No Diplomacy Today

Imagine a western, but instead of horses people drive vehicles: jeeps, trucks, pickups, vans, all wheeled, tracked, some of them amphibious, 1940s to 90s style.
A Mad Max Fury Road type convoy, but vehicles are in sound condition, just a little used up and dusty (like starships in the first Star Wars trilogy).

The point of view moves from vehicle to vehicle, showing their rear or sides, starting from the back of the convoy going towards the front.
From the car radios different song are playing: country, jazz, rock 'n' roll, depending on the style of the owner.

Two vehicles are dragging a man: oriental looking, long hair, thin beard, maybe their chief? He did promise something but one "fellow citizen" decided otherwise.
He's still alive, but battered.
He's a prisoner now.

The point of view reaches the front of the convoy, where a too big and bulky army green biplane is parked. A truck arrives and from it a very big machine gun is mounted on the plane, along with boxes of ammunition in quantity.

There will be an assault.
There will be no diplomacy today.

A man with a hat, texan cowboy style, cigar in the mouth, stands in front of the plane, looking pleased at the job being done.
He's grinning.

The scene fades to black.

✪ ✪ ✪

This was a dream I had. It was very dynamic, very cinematic.
It looked cool, great probably for a RPG setting or adventure.

I'm still not sure if I can do anything with this, or if I will and when.
For the moment It went into my Spark File, where I keep my random and very incomplete ideas for when (and if) I'll find a use for them.

I think I'll start putting notes from the Spark File also here on the blog, where other people may see and use them.
Maybe they'll be of inspiration to someone.
Anyway, time to go.

See you road cowboy...

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Books are Gates for Other Worlds

I was thinking A Red & Pleasant Land* is not just a book. It is an artefact.

And then I heard a click, a shuffle of pages, and there it is: the gate to Voivodja!

The gate to Voivodja is the book itself.

After all, you can put a book wherever you want.

If you want your players to go to Voivodja, you simply put the A Red & Pleasant Land book in a hoard, a library, a crate or in a hole in the forest and when they find it you just pass them the actual book and tell them "you found this".

"You found this"

If they already know what is it, they'll be (hopefully) excited.

If they do not know what is it, they will also have pleasure of mystery and discovery.

And then they can open the first pages, read them (page 7, actually), and BAM they fall into the rabbit hole.

You can use this methods with other locations or setting inspired by literature.

The nicest is the edition of the book (leather bound, velvet ribbon, chromed title letters etc.) the better it is.

A beautiful version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
(click to enlarge)

For example, I have an old Italian edition of "The Neverending Story" bound in red silk with an engraved Anduyn symbol and red and green letters (pictures below).

That would be really cool especially for book lovers as I am.

Look at how cool it is!
More pictures here.

†††

Here I'll leave you some example of places, settings or adventures accessible by finding and reading the following three famous books.

Their setting and story have been suitably twisted and weirded up to properly fit the LotFP vibe I like so much.

Tarzan of Apes, by E.R. Burroughs

A deep unexplored forest, a tribe of cannibal "ape-men" raised by alien gorilla-like creatures, mysterious ruins from an ancient past and strange sounds and growls in the night. They sound like tigers, but there are no tigers in this forest, only nightmares and death and disease. But also gold, and powerful magic.
Local explorers venturing in the forest will not accept women in the group, for they saw what happens to them if they are ever captured by the so called "ape-men". The only thing they'll say is that they are not eaten like their male companions are.

Peter Pan and Wendy, by J.M. Barrie

A child-lich called Pan who rules an army of soul-less mutated children on a secret island who's trying to resuscitate his ancient love. A group of half-mutated children who formed a rebellion against Pan and call themselves "Pirates". A tribe of natives who fear both Pan for his powers (and secretly hate him) and the Pirates for their mutations.

Cinderella, the ancient Egyptian version

In the land of Egypt, the ancient mummy of Memphis the Conqueror lies in his neverending slumber. His dreams are of a rich and ancient land, of bloody wars against the Serpent-kings and the Dog-brothers, and of beautiful and evil cinder-women. He dreams of one of these creatures, with whom he fell in love, and of the war he's doing against the Ruler of the Sands who kidnapped her to make her his wife. Whoever reads the pages of these ancient scrolls ends trapped in Memphis' dreams... but are these dreams real?

Anck-Su-Namun, The Mummy (1999)

In what other settings would your favourite books lead to?

Let me know!

* A Red and Pleasant Land is a supplement by Lamentations of the Flame Princess detailing Voivodja: a setting that mixes Alice Adventure's in Wonderland and a war between vampire clans. Higly recommended!

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Adventure seed: The Thirteenth Solstice

Far, in the deep north, a new divinity has been worshiped for the last thirteen years. Worshiped, and feared.

Gryla is her name, lady of glaciers and mountains. Eater of infants.

A giant she is, tall as three man and strong as three oxen. Dressed with a black mantle woven with gold and silver.

Every year, on the winter solstice, a child between 5 and 10 years old is brought to the Sneffels Mouth over a cart filled with coal to be sacrificed to the goddess. A column of black smoke rises from the Sneffels Mouth, then: the coal has been lit, the flesh is burning, a life is extinguished.

The goddess is appeased a for another year.

"ice cave" by sancient; text added by me

But the goddess do not asks for any life, for she wants the most evil child of the three villages. As evil as a child may be, at least. And every year the decision is made, the child chosen and sent to his death.

For thirteen years this sacrifice has been made under the threat of the death of many. Yule, a giant beast with a fur darker than death, only once drew his claws on a bloody night thirteen years ago, after its owner's command. Since then, the sacrifices begun.

This year, however, the old sage of the three villages Arne Saknussem decided to seek for help. No more children will die.

Once arrived to the villages many rumors will be heard regarding Gryla. Many conflicting theories and fantasies. Which one is true, though?

1	Gryla does not exists: in fact no one has ever seen her. No one from the three villages is able to point out in which one the goddess showed herself for the first time on that night thirteen years ago. But then, what are these sacrifices for? Who lights the cart and the coal, and more importantly: what happens to the children?
2	Gryla is not a giantess, but a human sorceress. With her magic spells she created the illusion of her appearance and of the Yule beast. She does not eat children, instead she uses them to make obscene experiments that transforms them to slaves of her magic. They are still alive, but nothing remains of them but empty shells. The cart filled with coal is just a staging.
3	Gryla is really a child-eater giant, but she's not a goddess. Once the cart is brought to the Sneffels Mouth, it is lit while the child is still alive, and the "goddess" feasts with his juicy flesh. The Yule beast protects her home when he's not hunting in the surrounding forests for itself and its giant owner. After all, children flesh is just Gryla's once-in-a-year whim for the winter solstice.
4	Gryla is really a goddess that needs evil children to appease her. The coal in the cart is part of a complex ritual that transforms the sacrificed child to a slave creature that works for her during the whole year, until he deteriorates and dies on the winter solstice, day in which Gryla replaces him with a new child.
5	Gryla is a very, very lonely giantess. Even if the Yule beast is fond of its owner, it is an independent creature and it usually stays by itself. Furthermore, Gryla has always dreamed of a family of her own, and she's trying to make herself one with the children of the three villages. However, she may be persuaded to give them back if she is given the opportunity to become a real mother...
6	Gryla is a giantess mage that does not eat infants, but instead she tears their souls from their bodies in order to try to give life back to her daughter, who died fourteen years ago. Every year, during the winter solstice, the stars align and the moment is propitious to make the ritual. Unfortunately to this day she never succeeded in her attempt, and her daughter still lies in her ice coffin, dead for all these years. The children souls are lost during the ritual.

Grýla (2009), by Þrándur Þórarinsson

The inspiration for this adventure idea came from the Icelandic Christmas tale of the Grýla, a giantess who eats misbehaving children, his Yule Cat and her thirteen Yule Lads.

This adventure has been originally written in Italian for the Facebook page "L'Avventuriero Precario", dedicated to memes and articles of various kinds about rpgs and card games.
The page name could be translated as "The Temporary Adventurer", as a reference to the "temporary employees" so common in Italy.

Versione in italiano (redirect verso Facebook) »

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Adventure seed: Dangerous Lessons

This is a science fiction or cyberpunk adventure seed inspired by my Traveller Skills Training house rule. This adventure can however be effortlessly used in different systems or settings.

The format I used here is typical for Traveller Patrons, people who give quests to the player characters in exchange of benefits, usually money or equipment.
After the adventure introduction there are six possible directions in which the adventure could possibly go. You would typically either choose one or roll 1d6.

The Training software I refer to can be replaced with any software used in Wafer Jacks or neural interfaces.

**
Joseph Kartad, CEO of LearnTech
Required: Investigate, Computers, Deception, Admin (optional), Intrusion software (recommended)
Reward: Cr. 15.000 and Training software

art by Achimstyle

The government of Hala Eudonia have recently bought from LearnTech, a company focused in Training software, its specialized proprietary software in order to give low budget training lessons to its agents.
However, this software has a dangerous bug: when it is used with a Wafer Jack, that is, exactly how the government would have used it, the microprocessor overloads until it burns down causing serious harm to the user's brain.
A first investigation revealed the bug seem to have been coded on purpose in the software and now the LearnTech and the government want to know who did it and the reasons behind it.

Joseph Kartad, CEO of LearnTech, gets privately in touch with the characters searching for help in the investigations, taking great care to clarify that he is interested in resolving the problem internally without the government knowledge or interference and avoiding a potential scandal.
The characters will be disguised as new LearnTech employees in order to freely investigate inside or outside the company building, to socialize with the employees and to be able to investigate in the computers and in the software code.


Discretion is essential: no one must suspect anything about the internal inquiry, and most of all every discovery will have to be communicated directly to Kartad, and no one else.

The characters should expect to deal with government detectives, who must never know about their inquiries.
Of course, the characters have been hired to solve the crime before the government do, otherwise there will be no reward.

1	The bug has been inserted by a LearnTech developer who came to know the possibility of his firing. His plan was to fake the discovery and resolution of the dangerous bug, in order assure his job position.
2	There is no bug: it is a put-on from the government in order to be able to freely investigate on LearnTech activities. The government thinks LearnTech is a façade for an illegal espionage software developing activity, and through this sham it wants to investigate the company deeper than it is possible otherwise.
3	The bug has been inserted by a rival company hoping to bankrupt LearnTech or at least to drop its reputation, to undertake the next contract from the government. The person who actually inserted the bug is a LearnTech manager who started working for the rival company with the promise of large sums of money.
4	Joseph Kartad inserted the bug himself, trying to blame a rival company by planting false clues in order to obtain the monopoly in the market.
5	The bug was inserted by the Vice-CEO hoping in Kartad's resignation: he should have been CEO instead of Kartad, and it is well time he takes what he rightfully deserves!
6	Kartad's wife is actually behind this: she discovered that his husband has a lover, and now she wants revenge on him. She hired a hacker to infiltrate LearnTech systems to insert the bug in the software, and the very bug's name is none other that Kartad's lover's!

Versione in italiano »

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Spunto per avventura: Lezioni pericolose

Idea per un'avventura investigativa di stampo fantascientifico o cyberpunk ispirata alla mia house rule per Traveller sull'addestramento delle abilità, ma che può essere facilmente utilizzata in altri sistemi.

Il formato dell'avventura è simile a quello dei Patroni di Traveller, individui che danno missioni ai giocatori in cambio di benefici.
Sotto l'introduzione ci sono sei possibili direzioni che può prendere l'avventura.

Si può sostituire il software di Apprendimento a cui faccio riferimento con qualsiasi software utilizzato in un Intellijack o interfaccia neurale.

**
Joseph Kartad, Amministratore Delegato della LearnTech
Requisiti: Investigare, Computer, Inganno, Persuadere, Amministrazione (opzionale), computer possibilmente con software di Intrusione.
Ricompensa: 15.000Cr e software di Apprendimento.

art by Achimstyle

La LearnTech, azienda specializzata in software di Apprendimento, ha venduto al governo di Hala Eudonia un proprio software specializzato per impartire lezioni a basso costo agli agenti governativi.
Il software tuttavia presenta un pericoloso baco: quando questo viene utilizzato con un Intellijack, ossia proprio come il governo lo avrebbe utilizzato, il microprocessore si sovraccarica fino a bruciarsi causando gravi danni al cervello dell'utilizzatore.
Una prima investigazione ha rivelato che baco sembra essere stato inserito di proposito ed ora la LearnTech e il governo cercano di capire il responsabile e le ragioni di questa manomissione.

Joseph Kartad, amministratore delegato della LearnTech, contatta i personaggi in privato facendo ben presente che si muove all'oscuro del governo in quanto interessato a cercare di risolvere il problema il prima possibile e senza sollevare un polverone mediatico o rischiare uno scandalo.
I personaggi potranno fingersi nuovi impiegati alla LearnTech per poter svolgere le ricerche indisturbati sia dentro che fuori l'edificio aziendale, socializzare con i colleghi e poter indagare sui computer e sul codice del software se ne sono in grado.

La discrezione è essenziale: nessuno dovrà sospettare delle indagini interne, e soprattutto qualsiasi scoperta sarà comunicata direttamente a Kartad e nessun altro.

I personaggi possono aspettarsi di avere a che fare con gli investigatori governativi, ai quali non dovranno assolutamente rivelarsi. Dovranno anzi trovare il problema prima di questi, perciò il tempismo è fondamentale.

1	Il baco è stato inserito da un programmatore della LearnTech venuto a conoscenza del suo possibile futuro licenziamento. Il suo piano è di fingere di riuscire a trovarlo lui stesso e risolverlo per mantenere il suo posto di lavoro.
2	Non c'è nessun baco: è una messinscena da parte del governo per poter investigare sulle attività della LearnTech. Secondo il governo la LearnTech fa da copertura ad una attività che produce software di spionaggio illegale e tramite questa operazione vuole riuscire ad indagare più a fondo.
3	Il baco è stato inserito da un'azienda rivale della LearnTech per farla andare in bancarotta e ottenere l'appalto dal governo. La mano che ha inserito il baco è di un dirigente divenuto doppiogiochista dopo aver ricevuto un'ingente somma di denaro.
4	Joseph Kartad stesso ha inserito il baco, tentando di far ricadere la colpa sull'azienda rivale inserendo indizi falsi che portano ad essa.
5	Il baco è stato inserito dal vice amministratore della LearnTech sperando nelle dimissioni di Kartad: sarebbe dovuto essere lui l'amministratore delegato, ed è ora che finalmente si prenda ciò che è suo di diritto.
6	È stata la moglie di Kartad: ha scoperto che il marito ha un'amante, ed ha voluto vendicarsi. Ha assoldato un hacker per infiltrarsi nei sistemi della LearnTech ed inserire il baco nel software. Il nome del baco, scritto proprio nel codice, è lo stesso dell'amante di Kartad!

English version »

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