Gwythead and Goedwyn - Part 4

Gwydion fled north in the night, stealing away with King Peredur's twelve Golden Boars.

When Peredur awoke and discovered what his guest had done, he was furious. Gwydion had stolen his property and violated all laws of chivalry. He was filled with a great wroth, and quickly gathered his men about him.

"Lo," spoke Peredur. "Such injustice shall not go unanswered. We shall raise our arms and march against Gwydion and Math, who sent him. Let my armies be mustered!" His men cheered, and heeded his words.

When Gwydion reached the court of High King Math, the king was greatly displeased, forward had since reached him that Peredur's armies moved against him, but not yet of Gwydion's treachery.

"Gwydion," Math spoke. "Fortune that you have returned, for Peredur even now calls his banner-men. Make haste to join me and defend our lands from such inequity." Math summoned his armies, and girded himself strongly.

Math's terrible aspect bound him to forever rest his feet in the lap of a young maiden, lest his kingdom move to war; only then could Math walk freely, in order to defend his lands and people. Thus now, did he stand free and ride forth to war, leaving behind the young maiden Goedwyn.

It was thus opportunity for which Gwydion had long worked. With Goedwyn free, Gwydion sent word to his beloved brother,Gwythead. As the armies marched to meet Peredur's forces, Gwydion rode with them, leaving the two lovers behind.

Gwydion had united his brother and his love, but in so doing he had brought to kingdoms to war, the consequences of which had only just begun.

Gwythead and Goedwyn - Part 3

Gwydion had not lied to Math, stirctly speaking. It was the greatest of sins to lie to a kinsman, and even more so to lie to a king. But Gwydion was clever, and he was known for a silvered tongue.

For seven days, Gwydion rode flew south towards the Kingdom of Peredur, the King in Twilight.

On the morning of the eighth day he arrived, and was made welcome. For even in the far south, Gwydion's name was well-known. He wa sbrought before Peredur, and spoke thusly:

"Good king! I am Gwydion and I have come form the High King Math, lord of the third Realm to bring greetings. Math sends his honor and regard to you, good king. But alas, Math sits troubled upon his throne, for word has reached him that in this kingdom are twelve wondrous beasts, twelve great boars whose tusks are of gold and should those tusks be cut form then, why then, they are grown back by the next night. Moreover, Math has heard that such beasts have grown your coffers ten fold, and yet no word of this has come to him from you, King Peredur who he thought freind. Truly, As High KLing, my lord MAth is due tribute from you, his subject, and yet such beasts have been withheld form him."

Peredur heard Gwydion's words, and he was much troubled by them.

"Indeed, good prince," replied Peredur. "This is surely news to me."

"Do you deny the existence of such beatss?" asked Gwydion.

"Indeed, I do not," asnwered Peredur.

"Do you deny that Mah is Hgh King of this relam?" asked Gwydion.

"Indeed, I do not, " replied Peredur.

"Do you deny the fealty you owe him then, as your liege lord," asked Gwydion.

"Indeed, I do not," replied Peredur. "But, these great beasts, being hunted in my own forests are mine, and mine alone. Surely, I see no reason why I should not render unto Math that portion of the wealth they bring which is his rightful due; but these beasts belong here, in the lands they call home. Good sir, it would be unjust to so remove them. Let us do this: I shall render Math one half og these golden tusks, and these great boars shall remain here, tended to by mine own folk as if they were blood of my people. Surely, Math will not deny me that."

Gwydion heard the king, and knew that Math would surely agree to such terms, being so reasonable. This troubled the prince, for things were not going as he had expected. But Gwydion was clever, and he hatched a plot on that very spot.

"Very well," agreed Gwydion. "It shall be so, Come, let us celebrate so equitable an arrangement"

Peredur was only to willing to feast the young prince, for the matter had ended quietly and he had no worries of the trouble that was about to unfold.

That night, Peredur and his men celebrated, for Gwydion was good company. He told many stories of his adventures and performed great feats of magic for those who had gathered. The halls rang with song and laughter. But soon, the merriment ended as Peredur and his court made for bed. They would sleep well that night, for the wine had flowed heavily throughout the halls.

In the dark of night, Gwydion made his way from his room and through the silent halls. The guards and maids all slept soundly. Amidst the darkness, Gwydion saddled his horse and gathered together all twelve of the golden boards, and stealthily made his way form the house of Peredur.

NeverWeres

NeverWere

The NeverWeres are poor beings trapped outside of time. They area possible future, a choice that could have been made, one roll of the dice. They are now trapped outside of their own realities; trapped between timelines, they never really existed in the first place.

NeverWeres are being that do not and have never existed, so unless the NeverWere actively exerts his influence in the world, it is as if he is not there. People do not acknowledge him. Passers by walk through him. How can something that never was, really be?  NeverWeres can overcome this state of non-being while briefly interacting with the world around them. Because of this, NeverWeres can only be recognized while a character is directly interacting with them. As soon as the character diverts his attention, The NeverWeres natural non-existence reasserts itself and they are imeddiately forgotten and ignored.

 When a NeverWere is killed, he inflicts a very powerful curse on the creature that inflicts the killing blow: that creature immediately loses one experience. That element of the victim's past simply ceases to be. It never happened. Given the nature of causality, this can have drastic effects, severely altering the timeline of the players. For example, if the player was driven to adventure because of the death of a loved one, and that death is destroyed by the NeverWere's curse, then that character immediately returns to his peaceful life, having never been given the impetus to become an adventurer.

This element of the NeverWeres is extremely powerful, and dangerous to a game. It is best to work with each player to develop a list of moments in their pasts, of varying importance, that can be deleted.

Apart from these very special abilities, they are normal creatures, usually intelligent humanoids, and act in all other ways as a creature of that type would.

Gwythead and Goedwyn - Part 2

Gwydion traveled south, to the court of High King Math. While he journeyed, he considered how best he could win the hand of Goedwyn for his brother, Gwythead; and he formulated a plan. When he arrived at court of the high king, he was welcomed and bid to enter, for he was much loved there and Math was glad of his coming.

That night, whilst the two were in his cups, Gwydion addressed his uncle, the High King Math:

"My lord, it is true tat this world of ours if filled with wonders, and it must be impossible for any one man to know them all."

"Verily?" asked the High King.

"Indeed," replied Gwydion. "I have heard even now, that Peredur, who is known to you as a great king to the south, has recently come across 12 great board, whose tusks are of gold, and when these tusks are cut, they shall grow back again the following night."

"Indeed?" asked the High King.

"Indeed, it is true my Lord. Peredur has grown rich indeed from the tusks of these beasts."

"I did not know of this," cried Math.

"How now?" cried Gwydion. "How can this be? For is not Peredur, being a lesser king than yourself, bound to send to you a portion of all his ttreasures as tribute on the first day of each year?"

"Indeed he is," answered Math.

"So he must have sent you word and tribute from these new-found beasts of his?"

"Indeed he has not," cried Math angrily.

"How now, my King?" asked Gwydion. "Indeed, this is not right. This must be some manner of mistake."

"Indeed it must be!" replied  the High King, for his anger was growing great. "I can scarcely imagine a loyal friend as Peredur doing such a thing!"

"My lord," Gwydion now said quietly. "If it would ease your mind, allow me to act on your behalf in this. I shall; travel to Peredur's holdings and inquire of him. I shall bring you three of these twelve golden boars, as proper recompense to your honor. Then Peredur will have satisfied you well."

Math considered this and agreed to Gwydion's proposal.

The next Morning Gwydion rode south to the kingdom of Peredur, smiling to himself along the way. He knew little what terrible heartaches his words would one day bring about.

Beginning Backgammon

In a far-away land, in a seedy, smoke-ridden establishment filled to the rafter with the seedy underbelly of the world's lowest classes, I learned how to play backgammon.

I learned from a fat sheik, from the lands far to the east, where the sands spread out like oceans and the noon-day sun boils a man's brains.I sipped watered-down beer and he smoked from a some sort of device made from hoses and bottles. His eyelids dropped behind shaded, half-moon spectacles. He smelled of salt and chamomile and sand. I could not tell if The rough tears in my eyes could have been from his noisome turban, or the sooty atmosphere.

I had met the sheik earlier in the evening,. I do not remember exactly how, and in all frankness I do not wish to. Some details are best left forgotten. But we had spoken of many things together, of loves lost and wars won; and, our conversation had led us into the game. The sheik carried a backgammon set with him, and as I had never played before, he kindly offered to teach me the game. I acquiesced.
He chuckled as he moved the ivory pieces across the inlaid board of his Backgammon set.

"Long ago", he told me. "In the lands of my great fathers there was a beautiful city. This was the most beautiful city in all of the world, filled with poets and scholars and artists. It was a peaceful city, for the people abhorred violence. They much preferred to sing, or to dance, or to ponder the inexplicable mysteries of the universe. Nowhere in the city was there anything more than a polite disagreement. It was a tranquil city, and because of this it was also happy."

I moved two of my pieces into a scoring position as he drew a long haul from his strange smoking apparatus.

"Then on day, "he continued. "There came to the city a messenger. The messenger wore strange clothes made from the hides of beasts, the messenger spoke with a strange accent, and the messenger carried a sword. This last was the most odd, for the peaceful people of this city never carried swords through their streets, as they had no need to. The messenger came to the lords of this city and he spoke thus:

'I come bearing word to you, the Lords of this city, from the great Kha Khan, which is Great King. The Kha Khan sends word that he is coming westward. He sends word that he is coming here. The Kha Khan has conquered many cities: cities of warriors and cities of sages. All of these have fallen before his mighty sword. But my Kha Khan is merciful and he makes you an offer. In the east, my Kha Khan has learned many games of strategy and skill. He has learned of the game chess, and his scholars tell him it is the game that most captures the true glory of battle. And so, the Great King has spread the knowledge of this game, and with it he test his generals and captains. The Kha Khan's scholars says that chess is most like life, of all games. As you are men of wisdom and learning, the Kha Khan makes you this offer: If you can create a game more like life than chess, then he shall be merciful, else wise he shall burn your city to ash, and salt the earth upon which it stand.' "

The sheik captured one of my unguarded pieces. I had taken a chance in my position, relying on luck. This time it had failed me.

"The messenger left, saying that he would return in five days for their answer. The Lords of the City considered his words. For many days they pondered, reflecting on the nature of life. They considered justice, mercy, honour, love, and duty. The things that sages try for, the things that young men die for, and the things that maidens sigh for, They thought in silence, they spoke in hast, and they debated in heat."

I considere my next move.

"Time passed." I rolled a double, releasing my captured piece.

"The messenger returned for the pious men's answer; and, they gave it to him. The messenger was bemused, and he returned ot his Khan. The khan looked at the game the scholars had sent him. He played it deep into the night, considering it's aspects, its strategies, it's nuances." The sheik moved two more pieces, scoring once and positioning himself well for the next gambit.

"In the morning he summoned his general's and advisers. 'Look,' he told them. "What do you think of this game?' This scholars considered. 'My great lord,' they said. 'This game is surely inferior to chess, the game of our generals. Chess requires constant strategy, a manipulative mind that sees far into the future. This game depends as much on the luck of dice as it does the sharpness of a man's wits.For this reason, Chess is the greater game, more mirroring the needs of life and battle' The khan nodded. 'Is this your answer, then,' he asked. 'Surely it is, great lord.' And the Kha Khan nodded."

I rolled again. A four and a six. A lucky roll, allowing me to move two pieces in unison.

" 'Indeed,' spoke the Great Khan from his high throne. 'Chess, the game of our generals and wise men, is a game of pure strategy. But in the heat of battle, victory often hinges upon the luck of a single man. A single misplaced step, a fortunate sword thrust, or a stray arrow can lead to defeat with but a moments notice. Truly, the greatest strategist will know only failure without the blessing of Fortune. Thus, it is this game that truly captures the essence of battle. Of life.'' The Khan's advisers bowed their heads at this, for the knew the wisdom of the Kha Khan's words and the folly of their own. The Kha Khan moved his armies, and spared the city. And this is how the game of Backgammon came to be." The sheik finished his story, moving his final piece into position. His strategy was perfect, leaving me no openings.

I rolled the dice.

We are the Quarriors!!!

So recently I had the opportunity to play  Quarriors.

Quarriors is a fun little game, whose essential mechanic is deck-builindg, a mechanic best-utilized in the game Dominion. But unlike other deck-building games, Quarriors uses dice instead of cards. It's a fun little twist. Each turn, you draw six die from your dice pool and depending on your roles, you have different actions you can take: anything form summoning monsters, casting spells or purchasing additional die for your dice pool. As the game progresses, you have the option to purchase new and more powerful die for your dice pool, and each die manifests different abilites based on its roll. So each round factors in a lot, and I mean a LOT of randomness.

Unlike Dominion, the die's abilities vary greatly depending on what you roll, whereas cards provide a constant effect. So whereas a deck-building game with cards hasn't a certain amount of constancy, Quarriors relies heavily on chance for the momentum of the game. This has a HUGE impact on the pacing and balance of the game....in that there really isn't any.

Quarriors either speeds to an end or drags on for the entire night, often with one player dominating for a quick victory, or no player being able to seize an advantage and everyone becoming bogged down in a six-sided quagmire. All in all, it's a very novel concept, but a few rounds into the game you realize why no other games does this: because it's not a particularly good idea.

Quarriors is one of those games you can play once, and put on your shelf for a few months until you've forgotten what playing it was like.

Gwydion and the Witch of Carran Tor - Part 1

One fine summer's day, Prince Gwydion was visiting his brother Gwythead. After a long day of hunting and feasting, the two were sitting at table with Gwythead's boon companions Auwyn the Stoic and Tolwen Ironhand. The four were drinking, and conversing, and playing at dice.

"My lords," said Tolwen. "I must say the strangest thing happened to me this day."

"Pray the gods tell," said Gwythead. "And do not leave us wondering"

"I shall indeed, my lord," said Tolwen. "Today I bore a remarkable thirst, such as I had not known for an age; and so I decided to visit the Tavern house of my good freind Brean, as Brean is known for making the best ale in the kingdom."

"Indeed," said Gwythead. "Brean's ale is unsurpassed in this realm, as well I dare say any other. Do continue, dear Tolwen."

"I shall, my Lord," said Tolwen. "And when I arrived at Brean's Tavern, I did drink heavily to quench my thirst. For as I said, I had not known such thirst in an great while. And as I drank, I began to converse with a most strange man."

"Strange!" cried Gwydion. "How strange, dear Tolwen?"

"It was this," replied Tolwen. "The man wore thick white furs, even though it is, as you well know, high summer. He said he was from the far north, a realm of Never-ending Winter, where ice and frost lay thick on the ground throughout the year. Given the state of his dress, I was not wont to doubt the man."

"Indeed not!" said Gwythead.

"Just so, "said Tolwen. "'Why my friend,' said I. 'What brings you so far south, and such great distance from your home?' It was then that he told me his tale."

"And what tale is this?" asked Gqydion.

"I shall tell it now, sir," said Tolwen. "He told me that in the far north of these lands there arises from the frosted tundras a high and great hill. And at the very top of this hill there grows a great tree, whose branches bear leaves of ice instead of leaves, and fruits of beautiful diamond"

"How now?" cried Gwythead. "A tree that bears diamond fruit! How could such a wonder be, Tolwen?"

"Indeed my lord," said Tolwen. "I scarcely believe the tale myself, but this stranger swore it to be true, and so I yet harkened to his tale.  He told me that his people had lived at the foot of the hill, making their living by herding the great white  reindeer that lived on the planes.His people, he said, lived simple and peaceful live. Until one day, a terrible witch cam to hill. This witch decided to make her home at the base of the great tree, at the highest point of the frozen hill. Because of this, the villager named the hill Carran Torr, which means the Hill of Cold Magic."

"That is an evil tale, my friend, "said Gwythead.

"I said much the same thing, my lord," said Tolwen. "But does not the tree of ice and crystal sund not wondrous?"

"Oh most wondrous," said Gwydion, for in his heart was stirred a great desire to see thus tree.

"But alas, this tree has such a fell guardian," said Auwyn."Good never comes form triflingwith a witch woman."

"How now!" cried Gwydion. "Are we true men here, to chafe at the threat of a woman?"

"Lord Gwydion," Tolwen protested. "You are unjust! It is not a quesiton of bravery, but of wisdom that begs our hesitaiton!"

"Is it not said," said Auwyn. "the two greatest dangers to stout-hearted men are magic and women? What then, is a witch?"

"Pah, cried Gwydion. "You seem naught but cowardly knaves!" And at these words, Auwyn and Tolwen grew angry, and the three would surely have come to blows had not Gwythead been present.

"Now brother!" said Gwythead, who had become most an\noyed with his brother."There is but an easy way to settle this dispute. I propose a wager: that Gwydion should travel north, acquire two of these fruits from this wondrous tree, and present them here, to Auwyn and Tolwen. Should he do this, we shall all laud know his true bravery and skill. But should he fail, then to these same two will he give five good horses from his own stables and 10 new born lambs from his own fields."

And so it was agreed, and that very same day did Gwydion journey north to the lands of Never-ending Winter.

Great American Beer

The Great American Beer Festival is held every year at the Denver city convention center.

The line wrapped entirely around the Denver Convention center, pressing steadily forward, unwinding in a spiral towards the center. A young, harried-looking young woman checked my ticket and my age before ushering me up a staircase. As I passed through the wide sets of double-doors, I was passed a plastic, half-pint cup and shuffled along into a seething mass of humanity.

The great hall was packed with every sort of person imaginable, all united in their love of good beer. Booths were arranged in an easily navigable grid, with large signs indicating sections and strategically placed caches of pretzels and water.

My cup in hand, I wound my way through the stands, collecting samples and snifters as I went. The hall smelled of salt and copper and sweat. The yellow lights left us all wandering through a dim, half-lidded, alcoholic wonderland. Periodically, there would be the loud bell-like clang of a sampling cup hitting the concrete floor, followed by a concerted outcry from the hoppy collective. The crowd would part to reveal the luckless fellow as he stooped to retrieve his mug, before being swallowed again by the drunkard leviathan.

The small drink sizes proved increasingly deceptive as the night wore on. The breweries presented beer with a wide variety of ABV's, and the small portions made it impossible to keep any accurate account of how much I'd had to drink. I simply had to rely on the speed at which the hall began to spin to gauge my drunkenness.

But eventually I was able to stumble back to my hotel room, and sleep for the next fourteen hours in order to repeat the experience the next night.

Gaming Update - 002

Two new Stranger Series One-offs.

1. Possession rules I used in a Halloween game recently.
2. Made a bet with a friend to make a game based entirely around a Cow. I think I managed it, but try it out for yourself. 

As always, have fun folks!