All Kinds of Fun!
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.
After a lot of work on the main site (pinakidion), I have now moved efforts here. I will clean up posts, create a regular schedule, and integrate a wiki and forums.
More later.
Before a complete site rework, I wanted to mention a small rpg I saw advertised on a yahoo group.
Helix RPG appears to be a weird west setting that uses its own mechanic. The mechanic, as best I can tell, utilizes d12s and d6s. It’s still in beta testing.
Outside of that, I don’t know anything.
Someone on the list asked about a comparison to Deadlands. It will be interesting to see the contrasts.
No kidding. The website is here.
So far, negotiations for the teams is part-way finished. They are looking to have a 16 game season with no preseason. They are also incorporating a few changes similar to Canadian Football. Three point PAT from the 10 yard line, 4 point FGs from beyond 55 yards. No touchbacks or kneel downs.
Of more interest is an ability to ask the commissioner a question. I asked this morning about the availability of the old USFL stats. I suggested that publishing those stats in detail would be something that could add interest to the new league.
What I did not say is that the few of us that enjoy football board games could make teams for the various games. I doubt that Paydirt teams could be created, but maybe STATS has play by play information from the old USFL. (who knows?)
Keep an eye out for 2010. The new USFL is coming. Hooray!
Just a note to keep my place:
The offensive dice are:
Black die: 1-2-2-3-3-3
White die: 0-0-1-2-3-4
White die: 0-1-2-3-4-5
The defensive dice are:
Red: 1-1-1-2-2-3
Green: 0-0-0-0-1-2
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.