Saintly Saturday: St. Martin the Confessor

Today is the feast of St. Martin the Confessor. He was born in Tuscany in the 7th century. Prior to being elected as bishop of Rome, he served several years as a papal legate in Constantinople. During the reign of Emperor Constans II (A.D. 641-668), St. Martin was encouraged by the emperor to support a theological treatise called The Typos. Not only did St. Martin not support it, but convened a Lateran Council in 649 to condemn it.

The Typos espoused a heresy called Monothelitism, which held that there is only one will and energy in Christ. This runs counter to St. Gregory the Theologian’s axiom that whatever part of humanity Christ doesn’t assume as His own isn’t saved. Thus, under Monothelitism, our will and energy are not saved because they are not part of Christ’s humanity. To put it simply: the salvation of a Monothelite Christ is incomplete.

As a result of his defiance, St. Martin was arrested in A.D. 653 under false charges (conspiring with the Saracens) and exiled to Cherson on the Black Sea. He died there two years later.

Given that so much of St. Martin’s life is centered around Rome and Constantinople, it has me meditating upon one of the campaign tropes that I personally have the least experience with: The City. There was a brief period where I toyed with the idea of an urban campaign, but it proved to be short lived. It is a style of play that requires a level of detail that I am not good at, nor is it the easiest medium for the improvisational style I prefer to play.

Of course, The City State of the Invincible Overlord was never something that I or any of my friends owned back in the day. For those unaware, Judges Guild just released The Guide to the City State which is Bob Bledsaw’s original in-house 1976 edition. Though a delightful read, (I especially find it fascinating that many of the rumors to be found are about events that are supposedly occurring right now), I am not convinced that had my friend’s and I had access, that we would have had any more interest or success in urban campaigns.

The Invincible Overlord is portrayed as an inaccessible, untouchable and indifferent ruler whose only real interest is maintaining power. In contrast, the denizens of dungeons and wilderness areas are tangible things that can be encountered and overcome, if need be. I can understand the need for an Invincible Overlord — it simplifies the urban environment by keeping things at the immediate street level; however, I know my friends and I would have preferred a campaign that would allow us to be like St. Martin — to stand defiantly against the unjust rule of the Overlord/Emperor.

Unfortunately, this adds a level of complication to the urban environment that is much easier to handle in the classic dungeon/wilderness campaign. In the former, politics can color every single aspect of the game, and keeping track of all the various factions can be a real headache (at least for me) — even when the players are not that much interested. In the latter, politics can be kept at a background noise level until such time that the players choose to scratch that itch, by which time they have probably established strongholds or are seeking places to do so. As such, the political situation can be very simplistic and even binary.

Thus, whereas St. Martin’s life took place in urban environments with complex political issues, being able to emulate his conflict with Emperor Constans II is much easier in context of the classic dungeon/wilderness environment.

Saintly Saturday: St. Methodius Archbishop of Moravia

Today is the feast of St. Methodius, Equal to the Apostles and Archbishop of Moravia, Enlightener of the Slavs. This ninth century saint was born into an illustrious family in Thessaloniki along with his younger brother Constantine (who would become known as St. Cyril). Early in his life, he served as a soldier in a Slavic speaking region dependent upon the Byzantine Empire. This is where he most likely learned to speak Slavonic. After serving for about 10 years, he received a monastic tonsure and retired to a monastery at Mt. Olympus, where he was joined by his brother Cyril.

These two brothers, however, were soon summoned to become missionaries to the Slavic peoples, due, in large part, to the knowledge St. Methodius had of their language and culture. The two brothers would go on to translate the Gospel, Epistles, Psalter, and collected services, into the Slavic tongue using an alphabet they devised based upon what knowledge they had of the Slavic written language. This alphabet is known as Glagolitic. Their disciples would later refine the alphabet and it would become known as Cyrillic (after St. Cyril) and is still the alphabet used in the national languages of Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

St. Methodius would outlive his brother, who died in Rome while the two defended their use of Slavonic to the bishop of Rome. The two had come into conflict with German bishops who insisted that there were only three holy languages: Greek, Hebrew and Latin. Sts. Cyril and Methodius would say:

You only recognize three languages in which God may be glorified. But David sang, ‘Praise the Lord, all nations, praise the Lord all peoples (Ps 116/117:1).’ And the Gospel of St Matthew (28:18) says, ‘Go and teach all nations....’

St. Methodius would spend the rest of his life in conflict with German bishops over this and other issues. He died on this day in A.D. 885.

Thus, these two saints stand as champions of preaching the Gospel in the language of the people. Anyone who insists upon a particular language or particular translation (in the case of English) stand in contradiction to these two great saints. Thus, I am sore tempted to play with language.

What follows is a language I have dubbed VOX, which is Latin for utterance which happens to be the meaning of the root of Glagolitic. I have taken various characters from several versions of early Slavonic and assigned them to various sounds in English. Thus, it can be used to write out code for the purpose of having cool looking props at an RPG table:

For example, a Protection from Evil scroll might be labelled thusly:

In addition, I have devised a way to use the VOX alphabet to duplicate something akin to the Greek numeric system:

Besides the normal treasure map or riddle that would look cool using VOX, I also think it might be fun to introduce new spells using VOX. When a player finds a scroll, hand them the spell and its mechanics in VOX. Personally, I would find such a spell a whole lot more precious because I would have earned it.

Tinkering with Weighted WMTs

I first encountered the idea of weighted Wandering Monster Tables in the MMII, where encounter tables were designed to use 2 dice (1d8+1d12) to produce a number from 2-20. Due to the bell curve produced by this set-up, it is possible to arrange WMTs based on frequency — Very Rare, Rare, Uncommon and Common.

Recently, I have been meditating upon a different way to weigh a WMT based upon time. For years, my mom has had a bird feeder on her porch. In that time, she has noted that there is a general pattern as to when a type of bird is most likely to be feeding. It isn’t identical every day, but there are times when there are types of birds that will not be there.

One might use such a concept in a dungeon or wilderness area where the longer one stays, the more dangerous it gets because bigger and badder monsters come out to play. This could also be used in an area being contested by different factions. During the first part of a day, each side is preparing and planning, therefore most encounters at the beginning of a day will simply be one faction or another; however, later in the day (when these plans come to fruition), most encounters will find the factions in combat with each other.

To set up such a WMT, a chart with 19-23 slots can be made (the following example might be used in a 1st-level dungeon):

1. 1/2 HD Creature
2. 1/2 HD Creature
3. 1/2 HD Creature
4. 1 HD Creature
5. 1 HD Creature
6. 1 HD Creature
7. 1 HD Creature
8. 1+1 HD Creature
9. 1+1 HD Creature
10. 1+1 HD Creature
11. 1+1 HD Creature
12. 2 HD Creature
13. 2 HD Creature
14. 2 HD Creature
15. 2 HD Creature
16. 2+1 HD Creature
17. 2+1 HD Creature
18. 2+1 HD Creature
19. 3 HD Creature
20. 3 HD Creature
21. 4 HD Creature
22. 4 HD Creature
23. 5 HD Creature

To use the table, roll 1d12. For every hour spent in the area add an additional +1 to the roll. Thus, if a '10' is rolled for an encounter with an adventuring party that has been in the area for 4 hours, the final result will be 14 (10+4). If the party has just arrived and has yet to spend an entire hour in the area, nothing is added to the roll.

Using this method, such a table could represent an 8-12 hour period of time (where 19 slots = 8 hours and 23 = 12 hours). This would allow for the above process to be reversed with a 12 hour table (the 8 hour table would sit on the low end or high end of the table for several hours). Alternatively, one could add the bonus for every 2-3 hours and have the whole process cover a 24-hour period.

Green Lantern Movie: A Primer on Arianism

This weekend, I finally got around to seeing the 2011 Green Lantern movie. I had been avoiding this due to the bad reviews it received and my own immense distrust of everything Hollywood. Green Lantern has a special place in my heart because my first real exposure to the medium of the comic book came through a bunch of Hal Jordan stories.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised, but for a completely unexpected reason, because the reviews were right — this was a deeply flawed movie. The reason (unsurprisingly) is theological: The Green Lantern Movie is an excellent primer on the Christian heresy of Arianism. It beautifully illustrates the basic tenets of its beliefs, what those beliefs look like and, ultimately, its fatal flaw.

Arius famously stated that there was a time when the Son was not. Rather than uniting humanity to the being of God, Christ merely united us to His Will. Now, take a listen to the opening sequence to the GL movie:

The Guardians of Oa are described as immortal — they are the Arian Christ figures of this story. They created Oa as a means to allow access to the most powerful energy in the universe: Will. The rings can be seen as a stand-in for ordination: the GL corp is the clergy of the Arian Church. They go about ensuring that the universe bends to the Will of the GL corp creed:

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!

There are two fatal flaws with this cosmology:

The first is magnificently illustrated by the fascistic overtones of the GL Corp led by the charismatic Sinestro: What is evil? In a world where the Guardians are willing to make a weapon like the Yellow Ring and the leader of the GL Corp is willing to use it, evil devolves into the relativism of whoever owns the biggest baddest weapon and is willing to use it gets to determine what is good and what is evil. Historically, the biggest proponents of Arianism were the Emperors for exactly this reason.

The second is wonderfully embodied by the movie’s main villain Paralax. According to the movie, Paralax is one of the Guardians who became overwhelmed by the yellow energy of fear and subsequently became a threat to Oa and the the Guardians themselves. I hope I won’t spoil anything for those who have yet to see the movie, but Paralax is ultimately destroyed by being lured into the sun.

All of this demonstrates the ultimate problem of Arianism. Though they are immortal and grant access to Will, both the Guardians of Oa and the Arian Christ are created beings. Ultimately, this means that they have a beginning and an end. Therefore, we gain nothing by uniting ourselves to them, other than a very temporary access to power. In the end, we all end.

This is why the Church fought so vigorously against Arianism in the fourth century. It completely undermines the true Gospel — God Himself became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ so that we might overcome our end and share in Christ’s eternity.

Therefore, I really liked this movie (despite the fact that in just about every other aspect is was barely average). It goes to show that the politically correct assumption that all religions are basically the same and that those of us who believe in some kind of divine being are all just going to end up in the same place by different paths is itself fundamentally flawed.

Saintly Saturday: St. John Climacus

Today is the feast of St. John Climacus, aka St. John of the Ladder. He lived during the seventh century, became a monk at the age of 16 and died in A.D. 649 as the abbot of St. Catherine’s monastery at Mount Sinai.

His moniker comes from his most famous work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Even though it is intended as an instruction manual for monastics, it is still one of the most popular books among Orthodox Christians, especially now during Lent (our Easter, more properly called Pascha, isn’t celebrated until May this year).

The book posits thirty steps toward reaching the Heavenly Kingdom. This work, as well as St. John, is also commemorated on the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent. Associated with both the work and the Fourth Sunday is one of my favorite icons:

Note the people being pulled off the ladder by demons — some of them are wearing the vestments of priests and bishops. It is a reminder that we are all merely human, especially those who have been ordained. We all sin, but this sin only speaks to our human frailty not to the Christian faith or Christ Himself. Hypocrites we may all be, but Christ went to the Cross for us all anyway. As St. John more aptly puts it:

God belongs to all free beings. He is the life of all, the salvation of all—faithful and unfaithful, just and unjust, pious and impious, passionate and dispassionate, monks and seculars, wise and simple, healthy and sick, young and old—just as the diffusion of light, the sight of the sun, and the changes of the weather are for all alike

I have often seen the monastic life as a metaphor by which Christianity can speak to D&D. Player Characters are invariably those members of society that exist on the edges of Civilization doing things which allow Civilization to continue to exist, but which are not normally acceptable within Civilization itself.

I, therefore, find it interesting that the first step that St. John describes in The Ladder is the renunciation of the world — monks leave Civilization behind to wander into the Wilderness to fight the demons where they live. This is not far from what a normal D&D PC does in context of delving into the Mythic Underground to fight Evil and Chaos where it lives.

St. John notes that there are three types of people who renounce the world:

All who have willingly left the things of the world, have certainly done so either for the sake of the future Kingdom, or because of the multitude of their sins, or for love of God. If they were not moved by any of these reasons their withdrawal from the world was unreasonable.

Of these three, the second most accurately describes the typical D&D PC — sinners who no longer totally belong to Civilization. I also find St. John’s advice for the sinner quite interesting:

The man who has withdrawn from the world in order to shake off his own burden of sins, should imitate those who sit outside the city amongst the tombs

The tomb, of course, being one of the classic D&D adventure tropes.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t note that the metaphor of the ladder quite aptly describes the experience level system used in D&D (although I have never even approached getting to the 30th level either in life or as a player).

Saintly Saturday: St. Nicon the Hieromartyr

Today is the feast of St. Nicon the Hieromartyr. He was born in late 2nd or early 3rd century Naples to a pagan father and a mother who was secretly a Christian. Despite being exposed to the faith, he grew up pagan and became a soldier. It was during a particularly sticky situation as a soldier that he began his path towards becoming a saint.

His company was surrounded and, out of desperation, he started to pray to his mother's God. When he and many of his fellow soldiers survived, he began a quest to become baptized. This was no easy task in a time of persecution. Eventually, he ended up in a cave church where the bishop of Cyzicus was hiding with a group of monks. It was there that he became a monk and eventually succeeded the bishop who baptized him.

St. Nicon ended up in Sicily when barbarian incursions drove out he and his fellow monks. Upon his return to the West, several of the soldiers he served with sought him out. They, too, decided to become Christian. Eventually, they settled in a wilderness area called Gigia by the River Assinum in Sicily. After many years living in peace, they were arrested during a persecution by the governor Quintilian. When they refused to worship idols, the 199 monks that were with Nikon were beheaded. St. Nicon was tortured and eventually was also beheaded about the year A.D. 251.

Taking a quick look at a map of Sicily, the most likely place where St. Nicon and disciples were are in the mountains outside of the modern city of Noto, which sits at the headwaters of the River Asinaro. This suggests a very nice little area for an interesting variation on a couple of classic D&D campaign tropes — the ruined monastery and Skull Mountain.

Firstly, we have several very nice names: The ancient name for Noto was Neetum, the wilderness around evidently was known as Gigia, which are part of the Heraean Mountains in a valley of the river Asinaro/Assinum.

Secondly, there is a monastery, founded by St. Nicon and his disciples (some of whom are former soldiers, including Nicon himself) who are all killed by beheading. This suggests that in the mountains surrounding Noto/Neetum is a ruin that colloquially is known as the Monastery of Skulls.

Since there are 200 of these skulls, this suggests several different potential variations on what one might do with a ruined monastery:

• As with T1:The Village of Hommlet, the Church has recently come to power and are now interested in recovering the skulls as relics.
• The monks were guarding the valley from something truly heinous, which now uses the monastery as a home base. The only way to stop it is to return the 200 skulls to the monastery.
• There is a gate, behind which lies a powerful magic artifact that is needed in a conflict with some great evil. The keys to open this gate are the 200 skulls of the monks.

In addition to all of these, there are also the various armor and weapons of the soldiers numbered among the 200 monks...

Saintly Saturday: St. Aristobulus of the Seventy

Depending upon the source, the feast of St. Aristobulus, Apostle of the Seventy is either celebrated today or was celebrated yesterday. The majority of sources claim March 15th, but for the sake of this post, I will cleave to the minority which cite today.

St. Aristobulus is mentioned in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (16:10), is the brother of St. Barnabas (mentioned multiple times in Acts) and was ordained by St. Andrew (the Orthodox celebrate several members of the Seventy ordained by St. Andrew on October 31, including Aristobulus). St. Andrew sent him to Britain and he is also called the Enlightener of Britain.

Yes. Britain. I am fond of reminding people that Britain was conquered by Rome before St. Paul ever wrote any of his Epistles and that by the time of the First Ecumenical Council, there were enough Christians in Britain that several bishops from Britain are counted among those who deliberated in Nicea.

This, of course, invites a re-skinning of the classical D&D campaign where Civilization is Rome, the Wilderness is they fey-infested wild lands of northern Britain and PCs are adventurers who are daring enough to brave what lies beyond Hadrian’s Wall. There would be Romans and all the various cults associated with them, the native Britons and their cultural proclivities, the Christians mixed into the pot as well as the very rich mythology of the British Isles to mine for the various monsters that roam the wilderness. There is even the hint that there are Roman ruins that had to be abandoned after the Antonine Wall was breached and the legions had to retreat behind Hadrian’s Wall. For those interested, here is a map for inspiration (which was found here):

Saintly Saturday: 40 Martyrs of Sebastia

Technically, today’s feast was celebrated yesterday because of a rare confluence of events. March 9th is the Feast of the 40 Martyrs of Sebastia; however, today is also the Saturday of the Souls — a penitential day remembering all the dead throughout the ages that trumps any celebration of a saint’s feast. Due to the fact the the 40 martyrs are so beloved, their feast gets moved so that they can be properly celebrated, even though are still remembered today (welcome to the wonderfully complex world of the Orthodox liturgical calendar).

The 40 were soldiers in the Roman army serving in the east. They declared themselves to be Christian when St. Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which made Christianity legal; however, the persecutions continued in some parts of the empire.

The martyrs were arrested, stripped of their military rank and their clothes, and cast into a frozen lake. A temporary bath house with warmed water was built on shore in order to tempt them. During the night, a soldier named Aglaius was tasked with guarding the forty and receiving any who would deny Christ. He was given a vision of angels bestowing crowns to 39 of the 40. The one without a crown gave up the contest and denied Christ. Seeing this, Aglaius professed himself a Christian and voluntarily climbed into the frozen lake so that their number stayed at 40.

The next morning, nearly dead from the cold, they were thrown into a fire and burned to death. Given my recent rumination on names, I think it appropriate to list all forty:

1. Acacius
2. Aetius
3. Aglaius
4. Alexander
5. Angus
6. Athanasius
7. Candidus
8. Chudion
9. Claudius
10. Cyril
11. Cyrion
12. Dometian
13. Domnus
14. Ecdicius
15. Elias
16. Eunoicus
17. Eutyches
18. Eutychius
19. Flavius
20. Gaius
21. Gorgonius
22. Helianus
23. Heraclius
24. Hesychius
25. John
26. Lysimachus
27. Meliton
28. Nicholas
29. Philoctemon
30. Priscus
31. Sacerdon
32. Severian
33. Sisinius
34. Smaragdus
35. Theodulus
36. Theophilus
37. Valens
38. Valerius
39. Vivianus
40. Xanthias

There is an interesting account of the recovery of the relics of the 40 martyrs in the Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen. He claims to be an eye witness to some of the events, which started with a vision granted the Empress Pulcheria by St. Thyrsus. This led to an investigation which eventually led to the discovery of the relics.

This invites a meditation upon the concept of the treasure map, because the vision received by Empress Pulcheria could very well be interpreted as a kind of treasure map and the relics were certainly considered to be a great treasure. 

I have given out a great number of treasure maps in my day, even a few that did not look like a traditional map (an icosahedron with clues to various means of finding said treasure, for example), but I have never had much success with having my players actually use these maps (even those meticulously prepared to be really cool props at the table). The only time something of this nature actually ever panned out to having the players actually find a treasure was with a similar situation to that of empress Pulcheria.

For my players, at least, the key to get them to engage such things is a kind of interactivity. A conversation with a saint offers a far more enticing adventure seed than a piece of parchment with an ‘X’ on it. Thus, at my table, the concept of treasure map really needs to be removed from its classical form and be re-interpreted.

Besides a vision of a saint, here are a few ideas for transforming the treasure map into something my players might actually be interested in:

• A clockwork automaton that, when asked the proper questions, reveals the location of treasure.
• A sphinx, whose “treasure” is actually information.
• A puzzle that leads to more puzzles (and possibly various parts of a broken magical artifact).
• A familiar of a dead wizard, that somehow managed to survive that death (which could be a very cool mystery unto itself).
• An intelligent sword that seeks out the remains of its proper owner.

What have been some of your most successful uses of the treasure map concept?

On Demi-Humans in Averoigne

My passing comment that demi-humans are born of human parents in Averoigne generated this question:

Ooh, fascinating. This born of human parents notion is the first I have heard of it. So what do two elves produce? An elf? Or a human? Do you have this written up somewhere?

My initial thoughts on the matter can be found here; however, that doesn’t address the specific question.

I want my Averoigne campaign to be human-centric. D&D, as originally conceived was supposed to be that; however, according to my own experience, players seem to gravitate towards demi-humans anyway. Part of that is the various cultures and civilizations that these creatures have as part of their background.

Part of my thinking on demi-humans in Averoigne is to come up with an explanation why there aren’t any elven, dwarven or halfling civilizations or cultures — mom and dad are human. In addition, it also helps explain demi-human level limits — they have turned their back on their humanity in order to embrace the powers they get from being fey-touched. As a result, they can never reach their full potential.

Another reason that there is no demi-human civilizations or cultures is that any children they have are not guaranteed to be demi-human. The majority are human, and any fey-touched children may very will end-up being another type of demi-human.

A final reason for this lack of a culture or civilization is that a fair number of fey-touched abandon their humanity, not just embrace their demi-humanity. Once that happens, they become twisted (orcs, goblins, etc.) and often never turn back. At this point they cease to be human and become monsters. Any offspring at this point are not human, but more monsters.

A parting note: in an attempt to re-habilitate the idea of the half-elf, they are not half-human, half-elf offspring. Rather, they are fey-touched who are struggling to hold on to their humanity. They still have demi-human powers, but suffer penalties when using them.

Averoigne Name Generator

I have to admit, this post is mostly for me. The most difficult thing that I do as both a player and a referee is names. Regardless of the game, the most difficult part of character creation for me is naming the character. A majority of the NPCs in my campaigns are actually named by players, not me.

Thus, one of my favorite resources when it comes to campaign worlds is a list of names. What follows is a list of names found in Averoigne; however, I have endeavored to make this list even more useful than it already is for me.

There are two lists, one for male names and the other for female names. Each list has 100 names, therefore I can simply roll a d100 to come up with the name of an NPC. In addition, the first 50 names in each list are Averni names and the second 50 are Salian names.

Thus, with one roll I not only have a name for an NPC, but a general background and a general disposition towards the PCs depending upon their background and the organizations they belong to.

Of course, if I specifically need an Averni name, I can simply subtract 50 from the roll if it is 51+ and do the opposite if I need a Salian name. Also note that since all Dwarves, Elves, Half-elves and Halflings are born of human parents, these tables cover names for them as well.

Male Names

1. Ailin
2. Ascon
3. Braddon
4. Brian
5. Callan
6. Colum
7. Donal
8. Doolish
9. Edern
10. Eoin
11. Ferghus
12. Finlo
13. Garmon
14. Gilbrid
15. Herve
16. Hugh
17. Illiam
18. Ionhar
19. Jago
20. Jowan
21. Kerron
22. Kitto
23. Lonan
24. Lucan
25. Manus
26. Mudach
27. Nele
28. Nevan
29. Ogma
30. Oran
31. Patric
32. Peddyr
33. Quillon
34. Quin
35. Rigard
36. Robart
37. Sedric
38. Sorely
39. Thaddy
40. Torin
41. Ullick
42. Urmen
43. Vaddon
44. Vaughn
45. Wilmot
46. Withell
47. Yann
48. Yestin
49. Zephan
50. Zethar
51. Alberic
52. Anskar
53. Arnulf
54. Berno
55. Brice
56. Cheldric
57. Clodomir
58. Clovis
59. Cyr
60. Dalfin
61. Dreux
62. Drogo
63. Ebbo
64. Emmeran
65. Fardulf
66. Folmar
67. Gerold
68. Giso
69. Grimbald
70. Gunthar
71. Hilduin
72. Hincmar
73. Hunald
74. Imbert
75. Leodegar
76. Lothar
77. Mauger
78. Merovech
79. Nithard
80. Notker
81. Odo
82. Odulf
83. Orderic
84. Panteleon
85. Pepin
86. Radigis
87. Rothad
88. Sergius
89. Sigebert
90. Suidger
91. Taurin
92. Thankmar
93. Theodulf
94. Theodoric
95. Vigor
96. Vulmar
97. Walaric
98. Wibert
99. Wulfram
100. Zwentibold

Female Names

1. Aine
2. Alma
3. Binne
4. Blair
5. Breena
6. Cahan
7. Creidne
8. Davan
9. Dymphna
10. Eilis
11. Ena
12. Finola
13. Flidais
14. Gemma
15. Gweneth
16. Hilda
17. Honorah
18. Ina
19. Isleen
20. Jileen
21. Juliane
22. Keelie
23. Kinnat
24. Mabh
25. Morgan
26. Myrna
27. Nia
28. Nola
29. Oona
30. Ornice
31. Payton
32. Philomena
33. Renny
34. Rowena
35. Sine
36. Sorcha
37. Sybil
38. Tara
39. Troya
40. Tuiren
41. Uli
42. Ursula
43. Vevina
44. Vivienne
45. Whiltiera
46. Withypol
47. Yseult
48. Yvon
49. Zaira
50. Zinna
51. Adallinda
52. Adaltrude
53. Adelheid
54. Alpaida
55. Alpais
56. Ansgard
57. Aubirge
58. Audofleda
59. Basina
60. Berenga
61. Bertha
62. Bertrada
63. Clothild
64. Eadgithu
65. Emma
66. Engelberga
67. Ermengard
68. Ermentrudis
69. Fara
70. Fastrada
71. Foy
72. Genofeva
73. Gersvinda
74. Gisela
75. Gudula
76. Gudule
77. Gundrada
78. Herleva
79. Hildegard
80. Hildegund
81. Hiltrude
82. Hodierna
83. Ingeltrude
84. Joveta
85. Liutgarde
86. Madelgarde
87. Mechtild
88. Moschia
89. Oda
90. Ogiva
91. Radogund
92. Rosamund
93. Rothaide
94. Rotrude
95. Rotrudis
96. Ruothilde
97. Theodelinda
98. Theoderada
99. Theutberga
100. Waldrada

A Player's Map for Averoigne

Here is a map I've been working on. It is a four hex Player's Map for an Averoigne campaign centered on the village of Pergament and The Chateau des Faussesflammes (which lies only a few miles to the west of the map). Enjoy:

• The Ancient Stones: These flat stones once formed a pattern of some kind, though no one is really sure what that pattern is. It is rumored that strange things happen in the area on various days of the year or phases of the moon, depending upon the source.
• The Singing Trees: Travelers through this part of the Westwood have reported hearing strange songs that seem to come from the trees themselves. Some have reported being able to discern voices. Others even claim to have heard prophecies that have proven true over time.
• St. Ursas: This is the name of the local monastery. It is run by White Monks.
• Farms: There are about sixty farms that service Pergament. They are generally referred to in two groups: The North Farms and The South Farms. There is a rivalry between the two, due mostly to the fact that most of the farmers to the north are Salians and most to the south are Averni.
• Westwood: Pergament and its environs sit at the eastern edge of Westwood, a large forest that dominates western Averoigne. The most common tree is the Sassafras. Wild raspberries are common and various melons are not unheard of. Hunters come to Westwood for its elk.
• The Stone Tree: At the center of a field of solid stone is a large petrified tree. No one knows how or why this happened, but there are rumors that the whole field radiates of magic.
• The Stone Guardians: This series of rune-encrusted stones serve to keep unwanted guests away from the Tower of the Blue Wizard. Anyone who approaches without an invitation gets a kind of motion sickness. For the stubborn, this usually ends up with uncontrollable vomiting. Both disappear when unwanted guests retreat from the area.
• The Tower of the Blue Wizard: This is the home of the head of the local Wizard’s Guild. Not much is known about him, because he is rather reclusive; however, it is widely known that he is good friends with the abbot of St. Ursas.
• The Phasing Gardens: No one knows who planted these gardens, which are full of strange and exotic plants. Most locals avoid them completely, however, due to the strange way they appear and disappear. These correspond with sunrise, sunset and the phases of the moon. The only time all three gardens appear at the same time is during the full moon.
• The Bearded Trees: The trees in this part of the Westwood are covered in moss. Rumors say that many of these trees might actually be dormant treants. Local hunters avoid this area when hunting.
• The Izole Ferry: This is the main route of trade with Ximera, the major city in southern Averoigne.

Saintly Saturday: St. Hesychius the Martyr

Ouch. The last few days have been brutal for me, therefore this post is going to be reasonably short…

Today is the feast of St. Hesychius the Martyr. He was a magistrianus in the court of Maximian (which, at the time of the Byzantine Empire was a kind of intelligence officer). In A.D. 302, Maximian gave an order that all Christians who were royal soldiers were to be stripped of the signs of their office (a belt, in this case) and be forced into civilian life. Many, including St. Hesychius, chose to live without this worldly glory lest they lose the glory of the Kingdom.

Due to his rank within the court, St. Hesychius earned the ire of Maximian who ordered the saint to be dressed in nothing but women’s clothing woven from hair. When given the opportunity to win back his former life, the saint replied, “Your honor, o king, is temporary but the honor and glory which Christ gives is eternal and without end.” In anger, Maximian ordered that a millstone be tied around the saint’s neck and he was then thrown into the River Orontus in modern day Syria.

An Adventure Seed:

The local mill has been doing a brisk business of late; however, people have started to disappear in the vicinity of the local river. If the PCs investigate, they can find that the miller found a millstone washed up on the edge of the river. At this same place a sea hag has taken up residence in the river, preying on passers-by.

The millstone is actually a relic, a device used to torture and kill a martyr whose body still sits at the bottom of the river. The stone was preventing creatures such as the sea hag from contaminating the area. While the millstone increases the yield from those who bring their grains to be milled, its proper place is in the river with the martyr.

Should the sea hag be driven away or destroyed, the body of the saint discovered and the millstone returned to its proper place, an underwater chapel will miraculously be built. As long as the relics remain inside the chapel, a Water Breathing spell affects anyone who enters.

The Caves of Cormakir the Conjurer

Today is the feast of St. Prokopius the Confessor. Though he is not the Prokopius for which this blog is named (that would be St. Prokopius the Great Martyr), it seems apropos to celebrate by sharing The Caves of Cormakir the Conjurer.

As it was with The Slave Pits of Abhoth, I have spell checked and proof read this module myself, but have no real means to go further than that. Therefore, there will be mistakes; however, I am very pleased with the adventure and am also pleased by how quickly I was able to get it to this stage. Doing all the ground work in terms of design concept and layout with The Slave Pits have really paid off.

Please consider this an open thread for constructive criticism and notes about any of the aforementioned mistakes. The file can be found here.

Happy St. Prokopius Day!

Some Inspiration for 3x5 Geomorphs

After an initial flurry of folks making 3x5 geomorphs, there has been a dearth of creativity (though it does look like Gordon of Applied Phantasticality is going to make them a weekly feature!).

Thus, I offer these tables as a catalyst for naming landmarks around which a 3x5 geomorph might be made. Roll a d12 on each table and choose one of the descriptors from the three options from each roll to come up with a name:

1. The [Altar, Dias, Table] of
2. The [Arrows, Hands, Hooks] of
3. The [Chasm, Defile, Rift] of
4. The [Coffin, Ossuary, Urn] of
5. The [Column, Pillar, Statue] of
6. The [Dome, Rotunda, Vault] of
7. The [Egress, Gate, Portal] of
8. The [Elevator, Ladder, Stairs] of
9. The [Forge, Furnace, Hearth] of
10. The [Fountain, Reservoir, Well] of
11. The [Pyramid, Tomb, Ziggurat] of
12. The [Runes, Symbols, Writings] of

1. Ambition, Dreams, Sleep
2. Anger, Rage, Wrath
3. Annihilation, Death, Destruction
4. Awareness, Consciousness, Knowledge
5. Bronze, Copper, Tin
6. Chance, Fate, Fortune
7. the [Crown, King, Star]
8. Delusion, Illusion, Nightmares
9. the [Elders, Forgotten Ones, Old Ones]
10. the [Mage, Necromancer, Warlock]
11. Mystery, Puzzle, Riddles
12. Offering, Sacrifice, Slaughter

For example, if one rolled a ‘2’ and a ‘9’ here are some of the options one could come up with:

• The Hands of the Forgotten Ones
• The Hooks of the Old Ones
• The Arrows of the Elders

Finally, how could I not be inspired to, at least, produce one geomorph based upon one of these randomized landmarks?

I hope this inspires those who have not dipped their toe in the 3x5 pool to give it a try...

Wizards of Averoigne: A Rainbow of Spell-Casters

Since yesterday, my brain has been chewing on some of the ideas that I came up with on the subject of anti-clerics, arcane cleric spells and cleric spell books. Since my ideas found fertile soul in a Holmsian-inspired vision of D&D, I figured the best place to implement them was in my standard Holmsian-esque campaign world: Averoigne. I also figured that since Holmes was influenced by Tolkien, so should I.

Although I have never read the Lord of the Rings more than once in my life, I do remember that there is a suggestion of an order of wizards whose status is determined by color. As I recall, three colors are explicitly mentioned: white, grey and brown. Thus, in a world where there is a strong guild-structure, it makes sense that Averoigne would pay homage to Tolkien by differentiating different types of arcane spell casters by color:

White Magic-Users: So-called because they practice white magic — arcane cleric spells. They must be Lawful* and they cannot cast any spells above 3rd level.

Black Magic-Users: So-called because they practice black magic — arcane magic-user spells. They are usually Chaotic and exist outside of the guild-structure and society itself. As a result, they are considered dangerous criminals to be hunted down and (usually) killed.

Grey Magic-Users: So-called because they practice black magic in context of the Church — a mixture of black and white. They can be Lawful or Neutral and must belong to the Wizard’s Guild.

Brown Magic-Users: So-called because they are seen as close to the earth — operating mostly in villages, towns or as hermits. They use arcane cleric spells and have no formal guild. Since they practice white magic, they are generally left alone (which opens the possibility that individual brown magic-users may have a spell or two from the druid spell list). They tend to be neutral and can gain a maximum of 6th level in experience.

Red Magic-Users: So-called because the casting of reverse cleric spells normally involves some kind of blood sacrifice. These are anti-clerics. They are Chaotic and exist outside of the guild-structure and society itself. As a result, they are considered dangerous criminals to be hunted down and (usually) killed.

*Assuming one is using the three-tier alignment system.

The Prime Requisite in all cases is Intelligence which also determines the chance of knowing a particular spell as well as the minimum and maximum number of spells known per spell level (as per Holmes). Practitioners of white magic use the cleric spell progression and XP table and may use armor, shields and blunt weapons but cannot Turn Undead. If they are Lawful and have a Wisdom of at least 9 they can choose to become full-fledged clerics at any time after 3rd level (they gain access to all spells through faith instead of study and can Turn undead).

There is also a third type of arcane magic — sword magic. It interferes with both white and black magic. The latter is the most susceptible and therefore practitioners cannot wear any armor and can only use simple weapons. White magic is less susceptible, but practitioners cannot use bladed or piercing weapons.

Technically, this means that clerics could use any type of weapon they choose (since they cast divine magic, not arcane magic); however, by tradition they limit themselves to blunt weapons to prevent any use of sword magic lest they misplace their faith in God with a faith in sword magic. Thus, any cleric that uses a magic sword cannot cast any spells, because they lack the faith to do so (or believe that they are called to use sword magic instead of divine magic). This opens up the possibility of a paladin-like cleric who can Turn undead, use magic swords (like a holy avenger) but can’t cast spells.

I don’t know how attractive any of these options are to players, but they open up a tremendous amount of opportunities for cool NPCs, cool villains and cool patrons for yours truly.

Saintly Saturday: St. Polycarp the Hieromartyr

Today is the feast of St. Polycarp the Hieromartyr, and I am actually struggling to write a summary of his life and martyrdom, because there is so much we know about him and, being one of my favorite saints, I find it difficult to focus on any one aspect of his life.

He was the bishop of Smyrna (in modern day Turkey) in the 2nd century. He was arrested under Marcus Arelius and they tried to burn him to death, but resorted to stabbing him when the flames did not harm him. His martyrdom was recorded in one of the first hagiographies ever written, The Martyrdom of Polycarp. Within is recorded the saint's response to his captors’ request that he burn incense to the image of the emperor:

Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?

St. Ireneaus of Lyons writes about St. Polycarp in letters to Florinus and Victor as well as in his third book of Against the Heresies. He knew Polycarp as a boy and writes about some of his mannerisms, including a phrase he would say in response to something untoward:

O good God, for what times have You reserved me, that I should endure these things?

We know from both Sts. Ireneaus and Jerome that Polycarp knew St. John the Evangelist and Jerome claims that it was John who made Polycarp bishop of Smyrna.

We also have extant Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians, which is an interesting read. There are two verses, in particular, which I find both fascinating and challenging, especially from the perspective of FRPGs:

For every one who shall not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is antichrist: and whosoever shall not confess the testimony of the Cross, is of the devil; and whosoever shall pervert the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts and say that there is neither resurrection nor judgment, that man is the firstborn of Satan. — Polycarp 7:1

I was exceedingly grieved for Valens, who aforetime was a presbyter among you, because he is so ignorant of the office which was given unto him. I warn you therefore that ye refrain from covetousness, and that ye be pure and truthful. Refrain from all evil. — Polycarp 11:1

As a Christian, one of the things that I struggle with is the idea of the anti-cleric, which is explicitly part of the LBBs and the heritage of D&D. On its face, the class seems to suggest a dualistic cosmology where the power of the devil is on par with God, which Christ’s death and resurrection reveal to be a total fallacy. For me, the easiest answer is to dress up magic-users as anti-clerics. This clearly delineates the fact that cleric magic comes from God and anti-cleric magic is arcane and not divine.

The Holmes Basic Edition (which I find to be the edition of D&D that most strongly suggests a Christian world view), indicates that cleric spells were once arcane spells by the fact that magic users can use scrolls with divine spells on them (and one could interpret the rules to mean that only magic-users could use these scrolls). Add to that the fact that anti-clerics make awesome adversaries (see the Acolyte in Moldvay’s Basic Edition and Lareth the Beautiful from T1: The Village of Hommlet) and I have a conundrum on my hands.

I mention all of this because the two verses above from Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians seem to suggest the path toward becoming an anti-cleric as it is suggested by the LBBs where clerics must become Lawful or Chaotic by 7th level. He clearly declares that anyone who does not accept the Incarnation is an antichrist. Couple this with his mention of the presbyter (aka priest) Valens and his falling away from the church indicates (in an LBB-inspired fantasy setting) that he declared for Chaos and became an anti-cleric.

So, how do I make this work mechanically while avoiding the theological net of dualism? One of the more interesting (and controversial) choices made by the good folks who put together Delving Deeper is that clerics use spell books. I believe this choice is actually inspired by Holmes and the aforementioned cleric scrolls. It seems to suggest that their are actually two paths for arcane spell-casters — a secular/pagan/apprentice-level cleric and the traditional magic-user. Both have their own spell books and practices but are close enough that, though unable to cast them from memory, a magic-user can cast cleric spells from scrolls.

In the LBBs this would be the Neutral cleric. By the time one gets around to 7th level, however, it is impossible to understand these spells as anything other than an attempt by humanity to be like God sans God. Interestingly, 7th level is when LBB clerics have access to 5th level spells, including Raise Dead. Thus, one either must acknowledge the true source of these spells (God) and abandon the spell book to cast spells by faith alone or to embrace the path of the anti-cleric. Valens, then, could be understood as a Neutral cleric when he was first ordained. He did not understand what it meant to be a Lawful cleric (casting spells by faith instead of by spell book) and when push came to shove he chose Chaos and the path of an anti-cleric.

This interpretation of the rules, then, allows for all of the above to co-exist: Christianity, anti-clerics, neutral clerics, secular clerics, the arcane cleric spells of Holmes, the choice made by 7th level LBB clerics and even St. Polycarp’s story of Valens. To boot, all of this has a marvelously Sword & Sorcery feel to it while still giving that (for me) all-important nod to Christianity.

Saintly Saturday: St. Maruthas Bishop of Martyropolis

Today is the feast of St. Maruthas, Bishop of Martyropolis (modern day Silvan in southeast Turkey) which sat between the Persian and Byzantine Empires. He is a Confessor because he suffered under the Persian Emperor Sapor, but was instrumental in negotiating peace between the two Empires during the reigns of Theodosius the Younger and the Shah Izdegerd. It was during one of these negotiations that he convinced Izdegerd to provide religious freedom to Christians and he was able to obtain the relics of several Persian martyrs which he relocated to Martyropolis (and the reason the city bore that name). He participated in the Second Ecumenical Council in A.D. 381 and has left behind several writings including: Commentary on the Gospel, Verses of Maruthas, Liturgy of Maruthas and The 73 Canons of the Ecumenical Council at Nicea.

Of interest to me is that he wrote in Syriac, which those outside of the world of biblical scholarship might not realize is a really important language. The reason for this is that we have no original text of the OT. Yes, we have Hebrew texts, but those are the ones translated by the Mesorites after the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70. I say translated because the original Hebrew text had no vowels and Mesorites added them. Thus, the Hebrew we have is merely one of many textual witnesses to that original text and, when compared to other languages and translations, isn’t even the oldest. While not considered definitive, there are a bunch of textual witnesses written in Syriac. When there is a discrepancy between other translations (Greek and Hebrew being the most authoritative), the Syriac is consulted to see how others understood the passages in question.

Beedo of Dreams in the Lich House has recently been meditating about True Names as they can be found in a lot of popular fantasy fiction (notably the excellent Earth Sea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guin).  He mentions briefly the power of names in the Scriptural tradition and I’d like to take a moment to expand on that idea in context of the evocative title The Verses of Marutha and the Syriac language.

Names are terrifically important in Scripture. As they do in fantasy literature, they hold power, particularly creative power. Note that God allows Adam to co-create with him in Genesis 2 by allowing Adam to name the animals. Note also that this exercise was to try and find a help-mate for Adam — he sought to find power over a particular animal by naming it.

This effort continues to this day as we try to scientifically categorize creation and is seen manifested when we name the disease that afflicts us when we are sick. If we know what the disease is, we know how to fight it. Theologically, we do the same with sin. When we confess our sins, we name them and have power over them.

Moses sought power over God by asking His name, so God responded with a sentence that begs for a predicate: I AM — we can never have power over God because His name is infinite and cannot be contained by language. Indeed, the number of Scriptural titles and names for Christ are manifold.

God names or re-names important people within Scripture. Here are a few examples:

• Abram becomes Abraham
• Jacob becomes Israel
• Moses means “son of” and has the same root as Ramesses (meaning the son of Ra), so his name was shortened in order to get rid of the Egyptian deity part of his name.
• Zechariah is told by an angel to break tradition and call his son John (who became the Baptist)
• Saul becomes Paul.

In the tradition of the Orthodox Church, when a celibate is ordained, they are given a new name. This also happens with the Popes of Rome.

Now to pull all of this together into an evocative feature of an FRPG campaign world:

• There is a language akin to Syriac — an obscure and ancient language, but terrifically important.
• This import comes from the fact that it is one of the few witnesses left for True Names.
• The most well known of these texts is the Verses of (insert name of famous scholar here).
• These verses can only be found in bits and pieces.

Thus, when the PCs know they are going up against a truly powerful opponent (like the Lich in Beedo’s example), one of the prefatory quests can be a search for the fantasy analog of the Verses of Marutha wherein is found the creature's True Name.

Why 3x5 Geomorphs?

Andrew of Fictive Fantasies, who has coined the phrase Prokopian, has commented:

I think these geomorphs are cool (obviously, as I'm making some.) I want to note, however, I don't have a problem with the regular geomorphs. I look at this map I did with the Dungeonmorph Dice fonts, for example. I did some in Word and Photoshop to touch it up, but the end result was evocative and cool. My players enjoyed it.

http://fictivefantasies.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/plusevian-plaza-map.jpg?w=436&h=500

The said file is, indeed, very cool. Like Andrew, I love geomorphs. All one has to do is go over to Dave's Mapper and click on FrDave to see how much effort I have put into the concept, and how cool the outcome can be.

However, as someone who has regularly run game sessions with players who like to wander all over the place and as someone who has attempted to put together a module for general consumption, I sometimes struggle with making those geomorphs make sense. I also say this in context of the whole "the first level of a megadungeon is boring" meme.

When I was writing The Slave Pits of Abhoth, I really struggled to come up with a map that spoke to me. I used several methods to try and generate that creative spark and nothing really satisfied. I then happened upon the idea of the 3x5 geomorph and it unlocked all that creative potential that was the initial idea of the Slave Pits.

Since then, I have found the whole concept to be truly liberating in terms of adventure writing. When I get to play around like this:

I can't help myself, the creative juices just begin to flow and the dungeons that this process produces are just better than the ones I used to produce using other methods. Therefore, I am trying to share my enthusiasm in hopes that my success will lead to others having success at overcoming the whole "megadungeons are boring" thing.

As such, here are four of my most recent 3x5s:

A Growing Collection of 3x5 Geomorphs

This is simply a post where I will collect all of the links to 3x5 geomorphs that I become aware of:

Matt Jackson, Lapsus Calumni

Micromap
Micromap II
Micromap III - Goblin Bridge Crossing
Micromap IV - Firderk's Hovel
Micromap V - Firderk's Quarters
Micromap VI - The Big Chamber

Gordon Cooper, Applied Phantasicality:

Specific 3x5 Geomorphs 1-4
Generic 3x5 Geomorphs 5-8
Generic 3x5 Geomorphs 1-4

Andrew Shields, Fictive Fanatsies

Prokopian 3x5 Geomorph - Drowning Shrine
The Grand Stair

FrDave, Blood of Prokopius

A 3x5 Map Experiment
Why 3x5 Geomorphs?
Some Inspiration for 3x5 Geomorphs

Consider this to be an open thread to let me know about others as they get posted. Thanks to everyone who has participated in this experiment!

More 3x5 Geomorphs

Just a heads up that Gordon Cooper of Applied Phantasticality has taken up my challenge to make some 3x5 geomorphs here and here. Gordon complains that these are a bit rough; however, one of the very reasons that I so like the 3x5 format is that they produce a dungeon that feels organic in a way that graph paper-made and computer generated dungeons do not. Indeed, if one looks at extant underground structures, like the catacombs of Rome, they look nothing like the clean-lined, finished looking dungeons that have dominated the hobby for years:

Freeing oneself of the grid allows the geomorph to mimic the way a dungeon would naturally come to be: a little rough regardless of the skill of those who made it.

Gordon says he has more on the way (with named landmarks, no less). I, for one, look forward to seeing them. I also hope that Gordon is not the only one who takes up the challenge.