recession-proof gaming XII - last one this year...

The financiapocalypse shows no sign of slowing down.

That doesn't mean you have to give up gaming though!

Character Sheets
CharacterSheet.net - online character sheets for Labyrinth Lord, Dark Dungeons, OSRIC and others.

Systems and Settings
Crimefighters - Pulp adventure in the tradition of The Shadow and Dick Tracy.
Pars Fortuna Basic - From the Land of Nod, an innovative take on weird fantasy.
Warrior & Wizard - An OGL retro-clone of The Fantasy Trip.

Tools
BattleMapr - A rapid battlemap maker from The Weem and Forrest Hatfield.
Dave's Mapper - Another geomorph remixer from Dave Millar.  Thanks to Trollsmyth for the pointer. 
Geomorph Compilation - Courtesy of dysonlogos of A Character For Every Game.

from earthsea to asgard

Some responses to Othello in the 41st Millennium courtesy of Lord Gwydion and 5 Stone Games deserve consideration.  There are reasons offered by commenters as to why there is a dearth of people of colour in game publications and maybe as a result, around the gaming table.  Is it surprising when entire worlds are portrayed where people of a particular ethnicity don't appear to exist? 

Some blame a dearth of source materials.  Even in the day of Holmes the Physician - examples of fantasy and SF fiction where protagonists and characters aren't white existed.  For example the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin.   Which makes the TV version of Earthsea by Sci-Fi with it's white protagonist jarring.  And when Le Guin says this thirty-six years later, you have to ask what's up with the status quo.

"I have received letters that broke my heart, from adolescents of color in this country and in England, telling me that when they realized that Ged and the other Archipelagans in the Earthsea books are not white people, they felt included in the world of literary and movie fantasy for the first time."
-- speech to BookExpo America children's literature breakfast (2004).

The quote is from Pam Noles' essay Shame, a poignant study of why representation matters.  Yet arguments persist that tabletop RPGs are a Caucasian thing, a view ignoring the existence of Japanese RPGs, industry figures like Louis J. Porter and fans.  These arguments support a primary demographic of... Comic Book Guy.  Fortunately there is more in heaven and earth than dreamed of in that philosophy!

It's been argued versimilitude is a problem as characters of colour can't use the equipment of their Western peers and may need historically accurate costumes leading to racism and stereotyping.   For a moment, let's indulge the quixotism in championing historical fidelity for games with dragons, wands of fireballs and Cthulhu.  Why wouldn't a warrior with access to plate mail use it? Plate mail was found from Spain to Japan.

Even with concerns over other cultures using European arms and armour, positive examples exist.  The 12th century Moorish warriors of al-Andalus used Frankish crossbows and wore mail like Christian neighbours while using better-quality cuirasses in place of heavy breastplate.  Fears of appearing racist seem unfounded when it comes to this issue.

Rather, be concerned when white separatists calling for a boycott of the Thor movie over Idris Elba playing Heimdall claim support from irate comic book guys.  Presumably Tadanobu Asano as Hogun The Grim and Natalie Portman as Jane Foster isn't a problem?  Never mind Marvel's Asgard differing from the home of the Aesir.  Or the Viking propensity for assimilating into foreign cultures (e.g. Normans, Rus, Varangians)...

Greyhawk, Golarion and the Forgotten Realms acknowledge the appeal of world cultures with places like Ket, the Minkai Empire and Rashemen.  The presence of games like Legend of the Five Rings and Nyambe prove settings outside medieval pseudo-Europe are commercially viable.  So is the question merely one of accessibility?  Of opening the eyes of the audience to an unfamiliar world?

Writing a different culture is not without risks.  There is a fear of appropriation in portraying a different culture.  Of using masks rather than getting under the skin.  Adequate research, hard work and a dash of empathy are needed.  Such endeavours need work and risk crashing and burning.  However, this is the strength of tabletop RPGs, the ability to try and imagine another person's life while having fun doing so.  What better challenge?

spurred to greatness - review: advanced feats the cavalier's creed.

Advanced Feats: The Cavalier's Creed by Open Design.

Metric: Banners.  Though I admit being a fan of Don Quixote, windmills would mean I'd turned this review into a Terry Gilliam movie.
DISCLAIMER: This review is of a PDF copy provided by Open Design.
Summary: 5 banners (out of five)
Advanced Feats: The Cavalier's Creed has found a level I've known the series can hit since The Witches Brew. Sigfried Trent and Open Design have got it right on the content.  The walkthough is informative, the feats add to the class and support other classes.  The builds are excellent stuff.  One faulty bookmark isn't enough for me to mark it down, even at my level of pedantry.  If you've got the Advanced Players Guide and need to understand the cavalier, get this.  Wonder if there's going to be an Advanced Feats compilation?

Content: 5 banners (now this is how you do it).
The walkthrough comes out swinging, a mechanical breakdown of the cavalier, the potential of it's class abilities is defined and it's foibles explored.  If your GM likes to play with wilderness sandboxes, this is an ideal class. Hardcore dungeoneers may find the horse somewhat cumbersome yet without it, the cavalier is a combatant missing some of it's perks unless you're allowed collaborative feats in which case, things get… interesting.

The feats are how you design for Pathfinder or 3.xE. Interesting toys for the cavalier and the mount and again, non-cavaliers can benefit from a range of feats (Rogues with Pack Attack? Scary!) in here.  The design notes in here were nice, showing the thought processes behind the decisions made.

Three solid builds and the mount details help confirm their importance in this build.  The Green Knight showcases how a half-orc can win spurs as a shield to allies and a threat to their foes.  The Tawny Knight, a gnome/wolf tagteam that combines to cause mayhem would work well in a dungeon.  And the Black Knight brings rapier, buckler and sheer mayhem with a lance to bear, despite inevitable Pythonisms.  Didn't feel another build was needed here this time so this is it done right.

Art/Layout: 5 banners
Awesome cover? Check. Interior layout is crisp and well-ordered with heraldic designs and vines giving a smooth appearance that shows how far things have come from Secrets of the Alchemist.  One minor blemish, a bookmark is mislabelled.  Everything else is slick and beautifully done.

Overall, this brings it all together. If you have a Pathfinder GM looking for an excuse to use high-strung knights and jousting in the manner of BBC's Merlin, this is a great holiday gift that keeps on giving.

the verlore fragments

Verlore, one of many petty gods of the lost, watches over people, things or causes.  Tales of lost children now safe and shivering, of heroes misdirected and armies sent into peril.  All of these show his hand. The tomes of sages describe Verlore as "...an old man, forgettable of face, clad in ragged robes and road dust, approaching from any quarter, wielding a traveller's stave and shrouded in illimitable dread."  In his presence all but the strongest will feels uncertainty and a desire to be away.  This in itself has led to problems for in his wake, the people of a city may bustle into unfamiliar alleys and unexpected routes.
The Archincanabula notes how witches use cold iron and rowan to ward against him.  He is said to converse with treants and play blind-man's buff with dryads.  The last seems unlikely yet the princes of faerie honour Verlore as that rare thing, a fair and principled god.

Yet peculiar desperation leads petitioners to ask a god of the lost for directions.  Petitioning Verlore is to court uncertainty, he is always irritated by such requests unless the petitioner is particularly charming, female or both.  The unseemly, foul and unfortunate find themselves far off the mark.  Where Verlore's wrath is incurred, the petitioner may vanish  to appear somewhere they have never been and seemingly far from what they know.  While he rarely tolerates confrontation he has banished arrogant souls to The Eternal Maze or brought them to distant places only to vanish before them.  Landmarks vanish and symbols of despair are etched into roadsigns in his wrath.

For this reason, he is placated rather than worshipped.  Travellers leave him offerings, an extra meal or pair of shoes by a broken milestone.  Sailors ward against him by casting offerings over the side.  In some ports, old beggars with staves are driven from the quays for fear of lost wealth.  If there are clerics of Verlore, they are pitiful creatures, plagued by missed appointments and missing items.  To wander aimlessly is to be 'touched by Verlore' - something most adventurers keenly wish to avoid.