Secret Santicore: Black Hole Metal Axe

An anonymous gamer queries Secret Santicore for: A piece of art to advertise an Encounter Critical campaign with. Please include 'Titanius Anglesmith', a dwarf, and a Black Hole Metal Axe." 

Paul Schaefer unites dwarf and axe:

Secret Santicore: The Ocelot!

Emily Vitori requests of her Secret Santicore: "I would like a Spelljammer ship design based upon felines." Shoe the Pixie delivers that and more:

THE OCELOT

• AC 4
• 40 Tonnes
• Saves as Thin Wood
• Maneuverability Class B
• Crew 5-14

The Ocelot is a scavenging ship! It is used to hover over various sites and pick over the place for useful parts, and salvage those things. It can also be used as a Search & Rescue ship, if need be. It is a closed ship, with many useful additions for the clever scavenger or pirate. 

There are three decks.

The top deck is a room for small salvage, lined with dozens of shelves, some holding drawers or other containers. 

Big things go on the lower deck!  This is  just a huge wide area for storing shipping containers, vehicles, scrap metal, and other large salvage. It has reversed gravity, so things can be stored on the flat 'floor' and be piled high into the huge, round belly of the catship.

The middle deck holds the engine room and other controls toward the back, living quarters in the middle, and connects in front to the head: that is, the cockpit. The cockpit has all the steering and comms equipment, all the controls, and passages to the other parts of the ship. 

The Ears are communication dishes, with all the antennae and sensors inside them.  The Whiskers are long, delicate arms, that feel about and test conditions and take measurements. They can also handle things, and pick up smaller pieces of salvage. The Eyes are huge searchlights, and are very very bright. The bottom floor of the cockpit lowers down, creating the Mouth - a huge, wide hatch for loading big things.  It has rollers and an powered ramp, for helping to get things into the lower cargo hold. 

The living quarters are quite simple: there is a tiny kitchen, and a wide-open lounge area with hooks on the floor for bolting in furniture, if so desired. There are bunks along the sides of the ship that curve along with the walls; these are three layers deep. Under the bunks are little hatches, where the crew can slide into the Feet. 

The Feet are little observation pods!  They are round globes made of very very strong glass-like material, and some can be built with lenses to enlarge the viewing area. It's a good way to get up close and personal, but be protected from the elements as well.  

Finally, the Tail. The Ocelot's tail is a mag-grapple sort of thing, two parts that can be switched.  One is a huge grappling hook, the other is a very powerful magnet.  Either end is for grasping large salvage, and has sophisticated controls so it can swing things right up into the Mouth.  

That's the Ocelot!  I really, really hope you like it. 

Secret Santicore: Magical Materials

<Gus L (Santicore contributor himself) asks for: "A table or descriptions of new inherently magical materials used in the production of magical items. a slightly science fantasy feel would be nice but is not necessary. Some idea of the properties of each material and how it is used would make it far more interesting."

Here's what Bill A. came up with:

When I think of materials used in the production of magic items, my first thought is “magical weapons and armor.”  As such, this table is weighted towards magical weapons and armor, though I have tried to provide some other interesting substances as well.

1	Tarnwyrm Chrysalis – Every year, the giant Tarnwyrn grubs metamorphose into adult Tarnmoths, leaving behind the dried husk of their chrysalis.  It is said that the spent chrysalis retains something of its original transformative element, and that armor created from this chrysalis renders the wearer more resistant to mutative or polymorphic effects.
2	Duplicating Reagent – This colorless, odorless, flavorless liquid is capable of mimicking most potions and other alchemical liquids.  Mix a flask of Duplicating Reagent with a flask of acid, and you now have two flasks of acid, both with the same potency as the original.  Mix a vial of Duplicating Reagent with one of Potion of Cure Light Wounds, and you now have two vials of Cure Light Wounds.  The user is advised not to try and use Duplicating Reagent as a “binder” to combine two other substances; trying to mix Alchemist’s Fire with a Potion of Inflict Light Wounds leaves everyone unhappy.
3	Psiputty – This pink, rubbery, moldable substance picks up psychic impressions, and is commonly used to create “decoy” golems of prominent figures in danger of being assassinated.  Unless great care is taken not to stretch the putty during the imprinting process, the golems end up with bizarrely-distorted versions of the original’s personality.
4	Accelerex – despite producing no heat, this vibrant yellow-green substance creates a mirage effect similar to a “heat shimmer” around it, which quickly becomes uncomfortable to look at.  It’s often used to create edged weapons or projectiles as it creates a field of temporal instability around itself.  As such, wounds inflicted with Accelerex weapons develop weeks’ worth of gangrene in seconds, or age (or perhaps de-age!) the victim drastically.
5	Mercurial Scarlet – this alchemical substance resembles red glass.  Exposed to heat, Mercurial Scarlet swiftly liquefies and evaporates.  Human body heat is enough to make this substance liquefy, and as such, Mercurial Scarlet is very popular with assassins for use as “vanishing” blades.  Additionally, anyone exposed to Mercurial Scarlet – such as holding a piece in one’s unprotected hand, or being stabbed with it – will experience first a “bleaching” as all color seems to fade away from their flesh, followed by a slow, and painful, “phasing” out of the physical universe.
6	Null – this slate-gray metallic mineral is occasionally described, particularly when explaining its properties to laypeople, as “totally inert, full stop.” It does not conduct heat, electricity, cold, radiation, or even kinetic energy.  It is the proverbial immovable object, and as such cubes of it (Null naturally forms in cubic shapes; it is profoundly difficult and expensive to forge or reshape) are prized by alchemists for crucibles and anti-mutagenic amulets.
7	Dealkahestine Steel – this glossy black metal cannot be burned by even the strongest of acids, and thus is favored by alchemists for use in storing powerful reagents.  It is also commonly used to forge weapons and armor for use in corrosive environments.
8	“Tunnel Vision” – this tarry yellow-orange substance is either burned and inhaled, or else shaped into a lozenge and held under the tongue, by craftsmen of magical items.  While under the influence of Tunnel Vision, the craftsman can look at raw materials and “see” the construction process (resembling time-lapse film) before it happens.  This shaves 20% off the amount of time necessary to construct a magical item, though at an increased cost (representing the amount of Tunnel Vision used.  Users are advised not to look at people while under the influence of Tunnel Vision.
9	Zanthryl – this silvery, gelatinous substance is commonly used in the production of armor, typically sandwiching a thin layer of Zanthryl between two layers of metal.  Zanthryl absorbs a tremendous amount of kinetic energy, reducing damage taken from melee combat, falls, etc.  Though illegal in many places, extreme-sports enthusiasts persist in “Z-Jumping” – jumping off high cliffs while wearing full-body membranous suits filled with Zanthryl, and bouncing away unharmed.
10	Chilluminum – This metallic blue-black substance is non-conductive and thermal-invisible; maintaining a constant temperature equivalent to the surrounding air, it is invisible to infravision or equivalent; armor made from Chilluminum reduces the wearer’s chance of being detected via infravision, though it does not alter the ability to hide under any other circumstances.  It’s quite popular with science-fantasy ninjas.  You’ll never see them coming.
11	Depleted Cecilium – This purple-blue metal features an unusual sonic resonance which renders it extremely popular in the creation of projectiles.  Arrowheads, crossbow bolts, sling stones or bullets made from Depleted Cecilium create a sonic dissonance upon striking a hard surface such as a wall or an armored foe, turning the substance into a sort of “tuning fork” for several seconds.  A few shots of Depleted Cecilium bullets against a load-bearing column can collapse a building.  An individual shot with a Depleted Cecilium round continues to take 1 point of damage per combat round for 1d4+1 combat rounds after being shot, as the Depleted Cecilium vibrates inside them.  A critical hit (or “exploding” hit, or what have you) is liable to cause internal organs to rupture.
12	Metamorphic Gammaradium – This green-glowing teratophilic material is very rare and highly prized.  Armor forged from Metamorphic Gammaradium bonds with its wearer’s nervous system over a period of weeks.  Once bound, exposure to mutagenic substances and radiation allows the wearer two rolls on the relevant random mutation chart, with the wearer choosing which to take.  The armor reshapes itself to reflect physical mutations.  However, this comes with a price; every mutation knocks 1d6 years off the wearer’s natural lifespan.  Upon dying (of any cause), the wearer’s body is swiftly broken down into “primordial soup” which is then absorbed into the armor.

Warlord Wednesday: The Secret of Skyra III

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 Secret of Skyra III"

Warlord #110 (October 1986)

Written by Michael Fleisher; Pencils by Ron Randall; Inks by Duncan Andrews

Synopsis: Morgan and Shakira are cutting through the jungle, still on their quest to find the mysterious wizard who can save Jennifer from her aging malady. They hear a scream and rush to the rescue of a young woman in perhaps the most ridiculous outfit in the whole Warlord series (and that’s saying something) being attacked by “crocodile men.”

Though one of them almost drowns him, Morgan prevails. The girl gushes all over her hero to Shakira’s amusement.

She's named Asmara. Her people live in a floating city. Her father is gravely ill and she was sent to get ingredients for medication for him. Unfortunately, her flight belt failed and:

She asks Morgan and Shakira to help her get the ingredients and offers them flight belts in return.

Meanwhile, a ship pulls Mariah and Machiste from the sea. The sailors are surprised to see Machiste alive, as all of Kiro had been told he was dead. KIng N’Dosma has taken the throne, and has been robbing the city blind. The two have the sailor’s drop them off at a large grating that leads to the ancient network of sewage tunnels beneath the palace. Mariah wonders why the tunnel isn't guarded--until they are suddenly surrounded by guards!

Back with Morgan and Shakira, Asmara has then really working for the flight belts. One ingredient is red lichen that only grows in a high mountain caved, guarded by a bear! The next is a giant poppy out in the middle of a field---protected by a giant insect!

Just as soon as Morgan’s killed that creature, a flock of pteranodons swoop down toward them! It turns out these are beasts tamed by Asmara’s people sent to give them a ride back to the city. This starts to seem familiar to Morgan. It reminds him of a place he visited called “Skyra.”

A smiling man welcomes them to Skyra III (it turns out four or five were originally built). He asks Asmara if she has all the items required of her.

The man congratulates his daughter on being the winner of this month’s scavenger hunt!

Morgan and Shakira are angry at having been used in a game. Morgan demands the promised flight belts so they can leave. The man says they can’t leave: they might tell surface folk about what happened and ruin the next hunt.  Then he sicks the robots on them:

Morgan shoots there way out. They make a quick stop and disable the city’s antigravity generators before escaping. Morgan gives them one last bit of advice, as they seem to be going down in crocodile-men country:

Things to Notice:

• A sailor swears by "Grel's Demons"--an obvious reference to the Warlord's creator.
• Morgan refers to his visit to Skyra as "years ago." This is likely a signal of DC's police of dropping Skartaris's "timelessness" around this time.

Where it Comes From:
This issue is explicitly inspired by the first Skyra in issue #8.

"Asmara" is the name of the capital city of Eritrea.

Secret Santicore: Dwarf Clan Feuds

Edward Wilson requests his Secret Santicore deliver: "a d10 list of the legends behind epic dwarven inter-clan feuds." Thomas Molyes give us that and more:

1. When the Doomcairn clan fought the Blackwood Goblins at the battle of Ash Ford, they did so expecting the Veinfinder clan to show up as well. The Veinfinders never did, and while they claim that the call to battle never came, both clans have bad blood over it to this day.

2. Both clans claim to have been the first to discover a particularly rich vein of gold. After some minor skirmishes, the area has been blocked off and all entrances guarded by one clan or the other. Clues as to which clan was first can be found within the tunnels, should a third party convince both clan chiefs that they should be allowed to enter.

3. King Bolli of the Honorlode clan repeatedly met with representatives of the Bronze Hill clan with his beard unbraided. After a series of these affronts, they could not bear it any longer and attacked him in his own throne room.

4. When Vahari and Gim strode forth to defeat the Bog Hag, only Vahari came back. Gim’s clan accused Vahari of cowardice which caused Gim’s death. Gim’s body has never been recovered.

5. The Anvilbreakers and the Bronzegauntlet clans both come from the same geographic area and have been involved in a feud for as long as anybody can remember. What is unknown to all but four dwarves in the world, the leader of each clan and their chief adviser, is that both clans came from a schism in the Greatforge clan. A series of deaths (deemed either unfortunate or assassinations, depending on who you talked to) created a succession crisis, with the resulting civil war leading to two separate clans, unwilling to acknowledge their shared history. Within a few generations, the truth is now only whispered in conclave rooms after the death of a previous leader/adviser.

6. To pass the long nights in the cavern halls, many dwarven clans developed a game involving the younger dwarves and a decapitated goblin head. As the sport grew in popularity, teams began to form and the betting and drinking increased. At some point, the fans of the teams known as the Reds and the Whites became such great rivals that their violence led to the creation of separate clans, now opposed to each other in all ways, not just on the stone playing field.

7. One fine day, Knorri and Giliden were boasting to each other of their drinking abilities. Each made stronger and stronger claims until the only possible result was a drinking contest. Midway through the contest, Knorri accused Giliden of watering down his ale. Giliden, in his wrath, slew Knorri.

8. When splitting the treasure from a joint expedition, dwarves from Clan Dragonbellows hid an artifact of great value and power from the other dwarves involved. All clans believe that the artifact rightfully belongs to them and are constantly scheming either to get it back or to keep its location hidden.

9. The Halls of Light were a sacred dwarven site. When they were destroyed in a fiery eruption, blame was mainly placed on the Shalehall clan, who were the guardians of the shrine. There have also been some fingers pointed at the Goodpick clan, who are rumored to have been engaging in a secret ceremony at the time of the eruption.

10. Various dwarven clans have had important items stolen by a single mysterious dwarf. Each clan suspects one of the other clans of harbouring the thief and thus the items. The person in question is actually a female human magic-user who is very good at passing as a charismatic dwarf.

Random Clan Feud Generator
If the above feuds are too specific/unsuitable for your needs/dangit you need a lot more dwarven clan feuds, use this simple generator to get a random Dwarf feud. Roll a d10 for each table -- so a result of 8, 6, 1 would get you a Vicious Feud based on Forbidden Love where one clan has been infiltrated by doppelgangers. The Flavor entries should be struck-through and replaced with something else each time they’re rolled in order to avoid repetition.

Level of Animosity
1 Amicable Disagreement - Both clans are aware that the feud is mainly for pride, although most reasonable dwarves will put up a front of being angry or upset; eventually they can be persuaded to cooperate or talk to one another, especially if a third party is involved.
2-3 Rivalry - Although both clans dislike each other intensely, the feud tends toward competition/verbal disputes rather than actual armed conflict - if two dwarves of each clan met in a bar, it’s a given that they would at least argue, fairly likely that they might have a fistfight and fairly unlikely that they would actually draw weapons.
4-7 Feud - The clans involved hate each other and are engaged in a series of reprisals for real or perceived misdeeds by the other clan. Although both clans might be convinced to meet under the auspices of a third party, any chance meeting will likely lead to blood being spill.
8-9 Vicious - Any meeting between representatives of the clans will eventually result in violence unless a third party mediates somehow. Both clans are actively scheming to attacking/weaken the other clan, with multiple dwarves having lost their lives recently.
10 Blood Feud - Dwarves who meet a dwarf from the other clan will attack on sight with intent to kill unless forcibly restrained. Dwarven honor goes out the window, such is the level of enmity.

Reason for Feud
1. Conflicting claims over a rich mining area.
2. Breach of dwarven etiquette/affront, often relating to facial hair.
3. Schism of a single clan resulting in multiple warring clans.
4. Betrayal/cowardice in battle.
5. Argument turned deadly -- i.e. there was a minor altercation between clan members that led to the death of a dwarf, with resulting reprisals.
6. Forbidden love -- a dwarf from one clan married a dwarf who was already betrothed to another. Murders ensue.
7. One of the clans allied with humans and elves in order to fight a common enemy. The other clans view them as sellouts.
8. Differing (and often trivial) interpretations of one section in the extremely lengthy and boring dwarven legal codes, often relating to dwarven brewing laws.
9. One clan is either extremely thrifty or has outright cheated the other clans when engaging in trade.
10. Historical conflict between dwarven heroes from each clan.

Flavor
1. One clan is heavily infiltrated by doppelgangers who have replaced important members of the clan for their own nefarious goals.
2. The local dwarven king (or poobah, or deity) is secretly favoring one of the clans, providing support in an attempt to undermine the other.
3. The disturbance causing the initial rift between the two clans was caused by a third clan; neither of the warring clans are aware of this.
4. One of the clans has a powerful ally in a human trading syndicate.
5. One clan is suspiciously tall for dwarves.
6. There is an upcoming every-other-millennia dwarf-moot that both clans are expected to attend.
7. Both clans engage in kidnapping and then raising the children as members of their own clan. Double-agents feature prominently.
8. Sound-based weaponry is used to collapse rival clan’s mining tunnels.
9. The feud is mainly carried on by vengeful dwarven ghosts. Most of the living dwarves don’t give a fig.
10. The feuding clans both occupy the same ancient dwarven fort, creating an intense tunnel-to-tunnel subterranean urban warfare.

The Pulp Core of Trek

I was musing on Google+ the other day about how all the speculation on the identity of Cumberbatch's character in the upcoming second Abrams Star Trek film had got me thinking about playing a Trek game. There was some enthusiasm for that so I've thought about it a bit more--even though I don't know if anything would ever come of it.

While I've enjoyed all the Trek series (well, maybe not Voyager) to one degree or another, my favorite has always been the original. It's very much of it's era which gives it a cool design sense and adapts a lot of Golden Age and pulp science fiction elements. The "core canon" for my game would be the original series.

(As an aside, I'd say that a lot of later accretations on the Trek universe have served to downplay the old school science fiction feel. Genetic supermen and a interplanetary sleeper ship coming from the 1990s does not suggest the 20th century history of space travel in Trek played out like it did in our history, but rather more like the imaginings of Werner von Braun and Willy Ley.)

I mean, what would Trek be without Rigel II cabaret dancers?

I wouldn't leave it there, though. The now-noncanonical animated series adds the Kzinti (among other stuff) to the mix. Got to have these guys:

James Blish's novelizations of the original episodes give them a subtle sci-fi lit spin: I think Trek is better with a mysterious Vegan Tyranny in it's past than without it. Always early fan documents add a lot of stuff. The Starfleet Officer's Manual and Star Trek Maps are definitely in--as are parts of the totally out there on its on but well illustrated Spaceflight Chronology.

Anyway, that's the idea. We'll see.

From Bilbo to Conan

There used to be a site Nova Notes run by Al Schroeder that contained his Wold Newton-ish "Schroeder's Speculations." It's gone now, but I managed to dig up some gold from its heyday: a timeline combining the Lord of the Rings and Conan. Here's Schroeder's opening paragraph:

There are two major texts, at least, that deal with civilizations that existed in what today's anthropologists call prehistory: one is the Red Book of Westmarch, on which Professor Tolkien based his Lord of the Rings. The other is the Nemedian Chronicles, which deals both with the "Pre-Cataclysmic" age and the Hyborian Age, on which Robert E. Howard based his Kull and Conan stories. Looking into real prehistory, about the only place you can fit the over seven thousand years of Tolkien's history and eight thousand years of Howard's history, and have Cro-Magnon man functioning in a non-glacial environment, is in the relatively warm period of 50,000 to 25,000 years ago. Besides, as you'll see below, there is good reason, taking Tolkien at his word, to date the "awakening of the elves" as when the Big Dipper/Great Bear formed. Certainly, it is one of the few events that can be dated to our timelines...

 Check out the rest of Schroeder's rationale and his timeline here.