A Role Playing Games Blog
Archive for April, 2009
Ad Astra: Major Factions of the Omega Centauri Cluster
2April 11, 2009
Last time, you learned how thing came to pass, now I want to give you some details on one the major factions of the Omega Centauri cluster.
THE STAR OCEAN OF OMEGA CENTAURI
In the 8th century NR (New Reckoning) the Gaians and their descendants have colonized hundreds of worlds all over the Omega Centauri cluster which they now call the “Star Ocean”. In the last hundred years several factions have emerged that now coexist more or less peacefully.
The Gaian Republic
The Gaian Republic is still the most influential nation in the Star Ocean. The Gaians are a peaceful people who value science and philosophy but they are not afraid to take up arms if their liberty and peace is at stake. The Gaian Republic is currently ruled by Administrator Arlen Coronaar of the Technologists party.
The Tovenaar Empire
The Tovenaar Empire is the complete opposite of the Gaian Republic. It’s a militaristic state that is ruled with an iron fist by the General-Emperor Arbach Tovenaar. Currently the empire is struggling with an uprising along their rimward border but it’s only a question of time until the Tovenaari start expanding again.
The SpaceCorp Corporate State
SpaceCorp Industries is the largest manufacturer of space ships and heavy machinery in the Star Ocean. Eventually they were granted “extraterritoriality”, which means that any land owned by the corp is sovereign territory and immune to any laws of the nation within. Its employees are corporate citizens. With the acquisition of the Kobe colony SpaceCorp became another sovereign state. Current CEO is Moriann Sakata. SpaceCorp tries to stay neutral in most conflicts, but has cordial relations with the Gaian Republic.
The Akkathon Federation
The Akkathon Federation is a loose alliance of worlds in the space between the Gaian Republic and the Tovenaar Empire. They have lost several systems during the last Tovenaari agression.
The Federation doesn’t meddle in internal affairs of their member states and every world has its own laws, customs and military. But all member states work together in times of need.
The Psitech League
The Psitech League started as a worker’s union for espers. In the 8th century NR almost all espers or psitechs as they prefer to be called, are members of the Psitech League. Some of the best space ship pilots and explorers are members of the League.
The Twilight Star
The Twilight Star is a privately funded secret agency that is believed to have some ties to the Gaian Republic. Usually they intervene in order to restore peace and balance to the Star Ocean. The Twilight Star operates from a secret headquarters somewhere in neutral territory.
By the way, if you have followed my Dungeoncraft articles you’ll notice that I’ve recycled some names from my Asecia setting. That has several reasons: a) I am really bad at coming up with original names, b) I like to have some eastereggs in all my campaign and c) Asecia is currently on the backburner, since I am focussing on the SF campaign I want to run soon-ish…
As always your comments are appreciated!
Another take on magic items
2April 10, 2009
In most campaign settings magic items are made on purpose. There’s some blacksmith that forges a sword with great skill that is then infused with magic by a wizard. Sometimes they are created by the gods themselves. Evil items may be the work of evil wizards, dark gods, demons et cetera.
Recently I thought about different ways to introduce magic items into the games. In an Earthdawn game I played in many years ago, I played a weapon smith that had lost his wife and baby son in a raid on his home village. He was away at the time and when he came back, he found his family murdered. So he took one of the swords he had been working on and finished it. He worked all day and night and forged his grief, desperation, anger and hate into that weapon and went out to avenge his family. He single-handedly killed the raiders and from this day on the weapon acquired some magical properties.
It was a great (perhaps a bit clichéd) story but it served its purpose. This sword was not “just another magic item” but it was my character’s grief and anger forged into steel. Alas I hadn’t have the chance to play this character for long but the GM and I intended to make the sword more powerful over time, it was supposed to get better along with the character itself.
In my opinion I should use magic items of that kind more often, provided it fits into the campaign setting. Throwing just another longsword +1 or mighty shortbow +2 at the party starts to get boring fast and all the sense of wonder becomes lost. In most campaigns magic items are just more flashy versions of the standard equipment.
Two things are important to make magic item more memorable: First they have to mean something to a player character. Even the most interesting magic item is just another thing in his backpack when it’s not relating to him. Make it a family heirloom, or something like that, to give the item and player a connection. The second thing you have to keep in mind is that the stronger the character gets the better items he needs. That’s at least true in game systems like D&D. So the item has to grow with the character. Instead of giving the player a better item, let the one he already owns evolve. Finding out more about the item could even be an entire adventure. And the reward is the activation of another power.
I have to watch this show!
2“Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire” is a new comedy series from Comedy Central and it looks sweet. Obviously the pilot will be on the air tonight.
| Krod Mandoon | Thursdays 10p / 9c | |||
| Krod Mandoon Series Preview | ||||
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I really hope they will air this show in Germany, too. But I fear I will have to wait for a DVD release or until someone puts it on YouTube or something… *sigh*
Open D6 update!
1April 9, 2009
Over at the WEG Fan Forums Eric Gibson, the owner of West End Games, has posted an update on OpenD6. For your convenience, I want to quote his post here:
OpenD6 OGL
Moving forward, OpenD6 is ACTIVE. By that I mean the the system is now open as previously discussed. I have yet to publish the actual SRD for the D6 System, but that is coming. For the record, all of the text copyrights to the 51000 series of books is cover by OpenD6 and will be released as part of the evolving OpenD6 SRD.The 51000 series of books include:
51005 The D6 System: The Customization Roleplaying Game (a.k.a. the D6 Cookbook)
51011 D6 Adventure
51012 D6 Space
51013 D6 Fantasy
51015 D6 Fantasy Creatures
51016 D6 Adventure Locations
51017 D6 Space Ships
51019 D6 Gamemaster Screen and Aid
51020 D6 Fantasy Locations
51021 D6 Adventure Creatures
51022 D6 Space Aliens I
51024 D6 Vade Mecum of MagicThe previous is all released under the OGL v1.0a. Per that license, I’m designating the D6 System, and OpenD6 and any derivative trademark as Product Identity (PI) meaning it is not open under the OGL. Rather, the trademarks to the D6 System will be subject to a separate System Trademark License (STL). I still need to put together the exact wording of the STL, however the skinny will simply be, to use the D6 System and OpenD6 trademarks, you have to submit any newly developed share-alike OpenD6 material (non- PI) to me, or ultimately to the OpenD6 website (when it is finally working fully) for archival. There are not other content restrictions. Simply put, whatever you were going to release as open under OpenD6′s OGL, should be archived in a single central location and that location is OpenD6.com.
Ultimately, someone will ask if the Legend System (D6 legend) is covered under this license. Yes, it is. However Legend system was never produced in a purely generic form and I cannot as easily indicate what may and may not be used. Legend is, for all intents and purposes, merely a variation of the basic D6 System and, since the OpenD6 OGL allows you to create variations, Legend is naturally covered. Putting the Legend system into the OGL is another matter however. It is very time consuming to create text for the OGL and naturally my focus must be on creating commercial material that we have in the works for GenCon. To that end, any assistance anymore wishes to provide in creating the text is a easily dissected or dissectable format either for Legend, or D6 will be appreciated.
OpenD6.com
As most know, OpenD6.com’s back end system is being actively worked on by a passionate and underpaid developer. Though still much more has to be done on this ambitious project, a lot of progress has been made. The database is set up (though recent discussions have suggested changes are needing to be made regarding rules classifications, requisites while will ultimately determine how the server processes the rulebook designs) and is able to take data and the Workstation (the interface that you enter and edit rules data) is nearing completion. the OpenD6 workstation not supports images as well as text. This is useful for rules that require charts, maps, or other graphic features for full functionality, is simply if a developer wishes to include flavor art.
The website will now dynamically generate PDFs of individual selected rulests which is the first step in possibly the most ambitious part of OpenD6 — fully customized rulebooks.
I really, really interested in OpenD6 and I hope it will be a great success not only for Eric but for the whole RPG community. I can still remember the outburst of creativity when the d20 System was released under the OGL. I hope the same thing will happen with D6. It’s a great system and it would be a shame if it would be lost to history. But with OpenD6 it has a chance to live through a renaissance!
Dave, you’ll be missed!
1April 9, 2009
I have to admit I have been struggling with this post for quite some time now. Sometimes it is hard to find the right words. Especially when you don’t want it to sound silly.
I am pretty sure that you’ll probably already have heard that shortly after 11pm on April 7th, Dave Arneson passed away. Dave Arneson was one of the pioneers of our hobby, the co-creator of D&D. And he’ll be dearly missed, by his family, his friends and millions of gamers who enjoy the games he helped to create.
Good bye, Professor Arneson, you’ll be missed!
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