What games we feel should be in a GM’s library once you have started to run games.
D&D, Pathfinder (Or D20 Modern, depending)
Tri-stat (BESM)
WoD
Stat Blocks –
Derek – Drabbles
Shots plowed into the concrete above Daniel’s head. What had I gotten myself into he thought as he crawled behind cover. Pulling out the gun was a weird feeling for him as he had never done this before. He squeezed off 4 rounds in rapid succession. Then he opened his eyes to see if he had hit anything. As expected not a single hit. The tactically masked people peered out then fired another volley. Then as if he had done this a thousand times he rolled out from cover and fired off several shots that pinned them as he ran.
The silence was not deafening, it was unnerving. The dark, now that was creepy. You know the feeling you get when you are certain someone or something is right next to you. Not that you can see or hear them. The unknown that is the true killer. That thing that makes you imagine things a million times more terrifying than the reality. If only it were that simple. Time seems to stretch in this place. Where is this place? Wait. Is that a pinprick of light? Yes it must be because it is getting larger. The fold in space-time unfurls.
Leaping up I catch the slightest breeze and grab hold letting it drag me into the sky. There are a few like me that have “powers”. I don’t like to think about it like that. I am not a human anymore, I am something else. Yes I feel like a human, but on another level. I can not be human anymore since I can do amazing things. Flight is just one of my talents. I can pick up a car with some minor effort. There are some that can teleport and other things too. We are the next phase of mankind.
Main topic – Inspiration where to get it and where to steal it from.
Stat blocks –
The Broken Arrow-
This bowyer/fletcher shop is a one stop shop for all your archery needs. The open flow of the shop feels almost like a quiet forest glen. The barrels of Arrows and bolts plus all the bits for bows and fletching around show you that this place is a shop that knows how to make all types of bows. Hanging from the framing around the counter are the bodies of crossbows and regular bows. The area behind the counter can be opened up to show the archery range behind the shop. The man if he can be called such looks as old and gnarled as some of the wood pieces in here. He goes by Sandral he is a half-elf with larger than normal ears. He might be mistaken for an elf but no elf has ever looked this old. His hands look crooked like they had been broken several times, but they move with a dexterity and strength that their appearance belie. He has a quiet and gentle nature that helps to but people at ease.
The Interesting McGuffin
Ok there’s the standard idea for starting a quest. An old man says that the wicked necromancer is kidnapping the locals to use in his experiments. Your contact in cyberpunk tells you that Gideon, who runs the local pawn shop, sells info on his clients to the corps. Local preacher says that there’s a powerful manitou that lurks in the abandoned mine shaft. These ways of giving quests are straightforward. There’s a problem and your players can go to resolve it, usually with a final result in mind. But how about a quest with no “final result.” Just a vague question that sits in the back of players minds.
Enter the “Interesting Mcguffin.” This kind of item can usually be introduced underhanded, almost as an afterthought. For instance, your posse from Deadlands just killed a Harrowed gunslinger. You’re rifling through his pockets to see if you can get any identification of who he was or how he became harrowed. In the breast pocket of his shirt you find a bullet, jet black. There’s no makers mark on it. And your huckster gets a bad feeling when he’s holding it. So what is the bullet, why was it made, what was its purpose, and how did this Harrowed get a hold of it? That’s your Interesting Mcguffin.
You need to make the Mcguffin puzzling enough so that between the “linear missions” your players want to spend time unravel the mysteries of the Mcguffin. It can be anything depending on your setting. A broken piece of an ancient tablet with weird writing on it. An encrypted piece of data that sticks behind in your datalock. A flower that never wilts but changes colour for some reason. You as the GM know all about it and what it does, but your players don’t.
There’s an upside and a downside to these kind of items. Downside is that some players just chuck it in with the rest of the loot and forget about it. Or they may, inadvertently, find a way to get all mysteries resolved with no issues. Don’t worry if that happens. Just run with it and don’t try to force things with your players. The trick as a GM is not to be “invested.” Just make sure that you remember what your players did with it, even if they forgot. Like when your players are stopped by security and ordered to turn our their pockets. Now they have to think on their feet and explain the “interesting Mcguffin” to their captors.
The up side? It gets your characters thinking. Not just Out of character, but in character as well. Your science type may want to analyze it. The greedy thief may want to try and pawn it (with sometimes funny results). The Lawman may want to get it back to its owner. Your mystic may want to unravel its deep secrets.
Nice thing about this kind of item is that it can eventually turn into a quest in and of itself. They may abandon their current quest to figure it out.
Just be prepared to think on your feet. The Mcguffin’s inherent flexibility can have the characters approach it out of left field sometimes.
The Omni-Potent Fallacy
When unrelenting evil comes pouring over the land, the light of the angel made flesh can push them back. The party is saved as the Johnson and his goons come storming in, taking out the go-gangers. The General listens and the nuclear option is diverted, so better special forces may move in on the alien invaders. Great power sometimes finds itself an ally instead of an enemy to protagonists, but such power sometimes offers a heaven bound level of vision and small details can be lost. Overconfidence and sure, the Omni-Potent Fallacy uses their abilities like clubs to solve problems, and in many ways creates waves that break open more rifts.
This NPC is a wild card. Pointed the right way and they assume they can solve the world’s problems in an instant, but without regard to cost and loss. Their assumption on being right can put them at odds to players who haven’t earned their trust, and keeping them calm, happy, and loyal is a juggling act. Such power isn’t something a player wants to content with, whether it comes from a great Wizard, a dragon, a CEO, powerful AI, or even a god. Once they’ve assumed the players are enemies, it’ll be hard to convince them otherwise without equal force.
The Omni-Potent Fallacy exists in most genres, often in the role as a figurative or literal Deus Ex Machina. Gods and Demons in Fantasy realms attempting to understand mortal risks and solving issues with lightning. CEOs and Spy Masters trying to keep their finger on the pulse of an ever deepening world. Military leaders sure of their place on a battlefield. The NPC need not have physical unlimited powers but merely the ability to command such power even through chains of minions.
The worst position a player can find themselves is on the other side of the Omni-Potent Fallacy finding out their wrong after they’ve acted. After they’ve killed loved ones, destroyed cities, ended the lives of innocents and guilty alike. These acts can send the figure spiraling in several hostile directions. They may become self-reflective and depressed, turning inward and losing their great power. They may lash out and blame others for being fooled. Or Worse, they can assume the loss and misdirected actions as proof of their conviction and dive deeper into dangerous beliefs. At this point, the players can try to guide them back to the true path and solve the problems their misdirection has caused, or seek to destroy the omni-potent figure and dismantle them before they can do further harm.
Lexicon –
ordure
noun or·dure \ˈȯr-jər\
Definition of ordure
1: excrement
2: something that is morally degrading
Examples of ordure in a sentence
<polite people do not discuss ordure in public>
Origin and Etymology of ordure
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from ord dirty, foul, from Latin horridus horrid
A race of beings that feed on the souls and joy of people.
The phrase of “Sleep with one eye open.” Is actually a reference to a way to keep them at bay when they are out and hunting. As long as you keep an eye out then they can not appear with they must do to feed. In just a blink of the eye they can disappear. If you do catch one they look like a marionette moving that has had its strings cut. And the limbs are not quite connected “right”. But the most disquieting thing about them is that they have a blank face i.e. not a single feature aside from the green glowing eyes that are looking out from under the brim of the hat they all seem to be wearing.
Joulesweapon of adaptation
JustinAllied Trickery : The Anti-Knight
Lexicon –
Churl noun\ˈchər(-ə)l\
Definition of CHURL
1 :ceorl
2 : a medieval peasant
3 :rustic, countryman
4 a: a rude ill-bred person
b: a stingy morose person
Examples of CHURL
<as far as he was concerned, anyone from outside the city was a backwater churl>
Origin of CHURL
Middle English, from Old English ceorl man, ceorl; akin to Old Norse karl man, husband
6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, Facebook groups, Forums,
Lexicon–
Factotum noun fac·to·tum \fak-ˈtō-təm\ Full Definition of factotum
1: a person having many diverse activities or responsibilities
2: a general servant
Did You Know?
“Do everything!” That’s a tall order, but it is exactly what a factotum is expected to do. It’s also a literal translation of the New Latin term factotum, which in turn traces to the Latin words facere(“to do”) and totum (“everything”). In the 16th century, factotum was used in English much like a surname, paired with first names to create personalities such as “Johannes Factotum” (literally “John Do-everything”). Back then, it wasn’t necessarily desirable to be called a factotum; the term was a synonym of “meddler” or “busybody.” Now the word is more often used for a handy, versatile individual responsible for many different tasks.
Origin and Etymology of factotum
New Latin, literally, do everything, from Latin fac (imperative of facere do) + totum everything First Known Use: 1566
Stat Blocks
The Outsider
When we look at the people that populate a RPG world, we often think of them as part of the cultural context our characters are a part of. Aspects of tradition, community standards, practices and policies that make society work. Such behavior is how we usually judge new people we meet and if they are known to us or if they are an “other.” But the real world, especially for travelers, explorers, and adventures, often brings groups of people together who don’t share the same default states, and conflict, although unintentional occurs on a regular basis. The Outsider is one of these others, and their approach to the players may put them off at first, because understanding cultural boundaries and pushing past them isn’t something a player may initially be willing to do.
The NPC Outsider has a great potential within a game setting. They offer a chance to break the mental short cuts players will use with NPCs. Whether it’s the treatment of diplomatic customs, respect for religious or political iconography, or just normal manners, the chance to experience the world through another view point is the heart of role-playing, and the Outsider reinforces that dialogue. Barriers such as language, upbringing, and class standing provide means for cultural impact on a game while presenting a Gamemasters the chance to expand the depth of the reality they’ve helped introduce to players.
Outsiders exist in all RPG genres as every world should feature a complex set of cultures and communities. The interesting thing to do is to bring outsiders in who have a common thread. In Fantasy, this may be the Druid who has come to aid your party, but their creed is one of respecting the natural order of life and so healing spells are not part of their preparations. In Science Fiction, aliens and artificial life forms are common stand ins for those who are literal outsiders, and explaining the difference between cultures becomes vital to the plot. In contemporary fiction, the choices are myriad as the number of cultures part of our real world.
Remember though, cultural missteps are a two-way street. While an outsider may not fit in or understand the culture of the players, it is easy for the players to act incorrectly within the Outsider’s world view. Offense, breach of social contract, or damage to honor can turn an outsider against a party, especially if the party has been failing to be considerate of both cultural touch stones.
Cerulean – They are an Artist that pushes the envelope of art and not art. No one has ever seen them. The work they do is borderline crime they actually call the art hyperrealism. The kinds of things are pushing people to do drugs everyday and photographing it and showing people going from Regular working joe to scary homeless guy. They then host gala’s that are not for the super rich and famous, they are for anyone that walks in the door. No one has ever been invited and no one has ever been to more than a single gala. All of the artist’s pieces are “signed” with a single square of Cerulean in them.
Adventure Hooks/ Rumors: Someone has stolen the chairs (seats) and is holding them ransom.
A group of dissidence has started to make inroads in the government.
While no one knows who The Chairs are it is certain that two have recently been replaced, why is the question. Rumor has it that the two prior Chairs were assassinated.
Moralis is the westernmost city of Barakon. It sits where the Trade road splits into the northern road, southern road, and the central road. Overland trade goods coming from the west have to pass through Moralis. Being the second largest city in the country has its advantages. The number of troops here is actually small since it borders on the edge of an empirical state as well. Things here are busy but given that trade here only slows down when the northern road which is also called The Pass Road is snowed in at the pass. Guilds play a large part in the day to day running of the city. The market in town is the largest in the country and only one other is bigger in the empire. While things are prosperous the empire’s taxes are a bit much for some people here.
“Myst on the Moor”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Notable NPC’s: Savion (street beggar), Felio Cativa, President Regulis Campalia
Notable Locations: Blackstar (Bards college), Fodelia’s Stage, Copper University
Adventure Hooks/ Rumors: The Dean of Blackstar has died and can not be brought back or spoken to because he has become something other in the the afterlife.
The Archaeologist’s of one school are planning a trip to Bay Guard Island and need guards from the local things there.
Something is going on with the South Trade Road one in three shipments are getting to the town. Where is everything else going?
Hallion is a strange town in that there are 4 universities all in town. The whole town has grown to be what the schools need. Presently the four universities are Blackstar, Magicanus, Fodelia’s Stage, and Hallion. There is another area near the market that is called Copper University. While Hallion is a general establishment for higher learning the other three are specialized schools. While copper university is called a university it is not one. It is actually a close grouping of coffee shops that cater to intellectuals that can sit around and talk about various topics. Sitting out on the arm of the bay on the ocean side makes it open to trade also from ships coming along the south edge of the continent. While it is not a trading hub some trade passes through here.
“Myst on the Moor”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Notable Locations: Council Hall, Cemetery, Tomb-hunter Guildhall
Adventure Hooks: Soothsayer has gone missing and has been for two weeks, This has never happened before. She was last seen near the cemetery.
The Tomb-Hunters have found a possible tomb near town.
With all the new troops in town tensions are growing between the people and the military.
The town of Kavala was one of the first populated places in the country before the Empire came in. Kavala is sitting on the point where the river splits into two that feeds the forest to the south and east which helped to make it a hub of commerce. Once that happened the influx of ideas from other places has lead to it being a place ruled as a true republic which the empire is not a fan of. Seeing how it had worked here for so long they figured why mess with a thing that works. The troops pouring into town thou have gotten the populace nervous. News of other towns does travel fast especially when garrisons leave a border town in droves.
The Tomb-hunters are a guild of treasure seekers with branches throughout the empire. The have been given the mandate to find treasures and map the areas of those treasures.
“Myst on the Moor”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Notable NPC’s: Sevion- Master Shipwright, Estevea, Kalvin- Bowyer of The Broken Arrow
Notable Locations: The new Shipyards, The Horny Harpy- Tavern, The Broken Arrow-
Bowyer/Fletcher
Adventure Hooks: Help to clear out a section of the woods from a strange monster that is living there. Rumor has it that a dark cult has taken up residence to the south of town.
The town of Dath was the lumberyard of Das before the border issues. It sits on the river that runs to the capital. This river also flows to Das, which is how the lumber got to Das in the first place. Now most of the ship building has started to get done here. Dath has only been settled for about five years which is why it is still small, but is now growing fast from the influx of refugees.
“Myst on the Moor”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Notable NPC’s: Kavion- Smith, Lt. Stevia- Quartermaster, Bal- Inn Keeper
Notable Locations: The Ruins, The Blasted Mug
Adventure Hooks: Someone wants to hire a PC to guard them as they go into the Ruins to find a lost Family Heirloom. Looking for spies to infiltrate the military forces massing on the other side of the border. Rumor has it that the old tin mine has strange music coming out of it on the night of full moons.
Das was a once prospering town, with some of the best shipwrights, that feel on hard times those being a border dispute. Whole sections of town have been torn down. With over half of the town’s residents gone, and more than half the garrison of military troops having been pulled out, things look grim indeed. Das is a key port town because it has some of the deepest water in the whole region. For the last month fights have been growing more lopsided not in the town’s favor. Over half the town’s population is military forces the next few battles will determine the state of this town and many along the bay.
“Myst on the Moor”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
