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Post by crusssdaddy on Jul 27, 2013 10:59:32 GMT -6
I read last night Robert Aickman's short story Ringing the Changes from his Painted Devils anthology. A couple visit a strange largely empty seaside town and stay the night though they shouldn't. Aickman writes with great subtlety, his effects are light but lasting. Is Aickman Ligotti-esque? I read one of Ligotti's collections awhile ago and was a little disappointed, I think he's guilty of pressing the repeat button on too many of his stories.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Jul 24, 2013 14:47:10 GMT -6
Perhaps an exercise can determine whether you have a new game or whether a marked up copy of D&D will suffice. Imaging that you intend to publish your campaign as a distinct set of rules aimed at an audience at least unfamiliar with your game and potentially ignorant of RPGs in general, write a small but crucial portion: character generation, combat, magic & spells, etc. Not an equipment or monster list.
How substantially does this sample differ from D&D? If not much, then don't bother writing out the rest; if "a lot" then maybe calling what you have a new game is not just a case of immodest enthusiasm. Definitions of "substantially" will vary.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Jul 20, 2013 13:58:26 GMT -6
conceptships.blogspot.com/An abundance of styles and inspirations here, you should be able to find something after a browse through...
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Post by crusssdaddy on May 11, 2013 9:25:53 GMT -6
Those counter creators are very nice.
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Post by crusssdaddy on May 5, 2013 19:30:51 GMT -6
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Post by crusssdaddy on Apr 15, 2013 19:09:22 GMT -6
Or you could just surrender to the inevitable, settle in for the long term, join the Yellow Cult, and launch the Ninth Typhonian Crusade against all non-Hasturians. Seriously, Carcosa shouldn't be some feeble demiplane like Ravenloft, where you can zip in and out of at leisure. The only way I'd let anyone leave Carcosa would be if they were going to somewhere even worse, Xoth, say, or Yuggoth, or maybe the Dreamlands after the Second Coming of Nyarlathotep. Yup, there's that too!
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Post by crusssdaddy on Apr 15, 2013 10:21:59 GMT -6
Finding a way off Carcosa could require an invoking ritual, with the players responsible for gathering the ingredients. The invoked entity could then point them to a location, item, or custom ritual that would get them out of Dodge.
Canticle of the Crawling God is relatively simple and only requires one victim, others offer a greater challenge.
I've thought that maybe The Empty Maze could be a dimensional-galactic nexus.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Apr 15, 2013 1:23:40 GMT -6
Email me (click my account for the address) and I'll send you a pdf. If you use Hexographer, I can also send you a template for same. Mind if i can get one of those Hexographer templates? No prob, just email me. I just checked it, it's off by a hex though...
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Post by crusssdaddy on Apr 12, 2013 20:17:35 GMT -6
Email me (click my account for the address) and I'll send you a pdf. If you use Hexographer, I can also send you a template for same.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Apr 10, 2013 19:59:59 GMT -6
Yeah but you have to tell us what the weird things are, like the thing in 1410...
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 20, 2013 9:33:38 GMT -6
It's been awhile since I've looked closely. I think having rituals of dubious utility is a statement on the inexact and generally awful nature of sorcery. As a sorcerer you can do everything right and be left with no gain. Maybe man's study of Snake-Man sorcery is imperfect?
Some force uncomfortable choices. Like, if the Lurker Amidst the Obsidian Pillars is rampaging and you want to put an end to it and you don't have the banishing ritual which requires no sacrifice but you do have the imprisoning ritual which requires an ugly sacrifice, do you have the stomach to go through with it?
I think there's room for a lot of fun to be had innovating some additional bling for some of the rituals. For imprisonment, maybe the sorcerer also gets limited ability to talk to/invoke the captured beast, which could result in the capacity to gain followers or grow a cult. Maybe you send the Violet Mist to the Angled Labyrinth in order to bring something back to you from that weird realm. I think imprisonment should typically be wielded as a threat to a summoned monster, in order to coax obedience.
Of imprisoning rituals the book says, "This confinement can typically be ended only by a Sorcerer freeing it with a ritual of conjuration." Perhaps freeing a monster you have imprisoned is substantially easier than using a conjuring ritual (especially the particularly involved ones), in which case you have a potent means of blackmail against communities.
Good question, raises many new ideas.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 19, 2013 21:47:33 GMT -6
Fated to Die returns to Aylesbury, and through a variety of cynical deceptions and despicable ruses installs himself as the new Pastor of the local church. Led by his example the populace exceed themselves in mindless zealotry, indefatigable greed, and loathsome opportunism.
It's a good life.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 19, 2013 10:21:25 GMT -6
I didn't really dive into deciphering the Chainmail rules so I just kind of went with the flow -- your brief descriptions and on-the-fly judgments made that easy.
I thought sometimes we were having too easy a time of it in combat, so the added lethality at the end was welcome.
I prefer my characters to have no more henchmen than a porter or maybe a man-at-arms, which gives me a chance to distinguish them by personality. A gaggle of henchies becomes sort of a faceless mob, so I'm definitely of the opinion that less is more.
Good take on the setting, thanks for letting us into your world.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 18, 2013 21:31:09 GMT -6
Fated and his men run up to the main group: "Did you see the way I distracted that thing and made it throw its tablet at me? Wow, great job huh? Anyhoo, don't worry about me I'll recover. So... that creep stole our boat, how we gonna get that back?"
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 15, 2013 15:17:10 GMT -6
[I'm away until Tuesday -- just have Fated do the least heroic things possible.]
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 14, 2013 11:18:59 GMT -6
*tiny voice* "I'm not dead yet!"
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 14, 2013 11:13:41 GMT -6
Fated: "Well, this is remarkably unfair! You two guys, can you get me out?"
Reckoning the slab is too heavy to lift, Fated directs them to dig into the sand to get him out.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 11, 2013 9:49:09 GMT -6
Fated peeks up from his hiding place: "I wonder where everyone is?!?!?!?"
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 5, 2013 9:09:09 GMT -6
Fated shouts from super far away: "Attack the torch!"
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 4, 2013 0:59:17 GMT -6
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Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 2, 2013 10:06:00 GMT -6
How long will it take Fated and co. to get to the ferry? Do we have to prep it for launch, or can we get it going immediately?
Fated calls over his shoulder: "THE BOAT WILL BE SETTING SAIL SOON, YOU MAY WANT TO BOOK PASSAGE! WE WILL NOT BE WAITING LOOOOOOOONG...!"
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Post by crusssdaddy on Feb 28, 2013 15:26:05 GMT -6
Fated: "Game over! GAME OVER MAN!!!"
Fated gathers his men and high-tails it for the ferry.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Feb 28, 2013 15:20:02 GMT -6
I would probably pop my Kickstarter cherry to buy a D&D adventure called "Give This Poor Thing A Sandwich!"
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Post by crusssdaddy on Feb 26, 2013 10:13:54 GMT -6
Once they find suitably distant cover, Fated directs his men to fire off a volley at the Colossus.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Feb 25, 2013 9:16:35 GMT -6
Fated and his boys continue running and do not stop until they find cover at least 50 yards from the Colossus. Ideally, they head in the direction of the ferry.
[This has "Death Frost Doom scenario" written all over it...]
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Post by crusssdaddy on Feb 24, 2013 20:43:22 GMT -6
OOC: Is the crown separate from the Colossus' head (i.e. can it be removed) or is the head/crown all sculpted from one piece of stone?
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Post by crusssdaddy on Feb 23, 2013 21:56:48 GMT -6
Yeah, these things are great!
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Post by crusssdaddy on Feb 23, 2013 11:37:29 GMT -6
That's nice to have handy.
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Post by crusssdaddy on Feb 23, 2013 11:31:24 GMT -6
[Seriously guys, the ring is looking like a great option right now.]
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Post by crusssdaddy on Feb 23, 2013 10:04:49 GMT -6
Maybe like the current Carcosa set to +50,000 years, where men have waxed and now are waning again. I like this idea very much. I've always been impressed with your Carcosa material. Thanks. Someone on the Isle of the Unknown thread also dropped a line about how maybe that island is Carcosa in the future, which I also thought interesting. IotU is itself more romantic and baroque.
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