Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Vayniris Anthology Project

We are going to be writing an OSR story book!  It looks like there is enough interest to get a Vayniris anthology off the ground.  Thanks for everyone's support, either on the blog on through email.

The mock-up cover to the side over there is just a test.  I'd prefer to get a real artist to do the cover, rather than my blah blah scribblings.

If you are interested in writing a story for the anthology, let me know.  This is a volunteer type thing.  If we accidentally made a profit, I'd prefer the money go to somebody who really needed it, like the kids at Bryan's House.

I'll be sending out guidelines to all interested parties for writing in this shared world as soon as I finish them.  Honestly, I don't know what an OSR story is exactly.  What I see in my head are OSR inspired stories - pulp fiction style urban fantasy adventures worthy of being included in Appendix N.  It's somewhat hard to quantify that, but like porn, I'd know it if I saw it.

The question of what OSR really is gets into some sticky mud, but it does bring up a good question.  The version of Vayniris I'm using in gaming is based on 4e Essentials Races, classes, and mechanics.  But the story doesn't have to be.  Shouldn't be, really.  But what should it be.  Should the literary Vayniris be based off of original or B/X D&D tropes - with the races or spells to boot?  Or should it have completely original races, magic, etc?  I think that is a good question for potential writers AND readers.  Having a common D&D style base would be make a shared world easier to define, but would it be desirable?

Let me know your thoughts on it.  Thanks!

- Ark

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Writing Project

I received some very positive feedback for the Vayniris campaign idea - which was basically a re-skinning of Zak's Vornheim with 'far-gates.'  People also seemed to like the little picture I drew of some Vayniris snow  Then an offline comment got me thinking.  The comment said something like 'the city would make a good backdrop for stories.'

That got me thinking.  It's been a while since I've written a short story.  Well, completed one would be more accurate.  I'm really digging the concept of a fantasy city that is scattered all over bits and pieces of a planet.  Writing a pulp fiction style story inside Vayniris seems like a no-brainer. 

So that is what I am doing.

And that got me thinking.  (I think too much, probably.)  Why not write a whole bunch of stories and make a Vayniris anthology? Vayniris: The Scattered City!

Then reality sets in.  I haven't showed the type of focus during my life necessary to pull off something like that.  But what if others helped?  What if Vayniris: The Scattered City was written as sort of a Thieves' World-esque shared fantasy world?  The city has a lot of room for parallel development.  A whole planet's-worth, in fact.

This idea points back to something I've been wondering about for a while.  The Old School Renaissance movement has game designers, module creators, cartographers and artists.  But are there any story writers in the OSR adding to Appendix N?  Are there?  I'm asking, seriously.  I try to keep my ear to the ground, but I haven't heard of such a thing.  (Okay, okay, there are fine authors running around writing fantasy - but I'm talking about specifically from an OSR perspective.)

I think an OSR inspired anthology would be pretty nifty.  We have the technology now to publish a book WITH NO CASH DOWN.  I published a book with Lulu and ordered a copy.  Poof.  Very nifty.  Or heck, it could go bigger - like a 'literary' version of Petty Gods.

So, anyway, I'm going to write my little story.  If you are interested in reading it, give me a holler. 

And if you are interested in reading an OSR inspired anthology, let me know as well.  If it's five or more people, I may have to push this thing through to reality - even if I have to write it all myself. :)

- Ark

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Dungeonspiration: African Mythology

A few years ago, looking for something new and different to spark my creativity, I picked up a book called Essential African Mythology: Stories That Changed the World, by Ngangar Mbitu and Ranchor Prime.  While I had a few books on 'World Mythology,' I never had read one on Africa specifically.

It's not like siting down to a book on Greek Mythology.  There is no Bullfinchian or Hamiltonian categorization or pigeonholing.  Africa is vast, with immense diversity of culture and human genetics.  It kind of makes Europe look like a inbred hillbilly. The book, aside from the introduction, is simply stories.  No family trees, no taxonomy, and there has been no apparent analysis and 'bending' of the stories to form some sort of Aesopic lesson.  The presentation is quite nice, actually.

The book includes stories and myth from the people and regions of Alur, Hausa, Swahili, Yoruba, Nigeria, Mozambique, Zaire, Taganyika, Bantu, Dahomey, Malozi, Wakaranga, Fang, Bini, Nupe, Wapangwa, Kono, and even more.  It has various origin myths, trickster tales, proverbs, cautionary tales, and hero myths.  There is plenty of material here to get you thinking in whole different ways about world creation and adventures.

Fun Factiod #938
As I was preparing to write this post, I decided to look up the Afican Mythos section of Deities and Demigods, becasue I couldn't remember anything about it.  I was in for a shock. 

Did you ever notice that Deities and Demigods never touched on Sub-Saharan Africa?  At all?  D&D was a huge influence on my life, and helped spur interests in history, archaeology, architecture, and a host of other things.  I wonder if the inclusion of an African Mythos section would have sent me off exploring African myths at a younger age.

I don't mean to imply that the creators of Deities and Demigods were racists.  I have no clue, but I seriously doubt it.  But what I do know is that we are a product of our culture, and that we value some stories more than others, and heck, haven't even heard of certain stories because of our cultural blinders.  I find it's good for me to expand out of my comfort zone and delve into the foreign - because seeing things from different viewpoints can be so enlightening.

So go take a look at other myths and stories - those outside of the classic European (or where-ever the heck you or your ancestors are from) mold - and get inspired. To whet your appetite, here is a table of contents from Essential African Mythology: Stories That Changed the World:

Chapter One: Myths of Origin and Extinction
  • Doondari and Gueno
  • Sa and Alatangana
  • How Humans Were Scattered
  • King Kitamba and Queen Muhongo
  • The Chameleon and the Lizard
  • The Dog and the Toad
  • The Bag of Mystic Powers (you could make this one the basis for a whole campaign)
  • The Sheep God (one of my favorites because it is so frikkin strange)
  • The Two Brothers
  • Stories of Obatala
  • The Distant Sky
  • Tortoises, Humans, and Stones
  • The Quarrel Between Earth and Sky
  • Fam, the First Man
  • Nyambe and Kamunu
Chapter Two: The Elements and Celestial Powers
  • Father Moon
  • Morning and Evening
  • The Sun, the Moon and the Creation of Fish
  • Thunder and Lightning
  • A Daughter-in-law for Kimanaweze
  • The Discovery of Fire
  • A Home for the Sun and the Moon
  • The Fruit of Generosity
Chapter Three: Gods and Spirits
  • Spirits of the Bush
  • The Rock Spirit and the Child
  • The Bird Spirit
  • The Origin of Night and Day
  • The Underwater World
  • The Country Under the Earth
  • Chapter Four: Animals and Humans
  • The Beautiful Hind
  • The Hunter's Secret
  • The Leopard and the Boy
  • Mokele
  • Chichinguane and Chipfalamfula
Chapter Five: Folk Stores
  • Blaming it on Adam
  • The Snake Bite
  • A Quarrel Between Friends
  • The Jealous King
  • The Reward of Envy
  • The Suspect
  • The King's Magic Drum
  • How To Find Suffering
  • The Girl Who Wanted Dawn's Dress
  • Chief Liongo
Chapter Six: Fables
  • The Antelope in the Moon
  • Tortoise and the Palm Tree
  • How Tortoise Grew a Tail
  • Tortoise Swears an Oath
  • Tortoise and Babarinsa's Daughters
  • Tortoise's Last Journey
  • A Lesson for the Bat
  • How the Cat Came to Live with People
  • Frog Inherits the Kingdom

- Ark

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Cold Steel's Great Sword

I had no idea a sword could do this, much less that a sword that could do this was being sold via infomercial.  Here is my advice: set aside nine minutes and five seconds of your life and watch this thing.  ALL the way to the end.  Makes you rethink AC.

I don't know how many times I swore out loud.  I had no idea there was such a things as sword porn.  Freud would be proud.




TWO HANDED GREAT SWORD
Specifications:
Weight: 109.5 oz.
Blade Thickness: 7/32"
Blade Length: 39 7/8"
Handle: 15 3/8" long. Leather Wrapped
Steel: 1055 Carbon
Overall Length: 55 1/4


http://www.coldsteel.com/twohandedgreat.html

- Ark

Monday, July 18, 2011

The Hanky Code

Okay, I guess I'm not done with all the sex talk from my last post, so here we go again . . .

Throughout the last couple of thousand years, western society has not been very kind to homosexual men.  Life imprisonment, castration, and death have been common punishments - either state prescribed or mob-induced.   It is not surprising that gay men developed secretive ways of communicating with each other.  One such way is the hanky code.

Exactly where, when and how the hanky code came about is still debated, but it involves dangling a hanky or bandana out of one's pocket (rear, normally) to advertise a particular kink, slant, or sexual interest.  The left side indicates tops, or a do-er, while the right side indicates a bottom, or do-ee, and color and patterns get down to the specifics of the interest.  Those specifics are outside the scope of this blog, but remember, Google is your friend.

So how would you use this in an RPG?  In a game with a modern setting, you can use the code as-is.  I'm sure it would be great for confusing the heck out of a pack of investigative PCs - especially if the players have never heard of 'flagging.'  For science fiction based games - imagine a hanky code that includes rishanthra - with colors and patterns indicating species.  Oh Mr. Niven - you sly dog you. ;)  

You could do something similar in a fantasy setting.  But that is not what originally got me on this thought experiment.  I don't really make gender inequality - or sexual preference inequality - a feature in my games.  I just assume that, overall, the people of these worlds don't really care.  The players bring enough of their own baggage in, anyway.

In fact, in my new city-based campaign Vayniris, the headless bureaucracy that runs the place actually promotes homosexuality.  They've got 30+ million people to deal with in the city.  They certainly don't want more.

So who is repressed in Vayniris?  Who needs a secret code? 

Well, my first thought is thieves and other hooligans.  'The Man' is always coming down on them.  Rightfully so - yeah - but they are still in need of secrecy.  So I think that a hanky code would be a great addition to a thieves' cant.

It could work like this:  a thief who offers a particular set of services - such as pick-pocketing, second-story work, or kneecap-breaking would wear a set of handkerchiefs in one way.  A person looking for a burglar or assassin for a particular job could wear a bandana in another way.  So at the 'black market bar,' the customers and service-providers can, just with a glance, know whether they should talk to one another or not.

There is probably a lot to think through in such a thieves' hanky code, but it's a start. :)

- Ark

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Erotic Fantasy

During our game tonight, one of my players piped up that he had recently come into a batch of old D&D books that he really wasn't interested in, and asked if we wanted any.  He mention that one was an erotic D&D book - and I said "Sure, I'll take a look at it, at least."

He said that if his girlfriend saw it, she would probably freak big time.  What he brought back from the car was a rather beat up copy The Book of Erotic Fantasy.  "Oh, that thing," I laughed.  "Sure, I'll take it."

Having done a brief perusal through the book tonight, and I'm just amazed at the controversy.  It's been a while, but I seem to remember some people were quite upset about this book.

It's got some boobs in it, there are dildos too.  And there is a brothel.  And it talks about sex and BDSM and magical ruffies and pregnancy times for elves.  Perhaps I am too jaded - but so what?

There was a lot of sex in our D&D games when I was a teenager.  We weren't hot chatting across the table or anything, but everyone needed to know the charisma of the tavern wench, the big bad vampire lady had to be wearing a leather bustier, and all of the princesses wore magical chastity belts with 'automatic blade de-incentives' for protection.  Some characters would get married to NPCs and have lots of children. The hormones raging in our pimply bodies ensured that something regarding sex was uttered at least once in ever five minute time span.

I'm not exactly sure what the problem was when The Book of Erotic Fantasy was released.  Was it the kid issues - and the assumption that only kids played D&D?  Well, I think you fix that by just not selling it to kids.  Other titles get sold to only adults, right?  I know that at 14, I sure as heck couldn't go into the 7-11 and by a Playboy.  There is some kind of system, right?  I had to find my porn out in the woods behind a dumpster like all the other kids.  I never could figure why people were THROWING AWAY PORN, but hey, their loss.

Well, anyway, this book seems to have a lot of neat things to spice up an adult RPG game - even if you go nowhere near any brownchickenbrowncow moments.  I mean, what campaign couldn't be improved with a Crop of the Mistress or the Gnomish Kama Sutra?  Okay, yeah, I'm far from vanilla. :)

I told the Boy he could see it when he was 18.  He was okay with that.  Girls have cooties, doncha yanno?

- Ark

Friday, July 15, 2011

Vayniris Snow

I did a little sketch of Vayniris - the city that I mentioned in my Re-skinning Vornheim post.  In one part of the planet, it's a somewhat dreary, cloudy day.  In another part, it's a winter wonderland.  Luckily, georgraphy doesn't stop - or even slow down -Vayniris streets. :)

Click the city to see it bigger.

I can't quite draw Zak's sprawling mutant tower things yet - just plain, boring Germanic half-timber affairs.  I'll work on it.  But not this week-end.  It's the Boy's birthday weekend - and we just got back from the LEGO store - so it's time to build.. :)

- Ark