The Undercity

Art by Liz Danforth

As regular readers know, recent posts have been about Flying Buffalo's CityBook series of supplements.  Electronic versions of these books are now available at RPGNow for your gaming edification.  In this post, we look at the third CityBook.  Having the subtitle Deadly Nightside, the theme of CityBook III – as explained in the Introduction – “is a dark and dangerous excursion into the seedier section of fantasy cities.”  The term 'Nightside' is used as the actual name of a section of a hypothetical city rather than a generic term for an unsavory urban area.  Whereas the establishments in the previous installments were organized according to business type, entries in Nightside are organized in three layers:  Good, Bad, and Deadly.  This layer structure is “the rough order characters would be likely to encounter [the establishments].”  The Introduction continues:  “In short, unless you've got a very jaded gaming group, you're not likely to hit an opium den right off the bat.”  Yes, an opium den is described on pages 76 – 82.

Michael Stackpole was the sole editor of CityBook III and also provided two of the establishments.  One of these entries – The Undercity – is like a Beggars' Guild, but “definitely a different Beggars' Guild.”  The term 'Undercity' refers to beggar society as well the location where the beggars reside (also called “the Warrens” or “the Underrealm”).

     The City's current level is built upon a dozen previous cities – some old enough to be legendary, a couple more lurk beneath those.  The beggars, over the generations, have dug down, excavated and set up living quarters in buildings that once stood in sunlight but now dwell in everdark.  Most of them live in a level about four cities below the surface, and the sewers cut through levels 1 and 2, though never did hit any of the warrens.

(The sewers are described as a separate 'establishment'.)

The beggars are divided into six 'tribes':  FAKERS (“...normal children of beggar parents”), WARDREGS (“...warriors or adventurers who have suffered maiming injuries”), GUTTERKIN (“...the utterly desperate and destitute...[usually] old, drunk, or mad”), ILLKIN (“...people who have been maimed and disabled by disease and illness”), SPOILED (“...those who have been maimed by an accident, or on purpose, and can no longer function in society because of their injury”), and YSRAIGET (“...congenitally deformed beggars”).  Many of the Ysraiget are 'changelings' – malformed children of 'Upworld' parentage who have been switched with “normal beggar babies.”

The term 'Ysraiget' is derived from Ysrai, a god that the beggars worship.  “A full thousand years before history was recorded with any veracity, Ysrai's temples were swept from the earth...,” the book explains,“Ysrai is so thoroughly removed from the minds of men that his name is only known to a few practitioners of arcane and blasphemous rituals.”  On the lowest level of the Undercity, the beggars found a statue of Ysrai, “broken and scarred like themselves...”  Creating their own cosmology, “The beggars made this god their own.”  They also “tied the selection of their King to their patron deity.”

The current Beggar King is Myre.  According to his description:  “He was one of four beggars who met the prime requisite for candidacy; he was maimed in a manner similar to the injuries on Ysrai's statue.”  As King, Myre “has stressed the importance of gathering and sifting information.”

     Through a bizaare [sic] set-up, beggars all memorize and analyze (if mentally capable) all the news, rumors and actions in the City.  Stories pass through the Undercity and are relayed to the individuals who handle that information.  New beggars are trained and learn everything one of the older beggars knows so redundancy is built right into the system.  In fact, some of the most hideously deformed Ysraiget are so mentally gifted they can remember and recall centuries-old gossip as if they'd heard it the day before, and they'll link it with any cogent data gathered before or since.  Without benefit of books or scrolls, the beggars have the most complete history of the City and world in existence today!

Myre's part in the information network involves him spending “time in Domdaniel's Gate speaking with Tranq.”

Domdaniel's Gate is an establishment contributed to CityBook III by the designer formerly known as Paul Jaquays.  The current Domdaniel's Gate tavern is situated under the ruins of the original Domdaniel's Gate.  Thirty years ago, the original tavern was destroyed by...

...a time implosion, caused by the crash-landing of a time vehicle.  Its pilot, Tranq, a man from the far-flung future found himself stranded in the past; pieces of his time machine scattered across the near past and future like a debris trail from a sinking ship.

Tranq is the current proprietor of Domdaniel's Gate.  As a tavern, the “Gate” has a regular clientele of “undiscriminating local bullies, ruffians, thugs, and punks...”  Other than the tavern's bartender, Tranq's true nature is known only to Myre, the Beggar King.

     Myre discovered Tranq's secret as a child and would often help him find the missing pieces of the time machine.  When he became king, it only seemed natural to use Tranq's establishment as a formal link with the “normal” world.  Tranq often uses his futuristic technology to aid the beggars in whatever ways he can.

All of the alcohol that the tavern serves is acquired on the black market and is delivered via the Undercity.  Also, Tranq is the only non-beggar to have been instructed in the “beggar dialect.”

Port o' Call

Art by Liz Danforth

Over a period of fifteen years (1982 - 1997), Flying Buffalo published seven installments of its CityBook line of system-neutral game supplements (or “a GM aid for ALL role-playing systems” as the books themselves state).  All of the books provide details about various urban establishments, including descriptions, maps, non-player characters, and scenario suggestions.  Each book after the first was presented as a themed collection.  For instance, CityBook II – published in 1984 – carries the subtitle Port o' Call and “focuses on places an adventurer is likely to find in the worlds' crossroads: port cities.”  The editors for this second volume were Liz Danforth and Michael Stackpole (or “Liz Dansforth and Micheal Stackpole” as they are credited for “Typoes”).

As demonstrated in a cover graphic (shown below), one of the selling points of the second CityBook is a conrtibution by Dave Arneson.  This is interesting in that the entry – “The Longtooth Lounge” – does not especially conform to the seaside theme the book proclaims.  However, the introduction to the 'Lodging and Entertainment' section jokingly states that “a number of horizon-expanding experiences are available” at the Lounge.

The Lounge offers “liquid refreshment as well as female companionship for its gentlemen clientele.”  Of course, port cities have such establishments, but there is nothing to indicate that the Longtooth Lounge isn't in a landlocked locale.  As the depiction above shows, there is “a large pair of sunken double doors” next to “a three-story tall tower.”  This is more subtle than a train entering a tunnel, but not by much.

As one might expect, the Longtooth Lounge is no ordinary brothel.  There are various aspects that make the Lounge an interesting adventure location – or a sit-com premise.  Foremost among these is Jeanie, “the most popular girl” in the establishment.  She “commands the highest prices and leaves even the most obnoxious customer satisfied.”  We learn, “This is because Jeanie gives the customer exactly what he wants, magically...”  You see, Jeanie is a genie.  Jeanie entered the world's oldest profession when the madame that owns the Longtooth Lounge made an off-hand comment while holding the locket that contains the genie.  Not realizing that the locket was associated with a genie, the madame said, “I wish that the Lounge had someone to help the girls with the guests...”  Nothing about the wish suggests that Jeanie assume the role herself, but assume it she did.  So, the brothel has a working girl who is a genie, but no one realizes she's a genie.  (The Lounge's bouncer may know the truth, but this is not made clear in the description.)  Jeanie, “like all genies, [is] likely to take any requests literally, [and] her power is often wielded rashly...”

Jeanie is also “Somewhat hard of hearing...” and “is surprised 5% of the time.”  Sometimes, Jeanie is 'surprised' by a customer and there is “a 75% probability that the assailant will be turned into something harmless and immobile – generally a plant.”  However, “the plants retain many of their human mental faculties.”  According to page 19, “The trouble with this automatic defense is that it seems to be permanent, and there is no way to restore any of the plants to their complete human form using normal magic.”  Jeanie places these plants in the Lounge's garden where they exist “with a nearly human awareness.”  Among the 'normal' plants in the garden, “there are domesticated triffids and Martian sand traps.”

Although there is nothing to suggest that the Lounge is in a port city, there are a few easy ways such a connection could have been established.  For instance, the tower could have been a former lighthouse or one of the working girls could have been a mermaid.  Due to the disappearance of Jeanie's 'victims', “The local authorities...seem to believe the [Lounge] is some kind of front for a slaving operation.”  The book's Introduction defines some nautical terms, including crimp:  “...someone who drugs and kidnaps lubbers to sell them to a captain who will attempt to turn them into sailors.”  The Longtooth Lounge could easily have had an actual 'crimping' sideline.

Among the other establishments listed in CityBook II, the good ship Golden Princess is described.  It is a contribution from Stephan Peregrine.  Within the seven pages devoted to the ship is the following gem:

     Kyztprr.  Thing.  Ht: variable.  Wt: 20 lbs.  Age: adult.  Fighting prowess: fair with what he uses in place of teeth.
     Unknown to virtually everyone aboard the Princess is Kyztprr.  During a violent storm off the accursed Isle of F'Tudd, Kyztprr was wave-tossed onto the ship and washed through a hatchway torn open by the typhoon.  Kyztprr made his way to the bilge where he hid safely, somewhat resembling a ballast stone.  For the most part, he is content to stay there, eating bilge worms and rats.  The diet is affecting his mind, driving him mad.  On nights when the evil stars rise, he has crawled forth in search of something besides rats to sate his hunger . . . .

Also included in the second CityBook is a 'notes' page, reproduced below for your non-commercial edification.  With the artwork and the large CITYBOOK™ NOTES title, not much space is reserved for actual notes. C'est la vie.  Your guess is as good as mine with regard to what that sign is supposed to show.

Art by Liz Danforth

Taxidermy, Tarot, and Tattoos

Among the various categories detailed in Citybook I:  Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker, the vague grouping of 'Personal Services' offers some of the more interesting establishments.  As examples, consider the following three businesses.

– – –     – – –     – – –

The entry for Professor Fyber's Taxidermy and Museum is credited to Steven S. Crompton, to whom we were introduced in the last post.  (The 'museum' section is displayed above.)

The Museum houses a collection of oddities that the Professor has stuffed over the years.  This includes a two-headed unicorn [Wouldn't that mean it has two horns?], a bison with wings [i.e., a 'flying buffalo'], a wolf with eight legs, and other freaks of nature.  One section also contains several heads which once belonged to famous bandits that were executed in the city (the only exceptions to Fyber's no-humans rule)...

Your humble host suspects Fyber's name was inspired by (the abominable) Dr. Phibes of motion picture infamy.  Yet, if so, Liz Danforth did not use Vincent Price as the model for Fyber's illustration.

Art by Liz Danforth

     Professor Fyber.  Human.  Ht: 6'3".  Wt: 210 lbs.  Age: 58.  Fighting prowess: very good rapier or saber; otherwise average.
     Professor Fyber is a dark, aristocratic man with a thin moustache.  His dress and voice bespeak a highly cultured man with a sense for the finer things in life.  He is a gourmet cook, a lover of good brandy, and very well-read.
     ...Fyber is a charming fellow and fairly formidable.  He is also a taxidermical genius and very popular with the City nobility to whom he provides trophies.  He zealously guards his secret formulas for preserving tissue, and is not above slaying an intruder who tries to steal them.  His major goal in his work is to preserve the semblance of life in as natural a manner as possible...

Of course, Fyber must obtain his specimens somehow.  The player characters may be retained to search out these strange creatures.  “The hunting expeditions can make a simple scenario for players,” Citybook informs us, “and good mileage can be gotten out of any of the Museum exhibits.”  One suggested scenario involves a vast treasure, the secret to which is contained within one of the bandit heads on display.  The player characters “must steal the head and find a way to revivify it in order to get the clue.”

 – – –     – – –     – – –

Thelesha Moonscry is a fortune-teller – or “seeress” – whose presence in Citybook is attributed to Larry DiTillio.  Given Liz Danforth's penchant for basing the appearance of Citybook personalities upon real-world celebrities, I am inclined to believe that Moonscry's depiction is inspired by Jane Seymour in her role as the fortune-telling Solitaire from Live and Let Die.

Art by Liz Danforth

     Thelesha Moonscry.  Half-elf.  Ht: 5'9".  Wt: 130 lbs.  Age: 29.  Fighting ability: poor.  Magic ability: average; C5
     Thelesha has very pale skin, and long black hair with silver streaks in it.  Her left eye is sea-blue and her right eye is silvery-gray.  She is very beautiful and somewhat haunted.  Her typical attire is a sky blue robe adorned with a sigil showing silver moons and green oaks.
     Thelesha is not particularly cheerful.  She knows that she is fated to live without love, and uses her gift in memory of her teachers, an all but extinct sect called the MoonRiders.  She sometimes sees her talent as more of a curse than a gift, and may break off a reading if the omens she is scrying become too painful.  She rarely leaves her house and garden, and the MoonRider spirits watch over her there.

“C5” is Citybook code for communication magic.  I would have thought that divination would be part of clairvoyant magic (i.e, “C3”).  Regardless, Moonscry practices the following divinatory arts:  astrology, oneiromancy, pyromancy, hydroscopy, palmistry, cerescopy [sic], and cartomancy.  With regard to cartomancy, the Game Master is encouraged to “use a Tarot deck if you have one, improvising the meaning of the cards to fit the 'prediction' for the character.”  Otherwise, “You may use a regular card deck in this fashion:  Hearts indicate an emotional situation, Diamonds mean money, Spades mean competition, Clubs indicate magic [and] Face cards represent people.”

We are told that “Thelesha is about 90% accurate in all readings.”  As such, Game Masters are advised not to let Thelesha “be misused or over-used by the players.”  As a deterrent, “High prices should sufficiently limit the use of her powers!”  Also, readings need not be precise – “the more esoteric the symbolic answer, the more intriguing it will be to players.”

 – – –     – – –     – – –

Jock and Wilbur Sleaz are twin orcs who were raised by a kindly wizard who taught them how to make tattoos.  “(GM: if your system has no Orcs, or an Orc would not reasonably fit in your city, make Jock and Wilbur very ugly humans.)”  While Wilbur “quite frequently exhibits more of the standard Orcish traits,” we learn that “Jock is a very gentle soul” who gives money “to a local orphanage in order to give a few orphans the benefit of a better upbringing than he received.”  It seems to me that being raised by a kindly wizard who teaches them a trade is not so bad as an upbringing.

Anyway, the brothers employ their skills at a tattoo parlor of which they are the proprietors.  In addition to 'regular' tattoos, Jock (but not Wilbur) learned to create 'magical' tattoos (called “mattoos”).  By concentrating, the wearer of a mattoo can bring the mattoo into existence.

Once a mattoo comes to life, it will follow any command of the wearer (if it's a creature), or be employed in any manner the user wishes.  For each hour it exists, the wearer must “pump” strength into it, on an ever expanding scale.  The first hour costs 1 point; the second, 2; the third, 4; the fourth, 8; etc. (doubling each time).  Willing a mattoo to life for less than an hour costs 1.  The strength used returns at 1 point per full game turn.  (GM:  adjust to your game system.)

The price of a mattoo “starts at around 1000 gold pieces, rising with the complexity of the mattoo desired.”  Mattoos which are destroyed are no long usable, leave a scar, and cannot be replaced.

Jock himself has the maximum of five mattoos, created by the kindly wizard.  These mattoos are “two small dragons, a full-size flaming sword down his right leg, a waterfall on his chest (which can be used somewhat like a firehose), and a full-size rose on his left arm.”

A special mattoo is described:

Very simply, it is a “duckie”, a cute little representation of a duck.  Jock always recommends it because he likes duckies.  The duckie is like a normal mattoo – except that it always appears as a full-sized duck with full powers of speech, better than human intelligence, and a poisonous bite!  In addition, duckies have the power to deflect spells (set the level according to your game system); if a duckie is within a 5' radius of its wearer, it will partly protect its wearer by absorbing the spell.  Neither Jock nor Wilbur are aware of these powers – Jock just likes duckies!

Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker

Art by Stephan Peregrine

As previously discussed, Flying Buffalo published the Catalyst Series of “game master aids” – including the CityBook installments.  (“CityBook is Flying Buffalo's trademark name for those Catalyst game booklets which describe businesses, personalities, and scenarios for city-based play.”  [original emphasis] )  The first CityBook was published in 1982.  Larry DiTillio was credited as editor, producer and – for many of the entries – author.  Perhaps better known as a writer and story editor for television, DiTillio was also responsible for a variety of several other role-playing game supplements/adventures.  “Original Concept” was credited to Pat Mueller, an author and editor for Sorcerer's Apprentice.  Mueller also shared “Directed by” credit with Liz Danforth and “Design and Layout by” credit with Steven S. Crompton.  In a humorous vein, another credit was “Typos by Pat Muellre.”

In 'A Brief Note' following the Introduction, it is stated, “The primary purpose of this book is to provide a number of modular pieces of cities, from which you can pick and choose what you want to use.”  Less subdued is the back cover copy:  “For action-packed role-playing, for exciting encounters with peculiar people, for unexpected adventures and unforeseen complications, the establishments and NPCs found in CityBook are right up your alley!”  Somewhere in between is the claim, “your players can now find fun and excitement even in such mundane activity as buying a loaf of bread or having a battered suit of armor repaired.”

Included in CityBook 1 is a two-and-a-half page article – originally published in Sorcerer's Apprentice – having the title “City Building and Citymastering” (incorrectly listed as “City Mastering and Citybuilding” in the Table of Contents).  The writer, Paul O'Connor, also contributed one of the book's entries.  O'Connor was involved with other role-playing game publications and has credits in comic books and those new-fangled computer games.  Anyway, O'Connor offers the following advice:

Try to allow for your players' desires.  Let the characters take a hand in directing the action – never try to force characters into doing something they don't want to, simply because you've got nothing developed for the path they're taking.  Often, a city trip will split off into a completely unexpected direction – usually quite different from the one planned.  If this happens, flow with it!  Try to adjudicate whatever situations arise to the best of your ability.  There's nothing wrong with making up an adventure as you go along...

Also, he offhandedly mentions “a one-armed goblin with three heads juggling squids...”

CityBook 1 has the subtitle Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker – a paraphrased line from a nursery rhyme (which evidently is not as homoerotic as one may have thought).  Among the “25 city-based establishments with over 75 fully-described non-player characters,” there is an entry for a butcher and another for a baker; however, the baker is a woman.  While there is no candlestick maker, there is a candle maker.  This borders upon false advertisement.  I mean they didn't have to use that subtitle; they could have gone with something accurate.  (I suppose a sourcebook of scenarios based on traditional nursery rhymes might be interesting.)  The butcher, baker, and candle maker entries are all by DiTillio.

Cleavsom Rumpchuck operates a butchery with his brothers – Slysum, Chopsum, and Dimsom – as well as his son, Ribeye.  (CityBook NPCs frequently possess 'jocular' names.)  Along with mundane meats, the Rumpchunk brothers offers such unusual fare as “filet of giant lake lizard, shank of dragon (very rare), sirloin snakes, lion loin, giant ant legs, horned owl tripe, marinated snow-bear nose, monkey brains, and anything else the GM can come up with.”  A scenario suggestion has Rumpchuck hiring the adventurers to acquire such game.

Widow Rohls operates a bakeshop with her three daughters:  Poppy, Sesame, and Sweet Nell.  The interesting NPC associated with the bakeshop is “Old Sam.”  (Spoiler Alert!)

Old Sam was once Samar, Master of the Nine Hells, an evil wizard with staggering arcane powers.  An assault by ten rival sorcerers blasted his memory from him and aged him almost thirty years.  He escaped destruction by a desperate teleportation spell, and was found wandering in the City sometime later...

Taken in by the Rohls family, Old Sam does odd jobs and has “a definite talent for icing cakes (the result of years of scribing complex spells).”  One scenario suggestion involves Old Sam regaining his memory.  Another suggestion has him inadvertently working “some eldritch rune into the design” of a cake's icing.  This results in “some strange effect which could have [a] character possessed by some supernatural entity, cause a spell to fire, lay a curse on the viewer, open a gateway to an alternate universe, or any other magical surprise the GM cares to spring.”  Wacky hijinks ensue.

Art by Liz Danforth

The candle maker is Gillian Olfin.  DiTillio tells us, “Gillian loves to swim nude in the moonlight, does not drink, ...is rumored to have numerous lovers in high positions in the City [and] ...is always barefoot.”  Liz Danforth, in her depiction of Gillian (shown above), seems to have based her appearance on Diana Muldaur.  The model for the cat has not been determined as of this writing.

Gillian has sufficient magical ability to manufacture two types of “special” candles.  The Love Candle “incorporates a few drops of blood or sweat from both the proposed 'lover' and the person who wishes to be loved.”  When the “lover” burns the candle, “he or she falls in love with the candle's buyer.”  The effect only lasts for one to six weeks, but the effect can be reinforced with a new candle.  Since “it takes Gillian 2 – 12 days to produce a love candle,” it would be wise to have a few spares available before engaging upon a long term romantic illumination.  The Ghost Detector Candle normally “burns with an ordinary yellow-white flame.”  However, in proximity to “a disembodied spirit or an enchanted corpse, the flame burns a bright blue.”

We also learn that “tallow candles are cheaper [than refined beeswax candles] and will burn a little more brightly, but in an area without adequate ventilation (such as your basic dungeon-type room), they tend to smoke heavily, causing nausea.”

A Science Fiction Game of Interstellar Exploration, Growth, and Combat

Art by Ernest Hogan

Pre-dating Traveller by a year, Starfaring is often touted as the first published science-fiction role-playing game.  Starfaring was first printed in August 1976, while Metamorphosis Alpha was printed in July 1976.  According to my calendar, Starfaring was therefore second, but if we categorize Metamorphosis Alpha as 'science fantasy' then Starfaring would be the first science-fiction RPG.  In my opinion, Starfaring is no less 'science fantasy' than MA; however, I concede that Starfaring conforms to the space opera genre while MA does not.  Interestingly, just as Metamorphosis Alpha emphasizes that its rules “are only intended as guidelines,” Starfaring author Ken St. Andre states on the title page:

- - These rules are only a framework.
The game depends on the quality of your imagination
to fill in the details of life in
the starfaring society of 2700 A.D.

All of the provided visual details of Starfaring – the illustrations – are cartoons.  This creative decision doubtless influenced how Starfaring was received by gaming consumers.  The quality of the art is consistent with other RPG cartoons of the time period; unfortunately, so is the humor.  St. Andre stops short of apologizing for it in his Introduction:

          When designing this game, I had no idea that my artist would have such a bizarre imagination.  None of the artwork herein included is meant to be offensive to any ethnic group, but is merely an attempt to represent more than white American masculinity in what we hope is an amusing fashion.

I can forgive 'bizarre', but I am less tolerant of 'not especially funny'.  The cartoonist, Ernest Hogan, would go on to become the Father of Chicano Science Fiction.

Starfaring clearly embraces the 'storytelling' paradigm.  The Introduction begins:

          STARFARING is a game of interstellar exploration for two or more players who will interact verbally to imaginatively create their own universe while they are playing.  It is science-fiction storytelling in your own living room...[The game] can be what you, the players, are willing to make of it in terms of visualizing the society of the future.

The Starfaring equivalent of game master is called the Galaxy Master.  Rather than players adopting the roles of individual characters, each player is a Ship Master.  Specifically, a Ship Master...

...is the person responsible for  decision making and the description of the ship actions during the game.  If it comes down to a question of individual actions either aboard ship, planetside, or in space, this player must carry the story line.  The Ship Master needs to be given a specific identity, whether it is a stay-at-home capitalist who hires all the help he needs, or whether it is the ship's actual human captain, or the shell person* linked to the computer to be the ship's brain.  The Ship Master can also be a Robotic, Android, or Alien intelligence, if that is what turns you on.

* According to the game's glossary, shell people are “Intelligences, both human and alien, consisting of a living brain, a minimal body, and a mechanical life support system.  They are self-contained in a metal shell (hence the name) for safety, and are often installed in starships, in effect becoming the ship itself, and thus giving inert metal life, intelligence, and personality...”

A Visit to the Treasure Vault (Part IV)

Art by Stephan Peregrine

(Yes, I'm dragging this thing out another week.  I have some irons in the fire, but currently the fire is lukewarm – if that makes any sense.)

The object depicted above is Mordin's Mystical Mirror.  According to Flying Buffalo's Treasure Vault, Mordin was a “great and powerful wizard” who wanted “to take over the Sarilian Empire.”  Apparently, Mordin did not accomplish this and, upon his death, “most of his possessions [were left] to various Sorcerers' Guilds.”  The mirror's current owners, Wil Lake and Ike Moss, say they purchased the mirror from a “little known” Sorcerers' Guild.  However, there's nothing to suggest any association between Mordin and the mirror.  Wil (human) and Ike (half-elf) are confidence artists and, in their efforts to sell the mirror, they claim that Mordin created it.  The circumstances of the actual origin of the mirror – and how Wil and Ike acquired it – are not detailed.

Wil and Ike attempt to sell the mirror for ten thousand gold pieces, “but they will settle for 5000.”  They claim that the mirror can be used to view past events.  This is true to a limited extent; the mirror can show “what happened five minutes ago at the mirror's current location.”  Wil and Ike will also provide a (bogus) book of incantations that can be employed to change the difference in time and location of the “target.”  (The rune-like symbols on the frame “are, in fact, meaningless.”)  Anyway, the wording in the book “is complicated enough for a dim-witted buyer to get so confused as to give up and for those of average intelligence to conclude that the mirror's failure to 'change settings' is their fault for misreading the instructions.”  I guess that smarter than average people aren't going to buy the mirror.

The first scenario suggestion for this item is that “Wil and Ike make their pitch to the player characters.”  (yawn)

The second scenario suggestion involves Baron Throkmorton, a noble interested in improving his position via blackmail.  He knows of Mordin's Mystical Mirror “through paid spies.”  The baron prefers to remain anonymous in his dealings; in fact, “He does all of his business through disguised middle-men.”  When he buys the mirror and discovers that it doesn't work, “he hires the player characters to track down Wil and Ike, in the interests of getting his money back.”  If the player characters pester Wil and Ike, the confidence artists “will threaten to announce the baron's intentions unless he leaves them alone.”  It is not explained how Wil and Ike know that the baron is their customer or what his intentions would be.  Ike has 'good' ability with the following types of magic:  combat, clairvoyant, conveyance, and concealment.  Perhaps he was able to use magic to determine such information.  (Incidentally, Wil can “conceal his identity.”  He has a 75% chance to fool a stranger, but only “a 25% chance of fooling anyone who's seen him before.”)  If Wil and Ike are threatened with death, “Ike will calmly announce that he has a written record of the transaction specifying not only the place, the time, and the name of the buyer but also his speculations on what the buyer (Throkmorton) intended to do with the mirror.”  Ike states that the written record...

...will be magically prepared to materialize in the hand of every bellcrier in town the instant either Wil or he dies.  Of course he's bluffing, but Ike is a good bluffer.

Of course, if the point is to recover the money, any threat of death is itself a bluff.  Also, if Wil is killed, the bellcrier notice is essentially Ike's confession of perpetrating a scam.  Also, being a good bluffer is irrelevant if lie detection magic can be brought to bear.  Yet Ike is 'good' with concealment magic; perhaps he can magically thwart lie detection.  Regardless, the basis of the scenario should not be about threats and counter-threats.  I would expect that Wil and Ike have a cagey plan to avoid the consequences of their criminal activities, possibly a plan utilizing magic.  In the first scenario suggestion, Wil and Ike leave town after selling the mirror.  There's no reason why they wouldn't do the same in the second scenario.  The challenge to the player characters should be tracking down the two rogues and/or defeating whatever plan they implement.

Treasure Vault is not without its attempts at humor.  One of the described items is The Staff of the Sigil.  If a magic-using character strikes someone with the staff and speaks that person's true name, the victim goes to “an extra-spacial prison, and is in a state of suspended animation.”  The face of each victim appears carved into the staff.  One of the non-player characters associated with this item is:

     DUKE FORTINBRAS V.  Human.  Ht: 5'6".  Wt: 220 lbs.  Age: 58.  Fighting prowess: poor
     Duke Fortinbras was a very fat, gray-haired little man.  He was the first victim of the staff, and his chubby little face can be seen at the very top.  The expression is one of sheer confusion.  Fortinbras was a selfish, hedonistic, and altogether despotic ruler.  He had a great fear of magic and outlawed all forms of it.  Should he be recognized (from a portrait, for example) and brought back (by striking the staff to the ground and saying “Fortinbras the Fifth”), he will be very indignant and downright antagonistic toward the wizard who rescued him.  He has been rescued from the staff on the three different times since his imprisonment 75 years ago.  Each time he was returned to the limbo-like prison by his rescuer, who couldn't put up with him any longer.

This is an attempt at humor, albeit not a very successful one.

A Visit to the Treasure Vault (Part III)

Art by Stephan Peregrine

While Flying Buffalo's Treasure Vault is intended to be generic enough to accommodate a multitude of fantasy settings, there are hints of a consistent background environment scattered throughout the book.  I suspect that this is part of author Steven Howard's effort to “interlock” the non-player characters as proclaimed on the product's cover.

Page 20 tells about the Warrior Queen Harmon, “the beautiful conquerer of much of the continent some seventy years ago.”  However, four pages later, the legend of The Eye of Gamel – a precious stone – indicates that King Farelis gave that stone to Harmon no earlier than fifty years ago (“when the Kingdom of Farelis was conquered by Harmon”).  You see, “The...eye has been missing for 250 years having been lost during the siege of the temple by godless barbarians.”  Then, “It reappeared nearly 200 years later in the treasury records of King Farelis III.”  Yet the following paragraph states that the priests of Gamel have been “anxious to retrieve it...for over 250 years.”  They would not have been looking for the stone for more than 250 years if they only lost it exactly 250 years ago.  If we assume that the first reference to 250 years should have instead been 270 or 275 years, the mention of “over 250 years” makes more sense and otherwise conforms to the notion of Harmon's conquest “some seventy years ago.”  Anyway, at some point there was a “tumultuous revolution which led to Harmon's death.”  Apparently, Harmon established several “secret treasure troves” prior to her demise.

The “godless barbarians” responsible for the disappearance of The Eye of Gamel may be associated with Konig the barbarian, “a famed adventurer and a great leader of men” whose similarity to any Robert E. Howard property is surely coincidental.  The legend of Konig begins thus:

Many years ago, a tribe of mountain-dwelling barbarians were captured and enslaved by a group of power-hungry wizards.  Konig, a member of that barbarian tribe, was working in a silver mine when he dug through to a big cavern where he found [a magic item that provides significant magic resistance].  What happened next is not clear, but it is known that Konig led the barbarians in a revolt against the magicians, who were powerless to stop them.

Konig is also associated with the magic sword Firebrand.  It seems that Konig recovered the sword from “the heart of an active volcano that went dormant for just three days every hundred years.”  Konig “returned it to the volcano just prior to his death.”  Page 14 indicates that the next dormant stage will be in 19 years.

Firebrand was one of four 'swords of the elements' which “were forged in ancient times by the legendary Elemental Lords so their chosen champions might do battle.”  Each sword is representative of one of the classical elements and their hilts are depicted in the image above.  How the swords were named is not explained in Treasure Vault, but I suspect that the Elemental Lords held a contest to see who could come up with the crappiest name.  The winner was Earthor, the earth sword; Aireon and Waterrel – the air sword and water sword respectively – tied for second place.  With the swords, the Elemental Champions were evenly matched against one another.  For whatever reason, the Elemental Champions were abolished and the Elemental Lords “allowed the swords to fall into the hands of mortals.”  The current possessor of Earthor is described as a detailed personality.

     ABNESS FROND.  Half-elf.  Ht: 5'6".  Wt: 130 lbs.  Age: 50.  Fighting prowess: good with any type of sword, otherwise poor.
     Abness is a fairly typical pre-middle-aged half-elf.  His hair is long, blond, and braided in the back.  His not-quite-human eyes are deep gray.  His slim body is quite muscular, particularly in the arms, shoulders, and chest.  Abness makes his living as a swordsman.  He does several different sword tricks, including fighting with a sword in each hand, juggling swords, and fighting three opponents at once.  He is taciturn and secretive, altogether an uncommunicative sort.  If pushed, he will reveal a little of his past and allude to “friends in high places.”
     Abness does indeed have friends in high places.  He has a natural rapport with birds.  He can speak with them, and they will obey his instructions to the best of their ability.  He is loathe to use this power in front of others, as he knows there are wizards who would love to dissect his brain to find out his secret method of communicating with birds.  He obtained Earthor when his best friend, an eagle, brought it to him.  He doesn't know where the eagle got it.

I would think that the ability to fight three opponents at once would be indicative of at least very good ability instead of merely “good.”  Anyway, in one 'scenario suggestion', the player characters “find out Abness' secret and are blackmailing him by threatening to turn him in to the Wizard's [sic] League.”  (Blackmailing a taciturn swordsman – or swordshalf-elf – who owns a powerful magic item and who can talk to birds is always a good idea.)  The other 'scenario suggestion' has the “birds...behaving strangely.”  When the player characters try to find the reason, they “stumble across Abness” and he attempts to protect his secret.  So, what's with the birds' behavior?  The 'scenario suggestion' does not explain.  As is evident, the 'scenario suggestions' have little to do with the magic item.  Although Abness is an interesting NPC, his connection to the magic item seems almost to be an afterthought.

The Elemental Lords could cooperate at times.  The Stone of Fire “was created as a joint effort of the Lords of Fire and Earth.”  In modern times, the stone came into the possession of “the great adventurer Paritobes Spring.”  For reasons not disclosed, Paritobes used the stone “to burn down the stables of the barbarian hero Konig.”  As a result, Konig evidently killed Paritobes and “The Stone of Fire has not been seen from that day.”  Konig would have no use for the stone since it “can only be used by those magicians who are able to cast fire-based spells.”

With regard to geography, the “Three Kingdoms” are mentioned twice in Treasure Vault (and are unlikely to be the Three Kingdoms from Chinese history).  The kingdom of Darkholm is referenced on occasion and may be one of the three.  The Orclands are also mentioned.  There are Dwarven Mountains, but there is also a remote Dwarf Island.

A Visit to the Treasure Vault (Part II)

Art by Stephan Peregrine

Stephan Peregrine's sole magic item contribution to Flying Buffalo's Treasure Vault (1984) is “The Spirit Boat.”  This item appears as a small carving; the cat-person depicted above is shown wearing it on a thong about his neck.  Supposedly, there are several Spirit Boats, but this Spirit Boat “is said to have been fashioned from a fragment that the god Hrong Hrong struck from the left tusk of the Star Behemoth (the great mystical monster that haunts the abyss between universes).”

The Spirit Boat is able to...

...at the command of its owner, assume the form of a full-sized sea canoe...In its expanded state, the Spirit Boat seems ghostly and transparent but is quite solid to the touch...this vessel can magically move without sail or paddle...It can easily sail (or fly) through the lower, middle, and higher astral planes.  However, it cannot travel to other universes or sail the skies of the material world.  And being a holy object, it will refuse to enter any of the demon-worlds.

More interesting than the magic item are the associated non-player characters.  First, we have Helga..

...a forest-witch and priestess of a coven of goddess-worshippers.  She has a vast knowledge of herbalism and natural medicine.  Her special talents include preparation of antidotes for rare toxins.  Helga owns a small farm and supplements her income by raising cart-ponies and by selling the occasional magic charm.

With regard to fighting prowess, Helga is “good with dagger, poor otherwise.”

One day, while looking for herbs in the woods, Helga came across a “strange cat warrior almost lifeless.”  This is our second non-player character, Prince Rrau, “an unintentional visitor from another universe [where]...His world is one in which cats have evolved into the dominant life form.”  (Prince Rrau received The Spirit Boat as a gift “from the cat-shamans of Smoke Isle.”)  It seems Prince Rrau “was a powerful wizard-warrior” in his home universe before “supernatural invaders...sorcerously blasted [him] out of his world.”  However,
“due to the subtle differences in the dimensional fabric, his magical powers are often ineffective or reduced.”  Of course, if I were a cat-person trying to impress a naïve forest-witch, that's exactly the sort of thing I would say.  “Yeah, I'm a totally awesome wizard-prince in my native universe.  My magic doesn't work here because of...uh...subtle differences in the...uh...dimensional fabric.  Yeah, that's it...dimensional fabric!”

Speaking of things I would say, no explanation is made of how Prince Rrau can communicate with the denizens of Helga's world.  We see in the picture above that he's wielding some kind of blaster gun; maybe he has a universal translator as well.  Regardless, Peregrine's drawing is special; if it was a black velvet painting, I would proudly hang it on my wall.

Anyway, the salient details for Prince Rrau are:

Ht: 5'11".  Wt: 170 lbs.  Age: young middle age.  Fighting prowess: excellent with rapier and similar weapons, otherwise very good all around.  Magic ability: uncertain.

We also learn:

     His weaponless self-defense technique approximates “tiger-style” kung fu (GMs may wish to add damage done by unsheathed claws).
     Sadly, he knows that his people must yearn bitterly for him to return.  This often subdues an innate good humor, but he finds spiritual strength by meditating on the god Hrong Hrong.  The only human Rrau completely trusts is his friend Helga; with other humans he is wary, being an alien in an alien world.

Naturally, Prince Rrau's “main goal is to find a way – through science or sorcery – to return to his world and destroy the enemies of his people.”  For her part, Helga “plans to help Rrau return to his world [and]...To this end she is resolved to advance as far as possible in esoteric magic and science.”

There are three “scenario suggestions” for The Spirit Boat.  Of course, since Prince Rrau owns the item, all of the scenarios involve him and Helga.  (They are “interlocked,” so to speak.)

In the first scenario, The Spirit Boat has been stolen.  Prince Rrau and Helga hire the player characters to recover the item from the “fanatical collector of occult objects” who hired the thief.

The second scenario starts with a “friendly nature-sprite” providing some information to Helga.  A wicked necromancer-king has plans to obtain The Spirit Boat.  (The player characters are supposed to be enemies of this necromancer.)  Rrau suspects that the necromancer has magic that will allow the feline prince to return to his own universe.  So, in a manner that the book does not detail, the “player characters enlist to help balance the odds in the upcoming confrontation with the necromancer and his army of spies and undead shock troops.”

With the third scenario, the player characters overhear Helga and Prince Rrau in a used bookstore.  While doing so, the PCs uncover information regarding the location of a secret library that was once owned by somebody “who may have known how to convert a Spirit Boat into a vessel capable of making the jump from one universe to another.”  On the basis of this scant prospect, the player characters accompany Prince Rrau and Helga because they know “that such a library might contain other information of extreme value.”  (This assumes that the PCs reveal the existence of the secret library to the cat man and the witch.)  Of course, “the road to the library leads through lands beset with plague, bandits, and civil war.”

To me, an obvious scenario would be the arrival of Prince Rrau's supernatural enemies in the campaign world.  They need to retrieve Prince Rrau for some reason; possibly to install him as a puppet ruler in his native realm so as to quell unrest.  The only way to track him is by detecting the Star Behemoth vibrations generated by The Spirit Boat.  The villains consider adding the campaign world to their list of conquests and the player characters get in their way.  Can an anthropomorphic wizard-prince cat, a bored looking forest-witch, and the neighborhood player characters thwart the diabolical depredations of extra-dimensional invaders?  Well, can they?!?

For some reason, I find Prince Rrau and Helga intriguing; maybe it's the gonzo concept.  Maybe it's that somewhere, there's a story – nay, a saga – of Rrau and Helga and their adventures.  Perhaps it exists only in Stephan Peregrine's imagination; perhaps Rrau and Helga were player characters in some long ago campaign; perhaps (Hrong Hrong help us) Rrau and Helga were protagonists in a badly written, never to be published novel.  Whatever the case, I want to know that saga; I want closure.  I suppose it's lost now, like tears...in...rain.

A Visit to the Treasure Vault (Part I)

Art by Stephan Peregrine

Treasure Vault – published by Flying Buffalo in 1984 – is one of the Catalyst Series of products.  The second page tells us, “Each book in the [Catalyst] series provides a 'catalyst to your imagination' – something to give your imagination a boost towards better gaming.”  Evidently, there were hopes that Treasure Vault would become a series of books along the lines of the Citybooks or Grimtooth's Traps.  This may be inferred from another statement on page 2, “Treasure Vault is Flying Buffalo's trademark name for those Catalyst game booklets which describe valuable goods and scenarios for use in role playing games.”  (my emphasis)

Anyway, the subtitle of Treasure Vault is, “a collection of 26 unusual items with 38 interlocked personalities in 57 suggested scenarios for any role playing system.”  The Introduction qualifies the claim of “any role playing system” with the clarification “at least those with a fantasy/medieval outlook.”  With regard to “interlocked personalities,” I guess “interlocked” is supposed to mean “associated.”  The Introduction also states:

Most of the items listed here have some sort of origin or background material involving “ancient history.”  If these clash with a particular system (for instance:  if your world has no orcs, there couldn't very well be an Orc War), change or delete them so that they fit.  Remember, change the item to fit the world, not the other way around.

Whew, what a relief!

Treasure Vault is mainly the work of Steven Howard whose other RPG efforts are limited to (1) a yawn-inducing 1⅓ page article in Dragon about monk alignment and (2) being one of the designers of the Millennium role-playing game.  Treasure Vault may have failed as a series because there was essentially only one contributor to the premier volume and only 40 pages of material.  Stephan Peregrine (listed as 'Stephen' on the cover) provides the illustrations and authors one of the items.  Peregrine has many art credits in RPG products and he seems to have written one of the items in Citybook II: Port o' Call.  Outside of the RPG industry, Peregrine is associated with the Furrlough comic book.  (Yes, I just linked to a wiki for furries.  No, I'm not going to create a 'furry' tag for this post.)

Despite the promise of 26 items, I count only two dozen items divided among three categories:  'Weapons and Armor', 'Jewelry', and 'Miscellaneous'.  There are seven weapons (and no armor items), seven pieces of jewelry, and ten miscellaneous items.  Perhaps two items were edited out in order for the book not to exceed forty pages.  Yet there are still 38 personalities and 57 suggested scenarios.  Let's take a look at one of the miscellaneous items, along with the associated personalities and scenarios.

Wildith's Quill is a magic pen fashioned by the eponymous alchemist.  Wildith has been dead for fifty years and although his “magical inks of various sorts are still widely used,” his quill is not well known and its magical properties would not be suspected by most people.  If normal, mundane ink is used, the quill can be commanded to transcribe dictation.  Other powers are dependent upon using special inks.  With linguist's ink, the quill can “translate between any two common languages.”  With wizard's ink, “magical spells can be written down, provided they are read aloud, of course.”  Cartographer's ink allows the quill to “draw an accurate map, in a given scale, of an area around the Quill, up to a radius of ten feet.”  Finally, with alchemist's ink, the quill is able to “keep track of a conversation involving up to seven people in up to seven different languages.”  Unfortunately, we are not informed as to what makes these inks special without the quill.  Cartographer's ink, for instance, “sells for 100 gold pieces per dram.”  Why would anyone buy it?  If no one would buy it, why would anyone make it?  Also, mapping an area of a ten foot radius wouldn't cover a the floor plan of a house.  A map of a nice, medium-sized room is totally doable...for 100 GP.  This might be another reason the Treasure Vault series didn't take off.

Two non-player characters are “interlocked” with this item:  Finniwac von Broch and Dorman Tweed.  The details for Finniwac are as follows.

Human.  Ht: 5'7".  Wt: 150 lbs.  Age: 39.  Fighting prowess: poor.  Magical ability: poor in C5.

As might be expected, Treasure Vault employs the Citybook 'system' of description.  “C5” refers to communication magic.  “Finniwac is a well-to-do alchemist,” we are told, “He is quite skilled and can easily manufacture any of Wildith's magic inks.”  I'm not sure how being “quite skilled” in alchemy equates to a poor ability in communication magic, but whatever.  “Finniwac is not a very likable fellow,” we also learn, “There's nothing really terrible about him; he's just anti-social.”

Dorman Tweed is Finniwac's apprentice.

Human.  Ht: 6'.  Wt: 205 lbs.  Age: 23.  Fighting prowess: average.  Magical ability: poor, C5.

As opposed to his master, Dorman “is handsome, friendly, and well-liked.”  He works for Finniwac in order “to put himself through magic school.”  His description concludes with, “He will readily befriend a party of player characters, especially one including an experienced magician.”

Three scenario suggestions are provided for Wildith's Quill.  In the first scenario, the PCs obtain the quill and figure out its powers.  They then go to Finniwac to procure some alchemist's ink.  (Because they want to record a multi-lingual conversation?  I hope this doesn't break anyone's campaign.)  Finniwac, however, needs a certain ingredient to make the ink – the eye of an undead wizard.  If the characters procure the ingredient, Finniwac will let them have a dram of alchemist's ink for free.  What a bargain!  In the second scenario, Finniwac hires the PCs to obtain a rare ingredient.  While fetching the ingredient, they find the quill.  “Finniwac might show them how to use it,” the book states, “and he might not, depending on his mood at the time.”  (I think this is supposed to be dramatic tension.)  In the third scenario, “The players are hired by Finniwac to retrieve the quill.”  Dorman Tweed is not mentioned in conjunction with any of the three suggested scenarios, so maybe “interlocked” isn't the right word.

The Ten Schools of Magic in Trollworld

From 1982 through 1997, Flying Buffalo produced a series of 'CityBooks' that detailed a variety of urban establishments – complete with maps, NPCs, and scenario ideas.  The covers displayed the phrase, “a game-master's aid for all role-playing systems.”  Today, we would just use the term 'system neutral'.  Given its generic nature, guidelines were necessary to adapt the CityBook to any given set of rules.  To this end, “a six-level coding system” of quality was implemented; each 'level' corresponding to a percentage range.

Given the diversity of magic systems in fantasy gaming, it is impossible to assign specific spells or powers to any magic-using NPC in CityBook.  However, spells or powers can be broken down into categories of magic, regardless of what game system you use. Mike Stackpole devised the “8C's System” in order to provide GMs with a better understanding of the magical capabilities of NPCs.  In this system, each “C” corresponds to a particular category of magic:  Combat (“used primarily in an offensive/defensive manner in combat”), Curative (“used to heal wounds, cure diseases, stop poison damage, etc.”), Clairvoyant (“used to detect things:  secret doors, magic, hidden or trapped items, etc.”), Conveyance (“Teleportation, levitation, flying, telekinesis spells, etc.”), Communication (“telepathy, translation, hypnosis, magic reading spells, etc.”), Construction (“uses matter or energy to 'build,' e. g. wall spells, protective fields, stone-shaping spells, etc.”), Concealment (“serves to hide or misdirect, e. g. invisibility, illusion, shape-shifting spells, etc.”), and Conjuration (“produces a condition or entity, e. g. light spells, weather control, demon-summoning spells, etc.”).

The recently completed Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls divides magic into ten schools (after the fashion of the Universarium of Learning in Knor).  According to page 100, “The ten schools of magic used in dT&T are directly derived from FBInc's Citybook publications.”  The schools are listed below.  The parenthetical names “are merely examples as are occasionally used in places like the Universarium (some openly, some mockingly behind the backs of the practitioners...).”

• Clairvoyant (College of the Illuminated Mind)
• Combat (Academy of Applied Force)
• Communication (Academy of the Echoing Forum)
• Concealment (The School You Don't Know About with the Classrooms You Can Never Find)
• Conformation (School of Bodily Functions)
• Conjurations (School of Creative Invitations and Reality Realizations)
• Construction (The Technical College of Fabrincantations)
• Conveyance (The Exalted Union of Hod and Cask Translocation)
• Cosmic (Esoteric Lyceum of Splendiferous Wonderment)
• Curative (The Caring Ones)

Obviously, the two additional schools are Conformation and Cosmic.  The Conformation school includes...

Spells that can alter shape, form, makeup, or attributes of living beings (although some undead magic also falls into this category).  Shapeshifting spells that actually alter the body fit here; illusions of same fall under Concealment.

Cosmic magic regards...

A broad alteration of reality, and (because every scheme of magic needs one) this is also the dump category for things that doesn't fit anywhere else.

In the 8C system, the Conjuration category served as the repository for misfit spells.

Tunnels & Trolls without Tunnels or Trolls

Art by Michael Kucharski

As an employee of Flying Buffalo, Michael Stackpole was exposed to Tunnels & Trolls.  His experiences inspired him to adapt the T&T system to 'modern' genres of adventure, specifically “detective, spy and mercenary fiction.”  So, in 1983, Flying Buffalo published the descriptively titled Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes.  (Personally, I would have gone with Guns & Gumshoes.  Would you believe Mysteries & Mayhem ?)  The back cover proclaims, “This is a unique role playing game which can be set from the earliest use of gunpowder to the near future with its ultramodern technologies.”  While statistics are given for 16th Century firearms, MSPE is better suited for more recent eras.  The “near future” is not specifically addressed.  Aside from contemporary characters, there are sample characters for the 1930's and even the 1880's (including Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty).

When a T&T character gains an experience level, there may be a windfall of attribute increases  Improving attributes in MSPE is more moderate; at each level, a character can improve one attribute by two points or two attributes by one point.  (BTW, Holmes is seventh level, Watson is fourth.)

There are no character types/classes in MSPE; beyond differences in attribute scores, skill portfolios make characters distinct from one another.  I previously wrote about Stackpole's skill system, at least as it relates to T&T.  In essence, a character's Intelligence determines the number of skills the character can have.  (This seems reasonable, except aristocratic titles and 'psychic' skills are purchased no differently than 'normal' skills.)  Unlike T&T, where weapon use is based on character type, MSPE characters must purchase combat skills in order to be competent with weapon groups or fighting styles.  Each skill starts at level one.  Additional levels can be acquired during character generation by spending additional skill points; however, during play, skills can only improve via experience (i.e., 'adventure points').  Naturally, characters earn adventure points, but points are also specifically assigned to skills when they are used during an adventure.  According to the rules, “There should be no other way for skills to pick up APs.”  Anyway, upon earning one thousand adventure points a character advances to level two and when a skill's total assigned experience reaches one thousand, the skill becomes level two.  So, instead of just tracking experience for a character, a player is obliged to track the character's experience as well as separate volumes of experience for each skill.

Although I do not think this is a good way of handling skill improvement, I could at least appreciate it if it was consistent...but it's not consistent.  'Martial Arts' skills are improved not by experience gained during an adventure, but only through training.  One might think that many skills (e.g., Pilot, Medic, Slight of Hand, et al.) would benefit as a result of training – much like what happens in  real life – but this is not so in MSPE.  Beyond meeting attribute requirements and spending one skill point, a character can obtain up to five levels in a martial art by training.  In MSPE, “training” equates to an outlay of money; five levels equals $1,400.

'Psychic' skills cost three points each.  There are six possible skills:  psychometry, telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, telepathy, and empathy.  A player does not choose a specific 'psychic' skill; the skill is determined randomly.  A saving roll modified by Intelligence resolves whether a psychic skill is latent or controllable.  Alas, no rules are provided to allow a latent skill to become controllable with experience.

Combat in MSPE is handled much like combat in T&T, except MSPE does not use two-minute combat turns.  Combat Rounds in MSPE last for thirty seconds – except Missle-Weapon Combat Rounds only last for fifteen seconds.  Oh, and “Movement takes place in 15-second increments...”  Why not have combat rounds of a consistent, standard duration?  I guess that wouldn't be realistic.

From the foregoing, one might assume that I dislike MSPE.  This is not the case.  I agree with another statement from the back cover, “...MSPE is elegantly simple, easy to learn, and most of all, fun to play!”  I object to those rules facets that – in my opinion – mar the elegance of the system. It is because I like the system that I find these errant facets frustrating.  “Contradictions and inconsistencies can destroy a campaign,” Stackpole writes on page 77; they can also reduce the appeal of an otherwise competent rules system.

To end this post on a positive note, I commend 'Book 2' (of 3) of the rules, “Introduction to Scenario Design.”  The 'Hit Location' and 'Car Crashes' sections really belong elsewhere in the rules, but the rest is top-notch advice on creating  adventures and campaigns in the MSPE genres, with a special emphasis on formulating and running “mysteries.”  After all, a mystery needs a degree of finesse not often required in a typical dungeon romp.

The Second Pandora

Art by Liz Danforth

Contemporaneous with the publication of Empire of the Petal Throne, Tunnels & Trolls was “...perpetrated on an unsuspecting world.”  Which game is the “second” role-playing game is a matter of debate.  Regardless, both games are important in the history of the hobby and each has a distinct reason for being.  It is my belief that EotPT is more of an adaptation of D&D while T&T is more of a response to D&D.

Professor Barker saw D&D as a way he could express his invention, Tékumel.  The most important part of EotPT is, of course, the setting.  However, Barker did not use Tékumel as a backdrop for D&D ; he crafted his own rules.  Admittedly, they were “inspired” by D&D, yet he chose to implement certain changes not as a consequence of the setting, but because he felt the changes resulted in a better game.  I mean changes such as (to name a few) percentile characteristics, the workings of magic, and the introduction of skills.  Just as Tékumel was an artistic endeavor, so was the game.  Barker had a career; he didn't expect to make a living off of Empire of the Petal Throne.  The changes he implemented represented an intellectual exercise equivalent to artistry.  Esthetics applied to game design?  Gygax thought so.  He wrote in the foreword for EotPT, “I simply state that it is the most beautifully done fantasy game ever created.”  Sure, Gygax had an interest in promoting the game; his company published it.  Still, there are many things Gygax could have written, yet he chose to describe the game as he did – as a thing that (in terms of beauty) surpassed his own creation.

One of the earliest versions of Tunnels & Trolls is currently available as a PDF.  In the introduction (technically it's a section called “Troll Talk”) Ken St. Andre states:

The people who created the game that T&T reacts against did the whole gaming world a tremendous favor in their pioneering of certain original concepts that all of role-playing gaming is based on.

It has been my impression that many gamers disdain Tunnels & Trolls.  I think they consider T&T to be a “rip-off” of D&D ; that T&T is an affront to the original role-playing game.  This is an unfair notion.  Quality and innovation are the products of diversity and competition.  Besides, in terms of actual “rip-off,” TSR did not have clean hands given their improper use of the intellectual properties of Tolkien and Burroughs.

As St. Andre indicates, Tunnels & Trolls is a reaction to D&D.  He recognized the wonderful potential of RPGs and tried to make a game that was more accessible than D&D.  While Barker focused on artistry, St. Andre focused on practicality.  To this end, he created a game (1) with a lower price, (2) that required only 'normal' six-sided dice as opposed to exotic polyhedrons, and (3) eschewed the complexities with which D&D was fraught.  While less complex, the rules were not altogether intuitive, even for people with D&D or wargaming experience.  Yet T&T continued to be developed and refined and, even now, “Deluxe” Tunnels & Trolls is in the works.  Regardless of it's longevity, Tunnels & Trolls let the genie out of the bottle or – perhaps more accurately – opened Pandora's box a second time.  D&D no longer had the field to itself; yes, Gygax and Arneson were the 'pioneers', but now the frontier was open to other creative efforts.  Among those efforts was RuneQuest, a game that diverged further still from the D&D paradigm.

RuneQuest dedication