Giants of Azurth

The Giants of Azurth are a varied lot, not strictly fitting into Gygaxian categories. The giants in the country of Yanth are typically primitive and almost certainly not very bright, though they are not necessarily evil (though they're likely to be). This:

And this:

Would reflect your typical Yanth giant. There is some evidence that was not always the case and that in some remote time (maybe before Azurth became Azurth) there were floating cities of blue-skinned, giantish folk, who enjoyed a life of science fictional splendor as only mid-century America could correctly imagine. They looked something like this:

They all disappeared and their cloud cities are mostly abandoned, except perhaps for a few degenerate examples.

Beyond Yanth, in the countries of Sang and Virid, giants are often less human looking and more uniformly hostile--though still not exclusively. This would be a giant you might find in those lands:

What I Want Out of It

There was some discussion this week (instigated by this guy and this guy) about what the OSR was and what different playstyles were in an out with what crowd. It got me to thinking what I like in a game and what I like to have in games I run.

As a player--or more accurately, as a potential player--my tastes are pretty broad in fantasy. I can see the appeal of bleak "no one here gets out alive" horror fantasy but also absurdist/gonzo stuff and a lot in between.  I think in what I tend to enjoy most in play might be a bit more specific. I have something of a preference where the characters are roguish to one degree or another: Cabellian wags, Vancian scoundrels, Taratino-esque hoodlums--it's all good. Not that I am averse to more noble protagonists, but this is more the default. I'n fine with hearts of gold, beneath the tarnished exterior.

I like a rich world with clever bits in it. It does not have to be super-detailed or require deep knowledge like a Glorantha or a Tekumel. It doesn't have to be coherent or particularly realistic. It just needs to show some imagination and inpsire me to use my imagination within it.

I prefer city adventures or relatively brief explorations/excursions to long dungeoncrawls or gritty hexcrawls. This may be my most heretical opinion, but there it is. I'm not saying I don't like them at all--there are just other things I prefer.

I also like to roleplay a bit, and I like for the roleplaying moments to matter rather than outcomes being strictly decided by rolls. I want to hear my DM do some funny voices. I don't want to roleplay every single interaction, though. Some things can be narrated or elided.

I GM the sort of game I like as a player, though it may be that I like to run adventures for somewhat more heroic parties than I typically play in. I'll have to think more about that and see if that's actually the case.

My NPCs tend to run to comedy relief and I do funny voices (not always well). Whatever else is going on, this tends to lighten the mood so even what I initially conceive as horror doesn't come out quite as horrific at the table.

I tend to be fairly low mortality and unashamed. I'm not opposed to a character dying if they seem to have a deathwish and persist in an unwise course of action, but I never set out to kill them in my approach or in my design. Player's suffer complications and setbacks a plenty, not often mortal ones.

So that's me. How about you?

Unusual Denizens of the Land of Azurth

Only perhaps a little more unusual than many of Azurth's regular inhabitants, but still.

Art by Sveta Dorsheva

His Excellency the Ambassador from the Land Under the Sea (possibly the frox homeland) and his Kaleidotop hat, capable forming a tunnel to transporting him to his homeland and almost anywhere else.

One of the "daughters" (perhaps automata creations) of Father Time. She and her sisters hop comets to ride them to Earth. They can bend the flow of time in limited ways to suite their whims, but not so much their father notices.

Art by Edouard Guiton

An officer in the ranks of the windup soldiers invented by Mirabilis Lum to form his army. Few of these soldiers remain, and fewer still are in working order. They are highly sought by wealthy collectors of military memorabilia and more than a few would-be conquers hoping to build an army of their own based on Lum's genius designs.

Strange Stars Art Inspiration: Not All Retro

I wrote a post a few weeks ago for the Hydra Co-op Blog about the aesthetics of the Strange Stars. It led some one to ask if there were any more recent design stuff (post-80s) that influenced the look of the Strange Stars. There certainly are. Here are just a few:

Tron Legacy represents what I call the sort of  "iPod futurism" (clean lines, curves, white, chrome, etc.) that takes older ideas of futurism and gives them a consumerist sheen. This look definitely influences the Phantasists, but also creeps in elsewhere.

Art by Giorgio Baroni

Modern concept art design ideas for mecha, robots, and exoskeletons definitely play a part, though I didn't really dwell on gear in the setting book. Droid designs from the Clone Wars animated series figure in there, too.

Clothing isn't all retro, either. I particularly like modern takes space opera classics and the continued advances in the "lived-in future" aesthetic of Star Wars and Alien--particular in its more global/multi-cultural version. Travis Charest, Simon Roy in the comic Prophet. and films like Pitch Black, The Fifth Element. and Dredd do this in different ways.

Azurthite Bestiary: Cosmic Cat

Art by Joel Priddy

It is fearfully discussed by nervous rats in conclaves beneath the cities of Man, casually rumored by upended bats hanging from branches in moonlight, and philosophically considered by telepathic xvats scuttling slowly through frigid, Plutonian twilight, that there are ultraerrene creatures not unlike cats, that visit Earth from some higher sphere. These Cosmic Cats may leap from a passing comet or arrive curled and napping upon a falling star.

To call a Cosmic Cat a cat is to rely on the most superficial of resemblances. It has the general shape of a common cat (if one ignores the fleshy antennae) to be sure, but it is about size of a lynx, and its tail tapers to a point in an almost reptilian fashion. It has no fur, and its silken hide is awash with changing patterns of color like some varieties of cuttlefish.

What Cosmic Cats do on Earth is their own affair, and rarely does it seem to others that they have any goal whatsoever--but here one would do well not to jump to conclusions. The cats demonstrate (or at least they claim to possess) a cosmic awareness that renders all time and distance transparent. Certainly, they seem to have great insight--any Cosmic Cat you meet will tell you as much--but when they share that insight with others, they inevitably do so highly cryptic manner.

COSMIC CAT
small aberration, chaotic neutral (good)
AC 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 85
Speed: 40 ft.
STR 14(+2) DEX 15(+2) CON 16(+3) INT 19(+4) WIS 16(+3) CHA 16(+3)
Skills  Insight +8
Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons
Senses Truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages telepathy 120 ft.

Limited Magic Immunity. A cosmic cat is immune to spells of 6th level or lower unless it wishes to be affected. It has advantage on saving throws against all other spells and magical effects.
Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). The cosmic cat's spellcasting ability is intelligence (spell save DC 15). It can innately cast the following spells with no components:

At will: blink, detect magic, detect thoughts
3/day: confusion, hypnotic pattern, levitate, identify
1/ day: plane shift (self only)

Actions:
Bite. Melee weapon attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4+2) piercing damage.

Geographic Highlights of Yanth

Computer issues stymied me in getting a new Land of Azurth monster post ready for you guys today, so instead let's revisit Gus's map of the Country of Yanth above and I'll elucidate a few locales:

Aldwode. A dense and ancient forest inhabited by wild Wood Elf tribes and dotted with the fey, hidden demesnes of the High Elf folk.

Apiaria. The Hive City of the Bee Folk and the center of the domain of their Queen, who is always named Melitta. Relations between the Bee Folk and the humans of Yanth have been pleasant but rather formal for some time. Wealthy Yanthians benefit from trade in the Bee Folk royal jelly from which an anti-aging tonic is made.

Enchanted Wood. A virgin forest  renowned for its plant and animal life, all of which are capable of speech. (Though admittedly, most remain silent as they have little to say.) This eldritch peculiarity owes to the waters of the Babbling Brook that runs through the forest and enhances the linguistic capabilities of all who drink from it. For adult animals, this effect is temporary, but creatures raised on it retain these characteristics perhaps indefinitely. The brook itself (as the name suggests) is vocal, and even at its susurrating volume, it can at times impair the concentration of spellcasters and unnerve those around it for long periods. The Spouting Spring that is its source is even worse. Its ceaseless chorus of nonsensical orations are taken as oracular glossolalia by some and tormenting, demonic cacophony by others.

Horologopolis. A subkingdom where many aspects of the lives of its citizenry are predetermined at birth by extensive application of the astrological and numerologic sciences. Horoscopes are prepared and zealously amended and consulted throughout a citizen’s lifetime by the great tabulating engines controlled by the Master Time Keeper, a giant, many-armed construct with a head like a clock face. Those who stray from their appointed role or seek to alter their fate in significant ways are corrected by his agents, the more humanoid, but likewise clockfaced, Watchmen.

Mount Geegaw. A mountain near or in the Dragon Spines. It is also known as the Prismatic Peak, as the upper perhaps two thirds of the mountain are an oblique triangular prism made of transparent crystal. The origins of Mount Geegaw are lost, but few serious scholars believe it to be an entirely natural formation. 

Wednesday Comics: Things You Might Have Missed

Two great sci-fi comic collections have come out this year that might have come in under the radar. That would be a shame, as they're both from accomplished writer/artists and both well worth checking out:

Star Slammers: The Complete Collection is a work by Walt Simonson, conceived and began before his time at Marvel and DC, but first officially published by Marvel, then later continued under Malibu's Bravura imprint and Dark Horse. This tale of interplanetary mercenaries has the feel of something that might have come out of 2000AD or maybe Heavy Metal but with a style that is all Simonson, even as it was developing.

The 6 Voyages of Lone Sloane was originally presented in Heavy Metal (or Metal Hurlant) and begins the weird and baroque science fantasy saga of Lone Sloane a man given strange powers after encountering a Lovecraftian cosmic entity and throwm into another dimension. He becomes a freebooter and Han Solo-esque rogue involved in various space opera struggles. Philippe Druillet (like Simonson) has his own distinct style. If there was something called Cosmic Acid Space Opera, this would be it.