Tuesday Magic Item – Jinete Javelin

Voddick took cover behind the ruined wall and worked the lever to recock his crossbow.  “I am getting tired of these horsemen.”  A javelin flew over his head.  “Very tired.”

Gollaon drew back his bow and released an arrow.  “I fear we will be out of bolts and arrows well before we are out of foes.”

“We could try throwing the javelins back,” suggested Voddick slotting another bolt.

“They are enchanted I suspect, they will not be of much use to us.”

“Well damn.”

Jinete Javelin

These well made javelins have shafts of dyed wood and the heads are often marked with the symbol of the group they are made for.

Happy Birthday Doctor Who!

In 1963, the first episode of an untried series broadcast on the BBC, it was Doctor Who and has since gone on to be the longest running science fiction show in the world (no doubt helped by the plot element of regeneration).

I have been a fan since 1977 and Tom Baker remains my Doctor, but to one extend or another, I have enjoyed all of the Doctors.  But I think Davidson, McGann (who could have been amazing) and Tennant, round out my absolute favorites.

While I was a huge Whovian, even being part of the small Doctor Who cosplay group for the 2nd Dragon*Con parade, my love of the show has cooled in recent years.  Not much of a fan of the direction that Moffatt has taken the show but I do still watch, it is just no longer a central part of my Fannish Identity.  Though I suspect I will be a fan til my chance to regenerate comes up.

There is an interesting bit from the BBC here about how the actual creation of the character and the name come about remains a mystery, quite amusing and appropriate.

Note: Photo by Allison Stein and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Creative Sunday – The Mongolian Wizard series by Michael Swanwick

Some fiction this time around, The Mongolian Wizard series by Michael Swanwick.

The series is set in an alternate fin de siècle, where magic is used alongside technology and the Mongolian Wizard is slowly conquering his way across the continent.  Having started, naturally, with Russia.  Let me just say that the Mongolian Wizard

Our protagonist is Franz-Karl Ritter and he serves as our viewpoint onto this most interesting but unhappy world.  The magic is interesting and the rules are slowly elaborated over the stories.  They are good read.

 

Petrichor Adventures – Campaign Report

This is a recap of the first adventure before I forget anymore about it, campaign background here.

Port Imperial

First Session, It starts in Nieuw Asterdahl, where Lorrend and Pedr are tasked with sailing along the edge of the island to Port Imperial to recruit additional labourers, they take the cutter Zee Duifje (Sea Dove) and head off.  The travel is uneventful, they arrive on the docks, where they are met by a visse servant of the Imperium and his two marine assistants, who collect docking fees.  The five sailors say they will wait on the ship, or in a nearby bar, for our heroes return.

Where upon:

Tuesday Magic Item – Ring of the Stormcalled (for Pathfinder and D&D5)

“That dwarf was amazing, with the lightning dancing about him when he waded into that unit of spearmen,” said Voddick then taking a drink of dark ale.

“He has a strong link with the storm and with his ancestors,” replied Gollaon, after taking a drink of his wine.

“Dwarves are good at remembering family, that is true,” nodded Voddick.  “Glad he and his ancestors are fighting on our side.”

“As am I.”

Ring of the Stormcalled

The exterior of these rings is roughly worked and dull crystal while the interior is as smooth as ice.  Once aligned with the wearer, the crystals become clear and glint brilliantly in the light.  Forged by dwarven ritual magic that blends crystalmagy and weather-calling, this rings embody a fragment of the storm that created them.

New Magic Item – Veteran’s Sword

“The quarter master is offering me a new sword, but I cannot bear to think of my current one being melted down,” said Voddick patting the much repaired hilt of his sword.

“Keep the one you have, it knows your hand and your spirit,” answered Gollaon, protectively dropping his hand to the his of his own sword.

“Ture, we have been through all sorts of danger and it has always served me well.”  Voddick nodded.  “You are right I will keep it.”

Gollaon just nodded in return.

Veteran’s Sword

These weapons have seen considerable use and often bear marks of previous battles, they are also well cared for and have been carefully maintained and repaired.

New Campaign – Petrichor

Petrichor

Many odd places exist in the Sea of Stars, one such place was the Wash, a large island that was constantly under pounding rain.  While a few hardy (or unfortunate) souls set up small settlements to sell fresh water to passing ships, expeditions into the exterior never returned or came back with stories of washed out plains and low hills of mud.  Even the expansionist powers gave up on settling the fringe of an island whose only resource was rainwater.

Then, the rain stopped, entirely.  The omnipresent clouds, blew away.  Suddenly, the Wash was just another island.  Cautiously, exploration began, after all the rains could come back at any time.  To their surprise, there were forests, mountains and lush grasslands, rivers and streams, even ruins.  It was as if the real nature of the land had been held ayont, waiting for the rains to stop before they returned.

Now, there is a great rush to claim this new land.  While in the capital, lawyers and surveyors argue over who owns the lands, everyone knows that it will be the facts on the ground that ultimately decide the division of this new realm.

Setting: The Sea of Stars, a new frontier thereof.  We would agree upon what nation /  organization the player characters are representing and what their sponsors are seeking from this new world.

Creative Sunday – Magellan

Magellan is a superhero webcomic drawn by Grace Crowley which I have been following for years.  It mostly follows one of the young cadets, Kaycee Jones, whose overriding goal in life is to be a superhero even though she has no superpower beyond determination and focus.

The world is fully realized and plays with superheroic tropes in a variety of interesting ways.  I highly recommend it to anyone who like superheroes or academy/school based stories or both!

Grace also has her own Patreon for those wishing to support Magellan.

Notes: Sorry about missing last Sunday but I was en route to a trade show for work and my entire week has been disrupted.

Banner from the Magellan site and used without permission.

Dark Future Ahead 13 – News from the ‘Net of a Cyberpunk bent

Time again for the latest interesting and cyberpunk inspiring stories that I have found:

Converting oil tankers into housing and communities.  Seems like an interesting place to live or at least visit.

While an Italian group (called WASP, World’s Advanced Saving Project) is building a machine that uses 3D printing technique to build a house from local materials.  The building are basic but look tough, useful for emergency shelters, barracks, inexpensive housing, and other uses.  How would you react to a village full of these?

Inside one of the main internet hub in NY, if this does not inspire adventure ideas I do not know what will.

Boeing, working to keep airports safe, by developing lasers to burn drones out of the sky.  You think it is bad when a bird get sucked into a jet engine, a pizza deliver drone is every worse.

What about agrivoltaics, the mixed use of solar energy generating photovoltaic arrays and agriculture?  An interesting way forward for a changing world.

Or perhaps floating farms, mixing fish farming and hydroponics, might be another option.  Anchor them offshore and harvest year round.

What signs of the coming dark future have you seen recently?

Roads of Rokugan

Some of you may recall that I did some work on the Atlas of Rokugan for the Legend of the Five Rings RPG, specifically the Unicorn Clan lands along with those of the monks and the unclaimed lands which still had interesting things in them.

But I also did a short section on the roads (and a little on canals) of Rokugan that got cut due to space considerations.  Luckily, I got permission to release it as an unofficial supplement!

Get your copy here: Roads of Rokugan.

Image from Wikimedia Commons and is in the Public Domain.