Main Topic
We talk about the points that help point to how to keep having fun. Even when you are doing all this extra work.
GaM
Collaborative Storytelling – Make sure the story you are telling is one you want to see
You may not have the control of an author, but is it a framework you want to see?
GMs are often running the kind of game they want to play, so make sure it is the kind of thing that you really want to play.
Don’t make it about GM vs Players – play your part and your role. Don’t make it antagonistic, let the world and the adventure be the opposition. You are playing even more characters and get to Embody the world – make it yours.
Feel Free to Be Silly – Laugh. The NPCs can do something silly. The PCs can fail spectacularly. The PCs can succeed wildly! Be free to let the story be. Trying to be too straight faced or too railroaded in the story.
Stat Blocks
Zendead-
Aethelwulf
From the cold tundra comes the lumbering form of a giant. She is known as Aethelwulf to the bards. The Breath of the Wolf to others. Once she comes down from the tundra the winter winds come with her. She is called a witch by some and a force of nature by others. The club that she carries strapped to her back is the length of 2 large men. Bits of frozen blood still cling to it. While some think she is a witch and a hag giant she is actually a manifestation of the North Winds. Her form looks like a single piece of smooth sculpted ice. The polar bear furs and club are the only things not made of ice. Her body creates waves of cold that billow out from her.
Mannerisms- She does not view things like mortals since she has been around far longer than man. She views things at a glacial speed, all things happen as they should. When she comes out of the frozen north it is usually to put something back to where it belongs.
Joules-
The Red Queen’s Last Testament
The Red Queen rules over the domain of death. One of the groups who serve her have come to been known as the Red Queen’s Last Testament. This group of mages, clerics, knights, sorcerers, necromancers and assassins travel the world searching for the uninterred dead. THose poor souls who haven’t undergone last rites and burial honours.
When they happen upon a body/skeleton, either a cleric or necromancer will cast a spell to speak with the dead. They will find out how the poor soul met their end. Depending on how the person died will guide their next actions.
For Example
If the person was murdered, then they gather as much information as they can and turn over the evidence to servitors of the god of Justice. The death is avenged and Justice is meted out.
If the person died in a battle, then they will gather up as many of the individuals weapons/gear that still remain and dress the fallen warrior to the best of their ability.
After the specifics are known, the Last Testament ask the fallen what their final wishes are and how would they like to be interred. This ensures closure for the fallen and the fallen’s family.
The dead who have no family or friends usually bequeath their remaining belongings to the Last Testament. This helps fund their mission.
The Last Testament have a good working relationship with some of the other gods and their followers. The followers of the God of Justice are grateful for information regarding justice denied. God of Knowledge servitors are grateful that knowledge and stories are re-discovered and shared. Aside from rigid gods of order and some competing gods of death, the Last Testament is usually well received.
When joining the order, each member swears an oath for a term of service of “lifetime plus 100 years.” When a member dies (natural or unnatural causes), they are resurrected as an undead, bound to protect and defend the current members of the order and their holy sites. After 100 years are up, the undead is released from his service and his spirit once again returns to the bosom of the Red Queen. Their actions in both life and death are recorded in the annals, as a defiant stand against those would would relegate the dead to obscurity.
Guard-a-Manger-
Corner of June & Hospice
The quiet and unassuming corner of June Street and Hospice Boulevard is often overlooked day to day. That is a shame. The corner seems to have strange properties, and attracts the stranger, wilder, and more magical parts of the city. With an alley not far away, in the shadow of a stone building in the neoclassical style and a single lone streetlight that never seems to lose power.
June & Hospice is where you go to strike a good deal and a fair bargain for all things magical. For whatever reason, the deals there always seem to happen at arms length and reflect a well made and equitable deal. A true marketplace for both buyers and sellers. Nobody claims ownership of the corner and it’s enchantment perhaps because of the second unusual protection it offers – trying to cheat or harm another person who is at the corner sees the city itself start to rise up against you.
No muggings take place, no fraudulent goods change hands, and neither fist nor charm is thrown with bad intent. The last person who tried found themselves stumbling through the swarm of bugs that crawled from the alley and tripping over the sidewalk until they crashed into the streetlight and died of electrocution. The next day, the corner was back to normal and business resumed.
Perhaps you need a safe place to meet or a trusted place to deal. Perhaps you will be on the run and cornered <pardon the pun> at June & Hospice. Perhaps you need to find out how to stop this enchantment. One way or another, the corner of June & Hospice will find its way into your game.
The secret, you see, is not in the corner, but in the building on the corner itself. One of the pieces of stone used when the building was built in 1890 as part of the American Renaissance architectural trend, came from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. A part of Zeus’ godhead came with this symbolic shard of stone and his protection over marketplaces and hospitality now extends over this urban corner.
Lexicon
Relic noun rel·ic \ˈre-lik\
Definition of relic
1a : an object esteemed and venerated because of association with a saint or martyr
b : souvenir, memento
2 relics plural : remains, corpse
3: a survivor or remnant left after decay, disintegration, or disappearance
4: a trace of some past or outmoded practice, custom, or belief
Origin and Etymology of relic
Middle English relik, from Anglo-French relike, from Medieval Latin reliquia, from Late Latin reliquiae, plural, remains of a martyr, from Latin, remains, from relinquere to leave behind
First Known Use: 13th century
Closing remarks
Zendead- Mutant Year Zero
Joules- Jennifer Brozek and on Amazon
Guard-a-Manger- Defenders on Netflix
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp
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And Thanks to Merriam-Webster for our Lexicon segment
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Guard-a-manger
Iona Stone
J Samuel Diehl
Zendead