Dog Days: Religion of the Realms

• The Holy Dogma is one of two primary religions of the Canis (dog people). The deities of the Holy Dogma each represent one of the ideals of Humanity as perceived by the Canis. Each of the gods are called by different names depending on the region of the world/cult you are talking to, but their titles are universal and as follows. The Hunter; The Care Taker; The Breeder; The Enforcer; The Warrior; The Herder; The Companion; The Alpha; and the Healer. The Holy Dogma also teaches that the downfall of man was caused by the Old Cat Felius a being of corruption and evil whom the old humans trusted, and that eventually betrayed them. While they do believe it is possible for cats to be brought into the fold, and are willing to convert them to the ways of dogs best friend they are generally not very trusting of the cat peoples.

• The second major religion of the dogs is more focused on nature worship. This religion is not organized and goes by an array of regional names. This religion worships no specific deities, though in some regions deities are given names, typically it is simply the worship of that which is natural. This religion is focused on going back to ones roots, and idolizes dire wolves (who are non sentient still). This religion is also common among wolf tribes.

• The Holy Catma worships the Divine Sphinx and his wife Bastet. It is believed that once cats and men were a single race, the men with the bodies of a cat and the face of a human, the women with the bodies of humans and the faces of cats. They believe that the Divine Sphinx found them to be unworthy of such perfect forms and divided them into two separate species of equals, however humans eventually elevated themselves and were brought to the divine plane by the Sphinx, while cats were left behind for the sin of hubris. Now cats must strive to be re unified in the afterlife with their human half.

• The Rat/Ferret religion is known as Roui, the gods are Makowska, a goddess of protection; Lathrop, a goddess of fertility; Vacanti, the two headed god of change and healing; Wistar the god of creation; Hoyer, the god of war; and Algernon, the giver of sentience. It is believed by the rat people that humanity gave them sentience, and that those humans who had created life were then elevated to godhood by divine beings, while the others, awash with their sins, were wiped clean from the earth in the horrors of war, plague, famine, and death. 

• There are also various cults worshiping gods known as the "Primal Gods" massively powerful beings that are said to walk the earth itself. The worshipers of these beings do so in a wide array of ways.

The Plague of the 9 Alignments

When someone starts talking about the nine point Alignment System that is commonly found in Dungeons and Dragon products (and related material) my knee jerk thought process can be summed up by reading the first couple sentences on the top right of the first page in this document.

I did not always have a such an utter revulsion to the alignment system becuase the spirit of the idea is a clever way to help build your characters personality. What changed it for me was when it started to be commonly used as a mechanical tool to enforce character behavior, to punish character behavior, put classes/races/abilities behind an alignment lock, and the worst thing of it all is players would see their alignment as an unwavering iron law of how to play their characters (I can only do X in Y situation becuase of Z alignment. What is especially infuriating are the people that try to claim true neutral becuase unless your brain dead you have an opinion). I have also seen how are all this can create some real heated tension at the table which runs the experience. This right here is the plague of the 9 alignments.

The fact of the matter is that good and evil are relative and not black and white, they are shades of grey. Even the most boy scout or depraved of the Gods and Goddesses operate in these areas of shades of grey. This brings us to the subject of morality which is connected to the relativity of good and evil and the age old idea of doing what's best for the majority even if that action unsavory. An example that comes to my mind is in the World of Warcraft story, the Paladin Arthas slaughters an entire village to stop the spread of corruption. Then there is the classic Sociology question of "Would you kill Hitler as a baby (Like in the crib and the whole nine yards)? I am not going to get in deep explanation about these two examples but they are stated as good for thought.

With that being said, I do prescribe to cosmic bondage, which consists of the theories of Law, Chaos, and Neutrality (I use these in just about all of my games). These theories or philosophies are not meant to be abused as another alignment system but ideas of how the character interacts with the universe and how the universe interacts with the character. Believe it or not, TSR actually had one of the best descriptions I have ever seen:

Attitudes toward order and chaos are divided into three opposing beliefs. Picture these beliefs as the points of a triangle, all pulling away from each other. The three beliefs are law, chaos, and neutrality. One of these represents each character's ethos--his understanding of society and relationships.

Law: Characters who believe in law maintain that order, organization, and society are important, indeed vital, forces of the universe. The relationships between people and governments exist naturally. Lawful philosophers maintain that this order is not created by man but is a natural law of the universe. Although man does not create orderly structures, it is his obligation to function within them, lest the fabric of everything crumble. For less philosophical types, lawfulness manifests itself in the belief that laws should be made and followed, if only to have understandable rules for society. People should not pursue personal vendettas, for example, but should present their claims to the proper authorities. Strength comes through unity of action, as can be seen in guilds, empires, and powerful churches.

Neutrality: Those espousing neutrality tend to take a more balanced view of things. They hold that for every force in the universe, there is an opposite force somewhere. Where there is lawfulness, there is also chaos; where there is neutrality, there is also partisanship. The same is true of good and evil, life and death. What is important is that all these forces remain in balance with each other. If one factor becomes ascendant over its opposite, the universe becomes unbalanced. If enough of these polarities go out of balance, the fabric of reality could pull itself apart. For example, if death became ascendant over life, the universe would become a barren wasteland.

Philosophers of neutrality not only presuppose the existence of opposites, but they also theorize that the universe would vanish should one opposite completely destroy the other (since nothing can exist without its opposite). Fortunately for these philosophers (and all sentient life), the universe seems to be efficient at regulating itself. Only when a powerful, unbalancing force appears (which almost never happens) need the defenders of neutrality become seriously concerned.

Chaos: The believers in chaos hold that there is no preordained order or careful balance of forces in the universe. Instead they see the universe as a collection of things and events, some related to each other and others completely independent. They tend to hold that individual actions account for the differences in things and that events in one area do not alter the fabric of the universe halfway across the galaxy. Chaotic philosophers believe in the power of the individual over his own destiny and are fond of anarchistic nations. Being more pragmatic, non-philosophers recognize the function of society in protecting their individual rights. Chaotics can be hard to govern as a group, since they place their own needs and desires above those of society.

Dog Days: Session 1

The beginning found Thane, Roger, and Ghost in the city of Dogma with some light traveling. After some time in the city, they all found themselves employed by the Captian of the Guard to track down members of the Breeder Cult who have been abducting Ferrets. This job was due to the Capt. following orders from the Governor to not take any action regarding the cult but the Capt. felt like something needed to be done.

Their investigation lead them to what was left of a Ferret encampment. The Breeder cult had taken the encampment hostage and was sacrificing the ferrets en masse. Battle ensued and Thane could not hit the broad side of a barn with his crossbow. Roger and Ghost faired a lot better but Ghost almost dropped from a lucky attack against him. 

Once all the cultists were slain the party got to work searching the area and freeing the remaining Ferrets. During this process the party realized that the encampment was not has heavily guarded as they would have expected and there was no visible sign of a leader in the melee. The party also noticed that the cultists were bleeding the Ferrets into strange carved symbols on the ground. 

That brings us to the end of first session.

Dog Days: Introduction

A few weeks ago I got invited to play in a Pathfinder 1e game ran by the son of one of my close friends. I said yes immediately and after talking (and asking a lot of questions) with the players and the DM I got to work on my character and his background.

The thing I really like about this campaign is that it is a homebrew world and I have no meta knowledge of the setting. Another bonus of the setting is a lot of aspects of it has a solid dose of shotty humor.

One of the basics of the setting is that none of your standard races exist. All races fall into the categories of anthropomorphic dogs, cats, rats, and ferrets. Some of these have differentiated breeds. 

Anyway, this brings me to the point of introducing the characters of Dog Days:

Thorin (Mutt Fighter, Tower Shield Specialist Archetype):  Thorin hails from the Holy City of Dogma and has a complicated past and relationship with the city and some of it's more holy residents. Since leaving Dogma, he was worked as hired muscle or a guard in one capacity of another.

Phanes (Ferret Bard): Is a wonderer who collects information. He has his own moral compass that is not contingent on outside influences though Phanes does possess a wild side. Hands prefers to work behind the scenes and deals in knowledge.

Ghost (Doberman Fighter): Ghost has spent most of his life has a vagabond and has embraced the gypsy life. He is never seen without his shield and bastatd sword.

Roger (Rat Gunslinger): Not much is known about the past of Roger except for the hints that it is probably deeply troubled. Roger is all about the money (and other rewards) and his mouth tends to get him in trouble.

Review: Blood of Pangea

I came across this game on Google + many moons ago and I instantly realized that this game is a true diamond in the ruff.

As the cover says, it is billed as a narrative role-playing game but don't let that discourage you if you are not familiar with narrative type games or you usually do not like narrative type games. The author explains it thus:

"We call the game narrative because the character (and monster) creation and, to an extent, sorcery, all draw from narrative story-centric elements. But with an old-school structure and underpinning to hold it together..."

Presentation: This 32 page pdf looks like it was typed on an old typewriter with medieval tracing art in someone's studio apartment in late 70's or early 80' and was then distributed by hand to local shops and groups. This gives it a really authentic "do it yourself" feel and lots of personality. The art is sparse but helps set the sword and sorcery tone of the game.

Character Creation: This is straight forward and takes very little time. You write a 30 word background that includes your name, your class (warrior, thief/corsair, and sorcerer), some skills your character might be good at, possibly some amazing attributes (being strong as an ox or lightning reflexes (you can only have a max of two of these). You can only have three traits from your background that count for mechanical purposes to start out. Record starting equipment, language, silver, and 10 might. That is it.

The classes are more flavor based then mechanic based but each has certain benefits. The warrior can use all weapons and armor, the thief/corsair can forgo armor to perform acts of stealth and skullduggery, and the sorcerer can use magic.

Resolution System: The resolution system breaks down to a 2d6 roll vs. a target number of 7, 9, or 12. If you have a trait that is relevant to the situation then you get to reduce the difficulty by one step. Combat is resolved the same way, untrained combatants are a difficulty 7, trained combatants and PCs are a difficulty 9, and demons and the like are a difficulty 12 (everyone gets the usual move and attack/other action). It is important to note here that no trait the PC possesses (doesnt matter if their narrative states they are a renown swordsmen) will reduce the difficulty of combat. Only tactics (such as higher ground) and special items (such as the blessed dagger needed to harm the demon) will reduce such difficulties. 

Crunch: Each character possesses 10 Might. This acts as health/plot immunity, effort, and magic fuel. Each time someone takes gets hit, they reduce their Might by the required amount. Might can also be spent to gain a +1 to a roll (there is no limit to amount of Might can be spent on a single roll), and Might can be spent to fuel magic. 

Most attacks deal 1 Might, a crit (result of boxcars) deals an additional point of Might, wielding a 2-weapon deals an additional point of Might with each strike, and environmental hazards/monsters/etc can deal 1 Might to a few d6 points of Might.

Magic is free from and by default does not damage directly as that is the power of true sorcery. One point of Might can be spent to distract a foe or cause other types of spell like effects for 1d6+1 rounds. Additional might can be spent in the same casting for additional targets or additional time. True sorcery allowes for direct damage to be done on a one for one basis and this is usually the tool of NPCs. 

Final Thoughts: This game is a perfect mix between the narrative and the crunch. It really proves to you that all you need to go on the grandest adventure of your life is 2d6, a pencil, and a notecard. That's it! 700 page rule books, maps, and a small fortune in minis need not apply. Blood of Pangea is the first great son of Dungeons and Dragons that outshines its father and its siblings. This is one of my most recommended games. 

It also includes the setting of Pangea which is kept light but well integrated in the entire book. I do wish that there was more art and more examples. Some parts I had to read a few times to understand the authors intent. 

Never forget that the answer to what's best in life is always, "to crush your enemies - see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women."

The Darkness of the Drow

Since I first discovered the Drow in my AD&D Second Edition days I have always felt like they are just dripping with role play opportunities, had a rich society, and there was all kinds of room for shenanigans. Regardless of how I felt there is three main problems that have always plagued the Drow. 

One was the fact that they became the default monster that lurks in the underdark and one of the earliest campaigns ended in the climax if killing their Goddess Lolth and all of the Forgotten Realms meta didnt help this situation. This in turn became how they were used across the board by GMs, the whole ye olde evil for evils sake axiom. Their fluff is amazing but felt flat in execution according to RAW.

The second issue is that part of their society (as rich as it is with their history, etc) simply does not make sense. How can a powerful and socially advanced society survive with constant civil war, assassinations, cold wars, betrayals, and games of thrones? The truth is it can't and the Sith (even the suffer from some of the same problems) showed us why which led to The Rule of Two. 

The third issue is they have always been a bit of a mess mechanically. They were either to powerful compared to baseline races (balance is an illusion) or handicapped by sensitivity to light and the means to help compensate for this were priced so high that they were out of reach for beginning characters (which didnt make sense because they would have developed a easy way to protect their eyes (like Riddick) that didnt require an obscene magical item). This reminds me, the whole light sensitivity weakness never set well with me becuase the Drow do not exist in a vacuum - they arnt the creatures from The Decent. If you must, then reread above.

I have watched each edition of DnD, various  indie game, and third party publishers fail the Drow. Pathfinder and 5th Edition where my last hope but once again, they let the Drow and me down. R.A. Salvatore's work regarding The Dark Elf That Shall Not be Named addressed some problems and have given the general public the hope that the Drow can be viable PC options. True to history, R.A. Salvatore's work did not go far enough and fell into the same problems. 

So, after DnD 5th edition, I went to work putting together all of the good stuff, reading between the lines, and a fair amount of social studies. 

Here is how I have fixed the main problems and how envision/run them. I think it really brings then up to their true potential.

The problems of the monster that lurks in the Underdark  and the problems of their society are solved treating/using/making them like The Romulan Empire.

This leaves us with a "Player Handbook" that looks something like this:

Drow are extremely loyal and civilized to other Drow. They believe that they are the master race destined to rule over all others, and this instills them with an innate sense of cold-hearted camaraderie. Their true darkness comes out in their treatment of lesser races (i.e, everyone who is not a Drow, including other elves). That is not to say that there is not political infighting amongst Drow families/noble houses. There is a great deal of that. However, it is mainly through alliance building and gaining and losing influence through successful (or unsuccessful) hegemonic ventures. Drow rarely murder one another, or order assassinations of their rivals. It is so much more satisfying and delicious to watch a rival be humiliated amongst her peers in the political arena through failure than it is to murder her. After all, if you kill her, the fun ends.

That is not to say that Drow do not kill one another. But those Drow who have been found to have committed crimes within Drow society (such as killing a fellow Drow, betraying the location of Drow fortifications in the Darklands, etc.) are punished with brutal finality. They are either transformed into Driders, to forever mark them as the shameful beasts that they are, or they are tortured and killed. But generally, the Drow view the lives of other Drow as being far too valuable to just throw away.

Even though they think of themselves above other races and their society may seem cruel and twisted to outsiders they know and understand the importance of allies and treaties that wax and wane with below and above world organizations. There is even some established trade...

Thus, they are a culture of cruel and ruthless pragmatists. They see the value of order, stability and discipline, but they frown upon rigidity and the idea of "honor" makes absolutely no sense to them. They appreciate flexibility of thought and action, but despise disorder and capriciousness, because that can lead to strategic losses that the Drow cannot afford. Giving in to one's passions is just as weak and stupid to a Drow as standing by one's word of honor when there is no reason to. As a result of their pragmatic views, Drow happily worship Lolth and all manner of dark Gods, Devils, Demons and Daemons. Whatever being can help advance the cause of the Drow by making the correct propitiations, that is the being the Drow will worship. They are many Drow that forge their own paths but never enough to help fix their dark reputation. 

Finally, for the Mechanics:

Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition*

Ability Score Increase: Your Charisma Score increases by 1.

Darkvision: Your darkvision has a range of 60ft.

Innate Magic: You know the dancing lights cantrip. At 3rd level you can cast Farie Fire once per day and at 5th level you can cast Darkness once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability.

Drow Weapon Training: You have proficiency with rapiers, short swords, and hand crossbows.

*I reduced their darkvision to 60ft and eliminated their light sensitivity.

Pathfinder*

+2 Dexterity, –2 Constitution: Drow are nimble.

Elf: Drow are humanoids with the elf subtype.

Medium: Drow are Medium creatures and receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Normal Speed: Drow have a base speed of 30 feet.

Darkvision: Drow can see in the dark up to 120 feet.

Drow Immunities: Drow are immune to magic sleep effects and gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells and effects.

Keen Senses: Drow gain a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.

Poison Use: Drow are skilled in the use of poison and never risk accidentally poisoning themselves.

Spell Resistance: Drow possess spell resistance equal to 6 plus their class levels.

Spell-Like Abilities: A drow can cast dancing lights, darkness, and faerie fire, once each per day, using her total character level as her caster level.

Weapon Familiarity: Drow are proficient with the hand crossbow, rapier, and short sword.

Languages: Drow begin play speaking Elven and Undercommon. Drow with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following languages: Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Common, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Gnome, or Goblin.

*I get rid of the +2 bonus to Charisma and light sensitivity. If your GM won't allow this, there is a racial trait that gets rid of dark vision and light sensitivity which it replaces with low light vision. A Drow without darkvision really starts messing with some of the core themes but salt to taste.

Basic Fantasy*

Restrictions: They can be Clerics, Fighters, Magic Users, or Thieves (and Rangers if that option is used). They can also muti-class to fighter/Magic User or Fighter/Thief. Their Intelligence must be 9. May not have a Constitution higher then 17 and their Hit Dice can never be higher then a d6.

Special Abilities: Darkvision 60ft, find secret doots on 1-2 with a d6 roll, they are immune to the paralyzing effect of ghouls, are trained in poison use, and are only surprised on a 1 in d6 chance. They can cast the following spells once per day and the spells are gained at the listed levels:

1-3: A variation of the light spell that can only be used to cast light and dark. It can can be used to create an small lights can be moved around to attach to an outline of an invisible creature.
4: Detect Magic
6: ESP
8: Levitate, Clairvoyance
10: Dispel Magic

Light Sensitivity: If exposed to bright daylight or an related spell they are blinded unless they have a day to adjust. If they were fighting within torchlight or a similar light effect they suffer a -2 penalty to hit unless they have 30 minutes to adjust to it. Spending time in the Underdark without said light resets the adjustment.

Equipment (Mostly for GM info in regards to Encounters): Their metallic items are crafted with a dark strange metal that is non magical but grants a +1 bonus non magical (high levels can have a +2 or +3). If they Elves are away from their homeland for more then a month then the metal starts to erode and lose its effectiveness at on point per week and once the bonus is gone the weapon or armor becomes a useless pile of rusted scrap metal. If they are exposed to sunlight, the bonus loss happens every week.

They are also known to use a two limb crossbow that are treated as a light crossbow but can fire both shots in the same round or one each round before needed to be reloaded. A small hand cross bow (20/40/60) that fires small darts that deal 2 points of damage, but these are usually coated in poison. Some even posses a hand cranked (cranked one handed) one handed crossbow that allow a high rate of fire (40/60/80) of 2 shots per round until the 6 shot magazine is spent (which takes a round to reload).

They are also known to possess boots and cloaks of Elvenkind. Ther coals also grant a +1 protection bonus to armor class. If these are exposed to sunlight, within a day they become faded whisps of white cloth and are useless.

*Credit where credit is due. This takes the Elf race found from Basic Fantasy and includes the information presented about Drow/Dark Elves in The Saga of the Giants adventure. I kept the light sensitivity because of theme and the fact that there is a way to negate the effects that is clever and does not require some obscene magic item or get rid their ability to see in the dark entirely. 

One final and important note that I want to make about all PC and NPC Drow in regards to the knowledge about their cruel society and their dark reputation is that generic social interaction should be difficult. They should be treated with mistrust and some fear. I would suggest such things as NPCs charging them extra for goods and services, taverns making them sleep out in the stables or refusing to serve them entirely (think how droids are treated in Star Wars), refuse to talk or to do business with them, and make them work harder in social interactions. But whatever you do, do not impose strict mechanics regarding this and make in a blanket situation a 100% of the time as people will also react to them depending on how the Drow is acting ad well. Also remember that they have waxing and waning alliances and trade in some areas etc.

LotFP Class: The Ranger

These city-born folk you travel with. Have they heard the call of the wolf? Felt the winds howl in the bleak deserts of the East? Have they hunted their prey with the bow and the knife like you? Hell no. That’s why they need you. Guide. Hunter.

Creature of the wilds. You are these things and more. Your time in the wilderness may have been solitary until now, but the call of some greater thing—call it fate if you like -has cast your lot with these folk. Brave, they may be. Powerful and strong, too.

You know the secrets of the spaces between, though. Without you, they’d be lost. Blaze a trail through the blood and dark, strider.

Rules and Magic Core

Experience: As Halfling

Hit Dice: As Halfling

Saves: As Halfling (If you are not using any demi-humans then saves will be as Dwarf)

Skills:

Level 1-3: 3 in 6 Bushcraft, 2 in 6 Steakth
Level 4-6: 4 in 6 Bushcraft, 3 in 6 Stealth
Level 7-9: 5 in 6 Bushcraft, 4 in 6 Stealth
Level 10+: 6 in 6 Bushcraft, 5 in 6 Stealth

Wall of Steel: They gain an additional +1 to Armor Class when wielding two weapons and can use the Parry Action like a Fighter.

Marksmen: They ignore all ranged penalties.

Second Edition Playtest Notes Changes

Experience, Hit Dice, and Saves are ignored becuase they are calculated differently.

Skills: They begin play with an additional +5 bonus to Bushcraft and a +2 bonus to stealth

Wall of Steel: They gain an additional +1 to
their AC when wielding two weapons and
possess a +2 bonus to their Guard Action when wielding two weapons.

Marksmen: They ignore all range penalties.

Credit where credit is due. This is a hybrid from the ideas found here, here, here, and with some great feedback.