So I've decided to start using the Blog to keep ideas and STUFF that I've made. First up is
PIRATES OF LENG
This was a creation of mine from...too long ago, really. It was a Game Chef idea, with some challenges such as "use these constraints on your system" and it just kinda...clicked in a weird, wild weekend. It's my motivation for making games--this worked out pretty well--imagine if I didn't limit myself? I keep looking at it and thinking I should really clean it up, so...maybe one day.
So yeah--have a free random game! Hopefully more will be inbound...soon...ish. Maybe.
So please, read it, enjoy it, play it--and if you do let me know!
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Monday, November 24, 2014
Random: Friggin' Cold & Movies where Ed Harris Plays God
So we got hit by wintery doom here last week (not Buffalo , with sub zero temperatures no matter which thermometer you use (well, not Kelvin...). This is in part why I didn't post last week--quite frankly, it kind of sucked my ability to do anything. It was that cold where your inner caveman says "No, seriously, we gotta get out of this or we're all going to die!" cold.
This was the first real cold this season, and it always hits me the same way. It's a bit depressing, the cold--makes things darker, feels lonelier and quieter.
And it got me thinking about how crappy life has to be in this world I've made. How that chill just smothers everything you do, and the quiet realization in my head of "ooo...weather just got set to hard mode". It made me realize that there was a lot of potential in that as a core of the people of this world--these were people who had lived for generations with that monster outside the walls.
No wonder things are getting bad in the Sanctum. It's been two hundred years with that chill desperation.
Then I saw this:
A new works cited--Snowpiercer. A lovely little movie about a bunch of survivors on a train in a frozen wasteland where there's no chance of survival in the frozen wastes and highly stratified society.
...sound familiar?
It also gives us the ever-popular line of Captain America talking about how he knows what baby tastes like, so there's that).
Mind, things aren't quite as bad for the poor people in my Tower--there's room to move, goods and materials, and trade. The same issues exist though--the system is built to keep a select few on top and a bunch of "unfortunates" on the bottom. Yes, this does lead to revolutions and violence from time to time, and yes this could easily read as a metaphor for current society, the writings of a number of Russian gentlemen, and whatever else you want to see. However, since I feel that RPG's aren't the best media for grandstanding and soap-boxing, I'll leave that to you and your table.
On a final note, I'm pondering expanding the blog to be a bit more useful to me as well in a few other ways. This will depend again on time and my ability to decipher blog controls, but...we'll see.
Have a great Thanksgiving this week!
This was the first real cold this season, and it always hits me the same way. It's a bit depressing, the cold--makes things darker, feels lonelier and quieter.
And it got me thinking about how crappy life has to be in this world I've made. How that chill just smothers everything you do, and the quiet realization in my head of "ooo...weather just got set to hard mode". It made me realize that there was a lot of potential in that as a core of the people of this world--these were people who had lived for generations with that monster outside the walls.
No wonder things are getting bad in the Sanctum. It's been two hundred years with that chill desperation.
Then I saw this:
A new works cited--Snowpiercer. A lovely little movie about a bunch of survivors on a train in a frozen wasteland where there's no chance of survival in the frozen wastes and highly stratified society.
...sound familiar?
It also gives us the ever-popular line of Captain America talking about how he knows what baby tastes like, so there's that).
Mind, things aren't quite as bad for the poor people in my Tower--there's room to move, goods and materials, and trade. The same issues exist though--the system is built to keep a select few on top and a bunch of "unfortunates" on the bottom. Yes, this does lead to revolutions and violence from time to time, and yes this could easily read as a metaphor for current society, the writings of a number of Russian gentlemen, and whatever else you want to see. However, since I feel that RPG's aren't the best media for grandstanding and soap-boxing, I'll leave that to you and your table.
On a final note, I'm pondering expanding the blog to be a bit more useful to me as well in a few other ways. This will depend again on time and my ability to decipher blog controls, but...we'll see.
Have a great Thanksgiving this week!
Monday, November 10, 2014
Garden Floors
Kind of a quick one this week.
Of all the needed elements to survive in the Sanctus, light may be the most important. With the skies covered by leaden clouds, natural light is just a fairy tale.
Outside of the Noble Estate Floors, it is the Garden Floors that are considered the most beautiful and valuable real estate within the Sanctus. These vital floors are the source of food for everyone within the Tower. Acres of soil were brought in from the best fields in the world, combined with the most reliable and sturdy seed the pre-Impact world had available.
Exiting the lift onto a Garden Floor is a bit surreal--suddenly stepping out onto a large field of wheat or a crop of trees is a bit jarring. Even more alien is the lighting--most of the eldritch costs of the Tower are for the expensive and ornate engines that run the Sunglobes--creations of crystal and gold that can emulate the light of the sun enough for crops to grow. Compared to the eternally shady regions of most floors, using only candle or hearth or witchlight to keep themselves illuminated, Garden Floors are brilliantly lit and warm.
It's always easy to spot the farmers of the Tower, being the rare few that tend to have actual tans. It is required by law for every man, woman, and child to visit the Garden Floors at least once a month for health (normally doing small duties and easy labor for that day)--a day most look forward to. Even though none of the people in the Tower now remember a sunny day, the feeling of warm light on your face is something that is remembered in the bones.
Every day farmers tend their fields and use the alchemical fertilizers and stimulants to let life thrive. Knowing that a failed crop could mean the death of thousands, the work is serious and detailed. The very best of Hortomancy and plant enchantments are used to keep the crops successful and healthy. Wood Elementals are summoned regularly to make sure that blights are stopped before they begin and the very core natures of the crops can be maximized to their penultimate effect. These crops have special properties to literally bless and keep the masses as healthy as they can, making sure the needed elements of life are imbued in each grain and fruit, or to create new varieties for noble consumption or Illuminated experiment.
As it's all artifical, the growing seasons tend to be constant, with a floor growing food for three months, taking two months of restoring the land with alchemicals, and then starting over again. Surpluses can be sold to other nearby floors, and most have their specialized
The majority of floors is used for potatoes, legumes and beans, and other staple crops. Wheat, oats, and rice are common enough for mass consumption but rare enough for them to be an addition to the diet and not the staple. It must be said that more of the wheat crops go to production of beers and whiskeys than may be strictly needed, but many would consider a stiff drink a necessity in these dark times. Fruit trees and vinyards bring rare treasures like apples, grapes, and citrus fruits. A few noble fields are even used to keep a steady supply of rarities such as tobacco and poppies for the elites to enjoy. Of course, in the dark places a diet of mushrooms and
IDEAS FOR GAMES
1. A blight has hit the garden, and crops are going to be slim. The other nearby floors have instituted a rough quarentine of the floor and the people the garden supports to "protect their own crops", and two village floors are already bracing for long months of near-starvation. The floor's mayor is worried for his life, the gangs are already starting to steal food and supplies, and anarchy and panic loom in the air. Can the characters help these people survive? Can they convince the other floors to help? Was the blight just bad luck, or was something more sinister underway?
2. The Hortomancers summoned a major elemental for the vinyard of Baroness Skaldi. She demanded the very best of her orchard for this year's vintage and...well...the Elemental broke its bonds. Now it's attacking anyone who goes out to tend the crops. The farmers and the Illuminatist are doing their best to keep this embarassing fiasco from reaching the Baroness's ears, but time is running out and there's a wild spirit-creature taking over an entire floor. They need this taken care of quietly.
3. It's a fine time in Cell 783, The floors are having their annual celebration of surviving another year and the famous spirit competition. The floors work to make the finest of their goods and competition is fierce. Sure, there's normally a few brawls and an occasional riot, but when master farmer and brewer Hartlett is found dead in the middle of the corn field, things take a darker twist. No one is going to murder a man to win the Best Whiskey of the Year award...would they?
Of all the needed elements to survive in the Sanctus, light may be the most important. With the skies covered by leaden clouds, natural light is just a fairy tale.
Outside of the Noble Estate Floors, it is the Garden Floors that are considered the most beautiful and valuable real estate within the Sanctus. These vital floors are the source of food for everyone within the Tower. Acres of soil were brought in from the best fields in the world, combined with the most reliable and sturdy seed the pre-Impact world had available.
Exiting the lift onto a Garden Floor is a bit surreal--suddenly stepping out onto a large field of wheat or a crop of trees is a bit jarring. Even more alien is the lighting--most of the eldritch costs of the Tower are for the expensive and ornate engines that run the Sunglobes--creations of crystal and gold that can emulate the light of the sun enough for crops to grow. Compared to the eternally shady regions of most floors, using only candle or hearth or witchlight to keep themselves illuminated, Garden Floors are brilliantly lit and warm.
It's always easy to spot the farmers of the Tower, being the rare few that tend to have actual tans. It is required by law for every man, woman, and child to visit the Garden Floors at least once a month for health (normally doing small duties and easy labor for that day)--a day most look forward to. Even though none of the people in the Tower now remember a sunny day, the feeling of warm light on your face is something that is remembered in the bones.
Every day farmers tend their fields and use the alchemical fertilizers and stimulants to let life thrive. Knowing that a failed crop could mean the death of thousands, the work is serious and detailed. The very best of Hortomancy and plant enchantments are used to keep the crops successful and healthy. Wood Elementals are summoned regularly to make sure that blights are stopped before they begin and the very core natures of the crops can be maximized to their penultimate effect. These crops have special properties to literally bless and keep the masses as healthy as they can, making sure the needed elements of life are imbued in each grain and fruit, or to create new varieties for noble consumption or Illuminated experiment.
As it's all artifical, the growing seasons tend to be constant, with a floor growing food for three months, taking two months of restoring the land with alchemicals, and then starting over again. Surpluses can be sold to other nearby floors, and most have their specialized
The majority of floors is used for potatoes, legumes and beans, and other staple crops. Wheat, oats, and rice are common enough for mass consumption but rare enough for them to be an addition to the diet and not the staple. It must be said that more of the wheat crops go to production of beers and whiskeys than may be strictly needed, but many would consider a stiff drink a necessity in these dark times. Fruit trees and vinyards bring rare treasures like apples, grapes, and citrus fruits. A few noble fields are even used to keep a steady supply of rarities such as tobacco and poppies for the elites to enjoy. Of course, in the dark places a diet of mushrooms and
IDEAS FOR GAMES
1. A blight has hit the garden, and crops are going to be slim. The other nearby floors have instituted a rough quarentine of the floor and the people the garden supports to "protect their own crops", and two village floors are already bracing for long months of near-starvation. The floor's mayor is worried for his life, the gangs are already starting to steal food and supplies, and anarchy and panic loom in the air. Can the characters help these people survive? Can they convince the other floors to help? Was the blight just bad luck, or was something more sinister underway?
2. The Hortomancers summoned a major elemental for the vinyard of Baroness Skaldi. She demanded the very best of her orchard for this year's vintage and...well...the Elemental broke its bonds. Now it's attacking anyone who goes out to tend the crops. The farmers and the Illuminatist are doing their best to keep this embarassing fiasco from reaching the Baroness's ears, but time is running out and there's a wild spirit-creature taking over an entire floor. They need this taken care of quietly.
3. It's a fine time in Cell 783, The floors are having their annual celebration of surviving another year and the famous spirit competition. The floors work to make the finest of their goods and competition is fierce. Sure, there's normally a few brawls and an occasional riot, but when master farmer and brewer Hartlett is found dead in the middle of the corn field, things take a darker twist. No one is going to murder a man to win the Best Whiskey of the Year award...would they?
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