After a long break, we've finally gotten back to gaming. The US West Coast has had literally record breaking heat in the last three weeks and where I'm at, we had 3 100 F /38 C days in a row. Now, we've been described as 'the least air conditioned city in the US' [which really isn't fair considering the US also includes Anchorage and Fairbanks đ], but it is true that the Puget Sound doesn't generally equip homes with A/C routinely. Add into all this a series of birthdays and COVID shot hangovers
In the world of 2021, between the lure of video games and the rise of solo roleplaying where game engines have been developed to emulate the Games Master's role, the role of the Games Master can sometimes feel precarious. A tabletop game dies if the players desert - but even a single player can enjoy a solo game if they have a solo engine / GM-in-a-box book to automate the GM's role.
Games Masters need to up their game, nowadays, more than ever.
This is where the fine art of storytelli
Nochet, The sStuffed Boat Tavern, 1612ST, late Sea season.
Hendrostos and Irillo were watching their friend with concern. Two days ago, at last! They found him in so poor a condition that they did not recognize him immediately. He seemed to be in better condition now, although his too-thin face showed them how hard his time in the streets was.
âI canât believe what happened.â said Irillo.
âHow weird it is! Are you sure you did not miss something?â agreed Hendrostos.
âHow coul
The word "adventure" comes from Middle English: from Old French aventure (noun), aventurer (verb), based on Latin adventurus âabout to happenâ, from advenire âarriveâ. It concerns things happening. Drama. Conflict. As any great screenwriter, playwright and storyteller will tell you, there are a lot of ways to stage and set a drama - many different sources of conflict.
Let's look at some sources of drama. 90% of all drama and conflict is going to come from persons. The rest is environmental
Let's talk more about the payoff.
What's the payoff? It's the feelings you get from gaming. It's the pleasure, or other feelings, you get once a session's over, and the Experience Rolls and material awards are handed out.
In gaming, as in many activities, there are goals - achievements, and the feelings associated with those achievements. Goals can be divided into true goals (also known as clean goals) and dirty goals. The aim of gaming is to reach a true goal - earning a victory in an
This blog is about settings. And immersion, and getting a sense of belonging. And rejection of the hack'n'slash mentality of gaming.
It is also about hypnosis, and hypnotic language, and high weirdness, and the ocarina.
Everybody here got into gaming for their own reasons. Give me five minutes, and I bet I could draw out your reason for playing d100 games, or for playing tabletop games at all.
What do you get out of your favourite d100 game / setting? What's the payoff for yo
We do not know much about St Hywelâs life and the little we know comes to us from the Venerable Bede. Asser mentions him but only that King Alfred kept Hywelâs knucklebone in a silver and gold reliquary which he lent to the Bishop of Worcester when there was a sickness in the Priory of St. Mary. Hywelâs skull was said to have been destroyed by the Vikings in the destruction at the Monastery of Thanet in 753.Â
Hywel was born in Powys and the son of a successful Blacksmith. He was brought up
Fish wars and the Battle of Dunum.
It was the second year since Cerdic declared himself Westseaxacyning. Aelle had been the Cantacyning for seventeen years and it was seventh year since he had named himself Brytenwealda. Guercha One-eye the Angelcyning still disputed Aelle's claim to be Brytenwealda for the past two years.
 Aelle had taken advantage of plague in Gwent to capture Spinae and Brige when they were under-garrisoned. Aelle considered both towns strategically important for wa
Nochet, 1612ST, early Sea season.
The night is fresh and wet. Only rats should be found in this dead end. And a young and dirty man, in the midst of stinking garbage piles and mud puddles. No sounds except his loud snoring.
Until two shapes, quickly followed by one massive one, approached. The bigger shakes the wreck spread on the ground with his foot. No reaction. Or maybe something, a tiny sound.
âThe huge individual slowly leaned over Aendelâs head, seemingly not disturbed
Well, it's been a couple weeks and the group has finally gotten off the beach. They met a gruff but helpful centaur by name of Khauros who, unbeknownst to our Heroines, is the personal representative of Artemis on Earth. He led them to his herd's pasture where they could light a small fire, cook rations, dry off and get some sleep. At this point the characters are still struggling with initiating things and have to be gently prodded along, but they're getting there.
I had the incredibly won
Alright, once I got my nieces on board with the idea of a game and they chose the genre they wanted to play in, I had to figure out the actual nuts and bolts of this project.
My goals were three-fold:
a] MAKE IT EASY TO LEARN
b] MAKE IT LOGICAL
c] MAKE IT FUN
With those guideposts, and taking a few cues from previous experience as a gamer, I decided that I'd just put together pregenerated characters rather than have everyone grind through character generation in RQG. The
Nochet, 1616ST, Fire season.
âMy⊠My ladyâŠ. What can I do for your pleasure ?â
âThatâs not for me, scribe, but for my mistress⊠I want to know everything about⊠about⊠Whatâs his name, Mirava?
âAendel, my lady.â
âWhat an absurd name, isnât it Mirava? So tell me what you know about this student, scribe.â
âFor sure, ma lady, may I ask the reasons for your request?â
âThat is not your business, scribe. Do what I order, donât think.â
âYes, yes, madame, of course. Pl
Well, Post Number One, or 'How We Got Here'
So with the COVID lockdown, my wife has been working from home in our apartment. Due to space constraints, her home office setup is in the living room while I occupy a bedroom set up as a library /computer /junk room most of the day. I've been pretty bored, especially since I quit Facebook in the wake of Election Assault on the Capitol. I've been trying to pay more attention to my family during the crisis, and slew of birthday presents had me aski
A Parting of Body and Soul and the Search for the Lost.
Dunstan did not feel well after the nightâs sleep. Hereweard had told him his soul had been stolen but Dunstan said he could not accept this was true.  He had interpreted the constant growling noises he was making as anger at all the people who had annoyed his family and the injustices that had been visited upon them. His list of people that he intended to make pay was increasing and now included the Bretwalda Aelle, the Atheling Cissa
just a short description of the pcs
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Hrothgar Mountain Toe: a Warrior(light Cavalry) of the clan his parents and all but one of his brothers is dead was at the battle of pennel fordand the sacking of the city of wondersÂ
Gorlo the smith: a bronze smith who comes from a line of crafty men
Here and now
"I was placed in a little cell, with only one chair, one table, a closed book, and a poor black candle. They told me I had to find the truth. When they closed the door, a draught blew out the light.
Fortunately, I managed to remember where the furniture was and sat down. Opening the book was probably a mistake, a kind of test, something like âsee beyond the evidenceâ exercise, so I just thought and didnât move. I tried to figure out what was the truth, what could be the an
The Blood Sacrifice and Those who were Sold
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There was peace along the Tamyse valley. The war had been short but bloody and destructive. For the survivors there would be a struggle to get enough food and shelter for the coming winter. Food was in short supply all over Cerdicâs Kingdom. The wars had destroyed the growing crops and killed or displaced livestock. Even for those that had silver to spend, the cost of food was high.
The Atheling Stuf had told Wulfhere to start re-forti
Here and now
âWhen they announced to me the loss of my mother, I didnât cry. I saw them⊠tired, wounded. I heard the yelling and the pleas of the fighters. I smelt their blood filling the air. There were shit and piss too, of course, but that is the fragrance of any war, isnât it?
I asked for a sword and a shield. I asked for revenge. I asked for murder. But the warriors refused. They said I was too young. Too young? As I moved toward them, my rightful ire against their enemies in m
Here and now
âWhat do you want to know?
My name? Which one? You already know all of them.
My friends and my family call me Aendel, so letâs use that.
Where to start? The beginning?
My mother, Jareen Londrosdottr, gave birth to me during the fourth year of Dangmetâs reign, the wWild day of the Truth week, during the great Umath season. My clan was the Taraling. Here, my kin count lots of kings, such as Leika my lovely cousin, Kangharl the shameful, unfortunate Kallay
The Battle for the Thames
 In the first year of Cerdic's reign the Yule feast was held at his new capital of Wincen CĂŠster on the banks of the Itchen. Looking back over the year Cerdic was pleased with how things stood. He had taken land from the Dumnonians and had captured Venta, renaming it Wincen CĂŠster. The siege and battle had been costly in men but those that had survived had been richly rewarded with silver and lands.Â
Cerdic had made a treaty with Octa having killed enough of h
The Death of a Ring-giver and the West Saxon King
In the morning there was more news that Ealdorman CĆlfrith had arrived with a strong Warband. The Hrothgarsons thought it best that they did not go abroad and stayed in Rowena's Hall. They created a small hiding place in the undercroft by stacking sacks of grain and flour so that it would take a lot of effort if anyone was searching for them. They discussed the situation with Rowena and Wulfhere told her the history that they had with CĆlfri
Betrayal of oneâs Lord
They awoke the next day with sore heads. Uthric spent the morning vomiting and Duncan just felt sorry for himself. It was almost midday before they felt better and Dunstan swore that he would never touch alcohol again.  They had planned that they should go and speak with Rowena. She had not made any overtures towards them but neither had they sought her out. They arrived at her Hall which was magnificently decorated with rich tapestries and inlaid carvings of the Ăsir
(Note: Bold text refers to a Trait, Ability, or Rune that a character in question has).Â
(Another note: we didnât have another session this last weekend because I was sick and Androgenusâs playerâs partner had a death in the family, so Iâm posting the rest of our last session now--sorry for the delay!)
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Iris, an Esrolian Earth Priestess in service to Takakia, the Goddess of Moss. She holds the Earth, Movement, and Spirit runes. Iris is the supposed leader of
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