Powerful Artifacts? Why Not? Glen Cook's The Swordbearer

It's been a while since I've read the first novel in the Elric series. I recall Elric having to do quite a bit of questing in order to secure his artifact black blade, Stormbringer.

Here, the main character Gathrid is essentially handed an artifact level blade.

Should you do such a thing for your own campaign? The immediate response many people may have would be no, but its possible to have the players have powerful items and still not be undefeatable.

Gathrid stopped. He was surprised at himself. "Oh. Yes. All right." He felt a moment of shame. He was becoming arrogant behind his despair. He was getting too confident of his immunity from every peril but Rogala's dagger." (p.135)

Rogala is the one who presents Gahtrid the sword. He's also the one who usually ends the life of the sword bearer. As the old saying goes, "I brought you into the world and I'll take you out." Having a specific individual that can claim responsibility for the artifact that isn't the player can quickly qell certain types of player behavior common to those mad with power.

"Nieroda picked up a javelin. She bounced it in her hand like an athlete getting its feel. She cast it too quickly to follow. Gathrid brought Daubendiek round to deflect it.... He was not its target. It slammed through his mount's breastplate. The animal dropped instantly. It never made a sound." (p. 157)

Say the character is very difficult to handle. He's still got to get places. If using standard modes of transportation, those themselves can easily come under attack. Even in several of the Elric stories, despite the pale prince's sorcerous abilities and his black blade, he's found himself in dire situations. The oceans aren't impressed with a powerful sword.

"Gathrid reflected on the Mindak and grew cold. Ahlert was as much Choosen as he. They were pawns of the Great Old Ones." (p.197)

As powerful as the characters may become through their items, they are not the only ones in the world that may have such powerful items. And generally, items of such a nature tend not to work too well together, although they are notable exceptions (such as the old Hand and Eye of Vecna).

"On the narrow veranda surrounding the Raftery the remaining Toal were assembling ballistae and training them down the Hundred Steps. One salvo would end the threat of the Swordbearer. He might deflect a shaft or two, but not an entire flight." (p. 219)

It's mentioned at several points in the book, that as powerful as his sword is, the swordbearer isn't invulnerable. Mind you, characters in a role playing game tend to be a little... I don't want to say sharper, but have a lot of options, especially in terms of outside powers and abilities that characters in literature are never meant to have.

Be that as it may though, next time you see a powerful weapon and think it's not for your campaign, think about it again!

The City of Sherlock Holmes

I'm one of those people who is often late to the party when it comes to movies. I have little patience for crowds of the ignorance most often found in crowds. Still, I manage to get out and see a movie or three when the mood strikes me and the movie's already been out for several weeks.

In this case, it was Sherlock Holmes.

One thing that struck me about the city in which Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are running about, is that it has many elements of a city I try to incorporate in the background, but often forget to. For example, the ending of the movie reaches its showdown in a massive structure still under construction.

Cities should be constantly evolving. Different stylings of buildings, ranging from their age to waves of migration should be visible. People should always be seen in the background doing 'great works' ranging from bridges, road work, temples, statues, and castles, to more mundane building or even repair after successfully repelling, or at least surviving an attack. Keeping the city in a state of evolution may seem odd, that it will propel the city into some odd future too soon, but the real trick, especially in settings taking place in ancient times, is that things took time. Castles and chruches could take years to complete.

The other thing that struck me was the various cultures to be found. When Sherlock is doing his brawling among the Irish for example, or when his nemesis of this movie uses French and Chineese muscle to work his will. A city should be home to many cultures, even if all of them don't get along or share the spotlight. The potential for conflict is one of the things that can drive adventurers forward.

In the dreaded 'real' world for exmaple, many Muslims rioted in France. Cars were set afire. This was no third world that was happening in. That was France. In a fantasy setting, if the players are in with the local militia and powers, would they be willing to attack those who were out venting their rage at the unjustice social system? Would they be willing to shed blood to bring peace to the city?

Would others be willing to force such conflicts in order to hide their own activities? Nothing like a mob starting a riot in order to acheive other, more subtle goals that need a little diversion.

Lastly, when thinking about cities, remember how huge they are. In this movie, the set up for the sequel is in play throughout it, but to me, it felt fairly organic if a little pushed. The infamous Professor, never even seen in the light so to speak, set up as a major power player without coming to the front of the game. When using the city, always have multiple potentials in the air. This doesn't necessarily mean that the players should be hunting down each and every clue, but by providing the players with some hints about other inhabitants of the city that could prove of worth later on down the road, when those individuals are introduced, you've already laid the ground work and it's not just bringing in another character from stage right.

Keep the cities thriving with the people who live in them. Keep those nationalities and ancient rivalries in mind and let the players know that they are not the only inhabitants of the city.

The City of Ravens by Richard Baker

I'll be discussing the City of Ravens, written by long term Forgotten Realms author Richard Baker. Any page references used will be from the paperback.

"How do you intend to divide five gems, Jack? Four or six present no problem, of course, but five are difficult to split between two partners." (pg. 5)

One of the things that may not always be thought of before the group actually hits the road, is how to split the money. In most of the groups I've run and those that I've been a player in, for the most part, it wasn't a big issue. All coins were split evenly. Gems and jewelry or other art objects were sold. Magic items were given to the person who could use them best, or sold and the funds evenly split.

There were a few tense times when multiple people wanted an item that anyone could use. I'm sure those groups I was involved in during those terse times aren't alone. Having some sort of plan ahead of time might have smoothed out even those transactions.

"The Game of Masks?" Jack tried not to wince. The Game was a noble diversion, an ongoing series of play acting events wherein the participants took on various roles and tried to solve puzzles, stumble through a plot or play at great deeds." (pg. 38)

One of the reasons I tend to favor city based adventurers isn't that it's an escape from the dungeon. After all, there are often dungeons in the castle. The sewers under the streets can be considered dungeons. The maze like alley ways of the dock wards are another dungeon.

No, I tend to enjoy cities because there is often more to do for those whose interest do not rest soley on testing their powers in new and interesting ways against monsters of various caliber. In a city, you can do wine tasting contests, engagements of skill, and even things like the old Game of Masks.

"In the name of all the gods, why should I know who that was? He was your identical twin! Are you telling me that you have no idea why someone who looks exactly like you showed up at my doorstep, ushered me into the coach, and started pawning at me like a lovesick orc?" (p.148)

Individuals who make a name of themselves also make a face for themselves. Others might decide to put that face and reputation to their own use. In a gmae like Dungeons and Dragons, there are spells, monsters, magic items, and other methods of capturing an individual's likeness and then using that reptuation to perform various acts, all of which might not be what the original would have done. It can be quite a challenge to overcome a perception problem where everyone who believed the character to be one way, now have to ponder if the character was every truly that way.

"I... I think I'm all right," the mouse piped. "Oh thank you, Master! Thank _" And that was all, for at that moment the wheel of a passing cart rolled right over mouse and wizard's hand both, crushing each beyond hope of repair. (pg 98)

The hand of fate is often fickle. Try to make sure that the fickle nature of reality is helping the players as much as it is hindering them. There's no shame in allowing a few entertaining moments to happen and help the players out of a jam, especially if it's one that they couldn't avoid or one brought on soley by poor dice rolls. If it's organic and follows the rest of the campaign, the player's probably won't mind being saved in suc ha fashion.

The City of Ravens is another of what I call my 'popcorn' books. It's not a deep read, but it's a fun one and Richard Baker does a solid character whose a well intentioned rogue with a dash of magical ability. The Forgotten Realms setting, especially the city of Ravensbluff itself, gets some well deserved attention here and provides the reader with much to draw on ranging form the city's vast history, to various liquors, to the material I've quoted above.

Arthas Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden

Some may see a World of Warcraft title and moan at the cheese factor. Ironically enough though, many RPG elements, long standing ones, are present in the World of Warcraft. After all, it, despite the gloss and polish, is the spawn of old school RPGs no?

For example, it's a setting with a massive history, most of which is unknown to the people with vast swathes of time going by with important things seeming to happen only when important characters are about. Sounds a lot like the Forgotten Realms to me.

This is important to me for a few reasons. For example, when Arthus encounters the Nubians. These spider, insect humanoids are an unknown prior to the meeting. But right after that meeting? A valuable part of the army. So much like a role playing game. For example, who had to introduce a race of tielfings to the campaign or the dragonborn? Whole new races and cultures introduced at a snap of the fingers and in some cases, like in Blackmoor, always assumed to be there, just not known to the players.

For example, important characters abound in the fiction and setting itself, but may not always be encountered by the actual players. These characters tend to have magic items powerfully associated with them, if not more infamy. Sounds like Greyhawk, where spells and magic items are often named right after the original parties and put into many of the Player's Handbooks of long ago lore.

Anyway, enough of comparing RPGs to the WoW's setting. How can something like Arthas be useful in a role playing game?

First off, it's a compiled and brief history of Arthas from his youth to his latest actions in the north. For a role playing game, this could be something as simple as a guide to detailing out some portions of an important NPC, to giving a player some ideas on personality shaping events to crib and change for their own characters.

Or it could be used as a guide on making a reference work for the campaign's own big bad. Arthus, unlike many villains in the setting, is not some ancient legend come ten thousand years out of sleep. He's not some other worldly entity invading the land. He's a relatively young prince, corrupted and empowered by those energies. A slightly different perhaps to those fighting him, but an important one.

In your own campaign, are there any friends or allies, even friendly rivalries that may have a similar story? That they have been corrupted by power? That they may not even think themselves in the wrong but go about their own tasks with such ruthless efficiencies that those who know them best know that this is not the way to achieve progress and that the cost will be so tremendous that its best to find another way? Friends often disagree, but when those friends are at the head of an army and wielding rune blades, those disagrements may be more than mere words.

Besides the history lesson though, the book hits major points of the condensed timeline of the setting. Are there spots in your own campaign setting that the players can touch? Are there ancient cities that they could have learned at? Are there old mentors that might have taken an interest in the players? Are there rival houses that offered the players shelter during a time of need? These background elements are best used when you can bring them back into the campaign at a latter date. They can showcase the continuity of the setting.

The book also benefits from the setting. It has a list of further reading that numbers many books. Having numerous authors and various ways of interacting with the setting allows the setting to benefit, and suffer, in ways that a setting designed by a single person can't do. For example, the details. The cities. The various races and events. On the other hand, some of the writers tone and methodology is so different that the consistency of the setting may suffer. It's part of the problem of appealing to the largest crowd.

When dealing with players who want to know everything, a careful hand must be used. It's great to get players interested in the setting. Its terrible to get players who think they are the final authority of the setting. Remember, as soon as your players make characters, indeed, even before that, as soon as you decide to use that setting, it's not longer a setting of 'official' only materials. The players don't exist in those official written documents. Some of the characters, maybe all of the non-player characters you make, may not exist in those settings.

When using a setting, make it your own. For those players that insist on having the setting only use official material, you have a few options open to you. I always prefer the first, I tell that player that it's not going to work that way and if they want to play, drop the attitude. Of course others may not want to go that route. Some may want to find out the root cause of the devotion of the 'official' setting. Perhaps they have a character idea so deeply ingrained into the setting that some change invalides it. The degree to which you wish to placate your players will vary tremendously from Game Master to Game Master, and from situation to situation. Handle it in a way that leaves you as the Game Master and with a game you're willing to run.

THe Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sander's Mistborn comes to it's conclusion in the Hero of Ages.

Some of the things I'll be discussing below I've mentioned before, but as they continue to come up in books, they tend to reinforce their utility for both writing fiction and crafting entertaining games.

1. Vague prophecies. The Hero of Ages is an old prophecy that started off the series. It's been mentioned time and time again. It's been vague enough that many could fit the title, and when we, the readers finally discover who the hero of ages is, I wouldn't be shocked if many readers, much like I, were indeed fooled by the way the books had gone up to this point.

It wasn't a bluff nor a lie as people thought one character or another was the hero, but because it was vague, it was applicable to many fields. In a role playing game that may have several players in it, this is a good thing, allowing different players to fill in different parts of a propehcy.

2. The environment. The main foe here, Ruin, isn't a physical being. It's one of power. On a whole seperate plane of existance. It's destroying the world through continuous ash fall from volcanic mountains and earthquakes. No matter how might a physical foe, such as a dragon or giant is, often, there are ways to beat them that fit into the content of a role playing game. When it's trying to see through ash fall that storms down, the prospects of using a daily power or a utility power against it aren't quite so good.

Environmental disasters also offer something that Game Masters can use and that's a time limit. If the players are unable to keep moving, then the world ends and they lose. This is useful if you're players are the types that like to expand all of their neat toys in each and every fight and suffer the "fifteen minute a day" adventuring syndrome. By putting a time line on events, they don't have the time to wait a full day and recover their abilities, they have to keep going.

3. The prize. In this case, if the heroes lose, the world is doomed. And even if they win, the world is forever changed. At the end level of almost every edition of D&D (Advanced, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th), once the players can start using 9th level spells, and have magic items of the appropriate level, they should be the ones helping to determine the final fate of the setting. Go big or go home as the old saying goes.

4. Campaign styles: Here, the author has done a very solid job of making the campaign setting be very coherent. The world building ties together very nicely and many elements of it come together in this final volume. One of the benefits of doing a home brew as opposed to an off the shelf setting, is a home brewed can allow the Game Master to hit specific elements and themes and have them be consistant. Purchased settings, like Forgotten Realms and others, tend to be very emcompassing, allowing a wide range of player arche types to mix and mingle with one another without regards to the consistency of the actual campaign setting. It works if you don't examine things too closely but can fall apart if you try to figure out why faction Y hasn't simply abosrbed country B, etc...

In addition, some feel that they shouldnt' change an established campaign setting. Be making up your own, you completely negate that whole fear and worry. You can hold different games in different eras, allowing players to see the effects of their previous characters on the campaign setting, which can be very satisfying.

The Hero of Ages brings a satisfying conclussion to the Mistborn series and does so in a fasion that leaves the setting changed and the reader, perhaps a little shocked at the events, but satisfied nontheless.

More thoughtso f Ascension

One of the things that I try to keep in mind when I'm reading a book, is that even if there are some great ideas and it reads solid, it may not be appreciated if incorporated into the game.

For example, Vin, is certain of a particular course of action she must take. Her scholar friends are also convinced of it. She must not take the power of the Well of Ascension for herself.

Turns out that was a lie and that she winds up releasing something that leads us into the next book.

Works well for a book. The hero must go to some levels of redemption.

In a role playing game? It might not work quite as well because as far as I can tell, the characters all put in time with their specialties and were essentially flat out lied to by the Game Master.

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem giving players enough rope to hang themselves with, but if you're going to let players have specilties and have them go through various trials and tribulations and lie to them anyway to have them set up the next episode of the campaign, it's a railraod and it's probably close to the Game Master wanting to write fiction as opposed to Game Mastering.

In addition, Vin, who I've described before as being very much a player character, initially has such a massive distrust of her kandra servant due to past issues, that she doesn't follow her questioning nature at first which smacks of not using every tool at her disposal. She eventually does start following those lines and it works out that her ally, the kandara, a race of near dopplengangers, will simply not answer some questions about their culture thanks to their own lore encoded in 'the Contract'.

It's okay if the players want to know about each and everything in the world, but that doesn't mean that every Non-Player Character is there to just spill out the history of their people. First off, many people, especially in a dark ages style setting, are ignorant of the real past of their people. Most don't leave the small towns they grew up on. It's one of the reasons they often welcome outsiders to gather news of the outside world, even as they may be insular themselves.

When looking for inspiration, remember that it's a group game and don't try to force the players down one path if they're not interested in it. On the other hand, don't be afraid of leaving some red herrings out there. There's nothing like providing just enough rope...

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson part 1

Brandon Sanderson's sophmore novel of the Mistborn picks up one year after the end of the original book, The Final Empire.

This break provides an interesting contrast to many adventure paths, especially those in the former print Dungeon magazine. Several of those adventurers almost ran right into one another.

By providing the readers with a pause, you give some space to allow things to have happened and pick up the pace again.

The main character, Vin, continues to master her Mistborn powers. Like Rand from Wheel of Time, or Pug from Magician, the reader gets to see that those with power, especially in a setting that lacks weapons like guns, are essentially super heroes.

There are several scenes where Vin cuts lose with such power and martial authority, that those she faces are little more than sheep.

When running the game, think about how you want the players to fit into the campaign setting. Vin's power level gives her a reputation. Her training at the hands of Kel, gives her a reputation. Her continued exploration of the world about her and the powers of Mistborn in general, continue to push her reputation.

In some games, the Game Master wants the players to be in fear for their life. Every combat is a grim and gritty affair where a lucky kobold or lowly goblin may finish them off.

It's not absolutely necessary to run low powered campaigns for such threats however. For example, in this book, one of Vin's arch enemy is Zane, who is also a Mistborn. The Mistborn 'burn' metals and there is one metal that provides its user the ability to see the future actions of his enemy. Vin has run out of this metal and Zane hasn't. This gives their fight a sense of grim and gritty without making it a brawl in the sewers fighting over a crust of bread.

In terms of world building, when looking at a book and looking at a fantasy campaign, beware the differences and enjoy them at the same time. Here, one of the threats to Vin's home is a race of humanoids, the koloss are brought to the forefront. The koloss continue to grow but their blue skin does not. It rips and tears. They are savage and brutal, probably similiar to Fomorians in good old Dungeons and Dragons.

Because larger koloss are stronger koloss, they can represent a variety of threats. This is a solid way to present an enemy. However, it's still just one type of enemy. Most campaigns, indeed, most adventures, will use many more types of adversaries than that. Don't ignore the potential of culture building and trying to make the races unique and interesting in and of themselves, but if the players are biting to fight some undead or demons, don't foster your own favorites on them time after time.

The Well of Ascension continues the path started by the Final Empire and I'll ahve more to say of it in a future posting of Appendix N!