DShomshak

Incidentally, dog/wolf-people have a surprisingly wide presence in Eurasian myth and folklore. At least I was surprised when I found Myths of the Dog-Man in the University library. If someone wants to e the next Tolkien, this might be a place to start. I like the Erqigdlit's apparently casual acceptance that, yeah, they're cursed. Dean Shomshak

High Fantasy can work with such non-Fantasy intrusions -- LL mentioned Andre Norton's "With World" series in another thread, with the invasion of the technological Kolder -- but that setting was built with such an intrusion in mind. Intrusion from Beyond runs throughout the entire series; it isn't just the Kolder. Even the hero of the first few books, Simon Tregarth, is such an intruder -- an Earth man who came to the Witch World through a magical portal. Dean Shomshak

Hm, that works. And a good example of how to use blanks spots and obscure hints. Heck, if Krim is the Dragon and Kal-Turak has a pact with it, then K-T's relationship with Mordak is a bit like Giacomo Sylvestri's relationship to the Descending Hierarchy: Carefully polite on both sides. And Kilbern can go whistle, because the King of the Gods is not the king of the Dragon. The Dragon would be less of an intrusion on the TA than, say, a Malvan would be because mysterious, ancient powers of evil whose place in the metaphysical system is uncertain is an established High Fantasy trope. Think of Ungoliant in Tolkien's mythos. Dean Shomshak

Goddam double posting again.

Daniel Radcliffe is of an age to play James Talmadge, the human side of Black Fang, and has the sort of look I imagine for him. Sir Ian McKellan would be a "duh" for Archimago, whether in spiritual image, flashback, time travel, or just a voice -- and it'd be kind of funny, what with him also having played Gandalf -- but any aging male British Shakespearean actor would do. Or, is Valentine Dyall still alive? (He was the Black Guardian in first-series Doctor Who but wow, that was a long time ago.) Must check Wikipedia. Dean Shomshak

I'll also recommend an article about economic modeling in the November, 2019 Scientific American. Here's the abstract: "Wealth inequality is escalating in many countries at an alarming rate, with the U.S. arguably having the highest inequality in the developed world. "A remarkably simple model of wealth distribution developed by physicists and mathematicians can represent inequality in a range of countries with unprecedented accuracy. "Surprisingly, several mathematical models of free-market economies display features of complex macroscopic physical systems such as ferromagnets, including phase transitions, symmetry breaking and duality." Perhaps the most important result of their modeling, though, is the result of a pure free market with no external force of wealth redistribution, pro or con: If there is any possibility or unequal results in an exchange -- even if "winning" is just the result of a coin toss -- the inevitable result is that wealth concentrates until one ecomnomic actor ends up with virtually everything, and everyone else is left with virtually nothing. Laissez-faire advocates, take heed. Dean Shomshak

On a cheerier note, NOVA recently aired "The Violence Paradox," based on Pinker's Better Angels of our Nature (the phrase is used, and Pinker is one of the talking heads presented). The world is getting better... slowly... so far. But past performance is no guarantee of future returns. As Pinker says, the worldwide decline in many forms of violence does not guarantee that violence will continue to decline; but it shows that continued progress is possible. Less happily, much of the violence in the world today seems to be in direct reaction to past progress, from people who'd rather see the world burn than give up their tribal loyalties, prejudices or caste privileges. Dean Shomshak

On a cheerier note, NOVA recently aired "The Violence Paradox," based on Pinker's Better Angels of our Nature (the phrase is used, and Pinker is one of the talking heads presented). The world is getting better... slowly... so far. But past performance is no guarantee of future returns. As Pinker says, the worldwide decline in many forms of violence does not guarantee that violence will continue to decline; but it shows that continued progress is possible. Less happily, much of the violence in the world today seems to be in direct reaction to past progress, from people who'd rather see the world burn than give up their tribal loyalties, prejudices or caste privileges. Dean Shomshak

Indeed, some of us were naive in thinking "gentle commerce" could tame the Chinese Communist Party and that Russiams could transcend their history of autocracy with speed. I know I was. It's why I curbed my enthusiasm when the Arab Spring happened: We'd seen this movie before. The Fall of Communism and the Arab Spring have not been total failures; a few countries emerged with somewhat better governments that have not completely reverted to brutal authoritarianism. But it's two steps forward, 1 3/4 steps back, with a lot of blood along the way: most notably the crackup of Yugoslavia for the Fall of Communism, and the Syrian horrorshow for the Arab Spring. Dean Shomshak

Ah, I missed that. Since the Turakian Age is part of the Champions Universe, one could invoke forces exterior from the immediate setting to explain how/why the Spearlord and Kal-Turak can get so far without the gods slapping them down. Perhaps the Spearlord is empowered by one of the less pleasant Lords of Order such as Bromion to impose one law upon Ambrethel. Or he could be a renegade Malvan or Mandaarian. Kal-Turak likewise could be drawing on outside forces (it's been awhile, I don't recall if Krim is of Earth or not). But I dislike this approach. The Turakian Age isn't about such possibilities, or such conflicts. It might be logical to ask how Earth of this period interacts with the wider Champions Universe. But I think it would badly compromise the integrity of the setting. Dean Shomshak

For a somewhat tortured simile: It's like Tolkien created a "bank account" of story that other writers have drawn upon. Not so many have returned to the lode of myth and folklore he mined and seriously tried to add to the account instead. Over the years (3e and 5e) I've tried creating several new PC races for D&D. I think I've succeeded once or twice, maybe three times if you're generous. The challenge, I think, is to give a race a distinctive POV through which you can filter a wide variety of characters. Broad enough that players won't just be creating the same character over and over -- this is my criticism of most of the races provided by Volo's Guide to Monsters -- but specific enough that they aren't just humans a funny look and a few quirks and gimmicks. I'm finding it really hard. Dean Shomshak

For a somewhat tortured simile: It's like Tolkien created a "bank account" of story that other writers have drawn upon. Not so many have returned to the lode of myth and folklore he mined and seriously tried to add to the account instead. Over the years (3e and 5e) I've tried creating several new PC races for D&D. I think I've succeeded once or twice, maybe three times if you're generous. The challenge, I think, is to give a race a distinctive POV through which you can filter a wide variety of characters. Broad enough that players won't just be creating the same character over and over -- this is my criticism of most of the races provided by Volo's Guide to Monsters -- but specific enough that they aren't just humans a funny look and a few quirks and gimmicks. I'm finding it really hard. Dean Shomshak

Agreed on the Spearlord. One thing I learned from working on various White Wolf games is the dramatic advantage of setting games in times of instability: Either things are about to explode, or they've done so and people are picking up the pieces. For instance, in their Fantasy game Exalted, the Scarlet Empress has dominated the world for centuries through her control of an Ultimate Weapon, the world's largest and richest country (with the largest and most powerful "conventional" military), and an extended family of magically-empowered aristocrats. Except she vanished five years ago. Her descendants have split into factions so the Scarlet Empire is heading for civil war, satrapies are asserting independence or making their own regional power plays, other supernatural forces are making their own power plays now that the threat of the Ultimate Weapon seems removed, and, oh yes, the legendary heroes of a past Age are being reborn as your PCs. Everything's up in the air. What will your PCs do about it? (It's one reason why I like the Alien Wars setting more than Terran Empire. TE is basically a time of stability; in AW, human space is in a time of dual crisis, both external and internal.) The Spearlord's drive to conquer the world, but rather permissive rule over areas that sit down, shut up and pay their taxes, reminds me a bit of Genghis Khan. A line I heard attributed to Genghis Khan might be apt for the Spearlord's motivation: " As there is but one sun in the sky, let there be but one king for all the peoples of the world." He also reminds me a bit of the Golden General from Bujold's Curse of Chalion, and his sudden defeat and death could have similarly dire and destabilizing long-term effects on the world. Dean Shomshak

Agreed on the Spearlord. One thing I learned from working on various White Wolf games is the dramatic advantage of setting games in times of instability: Either things are about to explode, or they've done so and people are picking up the pieces. For instance, in their Fantasy game Exalted, the Scarlet Empress has dominated the world for centuries through her control of an Ultimate Weapon, the world's largest and richest country (with the largest and most powerful "conventional" military), and an extended family of magically-empowered aristocrats. Except she vanished five years ago. Her descendants have split into factions so the Scarlet Empire is heading for civil war, satrapies are asserting independence or making their own regional power plays, other supernatural forces are making their own power plays now that the threat of the Ultimate Weapon seems removed, and, oh yes, the legendary heroes of a past Age are being reborn as your PCs. Everything's up in the air. What will your PCs do about it? (It's one reason why I like the Alien Wars setting more than Terran Empire. TE is basically a time of stability; in AW, human space is in a time of dual crisis, both external and internal.) The Spearlord's drive to conquer the world, but rather permissive rule over areas that sit down, shut up and pay their taxes, reminds me a bit of Genghis Khan. A line I heard attributed to Genghis Khan might be apt for the Spearlord's motivation: " As there is but one sun in the sky, let there be but one king for all the peoples of the world." He also reminds me a bit of the Golden General from Bujold's Curse of Chalion, and his sudden defeat and death could have similarly dire and destabilizing long-term effects on the world. Dean Shomshak

It's also a point for the "Abolish ICE" crowd. Some of the agency's functions may be necessary, but their methods suggest an agency that is rotten to the core. I am of course willing to be persuaded otherwise if any representative is willing to explain why such methods are the only way to prevent some greater harm, but I doubt they will. Machiavelli warned that leaders and regimes can survive hatred, but they cannot survive contempt. Dean Shomshak

It's been mentioned before, but the presentation of religion is one of the best things I've seen so far in TA. For instance, the gods of the High Faith are bog-standard High Fantasy, but connecting them into three distinct but related pantheons is quite good -- especially the myth that Mordak was necessary to create the world, which and had to be placated into doing his part, which suggests he could be more than a theological cipher of motiveless Evil. Adding saints (the Esailes, Essailes and Demonhanded) to the theology also pushes it beyond the Generic Fantasy Warehouse. The priestly hierarchy is well presented. So's the theological schism of the Hargeshites: Most Fantasy religions don't have sects and schisms. But the best thing, IMO, is making the High Faith a multi-cultural, even multi-species religion. Yes, elves aqnd orcs worship the same gods! (Just different names.) It's an excellent rebuke to the D&D-ism of every race having its own pantheon... though the pantheons all look very much the same. OTOH, there are other faiths too, from the dire deities of Thun to the quirky gods of Vornakkia. TA takes religion seriously as a force in mortal society and motivation. Dean Shomshak

It's been mentioned before, but the presentation of religion is one of the best things I've seen so far in TA. For instance, the gods of the High Faith are bog-standard High Fantasy, but connecting them into three distinct but related pantheons is quite good -- especially the myth that Mordak was necessary to create the world, which and had to be placated into doing his part, which suggests he could be more than a theological cipher of motiveless Evil. Adding saints (the Esailes, Essailes and Demonhanded) to the theology also pushes it beyond the Generic Fantasy Warehouse. The priestly hierarchy is well presented. So's the theological schism of the Hargeshites: Most Fantasy religions don't have sects and schisms. But the best thing, IMO, is making the High Faith a multi-cultural, even multi-species religion. Yes, elves aqnd orcs worship the same gods! (Just different names.) It's an excellent rebuke to the D&D-ism of every race having its own pantheon... though the pantheons all look very much the same. OTOH, there are other faiths too, from the dire deities of Thun to the quirky gods of Vornakkia. TA takes religion seriously as a force in mortal society and motivation. Dean Shomshak

Which could be one option given in a "Deciding What Kal-Turak Wants" page or sidebar: Kal-Turak is only a legend, a sort of reverse Prester John. Somewhere in the world far away is the Kingdom of Evil full of hideous wonders, ruled by a sorcerer-tyrant servant of Mordak. Ambitious villains seek it in hopes of making alliances to their benefit; righteous folk tell fables about it to warn about the perils of wickedness; gullible folk see Kal-Turak's hand in everything that goes wrong; cunning folk use the legend to cover their own misdeeds. But it doesn't really exist. ... Unless sufficient belief accumulates to precipitate Kal-Turak out of the Netherworld and make the myth real. Oops. Dean Shomshak

Okay, more backlash than I thought (though it mentioned there was some). :-( Thus paragraph stood out to me in the linked article: "On a local level, two competing visions of Australia are essentially fighting for votes: the Australia longing for a nostalgic past, and the Australia trying to figure out the next phase of integration for a more globalized nation." That seems to be the issue in the US as well -- a lot of people angry that the real world and the future are stepping on their fantasy of how things were and ought to be. Tough patooties. People who tell the big wide world to go away are doomed to decline. The last several centuries of Chinese history shows this all too clearly, and it's not the only example. Dean Shomshak

The Nov. 16, 2019 issue oif The Economist has a very interesting special report on global migration. Economist Michael Clemens estimates that if everyone who wanted to move could, global GDP would double. That's $90 trillion per year. People who migrate from poor countries to rich ones instantly become 2 to 6 times more productive. That's a lot of money just waiting to be picked up by any government willing to open its doors and let them in. The usual arguments against immigration -- they drive down wages for the native born, they bring crime, they'll never assimilate -- don't stand up under close examination. And yet, governments throughout the developed world are going populist-nativist and erecting literal or regulatory walls to keep people out. This, The Economist argues, is deeply stupid and counterproductive. It is also, they suggest, immoral. Whatever difficulties immigration brings, they argue, are fairly easily dealt with through policy. Even nativist rage at seeing strangers enter is controllable: The articles cit Australia, which has double the percentage of foreign-born that the US has, with less backlash. Dean Shomshak

I've browsed through TA off and on. The strongest part is certainly the sheer scope and detail. The weakest part, as others hve mentioned, is Kal-Turak himself. But I suspect that is an unavoidable consequence of including a world-menacing Dark Lord who is general enough to be useful to a wide range of gamers. Mordak, God of Evil, has the same problem. He's a cipher. But to make him and Kal-Turak not be ciphers, you have to define what evil is and, by extension, what good is. This risks alienating some readers who don't agree with your philosophical tenets. So you stick to the basics. When Kal-Turak wins, the world groans under his tyranny. Got it. Check. We don't define what he wants to rule the world for, unless it's sheer blind love of power and cruelty. (That Kal-Turak is literally born to evil as the progeny of a demon is part of the avoidance of definition.) I am not sure Steve could have, or even should have, done it any differently. I would have liked to see a page on "Deciding What Kal-Turak Wants," for GMs who want more than his generic, motiveless "Evil." It could have replaced the completely awkward, out-of-place page about the Multiverse copypasted from Champions Universe. Dean Shomshak

Oh, 5th edition D&D has a pretty light rule set. The chief objection to it is that it's still D&D, with classes and levels. If you don't mind that, it's quite playable. And unlike Pathfinder, you can get by just fine with only the corebooks: It's a finite ruleset. Dean Shomshak

I am not convinced that technology, law/government, religion, etc. all march in lockstep. They affect each other, yes, but the relationships are complex. If anyone's interested, I wrote an extensive essay on the subject (though the Fantasy examples are drawn from Exalted). It's archived here: http://nobilis.me/quotes:designing-cultures-the-shomshak-way I'd also cite China as an example of a society with gunpowder, printed books and a civil service bureaucracy that nevertheless looks nothing like the "modern" West. Just to show the range of possibilities. Dean Shomshak

Happy birthday! We may have briefly passed each other unknowing last weekend, as I went from bus to bus downtown on my to and from gaming. Seattle is indeed an excellent city. If you can get there in the proper week of springtime, see the Japanese cherries blooming in the Quad at the UW, surrounded by the old Collegiate Gothic buildings. While you're there, stop by Suzallo Library and see the Reading Room, which looks like a Medieval baronial hall only with study carrels. Unfortunately, the FLGS of the U District, called The Dreaming, closed a few months back, so you can't stop in to say "Hi" to Aaron and tell him I recommended it. 😢 But elsewhere in town is the Burke-Gilman Brewery, of which a gaming buddy of mine is one of the owners and operators. Ask for Corey to meet a fellow Herophile. Dean Shomshak

Happy birthday! We may have briefly passed each other unknowing last weekend, as I went from bus to bus downtown on my to and from gaming. Seattle is indeed an excellent city. If you can get there in the proper week of springtime, see the Japanese cherries blooming in the Quad at the UW, surrounded by the old Collegiate Gothic buildings. While you're there, stop by Suzallo Library and see the Reading Room, which looks like a Medieval baronial hall only with study carrels. Unfortunately, the FLGS of the U District, called The Dreaming, closed a few months back, so you can't stop in to say "Hi" to Aaron and tell him I recommended it. 😢 But elsewhere in town is the Burke-Gilman Brewery, of which a gaming buddy of mine is one of the owners and operators. Ask for Corey to meet a fellow Herophile. Dean Shomshak