Period Peace

The next few posts are about some things that have been on my mind lately.

They are not meant to be deep or philosophical, although if you find them so be my guest. The posts are not necessarily my opinion, though some may be or my include my open.

More accurately, they contain things that have crossed my mind and which I felt would be fun or intriguing to consider, whether I agree with them or not.

Please feel free to discern for yourselves what you think on these subjects and what I think on the subjects if you so fancy such an exercise.

***

 

My maternal grandfather's birthday was today. Or possibly this past Sunday. He came to America from a small village in Prussia (the border of Russia and Poland) and as he told it, they really didn't keep good records.

My grandfather, who preferred we called him 'Poppy' or 'Pop', was a man, of a time.

He was there for the 'Golden Age of Radio' and it's death at the hands of television. He worked in vaudeville theatres before they were turned into movie theatres and then he worked for those. He eventually became a theatre manager, and opened many of the most well known movie theatres in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and a few in the other boroughs.

He was a manager of theatres when that was a very different job. He did well because he understood people, he understood movies, and which people liked what films. I'll never forget when he ran the Nostrand Theatre on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn. The theatre wasn't far from a school, right near a Police Precinct and close to a lot of restaurants. Pop figured out the perfect trinity. He said...

"I show three kinds of films here. Crime dramas, Disney Movies and Romantic Comedies. The boys in blue come for Dirty Harry, the kids will come for Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and a dinner and a movie will end with Bananas."

In those days, if the film did well the theatre manager received a bonus, a big one, almost a cut of the proceeds. Why? They choose which films would end up in their theatres. My Pop had a sixth sense of what would work in the neighborhood he was in, and what wouldn't.

When 20th Century Fox came in to a meeting of various managers with a new Science Fiction film called 'Star Wars', most everyone in the room passed on it. Sci-Fi is dead they thought, the best of it now on television. Only my grandfather took the film by young upstart director George Lucas.

"I have two grandsons (myself and my cousin) and they love this kind of stuff. They'll tell their friends at school. It'll do alright."

Heh. Classic. Guess who got nearly ever major Star Wars figure, and toy that Hanukkah? You bet your sweet Menorah I did.

 
 

***

 

It was thanks to my grandfather that I developed a love of history, of the past, of the old and of 'period'. He fought in World War II. He was a tank driver in the Battle of the Bulge. He received the Purple Heart when injured by shrapnel to the leg as German forces disabled his tank, and then gunned down the crew as they abandoned it. He was thought killed, and left for dead.

 

When I watched films like Midway, The Guns of Navarone, or A Bridge Too Far, I understood them in a way kids my age could not. My Pop explained them. Not only from a soldier's point of view, but from a film point of view.

 

I was raised on comedy before my time, comic books that had long since past, and stories of a New York I had never seen.

 

He had seen it of course, first hand. He was, as I said, of a time.

 

***

 

I never realized how much I loved this Earth of ours as a setting for gaming until recently. Doing research for my most recent campaign helped me notice that the only two Fantasy RPGs I really like are Ars Magica, and Pendragon, two fantasies set in the mythic past of our real world.

 

It got me thinking of why, although I do like Star Wars a great deal, I actually prefer Traveller and Star Trek. Partially it's because the Earth is out there. The Earth may not be the focus, and they may be so far from the PCs' activities that they never visit the birthplace of Humanity, but it's there. The Humans of these settings are not arbitrary Humans from some made up place. They are us, in the future. I like to think of Traveller especially as a period piece set in a period that has yet to occur.

 

This, combined with memories of my Pop, has me contemplating my next campaign, and I can assure you, it will be set in a time and place that is indivisible from a genre. That is the key. To set the genre by setting the era, the age, the time period. A game where my approach is that the two things are one and the same.

 

What periods are like that? Let's think...

 

Westerns

Western style stories can be taken to other times and places but when you think Western you think American West/South West, late 19th Century. I can add fantastic elements as long as it doesn't stop being that time and place and atmosphere.

 

World War II

I have always wanted to run a Golden Age Superheroes game set during The Big One. A war story set in this period with a imaginative twist would be extremely fun as well. Imagine the Predator film as a period piece set in the jungles of Malaysia in 1942.

 

UFO Scare

My obsession with UFOs and aliens doesn't stop at wanting to create and run a game where the PCs are the E.T.s piloting the Flying Saucers. I wouldn't mind a sort of 1950s or 60s Project Blue Book meets Men In Black campaign. That would rock I think. MIB 3 had the right idea but the wrong delivery (though I didn't think it was as bad a movie as some people did).

 

Other eras and ideas:

 

Psychodelic/hippie superhero adventures using Champions or Mutants & Masterminds ala the 1966 Batman TV Series.

 

A Victorian era campaign set in a Dickensian London combining Oliver Twist and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Perhaps with a touch of Little Orphan Annie. See the free RPG Doom & Cookies.

 

A late 70's to early 80s style campaign set in the world of Smokey and The Bandit, Cannonball Run and other films and TV series of that era. Like if Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds starred in a 1979 The Fast and The Furious. With a chimpanzee sidekick. Use Cars Wars or something for this. That's a big 10-4 good buddy!

 

Anyone see those Ruffles commericals with Ruff McThickridge? Bomb Diffusing Sloth. Yeah.

 

Well, that's all the time I have for time.

 

Miss you Pop,

 

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Barking Alien

 





Don't Hate The Player, Hate The Game

The next few posts are about some things that have been on my mind lately.

They are not meant to be deep or philosophical, although if you find them so be my guest. The posts are not necessarily my opinion, though some may be, or may include my opinion.

More accurately, they contain things that have crossed my mind, and which I felt would be fun or intriguing to consider, whether I agree with them or not.

Please feel free to discern for yourselves what you think about these subjects, and what I think on the subjects if you should fancy such an exercise.

***

I don't really want to use the word 'hate' in the post title but it is part of the original phrase I am playing on and, in all seriousness, 'Don't Vehemently Dislike The Player, Vehemently Dislike The Game' just doesn't have the same ring to it.

***

 

 We gamers (at least those of us who have been doing this for a little while or who care about it enough to read blogs on the subject) are all too familiar with the Power Gamer, Min-Maxer, Rules Lawyer and other less than desirable player types that crop up at our tables from time to time.

 

Those of us of the Gamemaster persuasion gripe about them, ask for and read our peers advice on handling them and more often than not, try to come up with some devious method of dealing with them by (as I have personally heard it phrased) 'teaching them a lesson'.

 

As I am something of a Player Advocate Gamemaster (from now on known as a PAG, unless I utterly forget I came up with that), I think my fellow GMs may be coming at the problem from the wrong direction.

 

Don't Hate The Player, Hate The Game.

 

For a good number of years, I had no real clue what any of the aforementioned player types were like first hand. I had heard tell of them and read about these phenomena in Dragon Magazine and the like, but never personally encountered them in any of my games..

 

It wasn't until late Junior High School or really early High School that I began to see gamers who qualified for these awful nomenclatures. Yet still, not in any of the games I ran (though occasionally in ones I played in, especially if I was playing with strangers and not close friends).

 

As time went on I noted their presence more often. It was usually in games of Dungeons & Dragons and Champions, though sometimes they showed up in others. I no longer ran D&D by this point and while I played Champions, the GM made up my character and I didn't even know what the rules were.

 

My own games of choice during the era in question were Ars Magica, Cyberpunk 2020, Mekton II, Star Trek (FASA), Teenagers From Outer Space and Toon, among others. Not a Power Gamer, Min-Maxer, Rules Lawyer, Hack and Slasher or any other such entity in site. Why would there be?

 

Why would there be indeed. Why would you Min-Max Star Trek? How can you Power Game TFOS? What is the benefit of Rules Lawyering Toon? As for the other systems and games, my approach to running campaigns was much more focused on story, theme and genre so maxing out your character's combat abilities was fine if you wanted to but what were you going to do the other half of the time when we were role-playing and not fighting?

 

While learning to train dogs I learned a few things about canine psychology and a few things about Human psychology as well. Dogs, much like young children, will not do something that is not perceived as beneficial to them and will figure out what is beneficial and repeat the activity.

 

For example, if your dog begs at the table for scraps and you give her some, expect her to beg at the table from now on, every time you sit down. You proved it worked so don't go getting upset that she does this.

 

If on the other hand you don't give her anything, she will eventually walk away and find something else to do. Sometimes you will see dogs learning a new trick or task running through the gambit of the tricks they already know in hopes that ones of them will get them the treat you are holding. Those tricks have worked before so why not now? Ah, because you are looking for that new one she just learned and you'll give her the treat the moment she does it.

 

Players (I hope no one minds my comparing Dogs and Gamers. I assure you the Dogs will not be offended) will develop styles based on what they are rewarded for and for what works in the game they are playing.

 

Champions players min-max in that game because the system allows it by its very design and because its a game where you fight powerful opponents a lot.You need to be tough and if you are tough you can defeat the enemies that get you points so you can make yourself even tougher. I love Champions but the basic concept of its mechanics does lend itself to that type of mentality.

 

In Dungeons and Dragons (and especially the Old School approach to it), monsters, traps and dangers abound. Everyone and everything is trying to cheat and kill you. In order to survive, you need top-rated stats and abilities, since in some editions that can net you bonuses, more spells and languages, increased skills and all manner of advantages.

 

Being a Rules Lawyer is another survival technique. With an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules, you can find a loophole or an advantage over whatever it is the DM is throwing at you and your party. With some members of the team running around with 4 Hit Points and no armor, you need all the help you can get. You NEED to be or have a Rules Lawyer.

 

Sure, individual personalities and player preference is the main thing that gets people into the aforementioned mindsets. All I am asking is that we consider for a moment, is the game we're playing and the way we're running it influencing the players to be this way or that? Instead of berating such players, should we not take a look at the system we are using and ask ourselves, "Am I/Are We/Is this game reinforcing the approaches that many view as negative?

 

Just some thoughts.

 

We'll chat more soon,

 

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Barking Alien

 

 

 

Questions of a Random Wizard - Part II

The next few posts are about some things that have been on my mind lately.

They are not meant to be deep or philosophical, although if you find them so be my guest. The posts are not necessarily my opinion, though some may be or my include my open.

More accurately, they contain things that have crossed my mind and which I felt would be fun or intriguing to consider, whether I agree with them or not.

Please feel free to discern for yourselves what you think on these subjects and what I think on the subjects if you so fancy such an exercise.

***

 

 

 

Once upon a time, I answered the questions of some Random Wizard I encountered in my travels.

 

Due to a most unusal rippling of the time/space continuum, it would seem I have come across this person once again and he has put forth a new set of questions. I will try to answer them as best I can but I fear this time his dimension and mine have drifted so far apart it is difficult to equate one with the other.

(1). Should energy drain take away one level of experience points from the character? Yes or No? If no, what should level drain do?

I have never liked or even understood this concept. You lose experience points? Do you lose your memories? I mean, do you forget the things you did to gain that experience and those levels in the first place? If so that would make it really interesting. If not it's just annoying and a waste.

What should level drain do? There shouldn't be level drain. There should be things that the undead actually did in stories.

(2). Should the oil used in lanterns do significant damage (more than 1 hp in damage) if thrown on an opponent and set on fire? Yes or No? If yes, how much damage should it do?

 

Should being doused with burning oil do more damage than getting nicked by a dagger. I am going to say yes. How much? Hmmm. I think I have it as 1D6, with half that (minimum 1) the next round and half again the round after unless you put out the flames or get rid of the oil.

(3). Should poison give a save or die roll, with a fail rolled indicating instant death? Yes or No? If no, how should game mechanics relating to poison work?

I hate 'save or die' in most cases and poison is one such case. At the same time, poison is poisonous and thematically, you should die if poisoned.

I would not give you a saving throw for fatal poisons. I would give members of your group Observation rolls to see if any of them recognize that you have been poisoned. Then, the character or characters with knowledge of poisons can attempt to make an antidote if they have the right materials to do so.

If not, you die.

This makes poison just as frightening but gives the non-afflicted PCs both a thematic and heroic opportunity to help their fellow adventurer. I originally came up with this mechanic while running FASA Star Trek (diseases and toxins to be cured by Medical Officers).

(4). Do characters die when they reach 0 hit points? Yes or No? If no, then at what point is a character dead?

Yes, they die at Zero. When you have Zero of something you have none of it. How people came up with the idea of surviving with less than no life is confusing to me.

(5). Does the primary spell mechanic for a magic user consist of a "memorize and forget system" (aka Vancian)? Yes or No? If no, what alternative do you use?

This question could take up a whole post by itself.

When playing D&D, even my D&D-But-Not system and setting, I use Vancian Magic because D&D uses Vancian Magic. That is the magic of D&D.

I have added and extrapolated a lot from the Vancian Magic template but I still use Vancian Magic for D&D.

When playing other games I use other, way better magic systems.

(6). Should all weapons do 1d6 damage or should different weapons have varying dice (1d4, 1d8, etc...) for damage?

In D&D I would think different weapons should do different types and numbers of dice of damage just as different classes use different hit dice.

Isn't the game all about random use of many sided dice? Yes! So go for it. Use them all.

(7). Should a character that has a high ability score in their prime requisite receive an experience point bonus? Yes or No?

No. I've never used that rule. What did being more Dexterous teach you about hiding in shadows Ms. Rogue? Nothing? Exactly.

(8). Should a character with an strength of 18 constitution get a +3 bonus to hit points, or a +2 bonus to hit points, or a +1 bonus to hit points or no bonus to hit points? And should other ability scores grant similar bonuses to other game mechanics?

Huh? I think this isn't written correctly. Or I am not understanding it correctly. That said, I think he means...actually I am really not sure exactly what the question is.

(9). Should a character have 1 unified saving throw number, or 3 saving throw types based on ability scores (reflex, fortitude, will), or 5 types based on potential game effects (magic wand, poison attacks)? or something else?

I like the Reflex, Fortitude, Will trinity if you are going to go with D&D style saves.

In most games I play saves as based either on the character's stats or skills. D&D always seems to use stats to add modifiers to do other things instead of just using the stats themselves. I wonder why.

(10). Should a cleric get (A) 1 spell at 1st level  (B) no spells at 1st level (C) more than 1 spell at 1st level?

Clerics should not have spells. Wizards have spells. Clerics perform miracles. Wait...that's in my D&D.

In regular D&D...ummm...sure, a spell at first level.

***

 

OK, for this first one, it is soley based on my opinion.

 

Toodles,

 

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Barking Alien

 

 



Playing In A Traveller Band

This past Saturday we played the 14th session of our (basically) monthly Traveller campaign.

TRAVELLER

'OPERATION: PALADIN'

 

The group's home base for the majority of the campaign has been this space station,

Bussard Reach, orbiting the cold, though terrestrial, planet of Leighton IV.

 

 

This is one of the best campaigns I've run in a long time and I must confess, it's also one of the most challenging.

Before getting into the nitty gritty of it, here's some background:

Traveller - Prelude to Foundation
Traveller - Foundation's Edge
Traveller - Foundation
Traveller - Foundation and Empire

Like most classic, 'Old School' RPGs, I'm sure when I run this I am running it wrong. Nonetheless, after a number of failed attempts to run this game in the not too distant past, I think I have finally found the correct chemistry between game, players and GM to run it wrong well.

The challenge here was getting a group of players who haven't all played with each other before, in a game they haven't played before (for the most part), to play in a format none of them were really used to.

Oh is that all? Pee-shaw.

Lemme break it down for you...

The campaign uses my Storybook philosophy of open-universe, sandbox style play, with a meta-plot, big picture story going on in the background whether the players know it or not or care or not. It is there if they want to address it or if they don't. People in this universe are doing things even if the PCs are not paying any attention to them.

Various other plots and subplots are going on here and there, scattered across a dozen, dozen worlds. PCs may uncover them. They may not. They may uncover and decide they're not interested.

Each PC has their own background story and/or motivations and things they want to do, avoid, accomplish, save, destroy, etc. They may pursue those plots and goals at anytime they like as long as they can find a way to address them. For example, if one PC is looking for her son, who just happened to sign up for an experimental farming project on a research colony, she needs a way to get to that planet if she doesn't have a ship and can't pilot one even if she did.

The universe is completely open and the PCs are free to go wherever they like, whenever they like and do whatever they want. Of course all actions have reprocussions so if you want to take out the Sector Duke or Duchess and claim the position by right of assassination, well, I hope you have help and a really good plan.

Given complete and total freedom, most players are do what they do in every game, go to a bar and look to see who's hiring. That is essentially what most of them did here, except for one who did the hiring.

 

***

 

 We started the game with players: Ed, Jeff, Marcus, Ray and Will.

 

We added Dave in the second session and Andy in the third.

 

Time constraints and family obligations eventually forced Ed, Jeff and Dave to bow out. In the case of Ed this was really my fault. Ed had commited to our original schedule and from time to time I had to change it and he could only do what he could do. In addition, the players were really loving the game and wanted to me to run it longer and more often. Ed could only do what he could do. I came up with an alternative solution but he felt it was best if he left the group. I feel bad as I really like the guy and thought his character was awesome.

 

Ed, if you read this, we miss you man.



Andy is a bit sporadic but we gained another new player in Hans.

So our current crew is Hans, Marcus, Ray, Will, and sometimes Andy.

Note that this is the same group that I have for Pendragon. Each game is run once a month for between 6-8 hours (though Traveller often goes over that).

***

 

 

A large portion of the reason this campaign rocks is Will. His playstyle is very proactive. His character makes stories happen. The team* meeting each other and getting into an adventure together began with his character. His PCs take charge attitude, fast talking approach and bureacratic nature are both an endless source of awesome in the game and a source of frustration for some of the other players who just want to shoot stuff and make money. OK, there is only really one player in that boat but the two are definitely at odds a lot of times.

Generally I think it makes for great TV as the saying goes, in our last session it kind of rubbed one of them the wrong way. It's one thing to lead and it's another thing to step on another players toes. Will realized he did this however, apologized and promised to be a bit more flexible and aware in the future.

While Will has adapted to this campaign's unusual style extremely well, it has taken some of the others a bit of time to find their legs.

Hans started slow but is getting into the swing of things pretty quickly. His latest set of ideas and weapon designs (using T4's version of 'Fire, Fusion and Steel') are outstanding and we are working on ways to incorporate a skill at weapon design into his character, a Female, Solomani who is a self described Imperial nationalist with an unspecified criminal background (the character was an Imperial Navy Pilot who left the service and got mixed up in...something).

Marcus is Marcus and what that generally means is that he sees things in short term, D&D mentality and misses the big picture sometimes. He wants to be his own man and his own boss. He doesn't want to work for anyone long term and won't sign his name to any contracts or paperwork, a major thorn to Will's character you is trying to legitimize what the team does.

Marcus is still thinking 'Hack and Slash', kill it and take its stuff. That's all well and good and he is the only reckless and adventurous guy we have, so having him means things stay off kilter. Left to their own devices, the rest of the group is too smart to get into trouble. Marcus makes sure there is trouble to be had. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize how much trouble he gets himself into and seems to think he is immune to consequences. We'll see soon enough...

Ray hasn't done a lot to make you go, "Wow! That character is awesome!', but Dr. Emil Fujikawa has been an excellent supporting character who is the only PC so far to tap into the campaign's overall story. In the most recent session he proved incredibly effective in our Virtual Realty Skirmish Tournament. Ray is known to play is too safe, often boxing his character into an unadventurous corner. He is trying to get out of that rut in Pendragon. We will see if his Traveller character can do the same.

Andy is fun to have around, if sometimes frustrating but always in a lovable way. He's young and sometimes a little unsure of himself but when he plays his character he does it well. He is the next most adventurous after Marcus (though Hans is rapidly moving up), but unlike Marcus, Andy is always very careful and tries to plan things out. He likes to take his time or at least have a good idea of what he's getting into. This not only serves him well, it makes perfect sense for his Scout/Hunter survivalist character.

***

 

I could go on and on about this campaign. At 14 sessions I feel like we've covered more ground and gotten more done than in 20 sessions of some previous campaigns and that's saying a lot. I pack a lot of stuff into my sessions and this campaign has seen some extra dense get-togethers.

 

In the near future I will try to do some play reports or at the very least, an overview of 'The Story Thus Far...'.

 

Iteresting side notes...

 

In the last 3-5 sessions most of the group has been involved in a Virtual Realty Skirmish match against three other teams. Imagine a cross between a 4-way Paintball game and a Holodeck adventure.

 

Outside of this and the actions of some NPCs, there has been absolutely no real combat of any kind directly involving the PCs. No fights other than a VR game.

 

Also, the team essentially lives on Fujikawa's Lab Ship but the Lab Ship has been docked at Bussard Reach Space Station (aka Leighton Highport) for the majority of the campaign.

 

No murderhobos. Score.

 

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Barking Alien

 

*I use the word team very loosely here. Very loosely.

The Stuff of Future Memory

It has begun...

PENDRAGON

'The Lion and The Sea'

The Coat of Arms and Personal Symbols of the Player Characters;

Right to Left Top: Sir Basil of Rathmoor, Freydis The Mariner Knight, Aiden The Celt,
Sir Henry of Basker Village
Bottom: Malecai The Magnificent

This past Saturday we held the first session of our new campaign, 'The Lion and The Sea', a campaign of Pendragon, The Role Playing Game of Chivalry, Magic and King Arthur's Britain. And it rocked!

For those unfamiliar with the game, I highly recommend checking it out and reading the following internet references:

Pendragon Role Playing Game Wikipedia Entry
Pendragon Retrospective by Grognardia
Pendragon Analysis By The Silver Key - Why it isn't more popular and why it should be.

Oh, and this guy knows a thing or two about the game as well...

Greg Stafford's Pendragon Site

Yes, that last link is to a very helpful and obviously heart felt website belonging to the creator of the Pendragon RPG, Greg Stafford. This game was and is a definite labor of love for the man and I would personally like to thank him for all his hard work and creativity. Thank you Mr. Stafford. Amazing job.

I should probably also apologize to him, since this post is not just about a Pendragon campaign I am running but a Barking Alien Pendragon game for my particular group of players. I am fairly certain we are already playing it very, very wrong.

That said...

We had an absolute blast and the players really got into their characters (For the most part. Continue reading). They also adapted fairly well to the setting, even though the characters they created were not all what you would normally expect.

See, my players seem slightly allergic to the act of getting behind and into a genre and playing it. If you say your going to run Circle: The RPG, where everyone plays some kind of Circle in Circular World, my players will ask if there are options to play squares and trapezoids. They will be very discouraged if the answer is no, even to the point of losing enthusiasm and interest in the game.

Did I mention we all agreed to play Circle: The RPG when I suggested it and explained what it was about? We did. And still...trapezoids.

Now some of this comes from a strong streak of creativity and individuality that many of my players have. I like to encourage that and certainly don't want to discourage it, so I will hear any crazy idea out before giving my opinion of it. In the recent past, I have been almost too flexible, resulting in games that did not feel right to me or flow the way I wanted them to. Here, with Pendragon, I tried to be a little firmer about what was a fitting character and what wasn't and largely this resulted in characters who fit the milieu even if they are not exactly traditional Arthurian characters.

He's who we have:

Sir Basil of Rathmoor (Andy)

Sir Basil is by far the most classically Arthurian of all the PCs. He is a Knight of a once noble family that has fallen on difficult times, largely due to a curse on the family blood.

Legend has it that an ancestor of Sir Basil's, perhaps two or three generations back, spurned the love of a Faerie Princess who doomed his line to hardship and misery. Some say it is even worse than that. Only Sir Basil knows for certain.

Basil is a Roman descended Briton and a Christian. He is the eldest son of the Lord of Rathmoor, a small, decrepit fortress overrun with moss, vines and all manner of mushrooms. It sits just outside the faerie wood known as the Nain Forest. It lies in the center of the distance between Carlion and Cardiff. His keep and land, such as it is, is in the nation of Escavalon.

Basil is skilled with Lance and Sword and quite the Jouster. He is Valorous, Suspicious of non-Romans and Saxons (but tempers the former well). Basil's knowledge of Folklore and Faeries far surpasses most of the others. He reads and speaks Latin and is knowledgeable about the world beyond Britain to some extent.

Sir Henry of Basker Village, Knight Forester of Dartmoor at Devon (Ray)

Sir Henry is the next most traditional Knight, though in many ways he is less Knight and more Ranger. Sir Henry owes his style and skill to Aragorn as much or more than to Gawaine or Percival.

Sir Henry's father was a Knight Forester (yes, that was a real thing) who owed his allegiance to the former King of Cornwall and now to Prince Geriant of Devon. The current King of Cornwall, King Mark, is a greedy, lazy man of little Honor and pays little attention to the small village of Baskers, a tiny settlement in the vicinity of Dartmoor. Prince Geriant quietly sides with Arthur and lends him Sir Henry's skill as a Forester himself to lead the troupe of Knights north through the wilds of the Cambrian countryside.

Henry is a Cymric and a Christian. He rides with his faithful companion, an Irish Wolfhound/English Mastiff of great size and dark black/gray fur. The dogs appearance disquiets many as it is often mistaken for a supernatural Black Dog or Grim. Henry's main skills are with the most un-Knightly weapon of a Long Bow and in Hunting, Awareness of his surroundings and other abilities common to woodsman.

Someday, Sir Henry hopes to slay a dragon. It's nothing personal. It's just something he's always wanted to do.

The 'Lady' Freydis, In Some Future Time, 'The Mariner Knight' (Will)

(Will wanted to play a female character. That seems to be a trend from my two newest players, Will and Hans. I normally can't stand when men play women and vice versa because, a) it usually sucks and b) it often prevents romantic subplots as the awkward feeling some experience over this type of play is only increased by the dynamic of both players being heterosexual  members of the same sex but their characters being different genders.

Now, I will say that Will and Hans both handle this very well. Will is an especially good role-player and both fellows are big Anime/Manga fans, a medium where complex and strong female characters are not as rare as they are in the West. I look forward to seeing how this plays out in Pendragon, but as you might imagine, it made for a somewhat tricky approach to campaign design in this setting.)

Freydis is the daughter of a former warrior of the North who, when his brothers and allies entered into combat with the dreaded Whale Devourer, sailed to safe shores as fast as his little boat could carry him. While he saved his remaining family (himself, his wife, Freydis and her younger sister), he was labeled a coward in his homeland and could not return.

Sailing on for sometime unable to find safe harbor, Freydis' family and a number of other desperate Danes eventually landed/crashed into the western beaches of Cambria in England, across the sea from Ireland.

A tall, strong and fiercely spirited young woman, Freydis is the most capable and able-bodied individual among the half dozen tiny fishing villages the Danish were able to establish. Saxon raiders hidden in the nearby woods, mountains and a wilderness bramble called 'The Wirral', constantly nab men from the village to add to their ranks.

Our story actually begins with King Arthur contacting the lord of Estragales and telling him by letter (likely written and advised on by Merlin) that he has learned of a young woman living in a fishing village of the shores between Gomeret and Chesire who, according to heresay, slew a Sea Monster with a single throw of a spear. Arthur asks King Lak of Estragales to send some Knights to check out this folk tale.

King Lak sends Sir Edwen of Carmarthen and Sir Dougherty of Pembroke (NPCs) to locate Sir Basil and Sir Henry and commands that all four go to find this young lady on behalf of King Arthur.

Freydis is a Danish Pagan, following a Wotannic religion. Hers is a dark but just god of Drowning and Beer. Pretty metal no? Her weapon of choice is the hand held harpoon.

Aiden The Celt (Hans)

(Hans' character is female, a young Irish woman named Andaste, but this is unknown to the party except for Freydis who, being a woman herself, took notice of things men are quite oblivious to.)

On the way north, the troupe of Knights, Sirs Edwen, Dougherty, Henry and Basil, came upon a wagon and its driver on a little used path through the Arroy Forest. The driver appeared to be a slim, young man, dressed as a warrior and was likely a bandit or a mercenary. The young 'man' saw the troupe first and asked them to identify themselves. They, being Knights, insisted he do the same. Sir Dougherty recognized 'his' accent as Irish and heavy and, since he is Irish himself, decided to talk to 'him' one-on-one.

Long story short, Dougherty felt it proper for him to do something for a kinsmen and hired the young 'fellow' as a guide familiar with the area. The mercenary youth said his named was 'Aiden' (Andaste's father's name).

Andaste/Aiden is a Irish Pagan. She is running from an overbearing father and a forced decree of marriage. Imagine Meredith from Brave is she were able to escape after meeting all the other clans and started a new life as a sword for hire. Yeah, like that!

Malecai The Magnificent (Marcus)

(Ah Marcus. *Shakes head* What am I going to do with you. Marcus, ladies and gentlemen, is not what you would call a team player. As a matter of fact, he is nearly the antithesis. The idea of joining anything larger than a two-man operation gives him hives. The larger, more organized and especially more authoritative the group, the less he wants to be a part of it.

Here in Pendragon, that meant that he did not want to be a Knight. No job where you are the vassal of another or owe fealty to some higher power is going to sit well with Marcus. Instead, Marcus chose the following character...)

Little is known about the dark skinned, white robed stranger found washing himself and his things in the river not far from the Wirral in Northwestern Cambria. Perhaps nothing would be known if it weren't for Sir Basil's knowledge of the lands beyond Britain and Malecai's own propensity to talk about himself when he wishes to.

Malecai is a Moor (a Pagan to the peoples of Arthurian England) who hails from a land near that which serves as home to the Saracens. While not exactly a sage or a priest, Malecai is a little of both of these things and perhaps something more. He claims to be capable of 'Magnificant Feats' and it was said feats that earned him his title.

Intrigued by this stranger and believing their meeting could not be mere chance ("Tis either the way of Merlin or the Will of God. Either way, someone has it in for us to have a grand adventure."), Sir Henry asked Malecai to accompany the group and Sir Edwen reluctantly agreed.

(Malecai is a Magician, more specifically, a Brujo (male witch or warlock of Brujeria, a witchcraft tradition of southern Spain). I have combined the magic folklore of the Northern African 'Moors' with that of the 'Moors' of Arabian heritage and added them to the base of Brujeria to create the magical tradition Malecai uses).

***

There were a lot of great lines of dialogue in the game, but among the best ones came just after Freydis first saw Malecai and assumed the Knights, who she had already been speaking to, had caught the devil.

As the Knights and Aiden tried to explain that Malecai was not (as far as they knew) the devil, Freydis pointed a burning stick in Malecai's direction as her sister heated the tip of an iron headed harpoon. Freydis warned the Knights that the devil was unbound, he was free and might 'away'.

That turned into laughs, clarifications and the Knights and Malecai arguing over what to do. Malecai tried to say, "You do not know me. How can you call me the devil?". Unfortunately, Freydis' grasp of English is not perfect and it sounded like, "You can not guess/know my name?", something a devil would surely say.

Finally we stopped laughing, teasing each other and somehow got into a round about conversation regarding why we were there in the first place and why Arthur would even care about the young Danish woman, even though it turned out she did indeed slay a fairly large Sea Monster single-handedly. When all had quieted down there was a pause and then Freydis turned calmly to Sir Edwen and Sir Basil and asked, "Explain to me how he's not the devil."

I lost it. I almost sprayed soda.

This is not traditional Arthurian fare of that I can assure you but it is much closer to what I have been trying to pull off in Fantasy for some time now. I am really excited to continue.

Now that introductions are over I will get to an actual play report in an upcoming post.

For now, I am weary and must away,

AD
Barking Alien

I should note: Freydis and Aiden are not yet Knighted and in truth, do not have their Coats of Arms yet. The images above are what the two Players hope to some day achieve for their respective characters.