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Post by foxroe on Mar 1, 2017 2:00:34 GMT -6
Welcome @phoenixsong!
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Post by foxroe on Mar 1, 2017 1:58:01 GMT -6
No one is in the van. The Leftenant easily breaks into the van (11+1 vs 8+ to avoid complications while breaking in - a situation where it actually makes sense to use J-o-T as a +DM to roll). Under one of the seats is a backpack, inside is a sociology text and some notebooks with the university logo on them. In the glovebox is a pamphlet from the Lombard Clinic. Leftenant to Jack: "Hmmm. Not getting a fuzzy J'gdaren feeling about this Clinic. Let's check out her apartment. I'm guessing we'll find more swag from the Clinic there." What does the pamphlet say (general gist)? We'll close up the van and head into the building and up to Janet's apartment/room. |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 28, 2017 2:54:00 GMT -6
Unfortunately, I haven't. However, I've been looking into Gamma World (1ed) again lately and I've been thinking that the GW modules of yore would make great Carcosa adventures with a tiny bit of tweaking.
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Post by foxroe on Feb 27, 2017 18:15:08 GMT -6
Welcome Zudrac!
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Post by foxroe on Feb 27, 2017 18:06:14 GMT -6
(Re)welcome!
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Post by foxroe on Feb 26, 2017 4:41:51 GMT -6
(I was waiting for Makofan's input, but I'll go ahead and get the ball rolling for now)
Sharron crosses the street to the van, trying to "blend in" as inconspicuously as possible. She passes by the van and glances through the window(s) as she walks by. What does she see in the van? She'll keep walking to the corner, stop just around the building, and look back towards Jack and nod if the coast is clear (van devoid of occupants) or shake her head no if it's occupied.
If it's unoccupied, Jack can keep an eye out for curious strangers while the Leftenant digs out her lockpicks and tries to access the vehicle (driver's door if it's an open van, rear door if it's more of a delivery/box van where the drivers compartment is separate).
If it's occupied, she'll backtrack to the entrance of the building and wait for Jack to join her before going in.
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Post by foxroe on Feb 24, 2017 22:39:28 GMT -6
Frank: I've changed the TL of Mother's vacc suit to 12 in my own notes, so feel free to update the Google doc.
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Post by foxroe on Feb 24, 2017 22:34:31 GMT -6
Welcome to the fold, sennahoi and Arzach!
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Post by foxroe on Feb 24, 2017 18:47:05 GMT -6
Is the street very busy in front of the apartment building? That is to say, would anyone notice (or maybe even care) if we broke into the university van?
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Post by foxroe on Feb 24, 2017 5:46:37 GMT -6
These are some great ideas. I'll be running B2 for a small group in a few weeks and I'm strongly considering assimilating some of these. So, instead of "non-combatant women and children" humanoids, they'll all be combatants. The "children" will just be low-damage "newbie" humanoids, and I'll probably just drop the "women" (since created/grown humanoids possibly implies that they are "sexless" monsters anyway) or just treat them as additional "males".
Of course, that may make some of the chieftain encounters... awkward.
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Post by foxroe on Feb 24, 2017 0:19:29 GMT -6
Streetwise 8 + 1 (skill) vs 8+, she finds that folks have been known to "disappear" from the Lombard Clinic. A patron, Marcus, who may be a bit in his cups, thought he saw someone in a Lombard uniform bringing a patient to a ship that was supposedly heading for Bastinadi. OK, Mother relays that info to Sharron & Jack everyone in the group. |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 23, 2017 18:29:41 GMT -6
Ok to clarify on cell hacking... Electronics skill would allow hacking into active calls, trying to conceal where a call came from, trace an active call, or other activities relating to in progress calls. Computer skill is going to be required to hack into the system to find old call data. Jack-of-all-Trades of course can negate the unskilled penalty. Ah, OK. That makes sense. I'm assuming Mother and Sharron have been mustered out for about a week. I also assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that since Mother was the Engineer, she already had access to the Wayward Sun. The thread(s) started out a little chaotic, so I may have misinterpreted. Mother will just hang out at the bar and wait for folks to come back. In the meantime, she's back to trying to use her Streetwise-1 to: - Obtain any dirt on the clinic - Get a lead on some choice cargoes Sharron will follow Jack's lead. |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 23, 2017 7:31:23 GMT -6
...learning new skills or improving old ones should be hard given the context of what PCs start with for skills. I think Traveller made it very hard for a reason. I'm choosing to make it a bit easier, while keeping the general idea of the Book 2 experience system. It's probably the single thing in classic Traveller that I think modern RPG players have the hardest time with when they are introduced to the game. Games like D&D offer a clear path for characters: start of as a poorly equipped, underwhelming schlep and work your way to greatness. This establishes the "power curve" of the game and players expect continuous improvement in their characters because of it. In Traveller, your character has already started out as a galactic nobody and has already gone on to establish themselves before you even begin play. Sure, some characters will be "better" than others in stats and accumulated skills/skill levels, but it's really only superficially relevant to game-play. Traveller is most definitely a player-skill-centric game, rather than a character-skill-centric game. I think you've mentioned this before, but in CT, having a skill level of one means something. It's substantial and not "I only gots me one level in Brawlin'!?". I think that this is why the "advancement" system in Traveller is so slow and difficult. <<floats off of soapbox due to excessive hot air>>> BTW, Frank, I read the blog post you linked to above and I'm completely on board. It's really the only way to play CT in my opinion. Otherwise, you'll go mad trying to "fix" things.  |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 23, 2017 6:46:33 GMT -6
BTW, as suggested above, we should all meet back at a central location (the bar we started in?) in about 4-6 hours barring any other ideas/outcomes. We should probably also keep in contact throughout our separate ventures.
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Post by foxroe on Feb 23, 2017 6:42:40 GMT -6
Law Level is 2, so Body Pistols, bombs and explosives, poisons, and laser weapons are prohibited. Of course you can always risk carrying your body pistols since they are designed to evade detection (looks like Victor and Mother carry body pistols, nobody else has a prohibited weapon - if either character with Body Pistol wants to change up realizing that only in Law Level 0 worlds are body pistols not outlawed, feel free to do so...).
In that case, Mother would have left her pistol on the ship, locked in her quarters. She prefers to not (directly) break the law.
Is the U.of Ludgates in this quarter of the city (or at least nearby)?
Leftenant to Jack: "Seems like an odd place for a university vehicle to stop. Low key electronics store and a gun shop? I suppose a school employee could be residing here... wanna check it out?"
OK, Mother will try that. If she needs to return to the ship to do so, she will, skipping the Streetwise banter. If she would need to be actually at a tower, then forget it. |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 20, 2017 17:00:15 GMT -6
According to Gary she is a Demi-god, but her spell casting ability is around 28th level, which is closer to lesser deity. Iuz is "the Old" and he's been around as long as anybody can remember. Which means his mother has to be older. And her description makes her seem ancient. I'd say at least 1,000 years old. Which would mean Graz'zt/Iggwilv/Iuz were a "family" long before the conquering of Perrenland, and perhaps before Iggwilv discovered the Lost Caverns, but I'm just speculating. |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 20, 2017 5:38:08 GMT -6
OK, now the overboard stuff... what can we infer about Iggwilv's doings, abilities, and character? She was an archmage, which makes her at least 18th level (by AD&D standards), and must have had at least 18 Intelligence to be able to cast 9th level spells. But a curious thing is that her self-penned Demonomicon contains Clerical spells... and 7th level ones to boot! This means (I believe) that she was also a Cleric of at least 16th level and she would have needed an 18 Wisdom to be able to dabble with 7th level spells. This also begs the question, who does the Mother of Witches and Binder of Demon Princes "worship"? My theory: Iuz. Only the very flesh and blood of the megalomaniacal Iggwilv would be worthy of her devotion. I could see her warped sense of maternity developing into fanatical worship and hundreds of sacrifices to her son on altars dark with blood. Perhaps she founded the "Church of Iuz". It would certainly help explain Iuz's rapid rise to power in the central Flanaess over the last century. Iggwilv is also known as Louhi on other worlds. Louhi is the witch Queen of Pohjola in the Finnish mythos. This means that travel between known planes of existence is a simple matter for Iggwilv, and her influence stretches far beyond the time-misted veils of Oerth. Scary. She is also at least 100 years old, and certainly older. Assuming she is human (a safe assumption considering the cambion nature of her son Iuz), she would need to have access to longevity magics, or perhaps she has discovered the secret of immortality. Or maybe she is... undead.  Speaking of which... Iggwilv's daughter Drelnza is a vampire and a high level warrior to boot. Correct me if I'm wrong, but ecologically speaking (within the Greyhawk-verse), vampires do not sire children. Vampires are created. Which means Drelnza was given the "gift" at some point prior to her "long watch" over Iggwilv's treasures and her father was likely human as well. Did Drelnza turn willingly? Why did her mother allow it - did she have something to do with it? Did Drelnza's unnamed father have something to do with it? Many possibilities here. Any other thoughts/ideas/guesses/esoteric wisdom? |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 19, 2017 11:05:26 GMT -6
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Post by foxroe on Feb 19, 2017 0:45:38 GMT -6
Lots of great Tekumel minis here! |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 18, 2017 23:38:29 GMT -6
Howdy, She is known to have domiciled deep within the Yatil range, in a mountain fortress known as Iggwilv's Horn... Iggwilv's Horn is just a mountain and no more than a landmark. The Lost Caverns lie to the south of that landmark. S4 indicates the Lost Caverns as her lair. Futures Bright, Paul Yes, a bit of interpretation on my part I suppose. While S4 does specifically say that it was "certain that Iggwilv ruled her domain from these caverns," it doesn't state that the Horn is merely a landmark to my knowledge. My impression was that the Caverns were located at the Horn. There is also the hook presented in area #6. There are several Pech digging "upwards into the mountain" to a larger sealed cavern. I always felt that this was referring to other "Lost Caverns" within Iggwilv's Horn. I'll admit I'm making a gross assumption that her dwelling was a "fortress." She would have needed something more substantial than a few cavern levels in which to house her conquering armies. ... plus it all fits into my concept of Iggwilv's Horn being a massive Gygaxian megadungeon complex.  |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 16, 2017 20:26:53 GMT -6
OK, so, reviewing my notes, here is my unofficial version of Iggwilv, as I believe originally intentioned, based solely on official sources (S4, WG6, EGG):
That's it! No sordid affairs with demons and Archmages. No clones or fiendish familiars. No emo goth-wannabe witch-princesses. I like it.
I'll come back and edit this as I learn more. Suggestions?
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Post by foxroe on Feb 16, 2017 18:58:38 GMT -6
Thanks Allan!
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Post by foxroe on Feb 16, 2017 5:10:34 GMT -6
Gygax's "The Revenge of Ghorkai" (Mongoose) mentions a demigoddess called "The Mother of Witches", that many suspect is a reference to Iggwilv (the adventure location strongly resembles the Yatils, apparently). Was this ever confirmed?
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Post by foxroe on Feb 16, 2017 5:07:55 GMT -6
Following the web archive link from Allan above, here is some more info for those that are interested (WARNING - SPOILERS!). The information is extracted from Gygax's Gord novels (having not read these (yet), I am trusting in the accuracy of the notes):
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Post by foxroe on Feb 16, 2017 4:55:29 GMT -6
Great stuff, grodog ! Thanks again for your responses! Doh! Jeff Perrin... it's so obvious! Would you happen to know where the connection to Baba Yaga is first mentioned? I've gone through the early "official" sources (S4, WG6, Gord) and I can find no mention of her, or any apprenticeship/adoption for that matter. Something in the Dragon maybe (still looking through those...)? |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 15, 2017 0:33:14 GMT -6
When I first played 1ed, I used psionics. It's a bit too clunky of a system IMO, and doesn't really fit with the rest of the rules (as quirky as they can be in and of themselves), so I always house rule the option out.
The 2ed system is much better, but requires obtaining a splat book.
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Post by foxroe on Feb 15, 2017 0:12:05 GMT -6
That's an interesting take - feels Tolkien or fey. And why not the same for other humanoids?
Perhaps they are all produced by a high level spell - cast on multiple human/demi-human sacrifices, at the conclusion of the spell, the victims are corrupted into the desired humanoid (number based on a pool of hit dice based on the caster's level). And perhaps there is a counter spell...
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Post by foxroe on Feb 14, 2017 18:44:13 GMT -6
Amusing note: In the link above (to the original convention version of LCoT), Iggwilv is referred to with masculine pronouns and possessives. |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 14, 2017 18:38:34 GMT -6
An interesting side note: Prior to the publication of the Greyhawk Folio, Perrenland was spelled " Perrunland". Was this perhaps inspired by Perun? Perun is the Slavic deity of Lightning. Very little else is known about early Slavic religion (to my understanding), but the other significant figure in Slavic oral tradition is... Baba Yaga! I have always imagined Perrenland as sort of a Greyhawk version of Switzerland (strong geographical borders, generally neutral and isolationist, cantons, capitol = Schwartzenbruin ["Black Bear"], elite polearm mercenaries = Landsknechte), but now I wonder if Perrenland was intended to be more Baltic/Eastern European in flavor... Perhaps a stretch, but this seemingly relates to Iggwilv's character influences as well (Louhi of Finnish myth and Baba Yaga, as Allan points out above). It would also fit with the Tasha/Natasha pseudonym (assuming Tasha = Iggwilv) and substantiates the Baba Yaga connection. Too left field?  |
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Post by foxroe on Feb 14, 2017 17:54:52 GMT -6
Something I neglected to mention in the original post: There was also a point where she was residing in Ket. It is here that she obtained Daoud's Lanthorn, inciting the "angry villager" rule to boot.
I doubt that this was "Gygaxian" in origin.
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