All Kinds of Fun!
Lots of ideas to post, but either no time or energy. Apnea is getting the best of me. By the time I sit down to write on Saturdays, I am pure-t exhausted.
However, Spring Break starts Monday and the Summer is always not very busy at work. I hope more posts as a result.
Until then, I don’t know when I’ll be here. I have finished 80% of Etherflow. I have a new idea for Boston 1770 and the dawn of Golden Age type superheroes.
No, I won’t do the What If about Superman where he becomes King of England.
peridot – this green gem is the only one found in meteorites. It’s pretty rare on planets, but recently, there was been a rush to mine the asteroid belt. Large deposits of peridot are rumored to be there – some have found their weight in this precious gem.
This gem is precious because
The rush on the asteroid belt is bringing all kinds of new folks to the space between planets. Larger asteroids that have an atmosphere are springing up boom towns.
Unique Treasure:
Gold, platinum, and silver still have some value. It is particularly useful as currency on planets that do not have ether travel, yet.
One unique magical treasure item is the Gold of Many Faces.
Each coin in this chest is presumably from a different planet. Thousands and thousands of coins each have a different face on them. Each coin is unique.
Each coin also grants a boon or a curse to those that possess it. Regardless of effect, owning two or more coins negates their properties.
No one has assembled the entire treasure – it is scattered all over the etherverse, and more than likely, a few planes as well. It is rumored that assembling the entire treasure will grant its possessor limitless power.
folks-of-etherspace1Folks of Etherspace
hammershiphammership1
Maybe the aether is a bit different. Maybe outside of a planet, the thin line between the material plane and the ethereal plane disappears. AF ships travel more like ghosts through the ethereal plane to get from place to place. This removes the consideration of space junk and helps to explain potential collisions in space.
Just an idea.
The aether is the substance that exists between planets and other bodies in outerspace. It is the medium through which light and very small amounts of gravity flow. Like a great ocean, aetherspace has endless eddies and currents. Most notably, currents run to and from stars to planet sized bodies that orbit those stars. Stars also produce a solar wind that blows in all directions, not just along the paths of the aetheral currents.
Any aethership takes advantage of these currents as much as possible. Sails are also in use for tactical speeds and maneuvering. The main propulsion is provided by a vestibule, so named because it is a bridge between the world and the space between where all aetherships go. (a sort-of hyperspace) It is a specially crafted room on all ships.
More later.
You might call it M20 Spelljammer. Please don’t.
The thing is that no part of SpellJammer is or was Open Game Content. The d20 mini-game in Polyhedron 151 is great, but as stated on the first page, NOT open game content. 100% proprietary. Andy Collins’ site has references to material left out of the Polyhedron article, but all of that is also NOT open game content.
The name Spelljammer itself is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast. This post will not challenge that trademark. Other items of the setting are also trademarked and proprietary. I say this because SpellJammer cannot be used to reference the idea of magical spacefaring adventure despite the similarity in concepts.
As such, let me begin by saying I want to extend the M20 ruleset (including standard races and classes) to an extra planetary setting. The working title of this setting will be Aetherflow, abbreviated AF. I will attempt to write this from scratch using other M20 materials developed by others as well as my own ideas.
Considering the possibilities of what 3 six sided dice could produce, I realized that there were only three possible rolls that would generate an Ace.
Thinking that maybe eight sided dice are the way to go.
Part of this came from a desire to see all of a dragon’s stats. Limiting a red dragon to bite or breath seemed very limiting. Dragons are much more than that, they are a force to be reckoned with.
Another part comes from a desire to give back to a game system I love.
While I have a few minutes, wanted to jot down some ideas:
Nyoka – Supreme deity of dragons. Often referred to as Nyokala Dithi, the Story Dragon. Has three children known by various names:
Veles (the Shepherd) – God of the metallic dragons. Also known by other names.
Ket – Serpentine God of the Chromatic Dragons. Also known as Tiamat.
Isuan (the controller) – Aloof god of the gem dragons.
Sang is Nyoka’s avatar. He hold court over the Lung Dragons of the East.
Outside of Nyoka’s influence are the three Pearl Dragons. Their origins are a mystery.
They can take the form of a humanoid or a dolphin. Their scales are smooth and take the appearance of dolphin skin at all stages of their lives.
White Pearl – usually evil. Hates humanoids.
Black Pearl – usually good. Loves humanoids, especially elves.
Dark Pearl – usually neutral. Tends to be the studious one – more spells or psionic ability.
In the spirit of the new year and Yet Another ReOrg, all the sites hosted by me are being revamped. I plan on downloading the whole she-bang for a backup copy and moving stuff around. When it is done, this site will look the same.
Other changes for this site include a more narrow focus:
Main Focus for RPG games will be a focus on Microlite20 and Action! System only.
Bullet points
For other games, I hope to collorate with a friend of mine on his projects as well as a few of my own. My friend, Jeff, has created a board game of his own and has ideas for several CCG type card games. In addition to my own ideas, we hope that this collaboration will lead to better implementation of our ideas. (As a side note, ideas are a dime a dozen. What is important is implementation.
For the blog, I hope to post once or twice a week. Posts will vary to things like variant rules to existing games or combining games you may already own. Of course, I love card games, so be prepared for various Rook(TM), UNO(TM), or playing card variants.
Happy 2009 everyone. I hope to do more to serve the gaming community and, of course, build readership in the new year.
Rook(TM) and UNO(TM) are registered trademarks of Hasbro, Inc.
The device is a series of concentric half-circle attached to a central post. As it is played, an individual half-circle will rotate. Most of made of silver. (Gold ones can stand the wear and tear. Steel ones don’t have the perfect tamber.)
There are two versions. In version one, each circle represent one tone of one instrument. It doesn’t have to be the same tone every time. It doesn’t even have to be the same one within a given performance. Some purists prefer this form as they believe the sound of the instrument is ‘pure’. The second version of the instrument has one normal musical instrument per circle. For example, the first three circles would be violins, another two could be violas, one a double bass, etc. This version is more popular.
Based on INT score, a psionic player can manipulate one circle at a time. (Someone with score of 18 INT could play 18 circles simultaneously.
Talented musicians can even use it as a weapon.
In M20 terms, one hour of playing the instrument takes 1d6 hit points.
Sycarion Diversions is a sister site of pinakidion.*. pinakidion.* deals more with religious and writing topics. This site houses information on games. Specifically, this has information on card games, board games, and role-playing games. Card games and board games are a collaborative effort with my friend Jeff. Jeff has created and briefly marketed one board game and has idea for lots of others. Role-Playing Games are my bailiwick. I've been playing since I was 10 starting with the Mentzer Basic D&D box. I stopped playing in college, but recently renewed my love for RPGs. In 2005, I discovered the Action! System from Goldrush Games. Since then, I have also found Microlite20 and OpenD6. It's a good time to game.
For what it is worth, feel free to use anything that you see on the site. It is not copyrighted or even placed under a Creative Commons License. Part of the reason for this is that rules for games cannot really be copyrighted. However, the main reason is that the value of this site is the community I am a part of. Restrictions on ideas and games can delay innovation, even simple restrictions can be an impediment. Sure, I'd like a link and to be given credit, but that's up to the person.
The rest of the story can be found here.