Hello, readers. Just a quick update today to link you into some bigger bodies of my work! I recently decided to take advantage of the Cypher Creator System to publish some of my work. I created this… More
Dark Eras: Part Four
Last time I reviewed historical eras for Chronicles of Darkness, I got as far as 1500 CE. This is a nice round number so I stopped there but this time I’ll be going up to a specific, world-shaking event: the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. I know this wasn’t a global phenomenon and it plays into a western-centric worldview but it’s a big event in world history and it’s a big event in the World of Darkness as well. Regardless, this set of entries is a great rewind through European history as things get worse and worse. Enjoy!
Politics in Dark Horizon
One thing that I’ve been thinking about frequently when designing Dark Horizon is how things actually work. There are galaxy-spanning powers but they rely on a network of interspatial tunnels the require hops through all these different systems like some weird island-hopping military campaign. I’ve worked it out in my head over the course of thinking about this for years but it deserves a long discussion in order to establish the setting. Here’s a preview of a sidebar discussing the intricacies. Feedback welcome!
Don’t Go Adventuring in D&D
I was thinking the other day about all the Dungeons & Dragons campaigns I’ve done in my life. Whether I was running back and forth through the Dalelands, traversing the scorching sands of Athas, or recovering in Sigil from my latest trek to the Lower Planes things were pretty sweet. My characters were all different in their background but they could find adventure and glory if they put their minds to it. Then I thought: why? Today, I’m going to make a case for not doing that.
Predation Review
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. I memorized names, watched Jurassic Park on loop, and poured through National Geographic information books. My brother and I had Jurassic Park dinosaur action figures that we gleefully set up massive battles amid the ferns in the yard with raptors stalking the X-Men and pterodactyls swooping down at a Starfleet away team. It was fun and a crazy mash of worlds… and it’s the reason I was so excited when I saw Predation in Monte Cook Game’s lineup of Cypher worlds.
Dark Horizon: Jurgann Species
The pre-contact history of the Jurganna is mostly lost in legend at this point, although considering the emphasis that Jurganna put in legend and retelling stories these may be surprisingly accurate. Tales tell of warring states that took their conflict to the stars and fought each other in epic space battles. These squabbling states were conquered by an emperor serving as a divine mandate who forged a single group from these disparate pieces. His conquest was the only thing to survive his rule, however, as both his religious reforms and military focus dissolved soon after his death. The unity that he inspired did not, however, and the Jurganna struck out for the stars again, this time as explorers.
Expanding Pugmire
The Pugmire game is a great example of a light-hearted concept that still leads to dramatic game play. While I’m still waiting to run a full campaign of it (despite having Molly ready and waiting), I’ve been enjoying the actual play videos from No Survivors over at Geek & Sundry. I’m also excited about the Monarchies of Mau Kickstarter, even though it’s about freakin’ cats. I thought I’d look through the Monster Manual and Volo’s Guide to Monsters to see what other options are out there for Pugmire GMs.
Dark Horizon: Dupalan Species
In my post on character creation in Dark Horizon, I explained that your character will have the descriptor, type, and focus common to all Cypher System characters but also a Species and Culture that will make them more unique with more options for abilities. This is the first of those options, a Species template for the octopus-like dupalans. There are five more of these in store so let me know what you think of this one before I get too off base!
