tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-316900162691072582024-03-14T05:49:40.033-04:00A Gaymer's QuestAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876313492090109763noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-15037095411934997302016-06-20T12:23:00.000-04:002016-06-20T12:23:01.288-04:00Introducing Gods of the Fall<h2>
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Gods of the Fall</div>
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Chapter 1: Welcome to the Afterworld</div>
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The first chapter of <a href="http://www.montecookgames.com/gods-of-the-fall/" target="_blank">Gods of the Fall</a> goes a long way to
introducing both the game itself and the setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chapter is 12 pages long, minus 7
half-page spreads, leaving 8.5 pages of text to introduce the concepts of
<a href="http://www.montecookgames.com/welcome-to-gods-of-the-fall/" target="_blank">nascently-divine PCs and the setting</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Per usual, the margins are annotated with references to other pages in the
book when new concepts are introduced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When a mechanic from the <a href="http://www.montecookgames.com/store/product/cypher-system-rulebook/" target="_blank">Cypher System core book</a> is referenced, it’s
also annotated with a special symbol, harkening back to locations for more
information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These margin notes also
give pronunciation guides for some of the new terms, which is wonderful for
really jumping into the setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Overall, I like this chapter as an introduction for players and for the
GM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The first page starts with a great note that this book is an
expansion to the Cypher System rules and that it requires the core book to
play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like this development and hope
that the physical book covers this as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When <a href="http://greenronin.com/" target="_blank">Green Ronin</a> released their <a href="http://greenroninstore.com/collections/age-system/products/titansgrave-the-ashes-of-valkana" target="_blank">Titansgrave</a> setting, they placed a notice
on the book’s back cover that the Fantasy AGE core book would be required.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m working this review off of a PDF, so I
don’t have the back cover of Gods of the Fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, I hope that Monte Cook has done something similar.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One neat idea that the book discusses is starting the game
with the players believing they are just normal PCs and working in the
dominion/divinity elements later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
the information from this section could be used for a game where the PCs know
they’ll be developing into deities, even this chapter would have to be hidden
from players to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That said, this
is a great start for introducing players into the system—while still leaving
them wanting more.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Most importantly, by the end of this section, we’ve got the
most important information for playing: the Gods are dead, their overworld
crashed into the kingdom that was the center of civilization, there have been
42 years of chaos/trouble since the accident, there are new nascent gods who
have varying levels of acceptance, the new gods may or may not be a thing but
most people know some type of change is happening as recorded in some
prophecies, and there’s a group that exists to frustrate the return of divinity
to the setting. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is clear,
interesting, and puts the reader on notice that a lot is going on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>AND</u></b> that the basic themes can be
reduced to a page or less.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h4>
Back and Forth Organization</h4>
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The first chapter presents a lot of information, but it’s
organized in a somewhat confusing manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first two sections in the chapter “PC Divinity” and “Darkness of the
Afterworld” really act more as introductions to more involved sections on
playing in the world and what the setting is like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I understand the temptation to inform
the reader that the book will discuss these two concepts, I’d like to have seen
these sections subsumed into the later sections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s really great information in these
sections and splitting it off from the later, more in-depth sections means that
it will be more difficult to find some of these pieces of information later on.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<h4>
Player Character-Focused Information</h4>
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This is where we learn how the Cypher System mechanics will
interact with this specific fleshing out of the system’s generic rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously, the main conceit here is that the
PCs have (or will acquire) the ability to grow into true divine beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will manifest through a character to
take an ability beyond the normal descriptor, focus, and type: the
dominion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We learn that these creatures
have a nimbus, an aura that surrounds them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Someone’s nimbus is always visible to other creatures with a nimbus and
can be manifested to others at will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This reminds me of how the TV show <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.nbc.com/grimm" target="_blank">Grimm</a></i>
treats its <a href="http://grimm.wikia.com/wiki/Wesen" target="_blank">wessen</a>—most people can’t see them unless the wessen is manifesting
its supernatural abilities or the person observing the wessen is a <a href="http://grimm.wikia.com/wiki/Grimm" target="_blank">Grimm</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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We also learn that there is magic separate from the gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That magic existed before the gods’ fall, though
the gods’ power kept them from exercising their powers to claim dominion over
the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We learn that cyphers are
portions of the gods’ former floating realm or items that fell with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also learn that artifacts fit more into
the magic system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, we learn
about the Seven Prophecies, seven suggested routes that can be used to help
focus a gods-driven campaign.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h4>
<o:p> </o:p>Setting Information</h4>
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The technology is described so evocatively as being similar
to the Renaissance, but a Renaissance not based on the values of humanism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is incredibly evocative, even before
Gods of the Fall transitions into discussing exactly what this means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human life has basically become commoditized
unless an individual can defend themselves from enslavement, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means gritty, dangerous stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from a tiny educated class, most people
are either dredges or outright slaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now we’ve got a world ready for a revolt!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first chapter also presents the basics of the setting:
what the world looks like and how people live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are five major geographical elements in the setting:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Nightland: The most developed portion of the
setting information (in this section), the Nightland is the heart of
civilization since the gods’ realm crashed into and destroyed civilization’s
former cradle.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Nightland exists in a
state of eternal shadow, since a new moon appeared at the moment of the Fall
and rotates between the earth and the sun to keep this region eternally in
shadow.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">(Don’t worry, they thought about
how crops get grown!)</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Nightland is
ruled by a dragon empress and divine power is outlawed; which is enforced by
her Order of Reconciliation.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Nightland
is a great place for urban adventures with a lot of intrigue.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Ruinscape: The Ruinscape is where the gods’
realm fell.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There’s a new sea created at
the crash site.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The crash also exposed
many ruins, some of which might actually pre-date the recently-fallen gods.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Most exploration-style adventures will occur
here.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Another fun design decision is
that most people living in civilized areas won’t even believe that some of the
creatures in the Ruinscape even exist.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">One
of my favorite parts of </span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time" target="_blank">The Wheel of Time</a></i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
involves an encounter in the southlands, far from where the monsters are
located.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The travelers are telling tales
of monsters of the north and an innkeeper says that those tales were as big
lies as tales of snow.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">This was great
worldbuilding and it’s great that in Gods of the Fall most people DON’T believe
in some of these crazy things.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Verge: The area was never really developed,
even before the fall.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It gives GMs a
nice place to run wilderness adventures.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Nod: Nod is the moon that appeared when the gods’
home fell.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It also appears to fill a
role akin to the <a href="http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/The_Dreamlands" target="_blank">Dreamlands</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft" target="_blank">H.P. Lovecraft’s</a> writing.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Depending on how this concept is further
developed, could be extremely interesting.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Nod also gives a strong campaign element that isn’t necessarily related
to the reclamation of the divine.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Afterlife: Nobody knows where or what this is,
but we all know that it’s not working the way it’s supposed to.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Although this is denoted as a location, I
like it more as a place the PCs never have to visit but instead deal with
emanations from.</span></li>
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We learn a little bit about the history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gods of the Fall has made what I consider to
be a fantastic design decision here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
gods’ old realm fell 42 years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
age before that was over 32,000 years long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That means that there’s very little history for players to absorb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only the last 42 years (and how they’ve
changed things vis-à-vis the previous 32K years) matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>42 years ago, the gods’ realm fell from
heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was lots of war and
chaos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seven years later, the dragon
empress had solidified her rule over the Nightland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then, we’ve had a tense stability, but
certainly not peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Done!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gods of the Fall considers how most people deal with
religion based upon their age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who
can remember a time before the fall are angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Those who can’t just can’t comprehend what a world ruled by a pantheon
of gods was like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This appears to draw a
lot on the old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonlance" target="_blank">Dragonlance</a> setting, particularly the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Twins" target="_blank">War of the Twins</a></i> book that takes place shortly after the gods in
that setting destroyed the world and abandoned it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whereas Dragonlance took 300 years to
consider the reengagement with religion, Good of the Fall is using only
42.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, Gods of the Fall is also
introducing new gods, which is a huge departure from the Dragonlance setting—one
that makes it more interesting, to me at least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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Regardless of how people might feel about the old gods and
accepting the new, people are wary of buying into them and this just feels <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">right</i>!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A good touch: formerly elaborate funeral rites have been replaced by
quick internments, because no one is really sure what happens after death—if anything
at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re told that old temples and
religious sites have been repurposed into “chapterhouses,” dedicated to
contemplation, but not a lot about how they fit into the setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the core of Gods of the Fall is about
engaging with the divine after your first conception of the divine has been
destroyed, I want to know about how people have changed their former places of
worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely, a large number were
destroyed and now function as modern ruins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This seems like a great place to set an introductory adventure, in fact.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Overall, this chapter provides a strong introduction to the
setting and the game itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
glossed over a few areas, such as languages and two other playable races: treen
and sleen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, there’s also
another sentient group, the nefar, who are called out as specifically not being
appropriate for PCs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chapter also
introduces the Delirium, similar to the Iron Wind in Numenera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Delirium spits of curses and is all sorts
of crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically, the first chapter
of Gods of the Fall takes what’s a very non-traditional setting and makes it
accessible to the player and the GM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While I’ve nit-picked a little bit about the chapter’s organization,
overall I found it incredibly useful for bringing the setting to life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately, by using its (linked) margin
annotations, the book allows the reader to gain good background on areas when
they want to learn them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After one
chapter, I’m excited to learn more in-depth information.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-63886187441922376652016-06-17T10:34:00.000-04:002016-06-17T10:34:02.510-04:00A Review Rises from the Ashes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://site.pelgranepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/13AM_Phoenix_cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://site.pelgranepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/13AM_Phoenix_cover.png" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
Pelgrane Press's February 13th Age Monthly release is all about the phoenix and has some interesting ways to make the birds unique in use in your game. Here are a few highlights of how phoenixes are different in the Dragon Empire...<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Phoenixes can't speak, but are intelligent and communicate non-verbally;</li>
<li>Phoenixes aren't any smarter than most PC races;</li>
<li>Phoenixes place a premium on loyalty above all else;</li>
<li>Some phoenixes might go insane after too many self-immolations;</li>
<li>Phoenixes' duties may call them to the land, but they're far more interested in the Overworld in the sky</li>
</ul>
<div>
That said, let's investigate the 10-page monthly release, not quite ten months after it's been released...There's a title page, a credits/OGL page, an intro page, a page listing phoenixes' connections to the icons, 2.5 pages of stats for various types of phoenixes, .75 pages of phoenix-related items, .75 pages of phoenix-related adventure hooks, and two interior pages of art. Since I can't reproduce the art, I'll just say that it's on par with the title page and, if you want to feature phoenixes or their eggs in your campaign, you'll likely draw inspiration from it and show it to your players.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
Phoenixes 101</h4>
<div>
I recently reread Terry Pratchett's <i>Carpe Jugulum</i>, which features a phoenix, also adapting the bird in some interesting ways. Pratchett chose that the phoenixes should look like some other bird, until they needed to burst into flame and <i>become</i> phoenixes. After doing their duty, they'd return to the form of the other bird. And, the other bird form would be the first bird the newly-hatched phoenix saw, whether it was a deadly hawk or a doddering dodo. Anyone fancy a flamingo-cum-phoenix?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Phoenix Iconography</div>
<div>
One thing that the supplement goes on about is that phoenixes and dragons just don't get along. Not that either party really seems to care, but each knows that it's the most beautiful and special...so why would you be paying attention to anything else. This surface-level "oh everything's fine; those guys are great" turning into active conflict could be a lot of fun to roleplay out. In general, I was pleased with the way Ash Law & Rob Heinsoo connected phoenixes to the icons, but here are a few thoughts:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>Crusader</b>: Instead of having no phoenixes associated with the Crusader ever, give the Crusader some method to bring them under his wing, so to speak. Depending on the PCs' loyalties, they're either questing to get the Crusader the keys to a new cadre of aerial shock troops or to keep the phoenixes free.</li>
<li><b>Lich King</b>: These ideas are fantastic. I've never drawn the connections between the phoenix's rebirth and the concept of undeath. The idea that they could be combined in interesting ways is one of the coolest things this supplement raises.</li>
<li><b>Prince of Shadows</b>: Given the value placed on loyalty in the criminal underworld, I was hoping for a little more here. There's a suggestion that it could happen, but nothing concrete. On the other hand, flaming birds mixed with folks who operate in the shadows...could draw a lot of attention. Maybe these phoenixes are better as con-birds?</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Monster Stats</h4>
</div>
<div>
The supplement presents stats for four monsters:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>Flamebird Phoenix</b>, Double-strength 3rd level wrecker [elemental], a youngish phoenix;</li>
<li><b>Resurgent Phoenix</b>, Large 5th level leader [elemental], an older phoenix, usually dedicated to serving a cause or a person;</li>
<li><b>Void Phoenix</b>, Large 8th level spoiler [elemental], a phoenix that's drawn all its heat into itself--for whatever nefarious reasons the GM might choose; and</li>
<li><b>Solar Phoenix</b>, Large 12th level caster [elemental], the largest and most powerful of the phoenixes</li>
</ul>
<div>
The progression between stats is nice. However, two really interesting details. First of all, the void phoenix works with negative energy, rather than in fire (though it retains some fire aspects from the phoenix "archetype.") This is a really neat concept on a lot of different levels. Secondly, for all phoenixes is the <i>Reborn in X</i> ability -- essentially, when the phoenix takes a critical hit or drops to 0 hit points, you roll a d20 and various results from total rebirth to instant immolation, to simple flight occurs. There are suggestions about when/if a phoenix might return looking for the party. This is a really, really cool way to inject some random awesomeness into the story.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Magic Items</div>
<div>
The supplement has three magic items. First, the Phoenix Tears potion, which is basically an amped-up healing potion. Secondly, the Phoenix Cloak is presented, though without a quirk. Here's my suggestion.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Phoenix Cloak</div>
<div>
Quirk: Paranoid that friends aren't actually friends at all</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The supplement also talks about phoenix eggs, which it suggests are best handled as artifacts. aka, They should be awesome, the should be difficult, and they should have basically undefined effects and limits. The supplement also states that there's in-world debate as to whether phoenix eggs exist at all. So...maybe they don't!</div>
<h4>
<br />Hooked on a Feelin'...High on Believin'...That You're a Phoenix</h4>
<div>
Finally, there are adventure hooks. Without giving spoilers, there are several interesting ideas in here useful as inspiration for one-shots all the way up to campaign seeds. The <b>Dark Omens</b> seed is one of the more interesting and intricate campaign seeds I've seen in awhile. The <b>Return of the Phoenix King</b> could be nice for a fun turnaround on a usual night of adventure. Finally, <b>The Crown of Phoenix Claws</b> could easily be run as a high intrigue scenario where even the good Icons have grown suspicious of the PCs. Who do the PCs turn to when no one is safe? How hard does the GM laugh when the PC tries to use a 5 on an Icon roll in this scenario???</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
Conclusion</h4>
<div>
This is a GREAT supplement! I want to use it immediately. Get it.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-42536505435586772822016-06-16T14:24:00.001-04:002016-06-16T14:24:07.108-04:00Breath of God Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.montecookgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Gods-of-the-Fall-Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://www.montecookgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Gods-of-the-Fall-Cover.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.montecookgames.com/">Monte Cook Games</a>
has released their newest <a href="http://cypher-system.com/">Cypher System</a>
setting, <a href="http://www.montecookgames.com/store/product/gods-of-the-fall/">Gods
of the Fall</a>, (preview only; full release June 22).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a Kickstarter backer, I had early access
to the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, rather than read
through the entire 192-page setting book, I thought that it would be fun to
learn about what Gods of the Fall has to offer through the accompanying short
fiction released along with it, 18 page-long <a href="http://www.montecookgames.com/gods-of-the-fall-breath-of-god/">Breath of
God</a> by <a href="https://twitter.com/BruceCordell">Bruce Cordell</a> (also
lead author and designer on the Gods of the Fall setting).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll try and avoid spoilers with the caveats
that things that are obvious will not be considered spoilers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance, since Gods of the Fall is about
players assuming the roles of nascent (or possibly reborn, or etc.) gods, it
seems likely that a character in the story—most likely the main character—will be
a nascent god.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
Real Fiction; Not Just Setting Intro</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breath of God introduces us to the Gods of the Fall setting
through the eyes of Sabien, who appears to have acquired some sort of divine
spark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a short piece of fiction,
Breath of God works well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s are
multiple, interesting, interwoven conflicts; good main character development;
and a solution to the conflict that doesn’t seem contrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cordell does an especially good job creating two
internal conflicts in the main character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The main character is conflicted about the price paid for his divinity
as well as what acquiring divine spark means for how he should approach his own
future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s especially interesting is
how those internal conflicts interact with the two external conflicts to create
a surprise ending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All the while, Cordell sprinkles in setting details from the
Gods of the Fall setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a lot
like the world building in the first chapter of a novel, except all the
questions can’t be answered in a mere 18 pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The setting elements are built in to the external conflicts in such as a
way that both the story and some of the basics of the campaign setting—like we
have some bad guys called Reconciliators who have some sort of relationship to
the Empress of the eternally dark Nightlands and who hunt gods—are introduced
with a minimum of confusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
lots of conflicts that players can explore in their own home games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most importantly for longer term campaigns,
we have a lot of mysteries that are set up that will need solving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
Interesting Elements Both Mundane and Fantastic</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, Cordell does a great job personalizing the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He does this both by highlighting
real world elements that make his setting unique, such as traveling by elephant
rather than by horse-drawn carriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s neat and I want to know more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He also seamlessly slips in useful details without disjointing the
reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stars are a form of currency;
scholars (of some sort) are referred to as ‘Padi’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Locations are mentioned, sometimes only to
underscore that they are far away and exotic.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
World-building mysteries are also set out, making the
setting more interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are
nimbuses?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do they surround some
people and objects but not others?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why
can only some people see them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are
bibliomancers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Especially</i> since traditional RPGs assume that wizards are
spellcasters that derive their power through the study of magic books, what’s
the difference here?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the few drawbacks I see is the piece's length. I love a good piece of fiction for my players to learn something about the game and/or the setting. 18 pages (even in large print type) is a little much, especially if they are going to be getting maps, other setting info, and character creation materials. I'd love to see ANY RPG publisher create <i style="font-weight: bold;">player-friendly</i> introductions to their settings that are two pages or shorter. </div>
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Name="footnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="line number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="page number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="endnote text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="table of authorities"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="macro"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="toa heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<h4>
I Like It!</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ultimately, I was a fan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course, since I was also a Kickstarter backer, I was pretty much
hoping to like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m intrigued and
look forward to looking into the mechanics about how Gods of the Fall is
realized through the cypher system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
look forward to learning more about the conflicts, and what it’s like to play a
nascently-deific character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story’s
job was to introduce the setting while keeping the reader interested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It did so admirably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also impressed by Cordell’s ability to
move beyond typical tie-in fiction and create a real personal conflict that
could have existed (and been interesting) in any story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recommend taking a read through this either
for your own enjoyment or as a way to whet your appetite for getting into Gods
of the Fall for your next Cypher System game.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-56518302003961393322016-06-02T00:06:00.000-04:002016-06-02T00:06:11.119-04:00New RPG Players<div style="border-bottom: solid #FF7A00 6.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 22.0pt 0in;">
<div class="MsoTitle">
New Players in Games Today<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<h1>
Living in a Golden Age?<o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It seems like since I heard about <a href="http://www.davidmewalt.com/">David Ewalt</a>’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dice-Men-Dungeons-Dragons-People/dp/1451640501/179-5708954-6855559">Of
Dice & Men</a></i>, I—and everyone else—decided it was time to pick our
dice back up and start rolling again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
stopped playing when 2nd Edition was a big thing (the Dragon magazine 5 CD
compilation was my last major purchase—and one I’m thrilled I held on to, if
only out of chance).</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_Qql_i2xKI3bIGq_GV8BnXc1rqS0Z3qRD0kaMKQCONlL84N0SHI_-unOZwB6ToN8mMmTT7_iDtB-uyognIq8vDE7rAcAY9DqdQOZOR3pp3yHROqeM0uX_EHvmeSgYNMPLMIcWiRnSw/s1600/Comic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_Qql_i2xKI3bIGq_GV8BnXc1rqS0Z3qRD0kaMKQCONlL84N0SHI_-unOZwB6ToN8mMmTT7_iDtB-uyognIq8vDE7rAcAY9DqdQOZOR3pp3yHROqeM0uX_EHvmeSgYNMPLMIcWiRnSw/s400/Comic.png" width="218" /></a></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->Lately, it seems
like everywhere I turn, there’s another article about how roleplaying games are
becoming all the rage again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most
recent was published in today’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/">Washington Post</a></i> as a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/01/why-dungeons-dragons-is-popular-again-in-one-comic/">short
comic</a> (guessing online only!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
of the reasons listed are that the stigma’s been lifted, people never really
knew what roleplaying games were before, among other things.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although none of the major producers I know of release
detailed sales figures, anecdotal sources tell us that the state of the hobby
is strong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/33916/seven-years-plenty-hobby-games-business">ICv2</a>’s
most recent <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/176204/ICv2s-Internal-Correspondence-89">Internal
Correspondence</a></i> estimates that games sales are up 20% overall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Internal
Correspondence</i> notes that RPG sales as a whole are increasing, led
(unsurprisingly) by 5th Edition, with Pathfinder sales flat or declining—at least
in retail stores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And yet, something must be going right for the kids over at <a href="https://www.paizo.com/">Paizo</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even if the industry insider is telling tales of their woes, Paizo’s
gone and broken three of their oldest taboos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, they’ve consistently said <a href="http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2om94?Pathfinder-2nd-Edition#14">no new
edition</a> for Pathfinder, at least not anytime soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, they’ve repeatedly <a href="http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2l7ns&page=1087?Ask-James-Jacobs-ALL-your-Questions-Here#54320">resisted
advancing their timeline</a>, something popular with RPGs in both the domestic
and <a href="http://en.drakensang.wikia.com/wiki/The_Aventurian_Herald_(Book_1)">international
markets</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, citing concerns
that it was the creation of <a href="http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5litw&page=2?Announcing-the-Starfinder-Roleplaying-Game#86">too
many campaign settings that ultimately sunk TSR into Wizards of the Coast’s
arms</a>, they’ve refused to publish anything but their Golarion products—in house
at least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, they’ve squared the
circle, developing a new game mixing magic and technology and adding in a
little interstellar travel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before this
post devolves into a post on the merits of <a href="http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5litw?Announcing-the-Starfinder-Roleplaying-Game">Starfinder</a>
(future topic!), I’ll leave it to say that Lisa Stevens at Paizo strikes me as
a shrewd businesswoman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If she didn’t
believe there was space (double ent<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;">é</span>ndres?) in the
industry for a successful new product, it would not be happening.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, we’ve seen a bevy of other games and game companies
sprout up over the last few years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
includes Monte Cook Games with their Numenera, the Strange, and Cypher System
games; Fire Opal Media’s partnership with Pelgrane Press to publish 13th Age;
Robert Schwalb’s Shadow of the Demon Lord (with a number of support products
that are, frankly, mind boggling for a product with less than one year on the
market); Green Ronin’s Fantasy AGE; and a new edition of Shadowrun, just to
name a few.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h1>
What Does This
Have to Do With New Players?<o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2LRjmGQ9FrQ-t5hai41ZFQm-V9GJIrP9BurfRa6QYaIlGPEgNfbiLAgp53D7sIVnLvfiT8pyqoZtNUPwvyw9V_QaKFJb3B1aP-qcAY61JrKMUShveapubhDXgJYuL0J0OR5_2bJ5PQ/s1600/POS.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2LRjmGQ9FrQ-t5hai41ZFQm-V9GJIrP9BurfRa6QYaIlGPEgNfbiLAgp53D7sIVnLvfiT8pyqoZtNUPwvyw9V_QaKFJb3B1aP-qcAY61JrKMUShveapubhDXgJYuL0J0OR5_2bJ5PQ/s320/POS.png" width="231" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
New players are how we keep growing our hobby!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, because I need to write a blog
post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I want to see the
less-well supported products succeed, I like to run 13th Age games at GenCon
and other local cons I attend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So,
before GenCon 2015, I invited some friends over to my house for a little
roleplaying session.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I planned on using
four hours to run the first two-hour scenario in the <a href="http://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/13th-age-organized-play-program-tales-of-the-13th-age/">Shadowport
Shuffle</a> series: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deep in the Red</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deep in the Red </i>would be a strong scenario because it offered a lot
of roleplaying opportunities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I provided
pre-gen characters, but wanted to give people wholly ignorant of game mechanics
quite some time to learn them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I ended up with 7 players, only one of which had experience
playing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">any </i>RPG.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>6 were heterosexual women, one was a bisexual
woman, and 1 was a homosexual male.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s
right our table had no heterosexual males (not that there’s anything wrong with
playing with heterosexual males, but our group was NOT the norm)!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s a quick rundown, all working
professionals in the Washington, DC area:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Attorney for a large corporate firm<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Property manager for an apartment building with
100+ units<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Congressman’s scheduler<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Charter school principal<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Special events director of a museum<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Office manager for a judicial advocacy
organization<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Partner of a real estate management and sales
firm<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One look at this list does not scream: members of the
creative class!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were no writers,
no artists, no singers or songwriters, no architects, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in all, I was actually excited about
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, there were no engineers
either, so we were killing the stereotypes on multiple fronts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<h1>
What Actually Happened?<o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">[MINOR SPOILERS FOR
THE 13TH AGE SCENARIO “SHADOWPORT SHUFFLE” FOLLOW]<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We sat down and everyone but me opened their first drinks
(did I mention this was a heavy drinking group?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I gave a quick runthrough of the system’s
rules: covering ability scores, races, classes, using d20 and other weird dice,
and other information on their character sheets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, we talked about backgrounds and how they
interact with skill checks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We talked
one unique things and icon relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally, we jumped into play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here
are my quick takeaways:<o:p></o:p></div>
<h2>
Roleplay Attracts No
Specific Type of Person<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGbo4fsDppBYIabJ94zX8vjxeCrDiXKmQsYnV29_tbj6xOKl-wRuEPFFP8sOpgOdw3Q4Ex7MTVjFmz0oR_OnDNwI2CkQ2Y2VsV8O0ecHc1_4AMJHGVD5w0C-aPSRHeXweMgp0rO2zfA/s1600/13th+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGbo4fsDppBYIabJ94zX8vjxeCrDiXKmQsYnV29_tbj6xOKl-wRuEPFFP8sOpgOdw3Q4Ex7MTVjFmz0oR_OnDNwI2CkQ2Y2VsV8O0ecHc1_4AMJHGVD5w0C-aPSRHeXweMgp0rO2zfA/s200/13th+logo.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I’d first put out the call for <s>GenCon guinea pigs</s>
players, the call was wide and to a large group of people (about 25), because I
thought that no one would be interested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I found that quite a lot of people were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some were curious because they’d never heard of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others were curious because they’d heard of
them, but didn’t know what they were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
surprising number did know what they were, and had played before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Three of my players are from another group that frequently
discusses attempting to organize a book club dedicated to cheap wine and
trashy, smutty fantasy novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was not
surprised when they signed up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
I was surprised that one of them was not a fan of the RPG experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another participant, who was a last minute,
day of, addition, has been hassling me to organize another home game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Don’t worry, law school’s over!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s happening!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fortunately, at least one of them had some rpg experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was useful from a numbers management perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having two people to help six new people wasn’t
an optimal ratio, but we’ll discuss that later in the post.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h2>
Roleplay Can Be Intimidating for Newcomers<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLGkjcL_Q_Stp4N7iw-JbqjjmB19gJcldOmKbxcaJ5t92fLCkLuF5YAq8SEuUQM1VdX8559qQ4JWcCs_zwz3k1JnO0TNwxZWho0LqYQBoCGWbcoBeJxJdjN94RV_LM7YvqY5hDbSOoQ/s1600/Einstein.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLGkjcL_Q_Stp4N7iw-JbqjjmB19gJcldOmKbxcaJ5t92fLCkLuF5YAq8SEuUQM1VdX8559qQ4JWcCs_zwz3k1JnO0TNwxZWho0LqYQBoCGWbcoBeJxJdjN94RV_LM7YvqY5hDbSOoQ/s200/Einstein.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of my players had
initially emailed me saying that she’d love to help out a friend, but she just
didn’t feel like she was creative enough to participate in something like an
afternoon of roleplay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I assured her
that she was and that if she was uncomfortable, she should by no means feel
required to do anything that would upset her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was thrilled when she showed up that day though.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is an area where system choices can have a real effect
on new players’ experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two of 13th
Age system tools quickly came into play here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, its montage scene feature is a system-neutral tool (it’s not even
mentioned in the Core book, just in the adventures and later products) that’s
useful for helping players get into their characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->GM (to Player 1): It took you two weeks to make
the journey from Alepha to Betatown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
the way, there was a great challenge that threatened all of your lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was it?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Player 1: A man-hunting bear trained in the art
of the shuriken stalked us through the forest of Beasties.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->GM (nodding): Yes, it was a terrifying
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, Jord the Crazed Sword Mute
saved all of your skins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How did he do
it?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Player 2 (playing Jord): Well, you see, it went
something like this…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Montage scenes involve no rolling of dice, merely storytelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are a great way to invest players in the
story without needing a single mechanic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s also exteremely useful for helping those players who are concerned
that they’re “not creative enough” to get involved. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s loads easier to ask a player to give a
minor detail (or set up a problem) than it is to say, “You’ve got this sheet
full of stats, tell me its story.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deep in the Red</i>
makes use of this in other ways two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
one point, the players meet an NPC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After the GM gives a very brief initial sketch, each player is invited
to give a detail about that NPC’s appearance and/or mannerisms (which resulted
in my having to act like a physically big man with a small boy’s voice).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a great way to let players develop the
world: it takes work of my shoulders while investing them in the experience at
the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, it was a pain
keeping my voice high and occasionally cracking it, but my players were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">invested</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actively listened</i> to what the NPC had to tell them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deep in the Red</i> also
assumes that each of the characters owes one of the Icons, major NPC
organizations in the game system, a favor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That Icon is the Prince of Shadows, an archetypical master thief
figure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scenario begins with the
Game Master informing the players of this debt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each player then has an opportunity to explain what, exactly they needed
and how, exactly, the Prince helped them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was very useful for getting players in character.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And that player who thought she wasn’t creative enough?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, after the party recovered the MacGuffin
they were sent to find, she had a really sneaky idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the party was working for a master
thief, why didn’t they just have a copy of the statue made and sneak off with
the real one themselves?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to spoil a
major reveal at the end of the scenario, but what’s supposed to be a big
surprise for the PCs turned into a much bigger surprise for the NPC
questgiver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the PCs were thrilled to
see that happen (not to mention paid double for stealing only once!).<o:p></o:p></div>
<h2>
Newer Players Preferred Story over Context<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxvU_pfZp3h1ifaMuULLZu_SdjtwGdrYhabuZOo8KwhS4EGNPYRJ7tHzfqb1jO4z42TMxCmqrq01HL7vCDhOYs_bxyuvfPkwT4kW-ld4r_IjurB7Ig6wmAgWwF1eRDru1fOSb0pqrdQg/s1600/Dragon+Map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxvU_pfZp3h1ifaMuULLZu_SdjtwGdrYhabuZOo8KwhS4EGNPYRJ7tHzfqb1jO4z42TMxCmqrq01HL7vCDhOYs_bxyuvfPkwT4kW-ld4r_IjurB7Ig6wmAgWwF1eRDru1fOSb0pqrdQg/s640/Dragon+Map.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I provided the info
map above as a flip map in the center of the table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My goal was to quickly convey system
information (yellow) and setting information (pink) with a visually appealing
backdrop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To some degree, it
worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To other degrees it didn’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
What Worked<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pelgrane Press provides a beautiful, hi-res, image file of
the <a href="http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/128939/13th-Age-Dragon-Empire-Map">map
of the Dragon Empire</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gaming
companies put these things out and as a Gamemaster, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you should run with them</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously, <a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/06/invoking-ip-what-is-it-with-ogl.html">don’t
abuse their intellectual property</a> (most companies detail how you can use
these materials for your home games somewhere in their core rulebook or
attached to each product).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember,
many gaming companies are small and thrilled to have you interacting with their
materials and the authors themselves will love seeing what you did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, get out there and do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Focus on what you’re best at, but don’t be
afraid to stretch out—graphic design isn’t my field of expertise, but I think I
did a pretty good job throwing out a 24x30 inch flip map that got everyone’s
attention.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The bare bones information was helpful here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being able to point to the gazetteer
information on Shadowport (which paraphrases the 13th Age Core entry on the
city with a bare-bones explanation) and then tell them, “And that’s ALL anyone…you
or I…really knows about it right now,” helped cement the setting’s malleability
in their heady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, defining the
Icons enough to give them flavor but without setting them in stone was helpful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I run a similar campaign, I’ll consider
using the <a href="http://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/7-icons-campaign/">7
Icon Campaign aid</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>13 Icons are
great if you’re a voracious reader or a regular gamer, but if you don’t have a
wide breadth of fantasy they can get a little tough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, at least for a one shot, I
wouldn’t be afraid to cut down on Icons in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t remember if any of my players had a
relationship with the High Druid, but I do know it likely didn’t come into play
in a highly urban setting (though, who’s to say it couldn’t?).<o:p></o:p></div>
<h3>
What Didn’t<o:p></o:p></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A wise man once said that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79KzZ0YqLvo">the rent in New York was
just “too damn high</a>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/07/13th-age-after-action-report.html">Mechanics
information is just too damned complicated</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I wanted a simple reference guide that my players could refer to while
moving through the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I
realized is that mechanics information is something that really has to build
upon a strong foundation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the
yellow space on my map could easily be replaced with more pink content or (even
better), freeing up some of the underlying map to be seen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h2>
Newer Players Preferred Roleplay Over Combat – BUT mechanics matter!<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember when I said that mechanics needed to be built over
time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was blown away by this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, <a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/07/rules-creativity-matrix-implementation.html">my
last blog post of last summer posited that system mastery would be the least
important factor for any new player</a>—that was why I chose a rules-light game
like 13th Age over something like Pathfinder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, without the concepts attached and a strong explanation of those
rules, sometimes things felt a little bit arbitrary.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was especially true in combat situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My characters did not like combat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, they loved skills challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They even loved how ridiculous situations got
when they failed forward and more and more off-the-wall ideas were required to
get them out of a jam they’d just created.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One player commented that she wished that we’d had more time
to go through the character creation process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This has helped me a lot—I’ve realized that a session 0 and a
Microscoping session for worldbuilding are essential for a longer-term
campaign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, for a one shot
(especially one where the play is only supposed to last two hours), offering
those who want to make their own characters an opportunity to drop by a couple
hours early and do so will only enhance the experience.<o:p></o:p></div>
<h1>
Go Forth and Play!<o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, those were my lessons:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Create situations where your players can ease
into roleplay and they won’t even notice how deep they get – cook your <s>players</s>
frogs slowly;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Make sure you’ve got a story everyone can relate
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t have to be plain vanilla
European fantasy (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deep in the Red</i> is
a pretty obvious <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maltese Falcon</i>
knockoff), but it does need to be relateable; and<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Ensure that players get a good grasp of the
underlying mechanics and they’ll come up with ways to employ them destined to
drive you crazy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Good gaming!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-65631990709658851322016-01-20T21:58:00.000-05:002016-01-21T16:11:49.560-05:00Deconstructing the new 5E OGL into Plain English<form>
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So, <a href="https://dnd.wizards.com/" target="_blank">Wizards of the Coast</a> has made an <a href="http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/SRD-OGL_V1.1.pdf" target="_blank">Open Gaming License for 5E</a> available. I don’t write a lot about Wizards or D&D products, but I do like to write about the intersection of roleplaying games and the law. (Well, let’s be honest, I haven’t written about much of anything lately, but the spirit moved me). I’ve even discussed the <a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/06/invoking-ip-what-is-it-with-ogl.html" target="_blank">copyright status of the old OGL before</a>. EN World has already done a bang up job <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?3155-What-s-an-OGL-An-SRD-What-s-OGC-A-Quick-Primer!" target="_blank">identifying what the overall terms like SRD, OGL, etc. mean</a>, but I wanted to do something a little more in depth. I wanted to deconstruct the Open Gaming License and put it into plain English for you. Before I do so, a few caveats:</div>
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1) <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_5_5_unauthorized_practice_of_law_multijurisdictional_practice_of_law.html" target="_blank">I’m not a lawyer</a>. I’m a damn good law student, and expect to be a lawyer one day, but I’m not now. Even if I were a layer, I’m not YOUR lawyer. So, while there’s some legal knowledge here, I’m certainly not practicing law and you shouldn’t rely on this as legal counsel before taking action. Use a real lawyer or wait about nine months and then call me to see if I stand by this. I probably won’t agree to be your lawyer as my specialty lies in Administrative/Regulatory and Intellectual Property law, rather than Contracts, though I did quite well in both of my Contracts classes.</div>
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2) Just printing the OGL is <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/501" target="_blank">arguably a copyright violation</a>, even though the license itself expects the user/licensee to reprint it. If NOT a licensee though, so it’s iffy as to whether or not my copying it is a copyright violation. I’m falling back on the fact that even if it would be a copyright violation, I’m standing pretty well in the center of <a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/02/invoking-ip-power-rangers-video-remake.html" target="_blank">fair use</a> based on the four factors plus the magical fifth factor. What’s the magical fifth factor? I’m educated and make enough that I’m not afraid to hire a lawyer to fight an infringement case but not wealthy enough to make suing me for damages worthwhile for WotC/Hasbro. </div>
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3) That said, I’d consider any cease and desist letter I received and make a decision about removing the post if I thought I actually was in violation based on what was sent to me. In fact, on balance, this is a pretty content-creator friendly license. My heavy criticisms come in early, but overall the terms are very balanced for both parties and even include protections for previous creators, which was a nice touch.</div>
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Without further ado, my deconstruction of the new OGL:</div>
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<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid black; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: text1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 191;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">What it Says<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">What it Means<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The terms of the Open Gaming License Version 1.0a are as
follows: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This just officially names the
document.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t really mean
anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The following text is the property of Wizards of the
Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc
("Wizards"). All Rights Reserved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is WotC claiming its own
copyright in the text of the OGL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are some possibilities of your admissions below, but,
technically, the OGL hasn’t started yet…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">By agreeing to the use of this
license, you agree that WotC holds a copyright in the text of the OGL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re essentially pre-admitting that
they hold the copyright to the text and agreeing that you can’t use the text
in any way that they haven’t approved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">You are waiving your right to
argue that portions of the text are not subject to copyright at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, there’s a pretty strong
argument that the first section of the OGL (“1. Definitions:”) is so generic
that it’s not subject to copyright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By accepting the license you agree that it is subject to copyright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That doesn’t mean that it is, it just
means that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>you</u></b> can’t
challenge it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">You are not explicitly giving up
your fair use rights to use the text, but by agreeing to use the OGL, in any
future litigation, the character and purpose prong of your use would weigh
heavily against you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">1. Definitions:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://sertomabutterflyhouseandmarinecove.org/media/library/fluid-mod-page/15/slideshow/butterfly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://sertomabutterflyhouseandmarinecove.org/media/library/fluid-mod-page/15/slideshow/butterfly.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT, MOST BORING PART OF ANY
CONTRACT.</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Why is this so important?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because words mean whatever you
define them to mean in a contract.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you define “Butterflies” as “<a href="http://ninjasexparty.com/">ninjas
that jump out of bottles and chop you up hard</a>,” then that is what
butterflies means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No pretty flying
bugs for you, just angry ninjas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, not necessarily angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the
contract didn’t define the ninjas as being angry, just embattled and desirous
of chopping you up hard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Also, be careful, sometimes a
definition references another defined term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When that happens, the (see “Contributors”, below)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">(a)"Contributors" means the copyright and/or
trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">See—I told you this stuff would
get complicated!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The very first
term references another defined term in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To understand who is a “contributor,” you have to
understand what “Open Game Content” is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, you might want to scoot on down there and see what it is before
you figure this one out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Back?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay…here we go…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Once you know what “Open Game
Content” is (and, if you read below, you know that’s very much open to
interpretation), “Contributors” becomes a little more obvious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Contributor is someone that created
“Open Game Content.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WotC likely
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">means</i> Contributors are anyone that
made anything that’s part of the SRD after the text of the Open Game License,
but that’s not what they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">said</i> when
they defined Open Game Content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Basically, the Contributors are: Mike
Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James
Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, Steve Townshend, E.
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">As other products are added to the
Open Game Content, those products’ authors will become Contributors as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
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<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">(b)"Derivative Material" means copyrighted
material including derivative works and translations (including into other
computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension,
upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an
existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is tough, because the OGL
doesn’t define an “existing work.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Without that, it’s tough to determine what you can use as a base
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the term isn’t defined
in the contract, you default to the plain meaning of the term in the
contract.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Depending where a suit
related to the license is filed, that could be a strict dictionary definition
of “existing” and “work” or an attempt to divine what the two parties that
made the contract intended the phrase to mean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way, this seems like a very likely area where
litigation could arise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">WotC might actually intend this to
be very vague.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That lets them
claim that most anything could be “derivative material.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This cuts both ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On one hand, in copyright law,
derivative works are defined extremely broadly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, some states’ contract law have special
tenets for contracts where one party (WotC) wields vastly superior bargaining
power over the other party (the licensee, aka You) and construe vague terms
in the contract against the more powerful party?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can thank the banks and insurance companies for
this—rare—consumer-friendly development.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">(c) "Distribute" means to reproduce, license,
rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise
distribute;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is likely overkill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Distribute”’s dictionary meaning and
plain meaning are unlikely to be sources of conflict between the
parties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, this
definition for “Distribute” <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/101">tracks closely</a> with
the Copyright Act’s definition for “publication.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s almost assuredly not an accident, but for the same
reason it’s likely overkill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 7; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">(d)"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic
and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent
such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over
the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game
Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License,
including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but
specifically excludes Product Identity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">PET PEEVE ALERT!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re coming to this section
immediately from the definition of “Contributors,” above, because it had the
term “Open Game Content” within its definition, take a very close looks at
this definition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you
see?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>The definition for “Open Game Content” has the term “Contributor”
used within it.</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
means no reader can really understand either term without reference to the
other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s not fatal to
either term as used in the contract, but it is sloppy drafting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is the part of the contract
where you start trading away your rights in exchange for rights or other
benefits from the other party (WotC in this case).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s break this one down…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The “game mechanic” including the
“methods, procedures, processes, and routines” are the exact portions of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>any</u></b> game that are not subject
to copyright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can bet that
somewhere down in the agreement that you will have to promise to treat “Open
Game Content” as if it were subject to copyright by WotC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">What about “to the extent such
content does not embody the Product Identity <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>and</u></b> is an enhancement over the prior art <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and</u></b> any additional content clearly identified as
Open Game Content by the Contributor, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>and</u></b>
means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative
works under copyright law, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>but</u></b>
specifically excludes Product Identity”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>and</u></b>
is interpreted as being conjunctive, so, to be Open Game Content, something
needs to check <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>ALL</u></b> the
following boxes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It’s a game mechanic or similar
material;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It’s NOT Product Identity;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It’s an enhancement over the prior
art (no idea what that means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe
it means that it’s somehow improvement over a previous edition of the
game?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could maybe figure it out
with some research, but this is a blog post, not a brief.);<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Contributor (WotC or anyone
with a trademark or copyright interest in the intellectual property
underlying what’s in the SRD) clearly identify it as Open Game Content
(basically by putting it in the SRD);<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It’s work covered by this License;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">(License shouldn’t be capitalized
here—they never bothered to define it, though it’s pretty obvious they mean
“this license you are reading right here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It’s NOT Product Identity (again)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">That’s some sloppy, sloppy
drafting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect that what
WotC <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wants</i> this to mean is that
Open Game Content is comprised of game mechanics and related material that they
(or their predecessors in interest, which is a fancy legal term for the
people that owned the TSR/D&D/AD&D/etc. intellectual property before
them) developed and that doesn’t otherwise conflict with the terms of the
Open Game License.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, no
matter what, Product Identity can NEVER be Open Game Content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, that’s not what they
wrote.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This one is definitely open to
interpretation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not good, since
this is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>THE</u></b> central
operative term of the license.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It would have been easier to
indicate that Open Game Content is “anything contained in Annex 1 of this
agreement, which is posted online at [URL linking to the SRD].”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 8; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">(e) "Product Identity" means product and product
line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts;
creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements,
dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions,
likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and
other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters,
spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special
abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or
supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and
any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product
identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically
excludes the Open Game Content;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This one is also torturously
drafted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trademark courts
frequently disagree about <a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/03/trademark-return-to-fabrica.html">what
is and is not product identity</a> (which is a subset of trade dress and
trademark).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, by agreeing to
the license, you’ve agreed not to use any of the things listed in the
“Product Identity” definition in your work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">I don’t like this definition
either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s broad and
self-contradictory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does it mean
that you can’t use the specific things that WotC has identified as Product
Identity explicitly?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or does it
mean that you can’t use any of these things and WotC’s list of Product
Identity is merely a helpful tool to help you determine what is and isn’t
covered here?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">If it means only the list of
things that WotC has explicitly designated as Product Identity, this
definition is overly long and extraneous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If WotC’s Product Identity list is merely an aid, this is
self-contradictory because there are some things that a licensee would almost
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> to be able to use, like:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Representations of thematic
elements or concepts;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Names of spells, enchantments, and
special abilities;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Creatures;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Equipment; and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Magical or supernatural abilities
or effects.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">I know; I know!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They CYAed with “specifically excludes
the Open Game Content.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
a mess!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 9; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">(f) "Trademark" means the logos, names, mark,
sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its
products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by
the Contributor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Argh!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could have been encapsulated with a term like trade
dress which is (shocker!) included in the definition of Product
Identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, going this
route would have made for a much simpler and more intelligible agreement if
WotC had adopted a less byzantine definition of Product Identity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 10; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">(g) "Use", "Used" or "Using"
means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise
create Derivative Material of Open Game Content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This definition is straightforward
and, like “Distribute”, tracks pretty closely to copyright
jurisprudence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This license is
going to govern how you can “use, Distribute [referring to the way
“Distribute” is defined above], copy, edit, format, modify, translate and
[should be “or”] otherwise” create 5E stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 11; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">(h) "You" or "Your" means the licensee
in terms of this agreement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This means “you”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 12; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game
Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only
be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to
any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted
from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms
or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this
License.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This places requirements on you,
the licensee:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">1) You will follow the license’s
terms when you make Use of Open Game Content;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">2) You will put in a page at the
end of your Use that says it uses Open Game Content<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It also places some requirements
on you AND WotC:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">1) The License cannot be modified
except in ways the license says it can be modified.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">See #9 below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That gives WotC the right to
change/update the license at any time, BUT (and this is a big “but”) you have
the option of using any version of the license that’s ever been
published.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a huge
concession to you, licensee!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">2) Neither you nor WotC can attach
different rules for using Open Game Content, so long as it’s Used under this
license.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This doesn’t preclude you and WotC
from developing your own, separate license.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, if you become a BFD third-party publisher, you
might end up with your own license.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s likely what happened for Kobold Press and Green Ronin Games
when they created their content for WotC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 13; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You
indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Okay, this is in fact total
BS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What they mean here is “If
you behave in a way consistent with this license, it applies to you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can’t say “if you use 5E
content, you’re governed by this license.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can’t do that for the same reason that I can’t say,
“If you sneeze on me, you’ve agreed to paint my house for free.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are multiple ways to accept a
contract, but you have to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know</i> that
you are accepting the contract.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, you’ve got to have an idea that you agreed to the license.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Normally, we indicate agreement by
signing a contract, but that would be unwieldy here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, instead, WotC is saying, “By
acting as if you’ve read this license and adhering to its terms, we
understand that you have read the license and agree to its terms.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does that mean that if you start
posting/distributing 5E material (OGC or not) that you’ve agreed to the license?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>NO</u></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, it <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>DOES</u></b> mean that if you start acting like you’ve agreed to
the license, a court will likely interpret that you have agreed to the
license.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 14; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing
to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide,
royalty-free, nonexclusive license with the exact terms of this License to
Use, the Open Game Content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Consideration is just a fancy way
of saying that a contract has to have give and take on both sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consideration is what each side gives
away as a part of the contract/deal:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">You, the licensee, give away: All
the rights that you’ve agreed not to invoke in court in the case of future
litigation; anything you’ve expressly promised not to do; the option to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>NOT</u></b> do something required of
you under this license.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">WotC, the licensor, gives away:
The right to charge your royalties for the use of Open Gaming Content, the
right to sue you for copyright and/or trademark infringement for uses that
adhere to the terms of this license.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Both sides have given away
something of value, so there’s likely valid consideration here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 15; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">5.Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are
contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your
Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to
grant the rights conveyed by this License.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">If you make use of the license,
you’re representing that you created the material that rides on the license
or the person that did has sold (or…you guessed it…licensed!) her/his rights
in the creation to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 16; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update the
COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the
COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or
distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the
copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game
Content you Distribute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">You agree to list every source
you’ve used in developing your content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Essentially, you agree to add the text of Section 15 at the end of
your licensed work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the
extent that you use other stuff that might later be made available as Open
Game Content, you’ll have to add references to that in your Section 15 as
well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 17; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any
Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as
expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each
element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or
co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction
with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in
another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered
Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not
constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner
of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights,
title and interest in and to that Product Identity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">You’re making a few promises here:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">1) You won’t use anything that
WotC has identified as Product Identity in the definitions section;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">2) You won’t expressly state that
your product is compatible with 5E, unless you get a different agreement with
WotC that says you can;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">3) You can’t use any WotC
trademark to indicate that your product is compatible with 5E; and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">4) You agree that if you do
somehow use some Product Identity in your publication, you will not challenge
WotC’s rights that WotC actually owns it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 18; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You
must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing
are Open Game Content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is pretty obvious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole idea behind the OGL is that
you get to attach your creative stuff to WotC’s game mechanics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are agreeing that your product
will make it clear what portions are your creative endeavors and which are
WotC’s Open Game Content, and free for everyone to use.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is actually hugely
advantageous to you, because it means that you can pretty clearly designate
the items (not Open Game Content) that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>YOU</u></b>
intend to own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That intellectual
property is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>NOT</u></b> owned or in
any way encumbered by WotC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>ALL</u></b> yours!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 19; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents
may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized
version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content
originally distributed under any version of this License.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">WotC can change the license at any
time without notice to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unlike creepy other licenses, which often say that the licensor can
change the terms on its own just by notifying you that it’s changing, WotC
has agreed that you can always use this version OR any other version that
they happen to make available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is a big concession from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be happy!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 20; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this
License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Another obvious one—if you make a
product that uses this license, you’ve got to put a copy of the license in
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or distribute it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with </i>it—as written, you could slip
license sheets in the products you produce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So long as you give a copy of the license to someone when
they get the product from you, you’re good to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 21; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or
advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You
have written permission from the Contributor to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is to stop you from making
outrageous claims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Section 15
lists Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter
Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, Steve
Townshend, E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson as the authors or other creators of
the Open Game Content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">So, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">theoretically</i>, if you include Open Game Content in your product,
you are using their work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
their work is in your product, they are sort of authors, aren’t they?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>NO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>THEY AREN’T.</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This provision expressly says that
you can’t claim any of them as authors of your work without their
permission—in writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would
be really uncool to do that, so don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The same applies for other Contributors who are added as authors of
Open Game Content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You wouldn’t
want someone doing that to you, and this says you can’t do that to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 22; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to
comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of
the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental
regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Basically, this is a reservation
of rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This says that if for
some reason the law says that you’d need to use the Open Game Content
differently than this license says that you can, you agree that you just
can’t use it at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is basically an escape clause
in case someone does challenge the license in court and it’s declared
void.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That could actually make
the agreement void not just for the guy that went to court, but for everyone!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Under this provision, you agree
that if that happens (or similar happens because of Congress or a government
agency), you give the rights to use the content back to WotC as if this
agreement never happened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Using “Open Game Material” rather
than “Open Game Content” here was a bad move—they are intellectually the same
thing, but legally, maybe not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If they were the same, a court would ask, why do they have different
names.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This raises some red
flags!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 23; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically
if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach
within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive
the termination of this License.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This means that if WotC tells you
that you are in violation of the license, you’ve got 30 days to fix your
violation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, if you’d
licensed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> non-Open Game Content
to someone else, that license would survive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s an example:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Under the license, you create a
whole new 5E campaign setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It becomes wildly popular and another publisher wants to write
adventures set in your setting!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You make a deal with them that allows them to publish adventures set
in your campaign setting and that piggy back off of your construction of the
5E rules that are Open Game Content in exchange for giving you $1.00 for
every adventure they sell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
WotC invokes the termination provision, your license with WotC falls and you
can’t create more material.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But,
the license you gave to your adventure-writing friends will survive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It will definitely survive for your
friends use, whether they still have to pay you is arguable, though likely).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 24; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held
to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent
necessary to make it enforceable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is pretty impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normally, contracts say “If any part
of this contract is deemed invalid, all the other parts that can still be
enforced are enforceable.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
instead says “If any part of this license is deemed invalid, we automatically
agree to change it—but only just enough that it becomes valid.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is actually pretty impressive
lawyering—if this is legal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
should be, but this is the sort of creative lawyering that sometimes gets
frowned upon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 25; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright
2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">System Reference Document 5.0 Copyright 2016, Wizards of
the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney
Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris
Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and
Dave Arneson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">You’ve agreed in Sections 6, 8,
10, & 11 to use this text (and to identify any other Copyrighted Open
Game Content-using material you relied upon) to identify the source of the 5E
compatible material you are using.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 26; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1.0pt; border: solid black; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">END OF LICENSE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1.0pt; border-bottom: solid black; border-left: none; border-right: 1.0pt; border-right: solid black; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: .5pt; mso-border-alt: solid black; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is to indicate that the
license is done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</form>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Just for shits and giggles, here’s
what WotC identifies as explicitly being its Product Identity:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The following items are designated Product Identity, as
defined in Section 1(e) of the Open Game License Version 1.0a, and are subject
to the conditions set forth in Section 7 of the OGL, and are not Open Content:
Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master, Monster
Manual, d20 System, Wizards of the Coast, d20 (when used as a trademark),
Forgotten Realms, Faerûn, proper names (including those used in the names of
spells or items), places, Underdark, Red Wizard of Thay, the City of Union,
Heroic Domains of Ysgard, EverChanging Chaos of Limbo, Windswept Depths of
Pandemonium, Infinite Layers of the Abyss, Tarterian Depths of Carceri, Gray
Waste of Hades, Bleak Eternity of Gehenna, Nine Hells of Baator, Infernal
Battlefield of Acheron, Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus, Peaceable Kingdoms of
Arcadia, Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia, Twin Paradises of Bytopia, Blessed
Fields of Elysium, Wilderness of the Beastlands, Olympian Glades of Arborea,
Concordant Domain of the Outlands, Sigil, Lady of Pain, Book of Exalted Deeds,
Book of Vile Darkness, beholder, gauth, carrion crawler, tanar’ri, baatezu,
displacer beast, githyanki, githzerai, mind flayer, illithid, umber hulk, yuan-ti.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-66377397203969371992015-07-28T17:18:00.002-04:002015-07-28T17:18:27.167-04:00It's time to go!The boarding pass is printed and time to leave work to go and pack...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhieC7jLB9sF7wOBgxI4mPmg89SOhyAsaaDvenr-FxHFVkAUdKXPdGQuE_06L5VjtN3onOPxuaqOSk1xKcoKwwkgnZlZNnQLPqRfdlFtlbAqJuDWjTDscU5WeD3XEb9KMKdEcvupjFxDg/s1600/Zero+Day.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhieC7jLB9sF7wOBgxI4mPmg89SOhyAsaaDvenr-FxHFVkAUdKXPdGQuE_06L5VjtN3onOPxuaqOSk1xKcoKwwkgnZlZNnQLPqRfdlFtlbAqJuDWjTDscU5WeD3XEb9KMKdEcvupjFxDg/s400/Zero+Day.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-35491153216296884632015-07-21T16:11:00.001-04:002015-07-21T16:11:24.793-04:0013th Age After-Action Report<div>On Sunday, I had my test run for the 13th Age tables I'm running at GenCon. I'm scheduled to run 8 sessions at GenCon: the first three sessions of The Shadowport Shuffle, sessions 2-4 of Wyrd of the Wild Wood, and two sessions of Caverns & Creepers. So, some kind friends came over on Sunday and we went through character creation and ran the first session of The Shadowport Shuffle. There were seven players and I used the pre-gens from GenCon 2014--partially because I think they are easier for new players than the ones for this year, but mostly because that set has nine pre-gens and I had seven players. </div><div><br></div><div>First I went through very high notes on races, classes, ability scores, and other concepts like armor class and physical defense. Only one of the seven has any RPG experience. I decided that we'd keep it light and zero in on concepts when we needed to. I'd gone ahead and made a "playmat" that has the Dragon Empire map and had some system and campaign world information. It was a hit, so it's definitely coming to GenCon with me. </div><div><br></div><div>Character background game up. Everyone had eight points and I got the kind of wild options that only come from totally new players. One girl ended up creating not just a rebellion but a political thriller feeling when she decided she had background as a double agent. We also had the tattooed daughter of an assassinated elf lord, a gypsy fortune teller, a bodyguard, a professor of magic, a dragon trainer, and a teleporter. The last two were a little out there but with new players I let that slide--it's all about fun, after all. </div><div><br></div><div>Next we did one unique things. I'm 50/50 on these. To some degree, they helped the players get in role, but they kept wanting to make some that would have mechanical effects. Bastard daughter of the Dwarf King who acts as his fixer was my favorite, I think. </div><div><br></div><div>I knew Icon Relationships were going to be difficult, so I modified them a little bit. Instead of every character assigning 3 points, I just had them pick an allied icon and one that they had a negative relationship with. This resulted in only two die rolls per person. Positive relationships had to be with a heroic or ambiguous icon and negative relationships had to be with an ambiguous or villainous icon. And then everybody rolled 5s and 6s. Of seven players, I had sixes from the Archmage, the Dwarf King, and the Elf Queen (twice) as positives and the Orc Lord twice for negatives. The High Druid came up twice as 5s in a positive role so those guys got a modified mission from everyone else (which they succeeded at, to the Prince of Shadows' dismay). </div><div><br></div><div>Gameplay was fun but a bit challenging. People pretty quickly got the handle of making skill rolls and matching backgrounds to what they wanted to do. They mostly succeeded, but I did get a few chances to work on failing forward. This was challenging with a group of primarily non-gamers because they haven't been socialized to never split the party so sometimes a social impact on one player was dealt with by everyone else not as a challenge but an opportunity to slip away. I need to work on making sure that the fail forward results affect everyone. </div><div><br></div><div>Despite there being 3 combats in the scenario as written, we only did one. People had really avoided their combat options and the different types of actions were confusing to them. A lot of that's on me. When we were first going into the game. I felt like things were getting a little technical, so I decided to skip combat. By the end of combat they got it, but two people told me that combat was their least favorite part of the scenario. Another said she wished she'd had better background on her character's combat abilities because she could have used that knowledge to inform her background and other choices. </div><div><br></div><div>We ran a little long so had to do a little bit of rushing at the end. But, I feel like three of them had a really good time, two to three enjoyed themselves and only one to two did not enjoy the experience overall. All in all, I'm feeling good about my prep. A lot of issues will be solved just by having people with d20 game experience at the table. That's not just because they will know but also because there will be other players that can help them as they go. </div><div><br></div><div>Where I need to improve:</div><div>Make it clear that backgrounds relate to history and not powers</div><div>Failing forward should affect all players</div><div>Consider how 5s and 6s can be implemented in each scenario before running it</div><div><br></div><div>I've had two of the players ask about whether I'm going to do another run through next Sunday. I just might!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-37324588097939567212015-07-20T13:52:00.000-04:002015-07-20T13:52:02.334-04:00Whither Gaming?<a href="http://www.icv2.com/" target="_blank">ICv2</a> has released its quarterly update about the hobby gaming market. But this one also comes with articles about their <a href="http://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/32102/hobby-games-market-climbs-880-million" target="_blank">yearly market survey</a>. They estimate that the total hobby games market climbed to $880 million in sales a year in 2014. They updated their methodology and reestimated the 2013 market at $735 million. For those of you that haven't already done the mind-blowing math in your head, that means that the market as a whole has grown 20% <i>in one year</i>.<br />
<br />
The figures are also broken down into 5 sub-categories: collectible games, miniatures, board games, card and dice games, and roleplaying games. My interest is, naturally, on roleplaying games. But, we'll take a look at the miniatures numbers as well. Although its the smallest of the 5 categories, roleplaying games had the best growth with a <a href="http://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/32102/hobby-games-market-climbs-880-million" target="_blank">67% increase in sales</a>. That's wonderful news for roleplayers out there--for every dollar that was being spent on gaming in 2013, $1.67 is being spent today.<br />
<br />
I went ahead and ordered a copy of the <a href="http://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/153325/ICv2s-Internal-Correspondence-88" target="_blank">full report</a>, which is fascinating. It's got an article called "<i>D&D</i> Juggernaut Rolls On As <i>Pathfinder</i> Slides." One retailer recounts that <i>Pathfinder</i> had a 75% market share in the RPG market in the dark <i>4th Edition</i> days and that in the last year <i>Pathfinder</i> has lost 75% of its sales to <i>5E</i>. I'm not going to list the total sales amount in the RPG category (ICv2 has not posted that figure online, so I'll leave it as a secret). But, that reduces <i>Pathfinder's</i> sales from 75% of the market to only 19%. The bulk of the sales (which are also the majority of sales in the roleplaying games category overall) have gone not just from <i>Pathfinder</i> but from <i>Pathfinder</i> to <i>5E</i>.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, continuing to hold on to nearly 20% of a market that's grown by 67% is still pretty good. But, how has the market shifted amongst the roleplaying games? We know that <a href="http://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/32097/top-5-roleplaying-games-spring-2015" target="_blank"><i>D&D</i> and <i>Pathfinder</i> remain the two best sellers</a> in the category. But, this is where some of the other information from the report comes in. The report also notes that growth in the miniatures category was 0%. So, people are spending the same amount of money on minis for their RPGs that they were spending in 2013. But, <i>D&D</i> and <i>Pathfinder</i> are RPGs that focus on players using miniatures. So, it seems odd that those two games would be doing well but that miniatures sales are flat. <br />
<br />
A few possibilities present themselves. Maybe people are changing editions from 3.5/<i>Pathfinder</i>/<i>4th</i> and therefore they already have a lot of miniatures. If you're going to make the investment to purchase a new edition's <i>Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, </i>and <i>Monster Manual</i>, maybe you don't have cash to throw out on minis. Or maybe <i>5E</i> and <i>Pathfinder</i> are cannibalizing against each other and the growth in the RPG title overall is in other systems. <i>Numenera</i> had a good run and Green Ronin's AGE system are popular--and neither of them require minis. I'm thinking that maybe the growth we are seeing is not growth in just the big guys, but roleplaying games in general getting more popular? Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-49877992656142935602015-07-17T10:30:00.000-04:002015-07-17T10:30:00.292-04:00Rules-Creativity Matrix Implementation for Sunday's Test Game<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The Setup</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
On Sunday, I
have a group of friends coming over to play <i><a href="http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=8583">13<sup>th</sup> Age</a></i>. They are helping me get some gaming
experience under my belt before <a href="https://www.blogger.com/gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/05/im-back-gencon-events-are-up-and-my.html">I
run several games</a> for <a href="http://www.pelgranepress.com/">Pelgrane
Press</a> at <a href="http://www.gencon.com/">GenCon</a> at the end of the
month. To the best of my knowledge, only
one has any role-playing game experience.
The other five are complete newbies to the hobby. So, in addition to making sure that I’m able
to efficiently run the system, I want to make sure that they have a good
time. They are all highly creative
people: a lawyer, a high school principal, an event planner for a museum, an
engineer, a scheduler for a member of Congress, and a real-estate entrepreneur
(the one with the gaming experience).
The entrepreneur’s experience runs to Pathfinder, so I’m hoping that he’ll
find <i>13<sup>th</sup> Age’s</i> more
freeform style to his liking. I’m
attracted to how it is story-driven. I’ve
recently finished reading Karl Bergström’s <i>Creativity
Rules: How rules impact player creativity in three tabletop [games]</i> from
the 3<sup>rd</sup> issue of the International Journal of Role-Playing. Consequently, I want to consider how
implementing different types of rules in my game can help my friends have the
best time as we play <i>13<sup>th</sup> Age</i>. Of course, I’ve got to run the basic <i>13<sup>th</sup> Age</i> engine—it wouldn’t
make much of a training session for me if I didn’t—but that engine is flexible
enough for me to play a little fast and loose.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>My goals for my session:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Everyone has a fun time<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Players feel actively engaged and that they have
agency in<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Designing a world and<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Telling a story in it<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Players feel that they quickly achieve “systems
mastery”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->I master the rules<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>How the Article Will Help Me<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Bergström’s
article studied six groups of role-players who each played sessions of three
different games. Bergström then
considered how the games’ different rule systems affected the play
experience. The games were <i>Dungeons & Dragons 3.5/Pathfinder, World
of Darkness (new edition),</i> and <i>Legends
of Anglerre (FATE)</i>. 2 groups were
chosen as most familiar with each system but each group also played games in
all three systems (that’s 36 games in all for those counting). Through watching live play, one-on-one
interviews, and interviews with the play groups, Bergström considered how the
rules interacted with different types of creativity. Bergström’ identified six types of creativity
and nine rules functions. By looking at
how the two interact, I’m hoping to use this knowledge to get an idea about how
I can best tailor my game for Sunday.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Types of Creativity I Want in My Games</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Narrative
(story) creativity</b>: Ability of potential to create a good story, usually
going outside your specific character and looking at the story as a whole.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Acting
creativity</b>: Being creative in the portrayal of your character<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><b>Game-world
creativity</b>: Used to create the setting and elements within, including
characters backstory, geography or inhabitants of a region, organizations in
the game world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b>System
creativity</b>: Creativity required to adapt rules system to the specific group
and its needs and wants.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
I role-play to
tell stories and that’s what the types of creativity I prize most are focused
upon. I’ll take a look at what the rules
elements are that best help to encourage these types of creativity and try to
emphasize them in my play. I’ve added
systems creativity to this list to remind myself that one of the best points
about systems creativity is that I can take systems that might not emphasize
these types of creativity (or actively emphasize the types I’ve outlined below)
and modify those systems to better reflect the result I’m looking to achieve.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Types of Creativity I Feel Are Creative Outlets for Players Otherwise
Constrained by the Rules</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><b>Gaming
creativity</b>: Creativity in using the rules towards a specified outcome. This includes optimizing characters and
choosing the correct action rules-wise at any given moment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><b>Problem-solving
creativity</b>: Relationship between the player’s ability to solve puzzles,
etc. and the character’s ability to do so.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
To me, these
two are somewhat related. Honestly, I am
not sure that I’d even have considered problem-solving creativity as a category
in and of itself. To me, it’s the result
of friction between the forces that push towards gaming creativity and acting
creativity. As such, I’ve marked it in
yellow and am content to ignore it. I am
not a fan of gaming creativity (which is ironic, since the game I play most
often is Pathfinder). This is likely
because of my day job. As a government
affairs representative for a trade association in Washington, DC (I’ll leave
you to puzzle out what that’s a euphemism for), I’m often working the rules to
my advantage in my day job. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
I certainly
find it useful to have an understanding of how rules underpin systems. But, that’s my <i>work</i>. Role-playing is my <i>play</i>.
So, it’s not a judgment call that systems that encourage players towards
gaming creativity are bad, per se.
Rather, it’s the fact that I have to do gaming creativity with the rules
I work in all day long. So, I’m less
inclined to want to do so when I’m on my free time. Similarly, I don’t much enjoy talking about
politics after hours. Ironically, my
favorite role-playing games are the ones that are focused on skills and
role-play versus combat. Political
intrigue is always a good draw. But, if
I’m going to get involved in those things, I want to do it in a setting that
isn’t Washington, DC in the current day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<thead>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.65pt;" valign="top" width="89">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Flavors of Creativity / Role of Rules<o:p></o:p></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.55pt;" valign="top" width="98">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>“Narration first” vs. “rules first”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 54.35pt;" valign="top" width="91">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Rules as arbitrator<o:p></o:p></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.85pt;" valign="top" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Rules as creative coolant<o:p></o:p></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.75pt;" valign="top" width="105">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Rules as consistency provider<o:p></o:p></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.65pt;" valign="top" width="98">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Rules as inspiration<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.9pt;" valign="top" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Rules as support<o:p></o:p></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.65pt;" valign="top" width="134">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Rules as communication<o:p></o:p></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.95pt;" valign="top" width="110">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Rules as randomness<o:p></o:p></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.2pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Rules as diegetic control mechanism<o:p></o:p></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="background: lime; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.65pt;" valign="top" width="89">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: blue;">Narrative (story) creativity<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.55pt;" width="98">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 54.35pt;" width="91">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.85pt;" width="80">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;">X<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.75pt;" width="105">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;">X<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.65pt;" width="98">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.9pt;" width="80">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.65pt;" width="134">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.95pt;" width="110">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.2pt;" width="104">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="background: lime; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.65pt;" valign="top" width="89">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: blue;">Acting creativity<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.55pt;" width="98">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 54.35pt;" width="91">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.85pt;" width="80">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.75pt;" width="105">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.65pt;" width="98">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.9pt;" width="80">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.65pt;" width="134">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;">X<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.95pt;" width="110">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;">X<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.2pt;" width="104">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="background: red; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.65pt;" valign="top" width="89">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: blue;">Gaming creativity<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: red; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.55pt;" width="98">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: red; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 54.35pt;" width="91">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;">X<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: red; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.85pt;" width="80">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: red; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.75pt;" width="105">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: red; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.65pt;" width="98">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: red; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.9pt;" width="80">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: red; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.65pt;" width="134">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: red; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.95pt;" width="110">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;">X<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: red; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.2pt;" width="104">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="background: yellow; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.65pt;" valign="top" width="89">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: blue;">Problem-solving creativity<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: yellow; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.55pt;" width="98">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;">X<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: yellow; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 54.35pt;" width="91">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: yellow; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.85pt;" width="80">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: yellow; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.75pt;" width="105">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;">X<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: yellow; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.65pt;" width="98">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: yellow; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.9pt;" width="80">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: yellow; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 80.65pt;" width="134">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: yellow; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 65.95pt;" width="110">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: yellow; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.2pt;" width="104">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; page-break-inside: avoid;">
<td style="background: lime; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 53.65pt;" valign="top" width="89">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: blue;">Game-world creativity<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 58.55pt;" width="98">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;">X<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 54.35pt;" width="91">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 47.85pt;" width="80">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="background: lime; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 62.75pt;" width="105">
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<b><span style="color: blue;">X<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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System creativity<o:p></o:p></div>
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Meta and
uninfluenced by rules<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
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</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>A Few Rules to Rule Them</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So, now that I’ve got this
information, how should I implement rules in a game? As I look across the green bars, there are no
Xs that appear in more than one bar. If
there were, I’d focus on that rules element most. Instead, I’ll work at it from the other
angle. Rules functions that relate only
to green should be emphasized; those with green and yellow results should
receive less emphasis; those with green and red results should receive even
less emphasis; and those that have no green results should receive the least
emphasis. At that point in time, we
bring out the meta-rule of system creativity to make the tweaks in the next
section. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Considering how to teach the game
and make it enjoyable for my players, in a nod to gaming creativity, I’ve
optimized the rules functions. Having
done this, I can go ahead and look at mapping what I want out of my game in the
way that I use the rules to define the gaming experience.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Most Important<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><b>Rules as
inspiration</b>: I want the rules and options to help my players come up with
character concepts. As such, I will want
to help inform players without overwhelming them. In <i>13<sup>th</sup>
Age</i> I’m trying to do this by using semi-pre-generated characters. Mechanically the characters are all done
except for a few parts. The characters’
background/skills, one unique thing, and icon relationships have not been
chosen yet. I think that creating
backgrounds and one unique things will help the players better identify with
their characters. I’m hopeful that the
icon relationships will do so as well, but worry that they might be a little
too confusing for newer players. To make
this happen, I’m engaging in a little bit of system creativity. Rather than giving each player 3 dice to
assign under the assumptions in the book, I’m going to ask them to pick a
heroic or ambiguous icon that they have a positive relationship with and to
pick an ambiguous or villainous icon that they have a conflicted or negative
relationship with. We’ll do two dice
rolls instead of three. I feel like this
simplifies things while allowing some level of control over the story.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Rules as
creative coolant</b>: The last time I was explaining playing Pathfinder to a
new player, a lawyer was in the room and remarked that knowledge of the rules
was remarkably similar to having to know case law. In fact, I feel like this is very true. So, I want things to run as simply as
possible. I’ve made a single page poster
that presents skills, one unique things, 1-3 sentences about each icon, and
very basic information about the <i>13<sup>th</sup>
Age</i> setting. Where possible, there
are examples. At the same time we use
the rules as inspiration, I want to reinforce that they all fit on a single
(albeit small poster-sized) page.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><b>Rules as
communication</b>: This one is easy. I
just need to remind my players that the rules are abstractions and exist to
help them envision concepts that are inherently unquantifiable. We’ll talk a little bit about failing
forward, envisioning your character from your stats, etc. But, we’ll also talk about how the rule of
cool trumps the rules as written (see “rules as arbitrator” at the bottom down
there?). But, because I want my players
to feel like they have agency, we’ll talk about how the rule of cool is what <i>everybody</i> at the table thinks is cool
rather than what I, as the GM, think is cool.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><b>[Rules as
support] / [Rules as diegetic control mechanism]</b>: These rules didn’t have
any creativity functionality in any categories.
But, I feel like they are important for establishing player agency. I’ve covered this in the section above, but I
want the players to know that the rules give them some level of control from my
arbitrary whim and that when we ignore the rules, we do so as a group. It’s my hope that emphasizing that will
reinforce their agency as active participants in the story.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Less Important</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Rules as consistency
provider</b>: This actually links into the above thoughts, except that it
focuses more on internal consistency.
That’s more important for a long-term campaign where the goal is more
about simulating a long-term story.
Here, the goal is actually about teaching the game and having fun. Internal consistency has its place (and I
admit that it’s mobile on this list), but for Sunday it’s on the lower end of
the spectrum.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Rules as “narration
first” vs. “story first”</b>: I don’t care much if my players narrate their
actions before applying the rule or announce the rule and apply it before
narrating their action. They are first
time players. In fact, I’m throwing out
both and focusing on “intent first.”
What my players intended to do is what matters most. That gives them the opportunity to play into
the story, but without feeling burdened by adhering to the rules.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Rules as
randomness</b>: Dice rolls create randomness.
I like randomness. But, dice
rolls are not rules. Also, dice rolls
are a great opportunity to allow players to be creative. Failing forward will be important here. In fact, at first I was surprised to see
rules as randomness to land here. But,
upon reflection, even for <i>13<sup>th</sup>
Age</i>, this makes sense. Since most of
a player’s rolls will be skills, the optimization that occurs is the push to
design a character that’s able to make the skill roll in as many situations as
possible. I hope my players don’t feel
the need to do that. Ideally, the <i>13<sup>th</sup> Age</i> more generic
adventure design system that allows the GM to focus in and customize the situations
to the one unique things, backgrounds/skills, and icon relationships that the
players have chosen will help leave the illusion of randomness without pushing
my players towards feeling overwhelmed and like they need to master a system
that is unmasterable.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Rules as
arbitrator</b>: Least important—this is
the rule of cool issue. If I <i>and the players at my table</i> think that
what the player wants to do or whatever else might happen is the best idea for
the story, it happens. This may be less
applicable at GenCon because better rules knowledge often means that someone
has to act as arbitrator. That means
either rules as written or GM fiat.
While those can be necessary, I pray that they won’t be. For Sunday’s game, I’m almost sure that they
won’t be.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
So there you
have it. I’m hoping to get a good
post-mortem post up on Sunday night as well, highlighting what I feel like went
well and where I need to improve. Come
back and see how things went down! This
article drew on many pieces for support and I’d like to thank the authors and
presenters whose thoughts and words have been useful to helping me get to this
point of comfort as I prepare for this weekend’s game:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Karl Bergström,
<i><a href="http://ijrp.subcultures.nl/?page_id=269">Creativity Rules: How rules
impact player creativity in three tabletop [games]</a></i>, International
Journal of Role-Playing Vol. I, Issue 3.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Jessica Price
and [sorry, I couldn’t catch her name], <i>Introducing
New Gamers to Pathfinder</i>, <a href="http://knowdirectionpodcast.com/2015/06/paizocon-2015-introducing-new-gamers-to-pathfinder/">http://knowdirectionpodcast.com/2015/06/paizocon-2015-introducing-new-gamers-to-pathfinder/</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<a href="http://www.learntabletoprpgs.com/">http://www.Learntabletoprpgs.com</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-78831314958597699292015-07-16T14:21:00.000-04:002015-07-16T14:21:07.155-04:00Behold! The fearsome lava guppy!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6OrXEXKv--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/1342402859317417614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6OrXEXKv--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/1342402859317417614.jpg" height="167" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The real fish still looks pretty damned fearsome!</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://io9.com/">io9.com</a> is running an <a href="http://gizmodo.com/this-fanged-fish-can-live-inside-a-volcano-1718116036" target="_blank">article about tiny, fanged fish</a> that can actually live in underwater volcanic rifts. Per usual, this made me want to design a monster. I know that lava-spitting fish aren't terribly original (hello <a href="http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SuperMetroid_lava_4379.gif" target="_blank">Metroid</a>), but sometimes you just feel the urge.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There were a lot of things that I found really cool about this fish from the article, like:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>We don't know if this is an adult fish or just a larva;</li>
<li>Everyone thought the coastal cousins of these undersea volcanic-based fish were just getting swept into the open ocean and dying;</li>
<li>They thrive in acidic waters (I was tempted to give my version some acid resistance, but decided that with being immune to fire--how else do you swim in magma?--this would be overkill. That said, change the damage types and it still works.)</li>
<li>There are also volcanic lobsters! You could also flip the Cold-based template from the first Reign of Winter AP to make some of these as well.</li>
<li>THERE ARE ALSO <a href="http://io9.com/researchers-discover-sharks-living-in-an-active-underwa-1716830809" target="_blank">SHARKS</a> LIVING IN <a href="http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/09/cameras-reveal-sharkcano-sharks-in-volcano/" target="_blank">UNDERSEA VOLCANOES</a>!</li>
</ul>
<div>
Honestly, I like these guys more as traps than I do as combatants. Imagine that the PCs need to cross a small bridge across a lake/river/other liquid body of lava/magma. Suddenly, the lava guppies surface and begin pummeling dripping blocks of magma at the PCs. Those PCs will either have to run like hell to get across the bridge or do some real creative thinking about how to freeze the lava and take out their enemies. I guess a really nuts barbarian might just charge in. Hopefully even through his rage he'd run out after burning himself on the molten lava. Stats for both 13th Age and Pathfinder are below.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>13th Age </u></b></span></div>
<div>
Lava Guppy</div>
<div>
A waxy red fish pokes its head out of the magma. Opening its mouth, a dark red glow illuminates a row of razor-sharp teeth from within.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>2nd Level Archer </i>[(magical) beast]</div>
<div>
Initiative: +4</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>R: Firespit</b> +7 vs. PD, 7 damage</div>
<div>
<i>Miss</i>: 2 points fire damage</div>
<div>
<i>Natural even hit</i>: Magma sticks. Target must use their standard action to clear off the magma or take another 7 fire damage on its next turn.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>C:</b> <b>Spiky Teeth!</b> +9 v. AC, 10 damage</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Resist Fire (18+)</i>: Fire attacks against the lava guppy must roll an 18 or higher or do only half damage.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u>Nastier Specials</u></b></div>
<div>
<i>Acid loving fish</i>: Underwater volcanoes have acid as well as magma and this fish love both. These fish switch between fire and acid resistance as a quick action.</div>
<div>
<i>Once bitten</i>: With a successful spiky teeth attack,</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>AC</b> <b>18</b></div>
<div>
PD 16 <b>HP 36</b></div>
<div>
MD 12</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.animevice.com/uploads/1/18571/283031-magma_fish_by_keishinkae_super.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://media.animevice.com/uploads/1/18571/283031-magma_fish_by_keishinkae_super.jpg" height="320" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(c) Unknown</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<b><u>Icons</u></b></div>
<div>
<i><b>Archmage</b></i>: Are lava guppies a natural creation or a magical experiment gone horribly wrong? If the Archmage knows, he's not telling. Either way, their magma-producing glands can be used to empower spells for throwing fire or for heating the Archmage's floating islands and the upper reaches of Horizon. But what happens if the Blue or the Lich King finds a way to turn those glands into flying fire-spitting fish?</div>
<div>
<i><b>Crusader</b></i>: Word has it that when the Crusader reclaimed one hellhole into one of his fortresses, the lava guppies transformed into golden fish that sing. The Prince of Shadows could find a buyer for one of those. In fact, he could play several buyers off against each other.</div>
<div>
<b><i>Diabolist</i></b>: Rivers of magma guarded by lava-spewing fish. Check!</div>
<div>
<b><i>The Three</i></b>: Rumor has it that the Red uses a specially-trained school of lava guppies to clean him when bathing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Pathfinder</span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">A waxy red fish pokes its head
out of the magma. Opening its mouth, a
dark red glow illuminates a row of razor-sharp teeth from within.</span></i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div>
<b>Lava Guppy CR</b><b> 1<br />
<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">XP 400</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Neutral Small Magical Beast<br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Init</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>+4;<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Senses</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> low-light vision,<span style="color: red;"> </span>darkvision
60 ft.</span>; Perception +4<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in;">
<div style="border: none; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Defense</span></b><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0in;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">AC</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> 16</span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">, touch 15, flat-footed 11 (+4 dex, +1 size, +1 dodge)<br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">hp</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> 13</span> (2d10+2)<br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Fort</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>+4,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Ref</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>+7,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Will</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>+0<br />
<b>Vulnerable</b> cold<b><br />
Immune</b> fire<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in;">
<div style="border: none; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Offense</span></b><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0in;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Speed</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> swim 40</span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> ft. <br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Melee </span></b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">bite
+1 (1d4-1 plus sharp tooth)<br />
<b>Ranged</b> firespit +6 (2d6 plus magma)<br />
<b>Special Attacks</b> sharp tooth</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in;">
<div style="border: none; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Statistics</span></b><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0in;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Str</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> 9</span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Dex</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> 18</span>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Con</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> 12</span>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Int</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> 2</span>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Wis</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> 11</span>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Cha</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> 8</span><br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Base Atk</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>+2;<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">CMB</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>+1;<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">CMD</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> 15</span><br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Feats</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> Dodge</span><span style="color: red;"><br />
</span><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Skills</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> Perception
+4; Stealth +8;Swim +7 Racial Bonuses +8 Swim</span><br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Languages</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>none<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in;">
<div style="border: none; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Ecology</span></b><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0in;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Environment</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">magma<br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Organization</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> solitary,
dual, school (3-12)</span><br />
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Treasure</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>None<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in;">
<div style="border: none; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Special Abilities</span></b><b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Fire
spit (Su)</span></b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">: As
a ranged attack, a lava guppy can spit a blob of magma with a range increment
of 30 ft. Creatures hit by the blob must
make a DC 14 Reflex save to avoid the liquid sticking to them. Those who fail take damage as exposed to lava
(<i>Core Rulebook</i> 444). Pouring water on the affected person or fully
immersing them ends the effect immediately.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Sharp
tooth (Ex)</span></b><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">: On
a successful bite attack, the victim must make a DC 9 Fortitude save or be
subject to bleed 1. A successful DC 15
Heal check (costs a standard action) or receiving magical healing ends the
bleed damage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Descended from
fish that acclimated to living in oceans near volcanic rifts, lava guppies have
evolved to swim in rivers of magma. Lava
guppies are frequently placed as guards by those immune to their fiery spit and
who have access to rivers of lava, trusting in intruders inability to attack
their magma-based guards from land. Born
as tiny tadpoles, lava guppies grow to measure 2 feet long and weigh 35-50 lbs.
as adults.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-77014923541354495442015-07-14T11:51:00.000-04:002015-07-14T11:51:47.742-04:00RPG Interest Remains High<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXA47UA5yY6t46mtELy6_Wj3QdpZ7FAtTAnY87c1YW3FoNgbGpX4BXKsm3T8L4KBSlLrrKvVgpWvUJRGWR-P6tEupBxvEcFJrvO8MQcghSqd_du34GQIIAgtFq9UsPXWfnBLJaQPiMOMY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-09-07+at+1.57.46+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXA47UA5yY6t46mtELy6_Wj3QdpZ7FAtTAnY87c1YW3FoNgbGpX4BXKsm3T8L4KBSlLrrKvVgpWvUJRGWR-P6tEupBxvEcFJrvO8MQcghSqd_du34GQIIAgtFq9UsPXWfnBLJaQPiMOMY/s400/Screen+Shot+2014-09-07+at+1.57.46+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Late last summer,<a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2014/09/holy-shit-gaming-is-not-marginal-hobby.html" target="_blank"> I threw up a post</a> noting that the recently released <a href="https://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/rpg_playershandbook" target="_blank">Dungeons and Dragons 5E Player's Handbook</a> had shot into the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/best-sellers-books-Amazon/zgbs/books" target="_blank">top 10 sellers</a> at amazon.com. I'm a pretty prolific Kickstarter backer and had been really impressed with the way people were queuing up to throw money at a lot of projects, specifically <a href="http://www.makeyourgamelegendary.com/" target="_blank">Legendary Games</a>' <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendarygames/mythic-mania-three-mythic-rulebooks-for-pathfinder?ref=discovery" target="_blank">Mythic Mania</a> and <a href="http://www.koboldpress.com/" target="_blank">Kobold Press</a>' <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/350683997/southlands-new-fantasy-options-for-pathfinder-rpg" target="_blank">Southlands</a> projects.<br />
<br />
But, lately I'd noticed the Kickstarter projects are losing steam. Kobold Press' <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/350683997/advanced-races-compendium-for-pathfinder-roleplayi?ref=users" target="_blank">Advanced Race Compendium</a> didn't raise nearly as much as I'd expected and Legendary Games' current <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendarygames/legendary-planet-adventure-path" target="_blank">Legendary Planets</a> Kickstarter, though quickly funded, hadn't picked up as many people as <a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/06/legendary-planet-adventure-path.html" target="_blank">I'd thought that they might</a>.<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Title<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Date
Closed<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Total
Raised<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">#
of Backers<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.8pt;" valign="top" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Funding
per Backer<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="160">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mythic Mania</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
May 6, 2014</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
$69,362</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
461</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.8pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
$150.46</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="160">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Southlands</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
October 18, 2014</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
$97,728</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
1,044</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.8pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
$93.61</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="160">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Advanced Races Compendium</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
May 17, 2015</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
$51,040</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
797</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.8pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
$64.04</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" valign="top" width="160">
<div class="MsoNormal">
Legendary Planets</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 8.0pt;">(as of 7/14/2015)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Ongoing</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 95.75pt;" width="160">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
$35,938</div>
</td>
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<br />
Similarly, I've felt a little more gaming fatigue myself lately. I mainly focus on Pathfinder and 13th Age. In the Pathfinder world, the RPG line is moving into more and more niche products with this month's <i>Occult Adventures</i> and next spring's <i>Ultimate Intrigue</i>. I'm enthused about both of those releases, but they don't have the wide appeal of something like an <i>Advanced Race Guide</i>, <i>Ultimate Combat</i>, or <i>Advanced Player's Guide</i>. <br />
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13th Age remains something I love, but right now we have only the core book, <i>13 True Ways</i>, and their <i>Bestiary</i> (<a href="http://www.ennie-awards.com/vote/2015/" target="_blank">which is up for an Ennie--vote for it!</a>) There's a lot of room to expand in the 13th Age universe, they've got Glorantha and Midgard-related products from Kobold Press, among others. But, there's not a lot of space to really expand on the 13th Age default setting simply because it's designed to be so free form. Fire Opal and Pelgrane Press have put together something awesome, but pinning things down in their world means that it loses some of it's freeform power. That said, my reviews of the their 13th Age Monthly releases this year show that there's endless space to expand, if not necessarily in a large, hardcover release. <br />
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I'm considering picking up <i><a href="http://pelgranepress.com/site/?tag=eyes-of-the-stone-thief" target="_blank">Eyes of the Stone Thief</a></i> at <a href="http://www.gencon.com/" target="_blank">GenCon</a> this year (gotta use that discount for <a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/05/im-back-gencon-events-are-up-and-my.html" target="_blank">GMing 13th Age at GenCon</a> on something fun!)--especially if the group of test gamers I've lined up for this weekend decides that they really like playing 13th Age! But, it just doesn't seem like there's a lot coming out right now.<br />
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So, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?2750-Record-Number-of-ENnies-Voters#.VaUmfvlViko" target="_blank">today's notice from ENWorld</a> that voting for the Ennies is up over 18% this year came as a wonderful surprise! There's still a whole day left and they've already received 19,000 votes, which is 3,000 more than they received last year. We could see an increase of up to 25% if heavy voting happens on the last day.<br />
<br />
So, it seems like people are interested, but might also just be spending less money. What does everyone else think?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-34023152764424633402015-07-06T14:23:00.000-04:002015-07-06T14:23:22.971-04:00First time as a regular PFS GMSo, I ran my first Pathfinder Society scenario. Technically, I'd run a Pathfinder Society scenario back during the winter during GadCon, but I was a last-minute fill-in GM, so I don't really feel like it counts. Plus, the GadCon scenario was a convention special and this one was a regularly-released scenario, so the types of players and the expectations were totally different.<br />
<br />
I ran Out of Anarchy on the Monday after it came out. I was not expecting a scenario so long or so convoluted. While I hadn't had a lot of time to digest this scenario, I had reread the Pezzack entry from Towns of the Inner Sea, which really helped with the background. Without that base to work with, I would have had a MUCH harder time GMing this thing. There are some PFS scenarios that require almost no background. For instance, I introduced a gaming group to Pathfinder using [druidy scenario] and it didn't require much background knowledge at all. In the Pezzack scenario, I'd have had no idea what was going on.<br />
<br />
So, what are my takeaways from GMing a regular old PFS scenario? First of all, GMing is all in the art of presentation. I'm a lobbyist by trade during the day, so faking it is something I'm trained to do anyway. But, while you can fake a lot of things, players have certain expectations. And, unsurprisingly, how your players see you changes how they play at your table. What caught me out? Well, I was running short on time. I'd printed color copies of the mad grids, but I hadn't had time to cut them so that they connected without white paper overlap. One of my players caught me, called it a rookie mistake, and everything changed--at least as far as that player was concerned. It wasn't bad or anything and fortunately we both knew what the rules were in all the situations that game up. But, if there had been a disagreement, it would not have been pretty. That said, I hope that he still had a good time even after I hadn't cut the edges off of things.<br />
<br />
PFS in DC is also a lot more roll-playing focused than it is role-playing focused. I don't mind that--both mixed together are what make for a fun game. That said, there's a lot of role-playing going on in this scenario. It was over an hour before the PCs got into their first fight (some parties might consider getting into a fight at all a liability, but not I) and everyone was excited when the time to actually roll something more than skill checks came about.<br />
<br />
All in all, I really, really enjoyed this session. The scenario as written gives GMs and players the opportunity to do a lot of roleplaying. PCs should also expect to have to do some critical thinking, which was fun for a scenario. They also tried to design a scenario that was as sandboxy as possible. That's where knowledge of the previous, underlying gazetteer product was so helpful--I was able to lean on the knowledge (that's mentioned as being cannon in the scenario, for all you PFS rules lawyers out there) that was used to build the scenario and therefore fill in some of the plugs.<br />
<br />
I think I enjoy convention GMing more. For one thing, convention players are just so damned grateful to have someone running their game. For another, there's much more time to prepare! Also, at conventions, I don't feel as rushed (which is ironic, because you actually have a time slot at a convention). I also feel like people really appreciate GMs that get into having terrain and real miniatures rather than just having to fly through hand-drawns maps, flip maps, and map print outs.<br />
<br />
I've got 8 more games till I get my first GM star. I have decided I can really opine with thoughts about PFS after that. Until then, these are impressions based upon just two instances. One thing I am sure about though: I'd always rather play outside of organized play at all with a set of players dedicated to telling a long-term dedicated story.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-83176304551196160682015-07-05T16:56:00.001-04:002015-07-05T16:58:52.839-04:00Obergefell Properly Decided: The Gaymer Plays Supreme Court Justice<span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">So, after my <a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/06/obergefell-v-hodges-in-gaming-terms.html"><i>Obergefell</i> decision rant</a>, <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/wm/1/101578671085136271731/posts" target="_blank">David Ross</a> did what I hoped someone would do and asked the next question, "Okay, if you're unhappy with how <i>Obergefell</i> was decided, how <i>should</i> it have been decided? What would you have done differently?" And, although I answered him in the comment thread, about 7 paragraphs in I realized that there was enough content in my response for a full post...so I reprinted it here! There are a few slight changes moving from the comment space to the posting space, but overall content is the same.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sexual Orientation as a Protected Class</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Sexual orientation as a protected class would have been the right way to resolve the issue. Sexual orientation hits all of the issues that make a protected class make sense: immutable characteristic, characteristic is unrelated to issue in question, etc. I understand that Kennedy didn't want to open the floodgates to all of the other protections that would come along with protected class status (workplace discrimination, housing discrimination, adoption/child custody rights, etc.), but that's the whole reason I found the decision to be intellectually vacuous. If "dignity" is the reason that I should be allowed to marry my same-sex partner (should he ever appear), it pretty necessarily follows that "dignity" should also underpin my rights in all of those other arenas as well. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"><span style="color: white;"><br style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Of course, at that point you are moving away from substantive due process towards an equal protection argument. Creating new protected classes judicially is frowned upon (and I believe that a legislative solution would have been best and was, in fact, inevitable absent the ruling), but there's a good argument for doing so here. My challenge to Kennedy regarding the ruling is to explain the discrepancy. Why does my dignity compel granting marriage recognition but none of the others? It just doesn't make sense!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #444444;">Gender Discrimination</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">I'm 50/50 on a gender discrimination perspective. On the one hand, it isn't obviously a gender discrimination issue. On the other, not recognizing it as a gender discrimination issue throws you into the Pace v. Alabama mindset, and that obviously wasn't good for anyone. Ultimately, I prefer the granting of protected class status for just these reasons.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"><span style="color: white;"><br style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">But, the gender discrimination issue also circles back to where I felt the ruling had its shortcomings. When considering gender discrimination from a trans- perspective, it's so much easier to win because the standards for violating gender norms are so much easier to prove. When it's from a sexual orientation as opposed to gender identity perspective, things get a little muddier. All in all, we should be out there advocating for true equal rights and ONLY non-discrimination legislation is going to move that ball across the goal line from a political/legal perspective.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"><span style="color: white;"><br style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: #444444;">Yet Again, Rich, White Males Were the Real Winners</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">And, ultimately, that's my other big headache with the ruling. Look, marriage was the signature issue. We played an ace early in the game and now the rest of our hand isn't looking too hot. Because marriage was a great signature issue for the GLBT movement in a few ways that other salient issues aren't. Everybody at least considers the possibility of marriage. It's something that everyone can relate to. Number one, that means that straight people were natural allies because they could identify with the issue. That's huge and that's why there were so many straight people out there supporting the GLBT community on this issue.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"><span style="color: white;"><br style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">But, when you consider the GLBT discrimination issues from a socio-economic perspective, marriage was also the issue that was important to everyone in the GLBT community. You know WHY Kennedy cares about gay marriage rights but not about sexual orientation discrimination? It's because he can see (and, if some rumors are true, actually did experience) the discrimination. But, guess what, employment discrimination isn't something that happens to educated and affluent homosexual men--especially white homosexual men. To quote a senior staffer from the Human Rights Campaign on the issue of GLBT rights, "Twenty years after we get sexual orientation equality, there will be a mass exodus of white, gay men from the Democratic Party." And she's right. So what happened WAS a huge victory is you're "lucky" enough to be the part of the minority that's well-educated and affluent and not going to suffer the other types of discrimination. If you're not? Well, the people who essentially only faced the marriage discrimination issue took their win and left you holding the bag on all of the other issues.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"><span style="color: white;"><br style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">We probably could have gotten a general non-discrimination act related to sexual orientation passed in the next 5-10 years before this ruling. That would have covered marriage AND everything else. With the ruling we got today, I'll push my estimate on when we could see something like blanket non-discrimination protections closer to 25 years.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #444444;"><span style="color: white;"><br style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: #444444; color: white; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">To summarize: Protected class would have been the way to go and then use equal protection analysis. Marriage is a pyrric victory though because it leaves behind the other discrimination issues that affluent members of the GLBT community are unlikely to face (and therefore care about) and that most non-minorities don't face (and therefore can't empathize with), leaving those who do face workplace, adoption/child custody/etc. discrimination waiting for even longer. I'd hold off on my ability to get married to protect them across the board.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-65716221805702141992015-06-26T14:50:00.001-04:002015-06-26T14:50:38.458-04:00Obergefell v. Hodges in Gaming TermsSince this blog focuses on GLBT gaming issues, it's probably a good idea to note larger GLBT issues. And today the big issue is the Supreme Court's decision in <i><a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf">Obergefell v. Hodges</a></i>. I have mixed feelings about the ruling, so this is a really difficult post to write. Obviously, as a homosexual I am incredibly pleased with the result. Gay marriage is a huge win for the GLBT community and I couldn't be happier that we won. But, from a legal perspective, I think that the case was wrongly decided. Most people that want to talk about dissents in today's ruling will focus on the perennially snarky Justice Scalia. And he did live up to his reputation, saying that the Justice in the majority "see what lesser legal minds--minds like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_M._Cooley">Thomas Cooley</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marshall_Harlan">John Marshall Harlan</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Wendell_Holmes,_Jr.">Oliver Wendell Holmes</a>, Jr., <span id="goog_1385486450"></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_Hand">Learned Hand</a><span id="goog_1385486451"></span>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Brandeis">Louis Brandeis</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft">William Howard Taft</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_N._Cardozo">Benjamin Cardozo</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Black">Hugo Black</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Frankfurter">Felix Frankfurter</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Jackson">Robert Jackson</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Friendly">Henry Friendly</a>--could not" and "The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the <a href="http://www.fortunecookiemessage.com/">fortune cookie</a>." But, more so than even the majority opinion, I believe that Chief Justice Roberts' dissent captures the correct constitutional analysis.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If you are among the many Americans--of whatever sexual orientation--who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today's decision. Celebrate the achievement of a desired goal. Celebrate the opportunity for a new expression of commitment to a partner. Celebrate the availability of new benefits. but do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it. - Chief Justice John Roberts</blockquote>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">A Bunch of Legal Gobbledeegook Probably Not Interesting to Non-Legal Types</span></b><br />
Like <i><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15714610278411834284&q=lawrence+v+texas&hl=en&as_sdt=6,47">Lawrence</a></i> and <i><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6241888197107641609&q=us+v+windsor&hl=en&as_sdt=6,47">Windsor</a></i>, Justice Kennedy authored the majority opinion in <i>Obergefell</i>. And, like both of those decisions, Kennedy places a lot of emphasis on dignity as a driving factor. 14th Amendment challenges and decisions generally come in three types: due process, equal protection, and substantive due process. Due process means that the laws cannot be arbitrary and that there is space to review them. Basically, everyone gets their day in court. Equal protection means that the laws have to be applied to everyone the same way. Of course, most laws make distinctions between groups of people (prisoners cannot own guns, for example). But the usual standard for making distinctions based on sexual orientation is rational basis meaning that as long as there was <i>any</i> rational basis for the law and it was not motivated solely to punish the class of people targeted, it stands. <br />
<br />
Finally, there is substantive due process, which, despite what the opinion says claims, is the real meat of the holding. Substantive due process is actually a really simple idea. Many of our rights are explicitly enumerated in the Constitution and those are easier to deal with. But, there are some rights that aren't but are so fundamental to the ordered function of society that we cannot function as a society without them. Marriage is one of those rights. The right to send your children to the school of your choice is another. To be eligible for substantive due process protection, the rights have to be fundamental, well-recognized, and essential to the functioning of a liberal society. Ultimately, Justice Kennedy found that even as marriage is a protected fundamental right, the right to choose who you entered into a marriage with is also fundamental.<br />
<br />
It seems like a good decision and the opinion reads really well. But, substantive due process is one of the most hated legal doctrines out there. And it is, as the Chief Justice rightly noted, rightfully reviled. Today we generally think of those that hate judicial activism (generally code for using substantive due process) as being on the right. But, the most reviled substantive due process case (and arguably the most reviled U.S. Supreme Court opinion) struck down a maximum hours law passed by the state of New York to protect bakery workers' health. It was called <i>Lochner v. New York</i> and in legal circles it's as radioactive as <i>The Dread Scot Case</i> (black people can never be citizens of the U.S.) or <i>Plessy v. Ferguson</i> (separate but equal is okay). <i>Dread Scot </i>and <i>Plessy</i> are reviled for their outcomes, <i>Lochner </i>is reviled for its methods AND its outcome. In <i>Lochner</i>, the Supreme Court basically just said, "This law is dumb. We don't like it and therefore it must not have a rational basis. So, we'll overturn it."<br />
<br />
When you pull off all of the gloss, that's basically what happened today in <i>Obergefell</i>. Do we have a long-standing history of extending the right to marriage to same-sex couples? No. Is there a rational basis for treating same-sex couples differently than opposite sex couples in extending marital benefits? Arguably yes, which means deference to the legislature is appropriate. Now mind you, Justice Kennedy's result is fine. I'm thrilled that I will be able to get married in any state I choose. But, if we're going to make changes to the country's basic playbook based solely on the whims of Justice Kennedy, let's just cast him a crown and be done with it. Chief Justice Roberts has the right of it.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">U.S. Constitution = Rulebook</span></b><br />
To explain why I find Roberts' position so compelling, let's use an analogy. And, because this is a blog about gaming, that analogy will be to playing a roleplaying game. For the vast sweep of American history, the U.S. Constitution has functioned not as law itself, but as meta-law. Unlike most State constitutions, there's very little actual legislation in the U.S. Constitution. Rather, it's full of rules about <i>how</i> we govern ourselves. The Constitution is silent on what the appropriate level of welfare payments is or what city America should recognize as the capital of Israel. But, it speaks very clearly about <i>how</i> the United States government should resolve those questions. Appropriate welfare payment levels are determined through legislation, which requires the concurrence of both houses of Congress and either the President's signature or a congressional override of a presidential veto. Because the Constitution vests foreign policy in the President's hands, <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/13-628_l5gm.pdf">the President gets to decide whether or not Jerusalem is the capital of Israel</a> (at least in the eyes of the United States).<br />
<br />
In gaming terms, the U.S. Constitution is like the an RPG rulebook. The rulebook contains all of the mechanics necessary for resolving actions at the table. It also contains rules that deal with optional situations. For instance, the rulebook might give mechanics for dealing with avalanches. The rulebook doesn't say that your adventure has to have an avalanche in it. But, if you do have an avalanche, you adjudicate its effects using the system on page X. Similarly, it has options for dealing with player choice--you don't have to take a particular feat, but if you do it must be implemented in a specific way.<br />
<br />
Of course, one of the core ideas in RPGs is that if the rules don't work, the GM can (and should!) throw them out. We don't do that with the U.S. Constitution, but this does bring up an interesting next step in the analogy... Of course, sometimes the rules do need refining and we have legislators (or game designers, if you will) for that. Additionally, if enough fans want to change something in the game, it likely gets changed, much like adopting a Constitutional amendment. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Supreme Court = GM</span></b><br />
Then we get to everybody in the country: the PCs. The PCs are going to interact with, well, everything. And sometimes the rules are going to conflict. Sometimes the subsystem that the designers adopted in Splat Book B are going to conflict with the ones adopted in Splat Book A. Sometimes, portions of the core rules themselves will come into conflict. For instance, we have a strong constitutional principle that the federal government has a paramount role in interstate commerce. But, the 21st Amendment provides that, as part of relegalizing alcohol sales in the US, States have inordinate control over regulating alcohol within their borders. What does that mean for direct shipments from wineries in one state to consumers in another state? (<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1116.ZS.html">This was a real case.</a>) It's not that different than resolving areas where the rules in an RPG conflict with each other. The GM makes a decision. The GM should be making that decision in concert with everyone else at the table that has a good understanding of the rules, but might not.<br />
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(I have some ideas here about expanding this analogy out with things like case law = house rules and that GMs = District courts and games' FAQ/errata processes = Supreme Court, but that would make this post way too long).<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Legislative Process = Player Agency</b></span><br />
And this is where things get interesting. Sometimes GM rulings are good interpretations of the rules. Sometimes they are just GM fiat. Fiat is necessary to keep the game going sometimes, but it can destroy the fun and immersion that are inherent to enjoying a good RPG. This is one reason that there are systems out there that have <i>no</i> GM. The GM that is doing it right aids the game by keeping it moving. The GM that's doing it wrong robs the players of their agency (in the game sense, not in the legal sense). In many ways, that's what happened here. <br />
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The majority opinion interprets the rules of the game and makes a policy choice that should go to the players. Is expanding marriage to same-couples a good idea? (Yes) Well, that's not what we have judges for. We have judges to answer a different question: Do the rules of the game as set up <i>require</i> that marriage be expanded to same-sex couples? This is the distinction between speeding the game along and destroying player agency. The court was actually looking at two questions in <i>Obergefell</i>. The first question was whether or not the 14th Amendment required all states to allow same-sex marriages. The opinion answers this in the affirmative, so it's largely able to gloss over the second question. That question was "Do states have to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states even if the recognizing state doesn't allow same-sex marriages itself?" But, you say, requiring recognition means that effectively the states have to allow same-sex marriage. And that's true. But we functioned that way with straight marriage for many years and still do today--there's debate between states about how distantly related someone has to be from you in order to marry them and civilization hasn't crashed. <br />
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But, there's a fine distinction between these two and it's important. Saying that all states <i>must</i> allow same-sex marriages robs the people of their agency to make decisions through the democratic process. Requiring recognition would probably have been workable. But, not requiring recognition could have been solved as well--most likely with legislation and constitutional amendments to allow gay marriage in the states. Chief Justice Roberts did get one thing right today when he said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[H]owever heartened the proponents of same-sex marriage might be on this day, it is worth acknowledging what they have lost, and lost forever: the opportunity to win the true acceptance that comes from persuading their fellow citizens of the justice of their cause.</blockquote>
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Or, in RPG terms, the ruling destroyed the players' agency.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-18257232591736108592015-06-25T10:39:00.000-04:002015-06-25T15:36:45.955-04:00Vigilante Class Walkthrough<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/Arrow_(Stephen_Amell).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/Arrow_(Stephen_Amell).jpg" width="173" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen<br />
Copyright the CW, licensed<br />
for promotional use of the<br />
show <i>Arrow</i>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Paizo recently released a <a href="http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/ultimateIntrigue" target="_blank">playtest</a> for the new class from it's forthcoming release <i>Ultimate Intrigue</i>. The vigilante class is designed to hold one personality by day and another, ass-kicking, personality by night (or vice versa, I guess). Honestly, at first I wasn't particularly interested in this class. At first glance, it seemed like an attempt to port superheroes into Pathfinder. And that's fine for some people's games, it's just not my cup of tea. I enjoy watching Arrow, I just can't picture <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Queen_(Arrow)" target="_blank">Oliver Queen</a> on Golarion. Plus, I was hoping that <i>Ultimate Intrigue</i> would turn out to be a more skills and social encounter-heavy rulebook and the vigilante class did not seem to be a harbinger for that. Despite my misgivings, I persevered and found something to love with the vigilante.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Vigilante Class Overview</span></b><br />
<b>Alignment restrictions</b>: None<br />
<b>Hit Dice</b>: d8<br />
<b>BAB</b>: 3/4<br />
<b>Good saves</b>: Reflex & Will<br />
<b>Poor saves</b>: Fortitude<br />
<b>Skill ranks</b>: 6 + Int bonus<br />
<b>Class Skills</b>: Bluff, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Escape Artist, Knowledge (local), Perception, Perform, Profession, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth + skills from his/her specialization<br />
<b>Proficiencies</b>: Light and martial weapons; light armor, medium, armor, and shields<br />
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In general, we've got a good basis for a class here. The playtest PDF is 14 pages long, though 2.5 of those are title page, short forward by Jason Buhlman, and the OGL text. The class skill list is pretty good, especially considering that each vigilante's specialization will add a few extras along the way. The one exception is the choice not to give Intimidate as a class skill. Only the Avenger and the Zealot specializations add it as a class skill. But, one of the vigilante's most useful abilities, renown, is keyed to it. If you're going to key a general class ability to a skill, it ought to be a class skill. On top of this, all but one of the vigilante's class powers are extraordinary abilities, meaning that magic will have few effects on the vigilante's ability to fully exercise his class skills at any time.<br />
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Also, for those into this sort of thing, the different vigilante specialization descriptions switch between male and female pronouns, which indicate that we could expect to see multiple iconics for the vigilante. Or, maybe that's just an error since this is a playtest document. It seems like much of the vigilante base class is really just a chassis which the specialization will fill in. Even more than other chassis-style classes like the sorcerer, the vigilante really seems like a blank slate. Or perhaps I should say blank slates--since a lot of the vigilante's powers are tied into whether he's in full-on vigilante mode or mild-mannered daytime social mode, it's almost like a study in multiple personality disorder from a fantasy RPG perspective.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Vigilante Class Powers</span></b><br />
<b>Dual Identity (Ex) (1st)</b>: What good is a class with two identities if you can't keep them separate. And the two identities are very different from each other. Changing back and forth from one to another takes 5 minutes and must be done in secret. And each identity really is separate. If you attempt to scry on the vigilante's secret identity while he's doing his daytime thing, <i>you get nothing</i>. Vice-versa for attempts to connect the day to the night.<br />
Interestingly, each identity can have its own alignment, provided that both are within one step of each other. This can be a challenge, because although you can take feats and class abilities based on one of the alignments, you can only use them when in the identity that qualifies for those abilities. So, if you're a Zealot (divine caster inspired) vigilante with a nighttime lawful neutral identity that casts divine spells granted by LG Iomedae and a daytime true neutral identity, no divine spells for you during the day. Some might see this as a challenge, others might see it as an interesting role-playing opportunity.<br />
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<b>Social Grace (Ex) (1st, 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, 18th)</b>: You've got your dual identities, but don't want them getting connected. A vigilante gets a +20 bonus to Disguise checks while in his social/daytime identity to appear merely as a member of polite society. A word of caution: this does not work both ways. There is NO corresponding ability not to have the nighttime identity linked back to the daytime identity, so be secretive and don't get caught taking the law into your own hands.<br />
Also, at 2nd level and at every 4 levels thereafter, the vigilante picks a skill tied to a mental ability score. The vigilante gets a +4 bonus on checks related to this skill when in his social/daytime identity only.<br />
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<b>Vigilante Specialization (Ex) (1st)</b>: Each vigilante picks a specialization between avenger (warrior focused), stalker (roguish), warlock (arcane caster), and zealot (divine caster). I'll cover those in more depth later. But, one thing that I do like about this choice is that it opens up lots of space for more design. There's space for new vigilante talents AND there's space for more specializations. The specializations are more keyed to the nighttime/vigilante identity, but I'm digressing there.<br />
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<b>Vigilante Talents (2nd)</b>: At 2nd level and every even level thereafter, a vigilante picks up talents related to his specialization. To me this was something of a 50/50. On the one hand, it's cool that the talents are tied into the specialization. On the other, the vigilante has the opportunity to do a lot of interesting things with skills. I'd have preferred that there be some universal vigilante talents that any vigilante can take. I like this for two reasons. First, it recognizes that there are some abilities that would be useful to any vigilante, regardless of specialization. Second, universal talents go a long way to opening up future design space. If Paizo or a 3rd party publisher wants to design a new vigilante specialization in the future, they are stuck designing everything in that specialization from the ground up. With some universal talents, it'll be easier to fit a new vigilante specialization on a 1-2 page spread in a <i>Player's Companion</i>.<br />
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<b>Renown (Ex) (3rd, 9th, 15th)</b>: The vigilante gains the power to go around town in his mild-mannered identity and talk up how scary his secret identity is. At first this can only be done for a small area (village or neighborhood of up to 200 or so) but it grows over time. The vigilante spends his time talking up his nighttime identity and word gets around: he gets a +4 bonus on Intimidate checks while in his nighttime identity. At 9th level, the vigilante can influence a community up to 5,000 people large or two communities of up to 2,000 people. The intimidate bonus increases to +6. At 15th level, the population area increases to 25,000 (or two cities of up to 10K) and the Intimidate bonus increases to +8.<br />
This is a cool ability, but it could be improved in a couple of ways. First, Intimidate isn't a class skill for the vigilante. The Avenger and Zealot specializations get it, but the Warlock and the Stalker don't. This ability is too central to the vigilante's schtick not to be a class ability to everybody. Secondly, the jumps are too big. There are more gradiated settlement sizes and there's no reason not to expand this ability out to take advantage of all of them.<br />
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<b>Startling Appearance (Ex) (5th)</b>: Okay, this is just awesome to conceptualize. The vigilante is setting up an ambush and--wham!--the hammer of justice is falling on some malefectors. If the vigilante makes an attack against a foe that's unaware of his presence, the foe is treated as flat-footed for the rest of the vigilante's turn. But also, the foe takes a -4 penalty on attacks made against the vigilante until the start of the vigilante's next turn. Basically, this gives the vigilante the opportunity to attack twice or to go up against some foes that might normally be able to hit him hard and take him out early.<br />
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<b>Loyal Aid (Ex) (7th)</b>: What kind of a vigilante doesn't have a good support crew. Now there are game mechanics to make this happen for you as vigilante. Within the vigilante's area of renown, the vigilante gains a bonus on diplomacy checks to gather information equal to 1/2 his level. So, that's starting off as a +3 and rising pretty quickly. Once per week, the vigilante can also increase the DC of skill checks for others gathering information about him or trying to track him by his level. So, if the vigilante controls when he'll be striking, he's going to be incredibly hard to follow back to his lair. Similarly, if the vigilante knows someone will be looking for him, time to up that Diplomacy DC to figure out what the vigilante is up to!<br />
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<b>Many Guises (Ex) (9th)</b>: Allows a third identity, John Q. 6-pack. The vigilante appears as a generic person of his race; his alignment detects as neutral; and he ports over that +20 Disguise bonus to appear this way. Assuming a decent Charisma score and a few ranks in Disguise, it's going to take about a 30+whatever the vigilante rolls on the d20 to figure out that he's not who he appears to be. To whit, you ain't catching him.<br />
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<b>Frightening Appearance (Ex) (11th)</b>: This stacks on top of Startling Appearance and improves it. As a free action, the vigilante makes an Intimidate checks against his target and enemies within 10 feet to demoralize them. Note that because of his Renown ability, the vigilante is getting a +6 bonus to that Intimidate check in addition to any skill ranks, class skill bonuses, ability score bonuses, and a d20 roll. Chances are excellent that the demoralization will work and good that it'll extend its effects by beating the necessary DC by 5.<br />
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<b>Quick Change (Ex) (13th)</b>: The vigilante can change identities as a full round action, but must make Disguise checks to stop those that know his other identity from making him. On the other hand, using a whole minute means the change is made and nobody figures him out.<br />
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<b>Stunning Appearance (Ex) (17th)</b>: It starts with appearance, so it must improve on the Startling and Frightening Appearance abilities, right? You betcha! And it stacks. If the vigilante's appearance attack hits, the victim must make a Will save or be stunned until the end of the vigilante's next turn.<br />
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<b>Everyman (Su) (19th)</b>: The vigilante can now appear to be specific random Joe Q. Six-Packs. The vigilante gets the +20 Disguise bonus to be this rando person and a +10 bonus on Bluff checks to act like that person (remember bonuses if the vigilante knows the target of his impersonation). The vigilante is even so good at this that spells and spell-like abilities designed to find that other individual find the vigilante in disguise instead 50% of the time.<br />
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<b>Vengeance Strike (Ex) (20th)</b>: A vigilante can use up to 5 consecutive standard actions to study his target before striking from unawares. For each round the vigilante spent in study, the vigilante gains the option to use following: +4 bonus on the attack roll, +3d6 precision damage, or treat the die roll as 2 higher for the purpose of threatening a critical hit. (i.e., for each round in study the vigilante picks one and if the vigilante picks the same one twice, the effects stack. Does that mean that 5 rounds of study can yield +15d6 damage? Yes. That's why this will likely be nerfed to +2d6 damage per round in study, but that's still pretty awesome).<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Vigilante Specializations</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Avenger</span></b><br />
<b>Class Skills</b>: Climb, Intimidate, Knowledge (dungeoneering), Ride, Survival, Swim<br />
<b>Base Ability</b>: Full Base Attack Bonus<br />
<b>Selected Talent Options</b>:<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Armor Silence (Ex) & Armor Skin (Ex)</i>: Avengers that take these talents don't apply armor check penalties on Stealth (silence) or Acrobatics and Escape Artist (skin) skill checks when wearing light or medium armor. Umm...is it me or is this an ability that rogues would love to have? Why don't they get it?</li>
<li><i>Close the Gap (Ex)</i>: Designate one foe within 20' not adjacent to the vigilante. That foe doesn't get attacks of opportunity against the vigilante so long as the vigilante ends his turn adjacent to the foe.</li>
<li><i>Environment Weapon (Ex)</i>: Choose a ranger favored terrain. So long as there are moveable items around, can find an improvised weapon as a swift action and use it without penalties to attack rolls.</li>
<li><i>Favored Maneuver (Ex)</i>: Gain Improved [insert combat maneuver here] AND gain another +2 bonus on foes that are unaware of the vigilante when the vigilante uses the maneuver on them.</li>
<li><i>Fist of the Avenger (Ex)</i>: Gains Improved Unarmed Strike and does bonus damage of vigilante level divided by four.</li>
<li><i>Living Shield (Ex)</i>: When grappling an opponent and being attacked by another opponent, make a combat maneuver check against your grappled opponent. If you succeed, opponent takes damage from the other opponent's attack.</li>
<li><i>Signature Weapon (Ex)</i>: Choose a type of weapon. Gain Weapon Focus feat as a bonus feat. At 8th level gain Weapon Specialization in that weapon.</li>
<li><i>Vital Punishment (Ex)</i>: Gain Vital Strike as a bonus feat. Once per round when making attack of opportunity, apply Vital Strike to the attack.</li>
</ul>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Stalker</span></b><br />
<div>
<b>Class Skills</b>: Acrobatics, Appraise, Climb, Disable Device, Knowledge (engineering), Use Magic Device<br />
<b>Base Ability</b>: Deal +1d6 extra damage against foes that are unaware of the vigilante's presence. Increases by +1d6 every 2 levels. Can also use it against foes that are aware of vigilante's presence when sneak attack would normally be in play, but the d6s are lowered to d4s.<br />
<b>Selected Talent Options</b>:<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Another Day (Ex, Su)</i>: When dropped unconscious because of hit point damage, automatically stabilize but appear to be dead.</li>
<li><i>Case the Joint (Ex)</i>: Spend one hour at a location while in social identity. Make a DC Knowledge (engineering) check. If you succeed, may reroll any one failed skill check related to that location (stealth, disable device, and sleight of hand are specifically called out).</li>
<li><i>Foe Collision* (Ex)</i>: When dealing hidden strike damage (base ability above), deal an equal amount of nonlethal damage to a foe adjacent to the enemy (even if not adjacent to you).</li>
<li><i>Leave an Opening* (Ex)</i>: At beginning of foe's next turn, if stalker vigilante threatens the foe stalker vigilante gets an attack of opportunity.</li>
<li><i>Mighty Ambush* (Ex)</i>: Successful hidden strike allows vigilante to drop damaged enemy unconscious for 1d4 rounds. (Fort negates)</li>
<li><i>Perfect Fall (Ex)</i>: As long as there's at least a wall nearby, never suffer falling damage. Even if no wall, suffer only half damage. Always land on your feet.</li>
<li><i>Perfect Vulnerability (Ex)</i>: Make one attack per day against a foe's touch AC (denying Dexterity bonus).</li>
<li><i>Rooftop Infiltrator (Ex)</i>: Gain climb speed equal to half of normal speed.</li>
<li><i>Strike the Unseen (Ex)</i>: Gain Blind-Fight as bonus feat and make hidden strike damage against foes who are totally concealed.</li>
<li><i>Throat Jab* (Ex)</i>: Successful hidden strike on an opponent renders opponent unable to speak until vigilante's next turn.</li>
<li><i>Twisting Fear (Ex)</i>: Whenever vigilante imposes the shaken, frightened, or panicked conditions on an opponent, opponent also suffers extra non-lethal damage equal to half the vigilante's normal hidden strike damage. This applies with the normal ability to apply shaken condition to enemies by demoralize them?</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Warlock</span></b><br />
<b>Class Skills</b>: Fly, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (planes), Spellcraft, Use Magic Device<br />
<b>Base Ability</b>: Ability to cast limited number of 1st level arcane spells.<br />
<b>Selected Talent Options</b>:<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Arcane Training II-VI</i>: Available at the levels at which a warlock vigilante would become eligible to use a new level of spells, the warlock vigilante must use talents to gain spells of the higher level.</li>
<li><i>Arcane Striker (Su)</i>: Gain Arcane Strike as a bonus feat. At 12th and 16th levels gain further effects normally tied to magic weapons that can be applied to the arcane strike.</li>
<li><i>Bombs (Su)</i>: Gain bombs like an alchemist. Don't add intelligence to bomb damage because "don't possess the alchemist's thrown anything class feature." So, if you take the Throw Anything feat, do you start adding Int damage to bombs?</li>
<li><i>Caster's Defense (Su)</i>: Gain Combat Casting as a bonus feat. If successfully casts defensively, gain DR/magic equal to 1/2 vigilante level for one round. At 10th level, the DR also gains an alignment component.</li>
<li><i>Educated Defense (Su)</i>: If successfully identify a spell using Spellcraft, use immediate action to negate the spell. Can negate up to as many spell levels per day as the character has vigilante levels.</li>
<li><i>Elemental Battle Armor (Su)</i>: Gains resistance 5 to cold, electricity, or fire. At 4th level, those attacking vigilante with natural weapon or non-reach handheld weapons take 1d6 points of that same energy every time they strike the vigilante.</li>
<li><i>Mystic Bolt (Sp)</i>: Gets a ray-like melee touch attack of elemental energy. Using it doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. Can also be used as a ranged attack with a range increment of 30 feet. Does 1d6+[vigilante's level] damage of energy damage. Can take Weapon Focus for it, but must take Weapon Focus (mystic bolt) rather than Weapon Focus (ray).</li>
<li><i>Social Simulacrum (Sp)</i>: Create simulacrum (as per <i>lesser simulacrum</i>) that lasts up to 4 hours.</li>
<li><i>Tattoo Chamber (Su)</i>: Magically absorb some items via a tattoo. Can retrieve the items with a swift action and can also trigger spell-like abilities of the items while stored as if the vigilante were wielding them.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Zealot</span></b></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<b>Class Skills</b>: Intimidate, Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (religion), Knowledge (planes), Spellcraft, Survival<br />
<b>Base Ability</b>: Limited spellcasting ability of 0th and 1st level spells off of the inquisitor spell list.<br />
<b>Selected Talent Options</b>:<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Channel Energy (Su)</i>: Channel energy as a cleric of vigilante's level minus 4.</li>
<li><i>Divine Bastion (Su)</i>: Swift action to gain CMD bonus equal to 1/2 vigilante level. At 5th level can grant bonus to allies adjacent to vigilante as well. Can use as many times per day as the character has vigilante levels. <i>Comment</i>: I'd feel like this ability was more balanced if the character had to expend extra uses for each other character that receives the CMD bonus.</li>
<li><i>Divine Training I-VI (Ex)</i>: First of all, this HAS to be a type. This can't be an extraordinary ability, can it? Anyway, gain ability to cast inquisitor level spells of higher levels as the vigilante achieves levels when those spells would normally be castable.</li>
<li><i>Domain</i>: Gain one cleric domain's powers, though not it's bonus spells or spell slots.</li>
<li><i>Empower Symbol (Su)</i>: As standard action, empower holy symbol to act like center of <i>consecration/desecration</i> spell. At 10th level, this just happens passively.</li>
<li><i>Life Bond (Ex)</i>: When ally within 30 feet takes damage, vigilante can instead take half of that damage. Useable once plus vigilante's Charisma bonus times per day.</li>
<li><i>Revivifying Touch (Su)</i>: Once per day can use to heal an ally that died within one round. Touch heals 5d8+[one point per vigilante level] and brings that person back from the dead if healing sufficient to bring back to life.</li>
<li><i>Stalwart (Ex)</i>: If vigilante succeeds at a Fortitude or Will saving throw, the vigilante avoids all effects of whatever caused the saving throw. Basically this is improved uncanny dodge for the other two types of saves...at the same time.</li>
</ul>
<div>
In general, I don't think I like this class very much. First of all, it just doesn't feel particularly coherent. Rather than discrete classes, these just seem like abilities that could be layered onto the fighter, cleric, wizard/sorcerer, and rogue class to let them be dual-identity heroes. One on hand, it has a lot of abilities that I find to be a little bit overpowered. On the other, they don't all fit together very well. In general I find the class disorganized and lacking coherence--for players at least. I find that this class is fantastic for villains! Villains need some of these abilities to get past things like alignment detection and Sense Motive checks. Not all villains of course, but certainly the main villain mastermind that orchestrating everything. What fun is it if the villain can't overcome that. So, I think that I might grant some bonus levels in vigilante to villains.<br />
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But for players, this just doesn't seem like a well-organized class. I have high hopes for <i>Ultimate Intrigue</i>. My plans for running an entire Kaer Maga campaign hinge on giving players the ability to do a lot more with skill checks. (Okay, actually, they really just hinge on convincing the PCs that there will be ramifications if they kill humanoids or other civilized creatures, but I still have high hopes for <i>Ultimate Intrigue</i>). What I'm seeing about this class doesn't fulfill those hopes. I'm used to better class designs out of Paizo.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-12017870762742310322015-06-24T11:27:00.000-04:002015-06-24T16:20:35.761-04:00Blue Rose Kickstarter Launches<a href="http://greenronin.com/">Green Ronin</a>'s <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/504269797/blue-rose-the-age-roleplaying-game-of-romantic-fan/description">Blue Rose Kickstarter</a> has launched. First launched in 2005, Blue Rose has always focused more on romantic fantasy and has always been GLBT-friendly--which has had some mixed reception. The Kickstarted launched earlier this week. Green Ronin will be using its Adventure Game Engine (AGE) system for mechanics. <br />
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I haven't made a decision about whether to back or not yet. On the one hand, I want to back something inclusive. On the other, I've got a lot of setting books and already have dropped significant funds on Kickstarters this year. I will likely star this one and make a game-time decision with 48 hours left. It's already funded, so I don't feel like I'm holding them back. Anybody have thoughts on this thing?<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/504269797/blue-rose-the-age-roleplaying-game-of-romantic-fan/widget/video.html" width="640"> </iframe><br />
<br />
In addition to the setting and mechanics themselves, there are some cool stretch goals. Here are a few of my favorites:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>$22,500: Designer Crystal Frasier will detail the laeyvel, embodied souls beyond the more common expressions of male and female in Aldea.</li>
<li>$27,500: Designer Jeb Boyt will write a series framework called A Game of Thorns and detail the Pirate Isles. </li>
<li>$33,000: Designer F. Wesley Schneider will write the Orchard of Tears micro setting.</li>
<li>$50,000: The setting book goes hardcover.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Crystal Frasier and F. Wesley Schneider are two of my favorite Paizo staffers and have good perspective on making products GLBT-friendly, being GLBT themselves. I don't know much about Jeb Boyt, but I love all things involving pirates. And a hardcover is obvious why it's good!</div>
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<br />
Green Ronin is also promoting the return of Blue Rose with a <a href="http://blueroserpg.com/blue-rose-rpg-t-shirt-contest-terms-conditions/">T-shirt design contest</a>. Those want to help design artwork that demonstrates "Blue Rose RPG’s world & theme of diversity and inclusion" and invited to do so before July 18. (Actually, the official rules say the contest runs from June 18-July 18 but that entries must be submitted before June 18, but this seems like a typo). Winner gets a copy of their shirt and a free copy of the RPG book. Second and third places get their choice of a free shirt (winner's design, not theirs) or the RPG book.<br />
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EDIT: I'm told that winner of the t-shirt design contest also gets a cash prize of $300!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-26872922098774074162015-06-23T11:03:00.000-04:002015-06-23T11:03:00.316-04:00One more GenCon GLBT EventI've missed a GLBT event for the GenCon schedule. Greg's, and Indy gay bar, is hosting a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/372239432980150/">GenCon Appreciation BBQ & Gay Gaymer Meetup</a>. Unconfirmed rumors also say that a GenCon badge gets you in to Greg's cover-free on Friday evening.<br />
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<a href="https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/t31.0-8/s2048x2048/11402469_938097379565940_3775356628072494973_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/t31.0-8/s2048x2048/11402469_938097379565940_3775356628072494973_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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When: Saturday, August 1, 6:00p.m.<br />
Where: Greg's Indy, 231 E 16th St<br />
Why: Because they love us and are giving us free things!<br />
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All the details (from Greg's):<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;">During the RFRA debacle earlier this year, we were proud to see GEN CON take a stand supporting the GAY COMMUNITY.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;">As a way to say THANK YOU Gen Con - and encourage any GAYMERS and all our FRIENDS at GENCON to be united once more for FREE BURGERS, HOTDOGS, COLESLAW, COOKIES, VEGGIES, and CHIPS at our first annual GEN CON APPRECIATION BBQ & GAY GAYMER MEETUP.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;">As our door now states after the passage of RFRA: "WE PROUDLY SERVE EVERYONE" and welcome any, and all GAMERS visiting our fine city this weekend to come enjoy our grilled tastiness,affordable cocktails, and other people who have a flare for dressing up in costume when its not Halloween.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;">Food to be served from 6:00PM to 7:30PM, or until its gone. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.7600002288818px;">GREGS is located on 16th street (1.6 miles north of Monument Circle) and Alabama (3 blocks east of MERIDIAN). We encourage GAMERS to ride together and use UBER ($5 each way)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-72688242848980860052015-06-22T14:15:00.000-04:002015-06-22T14:15:00.100-04:00Invoking IP: What is it with the OGL?<i>All of the usual disclaimers about my being a law student rather than a lawyer apply. If you're reading this post after I've passed the bar, I'm not YOUR lawyer, so it doesn't matter anyway. Consider this an inquiry into a question rather than definitive legal advice. If you want legal advice, call someone who can give it (including me--AFTER I've passed the bar), but don't roll into a courtroom claiming that the article below is in any way definitive--it's not.</i><br />
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I followed a post on <a href="http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2015/06/an-ogl-primer.html">Bat in the Attic</a> back to an earlier post on <a href="http://www.tenkarstavern.com/2015/06/wherein-i-rant-about-ogl-compatibility.html">Tenkar's Tavern</a> where they were talking about gaming products. Apparently, someone created a one page dungeon/adventure design contest, someone dropped a trademark they shouldn't have on it, and all hell broke loose. I can't say that I 100% endorse either blogger's views, but here's a few portions of Tenkar's post that I do agree with:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Mocking the OGL while displaying a compatibility logo isn't just poor taste - it's asinine.</li>
<li>Compatibility logos and licenses. You get to use someone's trademark on your product. It's awesome until you fuck with it. Why are you fucking with it? Sure, this is the internet and we are all to some extent attention whores, but why piss on someone else's work that you are making a claim to appreciate?</li>
<li>If you're not sure it's fair use, assume it isn't.</li>
</ul>
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In response to this, Bat in the Attic decided to pen what's actually a pretty decent article about complying with the OGL. The Bat hits the highlights of the distinction between the <a href="http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/ogl.html">Open Gaming License</a> and <a href="https://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons</a>--to whit that one is an all or nothing proposition (not 100% true with the <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/">multiple CC versions available</a>, but we'll let that slide) and the other allows for the protection of some content but not all content.</div>
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I continue to contend that the OGL and all its successors are a fantastic piece of legal chicanery. This comes from two fairly well settled pieces of law. First, it's well accepted that games and their rules are not subject to copyright. It's also well settled that the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_of_the_brow#US_copyright_law">sweat of the brow</a>" theory (I worked hard for this, so I must have a copyright) is a legal non-starter. That means that if there is a true copyright for tabletop roleplaying games, it must come from a different source. One theory could be that the "rules" to an RPG are somehow different from the rules of other games like Monopoly or Spades. Another possibility would be that the game rule materials are so intrinsically tied in to trademarkable product identity and copyrightable elements in RPGs pre-cooked settings that the copyright must extend to them. </div>
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A third possibility is that the rules of an RPG extend so far beyond what's historically considered rules for a "game," that they should somehow be afforded greater protection. This theory cuts both ways. One on hand, the protection would be created based upon the RPGs technical complexity. But, that's not the province of copyright law. That's the province of patent law, which requires that anything patented be "novel." This means that while the RPG <i>might</i> have been eligible for a patent when Dungeons and Dragons was first conceptualized forty years ago, the fact that it was never patented means that the "invention" spilled into the public domain anyway.</div>
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I have a fourth possibility, built out of cynicism: RPGs are assumed to have a level of copyright (by the public) because there are big (okay moderately sized) game companies out there that have legal departments and outside counsel that are willing to file lawsuits to bury anyone that wants to contend otherwise. Under this theory, RPGs as games still lack copyright protection but no one with the legal muscle to fight back has cared to. (In case reps of any large game producers are reading this, I don't have any desire to do so either).</div>
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This is where the OGL and its successor agreements come in and why they are so genius. The OGL bills itself as a license, but really it's a contract. Contracts are just private laws. When you contract with someone, you create private law between the two of them. You make an agreement to do something (or, sometimes to refrain from doing something) in exchange with the other party's promise to do something. Once a contract is accepted, it becomes binding, aka it is the law for everyone that's a party to the contract. Questions about how that gets applied? Take a look at the OGL:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.</blockquote>
<div>
Say someone offers me $100 to paint my house blue. I take the $100 dollars. At this point in time, I have a legal obligation to paint my house blue. Or, maybe the contract is to pay me $100 to only paint my house with a particular brand of paint. I'm now locked into using that type of paint. Licensing agreements work the same way, only with copyright things get a little more interesting because there are <b>large</b> criminal and civil penalties prescribed in 17 U.S.C. </div>
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That's what makes the OGL so fascinating. It's a licensing agreement whereby the producer of the game says, "I'll let you make material related to my game, but you can only do so under a specific set of circumstances. Oh, and by the way, you have to agree that previous "owners" of the game rules have a copyright (which would make challenging the copyright at a later date difficult, to say the least):</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.</blockquote>
Now, it matters a lot less whether or not the game manufacturers hold a valid copyright or not. Maybe they do, maybe they don't. But, you've sat down and agreed that you won't challenge their copyright as part of a contract. Contracts allow people to waive their rights all the time and that's exactly what's happening here.<br />
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So, to bring it back to gaming terms, the copyright status of RPGs are a little bit like gods in the Forgotten Realms. In and of themselves, they lack power. But, once enough people believe in them (by producing 3rd party products or just buying into the idea of the license's power), they grow in power and can influence you. And, once you've given them that power, you've given it to them and there's little you can do about it.<br />
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To whom does this apply? Well, if you've purchased physical RPG books, you aren't bound. Even if you've bought PDFs from websites, you're likely not bound. Even if the website made tacit agreement to honor the terms of the OGL and/or successor licenses are part of its terms, it likely wouldn't hold up--that's not the kind of right you can waive in small print. But, what if you are an adventurer developer in one of these OGL systems or a game designer that wants to model some mechanics?<br />
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You're in trouble if you've produced <i>anything</i> and put the OGL or successor agreements on the product. Because that implies that you bought into the contract and accepted it--see Section 3 of the OGL above. If you've done that--especially in a commercial product--a court is likely to assume that you either knew what you were doing or that you should have known what you were doing.<br />
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What's an aspiring adventure writer to do? Well, my personal advice is to keep the behemoth off of your back by just signing the damn thing and agreeing to its terms. Paizo themselves are proof that even with a monolithic opponent that you can keep to the OGL's terms and still make good money. (They are also, coincidentally, excellent proof in the conspiracy part of my theory. Even if WotC wanted to challenge Paizo at this point in time, Paizo's likely defense would be to challenge the OGL writ large and if it fell it could become non-binding on everyone that's signed it. That's also bad business for Paizo at this point, so a lawsuit between the two is unlikely to happen.) If you've never signed anything, you're probably good to go, but don't be surprised when one of the big guys' lawyers comes knocking once you've had a little bit of success.<br />
<br />
All OGL material referenced from: <a href="http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/">http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/</a>; copyright to the text of the contract (WTF?) claimed by WotC.<br />
Some caveats: This article examined the OGL and its successors from a copyright perspective. While copyrights in games might be on shaky grounds, the inviolability of their trademarks stands on strong firmament. So, if you decide to take a "no copyright in games" scorched earth approach, be very clear in differentiating what is a game's rules content and what is original, creative thought.<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-38356214248040375322015-06-19T16:41:00.005-04:002015-06-19T16:41:51.595-04:00Breaking: Playtest for new Pathfinder Class the Vigilante<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://static1.paizo.com/image/content/Logos/PathfinderRPGLogo_500.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static1.paizo.com/image/content/Logos/PathfinderRPGLogo_500.jpeg" /></a></div>
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BREAKING: No--I'm not Paizo and I'm not Pathfinder, but I do love them both! Paizo's opened up the playtest for the class that will be coming out in its new <i><a href="http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/ultimateIntrigue">Ultimate Intrigue</a></i> in 2016. Visit the site to check out the class. I'll be doing the same and letting you know thoughts once I've had a chance to check it out.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-28225771454083061592015-06-19T13:04:00.000-04:002015-06-19T13:04:00.192-04:00Gayming in Greendale -- Community Campaigning<br />
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So, I play RPGs. But, my roommate doesn't. Once, when my college roommate was visiting, we got her to play a game of <a href="http://www.bullypulpitgames.com/games/fiasco/">Fiasco</a>. She was fantastic, taking on the role of a Swedish research scientist at an Antarctic research station. But, from time to time, she'll ask about something in an RPG even if she's not interested in playing.<br />
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<a href="http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ2Njk2MzY2M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMDkxODg3MDE@._V1_SY317_CR12,0,214,317_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ2Njk2MzY2M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMDkxODg3MDE@._V1_SY317_CR12,0,214,317_AL_.jpg" /></a></div>
Lately, we've watched a lot of <a href="http://www.nbc.com/community">Community</a> together. There are two fantastic episodes of Community (called "<a href="http://community-sitcom.wikia.com/wiki/Advanced_Dungeons_%26_Dragons">Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</a>" and "<a href="http://community-sitcom.wikia.com/wiki/Advanced_Advanced_Dungeons_%26_Dragons">Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons</a>") where the gang actually plays an RPG. On the show they claim it's D&D, but it's a highly modified version more suitable to TV. The theory behind it isn't changed, it's just that the DM does all of the rolling. I can get behind the idea of having the <i>players</i> do all the rolling (thank you<a href="http://www.montecookgames.com/"> Monte Cook Games </a>and the Cypher System!), but making the GM do it is just one more burden when your GM could be doing something to make the game more interesting.<br />
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But, I'm digressing. This weekend, I hit on an idea to introduce my sweet roommate to the RPG world. I built a fantasy world based on the tropes in Community. This is not the world that Abed creates for his games in the show. Rather, this is a game that utilizes the tropes from Community to build something totally new (or, as we'd say in the world of copyright, an unauthorized derivative work). <br />
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<a href="https://i1.wp.com/geekdad.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/dnd-book-collection.jpg?resize=1000%2C500" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://i1.wp.com/geekdad.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/dnd-book-collection.jpg?resize=1000%2C500" width="400" /></a></div>
One of the most difficult parts about campaign settings is getting into them. If it's homebrewed, the GM knows <i>everything</i> and the players have no frame of reference and that's a lot to learn. Ditto for other campaign settings. I love Paizo's Golarion setting and dutifully subscribe to the Campaign Setting line as well as devouring gazetteer articles in Adventure Paths. Most people don't. Golarion is a tough setting to get into. Ditto the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, the 9th World, and any other setting you can think of. <br />
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Shadowrun might be able to overcome this problem since it's setting is based on the modern world. Unfortunately, Shadowrun's gameplay is so totally opaque that I have no way to evaluate this statement. In fact, I'm attending a two-hour GenCon session that's just about creating Shadowrun characters. There's no adventure--just character creation. Maybe. Just <i>maybe</i>, after I get back I will have an idea about how Shadowrun is supposed to go down.<br />
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So, a campaign setting is probably best if it's accessible. One way to do this is to create it from the ground up. The GM doesn't know anything more about the setting than the players do because the GM hasn't invented anything yet. Have a player that wants to be a cleric? Okay, pick a couple of domains and tell me about the god(dess) you worship. Is there a cobbler in town? Hmm...okay, sure. Her name is Shawna Tumbletights and she's an ancient gnome who's warding off the Bleaching by investigating all forms of footwear. She'll provide you a discount on a pair of shoes created custom for your feet if she can investigate your strange bunion...<br />
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But, worlds built from the ground up fall easily to internal discontinuity. What if you need the Vermin domain to be the sole province of the evil insect god and your player already picked it as part of her worship of the goddess of music, who happens to be incarnate as a giant cricket? Well, you either have to take something away from the PC (never a good idea) or be SOL.<br />
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I won't dwell on the problems of playing in a setting familiar to just about everyone, like Middle Earth because we've all hung out with that one guy that can recite the entire <i>Silmarillion. </i>So, back to Community. This seems like a great compromise. My roommate's already familiar with the show's tropes, so it's accessible to her. There will be some changes, of course, but she should get the general concepts. Greendale is a good place. The Pala-Dean is a good guy. The Greendale Seven are good guys. Commander Chang is a bad guy. Etc. Etc.<br />
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I shared the one-page Google doc with her last night. Thus far the only comment is that the Pala-Dean sounds a little bit like Paula Dean--which only goes to show you why accepting feedback is important. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share the one-pager with y'all as well. Since my family is visiting this weekend, I'll plan on posting the stats for a few of the characters, including Dingleberry the Troll(kin) on Monday.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18.6666660308838px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 25.7600002288818px; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harken close to hear the tale of Greendale...</span><br />
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<a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/1qlMdusRxIE6iJhO8m2yPk0blLSRefi5a4SSXA6Mnowd6olQvjU339na-fb919O8mrO3i8iH3iRGuDfP65BM1IV1eDsJftl2XFFPXDAiqx8mpiUdimw2fDSzrNyzQVrVlE7xZPI" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="latest" border="0" height="210px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/1qlMdusRxIE6iJhO8m2yPk0blLSRefi5a4SSXA6Mnowd6olQvjU339na-fb919O8mrO3i8iH3iRGuDfP65BM1IV1eDsJftl2XFFPXDAiqx8mpiUdimw2fDSzrNyzQVrVlE7xZPI" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; cursor: move; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="240px;" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once upon a time, in the Aumverg region of the Idlemann River Basin, the bucolic Kingdom of Greendale flourished under the rule of King Greendale, the Human Being. The king was advised by Baron Carl Bladt of Rusty Bucket Manor; Duke Richie Countee, an overweight alcoholic who believed he could read others’ minds; and Benjamin Chang, known today as the Betrayer. After consultation with his council, King Greendale directed the Pala-dean, a holy warrior dedicated to love, education, and fabulous costumes; to enact his will. The Pala-dean was assisted by great champions, known collectively as the Greendale Seven.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-15c35d0f-0913-e28e-0986-946b880a98d2" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But all was not well in the kingdom. Chang played to the fears of the little people within the kingdom; the dwarves, the halflings, and--especially--the gnomes. In secret he recruited them to his cause. Chang made common cause with a band of wizards that operated a bakery. The wizards wanted to corner Greendale’s grain market. The wizards carved secret passages beneath the city of Greendale. When the time came to strike, his Changlorious Bastards attacked through these tunnels, known as the Subway. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chang coopted Baron Bladt and Duke Countee. They sent the Pala-Dean to challenge the dread dragon, Draconis. With the Pala-Dean distracted, there was no one to protect the king when Chang struck. By the time the Pala-Dean realized Chang’s plan, the deed was done. The Pala-Dean returned to Greendale, making haste to the castle. Fighting through Chang’s midgets, the Pala-Dean entered the inner keep. He exited an hour later, spurring his horse to the east. None have seen him since.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Greendale Seven attempted to free the king, but were repelled by Chang’s men. Early on, Chang was successful in framing them for the coup. By the time the truth came to light, the Greendale Seven were scattered and unable to form effective resistance. Shirley the Cloying, ever an enemy to the wizard bakers, fled south to New Fluffytown. Troy the Obtuse and Abed the Undiagnosable vanished. Only Britta the Needlessy Defiant attempted to organize resistance, but none rallied to her cause.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today Chang imposes arbitrary law and rules with an iron fist. Chang keeps Baron Bladt and Duke Countee loyal by plying them with alcohol and women. Anyone who speaks out against Chang is jailed as are any even suspected of defying Commander Chang’s authority. Just last night, you were imprisoned. Perhaps you were taken by surprise, perhaps the guards tricked you into coming in for questioning, perhaps they threatened your family. Now you sit in a cell among other suspected traitors, awaiting what passes for justice in this Chang-blasted country.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-47056169105252582992015-06-18T11:47:00.000-04:002015-06-18T11:47:00.378-04:00Gay in Gaming ConsFor now, I want to talk about the gaymer movement in conventions. The most visible of these is the group that operates the <a href="http://www.tabletopgaymers.org/">Tabletop Gaymers website</a>. They're the ones responsible for all of the rainbow Gaymer and Ally ribbons you see at GenCon every year. This year they're doing it again, but with a twist. At first they planned to fund the ribbons through a GoFundMe (disclaimer: I donated), but later the makers of <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCYQFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcardsagainsthumanity.com%2F&ei=XJKBVbb9MvHIsASy6ZmoBQ&usg=AFQjCNHo_nBfnzMG9KfjjuXWUMXqckYQdg&sig2=tlA37nEE7kk9yLgl_oyjjA">Cards Against Humanity</a> agreed to spring for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/gencongaymers/1017293244961926/?notif_t=group_activity">paying for all of them</a> (or <a href="https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/11401116_10102647666826420_911516959529082762_n.jpg?oh=bb2ec97606ac385b36ec2bb5d0b201db&oe=55E7B50C">here</a>, for those without group access), leaving more funds to go to other conventions and to be pledged to help end LGBT youth homelessness. For those of you that don't know, LGBTs make up a hugely <a href="http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/LGBTQhomelessFactSheetbyNAEH.pdf">disproportionate share</a> of America's homeless youth. <br />
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The Tabletop Gaymers have put together a <a href="http://www.tabletopgaymers.org/conventions/gencon/events-2015/">bevy of awesome events</a> this year and I want to make sure that you know about them! There are social events for meeting up on Thursday evening and Friday lunchtime and evening. There are several seminars including Diversity in Gaming Culture, Gaymers, Diversity in Gaming panels by GenCon and by Paizo, the ever-popular Queer as a 3-sided die (sold out), and How to Make Gaming More Inclusive. Of course, don't forget the Saturday night party event at <a href="http://www.talbottstreet.com/">Talbot Street</a>. This thing starts at 9PM and is definitely NOT sold out. So pick up some <a href="https://www.gencon.com/events/69391">tickets</a> for only $22 (includes entrance and shuttle to/from downtown).<br />
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<a href="https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/11401116_10102647666826420_911516959529082762_n.jpg?oh=bb2ec97606ac385b36ec2bb5d0b201db&oe=55E7B50C" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/11401116_10102647666826420_911516959529082762_n.jpg?oh=bb2ec97606ac385b36ec2bb5d0b201db&oe=55E7B50C" width="265" /></a><br />
I also want to talk about another seminar that's already happened. At PaizoCon back in May, Paizo's staff presented a <a href="http://knowdirectionpodcast.com/2015/06/paizocon-2015-diversity-in-pathfinder/">seminar</a> about diversity in Pathfinder. There are some really good points here and I like the candor with which Paizo's staff deals with this issue. To whit:<br />
1) They admit that diversity is something that everyone needs to constantly strive for;<br />
2) They admit that there are some areas where they feel like they have made strides (GLBT, gender) but there are others where they face real challenges (primarily racial diversity);<br />
3) They admit that they need to improve on all fronts, even the ones where they have made progress; and<br />
4) An audience member asks about diversity and incorporating characters with physical disabilities such as blindness. This was among the best discussions about how the company could bring discussion of this topic into the game--both as an accessibility issue for reading sourcebooks but also as presenting characters like that in their materials. Great job!<br />
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I was going to round this post out with a reference to FlameCon, which just concluded in Brooklyn. But, I've used up a lot of space already so check out pictures on <a href="http://io9.com/what-i-saw-at-nycs-first-queer-comic-con-1711694966">io9.com</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-13559025638876658972015-06-17T11:42:00.000-04:002015-06-18T21:19:18.320-04:00Eidolons Review, 13th Age Monthly (May 2015)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my second post attempting to write a review about this issue of <a href="http://pelgranepress.com/site/?p=16787" target="_blank">13th Age Monthly</a>. <a href="http://gaymersquest.blogspot.com/2015/06/whats-eidolon.html" target="_blank">My first post</a> ("What the *@$# is an Eidolon?") turned into a long investigation into what, exactly, an eidolon is. Short answer: I was not able to answer this question but did come up with some interesting content involving binding spirits to ships to make them sail better, metaphorical places that tautologically cannot be visited, and an Adventure Path outline that involves stealing an artifact that binds spirits to ships so that your nation can get advantage and ultimately prevail in a naval war. Good stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now let's talk about <i><a href="http://pelgranepress.com/site/?p=17936" target="_blank">Eidolons</a></i>, <a href="https://plus.google.com/+ASHLAW/posts" target="_blank">Ash Law</a>'s May 2015 offering in the 13th Age Monthly product line. I've previously indicated that I really like this line and this is no exception. All of the supplements are 8 page PDFs that investigate something interesting that could be expanded onto a 13th Age game. In this case, it's eidolons. This guide has roughly 5 full pages of text, one full page art cover, one page credits and OGL, and two quarter page pieces of art.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What is a &$^# Eidolon, anyway?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nope. Not falling into that trap again. Ash has already answered the question for us, "Eidolons are powerful spirits [that embody] a specific concept...such as honor, love, imagination, fear, destruction, despair, temptation, [or] remorse." Eidolons appear like they work well as a great piece of <i>deus ex machina</i> that has some in-world ramifications and can therefore provide PCs with a level of agency over a situation they might not normally. Ash starts off by answering a few questions about eidolons for us like what do they look like, how do they get here (two theories, both with good options), what does their spirit status mean, and how can they change? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This first page section was really helpful, but I did find one drawback--it's unclear whether an eidolon appears the same way to everyone that's seeing it at the same time or if it takes a different appearance in the mind of every person that sees it. Because some of the language later on implies that our minds make substitutions for what we see in place of what some eidolons look like, it would be cool to know if this is something that our minds do (every individual has own unique vision of what an eidolon is like) or something that the eidolon controls (everyone sees the eidolon as it wishes to be seen).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next we get some unique abilities that will apply to all of the eidolons listed. Think of these as the generic bestiary page you get for a group of related monsters. The abilities are listed here so they can save space printing them on every creature's entry. What are they?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Universal Eidolon Abilities (and a new sub-system!)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, eidolons can't die. Instead, they get an ability that when they drop to 0 hit points, they discorporate. I love everything about this except the missed opportunity to use the phrase deliquesce into ectoplasmic vapor. And, get this, <b>there is <u>no</u> way to permanently kill them</b>. So, these kids are firmly in the GM plot device camp. Players may mess with them, but they are going to return.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Additionally, as a free action each round (and keep note of this, because these abilities are <i>insanely powerful</i>), an eidolon has a few options:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Split Reality</b>: Every character rolls a d4. Only PCs who rolled the same number on their d4 roll can interact with each other. The eidolon interacts with all the realities, but it can assign its allies to realities of its choice.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Warp Time</b>: The eidolon either just switches two people's place in the initiative order or rolls the escalation die. The eidolon's result becomes the new escalation die.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Reshuffle space</b>: I love this option. At its simplest, it's just reposition two people on the battlefield. But, if you are going full-on miniatures its much more fun. Basically, do the following:</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pick up all the minis</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shake them up</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drop them randomly on the battlemat</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go from there</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still not enough for you? There's more! There's a new Madness subsystem. It's got both general applicability and eidolon-specific application (this <i>is</i> a guide to the eidolons, after all). To be eidolon-specific, madness is tripped during attack rolls against an eidolon. For general applicability, any d20 roll will do. If they roll "equal or less than their Intelligence ability, they gain an <b>insanity point</b>." <br />Pet peeve here: Do they roll against their ability modifier or their ability score? That's a huge difference and can have some pretty big effects. Either way, it does have one interesting solution as well--it means that the higher your character's Intelligence score (since the modifier is derived from the score), the more susceptible the character is to insanity. That's right. The smarter you are, the more easily you go insane. Which, from what we see in some literature, might well be accurate to the way things go in the real world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, what happens with these insanity points? Well, once every full heal-up, you roll a simple save and lose one point on a success. Otherwise, insanity points can accrue and cool stuff happens as they do. Characters pick up backgrounds, gain phobias, and possibly die. For instantaneous death, "Resurrection has a 50% chance of bringing you back somehow 'wrong.'" I love this as the seed for a campaign. All of the characters were brought back from the dead after going insane fighting [insert BBEG here]. Part of their condition means that they have no memory of their past. But, they're also "wrong" in another way, which can be their unique thing or not as they choose. PC that makes up the best "wrong" option gets an extra skill point!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Stat Blockbusters</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, eidolons are the first of an entirely new creature type: the spirit. Unlike most 13th Age Monthly content, which is self-contained, the spirit will become a regular part of the game. Pelgrane indicates in a side-box that we should expect to see more spirits in upcoming Glorantha and Battles Scenes books. The spirit looks pretty interesting, so I'm cool with this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are also four stat blocks for eidolons. There's a 1st level troop, a 3rd level troop, a 4th level troop, and a 6th level troop. Remember that eidolons can take any form that they like at any time, so all four stat blocks could conceivably be the same eidolon. In fact, in my PCs came back wrong game, I'd want to design the eidolon bad guy in just this way. The PCs would encounter her in her various forms (human appearing, attached/possessing another human, and one of the more spirit/outsider-y forms). But, I wouldn't want to use the eidolon more than 2-3 times because an enemy that can never be killed undermines the ability to have a conclusion to the story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Icon Relationships</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ash has given us information tying the Archmage, the Diabolist, the Elf Queen, the Great Gold Wyrm, and the Priestess to the eidolons. The Elf Queen and the Priestess' relationships are particularly good. There's also advice on how allied, neutral, or opposing eidolons name themselves (they are related to concepts, remember? We haven't heard a lot of that along the way, because the concept controls have the eidolon acts, not its mechanics). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's a suggestion that learning an eidolon's true name gives control over it. This is cool. There's countless examples in literature and folklore where knowing something's true name gives control over it. Since eidolons here are basically concepts' souls, it's neat that this works (note: gives control over the eidolon, not the concept itself. Learning the Love eidolon's true name does not grant the PCs control over all love, at least not as written!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some suggestions for some of the other Icons (generic <a href="http://www.13thagesrd.com/" target="_blank">Archmage engine SRD</a> terms used). Anyone have other ideas?</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Blood Knight: Every time a hellhole is destroyed, eidola of rage appear all over the Empire. But do they want to return the hellhole to its former condition or do they have something more sinister in mind?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Longbeard Thrane: Products from the subterranean world haven't been moving in trade in the last few months. Rumors are that a spirit dedicated to greed has the Longbeard Thrane's ear and all valuables are being hoarded beneath the earth.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Deathless One: turns out the undead can't be affected (or affect) eidolons. The Deathless One claims to know why. But what will he do with this knowledge?</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Blessings, Curses, and Flavor</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eidolons can bestow blessings and curses. They can also bestow some mixes. My favorite of which is the <b>Runemarked Blessing</b>. The rune is on the PC's forehead and once per battle a PC can use it as a free action to treat one item being wielded as if it had a tier-appropriate rune on it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book suggests that the rune normally looks like a faded burn or old scar when inactive, but that it lights up clearly when used. I want to take this a few steps further. My memory-lost PCs wake up and have come back "wrong." They also all wake up with the rune on their forehead. And the rune means something. And having it on your head can get you in trouble with some and grant you aid from others. When the PCs start, the rune's only clear when it's being used. But, as the rune is used more and more often, it becomes clearer and clearer even when it's not in use. I like this campaign idea, but this could also be a fun present for a PC that rolls a 5 on their Icon Relationship roll at the beginning of a session.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, Ash suggests some flavor eidolons and how they might work as plot hooks. There are bliss, exploit, fated, herald (whose plot plan dovetails nicely with the runemarked gig above), integrity, motley, and quietude. Queitude is the ultimate toy for helping parties learn that there are role-playing solutions and that not everything can or should be settled with a sword.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Final Analysis</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the end of the day, I really like this! 13th Age Monthly has been an up and down product, but this month's release is definitely on the upside of the swing. I really like the art and I really like the concept. 8 short pages have inspired the basics for a campaign as well. Now, if I only had the time to actually run the damned thing! This may be the best piece in the series. If you like 13th Age, this is a good buy!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876313492090109763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-45077380716588132852015-06-16T16:23:00.000-04:002015-06-16T16:23:32.190-04:00Legendary Planet Adventure PathIt's no secret that I'm a fan of <a href="http://makeyourgamelegendary.com/">Legendary Games</a> or that I'm a fan of Kickstarters. What I'm really excited about is Legendary Games' new Adventure Path, <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendarygames/legendary-planet-adventure-path">Legendary Planets</a>! They are planning 7 linked adventures that take characters across space (and time, even if it's only forward) in a space and swords craziness in either 5th edition or Pathfinder rules. Best of all, they are going to make lots of use of <a href="http://www.makeyourgamelegendary.com/products-page/mythic-plug-ins/">all the ridiculous Pathfinder</a> <a href="http://www.makeyourgamelegendary.com/products-page/mythic-plug-ins/mythic-minis/">Mythic stuff they've been working on</a> <a href="http://www.makeyourgamelegendary.com/products-page/mythic-plug-ins/mythic-past-books/">for the last couple of years</a>! Since the last of these was a well-funded and well-executed Kickstarter to fund Mythic expansions for every feat, spell, and monster in the game...I'm looking forward to them getting to use their proven track record to make some awesome stuff!<br />
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Don't just take my word for it. <a href="http://kck.st/1dGJvnq">Visit the page</a> or watch the video:<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendarygames/legendary-planet-adventure-path/widget/video.html" width="640"> </iframe><br />
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As of today, just the second day of the Kickstarter, they're already funded for 3 (really 4) of the books. Here's a quick rundown of titles and authors to whet your whistle:<br />
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<b><i>The Assimilation Strain</i> </b>by <b>Tom Phillips </b>and <b>Neil Spicer</b><br />
40 pages long for a party of 1st level adventurers<br />
Already written and run a few times at PaizoCon by the Legendary Games team.<br />
Presumably it's introducing the PCs to space.<br />
Neil Spicer wrote the first installment in Paizo's Iron Gods Adventure Path. It was an excellent introduction to technology for fantasy RPG characters and this promises to be a good next step.<br />
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<a href="https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/003/980/636/52aeed538ab4a66ec56d2be2a47a8e89_original.jpg?v=1434305800&w=680&h=&fit=max&auto=format&q=92&s=37d9ebc9dd37b3c41d0da2fac347fc90" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/003/980/636/52aeed538ab4a66ec56d2be2a47a8e89_original.jpg?v=1434305800&w=680&h=&fit=max&auto=format&q=92&s=37d9ebc9dd37b3c41d0da2fac347fc90" width="155" /></a></div>
<i style="font-weight: bold;">To Worlds Unknown</i> by <b>Jim Groves</b><br />
Jim Groves is all over the Paizo boards as a poster and all over Pathfinder products as an author. I've enjoyed everything he did, including the opening adventure in the Mummy's Mask Adventure Path. Since <i>The Assimilation Strain</i> is supposed to be a sort of pre-quel to the space adventure, Legendary Games has done something smart by placing another good AP-opening author on their official first adventure.<br />
It's already 96 pages long (64 adventure, 10 Bestiary, 10 page planetary gazetteer, and 12 pages TBD) because of stretch goals.<br />
This one is designed to cover levels 2 through 5.<br />
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">The Scavenged Codex</i> by <b>Mike Shel</b><br />
Another experienced adventure writer is jumping on board here. This one has also funded to be a 96-pager (same format for all modules). It will cover levels 5-8.<br />
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">The Dead Vault Descent</i> by <b>Matt Goodall</b><br />
Another experienced hand. This third adventure has also funded at the 96-page level. So, if nothing else, we can expect to get three amazing adventures post haste. The Legendary team has promised to finish the AP even if their Kickstarter stretch goals for doing so aren't all met...it will just take them much longer to do so. This adventure covers levels 8-11.<br />
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<i>The</i> <i>Dead Vault Descent</i> is the most recently funded item thus far. From here on out, the formula works as follows:<br />
+ $2,000 beyond last book: New book written at 64 pages<br />
+ $2,000 more: 10 page Bestiary is added<br />
+ $2,000 more: 10 page planetary gazetteer is added<br />
+ $2,000 more: 12 more pages bonus content for 96 pages total<br />
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+2,000 more: another book is opened and the process starts again.<br />
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The rest of the series is:<br />
<b><i>Confederates of the Shattered Zone</i></b> by <b>Richard Pett</b> for 11th to 14th level player characters.<br />
<b><i>The Depths of Desperation</i></b> by <b>Steven T. Helt</b> for 14th to 17th level player characters.<br />
<b><i>Mind Tyrants of the Merciless Moons</i></b> by <b>Tim Hitchcock</b> for 17th to 19th level player characters.<br />
<b><i>To Kill A Star </i></b>by <b>Jason Nelson</b> for 19th to 20th level player characters.<br />
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What more could you ask for? Maybe all of them bound together in a single hardback book? Well, that's happening. Plus, as more people sign on, more content gets created. <a href="http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2sa3n&page=4?Legendary-Games-Legendary-Planet-Adventure#195">Jason's being coy on the Paizo.com boards</a>, but it's pretty clear that one of these sharing or people joining on goals will be a free player's guide. So get out there and get signed up!<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="420" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendarygames/legendary-planet-adventure-path/widget/card.html?v=2" width="220"></iframe><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-68512391662472135852015-06-16T14:35:00.000-04:002015-06-16T14:35:00.633-04:00What's an Eidolon?<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
This post started off as a review of <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/+ASHLAW/posts">Ash Law's</a></span>
article <i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://pelgranepress.com/site/?p=17936">Eidolons</a></span></i> for <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://pelgranepress.com/site/?p=16787">13th Age
Monthly</a></span>. Since then it's expanded into much more, though I still
intend to give my thoughts about Ash's article. The article expanded because as
I was printing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eidolons</i>, I wondered,
"What exactly is an eidolon, anyway?" And so my research began.
Fortunately, I was researching for a blog post instead of a scholarly article,
so it was more important that my quest yielded ideas than that it be
comprehensive. In fact, it need not even be correct, though I believe that it
is. </div>
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For a completely unsurprising first
step, I visited the <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidolon_(apparition)">Wikipedia page on
eidolons</a></span>. The term comes from a Greek word <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=eidolon">meaning</a></span>
image, idol, double, apparition, phantom, or ghost. Specifically, in Greek
history it was the visible but incorporeal spirit of a person, either living or
dead. </div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Eidola (the other plural) exist both for
the living and the dead. In fact, they seem to be very akin to souls. Wikipedia
gives a great bit contrasting the eidolon as housing a person's psyche after
death (Homer) against the eidolon as a vessel for <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleos">kleos</a></span>, an individual's
honor or glory. Kleos did not decay, so it was the best type of fame. It also
passed down to children, both actual ones and your ideas and inventions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the ancient Greeks believed that
a man's spirit lived on through his reputation and his mark on history, the two
ideas aren't mutually exclusive. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.theosophyforum.org.uk/Tslogo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.theosophyforum.org.uk/Tslogo.gif" height="320" width="294" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Symbol of the Theosophical Society</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/ocglos/og-def.htm#eidolon">Theosophists</a></span>
believed the eidolon was a person's astral body. This fits in nicely with the
Greek concepts but by extension means that the body couldn't be active while
the eidolon was away. That seems to clash with the idea of Helen of Troy's
eidolon being in Troy while she was physically living in Egypt the whole time.
(I'm going to ask y'all to rely on Wikipedia here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not have time to read <i>The Odyssey</i> and <i>The
Iliad</i> to double check this.) From a game perspective, I like both the idea
of the separate spirit and the person's consciousness being active while the
consciousness is also active in the physical body. It makes for better stories.
So the eidolon is kind of like the you that you are when you are having a
daydream. </div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
But there is so much more! I'll spare
you a list of all the eidolon references from the Wikipedia post, but there are
several in literature as well as games. In <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG">Pathfinder</a></span>, Wikipedia refers
to the eidolon as "a golem-like animated statue brought to life by a shard
of divine energy."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm no fan
of Pathfinder's <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/summoner">summoner</a></span>
class, but this doesn't sound like the original or the <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/unchained-classes/summoner-unchained">unchained
version</a></span> to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://c3.staticflickr.com/3/2662/3884341433_919dd5c3ab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://c3.staticflickr.com/3/2662/3884341433_919dd5c3ab.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">H.D.'s Papers hosted by Beinecke Library.<br />
Hosted on flickr.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I said that I wasn't going to list all
the literary and historical mentions of eidola, but I would like to discuss a
couple of them. First, <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.D.">H.D.'s</a></span> (Hilda Doolittle,
who apparently went by her initials but also needs to be identified in full so
effectively is just double mentioned all the time) epic poem has a section
called Eidolon. The poem is <i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/823612.Helen_in_Egypt">Helen in Egypt</a></span></i>.
My tablet's listing it as 91 pages long, so I only read <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/helen-egypt-eidolon-book-iii-4">Book
III, Section 4</a></span>, which is called Eidolon. </div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
It's about the figurehead on Achilles'
ship, which was carved in the form of a mermaid to represent his mother,
Thetis. H.D. asks:</div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">had she been cut from an awkward block</i></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">of ship-wood at the ship-builders,</i></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">and afterwards riveted there</i></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </i><i style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">or had the prow itself been shaped </i></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">to her mermaid body,</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://data6.blog.de/media/694/4292694_79749392f4_m.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://data6.blog.de/media/694/4292694_79749392f4_m.jpeg" height="260" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
This can be interpreted as the eidolon
spirit being somehow separate from the ship. One interpretation is that the
eidolon was "riveted" to the vessel as a final piece of
ornamentation. But, another, cooler interpretation is that the spirit was
somehow placed/trapped in the piece of wood that would become the boat's figurehead
and that the ship was built up and around it. Imagine if all ships came with a
bound spirit? What would that spirit be like? Would it be a bound person or
mermaid or a portion of a greater idea--like a portion of the spirit of the
ocean or of a forest or of a country from whence the wood was cut. Maybe
building a ship is an evil act and the figureheads take on the form of dryads
that are bound to the wood. If the god of sailors/sea travel/the ocean is evil,
this is a great way to incentivize land travel. Sea travel might be fast, but
it's unsafe. Or, if it's safe, it's only through the use of the bound dryad
spirits, so merely traveling by ship is an evil act. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img03.deviantart.net/5883/i/2008/115/d/f/thetis_by_quicksilverfury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://img03.deviantart.net/5883/i/2008/115/d/f/thetis_by_quicksilverfury.jpg" height="320" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thetis. (c) 2008-2015 by Quicksilverfury<br />
Hosted at Deviantart.com </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
After speaking to the mermaid<span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>s
form, H.D. asks, "Did anyone touch her ever?" Touch is being used
here in a metaphorical sense, but it's still open to ambiguity. If touch is
being used to indicate sexual intercourse, it implies that the spirit
imprisoned must come from a virgin. That's all fine and good for vampires and
traditional hero stories but I don't think that's how H.D. is using touch here.
Instead, it makes sense if touch refers to establishing a sympathetic emotional
response, as in "Her story touched my heart." Thetis, who the mermaid
is carved to resemble, was an ocean goddess. The ocean is often portrayed as
being uncaring.</div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
But maybe the ocean can learn to care.
From a benevolent perspective, the bound spirits could be a portion of the
ocean that ties the ship to the ocean itself. Perhaps ship-builders are priests
of the ocean goddess and preside over the binding process. Want a quest for an
artifact? The priests of Country A can bind ocean spirits into their ships as a
sign that their people are favored of the ocean goddess. The PCs are from
Country B, which will soon go to war with Country A. The PCs are tasked with
stealing the artifact from the temple in Country A's capital to even the score.
Maybe the artifact can be redeemed to bless Country A's ships after a quest is
fulfilled. Maybe the artifact isn't in Country A's capital city but instead
rests at a nigh-inaccessible shrine on an island near the edge of the World's
Ocean and blesses the country of the last person to successfully pass its test.
Country A's ocean dominance comes from being the last to visit the shrine.
Plus, this also allows for a sea full of the spirits of those who died
searching for the island floating within it and emitting phosphorescent green
light and I like that image. Maybe all three: the artifact has rests in the
temple in Country A's capital city, but it can only be reconfigured by taking
it to the distant island shrine. Of course, no one knows where the map to that
island shrine is located anymore, so the PCs will need to find that as well.
And, I've drafted an Adventure Path outline...the poem mentions a 'girdle of
sea-weed,' and that sounds like a cool magical binding agent to me. </div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Maybe the ocean does have feelings: feelings
of rage. Part of its spirit is trapped within the figurehead and cannot escape.
Can these ocean spirits come to have <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome">Stockholm Syndrome</a></span>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe by properly caring for the ship,
sailors transform a part of the heartless ocean into an ally. Really, the
possibilities for a nautical eidolon are endless. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mockman.com/comics/2011-01-24-TWS-001-864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://mockman.com/comics/2011-01-24-TWS-001-864.jpg" height="640" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason Thompson has created a web comic version of <i>The White Ship</i>. You can read<br />
the whole thing online at http://mockman.com/2011/01/24/the-white-ship-page-1/.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="Body" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The other source for eidolon inspiration
is <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft">H.P. Lovecraft's</a></span>
<i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/ws.aspx">The White Ship</a></span></i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's only seven pages long and, being
out of copyright, there are free versions everywhere. It was originally
published in <i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/30637/30637-h/30637-h.htm">The United
Amateur</a></span> (Vol. 19) No. 2</i> in 1919. In the story, our narrator
cares for an aging lighthouse and used to receive glimpses of the ways beyond,
the ways beneath, the ways that were, and the ways that might be. A bearded
captain sailing a white ship takes the narrator on a long ocean voyage to visit
several lands (it's all part of a larger metaphor about self-knowledge, but
that's for another time).</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mockman.com/comics/2011-02-03-TWS-004-864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://mockman.com/comics/2011-02-03-TWS-004-864.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thalarion is a *rough* place!<br />
(c) Jason Thompson<br />
Hosted at mockman.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The second of those lands is "<span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalarion">Thalarion</a></span>,
the City of a Thousand Wonders, wherein reside all those mysteries that man has
striven in vain to fathom." We don't learn much about Thalarion (because
it's a metaphor for what we don't know and therefore it tautologically
unknowable). Lovecraft tells us that it's huge carven (I originally read this
as 'craven,' which puts a whole other spin on the story) gate is called
Akariel, its populated by daemons and mad things, it's ruled over by the
Eidolon Lathi, and the streets are white with the unburied bones of those who
looked upon Lathi. Is Lathi forbidden knowledge? Lovecraft was definitely a fan
of the trope that there were some things humans were just not meant to know.
This is a good way of covering that ground. There are lots of things that man does
not know (maybe they escape as we learn about them? Maybe Lathi's legions trade
them for [insert weird thing Lathi wants here] and we learn them?) but the
things the humans don't know are ruled over by those things that can never
leave Thalarion, the things that humans were not even meant to know.</div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Eidolons could be ephemera of
unobtainable knowledge. They could be the reflections of reflections of
reflections of the sounds of humans uttering the profane words. They could be
the spirits of the profane words themselves, wandering the universe in hopes
that someone will speak them again. There's fascinating information out there
about eidola. Just plumbing two literary sources brought out a wealth of ideas.
Walt Whitman also has a poem called <i>Eidolon</i>. Does anyone else get ideas
from there or elsewhere?</div>
<div class="Body" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876313492090109763noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31690016269107258.post-28486527816364737582015-06-16T12:17:00.001-04:002015-06-16T12:17:10.035-04:00Moving DayPardon any dust as things change over. I'm moving my blogging and tweeting out of my personal account and over to specific A Gaymer's Quest related accounts! The blog address stays the same (for now), but the other stuff moves to:<br />
<br />
Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/AGaymersQuest">@AGaymersQuest</a><br />
Google+ <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/102463618632098986387/posts/p/pub">https://plus.google.com/u/0/102463618632098986387/posts/p/pub</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09265314117009695498noreply@blogger.com0