DShomshak

Shadow World. Ah. I acquired one supplement set there, The Iron Wind, back when it was all fairly new, and even then I had, hm, issues with the design stule. Some aspects were an advance for the time, but the state of the art has moved on. (And some bits I intensely disliked.)
 
Sample adventures not using the countries the supplement is about is kind of a flaw by any standards...
 
The biggest question remains what style of campaign you want. Treasure-seeking murder hobos call for different design emphases than a campaign of social and political intrigue, a cold war that threatens to turn hot, High Fantasy quest, or the like.
 
For instance, my current D&D campaign has a nesting series of design choices. Overall, the setting is the Magozoic Era -- Earth 250 million years in the future, become a world of monsters and magic. Everything has a past -- sometimes a very long past, stretching back to legend. Every few days' travel, you encounter some eerie or enigmatic relic of past events, from a forest of living stone trees to a field that lightning strikes every time a storm passes nearby. The city that forms the focus of the campaign is on a spit of land that formed around an immense granite breakwater, so old that coral covered it and turned to stone. It is not the first city to occupy the site, either.
 
Shrinking the focus, everything's happening in the Plenary Empire, modeled a bit on the Byzantine Empire: the shrunken remnant of an empire that was once much larger, menaced by aggressive neighbors that want to complete its fall and take its land, people and wealth. The greater danger, though, may come from the infighting among the empire's elite as they seek to gain greater shares of the empire's wealth and remaining power, or attempt secession because they'd rather be masters of small domains than functionaries in a big one. Politics and war and the themes: I explicitly decided that while the world includes dragons, beholders, liches, demon lords and other such threats, they won't be the principal threats. In its rise and heyday, the Plenary Empire faced such threats and defeated them. It's a premise of the setting that once a state reaches a certain size and effectiveness of government, no outside force can defeat it: It can only defeat itself. (Yes, you might find some contemporary resonance here. That is deliberate.)
 
The specific campaign began in the city of Thalassene. It's low fantasy: the PCs are members of a neighborhood watch that finds itself dealing with much bigger threats than bar brawls and riots, from an undead serial killer to scheming foreign ambassadors. The characters have advanced in power, though, to the point where such challenges are no longer challenging: The campaign is on hiatus while we, and the PCs decide where to go next, but the PCs are sufficiently involved in the lives of various NPCs that Thalassene will stay the center of the campaign for a while. No world-spanning quests in the offing.
 
What sort of campaign do you imagine running?
 
Dean Shomshak

Sounds good. And speaking of one bit you brought up... I am so tired of "Chosen Ones." I prefer my heroes to be fighting the good fight because somebody has to, not because it's their Destiny.
 
I crystallized this view several years ago while watching the Shannara TV series that aired (only one season AFAIK) on MTV. Okay, not a fan of The Sword of Shannara and never felt any reason to read the sequels, but somebody was trying to do Fantasy on TV so I watched it. And I got really irritated by Alanon the druid telling the young hero that it's his Destiny to fight the demon horde and save the world, because he's descended from the last great hero and so is the only person who can activate the power of the Elfstones, yadda yadda yadda.
 
Especially when the material was there for a different approach. Untested Young Hero doesn't want to save the world; he wants to be a doctor, because his mother suffered so much in her final illness. I think the line should have been: "You're probably not the only descendant of Shannara. If I tried, I could probably find a dozen others. But you responded to suffering and grief by wanting to help others. That's special. Other people could use the magic pebbles. You're the one who should use them."
 
Dean Shomshak

Sounds good. And speaking of one bit you brought up... I am so tired of "Chosen Ones." I prefer my heroes to be fighting the good fight because somebody has to, not because it's their Destiny.
 
I crystallized this view several years ago while watching the Shannara TV series that aired (only one season AFAIK) on MTV. Okay, not a fan of The Sword of Shannara and never felt any reason to read the sequels, but somebody was trying to do Fantasy on TV so I watched it. And I got really irritated by Alanon the druid telling the young hero that it's his Destiny to fight the demon horde and save the world, because he's descended from the last great hero and so is the only person who can activate the power of the Elfstones, yadda yadda yadda.
 
Especially when the material was there for a different approach. Untested Young Hero doesn't want to save the world; he wants to be a doctor, because his mother suffered so much in her final illness. I think the line should have been: "You're probably not the only descendant of Shannara. If I tried, I could probably find a dozen others. But you responded to suffering and grief by wanting to help others. That's special. Other people could use the magic pebbles. You're the one who should use them."
 
Dean Shomshak

Sounds good. And speaking of one bit you brought up... I am so tired of "Chosen Ones." I prefer my heroes to be fighting the good fight because somebody has to, not because it's their Destiny.
 
I crystallized this view several years ago while watching the Shannara TV series that aired (only one season AFAIK) on MTV. Okay, not a fan of The Sword of Shannara and never felt any reason to read the sequels, but somebody was trying to do Fantasy on TV so I watched it. And I got really irritated by Alanon the druid telling the young hero that it's his Destiny to fight the demon horde and save the world, because he's descended from the last great hero and so is the only person who can activate the power of the Elfstones, yadda yadda yadda.
 
Especially when the material was there for a different approach. Untested Young Hero doesn't want to save the world; he wants to be a doctor, because his mother suffered so much in her final illness. I think the line should have been: "You're probably not the only descendant of Shannara. If I tried, I could probably find a dozen others. But you responded to suffering and grief by wanting to help others. That's special. Other people could use the magic pebbles. You're the one who should use them."
 
Dean Shomshak

Sounds good. And speaking of one bit you brought up... I am so tired of "Chosen Ones." I prefer my heroes to be fighting the good fight because somebody has to, not because it's their Destiny.
 
I crystallized this view several years ago while watching the Shannara TV series that aired (only one season AFAIK) on MTV. Okay, not a fan of The Sword of Shannara and never felt any reason to read the sequels, but somebody was trying to do Fantasy on TV so I watched it. And I got really irritated by Alanon the druid telling the young hero that it's his Destiny to fight the demon horde and save the world, because he's descended from the last great hero and so is the only person who can activate the power of the Elfstones, yadda yadda yadda.
 
Especially when the material was there for a different approach. Untested Young Hero doesn't want to save the world; he wants to be a doctor, because his mother suffered so much in her final illness. I think the line should have been: "You're probably not the only descendant of Shannara. If I tried, I could probably find a dozen others. But you responded to suffering and grief by wanting to help others. That's special. Other people could use the magic pebbles. You're the one who should use them."
 
Dean Shomshak

Sounds good. And speaking of one bit you brought up... I am so tired of "Chosen Ones." I prefer my heroes to be fighting the good fight because somebody has to, not because it's their Destiny.
 
I crystallized this view several years ago while watching the Shannara TV series that aired (only one season AFAIK) on MTV. Okay, not a fan of The Sword of Shannara and never felt any reason to read the sequels, but somebody was trying to do Fantasy on TV so I watched it. And I got really irritated by Alanon the druid telling the young hero that it's his Destiny to fight the demon horde and save the world, because he's descended from the last great hero and so is the only person who can activate the power of the Elfstones, yadda yadda yadda.
 
Especially when the material was there for a different approach. Untested Young Hero doesn't want to save the world; he wants to be a doctor, because his mother suffered so much in her final illness. I think the line should have been: "You're probably not the only descendant of Shannara. If I tried, I could probably find a dozen others. But you responded to suffering and grief by wanting to help others. That's special. Other people could use the magic pebbles. You're the one who should use them."
 
Dean Shomshak

EDIYT: Oops, BNakagawa already posted this information. Never mind.
 
Update: On All Things Considered last night, the possibility was raised that the missile that struck a "grain processing facility" in Poland might have been a Ukrainian antimissile, launched in response to the Russian barrage, that went off course.
 
I just hope the investigation is thorough, honest and reported accurately. If it does turn out to be a Ukrainian antimissile, that's not a disaster for Ukraine: Acknowledgement of the accident, apology, and reparation to the families of the victims, shows the government is honest and worthy of trust. Commitment to truth, even when it isn't good for you in the short term, shows strength and confidence to those who are strong and confident; Russian bluster and lies shows weakness and cowardice, that only looks strong to those who are themselves weak and cowardly.
 
Dean Shomshak

In the supplement Rasul is a theocracy, dedicated to the god of commerce where strict religious and statutory laws keep people in place.  Is very divided, with clergy at the top then, far below them the tradesmen, then a bit lower serfs and slaves and finally females.  But they are known for being the best merchants on the continent.  But merchants have no political or economic power.  (Non sequitur, must analyze.  Faulty, faulty!  Must Sterilize!).
 
So how do I keep  them as a mercantile city, where Tobaris, God of Commerce, Travel, Exploration is still held in high regard, merchants have more of a say in the affairs of the city and finally where females have a greater share of the power.
 
I was going to use a system of government taken from a city in the Turakian Age supplement.  But now I think I will add as a wrinkle, the wife may vote in place of her husband, if they declare she has his proxy vote before the council before he leaves town.  And the reverse is true also.  
 
 
HMMMM!   Ideas welcome.  
 
OH OH OH.
 
Is actually a matriarchy today.  The men got so full of themselves and the majority left town to fight the goblyns, and got destroyed.  Now we have a city of mostly females who have been taking the reins of government because they have no other choice.  Even if some of the men make it back, the city has been irrevocably changed, and refuse to go back to their tidy small existence.  

A combo of
1- the world is broken and needs fixing.  Goblyns overrun parts of the Basin area.  Up in the northern jungles are rumours of lost cities with treasures and goblyns.  Even the Coastal cities and the Divided Plains are not safe, and the Bola Desert has a large contingent of them.
2- finding and exploring those cool places like : the former capitol of Tenryk, now a ruins inside a goblyn forest   A mythical island of a pirate king and his treasure, just beware he may still be guarding it   A city surrounded by an ever storm in the Bola Desert.  If you can get in, what treasures await.  Also rumoured to hold the Library of Readaer.   

There is a nonzero chance that what landed in Poland is a Ukranian air defense missile fired to intercept a russian cruise missile that missed.
 
Complicating matters is the fact that Ukraine employs a number of anti aircraft missiles manufactured by russia, so figuring out whose fault it was is going to be extremely tricky.
 
Complicating things even further, russians have been resorting to using anti aircraft missiles (S300s for example) in land attack missions due to lack of supplies of higher grade cruise missiles.
 
So figuring out exactly what happened is going to be tricky. Hopefully somebody has satellite or radar tracking data that can be checked to figure out where these missiles came from.
 
Also, there are fires burning in Belgorod Oblast, apparently due to a misfiring russian missile(s) that failed to go where they were aimed and came down in russian territory. This is not the first time this has happened there. 

As I said, I find it plausible that the strike was an accident. OTOH Putin must not be allowed to think he can make this the start of a nose-in-the-tent strategy. There must be consequences. But I do not envy the people who must decide what those consequences should be.
 
Dean Shomshak

It's the real Great Replacement. I suspect (though I cannot prove) that conspiracy theories often are a sort of Freudian displacement, a way of hiding from fears that are too great to acknowledge. I suggest it's less frightening to believe in a giant evil conspiracy to bring in brown people who are Not Like Us than to admit that one's own children are the ones Not Like Us.
 
But hasn't that always been the case? Our children (I use "our" collectively -- I have no offspring and almost certainly never will) are never just Mini-Mes. They are their own people. We teach them as best we can, give them whatever help we can... then put the world in their hands when we retire to our graves. Thus has it ever been. And "conservatives" take note: Stories of attempts to do otherwise rarely end well.
 
Dean Shomshak

As far as Fuentes' desire for a Christian nationalist dictatorship, the anti-Trump conservative David French recently pointed out that the world's largest avowedly Christian Nation is currently getting the pants beat off it in Ukraine. Putin made Christian Nationalism part of his dictatorship from day one. It's everything Mr Fuentes wants. It's not doing so well.
 
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/frenchpress/the-spiritual-lessons-of-a-christian/
You have to subscribe to read the whole article, though it's free. My sister printed it out for me, so I can summarize Mr French's three "Spiritual Lessons from a Christian Nationalist Military Defeat":
 
* Power corrupts. Not exactly a new observation, but Putin's Russia offers one more example that corrupted, self-serving leadership inevitably hollows out institutions and the country as a whole.
* Christendom dilutes Christianity. French argues that Christian nationalists focus on the collective institutions of the faith, not the "radical personal renewal and redemption that is the heart of Christianity." Putin's invasion of Ukraine was supposedly, in part, to defend Christendom against the Satanic corruption of the West. And their methods for doing so...?
* Brutality isn't strength. "Bullies look strong. They strut and peacock. Russians bomb civilians. They rape women. They loot empty homes. They're ruthless. They make commercials casting themselves as fearless, fearsome warriors. And now they're fleeing by the thousands, thrown into headlong retreat by a far smaller nation, fighting with a fraction of the resources, in one of the most shocking military setbacks in modern times. Brutality is meeting courage, and courage prevails."
 
If Mr Fuentes truly wants to live in a "Christian Nation," well, nobody's stopping him from moving to Putin's Russia. They would seem to be made for each other.
 
Dean Shomshak

https://gizmodo.com/loftid-inflatable-heat-shield-nasa-splashdown-1849768136
 
The LOFTID seems to have splashed down in good shape, and was still inflated when the recovery boat went to pick it up.  Well this will be a very important technology going forward.


I also see this as a viable option for Orbital drops for space troops.

Which is why you're here, trying to go beyond what's provided!
 
I've done development work for pay. It may not be fair to judge this supplement (what's its name again?) by your short summaries, and I haven't followed all your redevelopment threads, but what I've seen of the source material doesn't impress me. I think you'll need to do quite a bit of work to make this a setting that will wow your players. I'll try to point you toward the questions to ask, but in the end you're the one who needs to answer them.
 
Dean Shomshak

I have to concur with Dean's point. I'm also not familiar with this setting, but it seems to lack a distinctive vision or flavor that would make it stand out from many other fantasy worlds.
 
Rather than concentrate on adding specific details, it might help to give some consideration to the overall "meta" of this setting. What kind of experience(s) would you like your players to have in it? Epic quest? Political intrigue? Picaresque exploration? Conflict between great powers? Conquest and kingdom-building? How did your world get to the configuration and condition it's in now? What direction would you like it to go in future? Are there events happening in the wider world, or going on hidden under the surface, that are impacting the scene at the local level?

Which is why you're here, trying to go beyond what's provided!
 
I've done development work for pay. It may not be fair to judge this supplement (what's its name again?) by your short summaries, and I haven't followed all your redevelopment threads, but what I've seen of the source material doesn't impress me. I think you'll need to do quite a bit of work to make this a setting that will wow your players. I'll try to point you toward the questions to ask, but in the end you're the one who needs to answer them.
 
Dean Shomshak

Wrath and Nature
 
The Story
 
Centuries ago, a leader was wronged greatly by the deeds of his neighbor. In his wrath he mobilized his army and attacked. He promised sacrifices, glory, and a place of honor for the God of Wrath when he eliminated the enemy. In return, the leader was granted a powerful artifact to accomplish his goal. At first, he laid waste to not just the kingdom but also squandered the power of the artifact destroying the land as well. To the point that when it came time to make the final push to destroy his enemy, he had nothing left.
 
The leader was forced to flee with the remnants of his army, back across the blasted landscape. But his actions and failure had drawn the ire of two gods, Nature and Wrath both cursed him and the entire army. Nature turned the scattered force into stone, creating a massive field of standing stones, but Wrath wasn't happy with that alone and cursed the spirits of the soldiers and their leader to be forever constrained by those stones, never allowed to pass on, always suffering.
 
The Location
 
During the day, walking among the stones, reddish sand and mud one is filled with the majesty of the site, but is constantly filled with a sad sense of loss. In small pockets inside the valley and up to it's edges, nature is slowly turning back the devastation. It may take centuries more, but Nature is nothing but patient.
 
At night the eerie wailing of the soldiers can still be heard echoing through the air. It is whispered that spending the night within is to invite Spirits of Wrath to attack, or worse to possess those who hold anger in their hearts and incite them to great acts of evil. Either way, those who survive a night in the valley are forever changed by the experience.
 
Two towns have taken root on opposite edges of the valley, surviving in the restored areas. One venerates Nature and the other has those who venerate Wrath. The towns function as waypoints for travelers who want to traverse the valley. Since it is unsafe at night, a group can cross the entire valley in one day if they are capable of maintaining a nice steady pace and they have a navigator skilled enough to not get lost in the maze of ravines and standing stones.
 
Several sealed burial sites, convenient caves really, have been found for the countless dead, those wounded in battle with no medical help or starved during the march back. Somewhere in the blasted ravines and crags of the valley it is said that the artifact still sleeps, hidden before the destruction wrought upon the army. Adventurers use the towns as jumping off points as well, making forays into the valley. But even during the day it is unwise to disturb the souls trapped and tortured within.

As far as Fuentes' desire for a Christian nationalist dictatorship, the anti-Trump conservative David French recently pointed out that the world's largest avowedly Christian Nation is currently getting the pants beat off it in Ukraine. Putin made Christian Nationalism part of his dictatorship from day one. It's everything Mr Fuentes wants. It's not doing so well.
 
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/frenchpress/the-spiritual-lessons-of-a-christian/
You have to subscribe to read the whole article, though it's free. My sister printed it out for me, so I can summarize Mr French's three "Spiritual Lessons from a Christian Nationalist Military Defeat":
 
* Power corrupts. Not exactly a new observation, but Putin's Russia offers one more example that corrupted, self-serving leadership inevitably hollows out institutions and the country as a whole.
* Christendom dilutes Christianity. French argues that Christian nationalists focus on the collective institutions of the faith, not the "radical personal renewal and redemption that is the heart of Christianity." Putin's invasion of Ukraine was supposedly, in part, to defend Christendom against the Satanic corruption of the West. And their methods for doing so...?
* Brutality isn't strength. "Bullies look strong. They strut and peacock. Russians bomb civilians. They rape women. They loot empty homes. They're ruthless. They make commercials casting themselves as fearless, fearsome warriors. And now they're fleeing by the thousands, thrown into headlong retreat by a far smaller nation, fighting with a fraction of the resources, in one of the most shocking military setbacks in modern times. Brutality is meeting courage, and courage prevails."
 
If Mr Fuentes truly wants to live in a "Christian Nation," well, nobody's stopping him from moving to Putin's Russia. They would seem to be made for each other.
 
Dean Shomshak

As far as Fuentes' desire for a Christian nationalist dictatorship, the anti-Trump conservative David French recently pointed out that the world's largest avowedly Christian Nation is currently getting the pants beat off it in Ukraine. Putin made Christian Nationalism part of his dictatorship from day one. It's everything Mr Fuentes wants. It's not doing so well.
 
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/frenchpress/the-spiritual-lessons-of-a-christian/
You have to subscribe to read the whole article, though it's free. My sister printed it out for me, so I can summarize Mr French's three "Spiritual Lessons from a Christian Nationalist Military Defeat":
 
* Power corrupts. Not exactly a new observation, but Putin's Russia offers one more example that corrupted, self-serving leadership inevitably hollows out institutions and the country as a whole.
* Christendom dilutes Christianity. French argues that Christian nationalists focus on the collective institutions of the faith, not the "radical personal renewal and redemption that is the heart of Christianity." Putin's invasion of Ukraine was supposedly, in part, to defend Christendom against the Satanic corruption of the West. And their methods for doing so...?
* Brutality isn't strength. "Bullies look strong. They strut and peacock. Russians bomb civilians. They rape women. They loot empty homes. They're ruthless. They make commercials casting themselves as fearless, fearsome warriors. And now they're fleeing by the thousands, thrown into headlong retreat by a far smaller nation, fighting with a fraction of the resources, in one of the most shocking military setbacks in modern times. Brutality is meeting courage, and courage prevails."
 
If Mr Fuentes truly wants to live in a "Christian Nation," well, nobody's stopping him from moving to Putin's Russia. They would seem to be made for each other.
 
Dean Shomshak

Hey, I have a radical idea. How about we celebrate Veterans Day in the U.S. by demanding that our 'leaders' fund the VA and other programs to take care of all of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines when they get home from deployment? Someone who survives action in Kandahar or Fallujah shouldn't die from homelessness or suicide once they get back home.

I just heard about this on All Things Considered. Here's their appreciation.
Actor Kevin Conroy, best known as the voice of Batman, died Friday at age 66 : NPR
 
RIP, sir.
 
Dean Shomshak
 

I was a RINO for a long time. I still consider myself fiscally conservative. In an ideal world, I think small government is a good idea. I believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
 
And if the Republican Party still stood for those things, I might still be one of them.
 
But the Modern GOP has gone completely off the rails. Conspiracy theorists, science-denying charlatans, christian nationalists, war profiteers, and thinly-disguised bigots of every flavor have taken over the Party. They've become isolationist and exclusionary. They refuse to listen or talk to anyone who doesn't believe all the same things that they believe. They don't talk, they shout. And they don't listen to anything but money and power.
 
Reasonable Republicans are as rare these days as balanced budgets these days.
 
I don't see that changing any time soon, sadly.

As far as Fuentes' desire for a Christian nationalist dictatorship, the anti-Trump conservative David French recently pointed out that the world's largest avowedly Christian Nation is currently getting the pants beat off it in Ukraine. Putin made Christian Nationalism part of his dictatorship from day one. It's everything Mr Fuentes wants. It's not doing so well.
 
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/frenchpress/the-spiritual-lessons-of-a-christian/
You have to subscribe to read the whole article, though it's free. My sister printed it out for me, so I can summarize Mr French's three "Spiritual Lessons from a Christian Nationalist Military Defeat":
 
* Power corrupts. Not exactly a new observation, but Putin's Russia offers one more example that corrupted, self-serving leadership inevitably hollows out institutions and the country as a whole.
* Christendom dilutes Christianity. French argues that Christian nationalists focus on the collective institutions of the faith, not the "radical personal renewal and redemption that is the heart of Christianity." Putin's invasion of Ukraine was supposedly, in part, to defend Christendom against the Satanic corruption of the West. And their methods for doing so...?
* Brutality isn't strength. "Bullies look strong. They strut and peacock. Russians bomb civilians. They rape women. They loot empty homes. They're ruthless. They make commercials casting themselves as fearless, fearsome warriors. And now they're fleeing by the thousands, thrown into headlong retreat by a far smaller nation, fighting with a fraction of the resources, in one of the most shocking military setbacks in modern times. Brutality is meeting courage, and courage prevails."
 
If Mr Fuentes truly wants to live in a "Christian Nation," well, nobody's stopping him from moving to Putin's Russia. They would seem to be made for each other.
 
Dean Shomshak