TheRPGSite

Just to let everyone know. I posited an opinion on a thread in open about what licences we would like to do. I mentioned Gormenghast.

Well, i'm currently developing a system that will take the idea behind those books, shake it up, give it hallucinations and generally make the 'enclosed castle' a new genre, if you like.

I'm already in the 10k words mark and things are going well. We have 92 different castle features contained on a master feature table. The feature entries will serve the function of character creation, character advancement, as well as creating a snapshot of the castle and its inhabitants. Politics, Problems and NPCs can then be created for each location, creating a thriving community within the Stone Horizons.

Draft Introductory Text:

There is the castle and there is outside. They are one and the same.

The beautiful forest is home to a hunter’s lodge and close by its stone foundations, a deep river flows. It meanders between both the trees of the forest and the lofty stone gazebos, open-air temples and the wide metal ducts that poke up periodically from the loam of the forest floor. When it reaches the forest’s edge, the river encounters only walls of stone; gothic archways in the walls lead to corridors, and then more passageways and yet more. The river plunges down one such passage until the vista changes to that of a subterranean river, lit only by torches placed at irregular intervals on the walls that frame its progress. More archways and passageways lead from the river channel, small landing areas are dotted about it, walkways sway above, bustling with denizens. Bobbing along its course is a primitive raft crafted from small bits of flotsam that have been lashed together. A dozen pairs of eyes stare from the junk at the people on the riverbank. The river next enters a large courtyard, splitting it in two. Each side of the courtyard is riddled with opening and passageways and above the waterway is storey upon storey of walkways and openings, leading to yet more passageways, and then, yet more. The river then enters a narrow tunnel, and the only company it has are the spindly beings that cling to the walls, coming and going into tiny apertures in the wall and barking excitedly at the men on the raft. The river finally emerges once more into sunlight and a rocky channel carved into a mountainside by millennia of erosion. To each side of the channel, the castle rears again; gargoyles peer at the travellers from tall towers that dot the skyline for as far as the eye can see. Maidens watch the raft pass by wistfully, wishing to be taken away to new climes. Eventually, the flotsam raft passes from their view. Framed by the cyclopean buildings to each side; carved, raised and covering a hundred mountains in a never ending sea of worked stone and rooftops, the river and its raft pass beyond the stone horizon…To be confronted with yet another vista of all encompassing stonework buildings; clinging to the earth like limpets and shading it from the sun. Desert, jungle, grassy plains, icy wastes; they have all been smothered by the castle and nestle within it’s bowels. Rare gems of land, clear of the castle, pass by swiftly and are swallowed by the stone once more.
   
The river passes beyond these Stone Horizons on a journey that few take, to dump its waters into the sea. Boats dot the water here and trade, hunting and piracy take place here much like any other ocean. There is one difference though. If you can find the right ship captain at the right time in a suitable state of inebriation, he will tell you, “Across the ocean? The castle is there matey. It hems in the water. Only the mouth of the occasional river splits the gargantuan walls of stone. Beaches? Have to sail into the grottos under the castle to see those, lad! The castle is everywhere and the castle is everything. Let’s hope whoever built it never wants it back eh?”

Welcome to Stone Horizons, where the castle is everywhere and the castle is everything!

Here's a draft of a single feature that can be found within the Stone Horizons:

01Sculleries

The overseer loomed, sneering at the cowering serving lad at his feet, “I hate you kitchen boy. My hate burns with the fire of a thousand candles. How many times have I told you not to spill the wine?” Raising his balled fist, the overseer catches the lad a stinging blow to the top of his head, causing the youth to whelp in pain.

After a moment of shuffling, the overseer grunts, “What have you got there boy? Here, hand it over.” Pulling the concealed knife from the folds of his tunic the lad lunges at the cruel overseer, plunging the blade into his throat. “I resign,” the boy mutters.

Player Character Information
Stat Mods: Manual Dexterity +1, Pragmatism +1
Skills: Prepare food 2, Portage 1, knives & cleavers 1, Prepare/identify poisons 1
Special Abilities: Organise 3
Status: 1

Scullery Accoutrements: A hearty meal (an evenings work or 2 pennies), Crockery (2 bits), Knives & cleavers (5 bits), aprons and work clothes (1 bit), 1 day of preserved foods (5 pennies), vermin poisons, lesser (3 bits), baskets & packs (1 bit), heat resistant gloves (1 bit), 1 days supply of chopped wood  (3 pennies), coals, bag (1 bit), heat stone, 10% chance, see special features (20 crowns), mesh gloves, butchery (4 bits)

Description
A scullery is where food is prepared on a large scale and they are normally attached to buildings or households of some substance. These kitchens may serve anywhere from 20 to several hundred people at a single sitting. Some sculleries are like vaulted cathedrals, their ceilings receding into an unknown distance above, where vermin and the occasional Rafter nest can be found. Others are cramped affairs where the fires of the ovens cast a hellish red glare over every one and everything. Huge loft spaces at the top of soaring towers, narrow channels within Wall crawler tunnels, a barge’s storage hold, or a workshop’s canteen, that holds hundreds, all serve as sculleries. Many buildings found within the Stone Horizons have sculleries and the differences between them can be staggering. You are urged to use your imagination when placing a scullery. However, soon, the amazing can become commonplace, so don’t make them all weird and wonderful. Just spice things up every now and then!

When travelling through the castle, you are probably never further than a couple of hundred yards away from a scullery of some description, meaning that thousands find work in this manner in countless stone horizons.

A Day in the Life

The lowly scullion is not well thought of by his neighbours. This type of work is considered to be nothing short of slavery by many. Scullions eat, live and sleep in the kitchens, unless they are tasked with getting supplies from local amenities. His work is never over. When others are tucked into their beds, he is banking the fires or getting the ovens ready for the morning bread. When he does finally get a chance to rest, he curls up under the worktops (getting a blanket if he is lucky) and sleeps the sleep of the exhausted. Due to the chaotic nature of the role, scullions rarely, if ever, get any leisure time, although all but the most hardened of scullery overseers normally grants each scullion one half day off every ten days. Illness is another matter. Sick scullions are sent to the apothecaries as quickly as possible and are not expected to work until they are fully recovered. They must make up the time they lost to the sickness, in most cases. Most scullions are never short of food either, whether it is the scraps from the worktables or leftovers from the eating hall, he is generally well fed, if criminally overworked.

Local features
Roll once on the master feature chart to determine which feature the scullery serves.

Once you know the feature that the scullery serves, roll 3 times on the master feature chart to design the immediate environment. Interconnect them with covered corridors, courtyards and linked buildings or move upwards to create multiple storeys of a single large building contained within the castle. This will create a small community for players to interact with and inform their advancement opportunities when creating their characters.

GM Information - Problems, Politics & NPCs

Roll once on the Problems & Politics table, and then roll on any sub charts indicated. Roll once on the Authority figure NPC table and twice on the general NPC table, again, rolling on any subsequent tables, as indicated. Ideas should then flow as to the politics and problems of the Scullery. The information gained in this section can then be interweaved with other local features to gain a microcosmic community within the castle.

Draft Environment explanation:

Hanging Around

It is perfectly possible to play a game of Stone Horizons without your feet ever touching the ground. Some of the buildings are so tall, that the rafters that hold up the roof are hidden in gloom thousands of feet above the ground. There is also horizon upon horizon of rooftops to clamber across and towers to scale, where that rarity to some residents; the sun, shines on your endeavours. Like most other environments, communities have grown up around these features to exploit their unique resources or to avoid overcrowding below. Features that take advantage of this niche are Rafter Nests, Duct Crew Balloons, Aviary Towers, Hammock Clusters, Eyries, Bell Towers, Wall-Crawler Hollows and Tower-Top Observatories. Chances are that if you have chosen (or rolled) one of these starting features, then your game will be primarily based on the rooftops and in the shrouded rafters of titanic buildings. However, this needn’t necessarily be the case; it is relatively easy to place a normal feature or two below these lofty rooftop features that characters can visit and interact with. Another option, if you are playing a fantasy game, is to place a Levitation Shaft or some Moving Stairs nearby to grant greater access to the ground.

The lofty features of a rooftop game result in two considerations for the players. The first is survival. Resources are scarce in the high places, although birds and vermin can be found (the latter taste horrible), to get a large variety of foodstuffs, roof-toppers must visit other features to purchase or steal them. Residents of Eyries have come up with gliders that clip to their backs and use them to soar down to the ground or swoop over the rooftops to collect supplies when the local source has run short. The return journey is much more perilous and climbing skills are a must for a rooftop game. The second consideration for a rooftop game is that of exploration. Some features are uniquely qualified to aid trailblazing. Eyrie gliders, Duct Crew Balloons (who keep the giant ducts found in the largest buildings free of vermin and in good working order) and Aviary Towers all have the tools to reach far off horizons and communicate with the locals, get into fights, squabble and all the other things that player characters are likely to do. Given these two considerations, local politics and problems can become unwelcome distractions, but people being people, still occur. This gives rooftop games an undercurrent of desperation with folks trying to better their lot and scrambling over anyone in the way. Hammock Cluster folk have a particularly bad reputation in this regard. Then again, anyone who lives in a canvas hammock precariously perched thousands of feet above the ground can justifiably feel cranky.

Games in which shrouded ceiling spaces, lofty towers and the rooftops feature will need to strike a fine balance between the fight for survival and the spirit of exploration. It can prove to be an unusual experience for those who want to play in this environment.


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This is all that i am going to post here about this project, but i will be after proofreaders, editors and playtesters, in the fullness of time.

If you would be interested in playtesting this product, then please send me a PM and we can discuss how to take things forward. I would like to start playtesting in 3 months time, so you have plenty of time to get organised!

Edit: I've edited the sample feature description to an updated version.

This is great, Dan.  As I stated in the other thread, Gormenghast is a game waiting to happen.  Two memories leap to mind.

Years ago, long before Gormenghast was even published, a friend used a similar idea in a game of Tunnels & Trolls.  We took a wrong turn through a magical door and wound up in a seemingly endless manor that had halls and rooms that led to all sorts of strangely unimaginable places.  It was fantastic.

Not so many years ago, one of the most under-used and only partially developed ideas in Unknown Armies was the House of Renunciation.  The general concept was an endless house that you'd reach via a magical door, but you'd only be able to visit the one room that was intended for you.

I'll add another memory: the Sarah Winchester mansion (http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/).  If you're not familiar with the story, Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester firearms fortune, developed a mania that compelled her to just keep building onto her mansion, often building features that served no purpose -- stairs that led up to thin air, doors that opened onto solid walls, etc.  It's a weird place.  Magnify it a hundredfold, or simply make it limitless, and I'd never need to visit another dungeon again.

Go, man, go.

!i!

For some reason this also makes me think of The Book of the New Sun - with it's huge, sprawling buildings that inlcude libraries that go on seemingly forever...

It's not quite the same, but it made me think of it...

Nice work Dan - I'll be interested to see how it works out for you...

Rock On!

Quote from: James J SkachFor some reason this also makes me think of The Book of the New Sun - with it's huge, sprawling buildings that inlcude libraries that go on seemingly forever...

It's not quite the same, but it made me think of it...

Nice work Dan - I'll be interested to see how it works out for you...

Rock On!

That's one inspiration actually. :D

There are prison complexes and Interrogators rooms and libraries and...well, about 90 other things.

This sounds great - I have often wanted to play a Gormenghast-style game.

Can't wait to see SH in its finished glory - I wish I could spare the time to playtest it.

I don't even know what Gormenghast is... but this does have a New Sun vibe to it, I did play & love that old CoC module inspired by the Winchester house, and your write-up is amazing. Very focused & intense idea.

Seconded, Simon.  If only I had a group.  I'd make the time for something that sounds this interesting!

Bill? Keith? Pete?  I'll host?

Quote from: Pierce InverarityI don't even know what Gormenghast is...

Very...odd novels (http://www.amazon.com/Gormenghast-Novels-Mervyn-Peake/dp/0879516283).  Very good novels.

!i!

Thanks. Wow. That one goes right into the old shopping cart.

I know it's not strictly genre fiction, but Kafka's Castle is worth looking at in this connection.

No worries guys. If you don't have the time, you don't have the time. I'll just have to go....elsewhere. ;)

I'll post an announcement in this thread when i'm in a position to start the first playtest, but as i mentioned above, i don't see that happening for another 3 months yet. :)

Quote from: One Horse TownNo worries guys. If you don't have the time, you don't have the time. I'll just have to go....elsewhere. ;)

I'll post an announcement in this thread when i'm in a position to start the first playtest, but as i mentioned above, i don't see that happening for another 3 months yet. :)

That gives me three months to make the time. :cool:

Quote from: Simon WThat gives me three months to make the time. :cool:

Exactly!

In which case, do you guys want me to skip the middleman and send you a PM (or e-mail if you want to provide me with one) when i'm in a position to progress?

I want to feel out (get your mind out of the gutter) Keith and Bill and Pete and others to see if I can get a group of folks interested.  If that goes well, I'll let you know!

Quote from: James J SkachI want to feel out (get your mind out of the gutter) Keith and Bill and Pete and others to see if I can get a group of folks interested.  If that goes well, I'll let you know!

Grooviness!

Been working on special features such as rotating rooms and weeping walls today!  :D

Here's a very, very, sketchy randomly rolled starting area for the game (as i haven't created all of the tables yet!). This example is for a Local, Fantasy Sci-Fi game. The system will have three basic game types and two genres that it will cater to. Game types are Local, Political and Exploration and the genres will be Mundane and Fantasy Sci-Fi.

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Example Local Game Creation: - Bones of the Earth Chapel Area

Joe and two of his friends are playing in a Local, Fantasy Sci-Fi game of Stone Horizons and the GM has indicated that starting characters will be level 2.

The group choose Scullery as their starting feature. They need to find out which feature of the castle the scullery serves. They roll on the master feature chart and discover that it serves a chapel. Hmm...serving monks and priests, interesting. Next they roll 3 more times to discover other local features. The results are: Mage-Folk Towers, Warehouses and Tunnel Wardens Huts. An interesting mix, there must be a story here somewhere. As this is a Local game, these rolls indicate the features from which all of the players may make their characters, and as they are starting at 2nd level, the skills they may advance their characters with. Joe decides that he'd like his starting feature to be the chapel that the scullery serves. He looks up the chapel entry and notes down any adjustments to his stats, his skills, special abilities and starting Status. As he is going to start at 2nd level, Joe can now advance his character by staying put at the chapel and adding 1 point to each of his granted skills, 1 point to his special abilities and 1 point to his status, or move to one of the other features rolled. He chooses to stay put and notes down his advanced skills, special abilities and status. His friend decides to start at the Tunnel Warden Huts and notes down his starting abilities. He too elects to stay put during advancement. The 3rd player in the group wants to start out at the Mage-Folk Towers and makes a note of his starting profile. However, on advancement, he decides to move to the Tunnel Wardens Huts (where he acts as a guide). His status is reduced by one point and he doesn't adjust his stats, but he notes down the new skills and abilities that this new location gives him. The characters are ready to roll. However, the area hasn't been fleshed out yet.

Starting with the scullery, the GM rolls for problems & politics and rolls a 77. This indicates that he must roll on the politics sub-table. Rolling 58 (secrets), the GM makes a note of what the secret is. Next he rolls for NPCs and discovers the scullery authority figure is 2nd level and a veteran of the scullery whose outlook is 'bleak' and reputation is 'hot-tempered'. The GM rolls a secret for the scullery overseer. 3 further normal NPCs are drawn up and their level, outlook, reputation and secrets manufactured.

This procedure is then repeated for the chapel, warehouses, mage-folk towers and tunnel wardens huts, creating 4 more problems for the area, four more authority figures and 12 more NPCs of interest. As this is a local game, the GM decides that he will create a few more NPCs for the players to interact with over time.

These further rolls result in these local problems; the warehouses having an infestation of tall-toes spiders (known), the mage-folk towers suffering from a heretical cult (rumoured), the chapel have a rivalry (known) and the tunnel wardens' huts are hiding a special feature (the GMs roll indicates a Well of Fire, unknown). Two NPCs are enemies (known); one is an escaped criminal responsible for a rash of thefts (unknown) and the other 12 or so NPCs complete the procedure, each representing a possible adventure possibility once created.

With this information, the players and GM decide to flesh out the local area. They decide that their homes are on the outskirts of an abandoned area of the castle, in a huge cavern, at least half a mile across. The tunnels that the wardens guard worm through the earth, leading from the area to a far off laboratory complex. The warehouses store glassware and lab equipment ready for transport through the tunnels and the tunnel wardens guide the occasional trade caravan through this maze of tunnels. The chapel grew up here to service the folk of the warehouses and the wardens' huts (as well as to keep an eye on the mage-folk) and are a cult based on revering the earth and its bounties, called the Bones of the Earth. The mage-folk were here long before the humans came and keep themselves to themselves. However, the tunnels that border the area sometimes disgorge huge swarms of pests and sometimes, even giant specimens. What's worse, it is rumoured that the Hanged Man resides within the tunnels and has started a cult within the mage-folk towers. Leaving other, secret details to the GM, the group are happy with their starting location and wonder how it will all play out. They will flesh out the physical dimensions and look of the buildings interiors and exteriors at a later date, using the construction tables to do so or making it up themselves, as they see fit. However, they decide that this local area is either underground or within the bowels of a building so huge that no one has ever seen it's exterior. No one has ever seen the sun, for that matter.

The GM decides that his introductory session for the characters will involve an eruption of pests from the tunnels, making the PCs work together and getting them used to the area. Then he will introduce the heretical cult's attempt to recruit the scullery overseer, drawing a web of deceit around the area. Those who unmask the cultists will surely raise their status within the Bones of the Earth Chapel area.

I've edited the example feature in the first post to better reflect what i'm currently working on. Draft 1.1 if you like.

I've decided to start a limited playtest on 26th September. This limited playtest will include a ready to play 'area' (4 features) with attendant problems and the relevant rules entries, skill descriptions etc for characters created in that area. I've chosen this limited playtest so that i can iron out any mechanical problems and take feedback before i write the bulk of the document. The way that rolling up characters actually creates the game setting means that the ready to use area used in the playtest could have been an area you rolled up yourselves when starting a game. In this case, i've just provided you with the game setting in advance so that i can iron out any problems that arise.

If anyone is interested in this first limited playtest, please PM me. I don't see the need at this early stage to play more than one or two sessions using the materials i provide. So if you like the idea and can manage it, i look forward to hearing from you! :)

One person signed up! :) Any more?

OHT - love to but what's the setup? I don't want to commit to something I can't return success to you...so just want to know...

And too much craziness has happened since this first came up, so my memory is fuzzy...

Hey dude. No problem. I figured that as the game is meant to be modular that there was little need for me to do more than get the mechanics written up and one 'adventure area' completed, before i started playtesting. Most of the rest of the book will have few mechanics, so if the game plays ok then i'm golden.

As far as the playtest goes, i'm going to send out the relevant sections of the book and a ready to play adventure area and a few suggestions on how to use it and then see what you guys think of the mechanics in different situations. I reckon one or two sessions will suffice.

If you want we can discuss it via PM or e-mail.

As a teaser, here's an example character and the skeleton of the area that he and the other players' characters will be playing in.

Say, this is pretty neat.  I like how, at the start of the game, all of the players get together and figure out how their respective locales all fit together to explain their acquaintence with one another.  It reminds me of one of my favorite aspects of prepping for Ars Magica -- cooperative covenant design.

Have you ever read Richard Brautigan's In Watermelon Sugar (http://www.amazon.com/Watermelon-Sugar-Richard-Brautigan/dp/0440340268)?  A beautiful, surreal book, some elements of which it shares in common with Gormenghast (the strange town/commune of iDEATH and its counterpart, inBOIL).  I've sometimes joked that someone should write an In Watermelon Sugar RPG, but I think you may just have struck on the formula, my good man.

By the by, the character stats of Manual Dexterity and Mental Discipline are, as I'm sure you've noticed, a little confounding as a result of their similar initials.  I realise that "Dexterity" has become something of a staple stat of RPGs, but perhaps something like "Physical Acumen" or somesuch would help differentiate the two visually.  I understand that paging through a thesaurus often makes the result feel a little insincere, though.

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaSay, this is pretty neat.  I like how, at the start of the game, all of the players get together and figure out how their respective locales all fit together to explain their acquaintence with one another.  It reminds me of one of my favorite aspects of prepping for Ars Magica -- cooperative covenant design.

Yeah, i like that stuff too and considering the breadth of features in SH, you've got to flesh the play area out a bit.

QuoteHave you ever read Richard Brautigan's In Watermelon Sugar (http://www.amazon.com/Watermelon-Sugar-Richard-Brautigan/dp/0440340268)?  A beautiful, surreal book, some elements of which it shares in common with Gormenghast (the strange town/commune of iDEATH and its counterpart, inBOIL).  I've sometimes joked that someone should write an In Watermelon Sugar RPG, but I think you may just have struck on the formula, my good man.

I have to confess i have never heard of it. Maybe i give it a read.

QuoteBy the by, the character stats of Manual Dexterity and Mental Discipline are, as I'm sure you've noticed, a little confounding as a result of their similar initials.  I realise that "Dexterity" has become something of a staple stat of RPGs, but perhaps something like "Physical Acumen" or somesuch would help differentiate the two visually.  I understand that paging through a thesaurus often makes the result feel a little insincere, though.

!i!

Yeah, i purposefully split Manual Dexterity from 'general agility'. Physique is meant to represent both agility, strength and endurance and Manual Dexterity covers doing stuff with your hands as well as a good chunk of combat skills. I'll probably end up changing the name of Mental Discipline instead.

Quote from: One Horse TownI have to confess i have never heard of [In Watermelon Sugar]. Maybe i give it a read.

It has that same world-in-miniature effect that Gormenghast does.  It takes you a while to realise that, for all intents and purposes, there's no world outside.  Also there's that same sort of Weird-Place-Here and Strange-Feature-Over-There and Freaky-Place-Around-The-Corner kind of feel, like if you took a left turn where the main character took a right, you'd be exploring an entirely different story against the same backdrop.

It's definitely worth a (very quick!) read, though the book can be counfoundingly difficult to find at times.

!i!

I've added some random Customs & Communities generation tables. So i'm attaching Dr.Carpetbaggers updated character sheet that now contains this information on it. This fleshes out the area some more and helps the players get a handle on their area before and during play.

1st minor play test

The Great Works area has been labouring away under the curse of a swarm of Plague Flies for as long as anyone can remember. Nothing seems to get done about them and when it does, they come back again within a short period of time. The playgroup has decided that they could raise their Status if they could find a way of getting rid of them permanently. To this end, Chisel, a PC who works in the Workshops that suffer the greatest from the swarm has been working on a wooden trap to capture the giant variety of the flies, hopefully meaning that the smaller ones can then be dealt with piecemeal. Chisel has the skill Craft – Carpentry 3 and his Pragmatism is 4. He rolls 7d6 for his craft roll to create the trap. He gains 2 successes. The trap is made to a high standard. The player has already informed the GM that he works on this project in his free time, so the GM decides that it takes 2 weeks for the item to be made.

The rest of the group: Dr. Carpetbagger (the charlatan) and Mr. Stalker (the kennel worker) congratulate Chisel and decide to make an expedition into the bowels of the workshop to try and trap a giant Plague Fly. It will be dangerous and only Dr. Carpetbagger has a weapon - his trusty knife. So Mr. Stalker brings along Grizzle, his Canine Companion (Kennels Feature special ability) and Chisel attempts a Protected test (Workshops special ability). Chisel is successful and gains one guard to come with him. The GM gives control of the guard to the player controlling Chisel, informing him that the guard has a Morale rating of Hurt (when the guard enters the Hurt health category, he must make a Jitters test). Prepared, the PCs, Grizzle, and the NPC guard travel into the bowels of the workshop feature, trap in hand.

The damp interior of the workshops prey on the travellers and the tension is ramped up nicely as they proceed. At one point, a rusty duct tube blocks their path and unless they want to make a large detour, they must clamber over it. The PCs decide to climb over it. The GM states that because of the equipment they are carrying and the sharp rusty metal of the duct, that a Climb test will be required. Failure will result in the loss of 1 Health Point, but successful clambering over the impediment. Success means that they will not be injured. None of the travellers have the Climb skill, however, that does not mean that they cannot attempt the climb. Unskilled attempts at skill simply use the skill's parent Statistic to determine how many dice are rolled. In all cases, this turns out to be 4 dice (except the NPC guard, who has 5 dice to roll). All bar Mr. Stalker succeed. The unlucky kennel worker cuts himself on a piece of metal and marks one point of Health damage on his Health Point profile, which puts him into the Lightly Injured category. He suffers no dice penalties to skill attempts yet...

They continue on into the disused interior of the workshops, a veritable maze of un-travelled passages and echoing chambers. Finally, they hear a low buzzing noise! The Swarm! Peeking ahead, they see 2 giant Plague Flies. Oh no, they only have room for 1 in the trap! They have a quick argument about how to proceed, finally deciding that with the guard and Grizzle's help, they should be able to catch one and deal with the other.

Dr. Carpetbagger uses Stealth to creep to a better position to force the fly into the trap, rolling a Stealth test. He rolls 6d6 and achieves 2 successes, enough to gain his position. Mr. Stalker uses his Dog Training skill on Grizzle, trying to get the dog to run out, bark at the flies and then run back, hopefully getting them to follow him. He rolls 6 dice. He also gains 2 successes, so far, so good. Chisel then manoeuvres the trap into position, requiring a Portage test. He also rolls 7d6 but gains 3 successes. Not only does he get the trap into position, he does it noiselessly.

The plan is afoot. They go! Grizzle runs out as planned and barks a challenge. This gains the flies' attention and the huge things fly towards the hidden party. Things are getting tense. Grizzle runs back to Mr. Stalker's side, preparing to guard the kennel worker from attack. As the flies near, nasty proboscises protrude from their mouths, dripping foul ichors. The guard steps aside at the last minute, revealing the trap. The GM has Chisel's player attempt a Reflexive Manual Dexterity test to catch one of the beasts. He only has 3 dice to roll. Sadly, he fails and the flies close in. Dr. Carpetbagger leaps from his hidden position behind the flies and aims a blow at one of them. He rolls 4 dice, gaining 1 success. Daggers inflict +1 damage, so he adds that to the number of successes achieved to determine the amount of Health Point damage he has inflicted on the fly. As it was an attack made from the fly's blind-side, he doubles the resulting damage. He inflicts 4 Health Points of damage to the fly, lightly injuring it. Grizzle then leaps at a fly, inflicting 2 points of damage and the guard attacks Carpetbaggers opponent, his greater skill inflicting 4 more points of damage. This damage puts the fly into the Hurt health category (and only 1 point from the Heavily Injured category). The fly now suffers a 1 dice penalty to all Reflexive tests.

The flies then attempt to inject the PC with foul fluids. Rolling 6d6 each for their attacks. One targets the guard and the other targets Mr. Stalker. In the meantime, Chisel is manoeuvring the trap for another capture attempt. The guard is hit with 2 successes (no additional weapon damage) and he attempts a Reflexive parry. He gains 2 successes, negating the fly's attack. Mr. Stalker is not so lucky; he gets hit for 2 points of damage also and does not dodge the attack. He has now suffered 3 points of damage, leaving him close to entering the Hurt health category (and a 1 dice penalty to all reflexive tests).

The next round in the scene starts with Chisel. This time he succeeds in trapping one of the flies, leaving only one to deal with! Between them, Grizzle, the guard and Dr. Carpetbagger inflict another 6 points of damage to the fly. This is enough, not only to take it into the Heavily Injured category, but also enough to take it through the Dying category and also strike the single point that denotes death. The party is victorious with only Mr. Stalker being injured.

Still, this being a Giant Plague Fly, later in the session, the GM has the player of Mr. Stalker attempt a Physique test. He rolls 4d6, gaining 1 success. Looking up the entry for Plague Flies, this means that over the coming week, Mr. Stalker will become ill, suffering a 1 dice penalty to all actions. With care and rest, he will recover.

The party return to the Great Works area with the captive fly and are the centre of a small scrum of apprentices and workers who admire their efforts. When the workshop Duty Leader arrives however, there are remonstrations and punishments for the PCs (he doesn't like having his authority and Status usurped – the GM had rolled an outlook of Jealous for this Authority Figure. Perhaps the PCs have made an enemy for later sessions). Still, the plan was a success and the PCs receive a temporary addition of 1 point to their Status (which the GM decides will last for 2 game sessions). If the PCs want to increase their Status permenantly and thus increase their characters a level, they will have to solve the problem of the Plague Flies once and for all and now they have a jealous Authority Figure to deal with. Personality politics and abuse of power has now entered the equation. The players are somewhat rueful, but determined to carry on with their planned eradication of the vermin. In fact, maybe that weird Glass ceiling could help in some way? Maybe if they could find a way of opening it, they could drive the flies out and then close the thing up again.

A number of riddles (a custom of the political area – see above, are created to explain the PCs exploits over the coming weeks).

They look forward to the next session.

Edit: Due to this playtest, i've altered stat levels so that starting characters typically have a dice pool of no more than 7 dice in areas where they are skilled. This guarentees at least 1 success in skills with this number of dice, which will have varying results depending on the skill being used and how it is being used.

Bar equipment, which will be done some other day, this is pretty much the final character sheet for Dr. Carpetbagger (including my write up of the first playtest posted above). Character creation is complete. Now i just have to write everything else! :( :D

Right. This is the real deal guys! :D

I'm going to be ready by the end of next week to provide material for the pre-playtest. Chargen, community generation and NPC generation is all sorted out. There's shit loads of detail to add, but i would like to get the basics and the mechanics tested at this stage.

I plan to provide playtesters with an area of 4 features that will contain the game. If you've read the character sheet of Dr. Carpetbagger and the playtest report above, you'll know what area i'm talking about. The playtest area will be a ready to play one, which means that some aspects of the random generation will already have been taken care of. However, the generation of the NPCs to flesh the area out are for you to create. All the details needed to start a game in this area will be provided. I will provide the whole Stone Horizons document as it stands at the moment as well, but this is more to give you some context to the ready to play area than anything else.

You can do 1 session, as long or short as you like, or 2 sessions or whatever you fancy. i just want to give the mechanics a test drive at this stage.

Needless to say, all communication about this game is to be strictly between you and me. Therefore we don't talk about it here, but by e-mail.

If you want in, PM me with your e-mail address. I'll be sending details to the 2people who expressed an interest in contributing to the project at the same time as i start the play-test.

Thanks. :)

Well, the playtest document is ready sooner than i expected (due to one omission, but for the purposes of this first 'test-drive', the info will more than surfice).

Intrigingly, apart from Clash, no one has come forward for the playtest. Seems more people want to work on the game than try it out! :D

So, all is ready for you. If you want to give it a go, you know what to do! :)

Quote from: One Horse TownSo, all is ready for you. If you want to give it a go, you know what to do! :)

Wait for the email which, so far, has failed to materialise in my Inbox? :D

Quote from: PremierWait for the email which, so far, has failed to materialise in my Inbox? :D

On its way to you, my good man! :)  I'm just writing up a quick example on the Legends & Lore thingy, which i'll be sending along with the playtest document.

Edit:

Play test Goals

1.   Your thoughts on the generation system for NPCs. The politics & problems have been pre-designed by me because they are not in a complete enough state yet to leave to random generation.
2.   Ease of the mechanics during play.
3.   Your thoughts on the mechanics themselves.
4.          Whether the generation system creates enough intrigue and problems for characters to start play with a number of possible routes to adventure available to them.

Chocks away! Premier, you have 3 meaty files in your in-box. :)

To celebrate an occasion that is only really of interest to me, here's a little from the 'The View From the Horizon' section. w00t! 100 pages! :D

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Naming Conventions

As you will see during reading this document, the names of the example inhabitants of the Stone Horizons are not really typical of those found in many games. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, they are evocative of the source material and inspiration behind the game and secondly, they add a certain flavour to the game world. A character that is named Mr. Fleacatcher will very seldom have to tell people what he does for a living. Most of the names of example characters are a reflection of the feature where they live and work or are descriptive of their temperament or physical appearance. Names in Stone Horizons are descriptive. With one fell swoop; an evocative name has already told the world (and the play group) a fair amount about your character. Of course, a large feature containing hundreds of inhabitants will soon run out of names describing the job they do, so a little lateral thinking may be required to populate it with exotic sounding non-player characters. For that reason, a random name generator is included in this section to help GMs or players along.

There is nothing stopping your group staying to more traditional naming conventions. As with most of the details of Stone Horizons, the decision is yours. However, subsequently released Local or Political areas will use the default naming conventions used throughout this document.

Just wanted to say that I love this concept. The execution looks superb, too. I've been a fan of Gormenghast since childhood, and had often wondered why no one had really utilised the setting potential for an RPG.

Good work. I look forward to seeing where you go with this. :)

Quote from: DrewJust wanted to say that I love this concept. The execution looks superb, too. I've been a fan of Gormenghast since childhood, and had often wondered why no one had really utilised the setting potential for an RPG.

Good work. I look forward to seeing where you go with this. :)

Thanks! :)  With Ian's Mariner coming from this board, and Pundit's Ft...A!, i thought it would be nice to get some more stuff coming out of here directly. Says Game Design at the top of the forum dunnit?

I have realised that SH is a huge project though. Wouldn't surprise me if it came in at a pretty high page count when all is said and done. The good thing about it though is that you don't have to read all of it to play, just the bits that are relevant to your character through the creation process. Options, my good man, and lots of 'em. ;)

Here are some materials that i took my inspiration for SH from.

The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

These two are fantastic reads and really take you elsewhere. The primary inspirations taken from these books are the feel and flavour of the game world and the naming conventions. It's a sprawling world of crumbling towers, cyclopean architecture and hidden grottos, popuated by Doctors, Professors and Archivists.

The Riverworld Saga by Philip Jose Farmer

This is another cool series of books. Sci-Fi rather than Fantasy. What i've taken from this is the idea of an unknown race behind the scenes. The Dark Design & The Magic Labyrinth in particular have informed my creation of the mysterious Architects.

The Darwath Trilogy by Barbara Hambly

This is one of my favourite fantasy series. Under the radar of many folk, but well worth a read. I took the idea of hidden and ancient technology scatterered through the Horizons from the Keep of Dare that serves as humanity's saviour in these books. Hidden depths, strange glowing orbs and vats that do goodness knows what.

Mordant’s Need by Stephen Donaldson

Not an obvious choice and books that seem to split opinion, but i like them. These books primarily informed my choices as to the sort of politics that can become important within an enclosed space (in the case of SH, a whole world of enclosed spaces). The first book takes place almost entirely within one castle and the plots and schemes that take up the book are a nice indicator of what a typical game of SH will contain.

Flora & Fauna of the Stone Horizons

The world of Stone Horizons is nearly totally covered in the constructions of the ubiquitous castle. This has had far reaching effects on the sort of wildlife (and indeed domesticated animals) that can be found within its walls. Large areas never see the sun, are damp and shadowed or are built atop geography that didn't support much in the way of wild creatures in the first place. The  effect this has had is to make insects and invertebrates much more widespread. Not only that, but many of them have grown to huge size in order to take advantage of the ecological niche provided by the castle. The meek, or Vermin (the catchall term used for insects, rats and arachnids) as they are collectively known have indeed inherited the earth. Countless shaded corners and subterranean passages contain unknown numbers of these pests, many of them grown to huge size. The sewers that honeycomb the earth beneath each Horizon supports huge numbers of scavenging rats, spiders and parasitic life forms.  These conditions also gave rise to the Ratlings, descended from King Rats, Rafters, who may be descended from crested lizards and Wall-Crawlers, whose arachnid origins are obvious for all to see.

If you want to see creatures that won't either eat you or the waste you produce, you have to visit the small walled open spaces or clamber over the roofs and spires that look down on you. On the rooftops, you'll still find many species of birds, mainly small flighty specimens that feed on hatching insects; there simply aren't enough vermin on the rooftops to support large populations of raptors. Basking lizards, the occasional grasping monkey in the tropics and a unique species of fox that has made a living here is about your lot. The rest have been subsumed by the castle or have adapted to live within it rather than without.

Open parkland still contains small numbers of game birds, deer, cattle and sheep (although goats are more commonly herded for food) and the hunter can make a decent living by carefully hunting these creatures.

Apart from the very rare stables that rear horses, the main domesticated animal in the Horizon is the dog, which is bred for ferocity and endurance. Regional varieties abound, but the basic hound template can be seen in all breeds.

If you want to populate an area with fauna choose one or two species from this list or roll randomly. Most of the creatures on this list are rare in the extreme and only live in certain, threatened environments.

Flora has likewise suffered from the universal presence of the castle. Yet, like the fauna, some plants have grown to dominate the environment. Mosses, lichens and fungi find the shade and damp of the castle ideal for their growth and indeed, just like vermin, some fungi grow to gigantic size. Countless varieties of these plants grow in the Horizons; some unique to a certain feature, others found the world over. Botanists and professors have their work cut out for them in cataloguing them all. Medicine, food, and even building materials are garnered from these plants and without them life would be almost unbearable. Cereal crops are the losers in this story. Without large tracts of land in which to grow, only paltry crops can be grown where the castle yields its grip on the land for an acre or two. These harvests are jealously guarded and those living nearby can ditch the staple of fungi made bread for the delicacy of real bread.

Some trees and shrubs have adapted for life within the castle (especially in the tropics), but are mostly almost leafless affairs, their spindly limbs a reflection of the grasping roots searching for nutrients under the flagstones of the Horizon. One notable exception is the iron oak, the bark of which is resistant to both blade and fire. These behemoths sometimes pierce the towers and roofs of a Horizon. How they have adapted is anyone's guess. Flowering plants and fruiting trees are likewise rare, preferring to grow in the small walled gardens that can be found every few miles or so.

Quote from: One Horse TownFlora & Fauna of the Stone Horizons

Cool stuff, Dan! You've put a lot of thought ointo this. :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceCool stuff, Dan! You've put a lot of thought ointo this. :D

-clash

Yeah, thanks! These little posts are just to remind people that i'm still developing this baby. *shamefaced* :o  But it's nice to post a little nugget every now and then. I might even finish it sometime next year! :D

A tiny peek into Veiled Horizons now - the GM section. This entry is for use in playing a Sci-Fi/Fantasy game of SH (the game has about an equal split in resources for people who want to play a 'straight up' Gormenghast type game or a much more fantastical one). This entry deals with something left behind by the mysterious Architects.

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Adrenalin Suit

This black garment looks like any other cloak or robe. However, the ancient science and magic of the Architects means that is does far more than keep you warm. These artefacts are extremely rare and require long lost engineering skills to utilise properly. Chances are if you're not an Architect, you're not going to benefit. Even if you do pierce its mysteries via Artefact Mastery, there is no gain without pain.

If programmed properly, this cunning garment shoots tiny filaments into your body. These filaments are attached to tiny bladders concealed within the weave of the cloth – far too small to see with the naked eye. When your body is under stress, these filaments conduct adrenalin directly into your body, enabling you to achieve feats of amazing speed and strength.

Effects:
Adrenalin Injection: Once successfully activated, you can either add 1 point to your Manual Dexterity and Physique statistics or automatically make your action during the round a Reflexive one, meaning that you gain 1 extra Reflexive action during the round. This injection lasts a number of rounds equal to the number of successes achieved (minimum 2) in the activation test. Each suit has 3d10 full bladders when found. Each use of the Adrenalin Suit drains 1 bladder permanently. Learning how to re-fill the bladders might be the catalyst for a quest – one that will require anatomy, engineering and lost science skills to achieve.

Artefact Mastery:
2 successes: Learn what the garment is used for.
2 successes: Once the garment has been successfully attached and you know what it does, you can attempt a Free Artefact Mastery activation test in any round during a Scene to activate an adrenalin injection. If you gain 2 successes in this test, you receive the injection. Failure results in either an adrenalin overload (2 bladders being drained) and seizures or 1 bladder being rendered unusable and therefore considered drained.
3 successes: You can attach and remove the garment without harm. Failure to succeed here results in 2 points of health point damage unless a Free Physique test is made successfully and also results in the suit failing to work (when donning it). The wearer will not know about this failure until he tries to activate an adrenalin injection.

I thought i'd lay off the posting of snippets for a while. Instead, i'd be happy to answer any questions that folk have about the game and what i'm doing. If i don't get any questions, i'll take that as a prompt to shut the hell up! :D

Quote from: One Horse TownI thought i'd lay off the posting of snippets for a while. Instead, i'd be happy to answer any questions that folk have about the game and what i'm doing. If i don't get any questions, i'll take that as a prompt to shut the hell up! :D

That would be silly, Dan! Keep talking, and reminding folks about the game! It's so easy to forget and see the next new shiny! :D

-clash

I'm with Clash.  Don't stop.  And don't take silence as distaste.  Between you, Spike, and trying to code a shell for the new site, I barely have time to work.

It's fantastic work!  I'm going to have to get the source material for some reading pleasure...

Quote from: flyingmiceThat would be silly, Dan! Keep talking, and reminding folks about the game! It's so easy to forget and see the next new shiny! :D

-clash

You're probably right. I might post up the table of contents some time soon. That gives a bit of an idea as to my progress too.

Quote from: James J SkachI'm with Clash.  Don't stop.  And don't take silence as distaste.  Between you, Spike, and trying to code a shell for the new site, I barely have time to work.

It's fantastic work!  I'm going to have to get the source material for some reading pleasure...

Cheers James. I guess it's just a bit awkward when it feels like you're speaking to yourself! I'm not going to stop the project, but thought about cutting back what i'm posting if interest wanes.

James is right. I do this all the time myself - taking silence for disinterest - and end up shooting myself in the foot. It comes from your reptile hindbrain saying "stupid mammal! You're the only one who would possibly care about this! You're embarassing yourself!" coupled with the voyeuristic viewing habits of most TV bred folks. If you're enjoying what's going on, a natural instinct is to sit back and watch rather than participate. This is especially true when someone has a much beter grasp of what's going on than you - you tend to "listen to the experts" rather than  - height of hubris! - intrude on the monologue. :D

Keep talking! People ARE listening!

-clash

Hi.  My name is Jim.  And I'm scared to talk about Stone Horizons because I don't know enough about the source material...

In all seriousness, what I've read is really interesting. I'd love to participate, but I don't think I have a good enough feel for the material. Hence, my silence.

Like I said, I'm definitely looking into the source - which gives me the opportunity to clarify - I will also be looking at SH when it arrives in final form!

Quote from: James J SkachHi.  My name is Jim.  And I'm scared to talk about Stone Horizons because I don't know enough about the source material...

Fair enough. My name is Dan and i'm scared...well, that's it really! :D

As promised, here are the tables of contents, along with a guide to my progress. I'll be popping along to this post to edit in new numbers every now and then so that you can check on my progress if you want to! :)

Where there is no 'pgs' notation next to the entry, i haven't started work on that section yet. If it has a number of pages next to it, i have finished that section and where it has a number of pages followed by a + sign, that means the section isn't complete yet.

This thread is a bit bloggy now, but i prefer a thread on the forum to using the blog feature here. :D

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Types of Game 3 pgs
Genre 1 pg
Environments 2 pgs +
Construction & Building Types 1 pg +
Flora & Fauna 1 pg +
Building Cultures & Communities 4 pgs
The View From the Horizon 4 pgs

Players Section - Character Creation

Statistics
Races 3 pgs
Master Feature Table 1 pg
Feature Entries 37 pgs +
General Skills 1 pg
General Special Abilities 1 pg
Affiliations & Rivalries 1 pg
Goals & Ambitions 4 pgs
Skills 6 pgs +
Combat 2 pgs
Scenes, Rounds & Movement 1 pg
Special Abilities 16 pgs +
Status 6 pgs
Character Advancement 1 pg
Equipment
The Horizon

Veiled Horizons – The GMs Section

The Architects 8 pgs +
Problems & Politics Master Table 1 pg
Vermin Table 3 pgs +
Special Features Table 2 pgs +
Night Terrors Table 1 pg +
Supplies & Resources Table 1 pg +
Structural & Environmental Table 1 pg +
Disease Table
Lurking Menaces Table 1 pg +
Politics Table 4 pgs
Unsolved Crimes Table 1 pg
Magical Table
NPC Generation Tables 5 pgs

Character Advancement

Your character increases a level in experience whenever his Status is permenantly improved by 1 point. This raise in Status can be the result of solving a problem in the area or by achieving one of your character's goals.

Once you have gained a level of experience there are two ways in which you can improve your character. The effect of these improvements depends on whether your character stays in his current feature or decides to join another feature. In Exploration type games, you are not restricted in your choice of features by the local area in which you find yourself. It is presumed that you pass through many features during your travels and can pick up the requisite knowledge needed to gain the skills and special abilities offered by your eventual choice.

Staying in your Current Feature

If you choose to stay in your current feature, spend 2 points on skills that your feature grants you. You cannot raise a skill by more than 1 point per level. You also gain 1 point to spend on a special ability granted by your current feature. Finally, increase the rating of all of your Rivalries by 1 point.

Alternatively, you can eschew the chance to improve your skills and special abilities, choosing instead to add 1 point to a Statistic that the feature already grants a modification to.  Raise the rating of all of your Rivalries by 1 point.

Changing Features

If you decide to move to another local feature, then you receive 3 points to spend on skills that the new feature grants. You also gain 2 points to spend on a single special ability granted by your new feature. When moving to a new feature, your Status score is reduced by 1 point (returning it to the rating you had before gaining a level and reflecting the sometimes rigid social structure of Stone Horizons). Do not increase the ratings of your Rivalries. You do not gain the Status score or the Stat modifiers of the new location. Changing features might require a Scene or two to arrange and can be the catalyst for gaining new Affiliations & Rivalries. Unlike your starting feature, you do not automatically gain an Affiliation with your new one and indeed, you might lose your Affiliation with your previous features.

Once you have made all of the adjustments to your character sheet, make a note of your new level.

Have you read Smallcreep's Day? It's set in an 'infinite' factory.

Also Jose Luis Borges had a short story about a library that contained every possible combination of the alphabet, I think.

Quote from: Age of FableHave you read Smallcreep's Day? It's set in an 'infinite' factory.

Also Jose Luis Borges had a short story about a library that contained every possible combination of the alphabet, I think.

Nope, i've missed those!

Here's one of the 60+ special abilities. Each feature provides 1 or 2 of them and quite a few are only available in a single feature. The (F) suffix denotes that this ability might only be suitible for a fantasy/sci-fi game of SH.

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Concoctions (F)

Features: Laboratories, Alchemists Tents

Description: Once per game session, you may attempt a Concoctions test to see if you have an alchemical preparation that will help in a skill test. If you succeed, then you can supply a concoction that bestows 1 bonus die to the attempt for each success achieved in a Concoctions test. These bonus dice are used in the skill test nominated. Example: Jonas Blackbread needs to open the lock to the storeroom in order to escape his captors. Luckily, Mixermatch the alchemist is incarcerated along with him. Mixermatch empties his pockets to see if he has a concoction that will help. He achieves one success in his Concoctions test. Success! He has a vial of his Miraculous Mechanical Insight concoction on him and hands it to Jonas. Jonas now adds 1 die to his open locks test, as he drinks the concoction and benefits from its properties.

I really like what you've come up with the -especially the flora and fauna, the rules on changing features, concoctions - Well done, keep at it !

Cheers. :)  Here's a little peek at one of the cornerstones of the system. I'm not letting much out of the bag with this one 'cos it's central to the game in many ways.

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Spending Your Points

Affiliations are ties of friendship, alliance in a cause, or the ties that hold communities and workplaces together. An affiliation gives you the benefit of the doubt when relating a controversial accusation or asking for aid. In short, an affiliation gives you an ally.

Rivalries pit a character against someone who disagrees with his views, sees him as a threat to his promotion or illustrates an irrational dislike. For each point of an open affiliation that the player creates, the GM creates 1 point of a secret rivalry and for each point of an open rivalry the player creates; the GM creates one point of a secret affiliation. In this way, there is a trade off to the process that creates a nice web of inter-connecting relationships; some that are known from the outset and some that will only be revealed during play.

It is up to you as the player how many affiliations and rivalries you buy, but 1st level characters are limited to a total number of 2 points. Add 1 point to this maximum for each additional level beyond first that you start the game with. You may want to spend more points in a local game in order to keep the smaller area interesting. Buying more than 2 points for the same affiliation or rivalry could create an unshakable alliance or hatred once you start increasing in level so should only be done with great care.

All characters start with a free open affiliation of 1 point with the feature where they are starting play.

A bit of flavour text from the laboratory feature now. I haven't done a great deal since last time. New job and trying to make sure i have a roof over my head are eating up my time. :(

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16Laboratories

The glassware was late. Without it, the sublimation of the essential oils could not take place and that wasn't...good. The laboratory had ground to a halt for Mizzlewish to conduct his experiments and now that his supplies were late he was the victim of a number of stares that could have cut glass better than any diamond - if he had any of the damned stuff, of course.

Normally, the Tunnel Wardens were prompt, so it occurred to Mizzlewish that something had happened in the transfer between the warehouse and the laboratory. There were miles of tunnels to navigate to get to the laboratory, miles of dangerous territory where anything could happen.

As if reading his thoughts, a boiling mass of coiling centipedes emerged in a terrifying tumble from the nearest tunnel entrance, heading straight for the labs. Without thinking Mizzlewish picked up his essential oils and lobbed the concoction at the swarm. It exploded in a ball of fire, frying the vermin to black ribbons and jetting a column of black smoke up the walls.

"What was in that beaker Mizzlewish?" asked the duty leader in hushed tones.

Mizzlewish's mouth was a silent 'o' of sudden terror. "Damned if I know," he sobbed at last. "Nothing important. Carry on." His weeping could be heard echoing up the corridor as he tottered from the laboratory towards the dormitory.

Quote from: One Horse TownA bit of flavour text from the laboratory feature now. I haven't done a great deal since last time. New job and trying to make sure i have a roof over my head are eating up my time. :(

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16Laboratories

The glassware was late. Without it, the sublimation of the essential oils could not take place and that wasn't...good. The laboratory had ground to a halt for Mizzlewish to conduct his experiments and now that his supplies were late he was the victim of a number of stares that could have cut glass better than any diamond - if he had any of the damned stuff, of course.

Normally, the Tunnel Wardens were prompt, so it occurred to Mizzlewish that something had happened in the transfer between the warehouse and the laboratory. There were miles of tunnels to navigate to get to the laboratory, miles of dangerous territory where anything could happen.

As if reading his thoughts, a boiling mass of coiling centipedes emerged in a terrifying tumble from the nearest tunnel entrance, heading straight for the labs. Without thinking Mizzlewish picked up his essential oils and lobbed the concoction at the swarm. It exploded in a ball of fire, frying the vermin to black ribbons and jetting a column of black smoke up the walls.

"What was in that beaker Mizzlewish?" asked the duty leader in hushed tones.

Mizzlewish's mouth was a silent 'o' of sudden terror. "Damned if I know," he sobbed at last. "Nothing important. Carry on." His weeping could be heard echoing up the corridor as he tottered from the laboratory towards the dormitory.

Awesome! I was just about to ask how things were going!   :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceAwesome! I was just about to ask how things were going!   :D

-clash

Badly! I hate money, or the lack of. Hopefully i'll still have somewhere to live at the end of the month...:deflated:

Hurt

As soon as your character enters the 'Hurt' level of his health point profile, desperation speeds his actions and fuels his deeds. You then have access to the Bring the Pain special abilities (discussed below). Use of these abilities is a Reflexive action and can be attempted once per round. Example, Jugs Mahoney has just become hurt after the Drooling Zombie lurking menace spat his acid saliva at him. He chooses to make use of Speak to the Hand as a Reflexive ability. He achieves 2 successes on his Speak to the Hand test and the Drooling Zombie stares enraptured at Jug's didgets whilst the other party members hack the drooler apart. Success!

Death & The PC

When you have taken enough damage to have struck the 'Dead' box on the health point profile, your character has taken too much punishment. I'm afraid that he has shrugged off this mortal coil. But fear not, death is not the end in Stone Horizons! Once the current Scene is over, your character re-spawns with all of his memories and skills intact at the spot in which he died. The castle's magic is so strong that it even re-animates the recently dead. Unfortunately, your Status is lowered by 1 point, as no-one likes a smartarse.

Ahem...just in case. That wasn't a real entry and no shark jumping was involved. :o

Quote from: One Horse TownAhem...just in case. That wasn't a real entry and no shark jumping was involved. :o

I was waiting for the Magic Rat to enter, stage left... :O

-clash

I've done armour now. Armour is actually a part of the Health Point profile. It slots between the Hurt and Heavily Injured levels, effectively slowing the wearers decline from Hurt to Heavily injured. I figured that wearing armour could still allow you to get scrathes, bruises and shallow cuts etc, but would protect your vitals (thus slowing descent into Heavily Wounded). Once the armour points are overcome, you start taking damage as usual and you have to get your armour fixed.

Dr. Carpetbaggers Health Point profile

Health Point Profile (Physique 3)

Uninjured
Lightly Injured -O-O-O-O-O-
Hurt -O-O-O-O- -1 die on all Reflexive tests (-2 dice)
Armour -O-O- Leather Apron (2 Armour points)
Heavily Injured -O-O-O- -1 die on all tests (-2 dice)
Dying -O- -2 dice on all tests (-4 dice)
Dead -O-

Hmmm - neat way to implement armor, Dan! :D

-clash

Could other armor have other profile rankings, such as padding that might buffer between Lightly Injured and Hurt, or even something that wards off the first point or two between Uninjured and Lightly Injured?

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaCould other armor have other profile rankings, such as padding that might buffer between Lightly Injured and Hurt, or even something that wards off the first point or two between Uninjured and Lightly Injured?

!i!

That's a possibility certainly. I just wanted to keep things fairly simple and so keep all armour in the same area of the health point profile. It's worth thinking about though...

Hmm...I just had a rather radical idea. It would certainly add to the tactical game whilst you are engaged in a fight.

How about the player chooses when his armour protects him? Not only that, but he chooses how many points of damage the armour intercepts. This means that he has to juggle not only the state of his armour (when will he be able to get it fixed once it's taken damage?), but also it becomes a resource management thingy in combat. Do you go all out and use your armour up to stop yourself getting injured at all and hope you don't take any more punishment, do you just use up a point at a time to keep the descent of injury slower or do you hoard it all up to stop yourself getting heavily injured or to slow the descent from heavily injured to dying? (BTW, armour points range from 1 point to 6 points)

What do you reckon?

With no arguments to the contrary, i've decided to stick with my original idea on the armour.

I'll be posting an up to date combat playtest in the next couple of days, along with a test of the Status rules, which you haven't seen yet.

Quote from: One Horse TownHmm...I just had a rather radical idea. It would certainly add to the tactical game whilst you are engaged in a fight.

How about the player chooses when his armour protects him? Not only that, but he chooses how many points of damage the armour intercepts. This means that he has to juggle not only the state of his armour (when will he be able to get it fixed once it's taken damage?), but also it becomes a resource management thingy in combat. Do you go all out and use your armour up to stop yourself getting injured at all and hope you don't take any more punishment, do you just use up a point at a time to keep the descent of injury slower or do you hoard it all up to stop yourself getting heavily injured or to slow the descent from heavily injured to dying? (BTW, armour points range from 1 point to 6 points)

What do you reckon?

Actually, I missed this, Dan. I love this concept! :D

-clash

Quote from: One Horse TownHmm...I just had a rather radical idea. What do you reckon?

It blew my mind :woop:

Seriously, It's crazysexycool !!!!!!!

See what I know, Dan?

Take whatever I say, and do the opposite.  You'll be all set.

Looking good so far, like the concept and am into many of the inspirations. Not sure if I'd be able to playtest this season though. :(

Quote from: James J SkachSee what I know, Dan?

Take whatever I say, and do the opposite.  You'll be all set.

:D  I'll playtest both and see which my players prefer. I fancy i know which one they'll pick, but we'll see!

A little elucidation.

Here's a sample combat utilizing armour and shields.

----------------------------------------

Play test combat

Dr. Carpetbagger and a guard from the barracks are wandering the tunnels near their feature, searching for their friend Chisel, who has gone missing. Unfortunately for them, these tunnels are the haunts of a Lurking Menace, none other than The Hanged Man!

The menace is waiting for them and ambushes them when they draw adjacent. The Hanged Man has a dice pool of 12 dice for ambush attempts. As you never roll more than 10 dice in Stone Horizons, he tots up automatic successes (1 for each die over 10 not rolled), in this case 2 and then rolls his 10 dice. He gets 5 successes! Adding 2 equals a total of 7 successes. His ambush is amazing. Like all ambushes, the victims get a free Spot test to see it coming and both the guard and Dr. Carpetbagger get 2 successes on this Free Spot test. This is subtracted from the ambush total of 7, meaning that for this ambush round, the good doctor and his companion suffer a 5 dice penalty to any actions they attempt. Not a good start!

The Hanged Man leaps from cover, his twisted body covered in writhing ropes that seem to have a life of their own. One snakes out and wraps around the guard's throat (3 successes on the special ability Rope Singing). The guard tries a Reflexive dodge but suffers a 5 dice penalty to the attempt. He fails and marks down 3 points of damage on his Health Point profile. The Hanged Man laughs at his puny targets. Dr. Carpetbagger is unharmed and decides to try to cut the rope around the guard's throat. The GM decides this is a straight up Manual Dexterity test, but because of the 5 dice penalty to all actions in this round, the doctor fails. The guard himself readies his shield and weapons, gasping as the rope tightens.

The following round, the doctor and the guard are not surprised any longer. The guard spends his Reflexive action straight away to gain initiative in the round. The other 2 combatants do not and so go after the guards turn. The guard closes with the menace and lunges with his stabbing sword. He rolls 7d6, gaining 3 successes. As the Hanged Man is going to keep his rope active this round, he is already using up his Reflexive action for the round. Therefore, he cannot avoid the guard's thrust. He takes 5 points of damage (3 successes and +2 weapon damage). This leaves him with only 1 point of the Lightly Injured level of Health Points left. The rope strangling the guard tightens causing 3 more points of damage to the guard. This puts him into the Hurt category and a –1 penalty to all Reflexive tests. The Lurking Menace isn't finished however. He now pummels the guard with his fists, rolling 9 dice. He gains 3 successes. Already having used his Reflexive action for the round, the guard has to take his medicine and suffers 3 points of damage. This puts him right on the edge of the Hurt category, 1 more point of damage and he's going to be Heavily Injured. He decides to keep his armour for later. Seeing his friend in trouble, the doctor stabs at the monster with his knife, rolling 4 dice. He has some luck and achieves 2 successes (a triple 1!) Again, the monster cannot dodge or parry and so he takes the damage. What's more, the doctor is the second attacker against a solitary foe, so his damage is doubled! The beast takes 6 points of damage! (2 successes, +1 weapon damage X 2). Like the guard, The Hanged Man has used up all of his Hurt points now, 1 more point and he's Heavily Injured. He uses up all of his Leather Apron's armour points (2) to reduce the damage by 2 points. He now has a little breathing space, although he is suffering a 1 dice penalty to Reflexive tests.

The third round starts the rope strangling the guard. He takes 2 damage (-1 penalty to Reflexive tests). The guard uses up his own Leather Apron to stop this damage (the rope is now biting so deeply, that the armours neck straps have halted the constriction momentarily). The straps are now broken however. Next, it's a free for all. The menace pummels the guard again, gaining another 3 successes. As the guard hasn't used his Reflexive action this round, he uses it now. He swings his shield up to take the blow. The shield automatically blocks the blow, absorbing the 3 damage. However, the guard only has a buckler, which absorbs 3 damage, so now it is useless. He throws it away. The guard attacks and scores 2 successes, adding weapon damage, that is 4 damage! The menace is Heavily Injured. Dr. Carpetbagger attacks, but gets no success! Blast.

The fourth round starts as usual with strangling. With his armour gone, the guard suffers 2 points of damage. He is Heavily Injured, suffering a 1 dice penalty to all tests. The Hanged Man attacks with his stony fists causing 3 damage. Unluckily for the guard, this strikes all of his remaining points. He is dying (-2 dice penalty) and the next point of damage he takes will kill him. He swings away however, using 5 dice. He causes 3 damage, which leaves the menace with a single point of the 'dying' profile left. It's up to the good doctor! He gains a success for 2 points of damage! Enough to kill the beast. The guard is saved and slumps to the ground. Now that the scene is over, all wound penalties are doubled, so until the guard heals, he now suffers a 4 dice penalty to all actions.

Play test Note: The characters fought a Lurking Menace who had a round of surprise, in this combat. It should be noted that the profile was not complete and I didn't use all of the Hanged Man's arsenal of powers...Lurking Menaces are meant to be a challenge for high level characters, not beginners. So for this test, I played nice. It should also be noted that the player who had control of the guard could have used his shield as a Free action to give him bonus dice to a parry or dodge attempt. This would not have caused damage to the shield. However, the player figured he wouldn't take the chance and sacrificed his shield on the alter of prudence. He was proven right in the end.

Sweet, Dan! Combat works like I thought it would. I do love that armor! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceSweet, Dan! Combat works like I thought it would. I do love that armor! :D

-clash

Thanks! I was quite happy how it turned out actually. There are a few unwritten special abilities that give more tactical options during combat that i have to write, but other than that i'm pleased with how armour and shields add a tactical element during combat and aren't just 'soaks'. I'll have to run a few combats between unarmoured folk and armoured folk too. I have a feeling it will be rather fearsome. As not too many features at present start the characters with armour or shields and the everyday life in the castle will mean that wandering around with it on all the time will likely not happen, the armoured vs unarmoured could crop up a bit and i don't want it to be too daunting.

I mentioned goals and ambitions in SH in Melinglor's thread about reward mechanisms, so thought now would be a good time to expand on it a bit. Below is the sample of goals provided for a 'Monetary' goal. Just like solving a problem, you gain a permenant point of Status (thus go up a level) with every goal and ambition you realise during the game.

----------------------------------------------------

Monetary

One of the simplest, perhaps most attractive goal to many people is the wish to become wealthy. Most folk living and working in the Horizons want to increase their wealth, but if you’ve chosen this type of goal then it’s likely become an obsession. Chances are that you are a planner and have a vision for your future that others may view as wishful thinking.

Good Monetary Goals: -

Buying the Phoenix Statue from the Prince
Minting coins with your own device upon them
Owning a harp made by Master Flutewind
Buying the deeds to Raptor Tower

Bad Monetary Goals: -

Becoming wealthy
Becoming a merchant or noble

Here's a snippet on Status. The whole section is done and dusted. This bit is just to give you an idea of what you can do with it.

------------------------------------------

Status

Status is an important part of Stone Horizons. It acts as a barometer of the PCs and NPCs importance within the confined spaces of the castle. When you're cooped up with a bunch of people, how you view them and how you are viewed sets the tone of your relationships with them. A nobody has little chance of persuading the Baron that he is worth listening to, whilst a known figure might just get that audience. Status has several effects, which are discussed in this section.

Although the Status tests presented below are abstract in nature, in many cases it is far more fun to play the Scene out in some way. There can be more tension generated by the to and fro between player and GM than that created by simply rolling the dice. As ever, it depends on the preferences of your group. If you do role-play Status test Scenes, however, the GM can modify the number of dice rolled depending on how the Scene plays out. A particularly fun exchange might result in a bonus die or a careless faux-pass result in a penalty of 1 die. Think very carefully before modifying rolls by more than 1 die, as this can potentially have a big bearing on the test.

Social Combat Test

Resources Test

Audiences Test

Sometimes you just have to see someone with a bit of clout. Whether it is the Authority Figure of your own feature, that of another or the Authority Figure of the Political Area in which you live. Unless the matter is considered of grave importance or affects the Authority Figure in some way, only those deemed worthy usually get to see them in a timely manner. You can try to throw your Status about in an attempt to get a prompt meeting.

Roll a number of dice equal to your Status score. In order to gain an audience, you must achieve a number of successes equal to half the Status score of the person you wish to see (round down). Add 1 die to the attempt for each point of Affiliation with the subject of the test or subtract 1 die for each point of a Rivalry. Audience Status tests are Extended tests.

Example: Dr. Carpetbagger is very annoyed at the kennel master's propaganda campaign against him and wants to see him as a matter of urgency. The Doctor turns up at the kennel gates and demands to see him. Dr. Carpetbagger's Status score is only 1 and moreover, he has a secret Rivalry of 1 point with the kennel master (something he is no doubt starting to realise!). Unfortunately, Dr. Carpetbagger's player doesn't get to roll any dice at all. The workers at the kennels laugh at the charlatan and turn him away with a flea in his ear.  

Leadership Test

Haggling Test

Favours Test

Quote from: One Horse TownExample: Dr. Carpetbagger is very annoyed at the kennel master's propaganda campaign against him and wants to see him as a matter of urgency. The Doctor turns up at the kennel gates and demands to see him. Dr. Carpetbagger's Status score is only 1 and moreover, he has a secret Rivalry of 1 point with the kennel master (something he is no doubt starting to realise!). Unfortunately, Dr. Carpetbagger's player doesn't get to roll any dice at all. The workers at the kennels laugh at the charlatan and turn him away with a flea in his ear.  

Hehe! I love the scene of Dr. Carpetbagger walking away dejectedly as the kennel minions hoot and jeer at him without mercy! Great mental image! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceHehe! I love the scene of Dr. Carpetbagger walking away dejectedly as the kennel minions hoot and jeer at him without mercy! Great mental image! :D

-clash

A great chance for some inventive taunts in play! :D

The feel of this game is very Vancean, Dan. That's what I love about it. A way to raise status by taunts, bon mots, and verbal invective would seal it.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceThe feel of this game is very Vancean, Dan. That's what I love about it. A way to raise status by taunts, bon mots, and verbal invective would seal it.

-clash

Well, the Social Combat use of Status can certainly cover that (although i think i have to clarify that a bit in the draft). If you have a few affiliates to hand to back up your words, even better!

"He's fantabulous, he's here and heeeeeee'sssss Dr. Carpetbaggger!"

"Why, thank you Mr. Stalker, always a pleasure! Now, ladies and gentlemen, i'm not like those other marketeers out there, with their false promises and empty words - a coin in their hand and a wink in their eye, here today and gone tomorrow fly-by-nights! I deliver what i promise and if there's a wink in my eye, it's for the ladies, not a cadre of cronies standing by to applause my every con and theft! No, ladies and gentlemen, my word is my bond, unlike a certain charlatan by the name of Professor Twisslewit! You know who i mean. The mean spirited little poodle of a man who masquerades as a dog trainer. I say 'Give him a biscuit and stay!!' If he doesn't stay, then give him the rolled up paper, ladies and gentlemen!"

"By the way, did i say that i have a special offer on rolled up papers today?"

Quote from: One Horse TownWell, the Social Combat use of Status can certainly cover that (although i think i have to clarify that a bit in the draft). If you have a few affiliates to hand to back up your words, even better!

Yes, looking it over, you could, but it isn't as obvious as it should be. I think a little clarification and an example of using Social Combat towards raising your own Status would be ideal. Heckling, jeering, snide comments, poisonous asides, quips, bon mots, sneering put-downs, and devastating slander should be laid out as weapons for the discriminating Social Warrior. With the right group, that would SO rock! :D

-clash

Yep. That's one way to big yourself up for sure. But concrete results, and not just words, work even better!

http://www.therpgsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8317

Let's roll the dice and see where they land! :emot-ssh:

So I was reading through the rules while on the bus this morning, and I made a few mental notes regarding certain points.

Skills
Skill resolution is pretty clear and straight-forward, but  the issue of maximum die pools sticks with me a bit.  First, each die in excess of 6 is effectively an automatic success, though the extra dice may contribute to a triple, quadruple, or higher, so that's fine.  However, the rule regarding dice in excess of 10 is where I begin to be baffled.  I suppose that each extra die at that point is considered to be added to any double, thereby adding another success.

Okay, I guess that I've worked it out for myself now, though the number 10 simply seems arbitrary.  My thinking is that the magic cut-off number should be 12.  With 12 dice, it is feasible to roll 6 sets of doubles; thereafter, any extra dice would guarantee at least one triple.

I suppose the question I need to consider at this point is whether or not there is a limit to ratings in Skills and Special Abilities.

Recovering Health Points
The general recovery rule sits fine with me -- a successful Physique test for each full day of rest grants one recovered point per success.  Here's my particular thought, though, and it applies to many games that feature health levels.  Recovering from serious injury should take longer than recovery from minor injury.

To reflect this, perhaps there should exist a certain order in which health points are recovered.  To keep it simple, I propose that Lightly Injured points are recovered first, representing a general stabilisation of the body in response to injury.  After all Lightly Injured points are recovered, the character begins to recover from the top down (or bottom up as one may look at it), starting at Dying, then recovering Heavily Injured points, then Hurt.  To my mind, this very simply models the fact that the worse you're hurt, the longer it's going to take to be functional, which in turn adds an incentive to players to keep their injury levels down to a minimum.  I mean, if you're Dying, it's going to take more than one day of full rest to recover to the point where you're only Heavily Injured, and likewise recovering from Heavily Injured to merely Hurt.

Another possibility, though less simple, would be to skip from bottom-top-bottom-top.  In other words, recover one Lightly Injured Point first, then a point of the worst injury, then another point of Lightly Injured, then the next worst point of injury, and so forth.

!i!

Thanks for your thoughts Ian! I'll start off with Health Points. This is something i might have to look at, but not for the reasons that you cite. I agree totally that it should be harder to regain health points when you are heavily injured or dying than when you're simply hurt. In the rules as written, you do exactly this. Your Physique test to regain points is affected by the dice modifiers for being injured, so as soon as you become heavily injured, suddenly you have a 2 dice penalty to your Physique test, and a 4 dice penalty when you are dying! This means that most people wont actually heal naturally from those conditions without aid from someone with the Heal skill or someone with the Potions & Lotions ability. Which i'm sort of ok with, but i would like folks to have some chance of recovering unaided from those conditions, so i think some test modifiers are in order.

As for the cut off point for dice pools, it is a bit of arbitrariness and a bit of 'eyeballing, gut feeling'. Once you reach a certain size of dice pool, the probabilities of gaining successes really ramps up and is far from linear. A 50% chance of gaining a single success with 4 dice doesn't double when you double the number of dice rolled. So i thought that 10 would be a nice cut off point, as with 10 dice, on average you will gain 5 successes (which is the hardest skill test catagory anyhow. There is no limit on skill or ability scores, but on average, you would have to be 4th level before benifitting from the 'over 10 dice rule'. That means you would have to have solved 4 problems or achieved your goals and ambitions as well as solve a couple of problems. That will likely add 4 to your Status score wehich in most cases will yield a Status of 6! 4th level will probably be leader of a Political Area kind of levels. Also, of course, skill tests will be modified by conditions etc, so even then getting 11 dice or more will be pretty rare IMO for PCs. I think that the 10 dice cut off is the easiest and most elegant cut off point which makes the movers and shakers of SH really terrifying!

Thanks for taking the time to go through it. :)

Quote from: One Horse TownIn the rules as written, you do exactly this. Your Physique test to regain points is affected by the dice modifiers for being injured, so as soon as you become heavily injured, suddenly you have a 2 dice penalty to your Physique test, and a 4 dice penalty when you are dying!

Ah!  I hadn't considered the implications of the fact that the penalties for being either Heavily Injured or Dying applies to the recovery rolls.  Okay, so this deals with this issue quite nicely -- as a character becomes healthier, after succeeding at some distinctly difficult recovery rolls, the successive rolls become easier.

Got it. :)

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaAh!  I hadn't considered the implications of the fact that the penalties for being either Heavily Injured or Dying applies to the recovery rolls.  Okay, so this deals with this issue quite nicely -- as a character becomes healthier, after succeeding at some distinctly difficult recovery rolls, the successive rolls become easier.

Got it. :)

!i!

It's probably something that i need to make more obvious. There are a few things in my 'working copy' of the game that need a lot of clarification in the next draft. As is, the document at the moment is my thoughts > onto the page.

I've just had a thought about possible problems that the game set-up can create. Just creating characters generates shit loads of problems and potential friends and enemies for the player characters. Some of the choices of affilialtions, rivalries and goals made by the players at the table could clash with each other a lot during play. I'm not aiming for a competitive game model to be the default - by all means go for that if you want to, but i don't want it hard-wired into the rules. So, for inter-party harmony during play, should the characters have an affiliation with each other? I'm sure that they won't use their Status on each other in most games and they can talk problems out without resorting to dice rolls anyhow, but i would like something more concrete to tie the characters together than good faith. Or am i barking up the wrong tree?

Quote from: One Horse TownI've just had a thought about possible problems that the game set-up can create. Just creating characters generates shit loads of problems and potential friends and enemies for the player characters. Some of the choices of affilialtions, rivalries and goals made by the players at the table could clash with each other a lot during play. I'm not aiming for a competitive game model to be the default - by all means go for that if you want to, but i don't want it hard-wired into the rules. So, for inter-party harmony during play, should the characters have an affiliation with each other? I'm sure that they won't use their Status on each other in most games and they can talk problems out without resorting to dice rolls anyhow, but i would like something more concrete to tie the characters together than good faith. Or am i barking up the wrong tree?

I'd make that a strongly recommended option, Dan, and discuss why it's important and the consequences of doing without. I say it should be  an option because some GMs may want an adversarial situation, while others may prefer their social contract to take precedence.

-clash

Maybe an option would be to have one or two things(affiliation, rivalry, or goal) determined for everyone instead of indiviudally.  It would reduce the total number of such things amongst the party and give them something to bind them together.  If they all hate Mr. Mortar, that might be what brought them together in the first place.

Quote from: flyingmiceI'd make that a strongly recommended option, Dan, and discuss why it's important and the consequences of doing without. I say it should be  an option because some GMs may want an adversarial situation, while others may prefer their social contract to take precedence.

-clash

Yeah, that's what i was thinking of. A few paragraphs spelling out potential problems and ways to overcome or mitigate them, if you choose to do so. I'll add it to the View From the Horizon section and add a reminder to the chargen section too. Cheers!

Quote from: NicephorusMaybe an option would be to have one or two things(affiliation, rivalry, or goal) determined for everyone instead of indiviudally.  It would reduce the total number of such things amongst the party and give them something to bind them together.  If they all hate Mr. Mortar, that might be what brought them together in the first place.

I've mentioned this idea briefly in the 'View From the Horizon' section. I need to spell it out a bit more and give a list of options.

I'm working on my character for the test game, and came across something that strongly feels like an oversight to me.

So, starting region gives the character a set of skills, which cannot be increased by discretionary skill points at creation in order to avoid starting characters who are immediately very powerful. So far, so good... however, many region-dependent skills are provided at the minimal level of 1, meaning that the character - at least the creation - is forced to be worse than someone who doesn't even get the skill from his region but decides to put discretionary point in it.

An example: a character from a Duelists' Guildhouse has a starting skill of 1 in Underworld, to represent that duelists are, on average, somewhat shadier fellows than ordinary folks. Cool. However, another player can create a character from some absolutely non-shady region, like a Noble's House or  Tower-top Observatory, and have up to 3 points in Underworld, since he can spend all three of his starting discretionary points in any single non-region skill. So we can have starting characters who are noblemen, teddy bear-makers or little girls and yet are considerably shadier and better connected to the criminal underground than your standard shady duelists, who, despite the generally shady nature of their profession, are explicitly forbidden from being any more then only very slighty shady.

This just doesn't seem right. I suggest that region skills should be made improvable by discretionary points on character creation up to a maximum value - say, 3. Or alternatively, the three starting discretionary skills points should be only spendable on three different skills to to make sure that the "amateur" characters don't end up overshadowing the professionals in their respective skills.

Quote from: PremierThis just doesn't seem right. I suggest that region skills should be made improvable by discretionary points on character creation up to a maximum value - say, 3. Or alternatively, the three starting discretionary skills points should be only spendable on three different skills to to make sure that the "amateur" characters don't end up overshadowing the professionals in their respective skills.

I had noticed the same thing whilst making Mistress Roundheels, and was waiting for others to make their characters before discussing it.

-clash

Quote from: PremierHowever, another player can create a character from some absolutely non-shady region, like a Noble's House or  Tower-top Observatory, and have up to 3 points in Underworld, since he can spend all three of his starting discretionary points in any single non-region skill.

I was following you up to this point.  To my understanding, each character has three discretionary points to be spent on a specific list of General Skills, not simply any non-region skill.  For reference, the list of General Skills is:
   Athletics
Gossip
Hygiene
Fists
Drinking
Haggle
Spot
Scavenger
Portage
Prepare Food
Am I missing some reference elsewhere in the rules?

Now, this said, I was a little disappointed that I couldn't raise Miss Mooncalf's Spot skill to 4, seeing how it was one of her regional skills and all, but that was in the interest of game balance, and I'm okay with that.  If anything, I would have liked to have seen a handful more feminine skills from which to choose.  But, otherwise, I didn't have a significant problem.  Are there any cases where a regional skill that is also a General skill might start out at 1 or 2?  If so, perhaps there should simply be a stipulation that General Skills are capped at 3 for starting characters, and not a prohibition against spending one's discretionary point on them.

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaAm I missing some reference elsewhere in the rules?

*snip*

 Are there any cases where a regional skill that is also a General skill might start out at 1 or 2?  

That's exactly the problem. ALL of the general skills on this list are region skills for one or several regions, and most of them definitely have a starting value of 1 or 2 for certain regions.

QuoteIf so, perhaps there should simply be a stipulation that General Skills are capped at 3 for starting characters, and not a prohibition against spending one's discretionary point on them.

I guess that would work, too.

Good stuff folks. I've been umming and arring over this one for a while, i admit. I think that the best solution is to allow improvement of region skills that also fall into the General bracket up to the starting maximum of 3 points. I might also consider the possibilty of allowing these allocated skill points raising a corresponding region skill to 4 points to reflect greater training over folks simply picking stuff up. Then the choice is the players.

Shields

Shields are much more effective at blocking blows than parrying with a weapon or trying to dodge alone.

You can use a shield against a single foe during each round. If you use the shield as a Free action, then it adds a number of bonus dice to a Reflexive parry or dodge attempt (see table below). If you use the shield alone to take a blow, it counts as a Reflexive action, but automatically intercepts an attack. The shield takes all of the damage of the blow that you would have taken. Any damage absorbed by the shield is subtracted from its Protection Rating. Once damage taken by the shield has overcome its Protection Rating, the shield is useless and you take any remaining damage. Your opponents can choose to target your shield specifically, if they so choose. Round/Kite shields and assault shields can be used to absorb missile attacks that you see coming, whilst bucklers cannot. Example: Roisterlot is confronted with 2 Gargoyles who attack him mercilessly. Both creatures hit and he uses his round shield to aid him in his parry of one attack. This adds 2 bonus dice to his parry attempt, meaning that he rolls 7 dice in total (5 for his parry skill + 2). He manages to turn 2 points of damage inflicted, but still ends up taking 1 point of damage from that blow and 3 from the other. A couple of rounds later, he’s in more trouble and as his friends are not far away, he decides to use his shield to absorb damage. His Reflexive action for this round is not a parry, but a shield use. It absorbs all 3 points of damage inflicted by 1 of the creatures and although he takes damage from the second creature, he survives until his friends reach him. Until he gets his shield fixed, it is only capable of absorbing another 3 points of damage before it becomes useless.  

Shield Type Bonus Dice Protection Rating Spaces

Arm Buckler 1 3 None
Round/Kite Shield 2 6 1
Assault Shield 3 9 2

Sorry for the silence folks. Double shifts, the holiday season, writing an article for Green Ronin and in the tradition of clash et al, starting another project, have eaten up my time recently. I don't have an update at this moment in time, but just to reassure those folks who have taken the time to take part in the SH playtest that i'll be posting final details there soon. :)

I'm starting a new thread for the new project also, although there's no substance at present, it sets the scene a bit.

OK. I've got a question for folks. With the announcement that there will be no fee to use the True20 OGL, i've been thinking about SH & True20. I'm thinking of making the game a True20 one. What do you reckon? Should i go True20 only, my own system only, or do a version of both?

It depends on how much you like True20.  I would see that as a fairly sizable change in the mechanics and you'd have to rework the backgrounds to work with True20.  I'm not sure if True20 has enough of a draw still to make it worth it unless you already like the system.

Quote from: One Horse TownOK. I've got a question for folks. With the announcement that there will be no fee to use the True20 OGL, i've been thinking about SH & True20. I'm thinking of making the game a True20 one. What do you reckon? Should i go True20 only, my own system only, or do a version of both?

Your own system. No doubt.

Thanks for the responses guys. Yeah, it'll need lots of tweaks to fit True20. It'll probably stay in its current format.

Meanwhile, here's the last part of the NPC generation process...

---------------------------------------------

Secrets (roll 1d100 for each NPC and Authority Figure)

The final piece of the puzzle in NPC generation is the creation of Secrets. These are pieces of information that the NPC knows, past deeds, or information about him that is not known to the outside world. Secrets motivate NPCs; generate more avenues of investigation and adventure for the PCs and flesh out the people that the players will be interacting with. The results gained here are tied into the politics of the play area and represent the final layer of information before you start play.

As an alternative to rolling randomly, you can choose Secrets that best suite your purposes or use them as inspiration in creating your own.

(Sample roll: 35 - Has a secret skill. How did he get it?)

A few new things. :)

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Morale

Combat is a dangerous endeavour and most thinking beings don't want to get seriously hurt. For that reason, each humanoid NPC combatant has a morale rating. These ratings are: Lightly Injured, Hurt, Heavily Injured, Dying, None. These ratings indicate when an NPC must make a Jitters test during combat. If an NPC swordsman has the Morale rating of 'Hurt', then as soon as he takes Health Point damage sufficient to put him into the Hurt category, he must make a Jitters test. Even if he passes the test, he must make another one each time that he suffers enough damage to put him into a worse category on the Health Point Profile. Due to the dice penalties resulting from injuries, NPCs' resolve to take more punishment lessons with each injury that they take. When making a Jitters Test, roll a number of dice equal to your Bearing statistic (some special abilities can alter this number). Jitters tests are Free tests.

Supernatural beings such as Night Terrors and Lurking Menaces have Morale ratings of Heavily Injured, Dying or None. Vermin tend to have a Morale rating of None.

Failure of a Jitters test results in the combatant choosing one of the following options.

Surrender: The combatant (if humanoid) drops his weapons and surrenders.
Fighting retreat: The combatant seeks to flee the fight, but will not open himself to attack in order to do so. If an opportunity does not present itself within 2 rounds, or he suffers more damage, then he will flee.
Flee: The combatant flees the combat, opening himself up to a reflexive weapons test from his opponents, if they wish to do so (or are able to).



Skills

Spot (Reasoning) (Gen)

Perception: This is your general skill to notice things, whether it is an ambush, the colour of someone's shirt or the number of apples on a tree. These are Free tests.

Search: When you are searching for something in particular, such as ransacking a mattress or looking for a sliding panel, then you make an Extended Spot test. The GM sets the difficulty of the test.

Heal (Prag)

First Aid: If successful in a Heal test, the patient is healed immediately of 1 Health point of damage. First aid can only be attempted once for each Scene that the patient has received an injury. This is particularly used when the patient is dying, thus stabilising them.

Care: This is an Extended test and represents a full day of treatment. The patient adds a number of dice equal to the number of successes gained in a Care Heal test to his Physique test to recover Health points. You can care for a number of patients in this manner equal to the number of successes achieved. Travel is not possible when you are being cared for in this manner.

Diagnosis: If the number of successes achieved in an Extended Heal test match the virulence rating of the disease suffered by the patient, then you can diagnose it and start a proper treatment. From the moment of diagnosis, the patient gains a bonus die on all Physique tests connected to the disease.

Miracle Cure: If you gain 4 successes in a Miracle Cure Heal test, then your patient is healed of one complete level of Health point damage. Therefore, if he was in the Hurt category, then he is healed of enough damage to place him at the worst level of the Slightly Injured category. This can only be attempted once on any character that has suffered injury, irrespective of how many Scenes that damage was caused within.

Modifications: Unhygienic conditions – 1 to –3 dice, In combat –2 dice, In specially prepared hygienic locations +1 - +3 dice, in unstable conditions such as horseback, a pitching ship etc –2 dice, in dark conditions –1 or –2 dice

I've had a change of heart on skills and i am adjusting them to take this into account. I will also be changing some special abilities to make them conform to this new idea.

I want there to be more tactical choice both in combat and social situations -and rather than list a huge amount of options for both, i'm using skills and special abilities to achieve it. The mechanism for this choice, as the people who have read the document will know, is Reflexive actions. You get one of these per round in addition to standard actions. My aim is for there to be a Reflexive choice for each skill that is usable in combat and a choice that is usable in social interaction

I'm re-posting the 2 skills that i posted above to illustrate this change. :)

----------------------------------------------------------------

Spot (Reasoning) (Gen)

Spot Weakness: In combat, you can spend a Reflexive action to spot an injury that your melee opponent is suffering from. If he is not currently suffering from Health point damage, you cannot use this skill. If you gain 2 successes in the Spot test, you automatically inflict 1 point of Health damage on your opponent without the need for a weapon skill test as you take advantage of his impediment by feints, manoeuvres and the like. Use of this skill does not stop you from making a standard weapon test.

Empathy: When engaging in social situations, you can spend a Reflexive action to spot telltale body language. If you gain a number of successes equal to or greater than half of your opponent's Bearing statistic, then you gain a general idea of his emotional state. This could be a state of panic, deviousness, or the single most prominent emotion exhibited by him.

Perception: This is your general skill to notice things, whether it is an ambush, the colour of someone's shirt or the number of apples on a tree. These are Free tests. The GM sets the difficulty of the test.

Search: When you are searching for something in particular, such as ransacking a mattress or looking for a sliding panel, then you make an Extended Spot test. The GM sets the difficulty of the test.

Heal (Prag)

Healer's Eye: By spending a Reflexive action and gaining 2 successes in a Heal test, you can determine the health of a combatant, at a distance of up to 10 feet. If you succeed, you can tell the current health level of the examined person. This tells you what injury level he is currently suffering from (e.g. – Uninjured, Lightly Injured, Hurt, Heavily Injured or Dying).

Healer's Word: Your expertise in the art of healing allows you to harm or heal an NPC's Status by commenting on his health to bystanders. In social situations, you can adjust the Status of an NPC by 1 point, up or down, if you gain a number of successes equal to the Bearing of the NPC –1, in a Reflexive Heal test. This may lead to Affiliations or Rivalries if used at the right/wrong time (such as at a coronation or initiation ceremony). Obviously lying about his health should be handled by normal Status tests (see Social Combat). This is for just diagnoses and the communication of them in a manner that is persuasive because of it's truth.

First Aid: If successful in a Heal test, the patient is healed immediately of 1 Health point of damage. First aid can only be attempted once for each Scene that the patient has received an injury. This is particularly used when the patient is dying, thus stabilising them.

Care: This is an Extended test. The patient adds a number of dice equal to the number of successes gained in a Care Heal test to his Physique test to recover Health points. You can care for a number of patients in this manner equal to the number of successes achieved. Travel is not possible when you are being cared for in this manner.

Diagnosis: If the number of successes achieved in an Extended Heal test match the virulence rating of the disease suffered by the patient, then you can diagnose it and start a proper treatment. From the moment of diagnosis, the patient gains a bonus die on all Physique tests connected to the disease.

Miracle Cure: If you gain 4 successes in a Miracle Cure Heal test, then your patient is healed of one complete level of Health point damage. Therefore, if he was in the Hurt category, then he is healed of enough damage to place him at the worst level of the Slightly Injured category. This can only be attempted once on any character that has suffered injury, irrespective of how many Scenes that damage was caused within.

I love this change, Dan! Cool stuff! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceI love this change, Dan! Cool stuff! :D

-clash

Cheers! :)  I've been stumped on introducing more tactical challenge for a while. Under the old scheme, about the only choice you had was whether to do a Reflexive parry, dodge or instigate some special abilities - and nothing at all for social situations. The other tactical option was how to use your armour and shield.

By giving each skill a Reflexive option for both combat and social encounters, it beefs up the tactical choices available by an order of magnitude and hopefully means that every skill in the game is useful in a tactical situation (at least in some circumstances).

It also means that pretty much every decision by the player is tactical in nature - with pros and cons.

The real challenge is in providing tactical challenge to social encounters (and the Status test mechanics) without removing the role-playing emphasis. So, i'm making them a bit more specific in nature and harder to achieve generally.

Quote from: One Horse TownCheers! :)  I've been stumped on introducing more tactical challenge for a while. Under the old scheme, about the only choice you had was whether to do a Reflexive parry, dodge or instigate some special abilities - and nothing at all for social situations. The other tactical option was how to use your armour and shield.

By giving each skill a Reflexive option for both combat and social encounters, it beefs up the tactical choices available by an order of magnitude and hopefully means that every skill in the game is useful in a tactical situation (at least in some circumstances).

It also means that pretty much every decision by the player is tactical in nature - with pros and cons.

The real challenge is in providing tactical challenge to social encounters (and the Status test mechanics) without removing the role-playing emphasis. So, i'm making them a bit more specific in nature and harder to achieve generally.

I'm with you 100%. This is a much better game now - and I already liked it! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceI'm with you 100%. This is a much better game now - and I already liked it! :D

-clash

Ta! :)

I'm resisting the temptation right now to do a Social Reflexive option for Climb. Yep, that's right - Social Climber. :D

On a removed matter. For those who have read one of the draft documents, would you prefer each feature to continue as i have started? IE, with flavour text, PC info, GM info and the 'day in the life' stuff. Reason being that if i carry on like that (there's about 70 'special features' and God knows how many other random table entries to do yet), i'm looking at 500 pages and 250,000 words. I'm at about 140 pages at the moment. :(

To expand on the last point made above, i mean entries like this. 92 of these for chargen, 70+ for special features for sci-fi/fantasy games.

06Kennels

The Grudlings had broken into Lord Brokenbarrel's compound in the dead of night – as was their wont, and it had been the dogs that had saved them. Little Terror and huge Brandywine had been torn to shreds defending the yard and the pitifully mewling Scratch was found on the steps to the manor house, long wounds along his side pumping blood onto the scrubbed stonework. It had been a bad night indeed. That was the problem with Lord Brokenbarrel's domain – it squatted atop the flat square roof of a tower that pierced the clouds. Everyone knew that Grudlings lived in the clouds. Still, better the open air and the freedom of this little piece of real estate that the Lord had conquered than the crowded and crime riddled tower that lay beneath. Ninety storeys sprawled downwards from the rooftop retreat, below clouds and the miasma of stench that enveloped the Stone Horizons.

Of the Grudlings, there was no sign.
 
Player Character Information
Stat Mods: Pragmatism +1
Skills: Animal Husbandry (dogs) 2, Dog training 2, Animal care (dogs) 2, Hunting 1, Athletics 1
Special Abilities: Canine companion 3, Track 2
Status: 2

Kennels Accoutrements:

Description

Hounds are the most widespread domestic animals in Stone Horizons. They are bred for defence and hunting, rather than as a food source, however. Kennels can spring up anywhere, inside or outside the castle and receive a steady stream of work protecting local resources. They tend to be cramped affairs when located within the castle and the noise the dogs make can be an annoyance for residents, whilst outside, kennels are much larger. Many breeds of hound can be found within a kennel, from the hideous Ratling Hound to the long-eared Mushroom Hound, and many residents have a dog bounding along beside them when on business or delving into less safe areas of the castle. In the absence of a ready supply of horses and hawks, hounds have become a bit of a status symbol among the prospective elite of society.

   Breeds

   Red Bounder
   Ratling Hound
   Long-Eared Mushroom Hound
   Barrel-Chested Setter
   Slink Hound
   Slope Hound
   Big Grey
   Reared Timber Hound (domesticated wolf)
   Black Pincher
   
A Day in the Life

Kennels are much like stables in the kind of work that has to be done to look after the animals. However, kennel workers focus more on hand-rearing their charges, meaning that the workforce normally live on site, and on training the dogs to perform tasks. This can be dangerous work with the larger breeds such as the Big Grey or Timber Hound, so the trainers must be limber, quick and expect to take a bite or two in a days work. Kennels receive visitors regularly, either looking to buy a dog, checking on training progress or requesting the presence of a trainer for a specific job. This means that kennel folk get to travel around more than people working in other features of the castle. They must be sure to mind their manners when the inevitable social climber comes visiting or resign themselves to a life without fulfilment.

Local Features

There are no special instructions for this feature.

GM Information – Problems, Politics & NPCs     

There are no special instructions for this feature.

Skills are going to be laid out in the following format -

Brief explanation of skill (not done yet)
Combat reflexive action
social reflexive action
general usage
general usage (if more than 1 option)
general usage (if more than 2 uses)
etc
etc

Here's another one. :)

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Ingratiate (Bearing)

Not in the Face!: If you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Ingratiate test, you can force one opponent that you are in melee combat with to pull his blow. Your opponent must be humanoid – supernatural foes and Vermin don't fall for this. Your opponent takes pity on you and any damage that you take from that blow is fatigue point damage, not health point damage.

Flattery: You are so gracious and ham it up so much in the charming stakes that a subsequent Favour Status test with the subject of your flattery is undertaken as though you have an Affiliation score equal to the number of successes achieved in this Reflexive Ingratiate test. The effects of the Affiliation last until the favour has been received.

Who, me Gov? : When dealing with someone you have a Rivalry with, you can offset 1 point of that Rivalry for every 2 successes that you achieve with an Ingratiate test. This lasts for the current Scene only.

Influence: You attempt to influence the view of someone concerning a third party, with apparently wise council. If you achieve a number of successes equal to half the Status of this third party, then the NPC receiving your words of wisdom gains a temporary Rivalry or Affiliation of 1 point with that person (determined by you). This Affiliation or Rivalry lasts until the end of the Scene. Failure can vary in result, depending on whom you are trying to influence and of what.

Nice work, OHT. It's coming together beautifully.

Are you going to include when to use different skills for those that aren't particularly easy to understand their game effect?

Quote from: Rob LangNice work, OHT. It's coming together beautifully.

Are you going to include when to use different skills for those that aren't particularly easy to understand their game effect?

Yeah, sure. This is all draft stuff. There will be proper explanations of general skill usage for each of them - then a few specific usages will be convered for each skill. One for combat, one for social situations and whatever else pops into my head.

I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with a combat usage of Drinking and Bakery! But i've managed Prepare Food (:eek: ), Botany and Portage, so i daresay, i'll come up with something! :D

If I may suggest that drinking and fighting aren't entirely mutually exclusive. Confidence and courage are biproducts of a CAMRA skinful.

Congrats on finding a Combat use for Botany. :) That's classic.

Botanist's Eye: When engaging in melee in outside environments, or within mushroom fields, you can manoeuvre 1 of your opponents so that the vegetation hinders their movements, trips and fouls them. You recognise which plants will interfere with your opponent's movements via thorns, burrs, grasping tendrils and the like. If you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Botany test, that opponent suffers a dice penalty equal to your Pragmatism statistic to any Reflexive parry or dodge attempts made in the current round.

:D

Upon reading that, I can imagine my player group forming a team of crack Combat Botanists, to fight EcoEvil without guns nor explosives. The thought frightens me. :) Legendary, OHT, absolutely fab. Love it.

Cheers! :)

Due to the change in skills & special abilities (which i think i'm going to rename as Unique Skills), i'm also changing the almost non-existant Initiative system. Before it was a hand-wavy "everyone acts at the same time, unless you spend a reflexive action not to." Given reflexive actions are now key tactically, i'm changing Initiative to reflect it.

Now your Intiative is calculated by the action you want to undertake. Attack someone with your sword? Your IN is equal to your sword skill + Physique stat. Want to run? Athletics & Physique, want to read poetry? Languages & Reasoning. Reflexive actions can take place at any time in the round and are in addition to your standard 1 action a round.

A bit from the advice section - The View From the Horizon.

This follows on from the previously posted Naming Conventions.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Having a Day Job

In a local or political game, generating your character has created the area in which you start play. All of the plots, interlocking relationships and problems are waiting for you to meddle with. These games presume that your character lives and works in the area – he has a day job. Now, this might be something that you are not used to in a roleplaying game and at first glance maybe it doesn't really enthuse you. Who wants to role-play something that we all do in the real world? Well, the answer to this is simple. Don't. Some of the plots and relationships integral to the game doubtless involve your place of work and your colleagues/rivals, so some game play will focus on those problems. However, the day-to-day life of your character is not something that should be dwelt on other than to incorporate and overcome those problems. A large majority of in-game action is assumed to take place in your character's free time. There should be little need to focus on his mundane life, unless it forwards a problem or helps to resolve it.

I like everything you are doing, Dan. It all improves the game.

Excellent! :D

-clash

High praise indeed! :o

I've come to a realisation that given the chargen and the area gen which comes up front, that it's very front-loaded. For that reason, i'm going to do what i'm tentatively calling the 'bonding problem'. This is going to be a random table that generates a problem that requires the PCs instant attention.

The idea being that you can get straight into the game without having so many options that you get dizzy. All the problems generated by chargen are still there, but that 1st session will have a problem that the PCs have to address. No grasping around for what to delve into - in media res, i guess. Should bed the PCs down with each other and generate a problem that affects them all equally. Once you've found your feet, then you can get going with all the other stuff that chargen has created.

It also allows a 1 session break between chargen and the GM creating all the NPCs and problems - once the intitial problem is sorted, then the players can, in the next session, sort out Affiliations & Rivalries (perhaps informed by some NPCs that the GM introduced in the intitial problem).

Quote from: One Horse TownHigh praise indeed! :o

I've come to a realisation that given the chargen and the area gen which comes up front, that it's very front-loaded. For that reason, i'm going to do what i'm tentatively calling the 'bonding problem'. This is going to be a random table that generates a problem that requires the PCs instant attention.

The idea being that you can get straight into the game without having so many options that you get dizzy. All the problems generated by chargen are still there, but that 1st session will have a problem that the PCs have to address. No grasping around for what to delve into - in media res, i guess. Should bed the PCs down with each other and generate a problem that affects them all equally. Once you've found your feet, then you can get going with all the other stuff that chargen has created.

It also allows a 1 session break between chargen and the GM creating all the NPCs and problems - once the intitial problem is sorted, then the players can, in the next session, sort out Affiliations & Rivalries (perhaps informed by some NPCs that the GM introduced in the intitial problem).

Brilliant! I always start PCs off with something they have to take care of right away. It instantly bonds them.

-clash

This, sir (pointing at the Stone Horizons game), is a very, very neat thing.  

Without putting the cart too far in front of the horse here, what do you envision for this game in general?  And yes, I can completely understand the, "well, let's just wait and see how the masses take it first, shall we," response.

And without further ado, I must track down these story references outside the Gene Wolfe/Wolf/Wulf/Woolph one ASAP!

Quote from: DangerThis, sir (pointing at the Stone Horizons game), is a very, very neat thing.  

Thank you muchly.

QuoteWithout putting the cart too far in front of the horse here, what do you envision for this game in general?  And yes, I can completely understand the, "well, let's just wait and see how the masses take it first, shall we," response.

Well, the plan is for Flying Mice Games to publish it - probably in 2 books (although clash can pipe-up, if he disagrees). Each of an estimated 250 pages. At present they are basically split between a Players book and a GMs book.

Currently, the players book is standing at 109 pages and the GMs book at 37. I'm currently focussing on skills & abilities for the Players book. Once that is sorted, i'll do a serviceable equipment list. After that, the game should be playable, so the plan would be an alpha playtest (again informed by clash's greater experience in this area).

Once that is out, if i can write 2 feature/special feature/problem entries a day (probably about 1500 words), then i reckon a timescale of 5 months is reasonable before we can enter final preparations for publication.

Quote from: One Horse TownThank you muchly.



Well, the plan is for Flying Mice Games to publish it - probably in 2 books (although clash can pipe-up, if he disagrees). Each of an estimated 250 pages. At present they are basically split between a Players book and a GMs book.

Currently, the players book is standing at 109 pages and the GMs book at 37. I'm currently focussing on skills & abilities for the Players book. Once that is sorted, i'll do a serviceable equipment list. After that, the game should be playable, so the plan would be an alpha playtest (again informed by clash's greater experience in this area).

Once that is out, if i can write 2 feature/special feature/problem entries a day (probably about 1500 words), then i reckon a timescale of 5 months is reasonable before we can enter final preparations for publication.

This is along th lines of what I was assuming. :D

-clash

I've done my 2 features for the day, so it's back to skills for me!

A glimpse behind the curtain of Veiled Horizons. This particular section is for those running a fantasy game. :)

----------------------------------------

The Architects

The world of Stone Horizons was constructed by mysterious beings known as the Architects. How humans and the other races came to inherit it is a matter of much conjecture and not a little concern. What if they want the castle back? This section discusses different ways in which the Architects can be portrayed in your game.
 
How you choose to view these beings effects how the game is run and on what your sessions may focus. So this section presents a variety of ways for you to introduce and run this enigmatic race. Where your choice affects the baseline assumptions of the game, it is noted in the relevant section and gives you advice on how to initiate these changes.

They Are Among Us

The Architects never left in this model. They have always lived amongst the people of the Stone Horizons and continue to do so. Their numbers are small and so they are forced to keep themselves hidden. They observe, catalogue and hoard any resources that they can find, and hold onto, without suspicion. Your neighbour, work colleague or the master of your feature may in fact be an Architect; hiding his true nature in the hope that he can return to power, in triumph, at some later date. They lay labyrinthine plots that are difficult to track back to them or walk the corridors of power, taking down folk who they see as a threat and sowing fear among the population. However, their plots are more often than not ineffective, as they lack the numbers or resources to enforce them. As a result, they are bitter and resentful and many of them retreat from society altogether and present a pitiful sight to those who encounter them.

However, on a local level, the Architects can still cause problems for the PCs. They could initiate many plots and finding their influence can be the basis of many sessions of play. Once they are unveiled, who do they turn out to be? Are they your long lost brother, the mild-mannered janitor, or even one of your parents?

This model can lend itself to a wonderful sense of paranoia and schemes within schemes involving secret societies, cults and conspiracy theories, with adversaries that are hard to pin down. Unlike the returning force model, the Architects are not the driving force in games that use this method of portrayal. Indeed, the PCs may never encounter them at all, or if they do, it could be just one or two isolated incidents. If one of the NPCs created in the feature creation section of Stone Horizons has the ‘Secret – Architect’, then the ‘They are Among Us’ type of portrayal is likely to be your best option (see NPCs, Problems & Politics).

Use the imbedded Architect profile for games using this model.

Edit: I imagine a sort of 'They Live' vibe for this.

Can't you just fuck up for once and write a rule/bit of fluff that isn't cool and well-considered, 'cause otherwise I'm gonna have to give up tabs and cut the bairns' pocket money once SH is available to buy. ;)

lovin' it large !

Luckily, i've kept my fuck-ups to myself thus far. :D I'm glad that Vulcan Death-Grip got caught before i posted it.

Hygiene (Prag) (Gen)

(RCO) Hypochondriac’s Eye: If you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Hygiene test, then you can determine whether any of the attacks of 1 of your melee opponents could result in contracting disease. This knowledge allows you to mitigate its affect, should you be wounded, as you manoeuvre yourself to best advantage. You receive a 1-die bonus to any Physique tests needed to resist disease resulting from those attacks.

(RSO) Presentable: You ignore negative modifications to your Status score due to appearance if you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Hygiene test.

----------------------

RCO = Reflexive Combat Option.
RSO = Reflexive Social Option.

Here's a couple of weapon skill RCOs and a beastly one. :)

I'm not creating RSOs for weapon skills.

------------------------------------------

Knives & Blades (Manual Dexterity)

(RCO) Inside the Guard: If a successful attack of yours is totally nullified by the use of either a shield or armour, then you still inflict 1 point of health damage if you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Knives & Blades test.

Hooks & Poles (Manual Dexterity)

(RCO) Out of Reach: If you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Hooks & Poles test and your next attack is successful, you inflict damage as normal. However, your opponent reduces any damage he inflicts, if his next attack is successful, by 1 point.

Claw (Physique)

(RCO) Rend: If you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Claw test and your next attack hits, inflict damage as normal. However, the next time that you successfully use the Rend RCO, you cause 2 extra points of health damage and ignore up to 2 points of nominated armour if the subsequent attack is successful.

The Claw skill RCO explanation didn't communicate what i was aiming for correctly. Here is the cleaned up version.

Claw (Physique)

(RCO) Rend: If you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Claw test in 2 successive rounds and the subsequent attack in each of those 2 rounds is successful, then the attack on the 2nd round causes 2 extra points of health damage and ignores up to 2 points of nominated armour.

Quote from: One Horse TownThe Claw skill RCO explanation didn't communicate what i was aiming for correctly. Here is the cleaned up version.

Claw (Physique)

(RCO) Rend: If you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Claw test in 2 successive rounds and the subsequent attack in each of those 2 rounds is successful, then the attack on the 2nd round causes 2 extra points of health damage and ignores up to 2 points of nominated armour.

Still a bit muddled, Dan. How about:

RCO (Rend) When making Reflexive Claw attacks, it it possible to get a powerful secondary rending attack bonus. If you succeed at a Reflexive Claw attack in two consecutive rounds, the attack in the second round causes 2 extra points of health damage and ignores up to 2 points of nominated armour.

Is that better?

-clash

You're right, it still isn't clear. Neither are the other weapon entries, i've just noticed. The reflexive action part is meant to augment the attack, not take its place. So using the weapon RCO uses up both your reflexive action for the round and your standard action (the actual attack). Just as using your reflexive action to dodge or use the RCO of another skill you have will mean that you cannot use your weapon RCO in that round. Only 1 reflexive action of any type during the round.

Re-writing.

Oh noes! Sean, if you're watching, this is the fuck-up you've been waiting for! :D

Let me just say this:
I am glad that you are back at working on Stone Horizons.

Quote from: Dirk RemmeckeLet me just say this:
I am glad that you are back at working on Stone Horizons.

Thanks! Just needed to re-charge the batteries, get a fresh perspective and get the old grey matter working again.

Edit: BTW clash, i've mailed you some thoughts on how to take this forward.

Quote from: One Horse TownThanks! Just needed to re-charge the batteries, get a fresh perspective and get the old grey matter working again.

Edit: BTW clash, i've mailed you some thoughts on how to take this forward.

Replied! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceReplied! :D

-clash

As Ash would say, "Groovy!" :cool:

Details of a feature that few in the castle dare talk about, brought to you by the heretical Technician, Flashpan. :D

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93 Cremation Houses

The body didn't look that fearsome, considering the fear and damage the corpse had inflicted in life. Flashpan was finished with the preparations of the ovens, all he had to do was lay the corpse on the trolley and wheel it in. As he transferred the cadaver, Flashpan couldn't believe how warm the lifeless hunk was. Perhaps there had been a mistake and this monster still lived? Breath rattling between clenched teeth; he quieted himself – working here tended to get under your skin after a while. Confident once more, he closed the oven doors and started stoking the fires until the flames licked at the small glass window. He sat down on his stool and took out the pie that his wife had made him. Looking it over, he sighed; burnt offerings again.

A noise from the oven made him start. It was a loud thump. Perhaps the body had burnt partway through and had fallen off the trolley? It happened. It was annoying too; he would have to start again. Peering through the glass, all he could see was the enveloping flames. Then, from out of no-where, a grinning visage, haloed by a mass of burning hair pressed itself against the window. Flashpan stumbled backwards, his heart threatening to leap from his chest. But he was dead! Smoking Jack was dead!

The walking, burning corpse in the oven did not believe him. The handle turned slowly and the door swung open ponderously. The blast of air from the oven removed any hair that Flashpan had left and then the corpse was upon him.

"Fire is good," it gloated. "Fire can't harm me!" Laughing, Smoking Jack clicked his fingers and the whole cremation house went up in a conflagration to end all others.  

Player Character Information
Stat Mods: +1 Bearing
Skills: Hygiene 3, Portage 2, Craft (urns) 2, Lores (funerary) 1
Special Abilities: Cool 3, Heat Resistance 2
Status: 0

Description

There are some places that even the most disreputable avoid at all costs. Cremation Houses are one of those places – ironic since everyone who cannot afford being embalmed and placed in a crypt, end up there eventually. The pressure that the castle places upon its inhabitants means that every piece of real estate is of importance, subsequently, very little of that real estate is kept aside for the burial of the dead. Instead, the cremation houses get rid of the troublesome remains and everyone is happy. Well, everyone who doesn't have one in the local area that is. Resembling a working scullery, minus the food, and an industrial complex without the industry, the smoke-blackened chimneys of these grim edifices send their charges remains into the air. In times of disease, a pall of smoke can hang over the immediate area and a loathsome scent, not unlike cooking bacon, wafts on the breeze. It's even worse in totally enclosed spaces or underground. Luckily, the cunning ducts crafted into the masonry of the castle at least mean that people don't choke on their loved ones.

The interior is as grim as one would expect, with cadavers awaiting cremation laid in a line on rickety metal trolleys. The ovens dominate the interior, however, and are huge affairs that you could drive a horse and carriage through. Superstitious folk never look directly into the oven – you know, just in case.

A Day in the Life

Cremation technicians (as they are called in the hope that some of the social stigma is removed) are a resigned lot. Generally ostracized by their communities, these dour men and women usually have no choice but to bed down in their place of work. The phrase 'down among the dead men' was originally coined at the expense of an unlucky cremation technician. Those lucky enough to have relatives, who will take them, still live outside. These are rare, however, and most technicians end up sleeping on an unoccupied trolley.

Technicians work a standard day, which is a better deal than many other castle residents. First thing in the morning they start with the grim job of cleaning any new corpses that arrived during the night. The afternoon is normally spent in crafting small urns for those who paid extra to have a memento of their loved one. Finally, in the early evening, the corpses are sacrificed to the flames and once this is done, the rest of the day is the technicians own. Of course, if he is restricted to the cremation house, then there's little that he can do in his increased spare time but indulge in the obsessive hygiene regimen that seems to occupy most of them. Any distraction is welcome, however.

Local Area

There are no special instructions for this feature.

GM Information – Problems, Politics & NPCs

All Cremation Houses suffer from the Ostracized entry found in the Politics table (see Problems & Politics). Roll randomly for another problem and implement both results.

Something i wrote a while ago for the Architects book. The first of 70 special features that can crop up in a fantasy/sci-fi game. :)

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01-02Levitation Shafts

The damp air swirled violently around the petrified Hammerjack, plucking at the miner's clothing with insistent hands. His innards shrank within his body as a peculiar tugging sensation radiated from deep inside. With wild eyes, he saw the ground retreat as he floated serenely upwards towards the small aperture high above his head. Exultation quickly replaced the brief feeling of nausea as he floated upwards on unseen winds. He caressed the small brass disk attached to his cloak reverentially - satisfied that he had divined its use properly.

Description: These shafts are invariably found in huge towers or descending into the bowels of the earth. They come in all shapes and sizes, from cylindrical shafts ascending forty feet to hexagonal shafts that run unbroken for miles. Where it is practical, these shafts normally have 'landings' that can be stepped upon when a new level is reached, allowing egress to other areas, however mastery over the Levitation Shaft's mechanics and the accompanying Disk is required to control this function. At each landing are a number of stone protrusions that are manipulated in order to use the levitation effect and select the landing that you wish to levitate to. Levitation Discs are needed to properly manipulate these controls.

The shaft may be constructed of dark obsidian, shiny quartz, sandstone or even wood - some are almost mosaic like in their construction, whilst others are framed only in huge blocks of dressed stone. Other than egresses to other areas, Levitation Shafts do not contain any other openings. Because of this, some of them are stiflingly hot, impenetrably dark or sink holes for noxious fumes and other hazards. Vermin or bandits sometimes beset communities that contain a Levitation Shaft, however, areas containing one can also be rather more wealthy and cosmopolitan than others, as travel between features is easier. There are also likely to be fewer sets of stairs or trap doors leading to other levels in an area that contains a Levitation Shaft.

Utility: These shafts were built to allow easy travel to other areas of the castle that either lay many levels above, or below, the traveller. They vary greatly in usage. Certain shafts can only be utilised by a set number of people, whilst others only accept those people who are nominated to use it. Maybe it only levitates a certain item, race, or type of person and does not work for anything else. A shaft that only works for angry scholars would be very different in utility to one that allows anything carrying a disk to use the shaft. Discovery of a Levitation Shaft is only the beginning. Those who discovered it will need to uncover how to unlock its power, any conditions for its use and what exactly it is able to transport. Who knows? Maybe it only works for the mysterious Architects.

Artefacts: In order to use a Levitation Shaft, the user must be carrying a specially crafted Levitation Disc. These discs are sometimes found in forgotten halls or grottos within the Stone Horizons. They are generally covered in arcane script (although they may be totally unadorned) and come in a variety of materials, from brass to shale to cork to gold. How these discs interact with the shafts is not known. Finding a disc should result in an investigation into their use. Even if their use is uncovered, where is the shaft that utilises it?

Plots & Ideas: Unwritten.

Artefact Mastery

Disc:
Decode writings: 1 success – determines the usage of the disc.
Determine name of Levitation Shaft: 2 successes – learn the name of the shaft that the disc is attuned to. Not necessarily its location.
Decode preconditions: 2 successes - tells of any preconditions for use (IE only allows sheep to use the disc).
Disc activation: 2 successes – allows use of attuned shaft with disc once all preconditions have been divined.
Disc manipulation: 3 successes – allows user to choose which landing to stop at.

Levitation Shaft Control panel:
Program protrusions: 4 successes – can change the coding of the shaft using the controls at each landing. This can change speed of levitation and which items accompanying discs can use. Failure could wreck the mechanism or scramble the controls, with strange effects.

I've changed each feature entry to better reflect its place in the castle and to differentiate what can be bought there and what is a service offered by that feature. Along with the flavour text, description & the day in the life sections, this should give readers a pretty good idea of what each feature is about (even if the name doesn't give it away!)

Instead of this sort of thing:

Scullery feature

Scullery Accoutrements: A hearty meal (an evenings work or 2 pennies), Crockery (2 bits), Knives & cleavers (5 bits), aprons and work clothes (1 bit), 1 day of preserved foods (5 pennies), vermin poisons, lesser (3 bits), baskets & packs (1 bit), heat resistant gloves (1 bit), 1 days supply of chopped wood (3 pennies), coals, bag (1 bit), heat stone, 10% chance, see special features (20 crowns), mesh gloves, butchery (4 bits)


I now have this sort of thing for each feature:

Bath Houses feature

Goods: Cologne (5 bits per bottle), Towels (6 pennies each), Buckets (1 bit each), Comb (2 pennies each), coals, bag (1 bit per bag),

Services: Hot bath (1 bit), Massage (3 bits), Attendant (5 pennies), Grooming (1 bit),

As always, design tighter than a duck's bum.

Quote from: Rob LangAs always, design tighter than a duck's bum.

Thanks! I was aiming for tighter than a penguin's chuff, but i'm happy enough with a duck's bum. :D

I'm also adding a new General Skill: Craft (feature)

Given the logistics of moving stuff through the castle and buying stuff in from far off (well, a few miles anyway) climes, i figure that inhabitants of each feature of the castle has the opportunity to learn how to make items that are central to the purpose of that feature. Therefore, taking the Craft (feature) skill gives you the skill needed to craft any of the items that are availible in the Goods entry of your feature.

Merchants and travellers still peddal goods from features that are removed from you local area.

Quote from: Rob LangAs always, design tighter than a duck's bum.

I refuse to ask how you know how tight a duck's bum is, Rob... :D

-clash

Quote from: One Horse TownThanks! I was aiming for tighter than a penguin's chuff, but i'm happy enough with a duck's bum. :D

I'm also adding a new General Skill: Craft (feature)

Given the logistics of moving stuff through the castle and buying stuff in from far off (well, a few miles anyway) climes, i figure that inhabitants of each feature of the castle has the opportunity to learn how to make items that are central to the purpose of that feature. Therefore, taking the Craft (feature) skill gives you the skill needed to craft any of the items that are availible in the Goods entry of your feature.

Merchants and travellers still peddal goods from features that are removed from you local area.

Sweet! :D

-clash

I'm re-jigging some skills & special abilities actually. Some special abilities will now be general skills. Also, general skills are being removed from the character information section in each feature entry. Each entry will now give you feature specific skills and you buy general skills such as Spot, Haggle etc afterwards. Probably 6 points for buying general skills instead of 3, with a maximum skill rating of 3. Where a general skill is vital to a feature, then the special ability you get will reflect your expertise.

55Gargoyle Halls

Deep in the bowels of the mountain, old halls sit forgotten in dust and darkness. No human footfall has disturbed these halls for hundreds of years. They are not empty, however. In the glow from the lava flow that frames one side of these halls can be seen line upon line of hideous statues. Imps, demons, tiny dragons and hoary animals of a dozen forgotten species sit on obsidian plinths. Jewelled eyes stare indifferently from these carvings – twinkling with reflected light.

If ever a traveller once more found these ancient delves, he could be forgiven in thinking that these rows of sentinels lived. If he resisted the urge to flee the crushing heat, the twitching shadows and crack of stone, he would be in no doubt. His screams would be short and his eyes would only briefly glimpse the majesty of a hundred statues taking flight and jabbering in a low, rumbling language, before his life was taken from him.

Quote from: One Horse Town55Gargoyle Halls

Deep in the bowels of the mountain, old halls sit forgotten in dust and darkness. No human footfall has disturbed these halls for hundreds of years. They are not empty, however. In the glow from the lava flow that frames one side of these halls can be seen line upon line of hideous statues. Imps, demons, tiny dragons and hoary animals of a dozen forgotten species sit on obsidian plinths. Jewelled eyes stare indifferently from these carvings – twinkling with reflected light.

If ever a traveller once more found these ancient delves, he could be forgiven in thinking that these rows of sentinels lived. If he resisted the urge to flee the crushing heat, the twitching shadows and crack of stone, he would be in no doubt. His screams would be short and his eyes would only briefly glimpse the majesty of a hundred statues taking flight and jabbering in a low, rumbling language, before his life was taken from him.

MWAHAHAHAHA!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceMWAHAHAHAHA!

-clash

:evillaugh:

A couple of the entries contained in the Politics table - which is one of 10 tables that can be rolled on after you have used the Problems & Politics master table. You roll once on the master table for each feature in the game, then roll on the table determined to find out what the feature problem is. :)

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Tradition Led: Little rituals and procedures that have been handed down over countless years dominate the daily life and work of the feature. Chances are that few people remember their relevance anymore, but tradition dictates their use. These traditions may be contained within musty tomes (or for a fantasy game, maybe a Records Room) or handed down orally. Failure to follow the traditions can be viewed as rude, bringing bad luck or may even be against the law. Local folk may see the residents of this feature as harmlessly charming, backward or simply as a curiosity.

Caste System: The hierarchy of the feature is aligned via a caste system, which is rigidly adhered to. Promotion to elevated positions may not be possible for certain castes and this may have a direct bearing on the perceived Status of the residents, NPCs and PCs. Create a simple caste system and inform the players about it. It will be little fun for a character created in this feature if he does not agree to the limitations imposed by a caste system, so make sure there is some leeway within it and that the player is onboard with your creation.

So - combat...

As things stand at the moment, most combatants can probably be hit about 4 or 5 times before they meet their maker.

Is that too 'cinematic' for Stone Horizons?

Quote from: One Horse TownSo - combat...

As things stand at the moment, most combatants can probably be hit about 4 or 5 times before they meet their maker.

Is that too 'cinematic' for Stone Horizons?

That's about the ratio I use in StarCluster games, and no one thinks they are particularly cinematic.

-clash

Depending on what they're hit with, it sounds good. Gives the player plenty of options to back out/change their mind.

Quote from: flyingmiceThat's about the ratio I use in StarCluster games, and no one thinks they are particularly cinematic.

-clash

Fair enough! I'll probably leave well alone then. With Reflexive Combat Options, you should get the variety needed to make combats different, so that not every combatant falls at the same time.

A special ability that those brave enough to make a living in some of the huge areas of crypts found in the castle get for their troubles.

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Glory Hound

Features: Crypts

You have a nose for danger and an intuitive grasp of where treasures lay. Whenever you attempt a Spot test when searching for treasure or to notice an ambush, you can add a number of dice to the total rolled equal to the number of successes rolled in a Free Glory Hound test.

Other effects
2 Successes: If you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Glory Hound test, you may add 1 die to the total rolled for all actions targeting a Lurking Menace or Night Terror during the current scene.
3 Successes: You can temporarily raise your Status score by one point after defeating a Lurking Menace or Night Terror if you gain 3 successes in a Glory Hound test. This lasts until the end of the game session and is in addition to any other Status awards. You may only benefit from this once per game session.
4 Successes: You can force an adversary (bar Lurking Menaces, Night Terrors & Vermin) to make a Social Morale test, as you relate your deeds.

An explanation of the various types of test used in Stone Horizons. :)

Assigning test difficulties will be covered in the final tome.

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Normal tests

You can attempt to use any skill in Stone Horizons – even if you do not have it on your profile. If you do not have the relevant skill, then you roll a number of dice equal to the statistical rating of the parent stat for the skill. For skills that you do have, you add your skill rating to the parent stat and roll that number of dice.

Normal skill tests are those that take 1 round or less during a Scene to attempt. You can attempt 1 Normal test during each round in a Scene and you take it once your Initiative Number has been reached.

Reflexive tests

Reflexive tests are actions that are carried out in response to an immediate danger or represent your instincts. One Reflexive test may be attempted in addition to a Normal test in each round of a Scene. Reflexive actions can be skill tests or uses of Special Abilities. Roll a number of dice equal to your skill rating & parent stat, for skill tests, or equal to your Special Ability rating, for Special Abilities. Reflexive tests can be attempted at any time during the round.

If you do not have a skill rating on your profile, then you may not attempt RCOs or RSOs listed for that skill.

Free tests

Free tests are similar to Reflexive tests in that they can be attempted at any point during the round. Unlike Reflexive tests, however, any number of Free tests can be made during a round. Free tests represent characteristics that are innate to your character. As such, they need no concentration to activate. Stamina, strength of mind, and speed of thought are all examples of Free tests. Some Special Abilities are represented by Free tests.

Extended tests

Extended tests are those actions that do not fit into a combat round. These actions may take several minutes or several hours (even days) to complete. It is possible to make Free tests whilst in the midst of an Extended test, but if you have to make (or choose to do so) a Reflexive test during this time, your Extended test suffers a 1 dice penalty to the attempt.

Difficulties

In Stone Horizons, characters can attempt every skill in the game and be relatively successful at it. Assigning a success condition to tests should only be demanded when the activity being attempted is above average in difficulty. The GM decides how many successes are needed to carry out the task satisfactorily.

Difficulty Successes Needed

Easy Instant success
Average Instant success
Challenging 1
Hard 2
Very Hard 3
Next to Impossible 4
Luck of the Mage-Folk 5

(P.S: This section needs clarifying somewhat, but should give the genral gist!)

Quote from: One Horse TownAn explanation of the various types of test used in Stone Horizons. :)

Assigning test difficulties will be covered in the final tome.

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Normal tests

You can attempt to use any skill in Stone Horizons – even if you do not have it on your profile. If you do not have the relevant skill, then you roll a number of dice equal to the statistical rating of the parent stat for the skill. For skills that you do have, you add your skill rating to the parent stat and roll that number of dice.

Normal skill tests are those that take 1 round or less during a Scene to attempt. You can attempt 1 Normal test during each round in a Scene and you take it once your Initiative Number has been reached.

Reflexive tests

Reflexive tests are actions that are carried out in response to an immediate danger or represent your instincts. One Reflexive test may be attempted in addition to a Normal test in each round of a Scene. Reflexive actions can be skill tests or uses of Special Abilities. Roll a number of dice equal to your skill rating & parent stat, for skill tests, or equal to your Special Ability rating, for Special Abilities. Reflexive tests can be attempted at any time during the round.

If you do not have a skill rating on your profile, then you may not attempt RCOs or RSOs listed for that skill.

Free tests

Free tests are similar to Reflexive tests in that they can be attempted at any point during the round. Unlike Reflexive tests, however, any number of Free tests can be made during a round. Free tests represent characteristics that are innate to your character. As such, they need no concentration to activate. Stamina, strength of mind, and speed of thought are all examples of Free tests. Some Special Abilities are represented by Free tests.

Extended tests

Extended tests are those actions that do not fit into a combat round. These actions may take several minutes or several hours (even days) to complete. It is possible to make Free tests whilst in the midst of an Extended test, but if you have to make (or choose to do so) a Reflexive test during this time, your Extended test suffers a 1 dice penalty to the attempt.

Difficulties

In Stone Horizons, characters can attempt every skill in the game and be relatively successful at it. Assigning a success condition to tests should only be demanded when the activity being attempted is above average in difficulty. The GM decides how many successes are needed to carry out the task satisfactorily.

Code Select Expand

Difficulty Successes Needed

Easy Instant success
Average Instant success
Challenging 1
Hard 2
Very Hard 3
Next to Impossible 4
Luck of the Mage-Folk 5

(P.S: This section needs clarifying somewhat, but should give the genral gist!)

Sweet! Nice work, Dan! :D

-clash

Just a quick update. 30 features complete, only 62 to go...;)

Skills are about 2/3rds done, same with special abilities. Equipment lists yet to be started.

Hopefully still on schedule for a June playtest - which i'll announce in that other thread, so folk don't miss it. :)

A little description of one of the fantasy races in the game.

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Rafters

Rafters are a peculiar species that have adapted to the unique environment of the castle. Sages believe that they are descended from wall crawling lizards, which over countless years have been warped by the castle into their current form. Reaching heights of between four and four and a half feet, they seldom actually gain their full height, being hunched over to better clutch the stonework and wooden beams of their homes. As the name suggests, Rafters live in the lofts, vaulted ceilings and remote tower-tops, crawling along the beams, carrying out repairs and destroying any vermin that they come across. They are uniquely adapted for this life. They are able to change their skin colouration to match their environments, have a long tongue that can be shot out to 3 feet to catch food, and an extra pair of arms with which to carry out work whilst clinging onto a beam, or to assault enemies whilst doing the same. In fact, they have few human characteristics at all; only a discernable skull and the extra pair of limbs being recognisably human in appearance alter their fearsome countenance. Despite their alien appearance, Rafters are generally well thought of for the work that they do in repairing the castle and repelling (and eating) vermin. Over the years, they have managed to master the local human languages and can converse as well as any human adult, showing equal intellect in many cases.

Rafter nests are communal affairs, with members claiming any available space and all helping with defensive and cleaning duties. Young are born live, unlike their ancestors and usually number 2 or 3 individuals. These young look no different than the lizards that can be seen clinging to the walls all over the Stone Horizons, so predation is a problem. For this reason, the young are normally kept to the nest until they start to develop their second pair of arms; thus distinguishing them from normal lizards. Rafters have an intense dislike for another of the Stone Horizon's anthropomorphic races - Ratlings. Where Rafters build and repair, the Ratlings destroy, and confrontations are not uncommon between them.

How the noble art of cartography can help you in extremis.

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Cartography (Reasoning)

(RCO) Cartographer's Eye: Your eye for detail transfers itself to the encounter environment – you have a mental map of the battlefield. If you gain 2 successes in a Reflexive Cartography test, you add 1 die to the total rolled in a single test made by an ally within 10 feet or subtract a number of dice equal to your Bearing statistic from the weapon test of 1 opponent directly attacking you.

Table 2-1 Problems & Politics Master Table

Roll 1d100 for each feature and then roll on the relevant sub-table. Implement any special instructions contained in the feature entry before rolling on these tables.

Entries marked with an (F) suffix are generally only suitable for a fantasy game. Details on special features are available in the forthcoming Architects sourcebook.

01-10Vermin
11-20Special Features (F)
21-30Night Terrors (F)
31-40Supplies & Resources
41-50Structural & Environmental
51-60Disease
61-70Lurking Menace (F)
71-80Politics
81-90Unsolved Crimes
91-00Magical (F)

37Grottos

The water made a relaxing sound as the waves washed under the huge stone overhang of the castle walls above. Young Driftwood meandered across the shadowed beach, his bare feet delighting in the texture of the sand beneath his feet. He guffawed to himself. He remembered the old tale that his grandma used to tell him about the sand of the grotto being the crumbled bits of the castle walls that hung over it. "The waves wash the bits of rock off the walls and they fall onto the floor," she used to say. Driftwood never believed her, but he missed the story anyhow.

The sound of the echoing waves changed as a small sloop heaved to under the gigantic shroud of the castle and made towards the small wooden docks. Pale-faced men and women emerged from their tiny huts on the beach and awaited the new arrival with hope in their eyes. Maybe this boat carried the tools they needed to repair their own craft. Ever since the pirate raid they had gone hungry. Maybe this time, maybe this time.  

Travelling the Horizons

A world covered by buildings is not easy to traverse. Much of the surface of the ground never sees the sun and is covered by colonnades, covered walkways and conjoined features. As a consequence, knowing which direction you are travelling is almost impossible in most locations and really doesn't matter that much either – passages are known by name rather than a compass direction. Not only that, but right of way is blocked in many areas or you have to tramp through someone's private property or home to progress further on your journey. In short, there are very few simple journeys, distances travelled in a day are tiny compared to external locations and the number of features you pass through can be intimidating to describe. So don't. Unless a feature or location progresses an ambition, is important to the resolving of a problem, or has an immediate relevance to the party (such as an ambush by bandits) then do not describe everything that the party passes through. Be sure to give a general impression of the area or differing geographical and architectural details, but don't mention every turn of a corridor or type of stonework that they pass by. That becomes boring quickly. The difficulties faced by travellers makes the work of Trailblazers, Stone Trawlers and Cartographers particular important in opening up new areas to explore. If you can, have your characters buy some maps or you could be wandering around forever. Which brings us nicely to the next problem...

To Map or Not to Map

I'm digging this part, Dan!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceI'm digging this part, Dan!

-clash

The View From the Horizon section has been the easiest part to write, frankly. Not everyone will agree with the advice that i give - but they can draw their own conclusions once they've read it.

Quote from: One Horse TownThe View From the Horizon section has been the easiest part to write, frankly. Not everyone will agree with the advice that i give - but they can draw their own conclusions once they've read it.

Which is - I think - just about perfect. :D

-clash

Loonngg time, no post. A combination of writing for money and moving have meant that i have hardly touched this for a while. I was whittling away at it nicely for a long time - now it's been untouched for close on 3 months.

Needless to say, this has pushed things back a bit.

However, the break has meant that i've been able to come back to it fresh and appraise it with a new perspective.

I want to change some things and i thought that i'd canvass you most excellent people who have been following along.

I was going down the route of multiple uses for each skill, explanations of what can be done with each skill and also reams of 'Special Abilities' for characters to use.

I wanna ditch that and concentrate on the environment and the characters.
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Before you go, arrggh! Let me explain. At the moment each skill in the game has a parent stat. If you have a skill, then you add that numerical value to the parent stat to see how many dice you roll on the skill attempt. This i want to keep the same. However, i want to streamline things, so you don't need to do d&d levels of looking stuff up whilst you play.

My new thoughts are - Each Stat covers all the skills you can think of that would be governed by it. So Physique covers fighting, running, jumping, climbing, etc, Pragmatism covers fire-building, searching, making stuff etc. These skills are no longer going to be covered (other than some guidance on how to impose difficulties to skill attempts etc). Instead, each feature is going to have a small list of what i will call Occupational Skills. So someone from the laboratory will still have Alchemy, Research ect, but they are named Occupational skills. I don't plan to have big descriptions, even of these. Instead i want to add a new catagory called Tricks. This is one or two things that you can use the skill for that is both out of the ordinary and actually covered. Tricks will be an almagum of the RCOs & RSOs i was doing for each skill and the Special Abilities that each feature gets. I plan to remove Special Abilities from the game. Tricks also serve the function of implying what else can be done with the skill - giving ideas and guidance on difficulties and making up your own Tricks for use with the skill.

Some of the general special abilities like Credit, Protected, Local Knowledge etc will still survive, but can instead be bought as a one-off advantage at the start of play.

The above will greatly streamline the skill/special ability system and hopefully return things to the setting and characters.

Any thoughts you have would be welcome, as would requests for clarification.

Quote from: One Horse Town;268310Loonngg time, no post. A combination of writing for money and moving have meant that i have hardly touched this for a while. I was whittling away at it nicely for a long time - now it's been untouched for close on 3 months.

Needless to say, this has pushed things back a bit.

However, the break has meant that i've been able to come back to it fresh and appraise it with a new perspective.

I want to change some things and i thought that i'd canvass you most excellent people who have been following along.

I was going down the route of multiple uses for each skill, explanations of what can be done with each skill and also reams of 'Special Abilities' for characters to use.

I wanna ditch that and concentrate on the environment and the characters.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Before you go, arrggh! Let me explain. At the moment each skill in the game has a parent stat. If you have a skill, then you add that numerical value to the parent stat to see how many dice you roll on the skill attempt. This i want to keep the same. However, i want to streamline things, so you don't need to do d&d levels of looking stuff up whilst you play.

My new thoughts are - Each Stat covers all the skills you can think of that would be governed by it. So Physique covers fighting, running, jumping, climbing, etc, Pragmatism covers fire-building, searching, making stuff etc. These skills are no longer going to be covered (other than some guidance on how to impose difficulties to skill attempts etc). Instead, each feature is going to have a small list of what i will call Occupational Skills. So someone from the laboratory will still have Alchemy, Research ect, but they are named Occupational skills. I don't plan to have big descriptions, even of these. Instead i want to add a new catagory called Tricks. This is one or two things that you can use the skill for that is both out of the ordinary and actually covered. Tricks will be an almagum of the RCOs & RSOs i was doing for each skill and the Special Abilities that each feature gets. I plan to remove Special Abilities from the game. Tricks also serve the function of implying what else can be done with the skill - giving ideas and guidance on difficulties and making up your own Tricks for use with the skill.

Some of the general special abilities like Credit, Protected, Local Knowledge etc will still survive, but can instead be bought as a one-off advantage at the start of play.

The above will greatly streamline the skill/special ability system and hopefully return things to the setting and characters.

Any thoughts you have would be welcome, as would requests for clarification.

Let me see if I can get this straight - you want to leave many of the skills as folded into the corresponding stat, so rather than rolling stat+skill dice, you roll stat dice. Occupational skills would be less tightly defined, but would have one or two "tricks" associated with it to help define it. Some special abilities will be purchased at chargen, with others dropped entirely.

Is this correct?

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;268314Let me see if I can get this straight - you want to leave many of the skills as folded into the corresponding stat, so rather than rolling stat+skill dice, you roll stat dice. Occupational skills would be less tightly defined, but would have one or two "tricks" associated with it to help define it. Some special abilities will be purchased at chargen, with others dropped entirely.

Is this correct?

-clash

Hi clash. Yeah, that was a bit rambling wasn't it?

Let's see if i can tackle it again, with a Feature as an example!



Existing Feature Entry Minus Description

16Laboratories

The glassware was late. Without it, the sublimation of the essential oils could not take place and that wasn't...good. The laboratory had ground to a halt for Mizzlewish to conduct his experiments and now that his supplies were late he was the victim of a number of stares that could have cut glass better than any diamond - if he had any of the damned stuff, of course.

Normally, the Tunnel Wardens were prompt, so it occurred to Mizzlewish that something had happened in the transfer between the warehouse and the laboratory. There were miles of tunnels to navigate to get to the laboratory, miles of dangerous territory where anything could happen.

As if reading his thoughts, a boiling mass of coiling centipedes emerged in a terrifying tumble from the nearest tunnel entrance, heading straight for the labs. Without thinking Mizzlewish picked up his essential oils and lobbed the concoction at the swarm. It exploded in a ball of fire, frying the vermin to black ribbons and jetting a column of black smoke up the walls.

"What was in that beaker Mizzlewish?" asked the duty leader in hushed tones.

Mizzlewish's mouth was a silent 'o' of sudden terror. "Damned if I know," he sobbed at last. "Nothing important. Carry on." His weeping could be heard echoing up the corridor as he tottered from the laboratory towards the dormitory.
 
Player Character Information
Stat Mods: Reasoning +1
Skills: Alchemy 3, Research 2, Lores (one) 2
Special Abilities: Concoctions 2, Artefact Mastery 2
Status: 2

Example New Feature Entry Minus Description

16Laboratories

Player Character Information
Stat Mods: Reasoning +1
Occupational Skills: Artefact Mastery (Reasoning) 2, Alchemy 3 (Reasoning) , Research 2 (Reasoning) , 1 Lore (Reasoning) 2
Tricks: Concoctions (Alchemy), Activate Artefact (Artefact Mastery)
Status: 2

Under the first scheme, the character could try any skill in the game by rolling a number of dice equal to the parent stat. The skills were defined soley by those found in the feature entries. If he was attempting a skill that he had a numerical rating in, he added that number to the parent stat and rolled that number of dice. He also had a choice of Reflexive Combat and Reflexive Social uses for those skills. He also had a fairly complex special ability or two that he could achieve several different things with. He rolled a number of dice equal to his numerical rating to attempt them.

In the new scheme, trying a skill you don't have remains the same, as does trying a skill that you have a numerical rating. Skills aren't defined by those found in the feature entries. However, instead of skills opening up Reflexive options that are laid out, the character has one or two 'Tricks' laid out. These are in effect, Stunts for use with his Occupational skills (meant to replace huge amounts of options currently found in skill descriptions and act as inspiration in coming up with your own Tricks during play).

The main difference is that how skills can be utilised wont be laid out at all, other than in the form of Tricks, and Special Abilities will disappear (although many will become Tricks in one form or another).

So, the Reasoning stat might be explained by a paragraph and then some examples of the sorts of skills associated with the stat will be mentioned, but there won't be an entry such as this for a defined skill -

Spot (Reasoning) (Gen)

(RCO) Spot Weakness: In combat, you can spend a Reflexive action to spot an injury that your melee opponent is suffering from. If he is not currently suffering from Health point damage, you cannot use this skill. If you gain 2 successes in the Spot test, you automatically inflict 1 point of Health damage on your opponent without the need for a weapon skill test as you take advantage of his impediment by feints, manoeuvres and the like. Use of this skill does not stop you from making a normal attack.

(RSO) Empathy: When engaging in social situations, you can spend a Reflexive action to spot telltale body language. If you gain a number of successes equal to or greater than half of your opponent's Bearing statistic, then you gain a general idea of his emotional state. This could be a state of panic, deviousness, or the single most prominent emotion exhibited by him.

Perception: This is your general skill to notice things, whether it is an ambush, the colour of someone's shirt or the number of apples on a tree. These are Free tests.

Search: When you are searching for something in particular, such as ransacking a mattress or looking for a sliding panel, then you make an Extended Spot test. The GM sets the difficulty of the test.

Instead it might look like this -

Feature - Eyries gain the Occupational Skill Spot 3 and they have the Trick - Spot Weakness. The above Spot entry will not exist, but Spot Weakness will under the lsitings of Tricks.

The only time there is an explanation of games mechanics for skill usage will be with Tricks, which are designed to be prompts for players to come up with their own usages for skills. There will be guidance for assigning difficulties to tasks etc, but not the level of detail currently found.

Dunno whether that was all that much clearer, actually. :(

Quote from: One Horse Town;268345Dunno whether that was all that much clearer, actually. :(

Actually, I think it was:

1: The base skill is undefined, allowing group definitions and definition from center rather than definition from boundary.

2: The Tricks are salvaged from selected existing Social & Combat reflexive actions, and are defined, giving implied definition of the base skill by example. They are used as stunts.

3: Use of the skill or trick is always skill rank + stat rank = dice, with a skill rank of 0 giving no bonus to the stat rank.

I like it - lots! I always am in favor of devolution to group level where possible, and of definition from center, on principle. :D

The only thing I am not enthusiastic about is tying tricks to features, as this implies that only people with a trick can use it. I would prefer tricks being available to anyone. You've already tied skill ranks to features, which is cool, and which should limit trick utility by itself.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;268354Actually, I think it was:

1: The base skill is undefined, allowing group definitions and definition from center rather than definition from boundary.

2: The Tricks are salvaged from selected existing Social & Combat reflexive actions, and are defined, giving implied definition of the base skill by example. They are used as stunts.

3: Use of the skill or trick is always skill rank + stat rank = dice, with a skill rank of 0 giving no bonus to the stat rank.

I like it - lots! I always am in favor of devolution to group level where possible, and of definition from center, on principle. :D

The only thing I am not enthusiastic about is tying tricks to features, as this implies that only people with a trick can use it. I would prefer tricks being available to anyone. You've already tied skill ranks to features, which is cool, and which should limit trick utility by itself.

-clash

If only i was as succinct as you Clash! Yes, exactly! :D

Perhaps there can be a master list of Tricks for inspiration (not that many, but to be used as implicit guidelines for skill usage and as inspiration for coming up with your own in play) and the player chooses a set amount when he makes his character? Signature moves, if you like. As you say, the skill rating makes some more useful to some features than others, but this way it isn't tied specifically to them and gives players some choice in chargen that is lacking at present.

Either that or i don't list any at all but have a reasonably sunstantial section explaining what they are and laying out guidelines for their usage and coming up with them during play.

Quote from: One Horse Town;268364If only i was as succinct as you Clash! Yes, exactly! :D

Perhaps there can be a master list of Tricks for inspiration (not that many, but to be used as implicit guidelines for skill usage and as inspiration for coming up with your own in play) and the player chooses a set amount when he makes his character? Signature moves, if you like. As you say, the skill rating makes some more useful to some features than others, but this way it isn't tied specifically to them and gives players some choice in chargen that is lacking at present.

Either that or i don't list any at all but have a reasonably sunstantial section explaining what they are and laying out guidelines for their usage and coming up with them during play.

I like a compromise between these two - a set of guidelines for making your own Tricks, and a short but representative list of examples for inspiration. Pundit did a nice job with this in FtA! for his stunts.

Here's an idea - make use of tricks open entirely, but give bonuses for signature maneuvers, which cost during chargen and advancement. This would change resolution to Stat + Skill + Trick = Dice. This would massively open up creative use of skills, yet reinforce signature moves as character-linked abilities.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;268389Here's an idea - make use of tricks open entirely, but give bonuses for signature maneuvers, which cost during chargen and advancement. This would change resolution to Stat + Skill + Trick = Dice. This would massively open up creative use of skills, yet reinforce signature moves as character-linked abilities.

-clash

Nice idea.

*thinking cap on* :hmm:

Quote from: One Horse Town;268391Nice idea.

*thinking cap on* :hmm:

Let us know the results, Dan!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;268439Let us know the results, Dan!

-clash

Will do, mate. :D

I know the design of the game has dragged on a bit, but i think it has been for the better. A little lapse between spouts of design seems to suite me better. Sorry to those who have been looking forward to it but i truly think that these little gaps will result in a much better game! :)

Here's a very brief draft on my thoughts as to how chargen and advancement have changed to include binning Special Abilities and including Advantages. The idea is that now each player has a choice as to how his character starts off instead of every person from each feature starting off almost identical. Affiliations will now not be a set number for each character and now you do not choose Rivalries, but the GM creates one for each Affiliaion created. Let me know what you think!

---------------------------------------


Advantages
Organised – 2pts
Canine Companion – 1 pt
Handle Weapons – 1pt
Guildsman – 1pt
Blind Navigation – 1pt
Endurance – 1pt
Protected – 2pts
Resistant to Disease –1 pt
Connections – 2 pts
Local Knowledge – 1 pt
Estimation – 1 pt
Authority – 2 pts
Credit – 1 pt
Maps – 2 pts
Cool – 1 pt
Cosmopolitan – 1 pt
Chameleon – 1 pt
Mother of Invention – 1 pt
Diplomatic – 1 pt
Noble Rights – 3 pts
Craft (Feature) – 1pt
Artistic – 1 pt

Chargen

At chargen, once the player has decided on which feature he hails from, he has 4 points to spend in making his character distinct. He can spend these points on Advantages, Signature Moves (see Tricks), Affiliations (see Affiliations & Rivalries), or by rolling on the Background Table. He can spend his points in any combination among these categories.

Advancement

If a character has gained a level through solving a problem, he has 2 choices. He can remain in his current feature and increase his Status by 1 point and spend 3 points in increasing the skills offered by his feature (maximum increase of 1 point per skill) or he can choose to move to another feature and gain 4 points to spend in the skills offered by the new feature. However, he does not improve his Status score. (Note: In an Exploration type game, the character can choose which feature he gains his skills from. In this case he can spend 3 points on Skill improvement and does not increase his Status score).

If a character has gained a level by achieving a Goal (see Goals) he gains another Signature Move (in conjunction with the GM) and can create a new Affiliation (this can be used to bring a new NPC into play if the player wants to and does not need to be spent on existing NPCs). He increases his Status by 1 point.  

-----------------------------------

Another thought i've had is on Tricks. How annoying will it be to have a section explaining them, but only having generic examples and then having one or two example Tricks that would fit each Feature in the Feature entries?

One Horse Town, you may want to have a look at this (http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/2008/11/megadungeon-c1745.html)...

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;270469One Horse Town, you may want to have a look at this (http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/2008/11/megadungeon-c1745.html)...

Good stuff. Cheers!

I like all the current changes, Dan! Everythign is moving in the right direction. :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;270745I like all the current changes, Dan! Everythign is moving in the right direction. :D

-clash

Cool & the gang! :D

I'm working on getting a working draft of the tricks & signature moves sections done. When i've done that, i'm putting together the first playtest document.

You up for an alpha test in the next couple of weeks?

Quote from: One Horse Town;270920Cool & the gang! :D

I'm working on getting a working draft of the tricks & signature moves sections done. When i've done that, i'm putting together the first playtest document.

You up for an alpha test in the next couple of weeks?

You bet!

-clash

Groovy! :D

I'll get the 80-odd page document to you by the 18th!

That should sort the mechanics out.

Then it's grind, grind, grind! :)

I've altered the vermin section of the problems generation system. Now instead of a random roll to see what beastie you are plagued by, you get to roll twice! Once for the beastie and once for its attribute. This makes the entries easier to follow and means that the number of different critters possible has now been blown into orbit!

Where before a roll of 01 on d100 meant you had an infestation of Tall-toes spiders. Now you roll on d100 for the critter, so 01 would be spider, 05 centipedes, 15, frogs etc, then you roll d100 for the attribute, so 01 might be sulphuric, 05 might be tall-toes, 11 could be plague bearer etc.

Quote from: One Horse Town;273794I've altered the vermin section of the problems generation system. Now instead of a random roll to see what beastie you are plagued by, you get to roll twice! Once for the beastie and once for its attribute. This makes the entries easier to follow and means that the number of different critters possible has now been blown into orbit!

Where before a roll of 01 on d100 meant you had an infestation of Tall-toes spiders. Now you roll on d100 for the critter, so 01 would be spider, 05 centipedes, 15, frogs etc, then you roll d100 for the attribute, so 01 might be sulphuric, 05 might be tall-toes, 11 could be plague bearer etc.

Sweet! :D

-clash

I'm running this up the flagpole and seeing who salutes. :D

Tricks & Signature Moves. I've already got the mechanic in the game! :eek:

Status tests use the mechanic i'm going to expand into Tricks. In Status tests, when you roll your dice pool, you subract or add successes due to your Affiliations or Rivalries. This keeps the attempt to one dice roll.

When you attempt a Trick, depending on its difficulty (guidlines will give details on how to determine this) you subtract a number of successes from your final total. Your dice pool is the same. Still have successes left over? Then you are successful as long as they match the number of successes needed for the unmodified action.

Signature moves are distinct Tricks that you work out with the GM. You still subtract successes from the result, but gain additional dice to your pool.

So, effectively, Status Tests are distinct and explained Bearing Tricks.

Example: Dr. Carpetbagger needs to jump over a wide pit. The GM says that he needs one success in a Physique test (as Carpetbagger doesn't have the Occupational Skill: Athletics, his dice pool is equal to his Physique stat score only). The good Doctor is trying to impress Lady Nightshade, so wants to do a double somersault with pike on the way over. 'Tis a Trick! The GM decides that it will subtract one success from his Physique test. Dr. Carpetbagger rolls 4 dice (his Physique stat) and counts up the successes. He lucks 2 - with the Trick, he subtracts 1, leaving him with 1 success. The number he needed for the jump. Success! Lady Nightsahde lowers her fan and gazes at the good Doctor over its rim.

Thoughts?

No-one has piped up, so i take the silence as approval! :D

Here's a section from the front of the book.

--------------------------------------------

How to Use This Book

After a casual flip through Stone Horizons, you can be forgiven in being a little daunted by the contents. Much of the information found within these covers is designed to inform play at the table, inspire ideas, and in the case of the feature vignettes, be used as a default setting, already replete with quirky characters. With 92 features to choose from (which take up a big chunk of Stone Horizons) reading through the book from front to back is not how to get the best of the material presented.

Each feature entry has details on how living there modifies a character's profile, its place within the castle, and the events of a typical day for its inhabitants. There are also special instructions for the GM to create NPCs, Problems and Politics for the feature (in conjunction with Veiled Horizons, the GM handbook). If you read each feature entry exhaustively before you start your first game, then "fluff-fatigue" can set in before you get started.

To overcome this, but retain the flavour of the setting, Stone Horizons is laid out with pertinent setting and rules information upfront. At the front of the book is a description of the setting, a discussion of game-play elements that might not appear in other games and a treatment of the people and races that you can play. This is followed by the rules of the game. After the essentials we get to character creation. This section is included after the rules because the feature entries that make up the bulk of the book are an integral part of the character generation process.

Once you have a grasp of the rules and the setting conceits, you are ready to jump into the main body of the text. Don't fear, however, there is absolutely no need to read the rest of the book before you start playing your first game. Simply choose a feature that the group like the look of, read up on it and create the play area from there. You only ever need to reference 1 feature for each player character before you start playing – no poring over each and every entry! - Unless you fancy it, of course. The feature entries contain the information you need to complete the creation of your character. All that remains is for the GM to flesh out the game area via Veiled Horizons.

Quote from: One Horse Town;275031No-one has piped up, so i take the silence as approval! :D

Do so, Dan! I've been busy and didn't notice it, but it looks good to me.

-clash

Quote from: One Horse Town;275078Once you have a grasp of the rules and the setting conceits, you are ready to jump into the main body of the text. Don't fear, however, there is absolutely no need to read the rest of the book before you start playing your first game. Simply choose a feature that the group like the look of, read up on it and create the play area from there. You only ever need to reference 1 feature for each player character before you start playing – no poring over each and every entry! - Unless you fancy it, of course. The feature entries contain the information you need to complete the creation of your character. All that remains is for the GM to flesh out the game area via Veiled Horizons.

All good advise! That's why your game will be better than mine. I never put sound advice like this in my books because I make too many assumptions.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;275107All good advise! That's why your game will be better than mine. I never put sound advice like this in my books because I make too many assumptions.

-clash

I figure that there's enough different stuff in SH that i need to lay it out in the manner that i see it rather than leave it hanging. May help folk, may get them tutting and turning the page. :idunno:

A great intro chapter there.

What are you going to be doing with it when you're done? PDF publish? Free perhaps?

Quote from: Rob Lang;275308A great intro chapter there.

What are you going to be doing with it when you're done? PDF publish? Free perhaps?

Clash is publishing it via Flying Mice games. It'll be available on pdf and POD.

----------------------------------

I've finished up the vermin section now. Instead of 25 distinct and statted vermin entries, there are now 130 combinations of critter available.

Here's an example of an attribute that a swarm can have.

Stink

If screeches assault the ears, then infestations with this attribute mortally offend the nose. These vermin emit foul smelling odours. Proximity to a swarm requires a Physique test – failure results in extreme nausea that subtracts 1 dice from all tests attempted. Giant specimens can spray victims with a foul concoction. If they are successful, subtract 2 dice from all of the victim's tests if he fails a Physique test.

Add the following to the profile of a giant specimen with this attribute.

Giant Specimen: Musk Spray 4

Here's a snippet that illustrates how chargen and advancement have changed.

--------------------------------------------------

Character Generation


1.   Look at the default statistical ratings.
2.   Choose a feature to hail from.
3.   Note changes to the default statistics of your race & note down  your Occupational Skill ratings and your Status score.  
4.   Spend 5 development points on Advantages, Affiliations or Signature Moves.
5.   character 1 or 2 goals.

Character Advancement

Characters who eradicate a problem or achieve a Goal or Ambition gain 4 additional Development points to spend on their character as well as permenantly increasing their Status score by 1 point. These can be spent in a similar way to starting characters. However, one of the benefits of increased experience is that new options open up for you.

Characters being advanced can spend their points in the following ways: -

1.   Increasing an existing Affiliation by up to 1 point.
2.   Making a new Affiliation of 1 point. The player can create a new NPC for this Affiliation if he so desires, or alternatively he can choose existing NPCs as the target of the new Affiliation.
3.   Creating a new Signature Move at the cost of 1 point.
4.   Increasing the value of an existing Occupational Skill by up to 1 point.
5.   Creating a new Occupational Skill of 1 point. With input from the GM, a new distinct Occupational Skill can be created. Example: Dr. Carpetbagger has been doing a bit of tumbling during his escapades. He has simply been using his Physique score for his dice pool. When he advances, he decides he'd like the new Occupational Skill of Tumble 1. The GM agrees with the request and the new skill is noted on Dr. Carpetbagger's character sheet.  
6.   If the character decides to move location to another local feature (or is playing in an Exploration type game), he can spend development points on the Occupational Skills listed for that feature in any number. However, he lowers his Status score by 1 point.

Quote from: Rob Lang;275308A great intro chapter there.

What are you going to be doing with it when you're done? PDF publish? Free perhaps?

No, but I'm seriously considering putting StarCluster 2 out for free DL. Still under copyright, but free. I'm still developing the ideas in SC - I'll be putting out at least Glorianna and IHW: StarCluster this coming year - and may eventually come out with StarCluster 3, but I think SC 2E has run its course as a core book.

-clash

If you do that, clash, you just HAVE to let me know. And then I'll let a load of other people know in the obvious way (http://thefreerpgblog.blogspot.com).

Clash, old buddy, the playtest document is winging its way to your inbox *runs and checks* Right now!!! :)

Edit: I've sent it to your yahoo account, not the flyingmice one. Let me know if i should send it to the other one!

Best of luck with this. It sounds great. I anxiously await the finished project :D.

Quote from: JohnnyWannabe;275406Best of luck with this. It sounds great. I anxiously await the finished project :D.

Thanks! :)

Here's a decription of a Lurking Menace (courtesy of Nicephorus, edited slightly). I've decided to have descriptive entries only for them, as well as Night Terrors, so that GMs can use what they like from the description to create their own custom profiles!

--------------------------------------------------------------

69-72Pox

Legends & Lore: Pox is identified in a tongue twister popular among children:

Pox picks plucky kids.
Pox plinks picky snits.
Pox plucks punchy prats.
Pox bests petty brats.

The implication is that naughty children are visited with disease and misfortune if they misbehave.  Pox is the embodiment of such calamities. It seems from the rhyme that Pox takes pleasure in bringing down braggarts and bullies.

Some mothers are fond of scaring their children with oldwives tales about Pox. Two popular warnings are, “Wear your scarf or Pox will get you,” and, “Pox follows kids who wander off.”  

Description: Within the pages of Within the Walls, Pox is represented as a jester carrying a gourd rattle. Under this illustration, the author quotes an unknown source - “He who hears the song of his death-rattle, knows that Pox has numbered his days.”

Quote from: One Horse Town;275996I've decided to have descriptive entries only for them, as well as Night Terrors, so that GMs can use what they like from the description to create their own custom profiles!

I've changed my mind slightly on this. I'm not putting profiles in, but i'm writing a section of advice on how to give profiles to the descriptions and 50 example Attributes (similar to those for Vermin) that can be given to them.

Example Lurking Menace Attribute.

-------------------------------------

Regenerative

Add a Regenerative rating to the profile.

The Menace permenantly adds 1 health point to the Dead health level in its profile for each point of the rating. Only when all of the Dead points are lost is the Menace killed.

Lurking Menaces with this attribute also heal bodily harm at a greatly accelerated rate. At the beginning of each round, remove 1 point of health damage from its health profile for each point of its Regenerative attribute rating.

:emot-rock:

Blew my way through 33 Attributes for Lurking Menaces today. Only 12 to go!

One of those 33 can be found below. :)

----------------------------------------------

Shadow Stealer

The Menace is able to curse his victim so that he does not cast a shadow. The Menace must spend a Normal action in inflicting the curse and the victim must make a Bearing test. Failure results in the loss of the victim's shadow. All of his Status tests from that day forward suffer a dice penalty equal to the Shadow Stealer rating of the Menace. However, this penalty is only imparted when the lack of a shadow is obvious or the people being interacted with are aware of the curse.

Add a Shadow Stealer rating to the profile of the Lurking Menace.

Some sages suggest that nailing the shadow of the Menace who inflicted the curse to a wall, using a silver spike, is the only way to lift it.

Right. I've finished off Lurking Menaces today. Below is the sample profile that will appear in the finished book. This uses the rules for creating Lurking Menaces. They're nasty! :eek:

-----------------------------------------------

Example Lurking Menace Profile – Rattlebones

Here is my interpretation of the Rattlebones entry. The great thing is that many folk will have a different take and create a totally different profile! He's a bit of a brute using this profile. He inflicts 3 extra points of health damage on each blow, can destroy wood and stone with ease, has a 50 foot aura of fear and due to his high Physique score and his Enormous attribute, he can take much more punishment than the average denizen of the Horizon.

Have fun making you own!

Manual Dexterity 2
Reasoning 4
Physique 6
Bearing 5
Pragmatism 3

Occupational Skills: Fists 3, Stomp 2, Armour-smithing 2, Navigate 1
Attributes: Aura 10 (takes the form of approaching thunder), Armoured 5 (arcane armour with the Hypnotic attribute - 5), Destructive 2, Enormous 1

Health Profile

Uninjured
Lightly Injured  -O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Hurt -O-O-O-O-O-O      -1 die on all reflexive tests (-2 dice)
Heavily Injured -O-O-O-O      -1 die on all tests (-2 dice)
Dying -O-O-O         -2 dice on all tests (-4 dice)
Dead -O-O   

Armour

5-point arcane armour with the Hypnotic (5) attribute.

Quote from: One Horse Town;276363Example Lurking Menace Profile – Rattlebones

Here is my interpretation of the Rattlebones entry. The great thing is that many folk will have a different take and create a totally different profile! He's a bit of a brute using this profile. He inflicts 3 extra points of health damage on each blow, can destroy wood and stone with ease, has a 50 foot aura of fear and due to his high Physique score and his Enormous attribute, he can take much more punishment than the average denizen of the Horizon.

Sweet, Dan! I love the flexibility! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;276374Sweet, Dan! I love the flexibility! :D

-clash

Cheers! Do you want me to send you the finished Lurking Menace section?

I haven't included it in the Problems section of the playtest document i sent you.

Quote from: One Horse Town;276381Cheers! Do you want me to send you the finished Lurking Menace section?

I haven't included it in the Problems section of the playtest document i sent you.

Please do, Dan! :D

-clash

Movement

Knowing your character's movement rate is normally only necessary during a Scene. For tactical purposes, movement rate is measured in Spaces. This is an abstract term that you can place your own value on – many players prefer 1 Space to equal 5 feet. The tactical movement of your character is 1 Space for each point of his Physique statistic; add to this rate any points of relevant Occupational Skills such as Running or Athletics (only add the highest value if you have more than one relevant Occupational Skill). Example: Dr. Shortjohn has a Physique statistic of 3 and no relevant skills. Therefore his movement rate is 3 Spaces (15 feet in this GM's game). Dolly the dog has a Physique score of 2, but also has the Occupational Skill Running 2. The dog's tactical movement is 4 Spaces.  

An alternative way of measuring movement that I have found adds some tactical depth to a Scene is to have Spaces represent a fluid distance based on the height (or length) of the character. Using this method, a Space is a different unit of measurement for different people. A character that is 6 feet tall moves in Spaces that measure 6 feet in distance, whilst a 4-foot tall Ratling moves in Spaces that are 4 feet in distance. So, whilst they may be as quick as each other, their physical difference means that one can outdistance the other. When you factor in ranges of thrown weapons, this fluid use of Spaces also rather neatly represents the additional bulk that can be put behind a throw.

Chose whichever method you prefer.
   
Because of the nature of the terrain in Stone Horizons (the castle), hourly movement rates are not generally important. However, if travel is not overly hindered during a day of travel, assume that you can make about 8 miles progress each day. This travel will doubtless include passing through multiple features, tracking through warrens of passages and colonnades, and sometimes through residential areas (see Travelling the Horizons). If you are lucky enough to be in one of the rare patches of open land enclosed by the castle, then 2-3 miles per hour of travel, depending on conditions is appropriate.

As a new year present (and to keep roughly to my posting of about 10% content to the board) here is another Lurking Menace entry!

Happy new year everyone. :)

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37-40Soulstealers

Legends & Lore:

From Within the Walls:

With stroke of brush and blush of lips,
Pinch of cheek and red nail-tips,
Lady Nightshade gazes a-sure,
At the mirror on the wall,
With faint haze, her visage shimmers,
Her eyes glaze, her hair glimmers,
Gaze she does, all the long day,
'Till her soul is stole away.

Sir Bastion clearly states in his work that these strange creatures are supposed to inhabit mirrors and reflective surfaces. They slowly suck away the soul of those who gaze on their surface too long. Because of this, he surmises that Soulstealers prey on the vain and self-obsessed. Many a time a painted lady of the night or a court dandy is accused of being soulless – a reference to having been ensnared by a Soulstealer. It is quite possible that the whole legend grew up as a way for the poor to deride the manners and possessions of the rich.

How Soulstealers ensnare their victims is unknown, as is whether they have any influence over them or whether they can leave the surface in which they dwell. Is the mirror a portal to another place where these beings live?

Description: No description exists of these creatures. The reflection of the victim is all that is ever seen, albeit enhanced and beautified.

83Tower-Top Observatories

The looking glass trembled in Mr. Stargazer's hands. He had to make sure. Tottering to the messy pile of charts that spilled from the nearest table, he leafed through them hastily until he came to the age spotted piece of parchment that he sought. His trembling fingers traced the lines of the diagram the paper held until he reached the spidery drawing that depicted the constellation of the Rose Resplendent. He trotted back to his looking glass to confirm his misgivings. Yes, there was no mistake; the thorn of the black prince had pierced the constellation. He could see the glow of the battle quite clearly through his eyepiece. The prophet of the Grey Tower had foreseen this event many years ago. 'When the prince grasps the Rose Resplendent in his thorny grasp, his fiery blood will rain upon the earth and those born under this aspect will drown the world in an orgy of bloodlust.'

Mr. Stargazer lowered his looking glass at last, stroking his luxuriant beard in thought. This was not good at all...

A glint in the night sky returned his attention to the celestial bodies. "Ooh, a comet!" he exclaimed delightedly – all thoughts of doom vanishing as he traced its course across the clear night sky.

Here are a few of the advantages that you can purchase at character generation.

------------------------------------

Endurance – 1 pt

You are unusually hardy. Add a health point to the Heavily Injured level of your Health Profile.

Mother of Invention – 1 pt

You have a knack with construction and cobbling things together from what you have available. You gain 1 bonus die to Pragmatism tests related to crafting.

Noble Rights – 3 pts

You have some minor noble blood flowing in your veins. Increase your starting Status score by 1 point. Write a brief sentence or two to explain your ancestry.

Here's part of the Craft Guild feature entry. This entry is more detailed than most others because of the wealth of different crafts practised within (and without) the castle.

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09Craft Guild

There was treachery afoot and apprentice carpenter Scrapeboard was in it up to his neck. Scampering through the twisting passages of the guild house at this hour of the night would gain him a beating if he were caught. That was without the incriminating documents wrapped carefully in his cloak. The papers that his master wanted delivered to his archrival, Guild Master Stackpile, contained details of an indiscretion and demands for money to keep quiet. It was a calculated risk. If it became common knowledge that Stackpile was consorting with the wife of the Stone Masons Guild Master, then the scandal would be massive.

Only the mice witnessed Scrapeboard placing the papers outside the Guild Master's chambers. Thankfully, they remained quiet and the young apprentice scampered back to the dormitory with his heart thumping in his throat.

Player Character Information
Stat Mods: Pragmatism +1, Bearing +1
Occupational Skills: 1 Craft (see below) 3, Haggle (Bearing) 3
Status: 3

Description

Craft Guilds are normally hotbeds of political manoeuvring and scheming as members try to climb the ranks. Small guilds hold just a handful of craftsmen, whilst large and powerful ones can boast dozens of practitioners – all scrabbling for prestige and power. Local features can easily become involved with plots hatched both inside the guild and those used against it.  

Due to the breadth of crafts practised within the Stone Horizons it is all but impossible to give an accurate description of what the typical Craft Guild looks like. Instead, you'll find below a comprehensive list of crafts. Choose a craft from the 42 listed below, make a note on your character sheet of the Occupational Skills granted by that craft, and then extrapolate the Guild's appearance and size based on the local area.

Carpenter (Wood Working)
Description: Carpenters are found all over the Stone Horizons and practice one of the oldest trades (some say the second oldest). His work can be seen everywhere and he is normally a well thought of member of society, if not as rich as some other tradesmen.

Occupational Skills: Carpentry (Pragmatism) 3

One thing that my playtest highlighted to me, was i think there needs to be a section giving guidelines in creating the play area. We followed a set pattern in creating ours that i think will be the best way to take forward.

1. Players chose the features for the area and write basic character sheet
2. The group create customs & community to give the area flavour
3. GM creates problems for the features
4. GM creates NPCs for the area and ties them together with the plots & problems already created.
5. Players finish chargen by spending their development points on Affiliations, Signature moves and Advantages to tie their characters into the area and the NPCs present.
6. Players give their characters Goals. These are informed by the area already created.
7. Play!

I've altered the list of features slightly - there was a gap and some features were too similar to each other. In are Botanists Domes, Entertainers Halls & Canal Networks and out are Arboreums, Workshops & Warlords Compounds.

Quote from: One Horse Town;283188I've altered the list of features slightly - there was a gap and some features were too similar to each other. In are Botanists Domes, Entertainers Halls & Canal Networks and out are Arboreums, Workshops & Warlords Compounds.

Good choices, Dan!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;283202Good choices, Dan!

-clash

Cheers! Entertainers were a glaring ommission.

Waay back in the thread i posted an example of an artefact left behind by the Architects. This sort of stuff will be appearing in The Architects book. It was pretty complicated with skill checks here and doodads there. Now that the skill system has been culled, all that is going to become Tricks or Signature Moves that the holder of the artefact can attempt should he Master it. The same is going to apply to Special Features. This is going to cut the page count by a bit, i imagine.

Clash, what do you reckon to including what i am tentatively calling a "Campaign Template" to fill that space?

I don't want to write adventures as such, because that'll be impossible unless you limit the features that characters can come from. So, the idea is that a "Campaign Template" is a series of events that can be overlaid onto any area of play, thus not restricting choice of starting areas.

There are a string of events that build into an overarching campaign that doesn't rely on set features or play areas but add to all the problems & politics of the play area.

I have a great idea for one for the Architects book. The Matrix meets The Invaders meets The Trueman Show.

Named, Project Alpha-7.

Quote from: One Horse Town;283242Cheers! Entertainers were a glaring ommission.

Waay back in the thread i posted an example of an artefact left behind by the Architects. This sort of stuff will be appearing in The Architects book. It was pretty complicated with skill checks here and doodads there. Now that the skill system has been culled, all that is going to become Tricks or Signature Moves that the holder of the artefact can attempt should he Master it. The same is going to apply to Special Features. This is going to cut the page count by a bit, i imagine.

Clash, what do you reckon to including what i am tentatively calling a "Campaign Template" to fill that space?

I don't want to write adventures as such, because that'll be impossible unless you limit the features that characters can come from. So, the idea is that a "Campaign Template" is a series of events that can be overlaid onto any area of play, thus not restricting choice of starting areas.

There are a string of events that build into an overarching campaign that doesn't rely on set features or play areas but add to all the problems & politics of the play area.

I have a great idea for one for the Architects book. The Matrix meets The Invaders meets The Trueman Show.

Named, Project Alpha-7.

That sounds like a neat way to get around a potential sore-spot - i.e. lack of adventures/campaigns. It's also a great way to show GMs how to set up an effective campaign in a very odd setting! Great idea! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;283245That sounds like a neat way to get around a potential sore-spot - i.e. lack of adventures/campaigns. It's also a great way to show GMs how to set up an effective campaign in a very odd setting! Great idea! :D

-clash

Cheers! There's lots that can be done with it, with a little thought. Our brief pbp gives the idea of the "Natural Disaster" Campaign Template - that can be put anywhere, anywhen. Plague, invasion, rise of a new cult, financial collapse, new discoveries. Those and loads more can be overlaid onto any play area without restricting player choice or the problems that already exist there.

Maybe there's a campaign template book in the future somewhere, a bit like Worlds of the Dead for AFMBE...

Actually, i'm going to try to get a couple of example Campaign Templates into Veiled Horizons in the advice section. Might up the pagecount a bit and put a week on the finish date.

Quote from: One Horse Town;283252Actually, i'm going to try to get a couple of example Campaign Templates into Veiled Horizons in the advice section. Might up the pagecount a bit and put a week on the finish date.

Best to do it.

-clash

Just finished the Taverns/Inns entry. As usual, i'm making more work for myself, but anyway, i included a random name table with 100 entries in it.

Here's numbers 41-45.

41The Sad Sod Singing            
42House of Reflection            
43Bentiron's Bar & Grill            
44Toadstall Hall            
45The Grinning Gargoyle

Huh, i finished the section on Campaign Templates sooner than expected. Here's a little bit about them, although the example template isn't going to be posted, as a teaser it's called What Lies Beneath.

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What is a Campaign Template?

Put simply, it is an over-arching story that you overlay onto the problems & politics of the area you have created. It does not replace those problems - it runs alongside them. Think of television serials such as Babylon 5, Supernatural, or if it floats your boat, soaps. Most episodes have a distinct story that is contained within it, or run for a limited time. These stories are not lessened by being finite in length and are enjoyable in their own right. However, when a run of shows has a story running in the background that resurfaces every now and then with new revelations that progress it, then it has an over-arching plot. This plot might intersect with the smaller stories every now and then to a greater or lesser degree, but generally, it is apart from them unless it grants resolution or forwards these lesser problems in some way. That is the purpose of a Campaign Template. It is the over-arching plot that intersects with the play areas problems & politics, but does not subsume or replace them totally. If you have a story in mind that your play area does not promote via its problems & politics, then you can create that story by manufacturing a Campaign Template.

The Template

Theme:

Objective:

Important Players:

Events:

Episodes:

Those five headings are enough to create your template. By now, you should have an idea as to the theme, objectives and important players that you want to introduce over the course of play. That's the easy part. To make a campaign that your players enjoy interacting with requires you to put more meat on the bones – you need to prepare the specifics of the campaign. Don't worry, you do not need to finalise it all straight away, but if you prepare in advance to some degree, creating your template does not seem so much hard work. You can fill in future events at a later date. You should have a general idea of what those future events will be, however.

There are two components to a Campaign Template. They are Events and Episodes. Events are happenings that are slipped into the game at your leisure and are finite in nature (although they should advance your campaign to some degree and progress in order) and Episodes are distinct occurrences that may take a session or two of play to complete and act as milestones in your story. The trick to running a successful Campaign Template is not to have the Events and Episodes run concurrently – have them crop up in-between the PCs tackling problems that already exist in the play area. Variety is the spice of life.

As an example and an aid, I am including a basic sample Campaign Template below.

Just finished the College Grounds feature entry and i fear i've fallen into cliche. :D Here's the Day in the Life section of the entry.

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A Day in the Life

Contrary to popular belief, students do have a daily routine on campus. The tutors set this routine at the beginning of the year and if you want to pass your exams, you'd better stick to it. Lessons begin after a communal breakfast in the college scullery and continue until lunchtime, when there is a short recess. Then it's back into the lecture halls and experiment rooms until late afternoon. After that, the student's time is his own, and it's here that they get their reputation for debauchery and reckless behaviour. Drinking, gambling, and romantic liaisons are pursued, whilst vendettas are followed and spying enacted – unsanctioned duelling is also rife. College grounds are no place for the uninitiated after-hours. Once they have had enough, the students grab what sleep they can before the next day.

Quote from: One Horse Town;283899Just finished the College Grounds feature entry and i fear i've fallen into cliche. :D Here's the Day in the Life section of the entry.

-------------------------------------------------

A Day in the Life

Contrary to popular belief, students do have a daily routine on campus. The tutors set this routine at the beginning of the year and if you want to pass your exams, you'd better stick to it. Lessons begin after a communal breakfast in the college scullery and continue until lunchtime, when there is a short recess. Then it's back into the lecture halls and experiment rooms until late afternoon. After that, the student's time is his own, and it's here that they get their reputation for debauchery and reckless behaviour. Drinking, gambling, and romantic liaisons are pursued, whilst vendettas are followed and spying enacted – unsanctioned duelling is also rife. College grounds are no place for the uninitiated after-hours. Once they have had enough, the students grab what sleep they can before the next day.

Sounds about right from what I remember...

Of course we had to duel with rocks... and we liked it!

-clash

I'm currently moving through the goods & services offered by each feature and, as you can imagine with 92 features, there's a metric shit-load of equipment and services available (don't get me started on the craft guild stuff...).

I have a question. I need to detail stuff like weapons, armour, shields etc because they have a direct mechanical bearing on the game. I am also detailing critters such as hounds, horse, hunting birds etc. That'll make the equipment chapter large enough. Do i need to detail all the rest? Stuff that is there for flavour but doesn't have a mechanical effect or do i leave it abstract?

Some of the goods & services are open to interpretation. Rather than put a rigid explanation on them, is it better to leave the customer to decide what the specifics are?

As an example, here's the goods & services section of the Aviary Towers feature.

Goods: hawking gloves (3 bits), raptor hood (3 pennies), birdseed, bag (6 pennies), box of mice (2 bits), untrained homing pigeon (5 crowns), sandy hawk (12 crowns), bat-hunting owl (50 crowns), songbird (10 crowns), giant shrike (40 crowns), belfry bird (15 crowns), raven (30 crowns), crimson parrot (25 crowns)

Services: Sending messages (3 bits), Caging & Feeding (1 penny per cage per day), Training (4 pennies per day), Training a pigeon to home to a location (15 crowns per week)

Seen in public for the very first time, here is a complete feature entry, in all it's glory (or not ;)). This entry is a bit longer than most of the others, but serves to show exactly what you can expect to find when you choose a feature for your character. :)

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41Aviary Towers

"Great Narda preserve us!" exclaimed Mistress Wingover. To make sure she had not misread, her eyes darted across the small piece of parchment once more. Ariel had flown in at first light, the tightly rolled message strapped to her leg. The news it brought sent a shiver down Wingover's spine. Yes, there was no denying it - Duke Hornblower himself had written the message in a shaky hand, unused to the codes of the tower. The great chamber of gears that had been found had started to activate, huge cogs engaging with spindles and winches. Suddenly, unknown passages had opened and hordes of vermin had emerged, low rumbling had rocked the area and vicious lightning had destroyed the Duke's aviary tower. He asked for advice. Could Mistress Wingover give it?

With a determined set to her mouth, she proceeded to do her best, inscribing tiny characters onto a fresh piece of parchment, codified to protect against spies.      

Player Character Information
Stat Mods: Pragmatism +1
Occupational Skills: Animal Husbandry – birds (Pragmatism) 3, Animal Care (Pragmatism) 2, Codes & Ciphers (Reasoning) 2, Animal Training – birds (Pragmatism) 1
Status: 3

Goods: hawking gloves (3 bits), raptor hood (3 pennies), birdseed, bag (6 pennies), box of mice (2 bits), untrained homing pigeon (5 crowns), sandy hawk (12 crowns), bat-hunting owl (50 crowns), songbird (10 crowns), giant shrike (40 crowns), belfry bird (15 crowns), raven (30 crowns), crimson parrot (25 crowns)

Services: Sending messages (3 bits), Caging & Feeding (1 penny per cage per day), Training (4 pennies per day), Training a pigeon to home to a location (15 crowns per week)

Description

Dotted here and there in the Stone Horizons these towers are put over to the usage of men and women who train and look after the birds of the local area. This is not an altruistic act, however, the birds are put to use carrying messages to far off places (which is much quicker and more efficient than sending a letter with a merchant caravan or porter) and hunting vermin. Most aviary towers are lofty affairs with open roofs so that the birds can come and go without difficulty, but the smallest might be just a row of cages on top of another feature's roof. Aviary Towers are noisy places, especially at dawn and dusk when the captive birds' songs ring out the loudest. They also have a distinctive acidic odour due to the bird droppings that are cleaned up regularly.  

There are normally one or two chambers put aside for the transcribing of messages. These chambers also hold mysterious tomes that hold the codes used by the bird trainers in their correspondences. Prospective spies should beware, as cracking these codes is no easy matter.

Because of the services they provide, it is only natural that local power groups utilise Aviary Towers. As a result, they can become centres of intrigue and espionage, as rival groups try to catch each other out and intercept messages. Some towers become centres of insurgencies, rebellion or resistance. Being able to coordinate the movements of troops and agents is a powerful tool. Most towers remain peaceful, however, and resist overtures by powerful local agencies.

A Day in the Life

If you live with birds, you're an early riser. The cacophony of the dawn chorus in the confines of the tower is enough to wake the dead. After a brief repast, the trainers feed the birds and replenish birdbaths and trays with water. Next is the apprentices favourite time of day – mucking out. If there are gardens or orchards nearby, the waste is transported there in return for a morsel or two of food, otherwise, watch out below.

Once the morning chores are over, the day is spent in training the birds to carry messages, training them to return to their coops and stretching the wings of the raptors so that when they are sold to noble patrons, they can hawk with the best of them. The day normally sees a small trickle of visitors wanting to send messages to other towers and features that have a homing pigeon. Discretion is assured, but not always given, in transcribing these messages into code small enough to be wrapped around a pigeon's leg. You can find a strange assortment of folk visiting the tower at all times of day, availing themselves of this service.

When dusk comes, the birds roost – another noisy time of day, and the workforce go about their own business, some of which is clandestine at times. The dorms of the workforce are located below the lofts. The walls are normally draped with thick rugs to dampen the sound of the birds somewhat. It doesn't work, but it keeps the workers sane.

Local Area

There are no special instructions for this feature.

GM Information – Problems, Politics & NPCs

Roll once on the Politics table (see Problems & Politics) and then create another problem as usual. Implement both results.

Quote from: One Horse Town;284113Seen in public for the very first time, here is a complete feature entry, in all it's glory (or not ;)). This entry is a bit longer than most of the others, but serves to show exactly what you can expect to find when you choose a feature for your character. :)

Sweet, Dan! Question - could they use their hawks to intercep another tower's messenger birds? I guarantee that would be my players' first question. :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;284121Sweet, Dan! Question - could they use their hawks to intercep another tower's messenger birds? I guarantee that would be my players' first question. :D

-clash

Sounds feasible to me. Animal Training test! Of course, if they're trying to bring down Speckled Jim, they'll need to get 3 successes - he's a tricky bugger.

Mrs. Wingover - "Never in the field of avian conflict, have so many owed so much to so few,"

Quote from: One Horse Town;284125Sounds feasible to me. Animal Training test! Of course, if they're trying to bring down Speckled Jim, they'll need to get 3 successes - he's a tricky bugger.

Mrs. Wingover - "Never in the field of avian conflict, have so many owed so much to so few,"

Hehe! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;284130Hehe! :D

-clash

Any thoughts on explaining goods & services? I truly don't think it's feasible given the breadth of stuff available. But that means that the exact nature of some items will be left to folk's discretion.

Quote from: One Horse Town;284131Any thoughts on explaining goods & services? I truly don't think it's feasible given the breadth of stuff available. But that means that the exact nature of some items will be left to folk's discretion.

That isn't a bug, it's a feature! Give them enough to base an informed judgment call on, and you're golden.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;284137That isn't a bug, it's a feature! Give them enough to base an informed judgment call on, and you're golden.

-clash

That's what i figured. :)

A tiny re-adjustment to the features table again - i've got rid of Stone Trawlers Guildhouse (too similar in nature to Trailblazers Camp) and replaced it with Gaming Dens. Gotta have some career card-sharps!

Quote from: One Horse Town;284340That's what i figured. :)

A tiny re-adjustment to the features table again - i've got rid of Stone Trawlers Guildhouse (too similar in nature to Trailblazers Camp) and replaced it with Gaming Dens. Gotta have some career card-sharps!

Good call!

-clash

Here's a sample disease from the Problems & Politics section of Veiled Horizons.

----------------------------------------------

Blind Man's Rheum

This unpleasant condition affects the eyes of the victim. Fluid builds up around the eyes, causing them to swell shut in some cases. The victim's eyesight deteriorates from faint blurring to near-total blindness.

Contraction: It is thought that washing in polluted water causes this condition – tiny organisms burrow into the skin around the eyes. These organisms seem to like water downstream from Purification Works, and Dying and Tanning factories, but can be found in areas where human waste is discarded into the water system.

Virulence: 1

Incubation Period: It takes between 48-72 hours for the victim's immune system to attack the bugs. Inflammation follows.

Short Term Effects: 1 die penalty to sight based Perception tests and work that requires fine detail. After 1 week, the victim makes another Physique test. If he fails, he then suffers a 2 dice penalty to these tests. Furthermore, all Bearing tests suffer a 1-dice penalty.

Long Term Effects: After 2 weeks, the victim makes another Physique test, if he succeeds, then he recovers in the next week with no lasting effects. If he fails, he suffers a permanent 3 dice penalty to sight based Perception tests and work that requires fine detail.

Cures: A Potency 1 Apothecary Cure rids the victim of the disease with no ill effects if applied within 2 weeks of contraction. It is also thought that dripping vinegar into the eye cures the victim, but not many are brave enough to try it. More fanciful alleged remedies include bandaging the eyes with a compact made from crushed barley, cat's urine, and cream, leaving a calf's head on the bank of a river as an offering, and staring at a candle flame until it burns out.

Another little feature shuffle...Alchemists Tents are out - the Laboratories feature is now Alchemists Laboratories (they had near identical skill sets anyhow). The Alchemists Tents feature is being replaced by Menageries.

81Sewer-Jacks Tunnel Houses

"Got a floater here, boss!" yelled Mr. Muckraker.

"Tell me something I don't know," laughed the overseer sourly.

"No, I mean a body, like. You know, a floater."

The overseer waded over to the junior sewer-jack, watching as he snagged the clothes of the body with his pole. They dragged the unfortunate to the side of the tunnel where there was at least some dry land. "Look here," muttered the overseer, "he's been stabbed and chucked in the drink."

"Ooh, nasty business that. They say that the Midnight Mangler is about again. Maybe 'e done it." Said Muckraker.

"Don't be daft," scoffed the overseer, "now, let's see what he's got in his pockets."

Now that everyone has got the idea (long ago, i suspect) and we're moving towards the end-game, i'm going to stop posting direct passages of the book. Instead, i'll be telling you what i've been doing.

Today, i've mainly been creating names for different types of beer and coming up with some exotic animals that characters might come across. Who wants to stumble apon a Sabre-toothed padhound in the dark?

Today i am mainly expanding the Goods & Services chapter, explaining the monetary system and expounding on the idiocy of punching someone who is wearing heavy armour.

BTW, Clash, i suspect this wasn't in your playtest document. It was in my head, if that's any consolation. :o

20 copper pennies = 1 silver bit
100 copper pennies = 1 gold crown
5 silver bits = 1 gold crown

Quote from: One Horse Town;285388Today i am mainly expanding the Goods & Services chapter, explaining the monetary system and expounding on the idiocy of punching someone who is wearing heavy armour.

BTW, Clash, i suspect this wasn't in your playtest document. It was in my head, if that's any consolation. :o

20 copper pennies = 1 silver bit
100 copper pennies = 1 gold crown
5 silver bits = 1 gold crown

I thought I had somehow missed it... :D

-clash

Today, i am mainly discussing the dreaded tax-man, talking about grave-robbers and adding a 'disposable income' section to each feature entry.

Today i am mainly finishing animal attributes, looking at the arm breakers guild and finishing off craft guild goods & services.

I have a question, however. I've been thinking on the layout of Stone Horizons and a rather radical idea hit me. Given the nature of character creation and the goodies contained in the feature entries which takes up most of the book, i was thinking that the Rules, Goods & Services and Flora & Fauna chapters could appear at the back of the book as Appendices. It's a departure from the norm, for sure, but sort of suites the way the game treats character creation. As long as i point people there in the game text, hopefully there won't be any confusion.

What do you reckon, Clash?

Quote from: One Horse Town;285865Today i am mainly finishing animal attributes, looking at the arm breakers guild and finishing off craft guild goods & services.

I have a question, however. I've been thinking on the layout of Stone Horizons and a rather radical idea hit me. Given the nature of character creation and the goodies contained in the feature entries which takes up most of the book, i was thinking that the Rules, Goods & Services and Flora & Fauna chapters could appear at the back of the book as Appendices. It's a departure from the norm, for sure, but sort of suites the way the game treats character creation. As long as i point people there in the game text, hopefully there won't be any confusion.

What do you reckon, Clash?

This is not my strong suit. Remember, I'm the genius who put the Magic chapter first in Book of Jalan. It made sense at the time, I swear!

After that fiasco, I try not to change the standard order, though I had to with Wild Blue. My gut instinct is to say go with it, but my gut lies like a rug when it comes to layout.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;285882My gut instinct is to say go with it, but my gut lies like a rug when it comes to layout.

-clash

Ha! :D

I thought of it because character generation is, when you think about it, most of the book. I'd rather have a checklist of what to do in chargen and point people to the sections they need in order to do it. Chargen in SH isn't linear, it's players chose a feature, note down occupational skills & status score, then the GM expands the feature to inculde NPCs & problems, then players assign Affiliations and goals & ambitions to their characters with the created features plots & npcs in mind, then equip yourself. Choosing a feature takes up 3/4 of the book. Therefore i thought distinct appendices for parts of chargen and the rules would be better than shoehorning stuff in and breaking up the flow of the book.

Quote from: One Horse Town;285900Ha! :D

I thought of it because character generation is, when you think about it, most of the book. I'd rather have a checklist of what to do in chargen and point people to the sections they need in order to do it. Chargen in SH isn't linear, it's players chose a feature, note down occupational skills & status score, then the GM expands the feature to inculde NPCs & problems, then players assign Affiliations and goals & ambitions to their characters with the created features plots & npcs in mind, then equip yourself. Choosing a feature takes up 3/4 of the book. Therefore i thought distinct appendices for parts of chargen and the rules would be better than shoehorning stuff in and breaking up the flow of the book.

Oh, I agree entirely, which means I'm probably dead wrong. Bitter experience tells me I transgress against the NATURAL AND ACCEPTED ORDER OF THINGS at my peril! This is like asking a blind guy "Hey! What do you think of these colors together?". "Looks good to me, mate!"

-clash

Today, i am looking at apothecaries and their curatives, botanists and their herbal remedies and alchemists and their concoctions. Once that's done, the Goods & Services chapter is only waiting for the Assassins Toxins section, which i'll get to once i've completed the Underworld feature entry.

I have made the last tweak to the master feature table. Criers Hovels has been renamed Criers Guild House as that describes them better (town criers), Curates Chambers have been renamed as Curiosity Museums, which again is more descriptive of its function and Work Gang Campuses has been replaced with Archivists Guild House. The campuses feature was nigh identical with Reclaimation Crew Digs and i wanted a feature designed to document centuries old laws, traditions, and customs and have an anthropologist vibe.

I lied. The Smithies feature is now subsumed in the Craft Guild feature, so i have replaced it with Investigators Offices. Gotta have some private detective type action - Stone Horizons is a big place with lots of information to ferret out and people to find!

So, today, i am mainly exploring the world of the investigator and explaining why it always pays to keep your servants sweet.

Today i am mainly looking at the high places. I am exploring iron-oak groves and their inhabitants and those poor souls suspended in the air with nothing but bits of crumbling masonry and a bed of canvas to stop their fall...

Edit: Yay, i'm finally running downhill...

Today i am mainly a filthy liar, as i've replaced 2 more features...Now, i am tackling Stonemasons Terraces - given the nature of SH, i figure they need their own feature instead of being a subsection of craft guilds and i am exploring Geodes, which replace Whorehouses. I didn't think that this feature fitted the source material, so instead, the oldest profession gets a section in Entertainers Halls. Geodes are awesome.

Quote from: One Horse Town;286893Today i am mainly a filthy liar, as i've replaced 2 more features...Now, i am tackling Stonemasons Terraces - given the nature of SH, i figure they need their own feature instead of being a subsection of craft guilds and i am exploring Geodes, which replace Whorehouses. I didn't think that this feature fitted the source material, so instead, the oldest profession gets a section in Entertainers Halls. Geodes are awesome.

It's sad to see whorehouses slip this far down the list. Is Disney talking to you about a movie? :O

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;286906It's sad to see whorehouses slip this far down the list. Is Disney talking to you about a movie? :O

-clash

Yep. Eddie Murphy is signed up!

Don't worry, there are going to be Pleasure Palaces. This place is where you go for your sex, 'n' drugs 'n' rock & roll. I've been mulling that one over for a while. So whilst Whorehouses as such are out, now you have places which cater to lots of vices. I had to get drugs into the game somehow and so decided to put the two together.

Quote from: One Horse Town;286908Yep. Eddie Murphy is signed up!

Don't worry, there are going to be Pleasure Palaces. This place is where you go for your sex, 'n' drugs 'n' rock & roll. I've been mulling that one over for a while. So whilst Whorehouses as such are out, now you have places which cater to lots of vices. I had to get drugs into the game somehow and so decided to put the two together.

Well, there's good news! One stop shopping for all your vices! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;286909Well, there's good news! One stop shopping for all your vices! :D

-clash

Yeah, that seemed to have more of a Book of the New Sun vibe to it and a bit decadent like the Melneboneans in the Elric books. Puffing on a fat one whilst watching the ladies dancing. Goods & Services include: Optional extras...

Today i am mainly discussing the parasitic moneylenders, and looking at some of the 'outside' features.

Today, i am mainly taking a shortcut to mushrooms and looking at the stars.

Quote from: One Horse Town;287262Today, i am mainly taking a shortcut to mushrooms and looking at the stars.

Just so long as you don't walk off a cliff whilst doing so, Dan! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;287279Just so long as you don't walk off a cliff whilst doing so, Dan! :D

-clash

I hope not!

With the completion of bridge dens, we're now at 54-38.

Today, i am mainly looking at duelling and coming up with some random tables for entries, which include - inn names, brews, constellations, tomes, and concoction names.

Quote from: One Horse Town;287444Today, i am mainly looking at duelling and coming up with some random tables for entries, which include - inn names, brews, constellations, tomes, and concoction names.

YAY! Great news! These tables are ALWAYS useful!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;287475YAY! Great news! These tables are ALWAYS useful!

-clash

Cool. I'm putting them in Veiled Horizons. I've also moved the Building Cultures & Communities tables there as well.

Here's an example of the vibe i'm going for. This one is a concoction.

15Mizzlewish's Ointment of Marvellously Mighty Muscles (Portage)

Today, i am mainly ignoring my usual day of rest and pushing on with exploring the venerable scrubbers guild and everyones favourite vagrant - the tinker.

Today, i am mainly nursing a hangover. I'd like to hit the 60 feature mark today, but i'm not sure i'll get there.

Edit: Scavenger Camps have gone. There are a number of scavenger type features already. It's replaced with Philosophers Retreats. Yep, ivory towers.

Today, i am looking at monks and gamblers.

Quote from: One Horse Town;287882Today, i am looking at monks and gamblers.

Hopefully looking all squinty-eyed and skeptical...

-clash

Today, i am mainly explaining why farm labourers might not be all they seem and exploring the infighting that plagues merchant caravans.

Today, i have mainly been looking at life on the arteries of the castle - the rivers.

Today i am exploring the rather odd services that Bandits Camps offer.

Quote from: One Horse Town;288681Today i am exploring the rather odd services that Bandits Camps offer.

Now this sounds cool!

-clash

I'm on a roll today, so now i'm going for a look-see at the homes of the rich and also the work-horses of the horizon - the Porters Guild.

100,000 words have now dripped from my bleeding fingers. Well, it feels like a milestone to me, anyway! :p

Just to remind everyone that this is about a game, today i'm posting a feature entry.

---------------------------------------------------------

62Duellists Guild House

"Move your feet!" Drillmaster Fleetfoot yelled. The apprentice duellists were struggling with the regime. They all did at first, but after a few months of the intensive programme, they started to move fluidly from memory instead of stumbling about like newborn lambs, like they were now.

Fleetfoot danced lightly behind the slowest apprentice and hooked his legs out from under him. He landed with an, "Oomph!" of shock and looked up indignantly at the drillmaster.

"That won't happen in a duel!" he moaned.

"That's where you're wrong, sonny," snarled Fleetfoot. "You never know what's going to happen in a duel. One day it's a polite 'how'd you do?' and the next it's flung sand, knees in the groin and gouges in the eye." The drillmaster offered a hand to the offended apprentice, who took it reluctantly. "Get used to the unexpected and you won't get surprised."

Player Character Information
Stat Mods: Manual Dexterity +1, Bearing +1
Occupational Skills: Rapier (Manual Dexterity) 3, Intimidate (Bearing) 2, Ingratiate (Bearing) 2, Drinking (Physique) 1, Athletics (Physique) 1
Status: 2

Disposable Income: 2 bits per session

Goods: signature rapier (9 crowns), duellists banner (5 bits)

Services: Retained on staff (5 pennies per day), Duels: minor dispute (4 bits), major dispute (3 crowns), minor trial (8 bits), major trial (6 crowns),

Description

The castle is old beyond measure and so are many of the cultures that have grown up within its walls. Each cultural area has created its own laws and customs over the years, some of which can be rather bizarre. On the saner end of the scale are duelling laws. Many areas have legal loopholes, specific laws, or common law that allows disputing parties to settle their differences by duelling. Over the years, the burden of the duel has fallen from the protagonists to professional duellists, who train specifically for the purpose. These men and women are drilled and taught in the Duellist Guild House. These establishments have drill rooms, practise yards, sand rings for mock bouts, and bathing areas for tired fighters to relax in. Large guilds ring with the clash of metal and bark of drillmaster from dawn to dusk and in effect hold whole communities within their walls. Small guilds might have a dozen fighters who are hired out from a small private yard and dormitory building.

Most duels are no longer to the death – the disputing parties on whose behalf the duel is to take place arrange the specifics. Most commonly, the duel is until a certain number to blows have been landed, one of the duellist's surrenders, or a set time limit has elapsed, after which time the winner is judged to be the fighter who fought with most style and finesse.

Duellists are sometimes hired to settle trials, as well as local disputes. As such, powerful men and women sometimes court them. The neutrality of the duellist is meant to be sacrosanct, but this doesn't stop some folk from trying to buy them off. A more common way of making sure your favourite duellist never comes up against your representative is to keep him on a retainer to guarantee his availability in future cases. This is the dream job for many a duellist.  

Some guilds have a code of honour, whilst others do not. This makes for interesting bouts should members of competing guilds meet in the ring. One thing that all guilds have in common is the requirement that their members have their own heraldic banner to identify them and that they have a personalised rapier made to specification upon graduating from apprenticeship. The underworld knows that stealing a duellist's blade is a high-risk venture and so seldom attempt it.

A Day in the Life

Duellists tend to have a set fitness and practise routine, which has been honed over the years to their individual requirements. They take to the practise yard early and complete their forms before retiring to the shade to compete in mock bouts with their fellows. If they have a duel to fight, then they prepare in their personal way, which often involves set rituals such as eating certain types of food, dressing in a certain manner and so on. Duellists often have to travel the horizon to fight their duels, which can keep them from the guild house for days at a stretch. Whether close to home, or far from it, returning from a duel is a cause for celebration – lessened somewhat if the duellist lost. The best that a duellist can expect in the course of his work is to be held on a household retainer by a rich employer.

Duellists can become celebrities in the local area, which makes clandestine activities difficult, but you take the rough with the smooth.    

Local Area

There are no special instructions for this feature.

GM Information – Problems, Politics & NPCs

Duellists Guild Houses can sometimes be Elitist (see Politics table). If this is the case, create 1 problem as usual and implement both results. Otherwise, there are no special instructions for this feature.

After 2 months straight working on the game, i've had a bit of a rest the last couple of weeks. I'm back on the ball again now and entering the last 6 weeks of work. Huzzah!

Quote from: One Horse Town;293198After 2 months straight working on the game, i've had a bit of a rest the last couple of weeks. I'm back on the ball again now and entering the last 6 weeks of work. Huzzah!

My playtest is going well. The players love their characters! They wanted to go exploring, though, and none of them used Affiliations and Rivalries. This will bite them in the rump when they come back to Mount Thunderbad after finding a caravan route through the recent lava flows...

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;293225My playtest is going well. The players love their characters! They wanted to go exploring, though, and none of them used Affiliations and Rivalries. This will bite them in the rump when they come back to Mount Thunderbad after finding a caravan route through the recent lava flows...

-clash

Sounds most excellent!

My group went up a level the other week. Went pretty smoothly. The noble now has a Status score of 5! She's got an Affiliation score of 2 with the head Diviner in the region which she uses to get personal staches of the halucinagen popular in the area. Always bleedin' stoned...

Quote from: One Horse Town;293226Sounds most excellent!

My group went up a level the other week. Went pretty smoothly. The noble now has a Status score of 5! She's got an Affiliation score of 2 with the head Diviner in the region which she uses to get personal staches of the halucinagen popular in the area. Always bleedin' stoned...

Hehe! I wanted someone to try out A & R, but they were all focused on Advantages and Signature Moves - which they LOOOOOVE, BTW!

I was extremely impressed by how logically the area came together using only the player's choices of home features. It all makes sense, which is marvellous. I'll have to post up my schematic map of Mount Thunderbad when I get home... :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;293228Hehe! I wanted someone to try out A & R, but they were all focused on Advantages and Signature Moves - which they LOOOOOVE, BTW!

Cool! I thought i was a bit light on explaining them. I'll be interested in hearing your group's thoughts.

QuoteI was extremely impressed by how logically the area came together using only the player's choices of home features. It all makes sense, which is marvellous. I'll have to post up my schematic map of Mount Thunderbad when I get home... :D

-clash

Groovy. When the dust has settled on the initial releases, i was thinking about writing a whole political area (which should run to 16 or so features) for a ready to use game somewhere down the line. We could use the 2 playtest games for half of it, if you're up for a bit of co-authorship on that one!

Quote from: One Horse Town;293231Cool! I thought i was a bit light on explaining them. I'll be interested in hearing your group's thoughts.

One thing I will do is put an explanation of what Signature Moves are into the CharGen section. A full description can go in the system section, where the Playtest package has it, but something needs to be in CharGen.

QuoteGroovy. When the dust has settled on the initial releases, i was thinking about writing a whole political area (which should run to 16 or so features) for a ready to use game somewhere down the line. We could use the 2 playtest games for half of it, if you're up for a bit of co-authorship on that one!

That would be a lot of fun! :D

I forgot to upload my map, though! Got involved in cooking dinner - miso pork, which kicked ass! - and my intention just... wandered away. A senior moment...

-clash

Here's Mount Thunderbad:

(http://i518.photobucket.com/albums/u341/flyingmice/MountThunderbad-small.jpg)

The ladder-like connections mean that the connected features are on different levels. The parallel line connections mean those features are on the same level. the Warlord's Compound in particular - home of the ruling Duke - is built on a cliff ledge.

-clash

Cool, Clash! I notice the diviners have set up camp closest to the volcano. Must be the fumes!

Quote from: One Horse Town;293739Cool, Clash! I notice the diviners have set up camp closest to the volcano. Must be the fumes!

Exactly! That was my thought entirely. It all made so much sense! The random generation system really works! :D

Mount Thunderbad is a stable, more or less continuously active volcano which puts out frequent flows of lava rather than blowing it's top occasionally with ash and pyroclaustic flows. The Armorers, Smiths and Weaponsmiths are all using volcanic heat, as are the Scrubbers and Laboratories. Recent lava flows have cut off land access east and west, and the Duke doesn't like being at the mercy of the Docks - the Pirate Ships are even less trustworthy. He's commissioned the PCs to find a viable caravan route over, under, and/or through the flows.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;293749Exactly! That was my thought entirely. It all made so much sense! The random generation system really works! :D

Phew! 2 years nearly went up in smoke!

QuoteMount Thunderbad is a stable, more or less continuously active volcano which puts out frequent flows of lava rather than blowing it's top occasionally with ash and pyroclaustic flows. The Armorers, Smiths and Weaponsmiths are all using volcanic heat, as are the Scrubbers and Laboratories. Recent lava flows have cut off land access east and west, and the Duke doesn't like being at the mercy of the Docks - the Pirate Ships are even less trustworthy. He's commissioned the PCs to find a viable caravan route over, under, and/or through the flows.

-clash

Awesome! If it helps you, i've made both the Pirate Ships and Bandits Camps features problems in their own right. They still have a problem created for it, but the feature itself is considered to be a problem to the local area. Therefore, if the PCs find a way to solve the problem of the feature just being there, they go up a level.

Quote from: One Horse Town;293757Awesome! If it helps you, i've made both the Pirate Ships and Bandits Camps features problems in their own right. They still have a problem created for it, but the feature itself is considered to be a problem to the local area. Therefore, if the PCs find a way to solve the problem of the feature just being there, they go up a level.

That does indeed help! Maybe it will inspire them. :D

-clash

Sigh...disaster strikes and leaves me downbeat and fucked off...

A software glitch have lost me my files. My last backup was 26th January. Some 40-odd feature entries have been lost. Luckily, i sent some more up to date files to both Clash and Jon, which means that when i get them back, i'll only have lost 20-odd feature entries to re-write.

I'm not in the mood to start just yet, but when i do that'll be 3 weeks of work to re-do before i get to where i was.

The planned release dates are going to change.

Quote from: One Horse Town;298212Sigh...disaster strikes and leaves me downbeat and fucked off...

A software glitch have lost me my files. My last backup was 26th January. Some 40-odd feature entries have been lost. Luckily, i sent some more up to date files to both Clash and Jon, which means that when i get them back, i'll only have lost 20-odd feature entries to re-write.

I'm not in the mood to start just yet, but when i do that'll be 3 weeks of work to re-do before i get to where i was.

The planned release dates are going to change.

Ouch! I'll see if I can get your files back to you, Dan!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;298243Ouch! I'll see if I can get your files back to you, Dan!

-clash

Cheers, dude! The really galling thing is that just a couple of days before my PC went bang, i thought it was about time to do another back-up copy, but i put it off...with fucking predictable results. :mad:

Well, after recovery operations it could have been worse, i suppose. I've recovered everything except animal attributes, the random tables for things like constellations, book titles and the like (not sure if i have it in me to do another 100 random book titles...) and the small matter of 22 feature entries.

22! Shite. Actually make that 21. I can cut and paste the Duellist Guild House entry from here.

About 34 pages of work all told. Not a complete disaster, but a very disheartening one. They won't be the same when i re-write them!

Anyhoo. I won't be able to get back to them until my house move has happened, so the deadline has probably lost the 2 weeks i've been offline, the 3 weeks of work i have to re-do and the next 2 weeks of moving. 7 weeks in total. I was working to a May 25th deadline to get stuff to clash for editing & layout for the July 12th release. I expect the new deadline will actually be July 12th for the hand-over of the final manuscript. Then add on the time for Clash's work. Probably late August to early September then. :(

Here's a character sheet I put together for my playtest. The logos would, of course, have to be changed for the print version. Put up at Dan's request.

(http://i518.photobucket.com/albums/u341/flyingmice/SH-Charsheet.jpg)

-clash

Hey! Who made that Better Mousetrap Games logo? It looks sweeeeet! ;p

Moving on, I am digging the character sheet.:D

Quote from: JohnnyWannabe;298472Hey! Who made that Better Mousetrap Games logo? It looks sweeeeet! ;p

Moving on, I am digging the character sheet.:D

Some brilliant but nameless and starving Canadian artist. He kept producing as long as we beat him soundly. So very polite, right up to the last - so very Canadian. We put the body in a cardboard box in an alleyway. It may still be there.

-clash

Needless to say, i quite like it!

I would welcome any feedback anyone has, though. :)

Quote from: One Horse Town;298476Needless to say, i quite like it!

I would welcome any feedback anyone has, though. :)

I made at least five versions of this sheet. Every time, I print up a bunch for my gang and start entering the character info, then find something I'd forgot.

There are more health circles than a starting player would need, but I thought I should add a few for advancement. The players blacked out any they didn't need.

-clash

Due to Clash's playtest, where i believe everyone played non-humans, i think i need a blancing factor for humans. The non-humans get a stat bonus as well as an Attribute, so i was thinking that human characters should get 1 extra Development point at chargen and on gaining each level.

How's that sound?

Quote from: One Horse Town;301815Due to Clash's playtest, where i believe everyone played non-humans, i think i need a blancing factor for humans. The non-humans get a stat bonus as well as an Attribute, so i was thinking that human characters should get 1 extra Development point at chargen and on gaining each level.

How's that sound?

I meant to tell you that you needed to do something about that. This looks like a neat solution.

-clash

Mr. Mittens - RIP.

The poor hunter didn't live for long when he decided to swap camping in the park to camping out in the Scribe's Quarters, trying to catch out the rumoured ghost. Proud of his craftiness and bush-craft, he wrongly thought that the interior of the castle would suite him just as well. Camped out alone in the lonely scribing halls, instead of getting help when a ghostly apparition appeared, he tried to use his hunting skills to vanquish the ghost. Sadly for him, he failed and his body was found in the morning with a silken chord wrapped around his throat and his black tongue protruding from his mouth.

The Mistress of the Veil has struck!

His brother, Green Cloak, has sworn revenge.

Just a quick note to say that i've caught up to the losses i suffered through my hard-drive meltdown.

The counter under my user name reflects my progress. As the number gets nearer to 92-0, the closer i am to completion.

Quote from: One Horse Town;341147Just a quick note to say that i've caught up to the losses i suffered through my hard-drive meltdown.

The counter under my user name reflects my progress. As the number gets nearer to 92-0, the closer i am to completion.

Wonderful news, Dan!

-clash

I'm dusting down this thread, removing the cobwebs and getting back to work.

I'll be posting snippets like the good old days and please feel free to chivvie me along. I've found that i need it!

Hi there, came across this in the other thread.

Is there anywhere us Johny Come Latelys can catch up on this? All the attachments seem to have expired or disappeared, for example.

Quote from: dbm;588551Hi there, came across this in the other thread.

Is there anywhere us Johny Come Latelys can catch up on this? All the attachments seem to have expired or disappeared, for example.

Well, the character sheet's still there! :D

I don't know how Dan is doing with it. I love this game, and can't wait to see it published!

-clash

I'd honestly forgotten how brilliant it is (no false modesty here)

I also forgot that it's closer to completion than i'd realised.

Here's some stuff on a disease found within the Horizons.

------------------------------------

Red Water Fever

This disease causes the victim to vomit red fluids. It attacks the stomach.

Contraction: Water and food sources normally tend to be the culprit, although there are records of an outbreak in areas where this is not a problem. Finding the source then becomes difficult.

Virulence: 2

Incubation Period: 48 hours

Short Term Effects: Stomach cramps, chills and nausea last for 3 or 4 days. The victim suffers a 1-dice penalty to all tests during this time. After this period he can attempt another Physique test, success indicates recover, whilst failure leads to the condition worsening.

Long Term Effects: The victim starts to vomit violently and suffers debilitating stomach cramps. He is bedridden until recovery. After a further 4-day period a successful Physique test sees a recovery during the next 24 hours. Failure, however, leads to internal bleeding and death.

Cures: A Potency 2 Apothecary Cure allows the patient to recover within 24 hours with no ill effects. Folk cures include drinking nothing but milk, placing a compress of marrow jelly and fish eyes on the stomach, and praying zealously.

Philip Reeves' Mortal Engines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Engines)  has some elements which reminds me of Gormenghast and might be a good read for inspiration.

Quote from: One Horse Town;588548I'm dusting down this thread, removing the cobwebs and getting back to work.

I'll be posting snippets like the good old days and please feel free to chivvie me along. I've found that i need it!

I am still really looking forward to this, it looks epic.

Here's one of fifty Attributes you can give Lurking Menaces or monsters of your own design.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Shadow Stealer

The Menace is able to curse his victim so that he does not cast a shadow. The Menace must spend a Normal action in inflicting the curse and the victim must make a Bearing test. Failure results in the loss of the victims shadow. All of his Status tests from that day forward suffer a dice penalty equal to the Shadow Stealer rating of the Menace. However, this penalty is only imparted when the lack of a shadow is obvious or the people being interacted with are aware of the curse.

Add a Shadow Stealer rating to the profile of the Lurking Menace.

Some sages suggest that nailing the shadow of the Menace who inflicted the curse to a wall, using a silver spike, is the only way to lift it.

Quote from: dbm;588551Hi there, came across this in the other thread.

Is there anywhere us Johny Come Latelys can catch up on this? All the attachments seem to have expired or disappeared, for example.

The attachments probably went when my old PC blew up! As such, i might have lost some of them.

Between new posts here and the 'Gormenghast Game' thread in roleplaying open, hopefully snippets will bring people slightly on-board if they don't want to read this thread in its entirety.

Quote from: One Horse Town;589178if they don't want to read this thread in its entirety.

Oh, oh, but they should.
This thread is one of the rare examples on the internet where something fruitful comes from a creative back-and-forth.



(The only other ones that rate equally high on my radar are the Microlite20 (http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=177624) thread on ENworld, and the Over the Edge Star Wars (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?6182-Using-the-Over-the-Edge-rule-system-for-a-Star-Wars-campaign-A-good-idea) thread on the Big Purple).

Thank you Dirk!

I should hire you as my publicist. :D

Quote from: One Horse Town;589270Thank you Dirk!

I should hire you as my publicist. :D

For full disclosure I should note that I do work in marketing...

With a fresh eye, i've replaced Freebooters Freehold (which pretty much doubles up on mercenary train or pirates ships) with a feature i can't believe i missed first time round - Beacon Towers. These double as lighthouses on coastal areas.

Bell Towers have been replaced with Anatomists Surgeries. I figure that bell towers are quite common and not worthy of an actual feature entry. Whilst the replacement opens up a lot of opportunities. :teehee:

Archivists Guild House has been re-named Beurocrats Cubicles, which i feel reflects the setting better.

Also we have a whole new feature - Counting Houses. This brings the total number of features to 93!

Now that i've caught up, done a bit of revising, i'm knuckling down.

I've added cockroaches and moths to the vermin table, which now means there are 150 vermin combinations. It was the Beacon Towers feature that clued me into making moths a vermin swarm - they tend to suffer from them rather a lot!

I also can't wait for someone to discover their feature is plagued by stink moths or whip cockroaches. Ouch.

Hmm, i'm thinking about some features which are basically mobile - there are 4 of them already and i want to add another. However, it kinda messes with the game dynamic unless you are actually playing an exploration game. In a local or political game, features that can move aren't much cop.

Not sure how to cover this.

The 4 'moving' features currently in the game are -

Merchantman Caravans
Tinkers Carts
Vermin Controllers Wagon Trains
Sell-Swords Trains

I also want to add -

Carnival Calvalcade (basically a travelling circus. Rife in genre lit)

Quote from: One Horse Town;590032In a local or political game, features that can move aren't much cop.

Oh I don't know - I have seen a lot of real life politics when the local fair shows up.

Quote from: One Horse Town;590032Hmm, i'm thinking about some features which are basically mobile - there are 4 of them already and i want to add another. However, it kinda messes with the game dynamic unless you are actually playing an exploration game. In a local or political game, features that can move aren't much cop.

Not sure how to cover this.

The 4 'moving' features currently in the game are -

Merchantman Caravans
Tinkers Carts
Vermin Controllers Wagon Trains
Sell-Swords Trains

I also want to add -

Carnival Calvalcade (basically a travelling circus. Rife in genre lit)

Sweet, Dan! I actually love the idea of a traveling feature! Maybe it could temporarily displace the feature they are occupying?

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;590182Sweet, Dan! I actually love the idea of a traveling feature! Maybe it could temporarily displace the feature they are occupying?

-clash

There are already a few features that contain another feature, so maybe that's the way to go.

For example, the Communities feature contains both the Shops and the Inns/Taverns features. Maybe the simplest route is for the playing group to decide which feature in the local playing area contains any 'mobile' feature that cropped up during character generation.

Quote from: One Horse Town;590186There are already a few features that contain another feature, so maybe that's the way to go.

For example, the Communities feature contains both the Shops and the Inns/Taverns features. Maybe the simplest route is for the playing group to decide which feature in the local playing area contains any 'mobile' feature that cropped up during character generation.

That would work slick!

-clash

You guys are aware that this would be an amazing resource for dungeon creation for other systems?

I've gotta go over this thread, print some stuff out, and try incorporating it into my binder of dungeon creation tables.

Quote from: Planet Algol;590448You guys are aware that this would be an amazing resource for dungeon creation for other systems?

I've gotta go over this thread, print some stuff out, and try incorporating it into my binder of dungeon creation tables.

Yes, i am. :)

If you are going to print this stuff out, all i'd ask is that you don't disseminate it all over the internet. Thanks.

The very first edit i did to Races today was to make it clear that if you want to be a Ratling, then you have to come from the Ratling Warrens feature. Same with all of the non-human Races. If you choose one, you come from their feature.

Quote from: One Horse Town;590798The very first edit i did to Races today was to make it clear that if you want to be a Ratling, then you have to come from the Ratling Warrens feature. Same with all of the non-human Races. If you choose one, you come from their feature.

Smart! It needed that!

-clash

Here's a selection of public domain artwork i'm going to be sprinkling through the books.

Let me know what you think!

A couple more.

Beautiful. If you can find anything from the Parisian catacombs that would be fitting as well.

Gorgeous! And very suited. You will need some pics of the Ratmen and other non-humans, though! :D

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;647113Gorgeous! And very suited. You will need some pics of the Ratmen and other non-humans, though! :D

-clash

and some of the monsters!

Hopefully the artist we spoke to before xmas is up for it. :)

Here's a section from the Problems & Politics master table that i haven't touched on in the forum before - the mysterious phenomena known as Night Terrors!

You can also find one of the entries in the Night Terrors table.

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Night Terrors

Sages often argue as to the origin of Night Terrors. The fact that they only appear during the hours of darkness has led to fanciful conceits. Those sages more comfortable imbibing large quantities of the mushroom farmer's top shelf produce have suggested that they are manifestations of the castle's dreams, whilst others consider them nocturnal brothers to Lurking Menaces. Either may be correct, or totally erroneous, but the fact remains that they exist among the dusty confines of buildings large and small.

You can use the Night Terror attribute table to create profiles for the Night Terrors described below, or use the entries as mere folk-lore if you prefer a low fantasy game.

87-92 Removal Men

Legends & Lore: As one can expect in an environment as crowded as the castle, thievery is not exactly uncommon. The enterprising thief, however, has a ready-made scapegoat in the form of the Removal Men – mysterious beings whispered about in damp corners and shaded cellars. In the depths of the night, unlucky souls awaken to discover their chambers have been picked clean of their possessions or choice items have disappeared. In some cases, even the beds being slept in have been spirited away while their owners have been sleeping on them. Such cases are more often than not laid at the door of the Removal Men.

Description: Eye-witness accounts are rare (and even more rarely believed, as common thievery is often blamed), but areas haunted by Removal Men see two manifestations more commonly recorded than any other. In the first, the sleeper awakens to see ghostly figures dressed in work overalls disappearing through the walls of the chamber with their stolen booty. Of more concern to haunted areas, however, are the reports that suggest the walls themselves reached out into the room and snatched the contents away – forever locking them away within tons of solid stone.

Habits: Some folk hold that keeping an inventory of a rooms contents nailed to the door keeps the Removal Men away.

I greatly enjoyed Peake's books, and your own riffing might also entertain me. In any case, I'm sure it will inspire others! Good luck with this.

Love the Removal Men! :D

-clash

Quote from: Phillip;647933I greatly enjoyed Peake's books, and your own riffing might also entertain me. In any case, I'm sure it will inspire others! Good luck with this.

Thank you kindly, sir!

Quote from: flyingmice;647934Love the Removal Men! :D

-clash

I hope they've got a Union. :)

I think this might split opinion, as it's abstract. However, most other games i know of don't generally presume you have a pretty mundane job, so i think that getting the mundane earning of money from your day-job out of the way so you can get to the nitty-gritty of solving problems was the way to go.

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Disposable Income: This is the amount of money that PCs gain at the start of each session, which makes an abstraction of the day to day working life and chores of the characters – Stone Horizons is about adventure, not bean counting. This is what they have left over from their earnings after the cost of living has been deducted. Any money spent during a session is not covered by cost of living and must be deducted from the characters resources. Disposable income is multiplied by the level of the player character, therefore a 2nd level character doubles the listed disposable income, a 3rd level character triples it, and so on.  This income is in addition to whatever the characters might earn during play via solving problems, applying for credit, borrowing money, or petitioning for Resources etc.  

There are ten categories of disposable income that are dependent on the goods & services of the feature. They are – room & board only, 2 pennies, 3 pennies, 4 pennies, 5 pennies, 8 pennies, 12 pennies, 1 bit, 2 bits and 3 crowns.

Quote from: One Horse Town;648242I think this might split opinion, as it's abstract. However, most other games i know of don't generally presume you have a pretty mundane job, so i think that getting the mundane earning of money from your day-job out of the way so you can get to the nitty-gritty of solving problems was the way to go.

Interesting. Certainly nothing that would stop me playing a game.

Although, It's not actually that abstract compared to a lot of games, that just have a generic Wealth level and don't bother with coin-counting at all.

Yeah - it's not all that abstract, Dan. Not a problem. :D

Unusual Weapons

Some feature entries have unusual weapon Occupational Skills listed. This reflects the fact that the residents of these features are more accustomed to using these items as weapons than folk who might use them as improvised weapons. The following weapons are listed in the equipment section and assume that the user has the relevant Occupational Skill. Otherwise these weapons fall under the category of Improvised Weapons.

Riding Crops – Stables Feature
Tankards – Inns/Taverns Feature
Shears – Orchards Feature
Sap – Underground Feature
Hooks & Poles – Various Features
Multi-Fists – Wall-Crawlers Hollows Feature

Quote from: One Horse Town;648759Unusual Weapons

Some feature entries have unusual weapon Occupational Skills listed. This reflects the fact that the residents of these features are more accustomed to using these items as weapons than folk who might use them as improvised weapons. The following weapons are listed in the equipment section and assume that the user has the relevant Occupational Skill. Otherwise these weapons fall under the category of Improvised Weapons.

Riding Crops – Stables Feature
Tankards – Inns/Taverns Feature
Shears – Orchards Feature
Sap – Underground Feature
Hooks & Poles – Various Features
Multi-Fists – Wall-Crawlers Hollows Feature

Hehe! Riding crops! Hehe! "Dirty horsie! Dirty, dirty horsie!"

-clash

Ooh, i had a nice surprise today. While going through some old discs i found 3 feature entries i didn't know i'd done yet.

I was in the process of writing one of them (again, as it turns out) and the goods & services sections of both were pleasingly similar!

Alchemists Concoctions are rather useful, but they are not without their dangers, as each one has a side-effect...

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36-40 Flatulence: The unfortunate soul drinking this concoction is afflicted with percussive flatulence for the next 1d6 hours. This might affect Status tests and makes attempts at stealth rather more difficult.
41-45 Trippy: On drinking this concoction, the drinker must make a Physique test. Failure indicates that his vision swims, colours are more vibrant and sound echoes and reverberates in his ears. Tests that require fine attention to detail during the next hour suffer a 2 dice penalty.
46-50 Pungent: The concoction stinks to high-heaven. The imbiber exudes this scent for a number of hours equal to the Potency of the concoction. This might affect Status tests and has the rather unfortunate side-effect of being attractive to vermin...

/me likey!

The Craft Guilds feature is a biggy. It has to cover all the jobs that aren't covered by other features in the castle. In all, there are 39 crafts detailed in this one feature entry.

Here's one of them...

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Cutler (Metal Working)
Description: The Cutler is a maker of knives, forks and spoons. His craft is in demand from the middle and upper classes for the fine silver cutlery and dinner services that he can produce. Because of his culinary slant, he is also sometimes a good cook. His workshop commonly has large grinding stones, a set of files, small hammers, and small mechanical presses.

Occupational Skills: Craft - Cutler (Pragmatism) 3, Cooking (Pragmatism) 1, Knives (Manual Dexterity) 1
Status: 2

Disposable Income: 8 pennies per session

Goods: cutlery set - 6 person (4 bits to 4 crowns), silver cutlery set – 6 person (2 crowns to 10 crowns), individual pieces of cutlery (1 bit to 1 crown), individual silver pieces of cutlery (4 bits to 3 crowns)

Services: Polishing (4 pennies per 6 person set), Sharpening (2 pennies per set)

Just to prove to Dirk that work is still going on here, here's a little vignette from a feature entry.  

I'm also working on adding a Quirks section to chargen, to better reflect the source material - although i'm going to present it as optional.

96 Brewers Factories

Mrs. Copperkettle settled down into her favourite upholstered chair and looked at the brews left for her on the table. With the annual brewing festival taking place next week she had to decide which ale she was going to enter, Copperkettle's Arctic Ale, Copperkettle's Hairy Badger Brew or Copperkettle's Golden Throat Tickler? The winner of the brew of the year won the patronage of the Duke for the following year, increasing sales greatly, so she had to chose carefully.

Due to the unfortunate incident involving the revelation that Hairy Badger Brew was the favourite drink of the Grimes family, she discarded that quickly – who would have guessed that they were cannibals? Two of them were still on the run... She then put the bottle of Arctic Ale aside and decided on entering the Golden Throat Tickler. Couldn't go wrong with that could she?

Random Brew Names – roll 2d10

02 Henpeck's Explosive Brew           11 Three Chimney's Two Year Brew
03 Copperkettle's Very Strange Ale   12 Greenfinger's Best Stout
04 Greenfinger's Gutbuster      13 Hopsters   
05 Three Chimney's Amber Syrup   14 Prune's Pale Ale
06 Greenfinger's Golden Grog           15 Copperkettle's Tongue Twister
07 Honeybreeze's Nectar      16 Captain Maudlin's Dark Brew  
08 Henpeck's Military Ale      17 Three Chimney's Crown Ale   
09 Honeybreeze's Brown Tonic   18 Brewster's Beer   
10 Golden Quencher         19 Henpeck's Very Peculiar
                            20 Gardeners' Tipple

Sweet, Dan!

-clash

Just joined up to post some encouragement. Looks real interesting! Keep up the good work. I'd buy it. I'd for sure be stealing off the setting and tables - but the system looks promising too. If there is a way to keep the setting/system separate you might gain an extra audience.

Thank you and welcome to the forum!