October was a hectic month with the Virtual Greyhawk Con 6 and then Gamehole Con, and after I got home Con Crud got me really bad. Recovering from the worst flu I’ve had in decades, but after over a week of feeling terrible I’m back at my desk again able to concentrate and get things done.
In my seminars I showed a few sneak peaks of the new generations Greyhawk maps in the making. The first stage, terrain construction and render are the most time consuming I’m proud to report that I’ve now covered way more than I hoped. Shield Lands, Horned Society, Lands of Iuz and large parts of Furyondy and the Bandit Kingdoms are also moving into the second phase. Better computer and software updates have made it possible to work on several thousands of square miles at the time in this first phase, even using a tiled approach covering over 30,000 square miles. Thanks to your support I’ve now been able to do this for years, gaining experience and knowledge of how to tackle thorny issues like lakes and river systems spanning continents.
Creating a new “base terrain map” of the Flanaess, and potentially the whole planet at 100 feet per pixel is now a realistic project that I’m able to finish within a few thousand hours of work, like a year or so of work for stage one, heigh map and mask for things like water depth and other date needed for further refinement and texturing. I’ve taken large areas Shiel Lands that I’ve been using for my own campaign through all the stages of development to final map to confirm the base data is good enough to get the result I’m striving for. Tested both 100 and 5 feet per pixel, with great results. Especially the 5 feet per pixel is a versatile resolution usable for everything from battle maps and up.
I’m very tempted to go the “porta potty” route and enhance all the maps to this resolution. It is more work, but far from 20 times more work, and finding the right tool and workflow is key. This is where I think Gaea can fit in being superior in erosion detail and texturing, but it is a field rapidly developing with procedural tools able to do this very efficiently very soon. Vector displacement adds another dimension to this, literary, no longer limiting what I do to heightmaps only. Heightmaps work really well for large area maps, but when you move closer and you want to include things like overhangs, caves and even things like trees, this will make that possible with procedural power behind it.
The good part of this is that I can keep working on a solid heightmaps as a start of this process and use then for either (or both) approaches later. So, I will develop as much as I can of heightmaps and mask data covering the whole planet in the next couple of years, and in the meantime also figure out best approaches for the next phase of development. This might be different for different areas, higher resolution maps for the Flanaess, and lower for the rest of the planet, and maybe even higher resolution that 5 feet for areas of special interest. The next version of World Machine offers some tantalizing opportunities, as do Gaea, Blender, World Creator and Unreal, I’m keeping an eye on what is coming and it’s looking promising.
GIS
Now that the first GIS based maps are done, the 1:2,000,000 Digital Edition, it is time to start work on a Print Edition. I’m not sure what scale will work best for print, but I’m planning to shoot for a 24x36 inches format. It is a standard format available at almost every print shop in the country (and beyond), usable in size. There are a lot of things to work out, like overlap, icon and font sizes, and more. I will make a test area 8,5 x 11 that we can print on a normal printer to see what works best, then use the same settings for the print maps. A large overview setting map would be nice too, but there wee have size and cost issues and I must find a new printing partner that can reliably print large stuff at a reasonable price.
Now that I’m feeling better again it’s time to have a GIS seminar focusing on how to use a Geopackage to make your own versions of the map. I’m going to propose dates very soon; I just need to coordinate with a couple of people who expressed interest in this to make sure they can participate.
Hawk Tales
I ran a u number of sessions at VGHC6, Gamehole Con and before at all levels from low to really high and learned a lot, both good and bad. I was a bit worried by the high-level session with characters 15th – 18th level, most rule systems slow downplay to a crawl at this level. I’m very pleased to say that wasn’t the case in our game, which made me very happy. There are still issues, like Armor and how it’s using hardness to reduce damage, this leads to a lot of calculations. I’m reworking Hardness to make it simple with increments of 5.
Missile weapons are another area that will receive an overhaul to make bows, composite bows and crossbows, both more interesting, distinctive, useful and hopefully not too overpowered. More on that soon.
Filling in the gaps in the rules I haven’t covered yet, with things like Encumbrance. I intend to use a slot system and I’m working out the math on that now, setting up spreadsheets to see where I want its limits to be. Wealth and crafting are another area I haven’t developed yet. Crafting is a key aspect for long term play, so it is an important part as well, and often overlooked.
Here comes a first Iuzian heraldry compendium. I had planned to have it ready for VGHC6 but running three games was a bit more demanding than I thought, but here it is. It covers a selection of Iuz' top henchmen symbols and a few other shields.
Lets take a quick look at the individual shields and symbols.
Empire of Iuz
This is the banner of the Iuzian Empire, probably introduced by Iuz wen he returned to Dorakaa and launched his campaign on conquest and empire building.
Dorakaa - Land of Iuz
This is the shield of the original lands of Iuz, and in my campaign they still are and its the symbol of the imperial seat of power at Dorakaa.
Legion of Black Death
My take on the shield of the core military unit of Iuzian power, the Legion of Black Death. The empire shield but using a black background.
Boneheart
On the compendium I made this into a tattoo, which I think is probably a bit more common way to use it, but here is the shield.
Boneshadow
The design is mine, and it is just two mirrored Iuz skull symbols making up a demonic face, and variants of this makes up a lot of my Iuz related heraldry.
Sindol
A fancier version of the double skull design on a black background that I use for the cambion who commands Iuz armies, General Sindol.
Old Phalanx
I call Sindol's elite unit the "Old Phalanx" and gave them this heraldry, here it is in its dark non active variant. The shields are magical and can generate a lot nasty effects. below is how it can look when active in "intimidate mode".
and then "incinerate mode".
Iuz Holy Symbols
Comes in black and white versions.
Althea
My take on Althea's heraldry, the serpent and the eyes, using Iuz standard colors. I think Iuz doesn't allow for much creativity and deviation from what he is using, so his henchmen (for the most part) keep close to their master.
Halga
Halga is using a similar scheme but using a couple of the bones from the skulls instead of the eyes, the same colors but in a different order.
Hallorn
The centrally located settlement that I have Iuz turning into a regional center and maybe even a new capital. Simple back with the serpent is serving as an interim symbol.
Gensal Hordes
The Iuzian banner used by the Hobgoblins and other units operating from Gensal in the occupied Shield Lands.
Deepshuttle Delve
First the old shield from before the Iuzian take over.
and the new shield imposed by Dorakaa.
Gerregak
One of my additions to the Horned Lands, a city north east of Molag and the main settlement for the southern hobgoblin clans.
Urzun
This design comes from the cover of Adventure Begins, and I assigned it to the Urzun orcs from the Howling Hills.
Here are a shields of some of Iuz henchmen:
Kaquziel
"The Snake" has been given a double snake symbol on a bone white background.
Maskaleyene
The vampire Maskaleyene is a simple black shield with a ring symbol relating to his use of magic rings and a simple and recognizable design.
Null
Has the simples of symbols with just the jaw bone of the skull on a black background.
Ormuz
Uses a more flamboyant design, but still firmly in the Iuz tradition.
Kermin Mindbender
Again a simple design, but a little bit whimsical and not a standard Iuzian one.
You can get the fancy versions of the heraldry and the compendium here (154.4MB Zip):
https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/Heraldry/Heraldry%20-%20Iuz.zip
and simple png versions here (1.7MB Zip):
https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/Heraldry/Iuz%20-%20simple%20heraldry.zip
There will be a follow up release of more Iuz related shields, I have a lot more in the making. Next up will be a look at missile weapons in Hawk Tales, and a mapping stream tomorrow at 6pm PDT as usual on https://www.twitch.tv/anna_b_meyer
Thank you so much for all the support! 🙂
It is A LOT of work to prep for three games, a bit late but here are the character sheets for the main game Saturday. Two are the same as in the Scout Party game on Friday, Ottumin and Onzek so for them see: https://www.patreon.com/posts/vghc6-recon-game-139894426
The characters for the main battle are tough and will be facing some tough resistance, but they are also my first real battle test of high-level play in Hawk Tales. Designed a mission area that I think will be both fun, challenging and a bit varied to test the various capabilities of this powerful party. So here is a short introduction to the other four.
The character sheets can be download here: https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/rules/VGHC6%20-%20Pregens%20-%20Main%20Battle.zip
Arlen was born in Chendl, into a family of minor merchants who made their original money in Libernen, but when Chendl was constructed, they relocated to the new capital and have been modestly successful since. Young Arlen, who at least possessed a recognized family name, got a chance to get good tutelage but didn’t care much for proper schooling, he was way more adventurous. He spent his money on equipment and training and was a young promising adept of Heironeous when the war broke out, and he quickly got his chance to show what he was made of. Strong, fast and tough, 6 feet tall Arlen rose in the ranks and never backed down from an engagement, and after the fierce battles of Crockport and Redoubt even the king took notice.
When it came to liberate Furyondy Arlen was one of the first to volunteer, and he fought alongside Katarina and others during the very worst of circumstances. This made him a Knight of the Hart and then he was given Katarina’s old job of being special aid to the King, meaning keeping him alive. Arlen is still a newcomer to politics and nobility, but he is considered by most to be the most capable warrior in the whole kingdom.
Young Basdin grew up in Rookroost and begun to hone his career in the taverns and backstreets early in life, and his wit and charm took him to new places across the Bandit Kingdom in his teens. While being careful, handsome and smarts can only take you so far in the harsh Bandit Lands, so when he ended up in Radigast City still barely twenty years old he quickly realized the new opportunities that this city offered. He had just a few years of reasonable success among the city’s more notable establishments when war came and his old homelands succumbed to the Old One. This was the time when Basdin’s life changed from freewheeling youngster to a man with ambitions, he wanted to do something for the people le had left behind in what had now become dark lands indeed.
Basdin built on his theatrical skills, and few magic tricks he knew to become both an accomplished swordsman and studied hard whatever he could find to read. He signed up as a volunteer for the City Guard but barely got a chance to start before he one late evening intervened to save a member of the Gellor’s who had a late night out as well. It ended with Basdin serving at court as an aid protecting important people as they went on business around the city and in the region. This gave Basdin both access to great training, insight into courtly life and its intrigues.
As his skills and reputation grew his duties expanded and eventually sent hi as an assistant envoy to the court in Chendl. Basdin expanded his portfolio beyond his diplomatic mission and took part in the fighting and was honored by being asked to become a courtier to the new Marshal of Furyondy Katarina Walworth, which Basdin gladly accepted. He has served Katarina in various ways ever since.
She is the best archer in the Shield Lands, and when she was in an archery contest at a young age Katarina picked her up and made sure, she got the best training and equipment. Bia has served with Katarina in Furyondy and now in the Patrol as an archery specialist and she has grown into a fierce warrior able to do stunts with a bow that will make even some elves raise more than an eyebrow.
Janzipir is an exiled Johrase bandit, who earned his way with powerful fighters through his skill in planning ambushes, assassinations and the like. He hates Iuz with a palpable vengeance. Iuz's hobgoblins tortured him and left him for dead, and he will ally with anyone who opposes them. He had no real love for Furyondy, but he was given a safe place to plan, scheme, and watch and gloat at the prospect of thousands of hobgoblins being slaughtered. Since Furyondian soldiers did that, he was absolutely honest in the information he gives concerning the actions of goblinoids across the Veng.
During the decade since his settling in Furyondy his respect for his new homeland and its customs have grown and a mutual respect between the Se’eer and his new hosts have grown, and Janzipir is now an established authority in the fight against the Old One. He has also grown in capabilities from a promising meddler in the Arcane arts to a Divination experts who has broaden his skills and is not a very capable wizard and student of Boccob.
Here comes a pdf with all the spells the characters have access to, 30 all in all. You can get them here (339KB): https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/rules/VGHC6%20Skirmish%20Game%20Spells.pdf
A few notes, so lets look at a spell, and why not the most iconic one, Fireball:
Level: 3
School: Evocation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Long (120 feet)
Effect: 20 feet radius of fire
Components: V, S, M (bat guano and sulfur)
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Athletics (Evasion) Dex halves
A fiery mote streaks to a point within range and explodes in a burst of flame. The fire spreads around corners and ignites unaended flammable objects. Each creature in the area takes 23(6d6) fire damage.
Specialization (Evocation or Elemental)
+1: 7d6 Fire Damage 30 feet radius
+2: 8d6 Fire Damage
+3: 9d6 Fire Damage 40 feet radius
+4: 10d6 Fire Damage
Damage Expertise (Fire)
+1: Damage Die increase to d8.
+2: Damage Die increase to d10.
+3: Damage Die increase to d12
+4: Damage Die increase to d12+2
Conduit: Arcane , Divine , Primal Strain: Elemental Taint: None
Most here would be normal for everyone who played any edition of D&D, but there are few changes. First one is Saving Throws, which in Hawk Tales uses Skills (and sometimes expertise) with a DC set by the caster.
Specialization is a way you can effectively upcast spells without the need to use up those higher level spell slots. So casters that are not specialized can still make use of this table and upcast, but it will cost them a higher slot. Specialization can be access in two ways, School Specialization (Evocation in this case) and Strain Specialization (Elemental in this case).
Damage Expertise is another way of getting a bigger bang, Arcane casters can specialize in various forms of energy, fire, cold, lightning, necrotic, force and and so on. There are 11 different Arcane Damage Expertise's in the game now, and that hopefully covers all.
School Specialists are the Abjurers, Evokers, Diviners, Elementalists and so on. Strain Specialists are your Shadowmancer's for example. Damage Experts could be a Pyromancer for example. This system gives players a chance to create casters that are everything from Universal Arcanists to hyper focused Demonlogists.
This isn't only for Arcane casters. All schools, except Clemency, are Arcane, but Strain and Damage Expertise are fair game for Divine and Primal casters as well. So a Cleric of Heironeous can get an Elemental Strain specialization and a Lightning or Radiant (or both) Damage Expertise and really scale up his spells.
The bottom row of the spell description lists:
Conduit: how the magic can be gained. Arcane (by knowledge or Intuition).
Divine: Gifted by a deity (or other powerful creature, or entity).
Primal: Magic power gained by attunement to nature.
Strain: the source of energy the spell uses which can be important since the spell needs access to that source. The type of casting determines the key factor of WHEN the source is tapped, which can be critical during adventuring.
Innate Casters access the strain only once, when they gain the ability to cast the innate magic. This is why innate magic is both costly and difficult to learn and limited to low level spells for mortals.
Ritual and Spontaneous Casters access the strain at the time of casting, which can be very limiting when you go to other planes for example.
Prepared Casters access the strain when preparing the spell, which can make them the most versatile of casters, since accessing certain strains can attract unwanted attention. So by being able to prep at home base and then move into a dangerous location you can bring in lots of power and set it off even in difficult places. The problem comes if you run out of spell slots..
This is only a second alpha version but I already feel like I'm starting get to my goal of having a magic system that on the surface for low level beginning players is almost as easy as regular D&D, but as you play, level up and face more dangers and new situations, the magic rules are able to deliver much more depth and flavor.
Some Strains are kind of pseudo systems in a way, like Cerebral (mind magic) that opens up a whole new field whish its own portions and rules, since the psyche is not the physical world, and even the Fey, Shadow and the other Metaphysical Strains have quirks as well. But I'm going to detail them in future posts.
I hope this sounds interesting, and thank you again for all your support that makes this possible!
Hawk Tales uses Hit Points just like we are used to from D&D and similar systems, but adds a bit more to it. A characters health can be categorized into four states, healthy, bloodied, injured or dead.
Healthy
As long as your character has half its Hit Points or more, it is healthy and no need to worry,
Bloodied
When you have lost more than half your Hit Points, you become Bloodied and the negative consequences are staring to show. You can no longer benefit from a Short Rest, and only get limited use out of a Long Rest. But you can still fully function and suffer no other effects, so being Bloodied is only really a problem for long term play when resting and recovery plays a role.
Injured
When your character gets into trouble, the inevitable will happen, you will run out of Hit Point, and then your Character is considered Injured. This can quickly become very dangerous; your level of Injuries increases by one every round until you are stabilized. You also loose Concentration on Spells the ability to spend Exertion, and your movement rate is halved. To stabilize and stop slipping closer to death, you need to make a Death Save and your Injury Level is the DC you need to meet. Death Saves have a number of modifiers to them, like your size, armor, Taint, magic, divine aid or someone is there to assist you, so they are easy to pass if you don’t have too many injuries but the odds can deteriorate fast. You make your Death Save, and you are stable, a failed save means you lose Presence and gain Taint. This will affect your character going forward, and if you run out of Presence your character is now on the journey to the afterlife.
This is how Death Saves works for creatures with a Soul, creatures with other forms of Essences this functions differently in various ways. All the pregens except two have the Essence of Soul, the other two are spirit-based creatures. The same rules apply for NPC’s and monsters so be a bit careful, for example those Dark Souls and Residuun based creatures can and will surprise and challenge you and your party.
Death
I’m not going to cover that here in depth, but Hawk Tales have rules for a character’s afterlife as well, and this is when the metaphysical stats really comes into play. If you have a high Com and Low Taint, and have a soul, you are a priced commodity indeed. Only dying in the right circumstances, or careful preparation, can save what is left of you from being devoured by those whose whole existence revolves around harvesting souls of the unlucky.
There are currently 22 different types of damage (and Drains) in the rules. Most of the inflict Hit Point Damage just like regular D&D, but others drain Abilites, Life (ages you), or affects your metaphysical abilities like Comeliness, Presence and Taint. Vorpal Damage is nasty and inflict Injuries right away, effectively brining your Hit Points to 0 in the process.
During the game I will warn you of potential or direct danger, depending on your Characters knowledge and how well you succeed on your Insight Checks.
Armor functions differently in Hawk Tales, normal armor doesn’t make you harder to hit, it will absorb damage instead, but not all damage. All armor comes with a Hardness, Minimum, Beastings and some also provide a Death Save Bonus. Some armor, like magical or certain forms of natural armor can provide an AC bonus as well, but that is not the norm.
For example, Studded Leather has Hardness 10, Minimum 2, Beatings 6 and Death Save Bonus of +2. This means that what something hits you your Studded Leather can deduct 10 from the damage, but you will still take 2 points of damage. Beatings provides a way to convert Crits to normal hits and let the armor take the hit instead by deducting a Beating. When you run out of beatings your armor needs to be repaired, or its Minimum will be double. Crits are far more common using Hawk Tale rules, so Beatings provides a very useful aid to stay alive longer.
Shields
Shield, unlike armor, makes you harder to hit by providing an AC bonus, and also more beatings so can be doubly useful.
Here comes the Characters for my second game - Recon. This starts out at almost the same location as the Skirmish Game, and the timeline are close as well. This time the mission is to be a small nimble force who enter into Iuzian lands to find where the nasty Skull Ravens who's been a deadly menace during the Needfest Celebrations roost. Find the location and the ones giving them order.
This game is about survival out in the open and will require skill, good judgement, deception and deadly force. The characters going on this mission have what it takes in spades, being handpicked for this mission. Levels are 9 to 12, with Ottumin being a seasoned leader and Onzek as an experienced second in command. The others are both combat capable and can support the mission with both spells, skills and healing, Ertin is the exception, he is here because he hits hard when needed.
Ottumin and Alienne will also be characters in my last game for VGHC6 - The Main Battle session.
The character sheets can be found here (zip 8.5MB): https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/rules/VGHC6%20-Pregens-Recon.zip
A stern but handsome Flan is the leader of the Order of the Shield’s special Patrol directly under Katarina’s command they are responsible for deep insertion into Iuzian lands and other especially dangerous assignments. Ottumin is originally from Weslan and grew up herding the family’s livestock and spent most of his formative years out in the open lands guarding his flock against everything from wolves to more nefarious folks stealing his animals. Young Ottumin always dreamt of seeing the rest of the world and having survived a few scary encounters his confidence grew, and he took on jobs taking him across the Shield Lands and gave him his first taste of the world.
Arriving in Stahzer as trade hand he saw the borders of Shield Lands for the first time, and the frontier lured him in. First as a patrol man for the County of Stahzer and then promoted to group leader. This is when the war came to Stahzer, and Ottumin got his first taste of betrayal. The Count of Stahzer surrendered quickly, without offering much resistance, and ordered everyone else to do the same. Confused, scared and disgusted, Ottumin fled and to his luck he fled north at the time when most of the invaders moved south to conquer more of the Shield Lands, so he got away.
Being used to living off the lands he drifted north and west trying to stay hidden. Then he got lucky, or more correctly, someone else’s lack of luck benefited Ottumin when he needed it the most. He found a group of other refugees who had fled but was to late to join them, they had all perished from injuries and lack of provisions. On one of them he found a symbol of Tritherion and a prayer book. Ottumin had maybe heard about Tritherion but didn’t knew much, or was especially religious, just following tradition Flan customs while fitting in a more Oeridian culture. This little tome had a message that in these dire times spoke to him, both when he read from the book, and in his sleep. Ottumin became increasingly convinced Tritherion guarded over him and what had started as a flight way from danger grew into an opportunity, and opportunity to bot see the world and serve as Tritherion’s aid in troubled lands.
He spent over a year traveling through the Fellreev where he met up with other refugees and forest folks who where Flan just like himself. He helped and was rewarded with skills, equipment and his first real combat engagements. After a couple of years with them he said farewell and headed north in spring, more confident than ever. After a long trek he found Dingaverge where he found out that no one was looking for refugees from the south here, and a capable warrior could get work keeping the towns’ establishments safe from various hoodlums trying to cause trouble. He learned languages and honed his skills as a warrior.
His stay in Dingaverge made Ottumin realize that morale and courage are a rare commodity, so he kept his Tritherion symbol and prayer book well-hidden and never talked about it to others. But he helped those he could that where in need, which led him to realize it was time to move on. A caravan of fur traders heading west became his ticket further. When he understood they where headed to Dorakaa, and what that place was like he cut his losses and departed in Kazgund. This was crazy in more ways than one, he had arrived in Kazgund just as the first wave of loot from foreign lands arrived with Orc veterans drunk on both mead, treasure and conquest. This meant that prices went through the roof and labor became scarce, which meant opportunities for those brave enough to stay and work for these crazy heads. Ottumin’s Flan complexion, understanding of the language and stern manors of someone who had killed at least a score of opponents in battle, gave him a pass.
Soon thereafter the first Iuzian clerics started to arrive and those changed things, these where cold hearted murderous people serving someone with a fervor Ottumin had never seen before. This is when he returned to Tritherion again after leaving the city for yet again taking to the wilderness. He wandered north trying his best to stay away from more populated lands now increasingly infested with Iuzian clerics. That summer he spent in the marshy edges of the lands of the Urzun. He knew that these Orcs would not tolerate intruders and either kill or enslave every stranger they encountered. Fall arrives early this far north, and for the first time Ottumin felt really alone and scared, these where wild lands very far removed from any form of civilization.
The Cold Marshes gave Ottumin a new brake in life, his first true friend. One evening he encountered what looked like a rugged lone wolf who stalked him without attacking. They spent a long night staring at each other and Ottumin shared what food he had, and after that they were inseparable. What Ottumin had thought was a fully grown black wolf was in fact just a puppy, despite being the size of a fully grown wolf. He named him after what he had heard was the ruler of the north Kestmo, probably referring to Archbaron Bestmo of Blackmoor.
The pair roamed the north for over a year together before they both decided that these lands where starting to become more and more dangerous. They decided to head east instead and after two years of slowly wandering east they reached the last remnants of the Rovers, a fellow Flan people that Ottumin and Kestmo felt very welcomed to stay with. This is where Ottumin met the next new friend in his life a woman who hailed from his native Shield Lands. Hadn’t it been for Kestmo and Tritherion’s help this encounter would have been brief, instead they found each trustworthy and a friendship was started. Katarina was there to do reconnaissance for raiding the Gibbering Gate, which Ottumin only learned about afterwards, but she promised him friendship and work if he decided to join her in Furyondy.
Ottumin knew there was more than what met the eye with both Kestmo and Katarina and saw it as his life’s duty to stand by their side. As Katarina raided the Gibbering Gate Ottumin and Kestmo prepared to journey back south again. At a distance Ottumin saw his first dragon, or rather dragons, several of them attacking the distant fortress of the Gibbering Gate. He smiled and felt he was on the winning side for the first time in his life.
A few months later Ottumin and Kestmo arrived in Chendl after having had trouble several times with watchmen who didn’t take lightly seeing a huge menacing wolf present. A letter from Katarina and a few coins and a Tritherion blessing helped them on, and at last they reached Chendl. This was a world away from what Ottumin had experienced, and they even had a shrine for Tritherion. It was miniscule by Chendl standards, but to Ottumin it was a cathedral, and he was welcomed into the small congregation. Later that day he met Katarina again, now a Marchal of Furyondy in waiting and he and Kestmo was there for her commissioning. That night Ottumin got drunk for the first time of his life, and he is not sure what happened but Tritherion and every other god he knew was very kind to him that night.
Ottumin became a friend and confidant of the new Marchal and joined her in the Great Northern Crusade, and over several years he campaigned together with Katarina and did many missions with her and with others, and he became one of the most fearsome warriors of any lands. Always together with Kestmo, who had now grown into a fearsome beast large as a small horse. Katarina told him that Kesto was a Worg of the Blackmoor kind a rare breed renowned for their loyalty and intelligence.
When Katarina took over as Commander of the Order of the Shield Ottumin was there as one of her closest confidants, and now he is the leader of her Patrolmen and the reconquest of his birthlands have begun.
Katarina Walworth keeps a few young protegees around at most times, Alienne and her sister Riena are two of them. Critwall is not unfamiliar with gossip about these youngsters that seem far too young to be at court, much less at the front where the Commander also brings them. Equipped with the best of gear, that even seasoned veterans very reluctantly must admit, they seem to be able to handle. Since it is war that can be useful, and thanks to Katarina’s uncontested prowess in battle, begrudgingly (after facing losses during mock fights) Alienne’s surprising speed, agility and prowess is being accepted.
Katarina has ordered Ottumin to bring her on this Recon mission, so she is in. She will bring strength, divine abilities and more the party…
Bruenor was born in Delard in County of Axeport as it was known back then as the only son to a couple who maintained and repaired small boats. Young Bruenor was only 4 years old when the forces of the Horned Society closed in on the town and the family decided to flee. They ended up in Herechel, a large town on the Furyondian side of the Veng estuary.
Life in Herechel was comparatively good and his parents could continue their work. Herechel has a small port suitable for the kind of small vessels they had worked on in Delard. War was continually close by during Bruenor's whole upbringing, first the Horned Society conquest of the Shield Lands and the escalation into major conflict in 585 CY when Iuz forces took over the occupation of the Shield Lands and attacked Furyondy.
Very eager to join the fight, as a 10-year-old Bruenor was too young to join any military unit. When he was 15 he and a group of young Shield Landers in exile took the ferry from Veng Keep to Southroad and told the first official they encountered that that wanted to join the order and fight for their homeland. That very night the youngsters witnessed first hand how a large force of hobgoblins lead by a Iuzian cleric stormed the towns defenses that was only partially built at the time. Bruenor was tasked with assisting those who where bringing the wounded and the dead to safety.
That brutal baptism of fire made him see war clearly, both the brutality and grief but also the determination and courage of the Shield Landers who defended the town. Young Bruenor decided then and their to be as tough as they where. He was sent to Onea on Scragholme Island for basic training and early on he got recognized for being levelheaded and keeping his cool.
After two years in training, in the summer of 595 CY he was sent to Southbridge for his first front line assignment. He was part of a new generation of warriors trained by hardened veterans and well equipped who got a chance to show the enemy what they where made of. He served well and gained a reputation for being both brave and patient. He swore and oath to the order and was now on his way to become a knight.
Slowly Heironeous call became stronger and stronger and Bruenor decided to concentrate on serving the arch paladin in the role of protector of the faithful instead of becoming a knight. The blessings from his new master grew stronger over the next few years as Bruenor participated in the defense of the area around Critwall and the daring raid to retake Southbridge keep in 597 CY. He was part of the reconnaissance force and made quite impression during the clandestine river crossing and further action behind enemy lines. This led to Bruenor being asked to join the [[Shield Patrol]] by [[Ottumin]] one of the unit's commanders.
The last year Bruenor have spent a large chunk of time on patrol deep into occupied territory hiding from the enemy more than actually fighting him, but from time to time the action have ben brutal. After a daring recon mission along the Sente river he was given his most cherished possession, a longsword blessed by Heironeous, which have proved very useful in later missions.
After a few weeks of light duty and rest in Critwall Bruenor was selected to recon for the large force that was going to set out to retake Southkeep under the leadership of Katarina Walworth herself. This was the first time he saw the now legendary commander in person. He arrived with his ragtag looking band of fellow warriors. Bruenor had in youth imagined himself in shining armor, which he had worn a few times as an honor guard in Critwall, most of his service had been dressed to blend in among the ragtag souls still present in the occupied southern Shield Lands.
On Sunsebb the 12th 598 CY they attacked Southkeep with full force, the sheer intensity, brutality and suddenness stunned even him. It was the first time he witnessed what a force several thousand strong could bring to bare. Only five of the enemy managed, or was let to escape, the rest was given no pity and those who had any signs of the Old One was put to the sword. A handful of civilians was found in a slave pen half frozen to death in the winter chill. They was helped back to recovery and sent back west for interrogation and assistance.
A large part of the force continued to press on and the next day Katarina told them that the next stop was [[Auldet]] a small town that had been occupied since the start of the war. It was going to be used as a base for further venturing into the Serion Hills. Katarina laid out a plan to check in on a an old mountain stronghold in the hands of a band of freedom fighters led by a servant of the Old Faith [[Maidjan]], and then retake the Serion Keep next door. Bruenor herd some people laughing or muttering something about [[Vayne]]'s hunting lodge.
Bruenor's latest adventure is under way near Critwall during the 599 CY Needfest festivities. He is part of a group protecting the city and its special guests. The group have been clashing with a force of Iuzians skulking around east of the city, finding their camp. Confronting their leader Vadvenek, and with some unexpected help from Glushnag, the Mighty defeated Vadvenek and retreated back to Plarron Keep.
Ertin was born the year war came to the lands of the Shield, young Ertin was only a few months old when the hordes of the Hierarchs stood at the walls of Critwall where he was gifted with life. His father was a young squire and his mother an aspiring warpriest of Mayaheine, and with a set of parents like that could have been a great start in life. The fate of the hour had it to destine young Ertin to become an orphan during his first year in life, dutiful and brave parents didn't last long during the siege of Critwall in late 581 CY.
Orphans was cared for as well as the situation allowed, the ones in charge realized with grim determination that every young child was needed now more than ever. Ertin was schooled and trained from a very early age, and all the orphans where soon assed to figure out what they showed promise in. When Ertin was a mere eight he was selected to become warrior, he was on the small side but had lighting fast reflexes, good balance and great coordination. Training with wooden weapons that became increasingly laden with weights to simulate the real thing gave Erin purpose and a sense of calm. The world around him faded away and he found a sense of focus he loved.
The war had now moved on beyond the view from the walls and life was starting to get back to normal again. Ertin learned about his parents, the life they could have had and they sacrifice they made. Faith, devotion and to serve was getting a revival after several years of defeat and loss and new leadership for the order took over and in 594 CY a thirteen year old Ertin met [[Katarina Walworth]] for the first time. Her and the new group of knights had taken the war to the enemy, liberated Furyondy, and now pledged to do the same with their native Shield Lands.
Next year Ertin became the youngest soldier who be selected to serve at the [[Plarron Keeps]] that was part of a new line of defenses protecting Critwall. In 595 CY at the age of 14 Ertin saw battle for the first time. They where holding a hill a mile east of the building site and after sunset a force of Hobgoblins made an attack to test their defenses. After the first arrows had flown passed his head a hobgoblin riding a worg came towards him. The worg was speeding along the trench Ertin was standing in, and the hobgoblin was leaning towards Ertin to reach him, gleefully smiling at the child he saw in the trench.
Ertin didn't pay any heed to all that, his trance came over him and when the enemy came closer he instinctively used his reflexes and training and managed to gut the worg with a good hit in its belly. The Hobgoblin fell off and uttered a tirade of curses that would have made anyone who understood goblin seek shelter. Young Ertin didn't understand any of that but was determined to win not only this fight but the entire war if needed, and he acted with the patients of a teenager drunk with adrenaline. The hobgoblin didn't now what hit him and was bled to death in mere seconds.
The commander of Ertin's unit saw the speed and determination in young Ertin. It didn't take long before he was on his way to become a promising young squire of the Order. Maybe even the youngest at 16. He was taught to fight with all sorts of weapons and soon showed himself to be a very skilled fighter, speed and coordination was his strong side, strength was his weakness at first.
Ertin became very proud of the trust his superior had in him, but he was very shy and determined to try and do better, especially gaining strength. After the initial successful battles Ertin knew he needed to train more, work on is strength, rather than trusting luck. He knew and respected faith and the gods, but that was something he left to others to guide him with. He concentrated improving his fighting ability and his strength. He was asked to join the Shield Patrol and began training in stealth and survival out in the open.
Three years later, on Sunsebb the 12th in 598 CY Ertin was part of the force that took back Southkeep. At age 17 Ertin was a seasoned warrior serving Heironeous, the order and his country. When asked by [[Katarina Walworth]] after the battle if he wanted to join her on a special mission he smiled and said yes, it was his time to do what his parents never got a chance to do. For the first time in his life he knelt and initiated a prayer to Heironeous grasping the hilt of the sword his father once had used. Now it was his and dedicated to the arch-paladin, and in the hands of a warrior like Ertin a deadly instrument of conflict.
Ertin's latest adventure is under way near Critwall during the 599 CY Needfest festivities. He is part of a group protecting the city and its special guests. The group have been clashing with a force of Iuzians skulking around east of the city, finding their camp. Confronting their leader [[Vadvenek]], and with some unexpected help from [[Glushnag, the Mighty]] defeated Vadvenek and retreated back to Plarron Keep.
Omilla was born in the town of Wheatfield in 577 CY as the fourth kid with three older brothers. Life was tough, but the family was reasonable well off due to Omilla's father being a town guardsman and her mother mended and washed clothes to help support the family.
In 583 CY when Omilla was 6 years old, Iuz forces was reported closing in on the town. She is still haunted by the memory of standing next to her older brothers on a roof inside the walls as rider in robes slowly approaching the gates. Without saying a word he dumped a load of human heads on the ground. Silence lingered for an eternity before the gates was ordered opened and the heads where examined, one of them was her father's.
Panic overtook most of the town and Omilla's mother fled with Omilla and her two youngest brothers, the oldest one was lost in the commotion, forced, or choose, to stay and fight. Omilla still doesn't know what happened to him.
The path lead north and east together with hundreds of panicked townsfolk trying reach the less open terrain and Iskenza Keep. Omilla and her family reached the keep the next day exhausted and hungry only to find the whole area overrun with people fleeing the Old One's forces. Despite the dire circumstances she remembers one of the soldiers, he didn't look scared. He looked confident and told people what to do and had a yellow and white shield with a black morningstar.
When the first orcs attacked that evening Omilla saw him sit on his warhorse slay at least twenty of them and made the rest of them flee. He and his men ordered all who where not able to fight to be escorted north to camps in the Fellreev. Omilla's oldest remaining brother was deemed fit and was given a rusty spear and ordered to man the barricades, she never saw him again.
The journey to the forest was hasty and grueling trying to stay ahead of the approaching Old One's hordes, and Omilla's memories of the next few weeks are spotty. The camp she, her mother and brother ended up in was not more than a few hastily constructed huts many miles into the forest. At least, for the moment, they seemed to be out of harms way and able to rest a bit.
Weeks turned into months in the camp that had grown to almost a thousand souls spread over a square mile or so, scraping by in huts, tents or whatever they managed to bring or build. Conditions was manageable during the summer and early fall with enough food to keep starvation away. When the cold of winter came the situation in the camp deteriorated and no help was expected, the mood sank and desperation started to spread in the camp. Whispers spread that the Old One was going to make this the worst winter ever and make sure they all starved to death, no orcs needed, he had the power to kill them no matter what.
A first group prepared to risk it and leave camp heading east for Rookroost or Kinemeet, they should be strong enough to stand up against the orcs and goblins of the Old One. Two days later a few terrified survivors came back telling of death everywhere and the Old One killing people and then using them as his undead soldiers to deal with the survivors.
After a month of despair in the camp the first of the Old One's scouts found them, but luckily the scouts where dealt with and killed. This galvanized the survivors and they decided they needed to relocate before the next wave of scouts came looking for the ones missing. Omilla's family decided to go with a group heading out north west.
They reached the Artonsamay a few weeks into their slow march in the forest. This was a tragic moment in Omilla's life as her brother fell ill and there where no healer or other remedy available and he passed away a few days later.
Omilla and her mother survived the winter at a new camp a few day's march west not far from the river. The group was only a bit over a hundred strong at this point and life was grim, but it was just about to get better. A group of flan people who had lived in the forest for a long time found them they decided to join forces. Omilla realized for the first time that she was of flan decent, and she started to learn the language. Back in Wheatfield rural common with some flan words had been the norm and Flan seen as something best suited for poor rural folks not fit for town life.
Several years was spent together with her Flan kinsmen and her life started to flourish. She learned how to use a bow, spear, axe and fight as well as any one her age. Other groups started to appear in the forest and Omilla grew up in what more and more started to be a small but slowly growing semi nomadic Flan community. They built shelters, foraged and hunted in an area for a while, moved on to not deplete what the forest provide and stay one step ahead of the Old One's scouts.
Life was good and Omilla thrived gaining confidence and strength and learned from the Druids that now was part of their group. She was a good hunter and deadly with her bow. In 593 CY Omilla's life in the Fellreev was going to end and new chapter begin. It started with a large group of Rover's came fleeing from the north telling them that they where probably the last survivors the rest being killed by hordes from Dorakaa. This was the first time Omilla heard the name Iuz being spoken out aloud, and they where told their days where numbered. A few weeks later an unusually large force of the Old One had started to sweep west from Rookroost killing of people living in the eastern part of the forest.
Difficult choices had to be made, stay or flee, and which direction should they head if they decided to break out. Rumors of Iuz forces being defeated in large battles to the south made Omilla and some others dream of joining them. Omilla's mother had decided to stay with the druids, she had enough of fleeing and had adopted the faith with a sincere conviction.
Omilla and a small group decided to brave it and head across the midlands to the Tangles. In spring of 594 CY they set out on their daring journey south. They passed within a few miles of Fleischshriver without knowing what it was, but at night they heard horrifying sounds from the old fortress and hastily continued.
With luck, skill and whatever protection the old gods provided they managed to reach the Tangles in a week, hiding in out in the tall grass and living off cold rations. They steered west and made slow progress through the low thickets that seemed to be much denser in the Tangles that what she was used to from the Fellreev.
They had their first real encounter with an Iuzian patrol near Splinter Keep when they were about to cross the road towards Hallorn. The soldiers were not very alert and they managed to hide. After that near fatal encounter they stayed away from any sign of civilization for weeks and continued south and when Omilla first saw the might of of the White Plume Mountain she was very impressed. The winged beast she saw in the air next to it was terrifying and she knew now that dragons where real. A few days later as they where entering the thickets east of the volcano she saw two dragons fight in the air, it was at a great distance but still very impressive.
After the dragon sighting the group got in serious trouble for the first time. A group of soldiers from Morannon tracked them down and a fight ensued. Half the group was killed or mortally wounded before Omilla and three others managed to flee westward.
They managed to stay away from trouble all the way to Deleven, when they were spotted following the east bank of the Dusin River south. They where hunted by a horde of men without any signs of identification and Omilla and her three companions ran for their lives south. They found rough terrain which made it harder for the followers to keep up with them and they managed to loose them after a while.
Next came an encounter that changed Omilla's life. She and her companions saw how the men that had followed them had found something else to go after, and surrounded a small hill with a bunch of boulders and shrub at top. The group at the top started to defend themselves using arrows and spells. Omilla and her companions decided join in on the side of the group on the hilltop. The hilltop group looked like a rag tag bunch like themselves at first but quickly Omilla found out that they where far more capable than she initially thought. They had joined forces with a group of Shield Landers testing out the defenses along the coast.
A few days later extraction boats arrived during the night and for the first time in her life she had get into water that was deeper than herself. She was dragged aboard a boat and that was the start of a new life in the Shield Lands. The leader of the force that was assigned to scout the coast near Battledown was Ottumin and Omilla liked him from the first time they met.
Critwall was impressive as heck for a forester like Omilla, with vast flat open lands under the plough. Here there where tens of thousands of people living free from Iuz and seemingly very prosperous. Omilla decided then and there that she wanted to stay and later try to bring her mother here as well. She found few fellow Flan to hang out with but they seemed to be almost as urban as the rest.
In the winter of 595 CY, a few months after her arrival, Omilla met Ottumin again and joined his group in the Shield Patrol. The next couple of years was full of adventures and raids in the lands controlled by Iuz, but now she was not fleeing. She had a full belly, lots of comrades in arms, new kit and a quiver full of arrows. The old gods was favorable, if her mothers and brothers could have been here with her, that was her only sorrow.
On Sunsebb the 12th in 598 CY Omilla was part of the force that took back Southkeep.
Omilla's latest adventure is under way near Critwall during the 699 CY Needfest festivities. He is part of a group protecting the city and its special guests. The group have been clashing with a force of Iuzians skulking around east of the city, finding their camp. Confronting their leader Vadvenek, and with some unexpected help from Glushnag, the Mighty defeated Vadvenek and retreated back to Plarron Keep.
Onzek was born in Irzenn in the Land of Iuz of all places, in the same year Iuz returned from Imprisonment 570 CY. Little Onzek's parents where both accomplished warriors and worked at the time for the Lord of Irzenn in his personal retinue. Both being "half-bloods" and not well liked even in these parts, but being skilled mercenaries was one of the few career paths open to anyone with the right skills.
Soon after he was born his parents got a better gig guarding an up and coming follower of the returned Old One, it paid well and took them on a journey north and east, in the early conquests that the old one did. Little Onzek was a fast learner and had something few of his kind had, two loving an caring parents. They where tough and demanding, but also protective and Onzek knew well how to survive at the age of 10.
This is when Onzek's parents worked for an Iuz priest who had been in Bloodmeadow for a while setting things up for the Invasion of the Shield Lands. In 581 CY Onzek's life took a new turn, when his mother died, killed by the Iuzian cleric they worked for. Onzek's father Zedwem took a gruesome revenge and slaughtered the cleric in front of his retinue. Not a single creature present came to the defense of the fallen Iuzian, but Zedwem knew it was time to flee.
Together father and son fled first east to Wheatfield and then to Kinemeet to find that all of the Bandit Lands where infested with Iuzian's. Young Onzek's baptism of battle came early on their travel and he quickly became a skilled combatant, taking a handful of Iuz symbols as proof of his accomplishments.
After a couple of years they had managed to find their way to Sarresh, where their next successful encounter was going to take place. They saved the life of some unlucky Urnstmen who had been kidnapped in a raid across the Artonsamay. Aiding them back to safety made them of interest for recruiters from Critwall sent out to try and get people to come and help out in the war effort.
Onzek and his dad decided to take the chance and join in of the war against Iuz, they where shipped to Scragholme Isle and was camped there for a year to be vetted and trained. It didn't take long for the Shield Lands handlers to realize that Zedwem was a highly skilled warrior, and when they handed over the trophies they had collected they became of special interest.
Zedwem had enough of fighting and fleeing, so he wowed to stay and become an instructor, training Shield Patrol recruits how to fight and survive in Iuzian lands. It didn't take long for Onzek to prove himself as one of the most talented recruits in a long time. He thoroughly enjoyed the harsh, tough training, because he was treated with respect and felt he had a home for the first time.
When Katarina ordered the Patrol to start taking the fight back to the enemy Onzek, now a seasoned warrior in his 20's, volunteered and have been on several missions the last few years. As an half-orc who speaks multiple languages, strong, smart and very well versed in combat and survival of all sorts he is a very valuable addition to any party he joins.
Onzek's latest adventure is under way near Critwall during the 599 CY Needfest festivities. He is part of a group protecting the city and its special guests. The group have been clashing with a force of Iuzians skulking around east of the city, finding their camp. Confronting their leader Vadvenek, and with some unexpected help from Glushnag, the Mighty defeated Vadvenek and retreated back to Plarron Keep.
We are getting close to Virtual Greyhawk Con 6, and this year I'm running three games and having a seminar. My three games are play test sessions for Hawk Tales FRP using the the alpha 2 version of the rules, set in my Greyhawk campaign during the Needfest 599 CY celebrations.
The first game is a 2 hour game featuring a party of 5th level characters from Furyondy takin on a minor role helping out manning a keep while their Shield Land allies goes on a raid into Iuzuian held territory.
You can download the character sheets here (8.4MB): https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/rules/VGHC6-Pregens-Skirmish.zip
The event link is here: https://tabletop.events/conventions/virtual-greyhawk-con-2025/schedule/25
This game is sold out, but there are still seats available for my second game here: https://tabletop.events/conventions/virtual-greyhawk-con-2025/schedule/26
You are a group of young talented Furyondians from the Barony of Eragern and Herechel (which both borders the Shield Lands across the Veng) who signed up to help out in the war. After a few successful missions across the Veng, the last one you came back from a few days ago (which we played at PAGE2 earlier this year). With that success in the bag you where sent to Critwall to be part of the large contingent supporting King Belvor's participation in the Needfest festivities, and help the kings support for Katarina's fight to retake the Shield Lands.
Being a group of fairly new recruits still learning the ropes, you got to man one of the keeps guarding the frontline some miles east of Critwall while the regular crew goes on a mission further east into Iuzian controlled territory.
Alwes of Hirtfer
Alwes comes from Hirtfer, a small town across the Veng a few miles south of Critwall. He was a kid who was talented, but lacked rich parents, so he relied on his entrepreneurial instincts and became a skilled operator helping smugglers brining goods and people in and out of Iuzian lands. His skills got the attention of the baron's men and Alwes was hired to help the war effort.
Briad of Furd
Briad being of mainly Flan decent embraced her heritage and wanted to become a Druid. The war came a altered those plans a bit and made Briad to embrace defending her brethren and lands along her faith commitments. She is now a capable warrior as well as user of Primal magic.
Eddal of Eragern
A young promising Arcanist from Eragern, who has already killed his first troll. Specializing in Evocations and Fire damage, so he can be a force to recon with already.
Gamus of Furd
A young man from Furd who decided to join the Barons of Eragern's forces at a young age, and his talents and abilities as a warrior served him well on his first missions.
Kaidus of Eragern
Kaidus heard the call of Heironeous early and joined to serve him early. His in now a promising warpriest who have been on his first missions supporting the war effort.
Mogret of Herechel
A young promising warrior from Herechel specializing in archery.
In my latest post I went over the basics of how I’m going about designing Hawk Tales and taking inspiration from Physics. Despite being about constructing game mechanics, it was still heavy into how to simulate a world using game mechanics and building its fundamentals. This time it will be about making things function, the mechanics that makes the game tick, its game loops. From a round in combat to how the world evolves over eons, to what happens in between. A game system needs to quantify and regulate at a multitude of levels simultaneously in creative and interesting ways to make for an interesting game that can stay interesting over the long term, at least that is one of my core goals with Hawk Tales FRP.
D&D came out of wargames, and one of the key aspects of wargaming that I’m still fond of is their “simulationist” approach. The downside of that approach is that it is often executed with a love for detail and a nerdy interest in how something works in the real world. For wargaming that might strike a good tone for a large part of its players, but for a TTRPG today there are only a very small number of players who want that, and I haven’t played or really been interested in wargaming for decades. So, for me a more nuanced approach is needed, not a table heavy system simulating a fantasy world is minute detail, something else. But what?
The reason science simulates things like the climate, black holes or the economy is to try and predict outcomes, figuring out how something works or what aspects are important. Simulating things means you make a simplified model of the thing you simulate so you can run things faster, using up less resources and still get relevant data. The key bit being simplified, which is what I want to bring to my design of Hawk Tales, and I want to phrase it as: simulate outcome, not process. I have a vision of how I want my campaign to play, what kind of adventures, outcomes, events, actors and environment I want to have and visions for how they should be able to interact. Instead of add up all the factors that could determine the outcome of events, and how they interest, design a set of rules as simple as possible that will create a similar range of outcomes, with a minimum of fuss, using interesting and relevant building blocks.
This sounds easy, but is hard and makes difficult compromises a necessity, which is probably why most games avoid this route. It is not the way to commercial success, and I know it, but I’m not designing Hawk Tales to be a commercial success, only to be a really good tool set to run my games, and maybe yours too. With that out of the way let’s investigate some of these hard compromises I’m making and why, let’s start small.
Most editions of D&D use the 6 second round, dividing a minute into 10 rounds. Simple and straight forward, keeping a base of 10 makes for easy math and compatibility with D&D so 6 second rounds are what I’m going with. Next part of to determine is what a creature can accomplish during a round, and here we have numerous versions of actions sets from vague old school to a myriad of standard, full and swift actions of 3E, and the ad hoc Bonus Action of 5E. Here I’m opting for simplicity, creatures ought to be able to do one thing and move each round, that’s it, nothing more. It is a good standard but leaves little to no room for cool combats and interesting game play. I’m going for 1 action plus move your rate each round and try to innovate within these limits. An action can be, retrieving an item from your backpack, casting a spell, attacking, move further and much more. The key is to keep the flow of the game moving while still allowing for a bit of tactical choices, small but useful chunks of gameplay each round. Three Action Economy, Tactical Points and more, the list is long of great games with cool ways of handling encounters, one of my main criticisms of these, and its D&D variants are that they take too long, giving the player lots of choices to make during their turn. I want to create a system with faster turns and try and force payer choices to happen between turns, having players dwell on what action to take between turns, and then execute that action during their turn.
One action per turn, how do you handle powerful warriors and creatures capable of attacking faster, using multiple weapons or attacks simultaneously? I approached this dilemma in two ways, as long as it attacks a single enemy, make a single attack and add on more damage, speeds up the process and minimize die rolling. Have each attack has a listed dice and modifiers, and creatures have a combat capability rating that determines how many times it can dole out that amount of damage. Each round a combatant can deliver that amount of damage, all to a single target or spread out over several targets. I call combat capability Prowess and it determines a creature’s ability to attack, but also how skilled it is to defend itself, using Prowess together with its natural talents in the form of Ability modifiers and the equipment used creates an enormous range of outcomes using a few key variables and few die rolls. More on this in a future post.
Who goes first and when can you stop someone from doing something are another key aspect of encounters. Initiative systems are both important and a source of slow game play. My first issue with initiative is that it often signals a shift from a story and immersive type of game play to a tactical and rigid one, my second is that it should not only be down to luck alone to who goes first. My approach is, depending on the situation, to let different skills of abilities determine who goes first in combat, no rolls at all, the GM just keep the story easing into the encounter. Players who want to try and improve their place in the initiative order can spend Exertion to contest the initiative and it will be up to an opposed skill check to see who goes first.
Each combat round forces you to determine what your character does and where it spends its precious number of actions and attacks, spells and Exertion. Hawk Tales is a classless system so I needed a mechanism to regulate the uses of all the cool stuff characters can do, magic, turn undead, rage, smite and much more. Each character can be a narrow specialist or a broad jack of all trades, and by creating a common bucket called Exertion as a way to measure effort. Exertion, which is a term borrowed from A5E which I implemented differently, as a general meta currency for character special abilities and magic use. Using Exertion to compliment Hit Points as a pool to fuel extraordinary things a character can do, from special combat actions, turning undead, cast spells, heal and more. As long as you are using Exertion you keep your full survival potential, when you run out of Exertion you can take the risk and tap into your Hit Points. Less effective and it will make your character more vulnerable, but it is a gritty option to keep going when it gets tough.
Health of a character is divided into 5 categories, healthy, bloodied, injured, dying and dead. Healthy are when you have more than half your Hit Points which means you can regain full health with a Long Rest (or a Reverie). Bloodied means you have still Hit Points left, fully capable but you will need more than a Long Rest to heal up naturally. When a character runs out of Hit Points, it is injured and starting to face severe limitations like no spending Exertion, Concentrate and risk dying.
Injured creatures must get help or will face its mortality; this is where a creatures Presence as well as Exertion matters. Players decide when to take a Death Save, and they can be risky, but not always, and some creatures doesn’t even get them depending on their Essence, but that is for another blog post. Here we assume a creature with a soul, like most characters will, at least start out with and then maybe sell, or loose later (again more on this). As long as you have Exertion left you spend it all and get an Extra Death Save, meaning a levelheaded adventurer keeps some reserves and can have a brush with death daily without immediately risking it all. With that option used up, it is time to make a real Death Save and if you make it, good you can stabilize and start to slowly recover naturally or use magic to speed things up. Failing your Death Save mean you loose a point of Presence and gain a point of Taint. A characters Presence start out at 1 and you gain 1 more per level, so loosing a point can be a big deal. Taint accumulates as a record of a character’s experience with death, necromancy and various forms of evil. Taint will make your Death Saves harder, but it can also be used to blend into bad environments, so it can be useful.
Dying is a big transition for a character, and depending on the circumstances of death, like location, enemies precent, and Taint levels compared to Comeliness what is left of you will face different destinies. A “pristine soul” of a good character (high Presence and low Taint) is a huge price for any fiend to drag of to the lower planes and feast on, so don’t die near places where that can happen. On the other hand, you might be valuable for your deity who will quickly send out a someone to guard you. Regardless of what happens, there are rules for how to continue to play a petitioner or fail even that, just linger on as a vengeful creature fueled by that residual Taint. The lesson here is to plan ahead with regards to your afterlife, who to worship, what to preserve, sacrifice and where to go vs. avoid. Another way of doing it is to make sure your character seeks a glorious death, giving it all for glory and leave very little behind.
Character improvement is a big part of every roleplaying game, and what keeps most players coming back to it. Hawk Tales has no classes, but it has levels, 20 levels plus the potential for improvement beyond 20th level. No classes means that the path of a character is wide open at first and then slowly narrows as it progresses up the levels. XP is the meta currency regulating this, spend it on learning new things, or improving what your character already knows, and it also includes basics like ability boots, skills and optional ancestry feats. When adventuring and gaining XP you can make Learning Checks to try and improve, or if milestones are used add the new features after each milestone.
XP can also be used in the creation of powerful magic items, from swords staffs to artifacts sacrificing XP (along with other ingredients) to create magic items to aid in adventuring.
I plan use a Wealth Level based economy, so instead of having to track individual pieces of coin a character will have a starting level, let’s say Copper. This means that you have at least 1 CP and don’t need to track coins below Copper, and things priced in these coins can be bought without the need to keep records. When you run out of Copper, your need to start keeping track of Bronze instead. If you manage to gain 100 or more of a Coin type your Wealth Level jumps up to that level. Wealth Levels range from 1 (Destitute), where you must track all your coins, to 8 (Platinum) where you are dealing with Kings and High Nobility and their purchases and you only need to track your Platinum.
Coins are based on a modified Greyhawk model, with standardized conversations of 100 up and down, but kept the names. So far, all the examples have been about characters and single creatures, so let’s look at the bigger picture.
Just like individuals’, places and factions have a Wealth Levels as well, guiding how much resources are available, services, items and so on for a settlement. Factions can have a set of mechanics as well, guiding how they affect the campaign and interact with the characters Still working on the details for settlements, with a set of stats for them as well like D&D3E and PF1 had.
Creatures change and so do the world around them, changing in a natural way with weather, seasons and so on. Just like with creatures’ areas of the world thrive and decline, and just like with creatures this ties into metaphysics and the multiverse. A temple dedicated to a good deity are constructed and the area is influenced by it, enhancing good divine magic and senses. Tear it down and the benefit goes away, construct a temple to an evil deity and the evil divine spellcasting benefits instead. Influence and control ebbs and flow across the lands over time, build momentum, gets countered, recedes, lingers, or fade into history. What happens during gameplay can spill over into the long-term story of the lands. Power struggles like this play out locally, regionally and across the multiverse, short term and long term with consequences thematically but also mechanically. This affects spellcasting, recovery, price levels, senses, magic items and more.
Using all these mechanics when writing lore, background stories, game prep and then used during the game sessions makes up your campaign. Hawk Tales are designed to work as a scaffolding supporting all these aspects of your games. Not as a set of rules set in stone, but more as a set of guidelines that you can adopt and then start tweaking to suit your needs. Key parts of this are its CC -BY licensing and distributed in Markdown format making customization built in.
This is when I started to realize that instead of making tweaks in the form of house rules, I could instead set out and make my own rules system.
Having made the decision to take the plunge and start the process of creating my own rules I started bringing the pieces together and expand my ideas. Finding out what I needed and try and find out how to go about things. Lots of learning, reading blogs, game development and the history of D&D took place.
I had the embryo of a rules system, with combat rules, basic abilities and magic.
Started running the first playtest online using Owlbear rodeo and simple notes as character records. Learned a lot about how play flows with different concepts.
Ran a series of skirmishes with a few friends to test out part of the mechanics, and it started to work really well.
WotC and OGL scandal that unfolded and the D&D rules ended up as Creative Commons made me realize that I could now take my backburner project, and publish it without having to rely on the OGL. So the OGL scandal made me start working on this project with much more interest.
Using Obsidian.md I put together a first version of what would become Hawk Tales with Basic Character creation, low level play and 30 or so monsters. This was then used to run the first set of playtests.
A series of online and in-person playtests at conventions, all in all over 60 game sessions 2 hour or longer, and more of short test skirmishes. Hundreds of notes later I felt it was time to go back to developing again.
Took all my notes from playtest and re-wrote the rules, now included all levels of play, more spells and monsters. Playtests continues with convention play at VGHC6 and Gamehole Con.
To improve my online play, I've started adding Alpha 2 rules for Questline VTT.
Next year I plan to update the rules again and then publish the raw form in Markdown, PDF and the web. This will be a raw, un-edited version of the rules to get more feedback.
Online campaign and conventions playtests, with a more structured campaign to reconquer the Shield Lands, and maybe even provide Furyondy with a new heir, we will see what will happen.
Deities and Planes, Mass Combat, Campaign and World Rules.
Re-write the rules again incorporating the knowledge gained from another round of playtests
Bringing it together and edit it into something that can be published digitally, PDF, Markdown and Webb.
Expansion of the rules with more feats, monsters, magic items, artifacts, curses and more.
Most people who design games probably start with the mechanics, having an idea of how they want the mechanics to shape the game and how it is played. When I decided to start making my own rule system, it didn’t start with game mechanics, instead it was something way more fundamental that I felt I needed to start with, physics. How the game world works (in my case Greyhawk of course), at a fundamental level, and let that guide the mechanics. This is going to be an introduction to fantasy physics, and how it is shaping the Hawk Tales rules and gameplay.
None of this is needed to play and have fun using the Hawk Tales rules, you can swing a sword, cast spells and pretty much everything else a fantasy hero does without paying much attention to any of this, just like other fantasy TTRPG’s. For those of you who want to understand and master the use of magic, holy smiting, planar travel or how to go about killing a god using the Hawk Tale rules this is what you need to dig into.
Fundamentally everything exists in three different ways, physically, mentally or metaphysically. The first two are the easy ones, reality around a character living its life on Oerth is Physical, meaning it exists and can be touched, interacted with. This physical world is made up of the elements (earth, air, water and fire) and the Ethereal provides the “scaffolding” that provides structure and depth to this physical world. Behind the Elements and the Ethereal lurks Positive and Negative Energy setting the trajectory, pace of the world. The world started with the Energy Planes interacting, and if the balance between them tilts too much, the world might end with the Energy Planes reigning supreme once again.
When the world had evolved sufficiently to create life that in turn started to develop, thoughts, will, fear and urges, which led to a whole new realm of existence evolving – the minds of creatures harbored worlds in their own right. This new realm of existence expanded in all sorts of ways, and grew stronger, and eventually reached the level where it took on a life of its own, it became Metaphysical. The oldest of the Metaphysical realms are the Feywild created long before advance and intelligent creatures roamed the prime. As life became more advanced, its mental capabilities expanded both the mental and the metaphysical. The metaphysical is partly real and can therefore develop and even come back into the physical again, this how we got the great wheel cosmology, with the Astral, gods, elves, dragons and much more. Again, behind the metaphysical lurks the two energy planes, influencing everything.
These three dimensions of existence are reflected in all creatures, their abilities, essence and what they can do. Let’s have look at the Abilities first. Standard D&D (and its derivatives) have 6 abilities Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis and Cha. The first three (Str, Dex, Con) are physical and determine home good a character are at manipulating the world around it. The next three (Int, Wis, Cha) are mental abilities, determining how well a creature can understand, predict and interact with other creatures. Hawk Tales FRP adds another three metaphysical abilities to this, Comeliness, Presence and Taint.
Comeliness
This is how most creatures experience Comeliness, but there are more to Comeliness than meets the eye. It Covers a creatures metaphysical standing, is it rising towards the higher planes or falling down toward the lower ones. It can range from both high positives to deep negatives. Comeliness can often be perceived as beauty and mixed up with Charisma and can in some ways be used to boost Charisma, but it goes much deeper than that. It is a resource that can be leverage for good and bad, to hide your ill deeds, or sacrifice to struggle on a bit longer. The function of Comeliness is tied to a creature's Essence.
Presence
Measures a creature’s metaphysical strength, how strong its life force is. It dictates a creature's ability to escape death, stand up to certain forms of damage, and planar travel. It only goes in positive direction and can go really high in some cases. A creature’s Essence dictates how a creature can use its Presence, or if it needs it at all, some do better without…
Taint
Is a record of a creature’s entanglement with the lowers side of the multiverse, near death experiences, evil magic, gods and such. As it increases a creature will have a harder time escaping death, but it is also a resource that can serve a creature well if it decides to dabble in the dark arts like Necromancy or join an evil cult.
Is the how a creature functions on a fundamental level, both in the world like does it need to eat, sleep, and does it age for example. Its Essence also dictates this in game mechanics terms as well, how its abilities functions, takes damage, dies and recovers. Humans (and most other characters) will have a Soul as its Essence, which means they are given Presence that increases as they level up, but lost when failing a Death Save or take special forms of damage. Soul based creatures age and have a limited lifespan; they are resistant to summons but not enchantments for example.
Liches have a Dark Soul powered by negative energy, which means they don’t age, can’t die, and literary use the Taint gained from evil deeds to replenish its powers. Both Souls and Dark Souls are Physical Essences, and two examples out a totally of 15 in the game at this state covering all forms of existence, like Spirits, Thralls, Spawns, Mindless, Unminded, Umbral, to the outright weird and scary ones like Phrenic, Residuum and of course Simulacra. Yes, creatures that are created using magic can function very differently than their naturally born siblings.
Essence is a base to build creatures from that makes sure that creatures can (and will) function very differently, both thematically, but also in terms of game mechanics during encounters.
Here again it ties back into physics with currently 21 different types of damage in the game, from the Kinetic (Bludgeoning, Slashing and Piercing), Elemental (Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison and Thunder). Together with the two Ethereal Damage types (Force and Vorpal), they make up the physical forms of damage in Hawk Tales. The mental side have only one at the moment, Psychic, that inflicts Hit Point Damage like all the physical damage types, but I’m toying with the idea of others that strike at a creature’s senses or ability to orient itself. Not sure how to do this mechanically yet.
Metaphysical Damage comes in two groups Celestial and Fiendish, with Radiant and Necrotic being the staples. The Fiendish side have more variety (of course!), with Ability Drain, Despair Damage, Energy and Life Drain and Vile Damage. The good side has Disruption and Void Drain to take on the real nasties, all of these damage types use different mechanics, that affect different abilities and aspects of creatures, like their age, Exertion and so on. Some are only effective against creatures based on certain Essences, like Void Drain, which doesn’t do much if anything against humans and similar creatures, but can-do wonders against ghosts and some other forms of undead…
Also bound by the laws of fantasy physics, and this falls under the Strain the spell or other effect is using. There are 11 magic Strains in the current version of Hawk Tales, physical ones like Elemental and Ethereal, mental in the form of Cerebral, and a plethora of metaphysical ones, from Celestial, Concordant, Fey and Shadow, to Necrotic and Fiendish. Strains tell where an effect draws its power from, like Necrotic from the Negative Energy Plane, and fiendish from the Lower Planes, and Fey from the Feywild and so on.
The reliance on a particular Strain means that access to that source is needed to gain the use of that effect, not to cast a spell necessarily but to memorize it. This can be tricky when you descend into the lower planes and rely on magic provided by Celestial lords or access to the elements. The Prime Material Plane is special in that it has connections to almost all other parts of the multiverse, at least indirectly, providing access to all sorts of magic.
Magic is also a way to provide access to other planes and bring aspects of other parts of the multiverse to the Prime. This can be a short instant summoning, or message spell, to the consecration of a temple complex that alters its planar aspects in lots of permanent ways.
Physics also determines how the world can be perceived, what can detect you, under what circumstances, and how to go about trying to stay hidden. Ethereal sensing is used for Darkvision, to detect illusions, see footsteps and even openings to other dimensions. Alignment can be sensed using metaphysics, and so on. The Prime Material Plane is special in the way that it is both physical, harbors a lot of creatures with mental abilities and the base from which the metaphysical planes are created, which means it is diverse and most sense works well here. But more beyond its borders and things can be very different.
This was a brief overview of the underpinnings of the Hawk Tales rules. Complicated, yes compared to other game systems this adds a layer of complexity to the rules. A different kind of complexity, one that doesn’t require more dice rolls in combat, but provides more options for everything from combat to how to sell your soul.
