Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
A Start on Elizabethulhu............
We ran a couple of scenes last Saturday actually using Risus! No one is any hurry to codify anything. A good omen - Barry is showing up again.
The story thus far.......
Sanity Checks have been a hard sell and are now scaled back to Fright Checks - a temporary loss of nerve; sanity hadn't been invented in the 1500s.
I did make a list of fencing maneuvers to crunchy-up combat; the maneuvers don’t add bonuses, but they do add color and give the players something to do. Bonuses come from Questing Dice tied to Fencing and Lucky Dice – one dice at a time from each and they can be stacked. The group is still leery about pumping dice so that option is off the table for now.
Notes:
Swashbuckling is neither a skill nor cliché. Swinging on a drapery into a fight is a separate action.
Most of the fencing characters will be of either the upper yeomanry (families of professionals who do not work with their hands) or the lower gentry (families on the lower rungs of the complex land-holding hierarchy) classes.
Inspirational viewing: anything with William Hobbs as fight arranger.
The Three Musketeers (1973)
The Four Musketeers (1974)
The final duel from Rob Roy
The final duel from Dangerous Liaisons
The Man in the Iron Mask
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Duelists
I divvied up the maneuvers into groups of six, if a player gets stuck just roll and read.
Defense
1 feint
2 bind
3 beat
4 parry
5 block
6 croise (push the blade)
Offense
1 thrust
2 lunge
3 fleche (a committed lunge)
4 cut
5 slash
6 reposte (a parry/thrust)
Infighting
1 trip
2 body check
3 elbow
4 knuckle duster
5 arm bar
6 throw
Cape Work
1 flourish (hides the attack)
2 bind the blade
3 whip at eyes
4 trip (tangle legs)
5 blind (thrown at the face or over the head)
6 block (wrapped around forearm)
Head butts, kicks, knees, and non-standard use of furniture falls under Brawling.
The Main Gauche (a heavy dagger for the off hand) is allowed - but does not have specific rules.
The story thus far.......
Sanity Checks have been a hard sell and are now scaled back to Fright Checks - a temporary loss of nerve; sanity hadn't been invented in the 1500s.
I did make a list of fencing maneuvers to crunchy-up combat; the maneuvers don’t add bonuses, but they do add color and give the players something to do. Bonuses come from Questing Dice tied to Fencing and Lucky Dice – one dice at a time from each and they can be stacked. The group is still leery about pumping dice so that option is off the table for now.
Notes:
Swashbuckling is neither a skill nor cliché. Swinging on a drapery into a fight is a separate action.
Most of the fencing characters will be of either the upper yeomanry (families of professionals who do not work with their hands) or the lower gentry (families on the lower rungs of the complex land-holding hierarchy) classes.
Inspirational viewing: anything with William Hobbs as fight arranger.
The Three Musketeers (1973)
The Four Musketeers (1974)
The final duel from Rob Roy
The final duel from Dangerous Liaisons
The Man in the Iron Mask
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Duelists
I divvied up the maneuvers into groups of six, if a player gets stuck just roll and read.
Defense
1 feint
2 bind
3 beat
4 parry
5 block
6 croise (push the blade)
Offense
1 thrust
2 lunge
3 fleche (a committed lunge)
4 cut
5 slash
6 reposte (a parry/thrust)
Infighting
1 trip
2 body check
3 elbow
4 knuckle duster
5 arm bar
6 throw
Cape Work
1 flourish (hides the attack)
2 bind the blade
3 whip at eyes
4 trip (tangle legs)
5 blind (thrown at the face or over the head)
6 block (wrapped around forearm)
Head butts, kicks, knees, and non-standard use of furniture falls under Brawling.
The Main Gauche (a heavy dagger for the off hand) is allowed - but does not have specific rules.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Magic in Earthsea
My take on kabbalism for Risus of Arabia is based more on Le Guin's Earthsea magic than the confusing history of real kabbalism.
Magic in Earthsea
Magic is a central part of life in most of Earthsea, with the exception of the Kargish lands, where it is banned. There are weather workers on ships, fixers who repair boats and buildings, entertainers, and court sorcerers. Magic is an inborn talent which can be developed with training. The most gifted are sent to the school on Roke, where, if their skill and their discipline prove sufficient, they can become staff-carrying wizards.
A strong theme of the stories is the connection between power and responsibility. There is often a Taoist message: "good" wizardry tries to be in harmony with the world, while "bad" wizardry, such as necromancy, can lead to an upsetting of the "balance" and threaten catastrophe. While the dragons are more powerful, they act instinctively to preserve the balance. Only humans pose a threat to it. In The Farthest Shore, Cob seeks immortality regardless of the consequences and opens a breach between life and death which endangers the living.
Magic on Earthsea is primarily verbal. Everything has a true name in the Old Speech, the language of the dragons. One who knows the true name of an object has power over it. A person also has a true name; for safety's sake, he or she will only reveal it to those he or she trusts implicitly. A "use" name, which has no magical property, suffices for everyday purposes. For example, the wizard whose true name is Ged is known by the use name Sparrowhawk.
One vital aspect of magic is that it is impossible for humans to lie in the old language, so that magic works by forcing the universe to conform to the words spoken by the magician. For example, to say "I am an eagle" in the old language means that the speaker becomes an eagle, so that the statement is no longer false. The consequences of this are dealt with in the most recent Earthsea novel, The Other Wind.
Magic in Earthsea
Magic is a central part of life in most of Earthsea, with the exception of the Kargish lands, where it is banned. There are weather workers on ships, fixers who repair boats and buildings, entertainers, and court sorcerers. Magic is an inborn talent which can be developed with training. The most gifted are sent to the school on Roke, where, if their skill and their discipline prove sufficient, they can become staff-carrying wizards.
A strong theme of the stories is the connection between power and responsibility. There is often a Taoist message: "good" wizardry tries to be in harmony with the world, while "bad" wizardry, such as necromancy, can lead to an upsetting of the "balance" and threaten catastrophe. While the dragons are more powerful, they act instinctively to preserve the balance. Only humans pose a threat to it. In The Farthest Shore, Cob seeks immortality regardless of the consequences and opens a breach between life and death which endangers the living.
Magic on Earthsea is primarily verbal. Everything has a true name in the Old Speech, the language of the dragons. One who knows the true name of an object has power over it. A person also has a true name; for safety's sake, he or she will only reveal it to those he or she trusts implicitly. A "use" name, which has no magical property, suffices for everyday purposes. For example, the wizard whose true name is Ged is known by the use name Sparrowhawk.
One vital aspect of magic is that it is impossible for humans to lie in the old language, so that magic works by forcing the universe to conform to the words spoken by the magician. For example, to say "I am an eagle" in the old language means that the speaker becomes an eagle, so that the statement is no longer false. The consequences of this are dealt with in the most recent Earthsea novel, The Other Wind.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Pulp Fantasy
Ryan was in town, and between hands we shot the RPG breeze. It was a standard bitchfest, but he said something simple that made a lot of sense. I mentioned that Risus of Arabia was based in the real world and that it was more supernatural pulp than high fantasy.
He said "Like Conan".
If I'm going to amp up and expand RoA I'll look to Conan for inspiration. Most of the Hyborian country had a corresponding real world countries. And Howard knew how to amp up stories.
He said "Like Conan".
If I'm going to amp up and expand RoA I'll look to Conan for inspiration. Most of the Hyborian country had a corresponding real world countries. And Howard knew how to amp up stories.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Ah Fudge......
I couldn't find another sponsor for open game night so my on again off again gaming career is off again.
Jeff is hoping to get a Fudge group together. He runs a variant of Over the Fudge for starters.
Alan from fudgecommunity found the source article.
http://www.fudgerpg.info/guide/Guide/OverTheFudge.html
Barry sent me these two quick starts. If the Fudge rules seem overwhelming try these.
http://www.fudgerpg.com/files/pdf/fudge_nutshell.pdf
http://www.roguepublishing.com/quickstart.pdf
Jeff is hoping to get a Fudge group together. He runs a variant of Over the Fudge for starters.
Alan from fudgecommunity found the source article.
http://www.fudgerpg.info/guide/Guide/OverTheFudge.html
Barry sent me these two quick starts. If the Fudge rules seem overwhelming try these.
http://www.fudgerpg.com/files/pdf/fudge_nutshell.pdf
http://www.roguepublishing.com/quickstart.pdf
Monday, June 22, 2009
A Long Winter's Nap
Not that anyone is listening. Risus of Arabia is dead in the water (buried in the sand?). The Pulp group didn't work out and the Open Game night is going nowhere; I'm going to take a break, fold the tents, pack them up, tuck them away in a sand swept cave.
Jeff has given up on the Open Game nights and has temporally forsaken Risus. He's going back to work on his Buffyverse White Hat campaign, which is run on Fudge or Over the Fudge.
Jeff has given up on the Open Game nights and has temporally forsaken Risus. He's going back to work on his Buffyverse White Hat campaign, which is run on Fudge or Over the Fudge.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Specialized Skills
An option to tweak cliches
Specialized skills can be taken in appropriate cliches, just be mindful of commonsense and moderation. Specialization can be taken at creation or during any advancement. Specialized skills can be bumped only by 2, otherwise just bump the cliche altogether. And they can be used to bump the skill past the cliche limit of 6 (depending on the game).
Say Joe Copp's Macho SWAT Goon (6) is topped out for the game level. He can use a advancement die to bump the Sniper skill in his cliche to 7 or 8 and use the third pip on his Streetwise skill in his Ex-Hard Nosed Street Cop (4) making it Streetwise (5), or he can take it as a Lucky Shot slot. He gains the Sniper (8) bonus only when he is using a sniper rifle at long range, with pistols, or other weapons, or hand to hand at mid or close range, he still rolls as Macho SWAT Goon (6).
Or simply tie Questing Dice to the skill.
Specialized skills can be taken in appropriate cliches, just be mindful of commonsense and moderation. Specialization can be taken at creation or during any advancement. Specialized skills can be bumped only by 2, otherwise just bump the cliche altogether. And they can be used to bump the skill past the cliche limit of 6 (depending on the game).
Say Joe Copp's Macho SWAT Goon (6) is topped out for the game level. He can use a advancement die to bump the Sniper skill in his cliche to 7 or 8 and use the third pip on his Streetwise skill in his Ex-Hard Nosed Street Cop (4) making it Streetwise (5), or he can take it as a Lucky Shot slot. He gains the Sniper (8) bonus only when he is using a sniper rifle at long range, with pistols, or other weapons, or hand to hand at mid or close range, he still rolls as Macho SWAT Goon (6).
Or simply tie Questing Dice to the skill.
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