The Storm Diaries of David Mayseren, Fits the Fourth and Fifth

Monday’s Child is Fair of Face. Tuesday’s Child is Full of Grace. Wednesday we’ll be lucky if we ever get to… Whaaaaa? Was that ringing? At (Urrr… 5:00 in the morning? Grrrr…). Phone. Who in hell… You need some more power? Electrical and Magical? So does the TV? It wants a satellite dish and cable [...]

The Storm Diaries of David Mayseren, Fit the Third

And on the second day of the Chaos Storm, things got even screwier, and the characters spake onto the game master, “why us?!”. Once again, far, FAR, more time (several weekly sessions) went by in the real world than in the game… About a week ago, Robert Lee, a fifteen-year-old martial arts student, had been [...]

RPG Naval Combat, Part I

Naval combat is full of details. Environmental shifts may upset everything. For an age-of-sail vessel a change in the wind, or patch of fog, can change an entire battle. Even with later designs, storms, floating debris, rocks and reefs, powerful currents, and – at the most extreme – tidal waves, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions can [...]

The Storm Diaries of David Mayseren, Fit the Second

With the prologues out of the way, events in the setting began moving into high gear. In the first day of chaos there were actually several sessions… Back in the city, a short bluish alien crash landed in the Professors back yard. The Professor used the cellular phones and beepers he’d passed around to call [...]

The Storm Diaries: Part I. The Players and the Stage

The Chaos Storm game was set in modern San Francisco, in a world much like our own. While that world allowed magical and psychic powers, for many centuries they had been mere whispers – carefully hoarded by a few survivors from past ages of enchantment to support their own extended lives, and insufficient to have [...]

Cyberpunk Street Occupations and Backgrounds

As a general rule, most street characters will have the “Streetwise” general skill, and many will also have area lore, begging, or something similar. For their occupations, and their more important skills, roll 1d40: . . Unskilled Occupations: Special Notes and Requirements 01) Acolyte Enough patience to hang around and be respectful with a straight [...]

Andaras and the World of Sidri

History The history of Sidri is, at least as far as Andaras is concerned, the history of Andaras. While this is hardly accurate, or fair, Andaras is currently one of the planets major powers, and it is what everyone is likely to have been exposed to. Hence… Long centuries ago, the peoples of Dorasin lived [...]

Skilled Codex Powers III: Tempus Techniques

Past the instinctive and basic uses of the three Codex skills – Phasing, Shifting, and Tempus – there are a variety of more advanced powers that are only available to those with monotalents or actual Codex skills. The manipulation of the user’s personal timerate is not so complex in itself – but the interface with [...]

Star Wars d6 Ship Organizer

Here we have another Vehicle Design System for Star Wars – in this case from Anthony and Harvey, two of the players who have their own take on the subject, building somewhat from Editorial0′s version with their own notions. Star Wars D6 Vehicle Construction Organizer There are two items that determine what a ship can [...]

The Burning Wrath of the Terrible Eye

A Practical Enchanter question: I have an idea for a wand of fire that can only harm orcs, nothing else. Would that be a decrease in cost as the target is extremely limited or an increase as the wand won’t cause collateral damage (eg forest fires)? -Derek That’s an upgrade. After all, an explosion isn’t [...]

Federation-Apocalypse Session 156 – The Carnival of Cats

Hm. The three-year mark for this particular game. With the books being carried back to their ships by some of Kevin’s entourage, Kevin abruptly realized what he’d forgotten at the bookstore – haggling. Considering that it was rather unlikely that a randomly-selected bookseller had books worth more than a trading fleet, they’d probably overpaid by [...]

Federation-Apocalypse Session 155 – The Code Duello

Returning Lady Istral to Ciarkian, and Cyrweld, through the Pasta Palace proved simple enough – although Conley did a bit of a double-take when he realized that Kevin and Marty had changed again – this time into an anthropomorphic wolf and parrot. Then he realized that he’d changed as well – into some sort of [...]

Federation-Apocalypse Session 154 – The Harmony of the Sneers

Conley was beginning to wonder if he’d made a serious error… Pouring his own magical powers into the gate system had indeed sent him far beyond the reach of the secret police – but he seemed to have miscalculated and sent himself out of the usual array of inner planes altogether. Was the blasted imperial [...]

Monstrous Characters Through The Years

So you want to play a powerful creature? That’s been handled in several different ways through the various editions of Dungeons and Dragons – and the various methods are worth a look, since you can see variations on all of them in many of the other games that have been designed since. In First Edition [...]

Eclipse d20 – Volund Saril, Budding Thief Lord

Volund’s father, Maynard Saril, sailed aboard the Askari, a merchant vessel of the Havelund family, while his elven wife, Erilitha, remained safely in the Havelund enclave with their young son. They were never well accepted there, but the Havelund walls and guards made a safe haven in a dangerous world. The Askari, and Maynard with [...]

Eclipse d20 – Conley Mac’Gregor

Level Eleven Dragon Empire Shapeshifter, Federation-Apocalypse Campaign Conley was a very angry young man… Why should the dragons lord it over everyone else when technology could virtually level the playing field and they were far outnumbered by the other races? Why build clunky ships instead of expanding the teleportation gate network? Why was EVERYONE so [...]

Star Wars – Skilled Codex Powers II: Shifting Techniques

Past the instinctive and basic uses of the three Codex skills – Phasing, Shifting, and Tempus – there are a variety of more advanced powers that are only available to those with monotalents or actual Codex skills. Shifting is the art of playing with probabilities and timelines. In many ways it’s the most tenuous of [...]

Star Wars – the Twelve Moons of Varen II

Note: Over the centuries, most of these worlds have had many names in various tongues and with various factions. The most common name is noted in brackets, but the names of the families and the orbital order is far more constant. Varen IIa – Iresha Family (Am Mu) The Iresha family moon is a major [...]

Star Wars – The Varen Council

The current occupants of the twelve Council Seats of the Varen Council include: Mistress Yessa Iresha – Yessa is the head of resource allocation and logistics within Varen space. While she has no direct control over military expenditures, she does control how much gets put into the military budget each quarter. Known as a person [...]

Star Wars – History and Philosophy of the Varen Commonwealth

Here we have a slightly-edited series of items from Kira’s player, detailing the homeworlds of one of the currently important factions. Out beyond the borders of the Republic, there are many small, independent, domains. The Varen Commonwealth is one of those domains – consisting of the usual a scattering of outposts and territorial claims in [...]