Blood and Honor Playthrough - The Wandering Swordsman

The Daimyo of the clan of easily-overlooked-birds was a cunning man. Upon hearing that the famed wandering swordsman, who traveled the provinces challenging each clan's warriors to duels, was to visit, he saw an opportunity for honor, and not danger.

He gathered his Samurai before him, and spoke of how they must turn his visit to their advantage - and honor him as a guest, and in turn honor the clan.

A mystery to many, this swordsman was not so dark a shadow to the wise Samurai who fought under the Nightingale banner. Especially not so to Tatsuo, spy master of the clan, a sly puppet master who betrayed his once-clan for that of the clever Daimyo.

He knew that this wanderer was not banished from his clan, but left on his own.
He was journeying to their province for a reason -
And the reason was to find Tatsuo...
... Who had slighted him.
The samurai - Whose blade is never poisoned -
Knew that only Tatsuo could prove his innocence...
And the wanderer would duel Tatsuo, to bring him back.
Known for the ritual he performs before each duel,
he felt that he had to fight Tatsuo -
Because Tatsuo is his brother -
And, once, they shared a great dishonor.

But, to the other Samurai, he makes only one detail be known: "I cannot be here when the wanderer arrives."


The Onmyoji, advisor of the spiritual, had the ears of the province perked to his words, especially when speaking soft truths. In the hopes of maintaining control for the swordsman's visit, he sought to sully the wanderer's legend... and encourage those with doubt to test him as he passed through the province. Of course, he may as well make sure that only families who did not support the Daimyo earn the brunt of the wanderer's ire.

It is known, among the province, that Kuaru, patriarch of the Emerald Fox family, works against the Daimyo, in the shadows.

And so, the spymaster and the Daimyo's Yojimbo met with a member of the house.

They knew that the house was distrusted by the Daimyo -
But, the third son of the house is favored by him.
And this third son is more loyal to the Daimyo, than his own family...
...For he had sold out his most radical family members to earn the Daimyo's favor.
And he would tell the Yojimbo more, if his house were given more rice, come harvest.
But the third son's wife truly spied for his younger brother, the 4th son...
... And the third son knows that this time, his information will make heads roll...
... And the third son's wife overhears him and the Yojimbo dealing.
But, her guilt and disloyalty is revealed, when she spills tea during their meeting -
And the third son, seeing the truth, kills her -
And the fourth son vanishes, when next he is looked for.

Armed with the knowledge of the third son, the Onmyoji spreads word that the wanderer cannot be all he seems - And those swayed b his words to test his mettle, those not skilled enough to detect the Onmyoji's hidden warning, flock to waylay the traveler.

The Wanderer is waylaid by many fools, none of whom are his equal, or even close...
But honor prevents him from taking their inadequate lives.
And yet he does not find a moment of rest...
... And rumor spreads that he is merciful.

But the trials of these fools at the Wanderer's blade provide many chances for spies to discern the details of his ritual.

It demands he be given solitude,
And light a fortuitous number of candles,
with a bough from his ancestral lands.
And he must eat only rice,
And recite his name, which means 'Leaf which supports the tree'


As the Spymaster, Onmyoji, and Yojimbo scurry around making their preparations, Manatawa, the clan Executioner, keeper of the Clan's sword, simply waits. The wandered will challenge him, of course. It is inevitable. Trained by the ogre who lives atop the tallest mountain in the province, wielding the sword the ogre himself forged, He must simply wait until the moment is right to draw his weapon and use it as he has trained to do.

The Onmyoji makes plans, as the rabble keeps the Wanderer awake for his night in the province. He concocts a poison with which he can again help control the wanderer's visit.

The poison is a rare, but strong toxin.
It can be applied to a weapon, or ingested in food,
And it is hard to trace, after it has been applied to weapon of meal.

The Yojimbo arranges for his men to guard the Wanderer, knowing he must have solitude for his ritual preperations, and ready to spoil it with his noisiest compliment of bodyguards.

The next day, before the Wanderer arrived to the Daimyo's court, Tatsuo and the Onmyoji met. The advisor had spread words that business would take Tatsuo out of court, and out of the province for the day... when in reality, their combined talents would hide the clever puppeteer in plain sight among the Daimyo's guards.

When the Wanderer arrived, he did not see through their disguise...
... But did recognize Tatsuo's eyes as familiar...
... But the Daimyo saw through him entirely...
... And said nothing.
The disguise was so fine, Tatsuo's sword and armor blended with those of the guard.

The wanderer is no fool, and he knows much as he faces down the executioner. He claims that he will only fight the samurai known as Tatsuo - For, he reveals he is the other Samurai's brother.

Manatawa will have none of it - For he has decided, that for the honor of the clan, he will duel this man, and no force can stop him.

The wanderer knows that there is a member of his clan among the Daimyo's guards -
For he can tell members of his clan with but a glance.
He sees the Executioner's point, and accepts - But if he wins, he will face Tatsuo.
And Manatawa counters; "And if I win, you will serve the Daimyo for a year."
"Yes-And surely, your Daimyo will trust your Blade with the best man in his employ."
(Manatawa is taken aback. Should he win, he may lose his post to this Ronin!)
"Yes-But, then you will never be able to return to your old clan." notes Manatawa.
"Yes. And now, I wish your Daimyo's soldiers guard my meditation."

Of course, this troubles the Yojimbo... and his plans to interrupt the ritual.
He exchanges looks with the Daimyo however...
... And decides to allow the Wanderer his request.
... And, as he prepares, the 4th Emerald Fox Son tries to kill the Yojimbo.

The wanderer emerged, spoiling the son's surprise and saving the Yojimbo.
The Yojimbo recovered, fending off the assailant, and emerging unscathed...
... And then the son tried to attack the wanderer...
... But the Yojimbo interposed himself, and softened the Son's blow to nothing.
The son's actions were clearly his own, unrelated to his family...
... And he was taken by the Daimyo's men, the Wanderer finishing his ritual in peace.

Finally, The Wanderer and the Clan's executioner would duel. They sized eac hother up, at first. The Executioner drew his weapon, the wanderer refusing to first.

In the end, Manatawa lost the fight...
... But it was exceptionally close. The Wanderer said to Manatawa,
"I admire your style - For I, Too, was trained by the Ogre of the mountain."
And Manatawa said, "But I was his favorite student."
"I know," said the wanderer. "But I have come back to take that title."
"Defeating me will not fix that." said the Executioner, blade readied.
"But it is a step; And one that would be unnecessary, were the third student here!"
And Manatawa knew - That student, was Tatsuo. And he is here.

Rather than allow harm to come to the Executioner at the blade of the wandering swordsman, Tatsuo strode forward and revealed himself, pointed out by Manatawa.

As the swordsman turned and approached, The Yojimbo feared the worst - Even though, as Tatsuo placed his hand on his sword, the Swordsman sheathed his own katana.

He moved too quickly for the Yojimbo, striding to Tatsuo - And the Yojimbo paused, the Daimyo holding his hand high.

Leaf which supports the tree placed his hand on his brother's shoulder then. "Brother, will you return to what was once our homes, and help prove my innocence?"

Despite not wishing to return to the land that called him traitor, Tatsuo could only agree. For he knew that he was the third student - And to his old clan, his failure to kill the Ogre on the mountain while posing his student was treachery. But to the province of the nightingale, honoring his sensei, even if not the best student (his brother) or favorite student (Manatawa), was considered a duty.

So THIS is what it was all about...

Design Concept Fusion

I was thinking yesterday about one of the real draws of Roleplaying games, both of the in-person at a table and guided by computer types... for me, Exploration is a huge hook. it's not solely RPGs that I enjoy it in, however - Any game can grab me with the slow introduction of new intriguing maps, or a change of the visual palette tying a new region together.

From there, I wondered about what it would take to create a game about exploration. Some already have, but these are niche titles in many ways. A hell of a lot more people know abotu the existence of Modern Warfare 2 than, say, Journey. But the step beyond that... There is a strange place where Little Big Planet, Journey, and Dragon Age find a confluence, and that sort of shared creative world for role playing games has really existed since the beginning, with multiple authors contributing novels and modules to worlds like The Forgotten Realms.

An exploration game with a shared universe of user-created content sounds like just what would scratch this particular itch, and I began to think about the tools and my own creative process for RPGs. Even with tools like Neverwinter Night's GM's tools, creating worlds that stand up in a modern game system is hard, as many many maps and mods from Counterstrike to the tens of thousands of not-quite-popular Little Big Planet maps attest. The success and failure of such a game then, would probably rely on the usability and power of the toolsets that all of those common creative minds building new places to explore have to use.

And then, I wondered, what if this creation of new terrain was pitched as a game in itself, just abstracted? Imagine a tool that creates worlds for Third-Person explorers which begins with a tower-defense style map, where instead of enemies like toughs, hordes and flyers, you have abstracted player types that you need to place features to entertain. Different 'minigames' could handle different levels of detail for newly explored places, latching onto the sort of interest in terrain and design which lead many of us to turn backyard mud-pits into hotwheels racetracks, or an unconnected pile of backyard refuse into a potential gravity-driven marble track. I'm not sure what the details would look like, but using open-ended minigames to create content for fellow explorers seems like a fascinating way to continually expand a world to explore through the guise of a game.

Changeling character concepts.

I've decided that next weekend, I'll likely be running a Changeling: The Lost oneshot for some friends. You can find out more about Changeling on Wikipedia or White-Wolf.com, but suffice to say it is a supernatural game of personal horror, or as the book itself tries to explain, A Storytelling Game of Beautiful Madness.

Changelings are people who, somehow, were lured, abducted, escaped or wandered into the alien realm of Faerie, ruled by beings of unassailable power over their own pockets of causality, with inhuman, unknowable emotions and motivations that rarely turn out well for humans who end up before them. A Changeling player character has 'Escaped', or at least returned to the human world via cunning, accidents... or, perhaps scariest of all, being allowed back by their 'keeper'. On returning to the world however, they realize two things. They have been indelibly changed in ways both visible and not, and for one of many reasons, they can never truly go back to the life they once lived.

These write-ups of Player Character backgrounds are kept short, sweet, and ambiguous in order to give the player who picks them up a solid grounding in the game's themes, without pinning down their specific details.

As a storytelling game, all of these are told in a very formulaic, symmetric form to each other, befitting Changeling's fairytale-gone-wrong themes.

Once upon a time you risked your life every day, saving carefree beachgoers from the danger of deceptively calm Miami waters. Then, one stormy, summer night, you fell from your boat at the marina and were carried out through the harbor’s arch-covered mouth by wild rip-currents. Torn at by coral and rocky shoals, you washed up on the deck of a galleon, run by an alluring gentleman known only as the Generous Captain. The Captain never quite understood how a lifeguard sacrificed themselves to save others – instead of swimming out and helping the ‘people’ seen daily in the waters, you’d be thrown to the waves, swimming futiley after them until drowning yourself – An act which would suddenly leave you both rescued, barely alive, on the deck. You don’t know how long passed, but one day, you ignored the burbling cries of a drowning woman to swim away from the boat, and found yourself ashore in a swamp with other scared, confused people intent on running as far from here as they could…

Once upon a time you were a gifted, but destitute artist, selling your sculptures to wealthy tourists on sunny Miami boardwalks. Then, one crisp, spring night, barhopping took you to a woman who convinced you to stick a needle in your arm, before leading you beneath a barbed-wire archway. Torn at by rusty, twisted steel, you awoke in a prison yard-like pen, overseen by a cruel slave-driver known only as the Warden of Rusted Nettles. The Warden never quite understood lasting artworks – Instead of tough sculptures of stone or bronze, your artistic talent made lasting marks in the flesh of your fellow inmates with henna and ink, lest your own be marked by scorching brands. You don’t know how long passed, but one day you found the artistic filigree of the ‘8’ tattoo you had just finished contained an intricate number and a map, showing you the key-code and route to escape the chainlink forest. Running past steel trunks and rusting barbed leaves, you found yourself emerging in a swamp with other scared, confused people intent on running as far from here as they could…

Once upon a time you paid tuition delivering for gangs, taking messages and packages anywhere in the dark underworld of Miami streets. Then, one chilly, winter night, a rival gang put a bullet in your leg for the bag of cash you carried, hunting you through parking lots and forgotten garden arbors. Torn at by broken trellises and rusty tomato cages, you stumbled out onto a cold plain, chased by the shapeless Tireless Terror of Tundra. The Terror never quite understood that pursuits needed a reason – Instead of chasing you out of a prized garden or for sustenance, it simply chased you from garden to garden, exhausting, then shooting or savaging you, before the juices of the trampled fruits would slowly heal your wounds for the next day of the hunt. You don’t know how long passed, but one day you just stopped running and let it catch you. The Terror left you battered, bruised, but alive, before leaving you to die… or maybe just lack of interest. You limped into a cramped, wet warren between gardens, and when you crawled out, you found yourself mired in a swamp with other scared, confused people intent on running as far from here as they could…

Once upon a time you fought for your country and came back lost, until your benefactor hired you as a bouncer, guarding lairs of Miami glitterati. Then, one windy autumn night, they invited you to their office, texting IM SORRY as you passed through the revolving door. Torn at by long-tail office ferns and proactive silk flowers in the stairwell, the rooftop door revealed an old stone aerie, lorded over by a majestic, predatory count known only as Baron Raptor, who explained anything that came to the Aerie became His. The Baron never understood hospitality – Instead of greeting his guests and settling them in, you distracted them with gregarious niceties, and then betrayed them to ensure their stays became permanent. Over time, you grew to be a regal monster, just like the Count. You don’t know how long passed, but one day there came to the aerie a guest of such beauty, you could hardly lift your gaze to their face. Overcome by their comeliness, you broke down and warned them of the Baron’s plans, to which they simply smiled and turned to walk away. Furious with your failure to keep this guest, Baron Raptor struck you, banishing you down the mountainside. Climbing past shrubs and broken cliff faces, you descended to a swamp with other scared, confused people intent on running as far from here as they could…

Upcoming Project

After a startlingly busy week, I'll be aiming to discuss a little bit of my ongoing design of a major RPG campaign I want to run over the summer.

I will try to be generic and not spoil anything for my players, but just in case, players - POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERTS. I will pointedly try to put up biger warnings anyplace where I get so far under the hood player enjoyment and surprise might be threatened, but this is my blanket warning.

Here's a teaser, the RSS Feed, and a link to the Obsidian Portal account I'm working to fill up. Feel free to leave comments, questions or requests.

Madness Spreads as Winter Grows,

Forests withered, Oceans Froze,

Centuries gone Cold and Dead,

The hand of a Dark God felt with Dread…

Dreams of Ice and Madness RSS Feed

Dreams of Ice and Madness on Obsidian Portal

Experience Overflow.

My roommate plays neverwinter Nights - a Dungeons and Dragons computer game hosted on a public server. He's a DM, and one of his other DMs gave his 30th level sorcerer - Who had around 250,000 XP - 2.7 Billion with a B XP.... And suddenly, the game claimed he had negative 2 Billion XP. Whoops.


Aha. I knew exactly what happened.