Azurthite Bestiary: Deodand, Gleimous

The lucifugal monsters called deodands are a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of Subazurth. The Gleimous variety may well be the most foul of them, adding the insult of its slimy excess to the already sufficient injury of its anthrophagousness. No specimen of a gleimous deodand has ever been examined in detail, but the reports of those unlucky enough to have encountered them and lucky enough to have survived give the impression of a hunched and hairless body, emaciated, but suprisingly strong. At least three, bloodshot eyes of differing sizes protrude from their flat faces, and a great, multi-headed, wet, worm-like tongues writhes between fearsomely toothed jaws, agape and heavily drooling. This heavy drool it wipes on its arms and hands and is what gives the beast its name.

They are recognized by their peculiar vocalizations: an idiot snickering, punctuated by the occasional sniffle, and wet, lip-smacking sounds. They tend to mark potential pray by licking the unfortunate first or perhaps starting with their unattended belonging before moving to the individual. Later, they snatch them from the darkness. They tend to feed on skin, striping it with their abrasive tongues, and them dismember the corpse to more easily break the bones and suck out the marrow. The flesh itself is left for the scavengers.

DEODAND, GLEIMOUS
large monstrosity, neutral evil
AC 21 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 139 (13d10+74)
Speed: 30 ft.
STR 17(+3) DEX 18(+4) CON 20(+5) INT 11(+0) WIS 12(+1) CHA 17(+3)
Saving Throws  Str +7 Dex +8 Con +9 Wis +5
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons that aren't silvered
Damage Immunities poison
Senses Truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 11.

Magic Resistance. A gleimous deodand has an advantage against spells and other magical effect.
Slime. A creature that touches a gleimous deodand or hits it with a melee attch while within 5 ft. must make a DC 12 dexterity save or take 3 (1d6) points of acid damage from flying drool.
Sunlight Weakness. In anything brighter candlelight, deodand have a disadvantage to attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. Bright sunlight causes them to melt like film in a projector, losing i hit dice worth of hit points a round.

Actions:
Multiattack. A gleimous deodand may make two claw attacks and one bite or tongue lash.
Claw. +8 to hit. 10 ft. reach, 1 target. Hit: 11 (1d8+7) damage.
Tongue Lash. +9 reach 10 ft.; one target. Hit: 10 (1d6+7) damage plus 1d6 acid damage from caustic saliva.
Bite. +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit:  (1d8+7) plus 1d6 acid damage from caustic saliva.

Strange and Savage Stars

Over at the Wrathofzombie's blog, Mike the wrathful zombie himself has posted what I hope are the first in a series of posts adapting Strange Stars to Savage Worlds. Check what he's got up so far here and here.

Oh, and worked proceeds on the Fate adaptation, with the Stars Without Number adaptation to follow after I get that one off to layout.

Strange Stars Character Types in SWN

The three broad sophont types in Strange Stars (see the setting book, on sale now) adapt fairly easily to Stars Without Number:

Biologics: These are either humans or aliens (and in the far future of Strange Stars the distinct isn't always clear). They're created using the standard character creation rules in SWN plus the any particular attribute requirements/modifiers that might apply to their particular clade.

The sort of body-swapping described in Mandate Archive: TransTech is much more common in Strange Stars than in the default SWN setting. Many people may start with some sort of genemod upgrade and backups are common for those who can afford them. Unlike Threshold Sector, the Strange Stars are not post scarcity; things still cost credits. Cyberware (like in the core book and Mandate Archive: Polychrome) is also common, though most cultures in known space find overt cyberware tacky and primitive: it's been replace by gengineering. The Zao Pirates do not share this disdain.

Bioroids are biologic androids. Their bodies are essentially built like a hull. Unlike other biologic entities, they can not reproduce naturally; they are built or grown in vats.

Moravecs: Sophont robots. Many moravec types will essentially just be mechanical "species." Other s will be built easier via the AI rules.

Infosophonts: Digital minds. These are AI, essentially. They could be downloaded into a bioroid body (hull) or a mechanical one (armature). The differences between infosophonts are moravecs fuzzy at times, but many moravecs are as attached to their single, physical forms as much as many baseline humans. Infosophonts just say those forms as outfits.

Azurthite Bestiary: Deodand

The deodand are a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of Subazurth. Its appetite is insatiable, and it prefers to feed on people above all else. It abhors the light, and as a consequence no deodand has ever been seen clearly--or at least no one has survived the encounter to give a full description.

It is the general consensus that their are three varieties of deodand: leprous, gleimous, and hirsute. A fourth type, the slithery or lubricous is mentioned in some texts, but its existence is disputed. Glabrous and rugose varieties are described in Hokum's A Compleat and Entirely Accurate Bestiary of Subazurth, but the contents of that work are often as dubious as its title.

This is what is known of appearance of deodands in general: They are roughly human in shape, but taller. Their eyes glow like smoldering coals in the darkness. They seem no more intelligent than beasts and use no tools.

Today, we'll consider the Hirsute Deodand.

DEODAND, HIRSUTE
large monstrosity, neutral evil
AC 20 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 157 (15d10+75)
Speed: 30 ft.
STR 18(+4) DEX 14(+2) CON 21(+5) INT 11(+0) WIS 16(+3) CHA 18(+4)
Saving Throws  Str +9 Con +10 Wis +8
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons that aren't silvered
Damage Immunities poison
Senses Truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 13.

Magic Resistance. A hirsute deodand has an advantage against spells and other magical effect.
Stench. Within 5 feet, make a DC 13 save or be sick.
Sunlight Weakness. In anything brighter candlelight, deodand have a disadvantage to attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. Bright sunlight causes them to melt like film in a projector, losing i hit dice worth of hit points a round.

Actions:
Multiattack. A hirsute deodand may make two claw attacks and one
Claw. +9 to hit. 10 ft. reach, 1 target. Hit: 12 (1d8+8) damage.
Bite. +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (2d6) damage.

Hirsute deodands are large, gangingly humanoids, their mass filled out by thick, course, foul-smelling hair. Their only vocalization is a phlegmatic growl or chortle. Only their malevolent red eyes are ever seen.

Deodands move silently and quickly for creatures so large, The favorite tactic of a hirsute deodand is to snatch folk from parties traveling through Subazurth--perhaps stragglers or merely the unaware--snuff their light source quickly, then carry them into the darkness to consume at their leisure. They consider eyes a delicacy. Their meeps of pleasure can sometimes be heard reverberating through dark and cavernous places. It might otherwise be a comical sound, but is chilling in context.

Wednesday Comics: Multiversal Spotlight: Earth-16

Earth-16
Concept: Earth of celebrity superhero scions
Pictured: (left to right) Batman (Damian Wayne), Alexis Luther, Superman (Chris Kent), The Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Arrowette (Cissie King-Hawke), Bloodwynd, Sister Miracle.
Sources/Inspirations: The Multiversity: The Just #earthme #1, The Saga of the Super-Sons (originally presented in World's Finest); (Chris Kent) Superman: Last Son; (Damian Wayne) Batman: Son of the Demon, Batman and Son.
Analogs: The world of the Super-Sons was identified as pre-Crisis Earth-154 in Infinite Crisis #6; Mark Gruenwald had previously referred to this world as Earth-E in A Primer on Reality in Comic Books (1977). Earth-16 in the post-52 multiverse was the world of the Young Justice tv series.
Comments: Imaginary tales going back to the fifties portrayed Superman and Batman having kids with Lois Lane and Kathy Kane, respectively, but the story of the trials and tribulations of these kids as adolescents/young adults only started being told when Bob Haney and Dick Dillin introduced the Super-Sons in World's Finest Comics vol 1 #154 (December 1965). Morrison expanded the concept here to include a whole new generation of super-powered offspring in a world where all the heroic battles had already been fought.

The Villains' Memorial

Last night, our Land of Azurth game continued with our heroes assaulting the half-buried prison ship where the Burly Brothers and their gang are likely keeping the kidnapped ambassador from Lardafa the City of Beggars.. Usually, the heroes exploits are the subject of our recount, but today, I thought I'd focus on those that went down under their blades:

Four bully-boys: The names of these unfortunates are forgotten even by their emloyers. They were the newest and weakest members of the gang. Only chance lead them to be on guard duty at the time assault. None mourn their passing, especially not their two confederates that jumped overboard to escape a similar fate.

Nort and the Gorch Brothers: Three more seasoned bravos, the Gorchs were brothers, and though not twins, the Burly Brothers and their lieutenants never bothered to learn to tell them apart. They would answer to either name. Nort and Moq were either the Gorchs' half-brothers or their cousins. They had even less personality, though Nort had on rare occasions displayed a fine singing voice. Moq escaped the assault, stealing the party's boat and disappearing into the night as his cousin (or half-brother) fell under the spells of the warlock, Kairon.

 Skawl: The Burly Brothers' scar-faced lieutenant. He was said to have gotten his scar in a duel. He only spoke of the incident rarely and even then obliquely. The truth was, he remember very little of it owing to an excess of various intoxicants on the night it occurred.

Grool: The resident cook on the Hurly Burly. Grool could hardly be called a culinary genius, but he liked his work, so much so that none would have dared take it from him even if they had wanted to. If his fellow cutthroats were put off their appetites by his numerous sores and unhealthy complexion, they never let it show. Grool wielded his cleaver with a deft and fearsome hand, but he was in the end, unable to stand against multiple assailants. The fish head stew he had made for supper was his culinary epitath.

Strange Stars Update

Work proceeds on the Strange Stars gamebooks. John Till has finished the draft of the Fate implementation and I am in the process of editing. It's going slower than I would like due to work related stuff that won't abate until the end of April. Still, Lester is already working on the layout with what I have gotten through, and (despite my initial plans not to) I have comissioned a few pieces of new art, including a piece from "Reno" Maniquis  who did the piece that's on the cover of Strange Trails over on the sidebar.

Stay tuned.

Our Gang

I don't talk a lot about the social aspect of the game here, tending to focus more on ideas or inspirations, but my gaming group has been down a couple of players the past couple of sessions and not just due to difficult schedules (which happens to us sometimes). One of my players--one of my friends, Jim--was diagnosed with colon cancer and has been undergoing chemo. We hope we've worked out a way for him to join us this time via the internet, at least. We'll see.

My present group is pretty new in its current configuration. Andrea is the newest and brings some fresh enthusiasm. Though new to rpgs in general, she has jumped in with both feet. She plays in our group and in a weekly game with another group. Her character is a sort of fussy dwarf cleric, often appalled by the moral failings of the world.

Eric and Bob have gamed with me off and on since we were residents. Bob always plays fighters with a flexible morality and a strong appreciation for gold. In real life, Bob works like crazy and still trains for things like mud-runs and zombie obstacle courses. Eric sometimes tries to play evil or amoral characters, but his inherent goodness always stymies him. He can't even be evil in pretend. He has a fondness for magic-user types.

Tug I know from the comic book store in town where he used to work, but he has since moved on to better things. Tug sort of reminds me of Jake the Dog on Adventure Time! when he's all joie de vivre. He plays a frogling thief named Waylon who strums a banjo.

Gina is a GM in her own right (I've played before in her Boot Hill game) and the author of a Western Romance novel, first serialized on her blog. She's also Jim's wife. When she played a hoodoo woman in our last game,she brought a bag of props with her--including a chickens foot and a crystal ball. This time she's a badass elf ranger--no props, unfortunately.

And Jim, well, it's likely Weird Adventures wouldn't have happened without him, since he did the layout. He writes a comics blog. Despite having a wife who is a gamer, he hadn't really played a lot until I dragged him into it. He's often plays it very cautious and and calculated. He'd do well with a killer DM, but in my games, his over caution just winds up bringing a bit of amusement. As a former local rock star in his youth, it's fitting he plays the bard.

I have to confess, I'm never been a big fan of games, in general. I don't really play video/computer games. Board games are something I like only rarely. I like rpgs, though. In part, it's due to the creativity involved, but without the people I sit at the table with, it would only be writing--and that wouldn't be the same at all.

Return to Azurth

This weekend the group is getting back together (hopefully the whole gang) for another Land of Azurth session for the first time in a couple of sessions. The PCs will likely invade the partially submerged lair of the Baleful Burly Brothers and their murderous gang.

To get back in the mindset of that world, I updated my Dictionary of Azurth. Check it out for entries on  Troglopolis, Apiaria, and Noom.

Wednesday Comics: The Multiverse So Far

Too busy tonight for a spotlight on a new world, so I figured it was as good a time as any for a review of what we've covered so far:

Earth-4 (Charlton Earth)
Earth-6 (Stan Lee's Just Imagine Earth)
Earth-10 (Earth X)
Earth-20 (Pulp Earth)
Earth-35 (Awesome Comics Earth)
Earth-37 (Chaykin Earth)
Earth-38 (John Byrne's Generations Earth)
Earth-39 (T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Earth)
Earth-51 (Kirby Earth)

Building Races in 5e

The stats for the races in the 5e PHB always looked like there was a method to their construction. I don't know how strictly in guidelines of that sort were followed, but it certainly looked like the designers had them.

I was a bit disappointed when the DMG came up and didn't really include any guidelines of that sort. Luckily, the internet has come to the rescue with not one but two people claiming to have discovered the formula. Here's one originally posted on Reddit, and another I came across on rpgnet with a pdf and a spreadsheet. I haven't looked at either of them close enough to know how well they match up. They use different numbers, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't translate.

Robot Dungeon

I've written before about a world where the dungeoneering was an done by androids who were the remnant of human civilization (all that's here). There's another way to get dungeons crawling with robots, and that's with a future post-apocalyptic world that's been overrun by them. Instead of apes, or fairies, or vampires, let the robots take over something like Screamers (and the Philip K. Dick story it's based on "The Second Variety"), Terminator, or Magnus: Robot-Fighter. Unlike those examples though, human civilization can have been pushed back to pseudo-Medieval levels.

Say the robots have moved mostly underground, leaving humans to limp along on a damaged surface world. The underground bases of the robots would be a lot like dungeons. Robots would have made various robotic or bio-robotic guardians--monsters, of sorts. Maybe the robots are even aliens? A post-sentient, techno-organic swarm that landed and buried itself into the earth, spreading underground like roots, building robotic creatures in a myriad of forms as it went. You'd have a whole underground ecology of robots. Add "magic" (really psionic powers in disguise) and you've got a fantasy world, or close enough.

For a real fantasy world, assume that the alien robotic swarm invaded a fairly D&Dish world (except with maybe less conflict to begin with).

More Entries From the Catalog of Worlds

A follow-up to this post. More excerpts from A Concise Atlas of the Multiverse (2273):

BEDLAM (Pandemonium)
Type: Metaphysical
Reality: Highly Mutable, psychomorphic
Dominant Lifeform: ?

Description: A roiling, colorful manifold filled with psychedelic, pseudo-matter forms spontaneously generated by interaction with the mental imprints of sophont beings, Bedlam is thought to be either a vestige of raw hyperspace prior to manipulation by the Precursors or a walled off area of damaged metric. Its metaphysics have a profound effect on visitors, leading to feelings of depersonalization, paranoia, and sometimes full psychotic reactions among those not properly prepared. Prolong exposure to the naked manifold ultimately leads to dissolution of the physical form, following mental disintegration. Artificial islands of stability exist within Bedlam and these are the primary destinations for visitors. Wildcatters use some islands as bases for attempts to "mine" the metric.  Gathziri monasteries are often found in these places, though its unlikely their inhabitants created the islands in the first place.

BLACK IRON PRISON (The Big House)
Type: Metaphysical
Reality: Fixed, paraphysical
Dominant Lifeform: deodands; numerous prisoner species

Description: Black Iron Prison (human designation) is an ancient megastructure, a 4-dimensional hyperoctahedron the size of a dwarf planet, and the pocket universe that houses it. The structure was supposedly constructed by the Precursors as a prison, or maybe as the concept of confinement, itself. It is staffed by a clade of hereditary guards called deodands, who view their job as a quasi-religious obligation. For a fee, they will accept new prisoners from any political body, though very few governments will admit to using their services. No public record of those housed in the Escher-maze cell-blocks of the prison exists, but some of its inmates are likely the descendants of individuals whose accusers have been long forgotten, to say nothing of their alleged crimes.

Wednesday Comics: Multiversal Spotlight: Earth-35

Earth-35
Concept: Earth Maximum Press/Awesome Comics Universe.
Pictured: (left to right) Starcop (analog of Starhunter, analog of Martian Manhunter), Mercury-Man (analog of Doc Rocket, analog of the Flash), Miss X (stand-in for Alley Cat, a pastiche of Black Canary/Catwoman), Morphin' Man (analog of Polyman, analog of Plastic Man/Elongated Man), Majesty (analog of Glory, pastiche of Wonder Woman), Olympian (stand-in for Fisherman, stand-in for Green Arrow), Supremo (analog of Supreme, pastiche of Superman), the Owl (stand-in for Professor Night, Batman analog).
Sources/Inspirations: Maximum Press/Awesome Comics' Supreme #41-56, Supreme: The Return, Judgment Day (1997), Avatar Comics' Alan Moore's Glory (2001).
Analog: None in previous versions of the DC Multiverse.
Comments: Morrison has said this Earth is "a copy of a copy." In 1992, Rob Liefield's Extreme Studios populated his corner of the Image shared universe with dark heroes in 90s style. In 1996, after Liefield's depature from Image, he allowed Alan Moore to remake his characters in the image of Silver Age DC Comics. Supreme went having an inconsistent backstory and being largely vengeful and violent to being a very close pastiche of Silver Age Superman that more would use as a commentary on comics in general and Superman in particular. The other characters mostly just filled out Supreme's world, though Moore had bigger plans for Glory, which were never realized with that character, but seem to have provided the inspiration for Promethea.

From the Catalog of Worlds

A follow up to this post, here are a few excerpts from the Catalog of Worlds:

ANIMAL WORLD
Type: Physical
Reality: Fixed, paraphysical (“cartoon physics”)
Dominant Lifeform: Humanoids resembling Terran animals
Description: Animal World appears to be an alternate Earth, except for it being inhabited by talking, anthropomorphic animals. Beyond the dominate species, all objects, whether ostensibly living or not, are animate to varying degrees. Their technology level is roughly late 20th century, and the populace’s awareness and acceptance of space and multiversal travel is highly variable. The altered physical laws of the world can be disorienting and even dangerous. Visitors are encouraged to spend time in virtually simulations before arrival to acclimate themselves as much as possible.

CONTROL
Type: Metaphysical
Reality: Generally fixed, paraphysical
Dominant Lifeform: polyhedroid machine life with a group mind
Description: Control is believed by many to be substructure of the universe—its underlying operating system. It’s mostly perceived as a 3-dimensional grid of glowing lines in a void, disappearing into infinity, though some visitors have described a hum of unseen machinery. The 4-dimensional polyhedroids are “programs” then, tasked with increasing uptime and eliminating threats. Any traveler who makes it to Control runs the risk of beings perceived as such. Polyhedroids communicate in the “machine code” of the universe, so their transmissions are highly efficient at reality manipulation at cut through the formulae and sigils of other entities.

THE HELL-WORLDS
Type: Metaphysical
Reality: Limited mutability; individual realms are locally fixed
Dominant Lifeform: Diaboli
Description: The Diaboli clade have either formed or modified a mostly barren universe to hold a number of realms and subrealms with environments and physics tailored to the desires of their rulers. They are a very wealthy cultured, enriched by their dealings with other species. Each realm is under the control of a director. There are very few laws to limit the director’s authority, at least when it comes to visitors from other worlds. Their society is very hierarchical, despite their protestations at times to the contrary, and research into protocol prior to a visit is highly advisable.

The Witch Queen of Noxia

Here's a snippet from the Land of Azurth: Richard Svenssen's rendition of Morthalia, Witch Queen of Noxia. The player's haven't met her yet (which is probably for the best, as they're only 3rd level) but at some point they'll probably hear some version of the tale of "The Doomed Lovers of Noxia" that details Morthalia's rise to the throne as a consequence of the machinations of the Ixian witches Angvaine and Nocturose.

Angvaine is now dead, it is assumed. Nocturose lies in eternal sleep in a glass coffin. She is mourned by the Witch Queen and her goblin subjects.

Strange Stars Up North

Earlier this week, John Till posted a session report from Con of the North of another Strange Stars Fate playtest. This one included a Vokun animal transport ship, a stoner dude AI, and of course, space pirates.

Read all about it here.

Deals With the Devils

Art by Paul Harmon

Hyperspace works on laws altogether different than the amoral, mechanical physics ascendant in our universe. Some experts theorize that in the bulk in which the multiverse is embedded, forces that could be reasonably described as moral principles are objectively real--or at least as objectively real as anything else. Evil might be tangible and quantifiable. That would go a long way to explaining the Diaboli.

The Diaboli are a clade, a culture, or maybe a corporate entity that despoil worlds and corrupt other cultures—even whole universes—with faustian bargains of advanced technology and metaphysical knowledge. Maybe they've tempted some with miracle cures for disease or solutions for world hunger, but more often they appeal to baser instincts with advanced weapons of war or aids to the pursuit of pleasure. Whatever they offer, the cost is inevitably high--too high. The Diaboli are quick to sell fixes for the problems that arise, which inevitably just make things worse. At every turn, the Diaboli enhance their material wealth and create misery from which they are able siphon metaphysical energy. Some of their victims survive the devastation of their previous culture to become junior Diaboli themselves, and the toxic memeplex propagates like a multiversial pyramid scheme.

The Diaboli are very old; some believe they are the degenerate remnant of the Precursors who built the Ways. The truth, though, (at least as much as can be gleaned from a group as duplicitous as this one) is that the Diaboli fear the apotheosed Precursors. They believe the Precursors' Judgment is coming someday—and they plan to deny that judgment by becoming powerful enough fight back against gods. Only by draining or corrupting all potential rivals do they believe this end to be achievable. They view this as a net good for the entire multiverse and see themselves as defenders of order and civilization, albeit one where their inherently superior culture is in power.

Multiversal Spotlight: Earths Stan & Jack

Earth-6
Concept: Earth of Stan Lee's Just Imagine
Pictured: (left to right) Flash (Mary Maxwell), Green Lantern (Leonard Lewis), Batman (Wayne Williams), Superman (Salden), Wonder Woman (Maria Mendoza), Shazam (Robert Rogers).
Sources: The Just Imagine Stan Lee... series of oneshots 2001-2002.
Analogs: None.
Comments: In the Just Imagine series, Stan Lee re-imagined a number of DC characters and even Crisis with the help of various artists: Joe Kubert (Batman), Jim Lee (Wonder Woman), John Buscema (Superman), Kevin Maguire (the Flash), Dave Gibbons (Green Lantern), John Byrne (Robin), Gary Frank (Captain Marvel), Scott McDaniel (Aquaman), Catwoman (Chris Bachalo), Sandman (Walt Simonson), JLA (Jerry Ordway), and John Cassaday (Crisis).

Note that Earth-6 and Earth-51 occupy opposing positions in the Multiversity map, with Earth-6 connected to the Pit (Apokolips) and Earth-51 to the Pinnacle (New Genesis).

Earth-51
Concept: Earth of Jack Kirby creations
Pictured: (left to right) Lightray, Tuftan, Mister Miracle, Highfather, Kamandi, Big Barda, BiOMAC, ?.
Sources: Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth (1972), New Gods (1971), OMAC (1974), Final Crisis (2008).
Analogs: Pre-Crisis Earth-86 was identified as the home of Kamandi and OMAC in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006); Post-52 Earth-15 in home to a version of Kamandi as established in 52 Week 52 (May 2007), but after being recreated by Nix Uotan, Earth-51 is also home to Kamandi and ultimately the New Gods at the end of Final Crisis.
Comments: The earlier versions of a Kamandi Earth were also the home of other non-Kirby characters that have been tied in to the Great Disaster: the Atomic Knights and Hercules. There is no indication that those characters exist on Earth-51. The version of OMAC here ("BIOMAC") differs from previous versions of the character, at least in name.

Ways & Sigils

When humanity discovered there was a way to cheat relativity, we would, to our surprise, that it was a lot like magic. The paths that shortcut distance and connected many universes were built by ancients no species remembered--though everyone had stories. A popular one was that the precursor culture came from outside the ordered universes, from a manifold or bulk whose physical laws would have been more familiar to Jung or Frazer than Einstein or Hawking. We called it "hyperspace." It sounded more scientific than "the astral plane."

Computers, even the most advanced AI, were mostly confused by the ways. They could tell you a lot about the apertures, but they couldn't decipher the symbols that needed to be inscribed on the surface of hulls of craft in order to make the apertures open or to arrive safely at a desired destination. And so the casters arose; they were people with the mental aptitude to understand the ways and create the symbols needed to traverse them successfully. With a good caster, a vessel can get almost anywhere.

Sometimes, though, ships wind up someplace other than their intended destination or just disappear entirely. At times the casting is probably to blame; encoding multidimensional state vectors into a compressed symbolic representation has always been more intuition than science, and the internal state of the caster has always been a variable. Sometimes there's just a glitch--an act of god, you might say. Who knows what might distract the hypersophont entites or idiot gods in the machine of the multiverse that "read" the sigils and guide ships to their destinations?

So the lucky and lost just wind up making an extra stop or two before their final destination. The unlucky truly lost disappear entirely. But there are a few, the stories say, that turn after a long absence with strange stories. There's a city at the center of the multiverse, these haunted-eyed travelers say. A city where castaway alien vessels from infinite universes wind up. A city so vast, so old, so integral, that it doesn't have a name, just a single location sigil-- the Sigil. That's what they call it.

Revisiting Where No One Has Gone Before

In memoriam of Leonard Nimoy and his iconic role as Spock on Star Trek, I thought it would be a good time to index the Star trek posts I did (mostly for Starships & Spacemen) back when we had a short-lived campaign going in 2013.

I statted up several obscure species mentioned or given cameos in the series/films:

Arcturians
Cygnians
Kazarites
Ithenites
Nasat
Orions
Skorr

Here are the outline and notes on one of the adventures I ran: "The Clarity of Crystal"

I hope you enjoy them. Play a Star Trek game and remember the great character and series Nimoy helped bring us.