D20 Murdered My Mother

Where am I?

2010-01-05T16:26:00.002-07:00

You and your best buddies in the world, your band members, had a rough night. First, you played a barroom full of the quietest drunks in the kingdom. Then, you all got really drunk to make up for it. Then, after your second set, the owner told you that your third set would not be needed, and that you were not welcome in his establishment again. Finally, your wagon broke an axle, forcing all of you to sleep under it with your gear.

So it wasn't all that surprising that this morning was a bit confusing. Hangovers aren't fun anyway, and sleeping in the road under a wagon doesn't help anything. Still, there had been trees there when you passed out, and now there are just rolling green hills dotted with little farms. And the city had been behind you. Now, it is in front of you. And it's bigger. The wall is higher. And it might be louder, or maybe your head is just ringing.

And then it happened. The clouds parted. Lightning flashed out of nowhere. An etheric guitar screamed. And a voice spoke from heaven.

"I have brought you to this place to spread my word and to do my work. Go forth in my name, and Rock!"

Yeah, Thor, the God of Heavy Metal, your patron deity, has a job for you. Turns out, this new land has never heard heavy metal. Their idea of a good song prominently features the word "Oompah," and imagines the accordion to be the pinnacle of musical technology. It's going to take a lot of work, a bit of cleverness, and a heap of luck, but you are the disciples of Metal, and you must spread the word.

This will be a game about a band in a fantasy city. Get gigs. Get groupies. Try to pay rent and have enough money left for beer and guitar strings. Sabotage your mortal enemies, the Oompah bands. Rock harder than they ever imagined.

Brainstorming

2007-12-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a bit lately about constructing a system using cards instead of dice. I know it's been done before, but mainly with tarot cards, which I don't have and don't know how to use.

I'd like to have task resolution take place through hands of poker. Not sure exactly how it would play out, but I have a few ideas on what i would like it to accomplish. I'd like the damage/margin of success to be accomplished through the bidding phase of a poker hand. I'd also like at least some of the experience points to be given out via winning those bids. Any ideas on how this could be handled?

I don't know exactly what setting this system would be most ideal for supporting, but it would have to involve some sort of inter-party tension, since I'd like to include the character creation idea I pitched for Josh's supers game. Kind of keeping with the bidding idea.

Obviously, none of this would work well on-line at all. Fortunately, I'll be back in Mass soon. In fact, I'll be getting in the car tomorrow morning, and reach Pittsfield on the third, then Woburn on the sixth. This is a permanent move. I'm done with AZ. Shaking the dust off my feet and all.

So, lets brainstorm, and then arrange for an actual trial run in meat-space in the near future.

Day One/Tuesday PM – Awaiting an Answer

2007-10-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

Most of the citizens have retired to their homes, some attempt to continue their daily errands but to no avail, a number of shops in the town are open but are mostly vacant. Of those that have departed the grizzly scene from this morning a crowd of them have made their way to 6 Sides, the local bar, and are quietly consuming their drinks and discussing today’s events in hushed tones, no one wants to be the one to speak too loudly of the likely injuries dealt to the first responders.

For the first few hours following the crash, sirens echoed back-and-forth across the city of Kenmare, but now the streets are mostly silent, the skyline to the south-east glows and flickers from the flames that have proved themselves difficult, at best, to extinguish and while the wind is still, the tang of melted plastics and scorched metals permeate the air.

Missy Trenton, one of the bartenders and part-time substitute teacher used the phone earlier, for those that noticed, and whenever her sister, Brenda, arrives she looks grateful for the support. A few of the local farmers have been near the back getting full use out of the three dartboards that line the wall and Missy warns Brenda that they’ve been getting more and more animated as the hours tick by...

Day One/Tuesday AM - The Trainwreck

2007-09-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

The clocks of Kenmare, North Dakota silently tick onward to the early hours of Tuesday morning, it is early Spring and a good deal of the earth still lays covered in slowly-melting drifts of snow deposited over the turbulent and frigid winter months.

As the citizens of this little town begin to shake themselves from the embrace of sleep, unbeknownst to them, a train on a southeastern heading has recently departed from the stockyards of Portal, ND, its final destination unknown.

Kenmare’s clocks roll past nine as an ear-splitting screech blasts through the hamlet; the gut-twisting sound of warping steel accompanies a myriad of pops set in quick succession as rivets rend themselves free from their moorings.

Mere moments tick by before the whirl of sirens pierce the deafened silence, those citizens who have left the warmth of their homes to determine the source of the cacophonous noise can make out two faint plumes of white smoke gently billowing skyward as the firefighters blow past, their lights flashing, Lt. James Kurtz follows behind in the department’s car.

Small-town living

2007-09-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Kenmare's population is a measly 1,080 - which means even on a slow day, you're bound to run into everyone you know. Please take a few minutes to post below, reintroducing yourself to your fellow Kenmarians.

Please include your name, your occupation, and what would be known about you (don't forget, small towns have a way of spreading rumors.) As always, I'll be happy to moderate if needed.

Player Application

2007-09-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

So who wants to play a game? Just at the moment we've got a total of three games going, though only two have actually gotten very far, and another game in the works. Join us.

Now that we've started, we'll keep this as a place to vote for future games and brainstorm game ideas.

So what might people want to play in the future? Ideas so far are as follows:

1) oWoD, Mage is in the works, but Vampire is always a possibility .
2) Generic modern occult investigation, growing in whatever directions it may, regardless of the repercussions to sanity.
3) Shadowrun.
4) Ars Magica. The 4th edition is available for free online.
5) The Farm. Horrifying, but it seems like it would be amazing.
6) The Lost Room. It'll blow your mind.
7) The Road not Taken, or possibly the $200 hyper-drive from Anywhere but Here. Really sweet sci-fi.

Who's Interested in a New Game?

2007-09-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

... yeah, yeah - I know there's that other game of mine. But that's on an extended Hiatus, getting college credit for the archeology work it's been doing in Namibia.

Anyhow, I know the idea of a supernatural-styled game has been bounced around for a bit? Is anyone interested in possibly getting into a "World of Darkness"-type game. I've been missing the activity on this board, and I'm partially responsible.

So, who is game? I'd be happy to entertain questions in the "actions" section beneath this post.

Lecture on the Illithid

2007-08-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

Professor Bleak is at it again, this time on one of the great scourges of the Planes, and also one of its greater trading empires.

"The Illithid are scary people. Some might argue that they aren't even people at all. Lets face it: if your primary sustenance is the mental energy of intelligent creatures, you just might not be a person.

"That said, you might have to deal with them at some point in a way that doesn't end with you munching calamari.

"First off, what are the Illithid? They're usually between six and seven feet tall, bipedal, with bilateral symmetry. Two arms, purplish or pinkish coloring, though other skin tones occur, and somewhere between two and twelve tentacles sticking out of the bottoms of their faces, where everyone else has a nose and mouth. They have natural psionic abilities. They can read your mind a bit unless you've warded it, and they can send thoughts to you no matter what. They can also peal the skin off your face with their brains.

"Yes, question? You in the back? Why, if they're so powerful, aren't they in charge somewhere? Well, first off, they are in some places. Second, they were, for a very long time. And third, cause everyone pretty much hates them.

"They eat brains, and minds. They aren't called mind flayers just cause it sounds snappy. Really, if they get you helpless, they can eat bits of your mind. That's their main food. Occasionally they actually need protein, and then they eat something's brain. Usually something intelligent. Their slaves, and they keep lots of them whenever they can, are never in good shape, and never secure in their lives. None of this leads to them playing nice with anyone else.

"But, yeah, they're powerful. They rule some entire worlds, and chunks of others. They've got a few strongholds out in the Astral Plane, although those ones mostly just hang out and beat off attacks from Gith. Everyone hates the illithid, but the gith have made a religion out of it.

"Good reason, too. The illithid used to have an empire that pretty much spanned everywhere. All the Planes, most of the Prime Material worlds, everything under the boot heel of the illithid. The gith were their slaves. It took a long time, but the illithid empire fell, and the gith have been trying to exterminate them ever since. Of course, the illithid still love gith slaves, when they can get their tentacles on them. See, the gith were bred to be the perfect illithid food.

"Question? Bred from what? Okay. Bred from humans. Humans are, probably, best as we can tell, the base stock for most everything. Some things evolved naturally, like orcs and elves, and somethings took some outside intervention, like lizard men, and somethings are the result of selective breeding, like gith, but one way or another, it's all about the humans. Illithid seem to be the only other independent intelligent race, and they eat your brains. Gods aren't really natural, so they don't count.

"Where was I?

"Hmm... Oh! Peeling the skin off your face. Right. The illithid are also capable of powerful magic, but think about the implications. Magic is fueled by a particular type of energy, and it's the same type that lets you think. Illithid eat that energy, which means they don't produce it naturally and can't draw it from other Planes, like we can. If they want to do magic, they have to have food near to hand. If you have to fight an illithid, you might be able to outlast him, if he isn't close enough to eat you. On the plus side, once the energy is formed into a magical effect, they can't eat it. So, they won't munch the fireball you throw at them.

"Of course, with all that slave labor, they've got lots of stuff to sell, and since they also eat the source of that labor, they buy a lot of things too. So killing them isn't always best."

What's That Smell?

2007-07-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

Several hours after breakfast, Varian finally works up the courage to go back into his room.

Twice-dead zombie mice don't smell good.

After a bit of searching, Varian finds them under a stack of papers he had been grading for the beginning illusion classes. How'd they get there? And, is that really all of them? Time, and airing out the room, will tell.

Next on the list of things to do: talk to Loannae.

The Dragon Room

2007-07-26T04:20:00.000-07:00

Almost the entire west wall is made of stained glass windows in this room. Each of these painstakingly detailed pieces of art show dragons battling each other or brining terror to a human community. The very center window, however, does not allot any light through. It is almost as though someone built a wall behind this window, though no doubt it would have looked beautiful if light shone through it. This window depicts two dragons warring as burning human flee below. The centerpiece of this window is a piece of black glass, cut in the shape of an eclipsed sun.
The eastern and northern sides of this room house cased weapons and armor, decorated with dragon artwork. Most of it seems very well crafted, and are probably quite valuable.

The Library

2007-07-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

Harrow walk directly to the library, takes a seat, and begins to flip through aged tomes. He barley seems to register the world around him as his withered hand turns page after page, quickly scanning the contents. On the other side of this large room is the Darkonian gentleman, who seems to be examining a bookshelf, just casually browsing through the titles. His two men stand guard around him as he picks up a book, flips through a page or two, then puts it back down. The artwork on these walls depicts a caravan of warriors, going off to some adventure or another.

Arachnophobia

2007-07-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

The Sign of the Fallen Obelisk is subdued at the moment. People drinking, people eating, people talking.

But wait, what is Fergus doing here? Walking up the stairs.

Why? To get to the attic.

What's he doing in the attic? Stomping spider eggs.

Why would he do such a thing? I'm sure I don't know.

The Quest for Eternity, The Invitations

2007-07-16T14:31:00.001-07:00

You have been courteously invited to the manor of Lord Edward Terny Theone III, for the reading of the late Lord’s will and last requests. A fine dinner will be provided for you, and we look forward to your arrival. Please bring this invitation, as access will be denied without it.

That was all that the note said. The late Lord Theone, the words seem difficult to believe at first, and perhaps even now you still refuse to accept their truthfulness. Certainly, Theone’s obsession about immortality may have seemed mad at the time, but if any man had the resolve and the resources to discover a means to cheat death, it was Theone. Especially the resources, that man was perhaps as rich as they come, without actually being royalty. And tonight, perhaps there is a slice of those riches for you in that will. If nothing else, does that not deserve your attention?

Perhaps not, you think as you force your way through the mud and the rain, walking uphill to Theone’s manor. Nevertheless, you reach the door where the elderly butler greets you. He asks for your invitation and your name, and as you give him these things he checks you off of a guest list. He gestures inside, and you step in, grateful to be out of the rain.

The dining hall is exactly as Theone left it. Paintings of great battles are on all four walls, marble busts of long dead men and woman sit within glass cases and the table has enough seats to serve a small army. You take your seats, and are understandable cautious of those around you. Other men and women either trickle in, or have already been seated, depending on the time of your arrival, and you cannot help but to size them up.

Your eyes fly to the most flamboyant figure in the room, a Mulan woman of Hazlan. Her head is ritualistically shaved, and her entire body is tattooed, as is the custom for the Mulan. It takes only a moment for you to recognize her, and you gasp to be in the presence of royalty. You recognize her from countless paintings and descriptions, Eleni, heir to Hazlik the Red Wizard, lord of Hazlan. It seems that Theone had more powerful friends than you imagined.

The next guest you can barely stop yourself from cringing from, a bearded elderly man dressed in a soldier’s uniform. However, you only note these things after noticing that the entire right side of his face is scarred and deformed, along with his right arm. His eye is still there, and appears to function, but the wound has taken a terrible price. His right eye is almost decaying, has turned yellow and has become overrun with red.

A scholarly, attractive woman is next, dressed in far more modest clothing than the other guests. She wears a wooden holy symbol and holds a journal in her hands. She cannot be more than twenty years old, and she seems naïve for lack of a better word. Her eyes constantly jump from one guest to another, as though they could answer some question for her.

Then we have what appears to be a gentleman from Darkon, wearing a golden chain, complete with two guards, each carrying a walking stick. The gentleman keeps his right hand pressed against his chest, and occasionally gestures to one of his guards to come closer, to whisper something into the man’s ear, only for all three to burst into laughter.

You gasp, the next man, perhaps only eighteen, is the spitting image of Lord Theone. For a moment you even believe that he is the same Lord, but catch yourself. This young man has subtle, but important, differences; slightly different shade of brown hair, blue eyes instead of green, smaller build. No, he is not Theone. But he’s darn close.

A man covered in furs is the last to enter. He simply sits down, only grunting as he passes. When the food is served, he digs in, caring not for manners or subtlety. This man was hungry, and cares for little else as of the moment.

The food is brought out, and it all looks quite good. Breads, soup, cakes, wine, just as extravagant as when Theone lived here. You may want to introduce your characters now, whenever the butler, who has introduced himself as “Christian Daryl, at your service,” refuses to answer any questions about Theone or the will “until all of my guests are properly fed and comfortable.” If you wish to make an action now, or contradict an assumed action that I have put in this scene, including attending the dinner in the first place, go right ahead.

Leaving, on a Weird Plane

2007-07-10T12:26:00.001-07:00

Ionjae, Canas, Ruzakeel, and Uzman gathered near the gate to Sigil to leave for Mechanus. Why? That, it seems, would depend on who you asked.

Let the Stat Wars Begin!

2007-07-07T07:23:00.001-07:00

Okay, I’m gonna start the auctions now. In an ideal world, I would do each stat individually. However, seeing as this is a play by post, and considering the time that it would take to do all four, I’m gonna run all five auctions at once. Here’s the run down of the stats.

Strength:

Okay guys, this is the most important stat. Not only does it handle close hand-to-hand combat, martial arts and feats of physical power, it deals with how well you can take a blow. I know what you’re thinking, shouldn’t that last past be in endurance? Well, no, strength gives you a layer of muscle, to absorb punches. So, not only are you dealing more damage, you’re taking less.

Endurance:

Easily the most important stat. In any other stat, if the contest is even close, you can turn it into an endurance battle and outlast your opponent. In a wrestling match? Just fight defensively and have your opponent wear himself down. Endurance is how long you can keep going, your overall energy, how long you can stay awake, your resistance to disease and how long it takes for you to heal.

Psyche:

Pay attention to this one, it’s the most important stat out there. This is your mind, how willful you are, and how powerful your magic is. A must for spellcasters, and anyone who thinks that he may end up in a psyche battle.

Warfare:

A favorite all around, this is the most important stat. This shows how good you are with a weapon and your sense of strategy. High warfare people are difficult to take by surprise, because they tend to look over the entire room, expecting and anticipating attacks from all angles. The most skilled are even impossible to take by surprise while invisible, they can see you coming based on what they would do in that situation.

Secret Auction:
???
It’s a secret. I’m not tellin’ you. Bid and find out!

So, basically the way that this is going to work is that you guys list off your starting bids. Those points are spent, gone, and invested into these stats. Then you guys try to outbid each other, with the goal of getting to the top. Now, if anyone has any plans of saving their points, and just matching someone who’s higher than you guys after the bidding, that sort of thing doesn’t work. You can only match the highest person that there is in your group to start, and even then you are just a little bit weaker than he is. Now, the exception is the secret auction, only the winner needs to pay. If you are done with a stat, please indicate that in some way so I know when to end the bids.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them, but the bidding war is officially open now.

Powers

2007-07-06T12:45:00.000-07:00

Lycanthrope, Afflicted: You were bitten by some shapeshifting monstrosity, now you must bear its curse. You have a beast within you, a creature of bloodlust, hate and destruction that would like nothing more than to run wild and kill all that stands in its path. Normally, you are in control, however some trigger gives the creature within you the boost it needs to shift the balance of power in its favor, if only for a little while. Keep in mind that in Ravenloft, this need not be the full moon. It could be the scent of a specific flower, the tides, a specific lunar phase, a certain emotional state, or almost anything else that you can imagine. However, full moon tends to be the norm. Also, in Ravenloft these changes are very painful, so a high endurance is advised for this power. 30 points

Lycanthrope, Natural: What afflicted lycanthropes achieved through accident, you were born with. Through your bloodline, the souls of the beast and the man have merged, until there is no difference. You are not a man, you are not a beast, you are both, and the distinction simply does not exist for you. However, this comes with a small curse: A hunger for raw flesh from any creature, that you must sate daily. 45 points

Ghost Sight: You are constantly haunted with a ghostly sight. You see the abnormal as though it were completely natural and normal, though this may lead others to believe that you are simply insane. This makes you uniquely suited to fight the forces of darkness, as their most valuable power, that of deception, is robbed from them. Put simply, spirits, ghosts and creatures that have special abilities that make you overlook them are powerless to hide themselves from you. This does not include creatures that physically change, such as lycanthropes, and some creatures may be too powerful for you to see through their cloaks. 10 points

Spellcasting: Pick a type, divine or arcane. This allows you access to spells from that area, and gives you the ability to cast them. However, in this version of the game, spellcasting takes a toll on you, and is limited by your psyche. Put simply, the more powerful the effect, the more psyche points you “lose” until you rest, and as you lose them you become increasingly tired. Also, you start the game with a limited number of known spells, if you are an arcane spellcaster. 20 points

Royal Title: You are considered a lord by whatever creature rules that domain in which you were born. This gives you a certain amount of leverage and influence, and you have friends in high places. But be warned, a Darkonian lord will find himself most unwelcome in Barovia, and vice versa. Also, titles are often handed out in exchange for favors, it is a common joke that nobles can outnumber peasants in some domains. As such, while you are considered royalty, you may not have a surplus of gold, and if your family is rich, then I will need a reason why it is not conveniently accessed by you at this point. 10 points

Allied with the Vistani: Somewhere along the line, you helped a vistani, and now the rest view you with, if nothing else, moderate tolerance. They may listen to your requests, and even grant them if it is convenient. However, the vistani are known for having a swaying attitude, so you would do well not to abuse this arrangement with them. You must have a way of identifying yourself when dealing with the vistani to gain the benefit of this power, usually a vistani necklace or ring that you wear. 20 points.

Half-Vistani: You can only take this if you are human. One of your parents was a Giorgio, or non-vistani, where the other was one of these gypsies. In addition to knowing the vistani’s secret language, you may have a talent for fortune-telling. You start with a tool, a deck of vistani cards, some bone dice, or something to that effect, and you can tell fortunes. Be warned though, males with the power of precognition are shunned, or killed, by the vistani. Also, everyone tends to shun half-vistani, they are known for bringing trouble to the Giorgio and are seen as having “watered-down blood” by the vistani. 10 points.

Telepathy: You can communicate telepathically with anyone that you meet eye contact with, within 30 feet of you. If you wish, you can push, attack their mind, which will result in a psyche battle. Depending on the respective Psyches of the combatants, the winner can do different things, freeze the loser, “mindrape” him (stealing information) or, if he is much more powerful, control him like a puppet for a little while. 30 points

Darklord’s Favor: Certainly a risky power at best, you have some personal contact with one of the true lords of this world. If this is a blessing or a curse is often argued, certainly Lord Azalin’s favor could be useful, but he most always demands some service in exchange. Also, Darklords tend to check up on their favorite…pets I suppose would be the best description. 10 points

Now, don’t go buying your powers just yet, there are two points that I’d like to make. First, you are not restricted to these powers, these are just to get you started. You may invent powers and submit them to me, and I’ll tell you if you can buy them, and how much they cost. However, I'd like to say that I'm not allowing vampires. Next, buying powers comes after the auction, a post that will be up shortly.

Opinions or Thoughts Anyone?

2007-06-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

Alright, so here’s the deal. It would appear that “The Eternal Wars” was a much cooler idea in theory than in practice. To be honest politics and manipulation of armies doesn’t make for that fun of an RPG, at least not the way I was running it. So I would like to dub “The Eternal Wars” to be an officially failed experiment. I still think that it was worth the effort, but to be honest it just wasn’t working. Thanks for your patience on this matter, and all of you effort to keep it working.

That being said, I still can Game Master something on this site, if there is any call for me to do so. Here are the games that I have run before, and have been met with positive feedback. However, if you feel that there are already enough games going, that works too, I have no preference either way.

Amber: An infinite number of worlds, with two centers of power at opposite ends of the universe. Betraying family members, constantly changing rules of reality, the possibilities are literally endless. Based on “The Chronicles of Amber” series of books, this diceless role-playing game allows one to live out his wildest fantasies, fight his greatest nightmares, and to play for the ultimate prize: to be named next in line for the throne of Amber, the one true city. Will you be a vicious warrior, a cunning sorcerer, a friend, an enemy? Will you chose the powers of chaos or order, which Amberites will you ally yourself with?

Ravenloft: A land of mists, of curses, of imprisoned, doomed lords of darkness. Elementals made of blood, vampires of more breeds than there are races of humanoids, you do not fight in Ravenloft to bring forth the candle of goodness, you fight to keep the darkness at bay, if only briefly. Ravenloft is the land where a child’s fears become incarnate, where your evil deeds can grant you great power, for a price. Nothing is free in Ravenloft, it is not for nothing that it is called The Demiplane of Dread.

Masque of The Red Death: 1890s, Gothic Earth. Pretty much like how our world was back then, with a few changes. Frankenstein was a real man, and his creation still plagues this earth, James Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes manage their respective sides of the law, and you never know where a monster might be. Magic is rare on Gothic Earth, and hard to eek out of the web of power that it comes from. In Gothic Earth, one cannot simply kill his opponents, claiming that he was a werewolf or a vampire. This is the civilized times, when such nonsense has been put behind any decent society. That is, of course, until the moon turns full, and creatures haunt the night, unhindered by mortal laws. Certainly a change of pace from the normal middle-ages style of game play.

I am also familiar with the “Stormbringer” game, though I have never used it before, and do not consider myself proficient with it. I can also probably pick up any system or game style presented to me. So, has there been anything that you’ve been itching to play lately? If so, feel free to bring it up here.

Family Matters

2007-06-27T15:29:00.001-07:00

Varian stepped off of the express and gave the first smile that had not originated in vice since arriving in Sigil. He let the desert sun beat against his face, savoring the feel of the sand under his boots. Eventually, he stepped towards the stone city, taking in the smells that he had missed so much. After sampling a variety of delicacies being hawked by the street vendors, Varian set out on his task.

It took Varian a while to track down his father. The family estate had been sold at auction to cover his debts. The new occupants neither knew nor cared what had befallen the previous ones. The neighbors wouldn't talk about anyone so disgraced.

The courts had records of the proceedings. A modest bribe got a clerk to look them up for Varian. Varian's father, Clarion, had been convicted of insolvency, and his debt had been purchased by a nearby debt farm. Varian hired a coach and rode out to find the man.

He was working in a field, bent over a hoe, shin deep in manure. Shameful.

“Nice place.” Varian said, with more than a hint of sarcasm. He gave a little swish of his velvet cape and nudged a lump of manure farther from his polished boot with his cane, hoping to leave an impression of the small fortune that he had amassed. “How’s it going out here?” Varian asked, obviously not caring. “I’m making a comeback father. I need your signet ring. Where is it? Did you hide it, keep it, was it taken like everything else?”

"You little bastard. You abandoned your mother and me to this," he gestured around himself, taking in the manured field of the debtors' farm. "We had a little misunderstanding and you bailed. We needed you. Where have you been the last four years? And now you show up asking, no demanding, to be given our signet ring? You're asking to be declared head of the family, and you know it."

"I've been at school, father. I only recently had any resources with which to help you. Now I am in a position to elevate our family back to the status it once held, and I want that fact recognized."

Clarion knew that Varian could bring him to court and demand his rights. Their plutocracy would easily side with the rich scion rather than the debtor who had been too poor to pay the bribes to escape his flogging for slave dealing.

"Fine, you can have it. Don't even ask where I had to conceal it to keep it from being sold along with the rest of our holdings. I'll tell you where it's hidden when you've paid my debts and gotten me out of this hellhole."

"What about mom?"

"What about her? She got out of here a month after our debts were bought. One of the district judges re-examined our case and reapportioned our debt. I, it seems, owed much more than she did. He bought her's, and now she works off her debt, and probably her gratitude, in his household. I think he calls her a maid, or something. Judge Beltisammo, if you want to look up the faithless wench. So she's out of the family anyway, and good riddance.

"So, do we have a deal?"

Half the Man He Used to Be

2007-06-21T15:03:00.001-07:00

Loannae and Ionjae are eating lunch together, at her insistence. Not surprisingly, the cafeteria food is only mediocre.

"I met a guy the other day."

"Oh? I thought you weren't having anything to do with men since you had that vision about the last one."

"No, I don't mean it like that. You have to go talk to him."

"Why? I have homework. Already."

"It's about Aberdal. Greedo doesn't know who he is, but he told me something that I think we need to check out. Go talk to him."

"The professors couldn't find anything. Is this for real?"

"My skills say yes."

"All right. Where do I find this Greedo?"

"He usually hangs out in a bar called the Sign of the Fallen Obelisk. It's in Sigil."

This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed

2007-06-21T13:00:00.001-07:00

"Welcome back, Canas," Sven, the dwarven bookseller says. "I have something you might be interested in."

"What is it? Any books matching my requests?"

"No, nothing on those books. Not a book at all, actually. I don't normally carry this sort of thing, but I was sure you'd be interested." He leads Canas through the stacks and to a table littered with loose sheets of paper and smudged broadsheets. "Behold!"

Canas stares. "What is it?"

"I have no idea. The modron who sold it to me wouldn't say. Do you want it?"

Super Cool

2007-06-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

So I was looking at this, and I've decided that steampunk is the coolest thing ever. Not precisely connected to any game, although I'll be seeing where I can incorporate more steampunk elements into Sigil and its environs, but I thought you all might be interested. Check out the new link in the sidebar.

Intro to the Study of Magic: An Introductory Lecture

2007-06-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

If I may go back a few days chronologically, I would like to present, for your edification and enjoyment, Professor Bleak of the School of Enchantment.

"Magic is many things, but even you all know that. You're here to learn things you don't know, not thinks you do.

"Sorry. Bad start. Let's try again.

"This brief introductory talk will give you an overview of what you'll be working on for the rest of the term with your work groups. Basically, I'm going to expand on a few points in the syllabus.

"Magic can be broken down into three broad categories, and several sub-categories.

"First, is innate magic. It's written right there on your syllabus, so you know it's real. Many creatures have some innate ability to preform magical feats. A basilisk can turn you to stone, a phase spider can shift it's planar position. Things like that are very interesting, but not terribly useful. You can't do them, at least not the way they can. It's not innate for you. We'll be studying a bit of that, partly to familiarize you with some of the more interesting or dangerous creatures you hopefully haven't yet encountered in the wild, and partly to get you started thinking how you could overcome the failings of your limited natures and achieve these feats despite yourselves. Just for a few weeks though; we have more important things to do.

"Next, we'll cover spells. Technical term, that. I know lots of people talk about spells, like that's what wizards do, but it isn't. The chances are, you'll never create a new spell no matter how long you live. Spells are universal magic. A spell is a great work, a massive achievement. Most of them started off as state secrets, but once they're out, they don't stay secret long. Case in point: the common tongue. Common isn't actually a language at all. No one speaks Common. Bet you didn't know that. Some great wizard, so long ago that we don't know his name, or even what race he was, developed a spell to be able to understand what other folks were saying. Now, rather than just do it each time, he made it a real full blown spell, probably so he could let his king's spies do it. Of course, by now, everyone knows it so fully that no one even knows they know it. You all do it; it's that little pop in your ears and gulp in your throat. Some languages are immune now, but that's magic too. Mostly, you just hear accents. Incredible. You'll never be that good, but read up about it. Never hurts to know what magic is available to the whole universe. Couple of weeks there too.

"Finally, the bulk of what wizards actually do. We'll do a flying overview of the sort of effects you can manage with the different schools of magic. Not too much detail, since that's also the subject matter of the rest of your time at this academy, but you've got to start somewhere, right? We'll do a bit of basic theory, like talking about the Astral and Ethereal Planes. Hint, they're where magic comes from and how it gets places. Actually, more theory than practice, since, like I said, the rest of it is the rest of all your classes. Theory will bore you out of your skulls, unless you're one of the four or five students a year that actually gets off on that stuff. If so, come talk to me and I'll get you into my seminar next term.

"So there you go. That's what's going to eat up most of your first term. Do well though; this is what the separate schools look at when considering you for admission. No specialization means no upper level classes, and that means you'll be crippled in the actual practice of magic when you get out of here. Good luck."

Scene 16: William the Conqueror

2007-05-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

William needs to win a fight.

Er, that is, a half-ogre who will, at the time, look like William, needs to look sure to lose a fight, and then win.

Actually, neither William nor the half-ogre need much of anything, but Varian really needs all of that to happen, or some people who have long since fallen out of the habit of being anything that could be accidentally construed as nice will discover that they have reason to be displeased with him.

Come along and see what happens.

Scene 15: the Reprise of Gurg

2007-05-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ionjae and Varien walk into Gurg's office. The little goblin blinks up at them from behind a pile of papers on his desk.

"What do you want?"

"We need a job." Varien sits down in one of the two chairs in front of Gurg's desk and puts his booted feet up.

"Get you feet off my desk. Just because I'm a goblin doesn't mean I can read muddy papers. And why do you need a job? Have you managed to blow through the money I already paid you so soon? Or are you just bored?"

Ionjae offers "We need books, supplies, that sort of thing. You helped us out so well with tuition, we thought..."

"You're bored. I know you don't need the money. You made out just fine as a bookie today," pointing at Varien, "and you went off on a field trip and seemed far happier than you should have been given how roughed up you looked. I think you're both just fine for money.

"No, what you lack is ambition. Go find your own way in the world. For Ao's sake, it isn't even the second week of school, and you think I'm here to entertain you? Go kill Pun-Pun, or sabotage the Great Factory, or just ride the Planar Express for a while, or, failing that, try actually studying."

He starts sorting through the papers dislodged by Varien's feet as the two of them stare at him. He looks up. "Still here? Remember the fiasco with the gargoyles last year? We lost eight gargoyles. They'd been with the school for over seven hundred years. Make sure that Canas kid replaces them, and gets the others back to work, and maybe I'll find you something fun."

Memo: For Immediate Release - Quality Alterations

2007-05-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

A quick note before this game continues, I have been made aware of a typo existing within the Qualities list.

The following changes take place immediately:
Quirks -
  Low Self-Image has been changed from -4 to -3.

Gifts
  Self-Confident has been changed from +4 to +2

If you find that you have chosen either of these qualities and would like to change them now, you may.

In addition, the following Quirks have been added to the Quality list on behalf of one of the players. These are fare game if you choose to alter your character.
Quirks -
  Dark Fate has been added
  Dark Secret has been added
  Sickness has been added