Lands of the Asbari Caliphate

Mihrdya

The "new" capital, only a hundred years old or so; the central citadel, hewn out of the rock underneath an impenetrable azure dome of Bieth manufacture; divided into the Round City and the Cinnabar Flats by a moat of quicksilver; .
Sound: Thomas Bergersen - Empire of Angels
Taste: Judhaab - Chicken on top of an apricot pudding. The dish of kings (or at least of Caliphas).
Clark Ashton Smith Story: The Ghoul

Great Mosque of Cordoba

Turan

The heart of culture, refinement, taste; cities tottering into decrepitude; ancient dynasties of nobility stretching into the sands of time; the most fearsome heavy cavalry in the world; lamia matriarchs – peers in the nobility – engaged in shadow wars of intrigue.
Sound: Azam Ali - Endless Reverie
Taste: Pomegranate over roast duck
Clark Ashton Smith Story: Morthylla 

Alexandr Kosteckij, title unknown

The Twelve Gates of Manden

Ancient coalition of city-states brought into the Caliphate; tercios of spears and matchlocks; mud-brick buildings; home of gold, copper, salt, and powder; the bones of the giant Zulkarn forming the basis for the engineering academy of his name.
Sound: Bear McReary - Black Market
Taste: Salted beef atop a bed of millet
Clark Ashton Smith Story: The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles

Steve LeCouilliard, Una the Blade

Dolün Steppes

A thousand tribes, wandering and warring; light cavalry honed from time immemorial; shamanic battles bringing down elemental fury for miles around; a continuing web of blood feuds and debts of honor; rituals to meld rider and steed into centaur.
Sound:  Tengger Cavalry - Wolf Ritual
Taste: Kebabs skewered on daggers
Clark Ashton Smith Story: None! Try an El Borak story by Robert Howard instead.

Eugene Delacroix, Arabs Skirmishing in the Mountains

Sukiyya

Heavy cavalry to rival Turan, but quilted armor rather than steel cuirasses; contains the Well of Souls, where the dead can be heard awaiting the Day of Judgment; politically on the rise after the Calipha's marriage to Prince Bey Ajidda; rolling savanna and light forest; home of the Verdant Order, devoted to following the example of the Man of Green, servant of ar-Rahman.
Sound: Skinflint - Iron Pierced King
Taste: Fura da nono - boiled millet balls in sour milk
Clark Ashton Smith Story: The Weaver in the Vault

Hasani Claxton, "Knights of the Savanna"

Maaqil

The extent of the Caliphate's control on the frontier, built atop the ruins of a Bieth underground complex; dedication to quick money, easy profits, and wild schemes; criminal fixers called "crows" organizing expeditions to delve beneath the surface or into the borderlands; the Steel Hand, vigilantes sworn to prevent Bieth relics from endangering the city; home to the exiled, the charlatan, the unwanted, the fortuneseeker. 
Sound: Caladan Brood - To Walk the Ashes of Dead Empires
Taste: Unidentifiable fried street meat
Clark Ashton Smith Story: The Tomb-Spawn

Donglu Yu, Into The Desert

The Borderlands

The back end of the Caliphate; heretics and priests of the Many exiled to wander in the desert (or the Zone); metal lions stalking the wastes; ever-smoking ruined war machines; dry hopelessness or grim fatalism; warlords vying for control of five ancient fortresses, horrid mutated beasts crawling forth from the badlands.
Sound: Judas Priest - Nightcrawler
Taste: Dried dates and journeybread
Clark Ashton Smith Story: The Abominations of Yondo

Alexandr Kosteckij, title unknown

Shams Al-Awsat
Urbane urban centers now falling into genteel disarray; former capital of the Caliphate; rolling farmland; rumored schools of dark sorcery; perennial uprisings of the Creed Sanguine; assassin-poet societies; sleeping in the tombs of your ancestors to gain sacred dreams and guidance.
Sound: Nu.Clear.Dawn - Falcon and Crow
Taste: Thick coffee
Clark Ashton Smith Story: The Black Abbot of Puthuum (note: racism present in-story not representative of Shams al-Awsat)

Edwin Weeks, Entering the Mosque

Mur N'Akush

Without a veil or facemask, you may as well be naked; salt-marshes and salt-witches; unbreakable infantry of iron who ritually dance to prepare for battle; home of the nusr war-lizards, used as light cavalry.
Sound: Andaz Uzzal
Taste: Lamb and mint
Clark Ashton Smith Story: The Charnel God

Keith Parkinson, Eandroth Rider

Tanit

An allied city-state that houses the Caliphate navy; ruled by the ritually-blinded Fortunate Sheikh; each season a new expedition is launched to open trade routes and explore new lands - they (usually) return home in good order.
Sound: Iron Maiden - Ghost of the Navigator or Myrath - Braving the Seas
Taste: Saffron and chili
Clark Ashton Smith Story:  Quest of the Gazolba

Wayne Barlow

Jogging Through The Shadows At A Decent Clip

SR: Dragonfall

So after playing through Shadowrun: Dragonfall last year, I started to get the hankering to get some tabletop Shadowrun in. This year, I've begun running a campaign for a "home group" over G+, using the Sixth World ruleset. I'm not particularly thrilled with Sixth World, but a) the group likes playing Dungeon World, b) I'm not going to try teaching a new system over Hangouts, and c) I'd rather get some play in now, instead of taking the time to do a home conversion from another system I like better. Also d) no way I'm trying to learn any edition of Shadowrun on my own, much less teach it to others.

(To Do: check out SWN's Polychrome and figure out some way of quickly converting existing Shadowrun gear and magic into the SWN system. Running in SWN or Traveller would be ideal, but in a world where I've got limited time to do campaign prep and have other projects to work on)

Elmore's cover, the image that started it all

Why Shadowrun?

There's always been something about Shadowrun's ridiculous alternative future that's intrigued me. The combination of ridiculously high technology combined with absurd limitations as holdovers from the '80s (floppy disks, megabytes, and no wi-fi...but riggers and the Matrix) is just delightful. I suppose that's part of my enjoyment of Traveller's starships with multi-ton computers, to draw on another example.

There's also the bonus of it having elves with guns. It's no secret that I'm a fan of those pointy-eared gits; having a setting where they mix with technology and sidestepping the "elves are CHILDREN OF NATURE" vibe definitely appeals to my interests. (You have the ridiculously obnoxious elven nations, but they're not the only elves around - you've got your regular folks just trying to get by included in the mix as well.)

Tim Bradstreet, for Shadowrun

I think Shadowrun hits the conceptual spot for me that White Wolf did for many other players of my generation - a setting that grabbed onto us with big claims about a punk/outsider nature, a game dynamic placing strong emphasis on interpersonal relationships and connections, and a bunch of cool Bradstreet art. Where it diverges from White Wolf is in the very defined heist nature that a shadowrun takes on, in contrast to the open-ended/nebulous campaign structure of a White Wolf game.

Campaign Setup

 My current setup is a hook-driven sandbox campaign. Each session, the PCs will generally be given three or more opportunities for runs that their fixer has lined up, or requests for aid from contacts, or what have you. As these runs go by, changes in the world will be taking place - from the runs the PCs take, the runs they don't take, and outside events.

This presentation is of course very inspired by the campaign setup of the Hill Cantons, where I've been playing for several years now (thanks Chris!).


Current Major Campaign Resources:

• Shadowrun: Dragonfall and Hong Kong (in my top 5 CRPGs - convey the setting, engaging squad members, and the right mix of open-ended and fast-moving)
• Diego Gambetta's Codes of the Underworld (examining communication methods and strategies between criminals, fascinating reading with a ton of anecdotes and examples)
• The Arcology Podcast (GM and player tips, plus Actual Play that's actually fun to listen to)
• The Neo-Anarchist Podcast (IC summaries of the Shadowrun setting)
• Our Thing Podcast (organized crime - check out the Quebec Biker War episodes)
• Vornheim (y'all know this one)
• Mike Evans's Shadowrun City Kit (builds off of Vornheim in specifically SR related directions)
• Fever-Dreaming Marlinko (urban Chaos Index implementation, providing characterization to specific districts)
• Norbert Matausch's Pink Mohawk (just found this, looks to be a plausible alternative to Sixth World that might be more my speed while still palatable to my players)

I still need to go through Roberto Saviano's Gomorrah (examining the Camorra's corrosive influence  on the Campania region of Italy), and yes, watch The Wire.

SR: Hong Kong

Finally, and back in D&D-land - get hyped for Misty Isles! We're almost done and it's looking great. Not to mention all the other cool products the Hydra Cooperative has lined up for this year...

Bureaucracy, biomancy...

...and Bowie.

People of the Serpent

Much pleased with the peace and good order of the city, the Caliph and his vizir made their way to a bridge, which led straight back to the palace, and had already crossed it, when they were stopped by an old and blind man, who begged for alms.

The Caliph gave him a piece of money, and was passing on, but the blind man seized his hand, and held him fast.

"Yusuf of the Granite Hands has betrayed you and seeks to supplant you upon the throne," the man whispered. "He has issued false orders to your commanders and sent them away from you, and even now rides to spit your head upon a pike. If you return to the palace you will surely be slain."

"How do you know this?" asked the vizir in full confusion, for neither he nor the Caliph had suspected any treachery from Yusuf.

"Alas! As Yusuf plotted with his lieutenant Arij, the two of them came upon my daughter, lying upon a rock. Seeing her there, Arij struck at her with his sword. Mortally wounded, my daughter sought me out before expiring, and now I have sought you out to assist me. For I would gain my vengeance upon Arij." 

As he spoke the blind man grew and grew, scales covering his body, until a giant serpent with milky eyes coiled in front of the Caliph and his vizir. And thus was the alliance between the Asbari Caliphate and the Takshakeen Naga sealed.

Iravan
From Zayplay Animation Studio

Naga

Requirements: Str 13, Wis 13

Prime Requisite: Str, Wis

HD: d6

Maximum Level: 8

Naga attack as fighters but save as clerics of the same level. They have infravision out to 60’.

They cast spells from the cleric spell list (or druid spell list, if you use druids in your game). However, replace the 2nd level Charm Person or Mammal with the 1st level Charm Person.

A naga may select two forms from the following:

• Human (with subtle snake features like fangs, scales on the sides of the neck, etc.)
• Snake
• Hybrid (human head or upper half on snake body)

Transforming between one form and another takes one round, but also uses up the lowest level spell slot available to the PC.  

They are unable to use armor and instead have a base AC which improves slightly over time (see table below).

At 3rd level they can breathe normally in water.

At 5th level, their bite in snake or hybrid form causes paralysis for 1d4 turns (save vs poison at +3 negates).

Upon their death, a naga’s spirit is automatically reincarnated elsewhere in the world; a PC cannot be brought back through raise dead, resurrect, or reincarnate.

Level Progression

Ulupi
From Zayplay Animation Studio

Experience	Level	Hit Dice (1d6)	Armor Class
0	1	1	6
4500	2	2	6
9000	3	3	5
18750	4	4	4
37500	5	5	4
75000	6	6	4
150000	7	7	3
375000	8	8	3

Spellcasting

Class Level	1	2	3	4
1	1	0	0	0
2	2	0	0	0
3	2	1	0	0
4	3	2	0	0
5	3	2	1	0
6	3	3	2	0
7	4	3	2	1
8	4	3	3	2

Influenced by Dan Proctor's Sea Blood (Realms of Crawling Chaos), Chris's War-Bear, and Bruce Heard's Aranea

Mister Morden's Question

A few days ago, Trey wrote about his preferences in play for gaming, after being instigated by known rabblerousers and troublemakers Jack and Paul. This looks like a neat exercise, so I figured I'd jump in.

So what do I want out of games, tone- and presentation-wise?

"What do you want?"

I like my characters to fall into the "mercenary heroism" box - they're trying to strike it big and succeed personally, but they're also willing to lend a hand and help out those in need. The convenient thing here is that this sort of character can mesh decently with the standard Vancian scoundrel that seems to serve as the baseline for OSR play. (A sidebar to this is that I also want there to be factions and groups who aren't wholly corrupt and awful; I want there to be someone, even flawed someones, I can root for and support.)

I enjoy a wide variety of tone in terms of what I play, but I strongly prefer running games with very high potential lethality. I try to leaven this a bit; I don't want to have a character meatgrinder situation, and I want to make sure players aren't feeling disheartened or frustrated with the game. There's something that's particularly compelling about the idea of the survival horror situation, with everyone desperately attempting to stay alive and the idea that nobody is safe, and I do gravitate towards that.

I crave weird unusual worlds with depth and internal coherence. I want games to feel like their settings are lived-in, that there are people present rather than Background NPCs.

I really love tense dungeon exploration. There's something special about creeping along at low level trying to make sure the next room, monster, trap, or whatever doesn't kill you - about frantically improvising something, anything, to jury-rig your way out of trouble. I'm perfectly happy with other environments, and do relish the chance to engage with NPCs in a city environment rather than the confines of the dungeon, but...man, sneaking along. It's great.

I like roleplay and funny voices and having that roleplay drive the action, rather than loading that all onto the result of a Cha check or equivalent. I don't want that for every single interaction ("Holy crap you're going to be haggling over another cloak?") but for the major significant ones, I want the focus to be on the players and their creativity rather than the PC's stats.

ANYHOW. Watch this space; major announcement (for me) coming shortly, plus hopefully some more content and gaming ideas.

The Powder Spoke

Halfway home they fought to see who should marry the woman. The powder spoke between them. Our man killed four, and took the woman home and married her. 

- "The Ogre and the Beautiful Woman," Amazigh Folk Tale 

"The Arms Dealer"
Charles Robertson

Ever since reading that line, I've been hankering to create some firearms rules for Legacy of the Bieth. It's certainly a bit achronistic from my stated time period of 11th-century Egypt and MENA...but this is all about a game where you've got magic and apocalypse and psychic warriors, so I'm pretty sure it can handle a few guns showing up. Besides, my primary inspiration for feel is Sergio Leone westerns, so firearms obviously fit in with those.

(FIRST DRAFT OF) FIREARM RULES

All firearms available in Legacy of the Bieth are matchlocks. That means that you've got a lit match slowly burning away as you go do your adventuring thing. It glows in the dark, can go out, etc.

Musket: 1d10 damage, two-handed, range as heavy crossbow. 80 gp.
Carbine: 1d8 damage, two-handed, range as light crossbow. 60 gp.
Pistol: 1d6+1 damage, range as light crossbow. 60 gp.

Firearms ignore standard armor and most monster ACs (fur, scales, etc); targets are considered AC 9 (plus any magic or Dex bonuses). Reloading takes d6+1 rounds.

All guns can be fitted with rifling at double the price, which adds a +1 to hit (and makes reloading take an additional round). Carbines and muskets can be fitted with snap matchlocks, which also add +1 to hit and an additional round of reloading for double the price (quadruple base price if fitted on a rifled gun).

I would be remiss if I didn't thank I. Wooley  and Kevin Crawford for some helpful discussion of firearms in an African context over at G+, which definitely influenced these rules.

* * *

I should mention that I helped edit Fever-Dreaming Marlinko, which is now available in print and PDF. If you want a "acid-fantasy" city supplement which skips tedious house-by-house descriptions of a city in favor of quick and readily gameable notes, random encounters, a Chaos Index, and a tiger-wrasslin' game, then you probably want to check our work out.

(TIGER WRASSLIN')

First-Level Failures

First-level D&D characters are fragile. At best they start out with d8+Con bonus for HP, and a general weapon does d6 points of damage. At worst, you're playing a mage (or B/X thief) with d4 on the hit die, and maybe even a Con penalty.

Adventurer, Erol Otus, B/X Basic Rules. 

Some games in the OSR family try to mitigate the fragility of 1st-level characters, either with boosted initial level, max HP at first level, or even HP kickers like Hackmaster. And some games (OK, just DCC) embrace the idea of having a bunch of schlubs enter the dungeon, and toss players a 4-pack of characters, with the expectation that some of these lunkheads are, by definition, going to die screaming.

But with most of the games as written, the rules mean that you're probably going to see a lot of low-level PC death. Some have remarked on the enhanced characterization that this gives the survivors, and there have been oodles of posts about why PC death-as-stakes (or just death) is interesting and intriguing.

I just saw an article on NPR discussing the intersection of (video) gaming and learning, where author Greg Toppo touches upon the utility of repeated failures in engagement and learning (bolds mine):

I guess I look at myself as a learner and see value not much in the ability to fail but what happens next. That is, you do something, you fail at it and you are able to try again with essentially no comment on it. A good game doesn't say, "That's the 34th time you're trying. You really sure about this?" Nothing transpires except your next chance. For me the most vivid experience of this is playing a motorcycle racing game once. I was so bad at it. I kept hitting the reset button again and again and again. And at one point I went back and looked how many times I'd restarted this level and it was something like 1,800 times! So it's not so much failure but the lack of comment around the failure and what you do afterwards.

This sounds remarkably like the experience that roguelikes and Dark Souls tap into: progress, but a lack of comment on failure and an encouragement to keep trying, generates significant engagement with the material.

In some videogames, like Mario or the motorcycle racing game that Toppo mentions, the engagement and learning generates a familiarity with the map and the level progression ("OK, I have to hit jump HERE to make it past this pit, and then there's an invisible block THERE that lets me get up high..."). In roguelikes, there's more of a focus on learning how to play -- while obviously you learn about Mario's speed and jump capability and can gauge things better in the fixed-level games, the roguelikes keep hitting you with a fresh new environment each time.

Again with the Great Heap, guys?
You don't wanna check out some of
the other caves...?

What strikes me as interesting about D&D is that it offers a combination of the two - if an adventurer dies in the Slumbering Ursine Dunes (capitalism, ho!), their party is likely to still be in the region, and the adventurer's death provides information about the site and its inhabitants, AND affords the player more insight into what they can and cannot likely get away with. It's a return to a dynamic, rather than static, version of the environment. (Perhaps this is why Jeff was so tolerant of all of us bumbling around in the same parts of Wessex forever!)

The other component of Toppo's statement I found interesting is the idea that it's a lack of comment around the failure that fosters continued experimentation. This bit has been touched upon by other folks elsewhere (noting the difference in character generation times between earlier and later editions of D&D, serving as a strong disincentive for risky / exploratory play, since the tedium in generating a new character serves as an implicit 'comment').