D&D blog. I have experience with AD&D, D&D3/3.5, D&D5, Dungeon World, Torchbearer, Strike!, and Swords and Wizardry. Lately, my interest has mostly been piqued by systems based on TSR-era D&D, though various iterations of 3e have always been my home system against which I compare everything else. Also I play video games sometimes. This is where I talk about all of those things and also queue lots and lots of pretty pictures that may or may not be related. I enjoy taking systems apart and building them back up, analyzing games, and so on.
I'm always happy to run games (over roll20 usually) when I don't have to do any player-wrangling. Just ask and we can schedule something. I'm free-est Sundays and Mondays and am on Pacific time.
i think it’d be really cool if the King in Yellow looked like one of those giant puppets they use in stage plays. the ones that have very obvious visible puppeteers moving them, but still seem so alive. i imagine that the main body seems to be controlled by the dancers, but the tentacles move on their own.
For those who don’t know, Steve Jackson Games was raided by the Secret Service in 1990, and all copies of the then-upcoming GURPS Cyberpunk were confiscated. Though this was bad for the company financially (they were set back months on a major project, and had to do layoffs), it did lend a certain air of pizazz to their product.
They ended up suing the government, and won. This was the first high-profile case for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which successfully sued on behalf of the company, winning around $300,000 in the case.
I knew the EFF had been around longer than I’ve been alive, and that they’ve done so much for the internet that I take for granted. I like learning about how it came into being and what they’ve actually done. And I love learning that it actually worked, at least some of the time, that the people didn’t just get conveniently disappeared, that the EFF sued and actually won and I live in a world with a better internet because they did that.
The affidavit on which SJ Games were raided was unbelievably flimsy … Loyd Blankenship was suspect because he ran a technologically literate and politically irreverent BBS, because he wrote about hacking, and because he received and re-posted a copy of the /Phrack newsletter. The company was raided simply because Loyd worked there and used its (entirely different) BBS!
… and also I find it amusing that in their illegal raid they didn’t bring their own lockpicks or whatever. They tried to use the office letter openers.
In their diligent search for evidence, the agents also cut off locks, forced open footlockers, tore up dozens of boxes in the warehouse, and bent two of the office letter openers attempting to pick the lock on a file cabinet.
You know Rolemaster is a very good game loved by smart and cool people because when the game talks about the highly idiosyncratic and controversial design decision to make Monks partial spell-users of Essence (Wizard magic) and Bards partial spell-users of Mentalism (mind magic) it makes it sound like the source of some theological disagreement for nerds
The “Monk / Bard” Controversy
One such profession versus realm controversy (at least within ICE) involves Monks. In Rolemaster Monks are Essence Semi spell users, because Essence spell users cannot normally wear armor while casting spells. This would tend to direct Essence Semi spell users (Arms and Essence) into the Martial Arts which do not normally involve weapons and armor. This line of reasoning (called the Charltonian view) is countered by the common view in our world (e.g. Kung Fu, eastern mysticism, etc.) of Monks as Martial Artists whose mental discipline and mind control lead to Mentalism type powers (called the Amthorian view).
you guys are so cool
I’d need to know what Wizard magic means in this context, but bards as mentalist stuff makes a ton of sense.
So like, Essence is very much “arcane magic.” It’s a catch-all which includes stuff like energy manipulation (most elemental spells are Essence), illusions, and also for some reason demon summoning and enchantments.
Mentalism is as said pretty much mind magic: mind-reading, mind control, but also stuff like clairvoyance, mind over matter, that sort of thing.
I could actually kind of see Rolemaster’s rationale for making Bards Mentalism users, if it weren’t for the fact that Mentalism is the one Realm of Magic that doesn’t require ANY vocalizations (Essence and Channeling both usually require some magic words to be changed, Mentalism spells are purely a mental effort) and a number of Bard spells are actually songs!
Rolemaster is so stupid and I love it
I’m pretty sure this is literally just a slapfight between two of the old Rolemaster authors, since “Amthorian view” comes from the late Terry K. Amthor and Charltonian view is probably Coleman Charlton.
It’s like the 13th age sidebars where the two writers argue and one of them says how to make the game worse, only…much less consequential.
Oh absolutely, no question about it. It’s the terminology that these two use that elevates it to the next level in my mind. These mfers call this a controversy and have given their respective positions cute little names like this is some big theological dispute. These guys are the coolest. (Also RIP Terry Amthor, I’m so happy that he got posthumously vindicated by Rolemaster Unified)
These are the miscellaneous questions I didn’t put anywhere else. Things that didn’t get enough questions to have its own post, or things I didn’t think of too much until the end. In this post, I have written a list questions of … . well, everything else?
Have fun, be detailed and creative, and by all means come up with questions that are not asked.
Because my computer ate everything, these questions are not directly taken from the NaNoWriMo website. Some are asked from memory, some are questions that sounded like ones I had, and others are ones I came up with.
How is a funeral held?
What happens to the body after someone has died? Do they bury it? Place it in a tomb? Cremate it? Drop it to the bottom of the sea? Send it down the river? Toss it into a dragon’s lair?
How do people mourn?
What is consider an appropriate amount of time for mourning?
What color is used for mourning and funerals? Black? White? Red? Blue? No specific color? What does the color symbolize?
Are there any coming of age rituals?
What happens during a coming of age ritual?
What age is the child normally at when he or she goes the coming of age ritual?
Does it vary by gender?
What kind of jobs exist?
Which jobs are held in high esteem?
Which jobs are despised?
How do people get jobs? Do they become an apprentice? Do they need work experience? A college degree? How are they offered jobs? Do they apply? Talk with the owner? Get recommended?
What jobs are influenced by magic?
What is the most common way someone meets his or her future spouse? By growing with them? Through connections? School? In the market? At a dance? Arranged marriage?
How technologically advanced is the world?
What is the latest piece of technology?
How does magic affect technology?
How is new technology viewed? Is it embraced? Are people apprehensive? Do they outright spurn new technology? Do people care?
What does the average bed look like? Straw mattress? Water bed? A pile of blankets? A wooden platform? A chair? A couch?
What are some rules regarding sleep? Are mixed genders allowed or is that frowned upon unless they’re married? Do people have their own beds or share with siblings? Do the rules vary depending on where they’re sleeping? Is everyone smooshed in together at an inn? Can money get better bedding?
What are the basic pieces of furniture found in an average house? Chairs? Couches? Tables? Beds? Bookshelves? How many are acceptable? How many pieces of furniture would indicate lavishness?
What are some toys for children?
What do people use as a light source when the sun is not available?
What kinds of dishes are used? Plates? Bowls? Cups or glasses?
What kind of eating utensils do people use? Chopsticks? Forks and spoons? Their hands?
What materials are dishes and eating utensils made of?
What kind of items are used for cooking? Pots and pans? Clay pots? Crock pots? Skillets? Wok? A wooden plate?
A couple of years ago I reblogged a similar post about a list of worldbuilding background details, several of which were a lot more nitpicking and frankly pointless.
There’s a lot of stuff a writer knows about their world that shouldn’t ever need to go onto the page. When it does, it should be (IMO, YMMV) to add detail as the plot requires it (technology, jobs) or to expand and colour the world for the reader’s enjoyment (toys, light sources). It should never be added merely to show how much research the writer has been doing.
A good reason for not “talking up” something without reason is seen in movies, where when the camera Pauses Significantly on something, that’s almost always a hint that it’s going to be Significant Later. Expending too much description on an object or incident which is simply providing worldbuilding colour may also suggest it’s going to be Significant Later and, when it isn’t, readers who’ve been expecting that may wonder if material has been left out somewhere.
Leave “subverting expectations” to those who’ve forgotten how to do anything else.
*****
What kind of eating utensils do people use? Chopsticks? Forks and spoons? Their hands?
Are the utensils provided by the meal’s host / eating establishment (if so, what quality and material are they?) or are they each diner’s personal equipment, like these?
Does the quality of an eating-set (”trousse”) or the way in which it’s used say more about the character using them than the character intended to reveal?
Dining errors are a good way to let characters give themselves away if the plot requires such a thing: do they eat with knife and fork or fork alone, do they break a roll or cut it, do they make a small heap of salt on the side of the plate or sprinkle it all over their food - all unthinking behaviour that can send a message without hitting that character with the Idiot Ball.
Leaving utensils aside, what’s the etiquette for eating with the hands? Use both?
Only one?
How are the hands kept clean? Is licking fingers a courteous I-waste-nothing compliment to the food and its provider, or an ignorance of how to use finger-bowl and napkin?
If diners clean their plate does this show appreciation or hint that they weren’t given enough? If they leave food on their plate does this acknowledge the generosity of the serving or hint that they didn’t like what they were given? How much should / shouldn’t be left? What “one” is meant in “Leave one for Mr Manners”…?
Is refusing second helpings polite (please, keep something for yourself) or rude (do you think we’re that poor?) or is a certain amount of insistence (indulge yourself, go on, but it’s your favourite…) and refusal (I couldn’t, no really, not another crumb…) expected, followed by acceptance (oh, all right, thanks awfully, just a bit, you shouldn’t have…) after a certain number of exchanges?
All of these don’t just add colour and possibly humour, they can be a springboard for further developments, like finding out they really were that poor-but-proud after all…
*****
What color is used for mourning and funerals? Black? White? Red? Blue? No specific color? What does the color symbolize?
If a character who should be wearing mourning colours doesn’t, why not? Are they a foreigner who doesn’t know, or a local or even family member with reasons not to, and what reasons might be acceptable or totally beyond the pale?
Is an appropriately coloured armband / sash / hat-plume enough, or is anything short of full mourning clothes insufficient? How is accidental / deliberate failure to wear mourning regarded? Is “I’m foreign, I didn’t know” sufficient excuse, and if the foreigner puts on something in their own mourning colour(s) is that acceptable?
And so on.
Worldbuilding is fun, especially since it can serve several functions at once.
Happy Space Cetacean Saturday! Check out these winged dolphins around a whale spaceship, by Rodney Matthews for the 1992 album art to Asia’s “Aqua.” Or are those really thin orcas? They have the markings.
Had the absolute pleasure of drawing @zevsurana’s fantastic Warden Minerva
[ID: a digital full-body drawing of Minerva Surana, a Dragon Age Origins OC. Minerva is a black, elven woman with pointy ears and long, curly, black hair. She’s dressed in full Grey Warden armor and holds a halberd in her right hand. The top of it is adorned with wings. Minerva has a blue coat thrown over one shoulder. The background is white. End ID]
Before Barbenheimer, there was “Apocalypse in Pink,” the August 1983 theme of fashion/culture magazine SPECTAGORIA. The issue’s controversial imagery of Barbie-esque models attempting to stay gorgeous and glamorous amidst nuclear annihilation sought to, in the words of editor/photographer Sera Clairmont, “revel in the morbid absurdity of the new American condition,” an “anxiety vibrating underneath all our plastic smiles.”
“It’s The Hot Pink Cold War,” Clairmont wrote in her introduction. “It’s ‘Material Girl’ on the radio and ‘WarGames’ at the drive-in. It’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ interrupted by the emergency broadcast signal. We’re told to look sexy, dress fashionable, make money, and spend money, but be sure we’re just the right amount of terrified about the bomb. Get that Malibu dream home, keep working on that perfect body, sip cocktails by the pool in your little pink bikini and watching the stocks go up — but STAY VIGILANT! and for God’s sake vote Republican, because that dream home could melt into a pink plastic inferno at any given moment. Just don’t stop smiling as the blast liquefies your skin into bubbling ooze like a Barbie doll in a microwave - it’s bad for the economy.”
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NOTE: This is a work of fiction created by me. This alternate reality horror story is part of my NightmAIres narrative art series(visit that link for a lot more). NightmAIres are windows into other worlds and interconnected alternate histories, conceived/written by me and visualized with synthography and Photoshop.
If you enjoy my work, consider supporting me on Patreon for frequent exclusive hi-res wallpaper packs, behind-the-scenes features, downloads, events, contests, and an awesome fan community. Direct fan support is what keeps me going as an independent creator, and it means the world to me.
ALT
