Roleplaying games from historical research
This is your monster of the month, a little early because the Venice episode did not come together. Way back in Episode 184 (Major Weir) we discussed a Scottish regio where there were dancing skeletons. They make a return here under the control of the ghost of a suicided German count. I’ve trimmed down the…
Read MoreTime to tidy these up. Worlds on Fire Burn shift: Postapocalyptic setting. Burn shifts (mutations) 181-185. Community designs and actions (187-198] might suit us for groups like crews and conspiracies. Equipment 200-205 useful if reskinned. Beasts and obstacles [209-219} many of these are useful if reskinned – some can be directly lifted to our game.…
Read MoreSo, I’ve gone through fifty FATE Worlds supplements and looked for infomation we can use directly in Magonomia. This does not include the two most recent collections “Worlds in Shadow” and “Worlds on Fire”. The Aether Sea – This is a tall ships in space setting. It has magicians of three power levels. The lowest…
Read MoreSome familiar names from Ars Magica, and a sprinkle of new authors, have come together to write a roleplaying game about Renaissance wizardry. Andrew Gronosky, who is our fearless leader in this, has been pondering these sorts of things since he was working on hedge traditions a decade ago, so you can be sure he’s…
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Let’s return to the Burton version of the Pentamerone. His summary of “The Young Slave” is “Lisa is born from a rose-leaf, and dieth through a fairy’s curse; her mother layeth her in a chamber and biddeth her brother not to open the door. But his wife being very jealous, wishing to see what is…
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CHAPTER XXXIII: The Shining Line Alveric wandered on, alone of that small company of three without a hope to guide him. For Niv and Zend, who were lately led by the hope of their fantastic quest, no longer yearned for Elfland but were guided now by their plan to hold Alveric back from it. They…
Read MoreWhen writing my parts of Magonomia I found these sources particularly useful. I hope you similarly find them valuable. BooksIf forced to pick one, try A time traveller’s guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer. I also found the following useful. How to be a Tudor : A dusk to dawn guide to everyday life…
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We’ve completed the Pentamerone stories which were published for children in the Victorian period. Seventeen of the stories, however, were taken out as unsuitable. I won’t be recording them, but I’ll be using the Burton translation to summarize their plots and the hooks we can hang on them. Burton’s summary for the what’s now called…
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A change of pace on the Venice material – I think that trying to draw all the folklore together, like I did with Cornwall, may be a fool’s errand. I keep heading off into the weeds. My plan is to keep adding the folklore I find, but to try and give the whole thing a…
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This week I’m taking time to get the backlog of monsters sorted. As a sort of filler, here’s a poem about a troubadour trying to rescue a maid, by W.S. Gilbert, of musical hall fame. *** A Troubadour he playedWithout a castle wall,Within, a hapless maidResponded to his call.“Oh, willow, woe is me!Alack and well-a-day!If…
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Games From Folktales 