Micro-review of Vornheim

I just got my physical copy in the mail yesterday, though I got the PDF file a while back with the pre-order.

Initial thoughts:

• Physically, the book is small, thin, and very portable. The paper, binding, cover, and dustjacket are very nice, premium, even. And a very usable size, to boot.
• If you read Zak's blog, not much of this will be a surprise. Some portions of the book come straight from his blog; others are new.
• This is more of a city toolkit than a city sourcebook. If you want a Ptolus-style sourcebook, you'll be looking at the wrong item. Hell, it isn't even like the original City-State of the Invincible Overlord. It's some essays, tables, and ideas about the idea of how to run a city and some examples of how it was implemented by Zak. You can learn from the ideas and steal the examples. To me, that's better. I hate memorizing hugely detailed settings, hate encouraging that in players, and actually like emergent campaign development. This is really my cup of tea.
• Is it old school? New school? It's punk rock -- that is to say it's eclectic do-it-yourself creativity that breaks your expectations and gets in your face.

Thumbs up.

Fiend Folio Friday: Babblers and Bonesnappers

Babbler

Bonesnapper

Even when I was a young gamer I wondered what the point was of having both Babblers and Bonesnappers. Babblers are stealthier, have some flavor text as mutated lizard men, and speak an incomprehensible language; bonesnappers collect bones but are otherwise similar to babblers as far as players can see. Both are drawn like miniature tyrannosaurs.

Of the two, it seems clear to me that if I had to choose one of the two to include, it would have to be the babbler. It crawls around on its belly, is stealthy, is weird and incomprehensible, semi-intelligent, is described specifically as a mutated lizardman and is illustrated by Russ Nicholson, all of which make it more of a cohesive monster with some place in a game than a miniature t-rex. It might even make a sort of lizardman more like the urd in A. Merritt's Face in the Abyss than like Kist-Haa in Brian Daley's Doomfarers of Coramonde — something more alien, creepy, and easily identified as a Very Bad Thing.

Haven: Going Around Armed and Armored

Armor is illegal in the city, but you can conceal leather or studded leather armor under some sorts of heavy clothing. Of course, if your armor is exposed, that will still lead to trouble.

Legally, anyone can carry a dagger, walking stick (club), or quarterstaff. Nobles may carry longswords. Short swords, darts, and slings are illegal, but easily concealed.

Licensed bodyguards may wear armor and carry one-handed melee weapons in the execution of their work. Members of the Guard, soldiers, licensed mercenaries, pit fighters, and assassins may use armor and arms in pursuit of their work.

These laws are generally unenforced in the Necropolis, the Maze, and the sewers. They don't apply in the Salt Marsh and The Park, though the Elves do not take kindly to armed intruders.

Bans on two-handed weapons and ranged weapons are forcefully pursued since such weapons are more of a threat to the Guard. Likewise, since armor can stop someone from being harmed, it is looked on poorly, too.

Haven: Under the City

Some very old sewers run under the Old City, while some less ancient sewers run under the Grand Market and the Merchant Quarter. The sewers drain runoff from the cobbled streets in those areas under the city and into the bay.

These sewers are often connected to basements, the dungeons under the Fortress, smugglers' pairs, cisterns, and secret caches. The sewers provide enough room to move to be frequent haunts of smugglers and other criminals needing illicit travel options.

The sewers are dangerous, home to dangerous vermin, criminals, undead, wererats, and sewer monsters. These areas are best looked at as avenues of egress and ingress rather than places to spend much time.

Haven: Who's on Patrol?

• Common patrol: 1d4+1 normal men. Padded, small shield, club, dagger, whistle.
• Heavy patrol: 1d3+1 normal men. Studded, small shield, light crossbow, longsword, shield.
• Centurions: 1d6 normal men, 1 level 2 fighter. Scale, large shield, 2 javelins, spear, short sword.
• Hawkmasks (Thieves' Guild Enforcers): 1d3 normal men, 1 thief 1. Leather, sling, 2 daggers.
• Rakes: 1d3 fighters, level 1d4-1, leather, longsword, dagger.
• Racketeers: 1d3 normal men, 1 fighter or thief level 1d3. Leather, club, dagger.

Fiend Folio Friday

Reviving an old feature of this blog, I'm going back into the Fiend Folio to wax poetic on its strange and wonderful contents. Personally, despite some glaring problems and general wierdness, I still consider the Fiend Folio my favorite 1st edition monster book.

This week, I'm struck by the FF's seeming fascination with human-animal hybrids. It's of a furry convention nightmare of sorts in the Folio, quite frankly. Not that the Monster Manual didn't start it with Minotaurs and Lizard Men and the like, but the Fiend Folio seemed to really run with the ball and give us plenty of monster-human hybrids to consider for our games.

The Folio has its fair share of bird-men, thanks to the aaracockra, dire corbies, and kenku. I'm not sure I really have an interpretation of this, but I do find it notable that each of these bird-man monsters is very different. The aaracockra are possible barbarian allies living in heights and presenting a tactical challenge from intelligent, flying foes; the dire corbies are crazy-ass orc-ish monsters; and the kenku are some weird interpretation of Japanese tengu, just as the ogre mage was some sort of twisted interpretation of Japanese oni.

Not that the Folio editors stopped there. We had frog-men (bullywugs), crab men, salamander-men (firenewts), fish men (kuo-toa), lizard men (lizard king), bear-men (quaggoths), and cat-men (tabaxi).

 This implies a world of multiple strange animal-human hybrids (though the Folio doesn't grace us with snake-men, we do get both ophidians and yuan-ti by the time Monster Manual 2 rolls around) very distinct from lycanthropes who run around in our world of elves, dwarves, and halflings. And apparently, most of them don't much like us. Which makes for some interesting family dynamics with our creepy cousins from the depths of the earth. It's like we've stumbled into the dungeon crawl of Dr. Moreau.

Of course, ever since I read Brian Daley's Doomfarers of Coramonde, I have liked the idea of lizardmen as player characters, inspired by Kist-Haa the Lizard Man (not that I have played one in a game, but it just seemed like a cool idea), so I guess I understand the appeal of coming up with ways to include some sort of animal men. Though every time someone brings up the idea of cat-people, even if they are basically Kzinti, it stinks a bit of nekomimi to me.

That said, this seems to highlight an early gamer fascination with various animal-human mixes, and provides plenty of fodder for creatures ranging from Lovecraftian wierdness (kuo-toa) through simple anthropomorphic animals.

Haven: Factions and VIPs

Important Factions

• Imperials
• Trade Guilds
• Thieves' Guild
• Assassins' Guild
• Priests
• Wizards (not an organized guild!)
• Beggars
• Kemari elders
• Elves of The Park

Important People

• Baroness Marketable Lucius, overlord of the city. Charming political schemer.
• Capt. Antonius Martus, commander of the Baroness' 50 imperial centurions. Stiff, by the book, young, a lot to prove. Itching for a fight.
• Regulus Plautus, treasurer/tax collector. Ruthless bureaucrat. Ambitious. Dreams of imposing Imperial order on Haven. Has own network of informants and lackeys.
• Countess Lydia Nefaria, aide to the Baroness. Also agent of the Imperial Eye with her own network of spies and assassins.
• Colonnus Meritus, high priest of Tarim. Ambitious but officious, seeks religious control of the city.
• Brianna Weaver, head of Alliance of Trade Guilds. Kemari.
• Gannoc Smith, 60 year old Kemari. Built like a bull, traditionalist, smarter than he looks.
• Alaurune Selmarin, Elven "count", de facto head of the Elves in The Park. Fickle, unpredictable, inscrutable.
• Rhiannon Wise, Kemari high priestess of Demaru. Conservative voice of peace with the Aquilans. Healer and wise woman. Secretly supports Kemari resistance.
• Azhakh Nung, wealthy Dwarf merchant. Stingy, egocentric, zealously anti-tax and vocally anti-Aquilan. Looking to sponsor expedition to reconquer lost Zharku mines.

Haven Encounter Tables

Another day, another post of stuff from my current DM notebook....

 

    Old City              Great Market         Merchant Quarter
 2  Goblin slave          Prostitute           Racketeers
 3  Street urchins        Street busker        Exotic foreigners
 4  Wizard & apprentices  Pickpocket           Porters
 5  Surly young rakes     Racketeers           Thief
 6  Pretty maidens        Street urchins       Pushy rich shoppers
 7  Guard patrol          Cryer/Hawker         Guard patrol
 8  Matron & servants     Angry customers      Snotty rich shoppers
 9  Scholar & students    Guard patrol         Beggar
10  Noble & guards        Guide                Teamsters
11  Beggar                Colorful foreigners  Street urchins
12  Halfling servant      Loose livestock      Black marketeers

    Farm Quarter          Foreign Quarter      The Maze

 2  Beggar                Goblin gang          Cheap prostitute

 3  Pack of strays        Crazed cultists      Burglars

 4  Superstitious hicks   Exotic merchant      Press gang

 5  Burly workers         Guide/translator     Black marketeers

 6  Loose livestock       Beggar               Beggars

 7  Vegetable cart        Strange procession   Hawkmasks

 8  Step in dung          Thugs/racketeers     Pickpocket

 9  Loud women            Odd food cart        Street urchins

10  Hedge witch           Con artist           Drug dealer

11  Mean ol' cat          Guard patrol         Brawl/fight

12  Street urchins        Dwarf brawlers       Murder in progress


    Waterfront            Street of Gods       The Park

 2  Crime in progress     Prophet              Giant spider

 3  Goblin slaves         Temple prostitute    Giant weasels

 4  Press gang            Religious conflict   Wolves

 5  Street urchins        Parade               Goblin slaves

 6  Teamsters             Guard patrol         Woodland critters

 7  Drunken sailors       Street preacher      Elf patrol

 8  Fishmonger            Funeral procession   Pixies

 9  Thugs/racketeers      Pickpocket           Elf citizens

10  Press gang            Idols/relic sales    Giant owl

11  Merchant & guards     Guru & students      Treant

12  Guard patrol          A god incarnate      Unicorn


    The Necropolis        Salt Marsh           Sewers

 2  Wights                Alligator            Ochre Jelly

 3  Ghouls                Wererats             Wererats

 4  Skeletons             Snakes               Cultists

 5  Temple patrol         Giant rats           Giant rats

 6  Mourners              Rats                 Thieves

 7  Funeral procession    Smugglers            Smugglers

 8  Graverobbers          Giant centipedes     Giant centipedes

 9  Necromancer & help    Goblins              Large spider

10  Zombies               Giant frog           Zombies

11  Ghouls                Undead               Ghouls

12  Ghasts                Giant swamp spider   Otyugh

Peoples of Haven

Some more notes from my current DM notebook....

Kemari are the indigenous peoples of the region. Start your basic stereotype with pre-Christian Kelts a-la-Robert E. Howard, with a little over-simplified new-age bookstore Kelt stereotype thrown in: earthy, stubborn, women and men largely equal. Men tend to be in charge of warfare, farming and labor; women in charge of scholarship, religion, and magic. However, these are not set roles.

Kemari tend to have surprisingly open sexual politics. Women may choose partners freely until married, but must remain loyal to their husbands except on certain festival days, when sexual openness for all is the rule. Men give women bangles as gifts, ranging from wood to gold. Having more bangles of more value is a mark of honor. Most bangles are marked to reflect who is the giver.

Kemari value cleverness, strength, and practicality. They love family, drink, intelligence, cunning, bravery and parties.

Aquilans conquered Haven two generations ago. Start your stereotype with Romans as depicted in sword-and-sandal films. They are rigid, officious, and snotty. They see themselves as having a superior culture, civilization among savages. They are patriarchal and patrilineal. They value the military, their religion, and their empire.

Aquilans love "exotic" cultures, even though they see them as inferior. They believe they are rightly the top of the food chain culturally. They believe in peace through domination.

Gods in Haven

Gods of the Aquilan Empire (current rulers of Haven)

• Tarim (LG): Sun, truth, justice.
• Lixius (LN): Knowledge, laws, civilization.
• Martus (LE): Strength, warfare.
• Hesta (NG): Home, hearth, childbirth, healing.
• Corbus (N): Agriculture, domestic animals.
• Nekara (NE): Death, disease, funerary rites, underworld.
• Bakrun (CG): Wine, drinking, debauchery.
• Fortuna (CN): Luck (good and ill), hopeless causes.
• Skara (CE): Assassination, lies, criminal activities, scheming.

Gods of the Kemari (the people of the Haven Region)

• Demaru (LN): Sky, rulership.
• Sturm (CG): Seas, storms, monster-fighting. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Vanya (NE): Magic, death, moon. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Killmarin (CN): Storytelling, trickery. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Jonbar (NG): Grains, agriculture, beer.

Other/Foreign Gods in Haven

• Alantha (CN): Sex, pleasure.
• Asmodeus (LE): Power, discipline, cruelty. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Baalzebul (LE): (Forbidden) knowledge, death. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Danara (N): Love, sex, War, Revenge.
• Demogorgon (CE): Power, cold-blooded creatures. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Dispater (LE): Rulership, dictatorship. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Geryon (LE): Strength, hunting, sport, cruelty. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Juiblex (CE): Filth, slime, decay. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Kalak (CN): Fire, destruction. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Moradin (LG): Dwarves, forges, social order, earth, metal.
• Orcus (CE): Undead, necromancy. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• Primus (LN): The Cosmic Machine. Mystery cult. Outlawed by the Aquilans.
• The Rat God (NE): Cunning, (surviving) disease, self-preservation, rats.
• Remarin (N): Wealth, power, enlightened self-interest.
• Shen (N): Snakes, rebirth, healing.
• The Spider God (LE): Wealth, beauty, poison, spiders.
• The Toad God (N): Survival, toads.

My Current Gaming Project: the City of Haven

I'm currently in a more Vanilla AD&D mood, though this whole enterprise remains mental masturbation while my work and personal life balance is still out of whack. But my random musings might be of interest to some of you, so here's what I have been noodling about in my notebooks.

I have been going back to my old gaming roots and thinking about an urban RPG campaign, partially inspired by recently buying myself a copy of Zak Smith's Vornheim (and getting my PDF download). I have been writing up random entries by hand in a composition book, and now am just starting to edit and think about those notes.

As always, when thinking about a city, I work on a map. However, I hate drawing city maps. It's tedious, ties you down to specifics when you don't want it, and doesn't help much in a game. So, riffing of Zak's urbancrawl rules, I decided to avoid actually drawing a city. I took some colored pens and wrote down the names of sections of the city to show their abstract relations.

Recently, I re-did the work with photoshop for some clean-up and ease of sharing whenever I potentially get my game off the ground again:

My conceptual map of Haven

While that doesn't give a strong sense of the layout of streets, the position of buildings, and the like, it does make a simple, playable idea of where neighborhoods are, how you get from one to the other, and about how big each area is -- all the stuff that I care about in my play style. Frankly, I don't see this as the Next Big Wave in Urban Campaign Setting Design, but it's enough for me to get my game on, and I think it's enough for players to work out the details they need to know.

Also building off another Zak S. idea, I have decided that I want to help myself keep this an easily ad-libbed setting rather than detailing more things to memorize and am defining as much as I can through tables and lists that can be used in game. You'll get to see those over the next couple of weeks as I type them up.

So sorry, I'm all out of Athanor inspirations right now and my attention is wandering elsewhere. But at least I will be posting again.