More Elf Sex

It has been a full year since your humble host started this blog.  According to Blogger stats, “elf sex,” as a 'search keyword' phrase, has been responsible for more pageviews on this blog than any other search keyword.  So, in the interest of giving the people what they want, your humble host hereby presents passages from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans-Wentz. Today is appropriate “for the fairy-mounds of Erinn are always opened about Halloween.” (p. 288)

From page 294:

While Aedh was enjoying a game of hurley with his boy companions near the sídh of Liamhain Softsmock, two of the sídh-women, who loved the young prince, very suddenly appeared, and as suddenly took him away with them into a fairy palace and kept him there three years. It happened, however, that he escaped at the end of that time, and, knowing the magical powers of Patrick, went to where the holy man was, and thus explained himself:—‘Against the youths my opponents I (i. e. my side) took seven goals; but at the last one that I took, here come up to me two women clad in green mantles: two daughters of Bodhb derg mac an Daghda, and their names Slad and Mumain. Either of them took me by a hand, and they led me off to a garish brugh; whereby for now three years my people mourn after me, the sídh-folk caring for me ever since, and until last night I got a chance opening to escape from the brugh, when to the number of fifty lads we emerged out of the sídh and forth upon the green.

From page 112:

Lachlann’s Fairy Mistress.—‘My grandmother, Catherine MacInnis, used to tell about a man named Lachlann, whom she knew, being in love with a fairy woman. The fairy woman made it a point to see Lachlann every night, and he being worn out with her began to fear her. Things got so bad at last that he decided to go to America to escape the fairy woman. As soon as the plan was fixed, and he was about to emigrate, women who were milking at sunset out in the meadows heard very audibly the fairy woman singing this song:—

          What will the brown-haired woman do

          When Lachlann is on the billows?

‘Lachlann emigrated to Cape Breton, landing in Nova Scotia; and in his first letter home to his friends he stated that the same fairy woman was haunting him there in America.’

Of course, other search keywords have brought visitors to this blog.  One can easily appreciate how most of these search keywords led a person here.  However, your humble host occaisonally notices a peculiar term among the search keywords.  A recent and amusing example is “maps of unexplored regions of the Amazon.”  Because, you know, who needs maps of the explored regions?

'Kill Bill' Meets 'Escape from New York'

The third and last adventure in the Year of the Phoenix Adventure Guide has the title 'Beneath the City.'  In the prior adventures, the player characters learned of an impending Zoviet attack against the Nonnewaug Tribe of rebels.  This adventure is predicated on the PCs attempting to find and warn the rebels.  New York City was abandoned during the cataclysm and the Zoviets do not consider it cost effective to reclaim.  Thus, New York has become a city of ruins occupied by various small groups that are (normally) beyond the reach of Zoviet authority.  Because of increased rebel activity, the Zoviets have chosen “to make an example of the Nonnewaug rebels.”  As a result of “newly discovered discovered electronic detection methods,” the Zoviets know that the Nonnewaug are based on State's Island (formerly Staten Island).

The Nonnewaug stage a “test of loyalty” for the PCs.  Assuming they pass, the PCs are brought to State's Island where they attend a rebel War Council.  The Nonnewaug don't have time to evacuate before the Zoviet onslaught and – although they are “masters of guerilla warfare” – the rebels cannot hope to survive a direct attack from the assembled Zoviet forces.  While discussing options, the war council receives a report that the Zoviets “have set up a command center on the roof” of the Trade Tower.  Dietrick's illustration above notwithstanding, in Wixted's version of 2197, only one tower remains.

Anyway, the rebels devise a plan wherein the PCs journey – primarily via subway tunnels – through the wasteland of New York and destroy the Trade Tower with explosives they are to plant in the subway beneath.  The rebels will mount a diversionary attack to coincide with the collapse of the tower; therefore, timing is very important.

To get to the tower, the PCs must travel through the territory of someone Wixted has unfortunately named “Mac the Knife.”  Wixted doesn't provide much information about Mac – he's friendly with the Zoviets and he killed another NYC 'leader' in order to annex his territory.  The PCs don't encounter Mac during the adventure (at least there is no provision for meeting him); however, the PCs are ambushed by Mac's bevy of assassins.

          The Mac prefers using female assassins as they are, on the whole, more nimble and they are smaller so that they can fit through places that men would have difficulty going.
          The Mac also expresses a personal preference for female beauty, and his assassins are indeed beautiful.
          They are not stupid, and prefer flight to dying.  If outnumbered or losing, they fade back into the shadows, into the crawlspaces, and into the darkness, never to be seen or heard again.  The subway tunnels, especially, are their private domain.
          The assassin hides along the path of her intended victim.  At the appropriate moment (i.e., the target is within range, but hasn't yet reached the assassin's perch) a crossbow bolt is loosed.  Immediately afterwards, the assassin silently drops her crossbow and draws her knife, prefering [sic] the element of surprise.

Although only four assassins are present when they ambush the PCs, apparently there are a total of six – all of them represented by a single write-up.  Wixted does not provide them with names; the PCs are unlikely to learn their names.  For 'gamemastered characters' of this sort, Wixted recommends assigning a descriptive word for each.  “This reduces the tendency for the players to think of their opponents as numbers on a piece of paper,” Wixted notes on page 40 of the Adventure Guide.  The six assassins are identified as:  Silent, Tall, Blonde, Nimble, Deadly-looking, and Slender.

One of the ways Wixted tries to have Phoenix characters “come to life” is by means of a 'Personality Profile.'  A detailed examination of this concept is reserved for a future post; however, since they have the same write-up, Mac's assassins share an identical Personality Profile.  Their profile is:  Always Silent, Always Proud, Sometimes Sadistic, Never Cowardly, and Always Thorough.  They also share a passion for killing.

Shooting First

More Art by McQuarrie


A role-playing game based on a given intellectual property ought to be able to emulate situations from the source material.  It ought to be possible for characters in the game to do the same things that characters do in the source material; perhaps not beginning characters, but the game should accommodate the possibility of these circumstances and events.

In Star Wars (not 'Episode IV,' not 'A New Hope' – just Star Wars), there is some...interaction between the characters of Han Solo and Greedo.  In this post, your humble host speculates as to how the mechanics of Fantasy Flight's Edge of the Empire - Beta roleplaying game (hereinafter EotE-B) could be used to re-enact this scene.  Specifically, even though Greedo has a blaster leveled at Solo, the Corellian manages to surreptitiously draw his own blaster and successfully shoots Greedo without Greedo being able to retaliate.  Make no mistake – Han shot first.  Poor Greedo didn't fire at all.  It should be noted that realism – or lack thereof – is not at issue; if it happened in the movie, it should be possible in the game.

Essentially, Han fires a weapon.  Firing a weapon is an 'action' which a character can perform on his or her 'turn.'  The existence of a turn requires 'structured gameplay.'  As opposed to 'narrative gameplay,' 'structured gameplay' carefully measures time in terms of rounds and turns.

Events that occasion structured gameplay (e.g., combat) are called encounters.  At the onset of an encounter, 'Initiative order' is determined.  Each participating character makes a 'simple' skill check.  ('Simple' – in this sense – means that no Difficulty dice are added to the pool.)  Characters anticipating the encounter make a 'Cool' check.  (Cool is associated with the Presence characteristic.)  Characters not expecting the encounter make a 'Vigilance' check.  (Vigilance is associated with the Willpower characteristic.)  The character with the most successes goes first, with other characters going in order of descending successes.  Characters tied at a given number of successes go in descending order of advantage results.  No instructions are provided to resolve ties at this level (which I would imagine to be fairly commonplace).  Presence is a measure of “moxie, charisma, confidence, and force of personality.”  Willpower reflects “discipline, self-control, mental fortitude, and faith.”  (Perhaps your humble host is firmly entrenched in the 'old school' paradigm, but he would enlist Cunning for 'surprise' initiative and Agility for 'prepared' initiative.)

Without a doubt, Han is a Smuggler: Scoundrel.  The Smuggler: Scoundrel talent tree offers two instances of Rapid Reaction; one at the 5 XP level and one at the 20 XP level.  For each rank in the Rapid Reaction talent, the character may suffer a point of strain and add a success to his or her initiative check.  The same talent tree offers Quick Draw at the 5 XP level.  Normally, drawing a weapon counts as a 'maneuver,' of which there are a limited number in a character's turn.  With Quick Draw, drawing a weapon becomes an 'incidental' activity; incidental activities do not constrain a character's options during a turn.

Given the verbal tête à tête upon which Han and Greedo engage, Presence sort of makes sense for determination of initiative.  It's reasonable to assume that Han has more presence than Greedo and if anybody has the 'Cool' skill, it's Han.  Given the situation, Han would undoubtedly use Rapid Reaction to garner an additional success.   So, in terms of initiative, it's not surprising that Han prevails. 

Yet can we rightfully consider the resolution of the Han-Greedo confrontation to be a mere matter of initiative?  After all, Greedo is pointing a blaster at Han.  Page 129 of EotE-B stipulates that, under certain circumstances, “a character may even be able to perform a maneuver when it is not his turn.”  Although an attack is an 'action,' which is distinct from a 'maneuver,' page 131 mentions there are “abilities allowing [characters] to perform an action as a maneuver.”  Greedo would not seem to have such an ability, but having a weapon trained on a target ought to count for something.

Let us examine the circumstances of the event.  Han and Greedo sit at a table.  Han puts a leg up onto the table, thereby concealing his holstered blaster from Greedo's view.  In Greedo's line-of-sight, Han nonchalantly picks at the cantina's stucco with his left hand, thereby distracting Greedo from what he is doing with his right hand.  Han resorts to subterfuge to counter Greedo's advantageous position.

This can be construed as an 'opposed check.'  Han assembles a dice pool based on his 'Stealth' skill (which is associated with Agility).  The Ability and Proficiency dice that would normally compose Greedo's 'Perception' skill dice pool are instead converted to Difficulty and Challenge dice (respectively) in Han's dice pool.  ('Perception' is associated with Intellect.)  Given Han's efforts at obfuscation, a Game Master might downgrade one of “Greedo's” dice, thereby lessening Han's difficulty.  Han could even chip in a Destiny Point to upgrade one of the positive dice in his pool.

Once Han has 'won' initiative and prevailed on his Stealth check, “frying poor Greedo” becomes a rather routine use of a blaster.

Myrna Goes to the Post Office

As your humble host has indicated in prior posts, Martin Wixted imbued his game – Year of the Phoenix – with a considerable amount of flavor. Of course, this is commendable; however, if there can ever be too much of a good thing, that adage may well apply to what Wixted provides in Phoenix.

The Training Manual is a 48 page book providing details about character creation as well as an overview of game mechanics.  It is meant to be perused by players; as such, it maintains the pretense that the game is about 'space commandos' in 1997.  There is nothing to suggest that the game takes place in a post-apocalyptic future.  Unlike the Gamemaster Screen, the equipment list does not mention any guns made after 1997.  All of the examples and flavor text relate to the pre-generated characters as they undergo training for Space Command - Project Phoenix.  This is all well and good; however, there are superfluous details.  The 'centerspread' for the book consists of schematics for the Space Shuttle.  The back cover is a diagram of a space station – an apparently genuine NASA proposal circa 1986.  This is good stuff for the 'space commando' game that doesn't really exist.  The actual Phoenix game has no use for these 'props.'  Wixted could have substituted useful information (such as the Quality Results Table, a combat flowchart, character sheet template, etc.) without compromising the 'surprise' twist central to the game.

In a prior post, we discussed the flavor text related to the cataclysm; now we look at the other flavor text.  Page 2 of the Adventure Guide is a memo from 'Major Chernanko' to 'Colonel General Sadenjo' at headquarters.  (Wixted tells us on page 16 that a General Colonel is the Soviet equivalent of a Lieutenant General; perhaps that is Sadenjo's rank.)  The first part deals with an unidentified airship that crashed in the ocean.  (This is the Phoenix Shuttle.)  The major is concerned because the airship “demonstrates equipment possibly equal to, or slightly better than, that which we currently possess.”  (Technology has not yet resumed its pre-cataclysm level.)  The second part of the memo regards “difficulties” with the local populace.  “Executions were carried out, to little effect,” writes the major.  Because the executions were not effective, the major “has ordered the bombing of one of the larger villages.”  We are able to read the memo in English because a postscript (“Translated by Hugh Beaumont of the Dixies”) suggests it was intercepted by the resistance.

Page 10 of the Adventure Guide is a narrative about an average citizen named Myrna Greenwich.  We follow Myrna as she goes about her day, suffering the indignities imposed by communism.  First, she wakes in the midst of a power outage.  For the sake of exposition, she thinks about the frequency of such interruptions in service and she contemplates listing to her contraband radio.  At the Post Office, she must bribe a clerk to retrieve her mail.  Sadly, she has been denied a travel permit which would have allowed her to gain better employment.  Despondent, she imagines she is being followed by an operative of the CIA which, in this setting, is a subsidiary of the KGB.  She recalls that her brother disappeared after helping the rebels.  Her conversation with Henry the grocer takes place on two levels:  a loud, innocent discussion intended to fool 'agents' and an under-their-breath, covert discussion commiserating their fate under the oppressive yoke of communism.  When Myrna returns home to her building, she finds police officers ransacking a first floor apartment, the residents crying in a corner.  One of the police demands to see Myrna's papers and the contents of her bag.  He questions how she was able to obtain chocolate with a blue ration card.  This allows for an expository recollection of another police officer who took her ration card as well as her rubles.

One gets the feeling that Wixted didn't care much for communism.  In any event, he was successful at conveying a mood.  Unfortunately, the only audience was the gamemaster.  Yes, any half-way decent gamemaster would utilize the material in an attempt to convey that mood to the players but, in so doing, Wixted's enthusiasm is wasted.  With the bait-and-switch nature of the setting, Wixted tried to instil Phoenix with excitement – that was the selling point.  Sadly, the resultant, focused setting is the reason the game languishes in obscurity.  Given another setting, without the bait-and-switch, Wixted could have given us a lasting, viable game fueled by Wixted's passion for his creation.