Tag: ttrpg

LORE24 ENTRY #4 – Doppelgangers

Category – Creature

Doppelgangers are a species of shapechanging monsters that have been present to some extent since ancient times.  Their ability to blend in and assume practically any identity have led them to be considered absolutely abhorrent in most societies, yet they are often employed by those of questionable morals to cause chaos in those same societies, usually by replacing important individuals with a (mostly) loyal minion who can perfectly mimic them.

In their natural state, doppelgangers are unsettling for most to gaze upon.  Their skin is a very neutral gray color, their bodies and limbs are lean and gangly, seeming very alien in appearance.  Their facial features are very smooth and undefined, their eyes black and multifaceted, large, and often unblinking, their mouths thin slits.

In ancient times, most doppelgangers could mirror a target for a limited amount of time to a fair degree of accuracy, mimicking their voices and behaviors with an uncanny instinct after only a short time of observation.  Should a more long-term replacement be necessary, the doppelganger must do more than simple observation; it must actually consume its target, draining its vital fluids and consuming its flesh, including its brain.  Through this almost ritualistic method, the doppelganger becomes its victim almost completely, typically gaining most of its memories and skills, while retaining its own consciousness deep within.  This makes them exceptionally hard to detect without specialized methods.

By the time of galactic expansion, doppelgangers have evolved, or at least, some of them have; rumors persist that these advanced doppelgangers were created by DSM’s AR&D division.  The most exceptional doppelgangers are often employed by corporations for spying, and have further refined their methods of infiltration and deception.  These advanced doppelgangers no longer need to consume their targets to assume their identities; instead they rely on forging a psychic link with their victim and consuming some of their blood to sample their DNA, and thus become a perfect duplicate with access to all knowledge of the original, which would remain in a hidden, secure location until the job is done, after which the original can be disposed of.  In some cases, these advanced doppelgangers have been known to behave as body doubles, working with the original.

 

LORE24 ENTRY #3 – Prayer of Blessing

Category – Spell / Magic

A Prayer of Blessing is a type of divine magic used by priests and priestesses.  The caster of this spell speaks a prayer to the deity to which they have devoted themselves, asking for the blessing of their deity to protect and bolster themselves and their allies, most often in a combat situation, though there are variations for other circumstances.  This is a very common type of spell.

 

Example Blessings

Blessing of Battle – A blessing of this type bolsters the combat prowess of the recipient, enhancing their ability to land telling blows and enhancing the amount of damage done should the strike land.

Blessing of Defense – A blessing of this type bolsters the defenses of the recipient, creating a magical shield that will soften incoming blows or deflect incoming bullets, if not completely, enough to allow the victim of the attack to perhaps survive the attack.

Blessing of Endurance – A blessing of this type bolsters the physical resilience of the recipient, granting them greater endurance and fortitude to withstand harsh conditions, march for longer, or even resist the effects of poisons and toxins.

 

LORE24 ENTRY #2 – The DSM Corporation

Category – Organization

DSM, or Dynamic Solutions Multiversal is the single largest corporate entity in the known galaxy, and one of the most reviled, even though they are the monolith in which all other corporations are overshadowed by.  Even planetary governments pale in comparison to their power and reach.  They own hundreds if not thousands of smaller companies, having taken them over through various methods, most of them shady.

DSM was originally created following the fall of the Great Elvish Dominion, the last vestiges of the old-world hierarchies that were struggling in vain to survive with the coming of a space-faring, galaxy-spanning civilization.  Following a great war amongst the stars, from the ashes of the old empire came the founder of DSM, Rivalle Volcari, with a new vision of how she and the remaining elvish great houses would continue to manipulate and control the newly developed galactic population, namely through commerce.  Though initially a somewhat unassuming company dedicated to experimental technology and preserving arcane knowledge, DSM rose through the ranks of the early galactic economy, and would eventually become the most powerful and feared megacorporation in the galaxy.  DSM will do whatever it takes to see that their competition is crushed beneath its power, either through economic manipulation, ruthless corporate spying, or the might of its private armed forces.  Over the course of its history, it has taken over countless smaller companies.

The looming monolith of DSM has become something of a galactic boogeyman, with rumors abound of dozens of highly secretive black-sites where their mysterious Arcane Research & Development division perform dark and perverse experiments that threaten the very fabric of the universe.  Though other rumors state that these black-sites are simply private prisons, no different from the massive prison systems ran by the dark elf clans.  If anyone knows the truth of the matter, they aren’t talking.  Of all the divisions within DSM, the AR&D department is the only one personally overseen by Rivalle Volcari herself, and to cross her by allowing information about this group to be made public would be most unwise.

Lore24 Entry #1 – TK Drives

Category – Technology

The TK Drive is the standard use method by which starships traverse the galaxy, in use for over two thousand years.  Though some of the history of the development of this technology is in doubt due to conflicting sources, the most commonly accepted version is that the original concept for the drives was developed by a kerryn scientist by the name of Tonzura Koite, upon the world of Arcavarlon, during a time of great global upheaval following a long period of waning magic and rising tensions over limited resources.  

The TK drives would eventually lead to a wave of expansion into the depths of the galaxy, allowing the people of the Arcavarlon system to move beyond their own solar system for the first time in a way that wouldn’t require generation ships or lost spells to travel to other planes of existence.  The early days of travel were wrought with danger as the navigation systems for hyperspace travel were further refined, but after the first few decades, the galaxy was well and truly open…aside from the massive area known as the “Demon Sector”, which could not be entered via realspace or hyperspace.

The current iteration of the TK drive manipulates space, allowing the ship it is mounted upon to enter an area of hyperspace between two points in known space, traversing the corridor, and coming out on the other end in a fraction of the time it would take using regular propulsion.  There are different speed ratings for the drives, the higher the number, the less time it takes to reach your destination (for example:  to travel between two particular systems, a TK-1 Drive could take about 170 hours, whereas a TK-3 TK Drive would take about 57 hours).  Generally the larger the ship, the slower the drive, though this isn’t always the case, especially where military and corporate interests are concerned.  

The TK Drives create their own gravity fields when they are active, and thanks to advances in the technology, this feature has been fine-tuned to allow for artificial gravity aboard ships equipped with the drives.  As a consequence of this factor of the drives’ function, however, they cannot function to open a hyperspace tunnel inside strong gravity wells, such as those produced by a planet.  This means that ships will need to depart the gravity of a planet before engaging the drive to enter hyperspace, and conversely, a ship can be brought out of hyperspace by the unexpected appearance of a strong gravity well in realspace in the area of the hyperspace tunnel they’re traversing.  

A New Start for 2024:  #Lore24

Well, after some setbacks on the later half of 2023, mostly due to ongoing issues with my eyes, I had to step away from writing and limit my screen time to a couple hours or so a day for a while there.  Though I’m still experiencing some issues, I think the worst of it has passed now that I’ve figured out what was causing the problems the last couple months.  I’ve still been making handwritten notes and such using good old #2 pencils, so there’s been something rather pleasing about that experience in and of itself, but with the new year officially underway, I’ve decided to begin a new TTRPG year-long challenge, namely Lore24.

 

You can find the details of this challenge here.

 

I’ve had all kinds of lore entries floating around in my head for years that I’ve never written down, and plenty of others that I’ve never fleshed out in detail.  I figure since I’m not getting any younger, I should probably start getting these recorded somewhere before they’re gone, and this seems like a much more enjoyable kind of challenge for me personally.  I’ve always enjoyed writing, and this will just help build up my world even more.

 

Now, unlike the suggested focus on building up one world, I’m probably going to be recording various details about the entirety of my “UrbanVerse” overarching setting, which is something of an entire galaxy and its history through different time periods, which would encompass both fantasy and science fiction gaming, along with more niche settings found on other planets, like post-apocalyptic and western areas.  So, my entries should be rather varied through the course of this project.

 

And, should I find myself at a loss for a particular entry on a given day, I’m going to have this handy random chart to get me started:

 

Random Lore Entry Chart

Roll 1d8

1 – Place
2 – Person
3 – Creature
4 – Organization
5 – Spell / Magic
6 – Event
7 – Technology
8 – Custom (culturally speaking)

 

Stay tuned for the first entry, coming later today!

The Time, where does it go?

I swear, this year is just flying by.  It’s been an eventful year, with a slant toward the frustrating rather than the good or bad.  Have had a lot of weather-related damage to the house and have had to have the roof and front porch replaced entirely, have been fighting the lawn mower pretty much all summer to figure out why it keeps breaking belts, and have had various other things come up to fill in the gaps, but I won’t go into details here.

I’d rather focus on how my RPG projects are faring since it’s been four or five months since I last updated here.  I’ve not been idle, though my focuses have changed and evolved…or my brain has just jumped around like a cat chasing a laser pointer, take your pick.

01

The I-89 Megadungeon Project

I had to put this project on hold back in June.  I still like the idea, but I kept running into the same problem:  lack of excitement.  By this time, I was making progress into the sixth level of the dungeon, but my excitement began to wane.  I realized this was due to lack of development for the setting and a lack of inspiration for the design of the level itself.  

For the setting, I had never really delved too deep into it, my focus being more on my science-fantasy setting at the time, along with my actual tabletop gameplay being fantasy-focused.  So, the post-apocalyptic vibes just weren’t flowing.  I began to lose interest in the level as I’d had it originally planned, because things just started to seem far too similar to previous levels.

Basically, I was working on a secret underground military base, but it felt a lot more like the hidden government facility I’d just finished the month before, basically more office-like and less top-secret military project.  This was during the height of the Great Lawnmower Saga of 2023, so I had been feeling a little drained in general, and just decided to shelve the project for the time being and focus elsewhere, and pick it back up later once the ideas started flowing that way again, and likely with a complete redesign of that level.

02

My TTRGP Games, and A PF2e Rant

I’ve kept up with my actual tabletop games pretty consistently thus far.  The Abomination Vaults game I’ve been running is still moving along at a steady pace.  The players just finished level 4 during the last session, and are beginning some additional content relating to the town’s Founder’s Day festival, which is tying in with the need to retrieve four items that once belonged to the founders.  I’ve been keeping track of the players’ progress daily in game, and it has proven very useful in providing additional ideas for new encounters and enemies outside what the AP itself offers.

For example, just last session, the players came across a message scrawled on the door of their home talking about the “New Blood awakening”.  I’m making things a little more exciting by not having the denizens of the dungeon be entirely cut off from the outside world with new allies that share their goals.

As far as my playing experiences, I’ve been in an Age of Ashes game for a while now as well, and have been having fun with that, though it is proving to be quite the challenge since we’ve only got three players.  Even though we’re dual-classed characters with a free archetype, it’s not enough to make up for the lack of a fourth person and those three extra actions in each combat.  We just hit level 11, and after scouting out the dungeon we have to tackle next, I’ve got doubts about our chances at success.  There are some encounters in there that will be rough for us on their own, and it’s very easy to have encounters multiply there from what I’ve heard (it’s the Quarry dungeon for anyone familiar with the AP).  Thus far, we’re considering our options for a commando-style strike, teleporting into the room with a particular boss and taking them down hopefully without alerting the rest of the dungeon, grabbing the artifact we need to progress the story, and then getting out again; since we’re using milestone experience for that game, it’s really the smartest play.  However…due to one character having a very strict anti-slavery stance, and there being quite a few slaves being held captive in the first chamber of the dungeon…our plan has been complicated immensely.  Likely we will have to try two strikes, but we’ll see how it goes next session.  TPK is always an option, lol.

The two games mentioned here have both been Pathfinder 2e games, and since we started with the system earlier in the year, I’ve had my opinions shift a bit on the system.  While initially it seemed pretty fun, I’d heard repeatedly from one particular player that being a caster was just not fun in the game; he’d played multiple casters in these games and others I’m not part of, and had nothing good to say about them.  I thought he was just bitching to be bitching, as he’s been known to do that before.  Having seen casters in action from both sides of the GM Screen, however, I’m leaning toward the camp of “casters suck” in PF2e. 

To put it simply…it’s not a lot of fun if you’re expecting your magic to be effective against enemies.  If you’re playing mostly a support caster buffing the party, yeah, you’re probably going to be having a blast, but the way these APs are setup, don’t expect to feel the same if you’re trying to damage or debuff enemies.  The way the numbers work, you’ll be lucky if most enemies only Succeed on their saves against your spells and debuff attempts.  For example, in the upcoming dungeon, most of the encounters are on the high side of the difficulty scale, and thanks to the numbers, most of the monsters will be able to get a Success on their saves by rolling 5 or better, and most of the time, that means half damage, or they get no effect from the spell at all.  If they Critically Succeed, well, it’s just no fun at all.  I feel like my spells succeed maybe 1/3 of the time at best, whereas the martial characters are hitting enemies successfully at least half the time, if not more.  I’ve dove into the debate and researched what I’m “doing wrong”, but no matter what explanations I’ve seen to the contrary, it just isn’t fun when a system that is so tight in the math, where every +1 modifier can make a difference, is so geared against me as a caster.  My numbers are behind the martials on my spell attack rolls, and I have no way of increasing those numbers through item bonuses like they do.  I can try to debuff monsters through skills, sure, but it’s usually not enough to matter in my experience (true, I guess the dice rolls are just against me most of the time), and trying to affect them with magical debuffs is just an exercise in futility most of the time.

Take a fight against a golem during one of the earlier games in the Age of Ashes for example:  all of us failed our Recall Knowledge checks on the golem, so we had no idea what spells would affect it at all.  This led to me hitting the martials with a buff or two, the cleric/champion trying desperately to keep himself and the fighter alive while they were getting pounded, and my summoner pet doing everything it could just to keep the golem knocked down and flank, because it could barely hurt the thing.  To put it mildly, the fight was a slog.  The second golem fight not so much, since we made our checks, but then the last golem fight was another slog, because we failed our checks again and had no idea of its weaknesses, and nothing I did affected them until I hit them with a cold spell.  This didn’t damage them at all, but did slow them, so I just spammed Ray of Frost the majority of the fight while knocking them over with my pet, until I had to pull the pet back, because, even though all summoners are masochists, they have limits, namely their shared HP pools.

I’m enjoying the game, but I’m growing very frustrated at how my experience as a spellcaster has been going, and everyone I’ve spoken to in my circle who has played the game feels the same way, and has similar experiences to share.  And yet I keep hearing that I’m doing casters wrong because I’m not supporting enough or debuffing enough, and that casters are super fun to play.  Well, I’m not seeing it.  Maybe it wouldn’t be so noticeable if we’d actually encounter some lower-level threats from time to time, but pretty much everything we encounter is close enough to our level that at best it’s 50-50 on my success rate or worse.  But even that isn’t a guarantee; one of the fights last game had a group of enemies using stats from another enemy we’d encountered 4-5 levels earlier fighting alongside a pair of golems we’d failed our knowledge checks on…these supposed “mooks” either got Successes on their saves or Critical Success when I tossed out a big AoE spell to start that fight, so across five or six enemies, I got a total of about 12 damage.  Yeah, really not feeling too great about that…  

03

NEW TTRPG Developments

Though I’ve been playing mostly Pathfinder 2e (and one lingering D&D 5e game which is…meh; I don’t care for 5e), my developments on my own TTRPG projects continue in other directions.  I’ve renewed my interest in a custom version of the Star Wars Saga Edition system.  I feel like this is a great option for a more cinematic-action styled sci-fantasy game, and after having played PF2e for several months now, I have changed my course a bit on revamping the system for my own needs.  Basically, I’m implementing PF2e’s Three Action Economy.  Since both PF2e and Saga Edition are rooted in D&D 4e mechanics, they mesh really well.  I’ll be reworking the SE Force powers into spell effects, and removing the condition track, replacing them with PF2e-styled conditions.  Overall, I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to do at the core level, but will take a bit more work to tweak spells and certain abilities to replace mentions of the condition track.  I’m hoping to try a play test in the next few weeks to see how it performs at an early stage.

I’ve also been developing with an eye to the Old School as well.  With my apathy toward D&D 5e already high when the Great OGL Kerfuffle of 2023 happened back in January, and my faith in PF2e as a viable replacement waning based on my experience as a caster, I’ve been looking hungrily toward trying an OSR campaign using Castles & Crusades.  The more I read into the system, the more I like what I’m seeing.  Things are just so simple.  It really does feel like an evolution of AD&D 2e (which is where my group started way back in the late 90s, though it was only a year or two before we jumped to 3e and stayed there for ages).  After seeing how PF2e has so many rules dictating exactly what you can do, it’s refreshing to see a minimal character sheet that isn’t filled with practically no restrictions.  You can try anything you want, and might even succeed if you describe it well enough or roll high enough; that simplicity is what really sells the OSR games to me.

As such, I’ve taken a renewed interest in evolving my fantasy setting over the last few months.  I’m working on some new characters and ideas to try some solo hexploration gameplay to help develop the actual campaign setting areas for the players, and have been working on renewing some old characters from my previous games and stories to work them into the newly evolving setting, while putting my own flavor into the classic fantasy staples (elves are more like vampires from the classic Vampire: The Masquerade setting, for example, in which they tend toward grand, long-running schemes to control everything behind the scenes the older they get).  Thus far, I’ve got the groundwork in place for the Curse of Cypress Isle (a hex-crawl island exploration adventure in the style of the classic Isle of Dread adventure, flavored with aspects of the real-world Oak Island treasure mythology), the Muckenmyre (a new area of the world, a massive swamp area with some interesting characters in the costal town of Grimbridge), a newly started northern area with some flavor of Skyrim (I’m using my Skyrim gameplay to try out building up an adventure using inspiration from various sidequests and moments in my current playthrough), and of course, the city of Arcavarlon, which I will continue development on as I further expand my campaign setting.

I’ve got a lot of ideas, and I just have to get them out of my head and onto the screen!

04

Onward to the Future

Well, I think I’ve gone on long enough for now.  That covers the major updates on my gaming projects.  From here, I’ll say that I’m going to attempt to get back to posting updates here more often as I go, detailing the various settings and locations within them, as well as my continued experiences as a player and GM.  

The best of luck to you on your adventures!  Thanks for reading, and keep your eyes peel for more soon!

 

Perhaps the biggest struggle I’ve had with the #Dungeon23 challenge thus far has been simply deciding on what system I want to use for the game.  It shouldn’t be that difficult, but for whatever reason I’ve struggled to commit to a particular system to use as a base for building up the adventure.  Moving into the fourth month of this project and so far I’ve got a very generalized description of monsters and loot throughout the levels I’ve done so far, leaving a lot of room for improvements later on.  Yet, I’m quickly realizing that I need to settle on something sooner rather than later if I want to scale these dungeon levels appropriately.

 

Multiple Systems

Of course, the ultimate goal would be to make this megadungeon project compatible with multiple systems, with encounters and loot geared toward each one.  That is certainly on the radar, but very much at the fringe of the screen at this point.  I would eventually like to have the dungeon and setting made for some type of d20 system as the primary game, the reason being that is where most of my TTRPG experience has been (I started off with the Fuzion Dragonball Z system back in the day, moved to AD&D 2nd Edition, and then in 2000, my group fully jumped board the D&D 3rd Edition / d20 System train and rode it off the rails until 5th Edition launched…then went back to Pathfinder 1e for several years more after we didn’t like 5E).  I’ve experimented with other systems throughout the years, but always seem to gravitate back to some form of the d20 System in the end.  It’s just how I’m wired, I guess.

 

The Post-Apocalyptic Feel

Whatever system I choose, it needs to have the proper post-apocalyptic feel to it.  I wouldn’t want to make this system out for something like Mutants & Masterminds, for example, though a post-apocalyptic superhero setting has appeal of its own.  I also wouldn’t necessarily want to spend time learning a new system, either, hence the draw for something d20-based.

The setting for the I-89 Megadungeon is intended to be something like the Fallout series (pre-Bethesda, anyway, not counting New Vegas), but instead of an Atomic Age feel, I’m going for more of an 80s post-apocalyptic feel, like what would have happened if it was the height of the 1980s, you’re living on a post-magic fantasy world, and then the entire thing comes to a screeching halt as somehow, magic is suddenly rediscovered and mixed with nuclear weapons that obliterate the known world.  So basically all those fun 80s post-apocalypse movies.

With that in mind, what systems have I used in the past that not only play well, but would allow the gritty feel of the setting without having the players running around like superheroes? (Looking at you, 5E, now GTFO, and let the door hit you on the way out!)  Let’s have a look, shall we?

D20 Modern

Always a great choice in the d20 system space, D20 Modern has a lot going for it.  It has its own apocalypse setting book for one, and for two, I’ve played or ran multiple games with the system.  I’ve spent quite a bit of time developing homebrew content using the game, too, as I was heavily involved in a Resident Evil game for it back when the Wizards of the Coast website had forums, and ones that didn’t entirely suck at that.  Heck, it even has its own Fallout game with the serial numbers filed off in the form of Exodus.

While a good choice, Modern has some problems.  Namely, it doesn’t feel quite modern anymore, given that it’s built off of the original 3rd edition / d20 system rules.  The system could definitely use some polish, at least to advance it up to 3.5/Pathfinder standards (skills, grappling rules, that kind of thing), and the existing content is rather dated (sidenote:  anyone else remember when the FN 5.7 pistol was the most OP handgun you could get?  Interestingly, the 5.7mm is having a bit of a resurgence now, but it was nowhere near as powerful as the game made it out to be…anyway, back on track…), but that doesn’t really matter in terms of an 80s style post-apocalyptic setting, does it?  I’m just thinking about building characters and monsters in the 3rd edition era and how long it took to do, usually due to skill point distribution, and I really don’t want to go back to those days.

Star Wars Saga Edition

I enjoyed the hell out of the Star Wars Saga Edition system, and still do for the most part.  At the time it came out, I thought it was an amazing game, and felt like a proper evolution of the original d20 System.  I liked how the classes were talent-based, and you could have a crew full of soldiers, and none of them would be the same.  The way they handled the Force, while somewhat flawed, was fun and seemed like a great basis for a magic system that could be further expanded upon.  Combat was usually pretty fast (until higher levels, but that is one flaw that you just can’t get away from with the d20 system) and enjoyable.  There was just so much going for it, and the fact that it was developed as a precursor to D&D 4th edition got me excited for where the system would go.

And then it was pretty much forgotten, as 4th edition went off in ways I didn’t care for (in fact, as far as I know, there were only one or two campaigns of 4E ran by my group, though I never played a single one; my first look at the core books had me going to Pathfinder, as did the rest of the crew).  There was an attempt to crowdfund an E20 universal system based off the game that was ultimately a failure, and that was pretty much the end of it.

I actually ran two Fallout campaigns using the Saga Edition rules, and it worked well.  It was still pretty gritty given the lack of Force powers for speeding up healing, the combats were fun, and it didn’t take me nearly as long to build up monsters and NPCs due to the way the skill system worked.  There are still issues certainly, but at its core, I think there are some great elements here.

Savage Worlds

I’ve also used Savage Worlds a few times, a couple games of Deadlands, and then a short-lived Fallout campaign.  I’m not nearly as experienced with Savage Worlds as I am with the d20 systems, but I did enjoy my time with it as a game master.  There was plenty of fan-made Fallout content available at the time that I modified for my own use, and adding in some elements from the Deadlands books made for a great Fallout game set around New Vegas and larger expanse of the western United States.  Savage Worlds biggest advantage is its speed, as it’s amazingly quick to build out NPCs and monsters, and gameplay can be deadly, just as it should be. 

While I’m not opposed to using Savage Worlds for this dungeon, the system just never felt quite crunchy enough for me, like I just couldn’t quite get as deep into building a character as I’d like in something like d20.  That’s just me having stayed in that wheelhouse for so long, and I’d likely feel differently if I just had more time with the game.

The Homebrew Hack

Last year, before the whole OGL thing broke loose in January, and before I was dealing with some medical issues that stopped me from working on the game for a while, I was in the midst of developing my own homebrew system and a campaign setting to go along with it, primarily for my sci-fantasy setting and my own replacement for Star Wars (thanks Disney, for ruining that for me, btw).  The post-apocalyptic 80s setting where this megadungeon is located was meant to be the test bed for the game, and I even went so far as to run a single session using the initial system.

What was this system?  Well, at its core was the Saga Edition rules with a few modifications, namely no Force powers or Jedi, and some modifications to the Skill Focus feat to help mitigate how unbalancing it could potentially be, making armor act as Damage Reduction instead of making you harder to hit, and with a sprinkle of Savage Worlds/Deadlands thrown in (specifically the fate pot and drawing cards for initiative).  I’d made a few notes about feedback from the players (specifically the need for improved ways to heal given the intensity of the combat, made more intense by the absolutely horrible dice rolls they suffered that night), but have yet to return to working on the game.

 

A New System?

Since I got fired up in January after the Great OGL Debacle of January 2023 (because let’s be honest, WotC hasn’t finished screwing up yet, and there’s a lot of time left for them to do worse things), I’ve been doing a lot more RPG-related projects, and the idea of developing my own custom system is still there beneath it all.  I still like the Saga Edition system gameplay, and elements of its design, and since you can’t copyright game mechanics, well, it’s ripe for plunder.

Since the start of the year, I’ve been researching other games, some in the OSR like Castles & Crusades, but have specifically been diving heavily into Pathfinder 2nd edition.  I’ve just recently started up an Abomination Vaults campaign and am getting ready to try it out from a player’s side in an Age of Ashes game.  There is a lot I like about PF2e already, but until I’ve spent more time with it, I can’t say for sure if we’ll be sticking with it. 

What I can say is that it has brought back thoughts of developing my own system and has given me some new inspirations.  PF2e has a lot of elements that remind me of the Saga Edition system, and apparently has a lot of 4th edition D&D in it as well, which I’m more open to these days.  I’m wondering how the Three-Action system of PF2e would work with Saga Edition (as it was basically this already, but with more restrictions, specifically having standard, move, and swift actions), and in my head, I’m not seeing a lot of negatives.  The skill system of Saga Edition is very much a precursor to the way PF2e does its skills.  I’m thinking various elements would mesh fairly well, so it may be something I explore more in depth soon.

That’s about all I’ve got to say on the matter right now, though.  I’d be curious to hear of any suggestions you may have for systems to look at that does the post-apocalyptic setting well, as well as any thoughts you might have on my idea for combining gameplay elements into a custom system. 

Feel free to reach out to me on that Twitter thing what I made! 

Till next time!

The Curse of Cypress Isle – An Island Hexcrawl Adventure

This is the other big RPG idea I currently have in development.  For whatever reason, I had begun watching the Curse of Oak Island on the History Channel (man, I’m old enough to remember when the History Channel was awesome, and actually showed stuff that wasn’t ‘reality’ TV and Ancient Aliens…) a few months ago.  I had already been looking into other RPG systems to try that weren’t D&D 5e before WotC did their OGL thing back in January, and had been looking for a more old school experience in general.  Then, one day, the idea just struck to do an adventure based on the Oak Island story!

The possibility of buried treasure is one that will always get the PCs eager to go adventuring, and with as many twists and turns as the Oak Island story has, it’s ripe for adaptation into an adventure.  I’ve just started reading a book about the history of the island, and it’s fascinating just how much effort has gone into plumbing that island’s depths, physically and historically.  And how best to handle such a story of long lost treasures in adventure form?  Why, a hexcrawl, of course!

 

Hexcrawling for Fun and Profit

I’ve been fascinated with hexcrawling for several months now, and have wanted to try it out in a proper game sooner or later.  The last time I did a hexcrawl was probably…early to mid 2010s, a year or two after the Kingmaker AP was released, probably.  I used the first book of that as a base for a game I ran for a couple of friends who were quite keen on building up their own kingdom.  It was a fun game, and lasted several months best I can recall, though it was never properly ended.

I had attempted to develop a test-bed post-apocalyptic setting for my (currently on hold) homebrew revision of the Star Wars Saga Edition system, with the original idea being to do a hexcrawl there just to try out different elements of the system as they developed, but due to some life and medical issues, I had to stop working on it.  The idea is still there, as indicated by my #Dungeon23 project, but in a slightly altered state.

The urge to do a proper hexcrawl is strong, though, so when the Great OGL Kerfuffle of 2023 happened and I found myself delving deeper into the OSR, the time seemed right.  D&D 5e was already on the way out at our table, and this seemed like a great opportunity to make the leap to something different.  I’ve started a Pathfidner 2e game, running the Abomination Vaults and associated adventures, and having ran one game, enjoyed the feel of the system immensely already.  Yet, I also purchased the Castles & Crusades starter bundle, and have been eyeing those awfully hard.  Ideally, once the Abomination Vaults have been cleared, we’ll take a break on PF2e (unless things change, I’ll likely run the Ruby Phoenix AP as a follow up) and try out C&C.  And what better way to do that than to do an old school hexcrawl adventure?

 

Inspirations and Ideas

With the Oak Island story firmly in mind, and the urge to develop an old school hexcrawl strong, I began writing down all the ideas that came to mind.  There needed to be a treasure of course, some legends about the island, a history of failed attempts to recover said treasure, a bunch of traps and obstacles, villainous types to impede the party, so many things!  I started off with the original idea, though, and wanted to keep my focus on the Oak Island legend and history.

To that end, my goal is to create an island environment that is necessarily larger than the Oak Island, but retaining some of the key details about the real hunt for the treasure.  Some physical details of the island will need to be represented, like the Money Pit, the Swamp, flooded tunnels, the mysterious rune stone, and ruins of previous inhabitants.  Further, the historical aspects will need to be referenced, such as possible ties to a disgraced knightly order, rumors of pirate activity, previous expeditions that have failed, etc.  There is a lot of history there, and as I’ve been reading the book (Curse of Oak Island:  The Story of the World’s Longest Treasure Hunt by Randall Sullivan), it’s quite murky at times.  Translating that into a fictional account for a fantasy world will be quite the interesting challenge.

But, seeing as this will be set on a fantasy world, there will need to be plenty of fantasy elements added into the mix as well.  The old D&D adventure ‘Isle of Dread’ was the first place I looked to for inspiration.  It is a hexcrawl itself, though the plot elements are few if any; it’s mostly a giant sandbox to explore.  But there are plenty of good things to pull from it.  Its island is quite large, so will likely be a good way to scale Cypress Isle, and has a variety of random encounters and inhabitants, ranging from undead to dinosaurs to various savage tribes.  As a quick aside, probably my favorite encounter in the book is with an ankylosaurus that is whacked out on loco weed.

But,  I don’t want to just make a sandbox; I want there to be some history there, and something of a plot line to follow, however meandering it might be.  So, I started thinking about my fantasy setting.  I need to work on developing it more, as it’s basically the ancient history period of my sci-fi setting, so there should be plenty to delve into there.  To that end, I’ve begun considering when exactly this adventure will be set in the timeline, what factions are around, who claims Cypress Isle, and why the treasure is there in the first place.  It’s turning into a very interesting exercise to say the least.

Another set of inspirations were rather obviously, namely Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, Uncharted, and the like.  Action and adventure, with dangerous traps and puzzles.  Specifically, I’m interested in big traps, like mutli-room event kind of traps.  That will require coming up with some interesting way to handle some of those big cinematic events, basically trying to give everyone something to do during a high-intensity, action-packed scene.  Plus, there’s the Tomb Raider 2013 reboot that was specifically set upon an island with supernatural beings and wild weather that is a massive source of inspiration.

As I wrote my initial few pages of notes, I quickly came to the decision that I’d like to have kobolds be a part of the adventure.  I’ve always enjoyed kobolds, especially as they seem to have taken on more draconic aspects over the years.  I’ve actually seen them as something of a draconic race for some time, and had tentatively had them be the only link to the long lost dragons in my sci-fi setting, claiming proud heritage despite their small stature.  Interestingly, this kind of goes back to that Kingmaker inspired game I ran, in which there was a particularly skillful kobold ranger who happened to be out hunting the humans that were invading their territory, and had setup a whole zone full of traps, having something of an archery sniper duel with one of the players (orc inquisitor), who eventually managed to make the kobold an ally. 

So, kobolds are in.  They love traps, and a treasure hunt adventure should be full of them.  Are they the primary antagonists of the adventure?  Why are they so keen on protecting the secrets of Cypress Isle?  I feel like there needs to be something deeper here than just the local kobold tribes being the standard enemies within the adventure.  Something more to the history of the island. 

Oh my…I seem to have opened the door to something much, much larger…

 

Kobolds, Dragons, and A Much Larger World

This idea came about most recently and has greatly expanded the original scope of “make an island hexcrawl adventure” into something that an entire campaign could be built upon. It started with developing the kobolds into something more robust as a race, specifically tying them much more closely to dragons.  As such, they will be sharing some draconic aspects, specifically scale colors and some additional traits (like elemental resistances, potentially water breathing, magic, maybe even weaker breath weapons), which is likely how they will be separated upon the island (basically into their own tribes).  Also, they will likely be training drakes as mounts and guard animals.

But…that can’t just be it.  There needs to be more.  Why are they so closely tied to dragons, and why do they call this island home?  What’s so special about the island besides the fact that there’s a treasure here that outsiders would desperately want, even though they’ve been getting killed for centuries trying to get it?  Why is this particular treasure so special?

Well, this is where I started delving much deeper into the history of the world (likely the very same world that the city of Arcavarlon is located upon), and began to consider the dragons. By the time of my sci-fi era, they’ve not been spotted in the galaxy in thousands of years.  Perhaps they were already gone from the fantasy era by the time this adventure takes place, and had been for hundreds of years at least.  There was a world-shaking cataclysm at one point, so perhaps they had somehow sensed it was coming and made plans to leave, and in doing so they gathered up their treasures and took as much as they could with them?

Ah, but keeping the original Oak Island in mind, perhaps the dragons were working with retainers and allies, perhaps a knightly order dedicated to them, who would eventually find themselves disgraced by the world at large due to actions that were recorded by history to have been disgraceful and traitorous to the powers that be.  Perhaps the kobolds were actually the closest servants of the dragons, and perhaps the dragons had their own sacred empire, in a far away land that outsiders were rarely, if ever, permitted to see. 

Ah, but what if during the course of the cataclysm, the world was reshaped?  Earthquakes, tidal waves, all that kind of thing?  So, what if, this sacred dragon empire, perhaps once a massive continent on its own, now lies beneath the waves, and Cypress Ilse is but one of several islands that formed the highest peaks of the original continent?  “The Dragon’s Tail” sounds like a fun name for a group of islands, and fitting given the history.

So, perhaps Cypress Isle is the last island in the chain, and maybe the only one that can be safely reached.  Maybe there are terrible storms and hazardous seas that keep people away from what lies further along the chain, and those who venture into the islands are never seen again.  Thus, the treasure of Cypress Isle may simply be riches, or it could be a way to get further into the chain of islands, and eventually into the heart of the ancient dragon empire itself. 

As you can see, this went from a simple island adventure to something much grander in scope; this could literally be an entire campaign.  The Cypress Isle adventure can still be developed as a standalone adventure, and likely will be for starters, but I am likely going to continue with developing the larger project now, and creating something much grander in scale.  I’ve already got a lot more details formed in my notes, and will be refining them as I go, but I’ll leave those to a future update.  For now, this is the basic overview of the Curse of Cypress Isle project, and an idea of where it may eventually lead.  What do you think about it?  Am I aiming too high, or does this sound like an interesting concept? 

Let me know what you think!

Feel free to hit me up over on my Discord server or even follow me on that Twitter thing what I made.

Until next time, out!

So, in the great cluster-fuck that is the modern world, who would have thought that there would have been the equivalent of a nuke dropped on the tabletop RPG industry and the community around it?  I mean, I’m not surprised that it came from Wizards of the Coasts/Hasbro, but I was shocked when it actually happened.

The Great OGL Disaster of 2023

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ll give you the quick version.  There’s this thing called the OGL 1.0a, the Open Gaming License, which has existed since the early 2000s as a part of the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons.  This license has literally been used for over 20 years by a vast majority of TTRPG creators, allowing their works to be referenced by other creators and to use the game systems created by WotC and others basically by just putting a copy of the OGL into the back of your product.  This is why there were so many d20 System games back in the early 2000s building off of the D&D 3e rules, and why you’ve seen a similar explosion in popularity of D&D 5e the last few years (and why Paizo created Pathfinder, though that’s a story entirely its own).  Without the OGL, the massive community would never have grown to what it is today, and D&D and other TTRPGs would be nowhere near as popular as they are.

So, late in 2022, like right before Christmas, WotC/Hasbro decided that they weren’t happy with this.  They wanted ALL THE MONEY, instead of just raking in a large portion of it with their subpar books and merch (the books in particular have been sliding in quality for years, not that I ever really liked 5e from the get go, but I digress).  So, they sneakily tried to force a new OGL on several larger creators with rather draconian requirements (like reporting your earnings to WotC, and if you make over a certain amount, they take 25%, and have the right to use your stuff without recourse to prevent them from doing so).  They wanted to strangle the community by revoking the OGL 1.0a and replacing it with this new version, which would basically have given them total control over the RPG space.

Needless to say, most of those involved in the initial attempt didn’t sign on, and thankfully, the details got leaked (cause nobody could discuss it due to NDAs), and a fire was ignited across the TTRPG space.  Not only was Youtube lit up, but the original creators of the OGL, such as Ryan S. Dancey, had come out and expressly stated that the original intention of the OGL was that it was irrevocable and intended to be that way, even though, 20+ years ago, the specific language was neither included nor considered as needed.  That’s the detail WotC/Hasbro’s lawyers latched onto, using a more modern interpretation, even though the 20+ years of common use by the community says otherwise.

That’s about as specific as I’m going to get on the matter.  There are tons and tons of videos all across Youtube if you want more details about what happened; just check your favorite TTRPGer’s vids from January this year and you’re sure to see something about it.

The short of it is:  Wizards of the Coast done fucked up (again), and this time it was seen as a personal attack on the TTRPG space.

The Fallout

With that having been said, the reaction was swift and loud.  People who had been using D&D 5e for years, including some who perhaps had never even known or considered that there were other RPGs out there, were suddenly looking to the OSR (Old School Renaissance/Revival) systems, or looking to Pathfinder 2e or Starfinder or Castles and Crusades or Call of Cthulhu, or any number of other systems.  Paizo came out almost immediately and announced that they were working on a new open gaming license, the ORC, which is intended to become the new standard license to replace the OGL, and which they would pass over to a third party to hold, keeping it open-source (similar to how Linux operates).  Kobold Press announced their Black Flag project, which seems to be on track to be D&D 5.5 currently.  WotC saw thousands of D&D Beyond subscriptions canceled in a matter of days.

I could go on, but I’d be here forever.

Personally, it did spark a new creative interest within me.  I have been playing TTRPGs since the late 90s when I first came across them in high school, literally at least once a week (up to three or four times a week in the early days) for most of the last 20+ years.  Even though I’m more the type to buy a rulebook then homebrew my own stuff, time doesn’t really permit that like it used to, especially the last few years, so my group had leaned more into published adventures.  I tried running an old school D&D 2nd edition campaign using the 5e rules (as that’s what we were using at the time), but it petered out as my interest in using the system steadily declined from its already low level to absolute disgust with it, even before WotC dropped the OGL bomb.   We recently finished up the Savage Tide AP, which another GM in the group had converted to 5e, and in his place I’ve stepped up and started running a Pathfinder 2e game (the Abomination Vaults AP).  There is currently only one other 5e game I’m involved in (a conversion of Reign of Winter), though I’m not sure how much further that one is going to make it as it seems to be limping along at a snail’s pace, but that’s another story.

In addition to getting the Pathfinder 2e core book, before the Pathfinder stuff became scarce due to Paizo selling like 8 months of inventory in SIX WEEKS (if that’s not a major backlash against WotC/Hasbro, I don’t know what is), I picked up the Castles & Crusades starter bundle from Troll Lord Games, and probably a dozen other games and dozens of other supplements through various OSR and non OGL bundles that suddenly appeared online.

Even before this, last year, I had been working on making my own homebrew system, using the Star Wars Saga Edition system as a base (I always enjoyed this one, even though the D&D 4e that came out of it was so very different, to the point I never wanted to play it and went to Pathfinder 1e), mixing in other ideas from various other games I’d been researching.  While that has been put on hold for the time being, in lieu of testing how other systems work, specifically Pathfinder 2e and the old-school feeling Castles & Crusades, it remains on my roadmap, just further down the line.

What I’m Working On

I’ve been working on several things the last couple months.  The biggest was getting myself familiar with the Pathfinder 2e rules.  My early impression of the game is good; it seems to be much more along the lines of what I enjoy in games, such as a more tactical combat system (most 5e fights devolve quickly into “beat with sword until dead” territory) with very tight mechanics, where +1 bonuses and -1 penalties actually make differences; saw it multiple times in the first game I ran, in fact.  There are so many character options with PF2e that you’d find it nearly impossible for two characters of the same class to be identical.  I’m starting off with the Abomination Vaults adventure path, and incorporating the Beginner Box adventure (which is where we’ve started) and the Troubles in Otari adventure book, since they’re all in the same area.  Though the AP is only 10 levels, this should provide several months of gameplay (since we alternate our weekly games) and give us all an honest test of the system.  I’ll be adding my own custom content and changes to the AP as we go and I get more familiar with the intricacies of PF2e.  If we enjoy how things go well enough, it’ll transition to the higher level Fists of the Ruby Phoenix AP later.

I have two secondary projects at the moment which keep me busy when I’m not prepping for the game I’m running.  

First off is the #Dungeon23 Challenge.  This is basically creating a megadungeon over the course of the entire year, with twelve different floors and a number of rooms on each floor corresponding to the number of days in the month.  The idea is to create a room a day, which should generally take like five minutes, though I’m bad to forget or get distracted by other things I’m working on and have to do a few days at a time to get caught up.  The concept I went with is for a post-apocalyptic setting, ala Fallout/Mad Max, but in a more fantasy world that went through its ‘modern’ times, so elves and orcs fighting mutants with machine guns and rocket launchers, basically.  The idea itself is that of a massive interstate, I-89, that had a very unique feature:  a fifty mile long tunnel through the mountains, with a tourist trap in the center.  The first floor of the megadungeon itself is this tourist trap, featuring a diner, clinic, gas station, and an amusement park.  Further levels will include things like the Firefly Caverns, the big draw to the tourist attraction, as well as secret government facilities hidden in the mountain above, as well as old mines and mutant-filled warrens going deeper into the earth. 

I have not yet decided on a system this will be using; initially the concept was to use the post-apocalyptic setting as the test bed for my homebrew SWSE system, but since that’s on hold, I’m just being very generic with certain things in the room entries for now.  If I don’t use the homebrew system, I’m considering creating the megadungeon using the Savage Worlds system, or maybe using an OSR game.  We’ll see how things develop over the coming months.

The second big project, and the one that I’m actually more excited about at the moment, is what I’m calling “The Curse of Cypress Isle”.  The concept for this one is an old-school island hexcrawl adventure, in the vein of the old D&D Isle of Dread adventure.  My intention is to have this ready to go by the time the Abomination Vaults game ends, so that I can then transition into trying out the Castles & Crusades system within this setting.  Castles & Crusades has a lot of similarities to the old 2nd edition AD&D rules, but modernized (no THAC0 for example), which really appeals to me.  I’m curious to see how some of our players will handle a wizard with d4 hit dice and only gaining a single hit point after 10th level.

This project is actually going to be part of a larger worldbuilding endeavor I’m doing relating to those two pieces I wrote a couple years ago about the city of Arcavarlon.  I want to more fully develop this world and setting in the ‘fantasy’ era; I’ve already done quite a bit of galactic development throughout my stories over on the main UrbanVerse page, but wanted to go back and focus on some of the original characters and stories I have to tell in what I’m tentatively calling the Age of Legends, which is when most of my fantasy stories involving the Kerryns take place.

I’ll get more into that later on, but for now, the main idea behind this adventure is based upon the legends and stories swirling around Oak Island (you’ve probably heard of it; they have a TV show that has been running for like TEN seasons now).  I’m in the midst of reading one of the books about the island’s history, and intend to incorporate some of its aspects into my own treasure-filled island, though mine is going to be filled with much more danger, many of which will have nasty big pointy teeth.  

So, stick around for future entries on these projects and updates on my setting in the coming days and weeks.  I’m tentatively scheduling the first major update and post on one of these projects for early next week, so keep your eyes peeled!

You can find me over on DeviantArt or on my Discord server if you’d like to chat.  I also have a Twitter I’m trying to actually use more often, though I’m not great with the social media stuff.

Till next time, Urban out!

Originally posted on the main Urbanverse site, December 19th, 2020.

 

Welcome back to the campaign design series!  The last entry was fairly basic as to what is discussed, but this time, we’ll be delving into something much more interesting (at least to a good portion of my readers, if I had to guess):  The whorehouse!

 

THE Whorehouse of Whorehouses

So, what’ the big idea here?  What makes this place renowned around the world as THE whorehouse?

Well, that’s exactly what we’re here to figure out!

The basic idea here is that the PCs are going to find their way to a whorehouse eventually, just as soon as they have some spare gold in their pouches, so why not make it something a bit more grand?  It should be a hub of adventure and intrigue, certainly, filled with unique personalities and a variety of entertainment to enjoy.  Further, it should be a place they’ll want to return to, will want to protect.  Given the larger campaign I’m developing based on the Mind Flayer trilogy, it seems very much like a place that would be a wonderful spot to bed down for a very prolonged winter, with no shortage of potential paranoia to build and develop during the height of the first adventure book.

To further develop the whorehouse, I’ve been thinking of the enchanter’s arcane school that’s also in the city, as well as the unique dual temple to Erisaya and Yurisaya (The Goddesses of Love and Carnal Desire respectively).  Both would seem to be very likely to be associated closely with the whorehouse, with some certain amount of crossover between personalities and functions. For example, maybe the arcane school students are allowed to practice their enchantment magic in the confines of the whorehouse, and the Eri/Yuri temple keeps the working boys and girls healthy.

Then there’s the very high probability of there being some gambling aspect to the place, if not a dedicated casino located nearby, so there would definitely be some crossover potential there.

And there’s likely going to be a theatre of sorts for the “high artsy” types, but with a kinky twist in that they host BDSM-themed shows with some audience participation aspects.  (In fact, this location and the casino were part of the same complex in a previous campaign!)

So, is the meat of the whorehouse simply a factor of location?  Is it central to everything else in Arcavarlon, perhaps?  Most of what I’ve mentioned so far seems fairly standard for a developed location in a campaign setting…and that’s not bad.  If it’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, you can’t plan your campaign around the actions of the players.  If you try that, you’re putting them on a railroad, and they’re not going to like you for it.  And I’ve got a particular player who excels in out of the box thinking and random acts of chaos, so I’ve developed my improvisation skills quite a bit over the years.  (I’m currently running a Call of Cthulhu campaign that takes place in the late 1990s that has been very much improvised game to game, so it’s taken on a less horror feeling, and more a 90s action movie feel, which is fine, cause the players are having a lot of fun with it).

Anyway, back on track (see what I did there?) to the whorehouse!  I’m not gonna lie; I’m struggling with developing this idea a bit (in fact, I’ve been working on this piece for about two months, and just haven’t made progress).  Part of it is the more improv nature of my DM style (getting used to following an adventure path again after so many years is going to be interesting), but the other part is simply the hype.  I mean, with a moniker like “The whorehouse of whorehouses”, you’re expecting quite a bit, right?  I know I am, and I’m just not certain I’m able to make it live up to my own hype.  A lot of it is going to be up to your own interpretation, and as I’m developing this for a larger campaign setting, there’s plenty of space for development down the line.  But, there needs to be some meat here, and not just the meat on display.  So, let’s go a bit deeper and focus on a few aspects of this place that we’ll continue to build off of down the line.

 

The Whorehouse (what’s in a name?)

So, what’s this place even called?  It needs a name…and I’ve already discussed how much I struggle with naming things in the last article. I suppose with a reputation like I’m going for, it could just get by being called ‘the Whorehouse’, but that just doesn’t sit well with me.  So, what to call such a renowned house of ill repute and intrigue within the walls of the City of a Thousand Delights? It’s kinda integral to the economy of the city, may have been one of the earliest businesses to form up in the city.  Perhaps it’s more than just a business…perhaps it has some amount of pull within the government in the city?  Is it part of the ruling council (or whatever type of government Arcavarlon has).

The House of a Thousand Delights would seem to be an obvious choice, but that seems a bit redundant given the nickname of the city itself.  Perfectly viable, perhaps it’s a nickname for the whorehouse, but I don’t want it to be the actual name.  Could go with a name relating to the Goddesses Erisaya and Yurisaya, but again, that’s going to be redundant with their shared temple somewhere within Arcavarlon.

In the interest of saving a bit of time, I’ll just say I’ve explored several keywords through the thesaurus to come up with a name I like with words that interest me.  With that in mind, I’m calling the whorehouse “The Palace of Boundless Felicity“.  Sounds grand enough, eh?

 

The Ladies of the Night (or any time, really)

Now that I’ve got a name, let’s get a few personalities into the Palace.

 

The Madame of the Palace
As of the current time within my campaign world, the head of the Palace is Madame Suzuka.  This character is actually one I’ve had brewing for a while and never fleshed out, so what better time than now?

Madame Suzuka appears as a shapely human woman with dark brown hair, wearing expensive, revealing silken kimonos with elegant designs woven throughout.  Though not a recluse, she is rather elusive, only making public appearances sporadically, though the workers of the palace seem to be quite familiar with her.  This has led her to have something of an unobtainable air about her, and her sporadic appearances tend to stir up a lot of talk amongst the patrons.  No small number of visitors have tried and failed to buy her for a night, though rumors abound that a lucky few have experienced her legendary prowess.

In truth, Suzuka is a kitsune bearing a curse.  She is a talented enchanter, amongst the most talented to have ever graduated from the local school in fact.  However, many years ago she ran afoul of a particularly powerful succubus who took particular pleasure in tormenting her victims, and her torments continue to linger in Suzuka’s case.  The nature of the curse was an overwhelming lust, a hunger for pleasure that could only be sated by nigh endless sex.  For a time, Suzuka was at a loss as to how to manage her affliction; no magic could relieve her desire for long enough to matter, and no spell could break the hold curse had upon her.  It was only through a series of novel magical devices that she could manage to function at all, though, over time, she has managed to mitigate the curse further to some extent, though she still searches for a way to break it completely.

And what are these magical devices?  Special chastity gear, tied to a series of magical crystals that absorb her lustful desires and diminish their effects to a bearable level.  One particular use for these crystals is to enhance the sense of desire throughout the Palace, which has had a very substantial effect of increasing profits to perhaps the highest they have ever been.  In some cases, additional sets of enchanted chastity gear with empty crystals are distributed amongst the younger members of the Palace, especially those who are adventuring or who are studying at the magic school, to act not only as a form of armor but as siphons that will draw off Suzuka’s lustful desires.  In practice, this serves as a method of teaching those wearing the devices to focus themselves in order to overcome the distracting nature of their (magically enhanced) lust.

 

The Wind from the Desert
Coming and going often without warning, never staying in one place for too long (usually only long enough to stir up passions, trouble, and usually both), the half-elven priestess of Erisaya known as Haluune Sirocco isn’t an uncommon sight in the Palace.  This dark-skinned, flame-haired elven woman hails from the southern deserts and travels frequently across the land, stopping at any Erisaya temples along the way, and frequenting most brothels as well.  Though more than willing to sell her services to customers in the brothels, Haluune’s preferred clients are actually the working boys and girls themselves.  Using her holy magic granted by her goddess along with various homemade concoctions, she helps to encourage a safe working environment by curing any illnesses the workers may have picked up.  She is also known to trade in jewelry and exotic perfumes she has picked up on her travels.

No stranger to adventure, Haluune is also an excellent traveling companion, well-versed in how to deal with various creatures that roam the roads and wilderness, especially undead and other supernatural threats.  She is frequently welcomed into caravans making long journeys, though she tends to avoid water-based travel if she can, feeling very uncomfortable if she’s away from solid ground (or mostly so, if she’s in the deserts she hails from).  Though well-traveled and knowledgeable of various cultures and customs, Haluune can be a bit dense at times.  For example, for the longest time, she thought that when orcs spit on her, it was a sign of respect, since they were sharing their precious water with her; she didn’t learn until later that it was actually the opposite and that many quite disliked her (mostly for her elven heritage).

 

Alisha (of the) Keys
Though not born in Arcavarlon, Alisha, also known as the Keeper of the Keys, has made the city, and the Palace, her home.  Though apparently human, she possesses a most unusual shade of light purple hair and brilliant purple eyes, indicating an unusual heritage, or some magical influence upon her blood in the past. She’s not telling, though, and nobody around the Palace seems interested (or perhaps they already know?).  Alisha’s duties are rather unique, as she is responsible for holding the keys for the various sets of enchanted chastity gear distributed by Madame Suzuka.  Not one to lord this fact over those who may be feeling rather desperate for release, she is never seen without a set of chastity gear of her own, though her set is much shinier and inlaid with gold and jewels.  She even has her own game that she likes to play, attaching dozens of keys to her chastity gear and various pieces of jewelry and offering patrons a chance to enjoy her pleasures for only a single silver piece…assuming they can pick the right key (and they only get one shot a day).

Alisha is known to be very evasive about her past, and rumors persist that there’s some great power hidden within the chastity gear she wears, though nobody has yet found the right key to unlock that particular secret. She acts as Suzuka’s eyes and ears around the Palace and often travels out into the city to discuss matters of a more boring (read: political) nature as a representative of the Palace itself.  She is known to be quite skilled with her hands and feet when it comes to delicate tasks (like picking locks or performing sleight of hand tricks), though she has never been known to carry a weapon, or even get into a fight.  She seems quite pleased to keep things peaceful and operating smoothly, though if you ask any of the girls and boys working at the Palace, her temper is to be feared, the stuff of legends.

 

Dungeon Mistress Zallista
As with the temple of Erisaya and Yurisaya, the Palace has a dark side, and its dungeons are regarded throughout the land as a place where one can experience the most intense of pleasures.  Though many of the workers here are worshipers of Yurisaya, there are more than a few who are not affiliated with the church, and simply enjoy walking the darker side.  Zallista Kaori is one such woman.  She is a tiefling, her blood tainted with a devilish heritage.  Though appearing somewhat elvish with her pointed ears and short auburn hair, Zallista bears a pair of curled horns upon her head and eyes that seem to dance with an inner fire, along with a long, slender tail. The multitude of piercings upon her face and body, some of them rather extreme, do little to improve first impressions.  Despite her hellish appearance, Zallista comes off as cold, detached, and uncaring, speaking and interacting little even when she is inflicting pain upon a client.

Though her past is a mystery to most at the Palace, she is known to be an archer of unparalleled ability and has spent some amount of time upon the seas, having arrived in Arcavarlon some years ago during a running battle with an opposing group of pirates.  It was during this heated battle throughout the city’s ports that she met Suzuka, and decided to stay at the Palace, though only they know the particulars of that arrangement.  Though apparently, it involved Zallista becoming the mistress of the dungeons, and she has garnered a reputation for strict discipline (of workers as well as clients) and giving only the most intense experiences.  It isn’t uncommon that a healer must be called to assist her clients in walking out of the Palace, though those brave enough to take her on are never left disappointed.

 

Adventure Hooks

Now that we have fleshed out some of the characters one may encounter at the Palace of Boundless Felicity, we’ll need some adventure hooks.  No way the players are going into a place like this without leaving with something else on their plates to draw them back in! Or draw them in for the first time, even!

  1. The party is traveling on a stretch of road a few hours outside of Arcavarlon when they come upon a body lying dead on the road.  The deceased traveler is covered in what looks like whiplashes and bruises, most noticeable around wrists and ankles as if they were bound.  A journal gives clues that they are a local noble, and the last entry mentions visiting Dungeon Mistress Zallista at the Palace.
  2. The party has just arrived in Arcavarlon and are in need of food and drink after a long journey.  Before they can even get their first pints of ale, the city guard comes in with a local woman, pointing at one of the PCs and swearing that they assaulted them the night before just outside the Palace.
  3. A local locksmith comes to the party, having heard of their capabilities from past exploits, asking for assistance with a problem.  He had been working on a special order of locks and keys for one of the ladies at the Palace, but thieves broke in the night before and stole them.  Due to some bad blood between himself and one of the guard captains due to a girl at the Palace, he can’t go to the guard for help.
  4. Love is in the air!  Literally, it seems, because a strange pink mist appeared around the Palace this morning, and ever since the locals have been going at it like rabbits.
  5. Brothels come and go in Arcavarlon, but not quite like this.  A smaller brothel that had been going through a recent surge in popularity suddenly vanishes, the building and everyone in it at the time.  The owner swears that it has to be the Palace’s doing, trying to make sure nobody else has a chance in the city.
  6. As the PCs traverse the city taking care of some mundane tasks, a young man approaches them and thrusts a pair of expensive panties into their hands, muttering “I’m sorry” before running off and getting lost in the crowd. Moments later a group of shadowy thugs appears, one of them yelling “Grab those panties!”
  7. A group of orc warriors shows up in town one day, looking for a dark-skinned, red-haired elven woman who they’ve been tracking for some time.  They intend to haul her back to their homeland for her crimes against the clan, having stolen several treasures when she passed through.  It just so happens that one or more of the PCs are with such a woman at the time.
  8. After clearing out a dungeon, the party finds a particularly ornate box containing an even more exquisite sex toy, with a note from an unnamed lover addressed to the Madame of the Palace.  While in their possession, any adversaries they encounter along the road seem to be more interested in making love than war.
  9. The party has been called upon by the Madame herself.  It seems one of the younger apprentices is overdue to return from their first adventure in the mountains close to a nearby mining town.  She’s worried that a particular gentleman caller who had been asking about them the previous week may be involved.
  10. One or more PCs awaken in one of the Palace’s beds one morning, feeling tired and sore, but they’re not sure why.  The workers who greet them tell of a night of wild pleasures, but the PCs have no memory of such things, nor do they seem to be short of coin or other valuables.