Twenty Sided

By Shamus Posted Monday Jan 2, 2006

Filed under: Tabletop Games 10 comments

In our D&D campaign, I borrow heavily from other sources of fiction. I’m sure many DM’s do. For the curious, here is where I’ve lifted from:

The concept of the Mage’s Guild is stolen from Morrowind, as is the name of the Bitter Coast region in western Dunlock.

Endo is named after one of the more obscure henchmen in the movie Lethal Weapon. He is NOT named after Cannabis. (I had no idea Endo ment that until AFTER I’d introduced him.)

Noreeno gets his name from”Mike Toreno, the government spy from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Citadel may be named after the Citadel in Half-Life2 (which I’ve spent a lot of time with this year). It could also get its name from Citadel Station in System Shock, which I havn’t played in years, but which affected me so strongly I wrote an entire novel based on it.

“The Lich King”, the title given to Mordan, was first used in Warcraft III.

The “Dravis” part of Dravis Lorman comes from the villian of the same name in Descent II.

The way Mordan seeks to recapture the orb is very similar to the way Sauron seeks to recover the One Ring in Lord of the Rings. The fact that this contest happens in the shadow of a great mountain only underlines the fact that LotR has left an indelable impression on my mind. Also, the name “Dunlock” seems very Tolkien-esque. I would not be surprised to find that name came from the novels as well, although I can’t recall anything by that name off the top of my head.

Dawn’s Bride (a ship the players have ridden on many times during their adventures) probably got its name from Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis.

In my first campaign (which is not available online) I had a family of nobles named Loric, who were deliberatly named after King Leoric in the original Diablo game.

The name Enoch is taken from the character of Enoch Root in the book Cryptonomicon.

But I’m not the only one to pilfer names from more talented sources. Dan pulled the name of his Wizard, Skeeve, from the book Another fine Myth (the first of a series of eight) by Robert Asprin. Eric used the Dune books as the source for both the name of his character (Thu’fir) and his sword (Fai). Pat took the name Eomer from Lord of the Rings.

At least we steal from the best. :)

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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Quotable Me

By Shamus Posted Saturday Dec 31, 2005

Filed under: Links 2 comments

Next PostWhat if it was made of adamantium? 

I occasionally do vanity searches. That’s where you type your own name into google and see what you get. I do this from time to time because my name is really unique, so most of the results I get are related to me. During a recent search I found a page of quotes. Here is one:

I (heart) technology. Last Thursday, I was eating a hard pretzel when I broke off the front of one of my back teeth and was left with a giant bleeding hole in my tooth. This was terrible. However, four hours later, I walked out of the dentist’s office with a totally rebuilt tooth. A few hours after that, the novocaine wore off and I enjoyed a meal as if nothing had ever gone wrong. In the thousands of years of human history, only in the last few decades has this sort of thing been possible. In centuries past, I would either have had to have it pulled (if I had access to a dentist) or wait for the tooth to become infected, die, and fall out on its own. Either way, that one mishap would have meant weeks of pain and discomfort. Technology is cool.

That’s an actual quote of mine, from my first blog. This was probably written sometime in early 2001. I no longer have the site, but it is cool to see someone found one of my quotes worth saving. The tooth is still going strong, almost five years later. In fact, another tooth has failed and been replaced since then.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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Tale of Pants

By Shamus Posted Thursday Dec 29, 2005

Filed under: Nerd Culture 5 comments

 Football: Total WarPrevious Post

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Beware of engineers and their practical jokes.

My question: How much did these two idiots spend on this over the years? They claimed they were keeping it cheap, but you don’t encase objects in gigantic blocks of cement and have said mass of cement delivered for Chrismas without putting out some money.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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All I want for Christmas

By Shamus Posted Monday Dec 26, 2005

Filed under: Personal 1 comments

 Gotta JetPrevious Post

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You know what made this a great Christmas? As I began to put my presents away, I realized that you could put all of my stuff in a pile, and aside from the size of the clothes and the disposable razors, there was nothing to indicate this stuff was for an adult.

When I was young I dreaded the day when I became so old that I would be thrilled to get mundane items with no entertainment value. I’m relieved that at 34 it still hasn’t happened. I managed to score some great toys (I collect stainless steel kinetic / magnetic desk toys) some Spider-Man stuff (can’t get enough Spider-Man, I’m telling you) a comic book (Penny Arcade, which is about four dollars of funny for $0.25) and various other diversions and amusements. I also got some cash, which I hope to employ in further attempts to stave off adulthood.

Other highlights include seeing my sister (who is way cooler than your sister) who is in from Philly, some unbelieveable food, and the thrill of seeing my kids bury the excitement-o-meter over and over again as each group of relatives gathered to do the give-and-recieve thing.

What fun. Hope you enjoyed your Christmas.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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Merry Christmas

By Shamus Posted Sunday Dec 25, 2005

Filed under: Random 1 comments

 Be like mePrevious Post

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We’re not playing over the holidays.

Hope you have a blessed Christmas.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

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Orb of Mordan

By Shamus Posted Wednesday Dec 21, 2005

Filed under: D&D Campaign 10 comments

 Session 9, Part 3Previous Post

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This is an artifact found in our current campaign. This object is of major significance to the plot. Skeeve is the current owner, and has researched all of the properties (see below). This object is a sort of puzzle: How can they defeat the Lich without unleashing the various spells upon the populace of the island?

The properties listed at the bottom of the page (they look a bit like magic cards) were actual printouts I gave to Dan as his character (Skeeve) uncovered the various secrets of the orb.

Description:

An orb of polished stone with many strange runes engraved into it.
It is a little bigger than a closed human fist.

Weight:

7bs

Restrictions:

Lawful Good and Lawful Evil characters may not use or study this item.

Effects:

-3 HP, +3MP is “granted” to the owner of this object.

This object is the phylactery for Mordan the Lich King. Normally this is the container of the Lich’s life force. As long as a lich’s phylactery reamins intact, they will rise again after being defeated. However, this orb seems to have a number of (sometimes conflicting) enchantments which suggest it is more than a “normal” phylactery.

The surface of the orb is covered in many arcane runes and symbols. They are in draconic, infernal, and celestial. Words and phrases intersect in complex ways to form layers of spells and secrets.

The orb seems to drain a bit of life from the owner, resulting in -3HP, while at the same time placing them more in tune to the world of magic. This results in +3MP while they remain the owner of the object. This only applies to users of arcane magic (Wizards, Sorcerers) and not clerics.

The runes and spells contain a great deal of knowldege. It must be studied to learn more. When examining the orb, it is clear there are four categories of study that are possible:

	Good
Ownership	+	Knowledge
	Evil

At the outset, it will take only 1 hour of study to attempt to gain a level (and thus earn some knowledge) in a particular area. If you succeed, it will take 2 hours of time to attempt again in the same area of study. So, the length of time required for each attempt is the current level x 1 hour.

To study the orb:

First, announce which area you plan to study from the four above.
Roll d20
Add your INT modifier
Add +1 for all of the following languages you know: draconic, infernal, and celestial.
If your roll is high enough, you will learn more about your chosen area.

Each level of study will become more difficult as you progress.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

 Session 9, Part 3Previous Post

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Session 9, Part 3

By Heather Posted Sunday Dec 11, 2005

Filed under: D&D Campaign 3 comments

 Session 9, Part 2Previous Post

Next PostOrb of Mordan 

19th of Last Summer (Afternoon)

Eomer and Thu’fir arrive back at the entry hall where the others are waiting. Once their eyes adjust to normal light they begin to relay the details of their meeting with the Queen.

While they are still talking, another servant comes out and rings her bell. She speaks a single name, “Thordek Earthguard.”

Thordek follows the same path of darkness that Eomer and Thu’fir traveled. His keen Dwarven eyes allow him to navigate more easily than they did in the darkness. At last he arrives alone at the throne room of Queen Allidia.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Session 9, Part 3”

Heather Young