A Little More About Elves

September 19, 2014, 4:00 am

With my first session of my face-to-face 5e game in the Land of Azurth coming up this weekend, I've had a few more thoughts about the elves in Yanth (which is timely, given than one on more of my players will probably play one).

High Elves (as they are called in the PHB) reflect reflect the most civlized elvish group. They tend to live apparent from humans and the little folk (halflings, dwarves, some gnomes) that are associated with them. They tend to live in small settlements, maybe centered around fanciful, fairytale sort of castles (something like the Vadhagh in Moorcock's Swords Trilogy). They dress in pseudo-"High Medieval" sort of dress (a couple of centuries behind other folk) and talk in the sort of cod-Shakespearean way that Thor used to in Marvel Comics.

Wood Elves are more primitive than their high elf cousins. They're half The Hobbit's wood elves and half Elfquest. Part "indigenous people in harmony with nature", part "fairy forest trickster." The Elfquest elves, the Rankin-Bass wood elves, and Moebius's concept art for Willow are all good visual inspiration. They probably have a similar speech pattern to the high elves, but maybe with a little more Robin Hood banter.

As the pictures might indicate, elves won't be universally physically attractive--but they all have the fae glamour about them.

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Demihuman Height Reference

September 21, 2014, 4:00 am

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The 5e Player's Handbook gives us the following height ranges for demihumans: Dwarf, 4-5 ft.; Elf, under 5-over 6 ft.; Halfling: 3 ft.; Gnome: 3-4 ft. Here's a few images illustrating what those heights actual mean.

In the halfling and gnome range is homo florensis. The skeleton discovered was a bit over 3.5 ft.

In the dwarf and short elf height range are the Pygmy peoples of Central Africa. Height for males is under 4'11". I imagine dwarves are built less like pygmies and more like Neanderthals, though.

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Strange Stars Update

September 22, 2014, 4:00 am

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Here's the mostly-done first page of the Instrumentality of Aom spread in the Strange Stars setting book. Lester B. Portly continues to do awesome work! The setting book is still on schedule for a fall release.

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Wednesday Comics: Conquerors of the Counter-World

September 24, 2014, 4:00 am

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"Conquerors of the Counter-World"

The Multiversity: Society of Super-Heroes: Conquerors of the Counter-World #1 (November 2014), Written by Grant Morrison; Art by Chris Sprouse & Karl Story & Walden Wong

Last week saw the release of the second part of Morrison's Multiversity storyline. Society of Super-Heroes takes us to the world of Earth-20 where a pulp- and serial-flavored group of heroes is battling for the fate (heh) of their world against an invasion from Earth-40 lead by Vandal Savage and (presumably) a Society of Super-Villains.

Earth-20 first appeared in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1 and its prominent heroes are named in Final Crisis Secret Files #1. Earth-40 is a bit of a puzzle. Comments Dan DiDio made about the Countdown: Arena limited series suggested Earth-40 was the home of the government operative pulp versions of the Golden Age heroes in JSA: The Liberty Files. It's possible the concept of this Earth has changed, but it's also possible that Vandal Savage and his crew took over that world sometime after World War II.

Anyway, here's a scorecard with the prominent players and what you need to know:

Immortal Man (Earth-20)
First Appearance:Final Crisis Secret Files #1
The Pre-Crisis Immortal Man first appeared in Strange Adventures #165 (1965) and appeared sporadically for two years, then didn't show up again until 1984 when his backstory and link to Vandal Savage were revealed. Then he died in Crisis. This Earth-20 version adds the interesting wrinkle of apparently also being Anthro. Anthro is a Cro-Magnon born to Neanderthal parents and has fairly light-hearted adventures until he settles down and becomes the father of modern humans. He first appeared in Showcase #74 (1968). Pre-Crisis Immortal Man was a different prehistoric guy (Klarn Arg) but he is said to have been from the Bear Tribe, which is the name of Anthro's tribe, too.

Doc Fate (Earth-20)
First Appearance: Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1
Doc Fate is more of a man of action that his Golden Age (and other Earthly) counterparts. He's also a person of color, who tells us he was adopted (both differences from other Kent Nelsons). His helmet is also explicitly tied in to Novu, the Proto-Monitor, not Nabu the Lord of Order. (Unless those are one and the same?)

Mighty Atom
First Appearance: Final Crisis Secret Files #1
The original Al Pratt Atom first appeared in 1940. Like this version, he was a short guy with no super-powers who toughened himself up to fight crime. This version trained using the Arn Munro method. This is a reference to the old Charles Atlas ads and exercise regimen, but also to the pre-Crisis character Arn "Iron" Munro from Young All-Stars. In the series, Munro was the son of Philip Wylie's Hugo Danner from his 1930 novel Gladiator, one of the inspirations for Superman. Interestingly, "Mighty Atom" was the stage name of the strongman Joe Greenstein.

Lady Blackhawk (Earth-20)
First Appearance: Final Crisis Secret Files #1

There have been more than one Lady Blackhawk over the years, but all of them were so named because they were the only female member of the Blackhawks at the time. This Lady Blackhawk appears to be who her all-female team is named for.

Green Lantern (Abin Sur)
First Appearance: Final Crisis Secret Files #1
On Earth-0 ("New Earth"), and on Earth-1 Pre-Crisis, Abin Sur was dying alien Green Lantern that bequeathed his power ring to Hal Jordan. This Abin Sur looks sort of like a demon (or the Demon), which is his reason for keeping his existence secret from humankind, much like the rationale of the Overlords in Clarke's Childhood's End. He wears a costume more reminiscent of the Golden Age Green Lantern than the Silver Age one his origin is taken from.

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First 5e Session

September 25, 2014, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Some Folk of Yanth

≪ Previous: Wednesday Comics: Conquerors of the Counter-World

Last Sunday my gaming group met for a character creation session in 5e in preparation for our upcoming Land of Azurth game (now with a logo!). I gave this this doc ahead of time to get them prepped. We were joined by two new players that weren't in the Weird Adventures crew so we're at 7 now.

No one was over-burdened by too much prior study of the Player's Handbook, but everybody found it easy enough to use--particularly in comparison to some older editions. A outline of character creation with page references would have been a help, though.

We wound up with a frox thief, a human bard, an infernal-blood (don't call 'em tieflings!) sorcerer, a human fighter, a wood elf ranger, and an Azurthite dwarf cleric of Iolanthe. A fairly non-muscle heavy bunch, but the ranger and fighter ought to be able to handle it.

I'm planning on running this more sandboxy than my "mission style" approach to Weird Adventures. After the first adventure, the player's will get a list of rumors/adventure seeds to choose from for the next session--a technique I've seen put to good use in Chris Kutalik's Hill Cantons game.

The players seem eager to get started and so am I.

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Some Folk of Yanth

September 26, 2014, 4:00 am

≫ Next: The Strange Stars' Most Wanted

≪ Previous: First 5e Session

Just brainstorming a bit. Here are some characters the players in my 5e game may well meet in the near future:

Art by Renee Calvert

Viola, the Clockwork Princess of Yanth. A marvelous invention and marvelous inventor in her own right.

Art by Yuriy

Rarebit Finn, Hara pirate from the Motley Isles and Black Iris's first-mate.

Art by David Lewis Johnson

Yrrol B. Gladhand, Mayor of Rivertown, but with ambitions that reach higher--perhaps much higher.

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The Strange Stars' Most Wanted

September 28, 2014, 7:14 am

≫ Next: Tales of Two Cities

≪ Previous: Some Folk of Yanth

Here's a selection of "most wanted" criminals culled from various crime databases across known space:

The Dragon’s Teeth: An infosophont which generates for its clients a specially synthesized, infectious nanoweapon for the purposes of creating assassins from random bystanders.

Haxun Malokk: Penitent crime lord operating out of an independent principality on Circus. Though associated with numerous crimes, he may be more notable for his eccentricity: he has patterned his criminal persona on an Old Earth historic work named Chicago Mobs of the Twenties and forces the members of his gang to dress and act accordingly.

Ligeia-988: Eratoan bioroid who masterminded a large-scale kidnapping ring in a supposedly unused pleasure dome. Most of her victims believed they were on vacation during the duration of their confinement.

Mako Orm: An infamous Zao Pirate who escaped capture by the privateer vessel Thermidorian by use of a bootleg genderswap nanoswarm. She is believed to be living under an assumed name in the Strip.

Polychrome: Allegedly the target of contract killers hired by Neshekk Banking Clans, this con-artist was responsible for a major “correction” in Alliance financial markets after a spectacularly successful execution of the “new node scam.”

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Tales of Two Cities

September 29, 2014, 4:00 am

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≪ Previous: The Strange Stars' Most Wanted

The Witchocracy of Ix is perhaps the most vexing of the lands across the Wastes to the north to Azurth, but it is not the only one. It is one of three descendants of the dreaded Empire of the Barbarous Name, which was so feared that its very name was stricken from any record so that no one might speak it aloud and inadvertently evoke a ritual of resurrection. The only parts of that feared land and its hexadecagrammaton known to have survived are Ix, Yai, and Zed.

Yai
Many rumors and legends circulate regarding Yai, but all truth is hidden beneath a massive dome, ensconced in a remote mountain valley. It is widely known as the "Pleasure Dome of Yai", as tales tell of travelers being received by a youthful, beautiful, and most solicitous folk, eager to fulfill the travelers' every need and desire--save one. The folk of Yai are said never to age and never to tire of serving others; they are so devoted, that they demure from allowing their guests to leave, no matter how strenuously they state their desire to do so. One of the most peculiar stories told about Yai is that one of its pleasures is a game that somehow involves manipulation of the people beyond Yai. This "god-game" is rumored to be one of the most addictive of Yai's many pleasures.

Art by Alayna Lemmer

Zed
One of the peculiarities of the Mysteriarchy of Zed, the City of Wizards, is that no non-initiate may recall both the location of its gates and their passwords at the same time. The location of the city itself is well known; geographers with their particular thaumaturgy have fixed it in place to the north of Azurth and the Waste and the east of Ix and Yai. (Though, one must recall, the geographer has a luxury of imprecision not afforded the traveler.) Even still, an eidolon or mirage of the city is given to wandering. It has been glimpsed in many places but always to the north near the horizon, shimmering like heat-haze, staying forever out of reach--until it disappears entirely. The city gates are much less elusive but just as unpredictable; one might find them on a sheer cliff face in Sang, standing on a small isle in the midst of bubbling mudpots in the vicinity of Demonland, or in the back of a poorly lit Rivertown larder. The Wizard of Azurth, for all his presumed might, has never been invited to join the citizenry of Zed and so puts a great deal of effort into trying to find a way through these gates.

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Wednesday Comics: Artesia

October 1, 2014, 4:00 am

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≪ Previous: Tales of Two Cities

"Walking the Line"

Artesia #1 (January 1999) Story & Art by Mark Smylie

Synopsis: Two forces prepare to meet on the field of battle. The captain of on one company, Artesia, offers up a prayer: "Yhera, Queen of Heaven! Yhera Anath, Queen of War! Strike off the chains of the Gorgonae! Loose the Three Sisters of Battle!"

She continues her prayer and her soldiers add their voices to hers. Then, the battle is joined.

When it's over, Artesia's side is victorious. The carrion crows come to feed and Artesia senses the coming of the guides of the dead. At her request, they show her the spirit world.

Fear cuts through her religious ecstasy when she sees Geniche, Queen on the Underworld. The goddess assures Artesia it is not her she came for and kisses her on the lips. She returns to the mundane world still trembling from the touch of the divine. Used to this sort of thing, Artesia's men, go about their business: Ferris plans to go to the nearby temple of Hathnalla to ask her cult sisters for aid; the men plan to give the honored dead over into their care and make camp near the temple.

King Alexus, leader of the opposing army, sees the spirtiwalkers glow around Artesia and knows why he lost the battle--and why his cousin Bran didn't even bother to show up for the battle. Artesia replies he's hiding in shame, since he let his concubine lead his army into battle. Alexus gets to the point and asks Artesia to join him.

Either or both. He also offers a place for her company. Artesia declines. Her lieutenant notes that Alexus seems in good spirits for a man about to loose a third of his lands and just saw his champion beheaded. He knows something. "It matters little; the die is cast," Artesia replies. She's in a hurry to get home before the Coming of Blessed Night.

Home is Dara-Dess, a Highland citadel held by King Branimir of Huelt. Artesia is not only his captain, but his concubine--and his priestess. In Yhera's shrine she offers up the head of the vanquished champion as sacrifice.

In the next hall, she presents the banner of the enemy and the most prestigous hostages to her king. Bran is pleased; he wishes her company to feast and celebrate at the citadel. Artesia demures, citing her need to secure the field of battle and press on. She has one more stop before she goes:

Her concubine-sisters can't understand why she has chosen the ways of war. Lysa the oldest of them, says Artesia has turned from the true of arts of women and of civilization and clad yourself in iron. Artesia counters that she will have them all. Lysa also has a prophecy to give:

The other concubines are afraid. Artesia says they should come with her, but Lysa replies they cannot. Artesia leaves with a sense of foreboding.

And well she should. Her king conspires with witchhunters.

They are mistaken, though, that Artesia didn't sense their presence.

Things to Notice:

Artesia's armor is much more "fantasy female" than it will be in later issues.

Commentary:
Smylie starts his story in media res and pretty much expects you to follow along. He lets context and iconography allow the reader to figure out enough about the deities he names by analogy to real world ones to be able to keep going. Here's a resource, though, to help sort them out.

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Mapping Yanth

October 2, 2014, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Azurthite Bestiary: Aarakocra & Azer

≪ Previous: Wednesday Comics: Artesia

I've been trying to but together a map so I can send notes off to Gus L of the Dungeon of Signs to get a map like this cool ASE one he did. Mainly, I just seem to be adding now locales and not getting much drawing done.

So far we've got:
The Vale of Thorns
The Warrens of the Rabbit Folk
Horologopolis
Mount Brawl
The Mounds of the Ancients
The Great Standing Stone Sages
Apiaria, the Hive City of the Bee Folk
Lardafa, the Shanty-City of the Swamps
The Elder Dragon
Aldwode Forest
The Motley Isles

Some of these places I've talked about before, but the pictures will have to serve for the rest at the moment.

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Azurthite Bestiary: Aarakocra & Azer

October 3, 2014, 4:00 am

≫ Next: A Weird Dread Machine

≪ Previous: Mapping Yanth

The 5e Monster Manual is a good book, but it has a lot of monsters I won't use. Or, one's I probably won't use as is. Here are a couple of with rethought fluff for the Land of Azurth, but I imagine they'd work anywhere:

Art by Yuriy

Aarakocra
There is an island, far to the east in the Boundless Sea, littered with broken, stone structures and monuments engraved with human faces. The builders of the temples and monuments are long gone, but small tribes of bird folk with feathers of dull bronze and crests like peafowl camp amid the ruins and hunt in the forests. These folk are the Aarakocra, and all found in the villages are female. The Aarakocra mostly avoid visitors, disappearing into the forests or flying to high perches, but they will fight fiercely against aggressors and thieves.

In the decaying grand temple, the few, more brightly plummaged, male Aarakocra make their homes. They are the priests and husbands of the females. They lead their harems in worship of their holy object: a great egg with a surface like polished marble, veined in rainbow colors. It is said to be the egg of the Simurgh, the God-Queen of All Birds. The Aarakocra allow no other race to view their religious mysteries, and will capture any defilers of their rituals and lock them away in aviary-like cages to be tended and observed by the priest males for the rest of their days.

Azer
Though the earth and the works of man are minuscule in comparison, the Sun is really only a dwarf amongst its starry kind. It is a dwarf made of dwarves, countless throngs of them, formed from the pure elemental fire of heaven. They labor at the work of the cosmos and dance and sing radiant hymns to the glory of the gods. Sometimes, a solar dwarf is snatched from the outer layer of the churning multitudes by magic, or a few are cast into the void in a gout of ecstatic toil and fall to earth. These visitors clothe their celestial fire in shells of aurichalcum and all give their name as Azer.

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A Weird Dread Machine

October 5, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Azurthite Bestiary: Behir & Beholder

≪ Previous: Azurthite Bestiary: Aarakocra & Azer

Gus L over at Dungeon of Signs has released another in his series of free adventure pdfs, Dread Machine. As with all of Gus's products its got good layout for a free product and is enlivened by his appropriately stylized art and maps.

Gus says of the adventure: "Designed to be used in any fantasy setting, it is not intended to be especially strange or outside the norms for most traditional fantasy adventure games." While I think this is true, in the sense that it's implied setting seems to be a pre-industrial sort of world, I think it sells the the flavor of the module short. I would say that Dread Machine (like most of Gus's rpg work) has a vibe of the New Weird about it, like the world of China Mieville, Jay Lake, or K.J. Bishop. While I think many will view it as similar to the sort of gonzo flavor Old School D&D is often touted as having (and sometimes actually did) there is a coherence (or the illusion of coherence) that sets it apart from the mere gonzo, and an attention to (to coin a term) "fantasification"--seeing sci-fi elements through a fantasy lens. This is something I tried to do a lot with Weird Adventures and something that is different from the approach to sci-fi elements of say Expedition to Barrier Peaks.

Not that you have to be interested in any of that to enjoy the adventure. It's deeply "old school" in structure and setup but adaptable to any school you want. Check it out.

And while you checking things out, I think Dave Johnson's gonzo Grandpappy Cromdar's Whizbang Zoo! may not hit the same notes as Dread Machine, but could go on the playlist of "old school made new."

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Azurthite Bestiary: Behir & Beholder

October 6, 2014, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Wednesday Comics: Black Sun Rising

≪ Previous: A Weird Dread Machine

Continuing my series of monsters from the 5e monster manual rethought for the Land of Azurth:

Behir
The behirs of the caves and caverns of Subazurth are somewhat smarter (somewhat) than those of other lands, but they are no less malign. If anything, their pompous air makes them even more intolerable; being eaten by a reptilian monster is one thing, but being condescended to beforehand is really too much! Behirs crawl out of their hiding places, slithering along the ceiling and out of passages that would seem to be too narrow for their size. They are surprisingly quiet, too. Many travelers are unaware of their presence, before they introduce themselves from out of the darkness and engage the frightened folk in conversation.

The thinly veiled threat of being eaten is ever-present so most humor the behir as they hold forth on art and letters or current affairs. Their knowledge is woefully outdated and incomplete (coming as it does from conversation with previous victims or from books the barely literate creature did not read in great detail) when not completely made up. What makes this discourse even less tolerable is the superior air and snide tone the behir affects at all times. A guaranteed way to end the conversation is to point out an error on the behir's part, but this ending is unlikely to be a happy one.

Beholder
There is a strange kingdom in Subazurth called Beautia. The folk of the kingdom are human, but its ruler is the Beholder, an exceedingly unhappy alien monster, stranded in this world. The Beholder is first and foremost an aesthete, and its deep melancholy arises from the ugliness it perceives in the world around it. How it misses the natural beauty of its homeworld: the sharp dimpling of the pools of bilious ooze by the fierce shard-rains, the moans of the pungent flesh-stalks as the writhing, pulsating grub-parasites suckle at their ichor.

Being of an extremely sensitive disposition, the Beholder has been driven mad by its exile. Its mood seesaws between tittering hysteria and spells of sobbing depression. Mostly, it retreats into solipsistic denial and attempts to remake its kingdom into a more pleasing form, punctuated with the occasional disintegration of a subject who has failed to be entirely pleasing. To that end, its subjects wear spherical masks in imitation of their king's form and pretend to be pre-adult instars of its species. Many of Beautia's folk actually believe they are--spiritually, if not physically. Their state religion preaches spherification and eye-multiplication in successive reincarnations, until beholder perfection is reached.

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Wednesday Comics: Black Sun Rising

October 8, 2014, 4:43 am

≫ Next: Azurthite Bestiary: Bugbear Nightmare

≪ Previous: Azurthite Bestiary: Behir & Beholder

"Black Sun Rising"

Artesia #2 (February 1999) Story & Art by Mark Smylie

Synopsis: Artesia awakes from a dream--a portend, perhaps--of her mother being burned at the stake, telling her daughter to join her. It is morning. Artesia rises from between her two slumbering bedmates to greet her lieutenants. Some of the force have left them over night, but others have rallied to her, unwilling to accept the Divine King over the goddess Yhera.

She summons spirits to help her dress for battle. They whisper that their mothers, the goddesses of war are eager for the feast to come. Once dressed, she turns to deal with her bedmates--assassins sent by Bran. She awakens them from the magical sleep she put them under and tells them they have one chance to go for their daggers:

The assassins dead, Artesia and her company head for the field of battle. Besides their original foes, the knights of Agall and those that deserted them over night are under Bran's wolf banner--now arrayed against them. Artesia orders their own wolf banner taken down. They will only use black banners to match the black sun of Irré:

Artesia gives her troops a rousing speech. They must turn against their king because he's betrayed their land and their goddess to usurpers. The coming of Irré is a good omen for them. The speech works, and the battle is joined.

She uses her magic to cause panic and slays several Agall Knights herself. In the end, Artesia's enemies are routed, but after such an unnatural day, she fears the night to come.

Things to Notice:

Like more than one hero, Artesia had sex with the assassin(s) before killing them. Priorities.

Commentary:
Smylie's Known World is an interesting mix of historic sources, but the gods and goddess seem mostly Ancient Greek inspired. The name of the Known World's Queen of Heaven, Yhera, clearly shows its derivation from the Greek Queen of Heaven, Hera. Irré the Black Sun, is a sun god, but mostly has the negative aspects of Apollo's portfolio (he is the god of plagues, for instance), while his brother, Illiki Helios gets the more positive aspects. Besides the Greek elements, the two seem to borrow from Egyptian myth: the bull aspect of Illiki is reminiscent of the Atum-Ra, and the relationship between the brothers resembles myths related to Osiris and Set.

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Azurthite Bestiary: Bugbear Nightmare

October 9, 2014, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Strange Stars Update and Contents

≪ Previous: Wednesday Comics: Black Sun Rising

In dark places where nightmares thicken and curdle, bugbears are born. They're gangling things with burning coal eyes that stare out of snarled fur, black and featureless as the night sky between the stars. They haunt abodes of fear and shadow: abandoned houses, ancient ruins, sunless forests; they even squeeze into the recesses of children's closets and the forgotten world glimpsed in the gaps between floorboards. Any dark corner is a door to a bugbear. They crawl out with great sacks clutched in their spider-fingered hands. Snickering, murmuring, they snatch up children and small folk in their sacks and kill those who try and stop them. They drag the children back to their damp, subterranean otherworld, and what happens there is best not discussed.

Besides (one presumes) their kidnapped victims, bugbears subsist on such inedible provender as glass shards, potash, and the heads of rabid bats. They consider certain venomous toads an utter delicacy.

Azurthite bugbears are statted like regular 5e bugbears with the following differences:

Skills Stealth +6

Special Abilities:

Plastic. Bugbears can squeeze through spaces as small as 1 inch.

Shadow Stealth. While in dim light or darkness, a bugbear can hide as a bonus action.

Sunlight Weakness. In bright sunight, bugbears have a disadvantage to attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.

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Strange Stars Update and Contents

October 10, 2014, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Slumbering Ursine Dunes

≪ Previous: Azurthite Bestiary: Bugbear Nightmare

The Strange Stars systemless setting book is almost done! Here is the list of contents, and the likely order they will be in:

History
Categories of Sophonts
Starships & Travel
The Alliance
The Coreward Reach
The Vokun Empire
The Outer Rim
The Zuran Expanse
Psi & Psionics
Nomads
Pirates
Criminals

The book looks to be on schedule to come out late this fall. John "FATE SF" Till has the Fate Sytem Book virtually complete in draft, but having been focused on the setting book, I'm lagging on the Stars Without Number adaption, and both still need proofing and layout. I don't want to delay the setting book, though, so we're looking at a staggered release, with the system books following (hopefully) in a couple of months.

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Slumbering Ursine Dunes

October 12, 2014, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Yanth Cartography

≪ Previous: Strange Stars Update and Contents

The Kickstarter for Slumbering Ursine Dunes will be coming to an end on October 14, so if you haven't got in on it yet, time is drawing nigh. I've been a backer since the day the Kickstarter began. While I'm sometimes iffy about rpg kickstarters (their track record isn't great), I know any reader of the Hill Cantons blog knows that Chris has been a critic of kickstarters in the past, and he and the Hydra Collect have done everything right with this one--like having the product actually mostly finished before starting the kickstarter.

Now knowing the guys involved and having played in the Hill Cantons G+ campaign in the past, I do not pretend any review I would give of Dunes would be entirely object. (If you're looking for probably a more objective one than mine, Gus L has given us one.) I can tell you while I like it and why I think it exemplifies what is good about DIY gaming products, in general.

First off, Dunes takes place in Chris's very flavorful and original campaign world, the Hill Cantons. The Cantons is one of those rich, long-running D&D that most of us wish we had, but don't have the discipline to pull off. The Hill Cantons is pulp fantasy setting, less Howard or Lovecraft, and more Vance and Leiber, infused with a strong Slavic flavor. It manages to avoid the "learning curve" problem associated with settings like Tekumel or Glorantha, while managing to be distinct from the Forgotten Realms also-rans. Dunes mixes bear gods and alien technology and makes it all fit together with a large amount of wit.

If that weren't enough, it's written in such away that it's easy to tweak or remove the Hill Cantons elements (great as they are) so that you can make it your own. Anthony (Straits of Anian) Picaro is adapting it to his fantasy Pacific Northwest (and that's going to be available through the Kickstarter to backers at some levels). I think I'm going to use it as the basis of my annual Weird Adventures Yule Special. It's going to be the inspiration and framework for a tale of combining Father Yule, Ruthenian Bear Folk, and the aftermath of the Weird Adventures version of the Tunguska event. It's robust enough to be what works best for you campaign.

So back it, already! The Kickstarter ends Wednesday.

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Yanth Cartography

October 13, 2014, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Wednesday Comics: Strangers in the Night

≪ Previous: Slumbering Ursine Dunes

The map above by Gus L of The Dungeon of Signs is of the Country of Yanth in the Land of Azurth. Gus has faithfully reproduced the style of the Orrey Blundur, Royal Cartographer to King Cyan of Azurth. As is custom following the Bichromatic Compromise, the Country of Yanth is colored yellow. Mundy was a practitioner of artistic cartography, favoring a aesthetically pleasing arrangement of feature over accurate representation. The geography of Azurth has never been quite as settled as it is in other lands, so this is perhaps not as great a failing as it might seem.

Blundur is rumored to have disappeared into a trap street he inserted into a map of the Sapphire City the week before, then subsequently discovered in the real world.

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Wednesday Comics: Strangers in the Night

October 15, 2014, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Three Rivertown Criminals

≪ Previous: Yanth Cartography

"Strangers in the Night"

Artesia #3 (March 1999) Story & Art by Mark Smylie

Synopsis: Night falls over the battlefield and something strange is in the air. Artesia tells her troops that the door to the underworld has been opened; it is not their goddess Djara and her companions, but the Wild Hunt that roams this night. She tells the warriors to stay close to the ghost heads--heads of the fallen placed on stakes--tonight: One ghost will ward against another.

Artesia rides out to warn the scavengers they've seen among the fallen.

She finds they are not human but hathaz-ghul. They can't be harmed by mere iron, but Artesia's rune-inscribed sword is something different. She's only just defeated them and finished off her dying horse, when she feels it coming. She runs for the ghost wards, but:

She boldly tells the master of the Wild Hunt that he has one night given to him by Yhera, and this is not it.

But Artesia has already chosen sides.

Her spirits rebuke the Master of the Hunt to be gone. Artesia has been claimed by another. "Ah, the heart of war, After so long." the huntsman says. "I am glad."

He departs, leaving Artesia to wonder who it is that can banish the Wild Hunt. Then, she's distracted by the cry of the dying Dymas. He explains that he had to change sides because his king told him to. He would never side with the Knights of Agall and the other outlanders, though. He worries that the death guides have not come, that the souls of he and his men will be lost.

Artesia reassures when that they will keep the vigil for his journey. Their prayers will give his soul 7 days to find their way. Then, they come. And Dymas sees them.

Artesia says her prayers to Geniche, goddess of the Underworld. Though she is afraid, she looks the goddess in the face:

Artesia flinches from the bright light, and then the goddess is gone--along with the souls of the dying.

Her troops find her their in the morning. They tell her three outlanders slipped by the pickets last night. Artesia sees the ones they speak of approaching. They say they have come to the highlands to find a woman: a woman captain, once a king's concubine. A woman born in the lowlands, but come to the Highlands. A witch like her mother.

Artesia embraces her brother, Stjepan.

Things to Notice:

With his recitation of the rumors about her, Stjepan relates a lot of Artesia's backstory.

Commentary:
The Wild Hunt, which appears in this issue, is a well-known European myth, with the Master of the Hutn varying, depending on the culture. The corpse-consuming hathaz-ghul are inspired by the Arabic ghul (ghoul).

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Three Rivertown Criminals

October 16, 2014, 4:00 am

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≪ Previous: Wednesday Comics: Strangers in the Night

Honest Jon
If you need something illegal, not quite legal, or just not something to be inquired about in polite company, then Honest Jon may well be of assistance to you. He also specializes in finding a buyers for items of complicated provenance. All for a fee, naturally.

Calico Bonny
She is the Queen of the Floating World, and her palace is the only true ship among it's ramshackle flotilla, the Queen Azura. Bonny is never seen (though she is rumored to have met the Princess), but conducts her business through a succession of lissome girls all called "Fleur." No new gambling barge or pleasure boat opens without her approval. And the Queen always gets her tithe.

Art by Dan Norton

Mapache "Cleanhands" Took
There is no "raccoon thieves' guild" in Rivertown. The very notion is absurd. Even if there were (which of course, there most certainly is not), it's ringleader and mastermind wouldn't be a shabby, gentleman of the road like our Mapache Took. Ridiculous. Completely ridiculous.

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