Natural Satellites: 2 each are about ¼ the size of Earth moon
Star Type: Binary star system of 2 White Stars
Planet Basics
Gravity: Earth like
Temperature Norms: Warmer than Earth norm
Hydrosphere: 0.9% Ice and 2% liquid freshwater
Atmosphere: Thin and Alkaline
Tectonic Activity: Along fault lines with Regularity
Volcanic Activity: Some but not much
Time Scales
Length of a day: 27.8 Hours
Length of a Solar rotation: 472 Days
Planet Biology
Zoological Range: Most life on the planet has adapted to warmer temps and less water then is present on Earth. Life has most of what we consider to be the Phylums and Classifications of Animals.
Botanical Range: The range of plants is a bit low. There are no huge woodlands to help with retaining the water from the planet. The water is still partly locked in the polar caps that are shrinking.
Planet Sentience
Technology Level: The technology has a space elevator and the ability to travel interstellar distances. The big things in the tech were found along the way and hobbled into the fleet of ships that made their way to the planet.
Sentient Races: There is a race of beings that have pushed what most Terrans thought was “alive”. They are Organo-silicon based lifeforms.
Civilization(s): The native “Horos’” have a culture that is starting to be discovered. And the Terrans are a colony sent to find resources that will help.
The Alien Part of this planet has a band of Structures that tower over 2 Km into the sky and are crystal based but not from an element that is present anywhere else on this planet and not from any of the planets Terrans have managed to land on. They are off limits to most folks in the colony. What are they and what do they hide? More on that later.
So if you have spent any time looking at gaming podcasts and this one is no different you have seen that they have Actual Plays or AP’s. So what is an AP and how are they different from your home game or even convention games? Well there are a few different things to keep in mind. Actual Play podcasts exist as an idealized version of an RPG – they embody the best and most pure examples of whatever game they play so be ready for rethinking how to approach certain topics!
Rules are Used and Consistent. When you are creating adventures and campaigns for your home game you can have all the strange and unique ideas you want in there. You also can do things like mess up rules a lot in a home game. Also you don’t have to have the ultra special rule memorized. Those are all things you have to think about when you are running an actual play. Lean on your players to know their specialized rules and make sure you as the GM are consistent so that over time you build up a reputation of following those rules.
Table Talk is Minimized. Also when you are running an Actual Play there are things you have to think about that don’t matter when you are playing at home. So a big one is inside jokes and humor in general. Humor is a tricky thing to get right in a game. Also you need to use the rules as they are commonly understood. No house rules is what that means. You also need to think about the players at the table you as the GM need to bring your A-game and the Players need to bring it as well. And the players will need to understand that they will need to do things that move the story even if they aren’t “what my character would do”.
Characters verge towards Caricatures. As a heightened reality, subtle characters don’t work well on APs by and large. You have characters that will grab attention and project a specific hook that brings listeners along. This isn’t to say characters in APs lack depth, but the most popular ones are easy to understand to a new listener and lean into an archetype directly or as a subversion.
There is lots to think about when you are wanting to do an AP. I hope this helps to bring a few things you hadn’t thought of up and if you are doing an AP please let us know. We would love to get you on to talk about it and your ideas about them.
Stat Blocks
Zendead
Song of Silence
What was that? I am not sure you actually heard anything. What do you mean you can still hear something. If you can then what is the sound? It is a song? No that isn’t possible there isn’t any music. I don’t care if you can hear it, that is not a thing. Have you been doing some kind of illicit substance? No? Well good have you been taking your meds? Wait what is that? No there is no way.
You were not kidding about the wonder of this song. I know it is real. This is crazy how I was not able to hear this before. I am not even sure how I missed it. What did you say I am having a hard time hearing you over the song. Please speak up. I am not hearing you at all now.
How to Use Song of Silence in Game:
This could be an Elder Gods thing or maybe a Virus that makes you think you are hearing it. Or what if it is an alien form of communication.
Guard-a-Manger
Mottled Tree Dozing Vole
Fur mottled but shiny, and a long sinuous body combine for this friendly vole like creature you picked up on your last out of town outing. It’s coos and warmth just make you think of home and maybe even a nap.
You don’t expect to make new friends often, but this little critter wormed its way into your heart so easily you couldn’t resist! Dappled, Fluffy, and friendly, you could only smile as you got a sense of fulfillment out of taking care of him. Or her. Or neither.
Now that you think of it, you are not sure exactly what this little ball of good luck and charm is. You know it means you no harm. You know that you’ve grown to love it, but that is it’s own little mystery.
How to Use Mottled Tree Dozing Vole in Game:
The best use of the MTDV is as a red herring. It seems like something nefarious but could well just be a cute rodent that got inside the hearts of your players. Or a sneaky GM could use it as a clue to a bioengineered or magical breeding experiment.
Lexicon
Bewray verb be·wray | \ bi-ˈrā \
bewrayed; bewraying; bewrays
Definition of bewray
transitive verb
Archaic : DIVULGE, BETRAY
First Known Use of bewray
13th century, in the meaning defined above
History and Etymology for bewray
Middle English, from be- + wreyen to accuse, from Old English wrēgan; akin to Old High German ruogen to accuse
Look-up Popularity
Bottom 30% of words
Closing remarks
Zendead – Gangs of the Undercity This is ramping up to be a really cool game. Right now it is still in testing. The Kickstarter goes live very soon. And while it is getting close I wanted to say a bit beforehand we will be pumping an interview and hopefully a few other things from and about the game for you all soon.
Guard-a-Manger – Battlestar Galactica – The Original. BSG provides a great example of a classic show that would be a good Actual Play. The premise is simple – last humans facing a robot uprising flee across the stars to find home. The characters are iconic – Starback; Adama; Boomer; Balthar – these are part of our modern lexicon of characters. A focused theme and understandable motivations give way to the unabashed fun you get from TV shows of its era. We won’t talk about the sequel series on Earth, though.
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on the following platforms
Welcome to this the beginning of how I will build out an alien world. Now just so we’re clear I am creating this for folks to use in a game or to write stories in. I am the creator of the framework as well as the basic rules. I am releasing this under a creative commons. The full creative commons will be at the end of this post and all posts related to this project.
So let’s start with the questions we started with in the very first post. Ok so here are the questions in a short form.
Is the world Earth-like or Alien?
Is the technology old, current and advanced?
What do the players need vs. what you want to have ready?
Do you want to have players add things in the beginning or wait?
Ok so lets start here with answering these and going a bit into the style of worldbuilding we are going to do.
Is the world Earth-like or Alien? I like the idea of having a world that is a bit of both and I will explain how we are going to do that now. So the first thing we are going to say is that the world is Earth-like but with pockets that are very alien to the world we live in. What does that mean? Well it means that large portions of the world will have things like Goldielocks band planet elements. Things like liquid water and a rotation around a star and an axial rotation (the planet spins so there are days). But there are going to be things that are very not like this planet we live on.
Is the technology old, current and or advanced? I am torn on the question of technology. I like the idea of the technology to be advanced. But parts of it not being able to be fixed or replicated. So I am thinking that things like stardrives will not be replicable. The ships are being made new but the drives for them are pulled from old ships and reused. The tech that most people use on a day to day basis is very advanced to what we would use. Weapons are a thing that is not used by the general population.
Ok next is what do the players need vs what I want to have ready? So this is a fun question when you think about what I need versus what the players need. I said this is going to be a thing that others can build on so I will be laying out that framework and some of the muscle. I will be going into more depth about what I will have done for the world. There will be big sections left for others to fill in with what they want for their games and stories. So the answer to this is I need the basics of the really big picture and a few tightened in locations.
And finally we have. Do you want to have players adding things in the beginning or wait? The answer to this is very easy for me. They will have to add things later on since I will be building things in a void of sorts. I am not going to build this while running games in this world. I will do that after I have finished up the things I would need to run a game. Once I start running games in this world I will be letting players help to build out sections as we go. I love when players get involved in the building out of the places that their characters have come from.
So we have come to the end of this as I work on things for this I will be creating the sheets I am going to be “filling out” as it were. I will be making both the finished sheets available to you. And those that are Patrons will get access to blank sheets as well as more talk about the world as I build things out. I will try to do a short, 5 minute or less thing a few times a week about this new world. So if you are interested and can afford to come join us on Patreon.
While last time we talked about the Top Down this time we will chat about the Bottom Up. So the Bottom Up approach to worldbuilding is where you start with a single location like a town of any size because that isn’t as important as the location itself. If you are running a game in a single city and you plan on not leaving that city the bigger the better.
So you have decided on the town now you need to fill it up with the basics. You should maybe start by sketching out the very rough layout of the town. If it is bigger than a little town then I start with just blobs for neighborhoods or districts. I also decide what the town needs to survive. Services are a big part of any town. If you have an idea for the major industry of the town that will help.
Towns need things like water supplies no matter the time frame. Either for drinking or for transportation or both. Once you have made the choice of the basic layout then pick one neighborhood and start with a few locations like residences and shops. Then build out those NPC’s. They will be a great resource later as the players want to interact with people. Now you would do this with Top down as well but here it is done much earlier.
So you see how with this style of building you will have a small location that feels personal. Now you can do that with either but this one has the starting point being something smallish. Now you will need to figure out what is a day or two away from this point. You will need to do this since most players will not be happy with staying in a single small town their whole lives.
So once you have a few ideas of what might be a couple days away, name them. Now you will be doing a lot of note taking with this style of worldbuilding. So Now let’s look at the pros and cons of this way of designing your world.
Pros-
It is much faster to design then Top down
You don’t need as much laid out to dive into the game.
You can quickly tailor things to the players.
Have a lot of flexibility in how much you need to design.
Cons-
You will need to make lots and lots of notes.
You can design a part of the world that feels very much shoehorned in.
Because you only design a little past what you think you will need to run the game you may have a party that pushes in a direction you have very little or nothing planned.
This way of designing can feel very much like a patchwork of things you thought might be cool but fell short.
So we have gotten to chat a bit about the two big styles of worldbuilding. Then there is how I usually do it. I do a bit of both a blending of jumping from the macro to the micro and back. I like to have a few things laid out before I start a game. But you will get to see that as we start working on the setting that those in the Facebook group voted on for me to start working on. You will see how I do this. And when we finish I will be talking about Gazetteers and Player handouts. They will matter as you will see.
So until next time scribble in that notebook. I will post pics of mine that I will be using for this project.
So once you start working on individual adventures in your game there are a few terms thrown around. The big ones are Sandbox and Structured. What do they mean and what are the differences and advantages of either one. They are pretty easy to define, the structured adventure is all laid out in the order that events need to happen. Whereas the Sandbox has a bunch of bits that exist in the game world and if the party finds things they find them.
So the differences are pretty obvious from the definitions as we have laid out. There is more to each of them though. Structured adventures are frequently used in published adventures and players have a frame of reference for them. Sandbox adventures, though, are much rarer in older games and were more used as the Setting books. Don’t mistake a Structured adventure for railroading your players nor should you think a Sandbox style has no guardrails. It relates back to the appearance of agency we discussed in GM-Centric and Player-centric campaign design – Sandbox structures lend themselves more naturally to GM-Centric design while the episodic and serial nature of Structured adventures makes it easy to work the Player-Centric design in.
Benefits of running a structured adventure is a thing we like to call time. You can just prepare the parts that you need for the session you are getting ready to run. As well as knowing the parts they are going to interact with means you can have the setup so you can bring a fully immersive game session. The ability to make it feel like you have known all along just how things will play out can make it cool. If you run an adventure a few times you will have been able to get the nuances down and make the session really memorable.
Benefits of running a Sandbox adventure is about your creativity. Because of the work put in to make the larger “sandbox” populated, the chance to tell a story or showcase a theme is much more easily done without a large wooden mallet labeled “HINT”. A well built sandbox creates an engaging and memorable world where multiple adventures can occur.
Stat Blocks
Zendead
Steelepoint: a dark reflection
The town of Steelepoint is a dark version of what you expect from a western expansion town. The main road thru town is a dusty straight line. There is a massive coffin maker in town. Most of the buildings are shody and rundown. But the Saloon and gambling hall is a massive, clean and new looking building. The girls and guys hanging from the railing, calling out to passersby, are barely clothed. The clap of 2 gunshots ring out from a sidestreet and then a wounded man crawls out of the alley. Followed by a woman with a gunslinger rig on and a smoking pistol in hand. Then as she walks by she puts a single shot in his head.
As you walk by the dying man you notice not a single drop of blood. But there is a spray of wires in the two holes in the machine. After a few seconds the hologram reworks into a different character in the city. He sits up dusting himself off and stumbles back toward the saloon. Once he disappears through the doors the illusion of what he is has become its new reality. Welcome to the town of Steelepoint, a haven for those that want to live in an illusion of what the old west was like. But with modern conveniences to keep things from becoming too real.
How to Use Steelepoint in Game:
You can just drop Steelepoint in to a western style game and leave out the tech elements. Or it could be completely virtual or a strange real world place. Or what if it was a zoo aliens made for mankind. Let your imagination run wild since it is the Wild West.
Joules
The Devil’s Train
Screams. A pitched whistle pierces the moonless night. And you fight your instinct to run
The ground rumbles. Stones pop like water on a hot skillet.
Then you see it.
First the grey steam plume. Tortured faces camouflaged within the undulating grey clouds.
Then the red headlight. However it doesn’t seem like a normal light with a red filter. You get an uneasy feeling, has the headlight devoured every colour aside from red and black? You’re unsure.
You now make out the shape of the engine. And you know now that it’s too late to run.
The wheels whine and strain as the metal behemoth comes to a stop.
Heat radiates from every inch. But the environment around doesn’t seem to be affected at all. The air feels dry and your eyes itch. Dust, steam, and debris whirl around you. You feel phantom sensations all over. Scratches, caresses, pinches and jabs.
You shake your head for a second to focus.
Then you lay eyes on the conductor. Sharply dressed. Eerily clean. The soot seems to land on him and get absorbed by the black void of his coat.
He doffs his cap with a slight bow and gestures to a placard riveted to the side of the engine
“All you want in life for price of your soul
All the money you can fold, power that you can hold
I’ll put you in control
Only if you’re down to roll down these train tracks tonight”
When you’ve finished reading, you hear a voice in your left ear, and in your head simultaneously.
“Where we gonna go?”
How to Use the Devil’s Train in Game:
This can be used as a plot hook for something weird west. Or if your characters are taking a turn for the evil and not seeing it, it can be used as a legend/myth to see if your players want to turn it around.
Guard-a-Manger
Legendary Antillian Torus
It is both unassuming and intensely powerful. The sheer amount of focus this simple torus demands is uncanny. Large enough that it can be worn like a bracelet by all but the largest or smallest of humans, the Torus thought lost to the hidden Atlantic island of Antillia rests before you. An artifact of a bygone era, or so it should be considering where it is said to have been found, the reddish metal seems perfect and unblemished. It took so long to find even a hint that it existed, now coming face to …. Ring with it seems overwhelming. Drawing closer, you hear what you think is a slight hum. Your blood stirs. Glory and renown await. You reach out, impelled by some unseen force or impulse. The torus is warm to the touch as you lift it and your eyes go wide….
How to Use the Legendary Antillian Torus in Game:
The Torus is clearly an artifact of some kind but its nature is left to you here – is it magical, or perhaps super science? Is it truly from the far past or does it merely fit within a legend already existing? While it has some uses in my own head, and maybe upcoming writing, it is a macguffin for your own greater purposes in any setting and any theme.
Lexicon
ataxia noun atax·ia | \ ə-ˈtak-sē-ə , (ˌ)ā- \
Definition of ataxia
: an inability to coordinate voluntary muscular movements that is symptomatic of some central nervous system disorders and injuries and not due to muscle weakness
History and Etymology for ataxia
borrowed from Greek ataxía “lack of discipline, disorder, confusion,” from a- A- entry 2 + -taxia, from táxis “drawing up in rank and file, order of battle, order, arrangement” + -ia -IA entry 1 — more at TAXIS
First known use is 1670
Look-up Popularity Bottom 40% of words
Closing remarks
Zendead – Sennheiser Headsets I know it is a strange thing but I love music and podcasts. I have had my pair of Sennheisers for a decade at least. They still sound great and can have parts replaced as they wearout. If you love music I would suggest a nice pair of their headphones if they are in your price range.
Joules – Find a recipe that you’ve always wanted to cook. Think Binging with Babish or Good Eats. On your next food run, pick up the ingredients that you need and give it a try. Food is always essential. So eat well. (and mastering how to do a Filet Mignon will make you a HUGE hit!)
Guard-a-Manger – Musgrave Wooden Pencils. There is something magical and almost lyrical about the sound a sharp pencil makes when scratching across good paper. If you find yourself writing on paper again, go old school and get a pencil. The Musgrave Tennessee Red ones are american made with real cedar and an absolute joy to use.
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on the following platforms
In our next couple of posts we will be talking about the two most common ways to design worlds for your games. This time we will be talking about the pros and cons of them and how I see the different ways working.
The top down approach to worldbuilding is what it feels like the gaming industry uses to present the worlds for their games. This way of designing is very engrossing. It comes with its own set of limits and pitfalls and its pros. So when you say Top down it is referring to starting with the biggest area and ideas to design. Now most people that use this form of design will start with a planet. As well as the major cosmology of said planet.
Once you have the planet then you start dialing down into the continents and keep going till you are working on the hamlets and single locations. See top down. Now the questions that you had in the last post talked about design concepts. This is where those questions that you answered will generate all new questions. And these will be based on the type of game and the technology level that is present.
So what should you be asking yourself about the world? We think if this is alien or earth like because that will give you some ideas of where to go. If you are not sure how something works make a note of it. As the worldbuilder you will be doing lots of research into things that you never thought you would. While you are designing things make short notes that you feel are important because they could be big elements of the world later. From the way a mountain range lies to the idea you had about the meteor that struck and created a lake.
So there are many pros and cons to this style of worldbuilding. So let’s lay a few of what I feel are the biggest ones out.
Pros-
You will know or have noted all the information that folks are likely to ask.
You will have a good grasp on the big picture of things.
Get to design all the cool things you can think of.
Once it is finished you can have a story in all the locations to run your game.
Con-
It will take time. I mean lots of time.
While you get to create everything that means you might miss out on a cool idea a player has.
You will never be able to make the whole world alone unless you are willing to have help.
Remember these games are supposed to be collaborative so this is a great place to start from.
Now I have tried to do this style and I have found it doesn’t work well with how I like to run games. Not that there’s anything wrong with this style. I do something that we will be talking about later.
So until next time think about how you would do something like this. What are the things you would create for a world. Make notes and keep that note book on hand.
World building so the idea of world building can be a bit daunting in its scope and grandness. Thou what are the things you need to have to start sharing your world in games? Well there are a few big questions that you need to ask and then work on. It can be tough if you haven’t really thought about this much. So let’s look at the first batch of questions.
Is the world Earth-like or Alien?
Is the technology old, current and advanced?
What do the players need vs. what you want to have ready?
Do you want to have players add things in the beginning or wait?
So let us now take a bit of a look at each of these and see what they bring to the table. Some questions are going to be tied to the game you are running. If you are running a D&D type game then a few of these are already answered for you. But if you are running a game that is a bit more story driven then you might have a whole new set of questions that you will have to ask.
Ok so the first question is an Earth-like or alien world. If it is Earth-like then that is a bit easy to work with. This comes with a few assumptions like the air is breathable by the players. Gravity is the same as what they are used to. This is a very easy world to start with. Now if you are dealing with an Alien world then all bets are off the water could be liquid methane and the air is just carbon dioxide. These are just a few of the things you can do with an alien world. Gravity might be twice earth’s. You can go a bit bananas with it.
Now let’s tackle the technology issue. This is really going to be defined by the type of game you are running. If you are running a historic or fantasy game you are going to be sticking to technology levels that fit the time from. If you are running a science fiction game the world could have folks that are not very technologically advanced but the players have ray guns. Or the world and the players are on the same or close technology levels.
Next is a question that can direct the way that you world build maybe more than any other in the short list. What do the players need versus what you want. This answer can define the way that you design. If you need to have big things done before you are ready to run the game then you are most likely a top down designer. Whereas when the focus is on just what the players need to get in then we are dealing with Bottom up Design. Though I have seen these get flipped by the GM. And that is really a breath of fresh air. And usually that is because of the answer to the last question.
And now we tackle the last question. How much and when do you want to have players getting to muck around in your creation. Or in simple terms Do you want to let players have a shot at designing things for the world? A lot of GM’s have the world designed, maybe not all on paper but they have the basics that they need to run. And they don’t want to let players muck around. Or maybe they have the roughest of outlines and the players help to breath life into the world.
While I have laid out a few options for answers to just a few basic questions you will need to think about. Now always have a way to take notes because you will never know when or where the muse will strike you and ideas will come pouring out. This is going to be a Short series or some basics of world building because I would like to go through the process to create a world that anyone can use for a game. So until next time
When I say NPC what comes to mind? Staples in a game are the NPC’s Regardless of how you design a campaign or just a single session NPC’s will be a part of it. NPC’s are like the set dressing of the session. There are a few basics that most games need to have.
Quest Giver
Big Bad Evil Guy or BBEG
The Sidekick
The Scenery
The Bartender
The Shop Keeper
The Secret Giver (Mentor/Hermit/Oracle/Wise Figure with mysterious knowledge to grant)
The Annoyance
The Sacrifice
The Living Macguffin
Utility
Flavor
Opposition
Stat Blocks
Zendead
The Wax Robot
The bartender wanders over to the strange mechanical looking man at the end of the bar and slips something into the back of it. As he walks away he flips a switch and the whirl of gears and servos activate. He spins to face you and in an oddly mechanical and scratchy voice he asks, “What can I get you for Pardner?” Welcome to the Wax Robot. Is he a creation of fancy or is he there for another reason? As strange as it is to say only time will tell.
The Wax Robot is a strange thing. It uses wax cylinders to get his set of responses. But the number of cylinders seems to grow even without being made. There just seems to be more than last week. What is making the number grow and when did this member of the bar first show up? No one is really sure it seems like it has been here forever and yet like it was just yesterday.
How to Use The Wax Robot in Game:
He could be either a random element in a bar scene from Wild west to cyberpunk. If he is in cyberpunk or even a modern setting he is an antique. Where if he is in a Weird West setting or Fantasy he could be the product of Magic or Technology and he is way ahead of the times.
: relating to, occupied with, or fond of feasting, drinking, and good company
History and Etymology for convivial
Late Latin convivialis, from Latin convivium banquet, from com- + vivere to live
First Known Use of convivial
circa 1668
Look-up Popularity
Top 40% of words
Closing remarks
Zendead – Locke & Key: So I know the Netflix series is out but this is the Comic that gave that series its start. If you like creepy and weird this is a great series so far. I chewed the first volume in one night and started the second one already.
nulloperations – Alita Battle Angel: Lovely setting for an interesting franchise, great visuals, and good motion performance.
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on the following platforms
Player Centric Design is another way of building campaigns and adventures for games. While GM Centric are about the GM’s Ideas the Player centric design is more of what the players are wanting. It might seem like this is a simple way to run games but in actuality it can be if you are a GM that thrives on having ideas busted. You are going to have usually an idea for that first session but after that you will want to have tons of notes. Now before we dive in a bit more a big thing you will want to do is look at all the PC sheets. Those are a road map to what the players want to do and see in the game. If all the players build combat monsters then run a combat heavy game. If one of the PC’s has made a detective then make sure you have things for that player in the game.
A big part of player centric design is taking notes, lots and lots of notes. Part of the reason is if you are like me you set up a few different encounters. Either a few different types or a few of the same type. The reason for all the notes is once you have the bare bones framework done I like to let the players help to build out the things they want to see. Not everyone will do that.
Stat Blocks
Zendead
Lost Tomb of Heriodious
The dust cascaded off of the cap stone. The glyphs and etching that were present couldn’t be made out yet. The air that rushed out of the hole was dusty and smelled of lost dreams and wishes. The light from the sun was not going very far into the hole on the side of the pyramid. The edge of the sunlight shows the beginning of floor to ceiling glyphs etched into the stone. The layer of sandy dust covering the floor hides the edges of the stone flooring except for the single footprint heading into the tunnel.
How to Use Lost Tomb of Heriodious in Game:
This location could be a cursed tomb or a site of something extraordinary. The options are limitless actually. It could also be the entrance to a lost civilization. See there are so many ideas that are going on.
Guard-a-Manger
Shadow of Doubt
The Shadow of Dobt is freeform so for it you will need to listen to the show. Sorry
How to Use Shadow of Doubt in Game:
All the info is in the audio
Lexicon
mendicant noun men·di·cant | \ ˈmen-di-kənt \
Definition of mendicant (Entry 1 of 2)
1: BEGGAR sense 1
wandering mendicants
2: often capitalized : a member of a religious order (such as the Franciscans) combining monastic life and outside religious activity and originally owning neither personal nor community property : FRIAR
mendicant adjective
Definition of mendicant (Entry 2 of 2)
1: practicing beggary : engaged in begging
2: of, relating to, belonging to, or constituting a religious order combining monastic life and outside religious activity and originally owning neither personal nor community property
First Known Use of mendicant
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Adjective
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2
History and Etymology for mendicant
Noun
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin mendicant-, mendicans, present participle of mendicare to beg, from mendicus beggar
Look-up Popularity
Bottom 50% of words
Closing remarks
Zendead- Paul E. Cooley writer and so good. Find his work here.
So there might be this little bug travelling around that you might have heard of. It’s going by COVID-19. As we know it is shutting down group gatherings. We thought it might be a good idea to hit those high points that we talked about in Episode 70. There is going to be a bit of going over the old ground and adding some new ideas. So let’s see what all we have.
Room 1 of a Treasure room with a Boat in it. Room 2 is a coffin room. Room 3 is a throne room.
How to Use the map in Game:
As a map you can use it as a jumping off point or as a whole adventure. Or just a single encounter.
Joules
Childhood Reclamation
Are you tired? Drained? Do you just huddle under the covers when you have adult responsibilities?
Well there’s a wonderful group that’s looking for members just like you.
Spend your time reveling in the memories of youth. Keep the awareness of adulthood with the freedom of childhood. Mortgage? Forget it! Bills? Forget ‘em! Personal Hygiene? Not a problem!! Family responsibilities? What family?!! Live in your own little world and ignore reality.
Our wondrous leaders take all responsibility for keeping you healthy, comfy and fed. They handle the adult stuff and you just get to play.
Sound too good to be true? Well we promise you it’s not. You will still learn and grow and gain knowledge just like you did when you were a kid!
We just want to bring joy back into the world, not subtly brainwash you into solving complex riddles that will unlock the portal to the mystic realm of power.
And we’re certainly not planning on using you for sacrifices that will power the portal itself.
**Barry, Lavonne remind me to get in touch with our advertising department and have them transferred to our energy department**
So we invite you to join us in eternal sunshine and swingsets! Your revitalization is necessary for the future we’re all looking for!
**END OFFICIAL TRANSMISSION**
Was that ok? I’m so glad that it meets with your approval, your grand fuzziness.
It is my greatest reward to serve you, my lord Fuzzybutt!
GLORY TO THE HAMSTER REVOLUTION! THE WORLD WILL BE OURS!
How to Use [Title] in Game:
[Are you running a game that’s a little on the silly side? Do you need an antagonist that’s incredibly evil yet terribly adorable? It’s also a great foil for actual competent evil cults]
Guard-a-Manger
Cortical Glutamate Retroviral Expression-23
Maybe there was a time before it could infiltrate our minds, but if so its been lost to Cortical Glutamate Retroviral Expression-23, or CGRE-23. The informational virus that is the constant backdrop for the planet is incorrigible, or so we’ve all been told. To the greatest extent, there is no permanency in memory so that every step is both a statement of trust and idiosyncratic expression of individuality. How a viral agent worms its way into well stored memories, but never seems to interfere with language or schema development can only be explained by purposeful deployment.
Who or What created or released CGRE-23? And can you ever find an answer that exists for longer than a split second of short term memory?
How to Use Cortical Glutamate Retroviral Expression-23 in Game:
CGRE-23 can be several things – a conceit of a setting used to distance players from any preconceived notion of a world. It can be the basis for a campaign acting explaining a sudden shift in the status quo that players and by extension characters must accept. Most importantly, those final questions can be either macguffins that you never need answer or perhaps the players’ characters were instrumental in it’s release.
Lexicon
Torpid adjective tor·pid | \ ˈtȯr-pəd \
Definition of torpid
1a: sluggish in functioning or acting
b: having lost motion or the power of exertion or feeling : NUMB
c: exhibiting or characterized by torpor : DORMANT
a torpid bird
2: lacking in energy or vigor : APATHETIC, DULL
First Known Use of torpid
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b
History and Etymology for torpid
Middle English, from Latin torpidus, from torpēre to be sluggish or numb; akin to Lithuanian tirpti to become numb
It is so far a very interesting Sci-fi story. I can hardly wait to see how things pan out in the series but so far it is good.
Joules – Life of Boris youtube channel. Learn the ways of being a super Slav! Through food, games, tours of slavic countries and Komrade Kat!
nulloperations – Monster Hunter World: Iceborne such a great representation of massive monster battles. How fighting a Dragon can be far more than just everyone standing around a figure and whacking at it.
Guard-a-Manger – Get Offline. I’ve recommended some of this before, but right now more than ever even while online is a social lifeline, make sure you clear your head from the noise of social media and online interaction. Its bad enough to deal with real life and news on there, but especially if you are an extrovert, get out of the self reinforcing and self referential closed loops in social media for a little while.
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on the following platforms
