Redbeard's Ravings

Why don’t wizards rule the world? Why don’t unscrupulous members of the class that can scry to determine when their opponents are at their weakest and then teleport to destroy them, assume political power?   Sure, there is some exaggeration to this depending upon your preferred set of crib sheets, unspoken assumptions and thumbed volumes (aka the rules).   Ars Magica is one of the few that takes this fairly seriously.   But how many campaign worlds, especially of the faux medieval type, fail to provide an answer to this question? It’s on my list of standard questions when evaluating campaign worlds.   Jeff asks “who is the mightiest wizard in the land?” I wonder, “and how come he hasn’t decided that the crown on the king should be his?”   I mean, there’s enough gold and gems in that gaudy thing for a buttload of spell components even if you’re not looking for an upgrade in headgear. So, for my upcoming campaign, here’s my answer: The Edic...

The real seed of this idea sprang from playing in Desert Scribe's Holmes megadungeon some months ago.  Something of a funhouse aspect of the dungeon was expressed in the "guestbook" in the dungeon entrance which each character had the option of signing. A cool device, I thought.  But DS didn't actually have a book for us to sign there at the table. As campaigns come and campaigns go, I'm working on a new dungeon.  So now I've got the chance to steal the Desert Scribe's conceit and take it further: get a physical book that the players could sign as their characters.  Especially as I intend to run this dungeon for a variety of different players, the book itself could be an interesting artifact that people could look forward to reading and signing. I'll have to look at Pike Market, Etsy and the Freemont Market for hand made book makers and drop a dime or two for a nice book.  Something that will make an impression. Too much? Next though i...

This was prompted by this post on death .  Character's Last Will and Testament Rules Characters can have a will naming an out of game family member as a beneficiary of their wealth.  If the rest of the party fulfills that will, then the player's next character receives that wealth in starting experience. If dead character has an unfulfilled will and is not buried in a ceremony on consecrated ground, there is a chance that the character's spirit will rise as an undead spirit of level and abilities appropriate to the character and their death. I'm thinking about these rules in the context of a city/megadungeon campaign with a large player community.     There's always a question of what level to start a replacement character.  The common OSR answer has been to start at 1st level, while more recent styles of play replaced characters at the current level of the campaign.   It's also always a bit odd how party members fight over the be...

The world and the gaming community has lost another gem, one which might have been returning to us. Many others have posted wonderful recollections of his work, including this rare picture .   I've never seen that one before. Thank you. I feel forced to add what is in part conjecture.  If bringing up other topics into your gaming offends you, I won't apologize. I think this story shows how your different worlds are connected. Trampier seems to have died from cancer which was only discovered in his recovery from a stroke.  I can't say for sure, but according to this article , the vast majority of taxi drivers (Trampier's occupation) don't have health insurance. Two years ago I lost a cousin to cancer which had grown to an advanced and nigh-untreatable stage because he never got health exams because he did not have health insurance. I won't say that Trampier would still be with us if he had health insurance (he might have) or that health insurance and...