Blogging Again!

Well, I miss blogging the Forbidden Mazes and due to big changes in life (namely that after 19 years of marriage I am single again...sigh) I've been without Internet but now that I am back online at home...if I can call this place that...I will be re-joining my brothers and sisters in arms in the blogosphere once more. Will get content up soon! Fight on!

More Artwork From My Son

My son Levi is shaping up to be quite the artist.


I am somewhat of a cartoonist and I gave him his initial lessons but he has a lot of native talent. Aside from me introducing him at a young age to fantasy stories and art, it's been his own path.


His work improved tremendously after taking some lessons from an illustrator friend of mine in Idaho. We moved out of state so the lesson ended but the few that he did get were very useful to Levi.


His art is reminiscent of that of William Blake; the figure in the corner was added as a hasty sketch simply to show scale.


This is my concept on Dragons, too. I like the serpentine dragons with the fanciful heads better than the Smaug trope. Something Levi is able to convey well in his monsters is the glimmer of intelligence in their visages. You can look at this Dragon and know he is cunning. 


You can see this in his other monster pic as well:

Good job son.


Suggestions for a proper name for the dragon? I'm thinking Giridax.


Anyone else?

Logan's Run--A Post Apocalyptic Setting...Sort Of.

When it comes to role playing games, fantasy and swords and sorcery is my cup of tea...the one exception being post apocalyptic themes.

The Book of Eli, the Planet of the Apes, Road warrior, etc....these are great stories and films and also, in my opinion, great settings for games.

Logans Run (1976) is one of those films that stuck in my consciousness as a kid. I was five years old when the movie was released and have vague memories of watching it with my parents. There were some notable scenes and concepts that stuck in my memory and I've always remembered it but never watched it again until this week.

I am glad I did.

This is a solid little film. It has some interesting sets, a plausible and frightening plot premise, very good acting, and the theme that has always interested me the most.....Man vs. the State.

It also has very sexy female lead who poses for some incredible shots during the film--but of course, that is not why I like it so much....

In a futuristic society, population is controlled in a vast domed city  by killing off everyone at 30 years of age. Your age is revealed to you by the Life Clocks which cause a crystal set within your palm to glow with an age-specific color. You don't have to work much--the city is controlled by servo-mechanisms that cater to your every pleasure and whim. The only police are called Sandmen--they are there to make sure every one submits to the policy of voluntary termination. When you are to be terminated, you go to a device called the Carousel--a select few are spared termination and are "Reborn" at the dictates of random determination.

The catch is that some people resist the policy.

These are called "Runners". Runners attempt to flee the city to the  near mythic world outside the domes. They are hunted down and killed by the Sandmen.

A Sandman named Logan Five is given an assignment to pretend to be a Runner and infiltrate the Runner underground system and find a legendary place called "Sanctuary" , the place of Refuge all Runners seek outside the Domes. He is accompanied by a female Runner named Jessica Six who seems to have feelings for him. Logan receives information that leads him to believe that the idea of being "Reborn" on the Carousel  may be a myth created by whoever it is that actually runs Society.  The movie tales off from there and I won't spoil it for you.

I will say that the world outside the domes is a world in ruins-- a world which is for all intents and purposes "post apocalyptic", although the cities were not destroyed by any stellar or thermonuclear disaster but were apparently simply abandoned, falling into ruins through simple neglect rather than any cataclysmic events. There are implications that ecological disasters occurred, notably shortages in animal food supplies due to unspecified environmental changes.

This would be an interesting premise for a role playing game, if not for an entire campaign then perhaps for a few sessions. I possess the boxed set of the Post Apoc game from the eighties called Aftermath which allows  the GM to choose from a variety of "Endtime" scenarios provided or to create his or her own. Logan's Run is a simple and uncomplicated possibility for such a setting.

If you have never seen the film, I heartily recommend it. It did not receive highly favorable reviews from mainstream critics but did receive numerous awards from science fiction communities, spawned a very short lived comic series, and a few seasons of a TV series by the same name.

My take: good stuff for entertainment purposes or for a good watch...and thought provoking as well. The best sci fi hits a little close to home and has shades of horror film...Logan's Run does this nicely.

Roll a D6

Well, the old blog lies forgotten and forsaken for the moment--a lot going on. People in our gaming group have moved away and we shall miss them but we are revamping and the games go on. Not much time for posting lately...but lots of big life changes, some I'd rather not deal with. But life never asks us if we want to deal with it, eh? Anyway, I will try to add some worthwhile content in the near future. Until then, Roll a D6.

I have used this mechanic for a long time, even before I knew it was a mechanic. If something bad (or good) is about to happen to a random party member, I say "Roll a d6." If its a good thing, highest roll gets it. A bad thing, lowest roll takes the hit. Like when you pass under the webs of a ginat spider and I want to see who the spider lands on. When it pounces.

A player hopefully gets real interested and real nervous when the DM says roll a d6. By the way, this parody is way better than the actual song which was just, well, annoying. 

Peace!

Tales From the Arabian Nights: D&D Borrowings # 1

We've a local Half Price Books store nearby my home and I often go there and check out the nice and always changing collection of role playing stuff and board games. I saw a RuneQuest Boxed Set and Three Supplements this last time but was unable to buy!!! They do their Internet homework and it was priced accordingly.

However, I did find a paperback copy of the complete Tales from the Arabian Nights lavishly illustrated by one of my new favorite artists, H.J. Ford. I find the tales delightful. I think as a parent you couldn't go wrong if you limited your children's film viewing to weekends, only let them watch DVD's you have selected, and spend the rest of the time reading books like this to them! In this age of video games, Internet, movies and I-Phones, I don't think you're going to turn a kid onto these treasures of the past unless you do so from an early age, let them get a love for such things, and then let them find pop and tech culture. Okay, that's Dr. Spock stuff, onto gaming.

Aside from the great stories there are a lot of elements in here you could adapt for games and I will be blogging some of them.  So to start of with here is a magical item from one of the tales.

The Oracles of Douban

The Oracles of Douban are a large silver, jeweled bowl with a covered item in the bowl and a great leather bound tome whose cover is wrought with silver fastenings. The book will be found to be resting under the bowl.

If the covering is removed, to the horror of the finder there will be seen a severed head of an aged man, perfectly preserved by some enchantment and appearing as it did in life. It's eyes are closed.

This is the head of Douban the Physician. Douban was unjustly executed by a great King of the East who was falsely convinced by a jealous vizier that Douban meant to usurp his throne. The king had his trusted counselor  beheaded but the head spoke after hitting the floor and told the King that magic bound Douban's life to his Book of wisdom and that he would serve as the king's Oracle--many questions cold be asked from the book which the head of Douban would be bound to answer.

Much of Douban's tale was true.

What he did not tell the king was that there was a curse associated with the book and the King fell prey to it!

Whoever locates and possesses the Oracles of Douban will find that the Book is filled with small script covering an amazing array of topics. However, the information is of such a scholarly level and references such obscure names, places and facts that it would be impossible for anyone other than the most brilliant sage alive to even guess how to make sense of it...it represents a lifetime of Douban's esoteric research.

If you as a DM are fortunate enough to possess the 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide by Gary Gygax, you have a ready made source of information as to the Sage material contained within the Book. The Book has two Minor Fields of Study and Four Special categories in Major Field. The normal percentage chances applied to Sages here applies as noted on page 31-32 of the DM's Guide. If you do not have the DMG, you can simply assign a percentage chance to the possibility of the Book containing references to the subject mater in question.

The book alone is worthless as a source of knowledge--the real treasures lie within Douban's incredible brain, and it is a wondrous fact that when the book is opened, the eyes of the head of Douban open as well and fasten themselves upon the holder of the book. The head will also speak and say "Ask Thy Question, Seeker of Knowledge. Douban Will Answer Thee."


The power of the Book and Head of Douban is that once every seven days, the possessor may ask a question pertaining to the Sage's knowledge and receive a true answer. The head will converse at length on the subject of the question and relay as much information as is asked. A powerful gift indeed and a gateway to many adventures if our heroes are inquiring of Douban as to places and people associated with ancient relics or lost kingdoms. The Oracles of Douban could become a regular feature of a campaign. The Book is  a very coveted item by those aware of it's purported existence.

The Head does not converse other than to answer it's appointed questions. unless, of course, the DM wishes it to...perhaps it cajoles or curses those who use it's powers! Perhaps he is a leering old man who makes inappropriate comments to the female Player Characters! Note that the Oracles do not act as an augury spell or divine the future--its uses are confined to actual subjects researched by Douban while he was alive. Asking a question like "Where in the realms is my old friend Mension Leaf?", for example, would be a useless question and Douban might make fun of the person who asks it.

In any event, Douban will truthfully answer all queries as a matter of the Physician's pride.

Nonetheless, Douban and his book are cursed, and every time the Oracles are consulted, a saving throw vs. Spells must be made by the character using them. Failure means that some terrible thing happens, as designed by the DM.

Enjoy Douban and his Book! Future Borrowings are to come.



****

Forbidden Mazes of the Jinnorak

An old school romp! Here is the scene from that loveable eighties anti-D&D flick where I plagiar...er, I mean, borrowed the title of my blog from! Have I ever played in games set up like the one in this film? Absolutely, and where do you think I got the idea as a thirteen or fourteen year old D&D addict? Enjoy!

Applying D&D Alignment to Historical Figures

Example being the best teacher, I decided to set forth a list of historical figures that seemed to fit neatly into D&D alignment categories.

As a lover of history and having some small education beyond high school in the subject, I certainly realize that popular conceptions of good and evil figures of history are largely subjective and not always historically sound.

I also realize that in real life, people are individuals and there is probably no such thing as a stratified code of alignments. Does good exist? I think it does. Does evil exist? I believe it to be so. But quantifying and defining them is not always so easy as one might wish.

 Good and evil are often in the eyes of the people as they judge history--which, as we have always heard, is written by the victors.

Nonetheless, this is a blog about role playing games and not philosophical questions and so we are mainly interested in the use of alignment in the game.

To this end, I submit these examples of some of the major alignments. Subcategories may be dealt with in a second post on the subject. I have avoided any modern historical figures so as to steer clear...as much as possible...from any religious, moral or political disagreements in the community.

So here we go. Let's start with extreme good and work our way down (or up, if you prefer) the spectrum...

CHAOTIC GOOD

Your personal opinion on the actual roots and causes of the US war Between the States notwithstanding, John Brown is, to my thinking, a good example of this alignment.  The Chaotic good character knows what he feels is ultimate good or truth---he also realizes that human laws are weak substitutes for this Ultimate Good, being made by corrupt officials influenced by power and money or people too afraid to act up in defense of righteousness. Thus while he does not especially go out of his way to break said laws, nor will he be constrained by them from doing his Moral Duty. The use of violence and arbitrary personal justice is perfectly acceptable in pursuance of that Duty...after all, the guilty deserve to be punished, other zealots need encouragement, and the undecided need to be shown an example. Chaos in and of itself is not  necessarily evil--it can be used to destroy corrupt or noneffective social orders. Guided by righteousness it is a powerful tool for good and only when society bases its laws upon this Ultimate good...which the fearful say is only misguided idealism and maybe even delusion...should those laws be obeyed.



LAWFUL GOOD

Martin Luther caused quite a stir in his day. His tracts and pamphlets led to some very bloody peasant revolts and uprisings. Luther, however, condemned these revolts and always remained committed to upholding the ideal of civil and social law and obedience to rulers. He sought only to reform the ecclesiastical institutions of the Catholic Church. He appealed for help from earthly princes to protect him from the edicts of the Church. The Lawful Good character is just as motivated by ideas of good and righteousness as the Chaotic Good, but he is not radical, at least not with respect to obedience to Laws. Fighting for the Ultimate Good is noble action, but it must be governed by a body of agreed upon laws or even the divine order of an Emperor. No individual has the right to play Judge, jury and Executioner--once you choose to do so, the lawful good character will condemn your actions, even if you shared a Common cause or moral belief.


NEUTRAL

I am certain that many will disagree with my choice of William the Conqueror as an example of Neutral. It was difficult for me to think of a Neutral Alignment example from any period of history! Neutrality as noted here, however, is simply with regard to moral philosophy or ethical codes. The Harrying of the North was a rather ruthless campaign that can only be termed butchery and certainly evil from the viewpoint of the Saxons. And yet there was a real unification of England and many reforms that took place under his reign--William does seem to have tried to build up the Kingdom he ruled over in it's buildings and its laws.  I think in the end he was actuated not by any morally good or evil ethos but by a naked pragmatism that allowed him to use whatever means were at his disposal--"good" or "evil"--to pursue an end that, unlike those of truly evil alignments, was not strictly about himself. The truly Neutral character is not guided by selfishness or selflessness...he chooses a course based on certain personal objectives or tasks he wishes to accomplish and uses the means at his disposal. He is not out to harm others but nor does he owe them anything unless he decides he does for his own reasons. Yet this does not mean he has no cause or life's mission. William represents a grander scale of mission perhaps, but a more lowly Neutral character might have something he wishes to do that is just as important to him and like William, he will do whatever it takes to accomplish that end.

LAWFUL EVIL


To be determined. Who do you suggest?


CHAOTIC EVIL

The Emperor who allegedly fiddled while Rome burned...indeed, Nero is believed by many to have been the true culprit in the great conflagration which conveniently expanded  his palatial holdings. From killing close family members to torturing people for simple amusement to the most debauched of personal behavior, I was hard pressed to think of a better example of Chaotic Evil. Caligula was probably worse, but he is less famous than this man which the Apocalypse of St John may refer to in code as the "AntiChrist". A Chaotic Evil character is solely concerned with his own power, pleasure, aggrandizement, and will. Nothing and no one else matters unless he deems them to matter from his own personal prejudice or his merest whims.  He may indeed serve a deity or a cause which he believes will further advance these desires but Chaos is to him the truest philosophy, the one based upon naked power and those who are able to hold it. Ultimate Good does not exist, or, if it does, the Chaotic Evil character is indifferent to it.  Lawful notions are simply weak sentimentality at best or a means of control of the sheep by  clever elitists at worst and in any event they only protect people too weak to protect themselves. Thus they are useless!

These few examples are perhaps flawed but hopefully they can serve as  templates for alignment in D&D.

I am most interested in hearing comments on these proposed alignment models and other proposals that you may have in mind.