Filed under: Games, Rogue Games, thoughts | Tags: Dolphin, game design, Rogue Games, thoughts, writing
It has been a month since my last post. Been busy. Life has been really kicking me lately.
Anyway, I have been working on Dolphin, as well as a ton of other things. A lot of writing and a lot of business for Rogue Games.
You do not believe me about Dolphin? Take a gander at this:
What is this you ask?
The draft in progress.
Every thing I write is always done in longhand. James can attest to this fact in our work on a number of projects together. Every draft begins in a Moleskin, which is where my notes are contained. From this collection of notes, I then write the first draft (contained in the larger brown notebook). The draft continues until I am done, and once done, I then begin the rewriting. Rewriting involves my typing in the longhand draft into the Mac.
So there, you can see for yourself, I am writing Dolphin. I hope to have a manuscript done by the end of next month. This will be then be typed up, and the real work will begin.
Filed under: Games | Tags: Dolphin, game design, random thoughts, writing
Though I have been silent the past few weeks about this game, I am still working on it. Slowly but still working on it. To help me collect the scattered thoughts I have about the game, I am going to download my mind right here. This will be messy, and might make no sense, but, it might answer some questions. Still, knowing how things go, it might also create more as well.
- You play a dolphin. Not a magic dolphin. Not monster dolphin. A regular real live dolphin.
- Enemies are sharks, jelly fish, eels, and other nasty things in the sea. There is a big bad, over reaching nasty, but what it is, I will not say.
- The ocean is the world.
- Whales are missing.
- Adventures center around discovery, exploration, solving mysteries, and helping your pod.
- The ocean is known as The Blue.
- The rules are designed to get to the heart of the mater.
Filed under: Games, Rogue Games, entertainment, thoughts | Tags: 12°, design notes, Dolphin, game design, Games, Rogue Games, thoughts, writing
Before I dive into the next post, there are a few questions I want to answer. These are answers to some emails, tweets, and messages I have gotten since I first started talking about this.
Q. Is Rogue Games going to publish this?
A. Yes.
Q. When will this be released?
A. When it is done.
Q. Really, there is no plan to this?
A. No.
Q. You’re crazy.
A. Yes, I know. That is not a question by the way.
Q. Is this going to be a roleplaying game?
A. Yes.
Q. So, let me get this straight. As a player, I play a dolphin?
A. Yes. All characters are dolphins. The entire game takes place under the sea.
Q. Will Dolphin run on 12°?
A. Yes. The mechanic is perfect for a game of this type. Dolphin is more narrative in the type of adventures you run and play in. 12° is a good mechanic, that when you take it to the core, allows for easy task resolution. It does not get in the way, and does not make things too complicated. The type of actions that take place in the game, needs a mechanic like 12° to drive it.
Q. If you are using 12° will this be similar to how the mechanic is used in either Colonial Gothic or Thousand Suns?
A. No. Both of those games are different in tone and the type of rules you need are different as well. Both games need — let alone require — rules allowing for Skills, structured combat, and add on features that a game such as Dolphin does not require. The best example of this is Skills. Both Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns need them. Dolphin does not. Why? For a couple of reasons.
First, the player characters are all dolphins, and because of this, they pretty much are all able to do the same things. What Dolphin will do is merge Skill Tests in with ability Tests. By that, if you want your PC to fight, it is a Strength Test. Abilities — in Dolphin — set your skills. This is similar to what is done in Toon, but unlike Toon, you will not have a list of skills listed under each ability. Instead, all Tests, are driven by the appropriate ability.
Secondly, these are dolphins after all. I am going for a different tone with this game, and because of this, I do not need the complexity that is found in Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns.
Q. So what is the tone? You mentioned Finding Nemo before, are you trying to do a game like that?
A. Yes, and no. What I want with Dolphin is a game that allows me to run — and play — adventures that are more drama. I want to run a game that can be more cienamtic, as well as one, that does not bog down the play. What I am doing with this game, and what the players have been doing, is more narrative.
Anyway, this should bring you up to speed on the what and how. Next post will be about the setting.
Filed under: Games, thoughts | Tags: Games, Lost Works, Rogue Games, thoughts, Warhammer FRP, writing
This was going to be a larger article, but I never had time to finished. I did run it in A&E when I contributed my own ‘zine, but that was the only time it appeared in public. This also marks the first, and only time, I ever wrote fiction. Anyway, I like the ideas here, I wish I finished it.
Bounty Hunters of the Old World
Night had fallen along the Altdorf-Middenheim Road. It was Ulriczeit, and it was called. The patrons of the Ox Yoke Inn huddled in the common room nursing mugs of mulled wine trying to stay warm. Though the inn was warm, the icy fingers of the winter night had found their way in.
It was late, and most of the room was empty. In an hour Otto Tasker would close his bar and those who bought a night’s rest in the common room could finally get some sleep. Already a few patrons had found a quiet corner of the common room and were sleeping off a night of drinking, or long day of travel.
Suddenly, the front door of the inn opened, and a gust of wind filled the room. Following the wind’s wake a figure dressed in a long black hooded cloak entered. Shutting the door behind him, the man pulled the hood off, and threw it over his shoulders.
The man was trouble. His legs were covered with black leather pants, and a chain mail shirt rested easily over a thick black wool shirt.
Not very big, he was lean, toned and had the look of danger. A sword hung loosely on his left hip, and a loaded crossbow rested comfortably in his right hand. The man’s weather beaten face had a scar racing up from his chin to an eye patch covering his right eye. His black hair, streaked gray, hung like a mane to the middle of his back.
With his one good eye, he scanned the room searching for someone. No one spoke or moved, in fear that the man’s stare would stop on them.
There in the corner, near the fireplace, the man saw who he was looking for. Purposely, he walked the length of the room, never taking his eye off the man. The tread of his boots, and rattle of manacles, was the only sound heard in the room.
“Wendel Castel, you are wanted for the murder of Valentine Eschenheim, Liliane Ladengast, Isabella Pabst, and Adelheid Raab. You are wanted for the murder of two Altdorf City Watchmen, wanted for the crimes of escaping arrest, and wanted for the theft of a Road Warden’s horse. I have a signed warrant for your apprehension,” the man spoke calmly, never taking his eye off the man.
Wendel cursed himself for being complacent. After fleeing Altdorf, he thought he was safe on the outskirts of Middenheim. He would soon get past this one-eyed hunter and go into hiding again. Looking desperately for a way to make a run for it; Wendel sized up the bounty hunter and thought that he could rush past him and escape into the night.
Suddenly a sharp pain spread from Wendel’s chest to his arms. A blanket of cold covered him, he began to gulp for air, and blackness loomed on the edge of his vision. Looking down, Wendel saw a black-shafted crossbow bolt protruding from his chest, and he saw his own blood quickly darkening his chest.
“The warrant did not state you had to be alive. Dead or breathing, it makes no difference to me,” stated the bounty hunter matter-of-factly.
The last thing Wendel saw before departing for Morr’s Realms was a smile of satisfaction break across the bounty hunter’s face. With a thump, Wendel slumped to the table, his blood methodically dripping to the floor.
The hunter went to the body and produced a roll of cloth. Quickly he wrapped it around the body and tied it securely in place. With a grunt, he hoisted the body over his shoulder and walked out the door. No one in the common room spoke, or moved to stop the man from leaving.
Into the cold night the hunter left, and with him his next pay day.
Bounty hunters are not a common site among law-abiding citizens of the Empire. Among criminals, however, bounty hunters are one of the dangers that come with the territory. Bounty hunters are a necessary evil, and if it was not for the conflicting politics of the Empire they might not be needed.
Many choose to become a bounty hunter because they see a profit tracking down bounties. Though a hunter may be well paid, the life of the bounty hunter is a hard one. It is filled with many nights sleeping on the ground and many fights in smoke-filled bars. Tracking down a bounty can cost a hunter a small fortune, and often the cost does not justify the return from the posted bounty. The life leaves its mark on a hunter, and many have scars of poorly bound wounds, or poorly set bones, to prove it. No one gets rich from bounty hunting, and those who do, are usually ones who have gone from being bounty hunters to paid assassins.
Typically people enter the profession tend to be ex-watchman or wardens who grow tired of the low pay and risks of their jobs. After a few years of risking their lives trying to enforce the law, they come to the conclusion that by tracking down bounties, which is equally dangerous, but with higher rewards . Hunters and woodsman find this profession is easy to break into, as hunting people is not much of a change from hunting animals. After all, though humans tend to be smarter then deer, it is not that different from hunting game. In short anyone with a modicum of fighting ability, and the ability to follow a trial or intimidate an informant, can make a living from hunting down bounties.
Saying you are a bounty hunter, and actually being a bounty hunter are two different things. In order to collect a bounty one must be licensed. Licenses are easy to obtain and cost 20 Crowns a year to maintain. All licenses are issued by the local government and bear the signature of a issuing judge and a representative of the local government. With the license a person is able to apprehend, and in the case of Imperial warrants, kill a bounty. If a bounty hunter is not licensed, or if they are working with an expired one, the hunter cannot collect a fee.
There are two types of bounties in the Empire: civil and Imperial. A civil bounty is one that is posted by a private individual or group. Generally if a person wants to keep something private and has the financial means to pay a bounty they will contact a bounty hunter. Civil bounties generally involve such crimes as outstanding debt, theft, and in a few cases having carnal relationships with a wealthy merchant’s daughter. These types of warrants pay very well, but the hunter has to bring the person in alive to collect the bounty. Also, because of their nature, no civil bounty can call for the bounty to be killed. Unfortunately, there is nothing to stop a person from making a civil bounty dead or alive, but the judicial system has shown a tendency to frown on this.
Imperial bounties are a different matter, however, and they are usually the last resort of the judicial system. Not only the Emperor but also by Electors, and lesser rulers issues imperial warrants. These warrants cover any criminal posing a threat to the Empire’s stability. If the authorities are unable to bring a criminal to justice, or find a wanted suspect, a bounty is issued. All that is needed is the signature of a judge, or of a representative of a local government official. Once the bounty is posted, any bounty hunter can take it and attempt to collect on it. Imperial bounties are issued for outlaws, highwaymen, and others who pose a serious threat to the safety of the Empire and her citizens. These bounties are typically paid if the suspect is brought in alive, but in the case of wanted thieves, murderers and rebels, it will be paid if the body is brought in dead.
Both Imperial and civil bounty’s will have a monetary award attached to them, and the maximum amount is usually no more than 200 Crowns. In the case of civil warrants the award has no limits and there are cases where a hunter has collected 500 Crowns. In this case the bounty is paid by a jilted lover who discovering she was being played a fool by an ex-lover having a relationship with her daughter. As mentioned only Imperial warrants can have the “Dead or Alive” stipulation attached to them, and only licensed hunters can collect on them. It has come as surprise to many unlicensed bounty hunters to find themselves arrested for murder after bring in a dead bounty.
Bounty hunters are loners, and it is rare for them to work together. The reason is that most bounty hunters are greedy, and if two hunters bring in their bounty they then have to split the award. Many do not want to do this, being reluctant to share the wealth. There are a few cases of bounty hunters working together, but this is a rare occurrence. Recently, however, is a group of bounty hunters have formed the Pallenberg Agency in Middenheim.
Six years ago, four bounty hunters who saw a market for their service founded the Pallenberg Agency. Realizing that they would never get rich from collecting Imperial bounties, the four decided to create a service for wealthy citizens in the area of security and investigating. The group specializes in hiring out agents as bodyguards for individuals who can afford to pay. Clients are guaranteed the utmost satisfaction and are given the promise that, as long as their guard is one duty, no harm will befall them. In addition agents are hired as security for private functions, and many wealthy merchants in both Middenheim and Altdorf employ Pallenberg as their security firm. The big area of business for the firm is investigations. Those with the means hire the Agency to track down conmen, and those who have wronged them. Pallenberg is expensive, but the results speak for themselves. By relying on contacts and intimidation, Pallenberg Agents have a 90% success rate.
Filed under: Games, Life, Rogue Games, thoughts | Tags: Dolphin, game design, Games, Rogue Games, thoughts, writing
This is the moleskin that Dolphin currently lives in.
I am torn as to where I should post this. On one hand, this can easily be posted over at Rogue Dispatches, because eventually, this game will be published by Rogue Games. However, the game is not even ready yet, and only exists in a very rough stage.
Game?
Oh, I guess I should start at the beginning.
For the past year or so I have been kicking around a game design idea. Said idea, deals with a roleplaying game, different than what I usually do. The game is one that has the players assume the roles of dolphins.
Yes, dolphins.
The game is more narrative than anything I have done, and deals withe players surviving in the ocean, and dealing with a growing threat. Think of it as Finding Nemo meets Planet Earth.
The idea has been kicking around and every few weeks, I get a bunch of ideas and write them down in one of the moleskins. Eventually these ideas reached their limit, and I began writing the game. Now, by writing, I am talking about the bare essentials, and if anything, the writing is more notes than anything.
Finally about four months ago, I ran the game, as is, and much to my surprise, my players loved it. Oh yes, there were many rough patches, but the over all feeling was simple: they loved the idea, they liked the game, and they wanted me to design more. I was far too busy to do anything with this — after all I was in the final stages of Colonial Gothic Revised and tying up the last of Thousand Suns: Foundation Transmissions — but said I would do more with it eventually.
GenCon comes, and as usually happens when I get together with my friends, we start talking about games and game design. I mention Dolphin in passing, and then I see it, more people who dig the idea. It would not be until we’re back in the hotel room that Ariana states rather simply to me:
You know, Dolphin is a game I would want to play.
My wife is not a roleplayer. She loves board games and all types of games, but rpgs are the one type of game she has never showed any desire, let along interest in. Yet, her simple statement, was a shock to my system. Hence, now I am working on a new game, Dolphin.
Ok, with that introduction out of the way, we are now all up to date.
Dolphin is the new game I am working on. I have no idea when it will be released, how it will be released, or when it will be done. However, I know it will be done, and I am working on it. I know this is a game James and I want to release, but there is no timetable with it yet. This is why I am torn about where to post about this game. For now, I will keep Dolphin posts here on my blog. The rough plan I have is to document the development here, and when it is ready to playtest, move that stage, and the rest of the development over to Rogue Dispatches.
I do not know how this is going to work, let alone where it is going, but I am excited about this game. It is something different for me, and I am having fun working on it. All the reservations I had about it are gone, now the fun begins. I can design.
Filed under: Games, thoughts | Tags: AD&D 2E, Gaming, Lost Works, thoughts, writing
This was written back in the mid 90s and appeared in a game club newsletter. That is all I got on this.
The hunter is a character kit designed for the Ranger character class. It was designed using the guidelines presented in The Complete Ranger Handbook. Like all character kits, the hunter, is optional.
The Hunter
Description: When a noble wants to have a day of hunting, he does not simply gather his friends and other nobles, and trek into the woods. Instead he calls on a hunter to find suitable game, and to flush it out for the noble to kill.
A hunter is skilled in the ways of the animals. Unlike what the name implies, the hunter works to keep the game population manageable. They do not over hunt, and they seek to stop others from doing that. It is not only the hunter’s job to find the perfect deer, but too keep the woods safe from poachers, bandits, and monsters.
Hunters are quite and careful, and prefer to spend their days in the woods, and their nights drinking and boasting. They live by their own code, and answer only to themselves.
Requirements: Standard
Primary Terrain: Forest
Role: The Hunter is the quite watcher of the woods. It is his job to watch his liege’s land and manage his game herds. Hunters insure that the game herds are manageable, and that overpopulation does not harm the balance of the forest environment.
Besides animal control, the Hunter tracks down and slays any creature of evil that invades the forests. It is his duty to insure that the forces of evil do not reign unchecked in the woods.
Secondary Skills: Forester, Hunter, Trapper/Furrier
Weapon Proficiencies: Required: Long Bow. Recommended: Hand Axe, Knife, Short Sword, Sling.
Nonweapon Proficiencies: Bonus: Animal Lore and Hunting (see below). Recommended: Bowyer/Fletcher, Set Snares, Endurance, Cooking, Direction Sense, Camouflage, Alterness
Armor/Equipment: Hunters must have a long bow, and can wear only leather armor. Hunter’s also use only sheaf arrows.
Species Enemy: standard
Followers: any
Special Benefits: Stealth-hunters gain a +5% bonus to Hide in Shadows and Move Silently rolls; Hunting-hunters gain the Hunting proficiency free of charge. This skill improves by +1 every three level the ranger earns.
Special Hindrances: The hunter is the protector of the woods and he takes his role very seriously. He is often seen as a zealot when it comes to over hunting areas, and slaying monsters. Because a hunter works for a liege, he must seek permission to go adventuring.
Notes: The hunters takes himself very seriously, and he feels that he is the only one able to watch the woods. He will always stop poachers, and will always seek to put an end to over hunting. Over hunting also includes putting an end to hunting predators (wolves and the like).
Why would a hunter seek to stop the hunting of predators? The answer is balance. If there are no predator left in the woods, then an over population of deer, mouse and the like will incur. The hunter always seeks to keep everything in a balance, and he will pursue anyone who seeks to overturn that balance.
I have no idea where this is from, what it was for, or why I wrote it. If this does not constitute a Lost Work I do not know what is.
Hobgoblin Omens
Hobgoblins by nature are not skeptical or suspicious. As a warrior race, hobgoblins have little need for prophecy or oracles. Chieftains rarely need advice on a decision and it is considered a sign of weakness not to know what to do. Hobgoblins do believe that nature gives significant omens. To ignore an omen a hobgoblin runs the risk of death or some other calamity.
From an early age hobgoblins are taught to identify these naturally occurring omens. No one knows the origins of these omens; they simply exist. Some shamans feel that it was the god Gorm who taught the hobgoblins the meanings of these omens. For hobgoblins omens are a part of life and that is all there is to it.
No one knows how many omens there are. One reason for this is that omens tend to differ from tribe to tribe. What one tribe considers an omen, another considers a quirk of nature. There are some omens that are common to all tribes. It is these omens that are considered the most significant and are often the most feared among the tribes.
“A perched crow who looks at you sees your doom.”
The crow is a significant animal for hobgoblins as it is associated with death. Crows flock to a battle and feed off the dead, and because of this hobgoblins fear them. The bird is a reminder to a hobgoblin of how short life can be. This is something a warrior does not like to face. It is one thing to fight and die in battle, but it is another thing to be reminded of your mortality.
Since the crow is associated with death, hobgoblins feel they can see death. It is thought that by killing the crow that looked at you the upcoming death can be averted. Crows are so feared among tribes, that slaves, since they are expendable, are sent to kill any they see.
“When a chieftain is named and a crow cries before the name is spoken, fate has changed.”
Like the previous omen, this one also spells doom, but only for a new chieftain. Crow’s, besides their association with death, are also associated with bad luck. The crying of the crow attracts bad luck, which is linked to the name of the new chieftain. The way to avert this is to kill the crow that uttered the cry. Then you must wear the feet as a talisman to ward off bad luck. If the crow cannot be found, the chieftain can also face an enemy alone and by winning, it is thought that he changes his bad luck to good luck.
“A ring around the full moon means good times ahead.”
Most hobgoblin omens deal with bad luck or death, but there are a few that deal with good fortune. A halo around the moon is a very rare occurrence, and since it is so rare hobgoblins feel that when it occurs good fortune soon follows. There are numerous accounts of hobgoblins, after seeing a halo, having successful raids or overcoming tremendous odds. It is thought that if a halo appears the night before a new chieftain is named, the halo signifies the chieftain’s reign will be successful.
“The falling star brings war.”
When a star falls in the sky it is thought that Gorm is swinging his axe and slaying his enemies. According to most this is a sign that battle soon approaches. If a tribe is in the middle of a conflict and they see this omen it is thought that Gorm walks with the tribe and victory is close at hand.
These are just a few examples of omens that can be used in play. New ones can be created at any time, and the best ones are vague in their meaning.
Filed under: Games, Life, thoughts | Tags: colonial gothic, game design, projects, Rogue Games, SS&S, thoughts, thousand suns, writing
My title says it all; this is going to be a nice snapshot of my current projects. Playing games is my hobby, but so too is the designing and writing of them. I enjoy sitting with one of my Moleskins and writing and designing games. I love the process – even the editing and revision – no matter how bad my day goes game design makes me happy.
The first part of this year saw me overseeing not only the art direction but the project lead of the last two Thousand Suns books. In addition, I was putting the final touches on the Colonial Gothic manuscript, doing the Art Direction for it, and then getting it to the printer and out the door. When all of that was done, GenCon prep hit. Now with GenCon done, I am rested. It is time to get back to the writing. Some of the below I was working on here and there, but now I am up to full speed. So what is on the list? Here you go:
- Colonial Gothic Halloween PDF: First draft written; now I just need to type it up and get it ready for the editor. This is on schedule.
- eBook Preview of the first non-fiction book: Editing done, just need to lay it out.
- Shadow, Sword & Spell: I love this game. Period. Action chapter done, Magic chapter done. Monster chapter almost done. Equipment chapter almost done. I have a few more odds and ends to finish, and then I will go over James’ stuff. James will do the same with my stuff.
- New Colonial Gothic Demo: Will be running this next month again, as well as a few other times. Once I am happy with the results, and have enough notes, this bad boy will be revised, edited and then put up on the site.
- Colonial Gothic Projects: A bunch of PDFs, and possibly a new book that I did not mention last week. This book will be a published adventure. In addition, a lot of research.
- Thousand Suns Revised: Bits and pieces. This is James’ baby, and I am helping him when he needs it. This is what he did for me with Colonial Gothic.
- Dolphin: This is a new RPG that I tweeted about last Friday. I will have a post about this in a week or so. For now, this is a RPG that has you play dolphins. It is a different game for me, and currently exists in a Moleskin. My players really enjoy the game, and it is they, who convinced me it is worth working on. In addition, this is one of the few games I have done, that Ariana has expressed interest in not only seeing, but playing. This along is motivation enough for me. The game is powered by 12°, but a much simpler version of the mechanic. When the game is done, I will have a more public playtest for it, and then from there, James and I will decide what is next. Print or PDF I am not sure. I do know this is not going to be a big book; the game should not be any more than 96-pages.
- Megadungeon.net: Hold on to you socks, I am writing an entire level. This is being done for two reasons: One, I want too. Two, I really want to make sure this project restarts. James needs help, and this is what we do, help each other.
- Rogue Games Book Publishing: Doing a lot of research and work in getting the original fiction and non-fiction we want to do, finished and published. I mentioned this last week as well, but this is a major goal for us, and I want to do this. There are two non-fiction books lined up, which will see release sometime next year.
So there you go the list. It looks like a lot, but it isn’t. As I said, I love writing and designing, and all of this is fun for me.
Filed under: Games, thoughts | Tags: Games, Lost Works, thoughts, Warhammer FRP, writing
So for this entry I thought I’d go into the archive and dig up some old Warhammer FRP articles. Some appeared in Warpstone, others appeared in Shadis, and a few appeared on the old Warhammer FRP Listserve, as this piece did. Warhammer FRP 1E is one of my favorite games, and even today, for me, it is still a favorite. Looking over these old pieces I cannot help feel a itch to play this game again. Sadly, I do not have time.
As for the origins of this article, it is a simple one, I wrote it library school. As a former librarian, I am amazed how much this profession influenced me. This was first written back in the late 90s, and was revised a couple of times. It only appeared on the Warhammer FRP Listserve, so for many this is a new piece.
Library’s and Librarians of the Old World
Attached to any large university, temple or guild hall you will find a library. A library is a place where much of the knowledge of a organization is kept. You will not only find books, but rare maps, archived ledgers, copies of contracts, and other forms of written information. To keep a library running you need two very important people: clerks and librarians.
Shelving books, and the daily running of the library falls on to the shoulders of clerks. They are the people that library visitors come into regular contact with. Next to the librarian they are also the only ones who understands the classification system. Librarians are the most important people when it comes to libraries, because they are the ones who developed the classification system. As a result of this they are usually the ones who know where everything is. More importantly librarians know how to use the collection to research a topic. This article will introduce libraries to the Warhammer Fantasy Role Play world, and introduce two new careers as well.
Libraries
Eventually a player will want to have his character visit a library to track down information. Be it a location of a lost tower, or a 50 year-old contract, most answers can be found in a library. Unlike libraries today, Old World Libraries are run completely different. First of all libraries are not open to the public. A person must be either a member of a guild, a student, or professor of a university to gain access. Once you get past the doors a visitor does not have easy access to the library’s collection. Books, scrolls and other items of value are guarded carefully, and the cost of replacement is so high that most of the collection is chained. If the collection is not chained the stacks will certainly be closed.
A Chained Book is what the name implies: the book is physically chained and locked to the shelf, and the only way for the book to be moved is if the chain is unlocked. What the librarian does is drill a small hole near the spine of the book. Then a fine chain is threaded through the hole and is locked in place. The other end of the chain is then secured to the shelf. You will find chained books in most university libraries, because it deters students and scholars from walking away with books. By chaining the books to the shelf the librarians knows that the collection is safe. If books are not chained then the library usually employs closed stacks. A closed stack collection is one where only clerks and librarians can walk among the shelves. If the person needs a book, they request it and it is brought to them.
Regardless if the book is chained or the collection is closed, no library allows the patron to check-out materials. There are some groups like The Order of the Illuminated Reader, that loan books to their members, but the penalty for not returning the book is very high (for more information please see Dying of the Light). Since most libraries prohibit their collection from being checked-out there are many attempts to steal or even remove pages from books. To discourage this, most libraries hire guards to watch the doors and wander up and down the isles. If a patron is caught stealing a book the penalty is usually a stiff fine or jail. If a patron is caught cutting pages from books, the penalty depends on the type of library. For a university or geographical library the punishment is prison and the offender being striped of all university privileges. Guild libraries tend to lean toward imprisonment, and the stripping of guild membership. However, there has been some reported cases of the guilty party being sold into indentured service. Religious libraries have a modified form of punishment, which usually involves the offender working off the damage for a number of years. If a book thief or vandal is caught in a magical library, justice is swift, lethal, and permanent.
Navigating a library is difficult even for the literate. All libraries have a cataloging system that is unique to their library. A cataloging system employs letters, numbers or the combination of the two. The purpose of the cataloging system is to make the retrieval of a book very easy. However, this often proves not to be the case because all libraries use their own system of cataloging and their is no agreed upon system in place. With no agreed upon cataloging standards, and the cramped nature of shelves a person would become quickly lost in a maze of books and paper. That is why all libraries employ clerks and librarians.
Clerks are the people that most library visitors come into contact with on a daily visit. It is the clerk’s job to reshelve the books and manage the daily operation of the library. Most common research questions and book requests can filled by a clerk. They may not have the necessary training of a librarian, but they know enough to point a person in the right direction. Unlike librarians, the work a clerk does is free, and it does not cost the patron anything extra to have a book brought to them. Though a clerk may not have developed the libraries cataloging system, they are familiar with it. Clerks also serve another important function: they act as the flood gate between the patron and the librarian. Librarians are too busy to answer simple questions like: “When was Emperor Franz born?” It is the clerk’s job to handle such trivial matters, and steer the general public away from bothering a librarian.
Clerks may know how to find the books, but it is the librarian who knows who to make them sing. Librarians are experts in research, and can quickly locate what the PC is looking for. However research is long and expensive, and only the most wealthy can afford to hire the services of a trained librarian. The average price is 5 GC’s per hour of research. If the librarian is a specialized one, the price will be even higher.
Table 1 — Cost of Research
| Type | Price in Gold Crowns | Hours to Find Answer |
| Librarian | 5 | d4 |
| Geographical | 5 | d4+1 |
| Law | 6 | d6 |
| Religious | 7 | d6+2 |
| Magical | 10 | d12 |
There are five types of libraries that are common to the Old World, and these are the ones that PC’s will come into contact with during their careers. The five types are: university libraries, geographical libraries, guild libraries, religious libraries, and magical libraries.
University libraries are attached to all major universities. These libraries are staffed by regular librarians, and there are no specialized librarians on staff. The collections contain books and scrolls that deal with broad topics of: history, literature, anthropology, philosophy, archaeology, chemistry, physics, legends, myths, and sometimes music. University libraries are open to registered university students and faculty members. Non students are typical charged 1 GC just to get into the door.
Geographical libraries are a special library that deals with only maps, atlas, and charts. Currently there are only two such libraries in the Old World, and they are attached to the libraries of Altdof and Marienburg. These libraries operate independently from the typical university libraries, and have their own policies in place. They are staffed by geographical librarians and the research they conduct deals with navigation and mapping.
Guild libraries are an important part of all guilds, and they often have their own section within the Guild Hall. These libraries are the archives of guild history, and you will find papers dating back to the founding of the guild. Guild Libraries are staffed by Law Librarians, and they look over the sensitive nature of the collection. Only guild members have access to these libraries, however bribes have been known to be paid by non-guild members to gain access.
Religious libraries are special libraries located in the main temple of each of the main faiths. Though the Verena libraries are renowned for their subject coverage, other faiths have libraries as well. The purpose of a religious library is simple: store and preserve the important writings of the faith. All religious libraries contain religious texts, and other important writings devoted not just to the patron god, but the other gods as well. Religious libraries also tend to be archives of the former head priests and priestess writings. All religious libraries are staffed by religious librarians, and many of these librarians are also former priests as well. Unlike other libraries, religious libraries are open and admittance is usually in the way of a donation to the church.
Magic libraries are the rarest of all libraries in the Empire and the Old World. Though the high elves realm of Ulthuan are known to have the largest library devoted to magic, this is inaccessible to non-elf wizards. The only publicly known Magic Library is located at the School of Wizardry in Altdorf. Wizards who want access to this library pay a yearly fee of 50 GC’s, which allows them access to the collection. This fee does not include research and all research done by magic librarians is still paid for. The Altdorf magical library is a heavily guarded building, and probably is the most secure building in the whole Empire, if not the Old World.
Using Librarians
Librarians offer many possibilities as both NPC’s and as PC’s. NPC librarians can be a source of employment for adventures who need to earn money. Librarians are always looking for new books to acquire, or tracking down book thieves. Add to this that most librarians have access to rare information, a librarian will often higher a group of adventures to track down a object that was discovered in a book. Adventures who come into contact with books during their adventuring, will often find librarians anxious to buy what they have. NPC librarians tend to be quiet and aloof. They rather conduct their own research, and find the interruptions from a patron to be an annoyance.
Sometimes a librarian will grow tired of being among books, and only reading about adventures. These librarians seek to experience life, and see if what they have read is true. A librarian who takes to the open road will often find that what he reads was not entirely true. Player character librarians are adventures. They seek to uncover lost knowledge and experience the events they have only read about. Though they are not the best of fighters, they use their knowledge to solve problems.
New Careers
The two major careers that are present in libraries are clerks and librarians. Clerks perform most of the daily duties of keeping a library working, and as mentioned most PC’s will come into contact with clerks when they visit the library. Librarians run the library and they are the ones who keep the collection in repair, developed the classification system, and perform research.
Clerk (Academic Basic)
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Dex | Ld | Int | Cl | WP | Fel |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | +10 | — | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | — | — |
Entries: Initiate, Scribe, Student, Wizard Apprentice
Exits: Charlatan, Cleric, Counterfeiter, Initiate, Lawyer, Scribe, Student, Wizard, Wizard Apprentice
Skills: Blather, Languages, Read/Write, Super Numerate; 25% Secret Language Classical; 25% Law, 25% Linguistics
Trappings: Eye Glasses, Writing Kit, 1d20 Forms and Petitions, Dagger, 2 Gold Crowns
To run a government the size of the Empire it requires a lot of lower level bureaucrats to keep the wheels of government moving. Universities also need people to keep track of admissions and manage the daily running of the university. Libraries need clerks to shelve books, deal with patrons, and manage the daily running of the library. Merchants, coaching companies and guilds use clerks to manage the books and keep track of the expenses. Though many think that clerks have no real power this is not the case. After all it is a clerk who process your guild membership form, court petition or University admission. If you anger a clerk you will soon discover that your paperwork has conveniently become lost.
Librarian (Advanced Career)
| M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Dex | Ld | Int | Cl | WP | Fel |
| — | +10 | — | +1 | — | — | — | — | +20 | +10 | +40 | +20 | +20 | +20 |
Entries: Cleric, Clerk, Lawyer, Scholar, Scribe, Student, Wizard
Exits: Charlatan, Cleric, Lawyer, Scholar, Wizard.
Librarians can also choose to become a specialized Librarians. To do so a librarian has to purchase all the skills for a general Librarian and pay an additional 100 EP. If a specialized librarian wants to move into another specialty, they must first acquire all the skills in their current specialty and pay an additional 100 EP.
Skills: *Book Repair, Evaluate, History, Linguistics, Lip reading, Read/Write, *Research, Scholarship (Apocrypha Now, page 64), Secret Language–Classical. (*new skill see below).
The following skills are available to specialist librarians:
Geographical Librarian: Astronomy, Cartography, Navigation
Law Librarian: Law, Super Numerate
Magic Librarian: Magical Awareness, Rune Lore, Secret Language-Magick, Scroll Lore
Religious Librarian: Scroll Lore, Theology
Trappings: Reading Glasses, Writing Kit, 1d4 Books on Various Topics, Book Knife (treat as improvised weapon), Spool of Bundling Twine
A librarian is responsible for the running of a library, and will supervise a number of workers who shelve, repair and manage the collection. It is the librarian who developed the library’s cataloging system, and generally they are the only one who knows where anything is.
Scholars see librarians as nothing more than failed teachers. Students and patrons on the other hand see them as enforces of silence and the guardians of books. Librarians disagree with these views, and they see themselves as the caretakers to the past. A book or scroll, they argue, is a window to the past and this window must be preserved. Librarians will always seek out new materials for their library’s collection, and will protect the collection as if it was theirs.
It is rumored that recently the secret order known as the Ancient Order of the Illuminated Readers has started hiring librarians to work in the Unseen Library. The reason for this is due to members of the order finding it next to impossible to find anything on the stacks. Since librarians have started working in the Unseen Library, the collection has started to become easier to navigate. For more information on The Order of Illuminated Readers please see page 188 of Dying of the Light.
New Skills
Book Repair
A character with this skill can repair and preserve scrolls, maps, charts, books, and anything else made of paper. Dex tests are made with a +10% modifier when a librarian is trying to repair or persevered something of paper. If the roll is failed the object is badly damaged and may in fact be ripped.
Research
A character with this skill knows how to use books and other written materials to conduct research. Int tests are made with a +10% modifier, failure indicates that it takes the character one extra hour to conduct research, while success indicates that it takes the character a hour less to conduct the research.
Filed under: Games, thoughts | Tags: design notes, game design, Lost Works, thoughts, writing
I’ve been a fan of Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu (though truth be told, Pacesetter’s CHILL is my favorite horror game of all time). Between 1999 and 2000 I ran a monthly Call of Cthulhu game, which marked the first, and last time I ran a regular campaign of the game. Nothing against the game, but I have always found CoC to be a much better game if it is run as a season (6 to 8 sessions forming one adventure arch). The reason for this is that the long term sanity of the player’s characters is such a fleeting thing, that eventually the long term exposure to things that go bump in the night, reduce the character to a mass of mental goo.
Still, the experince of running CoC on a regular basis was fun, and I did learn a lot. These lessons helped shape the thoughts that I brought to Colonial Gothic.
What follows is one of the creations from that monthly CoC campaign, The Dewey Manuscript. Sadly, this is the only thing that is left from the campaign — I cannot find the notes or any of the other things I created for the campaign. They might have been lost in one of the many moves that took place between 2000 and 2007.
The Dewey’s Manuscript
Born on December 10, 1851 in a small upper New York State town, Melville Lousi Kossuth Dewey is known as the father of not only the current field of Library Science, but the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System. Unknown to most, Dewey was also a scholar of the mythos and well read on a number of occult topics.
Dewey’s interest in the occult started when he was younger. His father was a scholar and interested in ancient cultures. As a youth, Dewey read as many of his father’s books as he could. It was also at this time that Dewey began to develop a love of libraries. He saw the state of disrepair his father’s book collection was in, and he took it upon himself to organize it and repair many of the books. While attending Amherst College, Dewey worked as a student assistance in the library. One of his major responsibilities was to reorganize the library’s special collections area. It was during this project that Dewey refined a organization system he had developed while he was younger.
Dewey’s System was one based on a number classification scheme. This scheme is based on a well-developed hierarchies and a network of relationships among topics. The system is dived into ten main classes which cover the entire world of knowledge. Each main class is divided into ten divisions, and then each division is further dived into ten sections. What his system allowed was a way to easily and quickly catalogue books and make their retrieval easier. This system was a success and soon every major library was using it to organize their collections.
Besides the creation of his classification system Dewey changed the vocation of librarianship to a modern profession. In 1876 he helped establish the American Library Association and served as the organizations secretary from 1876 to 1890. he also served as the ALA’s president during the 1890/1891 and 1892/1893 terms. He also was a promoter of library standards and was a pioneer in setting standards for library education. If that was not enough he also formed a company to sell library supplies which eventual became the Library Bureau. In 1883 he became the librarian of Columbia College, and while there he founded the first library school in January 1887. In 1889 he became the director of the New York State Library and retired from this position in 1906. besides his interests in library science Dewey was a spelling reformer. Some of the first printed editions of the classification scheme was done in reformed spelling.
Unknown to many but the inner circle the American Library Association was formed so that students and scholars of the Mythos could share knowledge. This inner circle used the guise of librarians to collect, catalog and share numerous books dealing with not only the Occult but the Mythos. Dewey, who by 1876, was a respected authority of the mythos and worked hard to amass a collection of as many books as he could. He used his position as the librarian of Columbia College and the New York State Library to build a collection that members of the ALA inner circle could use.
Dewey’s Manuscript is the original handwritten draft of what would become the 1st edition of the Dewey Classification System. The manuscript numbers a total of 800 pages, and is stored between two simple wooden book covers. These covers are then secured with a red ribbon. The bulk of the manuscript is devoted to the number classification system. Every subject is broken down and a person can after a few minutes classify any book on any subject. Unknown to all but a select few there are a few spells buried with in the manuscript. To cast them, a person must start with the broad subject, and work their way down through the tables. Once this is done the spell is able to be cast. Another item of interest is that there are many references to mythos topics buried within the tables. These references were dropped from the printed version but they exist in manuscript form.
There are only two copies of the manuscript known to exist. One is kept in the ALA archive, and many are unaware of its mythos connection. The other copy is kept at Columbia College and is part of the Dewey Collection. The head archivist is a member of the Inner Circle of the ALA and controls access to the manuscript.
Dewey’s Manuscript—in English, by Melville Dewey, 1876. Sanity Loss 1D3/1D6. Cuthulhu Mythos +5 percentiles; average 4 weeks to study and comprehend. Spells: Curse of Darkness, Keenness of Twoalike, Unmask Demon.
