Midrea Appendix N Fiction

I realized that I never posted my Appendix N for Midrea, the books that most inspired Midrea.

You'll note that a lot of these are late 80's and 90's . That is because thats the first time that I set out to create a game world as vs just playing the game. World building is not essential to play after all.

Also Midrea was built in spurts, a tiny bit in the late 80's and the rest in the late 90's (mostly) . Prior to that I was too young to really consider long term gaming (it was a hang with the buds thing) and for a good period I either didn't game or just bought GURPS books which I didn't play.

The real design came in a tiny spat in the late 80's than from I'd guess 1999 and up.

Here are the inspirational materials. Some will be familiar, inspired of course by the original appendix N. Other are just things that stuck with me. You'll note that few films has much influence on my gaming. I like movies well enough but none of them really felt right even the raft of 80's fantasy films. I've seen them they just didn't inspire. Same with TV

Now to the list


Robert Howard (and De Camp) Conan and Cthulhu mythos

Fritz Leiber Fahfrd and the Grey Mouser

J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit and less so The Lord of the Rings. This can also include the Rankin Bass animated version and the movie adaptations as well.

John Norman's Gor. Minus the excess supply of BDSM this is a fun series full of thud and blunder.

Robert Heinlein Glory Road

Louis L'amour Walking Drum and Haunted Mesa

Johan Whyss Swiss Family Robinson

Grimm's Faerie Tales

Daniel Dafoe Robinson Crusoe and other stories

Sir Walter Scott Black Arrow

Barbara Hambley: Sunwolf and Windyrose Chronicles

Katherine Kerr: Deverry stories

Kathryn Kurtz: Deryni stories

Andrea Norton: Witch World

Asprin etc: Thieves World

C. J. Cherryh Merovingen Nights

Poul Anderson: Three Hearts Three Lions

Ellis Peters: Brother Cadfeal mysteries

Steven Brust: Jehreg Cycle

Frank Herbert: Dune and the White Plague

Mercedes Lackey: Tarma and Kethry stories

Robert Adams: Horseclanst

Adams/Norton Magic in Ithkar

Rankin Bass: Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Brian Froud: Faeries (this is borderline folklore but the movie had a heavy influence so its here)

Vision of Escaflowne

Indiana Jones specifically Raiders and Temple of Doom

Sid and Marty Croft: Land of the Lost

Gnomes (book and movie)

William Goldman Princess Bride: (both movie and book)

Legend

Labyrinth

Swashbuckler (the Robert Shaw James earl Jones movie from 1976)

Terri Windling : Borderlands

Will Shetterly: Witchblood

M.Z. Bradley Sword and Sorceress Anthology

Terry Pratchet: most Disk World especially Lords and Ladies

Clark's Law Applied

In my last post I mentioned the possibility of wahoo character types. I'll demonstrate how this works We'll start by noting that the current game is 6th level, Pathfinder 20 point buy. A new player joins wanting to play a stranded space pilot kind of like a Colonial Viper Pilot from Battlestar Galactica named Hawk . The other players are fine with it and given that such thing do happen on Midrea, I OK it. The first thing we have to do is make an equivalent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Given this guy is human and a fighter pilot and that he is not going to have access to his fighter, its pretty easy to do. Human, Fighter . Since he needs skills we'll use the tactician archetype. Stats are up to him, the player decides on ST 14 IQ 14 WS 10 DX 14 CN 12 CHA 14 Next comes traits skills and feats. As a general rule if it won't happen in game I don't charge for it and so while Hawk is an able pilot and gunner, he doesn't need to list them as they won't get used. Being weird does cost a trait (outworlder) so he selects that and one other (reactionary) skills feats are the same and so selects ones that make sense to him. The outworlder trait is mandatory but he'd take it anyway as it allows him access to a skill (offworld lore) ad to use tech items, he grabs 5 others and 6 feats, deciding on point blank shot, precise shot, far shot ,improved initiative, target of opportunity , shake it off and enfilading fire. These fit the flavor and are universal enough to work for most settings. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next comes the hard part, technical items. The player decides Hawk should have a combat jumpsuit, 2 comlinks, automed kit and a freeze pistol with a light mount (its tacticool) along with some space food, a food sterilizer and a solar powered vapor canteen This is where Clark's Law comes into play What makes this work is that each of these items can easily be transfered into a magic item equivalent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jumpsuit becomes magic studded leather The comlinks were a little tricky but I find a set of magic earings in the Magic Item Compendium thats a good fit (yes its 3.5 close enough) automed kit, treat as a box of potions (healing, remove poison, cure disease) space food, its just rations the canteen, after some thought it becomes a 1x daily create water item Food sanitizer 3x daily purify food and drink ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- last comes the freeze pistol , the mounted light is easy, its about as good as an Ioun Torch so thats that. But how do you make a freeze pistol ? Given that a gun is roughly the same as a wand I decide that the freeze ray ought to be modestly powerful, say a L2 spell. I go digging and pull up a wand of a 3.5 spell ice knife. That gives him a 2d6 cold attack (with dex damage and a burst option) I offer him a deduction of 20% cost for the need to be reloaded every 10 shots (4 magazines) or he can take a 20 shot with 3 magazines for full cost. Hawks players chooses the later and now he has a freeze ray with 2 extra clips. Later as the game continues and more treasure is found I simply repurpose some of the usual amount he'd get at each level into new tech items allowing him to keep the flavor. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Viola, instant balanced space pilot ...

Midrea Notes: Part 1 of Series Clark's Law

I am starting a new mini series about my game world Midrea and its cousin Eradim. This series will be a series of design bits, why I did X vs. Y that sort of thing. Hopefully it will be of interest to world builders and my readers but if nothing else articulating these design choices will help me clarify my own thinking. Because I wanted a fantasy world with occasional bits of space in the old school vein ala Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, Blackmoor and others that was accessible I needed to have a means to make it fair for the other players. I decided on an application of three rules #1 Clark's Third Law namely that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." #2 Stats are balanced, not fluff and as such if the campaign is at a level that allows it, balance won't be hurt. #3 If it weird we all have to agree its O.K and I'll shoehorn it in. Applying these three things allows a player to enjoy almost anything they can think of without screwing up the game.

About that Fireflyesque Game

I thought y'all might like to be interested in it.

The elevator pitch

Its , 200 years from now, with tech about that of Firefly but with a stable wormhole near Pluto for Transit. It'll take several years to cross the verse.

There are different cultures and colonies but no aliens except for the Transhuman Badguys "The Polity" who are still technically kind of human.

Themes come from Alien, Runaway, Outland, 2300AD, Firefly, Cowboy Bebop, Star Frontiers Blue Planet and maybe a smidgen of Even Horizon

The first adventure "Starfall on the Lost Planet" is based very loosely off an old Star Frontiers one.

That pretty much it. Now all that remains is a bit of editing on my backgrounds, putting together a soundtrack and some prep work.

10 Things I learned from my Old School GURPS Game in No Particular Order

Running an old school -dungeon fantasy style GURPS game has been a learning experience for me and much to my surprise has changed some of my long held preconceptions about games in general.

#1 I love dungeons.

In the past I thought they were just dumb but these days, I like them a lot, a heck of a lot more than a I did as a young grog. Not only do they make my job as GM easier by keeping everyone on the plot but they help concentrate the groups fun and keep them focused, something essential with a group as big as mine.

#2 I don't really like GURPS rules system for this kind of game.

Its a good system but it doesn't support my wahoo, old school, rules not rulings gaming style the way I want . It simply isn't as much fun as I expected and given the limitations of my group I have to cut it in ways that take away GURPS strengths . I might be willing to give it a try with a more experienced group or on different subject matter but mainline GURPS is too complex and my version of GURPS Medium-Rare is just not doing it.

#3 I dislike GURPS magic.

This really isn't new . I have had a mild distaste for it since Fantasy 1.0 (about 1988 or so) . The system is fine and there is nothing wrong with Evil Stevie's rules but its bland and balanced in ways I dislike. Too meh in combat, too strong in its world building implications.

#4 Fate Points are fun in any system.

I grafted a fate point system based loosely off various GURPS rules and it worked as follows
Basically 1 point makes any roll a success, 1 point saves you from certain death and 2 points allows certain death to become a flesh wound. Players start with 2 and gain 1 per session and 1 for a really cool moment. This worked great as it encouraged player involvement, allowed anyone a chance to shine and let me save key NPC's for later. Mwah Hah Ha Hah...

#5 My world is too weird.

Its a sandbox designed to allow pretty much anything with an emphasis on creative chaos and a world that responds on a semi realistic fashion to actions. It works fine but the mix of Earth stuff, Cthulhu, Space Aliens, Faeries, and standard D&D tropes was a a bit nauseating, kind of the game world equivalent the suicide special drinks we mixed as a kid (a little of everything in one glass) . Its not as good a combo as I'd hope.

#6 The Earth stuff helps the game as I hoped.

The fact humans are from Earth helped get the players into it as I hoped.

#7 I need to tone down the silly.

My flaw really, I think my game might benefit from a bit less chaos arrows, funny voices, talking animals, pet zombies and a bit more taking seriously. This silly doesn't impair the fun factor but I have the feeling its wearing on the me and players.

#8 Borrowing from other systems is good

I came up with a a couple of quick house rules for chases and stealth based off 3e and 4e D&D take 10 and they worked great in GURPS. They kept the drama up, were faster to play and still were basically the same as GURPS 4e core rules math wise. I'll post these later but suffice it say, don't let purism deter you from fixing the rules as needed.

#9 GURPS is incoherently laid out for Fantasy games

This is a not a system issue exactly but one of layout. GURPS really needs a good critter book not a book of mostly real world animals like its Bestiary (though that would be a useful book) or a book of folkloric critters like the quirky Fantasy Bestiary but a straight forward "Monster Manual" with things to encounter and kill. This should include people (bandits, soldiers, cultists, enemy mages) as well. Open book, grab stat block, play. As it is while the rules are all there (mainly in Dungeon Fantasy) the stuff I need especially the monster stats are too spread out for ease of use. I understand and respect the business case (its a sound publishing decision based on well thought out and researched sales metrics) but that doesn't help my game .

#10 I need to do more world building and mapping

I have a smart group who "gets" whats going on but I think my world building needs a boost, Now Midrea was intentionally designed in a haphazard way, what I need than, make it, use, it . This is fine but it needs to jell together better. I need to make a map somehow, put the nations in place and make a world book for people to see if they wish. This would I think improve the game a bit and help take away the "silliness" more than a little.

Well thats that ..

Later I'll include those house rules I promised and an article on why I am not a member of the SCA.

Exemplars Two

My original version of this concept was a bit more complex and gritty but I thought y'all might like to see it.

Mortals and Heroic Mortals work as before with the caveat that they use the mechanics from a Game of Thrones for combat and do not have access to spell casting classes other than a modified adept.

Exemplars are made the same way as above with the following changes.

Use the Best 6 of 8 ability matrix and start at L10 Gestalt
Exemplars heal as per standard D20
Exemplars are immune to aging and cannot be turned into undead.
Unlike mortals who stun on 1/2 Con plus feats Exemplars use their who Con score.

Magic items are as per normal however as every class gets a defense bonus and armor is DR, the easiest solution is to split the GP allotment, half should become innate bonuses bought as slot-less items (but at normal cost) and the other half cool items.

Not also that magic weapons work as Valayrian Steel weapons in the AGOT ruels against no magic armor.

After re-flavor feats and such to taste.

And there you have it, Exemplars 2.0 ..

Comments?

Examplars, Exalted using D20

It might surprise folks house easy this is. You don't even need to change the rules.

Simply do the following

All Normal Humans use Epic 6 Rules and at most 20 point buy. They do not get +2 to an attribute

All Heroic Mortals use Epic 8 Rules and at most 25 point buy

All PC Exemplars are Gestalt, start at 10th level and use the following ability matrix.

Roll 8d6, Arrange the best 6 as desired and add 12 to each roll.

Exemplars heal as per standard D20

Exemplars are immune to aging and cannot be turned into undead.

Season with flavor text, fancy names for feats and such to taste

These small changes will create a game that in play feels as epic as Exalted without any real learning curve.

Change the Classes Change the World Very Low Magic

It might surprise folks who haven't tried it but 3x is a very flexible set of games. With a little application of DM elbow grease and brain sweat its pretty easy to use the system for most anything.

For those who want essentially no magic in the hands of the PC's and farily high verisimilitude it can be a little tricky but you have a couple of options.

#1 You can use the old Game of Thrones D20 rules with some combination of E6/E8 and Codex Martialis and get a very authentic set up

or you can use your PF/D20 at E6 or E8 and my low magic rules in the sidebar. This will cover your needed decently well except for the mojo.

Classes are limited to

Fighter
Rogue
Barbarian
Skirmisher Ranger
Noble
Cavalier
Warlord or War Master
and some kind of Scholar/Everyman either one of the Scholar classes, the Savant from Thieves World, The Master from Dragonlance or the Maester from Game of Thrones, depending on what you have.

The magic is best handled with a feat based system something like the special abilities in Wheel of Time.

My feat list is below though note I did not include any description as its not done. Hopefully the names will be evocative enough to give you an idea of what they are like.

Totem Spirit

Medium

Echoes of Yesterday

Fortunetelling

Foretelling

Animal Talker

Animal Kin

Old Blood

Obscure Knowledge

Wolf Brother

Heightened Senses

Animal Bond

Pack Alpha

Wolf Dream

Dream Capture

Dream Watch

War Cry

Dreamer

Dream Bind

Dream Walk

Dream Jump

Bend Dream

Sniffer

Second Sight

Waking Dream

Green Thumb

Tree Warden

Mesmerize

Uncanny Luck

Déjà vu

Horse Whisperer

Commune with Nature

Fearless

Nose of the Bear

Healing Hands

Smell Gold (Genteel Looter)

Systematic Mind

Danger Sense (Danger Intuition)

Uncanny Alertness

With this kind of set up and a little imagination you can have a game where there is magic and mystery but which cleaves decently close to reality. Not bad from a game whose default mode of play is in the words of one of my players "Final Fantasyesque"

Change the Classes Change the World Revisited

I've covered this topic before here and here for the interested.

My regular readers will probably be aware of my frustration with the 3x/Pathfinder options bloat, the endless pages of races and classes and feats and to a lesser monsters, spells and magic items.

There is however an occasion in which that complexity comes in real handy and I relish options.

When I am building a setting and I want something different there is nothing quite as cool as mixing it up.

As an new example,

Ennobled.

In this setting there are no spells above 6th level and no exceptional (non spell using) mundane classes. Instead the PC are all from ancient magical bloodlines and all have the ability to cast spells.

The rules variants are as follows

There is only one race, Human. PC classes are as per Pathfinder rules, 25 point buy. NPC's classes use lesser point buy (maximum 20) and do not gain +2 to an attribute,

Each PC regardless of class gets the Prestidigitation cantrip. This is the manifestation of magic all PC classes have. It may not be selected retained or swapped and does not count against any class features or limits. It functions normally as per Pathfinder rules though it is innate supernatural ability.

All classes use spells and where non spell using options exist they are not permitted The list is as follows

Pathfinder SRD

Bard
Ranger
Paladin
Inquisitor
Alchemist
Summoner
Magus


3rd Party Sources
Yogi (Year's Best D20)
Kundala (Book Erotic Fantasy)
Arcane Trickster of Steel (Arcane Trickster Second Look)
Arcane Trickster of Skill (Arcane Trickster Second Look)
Arcane Archer core
Artificer (Tome of Secrets)
Hex Blade
Evangelist (Advanced Player's Manual)
Thane Mage ((Advanced Player's Manual)

Under Consideration
Gutter Mage (one of 2 versions ether from Oone's Great City or the Book of Roguish Luck)
Archon

Special
For those who relish Arcane power, some selected Mystic Rangers have been initiated into the Order of the Star and have learned high magics. Its an arduous road but for True Seekers may be worth the journey.

Now with what are very few changes there is now a fairly balanced (all the bases are mostly covered) set up with a very different play style to regular D20.

If I choose to go a bit further and change the weapons and gear list a bit (say make it more Indian flavored or whatever) I can create a unique game with little or no learning curve.

Human Groups on Midrea: The Shan

Human Groups on Midrea

Scholars generally agree that there are 3 fully "human" groups on Midrea, the Tera who come from Earth, the realm of the Blue Gate, the Fae residents of the Violet Gate , while not like humanity in their thought process are capable of having fertile offspring with humans and claim distant kinship to an ancient human goddess and the Shan.

The origin of the Shan is something of a mystery as they are not native to their own world, which they call Earth as well or to Midrea .

Recent discoveries in Shan language including members of the Robinson family , Firom and Hunzun scholars suggest that the Shan have an Earth origin at some unknown point.

Shan language groups and general appearances seem to match several language isolates and to a degree ethnic groups relating to the Basque, the Burushaki, and the Ainu. The written form of other Shan languages seems to strongly resemble the mysterious writing on the Voynich Manuscript and attempts at translation of copies seem to have a logical accuracy to them and to match those provided by translation spells. Also the images in the text seem to match the constellations and plant life of Homeworld (the translation of general Shan term used for the original world they came from)

Whats most curious though is the differential appearance of several ethnic Shan subgroups, the Alai , who outside of some unusual hair and eye colors look much the like the dominant Tera group, The Nia who look faintly like the Japanese ethnotype , the Vara, who while fair skinned and tall do not resemble any known earth Ethnic group, and the almond eyed and dark skinned Meran, who look like no one on Earth.

Its not known whether these groups are from unknown and unremembered civilizations from Earths past or even future or if they were possible caused by the effects of the richer magical energies of Homeworld. Still excluding the Vara ,outside of cosmetic differences , the Shan as a general rule are pretty much indistinguishable from Tera.

Human Ethnographic Makeup of Midrea

This is a little wonkier than my usual post falling more into the technical and semi scientific style of posting, a little like Tao's work so bear with.

One thing I wanted to do when I designed Midrea was lampshade the European fantasy tropes a little bit. Most fantasy worlds for various reasons are derived from European myth cycles and cultural modes. Oh sure sometimes there is some Orientalism, mainly about Japan and bad Chinese movies with a smidgen of Arabian Nights but on the whole, its Europe meets American all the way through.

Now mind you I have no issue with this. In fact I wanted to do this openly Instead and to take the All European All The Time idea and run with it.

In addition I needed a common tongue and as it happened the two if them meshed together perfectly.

How it came out is this

Humans, the most common sophont on Midrea (making up 75% of sentient people) are not native to the world .

Humans in fact originated on Earth (the Blue Realm in Midrea parlance) and were brought across the Gateways by a mysterious alien race called the Shapers. For reasons known only to the Shapers every person selected spoke English at least as a second language.
These people were brought over in waves from the late 14th century to the early 23nd although they mostly arrived at the same time (about 1500 years ago Midrea Time)

The period breakdown is such

10% 14th thru 15th century (mostly craftsmen) England and regions

15% 16th century Elizabethan England and regions

10% 17th century England

10% 18th century England and Empire

10% 19th century Anglosphere

10% Early 20th century Anglosphere

15% Late 20th early 21st centuries (Global)

10% 21st century (Global)

5% 22nd Century (Global)

5% 23rd Century (Global)

Of the Human Folk 60% are of UK origin, 30% are other European or mixed European origin and 10% are non European entirely being composed of peoples from everywhere on Earth.

It should be noted that racism as we know it is not an issue on Midrea. While certainly some Gate Folk held suchs views instead People prefer to kill or enslave other people for more traditional reasons, gold, religion, and far older views of nation of tribe and of culture ,

As for players choices , there certainly are families and tribes and clans of all kinds of ethnic makeup and as such like gender or any cosmetic detail, any skin color or origin may be selected without any effect on how the rules are applied.

"Race" makeup on Midrea

I use race in the D&D fashion here, that is to mean "sentient species"


60% Earth Human (Tera in local parlance)

20% Shan (the other Humans)

10% Dwarves (Midrean Dwarves are prolific and successful)

8% Faerie races (Elves, Gnomes, others)

2% Weird (all sorts of stuff, Halflings, Lizard People, Fish Folk, Dromites)

Silliest Things You Allow in your Non Comedy Games

My list is mostly equipment and while yes a couple of items are real (spiked armor is possible as is the meteor hammer) they are still ridiculous. Monks made the list simply because there is no Asian analog in my game world


baatezu beard (aka blade helmet)

bucklers as written

spiked/bladed armor

double swords

meteor hammer

spiked chain

monk class

the alchemist as written

various magical and modern gear

the magic robot races (Warforged, Gear Forged, Iron Born)



So what are your silly things ?

1d8 Reasons for perpetual medievalism

One of the most common tropes of the D&D genre is "Perpetual Medievalism" For some reason or other mankind (or halfling kind or whatever) never seems to advance must past the 14th century sans gunpowder.

Its a fun and workable way to run a game and while its not to everyones taste (I myself like Early Enlightenment technology from time to time) it is popular enough.

Here are 1d8 reasons for technology to not be able to advance

#1 Will of the Gods . Gods don't allow it, it won't happen. Great with powerful Clerics

#2 Lack of Resources . Some of the resources vital to industry are rare enough to make any real advancement impracticable. This works well in settings with limited steampunk as well, no coal and not enough peat and wood for a true steam age.

#3 Gremlins sur la Monde. The world is full of Gremlins or other spirits who utterly destroy certain technologies. These critters might be invisible, actually beneficial in some way or unknown to anyway.

#4 Magic doesn't Mix. Magic is everywhere and it doesn't play well with technology. This does mean technology would work in an antimagic zone but thats a net plus as it allows a little mix and match.

#5 No one thought of these things yet. With magic out there people might not even bother and as history has shown many cultures could care less about progress.

#6 Too many apocoli . The constant catastrophes faced by the world seriously impact progress and every so often, everything gets rebooted to a more robust form (i.e. pseudo-medieval)

#7 The laws of physics are different. This one is really simple. Stuff you don't want doesn't work.

#8 Technology eats souls. Technology damages the afterlife and too much of it brings on oblivion. Frankly this is A bit pretentious for me but some might like the notion and it allows evil technomancer plots ala the World of Darkness.

A Few Minor "Domestic" Critters from Midrea

Most of Midrea's wildlife is Terran in origin with a few exceptions such as these from the gateworlds.

All of the beasties below can be tamed or eaten hence the use of "domestic."

#1 Cura

A canine about a hundred lbs or so very reminiscent of an Earth Coy-Dog. They are a bit more aggressive than a coyote but smarter than a wild dog and are generally consider dangerous pests. With some effort however they can be tamed and make acceptable pets.


#2 Mitp

A little rodent common to the Shan worlds. They are cute little critters looking something like a mix of hamster, gerbil and vole and weighing a few lbs. They are often kept as pets (especially by impressionable little girls) and as they are quite delicious, livestock as well.

#3 Kafer

This Kafer is a tasty ( like lobster actually) roach like insect, shiny black and about the size of a fist. They are of Shan origin but as they are very sensitive to cold have not become a pest species. And yes the name is derived from Terran German for bug, it seems to have become the generic name for them, replacing the Shan words.

#4 Slink

Slinks are a huge mustelid , sometimes 6 feet in length weighing well over 200 lbs. They are intelligent and aggressive but are hunted for their beautiful pelts. If taken as a kit, a slink can be trained not to attack its handlers and some exceptional specimens have even been used in similar rolls to dogs.

A Dozen Unpleasant Jobs on Midrea other than Farming

Here is a nice list of possible professional skills/backgrounds, all of which are some parts of dirty, dangerous ,unpleasant, or morally reprehensible ...

#1 Rat Catcher.

#2 Sewer Jack

#3 Gleaner

#4 Stable Hand

#5 Tanner

#6 Miner

#7 Slave Breaker

#8 Pig Herd

#9 Dung Gatherer

#10 Rag and Bone Man

#11 Scullion

#12 Judicial Torturer

Welcome to Eradim

Over time you'll be seeing a lot posts discussing Midrea vs Eradim. What is Eradim?

Well very simply, Eradim is Midrea played sane with the weirdness cranked down to a minimum and a more limited series of inspirations.

It is chunks of Appendix N later D&D inspirations, Glen Cook, Swashbuckling, Faeries Tales, Gothic Action Horror and a smidgen of later D&D inspired fantasy.

The peoples, nations, races and such are much the same but instead of being a wahoo kitchen sink world is a far more traditional secondary world without all the anime, steampunk, modern, sci-fi , furry and similar influences.

There is still a sense of humor but there are real limits and requests for Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot, Zombies or the like will be met with a resounding NO!

I hope you like it.

So does all this silly stuff mean you prefer humor games?

The answer is of course not . Ideally I want to play something more akin to the ordinary sort of D&D with reasonably serious characters played straight. In other words blog standard secondary world gaming fantasy in the D&D mode.

Of course given the perversities of my players and the sheer volume of silly they bring to the table it only made sense for to accommodate them and allow the weirdness while still having a coherent world.

Basically this enables us both to get what we want, a coherent world and the humorous gaming my players seem to enjoy so much.

If I was revising Midea

Its silly to be thinking about a revision when its hardly been published but what the heck.

We I to revise Midrea I'd drop pretty much all of the "other dimension" stuff and concentrate on Faerie Tales and Pulp Fantasy.

I'd also eliminate most of the races keeping only humans, half elf, half orc, dwarf, dhampire and the occasional exception.

I'd also reduce spell casting classes to just Mages which would be potent and versatile preparation casters with lots of options but still highly limited and maybe possibly Psionics. Maybe.

This would leave what I like (Faerie Tales and some Pulp) focus the game tighter and still elave plenty of options for the players.

Why Don't Sorcerers Rule Midrea?

Or Bards or other spontaneous arcane casters for that matter? After all they have the charisma and the skills for it..

The reasons are simple.

#1 Sorcerers are rare

#2 Sorcerers and Bards are Charismatic but often driven by the inhuman motivations (the Glamour in the case of Bards) that grants them their power. This makes them a bit frightening to most folks and erodes their interest and ability to rule.

However there are exceptions, some Sorcerer Kings have been known (Infernal Bloodlines seem driven to it) and of course Spontaneous Casters do rule the Elves . In fact almost all Elves have Sorcerer or Bard or similar levels

Last there is an island called the Sorcerers Kingdom which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, a hellish place ruled by Sorcerers (and other Spontaneous Arcane Casters) from a hundred realms who have all come to a make a home and a kingdom for themselves and lord over mortal men.