Among humans, hospitality law and the guest right is a sacred custom. Even in the cities, there are few laws concerning it; rather, a common understanding derived from myth and two simple rules.
First, respect from host to guest. Second, respect from guest to host. Purported violations of hospitality are most often decided by mob justice.
Among supernatural beings, this is much more complicated.
Magic and Hospitality
The hospitality tradition among humans was learned from magical creatures, who take it very, very seriously. The duties of host to guest and vice versa are detailed and enumerated, and violating them takes a heavy toll. Creatures like dragons, goblins and trolls, ordinarily hostile, can be negotiated with by invoking guest-right. Of course, most people don't think to do that when faced down with a giant flame-breathing dinosaur.
Hospitality is deeply interwoven with magic, and beings which break it suffer a loss of magical power. A dragon will weaken and find their breath cold. A troll will find their flesh soft and unable to regenerate. Even goblins will shrink to diminutive rat-men, losing their cunning and ability to use tools.
Fae, elementals and other such beings are straight up made of magic, and so couldn't break hospitality law if they wanted to.These beings are defined as not having free will. It would be like a human deciding to stop their heartbeat.
Most humans aren't magical, and so don't worry about this. Wizards, however, are subject to this same restriction, and are very aware of this. They try to discourage guests as much as possible.
How to be a Guest
Gaining guest right can be tricky. First, you have to be somewhere that could be considered a being's home. A dragon's lair works, as does a goblin warren. But the land around such places doesn't. Once inside, you must address your host honorably and ask for permission to enter their home. Even if this doesn't work, this is enough to give most sapient creatures pause.
For creatures with free will, hospitality is enforced not just by loss of magic power, but by appearances. Sure, you could eat those stupid adventurers who asked for hospitality. They didn't do it right anyway, so you probably won't lose any magic power. But it's just plain gauche, and what if word gets out?
Intelligent magic creatures are very concerned with what others think of them. Not humans (high level wizards are not strictly human), but others of their kind. Not necessarily of the same species either. If an ancient manticore hears a local hydra has been flouting hospitality law, that's all the reason they need to start nibbling at the hydra's territory.
Fights over resources between such monsters are long, protracted, ugly and impolite, resulting in damage to all parties and the surrounding landscape. Whichever one survived would likely not be able to defend against an incursion by an opportunistic third party. As a result, resource disputes are mitigated by complex webs of alliances, with the weaker party willingly ceding.
This all turns on how well respected the monster in question is. Violating hospitality is like telling everyone 'Hey, I'm a big stinking liar! Don't trust me!"
"I know this mountain was yours last week, but then you ate that priest who asked for guest right, and we both know whose side the cyclopes will come down on."
As a prospective guest, be polite but insistent.
Gifts
The next stage involves an exchange of gifts. This is where the danger comes in. Even if you've avoided getting slow-roasted, messing this up could put you right back at square one. That is, being something's square meal.
The guest presents their gift first. As always, it's the thought that counts, with value a close second. The big no-no is cash. Gift cards aren't any better. See, money on it's own is a transparent bribe. Note that bribery isn't a problem, but being obvious about it insults the host's intelligence, indicates you really don't care, and implies that the host is easily bribed. The host would be entirely in their rights to eat you.
Instead, a present should be valuable in a more subjective manner. Magic is, above all, based on emotion. A sack of coins won't do. A handful of coins reworked by a master goldsmith to show the host's face in profile shows thoughtfulness and a deep consideration.
While value is secondary, it could still trip up an inexperienced gift-giver. It doesn't matter how good a wood carver you are, presenting a carving you made ten minutes ago smacks of carelessness. At the same time, a gift whose value is too great is also a faux pas, for reasons about to be explained.
If your gift is accepted, your host but provide a gift of roughly equal value in return. 'Roughly' is the key word there. It's impolite to compare the exact cost of a gift, and against the spirit of the exchange. It's not the intention for any party to profit, rather the creation of a spiritual bond between you by the transfer of property.
Aside: That's not an exaggeration. A bit of your soul rubs off on anything you own, so an exchange of gifts results in the exchange of soul-stuff. It's spiritually similar (though different in magnitude) to friendship, marriage and sex. Items with more subjective/emotional value, whether due to memories or the work put into them, are capable of holding more soul-stuff. This is why ghosts are attached to significant items and why you can't make a phylactery out of a random grain of sand. Incidentally, selling an item dissipates the soul-stuff, while gift-giving doesn't.
If your gift was too valuable, it can be a problem. A gift must be answered in kind, and if the host cannot repay it, it brings dishonor on them. Deliberately giving someone an overly expensive gift is a subtle and effective 'fuck you'.
If the host is of lower status than the guest, the host is in for a bad time. If the king shows up at a peasant's home with a caravan of gold and silk, they're about to ask for something the peasant would rather not give, or ask a favor they would rather not perform.
If the host is of higher status, this is a grave insult. You're effectively mocking them for being poor, and calling their high status into question. While it would be difficult to give a dragon a gift they can't repay, I would recommend against testing this for yourself.
To avoid this, gifts exchanged are often incomparables. A finely crafted sword for an ancient bottle of fine liquor. A rare spell scroll for a stretch of fertile farmland. A set of glamorous robes for a closely guarded secret. An obedient slave for a noble title (intelligent monsters should have at least a few human slaves. They are, after all, monsters).
Guest Rights and Obligations
So, against all odds you've successfully invoked hospitality law. What are the rules?
As a guest, you must honor and respect your host, do them and theirs no harm, and not be a burden on them. That last part is less about strict costs of housing, and more about reading the room.
As a host, you are obligated to provide food, drink and baths. Other needs, like medicine and sanctuary from pursuers must be given if asked for. You may not allow harm to come to them while they are on your property.
Assuming hospitality is maintained until the guest leaves, the bond continues to exist, and even extends beyond the guest and host. If your ancestor held hospitality with my ancestor, that's a very good reason to deescalate tensions and negotiate, even exchanging gifts to continue that tradition.
Notes
This system works best for a game where players are expected to negotiate with and trick enemies. It's indicative of a particular world, where intelligent monsters are known, if not common. It emulates the ancient world and presumes an honor culture, as opposed to the modernistic feel of settings like the Forgotten Realms.
The main source for all this is the Iliad and Odyssey. The ancient Greek practice of xenia, though not a set of codified laws, was a strong cultural force in ancient Greece, and one of the tentpoles of the story. Paris breaks hospitality law by kidnapping Helen while being Menelaus' guest. The resulting dishonor is an insult to Zeus himself, the protector of travelers, which is why Menelaus is able to gather such a strong army to fight Troy.
Diomedes and Glaucus find that their fathers held xenia together, prompting them to exchange gifts and drop hostilities. Likewise, Ajax and Hector resolve to share gifts as a marker of peace between them. The gods appear to mortals in disguise and receive hospitality. Hell, the gods even host other gods, and make appropriate preparations.
Other examples, like the demands of the suitors on Ithaca and the seductions of Calypso and Circe show how xenia can be twisted and perverted by ill faith. The cyclops straight up ignores xenia, allowing Odysseus to blind him.
If your campaign shares these assumptions, establishing the code of hospitality as useful for players will add that texture and period feel.
Finally, another good source for hospitality is Ibn Battutah. The Muslim code of hospitality is similar to that of ancient Greece, with an emphasis on gift-giving. The sheer volume of gifts IB received should give you some material to work with when your players ask for gifts in turn.
Friday, August 16, 2019
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Review and Gameables: The Travels of Ibn Battutah
This review covers two books, The Travels of Ibn Battutah by Tim Mackintosh-Smith, and The Adventures of Ibn Battuta by Ross E. Dunn.
Mackintosh-Smith is an English historian and Arabist, and the host of a frequently hilarious BBC miniseries on Ibn Battutah. My class actually managed to make contact with him, though he is regrettably hunkered down in Yemen until the civil war cools down.
Dunn is an American historian working in the same field.
If you enjoy this, Patrick Stuart's review of the Memoirs of Usama Ibn-Mundiqh will likely be up your alley.
The History
In the early fourteenth century, a young man left his home in Morocco to advance his learning and seek wealth in the distant lands to the east. This was Ibn Battutah, an up and coming qadi, a master of Islamic law. He traveled across the entire Muslim world, from North Africa to Mecca to India, the Steppe, China, the Maldives and Mali. Known as the 'Islamic Marco Polo', Ibn Battutah actually traveled a much greater length than the Italian, by foot, horse and ship.
When he returned twenty-nine years later, he wrote it all down. A colossal travelogue dictated to the scribe Ibn Juzayy at the request of the governor of Andalusia (this was shortly before the Reconquista), totaling over 700 pages.
The Arabic word for travelogue is 'rihla', a bona fide genre in its day, and while the book boasted a much longer and indulgent title, it was known as 'the Rihla of Ibn Battutah,' and eventually simply as 'the Rihla.' It was the most extensive and detailed book of its kind ever written, and soon became the ultimate example of the genre.
The book was wildly popular across the Muslim world, but didn't manage to penetrate outside of it. By the nineteenth century it had mostly fallen out of memory, with few copies surviving.
Nascent scholarship of the Islamic world in the West latched onto the Rihla and to Ibn Battutah as a figure, and the race to translate it began.
Early translations into English were unwieldy and very difficult to get through. Battutah's attention to detail was immense, and it was festooned with recreated conversations, mentions of every figure of note he met with, and colossal lists of gifts given and received by him. This may have been useful to the traveler at the time (though it boggles the mind how one might take the book with him on a journey), but is just a slog for the modern reader.
Luckily, there are multiple abridged versions available today, made portable and eminently readable by drastically cutting the length, while maintaining the gist of his journey.
The Books
M-S's book is one such abridged translation, presented straight with some authorial footnotes. Dunn's book, The Adventures, takes The Travels as a base and comments on the history surrounding the journey, offering much needed context.
I highly recommend both, and suggest reading them a chapter at a time, getting IB's story straight and then getting the wider context.
I don't have the books on me, and seem to have misplaced my notes, but here's my summary, with special attention to the fun/ridiculous/gory bits:
-Early in his journey, IB comes down with a horrible case of diarrhea, almost resulting in his death, forcing him to tie himself to his own camel in order to get to civilization.
-He repeatedly seeks out Sufi mystics, and at several points attempts to become a mystic himself, though he always gets back on the road eventually.
- While visiting a mystic in Egypt, he has a dream of flying on a giant bird. The mystic tells IB that he will travel to India and China, where he will meet the mystic's two brothers.
- While traveling with the mahallah of a Mongol Khan (Abu Sa'id, if my memory serves me) he witnesses a display of Mongol archery and horsemanship (Get Joseph Manola over here!). A mounted rider puts an arrow between the feet of a foreign dignitary at a hundred paces, or some ludicrous distance.
- The princess of Constantinople, then married to the khan of the Golden Horde, asked leave of her husband to visit her father at home. IB accompanies this caravan in order to see Constantinople. The princess holes up in the city and de facto divorces the khan. IB runs for the hills.
- Shortly thereafter, he visits the lands north of Constantinople, and describes his interactions with the barbarous, red haired Rus people. This is the only instance of his visiting Christian lands.
- While traveling through modern Afghanistan, IB notes rumors of a local fortress, a dark tower on a flat plain built around a prison pit filled with giant man-eating rats. Just saying.
- IB was a notorious prude. While visiting a bathhouse (in modern Iraq I believe) he is outraged by the lack of towels worn by men, and bites the head off the local religious leaders. The same thing happened at least once more in another country.
- IB hardly disapproved of the pleasures of the flesh, however. He married and divorced several women, in addition to taking dozens of concubines in his time, and he details the marriage customs of every region he visits. The Maldives were especially lax in marriage and divorce laws.
- He visits a fortress maintained by mystic monks, and describes their rites, which include wild dancing, drum beating and biting the heads off snakes. He does not join in.
- While visiting Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) he makes a pilgrimage to Adam's peak, a mountaintop sporting a dip in the rock that resembles a giant human foot. It is variously claimed to belong to Adam and Buddha.
- Somewhere in South Asia, IB is informed about a tribe of intelligent monkeys in the mangrove, whose leader walks with a stick like a person. These monkeys were highly aggressive, and liked to bite the genitals off any human they captured. Disappointingly, IB did not confirm these rumors.
- He spends a very long time in the court of the Indian sultan Muhammad Tughluq. Due to his status as a jurisprudent of the Maliki tradition (not the dominant legal tradition of Muslim India) he is showered in gifts, receives a high position in the court and is paid a massive stipend. All this despite IB being, to be blunt, a quite mediocre judge whose travel prevented him from getting an education equivalent to his peers around the same age.
-He quickly gets into massive debt as he attempts to outspend other courtiers to gain status. He gets involved in some get rich(er) quick schemes. At the same time, he makes a serious attempt to escape worldly goods and associates himself with a prominent Sufi mystic. However, this mystic is soon executed for refusing to bow to the authority of any but God... including the sultan. IB, as one of his frequent visitors, is implicated in his treason and becomes a target.
-IB describes living in the court from that point on as a dead man, not knowing when one of the sultan's furies would bring death down on his head. It eventually does, and he barely escapes assassination by entering a mosque and praying continuously for three days, which itself almost kills him. Laying low for a time, the sultan drops the issue and decides to get IB out of his hair by sending him as an ambassador to China with a caravan of goods.
- All better right? Well, no. The caravan is ambushed by bandits, and IB runs away. He evades capture for three days in the wilderness, sneaking through bushes and crawling through mud, before being rescued by a mysterious stranger (who reveals himself to be the second brother from the prophecy!). He reunites with the caravan and continues on, undeterred.
- They continue on to Qaliqut (Calcutta) by which time the goods are on a ship, and IB's personal possessions are on another, smaller boat. The crew and the other passengers board on a Friday, but IB insists on staying on land to pray. The sea becomes too choppy to board the next day, and that night the larger ship is destroyed in a storm. Spectacular amounts of gold, silver, silk and other commodities sink into the ocean. IB's friend and the military commander of the caravan drown, and IB describes finding both their bodies on the shore, one with his head bashed open, the other with an iron nail driven through his skull.
- Oh, and his own, smaller boat, flees the bay with his money and concubines on board, never to be seen again.
- Now penniless and missing his gift to the Chinese emperor, IB realizes returning to Delhi would get him executed. Instead, he skips town and starts to journey around the area. He goes to the Maldives for some R&R (it was then, as now, a vacation destination) and decides to lay low, the Maldives being a protectorate of Delhi. That is, until and old friend bumps into him and tells everyone what a big deal he is. Luckily, the local vizier is looking for a prestigious qadi to improve his status, and IB proceeds to dramatically exaggerate his position in the Indian court. After an impromptu marriage to the vizier's wife's mother-in-law, the vizier appoints him the chief religious officer of the Maldives. The entire thing.
- Having real political power for the first time, IB tries to whip the local religious infrastructure into shape, the local practice of Islam being incorrigibly lax compared to the orthodox Maghribi tradition. He has mixed success, instituting beatings for those who miss daily prayer, more beatings for women who don't leave their husband's home after divorce, and the dismemberment of thieves. He rants at length in the book about the refusal of the Maldivian women to wear tops.
- After a few years tyrannizing the people, he finally comes to blows with the vizier over the treatment of an adulterous slave. Pretending to move to another island to unwind, he gathers his things, divorces his numerous Maldivian wives and leaves for good. He catches wind of a conspiracy among the admiralty, and IB seriously considers hiring a mercenary company on the mainland and coming back to make himself king of the Maldives. He decides against it, but the book implies it wouldn't have been that hard.
- He subsequently visits China, which had a small but influential Muslim population, where he meets the third brother of the Egyptian mystic. After badgering him for his secrets, the mystic disappears, and the mystic's servant implies he can turn invisible.
- On his return journey to Morocco, he effectively outruns the Black Death. He travels through numerous infected cities, noting the devastation, but himself avoids becoming sick.
The Gameables
Money
IB's motivation, from the start, is cold, hard cash. He studies at the feet of scholars and mystics along the way, and makes his pilgrimage to Mecca no fewer than three times, but gold is always his driving motivation. His GM definitely had XP = gold.
That said, he never raids a tomb or hunts down a bounty. As a judge, his profession allows him to gain lodging and employ anywhere in the Dar-al-Islam, but his fortune (before he loses it - multiple times) comes from schmoozing. More than anything, he was a socialite and a flatterer, whose sophistication and (well-earned) travel stories allowed him to waltz into the high society of any given town.
That is what a high-Charisma character with tales of adventure should be able to do.
Also, while you might not take away your players' money like IB's GM certainly did, you can still reward them with other goods, like social status and fame, which should have real impacts on your social interactions. Likewise, temporarily separating them from their wealth, such as by dropping your players in the middle of a swamp, can add tension and cultivate fear even in high-level characters.
Clerics
Despite his distinct lack of spellcasting, IB was definitely a cleric. His bread and butter was the application of religious law. I like the idea of clerics being more like that. Mind you, IB was a Muslim, part of the Abrahamic tradition. In spite of the long feud between Islam and Christianity, the two have significant theological overlap. So why is the typical D&D cleric, nominally pagan but with a distinct Christian background, such a goody-two-shoes? The moment IB had real power, he starting cutting off people's hands. D&D clerics should be WAY more brutal than this.
Further, this should be your reference for religious authority. That village priest isn't Father O'Malley taking confession in church, he's Ibn Battutah getting on everyone's case for not praying hard enough in a world where the gods are visibly real and confer magic powers. PRAY! PRAY!
Combat
IB was in combat only a handful of times in his three decades on the road, and every one was deadly serious. In the case of an ambush on his caravan, he ran and hid. While traveling through the mountains he was caught by a bandit's arrow, which nearly killed him. When he and his friend were traveling impoverished through the swamps, their guide tried to hold them up and take their clothes, to which IB brandished his spear and prevented an incident. The only instance he mentions of willingly taking on combat was in the Maldives, where he went along with a boat of soldiers during a battle for morale, and ended up bearing armor and sword himself next to them.
This isn't a good example for the PCs, but for Normal Men, this is your blueprint. If a fight breaks out, they are likely to be seriously injured or run away. If given the opportunity, they will intimidate the opposition to avoid bloodshed and risk to themselves. They will only willfully enter combat if properly equipped and surrounded by allies.
Memorization
As part of his training, IB memorized the Quran. All of it. That was standard for Quranic scholars at the time, and both Biblical and Talmudic scholars did the same. More importantly, IB narrated the last thirty years if his life, filling 700 pages, and was able to recollect not only the people and places he visited, but the gifts he gave and received, large stretches of actual conversation, the food he ate on a given day twenty years before, and absurdly specific details like the placement of a chair in a random mosque.
This capacity for memory was much more prevalent in the medieval era, and there are still examples of people doing it today. My personal favorite example is the illiterate Slavic butcher capable of reciting half a million lines of epic poetry, an estimated 600 hours (25 days!) of straight recitation (Rubin 1998, 137-139)*.
If your cleric has a holy book, it should be memorized, and impressive feats of memory should be standard for any intelligent PC or NPC.
Magic Items
While The Travels is disappointingly bereft of magic items, one incident stands out. He is interrupted on the street by an urchin who perfectly describes a ring that Ibn Battutah wore many years past and then gave away to charity. The urchin tells IB that the inside of the ring held a special message, and then disappears, leaving IB extraordinarily confused.
Travel and Time
IB spends nearly 30 years traveling. He settles down in some locations for years at a time, but was always driven by politics or money to travel elsewhere. By the time he returned to his native Morocco, his parents had both passed recently. He left home at 18, and returned at 47. Imagine that. Now imagine what kind of characters could leave home at a young age, knowing they may never see it again and almost certainly won't see their parents (non-orphans!) again. Those are your PCs.
Muhammad Tughluq
My favorite element has to be the Indian Sultan, Muhammad Tughluq. He's a major figure in IB's story from Delhi onwards, and should be your go-to reference for an evil overlord.
He was a pious man, a patron of the arts and a man of spectacular generosity. He also kidnapped and tortured anyone who criticized his rule, or looked like he might criticize his rule, or whose face he didn't like. He impaled the bodies of his enemies outside his palace gates, so that all visitors had to look at them to visit him. He even tortured judges and clerics. But he let his prisoners rest on Fridays!
This guy murdered his father and brother by building them a faulty gazebo, then marching a parade of elephants on the road next to it while they had breakfast, causing it to collapse on top of them. Tughluq forestalled any attempt at a rescue, needing some time to grieve, you see.
To be honest, he seems to have used elephants whenever possible. He tied scimitars to their tusks and trained them to execute prisoners. This guy threw parades in which he launched silver coins into the crowd via elephant-mounted catapults. Seriously, this is verified by the historical record.
He was nevertheless extremely popular, and adventurers from across the Dar-al-Islam flocked to his court. This was because he paid back any gift given to him ten times over. The merchants of Delhi had a long-running operation to rent large, expensive gifts to visitors and make their money back when the sultan returned a much larger gift. It was totally unsustainable, and Tughluq didn't care, since it centralized all wealth around his person.
You can put the Mad Sultan Muhammad Tughluq in any large city and he'll fit in perfectly as is. He can be an arc villain, a patron, an uneasy ally, a target for thievery and a destructive tyrant. Add in a dash of sorcery and you can make a straight up Dark Lord. He's a specter over IB's shoulder for years, even after leaving India. With the right preparation, your antagonists can have the same effect on the PCs.
-----
*
Rubin, D. C. (1998). Memory in oral traditions: The cognitive psychology of epic, ballads, and counting-out rhymes. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mackintosh-Smith is an English historian and Arabist, and the host of a frequently hilarious BBC miniseries on Ibn Battutah. My class actually managed to make contact with him, though he is regrettably hunkered down in Yemen until the civil war cools down.
Dunn is an American historian working in the same field.
If you enjoy this, Patrick Stuart's review of the Memoirs of Usama Ibn-Mundiqh will likely be up your alley.
 |
| Tim Mackintosh-Smith |
The History
In the early fourteenth century, a young man left his home in Morocco to advance his learning and seek wealth in the distant lands to the east. This was Ibn Battutah, an up and coming qadi, a master of Islamic law. He traveled across the entire Muslim world, from North Africa to Mecca to India, the Steppe, China, the Maldives and Mali. Known as the 'Islamic Marco Polo', Ibn Battutah actually traveled a much greater length than the Italian, by foot, horse and ship.
When he returned twenty-nine years later, he wrote it all down. A colossal travelogue dictated to the scribe Ibn Juzayy at the request of the governor of Andalusia (this was shortly before the Reconquista), totaling over 700 pages.
The Arabic word for travelogue is 'rihla', a bona fide genre in its day, and while the book boasted a much longer and indulgent title, it was known as 'the Rihla of Ibn Battutah,' and eventually simply as 'the Rihla.' It was the most extensive and detailed book of its kind ever written, and soon became the ultimate example of the genre.
The book was wildly popular across the Muslim world, but didn't manage to penetrate outside of it. By the nineteenth century it had mostly fallen out of memory, with few copies surviving.
Nascent scholarship of the Islamic world in the West latched onto the Rihla and to Ibn Battutah as a figure, and the race to translate it began.
Early translations into English were unwieldy and very difficult to get through. Battutah's attention to detail was immense, and it was festooned with recreated conversations, mentions of every figure of note he met with, and colossal lists of gifts given and received by him. This may have been useful to the traveler at the time (though it boggles the mind how one might take the book with him on a journey), but is just a slog for the modern reader.
Luckily, there are multiple abridged versions available today, made portable and eminently readable by drastically cutting the length, while maintaining the gist of his journey.
 |
| Ross E. Dunn |
The Books
M-S's book is one such abridged translation, presented straight with some authorial footnotes. Dunn's book, The Adventures, takes The Travels as a base and comments on the history surrounding the journey, offering much needed context.
I highly recommend both, and suggest reading them a chapter at a time, getting IB's story straight and then getting the wider context.
I don't have the books on me, and seem to have misplaced my notes, but here's my summary, with special attention to the fun/ridiculous/gory bits:
-Early in his journey, IB comes down with a horrible case of diarrhea, almost resulting in his death, forcing him to tie himself to his own camel in order to get to civilization.
-He repeatedly seeks out Sufi mystics, and at several points attempts to become a mystic himself, though he always gets back on the road eventually.
- While visiting a mystic in Egypt, he has a dream of flying on a giant bird. The mystic tells IB that he will travel to India and China, where he will meet the mystic's two brothers.
- While traveling with the mahallah of a Mongol Khan (Abu Sa'id, if my memory serves me) he witnesses a display of Mongol archery and horsemanship (Get Joseph Manola over here!). A mounted rider puts an arrow between the feet of a foreign dignitary at a hundred paces, or some ludicrous distance.
- The princess of Constantinople, then married to the khan of the Golden Horde, asked leave of her husband to visit her father at home. IB accompanies this caravan in order to see Constantinople. The princess holes up in the city and de facto divorces the khan. IB runs for the hills.
- Shortly thereafter, he visits the lands north of Constantinople, and describes his interactions with the barbarous, red haired Rus people. This is the only instance of his visiting Christian lands.
- While traveling through modern Afghanistan, IB notes rumors of a local fortress, a dark tower on a flat plain built around a prison pit filled with giant man-eating rats. Just saying.
- IB was a notorious prude. While visiting a bathhouse (in modern Iraq I believe) he is outraged by the lack of towels worn by men, and bites the head off the local religious leaders. The same thing happened at least once more in another country.
- IB hardly disapproved of the pleasures of the flesh, however. He married and divorced several women, in addition to taking dozens of concubines in his time, and he details the marriage customs of every region he visits. The Maldives were especially lax in marriage and divorce laws.
- He visits a fortress maintained by mystic monks, and describes their rites, which include wild dancing, drum beating and biting the heads off snakes. He does not join in.
- While visiting Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) he makes a pilgrimage to Adam's peak, a mountaintop sporting a dip in the rock that resembles a giant human foot. It is variously claimed to belong to Adam and Buddha.
- Somewhere in South Asia, IB is informed about a tribe of intelligent monkeys in the mangrove, whose leader walks with a stick like a person. These monkeys were highly aggressive, and liked to bite the genitals off any human they captured. Disappointingly, IB did not confirm these rumors.
- He spends a very long time in the court of the Indian sultan Muhammad Tughluq. Due to his status as a jurisprudent of the Maliki tradition (not the dominant legal tradition of Muslim India) he is showered in gifts, receives a high position in the court and is paid a massive stipend. All this despite IB being, to be blunt, a quite mediocre judge whose travel prevented him from getting an education equivalent to his peers around the same age.
-He quickly gets into massive debt as he attempts to outspend other courtiers to gain status. He gets involved in some get rich(er) quick schemes. At the same time, he makes a serious attempt to escape worldly goods and associates himself with a prominent Sufi mystic. However, this mystic is soon executed for refusing to bow to the authority of any but God... including the sultan. IB, as one of his frequent visitors, is implicated in his treason and becomes a target.
-IB describes living in the court from that point on as a dead man, not knowing when one of the sultan's furies would bring death down on his head. It eventually does, and he barely escapes assassination by entering a mosque and praying continuously for three days, which itself almost kills him. Laying low for a time, the sultan drops the issue and decides to get IB out of his hair by sending him as an ambassador to China with a caravan of goods.
- All better right? Well, no. The caravan is ambushed by bandits, and IB runs away. He evades capture for three days in the wilderness, sneaking through bushes and crawling through mud, before being rescued by a mysterious stranger (who reveals himself to be the second brother from the prophecy!). He reunites with the caravan and continues on, undeterred.
- They continue on to Qaliqut (Calcutta) by which time the goods are on a ship, and IB's personal possessions are on another, smaller boat. The crew and the other passengers board on a Friday, but IB insists on staying on land to pray. The sea becomes too choppy to board the next day, and that night the larger ship is destroyed in a storm. Spectacular amounts of gold, silver, silk and other commodities sink into the ocean. IB's friend and the military commander of the caravan drown, and IB describes finding both their bodies on the shore, one with his head bashed open, the other with an iron nail driven through his skull.
- Oh, and his own, smaller boat, flees the bay with his money and concubines on board, never to be seen again.
- Now penniless and missing his gift to the Chinese emperor, IB realizes returning to Delhi would get him executed. Instead, he skips town and starts to journey around the area. He goes to the Maldives for some R&R (it was then, as now, a vacation destination) and decides to lay low, the Maldives being a protectorate of Delhi. That is, until and old friend bumps into him and tells everyone what a big deal he is. Luckily, the local vizier is looking for a prestigious qadi to improve his status, and IB proceeds to dramatically exaggerate his position in the Indian court. After an impromptu marriage to the vizier's wife's mother-in-law, the vizier appoints him the chief religious officer of the Maldives. The entire thing.
- Having real political power for the first time, IB tries to whip the local religious infrastructure into shape, the local practice of Islam being incorrigibly lax compared to the orthodox Maghribi tradition. He has mixed success, instituting beatings for those who miss daily prayer, more beatings for women who don't leave their husband's home after divorce, and the dismemberment of thieves. He rants at length in the book about the refusal of the Maldivian women to wear tops.
- After a few years tyrannizing the people, he finally comes to blows with the vizier over the treatment of an adulterous slave. Pretending to move to another island to unwind, he gathers his things, divorces his numerous Maldivian wives and leaves for good. He catches wind of a conspiracy among the admiralty, and IB seriously considers hiring a mercenary company on the mainland and coming back to make himself king of the Maldives. He decides against it, but the book implies it wouldn't have been that hard.
- He subsequently visits China, which had a small but influential Muslim population, where he meets the third brother of the Egyptian mystic. After badgering him for his secrets, the mystic disappears, and the mystic's servant implies he can turn invisible.
- On his return journey to Morocco, he effectively outruns the Black Death. He travels through numerous infected cities, noting the devastation, but himself avoids becoming sick.
 |
| "And here is the Nile." "I can see that." "It's very big." "I never would have guessed." |
The Gameables
Money
IB's motivation, from the start, is cold, hard cash. He studies at the feet of scholars and mystics along the way, and makes his pilgrimage to Mecca no fewer than three times, but gold is always his driving motivation. His GM definitely had XP = gold.
That said, he never raids a tomb or hunts down a bounty. As a judge, his profession allows him to gain lodging and employ anywhere in the Dar-al-Islam, but his fortune (before he loses it - multiple times) comes from schmoozing. More than anything, he was a socialite and a flatterer, whose sophistication and (well-earned) travel stories allowed him to waltz into the high society of any given town.
That is what a high-Charisma character with tales of adventure should be able to do.
Also, while you might not take away your players' money like IB's GM certainly did, you can still reward them with other goods, like social status and fame, which should have real impacts on your social interactions. Likewise, temporarily separating them from their wealth, such as by dropping your players in the middle of a swamp, can add tension and cultivate fear even in high-level characters.
Clerics
Despite his distinct lack of spellcasting, IB was definitely a cleric. His bread and butter was the application of religious law. I like the idea of clerics being more like that. Mind you, IB was a Muslim, part of the Abrahamic tradition. In spite of the long feud between Islam and Christianity, the two have significant theological overlap. So why is the typical D&D cleric, nominally pagan but with a distinct Christian background, such a goody-two-shoes? The moment IB had real power, he starting cutting off people's hands. D&D clerics should be WAY more brutal than this.
Further, this should be your reference for religious authority. That village priest isn't Father O'Malley taking confession in church, he's Ibn Battutah getting on everyone's case for not praying hard enough in a world where the gods are visibly real and confer magic powers. PRAY! PRAY!
Combat
IB was in combat only a handful of times in his three decades on the road, and every one was deadly serious. In the case of an ambush on his caravan, he ran and hid. While traveling through the mountains he was caught by a bandit's arrow, which nearly killed him. When he and his friend were traveling impoverished through the swamps, their guide tried to hold them up and take their clothes, to which IB brandished his spear and prevented an incident. The only instance he mentions of willingly taking on combat was in the Maldives, where he went along with a boat of soldiers during a battle for morale, and ended up bearing armor and sword himself next to them.
This isn't a good example for the PCs, but for Normal Men, this is your blueprint. If a fight breaks out, they are likely to be seriously injured or run away. If given the opportunity, they will intimidate the opposition to avoid bloodshed and risk to themselves. They will only willfully enter combat if properly equipped and surrounded by allies.
Memorization
As part of his training, IB memorized the Quran. All of it. That was standard for Quranic scholars at the time, and both Biblical and Talmudic scholars did the same. More importantly, IB narrated the last thirty years if his life, filling 700 pages, and was able to recollect not only the people and places he visited, but the gifts he gave and received, large stretches of actual conversation, the food he ate on a given day twenty years before, and absurdly specific details like the placement of a chair in a random mosque.
This capacity for memory was much more prevalent in the medieval era, and there are still examples of people doing it today. My personal favorite example is the illiterate Slavic butcher capable of reciting half a million lines of epic poetry, an estimated 600 hours (25 days!) of straight recitation (Rubin 1998, 137-139)*.
If your cleric has a holy book, it should be memorized, and impressive feats of memory should be standard for any intelligent PC or NPC.
Magic Items
While The Travels is disappointingly bereft of magic items, one incident stands out. He is interrupted on the street by an urchin who perfectly describes a ring that Ibn Battutah wore many years past and then gave away to charity. The urchin tells IB that the inside of the ring held a special message, and then disappears, leaving IB extraordinarily confused.
Travel and Time
IB spends nearly 30 years traveling. He settles down in some locations for years at a time, but was always driven by politics or money to travel elsewhere. By the time he returned to his native Morocco, his parents had both passed recently. He left home at 18, and returned at 47. Imagine that. Now imagine what kind of characters could leave home at a young age, knowing they may never see it again and almost certainly won't see their parents (non-orphans!) again. Those are your PCs.
Muhammad Tughluq
My favorite element has to be the Indian Sultan, Muhammad Tughluq. He's a major figure in IB's story from Delhi onwards, and should be your go-to reference for an evil overlord.
He was a pious man, a patron of the arts and a man of spectacular generosity. He also kidnapped and tortured anyone who criticized his rule, or looked like he might criticize his rule, or whose face he didn't like. He impaled the bodies of his enemies outside his palace gates, so that all visitors had to look at them to visit him. He even tortured judges and clerics. But he let his prisoners rest on Fridays!
This guy murdered his father and brother by building them a faulty gazebo, then marching a parade of elephants on the road next to it while they had breakfast, causing it to collapse on top of them. Tughluq forestalled any attempt at a rescue, needing some time to grieve, you see.
To be honest, he seems to have used elephants whenever possible. He tied scimitars to their tusks and trained them to execute prisoners. This guy threw parades in which he launched silver coins into the crowd via elephant-mounted catapults. Seriously, this is verified by the historical record.
You can put the Mad Sultan Muhammad Tughluq in any large city and he'll fit in perfectly as is. He can be an arc villain, a patron, an uneasy ally, a target for thievery and a destructive tyrant. Add in a dash of sorcery and you can make a straight up Dark Lord. He's a specter over IB's shoulder for years, even after leaving India. With the right preparation, your antagonists can have the same effect on the PCs.
 |
*
Rubin, D. C. (1998). Memory in oral traditions: The cognitive psychology of epic, ballads, and counting-out rhymes. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sunday, August 11, 2019
4 Velkeres Hooks
Based on Eerie Candle's new article.
Velkeres are wintry air elementals who ride giant kingfishers and hunt clouds for their meat and skin, which they use to make clothes. I tried to maintain a folkloric feel to this, emphasizing trickery and de-emphasizing combat.
4 Hooks
1. While camping in the woods, the party spies a large man with a ram's head carrying a seemingly unconscious woman over his shoulder. This is...
a. A ritual to ward away Velkeres before the coming snows. The woman is awake, the man is carrying her to the ritual site.
b. An elopement. The two are forbidden lovers running away together to a cabin in the woods. They're screwing up the ritual, and will likely bring ill luck and a deadly winter into the region.
c. An actual abduction by an actual Velkera. The woman is under a magical sleep. The Velkera may be looking for a new skin, trying to birth a new wind, or ransoming the girl in exchange for the villagers' servitude.
2. The villagers royally pissed off Zeus, and have been suffering constant storms for weeks. The PCs are called on to journey to the Velkeres and negotiate for aid. The Velkeres are...
a. Somewhere over the Aegean. Get a boat.
b. Hunting atop a nearby mountain range. Don't die.
c. Trapped in a nearby cave by a sorcerer, who angered Zeus and framed the villagers.
d. Hidden among the villagers, laughing their asses off.
They want...
a. The local priest to throw his staff in the sea.
b. The expulsion of the Monotheistic Sky Cult™ from the region.
c. A beautiful young man to be their servant.
d. The villagers to start worshiping the Earth-Dragon.
3. The Velkeres have been hunting a massive storm cloud for months, but it continually escapes them. Something else is playing tricks on them. As renowned warriors, the PCs are called on to suss this out. Flying steeds may be in the pot. The culprit is...
a. Hermes, having some fun pulling their chain. He will mess with the PCs mercilessly, and can only be dissuaded by a genuine display of courage and sacrifice, or by a funnier target for his pranks.
b. A tribe of giants blowing smoke rings.
c. A cabal of human illusionists. They must pay for their insolence.
4. After a period of intense snowfall, the villagers find a patch of red snow in the marketplace. Somebody has been taken, but everyone is accounted for. The ghost of the deceased is trapped below the red snow, and is very angry. The Velkera inhabiting their body is causing mischief around the village. The victim is...
a. A soldier. The Velkera is encouraging desertion and dereliction of duty.
b. The headman. The Velkera is spreading strife and giving terrible advice to people.
c. A young girl. The Velkera is being rebellious and mocking local customs.
d. The PCs' favorite NPC. Guess who they're messing with.
Velkeres are wintry air elementals who ride giant kingfishers and hunt clouds for their meat and skin, which they use to make clothes. I tried to maintain a folkloric feel to this, emphasizing trickery and de-emphasizing combat.
4 Hooks
1. While camping in the woods, the party spies a large man with a ram's head carrying a seemingly unconscious woman over his shoulder. This is...
a. A ritual to ward away Velkeres before the coming snows. The woman is awake, the man is carrying her to the ritual site.
b. An elopement. The two are forbidden lovers running away together to a cabin in the woods. They're screwing up the ritual, and will likely bring ill luck and a deadly winter into the region.
c. An actual abduction by an actual Velkera. The woman is under a magical sleep. The Velkera may be looking for a new skin, trying to birth a new wind, or ransoming the girl in exchange for the villagers' servitude.
2. The villagers royally pissed off Zeus, and have been suffering constant storms for weeks. The PCs are called on to journey to the Velkeres and negotiate for aid. The Velkeres are...
a. Somewhere over the Aegean. Get a boat.
b. Hunting atop a nearby mountain range. Don't die.
c. Trapped in a nearby cave by a sorcerer, who angered Zeus and framed the villagers.
d. Hidden among the villagers, laughing their asses off.
They want...
a. The local priest to throw his staff in the sea.
b. The expulsion of the Monotheistic Sky Cult™ from the region.
c. A beautiful young man to be their servant.
d. The villagers to start worshiping the Earth-Dragon.
3. The Velkeres have been hunting a massive storm cloud for months, but it continually escapes them. Something else is playing tricks on them. As renowned warriors, the PCs are called on to suss this out. Flying steeds may be in the pot. The culprit is...
a. Hermes, having some fun pulling their chain. He will mess with the PCs mercilessly, and can only be dissuaded by a genuine display of courage and sacrifice, or by a funnier target for his pranks.
b. A tribe of giants blowing smoke rings.
c. A cabal of human illusionists. They must pay for their insolence.
4. After a period of intense snowfall, the villagers find a patch of red snow in the marketplace. Somebody has been taken, but everyone is accounted for. The ghost of the deceased is trapped below the red snow, and is very angry. The Velkera inhabiting their body is causing mischief around the village. The victim is...
a. A soldier. The Velkera is encouraging desertion and dereliction of duty.
b. The headman. The Velkera is spreading strife and giving terrible advice to people.
c. A young girl. The Velkera is being rebellious and mocking local customs.
d. The PCs' favorite NPC. Guess who they're messing with.
Friday, August 9, 2019
Session Report: Newbies Tackle Tomb of the Serpent Kings
I'm back at home before college starts, and found myself running a game for my family. My cousin brought her boyfriend, and a game for them ended up including my sisters and another friend, who had never identified as nerds and knew nothing about role-playing. My cousin was the only one with experience playing RPGs (A few sessions in college years ago, and a deep nostalgia for Morrowind) and had never played old-school games. Add in four more newbies, and I pulled out (a lightly modded) Tomb of the Serpent Kings.
Ourvictims cast:
Twin sister: Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior (Fighter)
Her friend: Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Wizard)
Little sister: Maxine (Thief)
My cousin: Elphaba (Wizard)
Her boyfriend: Alaric the Dim (Barbarian)
After generating the mechanics of their characters (and making the character sheets from scratch due to a distinct lack of printers), deciding their names, and rolling on B/X Blackrazor's tables, (100 Reasons Characters are Together and B/X Headgear) the party arrived at the entrance to the tomb.
The Session
They tackled the guard rooms sequentially, learning to break stuff open to get goodies inside (though not before Alaric took a gout of acid to the face). In the scholar's room, they found a bronze statuette (of some archaeological significance) with something rattling around inside it. Before Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior could smash it open, Sabrina convinced her to store it and investigate later.
In the sorcerer's room, they recovered the ring, which after some hemming and hawing, was worn by Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior (yes, I will use the full name every time).
Coming to the blocked door, they attempted to lift the stone, but backed off when they heard the iron pegs clicking. Investigating the door, they located the hammer trap, and Maxine managed to activate it from a safe distance, opening the way to the next room.
Finding the tomb, they proceed to open the sarcophagus of one of the wives first. The skeleton within appeared dead, but as one player (Elphaba, I believe) attempted to pry off its fangs, it came to life and attacked. After Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior knocked her away, the other two burst open, and the party was beset by three snake-man skeletons.
The action economy proved to overcome all else. Though one of our wizards took a small hit (for a third of her health!) and the barbarian continued to be a meat-shield, the party hacked, bashed, magic-missiled, raged and crushed the skeletons with fairly little damage taken.
And yes, Elphaba got the fangs.
The party broke for lunch, and in the end decided to take a long rest outside to let their wizards recuperate their Magic Dice. See, here I messed up. The snake-ring, besides poisoning as an attack, provokes a Save vs Poison after a long rest. Which... I forgot. So instead I retconned the ring as doing something else entirely, which will become apparent quite soon.
The party felt the entrance to the south looking at them, judging them. Naturally, they pushed Maxine forward. After determining there was no threat besides the heeby-jeebies, Sabrina identified the statue as Typhon, a tyrannical snake god of ages past.
Descending to the statue room, they entered the assassin's room, pocketing the silver icon and the polearms.
Pressing forward, they entered the octagonal chamber and investigated the water pit. Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior appropriated Maxine's ten foot pole (her player had just left the table to get a drink) and dredged the pit. She felt something grab onto the pole. Then another thing. Arming themselves and letting the pole stand in water, they saw a pair of rotten, bandaged hands reach for the rim... to reveal two mummy hands, independent of a body.
Elphaba attempted to communicate with them. In sign language. Establishing that the hands did not know sign language, though Elphaba still managed to sign something obscene, one jumped at her throat, and was swiftly pulled off by Alaric.
A brief skirmish followed, in which Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior, with a pair of solid rolls, skewered both the hands on her polearm like a shish-kebab.
Returning to dredge the pit, they found a gold chain, a magic ring (Sabrina put it on and got an eye-full of its properties) and a magic scabbard. They felt a strong, oily, disgusting aura coming off of it. Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior, immediately put her sword in it (*Laughs in Dungeon Master*).
Finally, they pulled out the pole, and found the mummy's head gripping it by the teeth. Setting it on the floor and securing it, they got an earful of my creepy-insane voice. In very roundabout fashion, the mummy communicated that in ages past, it betrayed the serpent-king, for which it was cursed, and that the serpent-king is (maybe) still down in the dungeon.
Taking this as encouragement, the party stopped Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior from kicking the head back in the pool and we ended the session there.
Takeaways
I consider this session an absolute win. A win for the players, most of whom got their first taste of role-playing and enjoyed it. A win for me, getting to run a game with family for the first time. A win for TotSK, proving itself as a great intro dungeon. A win for the GLOG, being easy to run even with brand new players.
And a win for the hobby, which now has several new, young players, without the cynicism of those veterans of the edition wars and the Satanic Panic. They've called for another session tomorrow (!), which is today by the time I upload this.
I was surprised by the enthusiasm of new players, jumping in without really knowing what the game was. My twin, at first dismissive, quickly got into it. Surface characterization ('I'm the thief') quickly gave way to banter and stronger relations.
Now that they're hooked, let's pull in the line.
----------------
Thanks to all the new readers coming in, especially via the OSR Discord. Leave any thoughts in the comments below, and make sure to follow this blog to keep up.
Our
Twin sister: Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior (Fighter)
Her friend: Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Wizard)
Little sister: Maxine (Thief)
My cousin: Elphaba (Wizard)
Her boyfriend: Alaric the Dim (Barbarian)
After generating the mechanics of their characters (and making the character sheets from scratch due to a distinct lack of printers), deciding their names, and rolling on B/X Blackrazor's tables, (100 Reasons Characters are Together and B/X Headgear) the party arrived at the entrance to the tomb.
The Session
They tackled the guard rooms sequentially, learning to break stuff open to get goodies inside (though not before Alaric took a gout of acid to the face). In the scholar's room, they found a bronze statuette (of some archaeological significance) with something rattling around inside it. Before Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior could smash it open, Sabrina convinced her to store it and investigate later.
In the sorcerer's room, they recovered the ring, which after some hemming and hawing, was worn by Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior (yes, I will use the full name every time).
Coming to the blocked door, they attempted to lift the stone, but backed off when they heard the iron pegs clicking. Investigating the door, they located the hammer trap, and Maxine managed to activate it from a safe distance, opening the way to the next room.
Finding the tomb, they proceed to open the sarcophagus of one of the wives first. The skeleton within appeared dead, but as one player (Elphaba, I believe) attempted to pry off its fangs, it came to life and attacked. After Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior knocked her away, the other two burst open, and the party was beset by three snake-man skeletons.
The action economy proved to overcome all else. Though one of our wizards took a small hit (for a third of her health!) and the barbarian continued to be a meat-shield, the party hacked, bashed, magic-missiled, raged and crushed the skeletons with fairly little damage taken.
And yes, Elphaba got the fangs.
The party broke for lunch, and in the end decided to take a long rest outside to let their wizards recuperate their Magic Dice. See, here I messed up. The snake-ring, besides poisoning as an attack, provokes a Save vs Poison after a long rest. Which... I forgot. So instead I retconned the ring as doing something else entirely, which will become apparent quite soon.
The party felt the entrance to the south looking at them, judging them. Naturally, they pushed Maxine forward. After determining there was no threat besides the heeby-jeebies, Sabrina identified the statue as Typhon, a tyrannical snake god of ages past.
Descending to the statue room, they entered the assassin's room, pocketing the silver icon and the polearms.
Pressing forward, they entered the octagonal chamber and investigated the water pit. Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior appropriated Maxine's ten foot pole (her player had just left the table to get a drink) and dredged the pit. She felt something grab onto the pole. Then another thing. Arming themselves and letting the pole stand in water, they saw a pair of rotten, bandaged hands reach for the rim... to reveal two mummy hands, independent of a body.
Elphaba attempted to communicate with them. In sign language. Establishing that the hands did not know sign language, though Elphaba still managed to sign something obscene, one jumped at her throat, and was swiftly pulled off by Alaric.
A brief skirmish followed, in which Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior, with a pair of solid rolls, skewered both the hands on her polearm like a shish-kebab.
Returning to dredge the pit, they found a gold chain, a magic ring (Sabrina put it on and got an eye-full of its properties) and a magic scabbard. They felt a strong, oily, disgusting aura coming off of it. Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior, immediately put her sword in it (*Laughs in Dungeon Master*).
Finally, they pulled out the pole, and found the mummy's head gripping it by the teeth. Setting it on the floor and securing it, they got an earful of my creepy-insane voice. In very roundabout fashion, the mummy communicated that in ages past, it betrayed the serpent-king, for which it was cursed, and that the serpent-king is (maybe) still down in the dungeon.
Taking this as encouragement, the party stopped Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior from kicking the head back in the pool and we ended the session there.
Takeaways
I consider this session an absolute win. A win for the players, most of whom got their first taste of role-playing and enjoyed it. A win for me, getting to run a game with family for the first time. A win for TotSK, proving itself as a great intro dungeon. A win for the GLOG, being easy to run even with brand new players.
And a win for the hobby, which now has several new, young players, without the cynicism of those veterans of the edition wars and the Satanic Panic. They've called for another session tomorrow (!), which is today by the time I upload this.
I was surprised by the enthusiasm of new players, jumping in without really knowing what the game was. My twin, at first dismissive, quickly got into it. Surface characterization ('I'm the thief') quickly gave way to banter and stronger relations.
Now that they're hooked, let's pull in the line.
----------------
Thanks to all the new readers coming in, especially via the OSR Discord. Leave any thoughts in the comments below, and make sure to follow this blog to keep up.
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Angry Morale! GLOGified
The Angry GM just put out an article on Morale systems. Morale systems! In 5e!
Not only has he kept Morale through the editions, he's tacked on some neat mechanics for breaking Morale, which I will attempt to GLOGify here.
Morale Conditions
Morale breaking can take several forms. These are (quoting from the article):
Panic: Panicked creatures have lost their minds with fear. They drop their weapons – if they have any – and run as far and as fast as they can. Heedless of opportunity attacks, mind you.
Rout: Routed creatures don’t drop their weapons and flee. They withdraw and then move away. But they don’t care about their allies.
Retreat: Retreating creatures behave the same way, but they do care about their allies. They will call for a retreat and try to withdraw with their allies in good order. More importantly, if retreating creatures are cut off from escape, they will go back to fighting.
Surrender: Panicked and routed creatures will surrender if cornered. They make it clear that they don’t want to fight anymore and they are relying on their enemies to let them live. This usually leads to some kind of social interaction after the fight is over. Obviously, this option is reserved for lawful creatures who think they can rely on their enemies – the heroes – to respect the rules of engagement and behave in an honorable fashion.
Rage: When their morale breaks, they keep fighting. But they don’t recognize their allies as allies. That doesn’t mean they turn on their allies. But it does mean that things that affect allies or key off of having allies don’t work anymore. And, if they find themselves without a target for their rage, they will attack the closest creature. Former friend or foe. Basically, they’ve gone berserk.
Betray: They actually start fighting their allies. They don’t consider the PCs allies – though they might make friends in some interaction at the end – but they don’t consider their allies allies anymore and they attack their allies, ignoring the PCs. This is generally reserved for opportunistic mercenaries and sellswords who think the PCs will reward them for their betrayal. And it is also for summoned elementals, demons, golems, and other enslaved creatures – magically enslaved or just abused and brutally mistreated – who will turn on their masters if their morale breaks and control is lost.
A bit wordy at the end, but words can be fiddly. The concepts themselves are distinct, easy to remember, and offer more opportunities in and out of combat.
We can split these into five reactions to breaking morale, with Surrender as a special condition of Panic or Rout if there is no room to escape.
Under LotFP, GLOG and adjacent rules, creatures have a morale from 2-12, which one rolls against with 2d6. Roll under, you succeed, roll over, you fail.
Which means we can assign different outcomes to varying degrees of failure.
Spitballing, let's say that failing Morale by 2 or less results in a Retreat, by 3-4 a Rout, and by 5+ a Panic. Using this, enemies with high Morale (8+) will not only be more likely to keep fighting, but will prefer to retreat, rarely routing and never panicking.
But where, then, do Rage and Betray come in?
The above fits more Lawful types, whereas Rage and Betray fit more Chaotic types. Even if you don't use alignment (I don't) or prefer the Good/Evil axis, I'm sure you can see the difference.
For enemies like guards and ant-lings, the tree goes Retreat -> Rout -> Panic.
For enemies like goblins and desperate sellswords, it goes Retreat -> Rage -> Betray.
This is, of course, easy to modify on the fly. Angry proposes that just one of these be used at a time, e.g. Wisdom Save DC ## or (Effect). This fits enemies for which one reaction is iconic or especially likely. A berserker is going to rage, a cowardly goblin is going to panic, a two-faced rogue is going to betray their side, etc.
Being GM-faced, you can use the trees for a more granular approach, and mark specific enemies with single reactions at will. Customize those trees to your liking and plug it right into your game. It's quick, easy and I'll be sure to use it in my own games.
Not only has he kept Morale through the editions, he's tacked on some neat mechanics for breaking Morale, which I will attempt to GLOGify here.
| Pictured: A Morale Penalty |
Morale Conditions
Morale breaking can take several forms. These are (quoting from the article):
Panic: Panicked creatures have lost their minds with fear. They drop their weapons – if they have any – and run as far and as fast as they can. Heedless of opportunity attacks, mind you.
Rout: Routed creatures don’t drop their weapons and flee. They withdraw and then move away. But they don’t care about their allies.
Retreat: Retreating creatures behave the same way, but they do care about their allies. They will call for a retreat and try to withdraw with their allies in good order. More importantly, if retreating creatures are cut off from escape, they will go back to fighting.
Surrender: Panicked and routed creatures will surrender if cornered. They make it clear that they don’t want to fight anymore and they are relying on their enemies to let them live. This usually leads to some kind of social interaction after the fight is over. Obviously, this option is reserved for lawful creatures who think they can rely on their enemies – the heroes – to respect the rules of engagement and behave in an honorable fashion.
Rage: When their morale breaks, they keep fighting. But they don’t recognize their allies as allies. That doesn’t mean they turn on their allies. But it does mean that things that affect allies or key off of having allies don’t work anymore. And, if they find themselves without a target for their rage, they will attack the closest creature. Former friend or foe. Basically, they’ve gone berserk.
Betray: They actually start fighting their allies. They don’t consider the PCs allies – though they might make friends in some interaction at the end – but they don’t consider their allies allies anymore and they attack their allies, ignoring the PCs. This is generally reserved for opportunistic mercenaries and sellswords who think the PCs will reward them for their betrayal. And it is also for summoned elementals, demons, golems, and other enslaved creatures – magically enslaved or just abused and brutally mistreated – who will turn on their masters if their morale breaks and control is lost.
A bit wordy at the end, but words can be fiddly. The concepts themselves are distinct, easy to remember, and offer more opportunities in and out of combat.
 |
| Pictured: Rage |
We can split these into five reactions to breaking morale, with Surrender as a special condition of Panic or Rout if there is no room to escape.
Under LotFP, GLOG and adjacent rules, creatures have a morale from 2-12, which one rolls against with 2d6. Roll under, you succeed, roll over, you fail.
Which means we can assign different outcomes to varying degrees of failure.
Spitballing, let's say that failing Morale by 2 or less results in a Retreat, by 3-4 a Rout, and by 5+ a Panic. Using this, enemies with high Morale (8+) will not only be more likely to keep fighting, but will prefer to retreat, rarely routing and never panicking.
But where, then, do Rage and Betray come in?
The above fits more Lawful types, whereas Rage and Betray fit more Chaotic types. Even if you don't use alignment (I don't) or prefer the Good/Evil axis, I'm sure you can see the difference.
For enemies like guards and ant-lings, the tree goes Retreat -> Rout -> Panic.
For enemies like goblins and desperate sellswords, it goes Retreat -> Rage -> Betray.
This is, of course, easy to modify on the fly. Angry proposes that just one of these be used at a time, e.g. Wisdom Save DC ## or (Effect). This fits enemies for which one reaction is iconic or especially likely. A berserker is going to rage, a cowardly goblin is going to panic, a two-faced rogue is going to betray their side, etc.
Being GM-faced, you can use the trees for a more granular approach, and mark specific enemies with single reactions at will. Customize those trees to your liking and plug it right into your game. It's quick, easy and I'll be sure to use it in my own games.
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| Read this guy's blog already! |
Saturday, August 3, 2019
A d12 Cosmology
In today's episode of blatantly ripping off another blogger riffing off a lovely person with very interesting ideas, let's adapt Throne of Salt's dodecahedral model of the universe to a D&D/planetary romance cosmology.
The Five Dimensions
The First: Forwards/backwards, the x-axis. While the first inhabitants of the universe had no concept of this dimension, they had no knowledge of the others either. Parity was a later development, as was the need for verticality (ordered by gravity), but length was created fairly early on.
The Second: Left/right, the y-axis. The aforementioned parity. Became necessary after initial experiments with the mirror dimension.
The Third: Up/down, the z-axis. Developed upon widespread adoption of gravity and the resultant asymmetry. Widely regarded as an unnecessary nuisance.
The Fourth: Ana/kata, the α-axis. The spatial dimension invisible to mortals, by which one shifts from the Prime Material to the wider universe.
The Fifth: Before/after, the א-axis. Energy propagates along this axis. Is also invisible to mortals, as they see only a single point at a time, as opposed to higher beings who can view and travel along the whole axis. This is because consciousness is merely crystallized time. The Yith are the least beings manipulating this axis, and the most active.
Hot & Cold
Realms in the first ring have an opposite on the second ring, ordered by their position on the א-axis. This, is a high energy/low entropy realm opposed by a low energy/high entropy realm. Certain occultists overlay a female/male dimension on top of this, which is a bit contrived, but the kabbalistic implications check out.
The World-Rose
The World-Rose diagram below is a two-dimensional representation of the universe. It's a bit crap, but the least crap of all possible two-dimensional representations.
It is a flattened dodecahedron. Imagine the disc of the galaxy, and overlay the diagram on top.
Now stop imagining that because it's wrong.
Imagine a dodecahedron. Each face represents another realm, with a pentagonal pyramid pointing into the center. We'll talk about that later. Energy and matter propagates from face 1 to face 12, but only along the faces, interacting with the other dimensions as it goes.
Except there's a whole other spatial dimension you can't even see. Also time, which is kind of like a spatial dimension if you squint.
1. The Beginning
The bubbling cauldron of creation at the center of the universe. The source of all energy and matter, the font from which everything emerges and is pushed out. Also known as The Big Bang, Sagittarius A, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy, and Azathoth. If you go there it will eat you. And you will become a god. Kind of. I mean, you always were a god if you do it but mutter mutter wibbley wobbley mutter mutter timey wimey.
The astute among you may ask why a black hole is pushing matter out instead of in. mutter mutter fifth dimension mutter mutter crystallized time is indistinguishable from consciousness mutter mutter
12. The End
A freezing void, total stasis. The end of the universe. The Big Freeze.
Wait, if energy flows along the א-axis does that mean that opposed dimensions are the same places at different times? Yes. Kind of. Just have fun.
2. Limbo (CN)
A slippery and chaotic realm, liable to rip apart unprepared travelers, but can be shaped to the desire of strong wills. Pulsating asteroids carrying lost civilizations crash into soul-lumps regularly. Home to a handful of stable settlements, created and maintained by powerful intellects. A place to escape and hide from pursuit.
11. Mechanus (LN)
A hard-edged and strictly regulated place. Clockwork creatures run clockwork societies, their destinies long since foreseen. Don't do anything unpredictable. A place to create an unbreakable pact or seek knowledge on the hidden workings of the world.
3. Mount Celestia (LG)
The home of order and goodness, a mountain whose peak is always just beyond sight. Unsurprisingly tough to get into. If you can clear the bureaucracy and morality tests, or just sneak in, Mount Celestia makes brisk trade and maintains a powerful standing army.
10. The Abyss (CE)
An endlessly mutable, shifting nightmare land. The place is semi-sentient, and draws power from the suffering of sentient creatures. If you come to trade in souls, be brief; demons have no loyalty. A place to damn a prisoner, acquire forbidden items and knowledge, find some serious baddies.
4. Olympus (CG)
A realm dominated by the stories of heroism. Myths and legends repeat themselves here, subtly tweaked each time. You will be dragged into retellings of age-old tales. Come here to find heroic trials, face righteous foes and live freely.
9. Nine Hells (LE)
A thorned monument to cruelty. The sins have been numbered and the wicked named. Pacts with the devils will be honored, and their prices will be claimed. Every denizen of the Hells seeks to move down the Infernal hierarchy, no matter who must be destroyed. A place to escape the forces of good, discover inventive tortures and chain souls.
5. Hades (NE)
The domain of hopelessness, apathy and despair. Plains of ash, dim caverns and a constant, dull ache in your bones. If you can get out before becoming a permanent resident, you can forge powerful items from the despair here, and capture the souls of the wicked.
8. Elysium (NG)
Ultimate beauty and goodness. If you are worthy, a long afterlife of peace. You are not worthy. Elysium will reject you in due course. Before that, bottle and harvest whatever you can and sell it elsewhere.
6. Plane of Negative Energy
From whence the powers of undeath spring. Absolute cosmic suckiness, quickly draining the essence from anything living. Bring protection, prepare to find new breeds of abomination. A place to destroy potent undead permanently, craft weapons of mass destruction and court death itself.
7. Plane of Positive Energy
Overflowing with life-force. A swamp in endless summer, tumors soon develop without adequate protection. A constant experiment in new life forms, tweaked and recycled. A place to harness creative magic, seek the artifacts of creation and peer into the foundation of life itself.
The Center
But what, then is at the center of the dodecahedron, where the vertices of all realms meet? The City of Doors of course. The Prime Material is nearby. Just a few degrees kata of Sigil.
If you're facing an unstable portal, or make careless jump, roll a d12 to see which plane you end up in.
You can use the Rose diagram as a quick guide to travel between realms. For example, if you begin in Elysium, you're one jump away from Limbo, Mount Celestia, Arborea, and the Plane of Positive Energy.
If you're having trouble visualizing the planes think of a single planet, surrounded by asteroid belts, space stations and ships traveling between the realms. This is planetary romance, not hard sci-fi. So jump in a Spelljammer and have some planar adventures already!
The universe is also kind of like five intertwined toruses traveling towards entropy but mutter mutter recognize my genius mutter mutter.
The Five Dimensions
The First: Forwards/backwards, the x-axis. While the first inhabitants of the universe had no concept of this dimension, they had no knowledge of the others either. Parity was a later development, as was the need for verticality (ordered by gravity), but length was created fairly early on.
The Second: Left/right, the y-axis. The aforementioned parity. Became necessary after initial experiments with the mirror dimension.
The Third: Up/down, the z-axis. Developed upon widespread adoption of gravity and the resultant asymmetry. Widely regarded as an unnecessary nuisance.
The Fourth: Ana/kata, the α-axis. The spatial dimension invisible to mortals, by which one shifts from the Prime Material to the wider universe.
The Fifth: Before/after, the א-axis. Energy propagates along this axis. Is also invisible to mortals, as they see only a single point at a time, as opposed to higher beings who can view and travel along the whole axis. This is because consciousness is merely crystallized time. The Yith are the least beings manipulating this axis, and the most active.
Hot & Cold
Realms in the first ring have an opposite on the second ring, ordered by their position on the א-axis. This, is a high energy/low entropy realm opposed by a low energy/high entropy realm. Certain occultists overlay a female/male dimension on top of this, which is a bit contrived, but the kabbalistic implications check out.
The World-Rose
The World-Rose diagram below is a two-dimensional representation of the universe. It's a bit crap, but the least crap of all possible two-dimensional representations.
It is a flattened dodecahedron. Imagine the disc of the galaxy, and overlay the diagram on top.
Now stop imagining that because it's wrong.
Imagine a dodecahedron. Each face represents another realm, with a pentagonal pyramid pointing into the center. We'll talk about that later. Energy and matter propagates from face 1 to face 12, but only along the faces, interacting with the other dimensions as it goes.
Except there's a whole other spatial dimension you can't even see. Also time, which is kind of like a spatial dimension if you squint.
 |
| Image credit to Throne of Salt I'm telling you it makes perfect sense, just carry the ג and- |
1. The Beginning
The bubbling cauldron of creation at the center of the universe. The source of all energy and matter, the font from which everything emerges and is pushed out. Also known as The Big Bang, Sagittarius A, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy, and Azathoth. If you go there it will eat you. And you will become a god. Kind of. I mean, you always were a god if you do it but mutter mutter wibbley wobbley mutter mutter timey wimey.
The astute among you may ask why a black hole is pushing matter out instead of in. mutter mutter fifth dimension mutter mutter crystallized time is indistinguishable from consciousness mutter mutter
12. The End
A freezing void, total stasis. The end of the universe. The Big Freeze.
Wait, if energy flows along the א-axis does that mean that opposed dimensions are the same places at different times? Yes. Kind of. Just have fun.
2. Limbo (CN)
A slippery and chaotic realm, liable to rip apart unprepared travelers, but can be shaped to the desire of strong wills. Pulsating asteroids carrying lost civilizations crash into soul-lumps regularly. Home to a handful of stable settlements, created and maintained by powerful intellects. A place to escape and hide from pursuit.
11. Mechanus (LN)
A hard-edged and strictly regulated place. Clockwork creatures run clockwork societies, their destinies long since foreseen. Don't do anything unpredictable. A place to create an unbreakable pact or seek knowledge on the hidden workings of the world.
3. Mount Celestia (LG)
The home of order and goodness, a mountain whose peak is always just beyond sight. Unsurprisingly tough to get into. If you can clear the bureaucracy and morality tests, or just sneak in, Mount Celestia makes brisk trade and maintains a powerful standing army.
10. The Abyss (CE)
An endlessly mutable, shifting nightmare land. The place is semi-sentient, and draws power from the suffering of sentient creatures. If you come to trade in souls, be brief; demons have no loyalty. A place to damn a prisoner, acquire forbidden items and knowledge, find some serious baddies.
4. Olympus (CG)
A realm dominated by the stories of heroism. Myths and legends repeat themselves here, subtly tweaked each time. You will be dragged into retellings of age-old tales. Come here to find heroic trials, face righteous foes and live freely.
9. Nine Hells (LE)
A thorned monument to cruelty. The sins have been numbered and the wicked named. Pacts with the devils will be honored, and their prices will be claimed. Every denizen of the Hells seeks to move down the Infernal hierarchy, no matter who must be destroyed. A place to escape the forces of good, discover inventive tortures and chain souls.
5. Hades (NE)
The domain of hopelessness, apathy and despair. Plains of ash, dim caverns and a constant, dull ache in your bones. If you can get out before becoming a permanent resident, you can forge powerful items from the despair here, and capture the souls of the wicked.
8. Elysium (NG)
Ultimate beauty and goodness. If you are worthy, a long afterlife of peace. You are not worthy. Elysium will reject you in due course. Before that, bottle and harvest whatever you can and sell it elsewhere.
6. Plane of Negative Energy
From whence the powers of undeath spring. Absolute cosmic suckiness, quickly draining the essence from anything living. Bring protection, prepare to find new breeds of abomination. A place to destroy potent undead permanently, craft weapons of mass destruction and court death itself.
7. Plane of Positive Energy
Overflowing with life-force. A swamp in endless summer, tumors soon develop without adequate protection. A constant experiment in new life forms, tweaked and recycled. A place to harness creative magic, seek the artifacts of creation and peer into the foundation of life itself.
The Center
But what, then is at the center of the dodecahedron, where the vertices of all realms meet? The City of Doors of course. The Prime Material is nearby. Just a few degrees kata of Sigil.
If you're facing an unstable portal, or make careless jump, roll a d12 to see which plane you end up in.
You can use the Rose diagram as a quick guide to travel between realms. For example, if you begin in Elysium, you're one jump away from Limbo, Mount Celestia, Arborea, and the Plane of Positive Energy.
If you're having trouble visualizing the planes think of a single planet, surrounded by asteroid belts, space stations and ships traveling between the realms. This is planetary romance, not hard sci-fi. So jump in a Spelljammer and have some planar adventures already!
The universe is also kind of like five intertwined toruses traveling towards entropy but mutter mutter recognize my genius mutter mutter.
Friday, August 2, 2019
The Grande Barygah Auction House
Seeing this image from Skerples' Auctions, Schemes and RPGs got me thinking.
Without further ado,
The Grande Barygah Auction House
A floating villa. A waterborne stronghold, built piecemeal in the style of a dozen nations, every nail and board ornate. Monsieur Barygah is, in all things, a sophisticate. Getting the cherry trees to bloom all year-round was quite the hassle, but worth it for the atmosphere. He'll tell you about it over scotch.
Monsieur Barygah is the crocodile.
A saltwater crocodile measuring half a mile from snout to tail-tip, traveling the coasts and major waterways of the continent. His Scaliness operates and forms the foundation (literally!) of the most successful auction house in the world. The Grande Barygah swims where it is needed. The accommodations are up to the standards of gentry everywhere. It holds funds in escrow at very reasonable rates. Its owner is germane in the extreme.
And if anyone tries some shenanigans, they drown.
On top of the obvious benefits of being built on a 2.5 million ton intelligent killing machine, the Grande Barygah is a fortress. It has a reputation for security above all, and has earned it fully. The guests are expected to embark punctually. There is no room for stragglers. They are searched extensively, and their identities magically verified. Many a doppelganger has infiltrated the guest list only to be thrown overboard.
Magic wards? Check. Airtight panic rooms for emergency submerges? Check. A squadron of Jeweled Fan Dancers posing as maids? Check.
Of course, this is all dreadfully expensive. The Grande Barygah takes only the most lucrative contracts, and seeks out the most valuable items possible. If you want to hire the Grande Barygah, you'll have to fulfill some demands.
Monsieur Barygah's Demands:
A 10% commission. Non-negotiable.
Industrial quantities of single malt scotch.
Literal boat-loads of fish. Tuna is a favorite, but Monsieur Barygah likes some variety.
Diplomatic immunity. The House chooses its contracts on coin alone. It has worked for people of all stripes and creeds in its century of operation, and takes care to maintain neutrality and avoid sanctions.
Denizens
The Auctioneer: The individual conducting the auction itself, in an administrative capacity, and often as the caller. This position rotates frequently, and the Auctioneer reflects the clientele and the items on offer.
1. A diminutive elf with wire-frame glasses
2. A bulky pirate with a harsh, booming voice
3. A hag wearing the tattered garb of a judge
4. A priest of a foreign religion who angrily preaches between items
5. A Fungal Ambassodile
6. A wind spirit contained in a human skull
The Clerk: A woman of scholarly bent with indeterminate psychic abilities. She clerks the auctions, and holds the finances of the House wholly within her steel-trap mind. She makes a brisk side-business in trading secrets.
Safekeeper General: Formerly a proud warrior and tactician, now more machine than man. The House is one of the few organizations capable of keeping his ichor-tubes pumping, and he ensures it is kept utterly secure.
Monsieur Barygah: A disarmingly friendly, highly intelligent and frighteningly large crocodile of unclear origin. Though he has grown apt at hiding it, the fine drinks and timely conversation are a mask. He has an animalistic drive for money and power, and is forever unsatisfied with what he has attained.
Auction Items
The Grande Barygah has long sought to auction treasures from the Civilopede. It's not interested in selling. Ah well, Monsieur is not above larceny. For more items, consider the Treasures of the Civilopede (Veins of the Earth p. 286-307)
Guests
Hooks
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| Longque Chen |
The Grande Barygah Auction House
A floating villa. A waterborne stronghold, built piecemeal in the style of a dozen nations, every nail and board ornate. Monsieur Barygah is, in all things, a sophisticate. Getting the cherry trees to bloom all year-round was quite the hassle, but worth it for the atmosphere. He'll tell you about it over scotch.
Monsieur Barygah is the crocodile.
A saltwater crocodile measuring half a mile from snout to tail-tip, traveling the coasts and major waterways of the continent. His Scaliness operates and forms the foundation (literally!) of the most successful auction house in the world. The Grande Barygah swims where it is needed. The accommodations are up to the standards of gentry everywhere. It holds funds in escrow at very reasonable rates. Its owner is germane in the extreme.
And if anyone tries some shenanigans, they drown.
On top of the obvious benefits of being built on a 2.5 million ton intelligent killing machine, the Grande Barygah is a fortress. It has a reputation for security above all, and has earned it fully. The guests are expected to embark punctually. There is no room for stragglers. They are searched extensively, and their identities magically verified. Many a doppelganger has infiltrated the guest list only to be thrown overboard.
Magic wards? Check. Airtight panic rooms for emergency submerges? Check. A squadron of Jeweled Fan Dancers posing as maids? Check.
Of course, this is all dreadfully expensive. The Grande Barygah takes only the most lucrative contracts, and seeks out the most valuable items possible. If you want to hire the Grande Barygah, you'll have to fulfill some demands.
Monsieur Barygah's Demands:
A 10% commission. Non-negotiable.
Industrial quantities of single malt scotch.
Literal boat-loads of fish. Tuna is a favorite, but Monsieur Barygah likes some variety.
Diplomatic immunity. The House chooses its contracts on coin alone. It has worked for people of all stripes and creeds in its century of operation, and takes care to maintain neutrality and avoid sanctions.
 |
| Yes, the lionfish is simply divine at this latitude. |
Denizens
The Auctioneer: The individual conducting the auction itself, in an administrative capacity, and often as the caller. This position rotates frequently, and the Auctioneer reflects the clientele and the items on offer.
1. A diminutive elf with wire-frame glasses
2. A bulky pirate with a harsh, booming voice
3. A hag wearing the tattered garb of a judge
4. A priest of a foreign religion who angrily preaches between items
5. A Fungal Ambassodile
6. A wind spirit contained in a human skull
The Clerk: A woman of scholarly bent with indeterminate psychic abilities. She clerks the auctions, and holds the finances of the House wholly within her steel-trap mind. She makes a brisk side-business in trading secrets.
Safekeeper General: Formerly a proud warrior and tactician, now more machine than man. The House is one of the few organizations capable of keeping his ichor-tubes pumping, and he ensures it is kept utterly secure.
Monsieur Barygah: A disarmingly friendly, highly intelligent and frighteningly large crocodile of unclear origin. Though he has grown apt at hiding it, the fine drinks and timely conversation are a mask. He has an animalistic drive for money and power, and is forever unsatisfied with what he has attained.
Auction Items
- The Scabbard of the Fallen Abomination. Starts at 800gp
- The last painting by an ancient master. Secretly a portal to a demiplane. Starts at 2500gp
- The key to a portable and covert Mirror Chamber, for summoning Mirror Men. Starts at 1200gp
- A timely and plot-relevant secret, held by The Clerk. Starts at 1500gp
- A map to an ancient Archean observatory deep in the Veins. Starts at 1200gp
- A high-quality Soul Shell. Starts at 250gp
- Crystallized music from the Sublime Realm. Plays once when shattered. Any bard who can replicate it will make their career. Starts at 1400gp
- An Oscadian, stolen from the Mother. Starts at 2000gp
- A giant flawless emerald in a fired clay container shaped like an ancient fertility goddess. The container is an object of great archaeological interest. Must be destroyed to get the emerald. Starts at 600gp
- The scalp of a Titan. Worn as a cloak, armor as plate+shield. Starts at 1000gp
- A Favor from one of the Queens of Faerie. Liable to be twisted six ways from Sunday. Starts at 1600gp
- Book of poetry by a demon. On reading, make a Wisdom save or have your basic schemas inverted. Starts at 800gp.
The Grande Barygah has long sought to auction treasures from the Civilopede. It's not interested in selling. Ah well, Monsieur is not above larceny. For more items, consider the Treasures of the Civilopede (Veins of the Earth p. 286-307)
Guests
- A haggard, dirty and unbathed man. The patriarch of a highly influential mendicant order.
- A profligate young noble escorted by his miserly grandmother
- A drow matriarch and her husbands. Wears an occultum amulet shaped like a spider.
- A young lich (just starting to decompose). Is bored. Wants to stop being bored by spending money.
- A crowd of local socialites. Here to network, will be thrown overboard if they don't buy anything.
- A Rival. Wants whatever the PCs want, and will play dirty to get it.
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| - she didn't! Well I heard- |
Hooks
- The PCs need a piece of highly sensitive information. The Clerk is sure to sell it... for a price.
- A plot Macguffin is on sale. The PCs must get it before the enemy does.
- A foe is using the event to gain allies. Disrupt this without making fools of yourselves.
- One of the items belonged to the PCs before being stolen. Get it back.
- The PCs have found an item that can only be valued at auction. Ensure its sale and collect the money.
- The PCs (or a patron) wants an item on sale without having to pay. Steal it.
- The PCs (or a patron) wants an item switched with a fake. Make sure nobody notices.
- The Grande Barygah has crossed someone important, who wants the whole establishment, and its owner, 'taken care of'. Good luck with that.
Rooms
1. The Grande Lobby: To mix and mingle while everyone is getting verified.
2. The Dining Hall: For a grand old time before the auction.
3. The Kitchen: Piled high with impossible variety. Room service and custom meals available.
4. The Cherry Grove: For drinks, cigars and politics.
5. The Guest Rooms: Luxurious and Customized to the tastes of each individual guest.
6. The Staff Quarters: Spartan and functional. Weapons secreted in increasingly unlikely places.
7. The Auction Hall: Spacious seating and strict security.
8. The Amber Ballroom: Formal and glitzy. Hundreds of animals trapped in amber in the walls.
9. The Viewing Board: Set on both sides of the House, watch the scenic coast pass by with cocktails.
10. The Vault: In His Scaliness' third stomach, after the first and second stomachs (crushing and acid, respectively) but before the fourth stomach (man eating piranha). Directly below the Cherry Grove.
Invitation and Schedule
Upcoming
Invitation and Schedule
Upcoming
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