wonderment to something, while dread being apprehension or anxiety to something. Whimsy and dread can be used to create a more long term <i>emotional </i>reaction to something. A typical example of this would be our interest or longing to try and catch sight of a colorful toucan in the wild, and our dread in knowing that we are being stalked by a tiger.<br />
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Together these four different emotions can be mixed to create four different atmospheres defined by a immediate <i>visceral </i>reaction and a long term <i>emotional </i>reaction. I think selecting one of these four atmospheres goes along way when thinking about what kind of obstacles and things you want to have in front of the players on their journey to the wonder.<br />
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<h3>
Atmosphere of The Eire</h3>
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<h4>
Beauty-Dread:</h4>
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These quests contain a strange unearthly wonder and beauty at first. The clockwork ornery that models all the celestial bodies that ever were and will be, in wonderous motion. The village around a looming black tower with no windows were the villagers are helpful. A marble clad lighthouse carved by the gods on a strange isle off the coast whose circling light never falters.<br />
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There is a sense of other-worldliness to these quests. Nothing really appears that dangerous, not at first. Things appear fine, maybe even friendly. But there is something off about things. You can't quite put your finger on it, but something is behaving strangely. It all begins to evoke a sense of dread.<br />
<br />
Maybe the villagers are a little <i>too </i>helpful. Maybe the midnight lighthouse is inhabited by a living immortal marble statue who sees mortals as but curiosities. Maybe the orrery is now worshiped by an insane madman who uses it to predict all the parties actions.<br />
<br />
In these quests the guardians are often like wolves in a sheep's clothing. They may seem friendly and rational at first but at heart are not. The party is subject to their often powerful whims and will have to find some means of either outwitting them or navigating their byzantine logic if they wish to reach the wonder.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Atmosphere of The Odd</h3>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Revulsion-Whimsy:</h4>
<br />
These quests appear gruesome and dangerous, perhaps even sinister at first. Ruined temples in dark shadow, a deep hole with a descending spiral staircase, a graveyard of rotting elephants, but amid it all there is a sense of the mysterious, a sense of curiosity, a sense of even the whimsical at times.<br />
<br />
Maybe the ruined temple is full of friendly ghosts. Maybe at the bottom of the deep hole lies a race of strange dwarves who speak in riddles. Maybe the graveyard of rotting elephants contains a highly intelligent undead variety who are misunderstood.<br />
<br />
In these quests the guardians often a bit like a sheep in wolfs clothing. They seem dangerous or repulsive at first but contain a hidden life and often humour. They make for an interesting twist and play at the party's expectations. They may aid the party on their quest to the wonder, if you are able to earn their trust and respect.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Atmosphere of The Marvelous</h3>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Beauty-Whimsy:</h4>
<br />
These quests appear fanciful and strange. A great green rolling ocean that lies across a desert where people have lived so long in the sand they think the ocean, that much wondrous water, is but a myth. A staircase that leads to the moon where silver dragons stream across its surface and fight the nightgaunts. A whirlpool in which mermaids swim and which leads to their underwater kingdom.<br />
<br />
These quests tend to be full of unabashed whimsy. There is danger yes, but a sense of curiosity of playful risk to the journey. A sense of both youthfulness and wisdom, of dangerous folly and gracious humility.<br />
<br />
In these quests the guardians guard the wonder because it is truly a precious and innocent thing. A thing of true wonder that should scare exist in the world. That like a shimmering bubble, it could be extinguished in a heartbeat. So much so that the guardians often worship the wonder or hold it in high regard. They will harm and prevent the party from reaching the wonder if they deem them unworthy or a risk to it.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Atmosphere of The Blighted</h3>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h4>
Revulsion-Dread:</h4>
<br />
These quests appear doomed. The cursed swamp that lies over a great battle long ago where the dead now do dwell, the barrow mound that houses the nameless king of iron who harbours endless hate, the nest of the reaping locusts who will one day eat the flesh of all men as death itself awakes.<br />
<br />
There are some places one should just not go. Places were a malign evil saturates the very land. These quests tend to be into the heart of darkness itself. Journeys done for great reasons or for great rewards, preferably both. Journey's where the weak will falter, where only the hardened will survive.<br />
<br />
In these quests the guardians will oppose the party at every turn and seek only their destruction. For they guard a great prize, the wonder is the source of their evil and malign power. They will be loath to be parted from it. They and the wonder can only be destroyed, never bargained with, and if the party seizes it as their own they may find themselves slowly becoming monsters themselves.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<br /></h3>
JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-30734046889794241342019-10-28T19:53:00.002-07:002019-10-28T20:04:33.123-07:00Weirdcrawl: Generating a Weird Wonder<a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/2019/10/weirdcrawl-qualities-of-weird-wonder.html">In my previous post</a> I talked a bit about what I thought were some baseline qualities for a weird wonder. These weird wonders would serve as the object of quests in a campaign based around venturing into the wilderness to seek out and explore places of weird wonder. Kind of like Indiana Jones combined with the Dreamlands of H. P. Lovecraft.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/p/weirdcrawl-index.html">Click here for the index.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Paradoxical Duality of the Weird</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
There are many ways to think about 'weird' things, what they are, and how to define them. I have done so already in my blog, mostly in service of <a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/2019/10/weirdcrawl-four-degrees-of-weirdness.html">how to create a creeping or gradual sense of the weird</a> where if you have some weird wonder as the object of a quest, the focus of the campaign and play should not just be the final encounter with the weird thing but the journey itself. A journey that has a sense of rising weirdness and tension as the players venture deeper and deeper into the unknown wilderness and away from normalized civilization. So far I have yet to attempt to really define what makes a weird wonder weird and how to go about creating or generating that. I will attempt to do so now.<br />
<br />
At heart, I think weird or unsettling things are paradoxical in nature. They exist and yet everything we know about the world, our knowledge, our past experiences, our primordial instincts, tell us they should not exist. This creates a cognitive confusion, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance">cognitive dissonance</a> that causes emotional reactions that tend to range from awe, to fear, to anger. (I don't have a background in psychology so am probably lacking in the correct terminology but if anyone has any ideas please leave a comment! It's something I'd love to read up on more but have a hard time finding good sources.)<br />
<br />
To this end I think the best way to achieve a sense of the weird is to have some object straddle two different containers in our mind about what is known or real.<br />
<br />
For example, ghosts. We know that people live and what living people are like. We know what dead people are like also. In our brain we have formed two containers for these two concepts. A ghost straddles these two containers because it is a person who appears both dead and alive at the same time. Our brain doesn't know what to do about it and so we tend to react in an emotional manner. In the moment we tend to be terrified and repelled, outside the moment curious and attracted.<br />
<br />
The mental overload and cognitive dissonance resulting from a very close straddling of two different containers is also why I think there tends to be a limit of believability to weird things and what separates the weird from other things. Ghosts are believable because they paradoxically combine the categories of life and death, things which seem to form an opposition or duality. When something tends to straddle multiple categories it tends to come across more unbelievable than believable and weird. Like the idea of a ghost, something dead yet living is believable, but the idea of a ghost who is dead which has leathery batwings seems a bit more silly even though it's all equally unreal and impossible.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, I think the strangest things tend to be those which combine the paradoxical. A river flowing uphill defying gravity, that is odd. However, I think something that is far more strange and interesting is a river of flowing liquid fire. It flows like water and feels like water, yet glows and wavers like flame and even though it feels cold to the touch things soaked in it too long seem to turn to ash. When you combine things of apposing or opposite qualities, you don't just create something that is behaving in an odd fashion, you create something that our brains think fundamentally shouldn't exist. And yet does.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Weird Wonder Generation</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
The following is a large table that helps create the basic weird wonder. There are three columns.<br />
<br />
<b>Feature: </b>this is the actual physical thing that comprises the wonder, constructed or natural. They are things of a singular nature that would lend themselves to a smaller adventuring site rather than something sprawling.<br />
<br />
<b>Duality: </b> the source of the weird, the duality. It will take some imagination and abstract thought in this column are listed two opposites. The wonder should in some way or another embody these two opposites.<br />
<br />
<b>Guardian: </b>the guardian of the wonder presented as a list of archetypes. As mentioned before, I am using the term guardian very loosely. They may be a single individual, group of people, monster, etc. They serve to create player interaction and a probable reason why the wonder has remained isolated and hidden. Their motivations and intent when interacting with the party may vary.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="7" cellspacing="0" style="width: 661px;">
<colgroup><col width="57"></col>
<col width="168"></col>
<col width="209"></col>
<col width="169"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="17" style="border: 0.85pt solid #000000; padding: 0.18cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<b>d100</b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 0.85pt solid #000000; padding: 0.18cm 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<b>Feature</b></div>
</td>
<td style="border: 0.85pt solid #000000; padding: 0.18cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<b>Duality</b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: 0.85pt solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0.18cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<b>Guardian</b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
1</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Pool</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
water/fire</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Fool</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
2</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Standing stone</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Beast/man</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Mother</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
3</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;">Glade</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Darkness/light</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Father</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
4</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;">Fortification</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Depth/surface</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Magician</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
5</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Boat</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Death/birth</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Scribe</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
6</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Bridge</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Wealth/poverty</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Warrior</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
7</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Mist</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Dream/reality</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Specter</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
8</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Garden</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fullness/emptiness</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Priestess</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="35" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
9</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Tree</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
flesh/stone</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Abomination</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
10</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Wall</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Solidness/fragility</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Emperor</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
11</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Waterfall</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Flat/round</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Land</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
12</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Arch</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fornication/chastity</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Lover</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
13</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Burial grounds</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Forever/temporary</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Prophet</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
14</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Door</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fresh/rotting</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Hermit</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
15</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Statue</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Horizontal/vertical</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Devil</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
16</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Pillar</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Infinitesimal/infinite</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Leper</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
17</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Pyramid</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Male/female</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Messenger</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
18</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fungus</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Old/young</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Knight</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
19</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Tower</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Mind/body</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Bishop</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="35" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
20</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Cliff</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Collectivism/ Individualism</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Captain</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
21</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Petroglyph</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Trust/betrayal</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Gardner</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
22</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;">Vault</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Problem/solution</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Artist</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
23</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;">Dam</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Love/hate</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Soldier</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
24</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Crystal</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Creation/destruction</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Smith</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
25</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Sand Dune</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Thought/emotion</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Giant</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
26</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Whirlpool</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Child/adult</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Dead</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
27</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Dry Lake</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
noise/silence</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Forgotten</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
28</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Glacier</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Imagination/reality</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Lady</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
29</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Island</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Passion/apathy</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Monk</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
30</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Cave</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Vision/blindness</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Executioner</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
31</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Plateau</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Tradition/spontaneity</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Seer</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
32</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Valley</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Freedom/imprisonment</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Conqueror</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="35" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
33</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Mountain Summit</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
gas/solid</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Conquered</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
34</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Tepui</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Heavy/light</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Angel</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
35</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Volcano</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Material/spiritual</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Peddler</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
36</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Crater</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Cold/warm</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Templar</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
37</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Spring</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fear/calm</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Herald</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
38</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Lava lake</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Frozen/liquid</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Betrayer</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
39</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fissure</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
doubt/faith</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Scapegoat</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
40</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Lighthouse</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Shame/delight</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Sacrifice</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
41</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Mausoleum</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Remembering/forgetting</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Leviathan</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
42</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fountain</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Surrender/triumph</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Trickster</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
43</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Flame</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Tragedy/comedy</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Torturer</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
44</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Labyrinth</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Illusionary/reality</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Nymph</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
45</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Causeway</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Hunger/satiation</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Wild</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
46</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Grotto</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Past/future</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Thief</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
47</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Shell</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fate/chance</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Warlord</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
48</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Well</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Pleasure/pain</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Ferryman</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
49</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Urn</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Justice/corruption</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Hero</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
50</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Amphitheater</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Clarity/obscurity</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Witch</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
51</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Lightning</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Loneliness/togetherness</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Dog</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
52</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Library</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
indestructible/weakness</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Scholar</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
53</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Nest</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Pride/abasement</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Killer</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
54</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Hive</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Truth/lie</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Healer</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
55</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Colonnade</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
civilization/savagery</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Collector</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
56</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;">Road</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Affliction/cure</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Siren</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
57</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Cenotaph/Stele</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Concentration/scattered</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Starved</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
58</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Stairway</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Anarchy/order</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Watcher</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
59</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
River source</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Grandeur/simplicity</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Awakened</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
60</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Salt flat</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Multitude/singular</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Revenant</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
61</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Taproot</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Insular/inclusive</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Mentor</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
62</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Meteorite</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Ascent/descent</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Omniscient</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
63</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Canyon</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Flesh/spirit</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Sisters</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="35" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
64</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Observatory</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Writing/speaking</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Order</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="35" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
65</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Rough statues</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
veiled/naked</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Master</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
66</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Waystone</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Black/white</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The cowardly</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
67</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Loadstone</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Natural/unnatural</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Betrayer</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
68</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Monument</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Abundance/famine</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Betrayed</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
69</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Sewers</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Expansion/contraction</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Nurse</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
70</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Canal</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Protection/destruction</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Shepherd</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="35" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
71</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Palace</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
fertile/barren</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Automaton</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
72</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Shrine</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Crisis/challenge</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Sacrifice</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
73</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Arena</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Defiance/submission</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Saccharine</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="35" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
74</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Migratory grounds</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Mastery/incompetence</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Unborn</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
75</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Cairn</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Hospitality/hostility</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Brute</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
76</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Totem</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Flying/crawling</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Miser</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
77</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Pyre</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Sharp/dull</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Architect
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
78</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Tar pit</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Clever/stupid</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Wanderer</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
79</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Lagoon</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Melodic/discordant</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Invisible</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
80</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Spire</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fading/coagulating</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Reaper</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
81</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Burial Mound</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fostered/condemned</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Ravenous</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
82</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Leviathan</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Programmed/random</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Undertaker</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
83</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Orrery</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Adorned/empty</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Enslaved</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
84</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Axis Mundi</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Depleted/energized</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Slaver</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
85</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Pit</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Guide/mislead</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Fraternity</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="35" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
86</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Spawning grounds</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Lost/found</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Prisoner</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
87</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Roost</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Gentle/rough</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Fallen</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
88</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Beach</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Advanced/primitive</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Cursed</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
89</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Obelisk</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Distant/close</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Forgetful</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
90</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Ship wreck</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Fabricated/biological</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Forgiven</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
91</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Sigil</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Learned/innate</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Widow</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
92</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Meadow</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Cooked/raw</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Warlock</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
93</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Battlefield</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Herded/directionless</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Withered</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
94</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Mine</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Neglected/pampered</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Maiden</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
95</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Stone Works</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Interlinked/unwoven</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Elder</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
96</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Ziggurat</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Wide/narrow</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Tyrant</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
97</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Monastery</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Falling/rising</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Child</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
98</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Forge</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Human/inhuman</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Traveler</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="18" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
99</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Bell Tower</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
<span style="color: black;">Withered/lush</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
The Undying</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td height="17" style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="57"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
100</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="168"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Hunting Grounds</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0.18cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="209"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Defeat/Victory</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-left: none; border-right: 0.85pt solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.18cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0.18cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="169"><div style="margin-left: 0.18cm;">
Death</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Enigmatic History</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After rolling on the above chart you should have the basics of a weird wonder. In some way the wonder should be momentous. It is a place where something <i>happened</i>. Something long ago. It should have a sense of scale or of time, evoke a feeling of awe and mystery. It should have a past that the players will never be able to fully unravel as it's history is lost, but glimpses of that history, of its scale and timelessness, lay all about it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Roll on the following chart until you get something that makes sense for the weird wonder. You may have to do this several times. Remember, it's the wonder itself that is weird, not it's history, it's history should be simply unknown. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<colgroup><col width="17*"></col>
<col width="239*"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.1cm;" width="7%"><b>1d50</b></td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 0.1cm;" width="93%"><b>Enigmatic History</b></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">1</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Immense in size</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">2</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Markings in a dead undecipherable language</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">3</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Partially buried in the earth
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">4</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Crumbling and derelict
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">5</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Made of ultra-durable materials</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">6</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Path to it is footsteps worn through stone</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">7</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Choaking dust and debris
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">8</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Rain eroded and wind worn</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">9</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Sealed off and purposely blocked</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">10</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Signs of long ago civilization collapse or disaster</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">11</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Lots of art by unknown culture
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">12</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Disrupted weather patterns due to site</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">13</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Landscape shows signs of massive alteration</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">14</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Everyday remains of ancient visitors fragile to touch</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">15</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Carving and scripts so worn they are unreadable</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">16</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Scale of steps, hallways, pathways, trails, is too large to be for
a human.</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">17</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Scale of steps, hallways, pathways, trails, is too small to be for
a human.</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">18</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Has reoccurring symbol of unknown or forgotten god</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">19</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Layers and layers of bloodstains from sacrifices</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">20</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Reoccurring name and history that has been defaced and scratched
out</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">21</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Ancient refuse pits dot the landscape around it</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">22</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Mass graves with thousands of bones</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">23</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Astrological alignment of site based on how stars were long ago</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">24</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Construction breaks the laws of physics
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">25</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">‘Grown’ from natural materials by the gods instead of built</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">26</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Partially destroyed by some massive creature or god</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">27</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Site seems to be built by advanced technology</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">28</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Art from a proto-civilization or culture that is father to all
civilizations
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">29</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Covered in layers and layers of soot and grime</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">30</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">In a cold place buried underneath ice and snow</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">31</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Previously looted many times over</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">32</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Fossilized remains</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">33</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Perfectly preserved remains frozen in time</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">34</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Lots of strange jewelry from unknown cultures left as offerings</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">35</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Graffiti in several different languages, some from long ago, some
more recently</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">36</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">A written warning to all those who explore the site</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">37</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Animals avoid the place</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">38</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Animals of a certain type are attracted to the place</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">39</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Covered in thick vegetation and greenery</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">40</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Covered in moss and lichen</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">41</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Covered in slime and mold</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">42</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Full of broken religious symbols and iconography
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">43</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Made with materials from far away lands</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">44</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Area is expansive and empty, stripped to the bones</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">45</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Nothing grows
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">46</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Area is contained with some toxic material
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">47</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Signs and leavings of visitors of many different times and
cultures</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">48</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Contains strange geometric features or motif that hints at
advanced mathematics and intelligence
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">49</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">A written curse upon all those who explore the site</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="7%">50</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; border-top: none; padding-bottom: 0.1cm; padding-left: 0.1cm; padding-right: 0.1cm; padding-top: 0cm;" width="93%">Made over oversized materials impossible for humans or even basic
machinery to manipulate</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<h2>
</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
Defining a Weird Wonder</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To keep things simple and avoid creating too much lore or backstory weird wonders should seek to concisely answer the following questions. Some of them may not be applicable to all wonders. You also only really need to answer a handful, in creating a sense of the weird and unknown it's better to give out less information than more. Overall the questions help prompt thought and break down information about the wonders into tidbits that can be given the players as they decide to seek it out and investigate it.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>Who</b>: </li>
<ul>
<li>Who knows more about it's existence?</li>
<li>Who guards it?</li>
<li>Who else seeks it?</li>
<li>Who else has been there?</li>
</ul>
<li><b>What:</b> </li>
<ul>
<li>What is it physically?</li>
<li>What happened to it over the ages?</li>
<li>What strange qualities does it posses?</li>
</ul>
<li><b>When</b>: </li>
<ul>
<li>When was it forgotten? </li>
<li>When was it last visited?</li>
<li>When is the best time to visit it?</li>
</ul>
<li><b>Where</b>: </li>
<ul>
<li>Where is it located?</li>
<li>Where are clues to its location?</li>
</ul>
<li><b>Why</b>: </li>
<ul>
<li>Why was it created?</li>
<li>Why was it destroyed?</li>
<li>Why was it forgotten?</li>
</ul>
<li><b>How</b>: </li>
<ul>
<li>How do you get to it? </li>
<li>How do you survive the journey to it?</li>
<li>How do you interact with it?</li>
<li>How can you possibly exploit it?</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<h2>
Putting Everything Together!</h2>
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Rolling, on the above charts I got the following:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Feature</b>: Pool</li>
<li><b>Duality</b>: Flesh/spirit</li>
<li><b>Guardian</b>: The Forgetful</li>
<li><b>Enigmatic History</b>: Lots of strange jewelry from unknown cultures left as offerings</li>
</ul>
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Using the setting that I have been creating as I go in this blog series, I came up with the following:<br />
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<h3>
The Moon Pool</h3>
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<b>What is it physically?</b><br />
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Few know about it, but deep within the Black Basin lies a pool of silver water so bright and luminous it looks like a sliver of the moon. In tales told by the drifting gypsies of the swamp, it is said to have been sacred long ago when the moon was young and the swamp a forest.<br />
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<b>Who guards it?</b><br />
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Now it is a haunted place, a place where a race of strange creatures called the Forgotten dwell. Watery empty hollow men and women who walk about in strange legion forever seeking to remember who they once were. Strange tales abound about encounters with them.<br />
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<b>Who strange qualities does it posses?</b><br />
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The howling of vengeful spirits can be heard all about the pool, heard in the day, in the night, under the soon and amid the stars. They howl for they know the awful bargain of the pool. From spirit to flesh, and flesh to spirit. Into the pool they dive and from it they arise, once again clothed in flesh. But with all memory of their awful grudge struck from them. As one of the Forgotten they are doomed to roam. And so the vengeful spirits swirl about the pool desperately wanting the flesh to wreak their vengeance, but unwilling to forget, until desperation mounting, they enter, hoping that as one of the Forsaken they will encounter something that reminds them of their grudge.<br />
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<b>When was it last visited?</b><br />
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The eldest of the Peatsmen matriarchs visited it long ago. With her she brought the body of her disgraced son who died in a duel. When she placed his body into the waters of the Silver Pool his flesh sank away from his bones which turned to shimmering moonlight. From dead flesh to gentle spirit he arose, his burden lifted, his spirit freed to drift with his ancestors among the stars.<br />
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<h4>
<b>When was it forgotten?</b></h4>
</div>
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Once long ago there were people who dwelt in the forests before the swamp. They worshiped the Moon Pool. Necklaces of gold with images of the bear and auroch they threw into the pool and waters around it in funeral rite as they placed their tormented dead within it's waters. Every so often their strange necklaces turn up, dredged up from the bottom. Every so often one of their crumbling moon markers can be found in the swamp.<br />
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<h4>
<b>When is the best time to visit it?</b></h4>
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It is said the Moon Pool can only be found on lights of a full moon and that one can only be lead there by the urging of the tormented dead. </div>
<br />JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131963935349368255.post-14636416571838752092019-10-17T19:04:00.000-07:002019-10-28T18:35:30.820-07:00Weirdcrawl: Qualities of a Weird Wonder<br />
This is part of an ongoing series. <a href="https://luminescentlich.blogspot.com/p/weirdcrawl-index.html">Click here for the index.</a><br />
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In summary, so far in this series I have formulated the following as the basic setup of my 'weirdcrawl':<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The player characters start off in a Port City on the edge of an inhospitable zone, an area of rough terrain that makes settled agrarian civilization impossible. Groups of nomadic people live in the inhospitable zone. They are culturally different from the settled civilization and the backbone of a system of trade routes between the settled civilization(s) on either side of the inhospitable zone. However, every once in a while they, or groups led in part by them, come back recounting strange experiences of weird wonders deep within the wilderness that few return alive to tell the tale of. </blockquote>
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It is having the players quest for and explore these weird wonders that I am most interested in. The previous posts have explored various things like geographical considerations or how to create a gradual sense of weirdness as players venture further and further into the wilderness. Today I will begin exploring the weird wonders themselves a bit more.<br />
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Qualities of a Weird Wonder</h2>
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So, what exactly lies deep in the wilderness? What strange thing would compel a party of (probably) desperate individuals to seek it out. What makes something truly weird? What makes a venture to it worthwhile? What is the difference between exploring a wonder and exploring a dungeon? How exactly is it weird? How exactly is it wondrous?</div>
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To try and answer these questions about the weird wonders I have created a few baseline qualities that a weird wonder contains:<br />
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<b>1. Sense of Scale: </b><br />
The weird wonders should contain a sense of scale. Bigger things, mountains, giant statues, hanging gardens, tend to be more awe inspiring and worthy of dangerous travel to. Additionally, by making them big it makes it harder for the players to bring them back to civilization and exploit them and helps explain why no one else has done so already. So while the physical size of the weird wonder may range and while it doesn't necessarily need to be gargantuan it should not be anything that could be easily used as an item.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>2. Unknown Creation</b>:<br />
The weird wonder should have a timeless quality to its creation where even if it is man-made or constructed, it should have an unknown feel to it's creation. Where it gives the sense that it's existed for so long it exists almost apart from time or was created by a people or culture so different that they feel very alien. When the players gaze upon it they should have a hard time placing it in their conception of the history of the setting or human history.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>3. Enigmatic purpose</b>:<br />
The purpose of it should at the same time be both obvious and yet hard to discern; the 'what' should be easily determined, the 'why' enigmatic, possibly even forever cryptic. For example, a giant evil<br />
Statue of the Forgotten Leper King . It should be obvious that it was created, as most statues are, to celebrate or mark something. However, what that something is or the exact details should be enigmatic. Same with more natural things. The Graveyard of the Porcelain Elephants should be obvious when you see it. But why the Porcelain Elephants return only there to die of old age, or why they seem to exhibit such strange funerary behavior probably forever unknown.<br />
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<b>4. Weird Quality:</b><br />
This should almost go without saying but the weird wonder should possess some kind of weird quality or supernatural property beyond just being really old and mysterious. Something that wouldn't be able to exist in our world. Like life ages and decays at a greater rate around the Statue of the Forgotten Leper King yet white lily's seem to surround it that are said to be able to rejuvenate dead flesh. This weird quality or property should offer very little explanation of it's mechanism or why it exists. It just does.<br />
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<b>5. Singular Site and Nature</b>:<br />
While the weird wonder itself should contain a sense of scale. It shouldn't be a vast sprawling site like an entire forgotten or lost city, or a massive cave complex. It should be of a singular site and nature. This helps explain why it is isolated and has yet to be explored and why the legends about it are focused. Additionally, from a gaming perspective, if the site for it is too big, it's easy for the players to loose sight of the forest amid all the trees. An adventuring site with only half a dozen to a dozen or so encounters tends to have more cohesive internal logic and focus around it's mysteries, than one with a hundred. The real adventure also shouldn't be just the exploration of the weird wonder, it should be the entire journey of getting there.<br />
<b><br />6. Trail of Remnants and Disruptions: </b><br />
The weird wonders shouldn't be things you stumble across or just suddenly find out of the blue. Their very presence, in some manner or another, should have remnants and disruptions around them. I do not mean this in a purely thematic sense. I mean it in the sense that if they are man-made some group devoted an awful lot of resources to their construction in some form or another. Remnants of this should dot the landscape. There should be things like abandoned quarries of stone that was used for its construction. Old shrines or houses or roads on the way to it. Maybe old carvings recording it's construction and history. Likewise whatever group built it probably considered it some kind 'pinnacle' achievement of their group. It should embody some kind of group ideal or expression in things ranging from it's architecture to recordings of it's construction, to mass graves of slaves worked to death to build it.<br />
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Natural weird wonders can be thought of in the same way. If a certain species is gathering is gathering in one place, or there is a very distinct natural feature in the landscape, it's likely to attract or scare off other species. It may even disrupt weather patterns or harbour previously undiscovered natural species or things.<br />
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In this manner as the players seek out and journey towards weird wonders they should encounter this trail of remnants and disruptions as they venture into the unknown.<br />
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<b>7. Guardians: </b><br />
I am using the term guardian very loosely here, but it should have some personified people, creatures, beings, animals, characters etc. that are associated with it and serve to antagonize those that seek it out. They may do this for a variety of reasons and may not be immediately hostile to party etc. Their presence helps explains why it has remained isolated and hidden and serve to help make seeking it out not just a one sided affair. The party is not just exploring an empty site, they are going to have to interact with other characters or people.<br />
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However it is important that the wonder and guardian itself are never active. They never intrude upon the world of the heroes and essentially pose no threat to the 'settled' world. The Guardian isn't at the center of things, the wonder is. The Guardian more or less knows about the wonder and serves as a point of interaction and a probable reason why it's remained isolated and hidden. Their motivations for doing so may vary.<br />
<br />JGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05633864264010460131noreply@blogger.com0