The Fire Knife Assassins for Old-School Essentials

 

Fire Knives – Secret Assassin Society of Lingusia

Group Alignment: Neutral (evil)

Leader: Shadulos Elas Boron (In Octzel); THE THIRTEEN (world-wide)

Octzellan Headquarters: An anonymous guild hall in the Guild District

   The Fire Knives are an international organization of illuminated conspirators who have supporters within Hyrkania, Octzel, and Jhakn. Rumors indicate that there are even members operating within the empires of Persedonia and Galvonar to the south, and maybe even as far east as Cretea and Namintha. The Fire Knives are a vicious order of assassins seeking to manipulate kingdoms from the shadows. The Fire Knives are motivated less by religious or moral principles than they are by political gain, despite their origins as a cult to Haro, the god of murder. The mysterious Council of Thirteen are a secret council of dissident political radicals from across the Middle Kingdoms who work together to maintain long distance ties and support for their network of contract killers.

   Their agendas are many and varied. Some employ magical prowess which is often taught in secret classes by the Cabal of Southern Hyrkania, while others practice bastard magic, culled from the blood-stained books lifted from mages and druids who dared to cross their path. Most members are otherwise of a more conventional talent, common men and kindred folk who rely on stealth and swift assassination to accomplish their nefarious deeds.

   On the surface the guild looks like some sort of thug-enforcer type of thieves’ guild that seems to have little obvious direct connection to their actions as killers. In some cities, such as Octzel, their movements are silent and unobserved by most people, and appear to be a network of hired thugs protecting the interests of certain merchant houses. In Krythia, they wear their symbol, a shield of stars surrounded by trade weapons, proudly, and are believed to be a mercenary's guild by most people. In Jhakn the existence of the Fire Knives is unknown, as their movements are so carefully concealed and hidden that not even close allies know who they are dealing with. Only in Hyrkania are they reviled for their reputation as assassins, forcing them to work underground and out of sight.

   In Octzel, the Fire Knives have few allies and many enemies, often coming to blows with rival organizations and guilds. Of the many thieves and mercenaries guilds in Octzel only the Order of the Blade maintains neutral relations, and is willing to hire out sellswords to the Fire Knives for any unsavory deeds that require some useful fodder.

   The Fire Knives have the primary support of three Barons, and possibly other nobles, in Octzel. House Boron, House Killaman, and House Agrapor are the primary backers. House Boron, of the Merchant Lord Shadulos Elas Boron, and his wicked daughter Teylayurana Sorinos are the most dangerous members. Hallergan Blacknails is an infamous orc assassin of the order, and senior enforcer for House Boron.

   Beside the illegal and secretive activities which likely take place in the shadowed chambers of the manors of each noble house, the Fire Knives own property through indirect channels throughout the city. They own a trade and import shop in the Marketplace which leads to a secret meeting place. They own a Guild Hall that is rented out regularly, except on dark, moonless nights when they convene for a recap of their actions. They own warehouses by the docks, where imports of special naure are often kept, or where bodies can safely be dumped. Members of the Fire Knives learn as much as they can about the back alleys, secret passages, sewers, and catacombs beneath the streets of Octzel.

   Some would say that the Fire Knives go beyond being a society of political assassination and into the realm of a secret society for the sake of secretiveness. Much of this is due to the fact that the three barons behind the house lack the backing or funds of a major political interest, and it is believed that none of them belong to the Thirteen. Yet, since some claim that Fire Knives in Hyrkania, such as Dame Magna Mordent, say that there is a member of the Thirteen in Octzel, then who is this mystery member of the Council, and what are they planning?

Machinations of the Thirteen

   The Thirteen are an entity unto itself, operating in utter secrecy throughout the Middle Kingdoms and the East to further its diabolical ends, using assassination, slavery, and the sale of opiates (especially of the blue and black lotus) to manipulate the political currents of the realms.

   An agent, follower or servant of the Thirteen is likely to be a lower order member of the Fire Knives, but someone could also have a conflicted relationship if they revere the god Haro, or are independent assassins, and an adversarial relationship could stem from any number of cases where one would see cause to oppose the actions of a murderous guild-cult. These members swear fealty to the Thirteen and the God of Murder, in that order, and earn ranks in the society by working their way up “circles” of power and status. No one knows how many circles there are, though rumor has it there are nine, one for each of the Nine Hells.

The Fire Knives of Octzel

Shadulos Elas Boron (purportedly a member of the seventh circle)

   The guild master of Fire Knife operations in Octzel, Boron is a local merchantman with family ties back to Hyrkania. His rise to power on the surface appears to be one of a shrewd businessman, but behind the scenes he is suspected of being ranked as one of the Thirteen, relying on the bloody death that his guild can heap upon those who stand in his way to further his ambitions.

   Boron has locked down the city for the Fire Knives, eliminating most other rival guilds, and now schemes to find ways to dislodge the Black Lotus and the Guild of the Spheres.

   Shadulos is a skilled interrogator, shrewd with a cunning eye for detail and an excellent negotiator in trade deals. He is a master pickpocket and moves with great stealth despite his girth.

Shadulos Elas Boron Human fighter 6 assassin 7

STR 12, DEX 16, CON 18, INT 15, WIS 13, CHA 17, AC 3 [16], HD 9** (46 HP), Att 2 rapier+2 of disarming (1D6+2) or dagger (1D4+save vs. poison or either paralysis 1 hour or death on failed second save after one minute), THACO 17 [+2], MV 120’ (40’), Saves D 10 W 11 P 11 B 13 S 14, AL neutral (evil), XP 2,300, TT C (Lair H)

Skills: Assassination -2, Climb Walls 93, Hear Noise 4 in 6, Hide in Shadows 36, Move Silently 46

Disarming Personality Shadulos has learned a little magic in his time and may cast charm person 3 times per day and charm monster once per day. Shadulos has subjected his very body to complex rituals to allow for unnatural magical guile.

Entourage Shadulos rarely travels alone. Typically he travels with 1D6 assassins in his presence at all times.

Equipment scale mail, Rapier +2 of disarming (target must make a save vs. spells or drop weapon within 10 feet), a bandolier of 2 dozen poisoned daggers, 3 vials of lethal paralytic poison (6 doses per vial; save vs. poison or become paralyzed 1 hour; after one minute make a second save vs. poison or die), 1,230 GP pocket change

Teylayurana Sorinos (agent of the fifth circle)

   The bastard daughter of Shadulos Elas Boron, Teylayurana has worked her way up the ranks in the Fire Knives to become the premiere assassin in Octzel. She is ruthless and efficient, though regarded as unstable by those who have seen her succumb on occasion to a bloodlust driven by her madness. Some believe that when she experiences these “episodes” she is actually channeling the spirit of Haro himself; no one knows for sure, but her skill has nonetheless attracted the attention of Celiobantes Astiriate in the east, and within the guild it is rumored the two have had relations.

   About two years earlier Teylayurana also traveled with the adventurer Cassius Augustus and was lured into a war between the Fire Knives and the Guild of the Spheres. This conflict led to ongoing enmity between the two guilds.

Teylayruana Sorinos human assassin 14

STR 14, DEX 18, CON 13, INT 16, WIS 12, CHA 14, AC 1 [20], HD 9+19* (60 HP), Att 2 twin daggers+1 strike (1D4+1+blue lotus poison) or twin hand crossbows+2 (1D4+2+blue lotus), THACO 12 [+7], MV 120’ (40’), Saves D8 W9 P7 B10 S8, ML 10, AL neutral (evil), XP 1,600, TT C (Lair H)

Skills Assassination -6, Climb Walls 99, Hear Noise 5 in 6, Hide in Shadows 60, Move Silently 70

Blue Lotus Poison target must make a Save vs. Poison or target is confused (as per spell) for 1 minute due to intense and sudden hallucinations.

Blindsense Teylayurana functionally has infravision for 120 feet

Equipment Leather +2 (wyvernscale), 2 daggers +2, 6 vials of blue lotus poison (5 applications per vial), one hand crossbow +2, a case with 30 bolts, pocket change of 500 GP

Hallergan Blacknails (agent of the fourth circle)

   Hallergan Blacknails is Shadulos Boron’s right-hand man. He is an accomplished mage, a tough fighter, and a tricky devil. Hallergan is approaching middle years, but has worked hard to keep a lean figure, and avoid the bloatedness so characteristic older male orcs. His snout is stubbier than usual, perhaps due to some forgotten human blood in his ancestry, and he will often pass without question in the city streets if he wears heavy robes like a priest. He is a master tactician when it comes to weaving his magic, and he can bring down some rather impressive foes with little difficulty.

Hallergan Blacknails Orc fighter 9/magic-user 9

STR 18, DEX 12, CON 18, INT 15, WIS 14, CHA 16, AC 0 [19], HD 9+27** (58 HP), Att 2 battle axe of the beheader+2 (1D10+6+decapitation on critical), THACO 11 [18], MV 120’ (40’), Saves D8 W9 P10 B10 S12, ML 10, AL chaos (evil), XP 2,300 TT K (Lair C) Spells: 3-3-3-2-1

Spells Prepared: charm person, magic missileX2, invisibilityX2, phantasmal force, hasteX2, lightning bolt, charm monster, hallucinatory terrain, cloudkill

Equipment Battle Axe +2 of the Beheader, full plate +1, loose change of 225 PP and 1,500 GP

New Magic Items and Gear:

Battle Axe of the Beheader Very rare weapon

   This +2 great axe decapitates the target on a critical hit (natural 20). If the target does not have a head it severs a random limb. If the target is unconscious the axe automatically crits.

Rapier of disarming Very Rare melee weapon

   This +2 rapier (1D6 damage) makes disarming an opponent incredibly easy. Whenever a strike connects, instead of dealing damage the wielder may declare a disarm attack. The target must save vs. spells or is disarmed, dropping the weapon within 10 feet.

Blue Lotus Poison Uncommon (poison); typical retail value 250 GP/vial

   The blue paste that is made from the leaves of the blue lotus poison is well known for it’s strong hallucinogenic properties, which seem to cause distressing feelings of madness and entrampment within the walls of the City of Nith in the Dreamlands of Ethenur; some mages speculate that the person’s astral self is actually displaced by this poison.

   When used the target must make a Save vs. Poison or target is confused (as per spell) for 1 minute due to intense and sudden hallucinations. One vial contains 5 doses.

Black Lotus Poison Rare (poison); typical retail value 4,000 GP/vial

   The incredibly deadly black lotus leaf, when treated correctly with a special alchemical ingredient known only to assassins and poisoners, can be applied in food (for ingestion) or to a blade (for wounding). A typical vial of black lotus poison contains 3 regular (small) doses and comes with measuring tools, pestle, and the “vitae mortae” liquid added to bring out the lethal component of the leaf. One vial can be applied up to three times as small doses, or the full vial can serve as the base for a single large dose.

Small Doses: The poison can be applied quickly (as an action) to weapons in miniscule doses, causing severe hallucinations and catatonia (save vs. poison or become confused as per the spell for one minute; on a natural 20 the effect lasts 1D6 hours).

One Full Dose: At full dose for ingestion or to thoroughly coat a blade (the process takes 3D10 minutes) the user must make a save vs. poison at +2 (+4 if an assassin) to avoid accidentally making contact with the poison, subjecting him or herself to its effects (roll with an additional +4 bonus if wearing thick leather gloves; cloth won’t do). Once applied, a single full dose will last until a target drinks or eats the poisoned product, or a wound is made. The target then makes a save vs. poison at -2 penalty or immediately drops to 1 hit point and falls unconscious. The victim will remain catatonic and unconscious for 1D6 hours, after which they must make a save vs. death or fail to awaken. Legends say a victim of the Black Lotus poison killed in this manner appears as a spectral phantasm in the dreamlands of Ethenur, where they will seek out the dreams of their killer to haunt them. Allegedly some Fire Knives like to boast of how many ghosts visit them in their nocturnal slumber…

Origins: The black lotus leaf can only be found in three known locations: deep beneath the Mountains of Madness in central Hyrkania, in the depths of the jungles of Amech, and in the underworld dominion beneath Mitra’s Forest. It is the only known lotus plant that can grow and thrive without sunlight, and indeed even seems to thrive in wet, dark environments. Efforts to cultivate the plant are almost always unsuccessful, though stories that one of the Thirteen has mastered this art may or may not be true.

Aasimar of Lingusia in Old-School Essentials

 More OSE goodness! Now for the celestialborn aasimar of Lingusia, as well as a bonus listing on the Seraphim of Lingusia:

Celestialborn (Aasimar)

   Aasimar are a variant race and counterparts to tieflings. Like tieflings the aasimar have a parent or ancestor with planar blood. Unlike the tieflings, the aasimar have been touched by a divine spark from a good or beneficient being such as a seraph or other angelic entity. A few may even have godling ancestry.

   Aasimar are physically similar to humans, but they tend to have perfect skin, white or golden hair and eyes of liquid gold. Their beauty is unrivalled by most other mortals, though aasimar themselves are also often long-lived.

   Aasimar stand out most of the time, and for this reason they often find life relatively difficult when growing up, especially if they do not know their true lineage or parents. Young aasimar are often subjugated to slavery and abuse at the hands of those who marvel and covet their beauty, though just as many may be fortunate enough to live in a caring community or have a good parent.

Aasimar Adventurers

Aasimar have not been adapted to OSE (that I can find), so what follows may be their first official presentation in the system.

Prerequisites: Aasimar are naturally radiant in their charisma and appearance, and have a minimum Charism and Wisdom of 9.

Ability modifiers: +1 WIS or CHA, -1 CON or -1 STR

Languages: Common and one other (may choose Celestial or Arboreal); Lingusia does not have alignment languages.

Class Limitations: Lingusian aasimar have no level limits and may belong to any class.

Special Traits: Choose or roll for one of these options:

D20        Aasimar Traits

1-5         dispel darkness once/day; 2/day at level 5 and 3/day at level 9

6-8          Necrotic resistance (May make a Save vs. Death to negate undead energy drain effect once/day; 2/day at level 5 and 3/day at level 9)

9-12       Imbue Magic (render one weapon magical for one minute once/day; 2/day at level 5 and 3/day at level 9)

13-15     Continual Light (once/day; 2/day at level 5 and 3/day at level 9)

16           Has wings and may fly at MV (180’) 60’; wings are difficult to hide

17-18     Infravision (60’)

19           Unaffected by charm spells

20           My cast Charm Person  once/day (may instead cast Charm Monster once/day Level 9 in any class)

Holy Beings: Aasimar find their natures impossible to hide from fiends and beings of chaos, who instinctively can sense their celestial natures.

Aasimar Lineage: If you play a celestialkin, you should pick one of the classes of Seraphim to determine what your character’s celestial origin is. Roll a D100 for some randomness:

 

D100                     Celestialkin Orign

1-50                      Elohim (category; servitors)

51-75                    Einheriar (category; warrior spirits)

Each of the following are unique beings; their gift to an aasimar may be bestowed through miracles or any other means. See the Seraphim listing that follows for their natures; imagine what the lineage of a being of each nature might look like to sculpt the image of your aasimar:

76                          Ascrael

77                          Archamnios

78                          Gamnaes

79                          Dremnesal

80                          Critaere

81                          Minhara

82                          Magenta

83                          Dryleah

84                          Incenar

85                          Masros

86                          Thanadan

87                          Erizahn

88                          Chamnios

89                          Diaban

90                          Alasmian

91                          Delistray

92                          Cordone

93                          Aspriel

94                          Glaumfiel

95                          Hemanial

96                          Eristar

97                          Esilenta

98                          Sekaryth

99                          Elcorala

00                          Unique Origin! Roll Again:

               01-50     Roll/choose two origins

               51-80     Unknown origin!

81-90     Roll one celestial origin but secretly also have one infernal origin

91-00     divine origin! Pick a deity

 The Seraphim

Profile: each seraph has a specialized portfolio in service to the god(s) each one is obeisant to

Realms of Worship: The seraphim are venerated in the Middle Kingdoms

Genders Allowed: all

Races Allowed: any

Alignment: any lawful good or lawful neutral; lawful evil seraphim are devils

Favored Weapons: numerous (pick any four as suits the nature of the Seraphim for the clerical worshipper to wield with comfort as if proficient)

The seraphim are actually a large host of divine minions who serve the celestial kingdoms of the gods. These beings are the counterparts to the demonic devonin (demons), and are not usually worshipped by any individuals, though they may be called upon for specific spells and instances. There are many seraphim, some of which are listed as follows. Like devonin, seraphim can materialize on the mortal plane when called upon; they can only manifest to try to balance an act of chaos against an act of order.

Some of the Seraphim: This list is by no means complete:

Elohim: The angelic servants of the sun, keepers of the eternal flame.

Einheriar: The eternal warriors of light, the army of the apocalypse.

Ascrael: Lord of the Seraphim, general of the Einheriar.

Archamnios: The spirit of battle.

Gamnaes: Slayer of enemies.

Dremnesal: The spirit of perseverance.

Critaere: The spirit of creation.

Minhara: Protector of the heart and soul.

Magenta: The servant of Time.

Dryleah: The servant of the woodlands.

Incenar: The spirit of flames and loss.

Masros: The hunter of evil.

Thanadan: The protector of the gates of Death.

Erizahn: The androgynous patron of love.

Chamnios: The destroyer of demons.

Diaban: The patron of knowledge and lore.

Alasmian: The patron of trade and commerce.

Delistray: The all-seeing observer, record keeper.

Cordone: The patron of sorcerers and wizards.

Aspriel: Patron of the land, keeper of the mountains.

Glaumfiel: The patron of the waters and water voyages.

Hemanial: Patron of suffering and caretaker of the ill.

Eristar: The patron of dreams and the astral.

Esilenta: The patron of storms and rain.

Sekaryth: The mistress of  Set, patron of lies and Queen of the Nine Hells.

Elcorala: The embodiment of blind justice.

 The Mysteries of the Seraphim: The seraphim are practically a miniature pantheon in their own right, each spirit slaved to the service of one or more greater gods. Those most ancient of scholars who have studied the mysteries of the Prehunate Empire have found evidence to suggest that in those ancient prehuman days, the most loyal prehunates of the day were rewarded for their dedication to the gods with a small portion of divinity, and were given the roles of the Seraphim. Others speculate the seraphim are taken from divine races which exist beyond the mortal plane, and that some have never even set foot on the mortal plane before their appointment. There are nine hundred and ninety nine seraphim listed in the Idean Codices and more recent texts that are living, and another four hundred and twenty seven that are recorded as fallen or slain; since a fallen seraphim is replaced almost immediately, then it is possible that both notions on the origin of the seraphim might be right. 

Seraph of the Nine Hells: most such seraph are in fact infernal devils, and do not produce Aasimar. Sekaryth is the sole exception, who maintains her radiance and purity as a Queen of Hell and mistress to the dark god Set even in the face of the lies and deception that surround her. She is considered a martyr and is worshipped in the Middle Kingdoms by mendicant cults of priestesses who feel they must devote their lives to her, that she may have their strength to persevere and observe the malevolent dealings of Set's infernal realm. 

Tieflings of Lingusia in Old-School Essentials

Returning to Old-School Essentials has proved very inspiring to me. I may finally have found the system that will let me return to publishing content and ideas for my campaign worlds. Here's some stuff now in fact!

Tieflings of Lingusia

   Tieflings in Lingusia are surprisingly common, an enigmatic race of men and women with clear infernal or abyssal ancestry. The exact origins of a specific tiefing depends largely on ancestry, but the following are common; these are available as optional background paths for your character:

Ancient Bloodlines of Hyrkania

   Many tieflings come from cursed families. These families, often Galonian or Hyrkanian, find that their bloodline suffers corruption every eight or nine generations, and sometimes more often, especially if a family member angers a witch or hag near birth. The suspicion is that such families may have been tainted in some way by the corruption of outsiders in the distant past. A more pragmatic expectation is that these are families descended from the era of the Old Empire and the time when the War of the Gods transpired. During that period a veritable army of demons descended upon the mortal plane, and that which the demons did not kill, they defiled. Like as not, even in families where infernal offspring were slain, the taint lingered forever more within the bloodlines themselves.

Purebloods

   Less common are pure-bloods who find that one or both parents were possessed at some point or under the influence of evil outsiders. These tiefling offspring appear unexpectedly, unless the possessors are in it for the long haul, and this can be quite a surprise to the parents (sometimes).

Dark Heritage of Kadantania

   A handful of tieflings can lay claim to the heritage of lost Kadantania. This sorcerous empire ruled for two thousand years in the Jungles of Amech, during which the repulsive sorcerers of this lost kingdom struck a pact with the infernal devils of the Nine Hells, the domain of order dominated by Set and other evil gods of order. The Kadantanians sought to emulate the power of the lost Prehunates (the ancient prehuman demigods of old), but in their hubris they dug too deep into the dark arts, condemning their entire lineage to infernal corruption. All of the old noble bloodlines of lost Kadantania touched by darkness to become tieflings. Many tiefling clans to this day claim such heritage, and a few still believe Kadantania lives on in the lost city of Ur, where fabulous inheritance and incredibly dark magic awaits them if they can but find it.

The Tieflings of Starthias

   The vile domain of Starthias along the eastern continental shores of the Bloodsea is a new proving ground, for it is here that a new era of power-seeking fools have made infernal pacts with the devils and demons demons within the last two generations, transforming their kind in to tieflings. The overlord of Starthias, the dark sorcerer-king Anharak, has encouraged his people to seek power at all costs; his exodus to the Silver Mountains in the west caused a power-gap in the kingdom, which has already come close to shattering the eastern empire with civil war.

   Tieflings from Starthias are the most dangerous of all, for their corruption is recent, and their belief in its utility as a means to an end is absolute and deeply corrupting. They lack the humility of the Kadantanian tieflings, or the fear of the bloodline-descended tieflings.

Tieflings in the Middle Kingdoms

   Life can be very hard for these half demons and half devils. Some get lucky enough to find small communities of their kind, a kindly wizard to take them in as apprentices, or a demonic parent who finds the novelty of a child too compelling to resist. Most tieflings are raised as ambivalent, hateful beings, but a few get lucky and grow up surprisingly balanced and “normal.”

   Tieflings are sometimes familiar with both their extraplanar and their mortal parents, but many can only guess at such, having been abandoned at the doorsteps of wizard’s guilds and temples by horrified peasants. Wizards love tiefling orphans; they make excellent apprentices.

Tiefling Adventurers

Tieflings in OSE are found in Carcass Crawler Issue 3, which provides an extra layer of fine detail you can draw from, as wll as a racial class. What follows is the core details needed for Lingusian tieflings, in case you do not have access to CC#3. In brief:

Prerequisites: Tieflings are cunning and have a minimum intelligence of 9

Ability modifiers: +1 DEX, -1 WIS

Languages: Common and one other (may choose Infernal or Abyssal); Lingusia does not have alignment languages.

Class Limitations: Lingusian teiflings have no level limits and may belong to any class.

Special Traits: use the expanded rules in CC#3 or choose one of these options: darkness once/day; fire resistance (1/2 damage); fiery blood (melee attackers take ½ damage dealt from a melee strike that deals HP damage).

Unholy Beings: holy water deals damage to tieflings.

Infravision: tieflings have 60’ infravision.

Tiefling Random Heritage Chart (D20):

1-4         Kadantanian Lineage

5-8         Starthian Nobility

9-12       Ancient Hyrkanian Bloodline

13-16     Pureblood

17-20     Born of foul Witchcraft and Magic

Cataloging the Indie RPG by Style and Genre

 As I sit here, I am supposed to be studying for some rather onerous testing exams for licensing (work stuff), but it's taking dozens of hours to get through the study process, a thing I have not had to do in some time now, and at my age its just damned tedious. So I am taking a few minutes' break to clear my mind and chill a bit. In doing so I am staring at a giant stack of various indie RPGs, loads of which are pamphlet sized, and almost all of which are 5X9 format in some form or another. 

My plan to write about this in February has been curtailed so it will bleed in to March now, and maybe even April if my busy non-fun RL schedule keeps up. But I can say this: indie RPGs really do seem to fall into a few distinct style categories, and those categories have some characteristics worth noting if you're trying to figure out what style suits your taste. 

The first style category I'll call "utility," which is to say: the book's author(s) value utility and function over everything else. Both Shadowdark and Old-School Essentials are excellent examples of this category. Some other games manage to fit this bill as well, though it may not be so obvious. Old Skull's publications (such as Screams Amongst the Stars and Running Out of Time) are also very utility driven, with the goal being to get the most useful content to you in the limited pages available. Less indie but definitely worthy of mention for this category is Savage Worlds.

Main Traits of Utility Games: ease of use; clear and concise rules; no authorial overtone or assumptions about expected behavior in play

Best Example of A Utility Game: As I wrote a few weeks back, Old-School Essentials is just amazing for its pragmatic, utilitarian approach to codifying the definitive OSR experience. A close runner up deserves to be given to the insanely no-nonsense Shadowdark. 

The second style category I'll call "Atmosphere;" this means the game is focused heavily on conveying its world, thematics or genre to you, and the rules are focused on conveying the atmosphere with as much energy and effort as can be afforded. Such systems are usually loaded with mechanics designed to build out on a specific style of genre. Mothership is a quintessential example, with its atmosphere being SciFi Horror, usually on haunted ships and space stations. Mork Borg is eschatonic fantasy steeped in the graphical interface of Swedish death metal. Orbital Blues is all about replicating a highly distinct blend of Firefly meets 1970's aesthetic style science fiction. Death in Space is about a collapsing spacefaring society that is grimy, dirty and maybe also facing an eschatonic end times. Heroes of Cerulea is about an NES 1988 era fantasy world ripped straight from the earliest era of JRPGS. 

Main Traits of Atmospheric Games: rules built to enforce the rules of the game's universe/genre; thematics designed to enhance and promote the tropes and expectations of the setting

Best Example of an Atmospheric Game: Mothership, of course! With Orbital Blues coming in a close second.

The third style category is a big one, and I will call it, "experiential;" for lack of a better word. These games are providing you with a set of rules and a setting, often closely tied together, with the intent of providing you a unique experience or take on otherwise well-trod genres. Such games are noteworthy for diving in to corners of fantasy or weirdness, often going a bit off the rails, and it can be clear at times that the gameplay loop involves heavy improvisation on the part of both the player and GM (if the game even supports a GM!) Land of Eem, Into the Odd, Outcast Silver Raiders, Troika!, Ultraviolet Grasslands, maybe Liminal Horror and Cairn, can all be said to fit this category. Such games might feel a bit like roller-coasters riding through strange worlds. Some are settings only, such as the Painted Wastelands, Ronin or Vast Grimm which hack other systems into their own weird universes.

Main Traits of Experiential Games: a strong focus on the weird/unusual, emphasis on random generation and improvised play; often focused on very niche and sometimes cartoonish imaginings of their universes

Best Example of an Experiential Game: So many choices, but I feel I have to give this to Troika!, a game which defies easy interpretation for many, while still being so interesting I can't stop trying to figure it out. Runner up could go to any, but I feel the Painted Wasteland (my current favorite OSE setting) has earned it.

The final style I will label "Graphical;" any game in which it appears that the artist is as important to the process as the author or anyone else. Indeed, you might find that the game itself is less of the point than purchasing the cool book full of neat art. Not quite indie, but sort of in this ballpark I feel you could put The Electric State, along with some noteworthy titles like Ultraviolet Grasslands, the Painted Wastelands, CBR*PNK, Cy-Borg, Mork Borg for sure and all its other spin-offs, and amazingly weird and difficult to parse out products like Ballads of Oread. If Exalted Funeral published it, then it might have some lineage in this department. Don't confuse, "Looks cool," for being in this category, though; I would suggest a key component of games in this category is that you might better imagine them as coffee table books than something you can actually figure out how to play!

Main Traits of Graphical Games: they are really interesting tomes to look at (assuming they come in a conventional book format); they are often hard to decipher, or you can tell that the author was playing second fiddle to the artist

Best Example of a Graphical Game: Mork Borg!!! It's a puzzle to decipher for many. Runner up: Ultraviolet Grasslands

Okay! So with all that out of the way, time to get back to some real work. I'll finally (hopefully) talk about some of the newer games I've picked up here in the next few weeks soon.

GURPS 4E Revised On the Horizon

 Wow, by pure accident I stumbled on this discussion at the SJ Games website here. GURPS is getting a revised single-volume omnibus rulebook apparently to be release in March(ish) for $79.95. The changes are described in the article, which mostly sound like a clean up, and the part that got some people worried related to sensitivity changes....though the changes they indicate make sense, so I am not sure it's fair to call it "sensitivity" changes so much as "pragmatic modernization reflecting the sensibilities of 2026." I am curious as to how this works out for subjects such as slavery, which has a section in the Campaigns book, chiefly because GURPS as a system was written primarily for historical and realistic gaming, and it was assumed that such rules would be needed. On the other hand, I have never in my many years I ran GURPS actually needed any of those specific rules, so there ya' go. 

Either way I am and ever shall be a grand proponent of GURPS, so I will take anything I can get in terms of the game continuing and being available in print. Once it's out and I have my copy I'll write about if the changes were worth it. 

Permissive vs. Restrictive Design (Or: game systems that let you color inside vs. outside of the box)

 A recent observation on one of my Starfinder/Pathfinder game nights was that some of my gang of players really dig the Pathfinder (and Starfinder) system and relish finding synergies and feat/skill/spell combos and stuff to make for more interesting or effective characters. It's not quite the wild west of the old 3rd edition days where build design and min/maxing was the subgame everyone was so busy playing that actual gameplay was like an afterthought, but it can be noticeably more convoluted and rules-bound than some less restrained systems.

To contrast, Cypher System, and old favorite of mine, is effectively about providing a loose mechanical set of rules that can apply broadly to most situations, and the specifics of how a thing works or what that looks like in play is narratively under the control of the players. 

Then there's D&D 5E which holds a middle ground between the ultra-permissive Cypher System and the ultra-conformist Pathfinder; you have a lot of rules on specific mechanical effects and actions, but within those limits you can generally find some descriptive wiggle room, and its skill system is almost entirely free-form, with lots of area for narrative interpretation. 

What I am realizing is that half my group likes the more creative and expressive RPGs, ones which don't require elaborate system mastery and reward creative expression in play, vs. the other half of the group which loves finding mechanical bits to work together and deploying them within the carefully defined scope of the rules. 

For myself, I prefer the more open ended rulesets, I realize; I do love me some Pathfinder, but only until the harsh realities of the system mastery requirements butt up against the fun and narrative flow; Pathfinder is one of a growing set of games that actually provide defined narrative flow rules (encounter vs. downtime rules and such where you are allowed specific types of actions depending on what mode you are in), while other games such as Cypher System will let the group define such constraints as coincide with the needs of the story, or at least don't encourage restricting the story for the sake of a mechanical contrivance where possible. 

This is not to suggest that a system like Cypher is freeform; it's got rules. But those rules are in service to the plot, and flex within it. It's one of the key reasons Cypher System is so good as a multigenre and weird adventures system; it's mechanics are designed to encourage and exploit creative play. Pathfinder, by contrast, only allows creative freedom when a rules lawyer isn't looking....or put another way, it only  allows for more freeform gameplay when someone breaks the rules.

This has got me to looking at the game systems I have in these terms. Which ones will allow for more creativity and fun within their designs? Which ones want to do that but their mechanical stucture is too weak to allow for it? Which ones are mechanically oppressive and are only fun if you are looking to, as the title says, color within the box?

I know where I put Cypher System: square in Camp Creative, with a rules system designed to encourage and support that creativity. There's the intermediary levels, such as as a game where its rules are loose and freeform, but maybe its not so great at encouraging creativity; I might consider a game like Advanced Fighting Fantasy to fall into that category. There's also a hybrid category, where I think D&D 5E fits: it has "in the box" restrictions on some mechanical elements and then is freeform in other areas such as the skill system. And finally we have the endgame of mechanical rigor: Pathfinder being the aforementioned poster child, but other systems exist out there that fall into this bucket as well, such as the Battletech RPG, Traveller and maybe even Cyberpunk Red.  

More to come!

The Curious Case of Gamers Writing on Substack

 Just a brief comment after a weekend of noticing a lot of weird stuff in my Substack feed. Until fairly recently Substack was a thing I subscribed to a few blogs, mostly political commentary, and out of the blue I accidentally discovered a gaming Substack or two, then by way of Substack's "referral" process where you can get free subs to other similar blogs I suddenly had a ton of gaming Substacks in my feed, which was honestly nice. I could never find a way to parse out Substack easily in the past; it seems like you have to sort of find a thing, then move within its circle to find other like things.

All that is to say that Substack seems like an awkward place to find stuff randomly or that is otherwise low profile or special and niche in design. But somehow, all of a sudden, I have a lot of it. The downside is I think a lot of it is sort of tonally related to what other Substacks subscribe to, or something, because a disproportionate amount of the stuff in my feed seems to boil down to one of four types:

1. Stacker complaining about how no one can find him on Substack so he's leaving;

2. Stacker who really, really hates Shadowdark and thinks everyone who likes it is a malicious crisis actor (or insert OSE or whatever system in place of Shadowdark) out to get him;

3. Endless, unending solo journaling Stacks that at no point bother to explain how to solo game like this, or how it is different from simply engaging in a creative writing process;

4. Finally, the gatekeepers! I found where the gaming gatekeepers all went, and it is on Substack. There are some really vitriolic people over there. 

Anyway, this surprised me as over the last several years the much quieter but consistent realm of Blogspot and associated other blog sites have calmed down and been quietly doing our thing, which is just enjoying games and not being toxic. Amazing!

Post Script: In my evaluation of apps, I decided that the weird level of negative/hostile/rude posters on Substack was grounds for me to just delete the app and move on. 

Old-School Essentials vs. Shadowdark - Battle of the Retro OSR Giants???

 As I assembled all of the many half-size tomes I have on the shelf, realizing I had bought a disproportionate number of books (and booklets, and brochures, etc.) for a few games in particular (Mothership, OSE, Shadowdark, Mork Borg and to a lesser extent Liminal Horror), I started comparing the crop of Shadowdark books to the Old-School Essentials tomes. I've run a couple campaigns or multi-session adventures with both systems, though not as yet been able to commit to picking one of them for a long-haul. In many ways these two games are extremely similar, at least in terms of their overall goals, but in other ways they are surprisingly different. Here's a few of the more interesting differences I noticed, with the caveat that I won't talk specific rules too much, because both systems are mechanically quite different. Anyway:

Design Goals:

OSE: it's goal is to create a retroclone emulator for Basic/Expert D&D and the Advanced version gives you the tools to bolt on an AD&D style experience. It's not restricting itself exclusively to true emulation, though it does so surprisingly well, and expansions and 3PP content offer a really diverse array of interpretations of fantasy powered by OSE (Planar Compass, Kalinga Plateau, The Painted Wastelands and Dolmenwood being the four I am most familiar with). A lot of weird settings get the OSE treatment, though other weird settings seem to gravitate more toward the Into the Odd mechanics. I think it depends on the depth to which the designers of a setting want to plumb the rules; Into the Odd seems to be the preferred choice for player groups that are extremely shy of mechanical depth, while OSE ends up attracting a broader range of interest for those who want an old school mechanical feel, but are inspired by weird art, themes and interpretations of fantasy that may have been popular in their style but were too "out there" for D&D's early era shepherds (TSR).

Shadowdark: It looks to me like Shadowdark's core intent, which was to provide numeric compatibility with older editions of D&D as well as D&D 5E resources, ended up really being about creating a tightly defined set of rules for a very specific style of play: dungeon crawling, completely unapologetic, with all of the traditional bells and whistles, or at least those as perceived through the lens of a new age of gamers who love the notion of what D&D was without having actually been there. Most of the Shadowdark players I know aren't picking it up because they want a reasonable facsimile of original D&D or B/X D&D, but rather they want a D&D 5E experience without all the clutter. For this reason Shadowdark has a lot of interesting but weird little rules that are designed to streamline the experience, but also trip up older gamers or those used to early D&D (such as the way leveling works, or the way magic works) and don't in actual play feel very old school. Shadowdark is to OSR what a modern computer game that touts its amazing pixels s being Playstation One era style graphics (while being totally better looking than the actual original PS1 games of its time) are like....simulacra.

Winner: OSE wins by a slim margin, because it really is closely backward compatible and very customizable within a time-tested framework of rules. But Shadowdark is its own special beast, and if you think of it as being like the RPG equivalent of Hero Quest, its role makes more sense.

Rules Presentation:

OSE: OSE's core strength is that it's the most pragmatic, no-nonsense presentation of a OSR ruleset I have ever seen. There is no authorial intrusion, there is no empty chit-chat, there is precisely as much flavor text as is necessary, no more and no less. It's incredibly clear and well-organized (across all its rulebook iterations), and finding what you need is a breeze. So Necrotic Gnome's core presentation was to make OSE very, very user friendly. This is a huge plus as I see it; when I pick up this book and browse through it, I find myself urgently interested in playing it, which is something a lot of RPGs out there fail to accomplish. 

Likewise, adventure design for OSE is concise, driven by necessary information only, and laid out in a clean and to-the-point format designed to make GM prep smooth and easy. OSE has borrowed heavily from the indie zinerpg scene to manifest a module design approach which works incredibly well, and I feel like even Wizards of the Coast has noticed this and tried some half-baked attempts to emulate this with recent books (such as Forgotten Realms) recently.

Shadowdark: Shadowdark seems interested in brevity almost to a fault. Many rules are explained with the barest possible amount of information, often leaving the players and GM to parse out the implied results of what are in general basic rulings. This work against it at times if you are reading it from the perspective of one familiar with older D&D editions or the OSR movement, as Shadowdark is a modern game in OSR clothing, which means you can't assume anything with it. Shadowdark's communication style is so brief that it can be bothersome to people who prefer a more comprehensive or detailed explanation of mechanics, and also requires at times a lot of GM adjudication due to the lack of guidance it provides. This contrasts with the OSE rulesets in that OSE usually conveys to you the exact amount of information you need, while Shadowdark conveys the minimum amount of information....an important but subtle difference. 

On the other hand, Shadowdark's module design is heavily influenced by the Indie zinerpg scene, as is OSE. As a result, the actual modules for Shadowark are often using identical approaches to conveying necessary information in modest bites, and this leads to a sense that you could easily use Shadowdark modules with OSE and vice versa, just swapping out stat blocks as needed. 

Winner: OSE again, because it's friendly organization and "just the right amount of detail" approach to information makes it incredibly functional as a table resource. Shadowdark's brevity and bare-minimum approach to explaining anything will work best when you really are preferring a lot of interpretive freedom, though. It's almost a tie as I see it, but for my own personal tastes: OSE hands down.

Graphical Design:

OSE: OSE's art is an homage to B/X D&D and AD&D of the 80's. It's got a vaguely fetishistic approach to reimagining Erol Otus inspired artwork, and often relies on artists like Peter Mullen to accomplish this. I like it's approach more than with Dungeon Crawl Classics, which does something similar but often leans into a Retro 70's Kitsch aesthetic of a time that only existed in the doodles on the back of your High School textbooks (or so I imagine, as I was 10 years old in 1981 so I am definitely a product of the 80's rather than the 70's, when I was a little kid).

That said, OSE leans on a lot of art styles across many tomes, and some of the best and weirdest art manages a style that feels to me like "Erol Otus, if he was responsible for Adventure Time." So it's got a wide range within its deliberate aesthetic.

Shadowdark: Shadowdark is heavily focused on white-on-black aesthetics and a art style that feels divorced from B/X D&D and firmly rooted in AD&D 1st edition. It's art style is surprisingly uniform, across even third party publishers, to the extent that I think out of a couple dozen Shadowdark books I have, only one or two even bother to use real color at all....I haven't seen the 3PP design guide, but maybe there's a style guide somewhere they have to follow.

The good news on this is that Shadowdark books all look like they are part of a set; you can tell a Shadowdark book just by looking at it most times. The even better news is that a surprising amount of this art is actually really cool and evocative. The downside is I have also noticed a disproportionate amount of AI generated art in third party Shadowdark books, sometimes bad enough that it impacts my desire to even consider using the book (as is the case with Gammadark, the post-apocalyptic hack of Shadowdark, where the AI art is basically just "We have Warhammer 40K At Home" armored troopers in every other image). Luckily (so far) this does not seem to be an issue for the core books coming out of Arcane Library, though. 

Winner: Tough call! I will say Shadowdark for its stark white on black design aesthetic and imagery that feels very, very old school to me while still being quality art, but OSE is also very good at this, so its almost a tie. The third party content is more disappointing with Shadowdark, however, as too much AI generated art detracts from the books that use it, whereas that does not seem to be a problem with OSE's third party content at all for some reason.

Actual Play:

OSE: So I ran a bit of OSE a while back, a fun little campaign that ran for several levels and took advantage of one of my own campaign settings, mixed with some published modules, including maps from Trilemma Adventures (one of the greatest dungeon map books ever next to Dyson's works). It ran smoothly, it felt very old school even with using lots of third party content to "upgrade" it to some modern conventions in terms of the fantasy options available, and it was very fun. I don't think it felt terribly like the actual experience of playing AD&D I had back in the day, mainly because the core B/X emulation at the heart of OSE is just not as complex as the actual AD&D experience as it once was, but we all did have fun. I recall some of my players, far too enmeshed in modern game design, actually sat out the campaign for the most part. My own experience as a GM was pretty satisfying, though, and the play experience was not marred by 30-45 minutes of rules lawyering and lookup as tends to happen Every. Single. Session. with pathfinder 2E. Fun enough that I am now thinking about running a new OSE campaign soon, this time using The Panted Wastelands campaign setting.   

Shadowdark: I ran a short campaign last year.....a lengthy dungeon crawl, really, also set in my oldest campaign world (Lingusia), but not really using too much of it. We had fun, it was an entertaining system and its interesting quirks (including deciphering the level/XP process, the way magic casting works, and the disparity of power creep between the core book and sourcebooks) wasn't overly bothersome. It felt like a game system that wanted to just be played and get all the micromanagement out of the way, unless it involves light sources. It clearly works best for very dungeon-delve heavy gaming, although some soucebooks try to expand on wilderness delving and a few even dare to entertain using it as a "full featured" RPG though never enough to make one feel like Shadowdark would be a proper substitute for long term campaigning. I know its a style and feel preference, and Shadowdark may just be a little too simplistic for my own tastes; I know of at least two groups locally that play this game all the time, and abandoned DCC for it. For me....I kinda like it, but only maybe enough to crib some content from it for use with OSE, which really is the nicer overall product. That said....if I didn't feel like diving deep into the OSR experience and just wanted a fast play dungeon crawler for a session or two with tons of randomization, Shadowdark is pretty well the best option out there. In a sense that puts it next to Mork Borg, a system which I love running in spurts but never for long term campaigns. 

Winner: I have to give it narrowly to OSE as I really enjoyed running a couple campaigns with it and want to do more. But I also enjoyed running Shadowdark, even though the system itself often felt janky a times....but both are eminently playable. Because I prefer slightly more granularity in my OSR experience though, and also prefer the broader compatibility of OSE, I will give it this prize for being more playable.

Conclusion:

So, overall, for what I need at least I find OSE simply works better as a more well-rounded D&D OSR experience. Shadowdark works well as a pickup and play game for a session or three, but for me at least lacks the depth I need to feel like it is more versatile. OSE is on the edge of what I consider "acceptable" for versatility, but it is lovely because its close compatibility with older editions of D&D means if I really wanted to I could just hack the proficiency system from AD&D 2E into it without any fuss or muss, stick to descending AC for flavor, and grab a copy of The Night Below or Queen of the Demon Web Pits and run it pretty much as-is. I'd need to do some hacks on these modules to get them to play nice with Shadowdark, by contrast. As for adding rules from older editions, I could do that with Shadowdark, too.....but with OSE it feels like that is an option I can take if I want and its intended to work, while with Shadowdark it feels like I'd be defeating the point of the system's deliberate brevity, and also would probably find it easier to weld the 5E skill system onto Shadowdark instead of the AD&D proficiency system and kits and such. 

So! I'll talk various products on these over the next few weeks or so, including Shadowdark....which does have a lot of good sourcebooks out. I may be looking at them from the angle of "How can I get this to play nice with OSE?" though, so there ya' go!