Winter is almost here, but December starts tomorrow

December was the tenth month of the Roman calendar but had no particular association for them.   However, December is also a modern month filled with holidays.  So, the themes for this month on the Sea of Stars design journal will be Winter, festivals and gift: cursed gifts, divine gifts, magical gifts or gift of all flavors.  If there is a particular idea inspired by the themes that you would like to see expanded upon, let me know and I will try to realize it.

Tomorrow is the meteorological start of Winter and we have a cold snap here to prove that point.

November saw the following posts here:

Tuesday Magic Item – Scarf of Warmth

The young man squeezed through the door to the tavern, made difficult by the drift of snow outside.  He stamped his feet to knock the snow from his boots.  “Right cold one today,” he said to the room in general.  “Don’t know how I would get by without the scarf me gran made me.”

Scarf

Scarf of Warmth

These heavy scarves are tightly woven and never seem to fray or wear.  Often they bear a pattern showing their maker somewhere in the weave.

The scarf is a very simple magic item, it, combined with sensible clothes, keeps the wearer warm is just about any chill climate and the wind will never blow it open or away.  The magic is so effective that it also provides a +1 resistance bonus to saves against cold attack.

Review – The Genius Guide to: Rune Staves and Wyrd Wands

Rune Staves and Wyrd Wands provides useful new tools for spell-casters drawing on traditional tropes for wizards, witches and sorcerers (that is staves and wands).  These new items open a variety of new and interesting options for character and role customization.

The Genius Guide to: Rune Staves and Wyrd Wands is a 7-page PDF (6 pages if you remove the credits/OGL page) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Owen K. C. Stephens and published by Super Genius Games.  This is part of Super Genius Games’ Genius Guide line.

Review – Player Races: Dragon Men

If your Savage Worlds campaign has a place for dragon men, this product will have a wealth of useful material to do so.  It provides a number of tools for crafting the specific type of dragon men you need in your campaign world.

Player Races: Dragon Men is a 6-page PDF for the Savage Worlds RPG written by Steven Trustrum and published by Misfit Studios.  This is part of Misfit Studio’s Officially Licenced Savage Worlds material.

Review – Wild Wide Web (for Pathfinder)

For a short adventure, this product is entirely a solid one for a night of play.  Depending on the group of characters involved, however, the GM may wish to increase the opposition slightly to make it a bit more challenging.

Wild Wide Web: A Short Adventure for 5-7 is a 26-page PDF (23-pages if you remove the cover and OGL page) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Jarrod Camiré and published by Taurus Twelve. (A version of this product is also available for D&D4e but this review is only for the Pathfinder version.)

My First Published Legend of the Five Rings Fiction

Is up at at the Legend of the Five Rings page!   Though wish they would have warned me, as I had to have it pointed out by one of my friends.

You can visit the fiction directly here, mine is the third part (Monastery Among the Winds).  Hope you enjoy.

Tuesday Magic Item – Gouqua’s Bamboo Spear

Sir Oglethan cursed and reigned in his mount as he found the path through the forest blocked by a palisade of sharpened stakes.  “Again!  Where do these rebel find the time to construct these barriers!?  We were hot on their heels!”

“I wonder where they get the wood,” muttered Sandol, one of his men-at-arms, scanning the forest for an ambush.  His vigilance was rewarded as he brough up his shield to deflect a crude spear from the undergrowth.  “We are attacked!” he shouted.

Bamboo

“Kill them!” screamed Oglethan, hacking at the bushes.  Sandol stabbed half-heatedly at the trees and wondered if this would ever end.

Gouqua’s Bamboo Spear

These primitive weapons were first used by the rebel Gouqua in his revolt against the colonial forces of the Quach Imperialists.  They appear as hardened bamboo spears, wrapped in places with cord to reinforce them, and decorated with a slogan of the rebellion painted in ink.

Pattern Seekers – Episode 2: Temple of the Sun above the Water

Having completed their first task and returned with the dagger of carved stone, our heroes have two days to rest and learn a bit more about their new ‘home’ such as it is totally enclosed except for the gates out and is constantly being expanded by legions of insects.  They are then summoned by the Shaper and given a new object to acquire, a staff of crystallized flames (and some potions to help with the task).

The portal lets our heroes out in a lovely forest, nearby a road cuts through it.  Once on the road they hear the clop of hooves and the rattle of wheel as the Peddler Lymm and his cart of wonder appears.  They travel with him down the road and soon through fields to the walled town of Othan above which rises a caldera upon which the Temple of the Sun (above the water) is perched.  Except for Defender (who does not sleep) and Thea (who wants to sleep outside) they get rooms at the Inn of the Midnight Sun and Lymm gets a finder’s fee for bringing in custom.  The character split up to scout around and gain information:

Review – #1 with a Bullet Point: Two Options for the Leadership Feat

The Leadership feat is one of the more complex and troublesome feats in the core Pathfinder game.  This product gives you two options for redirecting the feat into useful and less confusing forms.

#1 with a Bullet Point: Two Options for the Leadership Feat is a 3-page PDF (2 pages if you remove the credits/OGL page) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Owen K. C. Stephens and published by Super Genius Games.  This is part of Super Genius Games’ #1 with a Bullet Point (One Idea, One Page, One Dollar) line.

Pathfinder – Embassy to the Barbarians, part 3: Welcome to Strangistan

Having survived the exploding assassins, our heroes got patched up, salved and rested.  The next morning starts with a shout of alarm from the lookout, everyone hurries to the deck to see a herd (flock?) of flying buffaloes heading for the ship.  Tae Boe tries to shoot at them with a bow, causing the crew to take cover and forcing Lorrend to grab the ships wheel.  The herders of the buffaloes appear, riding on flying carpet and using shocking whips, and cause the buffaloes to veer off as well.  One flies over and talks with Ivan whose native language is close to hers, who explains why they are here (and describing Tae Boe in unflattering terms), the herder tells them to follow her back to their ‘city’.

Hetman Akkan

That they then do, the mighty skyship Eight-Clouds Ascendant landing on the outskirts of the Tent City of Wakun, mobile base of operations of the Copper Fang Tribe.  There they are loudly welcomed by Hetman Akkan and given a tour of the city, which is much less impressive than the herds of animals surround it: horses, winged buffalo, six-legged llama and other creatures.  Tae Boe gives gifts from the Empire and Akkan feast them with roast meats, exotic cheeses and kumiss (fermented mares’ milk).  After Tae Boe passes out, Akkan and the rest of the heroes get down to business with him.  They talks of things that can be done to help the tribe and decide to travel to the Mountain of Mirrors in search of enlightenment and then return to judge the ownership of a mine between the Copper Fang and a rival tribe.  Ivan ritually slaughters a buffalo calf with wrestling and a sacred spork to predict the success of the mission.