The theme of my RPG GMing in recent weeks has been "deals with the devil".
In my Savage Worlds / DramaSystem / Deadlands / Brimstone campaign, the PCs have been interacting a lot with a literal snakeoil salesman. Mr Melchizedek's Traveling Emporium of Miracle Cures, Mystic Artifacts, and Scratch-Built Devices. They met him at a crossroads, and the character wasn't on the screen for more than a minute before the players started making "Something Wicked This Way Comes" references, and trying to get him to take off his hat to check for horns. One of the PCs had an in-character reason to want to learn French, and voiced this in front of him. The next morning, when that PC woke up, he spoke perfect French, but no longer understood English.
In my Gumshoe / Night's Black Agents / Dracula Dossier campaign, one of the PCs has recently learned Goetia, the demon-summoning magic (from the Gumshoe Zoom supplement). The PCs did a mini-op to steel the Munich Manual of Demonology from the state library archives, so he can eventually do a deeper-dive into the demony fringes of the occult. Meanwhile, the PCs have also infiltrated one Vampire's web of conspiracies, and (going undercover) have begun taking missions from that Vampire against Edom and other Vampires. So there's a supernatural war going on, and the PCs are helping one particular Evil get one up on other Evils. They seemed a little too eager to get in bed with this particular darkness, so I've taken every opportunity to remind them that he's just the worst. First there was that whole blood sorcery ritual he involved them in with only the faintest nod towards concent. Then the first mission he gave them was a straight-up assassination. When the PCs asked about pay, he produced actual bars of Nazi gold... which, I should mention, he apparently magically summoned to the negotiation by butchering rats in front of the PCs. There's just nothing good about this situation... but, being PCs, they went ahead and did it anyway.
Man, I just realized that "Deals With Devils" would be a great name for an Everway character.
Showing posts with label Everway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Everway. Show all posts
Friday, May 29, 2020
Friday, December 3, 2010
Everhammer Full Rules
Looking back on my last post, and the one from June, I don't think there's really enough info there for anyone else to run this hybrid Everway/Warhammer FRP game.
So, I'm going to post below the actual rules document I've GM'd from. It's just 2 or 3 pages, written pretty informally, and in a couple spots talks about things I hadn't yet done (like convert Wound cards to reference Everway's stats instead of Warhammer's). It was basically just a brainstorming document that proved solid enough on it's rough draft to work without major revisions. Obviously, it's derived from Everway and Warhammer, so I make no copyright claims about it. Feel free to use this system in your own games if you'd like. I feel that, given the nature of RPGs and the common assumption that every GM creates house rules, this document falls under "fair use". It doesn't quote either game system directly, IIRC, but certainly appropriates numerous concepts from both.
To use this "EverHammer" document to it's fullest, you'd need to have a copy of Everway and a copy of Warhammer 3rd. A passing knowledge of each game would be very helpful - you'll need the setting info from Everway and a modicum of familiarity with the combat system from Warhammer. The Everway boxed set contributes two necessary decks of cards, gives examples of appropriate powers, and lays out the basics of the setting. The Warhammer boxed set provides dice, fatigue markers, and location cards that can be used as-is. It also provided wound cards that I didn't use exactly, but which certainly provided the inspiration for the wound decks that I created/converted and used for the game. To use these rules, you'd have to make up your own Wound cards.
Everhammer Summary
An Everway variant using elements of Warhammer FRP 3rd
Character Creation:
(Per Everway, except that dice are derived from Element pools.)
Tweaks to warhammer stuff:
EverHammer Longer Version
Keeping the cool bits from Warhammer FRP 3rd Ed, and fusing them with the solid narrative system of Everway. Warhammer 3rd is too fiddly, and Everway is too simplistic, but meeting in the middle and playing on synergy and strengths is powerful.
Keeping the best dice from Warhammer 3rd. Those are the Blue, the White and Black, and the Yellow and Purple dice.
Using the four “Classical Elements” stats from Everway.
Most rolls are Blue dice equal to stat, vs a number of dice equal to target/opposing stat. However, defense dice are 1 purple and the rest just black. By contrast, the attack roll will be Blues and often a Yellow. You’ve got a better than 50% chance of hitting a foe of equal calibre (unless you’ve got a 2 in your attack stat).
For non-contested rolls, the GM assigns a difficulty number. This is total dice rolled against you, one of which is purple and the rest are black. Average challenge is 1 purple and 2 black.
Characters are built from the usual Everway budget of 20 points. Attributes come out of that total, and you must spend at least 1 point on each, with 3+ points per stat being very recommended, as that’s human average.
Still get a free 0-point power. One small bit of design space opened up by the dice is that your 0-point power could add a single die (usually a white one) to a die pool (as long as it’s an infrequent, non-versatile die-pool).
Other powers cost per Everway. Frequent, Major, and Versatile each cost a point. When a power is being used, it adds a die to the roll. In most cases this is a White die. However, any power that is major will add not just a white die, but also one extra yellow die per Major rating.
Defensive Powers: Any defensive power will convert one more black die into a purple (which is similar in impact to adding an extra black die, but it’s actually a little better for the defender in terms of the foe getting more banes). Major defensive powers add extra purple dice per level of major, which is pretty potent.
In general, the dice reflect the powers, not the other way around. That is to say, the storyline impact of a major power is probably better than its dice odds. There will be times where that major power means you don’t even have to roll.
Dice icons: We’ve really simplified things.
Other roll effects: Location cards can give other effects for die rolls, but the most common will be for Eagles or Skulls.
Attributes used: Most attacks roll fire. Most powers use Air. Attacks are always defended against with the same trait that they rolled. If your foe has a better dice pool than you, change stats.
Initiative: Per WFRP 3rd. Each PC rolls. Every major NPC rolls, and once per distinct type of henchmen. Any person on the team can use any slot, whoever knows what they want to do, should do it.
Assuming all sides know trouble is coming, they roll Fire for initiative, depending on whether this is a melee or a social conflict. If, however, it’s instead an ambush, we’ll roll water.
Fatigue and Injuries:
We’re using the core of the Fatigue and Manoeuvre systems from WHFRP. So, you get 1 free manoeuvre per turn. Each mano past 1 costs a fatigue. Range system is Engaged to Close=1, Close to Medium = 1, Medium to Long = 2, Long to Extreme = 3. So going from Extreme to Engaged in one round is 7 fatigue.
In addition to movement, manoeuvres can be used to interact with the environment, draw or ready a weapon, or assist another. Assisting is just narrating how your action provides an opening or opportunity for someone else, thereby giving them an extra white die on their next action. You can also narrate sheltering them or intervening, which adds a black die to attacks against them.
Fatigue is marked with tear drop tokens. If your fatigue exceeds your active stat, each point beyond it adds a black die to your roll.
Shedding Fatigue: At the end of a fight, you get back fatigue equal to either your highest stat, so you’ll start the next fight very close to fresh. (Plus basing it on highest stat helps make high stats better, which is important given that we’re using dice for Everway).
During a fight, you may “Assess The Situation” to regain fatigue. Assessing involves rolling any trait you have not yet rolled this fight. The difficulty is a single purple, plus 1 black per foe you’re engaged with. If you score 1 success, it cures 1 fatigue. If you score 3 successes, it scores 2 fatigue (total), and if you score any eagles that cures 1 more.
Wounds: This is the trickiest part. The GM has just a couple days to make a bunch of Wound cards (criticals) and Distorder cards (like insanities, plus party tension meter, distractions, etc). I’ll base them off the ones in WFRP, but converted to these four stats and simpler system. If you get more crits than your Earth score, you’re out of the fight.
Healing: You may roll Earth once per day to get rid of injuries, and Water once a day to get rid of disorders (the stress effects). Success gets rid of one card, regardless of numbers of symbols rolled. Only 1 card (of each type) can go away per day.
Magical Healing: Is just like normal healing, except the healer is usually the one rolling. Magical healing is limited to one roll (and one success) per day, but it does stack with mundane healing.
So, I'm going to post below the actual rules document I've GM'd from. It's just 2 or 3 pages, written pretty informally, and in a couple spots talks about things I hadn't yet done (like convert Wound cards to reference Everway's stats instead of Warhammer's). It was basically just a brainstorming document that proved solid enough on it's rough draft to work without major revisions. Obviously, it's derived from Everway and Warhammer, so I make no copyright claims about it. Feel free to use this system in your own games if you'd like. I feel that, given the nature of RPGs and the common assumption that every GM creates house rules, this document falls under "fair use". It doesn't quote either game system directly, IIRC, but certainly appropriates numerous concepts from both.
To use this "EverHammer" document to it's fullest, you'd need to have a copy of Everway and a copy of Warhammer 3rd. A passing knowledge of each game would be very helpful - you'll need the setting info from Everway and a modicum of familiarity with the combat system from Warhammer. The Everway boxed set contributes two necessary decks of cards, gives examples of appropriate powers, and lays out the basics of the setting. The Warhammer boxed set provides dice, fatigue markers, and location cards that can be used as-is. It also provided wound cards that I didn't use exactly, but which certainly provided the inspiration for the wound decks that I created/converted and used for the game. To use these rules, you'd have to make up your own Wound cards.
Everhammer Summary
An Everway variant using elements of Warhammer FRP 3rd
Character Creation:
(Per Everway, except that dice are derived from Element pools.)
- Draw three fortune cards to determine Virtue, Fault, and Fate
- Draw five image cards to decide on back story
- 20 points to build character
- Four Elements must rate between 1 and 9. 3 is human average.
- Zero-point power. Others cost 1 point per Frequent, Versatile, or Major. Max 6 points on powers.
- For truly flexible open-ended powers, you’ll want Magic. Magic ranges from 0 to 7.
- Dice: Blue for Elements, Yellow for Specialization, Black and Purple for difficulty, White
- Location Cards
- Abstract Movement and Manoeuvres system
- Assisting others with your manoeuvre
- Group Initiative
- Fatigue
Tweaks to warhammer stuff:
- Dice symbols are a little different.
- Comet & Chaos Star draw a fortune card for unexpected developments
- Eagles & Skulls only affect fatigue, or trigger location effects
- Wounds are crits only. Wounds via mental attacks are disorders.
- Fatigue is 1 stat (not 2) and affects all elements. At end of fight, recover fatigue = highest element.
- Assess the Situation can be done with any Element you haven’t rolled yet this battle.
EverHammer Longer Version
Keeping the cool bits from Warhammer FRP 3rd Ed, and fusing them with the solid narrative system of Everway. Warhammer 3rd is too fiddly, and Everway is too simplistic, but meeting in the middle and playing on synergy and strengths is powerful.
Keeping the best dice from Warhammer 3rd. Those are the Blue, the White and Black, and the Yellow and Purple dice.
Using the four “Classical Elements” stats from Everway.
Most rolls are Blue dice equal to stat, vs a number of dice equal to target/opposing stat. However, defense dice are 1 purple and the rest just black. By contrast, the attack roll will be Blues and often a Yellow. You’ve got a better than 50% chance of hitting a foe of equal calibre (unless you’ve got a 2 in your attack stat).
For non-contested rolls, the GM assigns a difficulty number. This is total dice rolled against you, one of which is purple and the rest are black. Average challenge is 1 purple and 2 black.
Characters are built from the usual Everway budget of 20 points. Attributes come out of that total, and you must spend at least 1 point on each, with 3+ points per stat being very recommended, as that’s human average.
Still get a free 0-point power. One small bit of design space opened up by the dice is that your 0-point power could add a single die (usually a white one) to a die pool (as long as it’s an infrequent, non-versatile die-pool).
Other powers cost per Everway. Frequent, Major, and Versatile each cost a point. When a power is being used, it adds a die to the roll. In most cases this is a White die. However, any power that is major will add not just a white die, but also one extra yellow die per Major rating.
Defensive Powers: Any defensive power will convert one more black die into a purple (which is similar in impact to adding an extra black die, but it’s actually a little better for the defender in terms of the foe getting more banes). Major defensive powers add extra purple dice per level of major, which is pretty potent.
In general, the dice reflect the powers, not the other way around. That is to say, the storyline impact of a major power is probably better than its dice odds. There will be times where that major power means you don’t even have to roll.
Dice icons: We’ve really simplified things.
- Hammer: Success as always. Attacks do 1 or 2 damage, depending on whether you rolled 1 or 3 successes. Damage is done in crits. NPCs will, in addition, have a target line that if a PC rolls the NPC is taken out automatically.
- Hammer +: Success, and roll another yellow die!
- Comet: GM flips top card of the Fortune Deck, and improvised appropriately. The better possible interpretation of the card happens, regardless of up/down orientation.
- Eagle: These are only fatigue-related now, unless there’s a location card. One or more eagles gets rid of 1 point of fatigue.
- Crossed Swords: Challenge result. Cancels out a hammer.
- Chaos Star: GM flips the top card of the Fortune deck, and the worse interpretation happens.
- Skulls: These are only fatigue-related now, unless there’s a location card.. 1 or more skulls means 1 point of fatigue.
Other roll effects: Location cards can give other effects for die rolls, but the most common will be for Eagles or Skulls.
Attributes used: Most attacks roll fire. Most powers use Air. Attacks are always defended against with the same trait that they rolled. If your foe has a better dice pool than you, change stats.
Initiative: Per WFRP 3rd. Each PC rolls. Every major NPC rolls, and once per distinct type of henchmen. Any person on the team can use any slot, whoever knows what they want to do, should do it.
Assuming all sides know trouble is coming, they roll Fire for initiative, depending on whether this is a melee or a social conflict. If, however, it’s instead an ambush, we’ll roll water.
Fatigue and Injuries:
We’re using the core of the Fatigue and Manoeuvre systems from WHFRP. So, you get 1 free manoeuvre per turn. Each mano past 1 costs a fatigue. Range system is Engaged to Close=1, Close to Medium = 1, Medium to Long = 2, Long to Extreme = 3. So going from Extreme to Engaged in one round is 7 fatigue.
In addition to movement, manoeuvres can be used to interact with the environment, draw or ready a weapon, or assist another. Assisting is just narrating how your action provides an opening or opportunity for someone else, thereby giving them an extra white die on their next action. You can also narrate sheltering them or intervening, which adds a black die to attacks against them.
Fatigue is marked with tear drop tokens. If your fatigue exceeds your active stat, each point beyond it adds a black die to your roll.
Shedding Fatigue: At the end of a fight, you get back fatigue equal to either your highest stat, so you’ll start the next fight very close to fresh. (Plus basing it on highest stat helps make high stats better, which is important given that we’re using dice for Everway).
During a fight, you may “Assess The Situation” to regain fatigue. Assessing involves rolling any trait you have not yet rolled this fight. The difficulty is a single purple, plus 1 black per foe you’re engaged with. If you score 1 success, it cures 1 fatigue. If you score 3 successes, it scores 2 fatigue (total), and if you score any eagles that cures 1 more.
Wounds: This is the trickiest part. The GM has just a couple days to make a bunch of Wound cards (criticals) and Distorder cards (like insanities, plus party tension meter, distractions, etc). I’ll base them off the ones in WFRP, but converted to these four stats and simpler system. If you get more crits than your Earth score, you’re out of the fight.
Healing: You may roll Earth once per day to get rid of injuries, and Water once a day to get rid of disorders (the stress effects). Success gets rid of one card, regardless of numbers of symbols rolled. Only 1 card (of each type) can go away per day.
Magical Healing: Is just like normal healing, except the healer is usually the one rolling. Magical healing is limited to one roll (and one success) per day, but it does stack with mundane healing.
Everhammer Revisited
I ran some "Everhammer" (Everway, using select mechanics ported over from Warhammer FRP 3rd Ed) over Thanksgiving while visiting friends in Portland, OR. This time we got in 12 to 13 hours of actual play, split in two sessions. This slightly more than doubled the total amount of Everhammer I've run.
Overall, it went really smashingly well.
Plotline:
The session was mostly creepy, with a little bit of humor, and a heavy layer of impending doom. Apparently, I was doing something right, because the players kept deciding to put distance between themselves and the various creepy NPCs I'd made. (As I compose this, I'm reminded of a review I once read for the movie Lost Highway where the review put himself on a strict budget of no more than 10 uses of the word "creepy" in one review. I think I'll do the same.)
We picked up from last time with the PCs having just come through a gateway into an unidentified Realm. They knew that there was a pretty major villain (quite probably Alurax the dragon) just a few days behind them, so they didn't really want to stay near the gate. The nearest civilization was a huge barn or stable up on a ridge a few hours hike from their current position. As they approached, they had some encounters with ghosts, which revealed there were some real "wicked witch" types living at those stables. The witches were sort of Norn like, seers and prophetesses who delighted in giving out terrible omens, and sometimes chose to swindle and murder their potential clients.
So the PCs decided to sneak away from the creepy witches. From the high vantage point of the cliffs, they could see a small village not too far away, and what looked like a large military camp a few hours beyond it.
They head to the village, but find the locals paranoid, conservative, creepy and a little insane. These people are in to a little S&M apparently, and punish the smallest crimes with mutilation, piercing, and huge heavy chains. So the PCs slink away from the creepy rural locals, and head towards the military camp, which the rurals had referred to as the big city.
The big city turns out to be even more fundamentalist and creepy than the little village was, so the PCs decide to high-tail it back to the Witches, and see if they get the evil prophetesses to point them in the direction of the nearest gate away that doesn't have a ferocious dragon beyond it.
At this point, speaking as sadistic and awful GM, I was feeling pretty good. I'd made the PCs so stressed and nervous they'd fled a dragon to the witches, fled the witches (and ghosts) to a village, fled the village to a city, and fled the city back to the witches. It warmed my cold dark GM's heart. So, of course, after a creepy (and just plain wrong) couple of scenes interacting with the Witches, it seemed only appropriate to have them relate that the only other gate out of the realm was back in the creepy city.
Back to the city it is. There was a bit of a run-in with the TSA equivalents amidst the city watch. That didn't go so well, and the PCs ended up in a running battle all the way into the middle of town. After some pretty nasty fighting, they managed to get to the gate. Around the gate (on this side) the creepy repressive chain-wearing punishment-mongers had built The Museum of Human Suffering, so that anyone entering the gate from another world would immediately know that this place doesn't tolerate dissent.
On the other side of the gate, in whatever world it links to, was a cage and a watchdog. Basically, the folks there didn't want the creepy sadistic folks from the Suffering museum to invade/expand/visit, so they'd set up some barriers to stop it.
The PCs managed to finagle their way out of the cage around the gate, and we decided to leave off there. The storyline will resume the next time a 3-day weekend takes me and my wife down to Portland again.
Anyone looking to learn more about the witches should read my page on Crone Crater.
Anyone looking to learn more about the chain-covered folks should read my page on Restriction.
I can't fill in any more details in this post, because I've already used my allotted budget of "creepy".
Mechanics:
Everhammer is basically the general character creation rules from Everway, with the dice from Warhammer 3rd added in. I blogged about it once a few months ago. Full write-up here.
To give you a feel for it, if a character with Fire 4, an Archery specialization, and a 0-point power called "Improbable Ricochet" (this is actually one of the PCs) were to fire in a bizarre bouncing arc at a villain with Fire 5 and no relevant defensive powers (which was one of her main targets during the battle in the city), the die pool would be 4 Blue, 1 Yellow, and 1 White vs 1 Purple and 4 Black dice. That's a 58% chance of scoring a Wound, and a 53% chance of scoring one or more Boons. In the process, she has a 22% chance of taking a Fatigue for her efforts. I'm pleased with it. It's simple and intuitive, easy to improvise, and the math works well enough.
Fatigue flows pretty fast, but between my tweak that it only takes 1 Boon to remove a fatigue, and my port of the "Assess the Situation" action, it's pretty easy for PCs to manage it. There were high and low crests and troughs to the fatigue levels, which provided dramatic tension as needed, but in actuality, only one roll ever ended up penalized by pre-existing fatigue levels. It was just enough to keep the players wary, but never lead to a doom spiral. Success, if you ask me.
It was quick and easy to pick up, as well. My rules document is 2 pages long. I reread it just before we left to take the train down to Portland, and only had to reference it twice in 13 hours of play. The players needed about 5 minutes to look over their character sheets again, and be walked through one sample die roll, and then everybody was ready to go. Success again, all around.
The players had no complaints. I, however, found three rough edges I need to smooth over, two of which stemmed from the fact that I didn't do any prep work.
Definitely looking forward with great anticipation to our next session in Portland.
Overall, it went really smashingly well.
Plotline:
The session was mostly creepy, with a little bit of humor, and a heavy layer of impending doom. Apparently, I was doing something right, because the players kept deciding to put distance between themselves and the various creepy NPCs I'd made. (As I compose this, I'm reminded of a review I once read for the movie Lost Highway where the review put himself on a strict budget of no more than 10 uses of the word "creepy" in one review. I think I'll do the same.)
We picked up from last time with the PCs having just come through a gateway into an unidentified Realm. They knew that there was a pretty major villain (quite probably Alurax the dragon) just a few days behind them, so they didn't really want to stay near the gate. The nearest civilization was a huge barn or stable up on a ridge a few hours hike from their current position. As they approached, they had some encounters with ghosts, which revealed there were some real "wicked witch" types living at those stables. The witches were sort of Norn like, seers and prophetesses who delighted in giving out terrible omens, and sometimes chose to swindle and murder their potential clients.
So the PCs decided to sneak away from the creepy witches. From the high vantage point of the cliffs, they could see a small village not too far away, and what looked like a large military camp a few hours beyond it.
They head to the village, but find the locals paranoid, conservative, creepy and a little insane. These people are in to a little S&M apparently, and punish the smallest crimes with mutilation, piercing, and huge heavy chains. So the PCs slink away from the creepy rural locals, and head towards the military camp, which the rurals had referred to as the big city.
The big city turns out to be even more fundamentalist and creepy than the little village was, so the PCs decide to high-tail it back to the Witches, and see if they get the evil prophetesses to point them in the direction of the nearest gate away that doesn't have a ferocious dragon beyond it.
At this point, speaking as sadistic and awful GM, I was feeling pretty good. I'd made the PCs so stressed and nervous they'd fled a dragon to the witches, fled the witches (and ghosts) to a village, fled the village to a city, and fled the city back to the witches. It warmed my cold dark GM's heart. So, of course, after a creepy (and just plain wrong) couple of scenes interacting with the Witches, it seemed only appropriate to have them relate that the only other gate out of the realm was back in the creepy city.
Back to the city it is. There was a bit of a run-in with the TSA equivalents amidst the city watch. That didn't go so well, and the PCs ended up in a running battle all the way into the middle of town. After some pretty nasty fighting, they managed to get to the gate. Around the gate (on this side) the creepy repressive chain-wearing punishment-mongers had built The Museum of Human Suffering, so that anyone entering the gate from another world would immediately know that this place doesn't tolerate dissent.
On the other side of the gate, in whatever world it links to, was a cage and a watchdog. Basically, the folks there didn't want the creepy sadistic folks from the Suffering museum to invade/expand/visit, so they'd set up some barriers to stop it.
The PCs managed to finagle their way out of the cage around the gate, and we decided to leave off there. The storyline will resume the next time a 3-day weekend takes me and my wife down to Portland again.
Anyone looking to learn more about the witches should read my page on Crone Crater.
Anyone looking to learn more about the chain-covered folks should read my page on Restriction.
I can't fill in any more details in this post, because I've already used my allotted budget of "creepy".
Mechanics:
Everhammer is basically the general character creation rules from Everway, with the dice from Warhammer 3rd added in. I blogged about it once a few months ago. Full write-up here.
To give you a feel for it, if a character with Fire 4, an Archery specialization, and a 0-point power called "Improbable Ricochet" (this is actually one of the PCs) were to fire in a bizarre bouncing arc at a villain with Fire 5 and no relevant defensive powers (which was one of her main targets during the battle in the city), the die pool would be 4 Blue, 1 Yellow, and 1 White vs 1 Purple and 4 Black dice. That's a 58% chance of scoring a Wound, and a 53% chance of scoring one or more Boons. In the process, she has a 22% chance of taking a Fatigue for her efforts. I'm pleased with it. It's simple and intuitive, easy to improvise, and the math works well enough.
Fatigue flows pretty fast, but between my tweak that it only takes 1 Boon to remove a fatigue, and my port of the "Assess the Situation" action, it's pretty easy for PCs to manage it. There were high and low crests and troughs to the fatigue levels, which provided dramatic tension as needed, but in actuality, only one roll ever ended up penalized by pre-existing fatigue levels. It was just enough to keep the players wary, but never lead to a doom spiral. Success, if you ask me.
It was quick and easy to pick up, as well. My rules document is 2 pages long. I reread it just before we left to take the train down to Portland, and only had to reference it twice in 13 hours of play. The players needed about 5 minutes to look over their character sheets again, and be walked through one sample die roll, and then everybody was ready to go. Success again, all around.
The players had no complaints. I, however, found three rough edges I need to smooth over, two of which stemmed from the fact that I didn't do any prep work.
- Everway NPCs are all about their weird powers. As GM, next time I need to spend a few minutes pre-game writing up weird powers. I had to improvise them as the game rolled on, and that wasn't always the best. However, the guy who could pierce your nose from a distance was pretty neat, mainly because it came up during combat.
- Same thing about Boon & Bane effects. I could have used some terrain cards appropriate to the places my fight scenes were happening at, and some prepared effects for high Boon or Bane rolls or for the Comets and Chaos Stars. These dice symbols and effects are all really detailed and defined in default Warhammer FRP, and improvising them off the cuff was a little uneven. Sometimes I was on fire, other times I froze up.
- Exactly how many Wounds or Fatigue does it take to knock out a PC? According to my 2-page rules summary, it takes Wounds = Earth +1. That rules summary doesn't mention how much Fatigue it takes to make a character pass out, but my original post here about the system says the answer for Fatigue is 10. One of my players had it written on her character sheet KO=8. That character's Earth score is 3. Somewhere, numerical wires got crossed several months ago. I can straighten it out easily enough, but it was annoying to discover the disparity (and lack of answer on my rules sheet) mid-session.
Definitely looking forward with great anticipation to our next session in Portland.
Friday, June 18, 2010
You got your Everway in my Warhammer!
This is an article about how I folded two very different game systems into one another, and found the place where they intersect to be more immediately enjoyable than either on it's own.
First, some context about the two games:
Friday night, after arriving in Portland, I taught the basics of the system to my three players (two of which had never played either Everway or Warhammer), and they created characters. On Saturday, we played all day long (about 10 hours of play, IIRC), and everyone had a blast. It was probably the best gaming I'd ever had with this particular group.
So here's how "EverHammer" works. Character creation is identical to Everway. All the differences are in game play, not character creation.
The four elemental attributes use blue warhammer dice to actively do things. The difficulty is a number of dice equal to the defender's relevant stat, of which the first die is purple and rest are black. So if an archer with Air 5 attacks a target with Fire 4, they'd roll 5 blue dice, 1 purple and 3 black (about a 57% success rate, and the counter-attack with the stats flipped would be about a 37% success rate).
Powers added either white or yellow dice to active rolls. As I ran it, I had 0-point powers add a white die, and powers that cost a point or more add a yellow. I'm not 100% certain that was the right break point. The way I did it worked, but it might not have been optimal. I could see reserving the yellow die for powers whose points come from the "Major" quality, instead, for example.
If a power was defensive in nature, it added a purple die to the roll.
Additional white and black dice could be (and frequently were) applied as improvised situational and terrain modifiers.
In all cases, dice pools flow from the character creation system, and causality comes from the shared game world and goes into the dice. Never the other way around. In other words, you can't buy a yellow die on it's own, or upgrade a power to Major just to get a die.
You roll the dice, do all the cancellations, and if there's at least 1 success left, you hit for normal damage. If you score 3 successes, you hit for double damage. Normal damage is 1 card. I made some wound cards to handle this, they were basically the equivalent of a critical wound from Warhammer. I'll probably devote an article to discussing them in depth at some future date, because I think there's some non-obvious considerations on what types of criticals enhance a fight scene, and what just ruin the game. If you suffer more wounds than you have points of Earth, you pass out. Any hit after that point could be a Coup de grâce.
For purely mental attacks, I ginned up a "disorder deck" that's basically criticals for mind powers. It's got a bit of overlap with various critical hits, insanity cards, and party tension meter effects from Warhammer. Again, when I get around to writing the article on the wound cards, I'll revisit this topic in depth.
Boons and banes were handled more simply than in Warhammer as well, eliminating all the complicated effects of various action cards. I kept fatigue, but rolled stress into it so there was just one type of fatigue point to worry about. I ran it with the existing Warhammer rule of 2+ banes = 1 fatigue, but in hindsight, I think I'll run that as 1+ bane = 1 fatigue next time. There were a lot of rolls of 1 boon or 1 bane, and not enough fatigue going around (An Everway character is less likely than a Warhammer character to have a weak-spot that fatigue penalizes.) If fatigue is higher than the active attribute, each additional point of fatigue adds a black die. Passing out sucks, and the wound system already emphasized Earth enough, so I set the pass-out to 10 instead of something attribute-based. One could argue the other way around (that wounds should be a set high number and fatigue based on Earth), and I wouldn't have a good counter-argument. I did what I did, and it seemed to work.
In theory, I still kept the door open for location cards to have more elaborate / non-fatigue-related boon or bane effects. I wasn't quite organized enough to implement that to the extent I would have liked this time out, but I'll be ready with it next time we play.
The biggest changes to the dice mechanics involved the Sigmar's Comet and Chaos Star results. In Warhammer, there's a lot of options when one of these is rolled, and deciding which option to invoke really slows down the process as either can change the other dice in the pool. Comets can, on a Warhammer attack roll, be used as a success, used as a boon, trigger a comet-line of an action, or add a critical hit. It's a lot to contemplate, and the chaos stars aren't any easier. I got rid of all the dice/symbol switching options, and just made these special symbols trigger a card draw. You'd flip over the top card of Everway's Fortune Deck, and if you rolled a Comet the GM would interpret that card in a beneficial way. If you rolled a Chaos symbol, the GM would interpret the card in a negative way. In theory this could have been as severe as a wound, but in general it was narrative effects and bonuses or penalties on future rolls. For next time, I may draft up a list of suggested/default effects by card type or severity.
I used the "group initiative" system from Warhammer 3rd. Initiative rolls were made with the water attribute, because it's linked to senses and awareness, and because Water was looking to be the least-used attribute otherwise (since Earth determines health and Fire and Air determine most attack rolls).
We used abstract movement rules and manoeuvre system per Warhammer 3rd, and the associated fatigue costs. Late in character creation after everyone was done with the Everway Vision Cards, I sorted out all the pictures of places to use as Warhammer Location Cards. I definitely need to supplement this deck, but it worked well enough for 10 hours of mostly-improvised adventure.
Pretty much everything else was pure Everway.
The hybrid system worked well. It had enough going on to spark some interesting challenges during the fights, including an interesting exchange with 2 PCs trying to draw the attention of the bad guys to protect a third that resulted in a very fluid rolling battle. Outside of combat, it was non-intrusive and simple enough that no role-playing scenes were disrupted by needing to consult rules. I think we were all very pleased with the results. There's a few things we'll do a little differently next time, but in general it exceeded all my expectations. Good gaming all around.
First, some context about the two games:
The new(-ish) Warhammer FRP has some really awesome groundbreaking elements like group initiative, abstract movement, multiple-axis of success, and wickedly cool dice. However, on the whole it's a lot more fiddly than I'd like it to be, and it involves a boatload of components that hog the table-space. It's a strange (but mostly enjoyable) mix of complicated bean-counting and elegant time-saving innovations. It's a game that can't quite decide on its target audience. Too fiddly for fans of most indy games, too revolutionary and abstract for those who approach combat as a comfortable tactical challenge.I'm not sure exactly how I realized that Warhammer had exactly what Everway was missing, but after that thought popped into my head last week, I started noticing other similarities. The real breakthrough came when I realized that in both games, nearly all character attributes will be in the range of 3 to 6 (the extreme apex of the range is higher in Everway, but in practice I've never seen a PC go above 7 and most don't go above 5). Which meant the basics of Warhammer's intriguing dice system could be ported over into Everway without having to make major changes to the character creation system of the lighter game. From there, it all fell into place organically.
Everway is a cool older game that was one of the first really light and abstract game systems. But it's in practice, too light. Combat is entirely narrative, and things like damage, healing, initiative, and even who wins any given conflict is almost entirely a matter of GM fiat. With the right group, and the right GM, a good dose of trust, and plenty of time to get the balance of the non-mechanics fine-tuned, it can be incredible. I've had some fun with Everway before, and gotten a lot of joy from Amber, another game with roughly the same level of GM fiat and rules non-existence. While I like that style of gaming, I know they're not for everyone. If you're playing infrequently, don't know your play group well, or want a little more "game" in your game, Everway is not a good choice.
Hauling out my old Crunchometer, I'd say Everway is an umistakeable c4. It's light and simple, the rules could fit on a single page. Character creation is entirely open-ended, with the exception of four very basic and flexible attributes. There's hardly any math involved in character creation, and far less while you're actually playing.
Warhammer 3rd, on the other hand, occupies no single niche, and instead is spread across a hazy band near the other end of the spectrum. It's a c20 that plays more like a c12 (and gets to that lower rating by incorporating some features usually found in a c6).
The resulting hybrid was about a c8, which for me is pretty much the sweet spot where the gaming is really good. I was very happy with the way it turned out.
Friday night, after arriving in Portland, I taught the basics of the system to my three players (two of which had never played either Everway or Warhammer), and they created characters. On Saturday, we played all day long (about 10 hours of play, IIRC), and everyone had a blast. It was probably the best gaming I'd ever had with this particular group.
So here's how "EverHammer" works. Character creation is identical to Everway. All the differences are in game play, not character creation.
The four elemental attributes use blue warhammer dice to actively do things. The difficulty is a number of dice equal to the defender's relevant stat, of which the first die is purple and rest are black. So if an archer with Air 5 attacks a target with Fire 4, they'd roll 5 blue dice, 1 purple and 3 black (about a 57% success rate, and the counter-attack with the stats flipped would be about a 37% success rate).
Powers added either white or yellow dice to active rolls. As I ran it, I had 0-point powers add a white die, and powers that cost a point or more add a yellow. I'm not 100% certain that was the right break point. The way I did it worked, but it might not have been optimal. I could see reserving the yellow die for powers whose points come from the "Major" quality, instead, for example.
If a power was defensive in nature, it added a purple die to the roll.
Additional white and black dice could be (and frequently were) applied as improvised situational and terrain modifiers.
In all cases, dice pools flow from the character creation system, and causality comes from the shared game world and goes into the dice. Never the other way around. In other words, you can't buy a yellow die on it's own, or upgrade a power to Major just to get a die.
Likewise, if a power is defined as "immunity to fire" and that character is attacked with normal mundane fire they cannot take damage. We still roll, to see if there's any fatigue changes or fortune effects (see below) but damage is off the table. If they were attacked by magical fire, or dragon breath, or some complicated mix of fire and something else (such as a volcanic explosion) then damage might be a possibility but they'd get the bonus purple die for defending with the fire immunity.I ditched the stance system from Warhammer. I'm not sure I had to, there's probably some reasonably elegant way to work in red and green dice (possibly Fire & Air = Red, Earth & Water = Green), and finding meaning for the delay icons despite not having action cards (more about that later). I was a little pinched for time (having gotten the idea for this system less than 72 hours before we were going to be playing it), and didn't want to try to figure out how to include that extra layer of complexity that comes from stance.
You roll the dice, do all the cancellations, and if there's at least 1 success left, you hit for normal damage. If you score 3 successes, you hit for double damage. Normal damage is 1 card. I made some wound cards to handle this, they were basically the equivalent of a critical wound from Warhammer. I'll probably devote an article to discussing them in depth at some future date, because I think there's some non-obvious considerations on what types of criticals enhance a fight scene, and what just ruin the game. If you suffer more wounds than you have points of Earth, you pass out. Any hit after that point could be a Coup de grâce.
For purely mental attacks, I ginned up a "disorder deck" that's basically criticals for mind powers. It's got a bit of overlap with various critical hits, insanity cards, and party tension meter effects from Warhammer. Again, when I get around to writing the article on the wound cards, I'll revisit this topic in depth.
Boons and banes were handled more simply than in Warhammer as well, eliminating all the complicated effects of various action cards. I kept fatigue, but rolled stress into it so there was just one type of fatigue point to worry about. I ran it with the existing Warhammer rule of 2+ banes = 1 fatigue, but in hindsight, I think I'll run that as 1+ bane = 1 fatigue next time. There were a lot of rolls of 1 boon or 1 bane, and not enough fatigue going around (An Everway character is less likely than a Warhammer character to have a weak-spot that fatigue penalizes.) If fatigue is higher than the active attribute, each additional point of fatigue adds a black die. Passing out sucks, and the wound system already emphasized Earth enough, so I set the pass-out to 10 instead of something attribute-based. One could argue the other way around (that wounds should be a set high number and fatigue based on Earth), and I wouldn't have a good counter-argument. I did what I did, and it seemed to work.
In theory, I still kept the door open for location cards to have more elaborate / non-fatigue-related boon or bane effects. I wasn't quite organized enough to implement that to the extent I would have liked this time out, but I'll be ready with it next time we play.
The biggest changes to the dice mechanics involved the Sigmar's Comet and Chaos Star results. In Warhammer, there's a lot of options when one of these is rolled, and deciding which option to invoke really slows down the process as either can change the other dice in the pool. Comets can, on a Warhammer attack roll, be used as a success, used as a boon, trigger a comet-line of an action, or add a critical hit. It's a lot to contemplate, and the chaos stars aren't any easier. I got rid of all the dice/symbol switching options, and just made these special symbols trigger a card draw. You'd flip over the top card of Everway's Fortune Deck, and if you rolled a Comet the GM would interpret that card in a beneficial way. If you rolled a Chaos symbol, the GM would interpret the card in a negative way. In theory this could have been as severe as a wound, but in general it was narrative effects and bonuses or penalties on future rolls. For next time, I may draft up a list of suggested/default effects by card type or severity.
I used the "group initiative" system from Warhammer 3rd. Initiative rolls were made with the water attribute, because it's linked to senses and awareness, and because Water was looking to be the least-used attribute otherwise (since Earth determines health and Fire and Air determine most attack rolls).
We used abstract movement rules and manoeuvre system per Warhammer 3rd, and the associated fatigue costs. Late in character creation after everyone was done with the Everway Vision Cards, I sorted out all the pictures of places to use as Warhammer Location Cards. I definitely need to supplement this deck, but it worked well enough for 10 hours of mostly-improvised adventure.
Pretty much everything else was pure Everway.
The hybrid system worked well. It had enough going on to spark some interesting challenges during the fights, including an interesting exchange with 2 PCs trying to draw the attention of the bad guys to protect a third that resulted in a very fluid rolling battle. Outside of combat, it was non-intrusive and simple enough that no role-playing scenes were disrupted by needing to consult rules. I think we were all very pleased with the results. There's a few things we'll do a little differently next time, but in general it exceeded all my expectations. Good gaming all around.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Multi-Platform The Warriors
Have you seen the movie The Warriors?
It's an old 70's film about a New York street gang trying to get back to Coney Island while all the other gangs in NYC hunt them. It's got some really trippy gangs - like the Baseball All-Stars. For a while I considered just stealing the plot for Cyberpunk 2020 and it's various posergangs.
Then I realized, it'd be cooler if each gang were represented by a different RPG system. There'd be a CP2020 gang for sure, plus a Vampire gang, a gang of Spanners, some Pendragon knights, 40k Orks, a D&D party, etc. Eventually a gang shows up without any connecting theme, and hopefully the players intuit that it's the GURPS gang.
This would make a good GwenCon one-shot, too, so there's hope I may run it this fall or next.
I'm not sure exactly what system the PCs should be from. One option would be Amber, using hoodlum junior versions of the Elder Amberites trying to get home without their trumps. Problem is the lack of randomness to that system - I'm unsure if it's a good idea to run a fairly combat-and-chase-scene intensive one-shot in such an abstract system. I suppose they could use Amber mechanics when defending, and the enemies mechanics when attacking, or vice-versa. That would shake things up a bit.
Alternately, PCs could be the colorful (and full-color) Everway sample characters.
It's an old 70's film about a New York street gang trying to get back to Coney Island while all the other gangs in NYC hunt them. It's got some really trippy gangs - like the Baseball All-Stars. For a while I considered just stealing the plot for Cyberpunk 2020 and it's various posergangs.
Then I realized, it'd be cooler if each gang were represented by a different RPG system. There'd be a CP2020 gang for sure, plus a Vampire gang, a gang of Spanners, some Pendragon knights, 40k Orks, a D&D party, etc. Eventually a gang shows up without any connecting theme, and hopefully the players intuit that it's the GURPS gang.
This would make a good GwenCon one-shot, too, so there's hope I may run it this fall or next.
I'm not sure exactly what system the PCs should be from. One option would be Amber, using hoodlum junior versions of the Elder Amberites trying to get home without their trumps. Problem is the lack of randomness to that system - I'm unsure if it's a good idea to run a fairly combat-and-chase-scene intensive one-shot in such an abstract system. I suppose they could use Amber mechanics when defending, and the enemies mechanics when attacking, or vice-versa. That would shake things up a bit.
Alternately, PCs could be the colorful (and full-color) Everway sample characters.
Everway Realm Index - Alphabetical
Below is an alphabetical index of all the Everway Realms that Sarah and I made for our old campaign. Each Realm has a post on this blog, corresponding to the page about that location that we gave to the players in our campaign. In addition, some Realms have multiple pages, either GM secrets, or additional player hand-outs. Every player got a big binder with 30+ pages of info. These Realms were used for the background of PCs and NPCs, plus plenty of clues were hidden in the binders as well - some hidden too well. It'd be fair to say the campaign was a tad bit overproduced, but it was fun.- Amber - the Everway campaign was a follow-up to an Amber campaign where the PCs failed to prevent the universe from being rewritten.
- Bamboo City
- Beauteous Sea
- Bess's Nut
- Boundless. Originally a vacation paradise, but by the time the PCs got there, it had been overrun by zombies.
- BrewerBarrow was documented for the players. They never got the full disclosure on the magic beer, the ghosts, or what inspired it.
- CornDale and HamLeg: Corndale is the Realm. Ham Leg's Gate is a village within it. GM Full Disclosure files included The Unicorn Craze and minor villains.
- Crone Crater
- Earth Maze
- Enduring Fall
- Flashfire and a tiny bit of extra info that wasn't on the player's handout.
- Fossil is being reborn due to the efforts of King Incontrovertible. You can also read about his subjects, both mundane and notable.
- Frostbridge is a Realm inhabited by Giants, such as a spoiled princess named Valkyrie's Pride. There is likely to be war between Frostbridge and Fossil.
- Grand Pelt is a Realm. One of the villages within is Foamy Falls.
- Legs of Ra
- Moon's Trial is where the campaigns plotline originated.
- Night's Adornment is a very fashionable and noteworthy place. So are the inhabitants. If that's not enough info, you can also read more about them here. We prepped a few random encounters as well, and did some brainstorming for the names of Extras.
- Opal, Westcliff, and Golems: Opal is the Realm. The capitol city, Above, has been totally co-opted by the Opaline Center for Golemic Studies. They, of course, make Golems. Beneath the city and school is Westcliff.
- Pasture Days
- Pure Heart
- Red Sky
- Restriction
- Rustheart
- Slidemount
- The Empire of the Stag & Sovna: The Empire has expanded recently, including swallowing up the Olive Isles. Here's some villainous NPCs stats to go with it.
- The Seeking
Pleasure-In-Communion (City-Realm)
This is a half-written Everway Realm. It never appeared in the hand-outs, as I was never quite happy with it.
Pleasure-In-Communion (City-Realm)
Several generations ago, the city of Pleasure-In-Communion was known simply as Communion, and it has long been the sight of numerous temples and a busy marketplace. A series of naturally-occurring hot-springs and powerful local spirits caused the place to be a center for mystical retreat, and a convergence of Gates to many worlds did cause it to grow into a popular tourist attraction for Spherewalkers. Over the years, however, the intersection of commerce and religion has lead to something of a fall from greatness.
Usurper Force: The Anointing
Normal: Worshipful Caress
Inverted: Distracted by Finery
People: Pleasure-In-Communion draws visitors from many Realms and Spheres, and so is a great melting pot. The culture is as a rule very open, liberal and accepting, but the surroundings can bring out either the best or worst of those who dwell here. There is also a small number of visitors who arrive each year merely to protest against the decadence of this society.
Economy: Little is manufactured here, but there are many luxury imports and a thriving black market. Healing, pampering, blessings and massage can be purchased at many locations in the city, and form the backbone of this service-based economy.
Military:
Ecology:
Rose:
Temples & Bathhouses: The main avenue of the city is lined with Temples, Bathhouses, Bordellos, Drug Dens and places that could qualify for two or more of those titles. Several different cults have sprung up, most devoted to sexuality or some notion of sensory experience. Holy prostitutes offer to provide you communion with the Gods.
Bathing In The Element: At least 1 bathhouse in Pleasure-In-Communion uses not hot-springs or man-made baths, but bound Water Elementals. The experience of immersion in such a being is said to be otherworldly in the least.
Pleasure-In-Communion (City-Realm)
Several generations ago, the city of Pleasure-In-Communion was known simply as Communion, and it has long been the sight of numerous temples and a busy marketplace. A series of naturally-occurring hot-springs and powerful local spirits caused the place to be a center for mystical retreat, and a convergence of Gates to many worlds did cause it to grow into a popular tourist attraction for Spherewalkers. Over the years, however, the intersection of commerce and religion has lead to something of a fall from greatness.
Usurper Force: The Anointing
Normal: Worshipful Caress
Inverted: Distracted by Finery
People: Pleasure-In-Communion draws visitors from many Realms and Spheres, and so is a great melting pot. The culture is as a rule very open, liberal and accepting, but the surroundings can bring out either the best or worst of those who dwell here. There is also a small number of visitors who arrive each year merely to protest against the decadence of this society.
Economy: Little is manufactured here, but there are many luxury imports and a thriving black market. Healing, pampering, blessings and massage can be purchased at many locations in the city, and form the backbone of this service-based economy.
Military:
Ecology:
Rose:
Temples & Bathhouses: The main avenue of the city is lined with Temples, Bathhouses, Bordellos, Drug Dens and places that could qualify for two or more of those titles. Several different cults have sprung up, most devoted to sexuality or some notion of sensory experience. Holy prostitutes offer to provide you communion with the Gods.
Bathing In The Element: At least 1 bathhouse in Pleasure-In-Communion uses not hot-springs or man-made baths, but bound Water Elementals. The experience of immersion in such a being is said to be otherworldly in the least.
Amber (Myth)
This was part of the binder full of hand-outs given to the players in my old Everway campaign. A few nods to Amberway can be noted in the text below.
Amber (Myth)
Though the Realm of Amber is most assuredly merely a fairytale, bards, poets and dramatists alike all agree upon the Usurper Force. It’s a stylistic convention that is only very rarely deviated from, and it adds greatly to the verisimilitude of this entirely ubiquitous fairy-tale city.
Usurper Force: The Royal Family
Normal: Unbreakable Solidarity
Inverted: Over-Protective Elitism
Tales you’ve no doubt heard about Amber, and particularly the way it was in Olden Days include...
Amber (Myth)
“In olden days, on the distant shores of Amber...”Is there anyone in all the spheres who doesn’t know that phrase? It seems at least half of all fairy-tales start that way. Most are about a young lad who should have known better, or a beautiful princess in great peril. Sometimes it’s about both, and they meet, are crowned King & Queen, fall tragically in love, are tricked into the woods by their evil stepmother, battle against horrible inhuman tyrants, and/or learn they were twins separated at birth, though not necessarily in that order. One thing you can be sure of is that every tale that starts this way is sure to have a self-righteous moral. Indeed, most tales of Amber are gushy, sappy melodramas, with villains unbelievable and heroines too true. But if you are in need of a familiar, comfortable way to get a story started, you could do a lot worse than “In olden days, on the distant shores of Amber...”
Though the Realm of Amber is most assuredly merely a fairytale, bards, poets and dramatists alike all agree upon the Usurper Force. It’s a stylistic convention that is only very rarely deviated from, and it adds greatly to the verisimilitude of this entirely ubiquitous fairy-tale city.
Usurper Force: The Royal Family
Normal: Unbreakable Solidarity
Inverted: Over-Protective Elitism
Tales you’ve no doubt heard about Amber, and particularly the way it was in Olden Days include...
- Amber was the first city ever. In these tales typically some silly significance is granted to the city: Perhaps it was founded by the Gods or the first Spherewalker, maybe it’s where Coyote revealed to man the art of sorcery and was chained to a rock as punishment, sometimes all the buildings are made of gingerbread or gold, and in a few tales all the citizenry are Spherewalkers or incredibly strong.
- The king of Amber is often named Walker First-Born. Sometimes a tale will revolve around a young man discovering that he was merely adopted by the old couple or pack of wolves that raised him, then he’ll learn his true name, defeat a preposterous villain, and raise to the title of King of Amber. Sometimes, First Born is indeed the first person ever born, or the first to receive the God’s gift of speech or the Fortune Deck. Other times he’s just called Walker, and it is said he built all the Gates between worlds. In some tales he marries the first woman ever born, and sometimes he lives a vow of chastity and servitude protecting a marvelous unicorn.
- Horrible monsters and mustached villains love to besiege Amber. They always fail, though. Every Amber story has a happy ending, usually involving a wedding, a naming, a great battle, or the finding of the true heir. Again, sometimes the bards overdo it and try to work in all 4 to final chapter of a single tale.
- Near to Amber is a city that is almost exactly like it except magical in some way elemental. You’ve heard tales of Underwater Amber, Volcanic Amber, Forested Amber, Amber-On-The-Moon, Ghost Amber, etc. Often it’s like a mirror or reflection - everything being backwards from the way it is in Amber. In all these stories, the Reflected Amber is in some fundamental way inferior to Amber, but still holds a secret that Walker First-Born or one of his younger siblings has to go investigate.
- The Royal Family of Amber is huge. Their family tree is convoluted, and includes numerous political marriages, which our hero & heroine often escape from via some clever trick or demonstration of awe-invoking purity. All the Royals are powerful, many to a degree that is unbelievable. They might run around a Sphere in a day, or save a sinking ship by drinking the ocean, outrageous claims like that are to be expected.
- No one you have ever known has ever been to Amber. Maybe someone they used to know was there once, but it was so beautiful they decided to relocate for good. Only a fool would ever leave Amber on purpose. Why else do you think all those Ogres and wicked stepmothers try to conquer it? It’s the best city you’ve ever imagined.
Redsky (Sphere)
This Everway Realm was inspired by a particular location/chapter in Nine Princes In Amber. Since the Everway game was a follow-up to an Amber campaign where Eric won and rewrote the universe, this place was specifically tweaked by the victor to prevent a reborn Bleys/Blaze from mustering troops here.
Redsky (Sphere)
The most notable fact about this harsh desert world is that the sky is nearly always the colors of sunset - the world’s most common name is derived from that fact. Everything’s a little off-kilter here, no doubt a result of the magical influence of the unnaturally colored sky.
Usurper Force: The Burning Sky
Normal: Enduring The Unnatural
Inverted: Succumbing To Unexpected Elements
People: Those who live here are, by and large, not human. They are a unique breed of elf, tall and thin, with skin the color of their sky. They are hairless, have sharply pointed ears and slightly pointy heads, and too many digits to their spindly fingers. They dress in bright silks, and carry scimitars with greatly exaggerated curves. They are desert dwellers so they travel light and keep few possessions, living off the harshest of lands. They like to sing while they work or fight, mostly religious songs about the battle between Gods and the foul Pretender.
Economy: Redsky has few appreciable exports. Silks mostly, and some exotic curved swords. The land is not resource-rich, so they have little to trade with, but are constantly in need. More than once in history the Elves of Redsky have raided out into other Spheres to take what they could not make in their own world, but it has always met with disaster.
Military: The Elves of Redsky are skilled swordsmen, but they all employ an exotic school of fighting adapted to the wide open spaces of their homeland. This extremely mobile style is terribly disadvantaged when hemmed in to small spaces - if they don’t have room for exaggerated defensive movements, they are likely to go down fast. The overly curved swords deliver ferocious wounds but are difficult to parry with effectively.
They have a navy as well, composed of enormous catamaran-style ships with very wide decks.
Pretender: The religion of the Elves of Redsky tells of a great evil known as Pretender. Pretender is charismatic, cunning, and seemingly noble - it is easy to like him even when you have better reasons to fear him. He can appear as an elf or a human, the later of which is believed to be his true form. As a human he is often known as Lightning Lie the Burning Sky Demon. Pretender’s chief purpose in existing is to fool and betray those of weak mind or pretentious aspirations. Sometimes he claims to be a God, in other generations he is just a warrior. He has the ability to walk the Spheres without using Gates. With such power, he seeks to tempt the elves into making war on other worlds. He leads them far away from home, promising conquest and paradise. Then he rains down Lightning upon them and delights in their destruction.
Ecology: The entire Sphere is made of mountains, desert and ocean. There are no forests, jungles or swamps. The sunlight burns fiercely. Strange plants and animals grow in such a harsh climate. Several breeds of cactus grow, some of them not merely spiny but also toxic. The local humming birds drink blood as well as nectar, and have been known to attack elves and humans. Tribes of coin-sized purple scorpions build hills not unlike ants in other realms. Several species of large-jawed or spined grubs spin durable silk in unusual colors.
Bird-Eating Rose: This desert flower looks like a very thorny but otherwise normal rose. It’s flower oozes a sweet-smelling sap that attracts scorpions, silk worms, hummingbirds, and foolish spherewalkers alike. The sap however is a strong glue. Any potential sap harvesters become quickly stuck to the flower, which senses their struggle and releases a digestive enzyme. A single flower can trap a hummingbird, kill it after a few hours and digest it completely in a day or two. Humans are generally safe as long as they don’t charge through or jump into such a rosebush.
Gates: There are multiple gates leading out of Redsky, all are small enough that travel through them must be done in single-file. The Gates are scattered through-out the desert. They open up into Boundless, SlideMount, and the Empire of the Stag & Sovna.
Redsky (Sphere)
The most notable fact about this harsh desert world is that the sky is nearly always the colors of sunset - the world’s most common name is derived from that fact. Everything’s a little off-kilter here, no doubt a result of the magical influence of the unnaturally colored sky.
Usurper Force: The Burning Sky
Normal: Enduring The Unnatural
Inverted: Succumbing To Unexpected Elements
People: Those who live here are, by and large, not human. They are a unique breed of elf, tall and thin, with skin the color of their sky. They are hairless, have sharply pointed ears and slightly pointy heads, and too many digits to their spindly fingers. They dress in bright silks, and carry scimitars with greatly exaggerated curves. They are desert dwellers so they travel light and keep few possessions, living off the harshest of lands. They like to sing while they work or fight, mostly religious songs about the battle between Gods and the foul Pretender.
Economy: Redsky has few appreciable exports. Silks mostly, and some exotic curved swords. The land is not resource-rich, so they have little to trade with, but are constantly in need. More than once in history the Elves of Redsky have raided out into other Spheres to take what they could not make in their own world, but it has always met with disaster.
Military: The Elves of Redsky are skilled swordsmen, but they all employ an exotic school of fighting adapted to the wide open spaces of their homeland. This extremely mobile style is terribly disadvantaged when hemmed in to small spaces - if they don’t have room for exaggerated defensive movements, they are likely to go down fast. The overly curved swords deliver ferocious wounds but are difficult to parry with effectively.
They have a navy as well, composed of enormous catamaran-style ships with very wide decks.
Pretender: The religion of the Elves of Redsky tells of a great evil known as Pretender. Pretender is charismatic, cunning, and seemingly noble - it is easy to like him even when you have better reasons to fear him. He can appear as an elf or a human, the later of which is believed to be his true form. As a human he is often known as Lightning Lie the Burning Sky Demon. Pretender’s chief purpose in existing is to fool and betray those of weak mind or pretentious aspirations. Sometimes he claims to be a God, in other generations he is just a warrior. He has the ability to walk the Spheres without using Gates. With such power, he seeks to tempt the elves into making war on other worlds. He leads them far away from home, promising conquest and paradise. Then he rains down Lightning upon them and delights in their destruction.
Ecology: The entire Sphere is made of mountains, desert and ocean. There are no forests, jungles or swamps. The sunlight burns fiercely. Strange plants and animals grow in such a harsh climate. Several breeds of cactus grow, some of them not merely spiny but also toxic. The local humming birds drink blood as well as nectar, and have been known to attack elves and humans. Tribes of coin-sized purple scorpions build hills not unlike ants in other realms. Several species of large-jawed or spined grubs spin durable silk in unusual colors.
Bird-Eating Rose: This desert flower looks like a very thorny but otherwise normal rose. It’s flower oozes a sweet-smelling sap that attracts scorpions, silk worms, hummingbirds, and foolish spherewalkers alike. The sap however is a strong glue. Any potential sap harvesters become quickly stuck to the flower, which senses their struggle and releases a digestive enzyme. A single flower can trap a hummingbird, kill it after a few hours and digest it completely in a day or two. Humans are generally safe as long as they don’t charge through or jump into such a rosebush.
Gates: There are multiple gates leading out of Redsky, all are small enough that travel through them must be done in single-file. The Gates are scattered through-out the desert. They open up into Boundless, SlideMount, and the Empire of the Stag & Sovna.
Bess's Nut (Realm)
Everway Realm: Bess’s Nut
This quaint agricultural realm was until recently largely ignored. It’s not the easiest place in the cosmos to reach, and the culture dominating the Realm was neither particularly remarkable nor threatening. The only significant fact about the world known to most Spherewalkers was that visiting Bess’s Nut you need to be very careful while collecting firewood. The most common tree in the entire land is known as the Brown Bess, and it’s seed pods burst with great force when heated.
In the past year, however, word has reached you about some young teenage Spherewalker who has deftly maneuvered the previously trivial political system of the land. He has declared himself Prince and Lord Marshal, and completely restructured the Realm. His name is Blaze.
Usurper Force: Throwing Seed-Pods On The Bonfire
Normal: Thoughtless Disaster
Inverted: Explosive Success
People: The folk here have long been sturdy and good-hearted. They show great capacity for caution and reasoning, but also the ability to make snap decisions when need suddenly arises. This is because of their proximity to the numerous Brown Bess groves. Forest fires are far more damaging when explosives grow on your trees. So the society has had to rebuild itself numerous times, and everyone’s willing to help a neighbor rebuild a barn that blew up or burned down because of an act of the gods.
In addition to a large working class, there is a smaller land-owning class of noble birth. Unlike most such societies, however, the step between commoner and nobility is very small. The nobles are a little better off, but land is owned by birthright and never sold, so it’s not necessarily a sign of wealth or affluence. The system is set up so that those who work the land keep a very large portion of what they harvest and pay only a small amount to the land-owners. The main benefit of nobility is just that you don’t have to work the fields.
A complex military-political system now grips the Realm, with mandatory military service for all men of age 13-25. This could develop into a potent military force, a barbaric fascist state, a tangled mess of bureaucracy and bullying, or a balanced and well-regarded nation based upon community-service. Any of those are possible, and who can predict? The neighbors are, of course, a little nervous, because these changes to the Bess’s Nut political system are being enacted by a 15-year-old boy. Things could easily go out of control.
Economy: The land is mostly self-sufficient, and doesn’t engage in much trade. The occasional Brown Bess Nut is exported and sold as a material component to wizards in realms as far away as Flashfire, Opal or Boundless. The locals will pay well for silks, satins and other luxury textiles, some being brought all the way from Redsky. Most locally produced cloth is quite coarse and itchy, so the smoother and more luxurious the imported cloth the better. They’ve also imported silver and flint lately in large quantities.
Military: The new military drills constantly, and has unveiled some new wonder weapon. Word is they’ve figured out how to harvest a Brown Bess seed-pod, attach it to a metal stock or brace, and then turn it into some sort of fire-breathing projectile weapon. They call it a “Musket”, which is a most unusual word.
Ecology: Temperate and rainy (especially during the winter and spring), the ecology of Bess’s Nut is dominated by the Brown Bess trees. These resemble willows, but dangling among the branches are long (2 feet or more) fluted Seed-Pods. When dry, the nuts of those pods are violently explosive. Luckily it rains enough to prevent that from being an issue for more than half of the year.
Fiber Rose: The local rose has many blooms on each bush, and the petals are easily separated into long fibers - it can be done by hand quite quickly. These fibers are then woven into clothing, blankets, etc. The resulting items smell very pleasant, but are a bit itchy.
Gates & Bordering Realms: There is a rarely used gate to Brewer Barrow, and also more commonly traveled gates to The Seeking and FlashFire. The Realm borders on Panther Hunt, but they are connected only by sea.
This quaint agricultural realm was until recently largely ignored. It’s not the easiest place in the cosmos to reach, and the culture dominating the Realm was neither particularly remarkable nor threatening. The only significant fact about the world known to most Spherewalkers was that visiting Bess’s Nut you need to be very careful while collecting firewood. The most common tree in the entire land is known as the Brown Bess, and it’s seed pods burst with great force when heated.
In the past year, however, word has reached you about some young teenage Spherewalker who has deftly maneuvered the previously trivial political system of the land. He has declared himself Prince and Lord Marshal, and completely restructured the Realm. His name is Blaze.
Usurper Force: Throwing Seed-Pods On The Bonfire
Normal: Thoughtless Disaster
Inverted: Explosive Success
People: The folk here have long been sturdy and good-hearted. They show great capacity for caution and reasoning, but also the ability to make snap decisions when need suddenly arises. This is because of their proximity to the numerous Brown Bess groves. Forest fires are far more damaging when explosives grow on your trees. So the society has had to rebuild itself numerous times, and everyone’s willing to help a neighbor rebuild a barn that blew up or burned down because of an act of the gods.
In addition to a large working class, there is a smaller land-owning class of noble birth. Unlike most such societies, however, the step between commoner and nobility is very small. The nobles are a little better off, but land is owned by birthright and never sold, so it’s not necessarily a sign of wealth or affluence. The system is set up so that those who work the land keep a very large portion of what they harvest and pay only a small amount to the land-owners. The main benefit of nobility is just that you don’t have to work the fields.
A complex military-political system now grips the Realm, with mandatory military service for all men of age 13-25. This could develop into a potent military force, a barbaric fascist state, a tangled mess of bureaucracy and bullying, or a balanced and well-regarded nation based upon community-service. Any of those are possible, and who can predict? The neighbors are, of course, a little nervous, because these changes to the Bess’s Nut political system are being enacted by a 15-year-old boy. Things could easily go out of control.
Economy: The land is mostly self-sufficient, and doesn’t engage in much trade. The occasional Brown Bess Nut is exported and sold as a material component to wizards in realms as far away as Flashfire, Opal or Boundless. The locals will pay well for silks, satins and other luxury textiles, some being brought all the way from Redsky. Most locally produced cloth is quite coarse and itchy, so the smoother and more luxurious the imported cloth the better. They’ve also imported silver and flint lately in large quantities.
Military: The new military drills constantly, and has unveiled some new wonder weapon. Word is they’ve figured out how to harvest a Brown Bess seed-pod, attach it to a metal stock or brace, and then turn it into some sort of fire-breathing projectile weapon. They call it a “Musket”, which is a most unusual word.
Ecology: Temperate and rainy (especially during the winter and spring), the ecology of Bess’s Nut is dominated by the Brown Bess trees. These resemble willows, but dangling among the branches are long (2 feet or more) fluted Seed-Pods. When dry, the nuts of those pods are violently explosive. Luckily it rains enough to prevent that from being an issue for more than half of the year.
Fiber Rose: The local rose has many blooms on each bush, and the petals are easily separated into long fibers - it can be done by hand quite quickly. These fibers are then woven into clothing, blankets, etc. The resulting items smell very pleasant, but are a bit itchy.
Gates & Bordering Realms: There is a rarely used gate to Brewer Barrow, and also more commonly traveled gates to The Seeking and FlashFire. The Realm borders on Panther Hunt, but they are connected only by sea.
Frostbridge & Fossil Situation
This is a synopsis of a pretty major part of the old Everway campaign. Sadly, the players missed some opportunities and failed to prevent the war. Instead, they headed through the gate after the big villains.
GM Full Disclosure: Frostbridge & Fossil Situation
War A Brewing: Both nations are gearing up for war. On the surface, the Sons of Yimir would seam to have an advantage, being larger, more numerous, and more animated. However, don’t count the undead of Fossil completely out of the running. They are immune to cold and pain, after all, and while perhaps a bit fragile, it’s very hard to keep them down.
Cosmology: Queen Caution of Fossil did not enter the promised land 1200 years ago, as all the rest of her countrymen did. Her absence was noted by her husband, King Incontrovertible. So, working beyond the veil, he did craft a ritual to return himself to the land of the living. From here, he could work on a second ritual that would return her to life as well, that they might be together for all of eternity. He was uncertain where her soul had gone, it was not in any Hell he visited. And so it took him a hundred years to tweak the ritual to draw her forth from some unknown plane.
The Life Rose: 1200 years ago, Incontrovertible was a member of the robust Order Of The Eternal Rose. He remembers his land began to die in a most notable year: It was the year he inducted his wife Caution into the order. At a critical moment in battle with the moon dragon, he was distracted by the peril his wife was in, and did not prevent the beast from harming the Rose. He thereafter held himself responsible for the unknowable calamity of lethal lethargy that struck his land.
Since His Return: He has been working only on raising his wife, but the spillover effects of the magic have been raising many of his subjects. Some comeback with all their soul, but others are pale shadows of their former selves. He is certain that once Caution is with him again, he will be able to restore the soul and senses of all who have been raised as a side-effect.
Interrupting Visit: A Hawk-Masked Prince came from Legs-Of-Ra, and since that land had once (long ago) been an outpost of Fossil, Incontrovertible did extend an audience to this Princeling. He expected they would negotiate some truce or trade agreement, or that Legs-Of-Ra would offer tribute of some sort. Instead, the Hawk-Mask was stoicly quiet - rarely speaking, but when he did it was always statements evasive and cyclical. He seemed to want nothing other than Incontrovertible's time, which drew the ire of the great king. The King was seething with anger when finally the mask asked his first question... “How do you want to die, your Majesty?”
The Missing Headpiece: The Prince was driven from the Palace, and the King was too angry to return to his work for several days. When finally he did, he found that Caution’s headdress was missing. Without the specially prepared 1200-year-old item adorning her hair, she could not be raised.
What He Eventually Learned: The headdress is being used as a skirt pin by Valkyrie’s Pride Loptsdottir, the heir to the Icy Throne of nearby Frostbridge. A state of war has been brewing ever since, and Incontrovertible has been whipping his army into shape. If he is able to retrieve the headdress, it will be a simple 8-month ritual to restore Caution to the living.
GM Full Disclosure: Frostbridge & Fossil Situation
War A Brewing: Both nations are gearing up for war. On the surface, the Sons of Yimir would seam to have an advantage, being larger, more numerous, and more animated. However, don’t count the undead of Fossil completely out of the running. They are immune to cold and pain, after all, and while perhaps a bit fragile, it’s very hard to keep them down.
Cosmology: Queen Caution of Fossil did not enter the promised land 1200 years ago, as all the rest of her countrymen did. Her absence was noted by her husband, King Incontrovertible. So, working beyond the veil, he did craft a ritual to return himself to the land of the living. From here, he could work on a second ritual that would return her to life as well, that they might be together for all of eternity. He was uncertain where her soul had gone, it was not in any Hell he visited. And so it took him a hundred years to tweak the ritual to draw her forth from some unknown plane.
The Life Rose: 1200 years ago, Incontrovertible was a member of the robust Order Of The Eternal Rose. He remembers his land began to die in a most notable year: It was the year he inducted his wife Caution into the order. At a critical moment in battle with the moon dragon, he was distracted by the peril his wife was in, and did not prevent the beast from harming the Rose. He thereafter held himself responsible for the unknowable calamity of lethal lethargy that struck his land.
Since His Return: He has been working only on raising his wife, but the spillover effects of the magic have been raising many of his subjects. Some comeback with all their soul, but others are pale shadows of their former selves. He is certain that once Caution is with him again, he will be able to restore the soul and senses of all who have been raised as a side-effect.
Interrupting Visit: A Hawk-Masked Prince came from Legs-Of-Ra, and since that land had once (long ago) been an outpost of Fossil, Incontrovertible did extend an audience to this Princeling. He expected they would negotiate some truce or trade agreement, or that Legs-Of-Ra would offer tribute of some sort. Instead, the Hawk-Mask was stoicly quiet - rarely speaking, but when he did it was always statements evasive and cyclical. He seemed to want nothing other than Incontrovertible's time, which drew the ire of the great king. The King was seething with anger when finally the mask asked his first question... “How do you want to die, your Majesty?”
The Missing Headpiece: The Prince was driven from the Palace, and the King was too angry to return to his work for several days. When finally he did, he found that Caution’s headdress was missing. Without the specially prepared 1200-year-old item adorning her hair, she could not be raised.
What He Eventually Learned: The headdress is being used as a skirt pin by Valkyrie’s Pride Loptsdottir, the heir to the Icy Throne of nearby Frostbridge. A state of war has been brewing ever since, and Incontrovertible has been whipping his army into shape. If he is able to retrieve the headdress, it will be a simple 8-month ritual to restore Caution to the living.
Frostbridge NPCs
Additional NPCs to compliment Valkyrie's Pride Loptsdottir, and flesh-out the Realm of Frostbridge.
GM Full Disclosure: Frostbridge NPCs
Less than 100 giants inhabit the continent, but they are very powerful individually.
Suitor Thrymsun: This is Valkyrie’s jealous ex. He follows her around, tries to earn back her love, and occasionally in a bout of drunken foolishness they become lovers again for a day or two. He will immediately suspect the PCs are there to woo her - perhaps he should think that of Lightfoot to give Joe something fun to do.
Air: 4 Earth: 6 Fire: 4 Water: 6
Drinking Songs: 5 Climbing: 7 Spear Melee: 5 Read Valkyrie’s Pride: 7
Bridge-Under-Foot: 0 pt: Suitor has cold feet. If he steps in water, the surface turns to ice before his foot completes contact. Effectively he can walk on water, building a bridge of icefloes beneath him as he goes. He still feels the cold as much as anyone with such high earth & fire scores would, but his skin can never be frozen nor stuck to anything by the cold.
Ice Spear: 1pt, Major: This long pike has a head of icy diamond. Anything impaled by it is frozen solid.
Bergrider Sifsdottir: This is Valkyrie’s Pride Loptsdottirs closest girlfriend. They drink together, do each others hair, go sailing on icebergs together, share sexual tips, etc. Bergrider has a knack for digging up gold, and working it into jewelry. However, she’s very protective of this gold, as she feels it’s her birthright claim from Sif, the Golden-haired goddess. She has bits of thin gold braided into her hair at all times, and a lot of jewelry. She’d do almost anything for Valkyrie’s Pride, but she’d never part with her gold, not even for her.
She’s had a crush on Suitor Thrymson for years, but he ignores her for Valkyrie’s Pride, so she does mean little tricks to him. She’s always telling him of Valkyrie’s infidelity, whipping him up into an angry passion.
Air: 5 Earth: 5 Fire: 2 Water: 4
Lying: 6 Digging & Mining: 6 Jewelrymaking: 3 Iceberg Acrobatics: 5
Gold Sense: 1 pt, Versatile: She’s aware of all Gold on the same continent as her. So she knows where to dig up gold at, knows how little is left beneath the earth and snow of Frostbridge, knows how wealthy (in gold) the people she meets are, and if she can slip some gold onto a person she can track them easily.
My Side Of The Berg Is Up: 0 pt: When she is on a piece of ice floating in water, whichever side she is touching will always be right side up. So her iceberg canoes can’t be flipped or capsized, she can float on any piece of ice large enough for her to stand on, and she can do some really showy rotation tricks by grabbing opposite ends of an iceberg.
King IceGifter Yimirsheir: This is Valkyrie’s Pride Loptsdottirs father. He is powerful, and one of the greatest permafrost wizards ever to wear the Crown-Of-Icicles. He stands 4 feet wider than any of his subjects, and has the strength of a titan. But he is slow. Slow to anger, slow to act. Sort of like a really big Projectionist George, but without ever saying “Chicks”. :)
Air: 4 Earth: 9 Fire: 2 Water: 8
Carving: 5 Stand Your Ground: 10 Resisting Fire Magic: 3 Remaining Calm: 9
Permafrost Wizard: 7 pt, Magic: Freeze water or melt ice by means of your gaze. It takes a second of concentration for every cubic foot. Transform existing ice to clear crystal that does or does not radiate cold, as you wish, or back again into ice, by thought. Your transformed ice may have the strength of steel or the fragility of glass, as you choose. Ice, cold, bad weather, and weapons made of ice do you no physical harm. If you hold a person in your arms for a minute, you may freeze them to death. You may extinguish small fires by letting them burn you for a moment.
IceHorses: The King’s broad sleigh is driven by 8 horses, carved from living ice. Each translucent horse is nearly 20 feet tall and exhales snowflakes.
GM Full Disclosure: Frostbridge NPCs
Less than 100 giants inhabit the continent, but they are very powerful individually.
Suitor Thrymsun: This is Valkyrie’s jealous ex. He follows her around, tries to earn back her love, and occasionally in a bout of drunken foolishness they become lovers again for a day or two. He will immediately suspect the PCs are there to woo her - perhaps he should think that of Lightfoot to give Joe something fun to do.
Air: 4 Earth: 6 Fire: 4 Water: 6
Drinking Songs: 5 Climbing: 7 Spear Melee: 5 Read Valkyrie’s Pride: 7
Bridge-Under-Foot: 0 pt: Suitor has cold feet. If he steps in water, the surface turns to ice before his foot completes contact. Effectively he can walk on water, building a bridge of icefloes beneath him as he goes. He still feels the cold as much as anyone with such high earth & fire scores would, but his skin can never be frozen nor stuck to anything by the cold.
Ice Spear: 1pt, Major: This long pike has a head of icy diamond. Anything impaled by it is frozen solid.
Bergrider Sifsdottir: This is Valkyrie’s Pride Loptsdottirs closest girlfriend. They drink together, do each others hair, go sailing on icebergs together, share sexual tips, etc. Bergrider has a knack for digging up gold, and working it into jewelry. However, she’s very protective of this gold, as she feels it’s her birthright claim from Sif, the Golden-haired goddess. She has bits of thin gold braided into her hair at all times, and a lot of jewelry. She’d do almost anything for Valkyrie’s Pride, but she’d never part with her gold, not even for her.
She’s had a crush on Suitor Thrymson for years, but he ignores her for Valkyrie’s Pride, so she does mean little tricks to him. She’s always telling him of Valkyrie’s infidelity, whipping him up into an angry passion.
Air: 5 Earth: 5 Fire: 2 Water: 4
Lying: 6 Digging & Mining: 6 Jewelrymaking: 3 Iceberg Acrobatics: 5
Gold Sense: 1 pt, Versatile: She’s aware of all Gold on the same continent as her. So she knows where to dig up gold at, knows how little is left beneath the earth and snow of Frostbridge, knows how wealthy (in gold) the people she meets are, and if she can slip some gold onto a person she can track them easily.
My Side Of The Berg Is Up: 0 pt: When she is on a piece of ice floating in water, whichever side she is touching will always be right side up. So her iceberg canoes can’t be flipped or capsized, she can float on any piece of ice large enough for her to stand on, and she can do some really showy rotation tricks by grabbing opposite ends of an iceberg.
King IceGifter Yimirsheir: This is Valkyrie’s Pride Loptsdottirs father. He is powerful, and one of the greatest permafrost wizards ever to wear the Crown-Of-Icicles. He stands 4 feet wider than any of his subjects, and has the strength of a titan. But he is slow. Slow to anger, slow to act. Sort of like a really big Projectionist George, but without ever saying “Chicks”. :)
Air: 4 Earth: 9 Fire: 2 Water: 8
Carving: 5 Stand Your Ground: 10 Resisting Fire Magic: 3 Remaining Calm: 9
Permafrost Wizard: 7 pt, Magic: Freeze water or melt ice by means of your gaze. It takes a second of concentration for every cubic foot. Transform existing ice to clear crystal that does or does not radiate cold, as you wish, or back again into ice, by thought. Your transformed ice may have the strength of steel or the fragility of glass, as you choose. Ice, cold, bad weather, and weapons made of ice do you no physical harm. If you hold a person in your arms for a minute, you may freeze them to death. You may extinguish small fires by letting them burn you for a moment.
IceHorses: The King’s broad sleigh is driven by 8 horses, carved from living ice. Each translucent horse is nearly 20 feet tall and exhales snowflakes.
Valkyrie’s Pride Loptsdottir (Spherewalker)
This was an NPC from Frostbridge that got only a third the "camera time" I'd intended for her.
Full GM Disclosure: Valkyrie’s Pride Loptsdottir (Spherewalker)
Vain, Prideful, Certain. She is descended from Loki and a Giantess. She calls all man-sized beings “Little One” as a way of dismissing their importance.
She is very wise and clever, but sometimes she drinks too much and then her judgment becomes clouded. She stands by her word, no matter what it is or what was in her system when she made her foolish declarative statements.
Earth: 6 Air: 5
Caber-Throw:7 Earn The Loyalty Of Drinking Buddies:6
Fire: 3 Water: 5
Spear-Fishing:4 Use Icebergs As Canoes:6
Ocean-But-A-Sip: 0 pt. She can drink any volume of any substance that a normal person could drink a (appropriately sized) cup of. So she’s still affected by poisons, and each swallow of liquor or potion affects her as would a normal sized swallow for someone of her girth. It’s just that her swallows can be infinitely large. She could drain a lake, for example, or a never-ending drinking horn.
Drunken Boasts: 4 pt, Frequent, Double Major and Versatile: When she is tipsy, she is prone to making outlandish boasts. Whatever it is she says she can do, she really can and will. The supernatural ability to complete these boasts lasts only while she’s drunk, so if it takes long enough for her to sober up, she might fail.
Frost’s Friend: 1 pt, Frequent: Exposure to cold and wintery weather cannot harm her. It is frequent because of where she lives, and because her 0-pt power slot has been used.
Spoiled Princess: 1 pt, Frequent: Valkyrie’s Pride nearly always gets what she wants. Her father does all she asks, and many fetching young giant-men strive constantly to catch her eye. It is frequent because of where she lives, and because her 0-pt power slot has been used.
And now for a detail about the current situation:
She won’t give up Caution’s Headdress - she was tricked into boasting she could steal it without being seen. Not only would she lose face by giving it up to some little dusty king just because he threatened war, but also it’s the one piece of jewelry she has that’s flashier than anything Bergrider Sifsdottir wears.
Full GM Disclosure: Valkyrie’s Pride Loptsdottir (Spherewalker)
Vain, Prideful, Certain. She is descended from Loki and a Giantess. She calls all man-sized beings “Little One” as a way of dismissing their importance.
She is very wise and clever, but sometimes she drinks too much and then her judgment becomes clouded. She stands by her word, no matter what it is or what was in her system when she made her foolish declarative statements.
Earth: 6 Air: 5
Caber-Throw:7 Earn The Loyalty Of Drinking Buddies:6
Fire: 3 Water: 5
Spear-Fishing:4 Use Icebergs As Canoes:6
Ocean-But-A-Sip: 0 pt. She can drink any volume of any substance that a normal person could drink a (appropriately sized) cup of. So she’s still affected by poisons, and each swallow of liquor or potion affects her as would a normal sized swallow for someone of her girth. It’s just that her swallows can be infinitely large. She could drain a lake, for example, or a never-ending drinking horn.
Drunken Boasts: 4 pt, Frequent, Double Major and Versatile: When she is tipsy, she is prone to making outlandish boasts. Whatever it is she says she can do, she really can and will. The supernatural ability to complete these boasts lasts only while she’s drunk, so if it takes long enough for her to sober up, she might fail.
Frost’s Friend: 1 pt, Frequent: Exposure to cold and wintery weather cannot harm her. It is frequent because of where she lives, and because her 0-pt power slot has been used.
Spoiled Princess: 1 pt, Frequent: Valkyrie’s Pride nearly always gets what she wants. Her father does all she asks, and many fetching young giant-men strive constantly to catch her eye. It is frequent because of where she lives, and because her 0-pt power slot has been used.
And now for a detail about the current situation:
She won’t give up Caution’s Headdress - she was tricked into boasting she could steal it without being seen. Not only would she lose face by giving it up to some little dusty king just because he threatened war, but also it’s the one piece of jewelry she has that’s flashier than anything Bergrider Sifsdottir wears.
Frostbridge (Realm)
An Everway Realm
Frostbridge (Realm)
This land is populated by the Sons of Yimir, a race of people averaging 20 feet tall. They are rarely Spherewalkers (being too large for most gates), and keep to themselves in general. They raise great woolly goats, proudly wear tartans and heraldic sashes, and are known for their amazing ice sculptures.
Usurper Force: Winter Wind
Normal: Bitter, Driving, and Relentless
Inverted: Cold, Immobile and Uninterested
People: They organize themselves into small patrilineal clans, the most powerful of which inhabits a huge Ice Palace in the northeast of their land (just across the bridge from Fossil).
Economy: The great wooly goats they raise are sheered, slaughtered or sold to provide all that the people need. They import spices and sometimes fabrics. They also sell magically-altered ice.
Military: The Sons of Yimir have no organized army, but are individually great warriors. They wield great spears of ice into battle. It is said that every spring they train in great games to the west, and that some portion of these games involve trying to scale the cliffs of Enduring Fall. They are strong, persistent, and brave.
Ecology: Thick snow covers the Isle 3 seasons out of 4, and what plants survive are hardy indeed. Many great bears hibernate the years away, emerging from their slumber only once a decade or so. The local goats are enormous, adults standing more than 10 feet at the shoulder.
Snowpetal Rose: It blossoms in the one temperate season out of the year, but burns like ice on the skin. Coloration runs from white to pale blue. It’s beautiful, but fragile and often painful. Home remedies made from this include a topical balm to break fevers and inflammation - but beware using too much Snowpetal in the mixture as it can cause tissue damage akin to frostbite.
The Ice Carvers: Several artists and wizards in Frostbridge have the capacity to enchant ice so that it retains its cold for long spans of time and resists the application of heat. Items that have made it out of Frostbridge in trade include icicle polearms, glass-looking mugs that keep their contents continually cold for years, and sleighs with slick runners of ice. Unless made custom, however, assume that these are out of scale for the typical human.
Other noteworthy ice-carvings include the great palace of Yimir’s Hearth and the Frostbridges themselves - icy platforms extending from the northern continent south to Fossil and Enduring Fall.
Naming Conventions: In addition to a normal name like those possessed by most people you will encounter as the you walk the Spheres, the inhabitants of Frostbridge often have honorific secondary names. These names denote some God, Titan or Dragon that they are descended from. Example honorific names include Thrymsun, Thrudsdottir, and the ubiquitous Yimirson (which is the equivalent of the earthly “Johnson” or “Smith”).
Gates & Bordering Realms: The most common means of entering the Realm of Frostbridge involves crossing the great icy bridge from Fossil. Take some care though in crossing that bridge. You’ve heard tales of tongues, toes and fingers stuck to the bridge when foolish travelers accepted one dare too many.
Gates do exist, but they are under snow 3 seasons out of 4, and so are not frequently relied upon.
Frostbridge (Realm)
This land is populated by the Sons of Yimir, a race of people averaging 20 feet tall. They are rarely Spherewalkers (being too large for most gates), and keep to themselves in general. They raise great woolly goats, proudly wear tartans and heraldic sashes, and are known for their amazing ice sculptures.
Usurper Force: Winter Wind
Normal: Bitter, Driving, and Relentless
Inverted: Cold, Immobile and Uninterested
People: They organize themselves into small patrilineal clans, the most powerful of which inhabits a huge Ice Palace in the northeast of their land (just across the bridge from Fossil).
Economy: The great wooly goats they raise are sheered, slaughtered or sold to provide all that the people need. They import spices and sometimes fabrics. They also sell magically-altered ice.
Military: The Sons of Yimir have no organized army, but are individually great warriors. They wield great spears of ice into battle. It is said that every spring they train in great games to the west, and that some portion of these games involve trying to scale the cliffs of Enduring Fall. They are strong, persistent, and brave.
Ecology: Thick snow covers the Isle 3 seasons out of 4, and what plants survive are hardy indeed. Many great bears hibernate the years away, emerging from their slumber only once a decade or so. The local goats are enormous, adults standing more than 10 feet at the shoulder.
Snowpetal Rose: It blossoms in the one temperate season out of the year, but burns like ice on the skin. Coloration runs from white to pale blue. It’s beautiful, but fragile and often painful. Home remedies made from this include a topical balm to break fevers and inflammation - but beware using too much Snowpetal in the mixture as it can cause tissue damage akin to frostbite.
The Ice Carvers: Several artists and wizards in Frostbridge have the capacity to enchant ice so that it retains its cold for long spans of time and resists the application of heat. Items that have made it out of Frostbridge in trade include icicle polearms, glass-looking mugs that keep their contents continually cold for years, and sleighs with slick runners of ice. Unless made custom, however, assume that these are out of scale for the typical human.
Other noteworthy ice-carvings include the great palace of Yimir’s Hearth and the Frostbridges themselves - icy platforms extending from the northern continent south to Fossil and Enduring Fall.
Naming Conventions: In addition to a normal name like those possessed by most people you will encounter as the you walk the Spheres, the inhabitants of Frostbridge often have honorific secondary names. These names denote some God, Titan or Dragon that they are descended from. Example honorific names include Thrymsun, Thrudsdottir, and the ubiquitous Yimirson (which is the equivalent of the earthly “Johnson” or “Smith”).
Gates & Bordering Realms: The most common means of entering the Realm of Frostbridge involves crossing the great icy bridge from Fossil. Take some care though in crossing that bridge. You’ve heard tales of tongues, toes and fingers stuck to the bridge when foolish travelers accepted one dare too many.
Gates do exist, but they are under snow 3 seasons out of 4, and so are not frequently relied upon.
Incontrovertible (Spherewalker, King of Fossil)
An NPC that I played in a few sessions of Everway.
GM Full Disclosure: Incontrovertible (Spherewalker, King of Fossil)
Appearance: Wears a golden facemask inlaid with turquoise, it depicts a young and bearded man with deep eye shadow. Below that is much finery, flowing purple robes, gem-studded jewelry, a coat of golden mail beneath that. All of it fits a bit loosely, no doubt because he is but a mummy. You see no exposed flesh, but instead exposed bandages. The wraps have been decorated with arcane symbols all along their lengths.
He sits upon one of two great thrones, side-by-side. The other throne is empty and undecorated.
He is flanked by three sets of four:
Closest too him are mummified maidens, bearing enormous plumed fans to cool him. They wear outfits that would be skimpy and revealing on a living person, but which reveal only bandages and bones upon these women.
Next comes 4 children carrying canopic jars. 3 of them are wispy, beautiful and cherubic. Their innocence is so powerful it nearly draws tears just looking at them. Their jars are sealed. The fourth child is a mummy like everyone else you’ve seen in fossil, and the seal upon his jar has notably been chipped away.
The outer group is 4 skeletal legionnaires in armor. The great plumes upon their helmets are from the same species of bird as the maiden’s fans. their armor is like the King’s, only bronze and less ornate. They bear blocky sickle-like swords.
Stats on Incontrovertible
Virtue: Death Inverted (Stasis)
Fault: Dragon Inverted (Blind Fury)
Fate: The Priestess (Understanding Mysteries vs Impracticality)
Incontrovertible is quick to anger, yet very noble and honorable. Here is an example (it's what he says upon seeing the PCs for the first time):
“Good friends of the blossom which extends life to us all, it is kind of you to check on my condition after but a single absence. Yet take care how you express your concerns - Do not attempt to scold me for my lack of attendance this year, as I am a man in a foul mood that may take millennia to clear of its own, and I fear only blood will sooner return a smile to this shrunken orbless face.”
Earth:4 Air: 3
Delivering Funerary Rites:5 Anatomy:4
Fire: 7 Water: 2
Battling Dragons:8 Healing Others:3
Eternal Spirit: 1 pt, Major: His soul cannot be destroyed. If slain, it will take him a milennia to reform, but he can do it.
Soul’s Call: 1 pt, Major: By means of elaborate rituals, he may return the dead to life. These rituals take months to execute, and require him first researching the religious beliefs of the one he’s calling back. He must have much of their body and several of their personal belongings to do so. It tends to spill over and awaken other well-preserved corpses in the area.
Elemental Jars: 1 pt, Major: Each of his four jars holds different organs. He may open them to gain temporary boosts to the relevant Elemental Attribute. Each time he does so, half the power of the Jar escapes. He’s used his Water Jar once.
Life Drain: 1 pt, Major: He may drain the essence from a person he touches. This will kill them but heal and rejuvenate himself. He must genuinely HATE them to do so, and must touch them for more than a minute to complete it - he and they will be incapable of doing anything else while it happens, but he’s vulnerable to interference or harm from observers while doing so.
GM Full Disclosure: Incontrovertible (Spherewalker, King of Fossil)
Appearance: Wears a golden facemask inlaid with turquoise, it depicts a young and bearded man with deep eye shadow. Below that is much finery, flowing purple robes, gem-studded jewelry, a coat of golden mail beneath that. All of it fits a bit loosely, no doubt because he is but a mummy. You see no exposed flesh, but instead exposed bandages. The wraps have been decorated with arcane symbols all along their lengths.
He sits upon one of two great thrones, side-by-side. The other throne is empty and undecorated.
He is flanked by three sets of four:
Closest too him are mummified maidens, bearing enormous plumed fans to cool him. They wear outfits that would be skimpy and revealing on a living person, but which reveal only bandages and bones upon these women.
Next comes 4 children carrying canopic jars. 3 of them are wispy, beautiful and cherubic. Their innocence is so powerful it nearly draws tears just looking at them. Their jars are sealed. The fourth child is a mummy like everyone else you’ve seen in fossil, and the seal upon his jar has notably been chipped away.
The outer group is 4 skeletal legionnaires in armor. The great plumes upon their helmets are from the same species of bird as the maiden’s fans. their armor is like the King’s, only bronze and less ornate. They bear blocky sickle-like swords.
Stats on Incontrovertible
Virtue: Death Inverted (Stasis)
Fault: Dragon Inverted (Blind Fury)
Fate: The Priestess (Understanding Mysteries vs Impracticality)
Incontrovertible is quick to anger, yet very noble and honorable. Here is an example (it's what he says upon seeing the PCs for the first time):
“Good friends of the blossom which extends life to us all, it is kind of you to check on my condition after but a single absence. Yet take care how you express your concerns - Do not attempt to scold me for my lack of attendance this year, as I am a man in a foul mood that may take millennia to clear of its own, and I fear only blood will sooner return a smile to this shrunken orbless face.”
Earth:4 Air: 3
Delivering Funerary Rites:5 Anatomy:4
Fire: 7 Water: 2
Battling Dragons:8 Healing Others:3
Eternal Spirit: 1 pt, Major: His soul cannot be destroyed. If slain, it will take him a milennia to reform, but he can do it.
Soul’s Call: 1 pt, Major: By means of elaborate rituals, he may return the dead to life. These rituals take months to execute, and require him first researching the religious beliefs of the one he’s calling back. He must have much of their body and several of their personal belongings to do so. It tends to spill over and awaken other well-preserved corpses in the area.
Elemental Jars: 1 pt, Major: Each of his four jars holds different organs. He may open them to gain temporary boosts to the relevant Elemental Attribute. Each time he does so, half the power of the Jar escapes. He’s used his Water Jar once.
Life Drain: 1 pt, Major: He may drain the essence from a person he touches. This will kill them but heal and rejuvenate himself. He must genuinely HATE them to do so, and must touch them for more than a minute to complete it - he and they will be incapable of doing anything else while it happens, but he’s vulnerable to interference or harm from observers while doing so.
Extras In Fossil
Stats for the nameless hordes of the nearly dead in the Everway Realm of Fossil...
Typical zombie-mummy Fossil Legionnaire: Carries a very blocky Khopesh, an angled scutum-like shield, and 2 or 3 short throwing spears with long thin metal heads. Wears either bronze chainmail or leather armor. All bear the same trilobite-shaped symbol in bronze.
Air: 1 Earth: 3 Fire: 3 Water: 1
Follow Commands: 2 Marching: 4 Throw Pilum: 4 Move Silently: 2
Beyond Death: 2pt, Frequent & Major: These legionnaires have no internal organs to be damaged, feel no pain, and are enchanted by a powerful animative magic. Bones may be broken, limbs may be removed, but the body will continue fighting until immobilized, crushed or completely dismembered.
Living Fossils: There are no bears in Fossil, instead there are bear-sized land-going trilobites. They are rarely encountered, but do exist.
Air: 1 Earth: 6 Fire: 3 Water: 4
See In Dark: 2 Find Caves: 7 Defensive Curl: 4 Flow Over Terrain: 5
Rock Hard: 1 pt, Frequent: These creatures have a very hard rocky shell to protect from impact.
Petrifying Demise: 1 pt, Major: When a living Fossil is killed, it turns to stone instantly. A few inches worth of any material touching it will be similarly transformed.This could kill those wrestling it.
Typical zombie-mummy Fossil Legionnaire: Carries a very blocky Khopesh, an angled scutum-like shield, and 2 or 3 short throwing spears with long thin metal heads. Wears either bronze chainmail or leather armor. All bear the same trilobite-shaped symbol in bronze.
Air: 1 Earth: 3 Fire: 3 Water: 1
Follow Commands: 2 Marching: 4 Throw Pilum: 4 Move Silently: 2
Beyond Death: 2pt, Frequent & Major: These legionnaires have no internal organs to be damaged, feel no pain, and are enchanted by a powerful animative magic. Bones may be broken, limbs may be removed, but the body will continue fighting until immobilized, crushed or completely dismembered.
Living Fossils: There are no bears in Fossil, instead there are bear-sized land-going trilobites. They are rarely encountered, but do exist.
Air: 1 Earth: 6 Fire: 3 Water: 4
See In Dark: 2 Find Caves: 7 Defensive Curl: 4 Flow Over Terrain: 5
Rock Hard: 1 pt, Frequent: These creatures have a very hard rocky shell to protect from impact.
Petrifying Demise: 1 pt, Major: When a living Fossil is killed, it turns to stone instantly. A few inches worth of any material touching it will be similarly transformed.This could kill those wrestling it.
Fossil NPCs
A file for the GM's eyes only that listed info on a variety of NPCs in the Everway Realm of Fossil.
GM Full Disclosure: Fossil NPCs
Here are brief character sketches to round out the population of these Realms.
Informers, Bureaucrats, and Sages:
Artists, Artisans, and Merchants:
GM Full Disclosure: Fossil NPCs
Here are brief character sketches to round out the population of these Realms.
Informers, Bureaucrats, and Sages:
- Courtyard Dictation: This mummified peacock serves the role of Royal Herald, strutting about the courtyard announcing arrivals and proclamations. It can speak the Tongue, and has goldleaf artificial plumes to replace what it lost to decay.
Artists, Artisans, and Merchants:
- Brain Scrambler: Brain Scrambler is the embodiment of every cliche you’ve ever heard about bitter self-absorbed artists beloved by the very public they so violently hate. In the dying days of Fossil, Brain Scrambler was THE man that all the powerful people wanted to be mummified by. The trick is that the real talent was possessed by his assistant, Embalmer’s Pet. Anyone she helped embalm is now up and awake (excepting Caution, of course), including Brain Scrambler. She, being the last such artisan to die, was not preserved sufficiently. She is half-awake, a braindead zombie-mummy that silently follows Brain Scrambler wherever he goes.
- Wheel’s Inventor: No, he wasn’t literally the guy who invented the wheel, he just sort of acted like it in life, and the nickname has lasted beyond death. He still makes the finest Chariots in Fossil, cut and polished from petrified bamboo and huge disks of fossilized trilobites. But he hasn’t quite got all his personality back from the land of the dead yet. He’ll only talk about chariots, not a single sentence ever comes out about any other topic. Like a bronze age parody of “Crash”, if you've ever met him.
- Pilum: Pilum is a High-Ranking Officer in the Fossil army, but he has only held that position for a few days. He has much combat experience from the Imperial Era, and is a bright and talented individual. He has nearly entirely recovered from death, which is why he was promoted suddenly this past week. He looks human (not undead) though perhaps a bit gaunt.
- Heated Shot Landing On Thatched Roofs: Nominally the highest ranking officer in the Fossil army, but not currently functioning at the full levels he once did. A few hundred soulless mummies follow his every thought, so he retains his old position for that reason. This corpse legion somehow understands every command he glares at them, which is good because he hasn’t yet regained the ability to speak. He mumbles and roars, struts forcefully and waves his blocky khopesh wildly in the air. The mostly-dead wail and charge with him. He has one other noteworthy power, which is a specific limited form of pyrokinesis... his gaze can cause enemy barracks and fortifications to slowly start burning - but only military buildings can be targeted in this way.
Fossil (Realm)
One of the Realms where memorable events happened during the Everway campaign. I'll try to remember to blog about them sometime.
Fossil (Realm)
2,000 years ago, this Realm dominated the southern continent of its Sphere, a great empire that held all the villages in thrall. Then, about 1,200 years ago some unknown cataclysm occurred, causing every man, woman and child in the Capitol to die within a year. The borders of the realm retreated quickly, withdrawing till all that was left was an empty plain with a fossilized ghost town in its center. The southern villages became independent, then grew into Bamboo City. The dead realm of Fossil became little more than folklore. But apparently, the ancient King of Fossil was stronger even then death, and nearly 100 years ago, he awoke.
Usurper Force: The Hourglass
Normal: Fading Into Folklore
Inverted: Sudden Reverses
People: For almost a century, the people of Fossil have been returning from the lands of the dead. The better embalmed, the better mummified and preserved they were, the sooner they awoke. Perhaps 1 in every 200 to 300 have come back, the rest remain entombed, unawakened or lost to a millennia of grave-robbings.
The Press of Years: For the commoner of Fossil, existence is a pale shadow of what it once was. They walk eroded streets, live in ruined homes, and engage in some gray parody of their former lives. Most are little better than soulless undead automata, puttering about futilely, trying to reenact a millennia-old daily grind. But the better preserved the body in death, the greater the spark of life they brought back with them from the lands beyond.
Economy: Quiet skeletal farmers work the dusty weed-ridden fields with flail and scythe. Mummified artisans in ornate dressings market the greatest of their grave-adornments, now lacking the creative spark to innovate. Carefully de-organed and enchanted priests preach a dead religion with a fervor that not even death could chill. But precious little is exported from Fossil, and rarer yet is the import, for the dead seek only to reclaim that which they have lost, and surround themselves only with the treasures that were interred with them.
Military: Once, long ago, the Realm that became known as Fossil had a mighty army, a great legion that conquered the Sphere and did even venture through gates. The mighty legionnaires in full regalia were an amazing sight to behold, the myths do tell us. Now, they must be even more fearsome, if not quite so glamorous, as they no doubt are a column of dry bones marching in armor.
Ecology: The land is mostly dead, only tangled thorny weeds survive on the dusty plains. Wild bamboo forests dot the southern borders, but in the north the stalks are petrified and ancient, merely a nest for weeds and tiny gaunt rodents. Some green can be found where farmers have returned to some state of life, but where the land is untended it nears desert conditions.
Rose: The local rose is rarely spotted, its low-growing vines look nearly identical to a common thorn-weed that grows in fits across the plains. The dusty orange blooms last but a day or two, then shrivel on the vine and preserve their dry and dusty form. It takes months for the plant to produce a precious new flower to replace the one that dried out.
Incontrovertible & Caution: The ancient Pharaoh Incontrovertible the First was a wise and powerful man, with great wisdom and potent magic. His wife Caution was equally as powerful, but by some accounts mad, and by others wickedly selfish or dangerously lustful. Her life is but a myth now, remembered in bedtime stories only. Some say she brought about her peoples destruction, others say she was simply the vain first victim of whatever calamity struck the Realm. She has not awoke, though her husband did nearly 100 years ago.
You personally have met Incontrovertible, he helped drive the Dragon away from Moon’s Trial a few years ago.
Gates & Bordering Realms: The easiest passages are South to Bamboo City or north by bridge. The ancient empire had many gates, it is said, but none are currently known to be in public use.
Fossil (Realm)
2,000 years ago, this Realm dominated the southern continent of its Sphere, a great empire that held all the villages in thrall. Then, about 1,200 years ago some unknown cataclysm occurred, causing every man, woman and child in the Capitol to die within a year. The borders of the realm retreated quickly, withdrawing till all that was left was an empty plain with a fossilized ghost town in its center. The southern villages became independent, then grew into Bamboo City. The dead realm of Fossil became little more than folklore. But apparently, the ancient King of Fossil was stronger even then death, and nearly 100 years ago, he awoke.
Usurper Force: The Hourglass
Normal: Fading Into Folklore
Inverted: Sudden Reverses
People: For almost a century, the people of Fossil have been returning from the lands of the dead. The better embalmed, the better mummified and preserved they were, the sooner they awoke. Perhaps 1 in every 200 to 300 have come back, the rest remain entombed, unawakened or lost to a millennia of grave-robbings.
The Press of Years: For the commoner of Fossil, existence is a pale shadow of what it once was. They walk eroded streets, live in ruined homes, and engage in some gray parody of their former lives. Most are little better than soulless undead automata, puttering about futilely, trying to reenact a millennia-old daily grind. But the better preserved the body in death, the greater the spark of life they brought back with them from the lands beyond.
Economy: Quiet skeletal farmers work the dusty weed-ridden fields with flail and scythe. Mummified artisans in ornate dressings market the greatest of their grave-adornments, now lacking the creative spark to innovate. Carefully de-organed and enchanted priests preach a dead religion with a fervor that not even death could chill. But precious little is exported from Fossil, and rarer yet is the import, for the dead seek only to reclaim that which they have lost, and surround themselves only with the treasures that were interred with them.
Military: Once, long ago, the Realm that became known as Fossil had a mighty army, a great legion that conquered the Sphere and did even venture through gates. The mighty legionnaires in full regalia were an amazing sight to behold, the myths do tell us. Now, they must be even more fearsome, if not quite so glamorous, as they no doubt are a column of dry bones marching in armor.
Ecology: The land is mostly dead, only tangled thorny weeds survive on the dusty plains. Wild bamboo forests dot the southern borders, but in the north the stalks are petrified and ancient, merely a nest for weeds and tiny gaunt rodents. Some green can be found where farmers have returned to some state of life, but where the land is untended it nears desert conditions.
Rose: The local rose is rarely spotted, its low-growing vines look nearly identical to a common thorn-weed that grows in fits across the plains. The dusty orange blooms last but a day or two, then shrivel on the vine and preserve their dry and dusty form. It takes months for the plant to produce a precious new flower to replace the one that dried out.
Incontrovertible & Caution: The ancient Pharaoh Incontrovertible the First was a wise and powerful man, with great wisdom and potent magic. His wife Caution was equally as powerful, but by some accounts mad, and by others wickedly selfish or dangerously lustful. Her life is but a myth now, remembered in bedtime stories only. Some say she brought about her peoples destruction, others say she was simply the vain first victim of whatever calamity struck the Realm. She has not awoke, though her husband did nearly 100 years ago.
You personally have met Incontrovertible, he helped drive the Dragon away from Moon’s Trial a few years ago.
Gates & Bordering Realms: The easiest passages are South to Bamboo City or north by bridge. The ancient empire had many gates, it is said, but none are currently known to be in public use.
Enduring Fall (Realm)
Enduring Fall (Everway Realm)
The land to the West of Fossil and Bamboo City is almost entirely uninhabited, and a most unique form of wilderness. Sheer rock cliff-faces rise up from the ground a few miles inside the border of the realm, and disappear into the clouds far above. An endless shower of dried leaves and flower petals drift down from the clouds, continually coating the base of the cliffs in sweet-smelling debris.
Usurper Force: Flower Drift
Normal: Gentle Descent
Inverted: Unexpected Impact
People: Only a few tiny villages and individual huts dot the base of the cliff. Those who choose to dwell here are typically allergy-free. When a child is born without such a blessing, it often means the entire family must migrate to Bamboo City . Those who stay grow to live with the constant floral “precipitation”. Other than that, it’s hard to summarize the people of this Realm. The culture of the various villages are throwbacks to the days centuries ago when Bamboo City was just Bamboo Village.
Military: Some of the villagers are peaceful and introspective, others are fiercely militant for fear of invasion from the East. It very much differs from one village to the next whether your reception will be warm and friendly or harshly isolationist. If the people of Bamboo City ever chose to invade in numbers, they would likely conquer Enduring Fall quickly.
Economy & Ecology: Much like the realm of Viridian, nearly everything the people of Enduring Fall need is provided by the Mountain whose base they occupy. Flowers, grains, even fruits drop from the sky with regularity, and it is an easy task to harvest them from the ground. The natives are quite accustomed to eating slightly bruised fruit. In addition, a spindly breed of mountain goat lives along the crags and cliffs, and are herded by the locals for milk, wool, and a bit of meat. What they can’t get from the sky, the locals travel to the edge of Bamboo City to buy. Some of the villages in the NorthWest also trade with Frostbridge during the colder months of the year.
The Driftbug Rose: Several varieties of Rose must grow amongst the clouds, and rain their petals down upon the populace. Most notable of these is the Driftbug Rose, which glides down from the mountain heights, looking like some colorful insect till it lands and the blossom unfolds.
The Dirt Storm: A few times a year each village experiences a day or two of minor rock and dirt showers, no more threatening than a typical hailstorm elsewhere. This debris comes from the same sky as the flowers and fruit do, so it’s taken in stride as just another part of nature’s bounty.
The Winter Sports: Each winter, a group of Giants from Frostbridge cross the icefloes to the NorthWest portions of Enduring Fall and attempt to climb the cliff-face. A popular explanation for this is that the top of mountain pillar hides a Paradise that the vain Giants once occupied. As the various incarnations of the story go, they were cast out of by either The Gods, a Dragon, or their own clumsiness.
Gates & Bordering Realms: Enduring Fall borders directly on Fossil and Bamboo City, and is across a short span of water from Frostbridge. Popular conjecture holds that some other realm resides atop the mountain in the clouds, but is unreachable to all but the strongest flyers.
Another popular belief is that the land known as SlideMount is a part of Enduring Fall, borders against it, or is nestled within it at a higher altitude. The colors of the rock in both Realms are very similar, and both experience showers of objects falling from thick banks of clouds. Their Usurper Forces are depicted differently by artists, but few risk dwelling long enough in SlideMount, perhaps the force in that tumultuous land has not been properly interpreted.
The land to the West of Fossil and Bamboo City is almost entirely uninhabited, and a most unique form of wilderness. Sheer rock cliff-faces rise up from the ground a few miles inside the border of the realm, and disappear into the clouds far above. An endless shower of dried leaves and flower petals drift down from the clouds, continually coating the base of the cliffs in sweet-smelling debris.
Usurper Force: Flower Drift
Normal: Gentle Descent
Inverted: Unexpected Impact
People: Only a few tiny villages and individual huts dot the base of the cliff. Those who choose to dwell here are typically allergy-free. When a child is born without such a blessing, it often means the entire family must migrate to Bamboo City . Those who stay grow to live with the constant floral “precipitation”. Other than that, it’s hard to summarize the people of this Realm. The culture of the various villages are throwbacks to the days centuries ago when Bamboo City was just Bamboo Village.
Military: Some of the villagers are peaceful and introspective, others are fiercely militant for fear of invasion from the East. It very much differs from one village to the next whether your reception will be warm and friendly or harshly isolationist. If the people of Bamboo City ever chose to invade in numbers, they would likely conquer Enduring Fall quickly.
Economy & Ecology: Much like the realm of Viridian, nearly everything the people of Enduring Fall need is provided by the Mountain whose base they occupy. Flowers, grains, even fruits drop from the sky with regularity, and it is an easy task to harvest them from the ground. The natives are quite accustomed to eating slightly bruised fruit. In addition, a spindly breed of mountain goat lives along the crags and cliffs, and are herded by the locals for milk, wool, and a bit of meat. What they can’t get from the sky, the locals travel to the edge of Bamboo City to buy. Some of the villages in the NorthWest also trade with Frostbridge during the colder months of the year.
The Driftbug Rose: Several varieties of Rose must grow amongst the clouds, and rain their petals down upon the populace. Most notable of these is the Driftbug Rose, which glides down from the mountain heights, looking like some colorful insect till it lands and the blossom unfolds.
The Dirt Storm: A few times a year each village experiences a day or two of minor rock and dirt showers, no more threatening than a typical hailstorm elsewhere. This debris comes from the same sky as the flowers and fruit do, so it’s taken in stride as just another part of nature’s bounty.
The Winter Sports: Each winter, a group of Giants from Frostbridge cross the icefloes to the NorthWest portions of Enduring Fall and attempt to climb the cliff-face. A popular explanation for this is that the top of mountain pillar hides a Paradise that the vain Giants once occupied. As the various incarnations of the story go, they were cast out of by either The Gods, a Dragon, or their own clumsiness.
Gates & Bordering Realms: Enduring Fall borders directly on Fossil and Bamboo City, and is across a short span of water from Frostbridge. Popular conjecture holds that some other realm resides atop the mountain in the clouds, but is unreachable to all but the strongest flyers.
Another popular belief is that the land known as SlideMount is a part of Enduring Fall, borders against it, or is nestled within it at a higher altitude. The colors of the rock in both Realms are very similar, and both experience showers of objects falling from thick banks of clouds. Their Usurper Forces are depicted differently by artists, but few risk dwelling long enough in SlideMount, perhaps the force in that tumultuous land has not been properly interpreted.
SlideMount (Realm?)
Everway Realm from the old campaign.
SlideMount (Realm?)
A Gate lies in this Realm high atop a steep and jagged mountain. An old lava tube runs from the clouds at the crest of the mountain, down past the gate, down to the base of the mountain where a second Gate lies. Large boulders and rockslides of gravel are constantly churning forth from the clouded area at the Mountain’s Peak. No one’s ever explored much beyond the two Gates and the path between them.
Usurper Force: The Rockslide
Normal: Swift Motion
Inverted: Powerful Collision
People (The Golem): A single clockwork golem lives near the Gate. He was constructed in Opal and left here either by some altruist spherewalker who sought to ensure the safety of those who use the upper Gate, or he was the sole survivor of some expedition on the mountain that was otherwise wiped out in a landslide. Those are the two best theories anyway, no one is sure as the Golem only ever says two expressions: “Push” and “Wait Till Morning”.
The Golem sits just above the upper Gate and deflects boulders that roll towards it. He also keeps the slide clear, so it’s safe to travel down.
The Slide: The old lava tube is made of glistening black rock worn smooth with generations of use. It’s slick, and the slide down it is fast and easy. It’s recommended you bring a thick blanket, cloak or piece of burlap to lay down on and have beneath you as you slide, just to protect your clothes and make sure you aren’t cut or scraped by any cracks or little spurs of rock that might be left in the tube.
Economy: There is none. Some Spherewalkers leave gears, tools or little vials of machinist’s oil as tribute to the Clockwork Golem who defends the Gate. These trinkets don’t ever seem to accumulate greatly, so either the Golem uses them to repair himself or something else happens to them over time.
Military: None, unless you want to count the tons of boulders and gravel that pour down the mountain each day as a weapon or army of sorts.
Ecology: Nothing bigger than a scraggly tuft of weed survives on the side of this mountain with all the debris that cascades down its slopes. The base of the mountain accumulates more and more rubble every day, crushing anything that would try to grow there. There are a few small bats and insects that nest in the lee of larger stones or rock spurs on the mountain, ranging wide to live off what little this realm provides.
Rose: You have never seen a Rose grow in SlideMount, but know in your heart that Roses are on every Sphere, a sign of the God’s handiwork in shaping the Universe.
The Upper Gate: This Gate leads from Night’s Adornment. It’s practically a one-way Gate since to climb the mountain would take a lengthy ascent on a slick surface or while dodging boulders up the rougher edges of SlideMount. Realistically, a Spherewalker would have to be gifted with the ability to Fly to be able to safely ascend the mountain and travel through the Gate to Night’s Adornment.
The Lower Gate: The Slide deposits you at the base of the mountain, just 20 feet shy of the lower Gate. This Gate is flanked by enormous piles of rubble and rocky debris that have accumulated at the foot of SlideMount over the years. If not for the Golem pushing aside the boulders further up the mountainside this Gate would surely be buried. Instead, there’s a small clearing and signs of a previous traveler’s campsites.
The Gate leads to Redsky. Since the Golem tells everyone who arrives at the upper Gate to “Wait Till Morning” the common assumption is that at least 8-12 hours need to pass after entering this Realm from the upper Gate before it’s safe to leave via the lower Gate.
SlideMount (Realm?)
A Gate lies in this Realm high atop a steep and jagged mountain. An old lava tube runs from the clouds at the crest of the mountain, down past the gate, down to the base of the mountain where a second Gate lies. Large boulders and rockslides of gravel are constantly churning forth from the clouded area at the Mountain’s Peak. No one’s ever explored much beyond the two Gates and the path between them.
Usurper Force: The Rockslide
Normal: Swift Motion
Inverted: Powerful Collision
People (The Golem): A single clockwork golem lives near the Gate. He was constructed in Opal and left here either by some altruist spherewalker who sought to ensure the safety of those who use the upper Gate, or he was the sole survivor of some expedition on the mountain that was otherwise wiped out in a landslide. Those are the two best theories anyway, no one is sure as the Golem only ever says two expressions: “Push” and “Wait Till Morning”.
The Golem sits just above the upper Gate and deflects boulders that roll towards it. He also keeps the slide clear, so it’s safe to travel down.
The Slide: The old lava tube is made of glistening black rock worn smooth with generations of use. It’s slick, and the slide down it is fast and easy. It’s recommended you bring a thick blanket, cloak or piece of burlap to lay down on and have beneath you as you slide, just to protect your clothes and make sure you aren’t cut or scraped by any cracks or little spurs of rock that might be left in the tube.
Economy: There is none. Some Spherewalkers leave gears, tools or little vials of machinist’s oil as tribute to the Clockwork Golem who defends the Gate. These trinkets don’t ever seem to accumulate greatly, so either the Golem uses them to repair himself or something else happens to them over time.
Military: None, unless you want to count the tons of boulders and gravel that pour down the mountain each day as a weapon or army of sorts.
Ecology: Nothing bigger than a scraggly tuft of weed survives on the side of this mountain with all the debris that cascades down its slopes. The base of the mountain accumulates more and more rubble every day, crushing anything that would try to grow there. There are a few small bats and insects that nest in the lee of larger stones or rock spurs on the mountain, ranging wide to live off what little this realm provides.
Rose: You have never seen a Rose grow in SlideMount, but know in your heart that Roses are on every Sphere, a sign of the God’s handiwork in shaping the Universe.
The Upper Gate: This Gate leads from Night’s Adornment. It’s practically a one-way Gate since to climb the mountain would take a lengthy ascent on a slick surface or while dodging boulders up the rougher edges of SlideMount. Realistically, a Spherewalker would have to be gifted with the ability to Fly to be able to safely ascend the mountain and travel through the Gate to Night’s Adornment.
The Lower Gate: The Slide deposits you at the base of the mountain, just 20 feet shy of the lower Gate. This Gate is flanked by enormous piles of rubble and rocky debris that have accumulated at the foot of SlideMount over the years. If not for the Golem pushing aside the boulders further up the mountainside this Gate would surely be buried. Instead, there’s a small clearing and signs of a previous traveler’s campsites.
The Gate leads to Redsky. Since the Golem tells everyone who arrives at the upper Gate to “Wait Till Morning” the common assumption is that at least 8-12 hours need to pass after entering this Realm from the upper Gate before it’s safe to leave via the lower Gate.
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