Son of Iron Game Chef!

[Jonathan Walton]

Strange ingredients for a tabletop RPG indeed... Super Mario Brothers? The Legend of Zelda? Donkey Kong Country? Super Smash Brothers? Mario Cart?

Rich, you silly wang ba dan!  I've been wanting to design a game that could be played with 8-bit techno in the background.  Keep rocking out with your socks out.

Walton-san glances nervously up from his simmering dish of Sweet and Sour Penguin and Pineapple.  So many chefs preparing dishes both elegant and succulent!  The pressure to be a finisher is beginning to get to him.  Sweat beads form on his brow.  Is this the end?!

[Eero Tuovinen]

With the competition nearing a close, I need to hammer out the mechanics. To get that solid foundation, I've been pulling out every design trick I know! I've even come upon a few new ones (for me), such as What does the player/gm/character do? Another new thing for me, regarding rolelaying game design, is a state machine. What's this? The marriage of computer science and roleplaying games? And in a way that doesn't produce Rolemaster-like complexity? That's right.

The convergent evolution strikes again, it seems. I wrote last night in a fit of competiveness a second game dish as a kind of a appetized for the Battle of the Frozen Waste, and it features a state machine as well, though in a different role. Might as well announce it while I'm here.

The gamesmith of the north... he strides forth, flanked by the paladins of the Knights of Snow, to announce a new development,

The Fall of Atlantis and the Dawn of Human History
The appetizer in spirit of Multiverser

Atlantis - the kingdom of the seas, it's everything Plato dreamed of and more. It's the ideal state, ruled by philosopher kings ultimate in wisdom and great in the human arts. Hardly human, they, but greater for it surely.

   Atlantis - she rules the world, taking slaves and servants from among the humans and trading baubles for the raw resources she needs. All peoples have heard of the sea kings, and human leaders bow to their might. Ne'er are the peoples of the Earth free as Atlantis floats upon the surface.

   Atlantis - the land of science and magic, wisdom over human imagination. Humans are impure creations, perhaps of Atlantean stock, but flawed nonentheless. The atlanteans know how to move the Earth and the heavens, and that will be their doom.

   Atlantis - everything Moorcock and Howard, Plato and professor Marinatos ever dreamed of and more. But doomed to fall. What that fall portents for the world is now in your hands.

The Fall of Atlantis and Dawn of Human History is a roleplaying game for a GM and some players. It takes the play group through the last generations of Atlantis and the first ones of human history. On the way maybe some answers about humanity are learned. For play you'll need pens and papers and lots'a dice.

-----    -----     -----

The game is finished after some six hours of work, clocking in at some 45k letters. As with the main course, I'll hold to it for a little while to see if I'll find anything to fix. I'm not delusious in thinking that we still have over 48 hours to waffle, am I? Actually nearer to 56, with the time difference?

I'd like to take this moment to assure you that I don't mean any disrespect by putting forth two games. I intend to see to it that both come forth in the state of completeness I'd have aspired to were they lone productions. This turn of events is a combination of my jealousy overdrive and too much time to write, nothing more. If I had to work like some people here I certainly would have to limit myself to something small and beautiful ;) You can all take this as a compliment; usually nothing gets me to lift my tush and start writing like this. but now it's my self-respect on the line. If I cannot be the best, at least I can be the biggest ;)

[Eero Tuovinen]

Rich, you silly wang ba dan!  I've been wanting to design a game that could be played with 8-bit techno in the background.  Keep rocking out with your socks out.

Word, man! Joy, I'm testing my American idiom while I'matit, brother!

Rich: If you get out something playable that captures Zelda and the first Castlevanias, Megaman and Super Mario, I'll be paying for the privilege of playing!

Walton-san glances nervously up from his simmering dish of Sweet and Sour Penguin and Pineapple.  So many chefs preparing dishes both elegant and succulent!  The pressure to be a finisher is beginning to get to him.  Sweat beads form on his brow.  Is this the end?!

Hahaa! It took the whole week, but I think I finally got spiritually over the penguins! I'm again ready to battle, as long as I don't read the backlog to ascertain if the game is as astounding as I dimly remember. I'm lucky that penguin bomb wasn't dropped later, I never would have regained composure in time then.

So take care, your domination of the arena is soon to be over, when I finally deliver the double punch of the Battle of the Frozen Waste and The Fall of Atlantis and the Dawn of Human History. They might be ugly, they might be overly long and badly written, but I didn't name the latter mini-multiverser for laughs! Sweat, Walton-san, sweat!

And as for you others, I'm over you too. Your games might be elegant, they might dance like butterflies and sting like bees, but they cannot hope to match the sheer bulk I've got coming at ya!

In truth this is shaping up the be the Iron Game competition of all time, IMO. There's not one game I wouldn't play here, not one. I try not to get overly familiar with ya, but I've read every submission and they are all just great compared to my FLGS. I really wouldn't like to be the judge, this is developing to be an Impossible Mission for Judge-sama.

[greyorm]

At the Dawn

The elves were the first people, the blessed, immortal children of the spirits of the One True Flame. They were made perfect, beautiful, and graceful, given the ands of the West to rule over eternally, The Land of Twilight, where the Two Trees rose bearing the Light of the World...one of silver, one of gold.

But the Enemy had always lurked in the Darkness Beyond, jealous of creation, desirous of its bounty, and time had not stilled his frenzy, or tamed his desire, only inflamed it and encouraged his plots. Disguised as a great spider, the Enemy came to the West and crept across its plains to the Halls of the Undying, from where he stole the light from the Two Trees and fled with it across the icy seas, to the black northern wastes of the East, so close to the Darkness where he had spent eternity hidden from the One True Flame.

It is a time before, of myth rather than history, when the great wars of the elves were fought against the hordes of dark beasts twisted by the Enemy. This is no time of men or goblins, but a time when the First Children of the World took up their swords and bows and chased the Enemy to his black fortress in the icy North, when they battled demons, werewolves, dragons, and more hideous things of the Night which whole nations of men would learn to fear, yet a single elf would face in titanic struggles of armies of light against armies of darkness.

You are a Child of the First Land, of the West, most perfect of all things in creation. Immortal, eternally young, skilled with word and hand, sharp of eye and deep of spirit. It is to you to recover the Light of the Two Trees and return them to the West, in the Blessed Lands. It is your Heart which guides you, and the spirits of the One True Flame speak to it. Your sword is sharp, and will become legend, become magic, in a later age when the light of creation has dimmed, and mortal man steps new upon the world, and will speak of your ability and grace in quiet awe.

There will be Tragedy, though, for the First Age of the world always ends by tragedy, quieting their youth and giving way to the slow unravelling of the years. You cannot die, though you can fall. You cannot die, though the Enemy can capture you and torture you, breaking and twisting your spirit. You cannot die, though your grace can be tortured from you with broken bones, torn skin, and poisoned thoughts.

And there will be Victory, for the First Age to end, creation must stand, and not drift into darkness, hidden from and lost to the light of the One True Flame which created it. The One True Flame will protect you, and work through you. The Enemy will be banished once more to Darkness, his fortress will fall, and Creation's song will continue.

And there will be Temptation, the Darkness will promise sweet things, and lure you into the Enemy's service, twisted and cursed. And Creation will ensnare your soul and beg you to stay, a tenant upon the Eastern shores meant for man, where Dawn is not yet come and the stars are constant and brilliant companions looking down from heaven.

May you not fail in banishing the Enemy and reclaiming the Light of the Two Trees to return to the West.

[talysman]

IceRunner: a dweomerpunk fantasy setting

part 3 (part 1 located here; part 2 located here)

Magical Conflicts:

magical conflicts are resolved by rolling a d10, as for ordinary conflicts, but one or more d6s are rolled simultaneously; the number and color of the d6s vary depending on the situation. the dice are of two colors, indicated as black and white, but other colors can be substituted; the black dice are called Curse Dice and indicate involuntary magical effects, like magical backfires, while the white dice are called Magic Dice and are required to preform voluntary magical effects. if a character doesn't have any Magic Dice available, that character cannont do magic.

magical acts require a physical action: you have to make or do something and invest that action with magical power. flashy cinematic effects like throwing bolts of lightning are not possible, although causing lightning that already exists (in an ongoing storm, for example,) to strike an enemy *is* possible. in medieval superstition, magic was more about the  meaning of an event than its fantastic appearance. thus, you have cattle or people who sicken suddenly, which could be entirely natural, but the villagers suspect someone *wanted* that sickness to occur and look for a sorceror.

the game mechanics of what you can do with magic:

[*]boost damage to your next conflict roll;
[*]reduce damage on your next conflict roll;
[*]allow for a reroll on your next conflict roll;
[*]bless someone (giving them persistent Magic Dice);
[*]curse someone (giving them persistent Curse Dice);
[*]produce an unusual description in an otherwise ordinary action (no mechanical effect);
[*]invest magical points into something (potion, amulet, talisman, etc.) allowing those points to be used later.[/list:u]
note that several of these options mention "the next conflict roll". this means that the magic roll can be used for a temporary situational advantage, carrying over its damage bonus or reduction to the next time the character is in a conflict. this can include boosting another magical conflict roll and carrying over those boosted results one or more times to generate massive damage. the bonus accumulated must be used by your next turn; you cannot make a magical conflict roll, roll for another unassociated conflict, then apply your magical boost two turns after the original roll. the only way to carry over magical points beyond the next roll is to invest the points into a magical creation.

another concept important to magical rolls are the Curse Dice. Curse Dice represent involuntary magical effects, usually causing damage to the character affected by the Curse. Curse Dice are acquired in various ways: another sorceror can Curse you, there may be a Curse in the current location, or you may be pushing the limits of sorcery.

on any magical conflict roll in the ordinary world, players must roll an extra Curse Die. this represents the potential for magical backfire; magic is a very fickle art. players do not roll this extra Curse Die in the astral world, nor do they need to roll this die in a highly magical location. players must also roll an extra Curse Die if they are in the ordinary world and:

[*]they are not alone;
[*]they are trying to produce an unnatural effect where it can be observed;
[*]they have never performed sorcery before (this doesn't apply to player characters, normally.)[/list:u]
also, if an area or object held is Cursed and the conditions of the Curse are active, sorcerors must add the Curse Dice associated with that Curse for the magical conflict. note that Cursed areas or objects can apply their Curse to otherwise ordinary conflicts; if a sword is Cursed to cause anyone who uses it to double over in pain, then the Curse Dice are rolled on any attack using the sword.

white Magic Dice work in a similar manner to Curse Dice. sorcerors can use one extra Magic Die on any magical conflict roll in the astral world; further, each sorceror Class has a specific condition which grants an additional Magic Die. using magic potions, talismans, amulets, and the like allows extra Magic Dice as well, as does natural magic in rare magical locations. plus, even ordinary locations can grant an extra Magic Die if at least two of the following "superstitious conditions" apply:

[*]there is no sunlight or moonlight visible in the area;
[*]the magic is performed at a crossroads;
[*]it's the day of the new moon;
[*]the magic is performed in a circle of toadstools;
[*]the magic is performed where three trees grow together as one.[/list:u]
none of these conditions by themselves will grant a Magic Die, nor is there extra benefit for more than two.

in addition, there are the magical diamonds known as "ice". ice is not a natural gemstone; it is created as a magical act in the astral realm. each small gem is invested with 1 magical point, which can be used once to add 1 Magic Die to a magical conflict roll; the gemstone dissolves when used, or when exposed to sunlight or moonlight.

before getting into the gritty details of magical conflict rolls, it should be noted that there are three kinds of Magic and Curse dice: temporary, persistent, and permanent. Ice provides temporary Magic Dice: add them to the roll once and they disappear, whether they work or not. persistent dice can be added again and again until they *work*, then they disappear; these are the kind of dice found in magic items or cursed locations. persistent Curse Dice can also be cancelled by matching Magic Dice and vice versa; this will be demonstrated later. permanent dice are rare: the single bonus die in the astral realm is permanent, and so are the dice on holy relics; they can never be cancelled or exhausted.

magical conflict rolls are handled in the following way: the player states the sorceror's intention, similar to an ordinary conflict, but includes the general appearance of the effect being attempted. ordinary total basic damage is figured the same as for ordinary conflicts; it will apply to the physical action being performed, but will not apply to the magical effect itself. next, the player checks to see how many Magic Dice are available; the player must be able to use at least one Magic Die from one of the above sources in order to perform a magical act at all, and can use up to 5 Magic Dice on one roll. after totalling the number of Magic Dice to roll, the GM tells the player if any Curse Dice are in effect, including the nature of the Curse that will be invoked, if any; if there are any Curse Dice with a vague effect, like the dice acquired from performing magic in the ordinary world, the player and the GM must agree on a magical backfire effect. players have the option of specifying that a magical backfire will occur as immediate damage or as a persistent Curse. again, as many as 5 Curse Dice may be rolled at once.

initiative is determined in the same way as ordinary conflicts (indeed, other characters may be attempting ordinary actions at the same time.) the player rolls the d10 as well as 1-5 white d6 Magic Dice and 1-5 black d6 Curse Dice. the first thing checked is: do any of the Curse Dice match any of the Magic Dice? one Curse Die can cancel out one Magic Die of equal value, and vice versa.

EXAMPLE: the player rolls three white dice and four black dice; the results are white: 2, 5, 5 black: 1, 2, 2, 5. the white 2 cancels out one of the black 2s, leaving one black 2, while one of the white 5s cancels out the black 5. thies leaves white: 5 black: 1, 2 as the result.

the success of the physical action and the success of the magical meaning of that action are determined seperately; the physical action is resolved with the standard "even result = success, odd result = failure" technique. whether the result of the d10 is even or odd, check to see if it is less than or equal to any of the white Magic Dice remaining after the cancellation phase; any Magic Dice greater than or equal to the d10 result earns 1 magic point. likewise, if any of the remaining black Curse Dice are greater than or equal to the d10 result, the Curse effect or magical backfire is invoked and 1 backfire point is applied for each successful Curse Die result.

EXAMPLE: on the previous example, the player rolled white: 2, 5, 5 and black: 1, 2, 2, 5, which left white: 5 black 1, 2 after cancellation. if the d10 result is 4, the player earned one magic point; if the d10 result is 2, the player earned one magic point and one point of Curse damage.

if a player decides to invoke an advantage for a reroll, only the d10 is rerolled; the Magic Dice and Curse Dice are left on the table as-is. in fact, if a player attempts a magical conflict roll, earns one magic point, then decides to reroll, THE MAGIC POINT STAYS. the player can actually earn additional magic points on the reroll over and above what has already been earned. however, the same rule applies to Curse Dice; if you invoke a Curse on your first roll and then reroll, you may make the Curse worse.

Magical Actions:

any sorceror can perform any magical action, as long they have a Magic Die to produce the effect and any necessary props or conditions (for example, you can't brew a magic potion unless you have something to brew in.) this even applies to a non-sorceror who has acquired a Magic Die in some way: a thief who steals Ice and tries to work magic, for example, or someone who has been blessed, or even some desperate individual who buries a fertility doll at the crossroads one night at the dark of the moon. there is an extra Curse Die the first time a non-sorceror attempts magic; but after that, the character is a sorceror and has no extra penalty. once you've crossed the line, there's no way back.

one basic magical action is to boost damage; this is typically used by AssaultMages (on physical attacks) and Warlocks (on social attacks), since they receive a bonus Magic Die on those actions. on a magical physical attack, the sorceror channels magical force into an ordinary attack; any magic points earned are added to damage points on a successful roll for increased damage. on a magical social attack, the process is similar, except that the warlock is spreading lies or sowing discord instead of stabbing a victim in the dark of night.

another option is an indirect attack; in this case, the physical action required to "cast the spell" does not add ordinary damage points to the magic points earned. instead, magic points are applied as damage delivered through some pre-existing condition, such as a lightning strike during a thunderstorm or an ongoing illness. AssaultMages can apply their bonus die to indirect attacks as well as direct attacks, since it is still a physical assault. likewise, a Warlock can whisper insults to an effigy of a victim instead of spreading rumors directly; it helps mask the source of the social attack.

Witches, on the other hand, specialize in reducing various forms of damage. by mixing an herbal poultice, a Witch can apply magic points to reduce damage points a victim has already taken.

Witches, Warlocks and AssaultMages sometimes work at crosspurposes. someone suffering from a series of calamities might suspect sorcery as the cause, and may seek out a Witch or a Holy priest for help. aside from curing any damage already done, a Witch can attempt to track the source of the evil magic; this is treated as "damage" to the persecutor's concealment. once the persecutor has taken 5 points of "concealment damage", everyone in the community will know who is responsible for the attacks.

sorcerors may also choose to apply persistent Magic or Curse Dice to a target instead of damage. if the target is a person, he or she can invoke the Magic Dice as many times as desired until they work or are cancelled by Curse Dice, at which point they are exhausted. in the case of Curse Dice, of course, the target has no choice, but must roll the Curse Dice on all applicable rolls until the Curse is invoked or cancelled. if the target is an object, anyone holding that object can invoke its Magic Dice, and anyone using a Cursed object invokes its Curse Dice until the dice are exhausted. if the target is a place, anyone in that place is affected in the same way.

when sorcerors place a Curse, they must describe the unnatural tell-tale signs that the Curse is working ("May the victim's hair fall out!") either a Curse Die or Magic Die may be limited to certain conditions ("any man who draws a sword in this sanctuary will be stricken with pox!"); in that case, the Curse Dice or Magic Dice are only rolled when the conditions are met. sorcerors can only remove a Curse by pumping Magic Dice into a magical conflict that invokes the Curse, hoping to cancel the Curse Dice with matching Magic Dice results.

Enchanters and other sorcerors may also create amulets, talismans, or other magical objects by investing them with magic points. magic points are used:

[*]to boost ordinary damage;
[*]to reduce ordinary damage;
[*]to give an extra reroll;
[*]to add a temporary Magic Die.[/list:u]
each magic point is used once, then lost.

one special form of enchantment is the creation of Ice. as mentioned previously, Ice can only be created in the astral realm. every Magic Die rolled that is equal to or higher than the d10 result rolled creates one Ice gem, which can be used later for one temporary Magic Die.

how do you get into the astral realm? this, too, is a magical action; it requires only one magic point to cross over into the astral void. this is the specialty of IceRunners, so they cross over into the astral much more frequently than other sorcerors; many sorcerors prefer to trade with IceRunners, exchanging their own services for bags of Ice. one thing to note about entering the astral realm: since vanishing from plain sight is an unnatural effect if observed EVEN BY THE SORCEROR VANISHING, sorcerors must roll an extra Curse Die when crossing over. for this reason, most sorcerors only cross into the astral realm when they are in a pitch-black room or cave.

crossing back into the ordinary realm does not take a roll normally, as long as the sorceror is not evading someone in the astral realm and returns to the spot originally left. if a roll is required, the sorceror gets a Magic Die from performing magic in the astral realm, plus one die if the sorceror is an IceRunner; no Curse Dice for being in the ordinary world are rolled, of course. IceRunners thus are also often used as smugglers and couriers, because they can travel long distances in the ordinary realm by entering the astral realm and then leaving immediately to a different physical location.

the astral void is exactly that: a black void, sometimes with the faint suggestion of swirling mist. sorcerors can create astral islands in the void using standard enchantment procedures, putting at least one Magic Die into the island to maintain it. astral islands are dimly glowing grey discs, roughly three yards across for every Magic Die worth of size. astral islands can be drained, just like other enchanted objects, but this causes the island to shrink; if it loses all its Magic Dice, the island vanishes. since astral islands are normally created as storage areas for precious items, draining an island is not considered appropriate behavior; any objects on an island when it vanishes are cast loose into the astral void and must be located individually.

setting details, including rules for handling The Holy, werewolves, elves, and enchanted beasts, as well as what sorcerors do and how they relate to each other and the medieval world, will be covered in the next installment.

[talysman]

Iron Chef Laviolette sweats a bit after this prodigious effort, and glances at the ever-ticking clock of the RPG Stadium. he has just prepared the meat of the main dish, with its simple die mechanic seasoned with quirky Curse Dice and Magic Dice, but he still needs the special sauces and seasonings of the setting itself, as well as the dice vegetables and fruits of the reward system and GM techniques. oh my! that's at least two more parts to complete before sunday!

[Eero Tuovinen]

At the Dawn

Of course! What label of nincompoops we have to be to not realise that one?! "More tolkienist than thou" indeed... The competition has been going for almost a week, and nobody could think of that. Shame on me especially, with my confidence that nobody could top the Battle in the tolkienist cuisine.

Holmes-sama no doubt has been laughing at us in our self-confidence. Well, it's good that finally someone cared to remember Silmarillion. Could have endangered the honor of the competition, that kind of lapse.

Great to see someone think for half-a-minute before running off to cook.

[Zak Arntson]

Terra Australis

He's set aside the li hing squid for now, and is producing a variety of annuals. His assistant seems to be preparing some kind of sauce, and boy does it stink! Flowers? Stinky sauce? What will this side dish be?

---

I'm making my design process as transparent as I can, hoping to provide the same enjoyment for you that I get watching the cook at Thai Tom.  I am ready to divulge the hearty entree of character design! It's pretty simple, actually. To define your character, you come up with the following:

Name
Nationality
Curiosity

Name & Nationality are simple. Just pick something or do a google search on, say, "Persian Names". Curiosity is what makes your character a monster. Vedun's Curiosity would be, "Psychic, squid-headed." Kreykir's Curiosity is, "Thawed viking, body temperature still below freezing."

The next part of your sheet has a blank space marked Resource Points. You start the game with 3 stones here (a stone is easier than writing & erasing points).

The final (and large) section on your sheet is labeled Resources. It is nearly empty, with each slot consisting of two spots, Name and Type. With a starting character, you get two resources. The first is your Curiosity (no type for this one), and is written on your sheet for you. Your other resource can be one of four types, your choice:

PC Relationship - If you wish, you can create a relationship between yourself and another PC. Both players must agree on this. The nature of the relationship needn't be hammered out now. Write "PC" for short, under Type.
NPC Relationship - Write down the NPC's name. Again, don't worry about the nature of the relationship, yet. Write "NPC" under Type.
Thing - An item which your character can use during play.
Fate - Something you'd like to have happen to your character.

Vedun got NPC Relationship, Mecher. Kreykir got Thing, Icy War-Axe.

What's next? The system, which I've almost figured out. This means the character sheet/creation is in the "nearly done" phase, since a change in the system could reflect a change in the sheet.

---

I can't believe it, but somehow the flowered stink sauce is growing on us! The delicate pungency is breathtaking. But what will it be ladled over?

[Shreyas Sampat]

Mahoutsukai!
Recurring Antagonists for Snow From Korea

There are people in the world who dabble in the dark magic of blood, mahoutsukai. Not honourable samurai, of course! But the mad scholars of Qin, the man-eating savages of the southern islands, even the otherwise reasonable aristocrats of Korea have their own inauspicious powers. These rules allow the HEK to create and play recurring characters, in a deeper and more complex way than by simply describing successive encounters as having the same people in them. The HEK may create a mahoutsukai at the beginning of the game, at the same time as the players are creating samurai. This character is her Big Gun; he can be brought out when she feels the need to give a samurai a particularly hard time.

Creating the Mahoutsukai:
Creating the mahoutsukai is very similar to creating a samurai. First; the HEK should write a descriptive haiku for the sorceror, and then name him. She should secretly decide a nefarious plan that the mahoutsukai intends to implement. The next step is to assign numbers to his Facets. The HEK has as many points as the players to distribute, and obeys the same rules, with one exception: a mahoutsukai may have 0 in one Facet, but not two. As with samurai, mahoutsukai may also have School, Culture, and Inheritance, if you are using those optional rules. Record these initial Facet scores.

A mahoutsukai's Facets mean something slightly different than those of samurai, since he is twisted by darkness. His Awaré is his sensitivity to the fragility of things, and his fondness of breaking them. It is not empathy and consciousness of beauty. Similarly, his Kenjutsu is not his knowledge of the arts of combat; it is his bloodthirstiness and knowledge of inflicting injury. His Tanka represents his twisted, demonic lore. Finally, his Snow score represents his reserves of unholy energy. If you are using the optional Inheritance rules, the mahoutsukai does not benefit from the "finding the Snow" rule; he must redirect Facet gains to his Snow in order to empower himself.

Using the Mahoutsukai:
In the place of a normal encounter, the HEK may have the mahoutsukai challenge a samurai. The challenge is resolved according to the normal Challenge rules. In addition, the mahoutsukai may not challenge with the same Facet twice in a row, and the HEK may only use him once per turn cycle per three samurai, rounding up. (So she may use him once per turn cycle with three samurai, or twice per turn cycle if there are four.) The first time the mahoutsukai appears, the HEK should reveal his nefarious plan to the players as part of the scene.

At the end of the game:
The mahoutsukai's points are scored at the end of the game in the same method as those of the samurai. If he ends the game with the highest score, then he has achieved his nefarious plan. The HEK should narrate a short scene where he gloats. Nonetheless, this cannot prevent the samurai from returning home safely, nor does it prevent the samurai with the highest score from winning the game.

[Crackerjacker]

Weapon, Vehicle, and Shelter rules for Dawn of the Day of the Monsters



Friendly Guidelines to Deadly Weapons:
Knives come in a variety of flavors, the different styles most adept at different ways of killing things. The gamemaster and player should flesh out the personalities of knives and blade weapons in general, as lack of specifics often leads to Katanaz Syndrome (tm)

Bashing weapons such as baseball bats can and often are deadly and/or crippling, in the right hands. The effects of a attack reside in the gamemaster's assesment of the player character's capacities and the description of the action taken by said character.

Crowbars and many other edged objects can be used as bashing weapons and to more specifically deadly ends if the edges are taken advantage of. This should be kept in mind by the gamemaster and player while such objects are being used.

On the subject of objects, almost anything can be used as a weapon. It is up to the gamemaster to decide the effectiveness, but ultimately up to the player on how their character is going to use something as a instrument of hurt.

Kung Fu:
Unarmed combat is allowed in DDM according the the specific mood/tone the gamemaster is going for. For the all out trashy mood of the game, average guys and gals should be able to perform windmill kicks and pull of unrealistic haymakers, fancy martial arts moves, and televised wrestling style manuevers. However never underestimate a Goblin (soldier) or O.R.C.'s fu.

Gun Laws:
Revolver (six shots, max of 3 at once)
Pistol (eight shots, max of 2 at once)
-hand guns rule-: Handguns can be stored in sleeves, holsters, pockets, inside of pants, in belts, in backpacks, and even taped to the body.
Rifle (seven shots, max of 1 at once)
-sniping rule-: Sniping can theoretically instantly kill anyone, but not only is the sniper going to have little chance to miss and not lose her shot usually, but also is prone and unaware of her surroundings except for the area she is looking at through the scope
Submachine Gun (3 long bursts, or 6 short bursts)
Mounted Machine Gun (1 minute continous fire, or 20 bursts)
-the machine guns rule-: machineguns are the best for killing multiple targets in one turn. However a machinegun or smg can only be used to shoot in one 5 foot area, arcing the fire across said area, per burst. Exceptions for BFG mounted machineguns might be made by the gamemaster
-multiple targets rule-: in one set of shooting, the shooter can use his shots (such as 3 squeezed off quickly for a revolver) on different targets, though the more targets and the more of the rush the less severe the damage will be and the less a chance of hitting all targets is.

All rules apply not only to the Player's characters but also to the Non-player characters. Gamemasters are reccomended to not lightly choose to circumvent this general rule.

This Bag of Holding- Carrying rules:
Player's characters cannot at any times carry more objects with them than fill a backpack, the hands, and any satchels, belts, straps, or holsters the character has at the time without sacrificing the ability to draw or use weapons without first dropping the extra load. Thus the greedy are often making a fatal mistake.

Vehicular Manslaughter:
Breaking into vehicles is fun and easy for the average Texan, and most vehicles have the keys left in them. Said vehicles crash/explode almost immediately after any real progress of motion starts being made, with exceptions for vans, motorcycles, and any vehicles the player characters work together to "fix up", though said fixed up vehicles are doomed to eventually meet an untimely end. Another rule- the better protected a vehicle the harder it is to get out of.

Trapped in a Shopping Mall...:
All fortifications can and will at some point be comprimised. This said, even the most ramshackle hunting lodge can be fortified to keep out hordes of muties, as long as the player's characters either constantly maintain it or leave quickly. Often a door blocked with a two by four will still be securely shut after being left for an hour, but five minutes after the player character's getting back there it will start to come off it's hinges.

[Ben Lehman]

Polaris

To understand the nature of your fight, you must understand the world as it is now.  And to understand the world as it is now, you must understand how it was before.

As it was Before:

Polaris: The Snow Drop City

   Under the steady, vigilant light of the pole star, there was once a great city.  Built of ice and starlight, its people lived a life of untold bliss and happiness, eating thin delicacies, toasting each other with the twinkling wine of their eternal night sky.  The stars spun at their command, and in their citadels they crafted rainbow walls that cast the stars blue and red, and in those places their shadows danced with each other and the starlight.  The people, in that time, did not know hunger, did not know age, and did not know fear.  Their life was one of love and beauty, and pale lights shining eternal against the deepest shadow, for they were beautiful, and their music was more beautiful, and their queen was the most beautiful of all.

   This glorious time was only a single night, but it might also be said to have been eternity.  The people, in that age, did not measure time, for they did not yet know fear.

That Golden Rainbow: The Dawn

   It was in the reign of King Polaris MCCXII that the sightings first began.  At first it was thought to be that sort of gentle madness that strikes the greatest artists, but at times it came to be understood as some sort of regular phenomenon: that subtle rose, like a star blossoming flat and wide, that dappled the horizon, subtle and perhaps easily missed.  It reflected new colors -- yellow and green and gold -- inside the rainbow chambers and, because it was new, the people called it beautiful and named it dawn.  It became apparent that that subtle, disappearing dawn came at regular times, and so the King, who loved it more than anything, commissioned the construction of the Calendar -- a great mechanical device for the measurement and construction of time.  The thrummings, tickings, and clackings of that infernal device filled that halls of Polaris, and for the first time the people knew something that was not beautiful.

   At those rare moments of dawn, the king began to hold court in the highest towers, and during those times they did not eat or sleep or even dance, but merely sat motionless and watched that steady, heavy star that suffused the sky.  And, perhaps, the dawn was pleased by the king's actions (as much as such a thing could be said to be pleased), for when it came it came brighter, and longer, and soon the king was locked away from his city almost forever, watching that circling, vacant light.

   The musicians that saw the dawn would only draw from it a long, hideous scream, but no one paid them any heed.  Music was out of style at the court.

Polaris's Bride: The Snow Queen

   There were those among the people who were not so trusting of the dawn.  Polaris's bride, who was called by some the Snow Queen, was foremost among them.  In the secret and darkest hallways of the people, where the malevolent light of the dawn could not reach them, they held their own shadow court, and in that shadow court they spoke of the screechings of the musicians, of the soft and continuous melting that struck the outer reaches of the city, and in that court they swore oaths by the highest star to stop the dawn's fell influence.

   And it is in this manner, cowering the dark, that the order of the Star Knights was first begun.  First among them was the Queen's champion -- Algol -- who wore a starlight sword even at the most formal of occasions, and it was decided that this sword should become their symbol.

   It was an Order formed in the oldest tradition, and sanctified with a kiss and, it is said by some, was the root of the Mistake.

[Rich Forest]

Jonathon, Eero, thanks for the excitement--I'm writing feverishly this morning, and I can only hope it lives up to half of your expectations! And hey, Eero, if it's good enough and I can work out all the kinks, I definitely plan to fill it out and make an honest-to-god, with art, for sale .pdf out of it... you may just have the chance to pay for some version of it after all ;-)

(As an aside, a wow goes out to all the games in this thread. I'm being driven to work harder on mine because of how cool the other entries are!)

And now, back to that work.

Rich

[Asrogoth]

I am fighting myself to keep from posting anything else right now as I've got a whole lot of information to add, but I want to sift through it and just go ahead and finalize what I want to present.

Chairman Holmes-san,

If posting information "contrary" to that which has already been posted, we should make sure to clarify that our "latest" post is the most relevant and "complete" to avoid any errors in the Judge's understanding, correct?

I hope to present my "revised version" sometime either late tomorrow or Sunday, which will contain a few changes from what has already been stated....  I hope that is not a problem as the dishes I had planned seem to work better with different amounts of some seasonings, and require additional flavors which I managed to scrounge from the local convenience store.

Always,
-Asrogoth

[Ben Lehman]

Polaris

The Mistake in Time

It is spurious to consider the Mistake simply a moment in time, just as spurious as to consider the Mistake as simply the festering pillar of smoke that now lies at the pole.  The Mistake identifies the People today as much as the ice, the stars, or the sun, and is as complex as any of them.

Many stories are told about the Mistake, its nature, its origins, and its history.  Some say that it has always been there -- that the time of Polaris and the stars is simply a myth for children.  Others say that it is not there at all -- that it is merely an illusion created by the summer sun.  But most say that it was done, and that it was done by the people, and so they must take up the blame for their own destruction.

There are many stories about the Mistake, but no one among the people knows the truth.  The histories, if there ever were histories, have been lost and, although the libraries list books on the subject, they are filled only with ashes and not with words.

Some stories say that, as the Queen and Algol drew closer together, they became lovers and, as whatever affection there once was between the King and his Queen melted into nothing, the King grew increasingly paranoid and, eventually, entombed himself and his highest councillors in the highest tower of the city Polaris, where they performed great and terrible rituals to the sun -- things that were not music and were not dances -- and some further speak in hushed whispers about the terrible prices that the dawn from them as it burned their blood red, prices paid in skulls, flesh, and still beating hearts.

Some say that, in a devastating assault on the King's dawn cult, the Order of the Stars struck and destroyed the foul apparatus of the Calendar, leaving only rubble where there were once its intricate gears and springs.  Without that machine, the dawn worshippers did not know when their deity might return and, as the darkness wore on, they grew fearful that it would not.  The King flew into a mad fit, and declared that they must sacrifice what was most precious to them that the dawn might return.  In some twisted sense of altruism, he offered up the life of his Queen in service of his diabolical goal and, would it not for the timely intervention of her champion Algol, would have cut her open upon the remains of his machine.  Algol and the King fought on that machine and, as their icicle blood mingled with their beloved Queen upon it, strange alchemies began to emerge.

Some say that the King learned of a certain type of crystal that might magnify the sun, and constructed a great one in his high tower above the Calendar and the city Polaris.  Even as the crystal was being built, the Order of the Stars struck out at it but, as that fearsome battle ensued, the dawn rose up and was transformed by that crystal into the Sun.  Terrified by that burning star, all of the People rose up as one to fight against it, but even then they and their city were destroyed by its power.

Some say that the Order of the Stars, in desperation to escape the dawn, dug into the ice, deeper even than the sewers, deeper even than the ancient and abandoned hovels of their ancestors, deep into some terrible realm of water and fire, and there they met with the demons, and led them to the city, for they feared the dawn even more than they feared hell.

Some say that the transformation of the mysterious dawn into the terrible fun is a process as natural as the transformation of sight into music, and that the politics of the time were merely the reactions of an ignorant people to an unknown phenomenon.

In truth, the answer is not known but, in the end, the city was all but destroyed and that smoky Mistake was permanently written beneath the Sentinel Star.

[Ben Lehman]

Polaris

As it is Now

   The world now is a shattered remnant of its former glory, but still some things might be saved.

The People:

   The people of Polaris are tall, thin, and beautiful.  Their hair is pale silver, white, or gold, and their pale skin is so thin that you can see blue veins running through it.  Their eyes are pale blue, or pale red, or sometimes, rarely, green or white.  They are so beautiful that if you saw them, it would stop your heart, and so beautiful that at times they move even themselves to tears.  Their speech, when they deign to use is, is like the sound of water freezing, and their anger sounds like the cracking of a glacier.  Their tempers tend towards art and music, although they are capable of grand feats of combat and engineering when roused to action.

   Each of the families among the People has a patron star, and they are named for that followed, in more formal occasions, by a number, which indicates not line of descent but age among those presently alive.  In yet more formal occasions, a list of titles and offices will be given.

The Four Remnants:

   The majority of the people live in four settlements, each spaced equadistant from each other and the Mistake.  Each of these settlements is a single structure -- a great towering citadel of ice, starlight, and crystal -- and each has been rendered into a fortress by the work of the Order.  The smooth and winding hallways each lead to great vistas of the open ice, the retiring rooms are befitting in silks both spider and star-woven, and the grand council chambers are homes to ceremonies so beautiful that they call up tears from within the hardest heart.  But it is important to remember that each is a shadow of the former glory of Polaris, for in the times of the Capital they were merely the most remote of country neighborhoods, barely even fit to be called part of that great, single City.

   The Four Remnants are named Southkeep, Southreach, Tallstar and Southplain.  There are important differences between each of them (Southplain, for example, keeps the greatest surviving library of books from the previous age, and Southreach is famous for its music) but these are left for the individual explorer to discover.

   There are roads between the remnants, but they are seldom used by any save the Knights Stellar.

The Mistake in Space

   The Mistake, in center of the four remnants is, to most of the people, merely a blight on their beautiful sky, something to be considered in landscaping and window arrangement, for where the heart of the city Polaris once basked beneath the light of the Sentinel Star there is now a great tower of pale smoke leading up to the sky.

   To the knights, of course, it represents much more than an aesthetic stain on the landscape -- it is a symbol of their greatest failure, perhaps their greatest sin, and it is also a symbol of the demons that they fight.  The Mistake, and the hatred of it, is the center of the Order of the Stars. -- even more than the cities and the people that they love, even more than their star light swords and their patrons above, even more than the sun that they are sworn to fight.  It is the Mistake that beckons them to Crusade, the Mistake that spawns the demons that haunt them, the Mistake that gives them a reason to exist at all.

   No one has entered the Mistake and returned in any form but that of a demon, though this does not stop crusading knights from trying.

The Neighboring Families

   At times, the Knights Stellar will discover other parts of the city that were left somehow intact by the Mistake.  Most often, these are abandoned, although they are often left shockingly intact and may yield artifacts and lore from the Night Age.  But, sometimes, they are inhabited, and this is much more dangerous for the Knight.  Sometimes they people there have become isolated and feral, sometimes they have preserved their own pieces Polaris, sometimes they have been twisted into the worship of demons.  Sometimes, there are no people at all, but demons living together in some twisted mockery of civilization.

   But always, people are dangerous.

   It is the general policy of the Knights to attempt to rehabilitate these neighborhoods and put them in contact with the remnants.  But no one ever asks questions about such things.

The Demons

   The demons that emerge from the Mistake take on many different forms, and to try to speak of them all is impossible in such a short space.  A brief overview will have to suffice, and the intrepid explorer will have to discover the nature of these foul creatures on her own.

Those of Blood and Flesh

   These most obvious of demons pour forth from the Mistake every Spring in multifarious and improbable bodies.  Most are roughly in the shape of people, although there are those that resemble beasts, or spiders, or shapeless blobs of transparent flesh.  Spikes of bone protrude rudely from wounds in their hides, and their teeth are long and yellowed with the marks of meat.  Some demons are great monstrous creatures, but yet have muscle and bone like the people.  Others are merely skeletal, or blood sculpted into a stable form by some sort of foul will.  Some of the more human wear the blood-stained fineries of their prey and others, the less human, wear the skins of those that they have eaten.

   These demons shape their blood into weapons, or breath poison, or tear things apart with their claws.  To a one, they hunger for the flesh of the People, and will stop at nothing to get it, although some prefer to drink blood, and others to eat bones, and still others only for the beat of hearts.  When they are cut, they bleed red, and hot enough to melt ice and burn flesh.  Many are mindless, slavering beasts, but others are clever, and some might even be called subtle.  They are not opposed to sieges, and they understand stealth, infiltration, and patience.

   It is said, amongst the knights, that there are some demons that are more sly than mere warriors -- some that have mastered the art of wearing the skins of the people as disguises, and others have learned to crawl into the brains of the people and turn their thoughts and wills to the purposes of whatever lurks within the Mistake.

Those of Heart and Soul

   But there are more insidious demons, which have no forms at all.  Some of them are capable of taking the bodies of individuals amongst the people, whilst others are merely a feeling in the heart, a sinister cast to the light, or the bright color in a sunny rainbow.  These demons easily penetrate the remnant fortresses, and manipulate the people within to their own agenda.  Although the knights are often resistant to their powers, the other people are far too susceptible, and such a demon is often capable of enormous harm before it is rooted out and destroyed, if it ever is.

   Such demons are difficult, though not impossible, to fight.  They cannot be cut, even by the starlight swords of the knights, and they are often strong enough to overcome a simple exorcism.  Fortunately, each one has a weakness but, unfortunately, each weakness is unique.

   These incorporeal demons are often intelligent enough to have their own goals and purposes, and sometimes they have be turned against each other, for they are highly susceptible to each others attack.  Sometimes, knights even come to an "understanding" with a Demon of the Heart, and this is often the start of the knight's corruption.

The Snow Man and the Ice Maiden

   The most terrifying demons within the hoard are not giant, slavering monsters, nor are they the barely noticeable puffs of poisoned wind.  The greatest among the demons are not demons at all -- they are people.

   Only rarely ever sighted, the Snow Man appears to be the greatest general among the demons, and greatly respected by their kind.  He is one of the people, golden-haired, and he wields a starlight sword that burns bright and hot with the fire of the sun.  His blood is so cold that it has frozen into icicles that break through his skin, but for all that he is tall and strong and one of the people.  He has been known, at times, to speak with knights, and though he has been driven back and defeated many times, even killed, he returns the same every summer.

   The Ice Maiden is even more rarely seen.  She is the epitome of beauty among the people -- thin and silver-haired, with eyes the white color of the guardian.  She wanders alone the wasted landscape between the Remnants, and is most often seen from a distance, singing melancholy songs that can only be heard by the saddest of souls.  Snow falls from her breath, and her kiss turns the most loving heart to ice.

   Some among the knights say that the Snow Man and the Ice Maiden
are Polaris's Queen and her champion, Algol, turned by the Mistake's cruel irony into servants of the Sun.  If you listen to the stories, this makes sense.  But the truth is not that simple.

   The Snow Man and the Ice Maiden are every knight that has ever, frustrated and angry, cast lots against the people, every knight who has ever despaired of his people's faith, every knight who has ever turned to the demons with a corrupt and blackened heart.  The Snow Man and the Ice Maiden are terrible because they are mighty, yes, but they are all the more terrible because they are the future of every knight who does not perish in battle against them.  They are most terrible because, with one look into their eyes, you know that once, a forgotten age ago, they meant well.

   (Optional Rule: Any encounter with the Snow Man or the Ice Maiden automatically invokes the "Knight of the Order of the Stars" trait as a demonic invocation.)

That's the first mention of mechanics from Chef Lehman, which is an unusal change of pace for this usually rules-oriented designer.  It seems maybe that he's trying for some sort of high-concept sim or possibly narrativsist-setting game, but with only background and setting, can he hope finish in time?