Weird Revisited: The Moving Pointcrawl

The original version of this post appeared in July 2015. I never did finish writing In Doom's Wake, but it got playtested twice I believe. I really should get around to finishing it one of these days.

The pointcrawl, which abstracts a map to the important points, eliding the empty places/boring stuff a hexcrawl or similar complete mapping would give equal weight, is [in 2025 certainly!] a well-established concept. One unusual variation not yet explored [it wasn't in 2015, and still isn't, so far as I know!] is the crawling of moving points.

Admittedly, these would be pretty unusual situations--but unusual situations are the sort of stuff adventures are made from: Exploring a flotilla of ancient airships or the various "worlds" in a titan wizards orrery; Crawling the strange shantytown distributed over the backs of giant, migrating, terrapin. Flitting from tiny world to tiny world in a Little Prince-esque planetary system. Some of these sort of situations might stretch the definition of pointcrawl, admittedly, and to model some of them in any way accurately would require graphing or calculus, and likely both.

Let's take a simple case--something from an adventure I'm working on. Say the wrecks of several ships are trapped in a Sargasso Sea of sorts. The weed is stretchy to a degree, so the wrecks move to a degree with the movement of the ocean, but the never come completely apart.

The assumption (to make it a pointcrawl, rather than just a hexcrawl, where the points of interest move) is that there were pretty much only certain clearer channels a small boat could take through the weed--or maybe certain heavier areas that a person who wasn't too heavy could walk over without sinking in complete.

The map would look something like this:

Note that this map is pretty abstract, despite appearances. The distances or size of the weed patch aren't necessarily to scale with the derelict icons. Length of connecting lines is of course, indicative of relative travel distance. The colors indicate how "stretchy" an area is: blue can move d4, orange d6, and red d8 in feet? yards? tens of feet? Not sure yet. Anyway, whether this drift is closer or farther away would depend on a separate roll of 1d6 where odds equals farther and evens closer. Of course, they can't come any closer than the distance they are away on the map, so any "extra" distance would be a shift to one side or the other.

Zigzags denote a precarious patch, where there would be an increased risk of a sudden thickening (if I'm going with boat travel) or falling in (if I go with walking). Dots will denote an extra wandering monster or unusual event check.

So there are a lot of kinks to work out, but that's the basic idea.

The Ruin of Mogh's Fort

Mogh's fortress is a ruin. Pigs root in the courtyard and roam noisily in his empty halls or drowse in sunbeams beneath a decaying roof. Mogh's once great chair is little more than kindling, crushed and splintered by generations of stout boars have scratched bulk against it.

The commote, a backwater of Hern trithing since its petty lords yielded to Arrn, is mostly the domain of the pig herds, which are both bane and boon to small and scattered villages. A few old folk have the knack of apprehending the grunting, snorting porcine tongue, and the pigs affirm (or so they claim) what the elders already knew: it is wise to stay clear of the ruins of Mogh's fort, particularly after dark.

The bandit lord and his bloody-handed reavers are long gone, but Mogh's doom is said to have come by a curse, and the curse may yet linger. Sometimes, the elders say (and the pigs, too, perhaps) that not all nocturnal visitors to the fortress come on four hooves. There are those demon swine that may choose to go about on two. 

Wednesday Comics: DC, September 1984 (week 2)

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm reviewing the comics released the week of June 14, 1984. 

Jemm, Son of Saturn #1: I saw the ads a lot for this maxi-series as a kid, but I've never read it. The idea of character from Saturn offended my childhood desire for "realism" in my comics about super-powered do-gooders in skintight costumes. Post-Crisis, when I learned a bit about the character, I assumed this series was intended as a reboot/revamp of Martian Manhunter in the way that was so common in the late 80s/early 90s and that's sort of true, but not exactly it. Apparently, Jemm was originally intended to be the J'onn's cousin, but seems to be sort of a replacement Martian as J'onn hadn't appeared for a while. They abandoned the plan for the connection (turning Jemm to a Saturnian) when Conway decided to bring back J'onn in the JLA. 

Anyway, Potter and Colan/Janson open their story with young Luther Mannkin in Harlem, who discovers Jemm in an alley and takes the confused alien the apartment he shares with with his brother and blind grandfather. (The influence of the recent hit E.T. can be felt strongly here.)  Luther's brother Lincoln has to find a way to pay Claudius Tull the money he owes him for the heroin he was supposed to sell, or his thugs will hurt Lincoln and his family. In an attempt to strongarm Tull's goons, Lincoln and his ne'er-do-well friend Vin stage a poorly planned ambush at the apartment that would likely have led to all their deaths if not for the intervention of Jemm. Unfortunately, Grandpa is killed. Meanwhile, two NASA scientists and a CIA agent investigate Jemm's crashed ship and are attacked by other, white-skinned aliens.

Amethyst Annual #1: Amethyst and Gemworld are back courtesy of Mishkin/Cohn, and this time, Estrada/Marcos on art. On Earth, Amy Winston is having a tough time adjusting to life as a young teen when she had been the older Amethyst and finds the boy's her age lacking compared to the dreamy Prince Topaz.  When an mischevious dwarf shows up and tries to steal her gem, she and her friend Rita wind up transported back to Gemworld. Meanwhile, an enigmatic, malevolent entity disrupts a ceremony to install the new head of House Emerald. Eventually, characters from both plot threads collide as they must try to defeat a feline wizard's familiar that was empowered by the energies between worlds on their long-ago trip to Gemworld. To defeat the creature, Amethyst, Rita, and the youngest Emerald daughter take it back to Earth, where it becomes a normal cat, but they get trapped there, supposedly unable to return to Gemworld. The issue ends with a promise of a new Amethyst series.

All-Star Squadron Annual #3: The Thomases and a host of artists (including Giffen, Infantino, Boring, and the regular team) do a super-sized version of what they often do in the main series: split the group up to face challenges. After a framing story in 1942 with Tarantula and Wonder Woman, we get to the main event set in 1941 where the JSA must deal with Ian Karkull and the villains he has recruited to assassinate future presidents. I'm not sure, but it could be that the genesis of this story was simply to get an end resulting as consequence of Karkull's actions: the JSA members are "bathed in energy" that will in the coming years slow down their aging. 

Batman #375: Inspired by the creations of one of his henchmen that happens to be an artist and a poet, Mr. Freeze aspires to freeze all of Gotham with his new ice cannon, but in deference to the concerns of his lackeys that his aims might be too lofty, he agrees they should test it first by freezing and robbing a bank. The freeze the bank from underneath and steal the cash, but when Vicki and Julia fall into the whole they leave, Freeze attempts to use them the capture Batman and Robin. The crimefighters intervene, but Freeze is defeated. Julia boldly kisses Batman, which Vicki applauds, not knowing that that's her man!

Meanwhile, the social worker shows up to see Jason at 11 pm and when Alfred is forced to tell her the kid is out with Bruce, she says she's going to remove him from Bruce's care.

Like the Penguin issues that preceded it, I feel like Moench is trying to capture a bit of the Batman TV show vibe with his portrayal of Freeze and his schemes without getting too campy. Like Barr's tenure that will come later, he doesn't run from or try to disguise the silliness but rather seems to be trying to balance it out. It's very different from the approaches people will take to the series in the decades post-Dark Knight Returns.

Arak Son of Thunder #37: With Colon guesting on art, we get to see what Valda has been up to recently. Charlemagne hosts Prince Ecgfrith of Mercia who gives the king a unicorn as a gift. It's suggested, based on the legends, that Valda tames the beast, but though the court isn't aware, she is no longer a virgin after her romance with Arak. Ultimately, Malagigi has to stop the rampaging unicorn with a sleep spell. Ecgfrith wants to marry Valda, and her uncle and Charlemagne are considering it. A joust competition is offered to give Valda a way out. Surprisingly, Ecgfrith wins, and the marriage is on, but she backs out at the altar. Her uncle Rinaldo admits that the joust was fixed with an enchanted lance. Valda is released from her vow to marry the prince, and Charlemagne sends her to Baghdad to treat with Harun Al-Rashid. Malagigi goes along, both of them sure they will meet up with Arak again.

Flash #337: Bates and Infantino/McLaughlin keep the plates of this long story spinning with the mayor recanting his previous condemnation of the Flash on TV and announcing he will fund the rebuilding of the Flash Museum. We get multiple conversations teasing why Cecil might hate the Flash, but other than mentioning her father, no one explains. Captain Boomerang taunts the Pied Piper regarding his (now failed) plan to use public opinion to take down the Flash instead of doing directly. Rising to the challenge, the Piper summons "speed demons" from another dimension and has them attack the Flash.

G.I. Combat #269: This issue kicks off with a Haunted Tank tale with the crew feeling particularly hopeless in the seemingly unending war. Sgt. Rock has a cameo, and he and Easy feel the same. But then we end on a note of hope with a star and a babe born in a stable. Seems odd they didn't save this one for a Christmas issue. The second Haunted Tank story involves Jeb on the coast of Brittany lamenting the glory days of cavalry past, but when he's forced to fight a panzer with just a wild stallion, I bet he looks forward to getting his tank back.

There's a O.S.S. story that, as per usually, involves brave allied spies making the ultimate sacrifice to destroy a German "heavy water" facility in the Netherlands. Then, Sgt. Bullett's Bravos are back for a little "Mekong Madness." When ordered to bring back a group of Green Berets that have gone rogue, they instead backup the group sneaking into a VC camp in Cambodia in an attempt to free some Green Beret P.O.W.s. The mission ends with all the Green Berets dying, so the Bravos take back their dog tags and call it mission completed.

Omega Men #18: Continuing from last issue, Moench and Smith/Tanghal give us an army of Primus clones to pit against the Tigorr ones threatening to overwhelm the Omega Men's ship. Luckily, the Primus clones are more disciplined and willing to work with the original to help the Omega Men, but somehow this all leads to creation of a giant Tigorr.

This is a goofy story. It's a weird to me that this is what Moench wanted to do as his debut, as it has a real "ran out of ideas" feel. Maybe it's an indication of how seriously Moench takes the material?

Superman #399: Kupperberg and Barreto/Hunt bring back Colonel Future for his second (and last) appearance. NASA scientist Edmond Hamilton manages to get in another life imperiling situation and has a prophetic vision of what he believes to be Superman's death, as a charity event that involves multiple people dressed as Superman (including a group of crooks looking to cash in), Hamilton as Colonel Future tries to keep the Man of Steel away and save his life. As with his first appearance, it turns out Hamilton's interpretation of his vision is faulty. In a strange twist, it's actually Hamilton in a Superman costume that dies--at least for a few seconds. Superman is on hand to provide super-CPR to save his life.

Tales of the Teen Titans #46: Wolfman and Perez/de Carlo have Aqualad and Aquagirl leading post of the Titans on an underwater assault against H.I.V.E.'s lair. The H.I.V.E. Mistress has a trick up her sleeve, though, and seems to have trapped the Titans in a pod before causing it to explode.

Meanwhile, we get hints of Changelings vigilante actions in Manhattan, and Cyborg has confronts and then reconciles with his estranged grandparents.

DC Sampler #3: This is basically an extensive advertisement, but it's interesting what series get featured and what does not. The Justice League of America spread teases the new team that will appear in Annual #2. Thriller is featured even though the title is nearing its end.  There are no promos for Wonder Woman, Firestorm, Jonah Hex, any war title, or any Batman title beyond Batman and the Outsiders.

Dread Knights and Dead Lovers

Our Land of Azurth game continued last night, but I haven't written about the previous session, so this covers both. The party only had one more shard of the mirror to collect. A mirror that would free the soul of Nocturose, but if that was for good or ill they didn't know for sure.

The last shard was on an altar amid standing stones on an island within a stinking bog. A poisonous, stinking bog. If all that wasn't bad enough, it had a guardian, a spirit naga. She wasn't much of a match for the whole party, though, but Shade was poisoned by inhaling too much swamp gas.

With all the shards in hand, they returned to the tower. The door was locked, and when Erekose tried to force it, he was blasted by intense cold. Luckily, he's resistant to the elements so it was a minor inconvenience. Within the crumbling tower, they saw a mirror in need of repair and an empty thrown. The ghostly Nocturose asked them to repair the mirror to free her so that she could be reunited with her love, the Dark Queen Morthalia.

The characters surprisingly quickly given a number of potential warning signs, agreed to give it a try. As they did, Nocturose revealed she had left one thing out: there were Dread Knights who guarded the mirror. The wraiths materialized out of shadow and were all "have at thee!"

The fight was on! It was two against five, but the party beyond Erekose had a hard time hitting them. Waylon went down and Erekose was close, but Dagmar's healing kept them in the fight, and she managed to blind one of the knights. Eventually, the party prevailed.

The party repaired the mirror, and Nocturose's spirit appeared within to thank them before fading away to return to her body. The party tried to make a pitch for her convincing Morthalia to join the fight against the Wizard, but it's unclear she got the message.

When they returned to report their success, they found a crowd including their old friend, Commodore Cog, the steam-powered ship captain. The reunion was spoiled when he revealed the monarchs leading the rebellion--Viola, Desira, and Bellona--had somehow been turned to stone.

This adventure was a modified version of Kobold Press' Shadows of the Dusk Queen.

Further Thoughts on Magic

Thinking about my Monday post further (and reading more examples of magic in McKillip's Heir of Sea and Fire), I feel like the part that perhaps the most central element to number of these magic systems I like is that they demonstrate Frazer's concept of sympathetic magic.

Raderle can create a powerful illusion of large lake, by digging a fist-sized hole and pouring water into it. Arthur in The Revolutions can snap a chair leg by snapping the stem of a wine glass. These are both examples of similarity, or like producing like.

The other common employed aspect of sympathetic magic is contagion. It shows up quite a bit in The Revolutions, but I don't think I quoted an example. It's where an item that was once physically connected to someone or something else still has a magical connection to that thing. This is being able to cast a spell on someone because you have a lock of their hair or the like.

Similarity shows up some in D&D spell material components, but I think more of these are sort of jokey correspondences instead.  These things are fine and could even be flavorful for bigger spells or more complicated rituals, I think more spells that used a perhaps caster-specific but reasonable application of similarity and contagion. 

Wednesday Comics: DC, September 1984 (week 1)

My mission: to read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis. This week, I'm looking at the comics that were at newsstands on the week of June 7, 1984. 

Vigilante #10: Great cover this issue by Ross Andru. Feeling guilt and anger over the death of J.J., Adrian retreats from the people around him into grim avenger mode. After pushing Terry away, he begins to go after the mob, leaning on various members to get information on J.J.'s killer. Meanwhile, the Controller puts his plan into motion, first roping the mob leaders into his scheme then distracting the police with fake alarm signals.

Atari Force #9: Christopher teleports back home surprising Professor Venture who has a lot of questions. After the security forces barge in to apprehend him, he 'ports to the O'Rourke's residence. Both of these interactions provide a frame for Conway and García-López/Smith to recap everything that's happened in the series so far as well as the original Atari Force's first encounter with the Dark Destroyer. It all looks great and maybe this recap was needed for new readers, but it still feels like the story isn't really going anywhere fast.

Blackhawks #272: Evanier and Speigle again devote a bit of time to the Blackhawk's providing answers to "why do the German's do what they do?" which I guess could be an important line of inquiry, but none of the Blackhawks (or presumably Evanier) have anything enlightening to say. Thankfully, this stuff is short-lived, and we instead turn to the barmaid Helga (who Blackhawk met in issue 267) who has fallen for some propaganda and got herself trained and conditioned to be Domino II with a mission to kill Blackhawk. She fails, and Blackhawk manages to break her conditioning enough to take her into custody so that she hopefully can be rehabilitated. 

In the backup story with art by Ken Steacy, Hendrickson meets an enlisted airman whose job it is to paint pinup girls on the noses of planes at an airbase when tasked with a prisoner transport. Hendrickson thinks this is a frivolous custom and the painter should be fighting, but he changes his mind when the soldier's painting rescues the two of them from the escaped prisoner.

DC Comics Presents #73: Bates and Infantino/Hunt bring some continuity into this team-up, because the Flash's legal woes are very much on his mind and Superman's. The Flash is drawn into the other-dimensional world of Norkk, and Superman (after receiving Flash's distress call) follows. There he discovers that the Flash appears to have gone rogue, terrorizing the people and destroying their city. Things aren't as they appear, of course, and it's all the work of the Phantom Zone criminals exerting telepathic influence.  Our heroes working together are able to prevail.

Fury of Firestorm #27: Conway and Kayanan/Rodriquez finish up this Silver Deer and Black Bison storyline. Silver Deer plans to make Congress to pass a law granting Indian tribes their hereditary lands back, then make them commit suicide afterwards so they can't repeal it. We get her origin by way of explanation for this scheme. It involves an Indian Reservation in North Carolina featuring a log cabin on what looks like the plains, where wolverines are apparently common. Anyway, she saw her brother and father die due to the prejudice of Whites and now she wants revenge. There's this Congressional costume party in town that she crashes to enact her plan. Firestorm and Flamebird show up to defeat her, which ultimately, they do, freeing Black Bison from her control. Silver Dear appears to have died, but they don't find the body, suggesting Conway wanted to keep the option of her coming back (but she doesn't).

Justice League of America #230: Conway and Kupperberg/Marcos continue the War of the Worlds, and things are looking grim for Earth and its defenders. The JLA satellite has been ruptured, threatening the lives of the Leaguers on board, and Earth's leaders are deciding when to deploy nukes with a Martian armada surrounding their world. All isn't lost, though! The Hawks appear out of warp for an ambush and Martian Manhunter sneaks aboard the Martian command ship to challenge the Marshal to a one-on-on combat. J'onn ultimately wins but would have been felled by treachery if not for the timely intervention of Firestorm.

The letter column promises a two-parter by Busiek and Kupperberg that will explain where the League's heavy-hitters were during this arc, but also it teases a whole new Justice League in the upcoming annual.

Wonder Woman #319: We're back with the Mishkin and Heck/Maygar storyline. Sofia finally sits down and begins to spill what she knows about Steve Trevor to Diana--except it turns out that isn't the real Diana. The imposter goes on to steal nuclear codes and frame Diana for the crime, while the real Diana is fighting a robotic distraction as Wonder Woman. In the end, the villain is revealed to be Dr. Cyber, who we last saw almost 3 years ago in issue 287.

The Huntress backup by Cavalieri concludes but with artwork this time by Woch which just doesn't have the same pizzazz. Huntress defeats Nightingale in one-on-one combat and reveals the ninja to actually be a man, an actor named Seiji Kato. She also exposes Seraphin's artifact fraud: the samurai statue head all this was about is a forgery.

Magic Systems I Like: The Riddle-Master series

I wrote a post almost a year ago related to portrayals of magic in fiction I'd like to see magic in fantasy rpgs be more like. In reading Patricia McKillip's excellent Riddle-Master series, I've come across more examples that are perhaps even more adaptable to fantasy adventure rpgs than some of the ones I mentioned previously.

In McKillip's setting, there are wizards but they are hidden/in hiding at the beginning of the story. The examples I've given here reflect the things able to be done by talented individuals (explicitly not everyone is capable of learning them) but not by people who either have the highest aptitude or training.

She had left, in front of Rood's horse in the College stable, a small tangle of bright gold thread she had loosened from her cuff. Within the tangle, in her mind, she had placed her name and an image of Rood stepping on it, or his horse, and then riding without thought every curve and twist of thread through the streets of Caithnard until, reaching the end, he would blink free of the spell and find that neither the ship nor the tide had waited for him. 

- Heir of Sea and Fire

Raederle (the "she" above), is also able to use this same technique to trip someone immediately (like in a combat situation by throwing a tangle of thread or similar material in front of them. She also is noted to be able to make a thorn bush into (or perhaps seem to be) a difficult to traverse bramble and to find her way out of a magical forest that confounds visitors and gets them lost.

These abilities seem more like spells of the AD&D sort, though they are perhaps wider in application than many and certainly less flashy than most. Another commonly employed magical ability in the series is "the shout:"

...Rood caught his breath sharply and shouted.

Morgon dropped the crown. He put his face against his knees, his hands over his ears. The wine glass on the desk snapped; the flagon on a tiny table shattered, spilling wine onto the stones. The iron lock on a massive book sprang open; the chamber door slammed shut with a boom.

- The Riddle-Master of Hed

More magical powerful individuals can generate more powerful shouts, even to the point we are told of laying low armies in rare instances. We are told that individuals able to shout are only able to do so at times of intense emotion, so it isn't exactly an "at will" power. Still, fairly D&D spell-like.

It's interesting to me how, in broad strokes, the magic conforms to Isaac Bonewits concept in Authentic Thaumaturgy in that, at base, its most common presentation is psychic phenomena. Characters are able to communicate telepathically and invade the minds of others to read their thoughts or memories. There is also a psychic attack--the mental equivalent of the shout--that came overwhelm the mind of an unguarded person and stun them or knock them unconscious. I suppose this psychic magic is hardly uncommon in literary (at least older lit) and real world belief, but it's very different from the energy-wielding magic of many modern portrayals.

Shape-changing is also common in the series, though a number of practitioners only have one form they are able to assume. Danan of Isig, for instance, is only able to turn into a tree, but that's a usual talent for hiding or resting in overland travel. Others are able to assume multiple forms in a way that would give a lot of rpgs fits due to concerns of game imbalance.

Overall, though, I think D&D magic could be molded more in the direction of this series pretty easily. A lot of it would be in reconsideration of the special effects of spells really. Oh, and for you bard fans, there's a bit of harping magic in the series too.