Douglas E. Berry

In case you missed it, I love Istanbul. My studies include the wider Eastern Roman Empire (aka the Byzantine Empire) and later the Ottoman Empire, with a fascination with the end of that empire, which was very messy.

Which is why I had a big smile on my face when FedEx sent me an email that my package had been picked up in Istanbul. What am I getting? Historica Arcanum: The City of Crescent.

The campaign takes place in Victorian-Era Istanbul during the reign of Abdulmejid I, with an intrigue-filled campaign taking players on a journey in one of the oldest and most culturally diverse Imperial Capitals of our world! I've been reading the PDF, but I wanted the physical book.

Yes, it uses the D&D 5th Edition engine, but it is magnificently tweaked to get the feel of 19th-century Ḳosṭanṭīnīye (The Turkish version of Constantinople.) Written by natives of the city, you feel it. They do a great job of translating D&D classes into roles appropriate for the setting and a much more subtle advancement path.

This is not a game of bashing monsters (although creatures of legend live in the Queen of Cities in disguises) but a thinking campaign of Secret History, as rival magical societies and political movements begin fighting for the fate of House of Osman.

Then there is the free stuff. A pack of gorgeous maps that took me back in an instant. When I saw the books at Baycon, I checked out the map and was able to place our hotel from 2016 on it. There is a collection of smaller tactical maps for fights in the city.

There was also a 29-track soundtrack designed to be played at various points in the game. Just on it is own, it is beautiful. Two tracks, "Istanbul by Day" and "Istanbul by Night," are just ambient sounds from the city.

This is an amazing piece of work, and Metis Media has produced several similar titles. Check them out.

It turns out that the "new" edition of Hârn is vaporware at this point, so everything I've written before holds true.

So, here we are. I've tried to show those of you reading this why HârnMaster is a great system and an absolutely fabulous setting with forty years of development behind it. Realistic wounds, a real feudal setting, and an island teetering on the edge of chaos in so many places.

I've glossed over psionic powers, the enigmatic Earthmasters who left sites made of Godstone across Hârn, and existence of the Keitherian family of worlds, accessible to powerful Grey Mages. Most sages assume Lothrim summoned the Gargun from one of these worlds. A strange place called "Terra" is part of the family. Your choice as what time period Terra is in should you travel there.

But that is really advanced stuff. Late campaign adventures. Let's start with some basics.

• Embrace the character generation process. Sure, you might generate an impoverished shephard, but that describes King David in the Bible. Use the character generation process to build an interesting character who might someday rock the world.
• Use Session Zero to establish why the party is together. Hârnic families are extensive and united in a clan structure. This is the perfect way to build a party with established bonds. Take the case of a Satia-Mavari Who returns to his home village after completing his apprenticeship with a Shek-Pvar chantry. He has been entrusted with a magically-sealed message tube to be delivered to a mage in Orbal, but the new journeyman mage is frightened of taking the journey alone. This is when cousins, siblings, and friends stand up. A chance to see more of Hârn and maybe make their fortunes doing something other than growing crops for the local lord? This establishes connections. Maybe one of the adventurers is the Satia-Mavari's older brother, who deserted from the Earl's guard and doesn't think his brother can poor piss out of a boot. Established relationships!
• Hârn is a fog-shrouded, rainy land. Play this up. Trekking through the Sorkin Mountains should involve fog-shrouded trails where all sounds are muffled and distorted. Was that a Harpy?
• As a GM, do not ignore the political situation. King Mignath of Kaldor amazes his subjects by just drawing breath, and there is no clear succession in place. Chysbia sits between two far more powerful kingdoms that both have a good claim on it. Rethem is facing a potential civil war and the king know three of his four predecessors didn't die in bed. Kanday faces ongoing religious skirmishes between Kandian Laranians and Rethemi Agrikians. Orbaal is no more stable than any other Ivanian kingdom, and the majority Jarin population is gearing up for revolution. Again.
• Build up slowly. One of the best early adventures is 100 Bushels of Rye, a fairly simple investigation module that leads to some interesting places. This is for 1st Edition, but can easily be converted.
• Do not neglect the importance of contacts and favors. People are people, and having a friend in Cherafir's bonding house, or a Thardic Senator who owes you one can be vital. Conversely, honor your obligations.
• Finally, and this applies to all TTRPGs, everyone should work together to both build the legend and have fun. The GM/player relationship should not be one of adversaries fighting in a wargame, but a cooperative effort to build something great.

Well, I've made my pitch. Oh, if if you really want to see how moribund Columbia Games really is, check out the system requirements for the character generator. I laughed my ass off.

Currently drinking: Sierra-Nevada Oktoberfest Festbeer.

"Hell Is Other People" - Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

On Hârn, most of your conflicts will be with other humans. Bandits along trade roads; aggressive tribes; Agrikian patrols; Orballese Ivinians spoiling for a fight; the guards in the castle or temple you are trying to rob; or if you follow the multiple campaign threads that lead to chaos in several kingdoms, in wars and skirmishes to decide the fate of nations.

However, Hârn does have some unique foes for brave adventurers to face. The misty mountains and deep swamps hold many mysteries and threats.

The Gargun

They have many names: Foulspawn, Goblins, Orcs, Hârn's Gargun are a race of small, vicious, intelligent humanoids. They are the most aggressive and brutal of the intelligent culture-forming Hârnic species. They are also the most alien, dramatically distinct from Humans, Khuzudul, and Sindarin in origin, biology, and society.

He is believed to be created or brought to Hârn by Lothrim the Foulspawner. Lothrim used the fast-breeding Gargun warriors as shock troops, allowing him to replace his military losses, preserve his better-trained elite human armies, and rapidly expand his empire. The Gargun are one of Lothrim's more vile legacies; the creatures outlived their "creator" and, by 250TR, had spread throughout the island. All Gargun have an abiding hatred for the Khuzdul and will if there is any chance of victory, attack any dwarves they happen upon. The two races have a long history of mutual animosity dating from the Gargun's first appearance on Hârn and the subsequent Carnage of Kiraz.

The Gargun are divided into five distinct sub-species: Gargu-araki (small or streaked orc), Gargu-hyeka (common or brown orc), Gargu-khanu (black orc), Gargu-kyani (white orc), and Gargu-viasal (red orc). Contrary to widely held belief, the Gargun cannot interbreed among their sub-species, at least not without the intervention of magic or alchemy. Each sub-species has unique social and racial traits.

The Gargun have a hive-based society, with one fertile queen and intense competition to be one of the fertile "princes" allowed to fertilize the queen's eggs. This is accomplished by being the strongest and bringing the most treasure back to the colony.

About half the Gargun of Hârn live in abandoned mines, cave systems, or lost Khuzdal citadels. The others are nomadic, competing with the human tribes.

When a colony becomes overcrowded, there are two possible outcomes. The first is a sudden genocidal slaughter until the population is reduced to a manageable level. The other is terrifying. Gargun will seize female "princesses," and thousand of Gargun will flood the countryside in search of a new home. They will eat everything in their path, steal what they can, burn what they can't, and are relentless in their advance.

Luckily for the rest of Lythia, the Gargun appear to be repelled by oceans.

The Ivashu

Ivashu are creatures of Ilvir, known as the Fatherless Multitude by the faithful or the Accursed Beasts of the Barren Circle by non-believers. Ilvir creates the Ivashu at Araka-Kalai, making use of a limited number of souls over and over again. Some Ivashu are relatively common because they have proved most adaptable to survival or are the easiest to create. However, Ilvir also enjoys experimental lifeforms and can produce any conceivable beast in some quantity. Many varieties are unique, designed to perform a specific task or to amuse the deity.

Ivashu are a great excuse to introduce unique creatures to the campaign.

Yélgri - the Hârnic Harpy

Yélgri are also called the Hârnic Harpy. They are small, highly aggressive, violent quasi-reptilian, warm-blooded winged predators and scavengers. They usually avoid attacking larger creatures capable of defending themselves, instead preferring to harass them. They are known to kill for amusement and will ferociously defend their nests.

They use simple tools and weapons such as clubs, barbed javelins, nets, rocks, and even bombs made of their dung. They communicate using a primitive language of barks, screams, and grunts. Some travelers have reported hearing Yélgri flocks singing harmoniously.

Yélgri are usually encountered in family flocks of up to a dozen, led by alpha males and females. Larger communities have been occasionally observed, with one colony in the Hefiosa Hills reported to number over fifty. Yélgri eggs are tiny, leathery, and cared for by the entire family flock. They reach maturity after around two years and may live for as much as twenty.

The only natural enemies of the Yélgri are the Orcs, who are fond of Yélgri flesh and eggs. Yélgri will hunt Orcs when they see an opportunity and are one of the few creatures willing to eat foulspawn flesh.

The Ilme

The Ilme are a strange race of mere-dragons, among the unique and most mysterious of the intelligent races on Hârn. The Ilme have an ancient culture with a complex language and deep mythology. They bear some likeness to their great dragon cousins, and many a reported tale of dragonkind was almost certainly an Ilme encounter, but there are significant differences. Although they are reptilian, the Ilme have no wings and probably could not fly even if they had; they commonly attain a height of 12 feet and a weight of two tons. The two sexes live apart except when mating. Despite their undisputed strength, male Ilme are somewhat cowardly and are frequently bullied and robbed by local Gargun bands. They prefer to hunt from ambush or eat carrion. They will rarely attack intruders but will fight with desperation when cornered. Even then, they usually try to negotiate first. Female Ilme are another matter; they will attack and fight intruders with limb-tearing ferocity, primarily to protect their young. The Ilme do not breathe fire, although their breath is far from sweet.

The Hârn Bestiary has multiple entries for critters, both mundane and monstrous. Many of the more extreme monsters can be credited to Ilvir. The cool thing is you get short articles on the setting's cats, dogs, cattle, and horses.

Yeah, I fell off the posting wagon; it's been a rough start to summer. But back to HârnMaster! We've covered character generation, how skills work, and the sheer joy of the combat system. Today, religion.

Designed as a deliberately low-magic, skill-focused system and setting, the gods of Hârn are real but distant. They do provide rituals to their priests, which can be quite powerful, but for the most part, the various churches are more shepherds and institutions. The Gods of Hârn are:

• Agrik: the god of bloody war and fire. He believes that might makes right, only the strongest should rule, and that the uncertainty of conflict brings necessary improvement. War and tumult are the great threshing floor that separates the worthy from the unworthy. Agrik is in direct opposition to Larani and her rigid adherence to order. His worship is proscribed through much of Hârn, except in Rethem where it is the state religion.
• Halea: the Maker of Bargains, the immoral goddess of beauty, wealth, and hedonistic pleasures. Halea usually appears to humans as a beautiful youth. For Halea, greed is good; power is better. There is no sin, only pleasure matters. She shrewdly maintains her position in the courts of the gods and wishes stability, so she may continue to enjoy her pleasures. She has temples in most trading cities but is most worshiped in the Thardic Republic.
• Ilvir: known as the “Ochre Womb" and the “Brooder in the Blasted Plains”, Ilivir creates strange beings known as Ivashu. The purpose of the Ivashu are a mystery known only to Ilvir. Ilvir’s adherents are drawn to him by the promise that after death their souls will be reincarnated into Ivashu, which they believe is a higher form of life.
• Larani: the Lady of Paladins, the good goddess who represents order and the chivalric ideals of faith, piety, honor, righteousness, truth, justice, courage, and strength. She teaches perfection through order and faith. Larani directly opposes Agrik and his followers in their savage and chaotic attempts to achieve perfection through strength, mean survival, and brutal and unnecessary conflict. Larani is most popular amongst the nobility. Being found to be an adherent of Larani in Rethem gets you a spot at the next heretic burning.
• Morgath: the god of death, retribution, and revenge. Lord of the undead, suffering, and chaos. Morgath gathers souls to feed the Shadow of Bukrai and upend the order of the universe; he offers those in service to him eternal life, of a sort, with the offer to become Amorvis (free-willed undead). Proscribed almost everywhere but Rethem (sigh).
• Naveh: the god of nightmares, thieves, and assassins. He rules the night and is the silent death. Seemingly Nihilistic, Naveh's purposes are obscured in shadow, seemingly with no discernable aims. Every state on Hârn suppresses this religion. Or so they think.
• Peoni: the good goddess of peace forgiveness, love, life, and healing. She believes in achieving perfection through teaching peace and forgiveness. She nurtures with love, feeding the hungry, bringing hope to the hopeless, healing the sick, and forgiving sinners. She rewards patience, virtue, chastity, temperance, and forgiveness. She is the most popular 'goddess', especially amongst the lower classes. (Except in Rethem, of course.) Peonian clerics seeking martyrdom often sneak into Rethm to establish covert churches.
• Sarajin: the god of courage, strength, prowess in combat, fame, clever tactics, battlelust, and the “sport” of war. He loves Kelestia as it is. His followers seek his favor by gaining fame with acts of bravery in combat, canny gambits, and martial skill. Sarajin is said to most often appear as a giant, yellow-haired warrior in leather and furs, carrying Fakang, his massive double-bladed axe. He is the god of the Invinians, the Viking analogs in the setting.
• Save-K'Nor: the god of intellect, learning, and true knowledge. Save-K'nor seeks to guide his adherents by perfecting their intellect and knowledge of moral philosophy so that they may understand the true nature of Kelestia and thereby select the righteous path of their own free will. The church of Save-K'nor has few adherents because of its focus on scholarship; however, their level of education puts many in place to be of singular influence on events.
• Siem: the benign god of magic, mysteries, and dreams. Siem is the oldest of the 'gods'. He chose to withdraw from the other ‘gods’ to his own idyllic domain within Kelestia, 'the Blessed Realm', where all remains preserved in a pristine state, and there is almost no passage of time. He is most associated with the Faerie folk, Elves, and Dwarves, though some Men worship him too.

HârnMaster allows a player to create a newly-consecrated priest of any of these faiths, subject to the character's place of birth and the campaign's focus. Clerics start with many skills, but they have obligations to their church and order.

A Laranian Matakea (Temple Priest) might be ordered by his Rekela (Bishop) to accompany a young noble on his journeys. (Yes, this is a campaign seed.) A Peonian Reslava (Mendicant Priest, similar to the wandering friars of the Franciscans) would be constantly nagging his companions to show mercy, stopping to help every hamlet and cotter hold and healing the enemy. In short, the system encourages you to roleplay a genuine representative of your deity, not just be a walking first-aid kit and backup combatant.

Then there are the Invocations. These are rituals or prayers the clerics can use. For example, Laranian priests have access to Bandage of St. Pereline, which can stop bloodloss and heal an injury level from a single wound. A critical success heals the wound entirely in one day, while a critical failure causes the wound to develop an infection.

Every religion has these, some in the HârnMaster rule book, with more in the HârnMaster - Religion tome. More about that: do you want to know where the Amansurif of the Agrikian church lives? Want more details on church politics? Planning a campaign based around a mostly Laranian party campaign against the vile Agrikians? This book is for you. But there is more than enough in the basic HârnMaster rulebook to get started.

One final thought. As in most settings, there is a compact that keeps the gods from meddling too much in the mortal world. So if you want to run a mini-campaign where the PCs have to expose and oust the evil Sulapyn (Peonian bishop) who has been embezzling funds, go for it.

Tomorrow, I swear, Magic.

Let's go through her Characteristics, Abilities, and initial spells.

Characteristics. Ars Magica uses a loose -3 to +3 scale, although scores off that range are pretty common, but this is where we start.

Strength: -1
Stamina: 0
Dexterity: -1
Quickness: -2
Intelligence: +3
Perception: +2
Presence: 0
Communication: +2

That beating in the kitchen of the monastery so long ago still shows in Jorina's slowness to react. She can also be a touch fumble-fingered at times. On the other side, she's very smart, perceptive, and good at communicating (once you get past her speech issues.)

Generating Abilities (AM's name for skills) is done in three stages.

First is Early Childhood. I used the Mischievous Childhood template, although Crapsack Childhood better describes her life. All abilities come with a specialization, which is treated as one skill level higher.

Brawl: 2 (dodge)
Guile: 2 (lying to authority)
Native Language: 5 (Frisian)
Stealth: 2 (sneak)

Then comes later childhood, where you have a bit more latitude.

Folk Ken: 2 (clergy)
Awareness: 3 (alertness)
Living Language: (French)

At 10, a strange group visited the monastery and was forced to stay in one of the outbuildings. Since everyone hated her, Jorina was sent to serve them. Their leader, a terrifying man with leather-brown skin and his hair wrapped in a big cloth bundle seemed very interested in Jorina. The abbess told Jorina that the man had bought her and that she was no longer welcome. The leader introduced himself as Eutychus of Criamon and said that he was a Sorceror and that Jorina had the power to be a sorcerer as well. So began 15 years of apprenticeship.

Enigmatic Wisdom: 2
Latin: 4 (writing)
Magic Theory: 2
Parma Magica: 1 (Ignem)
Concentration: 2 (spells)
Penetration: 1 (Mentum)
Artes Liberales: 1 (logic)
Code of Hermes: 1
Finesse: 1 (Mentum)
Profession: 2 (scribe)

So much to learn! Parma Magica and Magic Theory are the two great discoveries made by Bonisagus the Founder in the 8th century. His unified theory of magic allowed magi from different traditions to share and learn spells from each other, and Parma Magica not only protects a magus from hostile spells but calms the negative feelings The Gift cause in all living things. Ignem (fire) and Mentum (mind) are two of the magical forms. Speaking of which. . . Jorina's scores in the Techniques of Magic are:

Creo (I create) 4
Intellego (I perceive) 6
Muto (I change) 4
Perdo (I destroy) 4
Rego (I control) 4

And in the Forms:

Animal (non-human animals) 1
Aquam (water) 2
Auram (air) 3
Corpus (the human body) 2
Herbam (plants) 0
Ignem (fire) 0 [and she's not good with this form at all]
Imaginem Sensation and illusion) 5
Mentum (mind) 5 [Jorina is skilled with mind magic]
Terram (earth) 1
Vim (raw magical power) 5

Having a zero in a Technique or Form doesn't mean you can't perform those spells, you just haven't spent a lot of time learning the basic theory around them.

She also learned a nice set of starting spells. I'll explain what spells do if asked. Each spell has the Technique and Form listed at the end. I'm not bothering with the spell levels here unless asked.

Wizard's Sidestep Re/Im
True Sight of Air In/Au
Calm the Motion of the Heart Pe/Me
Jupiter's Resounding Blow Cr/Au
The Call to Slumber Re/Me
Moonbeam Cr/Ig
Comfort of the Drenched Traveler Pe/Aq (it dries the target's body and clothing. Useful!)
The Intuition of the Forest In/He
Aura of Ennobled Presence Mu/Im
Words of the Unbroken Silence Cr/Me
Confusion of the Numbed Will Re/Me

A nice start. Jorina has passed her Gauntlet, is 25, and while I could start her now, I'm going to run her year-by-year to build her up, gain magic goodies and a familiar, and even have her perform her longevity spell research. It's not uncommon for AM mages to start the game well into their sixties, appear to be in their early 40s, and be quite powerful.

One thing I do need is her Wizard's Sigil. Every magus has one, it's a personal touch, often created by the subconscious, that acts as a fingerprint. In the saga I played in so long ago, my magus was of House Bjornaer, and his heartbeast was a large raven. All his spells invoked ravens. If he cast Rain of Stones, the stones would be black and make little croaking sounds when they hit. His Wizard's Sidestep had him dissolve into a mass of ink black bird shapes that would reform where he stepped to. So I'm going to have to think about this.

As always, suggestions and comments welcome.

This takes place after the destruction of the Empire of the Giants and the scattering of the Dragons during the Greater War of the Gods and shortly after the Races of the Tree were created. It was a Golden Age, where the Races of the Tree (humans, dwarfs, halflings, and gnomes) worked together in harmony. Some humans, however, were touched by the Corpus Infernus and roamed the lands as barbarian raiders.

The orcs were created when the demon-touched leader of the greatest barbarian horde was frustrated by his inability to break the defenses of one of the great cities of this legendary age. This leader, Grummish One-Eye, made a pact with Canarak, God of Slaughter to allow him to sack this city.

Overnight, his army was twisted into what we now know as orcs, and with their new-found ferocity, were able to destroy one of the last Golden Cities. But Grummish's triumph was short-lived, as almost immediately his army turned on itself. Grummish himself was killed and is now a demigod in the service of Canarak.

Orcs, being children of Canarak, are violent beings who kill for sport. They live in tribal groups where the strongest and most successful lead by right of force. Orc warbands raid more civilized lands as a way of proving their worth. Orcs don't care about the value of treasure beyond its value as a display of the martial prowess in stealing it.

Orc tribes tend to weed out their own weaklings through hazing and ritual combat. Some males are expelled and forced to find new bands to join. Sometimes, a tribe will grow too large and destroy itself in a frenzy of destruction. While not strictly nocturnal, orcs prefer to operate in dim light. Bands usually try to find a cave system or abandoned tomb complex as a stronghold. Since they crave combat, they will abandon an area if it lacks challenges.

Rarely, an orc will appear with the strength, charisma, and intelligence to unite the tribes into a horde. Such orcs are known as "Grummishning haqiqiy o'g'li" or a "True Son of Grummish." When a True Son appears, civilized nations tremble. The only way to end the threat is to kill the true son.

I use the D&D5e sourcebook The Book of the Righteous for my games, as it is an excellent and complete pantheon, and most of it is system-neutral. It's also fairly easy to add to in careful doses. I've added the giants as div, a variant of the first intelligent species created by the gods. Other div in the current age are the elves, fae, and other nature spirits. These specific div were touched by the primal gods of the elements to create servants. Which is why you have fire giants, storm giants, etc.

Pathfinder for Savage Worlds: Pathfinder Companion by Jason Bulmahn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've been playing RPGs since 1977, and in that time I've become a bit of a connoisseur of game settings. I've seen the really great ones (Glorantha, Hârn) and the really bad ones (looking at you, Mystara.) So I know what makes a good setting. Interesting places and people, a coherent history, and opportunities for adventure galore!

This book hits all the marks, We start with an introduction to the Pathfinder Society, a loosely-organized adventurers' guild that can be a launch pad for many adventures. The main focus of the Society is gathering information. A party might be told by their Venture-Captain (the local "branch managers") that a black dragon has been sighted near a certain swampy area where no dragon has been seen for centuries. Go find it and assess the threat. That kind of mission, along with political intrigue, exploration, and traditional dungeon delves. Good stuff.

Next, we get a timeline, and here's where I took off a star. The designers (and I realize that this is all adapted from material published by Paizo earlier) fall into the "thousands of years" trap. Humans have had writing for about 6,000 years. All those early societies are dead. It's just human nature for things to change. But still, it is a good summation of events leading up to the present day.

Then comes the real meat, the Gazeteer. We get introduced to the states of the Inner Sea, and they are an amazing lot that all make sense and all provide adventuring opportunities galore! Take Galt, a nation that overthrew its noble rulers and is now reminiscent of France under the Committee for Public Safety. Governments rise and fall, factions form, dissolve, and battle in the streets, and the Final Blade, a guillotine that traps the soul of its victim, never stops. It makes sense in the context of what is happening in Galt's neighboring states. Golarion is a cohesive world.

We get a short but useful adventure generator, some of the more important factions in the Inner Sea region, and advice on merging Pathfinder's class & level expectations so Savage Worlds, the gods and main infernal beings, the other planes, and final some powerful artifacts.

A very well-produced book! An asset to my gaming shelf.



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More reasons to love Runequest. I've been reading Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass, a 380-page tome that isn't just a splat book of army lists, but a detailed examination of every aspect of warfare in Glorantha for all the possible materials you can make armor out of, military history, organization of everything from the Lunar Regiments to Orlanthi war-bands, battlefield knowledge, how shield walls and phalanxes work, and how they differ in combat, logistics, roads, river transport in Dragon Pass, magic, Heroes and the Companions, and I'm just halfway through!

Oh, siege warfare. I forgot the chapter on siege warfare that detailed how various cultures build gates and towers, siege engines, and dear Lhankr Mhy, so much information!

This isn't a gamebook, it's a military academy textbook. I feel like I'm going to be asked to write an essay on Satarite hill forts any day now. But it is all useful stuff in building the world of Glorantha at the dawn of the Hero Wars, something characters will get caught up in.

Along with being really well-written, there are art pieces in here that deserve to be hanging in museums. The plate of Fazzur Widread and the Feathered Horse Queen accepting the surrender of Kallyr Starbrow looks like it was painted by Titian.

Amazingly good book. The one thing it doesn't have is a mass combat system, and that is only because Chaosium is going to release an official one later this year.

I hate murder hobo TTRPG campaigns. That's where the characters wander around looking for things to kill and loot. That's it. It was fine in the early days when role-playing was still heavily influenced by war/miniature games, but we are so far past that.

A good game has a hook, an overarching plot that may not even be readily apparent at the beginning. Think of the first season of Babylon 5, where events happened, there were adventures, but only one character even suspected that the Shadows were returning. There were, if I may steal the name of one of the best episodes of that season, signs and portents, but the full push of the Shadow War only really got started in Season 2.

I guess at this point I should remind people who may not remember these elements of the plot structure that are so useful in designing campaigns.

Every campaign needs a push to get the characters moving along and a reason to keep going. In Romancing the Stone the push is finding the legendary emerald. A push can be the heat of war, a natural disaster, or a charge from a patron or employer. The push is towards a goal: finding the emerald, stopping the war, or saving people from the disaster. The push is forced movement to advance the plot. Most scenarios inside a campaign should have some element that pushes the plot forward.

Next, you have the pull, which is usually some reward or pay-off that the characters are striving for. The dragon's horde, learning the truth behind the X-files after stopping the conspiracy. . . something the players and their characters want. Killing or otherwise disposing of the main villain can be a pull that grows on the players as they deal with the baddie over and over, never quite winning. The push and pull should be related in some way.

The enigma is the main mystery to be unraveled by the characters throughout the campaign. Finding the Lost City, deciphering the code needed to save the world, learning why the colony ship was found abandoned; all are mysteries that can make a campaign's worth of adventures to solve. One of my favorite enigmas comes from the 70s kid show Land of the Lost, where the questions of who built the land, how the pylons and gems worked, and how to escape were slowly answered over the show's run. (And I need to win the lottery to get a really good reboot done on Netflix or something. It was good science-fiction, damnit!) Answering pieces of the enigma are great rewards during an adventure.

Finally, the MacGuffin. This is the thing, person, or place that is either the focus of a quest, important to resolving the campaign or simply drives the plot. The falcon statue from The Maltese Falcon is perhaps the most famous of these; as it drives the entire movie and only shows up in the last ten minutes (naq vg gheaf bhg gb or snxr.) The One Ring was a MacGuffin, as were the Death Star plans. The MacGuffin is the essential thing in the campaign.

What makes me think of this is I'm still noodling with my Pirate elves of the Caribbean concept and I was thinking about what to hang a game on. Why would these people be hacking their way through dinosaur and lizardman-infested jungles, fighting Aztec zombie armies, and trading cannon fire on the high seas with dwarf pirates in their smoke-belching ironclads?

Well, I was in the porcelain reading room, and I passed the time by reading one of our Bathroom Readers when I found an article about the crystal skulls. Bingo! In this setting, the elves and dwarfs fled the Americas because the elf empire panicked when they realized they were losing their war with the dwarfs and summon something very, very big. The resulting magical storm destroyed both states and twisted the land. Now, the barrier has finally been broken, and these new old lands and being explored, looted, and fought over.

The crystal skulls, twelve is a good number, were either used in the magic ritual that destroyed everything or created by them, still exists, but have been scattered. John Dee, still alive at 146, has learned that the Ottoman Sultan has dispatched agents to find the skulls to finally crush the remaining Christina world!

He must be stopped, but to move openly would upset the delicate balance of power between the Islamic Caliphate in Iberia and North Africa and the Dual Crowns of England and France, no, he must turn to his agents, they hardy and resourceful men and elves who serve in. . .Their Majesties' Sorcerous Service!

The push is obvious, find the skulls before the enemy does. The pull is the riches the agents can gain both in terms of gold and lost knowledge and power. The enigma is where the skulls have been flung to, and the MacGuffin of course is the skulls.

See how that works? With one idea and those four plot elements, I have the framework for a campaign. I could even cut it back to one skull, which might work better. But now I have a roadmap for adventure. Oh, there's one more thing. . . The twist.

John Dee wants the skulls to make himself the ruler of all Europe as an immortal lich-king.

Or not. You never know, but planting clues is fun!

"There are many magic rings in this world, and none of them should be used lightly." - Gandalf the Grey.

I sit here writing this surrounded by safe, effective technology. The computer, most obviously. But my phone sits on its' charging stand, there's a space heater warming my eternally-aching legs, and behind me is our little kitchen just filled with safe, reliable gadgets that store food and make it much easier to make good hot meals.

Our reliance and expectation of safe and reliable gadgets have affected how we view magic items in RPGs. They are just as standardized and effective as a microwave. A +2 sword is just like any other +2 sword. Which is really a pity. Because magic should be dangerous. At its core, magic is the manipulation of energy. In most systems, you need an in to do this. Be born into a sorcerous bloodline, or with a magical gift, or make a deal with some god or other power to safely handle the energies involved. In Ars Magica even the Gifted magi will be eventually warped by using these powers. But for now, let's work with the idea that arcane practitioners have the magical equivalent of a hard hat, hi-viz vest, and steel-toed boots when casting.

This brings us to magical items. An insanely popular worldbuilding trope is the Big Magic Oops that destroyed a previous empire or set of empires that just churned out all sorts of enchanted objects, all of which no lie hidden in various treasure vaults around the world. I have no trouble with this model, after all, we do find the occasional treasure trove here in the real world. No, where I have a problem is with just how easy and harmless these items are.

Magic is energy manipulation by a living mind. A magic item is forcing the same energy matrix into an inanimate object. The mind of a mage can adjust to the situation, control the forces involved, and adjust their spell on the fly, even if the rules of whatever game system you're using don't go into all that much detail. But what happens when that same power is placed into a ring? A ring that anyone can use assuming they learn the method of activation? I think there are two or three effects that will really change how players view magic items in any game.

Magic is Radioactive

As I've said, magic is energy being manipulated. A magical item is a focal point for that energy. And just like being exposed to radiation over time is a bad idea, excessive exposure to magic is dangerous for those not gifted in handling the energy (going back to Ars Magica for a moment, even those with the Gift are still susceptible over time) are going to be twisted by the energy.

This can manifest in losing points in characteristics, physical illnesses, even being warped the way Sméagol was twisted into Gollum. The more powerful the object, the more rapid the effects, to the point where handling something like the Loch-nar from Heavy Metal might be instantly fatal if you aren't very well prepared. Magic circles and rituals exist for a reason, people!

The way to alleviate this is through careful attunement and limiting exposure. A suit of magic armor made expressly for one wearer is going to be more in tune with that person's spirit, and work with them to protect them from harm. That same suit will be problematic for the guy who just finds it in a dungeon. Getting magic alterations could be a fin side quest, as you need to track down an enchanter who can re-weave the spells that make the armor so effective. The same goes for almost any item of power.

Magic is Addictive

Here's the other side of the coin. For the un-gifted, the thrill of power coursing through their veins as they make use of a magic item will become unbearable to part from. Fantasy literature is filled with tales of people unwilling or unable to part with the very thing that is destroying them, games should be no different in terms of how locked-in one can get. (I'm a recovering methamphetamine addict. Trust me, an addict will happily go to their death to keep the feeling going.)

The classic example here is of course the One Ring from The Lord of the Rings. But a magic sword, cloak, anything of power will sap the will of the user who needs to feel that power every day. Players and gamemasters can have fun with this, as characters will be loathed to part with their item of power for even a short period of time. This can be awkward if you are carrying Királygyilkos, the legendary sword King-Slayer, and your party have to meet the local king for some reason.

Things like will rolls can overcome the compulsion to keep and use as many magic items as you can carry (even as they rot you from the outside inwards) and the long-term solution is to find a group of wizards or some clerical order dedicated to removing hazardous magical items from the world. And there's a campaign idea for you; hunting down dangerous magical relics so they can be destroyed.

Finally, a note about intelligent and willful items. The above assumes inert objects infused with a matrix to hold a specific spell or effect, and the energy to discharge that effect. But an item of power that is self-aware and has an agenda of its own is a whole different ballgame. Such items really need to be broken down into two different groups.

Some magical items will absorb a purpose, either at the time of forging or through use. Forsvarer is a magic sword that was carried by a great hero who died holding off an attack by fire giants. In D&D terms, it's a "Defender" sword (DMG p.164) but you can add that it has developed the purpose of "defend the weak." The bearer has to act to protect everyone, or face consequences from his own sword. A purpose-built weapon might only want to return to its rightful owner. Szczerbiec, the real-world Polish ceremonial coronation sword and best candidate for a Holy Avenger I've ever seen, might be the focus of a game where it compels the bearer to return it to the rightful king. Finding the rightful king is a whole campaign.

Which leads to intelligent magic items. Not only will these things have an agenda, but they will also be quite single-minded about it. Szczerbiec will not put up with your stupid side quests, it has a king to find! Intelligent items might be quite cunning, hiding their true nature, or be loud, boastful, and vain. Imagine having a magical shield with the personality of Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Not only is the damn thing killing you slowly and you are unable to put it down, but it also keeps bragging about how it is the best shield ever, and why are you even wearing armor when you have the mighty shield, Gaston?

OK, I'm writing that one up.

To sum up, magic is dangerous, and magical items should be doubly dangerous. Make them mysterious, ominous, and requiring some work to use safely. Magic should be, well, magical and filled with boobytraps.