RPGPundit Presents Halloween Special: The Child-Eaters!

It's time for issue #5 of RPGPundit Presents, but since this comes out on Halloween, we did something a little special.

This week, we have an adventure scenario, usable for any fantasy campaign but specifically oriented to the type of Medieval Authentic play you find in Dark Albion or Lion & Dragon.   It involves a dark cult of witchcraft, an ancient religion, and the most sinister evil.

Just in time for Halloween, you can check out The Child Eaters (for just $1.99!) over on DTRPG, or on the Precis website.  Because there's no creepy quite as great as Medieval-Authentic Creepy.



Also, while you're at it, be sure to check out the earlier issues of RPGPundit Presents:


RPGPundit Presents #1: DungeonChef!

RPGPundit Presents #2: The Goetia

RPGPundit Presents #3: High-Tech Weapons

RPGPundit Presents #4: Hipster Elves

Stay tuned for more next week!

RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Dunhill Classic Series Rhodesian + C&D's Bayou Evening 

Hipster Elves, Now in Spanish!

This week, you can get my latest RPGPundit Presents #4: Hipster Elves in Spanish!

You can get it up there at DTRPG, or you can get it from Precis' own store.

So if you're a Spanish-language OSR gamer and looking for a crazy sub-race of Elves with some high-tech and weird culture for your gonzo game, be sure to check it out!

Of course, if you're an English-language OSR gamer wanting the same, pick up the original in English.


RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Lorenzetti Half-Volcano + Blue Boar

DCC Campaign Update: OK, so Nobody Fart Then!

So, in our last session, the PCs had just gotten out of the city of Lol, after finding out the secret to how to open the monolith on Gebo. They went to that asteroid, opened the gate, and entered a dark labyrinth where they had to fight some horrific negative-energy bugs. During the fight, they were assisted by the Hippomagus!


Now:

-"Fuck Sami's player's lifestyle choices. Why the fuck would anyone rather have explosive diarrhea than play our DCC game?"
"Yeah, especially since the experience is largely the same."

-"Who are you?"
"I'm the Hippomagus!"
"Oh yeah! We're here to find you!"
"No we aren't."
"We're here to get the Sunstaff."
"Oh! Right. That was like 5 quests ago, so I got confused."

-"We'll have to trick Rataxos to get the Sunstaff."
"How do we trick a daemon?"
"Very carefully."

-"Can you light your staff?"
"Yes, but you'll see that the light here is diminished in intensity because of the intense darkness of this demiplane."
"Ok, so nobody fart then!"
"What?!"

-"While you were missing, the Archemaster took over the high council of wizards."
"What?"
"Also, most of the council is dead."
"What?!"
"Yeah, way to bury the lead, Mu."

-"Who are you?"
"My name's Roman."
"That's a coincidence. I had an uncle named Roman."
"Weird."

-"Why did you come here, Hippomagus?"
"Like you, for the sunstaff."
"Why did you want the sunstaff?"
"For the prestige."
"But now we need it, to save the world from Sezrekhan."
"Obviously, yes."
"You can get it back after we're done with it. After all, we don't have any wizards in our party."
"Hey!!"

-More bugs attack! Specifically, a couple of them jump Mu and the Hippomagus!
"We have to help the Hippomagus!"
"Hey!"
"Sorry, he's a valuable member of the party."
"HEY!"
"Yeah, he's the only wizard we have."

-The Hippomagus and Vizi are hit by black gunk that the bugs spew from their rear ends, which makes them start to suffocate. Both manage to survive by sheer luck.
"Vizi, due to your brain being starved of air you lose.. 1 permanent point of strength."
"Strength?"
"Maybe muscle memory loss?"
"Oh, ok."

-Mu manages to destroy one with spellburn-enhanced magic-missile casting, but he's stuck being unable to say anything but "Mu" for the rest of the day.

-They eventually get to the heart of the labyrinth, where they find a gateway with runes. Mu tries to read the runes, but fails.
"Even if he'd succeeded what good would it do? He can only say 'mu'!"

-Many stupid ideas are exchanged as to how to try to get the Sunstaff from Rataxos.
"I had hoped our combined power would allow us to destroy him by working together; but after our performance against those bugs I no longer think that's likely."

-Mu plays a whole game of charades to try to explain his plan, where the party will pretend that the hippomagus and the monkey are part of the same grand order of animal-themed wizards.
"How does that help?!"
"That was a whole lot of effort for fuck-all, dude."

-"I've got a bad feeling about this..."

-Mu decides to enter on a hover board.
"Maybe that will make me look cool"
"We're not trying to look cool! And no, it doesn't."

-"We're trying to look bad-ass. I'm going to hold my pistol side-ways, that will look bad ass"
"No it doesn't."

-They try to make the Hippomagus look bad-ass by rolling up his sleeves, but he only looks awkward and dorkish.
"Maybe if you unbuttoned your robes?"
"My robe doesn't have buttons. It's more of a mu-mu."

-"None of you look bad-ass! You just look varying degrees of retarded!"

-Giving up on trying to look evil, cool or bad-ass, they just go inside. All except Roman, who says he'll stay out of the gate to keep watch.
They encounter Rataxos, a swat hideous pretty classic-looking Demon, holding the Sunstaff in his claws.  They try to convince him that they're out to destroy Sezrekhan. Heidi manages to convince Rataxos that Sezrekhan has tried to keep Rataxos trapped, because Rataxos has the sunstaff, which may be the only way of getting to him at the Crown of Creation. Incredibly, they get him to give them the Sunstaff. But Rataxos places a Geas on Heidi, that once Sezrekhan is stopped, Heidi will be obliged to come and free Rataxos. Rataxos also geases Mu's monkey, mistaking the monkey for the wizard and Mu for the mere familiar.

-They get out of the chamber and back in the labyrinth, where Roman is surprised to see them.
"Holy shit, you're alive! Er, I mean, good job!"

-There's another bug attack on their way out. After several mishaps, the Hippomagus kills one with a powerful Force Manipulation blast.
"He used the force!"

-There's another encounter, this time with a bug and another type of demon that looks like a pale crab-monster.
"Holy shit, what is that goddamn animal?"

-Managing to avoid getting themselves killed in spite of a ludicrous number of fumbles and spell-misfires, they get out of the demiplane, and rush into the Superfly-1. Now, they set a course for the Sky-shield that covers half the Sun.  Using the Sunstaff, they realize that the ley-lines all point to the spot exactly in the center of the Sky-shield.

-"Hey, what if we try to give Mongo the Sunstaff? Maybe it'll fix him?"
"Hmm, I doubt it, but what harm could come of it?"
"Famous last words."

-Mongo just starts violently hitting things with the staff, and they have to wrestle him down and take it away from him.
"So much for that idea."

-"Do you have any healing stuff on the ship, Blitzkrieg?"
"I have some sexual healing, but that's only for the ladies."

-The Hippomagus still believes that, like Fluffy the Cat, Mu's wizard-monkey is the real wizard and Mu is just his familiar.

-Mu asks to borrow the Sunstaff from the Hippomagus (for his master, the monkey), and discovers it grants a +6 to spellcasting checks!
"Um, can I have my staff back?"
"What staff?"
"I lent you the sunstaff. Can I have the sunstaff back please?"
"No, maybe someone else has it."

-"um, excuse me Heidi? Mu borrowed my staff and won't give it back. I'd like my staff back please."
"Ask Roman."

-"Um, excuse me Vizi? Mu borrowed my staff and won't give it back, and Heidi and Roman won't help me. I'd like my staff back please?"

-Vizi and Mu convince the Hippomagus that they'll give back the Sunstaff after they stop Sezrekhan. But he's not happy.

-"I say, that Hippomagus is quite gullible!"
"Yeah, how did he get to that high level?"
"Frankly, it gives me hope!"
"True. It also explains why  he was fooled by a cat."

-When they get close enough to the Skyshield, they realize that it's not smooth like it appears from over a million miles away, but rather is full of constructions. And right in the middle of it all is a notable megastructure. They try to hail the megastructure, and it responds by firing missiles at them!

-The missiles hit bad!
"We're going down! Standard procedure for a crash: lean forward, put your head between your legs, and kiss your asses goodbye, motherfuckers!"

-"Fuck! What have we gotten ourselves into?!"
"Adventure!"

-"Is everyone alive?"
"I'm alive, but I don't know why."

-They crashed in the middle of a vast area filled with dust and scraps of metal. Vizi sees a vision explaining why: this is a kind of dumping site for sky-ship wrecks, and every once in a while a huge floating disintegrator-ship sweeps by and atomizes everything in its path. The party realizes it can't stay in the wreck of the Superfly-1, and must say goodbye to it.

-They walk past a canyon filled with ruined sky-ships, aparently a blind spot in the disintegrator's programmed flights. But they decide to move on to the megastructure for now.

-They reach a kind of border wall. When Vizi approaches it, he gets confronted by some armed drones!
"It's the goddamn border patrol!"
"Well, they built the wall."
"It's a huge wall."

-They back away and Heidi (the fastest flier) goes along the border wall area to try to see if there's some other means of access.

-The enormous floating disintegrator platform that Vizi had seen in his vision comes over the wall, toward the PCs! They're about to try to run away from it while it powers up, but instead realize they should run up right against the wall, where the disintegrator beam won't strike.

-Heidi doesn't find any other way in. The Hippomagus has another idea, to turn everyone invisible. It works, and they get over the wall to find that at the top there's an enormous highway.

-They travel along the road, which seems to be leading to the central megastructure. They fly, invisible, being pulled along by Heidi and Mu (the two fastest fliers).
"Once more, I'm reduced to a beast of burden."

-The party runs into a giant armored monster-truck, piloted by what appear to be humans with funny bowl-haircuts.
"Let's blow out their tire!"
"Why?"
"I don't know, he's the leader."
"Wait a second, isn't Mu the leader?"
"We're both the same level now."
"Oh, then obviously Heidi is the leader."
"What do you mean 'obviously'?"

-Heidi steps out of the invisibility field, and the guys in the truck stop and hail him. They speak Ancient!
"Holy shit!"

-Unfortunately, the excitement is short-lived. When Roman interrogates them, it turns out they're not Ancients, they just speak the language as they're the 'heirs of the ancients'.
"They're some kind of space-romans"

-"Ok, so I told him we need to get into that super-structure; and he said it's called the Citadel and asked if we plan to participate in something called the Death Race 3000."

-The pseudo-romans are friendly and they travel with the PCs for the rest of the day, ending at a kind of campground where various other ridiculous super-vehicles have been parked. Their drivers include Elves, orcs, cat-people, and more.
"Where do you come from, strangers?"
"The surface.."
"Shh, don't tell them that."
"I mean, the surface of Lol."
"Where?"

-"You're from the sky?"
"Up is down and down is up for these people."
"So you actually see the sun? That must be terrifying!"

-"And where are you from?"
"The Vampire Principalities. Blah!"

-The next day, the group completes its trip to the Citadel, with more and more strange vehicles with weird drivers joining the caravan. The PCs learn that the "Wardens" of the citadel only reward the winners of each year's Death Race with entry into the Citadel. Anyone can compete, but victory is based on a complex scoring system, where it's not just about being first to the finish but also a number of other factors. The PCs realize they're going to need some kind of vehicle, and they're told they might be able to get one in the massive shantytown that surrounds the Citadel.
"So, we're going to be participating in a deadly game of Wacky Races, huh?"

That's it for this week's session. I'm off next week so stay tuned in a few weeks' time for the next exciting part of our (anti-?) (non-?) heroes' adventures, where they may or may not end up participating in Deadly Wacky Races.


RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Neerup Hawkbill + Image Virginia

Star Trek Discovery (or STD-Trek) Bears No Resemblance to Star Trek

I've watched all but the most recent episode of Star Trek Discovery, which is more than any human being should have to bear (how ironic that it shortens to "STD" because it feels like you're suffering from one every time you watch this stupid show).

I don't think it's even about politics directly, though of course the pushing of leftist ideology is at fault fundamentally. It's just that to the average person who's spent their whole life watching Star Trek, STDTrek doesn't feel even a little bit like Star Trek. It has dialogue that is completely wooden and artificial, terrible acting, a Starfleet that seems to have no redeeming qualities, incompetent crew, characters constantly bickering and even betraying each other... in short, they compare it to whichever past Trek was their favorite and find no resemblance.

I said it before already: the main advantage that The Orville has over STD is that the Orville is set in the Star Trek universe, and STD clearly isn't.

RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Neerup Chestnut + Image Virginia

Classic Rant: "Real" Magic in RPGs, Redux

So I'm trying this again, as the last time I attempted to write on the subject I met with the wrath of The Wench for being "too mean". This time, the focus will be less on savage mockery of silly people and more on the "magick" itself and what it should look like if you're trying to run a modern campaign where the occult rules are meant to effectively emulate real life.

Again, the first thing to note is that 99.9% of people in the "occult scene" are posers, from the point of view of practicing magic. That is to say, they don't really do magic at all; they may talk about it or read about it, pretend they have great powers or like to collect crystals, but they've never had an actual experience of magic. Note that this includes, aside from the most absolute basic practices, 99% of "ceremonial magicians" who, for the purposes of this series, we'll be focusing on (not that there aren't other kinds of modern occultism that could have real "magical power" in your games, certainly tantrism and those rare shamanic practitioners that are actually doing it right, for just two examples, but we have to focus on something, at least to start). 

The people interested in hardcore magic, most of them, have read a couple of Crowley books, own a tarot deck or two, and may have tried some of the basic exercises (like the "lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram"), performed them badly, and then quit when nothing happened right away. Instead, they want to talk a lot about spirits and angels and demons and the Kabbalah and satan and how the man is putting them down, and how many books they own (whether or not they've read them), and how "dark" or "hardcore" they really are. 
You know, wankery.

A few of these guys even start their own magical orders.

But there is a smaller group of people who actually do the practices. Before I get into those, we should address how those people get to do it; are they secret initiates of a great magical order? Did they find lost tomes hidden away in some library?

No, fuckers! They just got what's readily available everywhere, and actually did it.

That brings us to the first rule of modern "authentic thaumaturgy":

RULE 1: it's not hard to find occult secrets, it's hard to understand them.

Remember that. Do not make it hard for someone to find real magic; it was all laid out 100 years ago, and even before the advent of the internet pretty much everything you needed to do "real" magic was readily available for purchase. And today, on the internet, where you can quickly and easily download pretty much every medieval grimoire, everything the Golden Dawn ever wrote, and absolutely everything Aleister Crowley ever did, including his personal diaries and ALL of the "secret rituals of the O.T.O.", there is really no information that is kept away from you. 
In a lot of "occult RPGs", that's one of the first things that strikes me as being utterly unrealistic; the authors make it that real occult knowledge is really difficult to obtain. It isn't, at all.

What's difficult is the ability to comprehend that knowledge; because you have study a lot of fundamentals, and you HAVE TO actually practice. So you have to read and read for years and years, and even if you do that you won't have an ounce of magical power unless you've also been exercising and exercising for years and years.

Go find a copy of Aleister Crowley's "The Book of Thoth", that's his book on the Tarot. Try to read it. Assuming no (significant) prior knowledge of the occult, you'll understand maybe 10% of it. The rest will seem like gobbledygook. 
So faced with that, most people either just quit in disgust assuming it is all gobbledygook, or they just pretend that they understood more of it when they did, beginning their long careers as occult frauds.
And the Book of Thoth really contains huge and powerful magical secrets. Within that book alone are secrets that contain significant magical gravitas. But to understand what its saying, after that first reading, you'd need to spend about six months working with the Tarot cards, reading the basics of astrology, reading the basics of kabbalah, reading the basics of alchemy. And then reading the Book of Thoth again. And after all that, you'll understand maybe 20% of it, but what new insight you got spurs you on to do new kinds of work, that gives you new kinds of insights, which leads you to new areas of study, which leads you to new areas of work, which leads you to new insights...etc etc.
So there's a huge cycle of learning involved. You could end up reading the just the Book of Thoth over and over again once every 6 months for 15 years, and IF you've actually been studying and practicing magick, then EACH time you read it, the book seems to be totally different than the last; like its been re-written. Because magick has been busy re-writing you.

After the first two or three re-readings, where you figure out that's what's happening, that's where things start to get fucked up.

So yeah, if you want the availability of magical power to reflect real life, make it super-easy to get the information, but very difficult to be able to actually turn it into something useful. The difficulty to obtain the book is low, the study time it takes to master it is high; and brings risks of your giving up, lying to yourself that you get it, becoming obsessed, or starting to have weird reality-questioning shit happen.

Finally (for today) a note on "magical orders": if they don't contain the secrets, what the fuck are they good for?
The biting answer? Mostly nothing. 

For the most part, again, 90% of "magical orders", "lodges", "secret temples", "working groups", "covens", "rosicrucians", etc. are just places full of Occult Wankers where they can get together and show off their wankery to each other. The one conceivable benefit is that you might find one or two other frustrated newbies who want to get something real out of it, and just haven't figured out yet that this is not the place to get it. 
If you want your "magical order" to seem authentic, it needs to be full of seriously marginal people, who can't hold good day jobs, claiming to be wizards of grand power. It needs to have endless internal power struggles over who gets to be the "master of the circle" and in bigger societies who gets to be the "outer head of the order ad vitam". There's HUGE levels of megalomania involved here, and desperate power-mongering over nothing. Unlike freemasonry, which these "serious" occult wankers tend to mock, most magical orders are not democratic; that's because, in theory, the person who is most magically advanced should be the one in charge. But in practice, this works out to being an excuse for power-trips, because none of the guys involved are really all that advanced enough to warrant the pitfalls that come with having only one guy in charge forever. 
In any case, most "orders" of this sort don't teach magic at all, and those that do tend to do it poorly.

Seriously, I've found Freemasonry, which can only barely be called a "magical order", to be a much more valuable tool to occult practice than any of these OTOs or Golden Dawns or Rosicrucian Orders or Temples of Set, or any of the other supposedly "hardcore" groups that make so much fun of freemasonry for "not getting it". Not only do Freemasons tend to get it better than most pretentious occultists do, but they have actual stability, which is really one of the hardest things to keep and most important things to have, if you're going to study the occult. Masons are people who can hold down regular jobs and have families and social lives, and work in lodges that in many cases have been around and meeting regularly for 150 years or more; neither of those are true for most members of the "serious" orders; where the people involved have allowed their obsession with the occult to destabilize their regular lives (or, in some cases, have failed to be able to use the occult to bring stability into their already fucked-up lives), and where powermongers and megalomaniacs and the lack of a large network of infrastructure means that the order itself is chronically unstable.

If you think I'm exaggerating about this, go and read about the history of the original Golden Dawn. Or read about Agape Lodge in California. Or take a look at the current problems and struggles of the various "OTO" groups of the past couple of decades.

There is of course that 10% of orders that are of some good. Usually, these are very small groups, where the emphasis is on individual teachers and individual students working together. There will be little importance placed on fancy titles and ranks, and a lot placed on daily work; and the group will tend to be private but not exclusive (the opposite of the shit groups, which tend to be very public (trying to show off to everyone), but elitist (trying to make out that they have special powerful secrets no one else has, and that not just anyone can join)).

Even in the case of these good groups, except in those rare cases where they're being led by someone who's really attained some serious illumination, the most they are useful for is to have members keeping tabs on each other, keeping each other honest. They will focus on sincerity and experimentation, and on trying to have good discipline in the work. 

So mostly, you'd join a magical order for the same reason you'd join a pilates class rather than just do pilates by yourself out at home; in the hopes that it'll help you to keep up the hard part of the work and give you some structure, plus the occasional tip. Only in this case, half the time, you end up having your class-mates either want to have sex with you or rob you blind, half of the members can't hold a job because they can't ever actually talk about anything other than pilates, and the three guys who took some other class once before are beating the shit out of each other over who gets to be "Supreme Master of the Pilates Class For All Eternity". 

Welcome to the wonderful world of the occult.

RPGPundit

(Originally posted: July 29, 2011)

Log of My Q&A Chat

So here, reposted from Dan Davenport's blog, is my Q&A chat from last night on the #RPGnetchat MIRC channel:

[19:33] <+RPGPundit> Do I really require an introduction? I’m the RPGPundit.  I stopped the Swine, helped restore D&D to some semblance of reason, run theRPGsite.com (the best free-speech forum for RPG discussion), consulted on a bunch of other projects, and wrote Lords Of Olympus, Arrows of Indra, Dark Albion, Cults of Chaos (among others).

[19:34] <+RPGPundit> I’m now working on a weekly serial of OSR supplements called “RPGPundit Presents”. The first four of which are already available for purchase.

[19:34] <+RPGPundit> (Link: http://www.pigames.net/store/default.php?cPath=136)http://www.pigames.net/store/default.php?cPath=136

[19:35] <~Dan> (Howdy, Crazy-Cabal)

[19:36] <~Dan> (Just a reminder to give us a (done) when you’re ready for questions.  )

[19:36] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[19:36] <~Dan> Thanks, RPGPundit! The floor is open to questions!

[19:37] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest75!)

[19:37] <~Dan> Let’s see here…

[19:37] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest78!)

[19:37] <~Dan> How did you come up with the general idea for this series?

[19:38] <~Dan> And is there any unifying theme?

[19:38] <+RPGPundit> Good question. I realized that there was a lot of stuff I wanted to write about that might not work best in the format of a large book/product. So I thought that something that might work is to have a weekly series of short products.

[19:39] <+RPGPundit> They vary in size from a few pages to maybe as many 20+ pages, and are very reasonably priced.

[19:39] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, LostOrc!)

[19:39] <+RPGPundit> They cover all kinds of OSR subjects, but there are two very broad themes: a lot of the products fall under “gonzo gaming”, and an equal number fall under what is almost the exact opposite: “Medieval Authentic” gaming.

[19:40] <~Dan> Huh. Interesting.

[19:40] <+RPGPundit> The latter is set up to act as additional supplement material to my Dark Albion setting and to the upcoming Lion & Dragon RPG (which should be coming out in the next month or so).

[19:40] <+RPGPundit> (though I should note that the Medieval Authentic material is not JUST for Albion or L&D, you could use it in any fantasy game that you wanted to add some real medieval feel to)

[19:40] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[19:41] <~Dan> How difficult has it been coming up with new ideas each week, and how long do you plan on keeping this up?

[19:41] <~Dan> (You there, LostOrc?  )

[19:42] <+RPGPundit> Well, so far I’ve been doing pretty well at it. To avoid problems I wrote up about a dozen before even starting to publish, so that if I do have writer’s block on any given week that won’t stop the publishing process.

[19:42] <+RPGPundit> The plan is to do at least 100 of these, if all goes well. (done)

[19:42] <+LostOrc> o/

[19:43] <~Dan> (LostOrc: Here for the Q&A?  )

[19:43] <+LostOrc> Yes

[19:43] <~Dan> (Cool. Ask away!  )

[19:43] <~Dan> Would you like to give us an overview of the issues published so far?

[19:44] <+RPGPundit> Sure. RPGPundit Presents #1 is Dungeonchef, which is a book covering the effects of PCs eating a variety of monster-corpses. It includes a whole bunch of interesting rules and random tables, including the secret to the potion of level-gain.

[19:45] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest41!)

[19:45] <+RPGPundit> (Link: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/223013/RPGPundit-Presents-1-DungeonChef)http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/223013/RPGPundit-Presents-1-DungeonChef

[19:45] <+RPGPundit> RPGPundit Presents 2 is “The Goetia”, which is a guide to medieval-authentic demonology, with rules for demon-summoning and binding. It also includes a list of 72 different demons, their qualities and powers.

[19:46] <+RPGPundit> (Link: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/223668/RPGPundit-Presents-2-The-Goetia)http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/223668/RPGPundit-Presents-2-The-Goetia

[19:46] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Bren! Howdy, Lin_Chong!)

[19:46] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest60!)

[19:46] <+RPGPundit> RPGPundit Presents 3 is “High Tech Weapons”, which includes guidelines and rules for using sci-fi weapons in a gonzo-fantasy setting, though you could use it for straight space-opera sci-fi too. There’s lots of sample types of weapons.

[19:47] <+RPGPundit> (Link: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/224197/RPGPundit-Presents-3-HighTech-Weapons)http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/224197/RPGPundit-Presents-3-HighTech-Weapons

[19:47] <~Dan> (Howdy, Bedrockbrendan!)

[19:47] <~Dan> (Howdy, catty_big!)

[19:47] <+Bedrockbrendan> Hello

[19:47] <+Viktyr> (Hey, Brendan.)

[19:48] <+RPGPundit> And RPGPundit Presents #4 is “Hipster Elves”. It details one of the Elven cultures of my ultra-gonzo “Last Sun” setting. The Hipster Elves live in high-tech domes, but have de-evolved into mostly useless narcissistic idlers.

[19:48] <~Dan> (Howdy, WickedClever!)

[19:48] <+WickedClever> (Hello.)

[19:48] <+RPGPundit> The supplement details their culture, how they got the way they are, random tables for abandoned domes, guidelines for some of their tech, and a large table of NPCs/0-level occupations for Hipster Elves.

[19:48] <+RPGPundit> (Link: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/224743/RPGPundit-Presents-4-Hipster-Elves)http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/224743/RPGPundit-Presents-4-Hipster-Elves

[19:48] <+catty_big> Test.

[19:49] <~Dan> (Pass.)

[19:49] <+RPGPundit> Next week, for Halloween we’ll be coming out with “The Child Eaters”, a scenario detailing a scary medieval-authentic cult of witches.

[19:49] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[19:50] <~Dan> Do you happen to know how sales are going on issue #1? I’m curious to know how much interest there is in the subject.

[19:50] <+catty_big> Test

[19:51] <+Akyla> hi

[19:51] <+RPGPundit> I don’t have a sales report yet, so I couldn’t say. (done)

[19:51] <~Dan> No worries. Just idle curiosity there.

[19:52] <~Dan> What would you say makes The Goetia stand out from previously published D&D rules for demons?

[19:52] <+RPGPundit> I’m not really expecting massive sales on any single issue. And of course, different gamers will find an interest in different issue-topics.

[19:52] * ~Dan nods

[19:53] <+RPGPundit> The Goetia is different in that it’s directly based on authentic historic Medieval magic. The description of the demon summoning process is based on how real medieval grimoires worked, and the demons listed are inspired by real lists from the middle ages.

[19:53] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[19:54] <~Dan> That’s a particular interest of yours, IIRC?

[19:54] <+RPGPundit> That’s correct. In my real-life I’ve been studying western occultism for decades. I’ve written a bit about it in blog entries in the past.

[19:54] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[19:54] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, JacobPossin!)

[19:55] <~Dan> How difficult is it to translate authentic occult practices into game rules?

[19:56] <+RPGPundit> In terms of medieval-magic, not that hard, really. There’s a lot of structure to the medieval systems of western magic, and a lot of it is pretty gameable.

[19:57] <+RPGPundit> In my upcoming Lion & Dragon RPG I got rid of the vancian magic altogether, and have remade the magic rules to entirely reflect different forms of medieval magic.

[19:57] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[19:57] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest56!)

[19:58] <~Dan> Mind if we come back to Lion & Dragon in a bit? I’m curious to learn more about that, if you’re up for discussing it at this point.

[19:58] <+RPGPundit> Of course!

[19:59] <~Dan> Excellent.

[20:00] <~Dan> What makes your sci-fi weapons stand out from others previously published for OSR?

[20:01] <+RPGPundit> Well, in “High Tech Weapons” there’s rules and models meant for a more gonzo/space-opera type of sci fi. There’s simple and straightforward rules, for things like aiming or burst fire, but also stuff like “unreliable energy clips”.

[20:01] <+RPGPundit> The sort of thing meant to reflect weapons found in ancient ruins, that sort of thing.

[20:02] <~Dan> Ah, that’s cool, re: ancient ruins.

[20:02] <+RPGPundit> Then there’s templates for various types of several different broad classes of weapons: slug-throwers, precision lasers, blasters, plasma guns, ion guns, grenades and rocket launchers.

[20:03] <+RPGPundit> And also some extra features like scopes, laser-targeting and computer-enhanced guns.

[20:03] <~Dan> What’s an ion gun (he said, revealing his ignorance)?

[20:03] <+RPGPundit> Nothing in RPGPundit Presents 3: High Tech Weapons is absolutely revolutionary, but it is meant to be easy, quick, and a touch of gonzo for the classic “D&D adventurers find ‘dungeon’ that’s really a spaceship/nuclear-bunker” sort of thing.

[20:03] * ~Dan nods

[20:04] <+LostOrc> I always liked Arrows of Indra. Any plans in the works to do any more supplements or adventures for that?

[20:04] <+RPGPundit> In my book, Ion Guns are “rare weapons made for fighting in the machine-wars against robot overlords”. They can’t do more than stun humans or other organics, but can do very serious damage to otherwise very tough robots or mechanical monsters.

[20:04] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:05] <+RPGPundit> re. AoI: material for Arrows of Indra won’t be part of the focus of the early issues of RPGPundit Presents, but there’s a good likelihood that eventually in the later phase of the project we could have some new material for AoI there.

[20:05] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:06] <~Dan> (wb, Bedrockbrendan! Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest47!)

[20:06] <~Dan> Do you cover interactions between tech and magic?

[20:06] <+WickedClever> How many pages are each of these releases, on average?

[20:07] <~Dan> (Heh. You always seem to attract a swarm of “drive-by” chatters, RPGPundit.  )

[20:07] <+RPGPundit> In the High-Tech Weapons supplement, no. I don’t really go into any magitech stuff.

[20:07] * ~Dan nods

[20:08] <~Dan> How do you see PC interactions going with your Hipster Elves, given their uselessness?

[20:08] <+RPGPundit> wicked: the size varies (and the cost varies by size of the issue). So far Dungeonchef is 14 pages, The Goetia is 23 pages, High-Tech Weapons is 10 pages, and Hipster Elves is 14 pages.

[20:08] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:09] <+RPGPundit> In my Last Sun campaign, some of my players have been Hipster Elves, most famously the longest-surviving and most powerful PC of the entire campaign: Bill the Elf, who has become known as a worldwide agent of chaos and destruction.

[20:09] <+WickedClever> Oh nice. So a decent size, but still small enough to be manageable.

[20:10] <~Dan> You mentioned that the Hipster Elves are of a techy bent?

[20:10] <+RPGPundit> While most Hipster Elves are useless twits, PCs who play hipster elves (as well as some few NPCs) are the rare semi-competent among them, who are dissatisfied with whiling away centuries in a life of idleness in a high-tech dome.

[20:10] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:11] <+RPGPundit> Actually, not quite done. Hipster Elves can be dangerous, in the sense that they don’t know their own technology anymore, for the most part, or how it works, and they have stupid ideas on the vein of the worst stuff Millennials have come up with.

[20:11] <~Dan> Heh. That’s amusing. 

[20:11] <+RPGPundit> PCs might have to save them from their own idiocy, or might decide to try to manipulate them, to even take over a dome for themselves. Both of these happened several times in my campaign.

[20:12] <+RPGPundit> And yes, the Hipster Elves ancestors were masters of both technology and magic. Their domes are incredibly advanced, with machines that handle all the necessities of life and provide comfort and entertainment to those who live there.

[20:13] <+RPGPundit> But this made the Hipster elves weak, dumb and useless. Most hipster elves today don’t know how how their machines work (only how to use them) and all but a tiny handful have forgotten how to use magic.

[20:13] <~Dan> I assume they have formidable defences, if they can allow their inhabitants to be peaceful idlers?

[20:13] <+RPGPundit> But again, there’s a few that break the mold, even in the random career table.

[20:13] <~Dan> (The domes, I mean.)

[20:14] <+RPGPundit> The domes themselves are almost impenetrable, against all but the most powerful magic or massive weapons. Their great weak spot is if the machines break down and no one knows how to work them, or if the Hipster Elves in their own stupidity open the doors to invaders, etc.

[20:14] * ~Dan nods

[20:14] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:15] <~Dan> Do you include other, non-Hipster Elves in this setting, and if so, what are they like?

[20:15] <+RPGPundit> The product as a whole is only for the Hipster Elves, but the world of the Last Sun has a number of other elves. The great elven warriors and wizards of the past (especially the legendary super-magic super-tech Pythian Knights) are all dead.

[20:16] <+RPGPundit> But in the present of the setting, you have the Posh Elves, the Smug Elves, the Dark Elves, and a few other minor subraces.

[20:16] <+RPGPundit> Most of these will probably get their own issue at some point.

[20:16] <~Dan> What’s the average tech level of Last Sun?

[20:16] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest31!)

[20:17] <+Guest31> Thank you

[20:17] <+RPGPundit> It varies enormously. If you follow my DCC Campaign Update series on the blog, you’d see that the world is enormous (it’s a Dyson Sphere), so the tech ranges from utterly primitive crap-holes (mostly) to enclaves of super ultra high tech.

[20:17] <~Dan> (Guest31: You can set your name with the /nick command; e.g., /nick Dan  )

[20:17] <+RPGPundit> Here are my hilarious DCC reports archived, up to 1 year ago: (Link: http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?29376-DCC-Campaign-Log)http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?29376-DCC-Campaign-Log

[20:18] <+RPGPundit> And here’s the latest DCC Update I posted (“They’re Pre-emptive Snakes!”): (Link: http://therpgpundit.blogspot.com/2017/10/dcc-campaign-archive-theyre-pre-emptive.html)http://therpgpundit.blogspot.com/2017/10/dcc-campaign-archive-theyre-pre-emptive.html

[20:18] <~Dan> (Thanks, GamingRonin! If you’re here for the Q&A, the floor is open to questions!)

[20:18] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest06!)

[20:19] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:19] <~Dan> Have you always been a fan of the gonzo side of gaming?

[20:19] <+RPGPundit> Yes. Most of my D&D campaigns have had at least a touch of gonzo. The exceptions have been those rare campaigns, like the one that spawned Dark Albion, where I was going for a nearly-historical-RPG vibe.

[20:19] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:21] <+GamingRonin> Do you have plans for future Dark Albion books?

[20:21] <~Dan> Obviously, you’re also a big fan of OSR in general. What appeals to you most about that movement in gaming?

[20:21] <+RPGPundit> Ronin: Dark Albion has been the most developed setting I’ve done so far, and it’s not done yet. We already have Dark Albion, and Cults of Chaos, as well as the adventure “The Ghost of Jack Cade on London Bridge”.

[20:22] <+RPGPundit> But next up is Lion & Dragon, which is a vast expansion of the “appendix P” rules originally found at the end of Dark Albion. It will have tons of material directly usable in the Albion setting.

[20:22] <+RPGPundit> There’s also going to be TONS of issues of RPGPundit Presents that will be directly applicable to Dark Albion play.  Next week’s adventure scenario, “The Child Eaters”, will fit directly into any Dark Albion campaign, for example.

[20:23] <+RPGPundit> The demons listed in The Goetia are great examples of demons that you could use with the demon-summoning rules in Dark Albion.

[20:23] <+Guest06> Can you offer an elevator pitch for your setting? I No little about it

[20:23] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:23] <+RPGPundit> Guest-6: which setting are you referring to?

[20:24] <~Dan> (Guest06: you can set your name with the /nick command; e.g., /nick Dan )

[20:24] <+RPGPundit> In answer to Dan’s question: what I love about the OSR is that it’s a great set of design rules. You have this huge playground to work with, but within certain landmarks of old-school D&D design. It means that everything is ultimately compatible with anything else. And you get enormous creativity out of it.

[20:25] <+RPGPundit> I sincerely believe the strictures in OSR design oblige MORE creativity and more quality than if you just designed whatever you like.

[20:25] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:25] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Krimson!)

[20:26] <~Dan> Are there any tweaks that you feel are necessary to incorporate into OSR rules? Like, say, a skill system?

[20:26] <~Dan> (Thanks, Nick!)

[20:26] <~Dan> (To work for you, personally, I mean. Obviously, anyone can enjoy playing anything.)

[20:27] <+RPGPundit> No tweaks are absolutely necessary, but there is enormous room to work on all kinds of different modular adaptations.

[20:27] * ~Dan nods

[20:27] <+RPGPundit> In Lion & Dragon, for example, I don’t have a set of skills listed, but instead I have a way to do “skill checks”.

[20:27] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:27] <+RPGPundit> Hey Nick, I’m still waiting to know what setting you were referring to, in wanting a pitch?

[20:27] <~Dan> What is Lion & Dragon about?

[20:27] <+Krimson> Hey Pundit. This is Krimson from TheRPGSite. I’ll be AFK for a while but I’ll leave this open in case you’re still here after I finish cleaning. Question: Will you be doing more science fiction based stuff for RPGPundit presents. I liked your little guide to firearms so seeing more stuff would be interesting.

[20:28] <+Nick> Can you pr provide elevator pitch for your setting?

[20:28] <~Dan> (Glad to have you here, Krimson)

[20:28] <~Dan> (Nick: Which setting do you mean?)

[20:28] <+Krimson> Thanks Dan

[20:28] <+RPGPundit> For Krimson: there will definitely be more sci-fi material in RPGPundit Presents! Mostly gonzo sci-fi.

[20:29] <+RPGPundit> Nick, do you mean for Dark Albion? Last Sun? Arrow of Indra? Something else?

[20:29] <+Krimson> Gonzo is good.  Thanks. I’ll keep an eye open. I haven’t forgotten about doing a proper review. Just busy. 

[20:29] <+RPGPundit> Thanks, I look forward to your review!

[20:30] <+Nick> Sorry I was referring to dark Albeon

[20:30] <+RPGPundit> Dan: Lion & Dragon is a set of rules with a strong implicit setting. The setting is a Medieval-Authentic Western Europe, where (medieval notions of) magic exists, miracles happen, and monsters from folklore are real.

[20:31] <~Dan> I thought that was the premise for Dark Albion, though.

[20:31] <+RPGPundit> The rules are OSR rules adapted for a grittier play in a world that actually fits the medieval historical mold: strict social class structures, medieval economy and law, great spiritual struggles of good vs evil, and all that jazz

[20:31] <~Dan> (Howdy, Canageek!)

[20:31] <+Canageek> (j0)

[20:32] <+RPGPundit> Dark Albion was a setting book primarily, not a full rules-set. You can think of Lion & Dragon as the actual rules book which I would recommend for playing in Dark Albion.

[20:32] <~Dan> Ah! Gotcha.

[20:32] <+RPGPundit> Though you could just as easily use it for any medieval-themed setting with authenticity, anything from the 100 years war to Italian city-states to the Polish Commonwealth to a fantasy setting with a kind of Game of Thrones vibe.

[20:33] * ~Dan nods

[20:33] <~Dan> Has Lion & Dragon been on the drawing board for a while, or is it in response to a call for a rules set for Dark Albion?

[20:34] <+Nick> Can you talk to the size of the pantheon kand how involved the gods in the creatures from Lower planes are active in the setting?

[20:34] <+RPGPundit> Nick: Dark Albion is a setting that is directly fantasy-medieval England during the War of the Roses. Its made to be played with any D&D/OSR rules, and has extensive historical and geographic material, with material based on historical folklore.

[20:35] <+Nick> Ah ok –  do you clerics have powers like they doing DND with Annette sudden

[20:35] <+RPGPundit> You can run it with a game-of-thrones style political campaign where the PCs are participants in the Rose War, or something where the PCs are a band of mercenaries or other types of adventurers trying their luck in a gritty world, or where they’re witch-hunters dedicated to fighting Chaos, or any number of other things.

[20:35] <+RPGPundit> More information here: (Link: http://www.dcrouzet.net/heroes-witchery/?page_id=206)http://www.dcrouzet.net/heroes-witchery/?page_id=206

[20:35] <+Nick> Sorry for the typos and missed spellings text to speech stinks

[20:35] <~Dan> (wb, Bedrockbrendan)

[20:36] <+RPGPundit> Lion & Dragon largely came up as a result of some people wanting a better set of rules to run Albion with, but also because I realized that while we think of D&D as “medieval fantasy” most D&D-variants actually sort of suck at that.

[20:36] <~Dan> Indeed.

[20:36] <+Nick> Did you use Chillori and sorcery is a point of reference inspiration for the rules

[20:37] <+RPGPundit> I started Dark Albion as an LotFP campaign, but then over time kept changing the rules to make it more and more ‘medieval authentic’, eventually even ditching the magic system. Lion & Dragon is the result of that homebrewing and the additional setting material, monsters, magical folklore, etc that came up

[20:37] <~Dan> You mentioned ditching Vancian magic in Lion & Dragon. Can you describe the system you use instead?

[20:37] <+Nick> Chivalry and sorcery

[20:38] <+Nick> (I love C&S)

[20:38] <+RPGPundit> Nick: in Dark Albion, Clerics are a special order within the Church. Regular priests have no special powers, but Clerics have miraculous powers granted to them, and they are a knightly-warrior order (a bit like the historical Templars) answerable only to their own commanders and the Pontifex.

[20:38] <+RPGPundit> Lion & Dragon will be a bit like a D&D-version of Chivalry & Sorcery.

[20:38] <+RPGPundit> Though I should note C&S was not in any way a direct inspiration for any of the rules.

[20:39] <+RPGPundit> In Lion & Dragon, the magic system is entirely based on actual medieval ideas of magic.  So first, “Magisters” (wizards) are lore-masters, university-educated masters of knowledge.

[20:39] <+Nick> Ah ok – sounds interestng

[20:40] <+RPGPundit> They get access as they level up to a variety of magical techniques: demon-summoning (which technically anyone can do, but only trained magicians can do well), Astrology, Cures, Banishing, Battle magic, talismans and True Alchemy.

[20:40] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest31!)

[20:40] <+RPGPundit> (there’s also rules for non-magical alchemy, and herbalism)

[20:40] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[20:41] <+RPGPundit> Well, to add: the magic in L&D looks nothing like magic in D&D. A lot of it is ritual-based, or based on preparing things like talismans beforehand.

[20:41] <~Dan> How does spellcasting work, though? For example, if you’re ditching the spells-per-day format, what are the limits (if any) on spellcasting? Are there magic points? Fatigue penalties?

[20:42] <+RPGPundit> It’s also very modular, so in the RPGPundit Presents series stuff like The Goetia and several other upcoming products present what amounts to additional magical techniques that magisters could aquire.

[20:42] <+RPGPundit> acquire.

[20:43] <+RPGPundit> Different magical techniques have different limitations. Many of them are ritual magic, which requires a lot of time, strange ingredients (all detailed) and expensive costs.

[20:43] * ~Dan nods

[20:43] <+RPGPundit> The basic mechanic for wizards is the Spellcasting check, which requires beating a DC on a roll based on level and intelligence bonus.  Failure has different consequences depending on what you are attempting to do.

[20:43] <~Dan> Ah, I see.

[20:44] <~Dan> Cool.

[20:44] <+RPGPundit> Someone playing a wizard in L&D won’t just be able to sling magic missiles around. He’ll have to come prepared into a dangerous environment. But in exchange for that, the things wizards can do are generally very powerful.

[20:44] <~Dan> How does battle magic work, and was there really “authentic” battle magic?

[20:44] <~Dan> (Speaking of magic missiles.)

[20:45] <~Dan> (wb, GamingRonin)

[20:45] <+RPGPundit> On the other hand, clerics work totally different. At low level, they gain specific ‘miracles’ (things like healing, blessings, holy light, and yes, turning away undead), which they have to do a prayer check to succeed at. At very high levels, they can try to achieve direct Divine Intervention, large-scale miracles

[20:45] <+RPGPundit> But doing so usually requires that they later fulfill some divinely-mandated task.

[20:46] <+Nick> Given the nature of magic, are there reasons why they dont rule the world?

[20:47] <+RPGPundit> “Battle magic” is a catch-all term for a variety of effects. It’s generally the type of magic that can be done semi-quickly in difficult situations. It includes things like making one’s self invisible, creating an earthquake, breaking seals on doors or other objects..

[20:47] <+RPGPundit> and also the “Blasting rod”, the equivalent of the ‘magic staff/wand’ which can be used to harm people.

[20:48] <+GamingRonin> Will the RPGPundit presents ever be compiled into a print product?

[20:48] <+RPGPundit> Nick: magic is very expensive and hard to learn. Also, there’s all kinds of other factors that prevent magicians from ‘ruling the world’. Social Class and other Cultural elements mean that while magicians are very valuable, they can’t just go around wily-nilly doing whatever they want.

[20:48] <+RPGPundit> The same applies to powerful warriors.  And Clerics are bound by their divine rules, as well as by oaths of Obedience to the clerical order.

[20:49] <+RPGPundit> Ronin: Yes. The plan is that eventually different issues with similar themes (eg. “gonzo gaming” or “Medieval Authentic”) will be compiled into a big PoD anthology.

[20:50] <+GamingRonin> Awesome

[20:50] <~Dan> Do you plan on sticking with those two themes going forward?

[20:51] <+RPGPundit> Dan: both those themes will have lots of issues dedicated to them, but they won’t be the only themes covered in the series. There’s likely to be more themes going forward. Like I said, Arrows of Indra material might likely be one of them.

[20:51] <~Dan> Ah, sorry, you did mention that.

[20:52] <+RPGPundit> There could be other themes too, but it’ll all be stuff that is primarily for OSR play. Though there’s no reason you couldn’t use a lot of the Pundit Presents material for 5e D&D or other fantasy RPGs.

[20:52] <~Dan> (Howdy, egyptian!)

[20:54] <+GamingRonin> I think it would be interesting to see a Victorian Dark Albion. And chance of seeing “guide to” suppliments for different time periods?

[20:54] <~Dan> Any possibility of adventures in future issues?

[20:54] <+RPGPundit> Ronin: A Victorian Dark Albion could be interesting! Maybe for a future product.

[20:55] <+RPGPundit> Dan: there will be a number of adventure scenarios in RPGPundit Presents. All of the ones I’ve written so far will be for Medieval Authentic sort of fantasy-rpg play, but there might be some Gonzo or other ones too.

[20:55] * ~Dan nods

[20:56] <~Dan> How did you manage to fit 72 demons into The Goetia issue?

[20:57] <+RPGPundit> Dan: each demon gets a series of bullet-points, detailing their rank, description, powers, and servitors.

[20:58] <~Dan> That must be some efficient writing.

[20:58] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest06!)

[20:58] <+RPGPundit> I think it was, yes. There’s definitely enough for each Demon to stand out, without adding too much in terms of fluff text. It’s very old-school.

[20:58] <+GamingRonin> Another time period I think could be fun to sat a Dark Albion game would be WWI through Edwardian. Kind of a weird wars meets upstairs down stairs with the fall of the cast system being prominent theme.

[20:58] <+RPGPundit> I might like doing a Dark Albion set during the Regency period.

[21:00] <~Dan> Does Lion & Dragon suggest the Law vs. Chaos cosmology that’s inherent in Dark Albion?

[21:01] <+RPGPundit> Yes, I continued going with that cosmology, since I think it’s more readily understandable than actually trying to get most modern readers to wrap their head around the medieval (catholic) understandings of Good and Evil.

[21:02] <~Dan> That’s interesting to me, since you seem so concerned with mirroring medieval occultism.

[21:02] <~Dan> (Howdy, HDP_Dave!)

[21:03] <+RPGPundit> Well, medieval occultism is interesting, because it very clearly does govern things like bringing order out of chaos. The universe of the medieval mind was, fundamentally, an orderly universe. And the danger of evil was that it caused Chaos.

[21:03] <+RPGPundit> It would upset the social order, it would upset the natural order, or it would upset the political order.

[21:04] <+RPGPundit> Even “heresy”, to the medieval mind, was a divergence from the Law of the Church.

[21:06] <~Dan> How would you compare this cosmology to, say, Moorcock’s Law vs. Chaos?

[21:06] <~Dan> And do you have a Balance equivalent?

[21:07] <+RPGPundit> Well, Moorcock’s law and chaos is similar, but tends not to really have any kind of moral context. Whereas in L&D/Dark-Albion, the moral context is the medieval religious mindset.

[21:07] <~Dan> So is Law objectively “good”, then?

[21:07] <+RPGPundit> There’s no balance equivalent, but there is Neutral, which is the basic alignment of most humans in the setting. It’s just someone who isn’t strongly dedicated to either Divine Law or the libertinism of Chaos.

[21:08] <+RPGPundit> Law is objectively “right” in the sense that it is in accordance with divine order. But at the same time, someone who is Lawful can do all kinds of really awful things. Inquisitions, for example.

[21:08] * ~Dan nods

[21:08] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Guest37!)

[21:09] <~Dan> Do you use a similar Law vs. Chaos premise in your gonzo settings?

[21:10] <+RPGPundit> Not so much. In my Last Sun setting, there’s a dual alignment axis: you have Law/Neutral/Chaos on one side (in the classic OD&D style) and on the other side there’s Boy-Scout/Freak/Asshole.

[21:11] * ~Dan chuckles

[21:11] <+RPGPundit> So Bill the Elf is a Chaotic Asshole, for example. While the famous robot Bolt-0 is a Neutral Freak.

[21:13] <+RPGPundit> (done)

[21:13] <~Dan> So without getting into specifics, you have quite a reputation in the RPG industry. Do you have any thoughts on how your reputation affects the sales of your work?

[21:13] <+HDP_Dave> Two out of three of those seem self explanatory but mind explaining Freak?

[21:14] <+RPGPundit> Heh. It’s hard to answer that question (dan’s) without getting into politics. However, I would say that my reputation in the hobby has only ever really helped me in terms of generating fame.

[21:14] * ~Dan nods

[21:14] <+RPGPundit> Nothing that the Swine crowd has ever tried to do has actually made me less successful. theRPGsite became a big success in spite of their impotent wailing, I got hired by WoTC to consult on 5e, and helped make it a success where their 4e failed.

[21:15] <+RPGPundit> And my books have been on the whole more successful every time than the previous one. Until now, Dark Albion has by far been my biggest financial success.

[21:15] * ~Dan nods

[21:15] <~Dan> Cool.

[21:16] <~Dan> Congrats on that, by the way!

[21:16] <+RPGPundit> So I don’t see my controversial nature as anything that can hurt me. Like Milo once said, if we all realized that if you stand up to the SJWs nothing bad will really happen, they’d lose any power they have almost instantly.

[21:17] <+RPGPundit> Dave: “Freak” is a character driven neither by a boy-scoutish desire to be a goody two-shoes nor the asshole desire to fuck up everything around them, but by some petty personal obsessions that leads them to the adventuring life.

[21:18] <~Dan> In the time remaining, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to bring up?

[21:18] <+Krimson> I’m one of those people who has different opinions to Pundits, but I will say that there are a lot of people who don’t give him a fair shake because of third party information they hear about him. It sucks because he genuinely has some interesting things to say about the hobby.

[21:19] <+RPGPundit> Thank you, krimson. I should note that on theRPGsite, my commitment to free speech is obvious. In that I have tons of people there who routinely not only criticize but outright rag on me safe in the knowledge they’re allowed to do so.

[21:19] <+RPGPundit> Dan: I’m not sure what else to bring up, other than that people should keep an eye out each Tuesday for the latest RPGPundit Presents issue, since each one will have something different than the last, that I hope will be of interest!

[21:20] <+RPGPundit> Also, I guess I could mention, in case there are any primarily Spanish-speaking gamers here, that every single issue of Pundit Presents is being translated (not by me, but by a well-known Spanish game blogger) into Spanish.

[21:20] <~Dan> Well, I’ll just add my two cents here: RPGPundit has always been perfectly affable here, even despite some people baiting him in the past.

[21:21] <~Dan> And while I realize that some of his opinions are controversial, if I based who I invited here on how I, personally, felt about their opinions, I’d have a hard time finding guests.

[21:21] <+RPGPundit> Surprised we didn’t get any trolls this time around!

[21:21] <~Dan> I know!

[21:22] <+RPGPundit> We must not have advertised it enough. I’m disappointed!

[21:22] <~Dan> Heh.

[21:22] <+Krimson> 

[21:22] <~Dan> Well, regardless, thanks so much for joining us this evening!

[21:23] <+RPGPundit> No, thank you for having me. And stay tuned to book me again once Lion & Dragon is out.

[21:23] <~Dan> For those so inclined, my tip jar and Patreon link are here: (Link: https://gmshoe.wordpress.com/the-gmshoes-tip-jar/)https://gmshoe.wordpress.com/the-gmshoes-tip-jar/

[21:24] <~Dan> I definitely will, re: Lion & Dragon.

[21:24] <+Krimson> Thanks Pundit. I had to spend most of this AFK but thanks to no trolling I have a wall of game related questions to scroll back and read.

[21:24] <~Dan> And now, if you’ll give me just a moment, I’ll get the log posted and link you!

[21:24] <+RPGPundit> I don’t have a tip jar or a patreon, but I kind of set up RPGPundit Presents as a sort of free-will alternative to Patreon. So if you feel like supporting me, and getting some great game material for only a couple of bucks (usually $2.99), you can go pick up an issue!

[21:24] <~Dan> (Feel free to ply Pundit with questions while I’m doing so, if he’s willing.  )

[21:25] <+RPGPundit> Yes, I’m quite willing.