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Month: January 2018

The Kingdom of DurnamPicture of the Blue Ridge Mountains

The Kingdom of Durnam

Published by Jeremiah McCoy on January 24, 2018

This post is an experiment. I will do a second part soon. My favorite gaming supplements over the decades have been the ones with an in character commentary. This is my attempt at that sort of thing. Here is a travelogue style bit from a scholar traveling through the Kingdom of Durnam. I have included a random encounter table at the bottom, and some other game information. I also made sure there are some story hooks in there.

This is set in the post-apocalyptic setting I have written about in the past. It is hundreds of years after the giant Space Gods came and reeked enormous havoc on the world. The Hollow Mountain Library, found in what is now Cheyenne Mountain sent our narrator out to survey distant lands and see to the state of the world now that civilizations begin to reform out of barbarism.

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Fiction: Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga’s Light

Fiction: Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga’s Light

Published by Jeremiah McCoy on January 15, 2018

This is a short tale I wrote as a writing  project a while back. It is a retelling of an old Russian folk tale. It is interesting to take and old story and reframe it. I did some further polishing before posting it.  I hope people like it.

 

 

Come closer, says I.  It is time to tell the story of Vasilisa, the Beautiful, and of her terrible light.  It is time to tell of her journey and troubles, of the old crone, Baba Yaga.  I will not bite, my children.  Not yet, at least. This is time for a story.  There is time enough for you to land in the cook pot later, yes.

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Criminal Variants: Con Artist

Criminal Variants: Con Artist

Published by Jeremiah McCoy on January 8, 2018

 

Decided to take a pass at making a background. This time around I am making a background for a variation on Criminals. The general Criminal background is fine and I even use it for one of my PC’s but it seems to me that there was space for more. Criminals come in a wide range and having backgrounds to reflect some of those variations could be useful.  I thought I would start with a Con Artist.

 

A bit of trivia. The term “Mark” is a reference to a mark that was made on the back in chalk at carnivals.  The mark was to indicate the subject was susceptible to trickery. The chalk mark would be applied with a pat on the back. It has come to mean the subject of a confidence job in general.

 

On to the Background…

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Honor Among Thieves

Published by Jeremiah McCoy on January 2, 2018

Honor Among Thieves

They say there is no honor among thieves.  That is probably true, but there are rules. There are societies, crews and of course guilds. I have written up a few guilds and there are plenty of others to draw on, but it can be hard for some folks to figure out how to use them.

The easiest use of course is adversaries. They steal the PC’s stuff and the PC’s have to get it back.  Either that, or they beat the PC’s to the loot. That is fine but is not always the most compelling answer. Many players are into the whole idea of playing criminals. There is something to the appeal of crime stories. There is a reason why we keep seeing heist films getting made. Gangster flicks are iconic and Robin Hood is an enduring legend. Criminal societies make good stories.

The problem is, not everyone knows how to translate that kind of story to table top. If you will permit, I will offer some advice on that point.

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