Which Way to the O.K. Corral?

Over Thanksgiving I found a street map of Tombstone, Arizona, I got on a visit several years ago.  I had the thought of scanning it, but its too large for my scanner.  I did find this decent stand-in online and a map of Old West Deadwood as well.  Next time a black hat in a Wild West game tells a PC "this town ain't big enough for the both of us" these ought to be helpful in determining the veracity of that statement.  They might have a use in other settings, as well.

Tombstone was a silver mining town, though it is, of course, most famous as the site of the O.K. Corral where the gunfight took place in 1881.  Much of historic Tombstone remains to this day, though wikipedia notes the National Park Service as taken the town to task for having a lax approach to historic preservation.

Deadwood, South Dakota, also trades on its historic past.  That and gambling seem to be the town's primary sources of revenue.  Thanks to several fires over the decades, less of Old West Deadwood remains than of Tombstone.  The graves of Wild Bill Hickok, "Calamity" Jane, and Seth Bullock can still be found in the cemetery on Mt. Moriah, however.

Tombstone:

Deadwood:

Gods from the Comics Page

Fantasy rpg settings usually make-do with Bullfinch’s Mythology derived/inspired pantheons, monstrous deities of the Lovecraftian or Howardian variety, or the occasional monotheism. Nothing wrong with those, but looking to the pages of comic books suggests some interesting variations:

Space Gods
Kirby’s Eternals posits that those classical pantheons were just misidentifications of a subspecies of humanity uplifted enigmatic aliens. In the fantasy context, maybe the aliens are some sort of elder gods (recall that Lovecraft’s Elder Gods felt unaccountably protective to the gods of the Dreamlands) and the Eternal stand-ins could be something like the Menzter’s Immortals. The other option would be to play up the science fantasy aspects for the full von Daniken. “A sufficiently advanced technology, etc., etc,”--maybe the world only appears to be a fantasy world and alien super-science is the order of the day?

The Endless
Neil Gaiman’s Sandman strips down the pantheon idea with the Endless. Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire, and Delirium are (as their names would imply) personifications of concepts. Marvel Comics has a similar (though less developed) class of beings like this: Eternity, Oblivion, Lord Chaos and Master Order, and again Death. The Endless fit into the mythologies of various cultures in various ways, but they don’t have mythology of their own really, just personal history. A group of beings like the Endless could be the sole deities of a world, just worshipped under different names by different cultures, or (like in Sandman) these sorts of personifications could be an order of cosmic beings separate and “above” the usual pantheons with whom PCs could interact.

New Gods
“There came a time when the old gods died!” as Kirby told us in New Gods #1. As the title suggests, Kirby started in with the exploits of the New Gods--and Grant Morrison gave us even newer new gods in Final Crisis. A world could be post-god shift, adding some interesting background, or the setting could be in the midst of the “godless” period, post-Götterdämmerung but pre-reemergence of the new gods. Players might actually have a roll in finding/shaping the new gods that would appear.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everybody has a good holiday and doesn't spend it running around, particularly to escape arrows.

Warlord Wednesday: The Prophecy

Let's re-enter the lost world with another installment of my issue by issue examination of DC Comic's Warlord, the earlier installments of which can be found here...

"The Prophecy"

Warlord Annual #2 (1983)

Written by Cary Burkett; Penciled by Dan Jurgens; Inked by Mike DeCarlo

Synopsis: Morgan is riding along (presumably) back to Shamballah, when he hears a cry of anguish nearby. Urging his horse to a gallop, he quickly comes upon a man locked in a struggle with a pack of reptile-dog creatures. Morgan joins the melee to help the man. The creatures are unsually canny, and their attacks are coordinated, but ultimately, the two men prevail.

The last dog-thing goes running off, but the man won’t let it go:

The man explains that it couldn’t be allowed to return to its masters or it would bring more trouble.

Morgan introduces himself, and (after examining Morgan’s wound and providing treatment) the other man does the same. He’s Krystovar: “A seeker of knowledge and a gatherer of ancient lore.”

Morgan retrieves his gun and helmet from where he lost them in the fight. The man is surprised by the sight of the helm. He’s also surprised Morgan doesn’t know its origins. Krystovar believes the two of them meeting can’t be a coincidence. Morgan doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

After they make camp and Krystovar has again checked on Morgan’s wound, he tells his tale. It begins in ancient Atlantis, a learned and advanced civilization. It was defended by the knights of the Order of the Sea-Eagle, men who wore helmets of the same design as Morgan’s.

Swan-ships?!

Anyway, as its people became more decadent.  They turned to the usual human sacrifice and other abominable rituals. They discovered a process to meld men with beasts. Their princes engaged in competition to see who could twist life into the most perverse monstrosity.

As the evil grew in Atlantis, the leader of the Order, Norrad the Younger, led a group of people away in the last of the swan-ships. Their goal was to form a new society and leave the corruption of Atlantis behind. Using their advanced techniques of navigation, they sought a place on the same “psychic energy plane” as Atlantis. Skartaris was such a place.

Norrad and his band settled in a hollow area in the crust, between the surface world and Skartaris. They named it New Atlantis. Morgan asks what this colony has to do with whoever’s chasing Krystovar. Before the scholar can reply, they see a lizard-dog skulking at the edge of their campfire. They give chase on Morgan’s steed.

With the advantage of an ambush, the beastmen of the Brood quickly get the better of our heroes:

To Be Continued


Things to Notice:

• This is the first appearance of Krystovar.
• So this group of Atlanteans settling Skartaris is different from the other group of Atlanteans settling Skartaris?  Why was the other pseudo-Greek and these are a bit more fantasy super-science-y?

Where it Comes From:
It seems awfully coincidental that beastmen start showing up as villians in Warlord after the 1982 Remco line of Warlord action figures were given the Warrior Beasts line as antagonists.

Of course, it may be that the origins of this story lie instead in earlier issues of Warlord.  The a beast-making machine appeared in the hands of the aliens of the Blood Moon in issue #18.  We've seen the history of Atlantis previously (in issue #27). These Atlanteans (despite being from a later era according to this story) were less technologically advanced than Norrad's group.  These earlier Atlanteans only developed advanced technology after reaching Skartaris--and then destroyed themselves in nuclear war.

Real Magic in the Dungeon

Magic in D&D (and most rpgs, for that matter) doesn’t bear much resemblance to magic as people practiced (and practice) it in the real world. There’s probably a couple of reasons for this: 1) in the early days of the hobby, there really doesn’t seem to have been much interest in real world models (or at least not as much as fictional ones); 2) real world magic may not seem particular “gameable.”

There have been a few attempts to inject more real world elements over the years: Isaac Bonewits’s Authentic Thaumaturgy, Chaosium’s Liber Ka for Nephilim, and the ritual magic system originally presented in GURPS Voodoo. The internet tells me that 4e has added a ritual magic system to D&D, though I don’t know anything about it. Most of these are icing, additions, or alternatives for more “standard” rpg magic systems.

I wonder if traditional dungeon fantasy sort of games would work with only ritual magic? This would mean most spells would be difficult to cast in the dungeon, much less in combat. Of course, just like in the real world, there would be charms and magical materials (and presumably other magic items) that could be employed. The computer rpg Darklands did this by replacing magic use with alchemy created potions that could be used in combat.

This might be a big change in the game role of the magic-user. I don’t think if this were the way magic worked in the setting that it would mean magic-user’s wouldn’t adventure. The chance to wrest magical secrets and items from dungeons would still get them down there. But of course, game “balance,” etc., etc. Still, if magic were rarer and more “realistic” would having a little magic be as much of an advantage as having a lot is in a standard game world where it’s much more common?

Five Kooky Cults

Here are a few minority religious groups seen at least as bit odd (if not outright dangerous) by the majority of the City's citizens:

The Abattoir Cult: Secret followers of the sinister and bloody-handed Lord of the Cleaver. A liturgical text (anthropodermically bound) honoring this obscure eikone is known to exist in a private collection in New Lludd. His cult tends to crop up in districts devoted to meatpacking or slaughter pens and is associated with the emergence of serial killers.

The Temple of Father Eliah Exalted: This Old Time Religion sect preaches racial and gender equality, chastity--and the godhood of its prophet, Father Eliah Exalted. The Temple owns a number of groceries, gas stations, hotels, and other business. These are ostensibly held by acolytes but seem mainly to enrich the Father. The Temple is politically active and the Father’s support can sway elections. Many are suspicious that Exalted’s powers of oratory and occasional miracles suggest that he is one of the Gifted or perhaps a secret thaumaturgist, but proof has been hard to come by.

Serpent-spotters: An informal collection of people forgotten by society--mostly poor and elderly spinsters and widowers--who are convinced that the monster that appeared in the Eldritch River 30 years ago, and supposedly delivered secret prophecies to City fathers, will return, heralding the apocalypse. On days individually chosen they hold vigil in Eldside Park. They hope to be present at the time of the serpent’s return so it will reward their faith with a ride on his back to a watery Paradise.

The Electrovangelic Church of the Machine Messiah: A worldwide movement dedicated to building the perfect construct to manifest the Messiah and usher in a new age of mechanical spiritual perfection.

The Followers of the Rabbit: Not an organized religion, but instead a collection of superstitions and cautionary urban legends forming a secret liturgy for some folk working along the boardwalk of Lapin Isle. They hope to placate the godling of the island, the dark personification of the rabbit in the moon--the man in the rabbit suit that is not a man.

Random Weird Background Trait Table

Too often, unusual backgrounds mean super-special abilities.  But they don't have to...

The character in question (1d12):

1. Once saved a magical creature from a hunter’s trap and received 3 wishes in gratitude but squandered them long ago, with nothing to show for it.
2. Was the sole survivor of the mysterious disappearance of all the other people and livestock in his or her home village.
3. Owns of a pouch full of seeds which family legend holds are magical. 50% chance they are--but only sprout if planted in a singular (and far away) location.
4. Is the victim of an unusual familial curse that causes sex change under the a particular phase of the moon.
5. Bears a prominent scar, but cannot remember when or where it was acquired.
6. Once had a brief--but torrid--dalliance with a personage of some prominence which he cannot forget, but the former paramour gives no indication that he or she remembers.
7. Has two shadows (slightly offset, so not immediately noticeable) owing (it’s rumored) to a demonic ancestor.
8. Feels a strange longing for the sea and bears a nautilus shaped birthmark.
9. Could pass for a twin for a person of some renown or infamy.
10. Was found as infant in ancient ruins by foster parents.
11. Had a twin that was stillborn but with whom he or she converses at times of stress. 30% chance the never born twin blames the character for his or her death.
12. Occasionally, at night, can catch a glimpse of large dog-like animal that seems to be stalking him or her, but never approaches close enough for clear identifcation, and disappears if approached.