Elves, What are They?

Note: This post is inspired by a Jeffro Johnson G+ posting which is a link to another blog about the least interesting of elves, the drow. 

The Longaevi of the Middle Ages were what we call elves, sprites, fairies. Creatures that were not of this world yet not of the heavens. Some regarded the elves as the third of the Angels that did not rebel but did not side with God and thus were thrust from Heaven. They would not go to hell but would face Judgement Day.

Others that they were something higher than man but less than God or even a separate creation all together. Children of Lilith or the dirty children of Eve that she hid from God when he came to inspect them.

Whatever they were they were much more feared part of life in earlier times. Beowulf speaks of Elves and Giants and Orcneas (orcs). While elves, and giants are pretty standard in the way that we think of them the orcs were a different critter altogether. They were more like undead vampires living in the corpses of drowned men.

The Norse spread their ideas of the elves throughout wherever they settled or raided and those ideas mixed with indigenous ideas and concepts of the fairy realm. These longaevi or 'long lived' have a corollary in every in every culture I know of. Every culture I am aware of or studied has their own equivalent of elves, giants, fae, etc.

What should they be in roleplaying games?

First, I don't think that unless you are playing a Tolkien inspired game your elves should be Tolkien's elves. Not that I do not love Tolkien's elves. They are the finest in all literature but they are not elves. Not elves in the sense of Ljósálfar or Dökkálfar or the nisse of the Norse. Tolkien's elves are prelapsarian man before the fall of Adam. They are so not elves that 'high men' are often mistaken for elves. Elves aren't recognized by their donkey ears but by the light in their eyes and the ring in their voices. They are so shining with the Holy Spirit that the most powerful can drive away the Nazgul by their mere presence or face Balrogs of Morgoth down in battle.

Tolkien elves, cool as heck, something to look up to, powerful and strong physically, mentally and spiritually but not fairy. Not elves as we mean in D&D or any other OSR. Tolkien games excepted.

Next in literature we come to the quintessential D&D elf. Poul Anderson's elves from 'The Broken Sword'. These are soulless creatures that other than stature look exactly like the elves in D&D. Pointy donkey ears, strange eyes, long lived but amoral interested in magic and power rather than living a life in tune with God's plan. Imric the Elfking from The Broken Sword is what a player character elf could wind up like if he lived long enough and adventured hard enough.

Cooler than that is Anderson's take on mythology. And boy did he know his mythology. He accepted everything and the kitchen sink as 'real'. Not only are the Elves of England and the Alfar of Norse real but the Elves of France, the Tuatha Dé Danann of Ireland etc. The plot is rich and powerful and the elves are different, unique, utterly divorced from human thought but still deeply desiring human children. The magics they work are foul, and beautiful and amazing and they are as 'cruel as cats' but still powerfully interesting protagonists.

I had a long conversation about this book with him thirty some years ago mostly because I am really as big as my namesake and I looked like a viking biker. Nobody was moving me from the line until I was done talking.

There was some other guy there, S.M. Stirling or something like that. I think he wrote a couple books after that. I spent a long time talking to him as well and it was worth it. He knew what I would like just by talking to me about what I liked with Anderson's work.

Anyway my take away on Anderson's work is that for any dungeon master you can find a type or types of elves that fit with your game system. If you want elves that are not just pointy eared hippies, you need some meat and bones behind them. You need to build the folklore and myth into something that is different and spooky.

One of the things that D&D did was remove one of the more common skin colors for critters for fae, green. Green used to be a fairly common skin color in folk lore.

Elves are a part of human history for as long as we can remember. We have several ideas about them and several different takes on them some games embrace that. When I play Dungeon World I encourage my 'elf' players to tell me what makes them 'elves'. In my games every kind of elf is possible from the pointy eared Imric the Elfking types to the human looking Tuatha Dé Danann. Mechanics might be the same for the game (or might not) but I want to know what their vision of what an elf is.

If they say, "D&D elf" great. It is a standard trope with a long history that everyone knows what they mean. If they tell me they want to play something like a Icelandic elf or a Ljósálfar or Dökkálfar, fantastic. There is something new to explore. If they say they have pointy ears, cool, round ears, cool, green hair, skin, etc all cool. No matter what they want to play or how they want to play it. It's all good.

For dungeon masters in other systems what does this mean? Well if your game is not flexible, not much. You get a little of the background of some of your fantasy races but you could get as much reading C.S. Lewis or even the wikipedia. For DMs with more flexible systems or who want to make their own PC or NPC races. You should have a better idea of the variety of elves, fae, fee, alfar etc out there. With a little retooling many creatures like huldra folk can make interesting elves even dark elves.

Norse separate elves into light and dark. Do they have pointy ears? That's up to the DM. Norse light elves live in a realm not far from the gods and are 'as fair as the sun' to look upon. Dark elves live deep underground and are as 'black as pitch'. How you fit your elves into your games is up to you and your player. Just be aware that the original elves were dangerous, magical, different, and inhuman, just the way a player character or non-player character race ought to be.

If you like what you read let me know in the comments.
The pictures and images are the sole property of whomever owns them I make no claim on the images nor intend any infringement of copyright. 

Relationships and Roleplaying

Keeping with the theme of Sex and D&D and Romance and D&D we will be looking at the deep personal relationships between the different player characters. These characters are evaluated mostly in their traditional OSR settings. Like all old people I have no time for modern relationships. What the heck do you even do on a first date anymore? Anyway this is how it used to be done and so of course how it should be done.
This is a tank, also called a brick or a meat-shield. Tanks can be build around any big, tough, heavy armor using class. They also generally use a shield but if they are badass enough or just don't care about getting hit personally, they can forgo the 'sword and board' for something bigger to whack monsters with.

He is the neglected girlfriend and over-looked husband. He's not glamorous does not normally cast spells or not many. But he's always there doing the dirty work right in front. He's in front for a reason because he has the grit to stand there and get hit. Yes, that's right get hit.

Some of the time he's doing damage any good tank should be able to dish out the pain but he's there to keep the bad guys from his soft squishy friends. How does he relate to the others? Being as he is usually taken for granted by everyone and his sister in the party the tank is the Rodney Dangerfield of the RPG world. He gets no respect. In early games sometimes he was never named, dying at first or second level as a 'Fighting Man' without ever being anything else.

This shadowy character here is the thief or rogue. Sometimes called the 'back stabber', 'knife guy', 'trap guy', burglar etc. This lady's relationship to the other characters is at best complicated. She is the high maintenance girl that is particular about everything. Four hours to get ready for a dinner date? Standard for the thief. A place for everything and everything in its place and she's going to make sure it's just what it appears to be.

She brings more to the relationship than just her meticulous manner and careful eye to detail. She notices those little traps that can stop a party before it gets started and defuse tense social situations with a sure hand. Yes, she can sometimes be greedy and self-centered. There is often tension between her and the other party members.

Occasionally other character's items might go missing which can lead to some tense moments. Her main job is to keep the party safe from pitfalls, darts, poison gas, tripwires, sliding stairs, dead falls, spiked walls etc. Her secondary job is scouting and opening locks quietly. If she can do that much else can be forgiven. Every so often she is called upon in combat. This usually requires she slips out from behind the meat shields and does a 'back stab'. Her one serious offensive attack and it usually eclipses the meat shield's damage if she succeeds. Otherwise her role is to stay alive until she's needed to navigate the deadly shoals of the dungeon world. Think of her as a specialized, needy, but useful companion. Also in the picture above you will notice you can see her. This means she's doing it wrong.

This is your standard issue wizard, also called a 'glass cannon', their relationship to everyone else is to keep their behinds, behind. While they can lay down the hurt or put the enemy to sleep at lower levels that's about it. One or two spells a day a couple cantrips and 'get your behind to the rear'. They are neither very tough nor very hard to hit hence the 'glass' part of 'glass cannon'.

If the thief is the needy one always insisting everything be in its place the wizard is usually the timid retiring type at first. Having only one really useful spell will do that to you. Some suggest that they carry oil to throw or daggers. If I'm the meat shield the last thing I want is a guy who has myopia from reading dusty tomes throwing stuff from behind me. The wizard is passive aggressive. While he has to hide from the badguys most of the time he has to insist his party stop and let him 'study his spells' if he wants to contribute to the next fight. The wizard runs hot and cold when he wants you, he really needs you. When he doesn't you are more boring than his dusty books. Also he wants all that great magic loot at least to look at, at first. And a magic book or scroll? He's yelling, 'dibs!' before anyone else can open their mouths. At higher levels if he is lucky he can turn people into toads. At lower levels he's happiest with his sleep and web or charm person spells. Watch out when he finally hits his 'midlife crisis'. He's had years, (maybe real years) to get where he's at and he's not going to take guff from anybody. Sure they still stand behind the meat shields but they might cast a 'shield' of their own that is mightier than any fortress walls. Milquetoast to earth shaker in one person.

 If he's at a low level you keep him in the back next to the next character our cleric.
Here is the cleric. She is the last person picked for everything. Each player at the table is hoping someone else will play the cleric. Everybody. Especially the player who usually plays the cleric. She's the one that wants to fix everyone. Doesn't matter who you are in the party she's taken it upon herself to not only stand there in her armor between you and danger but to put down her mace, flail, club or other blunt instrument to heal you when you need it.

She's that last girl asked to dance. In fact nobody dances with her unless they really need to dance with her.  The worst part is that she really wants to 'dance'. She's got these healing spells she's got the big whacking mace, she's got a good shield and armor. She could do stuff but if she gets hurt then she's healing herself instead of the glass cannon or the meat shields. Nobody heals the thief, she's on her own out back stabbing someone where nobody can see her.

The other time the cleric is wanted is when 'party crashers' come. When the undead show up the first thing you do is get her out in front with her holy symbol and her faith. A good roll means half or more of them are just gone, running for the hills. A great roll means -poof- undead dust and a few rusty swords rattling on the ground.

But when she's done it's back to the back of the party next to the glass cannon. Nobody to talk to and no reason to. All she has to offer is platitudes or proselytizing. Sure she might have a friendly smile and kind word but you're embarrassed to be seen with her. She's the pity date.

The final character type I'm going to look at is the ranger.
 This is a ranger. He's the bow and arrow guy or elf. Sometimes half elf. Depends on the system. What you need to know is that he's like Aragorn with a little Robin Hood thrown in. Now some of your newfangled rangers have 'animal companions'. This is not a true ranger. No, a ranger puts arrows into stuff and tracks, he can cast a few spells now and then but his main job is to move quietly in the wilderness, scout, track (again in the wilderness) and shoot arrows. He's supposed to shoot lots of arrows because you need a distance weapon after your magic user uses his sleep and magic missile spell.

If your thief was high maintenance and your fighter was the neglected husband, the ranger is the loner. He doesn't want your attention, he wants to hunt things down, surprise them and shoot them where they stand. He is really a loner and you cannot have more than three together at a time. They just won't come to the party. Maybe they don't like everyone wearing the same faded greens and browns? Who knows they just don't get together in big groups. When he's with you in a dungeon you know he's not out patrolling the wilderness looking for threats to the free folk everywhere. So does he. He also loses a bunch of his wilderness related bonuses and goes to being a fighter of some kind. So again, he would rather be somewhere else. He's just not that into you.

Now we get to the actual possible romantic relationships between player characters. Remember when I said this will mostly cover OSR type systems? Well in OSR type systems if you have enough time to worry about whether or not Gnort the Fighting Man is dating Melinena the cute thief you're doing it wrong. No, you're there to kill things and take their treasure. You're a bunch of murder-hobos who occasionally do something good like rid a village of orcs or clear out a nest of ghouls.

But for those of you who have stuck it out this long to see how these should be handled we'll go with the Giant's rule. G rating on everything and immediately 'fade to black' when anything else is suggested. If Cindy Loo Who wants to flirt with Brad the hunk they can do it on their own dang time. I worked hours on this dungeon and there are kids in the house. Get a room.

Let me know what you think. Leave me a comment. If you thought there was too much graphic information let me know. I'll tone it down next time.

As always all pictures are the sole property of whomever owns them and I make no claim nor challenge to anyone's copyright of anything. 

New Races Inspired by American Folklore

When I say 'America' I mean all of America from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic Circle. These are non-player character or player character depending on your take on the legend and creature involved. Remember this is a player character interpretation. They may also appear later as a monster. We'll focus on one per posting.
 
By Patterson-Gimlin film, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=434396

The first is my own namesake the mighty Rainforest Giant or Sasquatch. Sasquatch while being mostly a large animal-type critter for modern folks. For Native Americans and a few Europeans Sasquatch is more of a 'person' in folklore.

We'll just keep with Sasquatch as his racial name, bigfoot is too cartoony and Big Figure is a specific tribal tradition.


Sasquatch
They are seven or eight foot tall hairy humanoids with long arms and legs and both sexes have a peaked head due to the jaw muscles in adulthood. Their feet are incredibly tough with thick leathery soles they can go anywhere a shod person can go.

They are immune to the extremes of weather found from the high basin desert to the coastal rainforest and north into the arctic the Sasquatch needs no clothing. Although in some areas they wear a loincloth of some kind they are particularly adept at weaving, especially plant matter. 

Despite their size they are incredibly good at stealth based skills. Sasquatch suffer no penalties for moving in rough terrain and can do so silently.

They are rare nearly everywhere live entirely solitary lives from other Sasquatch except for mating and mothers with their children. They normally avoid cities and prefer the wilderness or small communities. They avoid using metal tools and weapons and prefer wood, leather, bone, and other organic matter for weapons and tools.

Sasquatch receive a bonus in strength and constitution. They suffer a penalty to intelligence and charisma. A bonus to lifting strength, carrying capacity, or encumbrance is also appropriate. They receive a bonus to whatever stealth is used in your system. They can hide perfectly once per day or walk without leaving a trace once per day. Otherwise their rather distinctive footprints are easier for any tracking class to follow. Classes appropriate to the Sasquatch include thief, assassin, and fighter. Also cleric and druid should be considered due to their association with magic.

Their own language cannot be spoken by outsiders but wilderness types, Rangers, Druids, Shadow Wardens, etc can select the Sasquatch language for understanding but not speaking. They may also find using non-giant sized tools, armor and weapons difficult or impossible. They can understand most human languages however can only speak them in a rudimentary manner.

Socially they should be considered outcasts nearly everywhere. Alignment is any non-lawful. Now to a rather delicate subject. According to some Native American traditions and folklore they can and do sometimes have children with humans.

Half-Sasquatch look more like their human parents. With only their burly build and perhaps height showing signs of their Sasquatch heritage.

Bonuses include greater strength and constitution perhaps half of the Sasquatch, lower intelligence and charisma (perhaps either a cap on the stat or a half of the Sasquatch penalty). They should receive a bonus on stealth but not the perfect stealth or unseen passage ability. Half-Sasquatch can speak the Sasquatch language without penalty.

Classes appropriate for Half Sasquatch are Barbarian, Fighter, Thief, Ranger, Cleric, and Druid. Alignments can be any.

If you like this let me know. I left the mechanics open ended so that they can be adjusted for your game and setting. Please leave me a comment, I want to know what you think of my might people.

Note: The pictures are not my own and I make no claim upon them in anyway whatsoever. 

Romance and D&D

Since everybody and his sister read my post on Sex and D&D and I promised a post on Romance and D&D I figure I owe it to both my readers, I mean my veritable horde of readers.

As in my post on Sex and D&D I will get straight to the matter that all players (and readers) are eagerly awaiting, romance. Romance has been one of the driving forces behind the hobby since the beginning.

Why do people play their paladins like Lancelot or Galahad or Holger? Why do their dwarves seek deep treasures and their elves use bows (other than the mechanical benefits of course)? It's romance.

Players and Dungeon Masters have had a romantic relationship with the game since the beginning. Until I got dumped by my first girlfriend (yes even the handsome Giant has suffered rejection) I have never felt the same sense of frustrating loss as when I lost my first character. Other hobbies have their passionate players and advocates. I've sweated hours every day to perfect a technique or worked the heavy bag until my hands ached many times but I never felt the same unbridled hope and joy with a hobby as I did when I worked on a new module.

When I was working on non-player characters, designing an organic dungeon that fit in its setting, or fiddling on the details of an area's culture or ecology it was a labor of love of romance. When I was making a character sometimes his history, skills, and desires came to me in a flash of inspiration. At other times my character took days or hours of thought. I wanted everything to be just right.

I knew other players and dungeon masters who put the same love and care into their games and players. People would draw their players or the group, some kept a play diary, others drew maps of their adventures or wrote stories based on the characters. We negotiated our dialogue with our game masters with the same intensity we gave to talking to our girlfriends or boyfriends. Maybe more intensity as you could kind of coast talking to a member of either sex about their day but miss one clue of your dungeon master's description and everyone was looking up from the bottom of a ten foot deep spiked pit.

The hobby is romantic of course in a more important way. In the beginning while there were evil characters or chaotic if you go back far enough most were good or neutral. Usually we were on impossible quests that would have had Don Quixote mounting his charger and galloping to the rescue. 

If you weren't playing a character or game inspired by romance and action you were often playing one that was an explicit rejection of romantic themes and characters. Elric and Stormbringer are a rejection of romance. By the late seventies and early eighties we were seeing whole parties of evil characters while not unheard of before it became a big enough part of the hobby that whole campaigns were looking at it form the Necromancer's point of view.

Chivalric romance and planetary romance of the kind of Roland and John Carter were losing out to Drow Assassin Ninja's and Half Orc Clerics. You can play a game either way but one embraces and the other rejects the romance.

That's not to say that the romance, high ideals, impossible goals, tragic and doomed heroes, and unbearable loss was always adopted by all players. Some played it like a battle simulator or fancy chess moving their miniatures strategically from square to square or hex to hex with all the emotions of a war gamer. And just as much attention to their character's life story or desires.

At least half the first level characters I saw never had a name until a game master said, "Dave, what's your fighting man's name?" "Uh, Crom." or Barzak or Karne, were usually the answer. Something vaguely conanesque or fantasy sounding.

How ever you played the game and whether or not you read any of the appendix n that inspired much of the atmosphere you cared about your hobby. Most of the kids who played cared and cared deeply about their characters. I've seen adults get teary eyed when they had to hand over their character when they were killed by a vampire or otherwise became a 'GM' character or the character died.

It was never as bad as 'Dark Dungeons' made it look but it could get emotional. So the Romance and D&D was real and will stay real as long as one player cares about his character and one game master works hours to make just the right dungeon crawl.

Keep romance alive play fantasy role playing games.

If you thought this was a trashy sordid tale leave me a comment. If you thought this was a shining example of worthy of the Matter of France leave me a comment and if you disagreed with everything drop me a comment.

UPDATE: I've had a reader leave a comment on G+ saying he felt like this had been a bait and switch. I am not one to argue with my audience so for his benefit I will address the subject of relationships between characters at a later date.

Some Links Around the Web

This will become another regular feature. If you have an interest in me linking to your stuff drop me a line! Here's what I've been looking at.

This is a fun look at some actual roleplaying warts and all. It has some different mechanics and people had fun give it a look.
Dems barbarians in those hills! Old School Session 4

This has a great illustration and some very interesting and fun gun mechanics. Even if you aren't a 'Black Hack' Guy this has something you'll like.
The Black Hack: Guns and Ammo

This is some real history that shaped a chunk of South America. It was a terrible war that hardly anybody outside the region has even heard of. And like many of today's wars was over oil.
The Chaco War

Here's some love for those spell casters in your party. It's chock full of rather unique items.
1d20 Random Bookmark Guide Encounter Table & Call Bookmark Guide Spirits Spell For Your Old School Campaign

Hope you like 'em. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Mythology Folkore and Characters from America

I've learned over the years that not all characters and monsters from folklore and myth are created equal. Darn few aren't suitable for some kind of roleplaying game treatment.

Any game could use the little Cotswold Fairies, the Loch Ness Monster, Nisse, Trolls, Huldra folk, the Beast of Bray road or the 'Look Behind' are all good grist for our mill. So lets take a look at a few and how they fit into a roleplaying game campaign.

Note, I am ruthlessly ignoring any published 'facts' known about any of these critters, just the folklore and how they fit in the games.

The Jersey Devil
This first guy  is a personal favorite. The Jersey Devil is all American Folklore. You just don't get any more authentic scarey goodness. Allegedly the thirteenth offspring of the 'Witch' Leeds and Satan as a father the little tyke was born sometime around 1735.  After his blessed arrival he immediately turned into the "Jersey Devil". The Jersey Devil apparently sprang into being full sized with a goat head, bat wings, horse's hooves, and a bifurcated tail.

The Jersey Devil took one look at the inside of his mother's crowded, filthy, cabin in the woods and his twelve siblings and with a growl and a shriek killed the midwife flying out the chimney and heading for the Barrens.

In gaming terms he's a pretty versatile monster. He could be a seriously grim portent in Dungeon World. Deal with him (usually through some kind of exorcism ritual) or be ready for some serious cursing. He could be any other monster although with his unique heritage you should thinking of something bigger. He flies, kills his own midwife and makes a terrible shriek. What's not to like.

Sticking with the American theme we're going to look at something near and dear to my heart, Daskiya Woman (pronounced Dusk-ee-yah Woman). I don't have a good picture handy but this one will freeze your bones.

She is a figure in the Quileute culture on the coast of Washington. According to local folklore she lives down Thunder Road (a now gated road that leads into the Olympic National Park). Daskiya Woman is a nasty cannibal who prefers children. She carries a woven basket on her back and has long tangled gray hair (I have been accused of having hair like Daskiya Woman on occasion however, Mrs Giant assures me it is more 'Krusty the Klown'). She will snatch bad children that stay out after dark put pitch in their eyes to blind them and cook and eat them. She is strong, silent, and never seen unless you're on the menu.

Even twenty years ago you'd see kids come inside when mom called that 'Daskiya Woman will get you!', I am not sure if that is still the case. So while she's folklore she's still very much alive in belief. In game terms well she can fit nearly any ogreish child snatching type. She comes out at night is big strong and scary. Her basket will hold a child (or two) and muffle their cries for help. The only way to get the pitch out of your eyes is to heat up your hands by a fire. Since most games are not set in La Push, a GM should have a suitable place where she is said to live. You probably can't beat a real place under dark evergreens called Thunder Road.

Since I love the Quileutes and many have shared their stories I'll give you one more from the real Quileute Nation. This is a smaller creature than the Daskiya Woman. This is the Stick Indian. I do not know the native name for them (there are many) as the Native Americans do not like to attract their attention. Stick Indians (according to the Quileutes) are small unobtrusive people that cannot speak a real language but communicate in whistles and such. They claim food between the tide line and the end of the driftwood that fronts the beach and if you whistle you will attract their attention. If you whistle with food they will assume it is for them.

They defend themselves with thrown stones and have been known to try to lure children into the woods while berry picking. In game terms they are small fae like people, difficult or impossible to spot unless they want you to see them. One person described them as having yellow skin and black hair but that was the only physical description I heard of them except for their short stature. They can throw stones and whistle to lure people into the woods. So they could be wandering monsters in a forest or beach type environment.

Now we return to more frightening creatures or creature the Beast of Bray Road.
This is the Beast of Bray Road. It is a recent cryptid first mentioned in the 1930's. This guy is like a transformed werewolf or werebear that is three or four feet tall on all fours but can be bipedal and stands over seven feet tall. This creature attacks vehicles and is spotted eating roadkill in Wisconsin. Since the name Bray Road just sounds spooky go ahead and keep it for your 'Beast'. Game wise I shouldn't have to hold your hand with a big werewolf looking critter. Since it appeared in the thirties I am going with a government breeding experiment gone wrong. Fantasy games would be an alchemists or necromancer's experiment. Anyway it haunts the roads because it cannot hunt well and it is used to being fed by humans. If you toss food from the wagon/cart it will stop to eat it. It only becomes really dangerous if you try to take it's prey from it.

The Mothman

The Mothman is more complex. He was first spotted in Point Pleasant West Virginia. Point Pleasant is the kind of name that can translate into nearly any setting. Now to our critter. The Mothman is said to be large as a man with white wings and brilliant red eyes. Some describe it as owl-like others well as moth-like hence the name.

This is a creature that is spotted before a disaster occurs. It also is associated with the men in black phenomenon. That could work in a fantasy campaign as agents of a dark necromancer, the operatives of the Emperor, or even men from another dimension who record the terrible events that the Mothman heralds. It could be a cause of the terrible events or a warning. It is also known to occasionally attack kids in their cars this could translate to attacking any travelers after dark. The Mothman itself? A minor demon, a portent of worse things to come? Some kind of psychic vampire that feeds off the negative energy and fear.

I was deliberately vague about the mechanical effects for most of these critters so that GMs could fit them into their own worlds. If you enjoyed the article or hated it let me know. There's lots of more American creatures, people, and monsters to cover that fit into fantasy campaigns. I forgot to add this will be a regular feature until I run out of critters from the Americas and will then move on to creatures from anywhere that takes my fancy.

Relics and Rubbish

So the Giant has had some Brood related issues. All giants have them if they are married. You have one chained under a mountain, another that is encircling Midgard, another chases the sun and moon, that kind of thing.

So it got the Giant to thinking. What do I have sitting deep in my treasure horde? What weapons and treasures do I need? Lets look a few that the Giant is just waiting the right time to acquire.

Let's look at some real treasures first then some that might have been real and so on. All pictures are the property of whomever owns them and I am making no claims to ownership of any of the images.

First is the Holy Lance or the Spear of Destiny



 This is the version that is in the Hofburg palace in Vienna. Whole books have been written about this artifact. While the lance itself has been tested to about the seventh century there is a nail embedded in the lance that is consistent with first century crucifixion nails. Many legends surround this lance. It is supposedly the lance that pierced Christ's side as he hung on the cross. The dating of the lance makes that unlikely. However, there are at least three other lances out there that could be the Spear of Destiny and there is that nail. If you use any one of the versions in your RPG the owner cannot be defeated in battle while he has possession of it. A mighty artifact indeed.

The Sword Curtana.



Okay, we can be certain of two things about this sword. It is not the original sword that was carried by Tristan or Ogier the Dane. Two it is part of the Royal Regalia of the English monarchy. For some reason for the first few hundred years they used this sword they simply remade another one. Can't see the reasoning behind that but there you go.

The sword is called Curtana because a chunk of it supposedly broke off in Morholt's skull. Since this is a copy it's simply tradition to make it blunt. The sword is called the Sword of Mercy because of the blunt point. I can't imagine that getting stabbed by a broken sword would be an act of mercy as that's exactly what most convict fights come down to is broken blades and lots of blood. The Giant would actually pass on this one. Besides mercy is just not in my nature. As a GM I would grant a boon or blessing for every honorable foe that was defeated but granted mercy with this short busted sword. The next one though....

Oliphant


Now this is not the actual Oliphant used by Roland but his probably looked something like this. These horns made from elephant tusks were popular in Europe for quite a while. The Horn of Gondor was probably influenced by the original Oliphant. It is said that if you ever blow this horn it will be heard by your allies. So maybe if they are close enough you could get some serious back up. If not you can wind up like Roland or Boromir.

Now we come to an actual dragon slaying sword. Probably the last in the world.
This is the Conyers Falchion. In legend and folklore this big bad chopper shortened a dragon. The sword is at a minimum seven hundred years old. Definitely a relic and not rubbish. In game terms I shouldn't even need to cover this one. It is a dragon killing sword. It also confers legitimacy in the eyes of the Crown and Church to the individual possessing it.

The Holy Grail or the Nanteo's Cup
There's not much left of this cup. For centuries pilgrims would come from far and wide to drink from this cup and be healed. But people being greedy would take a tiny bite from the cup because, 'who would miss just a sliver'?  So now no one gets to drink from it. Way to go you sick, greedy losers. Anyway, this cup was actually stolen and recovered by the police in a neutral exchange.

The Holy Grail so how do we work that into a campaign or game? No one has ever told any stories about it or anything before so we GM's are mostly on our own. In game terms if you drink from this cup you can be healed and heal anything you are tied to like for instance your kingdom. Find yourself unworthy and it will leave you. So if your queen is sleeping around with your paladin and you've had an illegitimate son with your half sister don't plan on holding on to this one for long.

The Oriflamme or Golden Flame
This is was the royal battle standard of France and kept at the Abbey of St Denis when not being carried into battle. It was displayed when there was no quarter to be given. The bearer of the standard was granted a great honor one he was expected to die for rather than allow the standard to fall or fall into enemy hands (the Oriflamme was lost five times). It was said to be red as it had been dipped in the blood of St Denis when he was beheaded. In game terms this standard must be borne by a Lawful Good fighter paladin etc. He must be noble true and worthy, willing to die rather than disgrace his standard or his liege. The bearer of this standard grants morale, stamina, and strength bonuses for all allies on the field. Losing it doubles those bonuses as penalties. Don't drop it. It can be fitted to a spear or lance and unfurled once a day.

If you think any of these relics are interesting drop me a line in the comments. If you own any of these and want to give them to the Giant, drop me a line and if you are a GM and have used historical items in your campaigns drop me a line in the comments and tell me about it. I love war stories.

Monday Dinner and a Movie

There is nothing I like better on a rainy afternoon than making something special for Mrs Giant and the Brood and watching a movie.

Since it's not rainy, in fact it's too dang hot I am not cooking. Sandwiches, it's what's for dinner. At least tonight. And it is too hot to sit inside for a movie. Nope not going to do it. Not even if all three of my readers beg me to. Instead, I will review a movie I've already watched. You can imagine the Giant family eating a whole roast boar right off the iron spit while we sit around the living room eyes glued to the set.

Of course this movie has to do with gaming but it's not really a movie it's a web series. A gem of a web series created in the Pacific Northwest called JourneyQuest.



The utterly delightful Emilie Rommel Shimkus as Wren.

I watched the series on line and in installments. As far as I know there are two seasons produced to date. It is a 'Dead Gentlemen' production and they have only improved with time and experience. They are the people who brought you Gamers and Gamers: The Dorkness Rising. As well as Dark Dungeons based on the 'Chick Tract' of the same name.

JourneyQuest follows the adventures of Perf  the Wizard, an elfess archer named Nara, a priest (of the D&D cleric variety) named Carrow and Glorion the Lawful Stupid knight. They are on a quest (as the title suggests) and their misadventures and mishaps are entertaining in every way.

The writing is top notch and the actors play their parts very well. If anyone has played a roleplaying game sometime between midnight and six am this movie will bring back memories. The gonzo nature of the characters and sometimes incomprehensibly crazy actions mirror many late nights and early mornings.

It is produced in the Pacific Northwest and anybody from the area will recognize a few of their settings. They use the natural beauty and history of the area to great effect including filming at one of the old coastal forts (perhaps Fort Worden or Spring Canyon?). The budget is a shoe string but they really make the best of what they have and the special effects while not Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter are very serviceable.

Some of the monsters are just monsters but some of the antagonists are fully fleshed characters in themselves. The orcs are simply a hoot while still being menacing orcs and I cannot say enough about the gargoyle Roderick played by Nathan Rice. Rice manages to put a humorous sarcastic spin on his character that is marvelous and never grows old.

Perf the feckless wizard played by Christian Doyle and Nara the archer played by Anne K. Brady have the main characters driving the narrative. Although, it is more Perf than Nara doing the driving so far. Their relationship is a little bland for my taste I believe both actors are capable of better so perhaps it is the script. The relationship seems shoehorned in as Perf is actually spending the best part of the first season running or hiding. Not much time for romance when you have your robe hiked up around your knees and your feet are flying.

Carrow the cleric is perhaps the most interesting character and Brian Lewis does a good job of portraying Carrow. The cleric goes through the most amazing series of pitfalls, pratfalls and outright tragedies and still maintains his faith. That's a good cleric right there. Lewis has a good range and he puts it to work here from comedy to menacing and back in one scene and he makes it look effortless.

Glorion (played by Kevin Pitman) in game terms has the intellect and wisdom of an actual bull but that's good because it perfectly matches his outlook on life. Glorion is too brave to take the surrender of his enemies and feels a good beating is a great motivator for flagging spirits. Glorion's answer to everything involves a sword and lots of killing. He embodies the old office poster, 'The Floggings will continue until morale improves' in his interactions with others.

Besides the quest there is a plot involving the bards who are recording the quest. Both of the main bards vying for the scoop on this quest are fun to watch and as interesting as the main storyline. Emilie Rommel Shimkus and Fran Kranz (of Cabin in the Woods) play the dueling bards and their chemistry on screen is fun to watch.

In the second season they add Bob Sapp as the barbarian king of a civilized country. Sapp plays Karn to the hilt and he is truly such a hulking, muscular guy that you can imagine he could chop his way to a throne. I don't know how they got Sapp but Dead Gentlemen have my thanks and respect. I cannot imagine a better 'Conan' type.

The downsides. Well the action could be more consistent sometimes it's good sometimes just adequate. The special effects are great for the budget but the budget isn't that big and occasionally the make up is off or odd. For instance Roderick the gargoyle inexplicably changes between season one and two.

Well, what's to add? the series is looking for crowd sourced funding for season three and I would say it is well worth it. If you are a gamer and like seeing movies by people who understand and respect your hobby. This is a good series to get. If you like fantasy lighthearted and fun, this is a good series to get. If you like the Northwest and enjoy seeing how much fun folks can have dressed as elves, orcs and wizards. Well you get the idea.

If you've seen this (or other work by Dead Gentlemen Productions) leave a comment and tell me what you think. If you have a movie to review from a gamer's standpoint drop me a line in the comments. I'm all about the gaming.
Link to episode one on YouTube.

Link to the JourneyQuest season three Kickstarter.

I hold nor claim any copyright for the picture of the lovely Wren whom I almost entirely and unfairly neglected. 

Sex and D&D

Okay, I know this has been done before. Phil and Dixie did a 'strip tease' for many issues before they actually never covered the topic until years later. And not in the Dragon.

However, I am not doing that so let's just let that go. I am talking about the massive sexual dimorphism between human men and women and how it relates to gaming especially in the early years. So if you are offended by the natural differences between people stop reading. If you are intrigued or bored and willing to read for a couple minutes stick around.

In the beginning, shortly after the Great Flood and before the A-Team man made roleplaying games and made the first player type characters and saw that it was good. Being that this was before Buffy the Vampire Slayer or second wave feminism women were not allowed to play.

No wait, that's entirely wrong. Women were allowed to play and for many male players the only female contact they had that was not deliberately making their lives hell at school or related to them or both (sisters and cousins can be mean). The games themselves were rooted in the war game tradition that came before and the fiction of the time. In that benighted era nobody knew that everyone was identical there were differences in the capabilities of the different sexes.

In general male player characters could be stronger than women. And this was wrong. They got it wrong but probably not for the reason you think.

You see, the players are not 'Joe Average' who just happens to own a sword or a grimoire and a burning desire to run like a lemming into tombs, ruins, and caverns. No, the player characters are the stuff of legends or someday will be. We have weight classes in every sport as well as leagues for both sexes because there are very real differences between the sexes in the real world. However, the games are not the real world!

The games are the stuff of legends, myths, and folklore. Hyppolyta was an Amazon queen that was too much man for anyone but Hercules. The Valkyries were shield maidens as much as they were choosers of the slain. Valeria of the Red Brotherhood feared no man. Bêlit was Queen of the Black Coast. The fiction and legends were replete with women who outmatched, outfought, and faced down any man or monster as long as she had breath in her chest and strength in her arm.

So there was never reason to restrict abilities to those we find in the real world. We're discussing games where people fly with magic potions, fight ghosts and dragons, and commune with beings from other planes. The idea that some characters should be limited is just not fitting for the setting.

If you want to restrict non-player characters based on what humans on Earth can do now, that is a different discussion. Despite Valeria and Bêlit being deadly with a sword, most women are going to fit within the averages that have been with the human race since the paleolithic and that's just that. Again, we are dealing with fiction though so if you want to change that you can. Be aware that your world will change (if you're into world building if you just want a pseudo-medieval world with a modern PC gloss then do what you like without consequences).

I will before moving on briefly touch on how women were depicted pictorially in these games and on their covers. Very, very respectfully for the most part. The little partial nudity (succubus I am looking at you) mainly concerned monsters that were by their natures unclothed. Female warriors, thieves, and magic users were usually as well covered as their male counterparts. How were they posed? Usually in front of the males. Just as you would for a portrait today, you put the shortest guys in front so behind the hobbits but in front of the humans and half orcs. They were posed with sword, wand, or dirk not waiting to be rescued or clutched in the arms of their rescuers. So pretty darn good.  It was later that the chainmail bikini became a thing and you can blame that on later editors and artists. By then the hobby was fully integrated so if you didn't like gaps in women's armor talk to those guys and gals.

That brings us to the second part, how were girls and women players treated in the early days. Now I never once sat at a table where any female player was limited in any of her choices regardless of what the rules said. One, most young boys think of themselves as rebels as well as white knights and two, as I mentioned before these were the first girls who were actually nice to them.

Now I have heard of the mythical table where the boys were so stupid and short sighted they scorned or rebuffed female players. If they existed (and given human mule-headedness I can only assume they did somewhere) I can only say one thing. Suckers! You had girls willing to put up with your pimply teenage self to play a cool game and you blew it. I am laughing at your feeble intellects and feckless social skills. You guys 'rolled a one'.

We did have one player that made a crude joke at a table where we had a few young women just getting their feet wet roleplaying. So many guys verbally bounced him so hard his fragile ego is probably still crawling out of his hole. The joke was forgotten and the young women became regulars. Happy ending all around.

The stories we tell together at these tables should be equal to Tolkien, Howard, Leiber, and Brackett at their best. If you are a space ranger hunting down pirates you should be one of Norton's or Piper's rangers. If you are a brawling warrior bestriding your world like a giant you should be one of Howard's or Kuttner's or Brackett's heroes. If you are a thief slipping through the shadows and whispered about from the Maul to the Suk of the Goldsmiths in Kwarizim, you should be fit for Leiber's or C.L. Moore or Carter's stories.

You don't play great games and tell great stories by limiting your players. You tell great collaborative stories and have great gaming by embracing the fiction and the narrative, being a fan of the characters and a friend to the players.

I forgot to add if you have ever played a game with sex based pc differences let me know in the comments. I'd like to see how your experience went. 

Sorry, no actual sex took place at any time during this blog post. If you are willing to hang around just wait until I get to romance in D&D, it will melt your mail loincloth.

Races and Roleplaying

We started a number of good conversations about roleplaying with our post regarding religion. I decided that we hadn't covered enough controversial subjects therefore we have today's post about races in the roleplaying world.

When we say 'race' we usually mean species. By any biological standards, most elves, dwarves, men, orcs, etc are obviously different species sometimes they are even created by different gods or on different worlds! Now hobbits did start out as a branch of the 'mannish' family according to Tolkien's writing so whether or not they are non-human, human, a subspecies of human or merely another race as fully 'human' as a Spaniard or a Native of Papua New Guinea is not settled. However, I will use the common term 'race' to refer to all different groups.

Different human races, cultures, and ethnic groups can be found in a number of games. Sometimes those groups are pure fantasy, in other games and settings they correspond to real groups. Usually all human groups are treated the same like the old song says, "every Hottentot and every Eskimo" are in the same boat. Same bonuses, same saving throws, for every member of mankind. Other times a group will get a bonus or penalty based on their environment or something special about their physical make up. This usually occurs in games without other fantasy player races.

'Barbarian' groups may receive a bonus for this weapon or that, civilized folk may receive literacy for free for example. A polar dwelling group might receive some cold resistance, desert dwellers heat tolerance and so on.

Mechanically and thematically most non-human races match one of the categories established by D&D. Dwarves dwell under the mountains and are experts with stonework. Elves are pointy-eared goodnatured hippie types with a bow. More recent elves following the fiction of a particular book series may have warpaint, tattoos, body piercings and the like. Hobbits started as 'Hobbits' simply lifted whole cloth from Tolkien's pages. Halflings began to diverge somewhat and after a book series popularized a more chaotic and hyperactive version of the race the Kender have begun to edge into Tolkien's niche.

Elves in D&D and most fantasy games have far more resemblance to the creatures in 'The Broken Sword' than anything Tolkien wrote. Scholars still argue whether or not Tolkien's elves had pointed ears at all. The strongest arguments are for the 'no' category (that is a whole nother blog post).

By the time AD&D rolled around half-orcs had become a player option. D&D had always talked about player character centaurs, samurai, and even dragons. Here though was an official new race that while it fit with the 'Tolkienesque' group of races (it fit Tolkien's conception of a half-orc much more closely than Tolkien's conception of the elf did) it was an antithetical race to most of the other races. Its favored occupations involved death and mayhem. Even its drawing in the D&D player's manual looked chaotic and sinister. 

This occurred at the time that TSR was working to present a single vision of what D&D was. A response to fan produced settings and products, litigation, and hobby growth. They saw what they regarded as their genre going a dozen different directions. TSR became more and more professionally oriented versus the earlier encouragement for fans to produce their own version of fun.

Rules lawyers had been around for as long as there was a hobby but the concept of 'one true game' and 'one true way to play' created the Rules lawyer's natural habitat. They expanded like Cane Toads in Australia. Rules Lawyers were about as toxic and popular as Cane Toads (again another blog post). These tighter rules and their adherents began to shut down some groups' sense of what they could do. It was rules as written time. The various gaming companies expanded official player races. While at the same time solidifying and limiting options.

The limitations were like most, purely in the minds of the players. Of course, they could have ignored the words of Gygax who was as of issue 16 of The Dragon magazine clearly staking his and TSR's claim to the hobby. However, most did not. Rules as written became an actual thing. Amateurs making changes to 'his' hobby were called out if you're not playing by the rules you're not playing D&D.

This began to limit what the races were and meant in the official universe. While those that expanded their Holmes edition might have a satyr or a centaur the official AD&D types were basically sticking with what was offered.

Some games like Dungeon World protect the class niche keeping skills and abilities unique to each class. Some games also protect the race niche. Humans remain the only race for a paladin or monk for example.

For the most part however, the hobby has matured and has split into several camps. These are mostly based on the difficulty and flexibility of the games in question or on a particular approach to the hobby and are not mutually exclusive. Races are no exception. For the most part races have expanded. Even in the deliberately retro OSR community you can find people who play an angelic race or one based on a sentient dinosaur or dragon type.

Which is all to the good. More options in games, play styles, and settings bring more people into the hobby and allow old timers to branch off into a new direction if they like.

So if you've stuck with me this far, how do you or your gaming group treat the different races in your games?

Are you strict rules as written? Are you open to different possibilities? Do you treat them as all equal in the fiction or are some races socially advantaged or disadvantaged in play?

Let me hear what you and your group does in the comments.

And if you think race is a racy topic just wait until I discuss 'Sex in D&D'.
*Note I will ruthlessly spam any comments that are racist towards actual living people or people of the past even if you think you are clever using coded language. There's no place for that here or in our hobby.

Religious Cosmology and the Dungeon World

This post was inspired by the very first comment on this blog. Yay and thank you for your interest.

When I write, 'Dungeon World' I do not mean in this context just Dungeon World. I am referring to all roleplaying game settings and the way people roleplay the religions in their worlds.

In some settings and games it is pure mechanics. This amount of prayer provides this amount of spells, blessings etc. Although rules and special proficiencies and skills exist for many systems unless they directly affect play in some way they are often ignored. This is a mistake if you enjoy non-combat roleplaying as the marriage or funeral of a character is a wealth of opportunity for roleplaying.

Many settings assume a pseudo-medieval setting glossed over with modern sensibilities. For most groups that is fine but it is vanilla. Vanilla with an even 'blander' vanilla sauce. Those systems generally have a generic set of gods and godlets. Again, these godlings of various stripes have an area (or two or three) of  specialization or interest but their primary function in the game is either as a mechanic for granting players their spells or as a McGuffin, "Fetch me the Undying Eye of the Stormy Skies unworthy mortals!"

No religion is paramount in power or strength over another. No religion is based off a real religious system (a notable exception to this was GURPS Fantasy that included Christianity, Judaism, and Islam in their Yrth setting, I have the first edition and it is an excellent source book).

This is preferred for many reasons not the least because modern sensibilities prefer that belief. No one wants to offend anyone (and rightly so) and many are afraid of bringing modern issues into what should be a fun and inclusive time. However, when you are only serving diet sodas no matter how many flavors you have there is nothing there but fizz and a little flavor.

Real religions are to fiction and the narrative of games heady stuff. There is a reason that the god of poetry was born of mead brewed by gods and giants. Real religions used in a game setting can lead to roleplaying and inspiration that is unmatched.

As I mentioned in my comment, if I may quote myself,

That is the standard for many. In my own games I tend towards the Poul Anderson, 'The Broken Sword'. Where all myths and creatures are real. I also follow the religious system for NPCs (PCs are free to follow whatever they like).

In 'The Broken Sword' Christianity is a real and vital force opposing the older pagan world. It is pushing elves, dwarves, trolls, and other mythical creatures further and further from the world of men. It hasn't yet triumphed but it will. The wisest of the elves, trolls etc. see that and acknowledge it. They know their time is ending. For my players this does not create a dilemma. Player characters are important to me and have all the agency that the game can allow them. I also differ from the great Poul Anderson in that I allow whole races of mythical beings to choose to ally themselves with God. It preserves their place in the game and makes for in game conflict. So there are Christian elves and elves that in pride will choose to dwindle or go into nothingness. And that's okay, because it is a real conflict. Also, some are simply too steeped in evil to ever change. Which is good because who wants to try to convert every tribe of malignant dwerrow they meet?

It does pose players a choice. There is one God that can and will triumph in Europe (whether Allah does in Africa and West Asia is left open to speculation). Non-player character believers do not use spells to Apollo or Ra to stop a vampire, they use a cross or holy water. They use prayer for real benefit (if not always answered in the manner they would like or can see) and their society is bounded by these precepts.

While pagan areas exist and will for long centuries, for now Christianity is expanding. The old gods are still around and will answer player's requests (if it is within their powers) but even they know their time is coming.

This of course, is not the only way or even the best way to play roleplaying games. It is rare in that there is one True religion (in the areas where play takes place). There is a real God (amid the godlets, godlings and demigods) and by extension real evil. Yes, Satan will really answer you if it interests him (which is part of the plot of 'The Broken Sword').

So folks, how do you treat religion in your game? Are the gods just mechanical rules or does your cleric perform weddings, funerals and baptisms? Will Odin, Apollo, or Saint Michael answer your players' call for aide?

Let me know what you think in the comments. That way I can prove I am not crazy and just talking to myself.

Dungeon World Settings

I am a big fan of Dungeon World. It allows the players to customize the class and race through the choices they make. One choice I allow is for the players to choose whatever version they like of their race.

What to be a Tolkienesque Hobbit, Elf or Dwarf? Great go ahead. Do you want to play your halfling like a kender from that other game? Good, you can do that too. Do  you want your dwarves to be surface dwelling nomads? Great got room for that. You want to play your elf like a Sidhe or Alfar? Yup head on.

If the players want to play plain vanilla fantasy elf, dwarf, halfling, human well okay no problem. If the players want to go deeper on their character's race, class, history I am more than willing to incorporate that into play.

So what do you other Dungeon World DM's do? Do you have your own settings and stick with that? Do you go with an established canon for a book or supplement? How about guys who play D&D or other more 'settled' games, do you allow player agency in how they portray their race etc? I realize some settings have less flexibility so some DMs and players have less leeway.

The Weather Up Here

Being a giant is not a full time job and leaves time for other thoughts and pastimes. We enjoy food, drink, and games. Roleplaying games have become the favorite game of giants (and little folk) everywhere. This chronicle will focus primarily on roleplaying games. It will include everything from D&D and the various OSR games to retroclones and even some of the new games that look like OSR but really aren't.

Dungeon World is easily the game I play most often now. The rules are simple, fun, and easy to learn. The play is fast, immersive, and gives the players a real hand in world creation. It is not really OSR while simulating the OSR experience, the characters start out much more powerful in the grand scheme of things than their OSR types.

When you are the ranger in the party, you are the ranger for the whole world. Sure, there are other guys who can track, hunt, shoot a bow, but you are the best. You're the world's Aragorn, Robin Hood, Leatherstocking. When you're the thief, you're the Grey Mouser, Bilbo Baggins, etc. You are the archetype. The mechanics allow first level characters step into games with fifth or tenth level characters and still have something to contribute. That the game does not allow more than one class of character in each party further emphasizes this unique concept.

This is in stark contrast to a game like D&D. You start, you're a first level fighting man. Back in the day (that's the seventies to you youngsters) we were lucky if we thought up a cool name for our character before he was mulched in a trap or turning over some ogre's dinner spit.

Now both games have their place. D&D type games takes you from a very lowly estate to something like a feudal lord (if you can make it). Dungeon World doesn't really do that except as a retirement option (the retirement plan is very good) or you can multiclass or create a newbie for your old guy to mentor).

So this giant's chronicle is all about the games.  I expect both of my friends to read this so if either of you have any ideas about what the giant should write about go ahead. I'm listening.