August passes into September

August draws to a close, leaving GenCon and hopefully SUmmer behind, September now stretches before us.  September, which is seventh month of the Roman calendar, does not seem to have any particular ties to myth or man among the Romans, however,  as Seven is usually viewed as a magical number, magic and spells will be our theme for this month.   Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see.

I will be out of town from the 1th-9th of September visit my mother and Washington, DC.   May or may not be able to reply much while I am there but I will certainly have news to share when I return.

August, 2013, saw the following posts here on the design journal:

Future L5R Campaign – Children of Destiny

Legend of the Five Rings – Children of Destiny

Game Themes: Following in the footsteps of the ancestors, clashes between the demands of family and personal desire, how history shapes and is shaped by people.

Situation: Doji Akira, now the Chief Magistrate of Otosan Utchi, has called upon the children of those who have served him well in the past.
Their role and fate are undetermined, can they make their destiny one of legend?

Setting: This will be set in the Jade Empire of Rokugan, 20ish years after the JYTB campaign.
•    Continuity: story arcs followed by time jumps moving the game and campaign forward.
•    Rating: PG in general, class conflict and a few other unpleasant situation may be touched upon but will not be the focus of the campaign.
•    Style: Adventure, investigation and combat with occasional -but increasingly frequent- social situations.
•    Tone: Action-adventure shading into politics.

Game Format: Legend of the Five Rings, 4th edition, with house rules.

Characters: Characters must be from one of the following groups:
•    Children or Nephews or Nieces of one of the original characters: Basic character + 10 experience, 5 of which must be spent Social or Spiritual advantage.
•    Cousin or Student of the original characters: Basic Character + 5 experience.
•    Anyone else: Basic character.

Character requirements:
•    Character History: At least a paragraph or two about who your character is and where they are from.  Get permission from the player before taking a character related to an original character.  Write more, especially if you include plot hooks and usable NPCs, get bonus experience.  Complete the Twenty Questions, get bonus experience.
•    Additional Restrictions: No more than two shugenja.

Not sure when we will be starting this, as I am off to visit my mother next week, but it is on the slate for play sometime in the near future.

My GenCon Adventure! (2013)

A bit late I know but this last week and a half has been all about catching up and work and getting prepared to go visit my mother next week.

So, as noted before, this year I traveled to GenCon by car.  Leaving on Tuesday, we made it to Cave City, a little later than we had hoped hitting traffic in Atlanta (I know, what a shock), rush hour in Nashville and some construction but it worked out alright.  Watched the premier of Face/Off (during which I IMed with my dear wife, since we usually watch it together).  After a late dinner at the best Wendy’s ever, it was time for sleep.

Day 0: Wednesday saw us shoot into Indianapolis, check into our hotel and immediately get called over to help out with the AEG booth setup, which was fun but warm (as they do not turn the air conditioning on until the Con starts).   Then made it to the end of the Ogre unboxing by Steve Jackson Games and got to help put together some ogres and other things from the set.  Afterward, stopped for a nice cup of coffee at Bee Coffee Roasters, listened to a bit of music from Five Year Mission (a local Star Trek themed geek band) and went to the AEG dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  Afterward, showed H around the convention center and went back to the hotel and learned to play Trains.  Then to bed, not to late, around midnight . . .

Tuesday Magic Item – Freethinker’s Amulet

“We must always be willing to question authority and laws,” said Quavin the Learned.  “We must follow where the light of reason and logic leads.  Some magic is mere superstition and some so-called gods are just powerful beings feeding on their worshipers.”

“A brave hypothesis,” replied High Priest Nasomorin.  “Are you willing to put it to the test.”

“I have no doubts in my beliefs, your Grace, can you say the same?”

The High Priest called a prayer and gestured.    Quavin stood still, feeling the priest magic try to grasp his will, but his mind was free and would not be bound.  “Your spell cannot bind my will, your Grace, my thoughts remain my own.”

Freethought Amulet

These amulets are prized by those who seek the truth in all things but also control over their own minds.  Their designs are usually simple, a disc being most common, and most are engraved with short mottos.

Review – Shadowrun: Storm Front

Shadowrun: Storm Front provides a bridge from the end of the 4th edition storyline to the new world of Shadowrun, 5th edition.  It does so in some fairly spectacular ways, making the world of 2074 a brave new one . . . But unless you are a huge metaplot junkie, your can probably glean what your need to run a game from the fifth edition core book along and be happy

Storm Front is a source book for Shadowrun, it moves the Sixth World’s time line forward and with it, many of the metaplots, some drawing to a close, others continue to accelerate laying the groundwork for the brave new world of Shadowrun, fifth edition.

ElectroAcidic Animate (Template)

ElectroAcidic Animate

Created by a mixture of alchemy and experimental magics, the ElectroAcidic process can temporarily restore creatures to a semblance of half-life by converting the subject into a self-powering creature that eventually hollows itself out and dissolves.

Creating an ElectroAcidic Animate

Tuesday Magic Item – ElectroAcidic Reanimation Kit (revised)

“They are coming, are you done?” asked Vask, looking down the corridor, keeping his crossbow training at the end.

“Last step,” hissed Honra through gritted teeth as she forced the hypodermic needle through the chest and into the heart and injected the catalyst.  She wrenched the needle out before the transformation was completed.  “Its done, let’s go,” she said packing up the kit as the corpse began to twitch.  Honra paused to make certain the control dial was set to to attack.

Honra broke into a jog as Vask fell back, keeping watch for a few seconds before turning and dashing after Honra.  Behind them the corpse jerked into a semblance of life.

ElectroAcidic Reanimation Kit

These kits contain a set of mechanical attachments that inset into the base of the spine, the base of the skull and the forehead, the forehead piece including a dial of with six settings and a set of three hypodermic needles filled with unusual fluids.  Most come with a set of illustrated instructions.

GenCon is Over! The Dragon is Slain!

GenCon is over for another year.  Tomorrow, I head back home, crossing several states by car to arrive back sometime to

Victorious, bloody but unbowed.

morrow.

The picture symbols our victorious and exhausted selves after have Slain the Dragon / Survived the Con.

 

The picture is of Dragon Slayer by Drew Baker and my proud new acquisition (and where the majority of my spending money went) from GenCon.

 

Hopefully, see all you GenCon people next year and normal posting will resume on Tuesday.

To GenCon! By Car!

This year will be a new experience for me, a friend (H of my gaming group) and I are both working for AEG‘s Demo Team and are driving up together, and by that, I mean he is driving and I am riding along.  Today we start a nine-hour drive from Athens to Indianapolis with a stop in Cave City at the end of GenCon Day -2, arriving in Indianapolis on Wednesday (GenCon Day -1).  Possibly I will post some trip photo tomorrow.

If you are going to be at GenCon, it would be great to meet you, you can find me here or drop me an email and we can coordinate.

Also, for those of you preparing for the convention, here is my (hopefully useful) advice to attendees.

Hope to see you there!

Tuesday Magic Item – Road Box

“We do not have time to wait for the engineers,” said Conradus with a scowl looking over the marshy terrain.  “Let the ‘miracle workers’ do their magic.”

The scholar-wizards from the College of Otherworldly Arts brought forward a large metal box filled with stones -with some difficulty- and they set it down.  Taking some time, they arranged the stones from the in a row.  One they had set the stone to their satisfaction, they incanted a short ritual and the stones marched across the marsh, building a road behind them.

Conradus watched for the process to finish.  “How long will it last?”

“As long as any other road built on a marsh, Commander,” replied the senior scholar-wizard.  “Long enough for your men to get across.”

Road Box

These boxes are either composed of paving stones bound together with large handles or made of iron and filled with paving stones with even larger handles.  Most are plain but some are decorated with runes and symbol.