Spes Magna Games

Are you familiar with the art of Domenico Neziti? If your answer is “No”, you owe it to yourself to check out his on-line portfolio. If Spes Magna Games had an art budget, I’d love to commission Domenico to do a cover and some interior art.

Domenico’s art has a definite voice that sets it apart. His character studies are evocative and stylized in a way that reminds me of Tony DiTerlizzi‘s Planescape work. Domenico’s monsters are usually scary, but some are adorable. His action pieces are dynamic and vivid.

Domenico has graciously permitted me to feature two of his pieces on site for this post. If you click on either piece, it will embiggen for greater clarity.

And now, some game content for Fate Accelerated Edition.

Sitting adjacent to a narrow, shallow canal that angles its way between barley fields, Kaosunoie appears as little more than a smallish, sturdy stone building. Its single entrance is blocked by nothing more than a silk curtain. Its small round windows hold nothing within their panes, presenting no real obstacle to sun, wind, or rain. The nearby well offers fresh, crisp water, and the dai-dōrō next to the winding path leading up to Kaosunoie hints that the structure is some sort of shrine.

Only the most aged locals remember a time when Kaosunoie was not there, and in the decades following the buildings mysterious appearance after a thickly fogged, windless night, everyone in the nearby farming village has made their peace with the strange structure. At the appointed times, they offer sacrifices of barley, rice, and braided hair, leaving these offerings around the dai-dōrō. In return, the bakemono that live within Kaosunoie avoid destructive mischief and even defend the village against threats.

Kaosunoie’s interior exists within two overlapping realities. In the mundane reality that the village also occupies, the building houses a single room with a dirt floor and unadorned walls. For those who, like the bakemono, can cross over into the spirit realm, Kaosunoie’s interior is a bewildering maze of corridors, ladders, chambers, and courtyards open to a starless, cloudless sky locked in eternal twilight. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of bakemono live in Kaosunoie, and the spaces harder to reach are home to more dangerous creatures, including at least one oni.

Stats for gangs of bakemono:

Bakemono Gang
Shapeshifter
Skilled (+2) at: Ganging up, pranks
Bad (-2) at: Staying focused, maintaining current form
Stress: [] [] [] (6 bakemono)

Stats for a bakemono character:

O-Tomiki
High Concept: Bakemono Shaman of the Void
Trouble: No Such Thing As Too Much Sake
Other Aspects: My Shapeshifting Powers Are Strong, Look! Over There!, I Can Smell Your Weakness

Approaches: Careful Mediocre (+0), Clever Average (+1), Flashy Fair (+2), Forceful Average (+1), Quick Good (+3), Sneaky Fair (+2)

Stunts
Like the Wind: Because my form is fluid, I gain a +2 to Quickly create an advantage or overcome an obstacle by changing my shape.

Refresh: 3

Tags: Domenico Neziti, Fate Accelerated Edition, monsters, place of power

The twice-monthly (or thereabouts) sessions of Man Day Adventures have been through a few game systems over the years: AD&D (2nd edition), the d20 System (3.0, 3.5, and Pathfinder), Sine Nomine’s excellent Stars Without Number, brief excursions into d20 Modern, Swords & Wizardry, and Mutants & Masterminds, and, most recently, the fabulous Dungeon World for a rollicking campaign under the auspices of three GMs.

As July 2015 bears down on us, we prepare to bid a sad adieu to one of Man Day’s adventurers, who is leaving the U.S. for a new life in a foreign land. The consensus is that his final Man Day will be the final act of our Dungeon World campaign. Further, it seems most likely that our next game with be Fate Accelerated (or FAE), published under both the Open Gaming License and Creative Commons Attribution license by Evil Hat Productions.

To prepare for the upcoming new campaign, I trundled my virtual self to DriveThruRPG and purchased FAE. While I was there, I also picked up A Spark in Fate Core, published by Genesis of Legend Publishing. This latter product bills itself as a “Fate World Building Toolkit” and, since one Man Day adventurer had talked several times about using FAE to create a collaborative campaign world, it seemed like a well duh acquisition.

FAE claims that it can be used to play (just about?) any genre. The players get together, decide on a genre, and then make characters that fit that genre. I’ve run across this claim before (GURPS, for example), and I’ve almost always been at least somewhat underwhelmed. Often, it seems based on my experience, the system claims to work for (just about?) any genre, but then the system ends up working against that claim because the system itself is too rigidly defined.

Keeping in mind I’ve not played FAE yet, it does seem as if FAE avoid at least this pitfall. Characters are defined more by narrative hooks than by ability scores. These hooks come in three flavors: a high concept, which “is a single phrase or sentence that neatly sums up your character”; a trouble, which is that “one thing that always get you into trouble”; and at least one other aspect, which is something “really important or interesting about your character.” Characters also have approaches, which describe how characters accomplish tasks. Each of the six approaches are rated as a bonus ranging from +0 to +3. One character might be Flashy +3, whereas another character might be Careful +3. Lastly, FAE recommends each character start with one stunt, which “is a special trait that changes the way an approach works for your character.” Stunts either grant a bonus (usually +2) or else let the character ignore certain rules in a predefined circumstance.

Since the action resolution system starts and ends with narration built around some combination of high concepts, troubles, aspects, approaches, and stunts, a huge range of activities can be accounted for without dozens of pages of rules. For example, one of the sample characters, Reth of the Andrali Resistance, has “Suncaller of the Andral Desert” as a high concept. This lets him “magically call forth the power of fire.” FAE doesn’t include pages of fire spells or powers. Instead, Reth’s player would narrate Reth’s desired course of action, such as:

“I lunge at the robot, sheathing my body with flame, as I attempt to slam my foe.”

The player would then roll four Fate Dice, apply Reth’s Good (+3) Forceful modifier, and then compare the result to the robot’s defense total. The degree of success determines the results, ranging from failure to short-term benefit to damage to more damage plus a possible short-term benefit. Pretty much everything works more or less like this (narrate, roll, determine results). The use of Fate Points can further amplify results or even establish facts about a current scene.

In short, I kind of psyched to give FAE a test drive. There are oodles of reviews for the system out there, many of which do a better job explaining things than I do. Check them out.

So, what about A Spark in Fate Core? In short, it’s almost exactly what I hoped for. ASiFC offers a step-by-step method to collaborative world building that helps ensure all players at the table have a pretty much equal say.

This process starts by listing favorite media, such as a particular television show or comic book. Each player then explains the inspiration for his choice. For example, if I choose Pee-Wee’s Playhouse as my favorite, I would then expand on this choice by noting how much I like the all of the goofy supporting characters such as Cowboy Curtis and Billy Baloney. After all players have shared their favorite media and related inspiration, the group then decides on a genre that incorporates those media and inspirations. The genre should have a descriptor that shows how the group’s take on the genre stands apart from the genre’s most common examples.

This process of players taking turn sharing, arriving at group decisions, asking and answering questions, et cetera, continues until the world has a scale (small or large), a list of facts, a title, several Sparks (the system’s name for potential problems or sources of conflict), a group of Faces (important NPCs), and noteworthy places. The GM uses the Sparks to set up issues that impact the shared story. One Spark is a Legacy Issue; it used to be a problem, but now serves as history and culture. Another Spark is the Current Issue. This is the main focus of the campaign to start with. A third Spark is an Impending Issue. It’s not a problem yet, but it will be eventually.

The process described in ASiFC is simple enough, flexible, and truly collaborative. The downloadable PDF is free. If there had been a pay what you want option, I’d have paid for it. It’s worth at least a couple of bucks, and ASiFC‘s process is generic enough that it would work well with just about any game system.

Tags: A Spark in Fate Core, Fate Accelerated Edition, reviews

From the waist up, a vodyanoy appears as a naked old man, but its frog-like face, tangled greenish hair, and covering of algae and muck over fish scales surely prevents anyone from mistaking this creature for human. What’s more, it has not hands but instead webbed paws, and in place of its legs extends a powerful fish’s tail. A vodyanoy’s eyes burn like red-hot coals.

When not swimming, it usually rides along its river on a half-sunken log, making loud splashes. When angered, a vodyanoy breaks dams, destroys water mills, and drowns both people and animals alike. Consequently, those who live along the banks of a vodyanoy’s river make sacrifices to appease the monster. Vodyanoi also drag down people to their underwater dwellings to serve as slaves.

For Barbarians of Lemuria

Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 0, Mind 1

Combat Abilities: 2 claws +1, damage d6-1; Defence 1; Protection d3-1 (scales); Lifeblood 10

Special: Vodyanoi breathe water as well as air. Against man-made structures, vodyanoi can exert enormous destructive power, comparable in many ways to the effects of a catapult.

For Dungeon World

Group, Hoarder, Intelligent
Claws (d8+2 damage, forceful)
6 HP
2 Armor
Close
Special Qualities: Amphibious
Instinct: To dominate its territory

* Destroy a man-made structure
* Drag victim to the bottom
* Swim silently and swiftly

For Swords & Wizardry

HD 4+1; AC 5 (14); Atks 2 claws (1d6); SV 13; Special breathe water, destroy man-made structure; MV 6 (Swim 12); AL C; CL/XP 5/240

The rusalka, an unquiet undead monster, was in life a young woman who either committed suicide by drowning due to an unhappy marriage or who was murdered by drowning, especially after becoming pregnant with an unwanted child. A rusalka must suffer its tortured existence in or near the body of water in which it both died and was reborn.

This undead creature is not invariably malevolent, for it may die in peace if its death is avenged. Nevertheless, a rusalka’s main activity is far from benign. It seduces by either by looks or by voice young men, who the monster then leads into the depths of its waterway. Therein, the rusalka entangles its victim with her long red hair and submerges, dragging the would-be lover to his death.

For Barbarians of Lemuria

Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 2, Mind 2

Combat Abilities: grappling hair +2, damage d3; Defence 2; Protection d4-1 (lacks any vulnerable organs); Lifeblood 10

Special: Rusalki appear as beautiful, red-haired maidens to mask their true, more horrific appearance. If engaged in seductive efforts against a male hero, the hero must attempt a Hard Mind action to avoid being charmed by the monster.

For Dungeon World

Devious, Group, Intelligent
Entangling hair (d4 damage)
10 HP
0 Armor
Close, Reach
Special Qualities: Undead
Instinct: To kill young men

* Appear beautiful
* Ensare in its entangling hair
* Inflame the passions

For Swords & Wizardry

HD 8; AC 3 (16); Atks Entangling hair (1d3 then constrict); SV 8; Special appear human, charm male, constrict (1d6), undead; MV 9 (Swim 9); AL C; CL/XP 11/1,700

Tags: Barbarians of Lemuria, Buyan, Dungeon World, monsters, Swords & Wizardry

Nota Bene: The accompanying photograph was taken by Dnalor_01 and is released under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

For Dungeon World

Carved from marble, cracked and worn after centuries of use and misuse, the Mouth of Truth currently rests against a wall in the portico of the sea god in a bustling, nearly lawless coastal trade center. The fog of history and legend obscures the Mouth’s true origins, but it’s powers are well and widely known.

If someone tells a lie while their hand the rests in the sculpture’s mouth, the marble aperture slams shut, almost certainly crushing muscle and bone to pulp. Those about to embark on a voyage may also propitiate the Mouth and ask for an oracle about the journey.

When you propitiate the Mouth of Truth, spend 100 coins and roll +1 for every extra 100 coins spent. ✴On a 10+, choose 2. ✴On a 7–9, choose 1.

* The voyage will likely be less perilous. Take +1 forward when you undertake a perilous journey.
* You will meet a significant person during your journey.
* A beneficial opportunity will be encountered while traveling.
* An unexpected benefit waits at the journey’s end.

Tags: Dungeon World, magic items