Asymmetry in Roleplay - Part 1

Foreword: Another one of my old blog posts dredged up from the Wayback Machine and given an airing 13 years later.  This was the first in a series of three posts on the subject.  As I recall, a fourth was planned but never materialised.  More on that later.

The Fantastic Voyage (Introduction, Part Two)

Part One is here. 

A Table At Sunaeco and Yasmina's Wedding Reception

Jess, Quaenas and Tsai Ying happen to be sitting at a table together.

Sunaeco strolls over accompanied by a Janni gentleman. "Hullo Jess. Having fun I hope? I think it's all gone just brilliantly. I can't thank Yasmina's folks enough, I never imagined my wedding would be so spectacular. Speaking of which, may I introduce Sufyan al-Amara. He's Yas' older cousin."

The Janni bows deeply. "I am honoured to make your acquaintance. Sunaeco tells me you have been his friends and boon companions for some years now. May I sit with you?"

Sunaeco: "Sufyan has a proposition for us, I mean we who own the Imp. Oh I know you're not a part of that Tsai Ying and Quaenas but I don't think there's any harm in you sticking around. Maybe you could fill Jess in, Sufyan, while I go to fetch Fenelda. I'll see if I can let Cerys know we're having a gathering too."

Sufyan settles on a cushion, addressing Jess. "So you are part owner of this marvelous magical water vehicle then, a great silvery fish that consumes gems I am told, along with my new cousin-in law and his radiant matchmaker? And you did battle against Azi-Dahaka at the Golden Palace of Za-Hadrash? I must offer you the utmost respect for your deeds of martial courage. As for myself, I am not unaccomplished with the falchion and bow but first and foremost I am a man of business. I have had a most fortunate opportunity to spend a while in conversation with another of the co-owners of this silver vessel of yours, Cerys Landry of the golden hair and exquisite charms. Who appears to be a squid, at the moment, but no matter. We were talking of trade, for she explained that she herself established a trading house called the Crystal Griffon and was justly proud of its success though she now plays less of a direct role in managing things. I too am involved in trade, buying that which is surplus in one place and selling where it is scarce in another.

"You may not be aware of how my people travel from world to world. We are able to shift between planes, but only where we have already been, and with a good deal of imprecision. It is a process fraught with risk except when we shift between certain reliable anchor points. These are our sacred oases, each visited some say by the prophet and first genie Sulymon as he roamed the material plane, though that is a tale not all agree upon. Whatever the reason, certain watering-holes act as reliable destinations for the plane shifting powers of my tribesmen and I.

"Most recently, the powers of Elysium in a trade with our Amir for a valley of diamond, made a decree that the Waters of Elysium would flow in our sacred oases. These waters have properties of refreshment and healing, curing all ills though they do not persist long when removed from the oases.

At that moment, Fenelda arrives. "Hi. Sunaeco said I should sit in on this conversation?"

Sufyan rises once more and bows to show his respects. "You must be the lovely Fenelda. A healer, I am told. And part owner of the marvellous magical silver fish. Please, be seated. I was in the process of explaining myself, for I have a proposition for your group."

The Janni continues.

"In fact there is one such oasis in your world of Oerth. It is not frequently used, a minor merchant family go there occasionally I believe to do trade in a nearby human city but I must tell you your world is considered quite risky. A great Devastation once swept the land where that oasis lies and the Janni there present all lost their lives."

Oerth-dwellers will realise he is most likely talking about the Twin Cataclysms that occurred around 1000 years ago.

"I understand Mishari Al-Khalifa once took a risk to visit your world by that route when Sunaeco pursued his unsuccessful courtship of her, though ultimately to his benefit as he ended up marrying my delightful cousin Yasmina. Anyway, the erstwhile Rashid Al-Suliman, Vizier to the Amir, has been doing a little experimenting, and has learned two things, which have great potential. The first, is that the Waters of Elysium retain their properties for longer when intermingled with water from the Elemental Plane of Water. The limiting factor then seems to be how long the elemental waters last when removed from their plane of origin rather than the brevity of the Elysian waters' usual span of persistence. The second thing, is that the decree of the Powers of Elysium has had an apparent, unexpected consequence. They decreed that where our sacred oases lay, the waters of Elysium would flow. It now appears that where the Waters of Elysium flow, that is a sacred oasis for us. This opens new vistas of possibility for us.

"The Vizier has made the blessed decision that our family will be the first to explore these possibilities, and my new cousin Sunaeco has agreed to help but, being a most considerate soul he wished to consult with the other stakeholders in the silvery water vehicle.

"Have you heard aught of a place called The City Of Glass? It is by all accounts a very beautiful, glittering jewel of a city in the deeps of the Elemental Plane of Water. Not inhospitable to land dwellers who can reach the place, I have heard, for a mighty dome of glass as strong as steel holds the waters at bay. It is a centre for civilisation, trade and the arts of those dwellers of that plane of existence.

"If our family is able to establish trading links with that wondrous city, we will be the envy of other Janni. Now, even if one of us had visited the place before, our arrival point on the plane could be hundreds of miles away. The vicinity of the city is not without its dangers. Anything from gangs of Genasi pirates, to zones of immense pressure fluctuation or sudden dangerous cross currents, to leviathans greater than seen on most prime material worlds."

Sufyan rises to bow as Cerys strolls up to the table arm in arm with Reynardia, both of them wet through from their watery frolics.

"And here she is at last. You are an ever greater delight to my eyes each time I see you, Oh Lady Landry. And I must also compliment your lovely...companion...on her grace and evident puissance. I do not think I have had the pleasure...?"

Cerys: "May I introduce Reynardia, Great Druidess of the Sheldomar Valley and my very good friend. Many are those of the Old Faith in our world who pay their respects to her."

Reynardia gestures. "Please, be seated again."

Sufyan continues. "I am truly fortunate to find myself in such illustrious company. My lady Cerys, I was speaking of the City of Glass."

"Oh yes of course. I know the way there from Oerth. When my friends and I were trapped in the Abyss on one occasion, we found ourselves stuck in a place called Harbinger House. There were some Titans living there. It was quite a labyrinth. We were trying to find our way home and we went to see a Titan called Geo. His obsession was making maps. We did a trade - one of us volunteered to stay behind with him and assist him in making maps of Oerth. Well, when I say 'assist', he was stretched on a frame and the Titan could somehow read him and extract the map information from him of the world he'd come from."

Tsai Ying might feel a touch of poignancy at this tale - as the brave volunteer Wei Peng was her close friend and fellow devotee of the Temple of Lei Kung.

"Anyway in exchange for this sacrifice Geo's minions examined their charts and provided us with several alternative routes back to Oerth. One of those routes was via the City of Glass, which could be reached from Oerth via a thing called the 'Triton Trade Stream'. Which terminates, or goes past at least, a Triton city on Oerth called Liris Plushali.

"In the end, we didn't go home that way. I always thought this City of Glass place sounded intriguing. I meant to maybe go there one day. Then more recently some people were on a job for me in a place called the Demiplane of Coil, a very snakey place. From there they went somewhere else that was a bit unstable, searching for some black tablet or other I forget the details. Some kind of planar 'quake' deposited a poor Triton girl into their laps. They brought her home and I said I would help return her to her people."

Sunaeco speaks. "Not far from Luthian's Tears there is a triton settlement. So we took her there."

"That's right" Cerys says, "and I asked them about Liris Plushali. They told me it is in the Vohuon Ocean, south of the Densac Gulf. There is a permanent naturally occurring rift deep in the ocean there that opens to the elemental plane of water. They have marked a map for us so we have an idea where to find it. When we are closer my Gate Compass will help us find the place."

Sufyan: "My aim, my friends, is, with your aid, to travel to the City of Glass in your marvelous silver fish, and thereby establish a safe trade route. Explore the city's possibilities and try to establish a foothold for my family to do business there. And even, if it is possible, to establish an artificial 'sacred oasis' by mingling Elysian waters with those native to that plane in an environment where they will persist indefinitely and retain their powers, though success is uncertain. The Vizier has promised his aid if I can first establish myself in the city and see if it is worthwhile."

Cerys: "Jess, it occurred to me that the place mentioned in your 'Sunken Utopias' is more or less on the way to this triton city, so maybe we can pay that a visit. I want to come on the voyage though I must warn you I may have to duck in and out depending on things. I have duties to fulfil now and then. A Viscountess' work is never done. Rey, would you like to come?"

Reynardia: "For you...I'll come along part of the way at least though I also am very busy and I can't say for sure how long I will be able to stay. But my trusty agent Quaenas here will surely be able to remain for the duration of the voyage and lend his bow-arm should it be needed. You said you wanted to explore new environments didn't you, Q?"

Cerys: "Sufyan has agreed to work in partnership with The Crystal Griffon on this venture. So I am planning to ask Dray to get involved. Going to a planar metropolis to establish trade should be right up his alley."

Sunaeco: "After tonight, Yas and I will be spending a week in a place called The Havens of Harmony on the world of Iadrathea. It is a coastal place not far from one of the Janni oases."

Sufyan: "Ah, yes my father arranged this for you, you will love it, it is a very beautiful world Iadrathea and the Havens of Harmony, the most beautiful place therein. We like to go there to relax."

Sunaeco: "After that, well I talked to Yasmina and she's happy to make it a sort of 'working extended honeymoon', should be a nice cruise in the silver fish."

Sufyan: "And you need not worry about fuel costs, my family will provide the gems."

Sunaeco: "Well, anyway as quarter owner of the Imp, my votes a yes."

Cerys: "I'm a yes too."

Fenelda: "I guess I'm a yes. I could do with a little excitement."

Sunaeco: "So that's three votes out of four already. Jess, Quaenas, and Tsai Ying too if you want to tag along - are you up for the

FANTASTIC VOYAGE

?

The Fantastic Voyage (Introduction, Part One)

The Wedding of Sunaeco and Yasmina Al-Amara

At last the big day arrives for Sunaeco and Yasmina.

Sunaeco's party are Gated in by Cerys (who travelled there in advance to help get things set up having been provided one of the Amulets that permits transit to and from the Demiplane of Gloaming). The Amir temporarily lowers the plane's defenses allowing ingress without the amulets.

Sunaeco has had a new outfit tailored for the occasion in his favourite colours of blue and white, and wears a fine pair of boots. He also wears his platinum belt with sapphires.

He is a little nervous at the prospect of meeting all Yasmina's relations - so far he has met her, and her parents, and one of her cousins, briefly. He is glad to be finally putting down some roots after many years of gadabout itineracy, and be marrying into a prestigious family of geniekind.

To be sure, Yasmina's family are looking to benefit from this union as well. It is an unconventional match, but their eldest are already respectably married off to other Janni and so they are willing to tolerate its unusual nature. Sunaeco is recognised as a member of "Team Elysium" the winning delegation who brought the Janni the gift of the Waters of Elysium. (And by a startling coincidence, his name is like that of the sacred river running through Elysium, but reversed, which is surely a fortunate omen). So this marriage brings them a degree of prestige even if Sunaeco is not so very wealthy by their standards, though by no means a pauper. And, given that the Vizier to the Amir recommended this union to them, there may be other advantages, too. Even the occasion of this wedding here on the Amir's personal demiplane is an opportunity for them to mingle with a higher social class among the Hubul and forge connections. They will be milking this for every bit of advantage.

The Demiplane of Gloaming has been remodelled. The interior space is now entirely walled and roofed over in glass. The space between the glassy walls and the boundaries of the plane is filled with water. The Janni Vizier Rashid Al-Suliman has taught Cerys how to summon a type of aquatic Eladrin called a Noviere, from the plane of Arborea. He has sometimes had uses for them but they generally serve him grudgingly. Cerys can cast more summonings and be far more persuasive than Al-Suliman. The Noviere have a humanoid form, and also an alternate form, that of a shimmering golden dolphin made from luminescent water. A school of these playful creatures is persuaded to swim about in the watery space and put on a bit of a show, and make the aquatic guests feel at home. There is no gravity in the watery zone except for where the waters open out into the pools and fountains of an elegant water garden surrounding a gilded gazebo-like affair in the centre. The design is quite geometrically symmetrical and intricate.

Sunaeco has agreed to a Janni wedding service, not having strong views about such matters himself. He will not be converting to worship of Anumon the creator of geniekind in any formal sense, though he has of course agreed that he will respect the progenitor of his wife's race.

I think that for many of Sunaeco's wedding guests this will be their first trip to a plane other than Oerth. Certainly his family members; quite a few of his friends too, I think.

Echo has brought Quaenas along as her guest, though she pretty soon detaches from him and hangs about mainly with Cerys and Reynardia, until she discovers the Eladrin dolphins who she is definitely going to want to play with. Cerys has her two attendants, who will be Pumpkin and Tori (who are probably also going to wind up sporting with the Eladrin). It will be noticed that Cerys seems to be in high spirits and a bit more capricious than normal. Maybe just the excitement of the occasion, but her features look a little more elfin, and every so often a toss or flick of her golden mane will reveal a glimpse of a shapely, pointed ear. She can polymorph, after all, so maybe just her latest affectation. But there is something different in her gaze, too. Something potent.

Among the Janni guests, Jibran Barakas is there, together with Mrs Barakas. He shoots Cerys a look of guilty longing. Cerys tips him a saucy wink when his missus isn't looking and telepaths him an erotic memory of them together, laughing wickedly at his flustered reaction.

The Amir Utha Alzmed himself will conduct the service; he is authorised to do so and he certainly will want to in his own demiplane. Sunaeco waits nervously before the altar. Like all expectant grooms he naturally feels a moment's anxiety that she might have a last minute change of heart, to leave him covered in disappointment and shame.

But she does not. Yasmina will look truly lovely of course as she floats down the aisle (literally) in an expensive diamond studded wedding dress. The train and midriff are designed to be unlaced and detached so that it turns niftily into a two-piece diamond-studded bathing costume so Yasmina can go swimming with the groom's family in it later in the day if she pleases.

Sunaeco and Yasmina recite their wedding vows, repeating them in Janni and in the aquatic elf tongue of Oerth.

The wedding rings have been provided as a gift from Yasmina's grandmother, and Mumm-Rah produces them, having been entrusted with them earlier. (Someone warned him to keep his hand on them at all times as there were pixies about, and possibly more than were strictly invited might have flown in through the Gate spell)

Vows are exchanged, rings are exchanged and a jubilant Sunaeco kisses his bride as the Amir pronounces them elf and wife.

There are congratulations and the Amir declares that the bridal feast shall commence at once. He claps his hands and the wedding gazebo transforms into a wider affair with low tables and cushions set all around. Genasi ushers will show people to their places as other servants sweep in carrying platters of exotic food.

There will be speeches naturally.

<insert Mumm-Rah's speech hereabouts, hopefully delivered in lizardman so no-one can understand all the awful things Sunaeco has done and remember what happens on The Sea Ghost STAYS ON THE SEA GHOST>

After the feasting Janni musicians will provide entertainment and Yasmina shows off her dancing skills with her new man. Cerys will NOT be dancing as she is not such a meanie as to upstage the bride. But she will have fun in other ways. In fact there will be a bit more chaos than the Janni are wholly comfortable with. There seem to be a lot of dire bears about the place, for starters. Reynardia loans Cerys a use of her Wild Shape at one point - it's a thing she can do (later when the stuffy formalities are out of the way) and they both turn into dire bears and start frolicking and rough and tumbling in the water with the other dire bears. Then Cerys starts flying around in bear form. Jibran completely accidentally gets a cheeky slap on the rear from a flying dire bear paw. Later they turn into giant squid and go chasing the aquatic elf kids and the Eladrin about in the watery area.

Part Two is here.

The Fate Of UK Roleplayers

I thought those guys had been quite lately....

...wait, what, this happened 6 years ago?!

I must have been doing a PhD at the time or something.

https://www.geeknative.com/60702/uk-role-players-ukrp-closes/

A great pity, this was a nice site.  

Slowly one by one all the website-based D&D communities were starved of attention by social media, and more specifically, Facebook.

And so now we have this instead:

There is still Dragonsfoot, but they gatekeep ruthlessly against anything perceived as "Not Classic Roleplaying", which excludes 3.0 D&D onwards.

Maybe 3.X needs its own Dragonsfoot.

Rules, Referees and Reality

Foreword: I have discovered my old gaming blog on the Wayback Machine!  After attempts to data mine it out of my old backups produced no success (though admittedly I didn't try as hard as I might before resorting to Wayback).  Anyways...I shall repost some of my old content here.  'Twill be interesting to see if my views have changed.

This is post #1 from that blog...from 2008...but it's a repost of an earlier article I wrote for the Gamegrene forum in 2006.

The Coven Greyhawk

Session -1

We call ourselves "The Coven", for reasons shrouded in antiquity.  Our D&D campaign is set in the world of Greyhawk.

Canon is broadly adhered to but there are differences, so canonical history and geography should not be taken for granted; consult with the DM if unsure.

The campaign has been running for a long time.  According to some definitions of "campaign", what we refer to as a "campaign" might be referred to as "multiple overlapping campaigns run in the same setting."  In real time, the campaign began in 1994.

There is a large mix of player characters and character groupings, with a heterogenous level mix.  The highest level player character in the campaign is 24th level.  The lowest is 1st.  New players are not handed new-build characters of level equivalent to the highest level PCs in the campaign.  However there is not an insistence every new character starts out at 1st level, either.  Decisions are driven by situations.

We run 3.5 rules, but include such 3.0 material as is compatible and has not been subsequently replaced by a 3.5 version; and Pathfinder material that expands the range of possibilities, is reasonably balanced, and has no equivalent already existing in the 3.0/3.5 rulesets.

We are in principle liberal about multiclassing and sourcing of prestige classes though these must be DM-approved.  Often a rationale for a prestige class choice will be required; characters don't suddenly obtain prestige classes with weird abilities out of the blue.  Our approach to feats and spells follows a similar pattern.

On a No-to-Low-To-High magic scale of 0-10, personally I would rate us at about a 6.5.  Are there magic shops?  Y-e-s but not ones where you walk in and there are shelves and racks full of newly made magic armour, weapons, potions and scrolls.  More like, places that mainly sell alchemical stuff, maybe have a few random second hand trade ins for sale, and can make something to order, maybe depending on what it is, oh and you'll need to bring me the brain of a mind flayer if you want one of those.

The DMing style we have encouraged is to stick to rules and precedents unless there is a good reason to overrule the rules in a particular situation.  DMing by fiat is discouraged (though not forbidden).  This helps preserve fairness and consistency.  It does mean that the flow of play might be interrupted from time to time for rules checking.  It's understood that this is anathema to some RP styles but we have found that this has helped extend the longevity of the campaign and stopped things going off the rails as past experience running other campaigns has found.  Where there is a Rules-As-Written vs Rules-As-Intended contention, the tendency is to adopt a RAI approach unless the proposed interpretation would be adverse to game balance.  (As a DM, a stubborn RAW approach to spell descriptions is often a lifesaver against PC's "breaking the plot" of an adventure in an un-fun way.  Though we are not overly precious about our plots.)

Content Warning: our World of Greyhawk is decidedly non-utopian, meaning that sometimes bad things happen to good people and there is unfairness in life.  This is not to say that player characters can expect such treatment as a matter of course; DMs do not set out to upset players for their own cruel amusement.  But things like racism, gender bias, slavery, class injustice, ableism, emotional and physical abuse can and do all happen within the environment PCs find themselves in, in the interests of quasi-medieval verisimilitude.  If anything, to a lesser degree than one might find in a real medieval/renaissance culture.  Having said this, these behaviours are not continually thrust in players' faces.  Player characters, generally speaking, represent the more enlightened section of the populace who rail against such things; and DMs are (one hopes) sensitive to specific issues that particular players find upsetting.  But it is understood that some roleplayers prefer to avoid such settings altogether ("monster" slaying aside, perhaps, on which I make no comment) which is why I provide this fair warning.

There is a flip side to this warning.  Yes, characters can be "part of the problem" of such unjust behaviour, in principle, if this is understood to be an exercise in roleplay.  It is acceptable to roleplay a "flawed character".  But NOT if the player is deliberately using the environment of the campaign to give free rein to their own personal character failings with impunity, and particularly not if they are using this as a vehicle to harass or bully another player.

Sex: It doesn't happen all the time, but yes, it happens sometimes.  It can happen in ways that challenge social conventions, even, depending on the characters involved and their mores.  We don't go overboard on the details though.

Evil characters: within certain limits, yes.  You can play an evil character so long as you realise that you must be creative in finding reasons not to do harm to other player characters unless it is somehow warranted by circumstances that they can agree are sufficient justification.  PvP stuff has happened within the campaign but it is very rare and generally non-fatal.

DMPCs: we have a long and honourable tradition of DM's running a character in their own adventure, longer than this campaign even (some of us have been D&D players since the late 70's).  We know the pitfalls.  Trust us, we've had a lot of practise.  But in today's febrile social media environment it is evident that this is a fault line for some roleplayers, who prescriptively declare that this must never happen.  Hence - this upfront declaration.  It doesn't happen in every adventure.  And some of us are a bit famous for killing our own characters in our adventures!

Sandbox vs Railroad: Get thee hence, thou false dichotomy.

"Because Fireball":  No, we do not accept the premise that because magic exists then we should discard any and all attempts to depict a rational world.

We do love our crunchy character building (subject to moderation) but we love roleplay too.  Many of our characters have richly developed lives outside the dungeon.  Characters can have relationships, marriage and kids, buy property, boats, start up businesses, run monster zoos, make stuff, collect stuff.  Start secret societies.  Get ennobled.  Get involved in politics.  Visit their friends, give each other gifts.  They have opinions (sometimes strong ones) on each other.

Welcome to our roleplay playground of the past quarter-century plus.