Psychic Powers in Doctor Who

In Doctor Who, psionics is the study of psychic powers.  Psychic powers themselves come about through an innate ability to manipulate three special forces which have not been tapped (and, indeed, are largely unknown) to Tech Level 5 science:  artron energy, the lifeforce and fictional energy. 

Artron energy is generated within (or by) the space-time vortex, and is difficult to fully understand even for  a Tech Level 9 civilization.  Creatures that pass through the vortex gather artron energy around them, and artron energy can escape through thin points in space-time where the vortex is closer, as well as actual rifts in the fabric of the universe.  The rift in Cardiff, and the Untempered Schism on Gallifrey, leak artron energy.  Individuals who grow up close to those rifts — or who are strongly exposed to them as children — sometimes develop psychic powers.

The lifeforce is energy generated by all living things, infused with the living down to the molecular level.  The degree to which the lifeforce interacts with a potentially living thing is the difference between being alive or being dead.  Yet, even dead creatures that were once alive maintain reserves of this energy for a long time, or their bodies would collapse into a fine powder.

Fictional energy is a 6th dimensional energy source, which is directly related to probability and creativity.  Fictional energy is not fully understood even at Tech Level 10, except perhaps by creatures such as the Guardians of Time and the Trickster.  All storytelling and imagination utilize fictional energy, but massive uses of fictional energy to create psychic effects usually require very powerful psychics (and can create ionic discharges).

These energy types interact with each other.

The lifeforce and artron energy are entangled (similarly to the way in which quantum particles can be entangled, but with a more widespread and far-reaching implications) but, unlike quantum particles, have properties that can be decoded or programmed by their connections to fictional energy. 

In some cases, primitive creatures devise rituals in order to harness fictional energy to encode, decode, and manipulate these energies.  The science of psionics seeks not only to interpret the purposes of these rituals, but also to understand, harness, and manipulate these energies without the constraints or uneven results of ritual.

As with every type of energy, creatures have evolved to consume artron energy, fictional energy, and even to consume the lifeforce directly, although these creatures are thankfully rare, and usually come from (or have access to) other dimensions or universes.

True artificial intelligence requires a connection to the lifeforce, and allows the intelligence to potentially access psychic powers (as with BOSS and WOTAN). 

At Tech Level 7, it is possible to create materials that can hold or react to the lifeforce and artron energy (even if artron energy is not fully understood), thus enabling the creation of products such as psychic paper and the telepathic pendants of the Arcateen.

Fantasy Heartbreakers & What I'm Working On

Dausuul's Fantasy Game (aptly entitled "Heartbreaker") was announced, and is available for free download here:  http://www.mediafire.com/?2cm04w2ehh9m6ie

If you are interested in Raven Crowking's Fantasy Game, the compiled system-as-it-stands can be downloaded here:  http://www.mediafire.com/?om36l1vc23p7f6d – be aware that the OGL may need to be updated, as there is material that I have added since work on that section.

I have been working on RCFG for what seems like a very long time now, as some of you may be aware.  I have also recently been working on the first persistent campaign setting for RCFG, working on the megadungeon known as the Dungeon of Thule.  I am going to post two encounter areas below, but if you have any intention of playing in this game (online or offline), I would advise you to skip the following.

I am also still eagerly awaiting Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, which, if all goes well, I should have the pre-release pdf of this week or next.  No word on the exact date is yet forthcoming…..I’ll be reviewing the game here.

2.  Hall of the Skull Cairn:  The passage leads into a room, some 30 feet north-to-south and perhaps 50 feet east-to-west, with an archway indicating a passage in the centre of each wall.  The room is dusty, with scraps of bone, rags, and similar debris scattered along the walls and corners.  About 10 feet in front of the western archway is a cairn of heaped skulls – humanoid and animal – that reaches to a height of about 3 feet.  The room is barrel-vaulted to a height of about 15 feet.

The cairn was a territorial marker for the Skull Heap goblins, which inhabited this section of the dungeon long ago.  The skulls are mostly those of goblins, dire rats, and the like, although a few are very small humanoid skulls (from mites), and there are one or two human skulls as well.  The skulls are ancient – most have been here for decades or centuries.  If the cairn is disturbed in any way, it will be reformed 1d6 days later, when no one is about, by the goblin spirits who still inhabit this area. 

If, however, the skulls are destroyed or taken away, the goblin spirits become angry, and 1d6 days later creatures passing anywhere in Areas 2 to 40 will begin to hear the almost inaudible muttering of goblin voices, which will grow louder over the next 1d6 weeks.  Eventually, the first goblin spirit incorporates and places the first fresh skull (a fully intact head, use the Wandering Monster chart to see what type) to build a new cairn.  Thereafter, groups of 2d6 goblin spirits will be encountered as Wandering Monsters (1 in 6 chance; if not, use the normal chart), working at severing heads until the cairn is rebuilt.  This will continue until all cairns (Areas 2, 41, and 85) are restored, the undead goblin witch doctor in Area 29 is destroyed, or the goblin spirits are exorcised or slain.  There is a potential pool of 123 goblin spirits.

During this period, the whole area becomes attuned to the Necromantic spell source, at first faintly, and then strongly.  When the muttering is heard, spells cast from the Necromantic spell source are cast at +1 Caster Level.  When the goblin spirits are able to manifest, these spells are cast at +2 Caster Levels, and can be cast using the ambient necromantic energy (not using the sorcerer’s spell slots).  These effects end when the cairns are rebuilt, or when the undead are otherwise removed.

Goblin Spirit (Small Undead):  Mv 20 ft.; AC 14; Init +2; HD 1d6; Att 1 short sword (1d6); SA None; SD Semi-corporeal (can turn incorporeal to flee or manifest to start encounter), silver or magic weapons to hit; SQ darkvision 60 ft., powerless in daylight; SV (Fort –2, Perc +0, Prow –2, Reas –1, Refl +2, Will +0); ML 10; XP 18 + 1/hp.  Skills:  Intimidate +4, Stealth +10, Theft +4.

123 goblin spirits:  Hp:  2, 6, 1, 5, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 2; 3, 6, 3, 2, 1, 2, 6, 4, 5, 4; 5, 6, 1, 2, 4, 1, 6, 6, 4, 4; 6, 5, 3, 2, 5, 4, 3, 4, 4, 1; 4, 5, 2, 6, 6, 6, 3, 6, 4, 5; 6, 5, 3, 2, 5, 4, 3, 4, 4, 1; 5, 2, 5, 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 5, 2; 2, 5, 2, 6, 6, 3, 3, 1, 3, 5; 3, 2, 3, 1, 6, 1, 6, 5, 1, 5; 5, 4, 1, 1, 6, 6, 2, 6, 2, 4;  5, 1, 5, 3, 3, 6, 1, 1, 4, 3; 2, 1, 1, 5, 6, 1, 2, 5, 6, 3; 6, 4, 5.

51.  Temple of Osiris:  Inner Fane:  Mildly attuned to Celestial (+1 CL) and Eldritch Horror (+2 CL) Spell Sources.

This area is 15 feet high, the ceiling upheld by thick pillars that march in three rows, along the walls and along the centre of the area.  These pillars were carved as though they were living trees, but they seem twisted and fungal somehow.  Thick webs are strewn between the pillars, along the walls, in the corners, and along the ceiling.  The walls appear to be tiled with green, blue, and yellow tiles, but some sheen of iridescent colours seems to be growing across it, like a thin layer of slime.

The walls are cool and slimy to the touch.  Any creature touching the slime begins to glow softly at night with a strange, iridescent hue, after 1d6 days.  At this time, the character must attempt a Fort or Will save (DC 20).  If the save succeeds, the glow fades over the course of another 1d6 days.  Otherwise, the glow is permanent, and the character suffers a random mutation that manifests during the next 2d12 days, with a +20 on the roll.  Repeated exposure causes repeated effects, and each repeat causes the roll to be made at an additional +5.  If the slime is actually tasted, the roll has an additional +10, and there is no save.  If taken from here, the slime dwindles and disappears over the course of 1d8 hours.

Because of the webs (which do not burn), movement here is at half speed, and creatures cannot run or charge.

Within this area lurk eight spiders of Leng, man-sized spiders that can pretend to be human by wearing yellow robes that conceal their features, with four legs acting like “legs” and four acting as “arms”, each “arm” or “leg” being in fact two legs.  They can speak with thin reedy voices, and know all languages.  Indeed, these spiders are fed information from the Akashic record, and have Knowledge +20 in all things.  They also, therefore, know specific things about characters, their families, their fears, their hopes, and their weaknesses.  They claim to be temple priests of Yog Sutehkis, and will answer many questions and promise many things to avoid allow characters near Area 52.  When not pretending to be human, they can climb in this area at full speed.

Spider of Leng (Medium Aberration [Eldritch Horror]):  Mv 30 ft, Climb 20 ft; AC 15; Init +4; HD 4d8+4; hp 20, 18, 20, 12, 29, 20, 15, 24; Att 1 bite (1d6); SA poison (Fort DC 20, 2d6 damage for 2d6 rounds), webs (entangle DC 25); SQ darkvision 60 ft.; SV (Fort +4, Perc +12, Prow +4, Reas +12, Refl +8, Will +12); ML 9; XP 235 +1/hp (255, 253, 255, 247, 264, 255, 250, 259).  Skills:  Climb +10, Knowledge (All) +20, Stealth +10.

Dragonsfoot Down?

The forums at Dragonsfoot seems to have gone down overnight, so I am obviously extending a grace period for my Barrowmaze play-by-post.

Speedy recovery, gents!

Barrowmaze PbP

http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=55308

Having just picked up Barrowmaze and read it in a cursory fashion, I thought it would be fun to run as a rather leisurely pbp.  If you are interested, the link is above.  No number of players is too many, I should think, but if there are fewer than four people interested, I'll probably give it a pass.

When my advanced pdf of Goodman Games DCC RPG arrives in my email, I'll be happy to set up another Barrowmaze group under that ruleset.

RC

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

Well, my interest in the Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG peaked when they set up a sweet pre-ordering deal.

Last summer, I went to Dueling Grounds in Toronto for Free RPG Day, and picked up the DCC RPG starter module.  Sweet.  There were not many stores doing Free RPG Day in the area (DG is the only one I know of), so I wanted to support them.  I bought some product there, and I placed my pre-order through them.

As a result, I will be running a DCC RPG event at Dueling Grounds on this year's Free RPG Day.  If time permits, I am planning on running two events for this system.  I will post more details here as they become available!

John Carter of Mars

If you don’t want spoilers, or don’t want to read my rambling about movies, skip it.  Because this post is going to contain spoilers.  And it is going to ramble.  You have been warned!

I had been burned by so many bad Batman films that, when Batman Begins hit the theatre, I decided to wait for the DVD.  It wasn’t until the context of Dark Knight that I really began to kick myself for that decision.  I simply wasn’t ready to accept another Batman film at the time for what it was.

Leaping on the bandwagon for John Carter seems to consist of jumping upon it with both feet and the benefits of Mars’ reduced gravity to kick it in the guts.  I won’t be doing that here.  Overall, I was pleased by John Carter.  I will have a few complaints, though, so bear with me.

My first impression is that we are treated to a full story, which is thankfully becoming more common again as time goes on, thanks in large part (I think) to the success of film projects like Lord of the Rings.  A full story is appreciated from this quarter, at least.  I think those in the “too much exposition” crowd have become used to the Hollywood shorthand-instead-of-story, and there is still a very active trade in this sort of film making.

John Carter does suffer a bit from two current Hollywood trends:  (1) everything must be bigger and badder, and (2) the reluctant hero.  

As to the second, John Carter as Edgar Rice Burroughs envisioned him is anything but a reluctant hero.  I understand the attraction of a Bilbo or a Frodo, who has adventure thrust on them without necessarily seeking it, but the ERB heroes tend to be more empowered than that.  This film shifts empowerment to Deja Thoris in a way that works, but I feel that the same could have been accomplished without making John Carter reluctant to get involved.

As to the first, there is actually very little of it in John Carter.  The white apes are larger than I remembered them from the novels, but not by much, while the banths seemed smaller.  Of course, the banths are dead, while the white apes are alive when introduced.

What to do with the therns?  In the original work, they were the priesthood of Barsoom, feeding off the dying carcass of the planet like yellow-wigged parasites.  The relationship between the therns and John Carter’s arrival on Barsoom isn’t from the novels, but it works as an extrapolation…including the idea that the therns are preparing their control of Jassoon to feed off when Barsoom is at last truly a dead world.  They are definitely “bigger and badder” than they were in the novels, where the greatest resistance to their overthrow is social and political.

Exactly what motivates the therns in this movie is unclear, and that is an unfortunate flaw.  But I do like the idea of the therns as a series enemy, and it seems likely that we shall see them again in Gods of Mars.  I did like the use of the therns to make the frame story from the novel (involving Edgar Rice Burroughs being made the guardian of John Carter’s remains) a larger part of the overall story.  In a continuing film series, the therns could also then be tied into the invasion from Jupiter that marks ERB’s last work on the John Carter series, and could be tied as well into a series about ERB’s moon adventures.

The green Barsoomians (the Tharks and Warhoon) are very well realized in this film.  The locking of tusks in challenge was well done.  The four arms are used with body language that pairs arm motions both as above-and-below sets, and right-and-left sets, depending upon context.   Likewise, the white apes, the calot (Woola) and the thoats.  Willem Dafoe, as Tars Tarkas, is nigh perfect.

I had expected to dislike the red Barsoomians, because they looked rather like normal Earth-types on the trailers.  However, when viewing the film, there is a definite red cast to their skin and their blood is as blue as that of the green Barsoomians.  I would have liked to have mention of their being oviparous in the film, including perhaps sight of the egg that would hatch into Cathoris.  I found the red Barsoomians well cast, with special note to Deja Thoris and Kantos Kan, who are, of course, important to the series as a whole.  Kantos Kan seems to be a model ERB hero in this film, demonstrating a sense of humour, a willingness to accept whatever comes, and a clear head every time he is on screen.

(Note:  There is a lot more skin in the ERB novels – both male and female – than in the film.  If the film followed the Martian clothing fashions of ERB, it would have received an R rating for sure!  There is also a good bit of gender stereotyping and gender role inequality in the novels that is quietly removed from the film, where de-sexualized female warriors stand side-by-side with de-sexualized male warriors.  Not so the original novels, which are, frankly, overtly sexist by modern standards.  The vast majority of ERB’s work dealt with relations between men and women from a very sexist viewpoint, and the unnaturalness of clothing was also a common theme.)

The action was good, particularly the scene where John Carter slaughters a great mound of the Warhoon.  The scene brought to mind Robert E. Howard’s Conan, as a direct literary descendent of the Edgar Rice Burroughs heroes (REH’s novel Amulric is very much a cross between John Carter and ERB’s Pellucidar novels).  The scene where John Carter hides by leaping up to a ledge area was reminiscent of ERB’s other great hero, Tarzan of the Apes.

There are people who mistakenly believe John Carter to rip off Star Wars, with its jed, banths, and padwars, but ERB’s novel, A Princess of Mars, was first published in 1917.  Star Wars is derivative of John Carter, not the other way around.  I applaud Disney for not changing things so that the link between ERB’s Barsoom novels and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars franchise becomes obscured.  Here’s a hint:  If the John Carter series continues, we may yet encounter a sith!

In the original novels, John Carter was immortal, having been apparently the same age as long as he could remember, with a memory that stretched back centuries.  The quest for immortality was of interest to ERB (he made Tarzan immortal twice), probably stemming from Edwin Lester Arnold’s 1891 novel, Phra the Phoenician. 

In the film, “Uncle Jack” remembers dandling a then young-adult “Ned” Burroughs on his knee (although John Carter seems to be less than 20 years older than Edgar), and he spends 10 years trying to find a way back to Mars without seeming to age in doing so.  Likewise, he appears to be the same age when he had a family in Virginia.  So there are tantalizing hints that the film John Carter may be as immortal as the novel John Carter.

Overall, I found that John Carter stayed true to the spirit of ERB’s Barsoom, even if it did not cleave to the sexist stereotypes of the era it was written in.  The film extrapolates well from the novel series, and sets up the therns well for a sequel (presumably Gods of Mars) wherein we will see John Carter as a truer ERB-type hero, committed to action from the first frame of the movie.

The visuals were very impressive, particularly the CGI work on the Tharks, Warhoon, and other Martian creatures.  The appearance changes of the Therns were very effective.  The screenplay was obviously written by folks who not only knew the original works, but who loved them.  There is quite a bit of “What can we extrapolate from this?” but very little of “Let’s make this, but make it BIGGER, BETTER, and DIFFERENT!!!!” that damages so many film translations. 

I felt that John Carter was worthy of both the time and cost to see it on the big screen.  Contrast this to the Lord of the Rings films, each of which I needed to see twice – once to grit my teeth and grimace through what had been done to the novels, and a second time to watch it for what it was, knowing how it was changed.

I give it a solid 7 out of 10, and would be more than happy to see Gods of Mars if and when it comes out.  I would love a Tarzan, Pellucidar, or Carson of Venus series that was as true to its source material, while being updated to modern sensibilities (just, please, don’t make Tarzan a reluctant hero!).

The Edgar Rice Burroughs novels intertwine in ways that would make these potentially all one big franchise – Tarzan, after all, went to Pellucidar, and there may be hints in Tarzan: The Lost Adventure (finished by Joe Lansdale) that the cave led not again to Pellucidar, but would allow John Carter-like transit to Barsoom.  Could what T:TLA describes as a praying mantis-like creature from Pellucidar actually have been a green Barsoomian from Mars?  Based on the way other ERB novels refer to each other, I believe that might have been what ERB had been planning.  Tarzan would have been the third earthman ERB had sent to Mars.

I feel that this movie is destined to be considered a classic of the genre in years to come.  John Carter isn’t a perfect film by any means.  Neither is Batman Begins.  But, when Gods of Mars hits the big screen, I am guessing that a few people will be kicking themselves for not having seen John Carter in the theatre when they had the chance.  This is a very enjoyable film for what it is.

Megadungeon Inspirational Links

Are you interested in creating a megadungeon for your campaign world?

Here are some links that I found, which may be of use to you:

http://beyondtheblackgate.blogspot.com/2009/08/megadungeon-design-and-philosophy-part.html  (This is a series of posts, with links to the next of the series at the bottom.  All of the posts in the series are worth reading.)

http://carterscartopia.blogspot.com/2011/02/megadungeon-design-philosophical.html

http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=8720

http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?p=504466 (If you follow no other link, I would encourage you to read through this thread.  It is excellent!)

https://panzerleader.wordpress.com/tabletop-tableaux/ (A number of interesting articles related to megadungeons and 4e.  Worth a look.)

http://www.philotomy.com/#creating_dungeon (Philotomy’s musings are well worth the read!)

http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=21819 (Links to additional resources.)

Some Resoundingly Good Advice for WotC

http://www.chubbyfunster.com/blog/2012/01/11/my-advice-for-wizards-of-the-coast/

Glad to point out something of interest.

Some Thoughts on the Relevance (to me) of 5e

Information about 5e has been slowly....oh so slowly....trickling in.  

Or “D&D Next” as WotC is calling it, presumably hoping that we will be playing it next, and also to minimize that this is yet another edition in a line following from 3e, 3.5e, 4e, 4e Essentials, and now 5e.  There is are thriving communities devoted to “D&D Previous”, be they Rules Compendium, Basic, White Box, Little Brown Books, 1e, 2e, or 3e…all in the form of the original prints or in the form of simulacrums.   The aspiration to make a “Rosetta Stone” edition is understandable.  That’s a lot of lost market share to tap into.

But, especially in light of the time (now years) spent working my own system into a presentable game, this all begs the question:  Will 5e be relevant to me?

There are a couple of questions that need to be answered in order to know:

First, is this going to be an OGL game?

Second, is this game going to offer a significant improvement over what I am playing?

As to the first question, 5e is not WotC’s first attempt to make a “lingua franca” of role-playing.  When 3e was announced, one of its important building blocks was the OGL.  The OGL made it possible for other designers, and other game companies, to feed into the same system, thus presumably driving sales of the D&D core books and other WotC products.

Sadly, in this writer’s opinion, WotC didn’t learn the lesson of the OGL.  IMHO, the OGL did its job initially, and, as long as WotC followed that initial plan, the OGL drove folks to buy their products.  I mean, there might be (for example) some really cool competing psionics systems, but unless they were Open Gaming Content, you were limited in how you used them.  So, the WotC psionics system predominated.  But, if you hated WotC psionics, there were other systems you could use without abandoning 3e altogether.  3e was, one might easily argue, the most commercially successful D&D edition since 1e.  Perhaps of all time.

The OGL also allowed WotC to build an edition of D&D that took advantage of the best OGC available.  Rather than coming up with what they did for 4e – and, let’s face it, design decisions should not be made on the basis of trying to limit applicability of the OGL in favour of a restrictive GSL – streamlining 3e’s clunky bits, making combat go faster, and divorcing the system from the necessity of the grid.  But as we all know, that’s not what happened.

Paizo has, IMHO, learned the lesson of the OGL that WotC first promoted, and later failed to retain.  Paizo, like many smaller OSR companies, has been extremely generous with its OGC, and, partially as a result, levered itself into a real contender for the 800 lb. gorilla in the room.  You don’t have to play Pathfinder as written; you can publish your house rules on the web for easy access for your home group, or so that you can play via forums or Skype with people across the globe.

Can “D&D Next” really act as a “Rosetta Stone” without this same flexibility?  I think not.  And I don’t think a generous “fan policy” is enough – that a company can make you pull your documentation (possibly effectively ending your campaign) in order to sell “D&D Next.5” or “D&D Nexter” simply will not cut it.  You are far better off playing Pathfinder, OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy, or any of a number of generously licensed (and often free) games.

Which brings us to the second question:  Is 5e going to be a significant improvement over what I’m playing now?

Based on what I’m reading thus far, the Magic Eightball reads “Outlook Doubtful”.  But there is no real way to know.  Most of what we have is hype backed by no substance at all, and a lot of questions from the designers.  The WotC playtesting is very different, in terms of transparency, than that done by other companies, such as Goodman Games and Paizo.

Yet, many folks in the Internet gaming community seem to believe relevancy, or interest, is a default position.  Let me be clear where I stand here:  My default position on any product, whether a television or a personal computing device, or a game system is “Not Interested”.  If a gaming company wants my money, they must make me change my position by actual information. 

Simply saying “Trust us; we know what’s fun!” isn’t enough.  It wasn’t enough with 4e.  It is not enough with 5e.  We need to not only know what you hope to do, but also how you hope to do it.

In conclusion, WotC deserves real kudos for re-releasing the core 1e books, and I hope to see more early era D&D released by them.  Some of the earlier modules, at the very least, would be very relevant to me.  The good words I am hearing about Barrowmaze are relevant to me.  The chance to playtest the Beta version of Goodman Games’ DCC RPG without signing away all rights to any comment I might make is relevant to me.

The relative Cone of Silence around 5e makes it less relevant.  The Cone of Silence around what the licensing structure will be makes it even less so.  It is hard not to be cautiously optimistic – and I am – but, right now, this is something that I’ll wait to read reviews on from those whose judgement I trust.

How about you?