RPGaDay2020: Days 5–8
Once again, I'm playing catch up for #RPGaDay2020! Today, let's look at the themes for Days 5 through 8...
Day 5: Tribute
For today's prompt, I'm going to briefly discuss why I have become interested in the old-school roleplaying scene. The reason for me is ostensibly nostalgia—BECMI D&D was my introduction to roleplaying and I distinctly remember the sense of wonder that the game evoked. I've played and read an absolute mountain of RPGs since and while there have been stand outs amongst them, there has never been anything that has matched those first tentative steps into the realms of early D&D.
The recent surge in OSR material has presented multiple tributes to the older D&D systems. Many present themselves are accurate republications of the original rulesets, some are reimaginings on various levels, whether minor tweaks or complete overhauls. But what really draws me to the OSR is the style of publications and the depth of imagination that does into some of the adventures that have been published. There is a reason publications like MÖRK BORG win Ennies—it is a beautifully laid out book with some exceptionally evocative writing.
While these games act as tributes to an older style of play, you can see the development of something new in them—a new vision in what an RPG can be. And while the OSR is plagued by a number of contentious issues and there is plenty of room for development and improvement in vision, I am excited to see what comes out of this area next.
Day 6: Forest
I've been looking forward to today's prompt as it allows me to revisit my homebrew D&D campaign world again. If you've read this blog before, you may have come across my post on Maqsum: The Shattered Land, which provided an overview of this. With forest as a prompt, I'm going to take a quick look at one of the key features on the island at the the centre of the conflict in this world, namely the Ironwood forest.
Ironwood is a strongly contested natural resource. The hard wood sourced from these trees is as strong as steel and is uniquely susceptible to enchantment, being one of the few naturally occurring materials that can be imbued with magic. It has become a valuable resource in the construction of magically enabled devices, most importantly the production of Hexcannons, as the wood prevents these magically powered firearms from exploding when fired. Why the wood holds such enchantment with so great an ease, no one knows. Some have suggested that the trees were produced by the Senjin for this very purpose, while others claim that Ironwood is a fortunate side effect resulting from Senjin genetic experimentation. The Horological Order of Aons suspects, but has yet to confirm, the presence of a large Senjin complex long hidden beneath Jakay's bedrock that holds unforeseen knowledge and potent technologies. It is possible that whatever was contained in such a place has leeched out into the surrounding environment, with the Ironwood forming as a result. Yet this is all hearsay until proven otherwise...
The Ironwood trees grow strong and tall, with most rising above 500ft and the tallest and oldest rising as high as 1000ft near the centre of the forest. The canopy spreads like a blanket, rich and green, covering most of the eastern half of Jakay, from the banks of the River of Blossoms to the ridges of the Spinehold Mountains. Little light passes through their branches, shrouding the forest floor in darkness, making it a dangerous place susceptible to incursion by the hideous Oni—the malformed and mutable beings that exist tangentially to the pocket plane in which the Shattered Lands exist.
The Ironwood is guarded by the Levindari, who call themselves the Flowers of Life. They are elf-like in feature, though their consumption of the forests bounty has changed them over time, causing strings of genetic mutations that have passed through their blood lines. Their aspects mimic the trees that they call home, with some developing hardened bark-like skin and greenish fronds for hair, and in others the need for the sun's light to help them process nutrients. The older they become, the more these changes present themselves, until eventually they become one with the forest.
The Levindari are secretive and little is known about their day-to-day lives. Many rumors have sprung up about them, including that they are born from the trees themselves and are thus spirits of the forest! It is true that none have seen a Levindari child, but then again, few have travelled to the heart of the forest in search of their settlements and fewer have ever returned. The peoples of Jakay, especially those settlers from the Ivory Empire who seek to harvest the Ironwood, only encounter the Levindari occasionally and then generally in conflict. Their is animosity towards them, but also a growing call for the culling of the forest to be halted, which has caused a sense of unease in the Empire's governance. There are those who would seek to prevent the destruction of the Levindari's ancestral homes, but their opposition claims that forfeiting the Ironwood resource would place it in the hands of the Empire's enemies.
While the people of Jakay might claim that the Ironwood births the Levindari, and that are a kind of tree spirit recently personified to protect the trees, it is true that each tree has its own spirit that resides within it. These spirits grow in strength with the tree that reside within, becoming ever more sentient as time drawn inexorably onward. In the oldest of trees, such spirits may manifest themselves and act independently of their mother tree. They wander freely providing blessings to those who honour the woods, and cursing those who would seek to damage them. At best, they are fickle creatures and are able to transport themselves through the Ironwoods complex root network with ease, allowing them to traverse great distances in the blink of an eye. Yet, they must always care for the tree that birthed them, for their life is bound to it. Should the tree sicken, then so do they; should it weaken and die, then they too shall pass alongside it.
This is just a brief glimpse into some of the background to Maqsum that I have been developing as this D&D campaign progresses. I am hoping to write some of this up into a more usable format, along with new mechanics and options that allows it be be brought to life at the table. I look forward to sharing more about this world in future posts...
Day 7: Couple
A very brief but exceptionally heartfelt shout goes out to my wife for this prompt. We have been a couple for over ten years now and married for seven of those. She never ceases to amaze me by how much support she provides me in both my writing and my love of roleplaying as a hobby. While she sometimes rolls her eyes when I ramble on about the latest game that has caught my eye, she has always been willing to read over my work, help me work through writer's block and seldom complains at how much time I devote to my hobby.
So, today, I pay tribute to my loving wife, Elizabeth. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Always.
Day 8: Shade
For Shade, I want to quickly return to Maqsum and look at one of the terrifying threats to this world—the Oni.
No one truly knows where the Oni originate from. The most parsimonious explanation is that their existence came about due to the great cataclysm that sundered Maqsum; that the Senjin's destruction of their draconic enemies and the resultant devastation of their world tore open the blackness of the Void and let its denizens pour in through the breach. Whatever the reason, the Oni are a constant threat to all sentient life on Maqsum.
Oni are mutable creatures, formed of some kind of protoplasmic morass from which any kind of form can evolve. This is known as when Oni are destroyed, they revert to a thick, bubbling sludge that corrupts everything it touches before it fades away back into the Void. The creatures are powerfully affected by sunlight as well, to such an extent that they only appear at night, or in the truly dark places of the world. During the day, they melt back into the Void from which they come; a tangential plane of existence—a silent, grey shadow realm, the barrier to which was ruptured by the Senjin in aeons past.
The Oni are a constant problem in the blighted lands of the Great Rift, far to the North, which is supposedly the ground zero for whatever cataclysm destroyed the rest of Maqsum and fractured the shattered lands into the broken continent it is now. This place is scarred by a bottomless ravine that spans the northernmost part of the shattered continent and the surrounding land is barren and grey, constantly eroded by the presence of the Void. Some say that the Rift does not end, but if one were to descend into it they would eventually fall through into the Void itself. There can be no other explanation for why the Oni swarm here in such great numbers.
The Northern Kingdoms are thus devoted to stemming the tide of the Oni's encroachment. Their warriors are trained from birth to fight against insurmountable odds and give their lives to turn back seemingly endless foes. The Horological Order of Aons provides them with new and ever more dangerous technologies harvested from Senjin ruins to aid in their endeavours, though why they do so is shrouded in mystery. Some claim that they have knowledge of a Senjin artefact lost near to the Rift's edge and seek to reclaim it for some unfathomable purpose...
Outside the threat of the Great Rift, Oni can appear at anytime, seemingly emerging from the night as if out of thin air. Given the threat they pose, most cities and towns surround themselves with powerful protective energy shields formed from crystalline nano-matrices that have the power to repel Oni attacks. Kept in working order by magic-users, these provide those in civilisation some comfort against the dangers of the night. Travellers too are able to source smaller versions of these shield like constructs, allowing longer journeys to be undertaken, though these smaller and more portable defences have limited capabilities to withstand sustained attacks—most will withhold an Oni for a night before requiring some form of recharge, meaning that many request the services of a mage or other practitioner of magic to accompany them on longer journeys to ensure their protection is maintained.
Again, this brief post gives a little insight into this background threat in my game world. It is never really at the forefront of things, but provides a constant level of tension—a single Oni could potentially devastate the PC's party if they don't have adequate protection while travelling and there is a lot of discussion about how to reach their goals while avoiding the Oni at all costs.
You might also ask how I present the Oni, as I haven't provided them with much description here. The answer to that question is however I want at the time! I try and make them as horrible and unknowable as I can—think Lovecraftian on steroids. I also like to make them as difficult to adapt to as possible. If they ever became predictable then they would lose their effectiveness. To this end, I often use random table to produce them. My favourite ones to really ramp up the weird with these creatures is to use things like the Summon spell from Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Johnstone Metzger's Metamorphica and the Random Esoteric Creature Generator.