KhorasForum

Merry Christmas, everyone, and happy holidays!

I don't really have any specific questions or comments that come to mind to accompany this video, but I'm sure if anyone takes the time to watch it, we'll have some interesting things to discuss regarding language, religion, ritual, etc. It's a Q&A that an Old Norse philologist whose YouTube videos I frequently watch had with a Sankrit/Avestan scholar he's friends with, and it covers a wide range of interesting and informative topics that make it worth watching in its own right, but which I also thought might provide a lot of inspiration for worldbuilding and gaming. It's not short, in fact it's almost 1.75 hours, but if anyone gets the time, I really encourage them to watch it; I found it quite enjoyable and stimulating, despite its length.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIkHgVSKQ4U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oid4QMMXjfs

So, for those who aren't familiar, Matt Colville's company MCDM is a newcomer to 5e 3rd party publishing made possible by the success of his YouTube channel and Kickstarter-funded books for 5e D&D.

Apparently, they're interested in creating a new online magazine to both sell as a standalone and provide as a Patreon reward, and it looks like a possible opportunity for freelance work, so I thought I'd post it here for people to check out. Dave, I thought that you might be particularly interested in looking into it a bit, given that you've done some (presumably) freelance writing in Dragon, etc.

I was watching this episode of Web DM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXNOvuBLTO8, and felt really inspired, and it made me curious to hear your thoughts on the matter, guys.

Have any of you ever thought about eating monsters? What would it mean to eat the heart of a Krallinar? Is there a Teddy Roosevelt or Ernest Hemingway of Normidia? What DOES Emerald Prattle Fish sashimi taste like? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?

The world may never know.

I just finished watching a video from one of the many YouTube channels that I subscribe to regarding medieval history and material culture, and I thought some of you guys might like it.

As a corollary, I was curious as to what your thoughts are regarding historicity and taking direct inspiration from history, especially as regards the actual tools and material culture of a particular society. Obviously, most RPGs are fundamentally, and historically, drawn from the Western fantasy tradition going back to the Victorian era, with notable influence from science fiction and horror, but I've noticed that there are, in a sense, two fundamental paradigms towards D&D and similar games: the first I'll call "pure fantasy", and the second I'll call "verisimilitude".

As I see it, in the "pure fantasy" paradigm, the goal is to revel in the exotic/fantastic aspects of the world, more or less totally unmoored from concerns about realism, and players' enjoyment seems to stem mostly from power fantasy and exploration of an alien world. These are the superhero-type campaigns where crazy things happen that couldn't possibly exist; one that comes to mind is a campaign I read about where one player rolled a terrible cavalier, but an incredibly high-stat steed, and eventually the steed actually became the central character of the campaign, even getting character classes, while the rider died shortly into the campaign (I might try to find the link to the story at some point, it's worth a few laughs).

On the other hand, you have what I'd call the "verisimilitude" paradigm: these people don't necessarily care that what they're doing perfectly corresponds to reality, but their ability to buy into and enjoy the world is heavily affected by a degree of plausibility, and the more sophisticated and granular the worldbuilding is, the more they enjoy the game. For these people, a human having more HP than a monster, mechanical abstractions notwithstanding, is a serious issue, and their primary enjoyment is in exploring and inhabiting a believable world, and playing a role that fits in that world in an interesting way. These are the people playing a gritty military campaign with a heavy tactical focus, or a sword and sorcery campaign where the evil wizard will absolutely crush the party with magic if they try to fight head on.

Now, obviously these aren't mutually exclusive, and you can play a really high fantasy game where the bits and pieces are believable, or a Conan-esque old school dungeon delve where no one worries about encumbrance or a support corps of hirelings, and the same person can enjoy both playstyles, but from what I've seen, there is a very real difference between players' expectations and concerns between these two ways of playing, and I'd be interested to hear y'all's thoughts on this.

Especially because it seems to me that so many systems, even those like 3.5 or Pathfinder which are ostensibly so heavily focused on tactical play and mechanical support for everything imaginable (sometimes at the expense of playability, even), really fail to capture that sense of verisimilitude, especially in regards to material culture, and that more recent editions have begun to swing more in the direction of the "pure fantasy" paradigm, whether to grow the player base or because of a shift in what players are looking for from RPGs, which seems to be leaving a gap between what experiences tabletop gaming can support and what people might want from tabletop RPGs.

Like I said, I don't think either is better, or anything, so much as it seems to me like heretofore RPGs have left something to be desired with certain types of play, and I'm curious to hear what you guys think. Can RPGs provide the sort of verisimilitude I'm talking about in a way that things like D&D sometimes fail to do? Is that even a worthwhile pursuit given the type of game in question? Is it simply an issue of player/game developer focus, and if someone wanted to make that game, they'd just need to design a system to support that sort of play? What do you guys think?

Here's the video, it's just over 15 minutes, so give it a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVuu34zOy2Q

Happy Holidays, everyone, and I hope you've been having a wonderful time with your friends, families, animal companions, or whatever traveling companions you travel with on your adventures!

So as some of you may recall from old conversations, I study (among other things) military history/history of technology, and as part of that, I study arms and armor. As I have progressed in my understanding of historical weaponry, little by little I've become increasingly frustrated with the way that fantasy media, largely influenced by D&D's historical development, talks about and identifies weapons. In fact, if I ever actually get around to creating my own game system, some of the many things I intend to fix are what the weapons are called, and how they are represented in the mechanics.

A particular pet peeve of mine along these lines is the broadsword; no other single weapon is so misunderstood and misrepresented in fantasy as the broadsword (though the rapier comes pretty close). Well, today I came across a video by one of my favorite YouTube channels which specifically deals with explaining the somewhat confusing history and typology of the broadsword, and I thought I would share it here, just in case anyone was interested in knowing a bit more about swords (because, let's be honest, swords are cool). The same guy that did this video has spoken about the topic before, but this is the only video specifically dedicated to explaining the history of the term in depth.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GYGSkdwCMo

I just came across an interesting scholarly article on the institution of the medieval Hunt as it relates to understanding European martial arts, and I thought I would link it here, because it made me think about the Normidian Hunt, especially of the Torgat, and I thought it might inspire some ideas about how to flesh that out more fully in the future.

I should note that the article is not focused nearly so much on the actual coordination or logistics of the activity as it is on arguing for hunting dangerous game as a high-level training method for understanding historically-accurate swordsmanship, but I still thought it was interesting, and it has quite a few really interesting quotes from sources like Xenophon, John I of Portugal, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Here's the link: http://actaperiodica.org/documents/APD2014/APD2_R_Swinney_S_Crawfort_DOI20150017.pdf

I have a question, for all you DMs and GMs, though I'll have to give some context first. Despite having been on this forum for years; being quite knowledgeable about the mechanics of 3.5, 5e, Pathfinder, and even a bit of GURPS; and generally loving RPGs in all forms, I still have yet to ever play even one session of a pen-and-paper RPG, of any system.

I've just never had access to a good DM, and I've never really wanted to go to a local game shop and play with random people, though I guess I'd be willing to consider it.

However, I've been trying to get a character concept that I particularly want to play fleshed out in the meantime (it looked like I'd be playing with a friend in the near future, though he's moved away recently, unfortunately), and I'm stuck. Obviously, it's pretty difficult to get very far in rolling up a character with no DM around, and perhaps it's a waste of effort, but I've found it very good for my creativity, so I still would like to pursue it.

But there are some big problems that have kept me from getting too far, one dealing with translating the character concept, and one with fleshing the character out. Given that all of this is meant to be preparation on my part, I was hoping you guys could help me get a better sense of how I should be thinking about this: first, I am very attached to my character concept (I've actually been iterating on the basic premise for about five years now), but it doesn't fit neatly into the classes of 3.5 or Pathfinder, and while I plan to go with a Pathfinder Cavalier because it's closer than, say, a fighter, the whole knight-in-shining-armor thing doesn't fit my CC, and the discrepancy is enough that I'm thinking about using the Pathfinder rules about homebrewing an archetype. My character's more of a mercenary tactician/man-at-arms than a cavalier, and all of the tactics-focused archetypes are focused on bits of flavor that don't line up well with a character that is, at heart, something along the lines of a condottiere. I already have some ideas about how I'd like to go about this, but I don't want to create an archetype that's overpowered, either. What would you allow a player to create? What should I watch out for while designing it? If I have to do lots of tinkering, what limits should I impose on the process?

The second (really? I saw a lot of questions up there. XD) question I have is this: since I don't have a DM to guide the process, I don't have any specific campaign setting, but I have lots of ideas about who my character is, where he comes from, etc. How detailed should I make my character's backstory? I'm concerned about creating a whole petty kingdom and villages, etc. that might be inconsistent with the world this character eventually finds himself in, but I'm also really inspired creatively by the character, and want to go as far as I can without procluding him from actually being played someday. What level of backstory do you think you'd be comfortable with, if you weren't part of the initial process of rolling up the character, etc.?

I know that a lot of this is just guesswork, on your part in answering this as well as mine in asking, and that much of what you'll say might well just be common sense type answers, but I still want to get a feel for what actual DMs would be comfortable with, and any advice that you might have. I also know that, short of actually getting into the details of the character, stats, backstory, concept, etc. it's a bit difficult to give clear answers, but given how long this post is without all of that, I feel for the sake of brevity that I'll have to leave off with that, unless some of you want me to go into greater detail in a later post herein.

Anyway, thanks a lot for any help you can give.

Hey everybody.

I am currently preparing to develop a video game, and I'm trying to find programmers capable of building it. I figured I'd just see if anyone here knows anybody who might be willing and able to fill the roles, as I'll probably be looking for three or four guys of high caliber.

If you do, let me know soon, as this is not the only place I'll be searching, and in order to get the funding I'll need I will have to have everything set before I make a business plan.

Well, I just recently got home from the midnight showing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I'm posting this simply to warn those of you I can, it's a rather disappointing movie. See it, if you like, but don't expect much from it.

I can go into detail, if you'd like, but for now, suffice it to say I was not impressed with Peter Jackson's latest foray into Middle Earth.

Hey guys, so I'm not sure if any of you like the band Soundgarden, but they released their first studio album in over fifteen years today, and I thought I would let you know.

I picked it up earlier, and I've heard the entire thing, and it's simply awesome. It's certainly one of the best albums I've heard in quite some time, and for those of you who are Soundgarden fans, or who just like mature hard rock that crumbles mountains under its glare, check it out.

It's called King Animal!

So, I've been wondering for a long time what authors the rest of you read on a regular basis, and/or the authors you've read that you most enjoyed, or that most influenced you in some way, specifically from a genre within Science Fiction or Fantasy.

Besides being secretly interested as to how we all would compare, I also thought it might be a nice way to find new reading material, since it's summer and I don't have a girlfriend anymore, and need some stuff to do besides go to the pool and work. XD

So, what say you?

Hey everybody! So, I've been stuck with nothing to do and a family issue that means I haven't been able to get out of the house much lately, and I finally got on Xbox Live and downloaded Bastion. I haven't quite beat it yet, but it has been fantastic! I was just curious if anyone else has heard of it or played it, either on 360 or pc, and also kind of wondering what you guys think about independent art RPGs like Bastion.

Of course, if no one else has heard of it, I can also always describe it a little more fully, and recommend it to anyone interested.

Hey everybody, it's Easter Sunday, so whatever your faith, have a Happy Zombie Jesus Day!

Oh, and don't forget to guard your brains! XD

I know it's a tad late, but to all of you here on Khoras, I'd like to wish you a very happy New Year, and let's hope that our remaining 11 and a half months are good ones. XD Just kidding, but seriously, here's to a great year!

Hey guys, just thought I'd let you know that Delbareth has sent me the summary his group compiled of an adventure he ran in the Iron States, and I've begun translating it. I just started, and my French is kind of rusty, so seeing as I'm doing it all from memory and a LaRousse dictionary I won for testing well in eighth grade, it'll probably take about a week, but I intend to work on it at least some every day until I finish it, and when I finish it, I'll send it to him to be double checked and then one of us will post it. I know some of you are interested in Aggradar, like we are, so just pop your head in later this week, and early next week, and from what I've translated so far, you'll have a good read waiting!

Edit: Actually, due to a potential health issue and school starting, and several other things, it looks like I'm not going to meet that schedule, but I'll work on it when I can and do my best to get it done relatively soon, maybe by this time next month, maybe a little sooner or later.

This is for all of you who DM in D&D 3.5, though I'm especially interested in hearing David's opinion.

The past couple of days, in my spare time, I've been creating a character on my own using a copy of the revised 3.5 manual I downloaded on the Open Gaming License. I've never gotten the opportunity to play a tabletop RPG, nor have I ever made a character, and I so I'm really just trying to keep it simple. However, I spent a good deal of time thinking up my character's description, and it informed this question. My character is a half-elf fighter, and as his background, I've got a complex bit that basically boils down to this: his half-elf father was a professional soldier for over 30 years, until his guerrilla force's hideout was discovered by the usurper's forces (his father was loyal to the true heir). I can only guess, but he's supposed to be a competent and lifelong fighter who's 82 years old (middle age for a stock half-elf). His mother's supposed to be a ranger, which means I'll probably multiclass, but for now, this is my primary concern:

My character's father was a lifelong soldier, and after escaping his homeland and moving to the wilderness with his then-fiancee, he became the local marshal/militia captain for the village, and he's supposed to be an extremely competent leader and tactician. Since he raised my character, that made me wonder if in that circumstance, the DM might not allow me to create a class, or modify one, to represent my character's tactical and strategic training, and if so, how he would treat it.

While I've thought of several possible ways it could work, I don't really know if it'd be allowable, let alone the extent of its effect. My many ideas mostly involve creating a Tactics skill, with possible synergies in Sense Motive, Knowledge, and potentially Survival. This Tactics skill could work several ways though. It could be part of Sense Motive, since my character's tactical mind allows him to judge people more accurately. Or it could be an opposed skill to Sense Motive, giving a +2 bonus if successful and -2 if unsuccessful to attack and damage. It could also be passive and give a constant bonus of +2. Should it affect comrades, or comrades within however many feet? Could it allow flanking without another adjacent comrade? Or even give flanking bonuses to party members? Basically, how far is too far before game balance would be lost. Also, is this a class skill, or is it an innate skill like a racial bonus, or potentially even a bonus skill proficiency, as if I had an extra two-four points available for adding ranks, since it's something I got from simply being raised by my father?

Anyways, I was just curious about these things, and how David and the rest of you would handle it. I doubt I'll add it, at least not now, though, if I ever played with the character, I might decide to use this after all. As always, several comments and differing viewpoints are always appreciated.

I was wondering. Lately, I've become rather curious about whether my character, Tanis Mondar, could ever be made canon like Morlokk and Callister Draabyn. Obviously I would need to work a great deal on building a character description, and possibly some fiction to expand upon my basic information. But I would be greatly honored if one day I could add to the World of Khoras in a tangible way. I was just wondering, if that would be possible, and what it would take to get that accomplished. Also, I would have to think of how his official character sheet on the website would be done, but again, it's just an idea.

Anyways, David, just thought I'd ask. Also, hopefully, we can put some life back in the forum. We've all asked a lot of questions, and it's hard to think of new things to discuss, but I always enjoy discussing Khoras. 

I've finally thought a new bit of food for thought! 

The Avisarr is Draxorith's Soul Gem. It holds his soul and gives him a way to exist here on the Prime Material Plane. Most of the information about it is covered under the Avisarr Quest, so there's not a whole lot to ask about it.

However, I was wondering. What would happen if someone succeeded in destroying it. Not throwing it into the banishing chamber with the rest of his essence, or killing him and destroying it, but simply destroyed the gem and he was still in the banishing chamber. Would he survive? Would he become soulless? If so, what would that mean? Would he immediately die, as opposed to being banished or unable to appear on this plane?

Obviously, it would take someone, probably an archmage, of immense power to destroy the gem, but it just made me wonder.