Rustheart (Realm)

An Everway Realm designed by Rolfe.

A curse has befallen the Realm now known as Rustheart. Tools, weapons, and machinery have been denied to those who live here. Every tool degrades and falls to waste within days of the first time it is used, making life hard while simultaneously gifting the people with a unique determination. No one knows what causes this bizarre curse, but the people have reworked their lives to accommodate it.

Usurper Force: Corrosion
Normal: Tools Degrade Inverted: Grown Stronger Through Adversity

People & Economy: The citizens of Rustheart have incredible self-reliance. Few have manufacturing skills, for most of what they could make would corrode. Few are martially inclined, for no army would want to invade this land. They hunt with thier bare hands, they gather what they can from the earth. They sleep beneath the stars whenever they are able. Their hardships are many, but it has resulted in the people growing strong and patient.

Pride: The people know that this is not an easy place to dwell. They take pride in thier ability to eek a living here. They know that this has made them strong and wise. Flight to another Realm would be a sign of weakness and dishonor which they cannot afford. The native Spherewalkers almost never develop or even become aware of thier gift as a result.

Mortality: Death is an expected thing in this realm, no one here hopes to live forever. An immortal character who flaunts the strength of their lifeforce in Rustheart will be looked down upon, shunned for disrupting the natural order. Every tool turns to dust, and it is only natural that we too pass that way one day.

Military: Wandering the russet hills of Rustheart are said to be a handful of the finest masters of the Martial Arts. These Warrior Monks come to this land to perfect thier art, for here they have not the crutch of weapons to lean upon. Their philosophies mirror the purity, focus, and intended adversity of the Realm of Rustheart.
Other than those masters, Rustheart has no military presence. It is unlikely anyone would ever want to invade.

Ecology: The plants of this wilderness all grow in shades of russet, brown or rust orange. The earth is sandy and loose, with occasional spurs of sandstone.

Serving Rose: The local rose has very stiff petals with a metallic color. A new blossom may be plucked and used as a small spoon, and an older rose may be used as a bowl. The Serving Rose is of course an immensely useful tool, used to cook and eat stews, then cast aside to degrade.

The Curse: Unused tools are unharmed by the corrosion, but once an item has been labored in this place, it’s time begins to run out. If the tool is not brought away from Rustheart within days it will fall to components and then swiftly degrade to dust. As such it is a dangerous place for materialists and craftsmen to venture. Clothing however, almost never degrades, and armor only begins to fail once it has saved the bearer’s life. Also, tools, if used for some means other than what they were initially crafted, have been known to fool the Realm’s curse for many weeks before suffering problems. Use a hammer and it lies ruined tomorrow, but pound in a nail with your steel-toed boot and it may well survive the month. Attempting to repair a degraded item will only hastens its collapse, and it will take with it whatever tools you used for the mending.

Souldrinker: There is a tale of a damned blade known as Souldrinker, an evil weapon of terrible magic, which was wrested from the hands of a tyrant only by a youthful hero’s cleverness. Fearful that the weapon would find its way back to its master, the hero fled the tyrants armies and came to Rustheart. Here he used Souldrinker to commit ritual suicide, giving up his own life and soul to ensure the fearsome weapons’ ultimate destruction.

Entering the Realm: There are no Gates in Rustheart. Perhaps a Gate existed here long ago, but if so it too was used and fell to the Usurper Corrosion. Instead, a wide road leads into Rustheart from the nearby Realm of The Moon’s Babe. As it enters Rustheart, it falls to trampled weeds and woodchips, but the closer it draws to The Moon’s Babe the better maintained the road is, with wooden railings, benches and observation decks being situated along the path. Every so often the remains of a collapsed watchtower is encountered, a Watchtower that degraded after being used to spy along the path to Rustheart.

Everway Realms

Over the next day or two, I intend to post most or all of the Sphere and Realm files we made for the old Everway Campaign. Each had a player handout and a GM's "Full Disclosure" page. We made a big binder of 20+ realms for all our players, so they could start out with a clear idea of what their characters knew about the universe they lived in.

And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors

I searched for the holy grail, and found it was tarnished. However, today I see evidence that someone other than myself liked it.

At Amberway, I read:

Amber Conflict Resolution - This terrific page is part of a very large site. It sets up a nice if debatable system for determining how long fights should last, with a healthy helping of Endurance effect. It has changed the way I think about Amber combat.

That put a little smile on my face. He was very selective as to what he links to, so it's an honor.

So did a quick visit here, here and here at amberrpg.free.fr. In his words: "Sadly, Mr Bergstrom's excellent website no longer exists. So, I've included the page here."
The system begun by Randy Trimmer, modified by Doyce Testerman, and then expanded and rebuilt by me, has been preserved and further polished by someone else. How come I couldn't find hide nor hair of that a few months ago?

Trump Artistry as Everway Magic

I'm pretty sure I wrote this up for my Everway campaign set in Eric's new universe, and then it never got used. However, there's a tiny chance I just found this write-up somewhere. It doesn't seem to be at Amberway, and I'm sure my wife didn't design it, so it's probably mine. Either way, it's clearly derived from Trump Artistry in the Amber DRPG, converted to the magic system of the Everway RPG. Without those two games, this would not exist.

Trump Artistry as Everway Magic
Summary: Without any score in this form of Magic, you cannot initiate, block or identify a trump contact. Even at level 1 you are a weak beginner. Water is the required Element for this magic, but some aggressive functions use your Fire or Air to better balance the power. You cannot make Trumps until level 5, the first 4 levels are just varying degrees of trump use, trump scrying, etc. Advanced Trump is the equivalent of Level 7+, so the cost is roughly comparable to Amber terms in regards to portion of character creation budget needed to achieve Advanced Trump.

Level 1: You are a beginner in the ways of Trump. You can identify Trump paintings by touch, and sense when you are being called. But you can only block calls if the caller has a lower Water score than you or gives up very easily. When you open a connection it a minute of concentration.

Level 2: You can identify the Trump quality in artwork by touch, and sense when you are being called. But you can only block calls if the caller has an equal or lower Water score than you or gives up easily. When you open a connection it takes a few seconds of concentration.

Level 3: You can identify the Trump quality in artwork by touch, and sense when you are being called. You can only block calls if the caller has an equal or lower Water score than you or gives up easily, and you can Jam such people's trumps if you focus on their card.

Level 4: You can identify the Trump quality in artwork by touch. You can sense when you are being called, and even identify who is calling you before accepting, provided you have thier card on your person. You can only block calls if the caller has an equal or lower Water score than you or gives up easily, and you can Jam such people's trumps if you focus on their card.

Level 5: You can identify the Trump quality in artwork by touch. You can sense when you are being called, and even identify who is calling you before accepting, provided you have their card on your person. You can only block calls if the caller has an equal or

Very frustrating. As you can see above (and below) my file has errors / lines that just drift off into incompleteness. I may be able to restore it later from the excel version on my wife's PC (I'm using my Mac right now). Until I do so, we have no totally functional version. I'll leave this up for now, but until I get a chance to go fix it, the higher levels are incomplete, so it's not terribly useful unless you've got a big supply of elbow grease.

6: You can identify the Trump quality in artwork by touch. You can sense when you are being called, and even identify who is calling you before accepting, provided you have thier card on your person. You can block calls from nearly anyone, and you can Jam
7: You can identify the Trump quality in artwork by touch. You can sense when you are being called, and even identify who is calling you before accepting, provided you have thier card on your person. You can block calls from nearly anyone, and you can Jam
8: You can identify the Trump quality in artwork by touch. You can sense when you are being called, and even identify who is calling you before accepting, provided you have thier card on your person. You can block calls from nearly anyone, and you can Jam
9: You can identify the Trump quality in artwork by touch. You can sense when you are being called, and even identify who is calling you before accepting, provided you have touched a trump of them before. You can block calls from nearly anyone, and you ca
10: You are now a living trump. Art is unneccessary. You can identify the Trump quality in artwork by touch. You can sense when you are being called, and identify who is calling you before accepting - getting a clear image even if you've never met them. Y

I'll try to remember to repair this from the file on my wife's computer. As it stands, incomplete and hard to use, it's much like my old Amber website. Grr.

139 Everway Powers

This huge post is the result of a brainstorm session Sarah and I did a few years back. It has numerous Everway powers on it. Some number of them are straight out of the book, but many are new. No challenge is intended to copyright - it was just easier to copy/paste from my old file than to search and remove the ones that first appeared in the rulebook or sample character sheets. You wouldn't be able to use them without having a copy of the Everway rulebook and cards, anyway.

Feel free to use these in your Everway campaign (though it would be even cooler if you let me know what you're using via a comment to this post). I wrote 139 powers in the title of this post, but it looks like there may be some duplication/redundancy, and a few non-powers are listed as examples of things you can't buy.

Suggested Everway Powers # Frequent? Major? Versatile? Category Details…

1. Resistant to DeathMagic 0 Anti-Magic Any spell or magical ability that specifically kill the target will instead merely weaken you severely. Other damaging or enchanting magics affect you as normal.
2. Ancient Gesture of Clarity 1 Major Anti-Magic You can dispell magical illusions by means of complicated arcane hand motions.
3. Cleansing Ritual 1 Major Anti-Magic You may conduct a special day-long ritual to cleanse all but the most powerful curses and enchantments from everyone joining you in the ritual.
4. Spell-Reversal 1 Major Anti-Magic When a spell is cast on you specifically, it affects the caster instead. Spells cast on an area, or just cast near you, aren't affected.
5. Boomerang Arm 0 Combat Anything you throw will always come back to you. Unless you are blinded, bound or knocked out you will always be able to catch anything you throw. Foes can attempt to grab projectiles rather than let them go back to you, but doing so is very difficult.
6. Lightning Bite 0 Combat Bite gives target a shock. Those with low Earth will suffer ringing in the ears, dizziness & disorientation.
7. Weapon Master 0 Combat You can use any sort of mundane, hand-held weapon without training. It just comes naturally to you. Doesn't necessarily apply to siege weapons or weapons that are activated by magic.
8. Berserk 1 Frequent Combat When threatened by dire odds or overwhelming foe, you go beserk. You get bonuses to fighting talents and Elements, but cannot think clearly and have trouble identifying friends. Returning to normal takes time and leaves you exhausted.
9. Toxic Sting 1 Frequent Combat Paralyzing Venom: if the target has less Earth than you they'll be paralyzed after a few moments. If their Earth is equal or greater they'll merely feel fatigued.
10. Magic Hammer 2 Frequent Major Combat A powerful magic hammer capable of smashing dams, cracking rock walls, and crushing your foes. High Earth & Fire scores will increase its effectiveness.
11. Throw Fire 2 Frequent Major Combat Hero can produce fire from bare hands. These large, hot flames can be thrown and used to increase your combat abilities.
12. Mastery of Flame 3 Frequent Major Versatile Combat You can create heat, light & flame at will. This can be used for melee and ranged combat. You may cause objects to ignite from a distance.
13. Pet Viper 1 Major Companion A large venomous viper has befriended you. F:1 E:2 A:1 W:3 It's bite sickens & incapacitates an Earth:3 target.
14. Cat Familiar 2 Frequent Versatile Companion An intelligent cat accompanies you. It can talk to you (and only you). It can spy, stand guard, carry written messages, etc. F:1 E:2 A:2 W:5
15. Horn Pouch 2 Frequent Versatile Companion Accompanied by a Stag-Spirit as long as it's horns are in your medicine pouch. Sense are supernaturally accute, bonuses to woodcraft, stealth, surefooting & endurance when running.
16. Wolf Companion 3 Frequent Major Versatile Companion Clever loyal wolf friend. It does tricks, track by scent, fight, stand guard, hear noises the PC might miss, etc. F:4 E:3 A:1 W:4
17. Ape Sidekick 4 Frequent 2 x Major Versatile Companion Talking Ape. Can speak and use tools very well, and it's really strong. F:6 E:4 A:3 W:3
18. Friend of Fire 0 Fire You are unharmed by fire.
19. Sun's Son 0 Fire You are marked as child of Father Son. You never suffer from heat exaustion, sunburn, sunstroke, or blinding light.
20. Tending the Ritual Fires 0 Fire You may physically enter the spirit world via a firey ritual that does not harm or consume you. You must start the fire yourself to use this ability, and become stranded if the fire goes out while you're in the spirit realm.
21. Sweat Fire 1 Frequent Fire You can make fire come forth from your skin. Doesn't really help in combat, except against monsters that are really vulnerable to flame.
22. Throw Fire 2 Frequent Major Fire You can produce fire from your bare hands. These large, hot flames can be thrown and used to increase your combat abilities.
23. Mastery of Flame 3 Frequent Major Versatile Fire You can create heat, light & flame at will. This can be used for melee and ranged combat. You may cause objects to ignite from a distance.
24. Fast Healing 1 Frequent Healing You recover from physical wounds 7 times as fast as normal. A day's rest is as good as week's to you.
25. Instant Healing 2 Frequent Major Healing Your wounds heal nearly instantly, so no wound remains open more than a few seconds. Any attack that causes instant death can still claim your life.
26. Unkillable 2 Frequent Major Healing You cannot be killed. You can still be sickened by poison, knocked down by blows, slowed by injuries or weakened by disease.
27. Ageless 0 Immortality You do not age. It rarely has a direct effect on play, and will generally only be helpful in the very long term.
28. Unkillable 2 Frequent Major Immortality You cannot be killed. You can still be sickened by poison, knocked down by blows, slowed by injuries or weakened by disease.
29. Body of Stone 3 Frequent Major Versatile Immortality You are extremely durable, don't need to eat or breathe, and don't suffer from anything but the most extreme heat or cold. Damage from all physical blows is reduced greatly. On the down side, you way several hundred pounds.
30. Invulnerable 3 Frequent 2 x Major Immortality You can't be wounded or poisoned. You can be knocked down by strong blows, but not harmed by them. You can be knocked out by asphyxiation and drowning. The only thing that can really kill you is starvation.
31. Shadow Slip 1 Frequent Invisibility You can blend into the shadows to be invisible (but not magically silent). It requires concentration, and tires you out to keep it up for long periods of time.
32. Silence of the Hunter 1 Major Invisibility When stalking an enemy you become nearly undetectable as you approach your prey. Without very specialized senses or a very high Water score you will not be observed until you pounce on your prey.
33. Standing Unseen 1 Frequent Invisibility You can become invisible, but only when still and silent. Movement or noise will make you noticeable again.
34. Walk Unseen 2 Frequent Major Invisibility You can become invisible at will. Moving doesn't break this power. Making noise will attract attention, but they probably won't know where it's coming from. You can still be tracked by scent.
35. Bird Tongue 0 Language You can talk to birds of all sorts. They don't necessarily want to talk to you, and they may have little useful to say.
36. Universal Reading 0 Language You can read any alphabet, but not necessarily any language or code, just The Tongue.
37. Shadow Whispers 1 Major Language You may talk to the dead. Some ghosts are in no shape to hold a conversation, and some may simply not want to talk.
38. Speak to Animals 1 Frequent Language You may talk to all manner of animals. It doesn't mean they want to talk, have a lot to say, or see things from a perspective that's the least bit useful to the character. Animals that don't interact with humans much might not be able to identify specific people.
    
39. Illuminating Clap 0 Miscellaneous When you clap your hands, it creates a gentle glow of light that follows you around. It slowly fades away in around an hour.
40. Cat's Leap 0 Movement You can jump 15 feet straight up from a standing position.
41. Drift as a Feather 0 Movement You drift and tumble as a feather, rather than fall as a rock. Falling never harms you, but you can't control what direction you drift when falling. Your jumps are a bit longer than normal, but also less accurate.
42. Marching Song 0 Movement You can walk and sing indefinitely, provided you do them both at the same time.
43. Riding Master 0 Movement You can ride any sort of mount without training.
44. Walk on Water 0 Movement You may walk across calm water as if it were dry land. Impacting the surface at high speeds or with great force will result in you submerging, so be careful around storms and big waves.
45. Call Yourself Home 1 Major Movement You may wish yourself to your true home with a single thought. Transit time is roughly the same as a sphere walk. You may only have 1 true home, and designating a new home as your true one takes a month-long ritual.
    
46. Run Like The Wind 1 Frequent Movement Your running speed is more than twice as fast as would be expected for someone with your Fire & Earth scores. This doesn't effect how fast you attack, but it does let you cover ground quickly and make impressive running long jumps.
47. All Doors Are As One 3 Frequent 2 x Major Movement When you step through any door, you may teleport to any other door or Gate you have ever stepped through before. Transit happens instantly in the same Realm, otherwise with the speed of a Sphere Gate.
48. Spherewalk With Friend 0 Movement: Spherewalk You may take a single person with you through the Gate, provided they hold your hand and go willingly.
49. Spherewalk Leader 1 Major Movement: Spherewalk You may lead small groups (no more than 4 people at a time) through Gates regardless of your Water Score.
50. Spherewalk Master 2 2 x Major Movement: Spherewalk You may lead larger groups (no more than 30 people at a time) through Gates regardless of your Water Score.
51. Spherewalk Free Movement: Spherewalk You have the ability to pass through a Gate and enter the Sphere it connects to. You may not bring others with you unless your Water is 6+ or
52. Dirge of the Dead 0 Musical All who hear your music are touched by the sadness of it. How they express this sadness will depend on their personality, Elements, and the culture they live in.
53. Perfect Memory of the Bard 0 Musical You can remember everything you were taught or trained as a bard. You can perfectly recall any story or song you've ever heard. New songs and stories become learned as soon as you hear them once. You never forget how to play any instrument you've had even one lesson on.
    
54. Phantom Musician 0 Musical You can make a musical instrument play itself.
55. Magical Singing 1 Versatile Musical Your songs can raise spirits, soothe bad feelings, stir a crowd to action, and generate other emotional effects. It affects all who hear it, provided they aren't too distracted to notice, so it won't stop a charging enemy and you can't single out a specific victim or ally.
    
56. Sphere of Infinite Sound 1 Frequent Musical Crystal Sphere can, at a mental command, make any noise from as loud as thunder to as quiet as a mouse's sigh. You must be within 100 feet of the ball to do this.
57. Horse Friend 0 Persuasion You befriend horses automatically. Horse-like supernatural creatures may be resistant, based on their Elemental scores.
58. Pretty 0 Persuasion You are very pleasing to the eye, and likely to draw attention whereever you go. Those you meet will often have favorable initial impressions of you, and will remember you clearly.
59. Troll Friend 0 Persuasion Trolls, dwarves and other earthly magical beings generally take a liking to you immediately.
60. Winning Smile 0 Persuasion Your charming smile is stunning. It may make someone more favorably inclined to you, but it won't sway the hearts of enemies in the least.
61. Persuasive Voice 1 Frequent Persuasion Your voice can sway the hearts of others, but only if they are already neutral or favorable to you. You can influence your friends, but not your enemies.
62. Charming Voice 2 Frequent Major Persuasion You can win the affection of those you talk to at length. It can affect enemies, but only if they pause to hear you out. When no longer around you, targets with a high water or air will realize they were enchanted. Manipulating other PCs can easily ruin their player's enjoyment, so be careful.
    
63. Persuasion 2 Major Versatile Persuasion Your strong intuition about people lets you manipulate them easily. You can seduce nearly anyone, and pull strings to get them to do things they otherwise wouldn't. However, they will remember you as "that slick character who talked me into doing something I shouldn't have".
    
64. Dominating Gaze 3 Frequent Major Versatile Persuasion You can gaze into someones eyes and issue firm commands to them. The weaker the subjects earth score, the more you can get them to do. The control is a little unpredictable, and people have been known to snap out of it at critical moments. Using this on fellow PCs is a bad idea.
    
65. Instant Control n/a Persuasion A power that would give a character instant and complete control over others would ruin too many plots, so it is not allowed.
66. Sanctity of Marriage 0 Priestly You may bless weddings and similar unions, making their bond stronger and more enduring.
67. The Call 1 Major Priestly Through an elaborate ritual, you may call heroes to this place. You don't choose who they are, but they will be willing and capable to help with your current quest or dillemma. The heroes arrive in a few days or sometimes sooner if a likely place for hero to come from is nearby.
    
68. Priestly Rites 2 Major Versatile Priestly You can lead worship services & rituals to harness energy. Effects include: Forging Oaths, Blessing Unions, Bringing Fertility and Good Harvests, Improving An Armies Fortune In War, and other mighty ends. Your powers are at their best on holy days, and rely heavily on GM narration.
    
69. Invocation 3 Frequent Major Versatile Priestly You can invoke the power of the deities to bless people, sanctify oaths, provide guidance, etc. You ask the Gods for help, and they give whatever they feel is appropriate to the situation. The gods may deny specific uses of this gift on the undeserving.
70. Earth's Surety 0 Protection If both your bare feet are in direct contact with the living, level earth you cannot be knocked over.
71. Friend of Fire 0 Protection You are unharmed by fire.
72. Friend to Water 0 Protection You can breathe water, and swimming doesn't tire you as much as it does most people. It is still possible to drown, provided you are submerged in something that is not primarily water, such as thick mud.
73. Inured To Pain 0 Protection You endure physical pain easily, making it difficult to incapacitate, impair or torture you. However, emotional pain can still reach you as normal.
74. Resistant to DeathMagic 0 Protection Any spell or magical ability that specifically kills the target will instead merely weaken you severely. Other damaging or enchanting magics affect you as normal.
75. Sun's Friend 0 Protection You are marked as friend of Father Son. You never suffer from heat exaustion, sunburn, sunstroke, or blinding light.
76. Spell-Reversal 1 Major Protection When a spell is cast on you specifically, it affects the caster instead. Spells cast on an area, or just cast near you, aren't affected.
77. Instant Healing 2 Frequent Major Protection Your wounds heal nearly instantly, so no wound remains open more than a few seconds. Any attack that causes instant death can still claim your life.
78. Unkillable 2 Frequent Major Protection You cannot be killed. You can still be sickened by poison, knocked down by blows, slowed by injuries or weakened by disease.
79. Body of Stone 3 Frequent Major Versatile Protection You are extremely durable, don't need to eat or breathe, and don't suffer from anything but the most extreme heat or cold. Damage from all physical blows is reduced greatly. On the down side, you weigh several hundred pounds.
80. Invulnerable 3 Frequent 2 x Major Protection You can't be wounded or poisoned. You can be knocked down by strong blows, but not harmed by them. You can be knocked out by asphyxiation and drowning. The only thing that can really kill you is starvation.
81. Lightning Eyes 0 Senses You can see great distances, even in darkness, but using this sight causes your eyes to flicker & flash like lightning.
82. Sight of the Soul 0 Senses You can tell by sight whether someone is awake, asleep or dreaming.
83. Usurper Sense 0 Senses When you enter a new Realm, you immediately identify the Usurper force of that Realm, and understand what it's normal and inverted forms represent.
84. Sleepers Transformation 0 Shapechange While you slumber, your body alters. Everytime you awaken after 4 hours or more of sleep, you are unrecognizable. You cannot prevent these transformations. You always retain the same number of limbs and sensory organs, and can request 1 specific detail with each night's rest, but the rest is up to the GM.
    
85. Feather Coat 1 Frequent Shapechange You may change into a bird at will. You can fly, and fit into small areas, but you also have hollow bones, so be careful. Your clothes change form with you, but not the things in your pockets, backpack or otherwise carried.
86. Lunar Wolf 1 Major Shapechange When the sun is set and the full moon is showing, you turn into a powerful wolf. When in wolf form, you are immune to non-silver/non-magical weapons.
87. Flow Like A Creek 2 Frequent Versatile Shapechange You may transform your entire body into fluid given a minute of concentration. While liquid, you have only minor control of your movement, mostly being taken by gravity, but can slowly flow against nature. You can also soak into the dirt for safety, flow under a door to escape, or wash away a foe on a slippery surface.
    
88. Werewolf 2 Frequent Major Shapechange You can turn into a wolf or powerful wolf-man form at will. When in wolfman form, you are immune to non-silver/non-magical weapons. Your clothes transform with you, but items you're carrying do not.
89. Animal Forms 3 Frequent Major Versatile Shapechange You may transform into the shape of any natural creature up to the size of a horse. You can't take the form of someone specific, just a generic version of the species you choose.
90. Werehawk 3 Frequent 2 x Major Shapechange You can turn into a powerful hawk at will. When in hawk form, you are immune to non-silver/non-magical weapons. In were-hawk form you have sharp talons and the gift of rapid flight.
91. Mimicry 4 Frequent 2 x Major Versatile Shapechange You may transform into living creature you have touched, up to the size of a horse. You take specific forms of people and animals you've touched, so may duplicate anyone you get close enough too. You copy every aspect of their physicality, including voice.
92. Tending the Ritual Fires 0 Spirit You may physically enter the spirit world via a firey ritual that does not harm or consume you. You must start the fire yourself to use this ability, and become stranded if the fire goes out while you're in the spirit realm.
93. Shadow Whispers 1 Major Spirit You may talk to the dead. Some ghosts are in no shape to hold a conversation, and some may simply not want to talk.
94. Ghost Strike 2 2 x Major Spirit You may attack ghosts and spirits as though they were physically present. Your weapons and unarmed attacks may strike them, but this does not make you any more vulnerable to them than normal.
95. Horn Pouch 2 Frequent Versatile Spirit Accompanied by a Stag-Spirit as long as it's horns are in your medicine pouch. Your senses are supernaturally accute, and you gain bonuses to woodcraft, stealth, surefooting & endurance-when-running.
96. Clench 0 Strength While wearing your special magic gloves, you can grasp with great strength and endurance. You could hang all night by hand if you needed to.
97. Earth's Surety 0 Strength If both your bare feet are in direct contact with the living, level earth you cannot be knocked over.
98. Glimpses of the Future 1 Major Visions During times of stress, you get visions of the future. These are often hazy or incomplete, merely clues to what might happen. You don't control it, but may remind the GM about the power as often as you wish.
99. Glimpses Through Time and Space 2 Major Versatile Visions During times of stress, you get visions of the future, past or elsewhere in the present. These are often hazy or incomplete, merely clues to what might happen. You don't control it, but may remind the GM about the power as often as you wish.
100. Visionary Ritual 2 Frequent Major Visions You may perform a ritual to gain visions of the future. These usually come in the form of clues and symbols, not simple answers.
101. Mystic Eye 3 Frequent Major Versatile Visions You can concentrate to gain visions of future, past or elsewhere in the present. Visions are often hazy, incomplete or symbolic, so don't expect easy answers to all your problems.
102. All Seeing Eye n/a Visions A power that would ruin all the mystery elements of the plot is not allowed. So you can't have crystal-clear totally-controlled visions on demand.
103. Friend to Water 0 Water You can breathe water, and swimming doesn't tire you as much as it does most people. It is still possible to drown, provided you are submerged in something that is not primarily water, such as thick mud.
104. Bottomless Cup 1 Versatile Water You have a magic cup that never empties. Those near you need never die of thirst, you always have water to wash with, and you may flood an room by turning the cup upside down.
105. Flow Like A Creek 2 Frequent Versatile Water You may transform your entire body into fluid given a minute of concentration. While liquid, you have only minor control of your movement, mostly being taken by gravity, but can slowly flow against gravity. You can soak into the dirt for safety, flow slow
106. Exhalation of Fog 0 Weather If you spend several minutes taking deep breaths, you may surround yourself or a small area with a thick fog that others cannot see through. This will conceal you, but is obviously supernatural. You can also blow small fog rings, have fog stream from your nose, and other parlor tricks.
     
107. Lightning Bite 0 Weather Bite gives target a shock. Those with low Earth will suffer ringing in the ears, dizziness & disorientation.
108. Call Down the Storm 1 Major Weather You may call down thunder, rain & lightning by doing a specific dance. You don't control the storm.
109. Calm Spot 1 Major Weather You and those within 10 feet are never harmed by inclement weather. Rain does not soak you, hurricanes don't blow you over, lightning does not strike you. You may still fall victim to flooding if downstream. Heat hot enough to burn flesh may still harm you, but the effects of cold are ignored completely.
     
110. Frostfriend 1 Major Weather You may cause the air around you to become bitterly cold, enough to slowly freeze water you are touching. It causes discomfort and chills in others, but no actual harm unless you focus it on them for several minutes. Cold does not harm you.
111. Wind Is My Weapon 2 Frequent Versatile Weather You may buffet enemies with strong winds, and deflect or assist arrows. You may cause light objects to be blown from other's hands (and into yours), and strong winds extinguish or spread flames as you see fit. The sails of your ship are always full. You take reduced damage from long falls.
     
112. Weather God n/a Weather Total (or pinpoint) control of weather would be frequently useful, double major due to being able to destroy a city or just lightningblast a single enemy, and double versatile because you could: harm or slow foes, freeze a lake to cross over, save or destroy a person or settlement. It is therefore not allowed.
     
113. World Windows 0 Movement: Spherewalk You may see through gates as if they were windows to the Sphere they connect to: You can see the conditions and events at the other end. You can't interact with anything there, just spy on it.
114. Unbound 0 Freedom Ropes, Shackles, Bindings and Belts fall off of you unless they are magical in nature.
115. Chilling Gaze 1 Frequent Weather Anyone who meets your gaze feels a sudden chill, as if the temperature just dropped 10 degrees.
116. Fortunes Blessing 2 Frequent Major Miscellaneous Whenever a Fortune Card is drawn by the GM in regards to one of your actions, the GM must draw cards instead. You get to choose which card they use before they tell you the results.
117. Net of Hair 0 You may catch objects or people in your hair like a net. It's not animated, just very clingy. It's no stronger than normal hair, and still hurts if pulled.
118. Pick The Right Flowers 0 Persuasion You always choose the right flowers for every occasion, and find them growing or available for sale on your way to any event that requires more than a mile of travel to arrive at.
119. Detachable Head 1 Major With a moments prep, you can remove your own head without suffering pain or injury. Head and body can operate independantly, as long as niether suffers major wounds.
120. Hummingbird Ears 0 Companion Your ears are shaped like bright colorful flowers, and your earwax is a sweet nectar. Hummingbirds like you, and will whisper secrets to you about the realm you're in and particularly its wilderness. Monstrous hummingbirds (giant, poisonous, bloodsucking, undead, etc) are somewhat less likely to attack you, but otherwise immune to your charms.
     
121. Sphere-Spanning Discus Your magic discuss will never touch the ground, and can keep a slow forward hover going perpetually. It can be thrown to the horizon, carry messages, possibly even skim around a Sphere to judge its size.
122. Tireless Shoes 0 While wearing these shoes, you can walk forever and never suffer stress, aches, soreness, or discomfort from walking or jogging. Falls, fatigue and similar movement-related problems can still develop, and it doesn't mean you can go without sleep.
123. Sand Stone 1 Versatile Things you build from sand hold their shape as if they were stone. Castles are a natural, but you could make sand clubs or furniture as well. It takes several minutes to sculpt and set such an item.
124. Glass Blower 1 Versatile With a calm, deep exhalation you emit shapes of molten glass from your mouth. You are immune to the heat from glass you produce. But you could use it as a weapon or torture device in addition to obvious craft applications.
125. Tree Meld 2 Major Versatile You may melt into any tree you touch, hiding within it and flowing to whatever branch, root or trunk you like. Entry and exit require a moment of concentration. Anything that harms the part of the tree you're in will harm you.
126. Origami Companions 2 Frequent Versatile Companion You may fold paper into plant or animal shapes. If you do, they come alive. They behave very much like real creatures, save for their size and the natural limitations of paper (flimsy, combustible, damaged by water, etc). They have loyalty to you as if they were your child.
     
127. Cooking Hands 1 Frequent Place ingredients in palm of hand. Clasp hands, hold closed as long as it would take to cook it normally. Open hands to find food prepared as though cooked (in any method you're familiar with) for that length of time.
128. One Thousand Eyes 1 Frequent Your body is covered with eyes. You may see in all directions, and notice things most people would miss. However, beware of sandstorms and other airborne eye-irritants.
129. Water Witch 0 While in a meditative state, you may detect water, and know direction and distance to it.
130. Windless Sea 0 Whenever you are near a large body of water, the wind dies and remains dead until you leave.
131. Clothing Shift 1 Frequent Shapechange Your clothing is a shapeshifter. It may take any style, cut or color you choose, taking just moments to transform as you will it. It may shape into a mask or costume, but is noticably such.
132. Branch Perch 2 Frequent Major Any living plant may support your wieght. You can stand on treetops or walk along the tips of the tall grass. It is very difficult to track you, and not easy to dislodge or unbalance you either as long as there are plants about to support you.
133. To My Javelin! 2 Frequent Major You may call yourself to your javelin, teleporting close enough to grasp it. Doing so takes a moment's concentration. Most often you carry it with you to throw across obstacles, but there's no reason you couldn't leave it somewhere for a quick escape.
     
134. Purifying Gargle 0 If you put water in your mouth and gargle with it, it will be clean and germ-free when you spit it out.
135. Crop Head 1 Major A nourishing food grain grows where your hair should be. It's not a complete protien, but it could sustain life for several weeks off it if absolutely needed. Enough food grows for one person per day, so you can always see it sprouting or growing. It won't die off and doesn't need watering, but can be trimmed or burnt much like hair.
     
136. Incubator 1 Major If you nest upon an egg for 72 hours, it will hatch. This even works for fossilized or sterile eggs, as long as its shell and shape are intact.
137. Abortion's Touch 1 Major Your touch upon the belly of a pregnant women kills the unborn child in their womb. Death is quick, and painless for the child but the mothers can feel the effect unless they have very low water scores.
138. Unopened Bottle 0 You may drink liquids from the bottle or flask they are contained in without opening them. Just suck on the lid or neck. This does not break the seal, nor contaminate the contents in any way.
139. Rope Hair 1 Major Your hair is so strong and healthy that a braid of three strands is enough to be a sturdy rope capable of supporting the weight of a full grown man, or even strong enough to bind a Earth:4 captive.

As I indicated above, if you feel any of the new powers are cool enough to use in your own campaign, please share via a comment to this post. Thank you!

Origins of Hero Tokens

My previous post was about Hero Tokens, a mechanic I introduced to my Everway campaign. Hero Tokens obviously had two sources of inspiration, that being Pledges and Drama Dice.

First off, Pledges were taken from Amber. In that game, pledging to perform tasks that improve the gaming experience are rewarded with bonus character points. Examples in the Amber book include keeping a diary for your character, making trump card illustrations, maintaining the group's website with quotes and plot synopsis, etc. I often also allow pledges of providing snacks and drinks for the group, hosting the game in your spacious livingroom that totally outdoes the GM's apartment, etc. I don't consider the later to be bribes, since they enhance the enjoyment of the entire group - if, for example, you only brought snacks one of the players was allergic too, you wouldn't get the bonus. In Everway, we had Pledges grant Hero Tokens weekly instead of character points up front. As a result, pledges were fulfilled with a much higher success rate than any other game I've run.

The Hero Tokens themselves were lifted from the Drama Dice of 7th Sea. Drama Dice are special dice you get in 7th Sea when you do cool things. They mainly let you boost die rolls and gain XP. However, they have some other fun uses, like activating character traits. After a while of GMing 7th Sea, I found myself constantly broadening the definition of what a Drama Die could be used for. This gave a lot of power to the players, and has gone over really well in every game I've used something similar for. A couple of my former players (back in Albuquerque) use something similar in their campaigns now.

Making certain effects cost multiple Hero Tokens allowed Sarah and I to give them away like water during the Everway campaign. Any action done with the least bit of panache - if you made someone smile, you were probably getting a token. It also meant there was no danger in a PC starting the session with 6 or 8 Hero Tokens because we were gaming in their place, they provided food and drink, and they completed their diary from last week's session.

Hero Tokens

This is a house-rule/mechanic for use with Everway.

We allow pledges, much like in Amber. However, a pledge earn Hero Tokens, as opposed to character points. Each player starts each session with 2 Hero Tokens for every pledge they brought to tonight’s game session.

Spending Hero Tokens: At any point during the session you may spend Hero Tokens to do any of the actions on the list below.

Cost	Effect
1 or more	Improvise a small and/or logical detail into the background. The more unlikely the detail (in the GM’s opinion) the more Tokens it will cost. Examples: the keys under the welcome mat, weapons and crest of arms hanging inside a castle, a chandelier to swing from, a lone dissenter in any otherwise unified crowd, etc.
1 or 2	Causing an NPC’s Fault to manifest. This can only be done once per NPC per scene. Costs 1 for minor NPCs, 2 for major Villains. Examples: A henchman might betray his master, a cowardly or paranoid villain might flee or surrender, a prideful man would start making outrageous boasts about himself, an uncoordinated enemy might fumble and drop his weapon, etc.
3	Invert a Destiny Card that was just Drawn or Revealed. It is assumed that spending Tokens in this way sets the card to whatever orientation is best for the player who spent them. You must announce you’re doing this before the GM states whether the action that they drew a card for succeeded or failed. Example: You’re in a long battle and the GM draws “Summer Inverted: Exhaustion” for your attack. Expecting this will result in a miss or glancing blow, you spend 3 Hero Tokens to turn it into “Summer: Energy” which sounds likely to be a solid hit.
3	Gaining a significant boost in an effort that involves your own Virtue. The effect is as if your relevant Element score were 1 level higher for a single action related to your Virtue.
1 or more	Get advice from the GM when you’re stuck on how to solve a situation. The GM might say “I’ve got two bits of advice. One’s real simple and will cost 1 Token, but the really good advice will cost 3.”
2	Have a random helpful NPC arrive on the scene. If used with proper timing, this could get you an extra ally in a battle, or a friendly face in a tough situation. The GM determines which NPC shows up, but it will be someone your character knows. It might be someone you have a write-up on, someone you encountered earlier in this Realm, or we might say, “This old friend, a Spherewalker you haven’t seen in years, walks into the bar.” This effect may only be used once per session, total, by the entire group.
1	Reduce the severity of a wound as you receive it. Sucking up a wound so it doesn’t hurt as much or threaten your life so. May only be done to your own wounds, no one else’s. A minor wound is ignored for 1 Hero Token, a serious wound becomes minor for 1 Hero Token,and a lethal wound becomes a serious wound for 1 Hero Token. Must be spent at the time the wound is inflicted.

Earning more Hero Tokens:
The GMs may award more Hero Tokens as often as we see fit, and will often do so to reward good role-playing, heroic daring-do, or adding to everybody’s fun. Impress us, and you’ll reap the benefits.
Playing your character’s Fault at a critical, dramatically appropriate time may also earn you extra Hero Tokens. Using Sword of Vengeance as an example: his Fault is The Unicorn Reversed (Temptation). He won’t earn a Hero Token by giving in to temptation and having a second slice of chocolate cake. But he might earn a Hero Token by giving in to temptation and being seduced by a beautiful Villain.
We’ll also sometimes offer Hero Tokens for failure. For example, you’re walking a tightrope over a 100 foot chasm. The GM might say: “I can either flip over a card to find out if you make it, or you can choose right now to slip. If you do, you’ll be dangling by your fingertips and the other PCs will have to act fast to save you, but at the end of the scene I’ll give you two Hero Tokens.”

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow:
At the end of each night, all your Hero Tokens go away, and you start out fresh next session. So don’t be stingy with them – use the darned things, especially any bonus ones we give you for the cool things you do during a session.

Everway/Amber names

One Everway campaign I ran was a follow-up to an Amber campaign (where Eric destroyed the Universe and all the PCs gave their lives but failed to stop him). As a result, we (I was one of two GMs for both campaigns, the other was Sarah, my wife) put some thought into what Amberites Eric would bring back for his new Universe, and how he would refashion them. Here's a short brainstorm list of Amberites and possible Everway names for them in Eric's universe.

Eric
Errata, Firstborn of Amber (he revised the Universe)
Errant (he may be absent often from Amber, exploring the new reality he created)
Eriach (the word means a fine paid to the family of someone you murdered. In otherwords, eriach is a synonym of weregild, which is cool 'cause Eric's army in Amber were werewolves.)

Oberon (Eric's Dad)
Overlord (for a very draconian King of the Universe)
Over One (sounds like Oberon, and is slightly less ominous than Overlord)
Auburn (perhaps too feminine, but it would indicate Errata doesn't harbor any bad feelings)

Faella (Eric's Mother)
Fae (she was but a fleeting ephemeral presence in his childhood, dying while he was quite young. As a result, she's somewhat idealized and unreal in his new Universe. In the new Universe, all the Amberites are her children, and Eric is the eldest of her kids.)

Dworkin (Eric's secret grandfather, inventor of Trump)Art (anything less would be insulting)

Cymnea (Oberon's first wife, the mother of Benedict)
Unicorn (all the ex-wives, save Faella, are wrapped up and washed away, bound to Dad's old horse)
Chlamydia (sums up his feelings quite nicely)

Siblings with easy names:
Benedict - Benediction
Bleys - Blaze
Brand - Brand
Caine - Cane
Florimel - Floral
Random - Random

Siblings with trickier names to Everwayize:
Llewella - Lore Well (she's always been so bookish and quiet)
Fiona - Fiat (a decree or legal proclamation)
Dierdre - Diesis (in music, a division of a tone, an interval of less than a half step. Eriach has invoked some Errata over her)
Corwin - Corvee (it means a forced labor exacted by a government. This indicates a slightly bitter Eriach)
Gerard - Gerent (meaning: one who manages or governs) or Gladiator
Julian - never did find a name we liked for him. He's too manly to be Jewels.
Finndo - Finder
Osric - again, we didn't think of a name we liked, and it was unlikely he'd be needed anyhow...

What is Everway?

I'm likely to post a bunch of stuff on Everway this week. I realize it's not a commonly-known game. Rather than give a full review, I think I'll just link to a really solid review, overview and history of the game.

I love Everway because it had so many awesome ideas. The system was minimalist, yet at the same time really flavorful. The setting is very open to customization. As the review (I linked to above) says:

Everway was one of the rare games that played like a dream.

Names for Everway

In the Everway RPG, characters have meaningful names. Such names are made of words, not just sounds. Coming up with a good name on the spur of the moment can be tough, so, when Sarah and I were prepping our 2-GM Everway campaign a couple years ago, one thing we did was generate a brainstorm list of possible NPC names. We were free to claim names off the list as need be, and would note that we'd done so by writing the name of the characters home-realm in parenthesis after their name. Here's the list as the digital version exists (there was a hardcopy in our binder that probably had a lot more place names, but I'm having trouble finding it). A few of the names are goofy as heck, perfect for light-hearted/throw-away NPCs.

Some of these were from a list of members of the Order of the Eternal Rose known to the PCs. When players joined the game in progress, we handed them that list and made them choose a name from the list.

80-Foot Icicles (Frostbridge)
Accusatory (Restriction)
Ailettes and Pauldrons
Angry Ink Bottle
Bangs Bathe the Knees
Barded Boar
Bear Killer (Grand Pelt)
Besscologist (Bess’s Nut - was once known as Blasted Oak)
Blasted Oak (Bess's Nut - Besscologist, before learning about the trees)
Blissfully Stared At
Brazen Song *became Jenn's PC*
Brimming Scimitar (Bamboo City - don't tell players)
Buxom Talisman
Capering Thunderbolt
Chariot Humbler (Legs-Of-Ra)
Chequered Gallows
Clap Puzzle
Cliff Down Holyplace
Compulsory (Pure Heart - part of the bad guy group)
Croisé
Crossed Gateways
Derived From Ink
Double-headed Friar
Dozing Fawn
Drooping Candlestick
Elfin Curves (Redsky)
Fairy Candle
Flesh of My Flesh
Freed Of My Weights (Restriction)
Frothy Kitty
Frozen Cane
Frozen Lips
Giver of Great News
Godson
Grace Of A Hundred Zebras (PantherHunt)
Grandmaster of Earthquakes (Flashfire)
Great Skull Zero
Grotesque Scent, Maker of Cheeses
Growling Fool (The Moon’s Babe)
Grumpy Yew Pentacle (Boundless - don't tell the players)
Health, A Bearer Of Souls (Pure Heart)
Herd of Purple Flames
Herring In The Peach Trees
Hollow Road
Homeopathy
Howling Mushroom
Incontrovertible, King of the Realm of Fossil
Judgment of the Grand Days of Our Lives
Knight Enchantress Thief
Knower of Things
Lack Of Magic (Flashfire)
Ladylike Scepter
Lard Gulper
List of a Thousand Words
Little Walking Bridge
Lost In The Wild (PantherHunt)
Magnificent Umbrella
Malapert Butterfly, Chairman of the Inheritance Board (Night’s Adornment - don't tell players)
Minerals and Hermits, A Miner Of All Things (Viridian)
Moon’s Height (The Moon’s Babe)
Mountain Goat
Muscular Legs That Travel Well
No Sickness In Me (Pure Heart)
Opener of All Things Evil
Painless Virtue (Restriction)
Pantheon’s Plaything (Pleasure-In-Communion)
Peace Maker
Protector of Plants
Prudence
Pugwash
Red-eyed Dromedary
Resounding Lesson, Master of Tutelage (Opal)
Royale, With Spike
Rumtruffle
Scars Like Bark *became Jeremy's PC*
Seeker of Challenges (Grand Pelt)
Sinewy Flight (Bamboo City - don't tell players)
Sloppy Thistle
Spot On The Wall That Can’t Be Seen
Spring’s Stone Grave
Steamsmith’s Pride (Opal - a golem)
Sterling (Night’s Adornment - Died 300 years ago. ) *became James's PC*
Strong Wind (Bamboo City)
Sups With No Spoon (Rustheart)
Things You Can’t Find In Books
Thorny Cloaked Mane
Toolhand Luck
Tree Shark
Trident Tortoiseshell
Unerring Sextant (Olive Isles)
Valkyrie’s Wake (Frostbridge)
Volumes, Milker of Knowledge (Opal)
Water That Pours From the Mountains and Into the Streams
Water’s Caress (Pleasure-In-Communion)
WaterWatcher, The Gleamer (The Plains)
Wild Goose Benighted
Worker Ant

Feel free to use any of those character names in your own games and projects, though if you do, I'd really love to hear about via a comment to this post. Thanks!