Let December and Winter being! With a glance back at November

This was suppose to post at the end of November, it was suppose to post while I was at PAX Unplugged, but I mis-scheduled it!  So here it is, a few days late.

Tomorrow is the first of December and the meteorological start of Winter, and feels that way where I am! December was the tenth month of the Roman calendar (for those keeping score at home).  December is also a 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 whatever else we can think up.

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.

Looking back over November, 2018, we saw the following posts here:

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Short Review – Nymphs (Gostor)

Gostor – Nymphs: Minor Goddesses, a new race for D&D 5E, by Jean-Philipe ‘JP’ Chapleau provides exactly what it promises, the race of nymphs, nature spirits or the most minor of goddess, inspired by Greek Mythology in a playable form.

A short background of the place of nymphs is followed by the types of nymphs.  A few paragraphs on using nymphs and four paragraph length adventure seeds

Nymphs, as presented here, have three playable subtypes: underworld, forest and waterway, while wild nymph and hags are noted for story reasons, and sky nymphs appear as monsters.  They seem balanced though all, naturally, have some magical abilities.They are supported by two backgrounds, whose features need clearer definition of how they should be used, and one new feat, which really seems more aimed at NPC nymphs as it makes the character an ally of hags.

Two new “monsters” round out the product, sky nymphs (which oddly, cannot fly) and wild nymphs, both which have a very minimal descriptions outside their statblocks.

While this product achieves its aims, there is so much more it could have done.  It only allows for female nymphs, for example, while males would have another name there is no reason for nature spirits to be confined to one sex.  Some tables for suggested characteristics to go with the backgrounds and a magic item or two would have really solidified the usefulness of this product.  As it is, it seems of more use to a DM than players, but even then it would have been nice to have had more support material.

Note that the link above is an affiliate link and any purchases made through it will give me a small amount of reward, for which I thank you.

PinkCat: Running in the Shade “The Corporations are Your Friends” (A different sort of SR campaign report)

To understand what is going on here, you had best read the first PinkCat: Running in the Shade post, but short summary, this is a campaign report for our Shadowrun campaign set in NorCal through the filter of a cartoon made by one of the team members.

Episode Thirty-Nine: The Corporations are Your Friends

Guest Starring: DoubleUp and Tora.

On a trip to the local mall (Mall-U-Want) Pink and her friends stumble upon a corporate recruiting fair, all the Ten Big GigantoCorps are there (Big Pyramid, FutureYou, Hollywood!, Mars MassiveTech, RedRyu and so on) along with many smaller companies.

The episode is essentially a PSA about how corporations work, what they do and what is good and bad about them.  It is mostly evenhanded but contains some backhanded slams about how the GigantoCorps abuse their powers when dealing with people.

The episode ends with Pink and friends staggering out of the mall under the weight of all of the promotional things there were given by the corporate recruiters.

What really happened:

All Hallows today, All Saints tomorrow as October passes into November

Happy All Hallows Day and Eve all!  Enjoy costumes, food and whatever else one does on this lovely holiday!  Tomorrow is the beginning of November with All Saints Day; November is the ninth month of the Roman calendar, and -in the traditional Irish calendar- the start of Winter.   Tomorrow is also the beginning of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which I will be participating in, as usual, to spur me to write.

In light of that, and seeing no obvious theme to November I will just write about whatever inspires me.   I will keep up with the Tuesday magic items and whatever else I can fit.  However, if you have any requests, anything you would like to see or any theme you would like me to expand upon, please let me know and I will try to fit it in.

October, 2018, saw the following posts here:

General Shadowrun campaign news and a new Seattle Scream (#57) prop

Our various Shadowrun games continue on, not least monthly with introductory games at Tyche’s Games (every first Sat, feel free to join us), and the occasional game as part of our Thursday night rotation both the NorCal game and occasional one-shot adventure in Seattle.  Last month we even got to playtest a Prime Runner level game scenario that was played at Dragon*Con.  The NorCal campaign, the game were I actually get to play a character, has seen some more play and remains one of my favorite games with lots of problem solving (latest report from that here).

The latest news from my campaign here in Seattle Scream #57, this one is mostly setup for potential adventures and maybe some stuff for the NorCal campaign to riff off of.

Now, be careful out there in the shadows my friends.  The world is dark place with the threat of betrayal ever present.

Photo Shanghai by Jo is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

 

Soon October and remembering September

Tomorrow begins October, the eighth month (naturally) of the Roman Calendar.  It seems the Romans had no special association for October beyond Autumn, but we have Halloween!  So the theme on the Sea of Stars Design Journal will be Monsters!

If you have ideas for Monsters, let me know and I will try to make it happen.

September, 2018, was a very slow month as I had many competing demands on my time such as adopting two kittens (Eris and Artemis, see photo), kitten proofing the home, and other things

Leaf’s Letter (L5R Campaign Report)

This is a rather impressionistic report on our last Legend of the Five Rings game from the point of view of my new character, Takeha (Bamboo Leaf), a Nun of the Order of Harmonious Work.  She is still getting to know the group so was not privy to some of the events that happened with them, so the letter is light on such details.

Abbess Kurako-sensei,

You were correct about the world outside the Abbey and the villages, it is more crowded, more noisy and more strange than anything this one could have imagined. Keeping to your advice, this one has been respectful, helpful and avoided being caught alone with men.

The members of the Crane Clan as a whole have been polite and generous but they are also rather stand offish, as if hard work is catching and they may find themselves having to stoop to physical labor if they associate with a nun. This one does not mean to mock, only observe, but it is rather amusing.

This one was able to secure passage down the river at Kosaten Shiro when one of the paying passengers had to get off. The journey was pleasant and this one learned a little about the work aboard a river boat. Knots are surprisingly complex and tricky.