Character Creation: When the Woof Comes

All together now!

FOR THE TWELFTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR,
TWELVE WOLVES A-COMIN' (wait, hang on...),
ELEVEN WORKERS HOLLERIN',
TEN SHIFTERS SHIFTIN'
NINE FIGHTERS PUNCHIN',
EIGHT HITLERS BLEEDIN',
SEVEN FAIRIES FLITTIN',
SIX GOBLINS GOBBLIN'
OH, FINE, GAME OF THRONES,
FOUR NESTING BIRDS,
THREE VELVET GENS,
TWO SONGBIRDS,
AND BARD THE RPG!

Actually, a bunch of the games I did for the 12 Games of Xmas this year wound up on the "run me" list, so that's cool. It's always nice when I read a game and think "ooh, this would be fun" rather than "ooh, glad I'm done with this." 

And what about the year generally? Well, fuck it. I mean, I've never really understood political theory or sociology. I'm interested in communication on a person-to-person level, but I've always rather suspected that anyone predicting what people (rather than "a person") are going to do is talking out of their ass for the most part. And after this year, I think I was more right than I realized.

Because I just do not get it. Yes, I'm talking about the election. I do not understand how in four years everyone got that much dumber. And sure, you can talk all you want about how disappointing Harris was about this or that, but the truth of the matter is that Trump will be - already is, even though he's not president yet! - so, so much worse, and we fucking know that because he had a chance already. And everyone just...kind of forgot that because back in the heady days of 2020 they think they had more money and that's Biden's fault somehow?

I was actually much more upset by this, and then I was in casual conversation with a co-worker, a woman with a Master's degree who lives a comfortable (economically speaking) lifestyle, but who works in education and will 100% be affected by the coming administration in one way or another...and she didn't know who the vice-president elect was. Like, she didn't know who J.D. Vance was, that he was an Ohio senator, that he had been elected veep. And at that moment, it kind of clicked. Most people don't know or care. I'm in an echo chamber not of people who lean one particular way politically (I mean, I am, because I don't wish to associate with people voting for literal fascists), but of people who bother to stay informed. And none of us know what's going on or what's going to happen, either! We all have our theories and our guesses, but we are all in the dark as much as anyone else. 

Years ago, I made a post on Facebook that I'm kind of proud of in which I posited that we build ourselves using whatever circumstances and materials we have to hand, and the process of building ourselves is a lifelong one. Some of us have help, some of us have guidance, some of us have light, some of us don't. Some of us have moments where someone comes in and kicks the work we've done apart. Some of us have done the kicking. We are all - all, even (especially?) the people who voted for this dipshit - in a place where we're about to lose something in that process, be it progress, light, materials, arrange the metaphor however you like. It's hard to be optimistic, but I'm finding it just as hard to be fatalistic because what I keep coming back to is "who the fuck knows anymore." 

So I'll keep doing what I've done for years now - do my job as well as I can, pursue my interests, take care of the people around me, and be prepared to use my privilege as a white man to help where possible and appropriate. I cannot fix the things I have done in the past, and I cannot repair the lies that others have told about me (and both of those things apply, thanks). All I can do is what everyone does - pick up the pieces and keep building. 

Speaking of building people...

The Game: When the Wolf Comes
The Publisher: Schwalb Entertainment
Degree of Familiarity: None, really, except with the game engine
Books Required: Just the one

When the Wolf Comes has some space opera, some Scandinavian neo-noir, alt-history, Norse gods, there's a lot going on, it's pretty cool. It was, like Velvet Generation, in contention for being played by the group that's now playing Wildsea. Like other Shadow of the Demon Lord games, it's a fairly simple d20-based system but with a fun level progression. 

Making a character starts out with choosing an Origin, and at chargen most of the decisions probably live there. There are 10 of them, and I don't have a strong preference, so let's let lady luck decide what type of torture's justified ("I'M PIT BOSS HERE ON LEVEL TWOOOOO!")

Ooh, deep-fried robot!

Anyway. Rolling a d10, I get a 7, which, counting down, gives me Járnviðjur, which are animal-cybernetic genetically created things used originally for war, but who are now mostly living on the fringes of society. What's interesting, though, is that they have a Frankenstein's monster thing going on, in that they are often cultured and educated and happy to be around others. They're just capable of fucking shit up when need be. Cool, sounds good to me! 

As is often the case, I can roll on some tables to generate some backstory, so I will! Background: You underwent extensive imperial deprogramming on Midgard. Ooh, that doesn't sound pleasant. Personality: Fearful, plagued by nightmares, the instinct is to run and hide when I scent danger. Sure, that tracks.

Religion: A quietly devout Kristinn. Well, that's a twist. I kinda like it, though. Bears noting that in this world, Christianity did arise in the same way but then the Church got the shit stomped out of it by the Norsemen, though they didn't destroy it because they don't much care if you worship one god over another. I like the idea that my guy's conversion to Christianity was the first major decision he made on his own - he was created to be a warrior, he was deprogrammed in Midgard, but he came to faith on his own. 

Age: Grizzled old-timer, 15-25 years old. Not what I was picturing, but I'm OK with it. 

Build: Immensely broad, with muscles like taut rope. Might and Size increase by 1. Neat! Appearance: Erm. I rolled "polycephalic," but I don't...want that. I'ma reroll that one. Short, flattened, nearly human face. Holy shit, I'm a giant mutant pug.

Now I get two Professions. I can't have Trade Professions, and I can pick them or roll them. Well, it feels like I should have a Military Profession, so I'll pick one of those. Sure, let's roll for it. Systems Engineer. Seems a little technical for a Járnviðjur, doesn't it? Maybe reroll. Quartermaster. That's still thinky-er than one would expect, but I kinda like it for this guy. Maybe he's got a head for rationing and resource management, and everyone just kinda shrugged and said "well, sure, he's kinda good at it and no one wants to do it, so yeah, put the big dog-monster in charge of the barracks." 

One more Profession. Shall we roll? Nah, let's just take Soldier, that makes sense. 

I speak Jötnar Brogue, that's easy enough. I roll for social class, and get freedman - I bought or won my freedom. That fits. I get basic clothing, a light weapon (I think maybe a hammer), backpack, bread, waterskin, flashlight (military issue, it's pretty scuffed), and a pouch with 7 pennies. I've basically got the fur on my back and not a lot else. 

And I think that's all but the shouting, let's put this together. I get Might 10, Sleight 11, Wits 8, Will 8. Awareness is Wits + 1, or 9, which is still crap (I'm taking penalties to a lot of these rolls, sadly). Defense is equal to Sleight, so that's good. Health is equal to Might (10), Healing rating is 2 (1/4 Health). Size is 2, Speed is 12, Power and Spirit are 0. No damage to start, but 1d3 Trauma and 1d3 Shame...1 and 2, respectively. I get the Quicksilver Gift, what does that mean? Ooh, when I'm grabbed or slowed, I can use my reaction to shed that condition and move a bit. That's pretty cool. 

I also get Night Vision (pretty self-explanatory), Pack Attack (if I'm near an ally when I attack I get a boon, or rather, a weal, on the roll), and Vicious Bite (if something hurts me I can use a triggered action to DO IT A CHOMP).

And that's all done but the shouting details, then. So, my guy's name is Flatface (I don't have a way to translate that into Norse, but it's the thought that counts). He was created as a brute or a soldier, like a lot of Járnviðjur, and then somewhere along the way he got made a quartermaster - someone had to do it, he was decent at it, whatever, he wasn't going to live long. But through a weird quirk of fate he wound up captured and deprogrammed on Midgard, to the point that he's barely capable of fighting anymore. He spent years in some kind of subservient role (probably related to his job as a quartermaster, like assistant butler or something) for years, because the people who owned him thought it was cute to have this gigantic dog-monster saying "YOU ARE OUT OF EGGS" or whatever. 

And then a passerby on the street gave him an illustrated kid's Bible (remember, he only speaks the one language and I doubt very much he's literate in Noor). He pored over it, and eventually came to believe that God apportions the blessings upon the universe in much the same way as a quartermaster. Could He...just make more stuff? Maybe, but maybe the other gods stop Him, or maybe He's got other reasons for scarcity and He's just doing the best with what He has, like all of us. In any case, it's up to us to help Him out by doing without when we can...and clearly these fuckers who own a living thing because they think it's funny aren't doing that. 

So Flatface saved his pennies, and eventually bought his freedom. And now he's out in the world again, and goddamn if it isn't terrifying. 

Flatface is very lorge, but his face and head are almost comically small by comparison. He's got red-brown fur and brown eyes. A lot of people assume he can't bite effectively, but he can, he just doesn't want to. He still has a couple of things left over from his time as a soldier (hammer, flashlight), and he could in theory use them, but he's not in touch with his violent side anymore.

Motivating him to go adventuring would be tough, and I think if I were playing him I'd rely on the other PCs to give him a reason to hang around. I also think he either wouldn't live long or he'd have an early arc where he undid some of his deprogramming and started on the Path of the Oathsworn, and then maybe Berserker or Housecarl. 

Character Creation: Holler

FOR THE ELEVENTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR,
ELEVEN HOLLERS A-HOLLIN',
TEN NAHUALES COOKIN',
NINE FIGHTERS POSIN'
EIGHT HITLERS BLEEDIN'
SEVEN FAIRIES TRAILIN'
SIX GOBLINS GOBBLIN'
UGH, FINE, GAME OF THRONES,
FOUR NESTING BIRDS
THREE VELVET GENS,
TWO SONGBIRDS,
AND BARD THE RPG!

The Game: Holler
The Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Degree of Familiarity: Haven't played this, but I know the system
Books Required: Holler and SWADE, which sounds like a law firm

Holler is, like Old Gods of Appalachia, a horror RPG set in, well, Appalachia. Holler has a perhaps narrower focus - some time ago, industry (in the form of the Big Boys) came to the holler, cut it off from the rest of the world, and has set about blighting the land. Characters are people who don't work for the Big Boys and can rebel. (What's funny is that I've been replaying Far Cry 6, which is also set in the midst of a revolution.) 

I think this would be a lot of fun to run, and I've got a couple of players with roots in Appalachia, so I may have to give it a spin at some point. 

In any case! Character creation starts the way SWADE normally does, with race, but the only option is human, so that was easy. Looking over the archetypes, I read about Gougers, people who take part in bare-knuckle fighting wherein the winner mutilates the loser, often by gouging out an eye, hence the name. 

So: My character's name is Old Bray Noblit ("Bray" was a family name, and when he was born his papa was convinced he looked just like an old man so here we are). Bray got into a lot of fights as a youngster because his little brother Carl Lee was...well, a little different. So Bray wound up defending his honor, got good at taking a punch and throwing one, and got into gouging, lost an eye, took a few more, and then suddenly it's years later and the Big Boys moved in. They recruited Carl Lee because he's good with numbers and logistics, and now he's basically a willing slave to them - Carl Lee bought into the company rhetoric because he's the kind of fool who believes what people tell him.

Old Bray is not that kind of fool, and he's not going to work for the company anyhow. In fact, after seeing his brother get sucked in, his father die in the mines, and his mother die of a broken heart, why, he knows whose eyes he wants next. 

Right, on to Attributes! Oh, no, wait, Hindrances! Well, I know I want One Eye. I'll take Fatalistic (a Holler take on Death Wish); Bray is pretty sure he's gonna die trying to free his brother. And, likewise, I'll take Vengeful as a minor Hindrance (it's not that Bray wouldn't do illegal things to avenge his family, but like, what is there to do? I feel like either Vengeful or Fatalistic would be Major if he didn't have both of them, if that makes sense). 

OK, now Attributes. I know I want decent Strength and Vigor, but because of the way the system works Agility needs to be decent as well. Let's put Strength and Vigor to d8 and leave Agility at d6 (which of course means Smarts and Spirit are at d4, but that's OK). 

Skills! I get the usual d4 in the core skills plus 12 more. Obviously I want Fighting at d8 minimum. I'll actually put it up to d10, which costs 6 of my 12 points. I'll put Athletics up to d6, and buy Survival at d6 (which costs extra because it's linked to Smarts). I've spent 10 points, 2 left. Well, I feel like I should have some Intimidation, so I'll put that in at d4, and I'll use the last point to buy Repair at d4. 

I'll use my free Edge to buy Gouger, obviously. And then I have the four points left from Hindrances. I'll also take Iron Jaw; that +2 to soak is pretty good. I'll put the other two into Skills - one into Taunt and one into Thievery.

I get some ratty clothes and three Common items (this game, unlike most Savage Worlds games, doesn't have me spending money). Maybe a shovel, some rope, and a deck of cards.

Characters in Holler all have a Grudge against the Big Boys, but I think we covered it - Old Bray hates the company because they brainwashed his brother. His Goal is to get his brother back and make him see what the company really is.

Bray is a big guy - six foot, over 200 pounds, muscular but a bit of a belly. He's in his early 30s. He wears and eye patch out of courtesy - he lost that eye in a gouging match, and it is an ugly wound (but it fits under the patch, so he doesn't have the Ugly Hindrance). He's got his mama's black hair and his papa's blue eyes (well, eye). When he fights, he takes off the patch and rolls up his sleeves. He doesn't usually take eyes anymore - if he wins a fight he'll rip a guy's lip in half. It'll heal if he takes care of it. 

That'll do it! 

Character Creation: Nahual

FOR THE TENTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR,
TEN NAHUALES HUNTING,
NINE FIGHTERS STREETING,
EIGHT HITLERS BLEEDING,
SEVEN FAIRIES TRAILING,
SIX GOBLINS GOBBLIN',
UGH, FINE, GAME OF THRONES,
FOUR NESTING BIRDS,
THREE VELVET GENS,
TWO SONGBIRDS,
AND BARD THE RPG!

The Game: Nahual
The Publisher: Miguel Angel Espinoza
Degree of Familiarity: Haven't played this, but it's PbtA
Books Required: Just the one

Nahual has you playing a group of people who run a changarro in Mexico. Depending on what kind of business you're running, you might have to deal more often with rowdy regulars, restocking issues, maintaining your taco truck, hunting down more angels to butcher for meat/blood/bone...

Wait, what?

Yeah, this is a weird one, in a good way. It's based on a graphic novel that I haven't read but is 100% going on my list. Basically when the Spanish conquistadors showed up, they had warrior angels with them, but angels are, most of the time, pretty mindless and animalistic. Their bodies also have restorative and psychotropic properties, so long story short, you hunt, kill, butcher, and render them to sell. 

It's such a goddamn weird premise, and the book totally sells it, mostly because the focus is on making the business work and what that looks like. Hunting is an important part of the game, but it's grounded in something tangible and explicable.

Oh, and, your characters have awakened nahuales, meaning you have totem spirits that empower you and enable shapeshifting that gets more pronounced as you advance. It looks pretty badass, actually. 

Well, I'm a little pressed for time today, unfortunately, so let's get into it! First we choose a playbook. They're all named after the aforementioned totem animals. I like them all, actually. I'm kinda feeling Serpiente, but I dunno, I made a serpent-y sort of character for Crossroads Carnival. But on the other hand, that was like six years and fuck that game. Perro is also appealing because, like, doggo. And of course Venado appeals to my love of speedsters and acrobat characters. I think I'll go with Perro and be a dog person today.

One of the names listed is Timoteo, and I like that (friends probably call him Teo). We'll say his last name is Román (also one of the names listed, but that's incidental, I just think it fits). Teo uses he/him pronouns, he's conforming, young (maybe 17 or 18), watchful eyes, and has a street look. I think Teo grew up in a gang but on the periphery - he's a good lookout but he's got no real stomach for violence (or didn't, anyway). And then the gang he was running with kinda broke up after a couple of them got shot and a couple more had to flee the area. I'll flesh that out more as needed as we go along.

Vices! I get two. These are just impulses that I can pursue to mark XP or clear stress. I think for Teo, it's gonna be Obstinacy (Teo doesn't know when to leave) and Vengeance (he is not, by nature, a violent person, but he's dangerous if given time to stew). 

Stats! I have +1 in Garra and Instinto, -1 in Maña, and 0 in Barrio. I get a +1 to put anywhere, and I want it in Barrio because I see Teo as more tied into his neighborhood.

Speaking of el barrio, I now get to pick one of two barrio questions. And the second one is the obvious choice:

Let's say the person holding a grudge is an older guy everyone calls Tio Juan. Tio Juan isn't actually anyone's tio, but he did have a son, Juanito, one of the boys that Teo used to run with who wound up getting shot. Tio Juan blames Teo, which is weird, because Teo wasn't even there when Juanito got killed! Actually, maybe that's the issue...

Gear and stuff! I have an old apartment (I think Teo probably shares it with his mamá), a third or fourth hand vehicle (very old Nissan Sentra, the passenger seat is missing and Teo replaced it with a folding chair), a cheap cell phone, his nahual mask, and two hearts of the earth. And then I pick two from a list.

Well, I don't want a gun, Teo should by no account have one. I will take the tactical knife, however, and a hatchet. 

Moves! I get two to pick off the Manada list. Well, clearly I want territorio, which means my manada is respected in the barrio. And then...I'm torn between charolastras, which lets us mark stress to take harm for each other, or jauría, which lets me increase the harm that another member inflicts (basically we dogpile someone). The former is more in keeping with how I've conceived Teo so far, but the latter seems like it gets into the potential for violence that he unquestionably has. I think I'm gonna go with charolastras, because that reputation for protection helps explain why he could have (and should have) saved Juanito.

And now I get two totem moves. These are things I can use while I'm in my transformed nahual state. Obviously I'm taking pack mate, which lets me mark stress for someone in my manada. And then I think I want wild dog, which lets me unleash the animal and fuck someone up. I think as of start of game, Teo hasn't used that yet, so that'd be a fun scene. 

And that's it, kids! Teo is skinny, often dirty, and wears a jacket with the gang colors taped over (since the gang is mostly dead and him being associated with it makes Tio Juan angry, anyway). I think Teo's dirty secret is that he blames himself for Juanito as much as Tio Juan does, not that that's going to help him. 

Teo's role in a changarro would depend very heavily on what it is; if he were in the cantina in the example of play, I think he'd be bussing tables, running errands, putting up posters, and suchlike. But honestly being in a Vecindad would be the most interesting proposition for this character. 

Wildsea: Rocks Shouldn't Glow

Yesterday we played Wildsea for the first time in three goddamn months. Here's last time!

Our wildsailors pull up to the spit that sank the Sanguine Dress. They realize that it might stick out of the thrash to a greater or lesser degree depending on what the "waves" are doing, and it wouldn't be hard for a ship to slam into it if it were mostly submerged (which is what happened to the Dress). They feel a notable drop in temperature as they get closer, and they smell loam and moss and earth. They also notice that the base of the spit is wrapped in vines that descend below the surface into the tangle, but the spit itself is covered in thick green moss...and these two things share a root structure.

They pull up near the spit and decide to wait until morning to go ashore. Rozek brews some tea to help Chambersson and herself with the wounds they've suffered (Chambersson got hit with a spike thrower some days back and it's still bothering him). Chambersson drinks the tea appreciatively, and he and Kazera busy themselves with their own interests before sleeping. 

In the morning, they take three undercrew and head ashore (Jakesta elects to stay behind on the ship, for reasons known only to her own ghostly self [her player was absent]). Obviously Rozek takes samples of the green moss, and Chambersson peeks over the edge to see if one could, say, use the vines to climb down the side of the spit. One could, in fact, if one wanted to risk the other dangers of the tangle. 

Kazera pulls up some of the moss to see what's beneath, and finds a hollow in the stone. The sailors discover that it leads deeper into the spit, but it's not a straight drop; there are landings and ledges. They decide to enter, but slowly - Chambersson and one of the undercrew go first to blaze their trail, while Kazera and another crew member follow, lodge spikes in the rock and stringing rope to give them a way back.

Chambersson is doing all right, though he is still suffering from sparks and jolts (from mire) and that makes it slow going. And then he comes to a place where the tunnel splits unexpectedly, and he and the crewman he's with both slide down different spokes! He selflessly tosses the other guy a the rope and wedges himself into the tunnel with his limbs (and tentacles), and listens to the whispers in the dark - there's something in here, something powerful and valuable, but dangerous.

The crew member scrambles back and tells Kazera what's happened and she tosses the rope down to Chambersson and hauls him back. As he's climbing, he hears something move in the dark, and the crew decide maybe this isn't the best approach. Chambersson and the crew head back to the surface, but on the way he bumps against the sides of the wall, his spike wound leaving a smear of his blue blood behind. Kazera, meanwhile, chips into the rock to see if she can find any interesting samples and finds a rusted iron spike. Another crew of explorers has been this way before...

This turns out to be a good thing, because the thing that was moving follows them.

It scuttles up out of the darkness, an immense creature like a giant house centipede, but translucent and with a slight blue glow. It ignores Kazera entirely, following the blood trail that Chambersson left, but Kazera hurls the rusted spike she found at it along with her rivet swarm. It backs off enough for her to get ahead of it, and the crew puts the moss back over the whole and weighs it down with rocks (and Kazera). 

They aren't ready to give up yet - Chambersson senses something important inside the spit, he's dream of a pool of impossibly cold water, somehow cooled deliberately, but to what purpose? Rozek, who is not built for delving and is not so interested in being frozen (she was, after all, raised out in the cold), stays on the spit to anchor ropes while Kazera and Chambersson climb down the sides of the spit on the vines. She does, however, loan Chambersson her furs and Pearl, her pet salamini, to keep him warm (Kazera isn't affected by the cold but Chambersson is especially susceptible).

They find a spot where the vines hide a gap in the stone and Kazera punches through it, and climb into the interior. This tunnel, unlike the one they were in before, is man-made - the stone is smooth and shaped in a way that Chambersson cannot identify. He tries to light up the area with his voltaic mantle but can't quite get it steady enough, and Rozek sends down a lantern on a rope instead. The two of them venture further in, and the chamber opens up into an immense shaft in the center of the spit.

They see a blue glow, and realize that there are rocks further down that are producing it. At the very bottom is a pool of water, with no current but somehow in random motion. The temperature drops precipitously as they descend, but Chambersson is fascinated by this water and these weird rocks. He and Kazera work at one until they dislodge it from the walls, and find it's kind of formed there like a salt deposit. But then Kazera taps it, it produces a ringing sound that harmonizes with all the others, and the sound echoes up the shaft and out over the Wildsea. 

Chambersson holds the rock and peers closer, but then he realizes that it's making his hands tingle and he tastes metal. He gives it back to Kazera to hold onto, and asks her to take a sample of the water as well. She does, but when she dips her hand into the water she feels the cold - which shouldn't be possible. The rivets and metal swirling around her also start to drop and lose power, and she pulls her hand back out. She takes a sample in a jar, but they decide to head up. Whatever this is, it's unquestionably powerful, and these rocks would make amazing cargo...

...and yet, as they ascend, they both feel strange. Chambersson returns the furs to Rozek, and she starts to feel it, too. What strange energies have they been exposed to? And what long-term effects might they have?

Character Creation: Street Fighter

FOR THE NINTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR,
NINE STREETS FIGHTING,
EIGHT HITLERS BLEEDING,
SEVEN FAIRIES TRAILING,
SIX GOBLINS GOBBLIN',
UGGGH, FINE, GAME OF THRONES!
FOUR NESTING BIRDS,
THREE VELVET GENS,
TWO SONGBIRDS,
AND BARD THE RPG!

The Game: Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game
The Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio
Degree of Familiarity: Some. I don't think I ever ran this, but I know I played it when it came out and the underlying system is basically 1st Ed Storyteller
Books Required: Just the one

Licensed RPGs are so weird. Who gets to do what game seems mostly down to who asks. Why did we need a Dallas RPG? Was Guardians of Order the best choice for Ghost Dog? (Was anyone?) And why did a company that produced games with notoriously crap mechanics get the license for a fighting game? 

But here we are: White Wolf's Street Fighter game. And like...it's not terrible. Oh, sure, I liked it a lot more in 1994 when I was really enamored of the underlying mechanics and I was playing with people who really went hard into the aesthetic and story of a game rather than sweating said mechanics, and we could play for eight hours at a time (which made "tournaments" easier), but I can't deny that I had fun with this game 30 goddamn years ago. Was it? Yeah, it's 2024 - 1994 = 30. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck me. 

Well, anyway, we're gonna make us a fighter. I actually have a concept and a theme song, because Michelle and I were in the car the other day listening to a mix she made me (that's love, folks) and this song came up:

That's "Cool Water" as performed by Sons of the Pioneers. I like this song; I first heard it in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and I remarked to Michelle that there was something vaguely sinister about the song. She said yeah, because they're gonna die, they're out here seeing mirages and wasting away from dehydration. She said she'd like to see me use it to make a character, I thought about what I had coming up in the 12 Days of Xmas, and here we are.

So: My character is Vernon "Bud" McCarthy. Bud was a cowboy - no, really! They still exist! He worked a ranch in Colorado, and he was pretty handy with a rope and with his fists but not what you'd call a "fighter." 

Well, beef has gotten awful dear of late due to some outbreaks of cattle-borne diseases, and those no-good sidewinders in Shadowloo decided to get into the rustling business. Hey, it's not as glamorous or exciting as the crime they usually do, but money's money. Trouble is, nobody bothered to tell ol' Bud that the plan was to just roll over and let them take the cattle, and he fought back. He flattened a few low-grade Shadowloo goons, but then the lieutenant that they sent along stepped up. 

That gal...whew. Bud thinks maybe she had black hair and maybe she was wearing red and black but damn if she didn't move like a mongoose on Cookie's morning coffee! She whupped Bud pretty good and if that weren't enough, tossed him off a cliff! Bud fell into the river below, washed downstream, and wound up at the campsite of a feller name Soap. (No, really, that was his name. John Soap. And damn if the guy didn't make a bunch of dad jokes about it.)

Soap, in addition to being one of them bearded "hipster" types that sometimes came to the ranch to protest or try to play at being cowboys, was a master of Kickboxing. He listened to Bud's story, set his broken arm, and taught him to fight with his legs whilst his arm was healing up. Bud traveled with Soap and learned all he could, and then he set back out into the world, thirsty...for revenge!

There ya go, there's concept and style. Next up, Attributes!

They give us the usual OWoD split (7/5/3), but what I don't understand is why. Obviously Physical is going to be priority in a Street Fighter game, so why arrange points this way? Whatever, Physical/Social/Mental. 

Well, three points each into Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina and then the last one into Strength, I think (Dex would be the better choice mechanically, but I see Bud as stronger than he is fast, though I might change that with freebies later). Five points into Social, so I'll one each to Charisma, Manipulation, and (ugh) Appearance, and then the other two into Charisma. Bud ain't much for words, but he's a likeable enough guy. And then one across the board in Perception, Intelligence, and Wits.

Moving along to Abilities! This is a truncated list, which makes sense, once you strip out the combat abilities...oh, hang on, what's "Blind Fighting" doing there? Anyway, 9/7/4. And they're not listed on this sheet, what on earth? 

Well, Knowledges is clearly going to be tertiary. I'll put one in Medicine and three into Mysteries - Bud knows a lot of old stories and lore, but he's very new to the world of street fighting and he never really did much schooling. It's a toss-up between Talents and Skills, but I think Skills should be primary, so I'll put seven into Talents and nine into Skills.

Over under Talents, I want two Alertness, three Insight (Bud's good at sizing people up), two in Intimidation, one in Streetwise, and one in Subterfuge. And then in Skills, we'll take two each in Blind Fighting, Security, and Stealth, and three in Survival. 

Now we get into the fun stuff! Five dots in Backgrounds, first up. As much fun as it'd be to take a horse named "Dan" as an Animal Companion, it doesn't fit with the backstory. So instead, let's take Contacts (Joey Frinner, a rodeo organizer who's a shady character but he can get things done) at one dot, three dots in Sensei (Soap is still out there wandering the southwest, or maybe he's gone home to Seattle, but either way he's available when Bud needs him), and...hell, I dunno. Let's take Backing and say that Joey pays some of the bills, but expects Bud to come do demonstrations and suchlike at the rodeo sometimes.

Now I get 8 Technique points. I need to be careful about these, because they fulfill prerequisites for Maneuvers, though that may just mean I shuffle some things around. I also only can spend three points into any one Technique without spending freebies. 

Well, obviously I want three into Kick, since I'm a kickboxer. I want three into Punch because Bud's always been good with the ol' knuckledusters, and I'll put the last two into Block. I suspect I'm gonna need to spend some freebies here because I want at least some Athletics.

And now I get 7 dots in Maneuvers. Let's start with the basics.

Well, figure that Bud has learned from his mistakes, so I'll take Kick Defense and Punch Defense. I'd like to take Deflecting Punch, but my Block is too low, so I'll skip it for now. In any case that's only 1 point each. I'll dump a point into Spinning Back Fist, and I'll put two into Triple Strike. That leaves me two points and I feel like I ought to take at least one kick Maneuver. I'll take Wounded Knee, which allows me to kick an opponent in the knee and fuck up their Move and Speed. Bud's got plans for that mysterious Shadowloo lady next time they meet!

Western Kickboxing gives me 2 Chi and 5 Willpower. I get three dots between Honor and Glory, and I think I'll take two of the former and one of the latter (Bud's not well-known at all yet). And then I get 15 freebies! Woo! 

Oof, Techniques are pricey. I can't buy Maneuvers with them, either. That's a bummer. Well, let's bump Dexterity up to 4 (5 points), buy a dot of Athletics (5 more, 10 total), bump Survival up to 4 (12 spent), and spend the last 3 on two Chi and one Willpower.

And that's it, kids. Bud dresses like a cowboy - jeans, chaps, flannel shirt, cowboy hat, bandana around the neck, even wears a lasso sometimes (more for the rodeo than anything). He's got brown hair and flinty grey eyes, but a warm smile. When he wins a fight, his signature is to play a lick on his harmonica and tip his hat.

Yee-haw!

Character Creation: Eat the Reich

FOR THE EIGHTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR,
EIGHT HITLERS BLEEDING,
SEVEN FAIRIES TRAILING,
SIX GOBLINS GOBBLIN'
OH, FINE, GAME OF THRONES,
FOUR NESTING BIRDS,
THREE VELVET GENS,
TWO SONGBIRDS,
AND BARD THE RPG!

The Game: Eat the Reich
The Publisher: Rowan, Rook and Decard
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

Eat the Reich is one of those games with a hyper-specific premise, a system that fully commits to it, and that eschews the traditional "romp around and do whatever you want" paradigm of game play. In that way it's a little like Nest (another of my 12 Games of (this) Xmas). The game play itself reminds me a bit of Blades in the Dark, kinda-sorta - actually I think it shares more DNA with hollowpoint, which I have run, but it's been a long time. 

But in any case: You're playing a squad of vampires who have been dropped into occupied Paris in 1943 with the express goal of drinking all of Hitler's blood. The book itself is a work of art, with the bright colors and the funky layouts, but it's also fucking readable, well-edited, and I didn't feel like I was completely missing things without an example of play but LO AND BEHOLD there are examples of play.

(This creator also gave us Spire, which I keep meaning to run.)

Anyway, the game doesn't assume that you're going to make your own vampires, but gives you six pre-gens. I was all set to exclude this game from the project, but on the back endpapers there are in fact rules for making a character, so like, I'm gonna use 'em, because I like this game and I want to play it. There's no character sheet, though, alas.

My vampire is called "the Parisian." He was quite enjoying a long nap in the catacombs under Paris when the fucking Nazis rolled in, woke him up, and generally made a mess of things. He doesn't remember exactly when he went to sleep but he was very surprised to discover this is not the first but the second World War - wasn't there some big conflict when he went to sleep? But back then the Brits were fighting against us? Whatever, he's annoyed at being woken up and so he approaches killing Nazis with very intense "goddammit I was having the most wonderful dream" energy.

So, stats. Our stats are Brawl, Con, Fix, Search, Shoot, Sneak, and Terrify. I get one at 4, two at 3, three at 2, and the last one gets 1.

Well, I know I want the Parisian's 1 to be in Fix - he has no idea how much modern machines work. His 2s can go into Shoot (he knows the general principle behind guns but he's not great with them), Search (he is generally impatient), and Con (he may have been a sexy smooth creature of the night at one point but he really can't be arsed nowanights). His 3s can go into Terrify and Brawl, and that leaves the 4 in Sneak (he's very used to going unnoticed). 

Next we get three or four items. What kinds of things would he be carrying with him? I think thematically the Parisian ties into the notion of vampires as witnesses to history, so I'd want gear to be, well, historical. So let's give him an "antique sword" (and give it the bonus "+just sharpened"), and "WWI greatcoat" (mark to ignore injury or being Downed, coat is discarded). Let's say that he's also got "digging tools" (taken from the Germans who broke into his tomb - mistakes were made), and give them "+excavation."

I get three abilities. One's Special, one's "spend 1 Blood," and one I get to make up (really, I'm making it all up). What does "Special" mean again? Oh, right, I can spend a critical (a 6 on a d6) to activate them. The mechanics on all this is pretty simple, so I should probably start by thinking about what I'd want the Parisian's abilities to be. 

Well, like I said, it's in-concept for him to have a long memory and to be able to draw benefit from that, so I'll give him an ability called "I Know This Place: Spend 1 Blood to reroll 1s on an action by exploiting historical secrets." (Normally 1s are discarded.)

I want something combat-related, obviously, so I'll give him "Let Me Sleep: When fighting enemies armed with guns or explosives, SPECIAL: Lower enemy Attack rating by 1."

And, finally, how about "The City's Lifeblood: When near French civilians, SPECIAL: Gain 3 Blood." (Note: The game talks about how much collateral damage is OK, and so this could be interpreted either as the Parisian literally munching French civilians or just draining the "soul" of the citizenry in some non-fatal way, depending on the sensibilities of the table.)

I get three Advances, which are unlocks I get for drinking the blood of really powerful enemies. Let's take:

I'm Everywhere: Spend 1 Blood to appear from a nearby shadow (+catacombs).

Quiet of the Grave: SPECIAL: mute all sound in the scene for the next round. 

Arise: Spend 1 Blood to summon up ghostly French warriors (+ancient graves). 

I get three Injuries, which are expressed mechanically in different ways. The first box doesn't have a mechanical effect, but the second one does. 

So: Dazed --> Exhausted (Reduce Brawl by 2, increase Search by 2 as he's looking for a place to go to ground). Seen --> Exposed (can't use Specials). Burned --> Immolated (Challenge ratings +1). 

And, finally, I get a Last Stand, which is just a brief description of how the Parisian goes bananas if he finally dies. In his case, I think it's "The Evil Awakened (8d6)". 

And that's it! I picture the Parisian as wearing his WWI greatcoat, and underneath a robe or monk's outfit or something - maybe it's a funeral shroud. The Parisian has been asleep too long to remember how he was turned or his mortal life, and maybe that's a good thing. 

The Parisian

Stats: Brawl 3, Con 2, Fix 1, Search 2, Shoot 2, Sneak 4, Terrify 3
Equipment: Antique sword (+just sharpened), WWI Greatcoat (mark to ignore Injury or being Downed, discard greatcoat), digging tools (+excavation)
Abilities: I Know This Place: Spend 1 Blood to reroll 1s on an action; Let Me Sleep: When fighting enemies with guns or explosives, SPECIAL: Reduce Threat rating by 3; The City's Lifeblood: When near French civilians, SPECIAL: Gain 3 Blood.
Advances: I'm Everywhere: Spend 1 Blood to appear from a nearby shadow (+catacombs); Quiet of the Grave: SPECIAL: Mute all sound in the scene for one round; Arise: Spend 1 Blood to summon up ghostly French warriors (+ancient graves).
Injuries: Dazed --> Exhausted (Reduce Brawl by 2, increase Search by 2). Seen --> Exposed (can't use Specials). Burned --> Immolated (Challenge ratings +1).
Last Stand: The Evil Awakened (8d6)

Character Creation: Fairy Trails

FOR THE SEVENTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR,
SEVEN FAIRIES TRAILIN'
SIX GOBLINS GOBBLIN'
UGH, FINE, GAME OF THRONES,
FOUR NESTIN' BIRDS
THREE VELVET GENS,
TWO SONGBIRDS,
AND BARD THE RPG!

The Game: Fairy Trails
The Publisher: Mirth Drake
Degree of Familiarity: It's PbtA, more or less, and I know that pretty well
Books Required: Just the one

Fairy Trails is a bit of a heartbreaker. At its base, it's a PbtA game where you play a troop of fairies living on a Cart because they got kicked out of the woods by a malevolent force. You can upgrade the Cart as well as your characters, so far, so good. 

Where I get a little worried about the gameplay is that it's one of those PbtA games that doesn't really lean into the best parts of that philosophy, IMO. Now, one of the strengths of said philosophy is that it is customizable, but to me, Fairy Trails seems bloated in some places, overly complicated in others, and just generally like it wants to be more trad than it is. As I was reading it I kept thinking it might be a better fit for SWADE, but now that I'm reflecting a little I think Forged in the Dark might be the best idea, since the game as written has you living on the Cart and leaving on Outings.

For all that, there are some genuinely cool ideas in the book. Opponents have a "bucket" of points called Drams, and during a fight or a conflict you reduce said Drams. When you've emptied the bucket, you can spend the Drams to change the opponent, so if you want to, say, turn a human into a cat, there's a way to do that. Drams are also useful for fairies in more direct ways (they're what you spend to upgrade the Cart), so you can also just keep 'em. 

However, health is tracked via conditions (Maladies) in much the same way as Masks, and I do worry that the rest of the game is a little more granular than that. As I was reading it, parts of it felt more loosey-goosey than others, and I kept thinking about Legend of the Elements (which I don't particularly feel made best use of its system underpinnings). 

Also, the moves kinda suck. Rather, they're just really bland. There's one called "Do Something," which is meant as a catch all, but where other PbtA games that have catch-all moves (your defy danger, your unleash powers), this one is just...do a thing. Again, I think FitD would have been a better fit, since that would generally be actions rather than moves. 

Also-also, the book is written mostly in-character and it comes off a little twee. Also there's this kind of thing:

I dunno, I just think it's a little silly, and more to the point it goes on a little too long. Also the book needs an editor. "Horde" and "hoard" are not the same thing, f'rex. (Nor are "troop" and "troupe", and I think the latter might be more appropriate, but the former isn't wrong.)

Anyway, let's make a fairy.

What kind of Fairy do I want to play? What this really means is concept, because literally choosing the type of fairy is the purview of the next couple of steps. But I think I want to play a fairy who always had a good relationship with humans - in a very "fairy" way, of course, they leave him presents, he brings lost sheep home or whatever. Now that we're on the Cart, though, he's a little...well, confused. 

A brief aside as we get into the next couple of steps: As is often the case in games that use playbooks, this game has multiple sheets. But the sheets are based on Court, not Kith, which is the next step. Anyway, I was just talking with Kai about character sheet design and how it's weirdly one of the hardest things to get right in TTRPGs, and this game doesn't really do it. 

Anywho, the next step is Kith, followed by Court. I want to play a will-o-the-wisp, and I think the Court that makes the most sense is Spring Court; I think my wisp is helpful, he's just not always good at it.

As a Spring Courtier, my Strengths are Jukey, Magic, and Pizzazz (meaning I add 1 to two or 2 to one), and my weaknesses are Cunning, Magic, and Mighty (same but subtract). I think I'll add 2 to Magic, and subtract one each from Cunning and Mighty. 

I get one Court Talent, or my Mystic Technique. My Mystic Technique is "Life Weaver" and that doesn't really fit what I'm envisioning, so I'll take Explorer. 

I get three Geasa from my Patron's Gifts. Which are? Oh, they're on the second page of the character sheet! Well, I want Lost in the Woods and Twitterpate (both pretty Wispy things to do). For the last one, Life Eyes sounds good, but I kinda want a power that lets me use my high Magic rating, so I think I'll take Healing Touch.

A Mystery! This is a plot-point kind of thing. What's my wisp's mystery? There are a few examples, and one of them is:

I like this, it leans into the ghost-like nature of the will-o-the-wisp. People outside the Cart keep calling me "Jack" and covering their eyes when they see me. Very strange. Maybe if I Twitterpate them a little.

Step Nine doesn't apply because it'd be bonuses from PCs who have retired, so I'm just down to the last things!

My wisp's name is Vale (not "Veil," thanks). Vale is blueish and translucent and glimmery and looks like a flashlight through fog at a distance, but he's really a nice enough guy and is happy to help you with getting through the woods and that's totally a shortcut and oh dear you fell hang on I'll fix it where ya going?!

I think Vale would be fun to play, though maybe not in this game specifically.

Character Creation: Gobblin'

FOR THE SIXTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR,
SIX GOBLINS GOBBLIN',
UGH, FINE, GAME OF THRONES!
FOUR NESTING BIRDS,
THREE VELVET GENS,
TWO SONGBIRDS,
AND BARD THE RPG!

The Game: Gobblin'
The Publisher: Drunk and Ugly Games
Degree of Familiarity: None, but it ain't complicated
Books Required: Just the one

For this special Xmas Day episode of...character creation, we have Gobblin', because that's as far as I got on my "12 Games of Xmas" thing before today. Very complicated.

Anyway, Gobblin' is a simple enough premise. In some no doubt very exciting fantasy world, the magic-users got together and cast a spell that banished all the goblins to another dimension because, like, they're goblins, fuck those guys. The goblins wound up on Earth, kinda, but it's post-nuclear war so everything's been destroyed and there are no actual people left, and the goblins immediately viewed this as a blessing because CHECK IT OUT NEW STUFF TO BREAK.

I'm of two minds about Gobblin'. On the one hand, I really like the premise - it's fun, it's simple, it's giving vibes of Kobolds Ate My Baby and HoL and games that take some of the underlying assumptions of RPGs (or rather, let's be real, Dungeons & Dragons) and poke at them a bit.

On the other hand...I dunno. It's cute, but it's trying so hard to be funny. Sometimes it manages, sometimes it feels a little overwritten. Humor is hard, brevity is the soul of wit, and I think this game could have benefited from trimming about a third of the page count and leaning a little harder into the absurdity of the premise and spending a little less time telling us about the absurdity of the premise.

For all that, though, it's never offensive and it doesn't dwell on easy stereotypes, so props for that. And like, I think the game would be a lot of fun to play, it just wasn't as much fun to read as I was hoping. But I do find myself thinking about the City of Dave (wherein a lone goblin named "Dave" cloned himself accidentally and now when other goblins show up to trade, they get received a lot more warmly if they're also Dave; "Be you Friend? Enemy? Or Dave?") and so forth. There's some good stuff in here, is m'point.

Let's making a goblin!

(Oh, there's a fillable character sheet, which is always a big plus in my book. Oh, and the PDF is bookmarked! It's a Xmas Miracle!)

Stats, then. I'm to "see below." I have seen Below, it's a good movie. Anyway, I get 13 points to spread out betwixt 6 stats (system is roll a d12 and add your stat; they go from 0 to 5). So what kind of goblin would I like to make? There's a "subspecies" of goblins called "woolies" that barely speak the goblin tongue, and that sounds fun, so I'll play into the yeti-like nature of such creatures. That sounds like I want Bash to be high. I have to have Know of 1 and either Run or Brave of 3. So I'll put Brave and Bash at 4, Know at 1, Jerk at 3, Run at 1, and leave Laugh at 0 (my woolie is not funny. He thinks he's hilarious). 

His Specialty is Woolie, that's easy. The sheet says "Class", not "Specialty," but whatever, editing is hard. 

HP is Brave + 5, so 9. Defense is...I don't know, actually. The Defense paragraph doesn't tell me, it just says that faster goblins have better Defense, so it should be based on Fast, but who knows? Anyway.

Argh. I have a Courage stat, but there's no slot for it on the sheet. GUYS. Anyway, I get some benefits from being Woolly. I get a bonus to Defense because of my shaggy coat, and I get a bonus to Courage rolls caused by something visual because my hair hangs in my eyes and what you can't see can't scare you!

However, I take a penalty to actually try to see things, and I only know six words in Goblin (which I decide are: drink, fight, eat, goblin, ugly, stupid). Everything else is produced in his guttural language with a lot of /u/ sounds. 

I don't get any Perks, but I get a set of armor and two items. Well, I want Imaginary Armor (which, if asked, my woolly goblin would refer to as "BARARAGHHAL"). That gives Defense (oh, here it is!) of 6 + Run, and +2 Brave because I know my totally real armor will save me. 

Two "items," sure, but the only ones listed are weapons, so he's got a club and a big sword. No slot for weapons on the sheet so it can't be that important. 

And that's it! My goblin's name is Oongoos. He's big and shaggy and has lovely blue eyes that no one ever really sees because his hair hangs in his eyes. OOGH-ARGHG EAT STUPID ARRAOO! MERR CRIMMAS!

D&D: Gnolls, But Not the Grassy Kind

Once again, here we are in the rolling hills of Abhaile. Here's last time.

The heroes head south from the strange, moss-covered haunted village, each pondering their own journeys. Clara is, as befits a monk, present in the moment, noting types of plants and fungus that are not native to her northern homelands. Dara's thoughts are more troubled - the destination now is the Enclave of Thorns, her home, and going back there means facing the sticky love triangle that drove her away, and she thought she'd be gone longer. Aisling is mentally composing a sequel to the story about the two lovers whose families would rather see them dead than together, now that she knows how that story ended. And Zook reflects that he has as much closure to his father's story as he's likely to - he knows that Zeb is dead, but has the letter he wrote him, and perhaps that's enough.

As they walk, they start to smell smoke, and Dara smells burned flesh along with it. She points that out to the others (Aisling: "Too much to hope that it's a pig roast?"), and they quickly find the source: a village. Or rather, the remains of a village. The homes have been smashed in and burned, and a pile of corpses smolders in the center of town. Dara searches for survivors and finds none, but is able to put together a sense of what happened. The village was raided, and she finds paw prints. The creatures were roughly human-sized, walked on two legs, and her first thought upon seeing the prints and the wreckage is gnolls...

...but Zook notes that gnolls are birthed from the bodies of dead hyenas, and hyenas aren't native to the area. They're more common in the wastelands of the west. And anyway, the characters find tufts of fur around, but it looks like wolf or bear or even fox fur. Actually, the footprints indicate three different types of creature. Have gnolls learned to breed using other animals? The heroes do know that gnolls are evil; they kill for the fun of it and are absolutely a danger to everything in the area.

Dara takes the form of a hawk and flies out to scout ahead, and doesn't have to fly far. She spots a band of four creatures, all with animal-like heads but bipedal bodies. One is huge and bear-like and is chomping on something that Dara dearly hopes is a turkey leg (but isn't). Two are small and fox-like, and the squabble with each other as they walk. The fourth is out ahead, sniffing the air, and has lupine features.

And then, from a tree, an arrow whizzes by Dara's feathery head! Another wolf-gnoll that she didn't spot, with a longbow! She swoops back and finds the others, and tells them what she's found. They ready themselves for combat. Well, they try.

Aisling scrambles up a tree to hide in wait, and the other three try to do that, but Clara and Zook wind up climbing the same tree and then slipping and ending up halfway down but very much in plain sight. Dara does climb the tree, but then grabs a rotten branch and falls on her ass, just as the gnolls enter the clearing!

The battle is joined! Aisling remains in the tree and throws a sleep spell, but only succeeds in putting Zook to sleep. He lands on the ground with a thump, but remains snoozing. The fox-gnolls close on Dara and stab at her with daggers, and she unleashes a Thunderwave spell and blows them back (this also has the effect of waking Zook). The bear-gnoll swats at Clara like a piñata, but she lands deftly and strikes at it!

The heroes fight bravely (and burn through most of their spells and Ki), but eventually the fox-gnolls burn in a pool of flaming grease, one of the wolf-gnolls is tossed into the fire as well, and the bear-gnoll is beaten to death by Clara's nimble fists. The last wolf-gnoll, however, though blind (thanks to Zook's magic), lets out a horrible howl and then flees into the forest. "If that howl means what I think it means," says Zook, "we'd better leave." 

Dara takes her sickle and takes the head of one of the fox-gnolls to show the Enclave. They're still at least a day out, though, so they start pushing through the forest. They can't stay ahead of the gnolls, however, and they hear the monsters closing in. They decide to climb a tree properly this time, and it's not long before the gnolls emerge from the woods.

This time, there's a bear-gnoll, and a bunch of wolf-gnolls, but one of the wolf-gnolls is bigger and wears a necklace of ears and skulls on his shoulders. Some kind of war-chief, then. He stands at the base of the tree and cough/yells up. "THROW - DOWN - ELF! OTHERS - LEAVE!"

The heroes look at each other, and Aisling replies: "NEVER!"

The wolf-lord laughs, and the gnolls start climbing. The bear-gnoll, the wolf-lord, and the wolf-gnoll that Zook blinded before climb the tree that the heroes are in, while the others climb nearby trees. This gives the heroes a minute to steady themselves and cast what healing spells they have...

The gnolls attack, and the bear-gnoll engages Clara. Zook stays back and throws firebolts, and then unsheathes a dagger and strikes, desperately trying to even the others. Aisling fires crossbow bolts at the gnolls and then switches to protecting herself with a Blade Ward and beating her drum to inspire the others, while Dara lashes out with her Thorn Whip. She eventually engages the wolf-lord and, putting a Shillelagh spell on her staff, knocks him out of the tree. 

The bear-gnoll, however, sees this and tackles her in outrage, and they both fall 50 feet to the forest floor. The bear-gnoll does not survive the fall, and Dara isn't far behind. She sees the wolf-lord crawling toward her licking its lips and she tries to say "take me, let the others go"...but then an arrow strikes the wolf-lord in the back!

Dara lifts her bloodied head and sees a woman standing in the shadows with a longbow! Up in the trees, a man appears and yells to the others "Hold on to something!" He then throws a Gust of Wind spell and blows the remaining gnoll right out of the tree!

The other four wolf-gnolls are in nearby treetops pelting the heroes with arrows, but then a roar of rage goes up from one of them and the heroes see Fearg, the barbarian, lashing out with a war pick! The heroes realize that, once again, this other band of adventurers has come to their aid. Belle, the ranger, fires arrows at the wolf-lord and then engages him with her dagger as he closes on her (leaving Dara to struggle to stay alive). Keenan, the sorcerer, hurls firebolts at gnolls, and Fearg kills one with a war-pick. Clara leaps across the branches to engage the last one, and within a moment the gnolls are dead!

Belle walks over and helps Dara to her feet ("be still, my indelible friend"), and Fearg pulls a crossbow bolt out of his shoulder (Zook: "er, sorry about that, shouldn't have shot into combat like that"). Fearg and Aisling reunite a bit, and then the two bands talk about what happened.

Fearg, always surprisingly knowledgeable about spiritual matters, points out that gnolls worship a demon goddess called Yeenoghu, and every clan has a "Fang of Yeenoghu" that is in charge of growing the pack. If this particular Fang has learned to breed gnolls from other carnivores, that's both new and horrifying. They need to find this pack and kill them before they can spread any further.

The heroes agree...but there need to be a rest first. As they look for a suitable place to camp, however, what they don't remember is that the last time they saw this band of adventurers, there was a bard named Losh with them.

Character Creation: Game of Thrones

THE FIFTH OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR,
UGH, FINE, GAME OF THRONES,
FOUR NESTIN' BIRDS
THREE VELVET GENS,
TWO SONGBIRDS,
AND BARD THE RPG!

The Game: A Game of Thrones RPG
The Publisher: Guardians of Order
Degree of Familiarity: Some with Tri-Stat, not much with the source material
Books Required: Just the one, but you could kill a giraffe with this thing

Right, so. This is one of two Game of Thrones RPGs that I own (the other being Green Ronin's A Song of Ice and Fire, which I did a character for way back in the Before Times and thus the post contains a bit of blather about industry stuff that's totally not relevant). This is very much the lesser of the two, and I mean that with no disrespect, it's just that THIS BOOK IS MAMMOTH and I've been putting off reading it for days because it's Xmas time and my dog has been sick and my mom's needed help with her new place and I've got games to actually run and and and...

But I'll never get to the twelfth game of Xmas (TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR!) with that attitude, so here we go. 

This book is #0599 of 2500 (it's a limited edition!) and I own it because Michelle edited it (she did a bunch of work for Guardians of Order before they folded and also stole Daedalus from her and never paid her). It's the last Tri-Stat book I own that I haven't done a character for, I think and I haven't touched it because a) it's way too big to read comfortably and I don't have a PDF and b) I do not care a single squishy banana for A Song of Ice and Fire and related materials. Tried to read it, tried to watch the show, couldn't get into it, not my thing. But rules are rules. I'm aware of the setting in kind of general terms, so I think what I'm gonna do is find a hook for a character and then just build that muthafucka, and try to spend as little time on this as possible so I can go do Xmas things (and also D&D prep). 

ENOUGH WAFFLING. What kind of game or throne or whatever should I make?

OH WAIT MOTHERFUCKER. This game contains both d20 rules (probably 3.0) and Tri-Stat rules. SHIT. What do the rules of the chargen project demand? When I've had games like H.P. Lovecraft Academy that have multiple rules sets I usually make a character for each, but those are in separate books. Do I have any other games that include multiple rules sets in one book? Oh, wait! I do! eCollapse! And in that book I decided that I would just use one rules set because they're in the same book! 

(See, the disadvantage of me being off for Xmas break is that I have more time to blather during these chargen posts.)

OK, with all of that in mind, I'm gonna use the d20 rules. What, you say? But Matt, you hate those rules! Well, "hate" is a strong word - it's certain not my favorite system - but it is immensely quicker than Tri-Stat, and that's my priority today. So, with that in mind, let's do this!

So, Step One would be "Discussion" (that is, the group deciding what kind of game to play), but it's just me, so skipping that. Step Two is "character outline," but that kind of depends on Step One in a lot of ways. I think I want to make a commoner, rather than a noble, and assuming this game would take place in the north, probably someone outdoorsy and good with traps and hunting and shit. A little like Alfred Molina's character in Ladyhawke but not a total dickbag. 

Step Three is Ability Scores, and they're done point-buy here rather than rolling. I start with 8 in each of them (the standard D&D six) and I have 25 points to add, one-for-one up to 14, 2 to buy points 15 and 16, and 3 to buy 17 and 18 (so if I want an 18 in a stat it'd cost...22 of my points. Not worth it). 

Well, knowing what I do of the d20 system, I can't really put anything as a dump stat other than Charisma and maybe Intelligence, so let's put two each into those and leave them at 10 so I don't have a penalty. That's four points gone. I want my Constitution to be on the higher side, so let's bump that to 14 (10 points spend), and I want at least a small bonus in Dexterity, so I'll bump it to 12 (14 points spent). I'll put Strength up to 12 (18 points spent), Wisdom up to 14 (24 points spent), and that leaves me one lonely little point, which I'll throw into...Intelligence, I guess, so that if I ever get to raise it, I only have to put it one point to give myself a bonus. 

Step Four is Background, which is this game translates to "where ya from." I know I want him to be from The North. That gives him Survival as a Favored Skill, +2 on Handle Animal and Intimidate checks, +2 to Fortitude Saves (nice), and a few Feats I can pick as a Background Feat, which I'll worry about later. 

Step Five is House Affiliation, but I'm a commoner so it's No House.

Step Six is Class! There are new ones in this book, that's cool. My guy is obviously a Hunter. That gives me 8 HP plus my CON bonus (so 10). I get a bunch of Class Skills, but there's really no place to write them on this sheet (this sheet is kinda crap - it looks nice, though), so I'll just write down the ones I have. And oh look, I get 7 + Int modifier (so 7) x 4 (so 28), and a +4 bonus since I'm human (what other option is there?) so I have 32 Skill points. Skills are a later step, though, so I'll skip spending them for now. 

I get proficiency in...a bunch of things, really. I get Native Terrain and I'll pick "cold forest" as mine. And that's it, everything else comes at later levels.

Step Seven, Skills. I have (as mentioned) 32 points to spend. Class skills are one-for-one, and that's probably all I'll buy. I only put 4 ranks into a given skill (3 + level), so that actually makes things easy. I want to max out Survival, so that's 4 points right there and leaves me 28. For the rest, let's do this:

Balance 2
Climb 2
Craft: Fletcher 1
Handle Animal 3
Hide 4
Knowledge: Local Area 1
Knowledge: Nature 2
Listen 2
Move Silently 4
Profession 2
Spot 1
Use Rope 4

Step Eight: Feet! No, Feats! I get two (one basic and one for being hooman). I'll take Blind Fighting (I'm used to fighting at night), and Canny (I'm extra good at fighting with a short sword).

Step Nine would be Reputation, but I don't think I start with one, which makes me wonder why it's a step (I mean, I guess if you're a noble or you have certain Feats). 

Anyway, that's me about done! Let's name this fucker!

Wind is aware that "Wind" probably isn't his birth name, but what he remembers from his childhood was his father raising him out in a cabin in the woods and telling him "mind the wind, be the wind" a lot. Wind got pretty good at that - he's perceptive and stealthy, and has made a living as he's grown up out of trapping animals and selling pelts. He still lives in that cabin. His father died of fever a few years ago, and he protected his body from scavengers for months and then buried him when the ground got soft in spring. 

Wind has a routine - he sleeps much of the day and hunts by night, because that's when the animals with the best pelts are active. Getting him into an adventure would require shaking up that routine. My suggestion to my non-existent GM would be to burn the cabin down. 

Wind looks like a dude that lives in the woods and hunts for a living - he has a big ol' beard, he's strong but thin, but he looks bulky because he bundles up. He has a sword that his father gave him (he's not entirely sure where Dad got it, and he doesn't know what the symbol on the hilt means), and he's gotten pretty adept with it. 

That'll do it!

Pugmire: Home Again

I was going to call this post "The Love of Man" but I thought that might send the wrong message right up front. Anyway, here's last time.

The Pioneers wake up and continue on their way, heading west through the Fearful Forest. They come to a meadow, and as they're walking across it, they realize that the ground is harder than they'd expect, like there's a layer of bedrock beneath them. No matter.

But then Peppa Papillon collapses (she didn't mention it, but she'd been feeling weirdly overwhelmed since they crossed into this meadow). She rolls on the ground in religious ecstasy ("LET THE HAND OF MAN GIVE YOU SCRITCHES!"). This is a holy place, she can feel it.

Petunia Pibble focuses a bit and tries to sniff whatever magic is happening, and can't really smell magic (or Unseen influence, for that matter). But there's something here, something comforting and joyous, under the ground. She feels it too, and tells the others that she agrees - there might be something buried here, a holy relic of some kind.

Peppa, thrilled that they get to not only look for a holy relic but dig doing it, asks everyone to pitch it! Dire Newfoundland agrees, but says he reserves the right to say "I told you so" if some kind of monster pops out. Gelert Sausagedog and Boomer Pitbull also pitch in, digging carefully, and over the next few hours they unearth a big, flat, grey expanse of rough rock. There are footprints int it, but they are strange.

They're seeing two sets of prints. One is someone walking on two legs, wearing shoes (so it's hard to tell what kind of paws they had), maybe as big as a medium-size or large dog's. But the second set of prints are clearly dog paws...except that the dog was walking on all fours and all four of their paws were, well, paws, not like the hands that these dogs have. Are they seeing...prints from the Age of Man?

Dire follows the prints and finds carvings at the edge of the rock, marks in the runes of man. He calls Peppa over and she translates as best she can: "CG and Musty (good boy)".

As reads the last bit, all five of them are overcome with the Love of Man, and all five of them allow the visions to take them. All of them have brief visions of the lives of dogs living with humans, untold eons ago.

Petunia feels herself nestling in behind her human on a couch and falling asleep, safe and sound.

Sausagedog sees himself leaping into the air to grab a treat following a demonstration of agility and skill.

Boomer is chasing rabbits in a field, and turns to see an old man sitting on a chair outside his house, and he knows that he loves this man and the man loves him.

Peppa is sprawled on the floor, food bowl empty, her human sitting in a chair near her, both of them stuffed and sated and sleeping off dinner.

Dire sees himself as afraid, abused, hurt, but a human reaching out gently, offering a hand that he knows represents kindness and...love. Dire, in the vision, pushes past his own fear and puts his head against the human, accepting the love.

The dogs return from their visions, and Dire sits down and weeps. Sausagedog and Peppa go and sit with him. Boomer, too, is lost in his thoughts, in the simple joy of what he felt. Petunia, ever the practical one, takes rubbings of the carvings and prints on her cloak. 

When the dogs have recovered from their visions, Peppa fills her rucksack with as much dirt as she can ("THIS IS HOLY DIRT"), and they head west again.

They travel through the forest for another couple of days without incident, and emerge in Mutt Town. They have been here before, a long time ago, when Dire kinda went nuts and nearly killed a dog named Clyger (leading of the Nippers). That explains some of the looks they get as they walk into town.

They go and visit Jarvis Mutt, a toolsmith and a friend of Sausagedog. He tells them that the Nippers moved on shortly after that incident; the crime situation in Pugmire shifted and they fled the area. He tells them that the kingdom of Pugmire continues to make gentle overtures to Mutt Town to become a protectorate, and they continue to refuse. Oh, and there's a mission now, Jarvis tells Peppa, - a shepherd named Brother Snowbell Mutt started it up and has even gotten the local dogs to go to service. "He may be a white dog," says Jarvis, "but he's like you - not afraid to get his paws dirty."

Peppa, of course, wants to go and talk to him, and Dire goes along, still grappling with his faith. The others go to the local tavern and Boomer starts nomming on turkey legs, while Sausagedog regales the locals with stories of their travels. 

Brother Snowbell greets them and recognizes Peppa, and welcomes them to the mission (which is just a single room - Snowbell does his services outside). Peppa goes into the mission to tidy up a bit; she's been too long out of service to her church. Snowbell, recognizing a soul in crisis, has Dire sit with him a while.

Dire tells Snowbell that what he's grappling with is feeling loved; it's not something he's ever really experienced before. And now that he's felt it, he feels that he should be that example in the world, be a protector to dogs (and cats and birds and lizards...he's met so many different people, now) who can't protect themselves.

Snowbell tells him that the first and central tenet of the Church of Man is: Be a good dog. But what does that mean to Dire? How can he be a good dog in ways others cannot? Clearly he is not going to be the same kind of example of the faith that, say, Peppa is, but that's OK. Dogs need protectors. He tells Dire a story he read about a dog in the Time of Man protecting a flock of sheep from monsters in the dark, and how the dog made clear to the monsters that he understood that they were hungry and sympathized, but he would not let them harm the sheep. The monsters threatened and tried to talk the dog into letting them by, but he refused and told them that if they attacked, they might kill him, but he would kill at least some of them. Dire nods - he understands being the shield that won't crack.

The dogs buy rooms at the inn for the night (rather, Dire does, spending the last of his plastic), and in the morning they all attend a ceremony in which Dire undergoes the Ritual of Transubstantiation, receiving the Elixir of Man and taking on the mantle of a shepherd. But rather than taking the title of "Brother," Snowbell calls him "Protector." Dire swears to curb his impulses towards theft and violence, and to protect those smaller and weaker than himself. In so doing, he finds the same magic that Peppa wields waking up inside him.

The dogs wait until Tony Mutt arrives in his boat and Dire gives him the bottle of fancy wine he stole from Taymor Persian von Cyrmic's house for passage ("Mmm, notes of hairball!"). He takes them home to Riverwall in the city of Pugmire, and Pioneers discover that, as they've been gone for the better part of a year, their house has been rebuilt! (Remember it burned down; it was that event that pushed them to chase the Nippers to Mutt Town, in fact.) Bivi Affenpinscher meets them and welcomes them back ("So glad you survived! We weren't sure!") and helps Sausagedog extract the pictures he took with his strange little device. These are made into portraits and hung in the Pioneer's Guild House, and the dogs rest, home in Pugmire after such a long journey.

And somewhere, miles away, the Nagayaga continues its plotting...