The Grimoire inspiration!

So when I started working on the Petit Albert translations, I had a number of goals and hopes in mind - some was historical research, some was the hope to create a resource that would be usable for gaming material.

It seems that my efforts have paid fruition, and some others have started using it as a source/inspiration for their own game!  I am *very* honored to see this happen - it is quite gratifying to have my work be of use to others!

First we have the reddit user The Secret Dino created a list of magical items clearly inspired by my work: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hiKdah2oLtIBuMtPH9SoGDZFnrjkQJJN/view  (see the thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/fqn30i/petit_albert_grimoire_and_the_alchemy_blog/ - I may update this entry if they have more material)

Second the very talented and frequent collaborator Words for Yellow posted this music-inspired list of magical rituals, which clearly have roots in the Petit Albert's formulas.  That bell-based spell?  Ooof that is something!

Both have created fascinating work, and I also note in a lot more concise form than the somewhat long-winded and rambling Petit Albert text... and that's a good thing!  It makes it far more useable in a game :)    This is a great example of the DIY/collaborative nature of the OSR, and it's a pleasure being a small part of it.

Lastly, you may note that Words for Yellow wrote that post for the Secret Jackalope 2020, organized by the OSR Discord server.  I too am writing one, and mea culpa, I am already late.  But I do have something coming up!  Something UVG related too.... stay tuned.

edit:  I don't think I had any effect on this, but this is wild and should be read anyway!  https://academyofdoors.blogspot.com/2020/04/scripted-para-entropic-lexigraphical.html

Troika! - UVG - Rules conversion notes and new Backgrounds

So I decided to run the very intriguing UltraViolet Grassland setting by Luka Rejec, using the very zany Troika! ruleset.


At first I thought this would be easily accomplished.  The flavor of Troika! and the UVG setting really do merge well.  The inventory system is *remarkably* similar.  And there is a *very* useful rule conversion document at the Technical Grimoire.  Easy Peasy right?

Well... not 100%.   First there are some lacks in the conversion document - things that were not addressed.  Second, I feel that some changes to the Troika! rules should be made both for UVG but also "in general".   I intend for this post to be a "living document" - I'm going to add to it as I go along.

GENERAL TROIKA! IMPROVEMENTS.

 I've made some comments about the Troika! rules in the past, and now that we've played several games, I feel confident in making the following changes:

1:  Troika! characters can be rather incompetent, and this is *especially* true if you have a base skill of 4 (the range is 4-6).  I had implemented a rule with a skill range of 5-6, but it still left the characters with a skill of 6 quite better than the characters with a skill of 5. 

To help this, I've split the basic Skill into 2:  Physical Skill and Mental Skill.  When creating a character, the player assigns one with a value of 5 and the other with a value of 6.  There is no need to assign advanced skills to mental of physical, rather which one to use will depend on the situation.

Example:  Colonel Sanders has a physical skill of 6 and a mental skill of 5.  He also has an advanced skill of sword of 2.  In a fight, a physical challenge, he would have a total sword skill of 8.  However, if he was trying to see if a new sword was a good purchase; it would be a mental check, meaning his total sword skill would be 7.

2:  Luck is very important in Troika! To "even out" luck scores a little bit, starting characters roll luck as 6 +2d3, vs 6 + 1d6.

3:  To generate new characters in an existing game, so that they aren't too far behind the others, the following procedure is followed:
:  Get a new character randomly (either using the existing Troika! characters or using the 1d40 table in UVG - the GM will then have to make one).  
b: The player can improve the advanced skills by 3 points, spreading as they wish but without increasing any advanced skills above 3
c:  The player can add one new advanced skills at a rank of 1


UVG CONVERSIONS

1: One of the big challenge is food and healing.  Troika! characters heal fast, eating food (provisions - which they can carry up to 14 unit in a strange "parallel" inventory) heals 1d6 and sleeping heals 2d6 stamina.  But in the UVG there are frequent misadventures (you step on a nail, you lose 1d3 life type of deal).  If these were easily fixed, they would become almost meaningless.  Also, supply management on a caravan becomes a lot easier if people can carry 14 meals for "free" on top of their equipment.

So clearly the inventory and the healing system have to be tweaked.

After speaking with David Schirduan about this issue (thanks David!) we came up with the following fix:

Traveling in a caravan is *not* restful stuff.  You need a week off in a safe place (or being taken care of by someone else during a halt) to gain sleeping-based healing.  One could also posit that the UVG's conditions are not entirely friendly to human life - people heal slower than in other places?  The same rules apply to luck "healing".   edit: I note that there is a "rest after a week of travel if nothing happened" and I would allow that too, but it's not reliable.

As far as eating food and inventory, first of all the parallel provision inventory is gone.  1 sack = 1 weeks of supply (mostly food). 1 day of food = 1 ration = 1 stone.  Eating your normal amount of food keeps you healthy but doesn't heal you.  Eating more heals 1d6 per ration - and you can't eat more than 3 rations a day (there are limits on how much  you can gorge  yourself).  This limits healing to 2d6 stamina per day *and* makes healing via food a difficult choice - you need those supplies to reach your destination!

I was a bit hesitant about this - this *really* limits healing in the UVG!   However, there are still ways to restore luck (pocket gods) and the UVG has the VC Healing Lotion for 40 cash as a further source of healing.   So I think it's livable.  This hasn't been play-tested, so I will update as we find out how well this works.

2:  There are a number of 1d20 "skill check results" table to see what you get after a relevant skill check (market research, carousing etc).  While these tables are well done, they aren't "standardized" - meaning on one table you have a result on 1-2, another result on 3-6, while another table has a result on a 1, on 2-3, on 4-7.... this makes converting from 1d20 to 2d6 *really hard*.  If there was one reason above all others to not use Troika! for UVG, this would be it.  David was stumped by this challenge, and so am I - it seems I'm going to have to convert each bloody table at a time.

Edit:  I tried converting these one at a time and it's ridiculous.  What I've done is created a table that convert the results.   Now, it won't fit all times - and when it doesn't, just roll!  Or pick.  Whatever.   I figured that the worst someone could fail by is rolling an 11 with a skill of 5, and the best is rolling an 11 with a skill of 12.

Are the numbers right?  I don't know.  I'm a bit concerned about charisma check being luck checks (luck tends to be higher than advance skills) but the best way to find out is to playtest it - and now we will, because I can move on from trying to make dozens of bespoke tables!  Will tweak as needed, but for now:

2d6	1d20
Fumble	Fumble
-6	1
-5	2-3
-4	4
-3	5
-2	6
-1	7-8
0	9
1	10-11
2	12
3	13
4	14
5	15-16
6	17-18
7	19
8	20
9	21+
Critical Success	Critical Success

So double 6 is a fumble, double 1 a critical success.  0 would be rolling equal to your skill/advance skill rating.  -1 is missing the roll by 1, +1 is making the roll by 1 etc etc.

EDIT PART DEUX:  I redid the table, go see it here!


UVG BACKGROUNDS

There are 40 proposed backgrounds in the UVG, and I'm not going to convert them all!  But here are 2 that are being used in our game:

Dwarven Wine vampire priest

Why are you in the UVG: Nightly dreams of a lost world
what do you have: Grey cube that weighs five times more than lead

Background:  You are a priest of a sinister cabal of Wine Vampires.  The Wine Vampires suck alcohol from the blood of the inhebriated, and control a very significant network of vinyards.  Vampire Wines are renowed; rich and ruby red, revitalizing for they grow from source-rich soils infused with the flesh of creation.  They increase in value further west you go (ie deeper in the UVG). 
Nominaly, you are claiming to your superiors you are working to expand the markets west.  In reality, you have been troubled by nightly dreams of a lost world, which you feel compeled to find.

Advanced skills
SPELLS:
- Tempting Goblet 2
- Skeletal counsel 1
- Iron hand 2
- Leech 1
Advanced Skills
- Vintner 2
- Crossbow fighing 1
- Metalworking 1
- Marketing 1

Possession:  Grey cube that weighs five times more than lead (encumbrance: 1 stone)
Crossbow, 20 bolts
Fur robe (light armor)
beret
iron short sword
Brass Chalice
1 casket (1 "sack") of vampire wine (trade good)
3 bottles of vampire wine
pouch of grape seeds. 

New Spell:
Tempting Goblet (2):  Splash wine on a foe, and the loss of such a fine vintage will demoralize them.  The foe received a -1 skill penalty to all skill checks (including attacks) *and* a -2 penalty to luck/skill checks to resists effects until the wine dries


Undercover rainbow inquisitor

Why are you in the UVG: Portents of a deadly machine demon
what do you have: Platinum necrogoggles that reveal undead

Advanced skills
Disguise 2
Linguist 2
Pistol  2
History 1
Tracking 1
Sneak 1
Awareness 1
Old Tech 1

Possession:
pistol: Inquisitor Squirtgun
Platinum necrogoggles that reveal undead
Ballistic Linen Suit (light armor), only 1 slot equipment (vs 2)
30 squirt round
5 tiny vials of acid
5 tiny vials of holy water

Inquisitor Squirtgun 2 2 2 4 6 8 12  (when empty)
The squirtgun is a pistol that holds 5 shots and fire liquid-filled rounds.  It is not a particularly powerful weapon by itself, however when the round is filled with a suitable payload it can be more dangerous.  Use of a noxious substance such as acid adds a flat 2 to the damage, other subtances may be more harmful or inefective.


edit:  I've been asked if this has been play tested - this is being play tested now.  I have a game ever 2 weeks and we had our first UVG session already.  So if this doesn't work, this will be edited, there will be a new post etc :)

Lastly, I would be remis not to note the great UVG resource that Coins and Scrolls is.

(Required disclaimer: this post an independent production by me and is not affiliated with the Melsonian Arts Council.)

Petit Albert Grimore: Some Alchemy

Apparently, this month is the Alchemy Carnival!  What better way to celebrate than continue my long project of translating the Petit Albert, focusing this time on spells that are particularly "alchemical" in nature.

An ointment by which one can be exposed to fire without being burned.

It has been many centuries since trial by fire has been used, where criminals were to prove their innocence via exposure to fire. However, it was decided that this was not legitimate - who are we to ask God to intervene to protect the innocent? Also, there were frauds during these trials, the custom has thus been entirely abolished.

Ancient historians say that the activity of fire could be suspended. Here is the most reasonable means I could create: One must mate an ointment composed of hibiscus sap, fresh egg white, plantago seeds, powdered lye and horseradish sap. Crush and mix together well, and put on parts of the body needed to be protected from fire. Let the ointment dry, and reapply a total of 3 times. After that, you will be able to easy withstand a trial by fire without being injured.

speaking of fire....

To Make Greek Fire

This fire is so violent that it will burn all things to which it is applied and cannot be extinguished - neither with urine, strong vinegar or sand. It is made with live sulfur, tartar, tragacath (? sarcocole), alcohol (?), heated common salt, pentreole (?) and common oil. All these compounds are boiled together, until they consume a piece of cloth put within. It must be stirred with an iron spatula, and this composition must be made in a courtyard and not inside, because if a fire were to start it would be impossible to put out.

Historically, there is great uncertainty about how Greek fire was made. The uncertainty will remain, as I don't know what several of these ingredients are (sorry!) Pentreole *might* be a form of petrol?


To turn one self's invisible with the use of a fixed (solidified) mercury ring

There are reports of the famous Gyges , who gained the thrones of Lydia by the use of a magical ring, which made him invisible, thus allowing him to easily commit adultery with the queen and kill the king. Cabalistic sages have given us the method of making rings which have the virtue of invisibility.

This important operation must be started on a Wednesday (in French Mercredi, day of Mercury... but in English, day of Wotan) in spring, under the auspices of Mercury, when it is know that this planet is in conjunction with another favorable planet (the Moon, Jupiter, Venus or the Sun). Using a well purified and fixed (solidified) mercury, a large ring will be crafted, fitting the middle finger of the hand. In this ring a small stone, found in the nest of a hoopoe, will be set.

Around this ring you will engrave the following words

Jesus passing + in the middle of them + went on his way +

You will then lay the ring on a small plaque of fixed mercury, and you will prepare the perfume of Mercury. The ring, resting on the plaque, will be exposed to the vapors of the perfume three times in a row. The ring will then be wrapped in a piece of taffeta of the color corresponding to the appropriate planet (the one in conjunction with Mercury) and then put into the nest of the hoopoe where the stone was taken, and left there nine days. The ring will again be exposed to the perfume of Mercury, and will then be kept in a small box made of fixed mercury, to be used when needed.

To use the ring, put it on your finger, with the stone facing outward. The stone has the virtue of being so fascinating to the eyes of onlookers that you can be amongst their mist without being seen. If you want to be seen, twist the ring so that the stone faces the inside of your hand and then close said hand into a fist.

I'll note that for a complete recipe, I should give the recipe for how to "fix" (solidify) mercury *and* how to make the Mercury perfume, but this would be ridiculously long. Given the complexity of this formulae, one can doubt if it was ever attempted.

The author gives a modification of the recipe, involving the wrapping of a ring with the hairs of a furious hyena, in the following pattern.

He then gives a counter to the invisibility ring - another ring!:


To make a ring that will counter the invisibility ring

As there are no poison in nature without its antidote, the sage providence of the Creator has made all things in proportions, thus no artifice is without remedy. IF you want to ward yourself against the effects of the cabalistic mercury ring, you will make a ring in the following manner.

The ring will be made with lead, well purged and purified (the procedure being explained earlier in the book). In this ring you will set the eye of a young weasel, that has been with child but once. On the ring you will inscribe the words:

Apparuit Dominus Simoni

This ring will be made on Saturday, when Saturn is in opposition with Mercury. You will make three times the Saturday perfume and you will then wrap the ring in a piece of a funeral shroud. You will burry it in a graveyard for 9 days. After retrieving the ring, you will make three times the perfume of Saturn and use them.

Those who invented the ring used the principle of antipathy which is found between the maters which compose these two rings, with such opposed effect. In fact, nothing is more anathema to the hyena than the weasel. And Saturn is almost always in opposition with Mercury - when they meet in one of the Zodiac signs, it's almost always a bad omen.

A rather topical one: 

A balm against plague

This recipe is against the plague and any contagious illness. It was a present from a king of Spain to his daughter, Queen of France, that I obtain from her first (main?) doctor, and anyone can make it due to its great facility. (... we'll see about that!)

You will rake well twelve roots of black salsify, you will cook them in three pints of white wine, while covering the pot well to avoid excessive evaporation. Once well cooked, you will press them through a cloth. To this liqueur you will add the juice of 12 lemons, half an ounce of ginger, half an ounce of cloves, half an ounce of cardamom, half an ounce of agarwood; crush everything well. You will then add an ounce each of the following herbs: rue leaves, elderberry, salvia and blackberry. You will make this all boil together at a low simmer, until a quarter has evaporated. You will then pour it promptly through a double cloth, then you will store in a jar made of strong glass and well sealed.

You will drink in the morning without food for nine days, about a third of a pint. By this mean, you will made resistant against bad air, even if you were to frequent the plague-afflicted. For those already afflicted by a contagious illness, they will add to this drink the juice of root of bulbous (?) and of knapweed (not sure of the species here), from which they will decant a good theriac; and with this they will purge themselves of the mortifying venom. And to those who have the charbon (skin lesion caused by cutaneous anthrax), they will crush the leaves of blackberry and of elderberry with mustard seed, they will form a poultice on the charbon and, with the help of God, will heal.

Alas, this does not work against the plague or any modern pandemics... I mean I shouldn't have to say that, but with all the scams going around @_@ (don't you *dare* sell this as a cure!!)

Finally, the *classic* alchemical work, to make gold. There are 6 such spells in the book (ie less spells than love spells or fish-catching spells), here is one of them:

To change lead into fine gold:

There are people who reject the method that the wise chemist Falopius left to change lead into fine gold, because it seems too easy for such an important work. However, he is not the only philosopher who spoke of such a similar method: Basile, Valentin & Odomarus said almost the same. No matter, here is the way: You will infuse a pound of couperose de Cypre (copper sulfate) with a pound of foundry water (well clarified by filtration), this infusion must last 24 hours so that the couperose be completely dissolved. You will distill it by filtration through pieces of clean felt, and afterwards by with an alembic in a bed of sand heated by fire. You will conserve this distillate in a jar of strong glass, well sealed.

You will then take an ounce of good fine silver (quicksilver?), that you purified in a crucible, covered to stop evaporation, when it starts to boil you will add an ounce of fine leaf of good gold, and you will immediately retire the crucible from the fire. This being done, take a pound of fine lead, purified by the following method: Take a pound and 4 ounces (you will need excess because of losses). Melt it, then quench it in a strong clarified vinegar. You will melt it again and quench it in the juice of swallowwort; then melt it again and quench it in salt water. The last melt will use a strong vinegar, said vinegar having quenched quicklime prior to use.

The purified lead will then be melted, and then you will incorporate the mixture of gold and fine-silver (quicksilver?) that you prepared and mix well together these three things with an iron wire. When all is well mixed, add an ounce of the couperose water and let everything digest on the fire for a short period of time. When this has cooled, you will find that the composition is now good gold.


Good luck on making gold!  (and yes, this spell was easier than the other ones...)

(the original French Text can be found here)

Law Enforcement in the Yellow City.

There was a thread on the Yoon-Suin Reddit today asking about what the response to a disturbance would be, and what was law enforcement like?  My players had the same question. So I thought - why not publish that?  Enjoy!

It bears remembering that only the Slugmen's lives are protected by the law, and only they are allowed to own property (as in real estate).  Crime against slugmen by non-slugmen are seen as an attack against the system, and are *not* tolerated.  Slugmen care far less about crimes against non slugmen…  However, this doesn't meant that the city is in a state of near anarchy.  This is in part due to a number of semi – formalized institutions and individuals that help maintain some kind of order.  These can vary a lot from district to district, and the system is *far* from perfect... but the city runs.  Factors that maintain order include: 

• Slugmen Magistrates.  Slugmen Magistrates usually deal with commercial/tax related issues, and formal dispute between Slugmen Houses.  However, some of them are... meddlers and will insert themselves in human disputes/crimes, frequently dispensing fines.  Some are also asked by humans to resolves disputes between themselves.  Slugmen magistrates who perform this do so because of a sense of civic duty, because they are bored, or because they are hoping for bribes (some are corrupt, some aren't).
• Slugmen in general.  As they go about their business they frequently are accompanied by guards, and this has a temporary but effective crime suppression effect.  This lead many slugmen to believe that there is less crime than there actually is.
• Slugmen House:  Even the feeblest House employs a few dozen guards and stout servants, who keep an eye out in the immediate area around the House's compound.   These guards also look out for each other in their private lives – a guard's family having trouble will normally have no difficulties finding a dozen colleagues to assist them.
• Holy Men in general:  Somewhat similar to slugmen, perhaps less noticeably so.  Will also act as magistrate between poorer humans.
• Some cults in specific:  Some cults have their followers and holy men act as informal police forces.  The "Toadies" (followers of the Justice Toad) are infamous for this, but there are a number of others.  The followers of the Bull of Battle patrol the Pointed Dock District with near military discipline.  Armed followers of the Patron of Bakers (the "Rhinoes") will intervene if asked to.  The followers of Meti, the Sword Sage, take a dim view of those who abuse violence for their own gains, etc etc.  Even the holy men of Garlock can keep crime down, as hated criminals make great sacrificicial victims that few will mourn.
• Club Men stables sometimes help put crime down as many fighters have humble origins and some want to "give back" to their communities.
• Thief Takers – private individuals or small gangs who are hired to deal with specific thieves to get goods back or capture the suspect.
• Bounty hunters of all kinds.   More than one crimelord has been stopped by one of the Council Houses putting a 10 000 ruppee bounty on his/her head to make the problem go away.  Smaller bounties are frequently put up by various individuals.   Assassins may also be hired privately.
• Rent Collectors.   In some districts they have some order-maintenance activities on top of their rent-collecting duties.  Rent collectors are rarely liked, but they do have the ear of the slugmen house and thus have a certain authority. 
• Hired Mercenaries – sellswords can be hired to patrol an area for a time.
• Protection Rackets – some of these are semi legitimate and actually *do* protect the area.  The "Old Comrades" mentioned was such a group.
• Local Tough – a man/woman (perhaps with a few followers) asked to take care of a problem. Mostly in poor districts.
• Local street gang – sometimes the devil you know is the best you can get.  Again in poor districts.
• Angry mobs. Public execution by a riled up populace do occur.

The Stygian Library: A review

The Sygian Library is an adventure by Cavegirl, a particularly creative blogger and maker of gaming material.  It's a randomly generated dungeon, and can be acquired here, for the reasonable price of 5$. Now, there are plenty of great free D&D content on the web, is this worth the money?  The tl,dr of this review is yes, absolutely.

The module is well described by the author here, but in brief, the adventure is a "dungeon generator", where the dungeon is not the typical rocky tomb, but a gigantic, sprawling pan-dimensional library.  This means that the adventure could be dropped in any setting and "work", as all you need is an opening into the Stygian library.  Instead of mapping every hallway and room, the adventurers progress "deeper" in the library, with areas of interest being generated.  After dealing with an area and what is within, the characters can press deeper, go back, or "branch" sideway into another area.  One would imagine that the map the PCs are making is complex, but the map the players are  using is abstracted.  The library is not "stable", and upon a re-visit its structure will have changed.

The GM can roll in advance or on the fly if they so desire - I would recommend in advance, but if the players go somewhere unexpected it's not very hard to just start making rooms at random.

The good:  The theme is very unified, intriguing and slightly spooky.  There is a semi-abstract "progress" system, the premise being that the PCs are looking for a specific piece of information in the sprawling library; and said system works well.  As they go deeper, they find clues and meet NPCs that may have useful tips on how to attain their goal.

The encounters and monsters are very interesting.  Some are foes, but many can be negotiated with.  The librarians in particular are an intriguing bunch, with different "factions" looking after different things.  Some of the rooms are less interesting than others, but some are *very* intriguing, and the players - even though their PCs are there to find something specific, not "solve the mystery of the library" can't help but wonder at what the heck is going on.

The art is good - I wish there was some more, but I liked what was in there.  The prose is quite good - this isn't high literature, but Cavegirl clearly write better than average.  The text flows and is easily read, without being boring.  The layout is good, with several entries giving you specific page numbers.  Pages 13-15 are key to run the adventure/make rooms.  There are also further tables at the back, to create random books, extraordinary books and treasure.

The bad:  Randomly rolling for things can lead to repetition - while there are plenty of entries, the dice kept spitting out the same results for some reason.  Frustrating.  The system is not specified.  I *think* it's supposed to be B/X, but the HP seems rather low?  Nevertheless, you should be able to convert to whatever it is that you are using.  I used Troika!  I'll also note that it seems better suited for a theater of the mind type of play rather than inch by inch trap hunt or tactical combat - if you need maps for that, you'll have to make them yourself, and this module may not suit your needs.

Conclusion:  This is an excellent adventure, with few flaws and many strenghts.  It requires a bit of prep time (it's a good idea to read it its entirety in advance), but very little "fixing".  In fact, this is one of the best "effort to enjoyment" ratio for a module I've ever seen.  The setting is original, fun and is not "yet another dungeon".  I was concerned a bit about the random generation nature, which can sometimes result in a random nonsense mishmash, but not at all, the theme is very solid, and the entries well thought out.  I was told by several people that this was a good product, and they were right.  Go support gifted OSR authors!

The warrior-mages of Gamagadhi

The oligarchy of Ghamagadhi is described in the Yoon Suin book, but as my players spent some time there, I had to expand upon it.  Here are the warrior-mages of Ghamagadhi

It has an unusual design, being built to resemble a crescent moon and four stars: the main part of the city forms the crescent, with the rear curve facing the mountains, and the four "stars" are fortresses arrayed in front of the crescent in a semi-circle, making the whole city vaguely circular in shape. The four fortresses represent the Azure Dragon, the Vermillion Bird, the White Tiger and the Black Tortoise respectively, and their gates and walls are decorated accordingly. Each is garrisoned by 133 eunuch fighters and led by a mage-warrior of some renown.
- Yoon Suin, p 274


The four fortresses guarding the city are places of power, and each warrior-mage is bound to it.  In exchange for binding themselves to the fortress and swearing fealty to the ruling family, they are granted long life and mystical protection.  Each warrior-mage usually serves for several decades, sometimes more than a century, but eventually they must find a successor and transfer the mantle.  The requirement for becoming a warden of the fortress are somewhat vague - the capacity to wield magic, martial prowess, and the willingness to serve the Oligarch.


Azure Dragon:  Gao Li, a seemingly middle-aged woman from Xinjiang.  She has been serving for almost a hundred years.  She is aloof and not interested in the local politics.  The other warrior-mage knows she is the strongest caster by far and respect her for it, but she disdains them somewhat, seeing their knowledge as insufficient.  She feels that she is nearing the limit of what she can learn in this position, and has begun giving thoughts to moving on.  She bears an ancient jian as her weapon of choice.  Her ultimate goal is to become an archmage.  The Azure Dragon sees to the persona guards of the Oligarch.
(5e build:  Wizard (blade dancer), level 10.  The position of Azure Dragon grants +1 to all saves and increases the Azure Dragon's spell DC by 1)

Black Tortoise:  Nikhil.  A sellsword who grew up in the oligarchies and who acquired a powerful blade in a game of chance.  He once got lost in the jungles of Lamarakh and stumbled upon a powerful asura, Kalanemi.   The asura, sensing his potential, trained him in obscure arcane arts and gifted him with a magical egg which grants good fortune, all this in exchange for future... favors.  Kalanemi told him that to increased his potential, he would have to serve as a warrior-mage for some time.   Nikhil is ambitious and suspicious of others, and has become restless in his position after nearly 50 years, and is actively searching for a successor.  His predecessor was Chagdun the Brown.  The Black Tortoise sees to internal security.
(5e build: level 3 fighter (battlemaster)/level 5 warlock (fey patron).   The position of Black Tortoise grants +1 to all saves and increases the warden's AC by 1)

White Tiger:  Has served the oligarchy for over 130 years and his original name has been lost, and is only know by his title.  An old but hulking man with a great white mane. He fights with a large elephant knife (a type of polearm).   His martial skills are suprased by none and his dedication to the job has earned him the respect of the others, although both the Azure Dragon and the Black Tortoise doubt his intelligence.  Originally from the 100 kingdom, his chief ambition is to do his duty and he is fiercely loyal.  His chief concern is external security, and he has forged an alliance with giants of the high passes.
(5e build Fighter 13 (Eldritch Knight). The position of White Tiger grants +1 to all saves and increases the warden's to-hit numbers by 1)

Vermillion Bird:  Madan the Crimson, originally from Sughd is a somewhat new arrival to the oligarchy, having earned the title less than a decade ago.  A startlingly beautiful man, he is graceful,  eloquent and vain, and currently is the favorite amongst many of the Oligarchy's nobility, although some privately wonder what he's up to.  They are correct in their suspicion, as Madan wishes to marry the daughter of the Oligarch and become the next ruler.  This is strictly forbidden, but Madan is patient and believes he will succeed.  The other warrior mages see him as a fop and doubt his competencies.  He supplies the guards that ward the Seraglio.
(5e build: Bard 7 (college of swords). The position of Vermillion Bird grants +1 to all saves and +1 dmg per dice on spells).


The oligarchy has a few other notable figures.

Sarbodaya:  The 2nd son of the Oligarch, and the effective leader, given the stupidity of the firstborn and the senility of the father.  He is in his late 20s but wise for his age.  Has a magic blade in a bejeweled scabbard trust through a green silk sash, and a star broach on his shoulder.   Wants the best for his oligarchy, his main concerns about finances and food supplies - he is confident that he will handle the succession, and trust the warrior-mages will handle defence issues. He is served by the chamberlain Vo Mang and by Dumat the Sage

The nameless one: A humble priest, who tends the great well in the middle of the valley.  Has sacrificed this name to the power in the well. Recent crop failures has lead him to fear that the well has been corrupted somehow and is busy doing sacrifices to appease the well spirit.  The well spirit is not a god, but an Elder water elemental, who *will* come out to defend his humble servitor.

Namarata:  The oligarchy is renowned for its grand Seraglio, the  Bronze Nymph, and Namarata runs the place.  A woman of unknown origins, seemingly in her 40s, she is rumored to be a sorceress given that she has been in this position for the last 80 years.  Rumors that some of her employees are nymphs are correct.  She is intelligence and wields considerable influence in the valley.  She is served by Ra U Nak, a long armed bald eunuch (the opium master) and by the head guard Samir, a eunuch warrior who is quietly in love with her.  She knows, but pretends not to notice.   


Dumat the Sage:  The Oligarch's house wizard, a man in his late thirties, originally from the Yellow City.  Dumat has a secret - he isn't a wizard at all, he is a "fraud" .  He fears being discovered, and constantly seeks more magical items (or money to aquire them) to keep up the appearances.  He has gathered so far a cape of billowing, a staff or display (which holds aloft a large pink crystal made of quartz with a continual flame spell upon it), a wand of detect magic, a ring of the ram and a number of potions.  He's also managed to master the spell of sleep, prestidigitation and dancing light.  Despite his deep insecurity, the Oligarch is satisfied with Dumat's services, as he's actually become a decent pseudo-caster by now and is fairly knowledgeable about all things magic.  Dumat is very in love with the nymph.
Dumat is served by Grum, the figment. Grum wears burlap robes and a rune-engraved bronze collar. Grum has existed for so long now that he has gained "realness" and now has 3 HD. Can cast grease 3/time a day, minor illusion at will, invisibility 3/day, stinking cloud 1/day.

The Zeugma Campaign: Gaming in Pseudo-earth

I'm going to try something new - instead of posting a play report of a session, I'm going to post a play report of a *campaign*.  This game happened in 2008-2009, used the 2e Warhammer frpg system (modified), was set on a pseudo earth in 1150, and was centered around the city of Zeugma.  Zeugma was a city in Modern-day Turkey that bridges the Euphrates, and is at the point where the East and West meet.

I have tons of material on Zeugma but... does anyone care?  Well, let's first see what occurred in the campaign (I think some of these can be mined for adenture ideas, given that they were all adventures we ran ha.)  After that, I'll give a few comments on what I learned running this.

(Party members:  Orzad, the dwarven pit-fighter, Amandyl the elven "bounty hunter" (a runaway noble), Peklar the Armenian ex-bandit and Mahmud, the Turkish right-hand man of Jaffar the Merchant.)

1: The campaign begins. Party hired by Jaffar, an ambitious merchant, to guard a rented warehouse where some his goods are stored. It turns out the owner of the warehouse hasn't been paying protection money to the local thieves' guild.

2: Fake brigandry. The party becomes retainers of Jaffar. He asks the party to perform a delicate task - to create the illusion of a heavy brigand presence upon a certain trade route. They aren't to actually kill anyone, just scare travelers.  However, the party is forced to intervene to save pilgrims from Turkish raiders. The party encounters Hassan, a mysterious Turkish bowman, who intervenes in their favor. The party also encounters Stephanos of Trebizon and his group.

3: Lost and Found: The party hears rumors of a lost magical item within the city and starts looking for it. It turns out that this is a training exercise by the local mage guild. However, the party also learns of another, much more powerful item being smuggled in the city - a wand infused with the deadly ice magic, Omptose Phellac. The party makes the acquaintance of Valmaxian, a reclusive elven sorcerer; Agda the witch; Alcanter the Blue; Thrain Silvertouched (the Spirit Satrap) and of Feanaro Culnamo, an "elven” “shop" “owner".

4: Grave Hunt: The scribe Ophelos has found an old parchment indicating the true location of the tomb of Selecus I Nicator, founder of Zeugma (one of Alexander's generals). The city approaches the party to go on an expedition in exchange for a share of the treasure. After a few days of travel, the tomb is found inside a barrow which the locals swear is haunted. After defeating the goblins inside (who were tricking the peasants into making offerings) and the undead guardians, the tomb is secured, will with many historical artefacts and quite a lot of treasure, including the griffin's claw, an enchanted sword made of Damascus steel.

5: Liberation of Carablos: Rumors of war, as Joscelin II is captured by Nur Ad Din as they were ambushed while looking for Turkish raiders. Jaffar has report that the town of Carablos, a critical supply point on the way to Baghdad, is extorting travelers under the order of a new governor. Party investigates and is joined by a mysterious vagrant, Assad the lepper. The governor turns out to be consorting with necromancers and worse, and Assad to be a Turk not to cross. Violent confrontation ensues.

6: The Zeugma Hastildude: Party members take part in traditional martial games, demonstrating archery, riding and swordsmanship. A jousting demonstration is done and is deemed to be a silly western practice. The party does well - Orzad reaches the semi final and loses vs Christophoros, the reigning champion of the melee (Christophoros is then defeated by a newcomer, Du Hamel, a templar). Peklar wins the horse-race, and Amandil reaches the archery finals.  Mahmud is trained by Assad.

7: Property fraud: a complex scheme is unleashed upon Zeugma, where the conman sells tiny parcels of lands to commoners to give them the right to vote. As the next election will be for the Spirit Satrap, religious tensions flare. The party attempts to investigate *and* profit. The conman escapes!

8: A trip to Antep: The party pursues the conman to the nearby city of Antep, as a large bounty is on his head. On the way, meet NubZeb the goblin. Antep situation made complicated by the conman hiring local thief guild as protection, by members of the Zeugma thief guild also being after the bounty, by actual assassins being after the conman *and* by Antep being besieged by the Sultanate of Rum! Nubzeb is instrumental in gaining acess as he knows of a secret tunnel. The conman is killed, his money seized by Antep authorities, and some dwarves escape Antep and migrate to Zeugma with the party.

9: A trip to Abu Kabal: Jaffar realizes that with the disruption from the conman, the success of a Zeugma caravan on its way back from Baghdad is suddenly of grave import. The party goes south to rejoin the caravan and help escort it north back to safety. After traveling 150 leagues, the caravan is found. On the way back to Zeugma, the caravan is beset by a habboob - a sandstorm. 3 desert ogres - far more cunning than ordinary ogres and wielding magic, use the cover of the storm to attack.

10: Anti-Banditry: Antep pays tribute to the Turks of the Sultanate of Rum, who abandon their siege - for now. While the party was away, Jaffar organized a small caravan going east, which was attacked by bandits. Jaffar wants revenge, his goods back but most importantly two things:  a magical ring that "can see ahead" *and* a very valuable slave. The party dispenses justice, retrieves the ring and travels to Edessa, the fallen crusaser city, which has become a camp for slave traders and where the slave has been sent. On the way, the party meets Cengis the mule skinner, and Crius, a large mysterious being guarding a hidden door. The slave turns out to be a Circassian beauty that is highly educated in the codes of law - a bride for the Paper Satrap.

11: A trip to Aleppo: Valmaxian examines Jaffar's new ring and declares it to be not a divination tool but the ring of many parts, which can be used to retrieve an ancient magical item hidden beneath the Citadel of Aleppo - the staff of storms! The party agrees to help. What follows is *extremely* eventful, with earthquakes, the staff retrieved, Joscellin II, count of Edessa, found and rescued and the woman Le-ka, resurrected but put inside a golden automaton, who now claims to be the Avatar of Ishtar, Goddess of love and war.

12: Upward Mobility: Jaffar tries to become a council member on the merchant guild. Someone tries to assassinate "him" - but his servant is the true target. Templars are involved, and the assassin's guild is not happy someone is poaching on their turf. An arrangement is made with the templars - but Agda the witch foresees blood - BLOOOOOOODD!!! Hassan informs party that Jaffar is still in danger. While traveling on protection detail, the party is attacked by would be assassins - but the party proves to be the anvil upon which the local assassins hammer the would be interlopers. Many dead. Jaffar wins election. Amandil dreams of bloody pyramid.

13: Delaying action: Nur Ad Din is enraged by Joscelin II's escape and decides to strike Turbesell (Joscelin's forteress) before Joscelin is ready. Zeugma decides to help covertly - the party, some assassins (Hassans, Assad and *the black dwarf of zeugma!!!*), an Amber mage and other sell-swords (including Stephanos's group) are recruited to start guerrilla campaign. Party convinces goblins to help. Enemy scouts are ambushed, bridges are torched, horses are spooked, siege engines are burned down and enemy mages are furiously murdered. Eventually, Armenian relief force shows up, and Nur Ad Din withdraws.

14: Jailbreak: The Egyptian (elven) Ambassador has learned that Valmaxian has left and is a follower of Set, the imprisoned dark elf/god.  The Staff of storm is a key to release him.  The Blue guild foresees a key "fork" event and are troubled. Agda the witch flees the city. Party has doubt, as Set's imprisonment could be considered unjust. They return to the hidden valley where they previously met Crius (who is no longer present). They do not manage to stop Valmaxian in time, and Set is released at night. Set rises his hand and  blots the moon.  He and declares that there are not four elements, there are five. Once the darkness disperses and the moon returns to normal, Set and his servants are gone.

And that was it!   The campaign had a 2nd arc, where the consequences of Set's release were explored, in 2014, but that would be best kept for another post.  This text was originally a recap for the players starting the 2nd arc.

Lessons learned from this campaign:

1: The Warhammer system works well to simulate a lowish fantasy setting, such as a pseudo earth, and it doesn't have to be used exclusively for the Warhammer setting.  It takes a lot less work to run a game than in 3.X, pathfinder or even 5e, leaving the GM more time to think about more important things (who are the NPCs, what do they want etc).  One of the reason for it is that the great majority of careers ("classes" in Warhammer) are not magic users.

2:  However it is not perfect.  There is a lot of "whiffing" (fights were combatants are all missing each other) at first, some of the rules are a bit peculiar, and the career system *really* isn't for everyone.  One of my players (who later departed, not listed above) had a huge problem with not being able to design his character exactly how he wanted, and instead having to rely on a random roll to tell him what his lot in life would be.

2b:  Adding bits of Dragon Warriors to a game is always a good idea.  Although almost all the adventures were original content, A Grave Hunt heavily borrowed on a Dragon Warriors module.  Goblins and trolls were based on Dragon Warriors description, and I adapted the Dragon Warriors magical systems to Warhammer.

3:  I had a lot of fun running a city campaign, although half the action was outside the city walls.   It requires a good understanding of how the city works, what are the factions, what do they want.  Looking back, I think I should have injected a little bit more chaos in there - I think that once you have an entire city in  your mind, you can become reluctant to shake the boat too much, and that can be detrimental

4:  As I am older, I have reservations now that I did not have back then.  To weave a "pseudo-earth" and the fantasy races, I had the elves being Egyptians (and originally refugees from Atlantis), dwarves were analogous to the Jews, and the Turks were hobgoblins.  I put in a lot of effort to be realistic and not mono-dimensional.  However, I am sure that no matter how well I did it, some would find the very concept profoundly offensive.  I *really* thought Zeugma was interesting (I started taking notes on Zeugma in 2004, I let things percolate in my mind for a long time sometimes), but I'm hesitant to publish the setting.

4b:  While pseudo-earth is "easy" because there is tons of material out there (see https://www.akdn.org/publication/aga-khan-trust-culture-citadel-aleppo-description-history-site-plan-visitor-tour-Syria - I was able to turn the citadel in this crazy multi level dungeon that was historically plausible!) - there are also... links to real life situation.  Aleppo suffered terribly during the Syrian civil war, is it "cool" now to have a game there today?  :/   The second art of this campaign occurred, in part, in the Tarim basin, aka Xinjiang, where the Uighurs are currently undergoing  terrible persecutions.  When I ran the 2nd arc of campaign things were nowhere as bad, now it feels... bad... to use it as a gaming setting.

4c:  This also applies to events of *back then* that still reverberates today - things like the crusades, tensions between faiths (or between the various sects of the same faith)… I think it makes for good gaming material, but it's perilous to publish.

5:  Different groups prefer different style of play and freedom.  I don't like railroading, but on the other hand my group likes to be "pointed towards the plot".  Having a patron saying "I have a problem, take care of it please" and then letting the PCs loose really works well for my gaming group.  I knew what the problem was, who the people involved were and what they wanted, but how it played out depended on my PCs.  Sometimes they really surprised me.

Teas, Opiums, Poisons and Kojos: use in play and a few examples.

Someone on Discord wanted to expand their use of opium in a Yoon-Suin game.  I thought about sending them my notes, but then I realized I could clean said notes up and make a post out of them instead!  Two birds in one stone etc.

I have to admit something though - these were not a big hit with my players.  But I think it's not because of the "flavor" of the items (although some players distrust drugs, probably for good reason).  Rather, most of my players will be thrilled to get a consumable item and... never use them. Potions of strenght, heroism etc remain unused.  Interesting, items that are more  utility than combat oriented see more usage, but even then many items get on a character sheet and are promptly forgotten.  Some bloggers have suggested that there is a "too good to be used" phenomenon going on.  Basically, players feel "sure I could use this potion now to help me fight the ogre, but there could be a giant next week!"   And when they meet the giant, it's "but there could be a dragon tomorrow!" etc.

So you know your group - do they use consumables or not?  If they don't, don't put too much effort into these.  (EDIT:  Wombat from the OSR Discord server suggested that these should have a shelf life - use it or lose it in other words.  I never implemented this, but it seems like a good idea...)

So with that cheerful intro, here is what I've used in my Yoon-Suin Campaign so far (I've tried to exclude the examples from the book, but I might have missed some?)

TEAS
Tea of the Third quality:   day to day black tea that almost everyone drinks
Tear of the Second quality:  Green tea, quite nice
Tea of the first quality: there are usually almost never any of this tea as a "generic", everything is "special"

- Emerald Green:  1 rupee per *cup*.  Brilliant green tea, excellent.
- Fighter's brew:  Deep brown tea.  Caused lethargy and the drinker to sleep almost a full day. However, healing dice have advantage and double amount gained.  2 gp per pot
 - Mountain's delight:  Pale orange tea.  Intriguing flavor with a mineral tint.   1 Paisa a cup
 - Amethyst Jasmin, a deep purple brew with aphrodisiac properties.  Cost a staggering 80 rupee a pot as it is grown in a single farm and contains amethyst powder.
- The Yellow Tea.
- The Unseen Brew.


KOJO STICKS
- The Kojo of inner fire:  This reddish tobacco increased energy, removing up to two levels of exhaustion.  Not recommended before bedtime (and eating a solid meal is a good idea too).
- The kojo of beneficial health:  This pale grey tobacco speeds up natural healing.  All hit dice healing rolls get rolled twice and keep the highest (eating also recommended).  This effect last one day.
- The kojo of bliss:  This dark green tobacco makes you blissful for 2d6 hours.
- The Kojo of Yoon:  This dark purple kojo stick reeks of Yoon, the common purple spice used by almost everyone.  Smoking this kojo makes the smoker immune to hunger for a *week*.
- The kojo of the moon.  This brilliant white kojo stick is almost without odor and burns with an invisible flame.  Gain advantage on perception for 1 hour.
- Black Kojo:  a particularly strong kojo, no magical effect
- Pale Kojo:  a very smooth one.  No magical effect. 
- Orange Kojo:  Flavored with orange rind
- Riverweed Kojo: everyday kojo, a bit uneven in quality.
- Kojo of Endless Air.  The smoke of this Kojo is almost flavorless but tingly.  It loads the body with oxygen, allowing one to go without air for 1d3 hours (great for water exploration, also for high altitude sickness)

No prices were set for these, as they were obtained and traded with Lamarakhi clans (small rewards, favors etc)... and yet never used :(

OPIUMS:
- The Brown Imp:  A brown opium, smoked in a pipe.  Acts as relaxant tea. Save vs poison DC 12 or see demons cavorting at the periphery of vision (this save can be failed on purpose, as many users find the cavorting entertaining).  Addictiveness:  14%, DC save 10 to half the % .  Costs 7 rupees a dose.  Produced in large quantities, but expensive due to its popularity, frequently on the menu at slugmen parties and social functions.
- Jasper Judge, a black poppy:  Eaten in the left mouth.   Cause lack of sleep and keen judge of moral character.   Potency 6 (16%), save DC 11.  Costs 5 rupees a dose.  Often used by negotiators.
- Fierce Heart: A red poppy, which is smoked into a pipe.  An aphrodisiac and a stimulant, it boost energy (+1 damage for 1d6 hours).  Potency 19, save DC 14.  Costs 9 sp per dose. 
- The Rainbow Storm:  A purple opium, crushed and then mixed with boiling tea.  Hallucinogen, colors are super bright and chaotic (disadvantage to many checks) for 1d4+1 hours.  Addictiveness:  Potency 6.  DC save 10 to half the %.  Costs 4 rupees a dose

(the rules for potency and addiction can be found in the Yoon Suin book).

POISONS
- Sea's blight: onset 1d6 minutes, debilitation 1d3 days/1d3 hours, a squid that hunts sea snakes (local product), uncommon (IN 5e, debilitation is 3 levels of exhaustion... there is a 5e "poisoned" effect with is sufficient for most poisons though) . DC save is 13
- Alchemical Jug Basic poison. Skin contact onset 1d4 minutes, DC 10. Injury onset immediate, DC 12. 2D6 dmg, poisoned, check every 4 hours until pass.
- Foe-stopper: A somewhat weak poison obtained from the boxfish toxin. Save DC 12, Poisoned 1d4 rounds. A weapon-applied poison, immediate onset. Weakens muscle for a short period of time

- Black Centipede poison: Injury immediate onset, DC 13. Damage 1d10. Poisoned (save every round)

The main use for these were not by the PCs, but by the *foes*.  Brigands using poison on their arrows can really spice up a fight!