Year of the Masks part II

Ive been a bit busy lately, reading thru Ultans, Making a detective monkey for a future game of Eclipse Phase ( Confusingly not run in Eclipse Phase), and taking part in local GM-off, where local game-masters rate and debate each others games. Had 3 good games, the last one was my favorite, because every player decided to make a full caster for 5e game. It went hilarious as one would imagine. And speaking of magic.......

I realised I forgot some of the entries on the list of "There are too much masks around". Please forgive me!

Here are the missing faces.

Eldritch Fields has a nice table with masks for a small cult. 4 types with 10 entries each. This gives me an idea for my upcoming Ultans game. I`ll discuss it in a bit after the second item on the list. And I feel quite ashamed I forgot this one the last time.

Next up is Kill Six Billion Demons, web comic about journey of spiritual discovery or just random demonic violence and mind boggling locations for said violence to happen in , set in a mad Planescape and Budhist inspired cosmology. Now If you havent read it, the mask bit will probably not apparent immediately. Devils can be summoned and brought from whatever hell they live in as formless shadows and given shape, by binding them, naming them and giving them masks. Each group of devils have a color theme for their masks. And masks are sorted by power and rank in a hierarchy. From lowly pales( that mop the floors) all the way up to gold and ebony ones. A mask and name per rank in the hierarchy. Now this is just cool and evocative campaign premise. Im planing to steal some bits from K6BD for this idea Im having, along with few from Dorohedoro and few others. How does it all work together.

Zyan and masks of devils

Summoning devils the usual bureaucratic evil they are depicted in gaming do feel right at home with baroque legal laws of ancient Zyan along with ancient binding rituals that uses names and masks to control devils and inadvertently gave them power. And this is where in comes the part where comes tradition of masks, and punishment of taking someones name and mask away. Not sure where the puppets come along just yet in this version.

Now for magically inclined Zyan and how masks will work in this I`m taking cue from Dorohedoro where masks can be acquired by making an offering to a devil. Or sufficiently powerful patron will do. In return a mask is imbued with magic that increase the power of spellcaster. But its not only spellcasters that use masks, according to ancient customs its improper to show ones face without a mask in public. Many people can`t acquire an enchanted mask so they use regular masks made by artisans. Poor and destitute make their own masks from scratch. A mask is a sign of wealth and power. Of course you can take it off when in comfort of your home, among trusted friends and lovers, or as a sign of great respect.

• Masks come in multiple styles and usually are customised by preference of owner. Here are some rough overview of possible masks.
• Masks can come in either Full or partial Styles, covering either face or mouth.
• There is 1in6 chance that mask is magical,+1 per two levels, +1 if owner is a spell caster for a maximum of 5in6 chance.
• If mask is magical pick a single power or power set. Every time wielder uses said power save against magic or get temporary stat drain. Recover one point per day lost in such a manner. 
• Run out of time now and do table of random masks and more on powers later. 
• Insert as many purge references as you feel comfortable.

Year of the Mask

Over the last few months I keep running into more and more cool ideas about masks.

What is with peoples fascination with masks?
They have been around for ever, used in religious, ceremonial and nowadays more practical functions. And at the same time they hide the one behind it. Gone are the familiar and human features. The eyes. All the nuances of facial expression. And yet they are very very cool at the same time.

Sculpture by Lionel Smit

Ive been slowly reading thru Dorohedoro, a manga about about cranky wizards doing bad things. Each wizard is granted a mask, they wear it publicly all the time, taking it off only while eating or in more intimate surroundings, surrounded by friends and family. Throw in that each spell caster has a very niche theme of magic they are capable, for example a lot of beginning plot is about finding a lizard transformation specialist. It all makes for a very evocative setting.

Then I stumbled into these two shortly after.

A blot that talks about an idea that magic is in the masks themselves - 1d20 magical masks. And i really like the picture with the blue masks, so I had to find the artist behind it. Bask in the glory of Lionel Smit.

And second one is a small home brew setting  by a someone named Unusual Existence called Tenebrae. Time when the Sun has died, the survivors are hiding beneath the earth and religiously delve into endless dungeons that honeycomb the earth. Players get to pick their classes from mythic archetypes the heroes of yore, whose masks they don. I love this thing for multiple reasons, first its evocative as fuck. Second because someone is making what I want to play before I can think of it my self. And as of now its slapped somewhere at the end of what I imagine at after the tales of Dying Earth. Here is more in depth and eloquent review by Kyana if you are interested.

And now it turned out that masks feature prominently in Ben L, amazing new zine - Through Ultan`s Door, which has finally arrived, or so Ive been told. Since its one of the firs things I plan on running for meatspace games. Masks now are featured on the to do list.

Some tough Ideas.

1. "In Ancient Rome, the word persona meant 'a mask'; it also referred to an individual who had full Roman citizenship. A citizen could demonstrate his or her lineage through imagines, death masks of the ancestors." Lazy quote from wiki, but this ties in wonderfully with what I know of Zyan. 
2. Masks grant single wizard power set to its wearer. Use ideas like Whitehack, Freebooters on the Frontier or Maze rats style generator.

P.S since Ive finally gotten physical copy of Through Ultan`s Door, that means I should do second part of Mirrors of England and whole map thing soon.

Blamecrawl City Generation

One of the coolest generators that does something like point crawl is Corpathium, here is my take how it would look for a Blamecrawl,premise is the same, grab the 7 dice set and as many 20 as you like or can hold in your hands, roll on a piece of paper, connect the closest dice the way it makes sense.

Since as of now there are not enough entries for proper Corpathium style generator I added some place holders from the last entry.

1d20            Result

1	Surface of the Sun
2	Solar Maze
3	Seas of Molten Metal
4	Hot Computronium
5	Lower Machine Hell
6	Furnace
7	Scrap Yard
8	Cistern
9	The Wastes
10	The Rot Bellow
11	Cold Computronium
12	Upper Machine Hell
13	The Meatyards
14	Stolen Sun
15	Empty Planet
16	Your Favourite Megadungon
17	Infinite Pilgrimage
18	Recursive Dream
19	....something.....
20	Mass and Energy Transfer Engine

Constants

Infinite Staircase, not sure how it works yet? It may end up on the table instead.

Garbage Chutes - if any location ends up with this make a connection to one of the trash themed locations if there are any

Waterways - if any locations ends up with this connect it to Cistern if it exists

Other Locations might be used to flesh out individual areas etc

Blamecrawl - The Lower Hells

Yesterday idea to do a collective stab at making Blame/Biomega +anything else Nihei has made, or whatever else feels appropriate into gameable content.There has been few nice ideas rolling already. And after everything was neatly set up, and it was time for bed. But nope, brain was like - now we talk about this awesome idea for good few hours, and did i mention everything is on fire?

So here are my take, Its something related to the whole concept, but since some people had ideas that this stuff could be used for spacestations, massive spaceships and other not necessarily megastructure as such.

The Lower Hells

Roll 1d6	Name	Description
1	Surface of the Sun
2	Solar Maze	Mazes of solar arreys, focusing lenses, antennas and sensor arreys
3	Seas of Molten Metal	Vast sea of liquified metal by the tempreatures
4	Hot Computronium	Untold layers of computational substrate designed for extreme tempratures.
5	Lower Machine Hell	Ancient complex of sweltering heat and forgotten function
6	Furnace	Massive metalworking complex  using the power the sun, melting down scrap from asteroids, whatever refuse comes down from the scrapyards above.

Blamecrawl

And Suddenly something new and related to what I had in mind somewhere down the line is born!
A group discussing how to do a Tsutomu Nihei`s Blamecrawl.

The City is actually a structure that began on Earth. The mechanical beings known as Builders, which move around renovating and creating new landscapes, appear to have begun building without end, creating an enormous structure with little internal logic or coherence. The City appears to be organized into distinct floors, with layers of an unknown nigh-indestructible material called "the megastructure" between them. Traveling between floors is extremely difficult as the megastructure is almost indestructible and approaching the floor boundaries results in a massive safeguard response. Only a direct Gravitational Beam Emitter blast is known to have been capable of penetrating the megastructure.

Each floor consists of a crust of kilometers high buildings haphazardly built together. Above the crust is an empty sky all the way to the floor of the next level. Descending from the sky are staircases which take upwards of 10 days to climb. The floor of the next level is made of megastructure, but also serves as sunlight/night sky for the floor below.

The City, and the Builders, were once controlled by the Netsphere and the Authority but they have since lost the power to control the expansion of The City due to the chaotic and dangerous manner of its growth. Without intervention by a user with Net Terminal Genes they cannot reestablish control over The City nor the Safeguards, whose original job was to eliminate any humans who try to access the Netsphere without Net Terminal Genes. The Safeguard now attempts to destroy all humans without the Net Terminal Gene as the degradation of The City has corrupted their true goals.

(Lazy Wiki copy-paste magic)

Sign up now!
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Through Ultan`s Door and Mirrors of England

Recently I got Ben`s L. wonderful Wishery zine fresh of the printing press. At least the digital and spiritual representation of the real thing. Ive been slowly poring over this dream inspired scenery.
I had some reservations about exactly how to start people here on the journey of OSR discovery. I have seen the portents, I have seen the signs. And now I know how I must proceed. A journey through a little blue door in the back of printmakers shop. What is better then a lost city beyond the doors of sleep to sell players on such a foray.

But why the Mirrors of England.

Lazy way of doing things would be reusing the old Sarnaathium map I posted earlier this month. And the world of Wishery would fit right in with the theme of dreams of Nightmares Underneath / City of Poison it was made for. And yet I have the urge to do something different with it ( I still might be a lazy bastard about it tho and reuse Sarnaathium).

Recently there was a discussion about certain map of Europe that got me thinking. I know I want to do the whole Dying Earth Campaign Setting. But that is a lofty goal and there are some things I need to figure out along the way. So how about doing something more simpler for a bit all the while adhering to a time honored tradition of good GMing and be lazy about it. I can make a simple setting with idea that Logan Knight had with his Corpathium setting - reusability.

Im a great fan of LOTFP setting premise of a more historical setting. And with steady surplus of wonderful England themed products like Dolmenwood and Midderlands out there lately. Add the fact that I have been fascinated of English history even more so then my own countries history. This feels like a natural place to put starting point of Wishery. And that is where the Mirrors of England come in.

Make the world usable for all those products, compatible with more grounded ideas when I need them and make it compatible with with Dying Earth setting in the future. And the best way is doing a mirage, a pale reflection of the real thing. Something that is inherently familiar and yet gives freedom to twist it in the shape I want it. All the optic puns are intended, because here is my plan.

• Grab a old timey map of England and mirror it. here are few likely candidates:

1852 Vuillemin Map of the British Isles
1772 Bonne Map of England and_Wales

• Photoshop magic some hexes on it.
• Plop mirrored Ruined Ghinor highlands features somewhere on the southern cost as a tribute to Wishery, and mirror those the other way.
• Feel smart about it.

Original culprit done by Vandel J. Arden

Part II will follow after some quick photoshop magic with more details of Mirror of England.

And after that I plan to make a post about how this ties into Dying Earth idea, something akin to fluid history, not sure how to call that idea just yet.

20 Campaign questions.

I have attention span of a gnome. I can come up with a great idea until I lay my eyes on the next shiny thing, and when inspiration hits you....

(From Inglourious Basterds)

So it feels like a good idea to figure a out basics before going way overboard with minute details.And its a good way to plug Jeff Rients twenty quick questions for your campaign setting. Ive seen multiple people do this to a great effect. Its nice way of setting up the tone and basic setting assumptions. So let`s get to it...

The Nearly Dead Earth

(placeholder name)

1. What is the deal with my cleric's religion?
• There are no clerics, but there are myriad of cults and sects, each with its own little ideas how things work.(Most of the are probably wrong). Think of the variety of beliefs we have now on our short time on Earth, and think what we can come up in few billion years. Powers are granted with pacts otherworldly beings, post singularity entities and hyperturing machine minds whose whims and desires are beyond mortal understanding.
2. Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
• Any old settlement will probably have enough craft persons to get what you want, if the local shop doesnt have it already. More advanced Spires will probably have access to 3d printing, matter looms and nanite forges. Just dont expect miracles, these things have been badly maintained for aeons. If you want anything more exotic you will have to go outside of safety of civilization and reclaim it from ancient ruins of long past. New blueprints might bring immense riches to anyone brave enough to risk their life.
3. Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?
• As above.
4. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?
• If you can catch a wizard in a generous mood and ask him, he is going to proclaim and loudly at that, that he is! And how dare you think otherwise. The world is full wizards, mages and others of their ilk. Each concerned with their own petty desires, hoarding secrets at the expanse of others and generally be unpleasant to be around.
5. Who is the greatest warrior in the land?
• There have been many great leaders and warlords over the ages, many are left forgotten. Except those that have left more permanent marks on the world then a crumbling empire. People in the lands of 5 Spires know atleast of two such: 
• Battle of alchemist hill, an ancient battle site that still churns with chemical processes
• Final grave of unknown general. There are multiple petrified remains of an unknown warlord everywhere he was struck down during his campaigns. This one does feel more permanent,then others tho.
6. Who is the richest person in the land?
• Warlords, kings and wizards of immense power all squabble over secrets of bygone eras, each trying to acquire great wealth to make the final days of earth more pleasant, and take great pains to avoid the gaze of anyone more powerful then them. Some factions like trade companies and techno-leagues hold vast resources way beyond what available to single individuals.
7. Where can we go to get some magical healing?
• There is always herbal medicine at local wise-woman/ witch, dubious magical theories and shoddy surgery for more serious injuries at local medical doctor. Lost limbs can be regrown or replaced with artificial ones at back alley iron chirurgeon. Or one can risk using miracle cures of bygone ages, but be prepared of consequences.
8. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?
• As above. Some of these might not even be a thing-Alignment change?. Some might be uncurable with regular means, and would take going out of way to cure without radical methods-lycanthropy and polymorph.. Others -like death-may or may not even be a problem depending when that game is set. More on that later. 
9. Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?
• There have been times when great mages have united in a singular cause, but the later in the setting the game is set the less likely that is to happen again. If one can show talent and skill, maybe a mage can take you as an apprentice, or dissect you. Depends on the mood really. Either way this is one sided relationship, whatever demands and favours a mage asks, they are more likely to further his goals and not yours.
10. Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?
• Any Spire will most likely have such services to offer.
11. Where can I hire mercenaries?
• There are plenty of desperate people that would be willing to risk their well being for few coins and a chance to improve their lot in life. The more money you have the better talent or higher number of meatshields you can get. Be warned tho those in power may take notice of anyone they might see as a risk.
12. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?
• Each of the great Spire cities have their own way of doing things, as do smaller villages. So be weary of local customs. 
13. Which way to the nearest tavern?
• One on every corner, or few days hike, depends on where you are. 
14. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?
• There are plenty of weird things that make people cover in fear behind the walls. Only the desperate and foolhardy venture far into wilderness. 
15. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?
• Even as the world nears its final days, even as sun might go out at any moment, those in power still scheme against one another. Its inevitable that something will set off a chain off events where they start falling like dominoes.
16. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?
• No, yes, probably? Yes there are backroom fight rings where one can earn few coins. Gladiatorial superstars? Maybe. Warn me beforehand and wizardthings might set up XCrawl events for their amusement.
17. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?
• Plenty. Throw a rock and you`ll likely hit a cultist. How big of a threat they are is entirely different question. The larger the conspiracy the less likely you are realize you are someones pawn.
18. What is there to eat around here?
• Decent meal if you are lucky, if not? Rats, mystery canned meat and protein paste otherwise.
19. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?
• Working things of previous ages cost a fortune. Even as something simple as a new 3d blueprint might set  you up for life. 
20. Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?
• Nope no dragons here. When a "dragon" shows up its more of a end of the world style thing. There are plenty of treasure to find out tho.

Done. That took a while. Worth noting that because some questions felt samey and some are kinda irrelevant for the world I'm thinking, I might go over this at a later point and make a more detailed description. Otherwise this is a good starting point and there were quite a few things I haven't even considered beforehand.