Coyote & Crow Review #3.8 CAHOKIAN LIFE & COME PLAY WITH ME!!

If I were younger, I feel I would blast through this Setting chapter, as it is an exciting read. Being a working single dad, it takes me time to get through it. Still, it is a great comprehensive guide to the world of Makasing, and a great inspiration for making the gameworld of Coyote & Crow come alive on the table.

I told a student about Coyote & Crow and especially the purple tint of the Adehnahdi powers and she said "It sounds like Jo Jo" and now I can't unsee it...

POPULATION & LONGEVITY

Maximum lifespan in Makasing is over 100, with 140 as the oldest. This beats our world, and is a subtle validation of indigenous modes of life over our factory farms and processed food. The growing conundrum of what to do with the increase in older members of the population again echoes Japan and its aging society. A hats off to writers for the comment that the youth are afraid of their elders gaining power over them, which is a dark mirroring of our world, where the young are disenfranchised from home ownership and are sent off to wars to protect the investments of older generations.

The fact that the world of Makasing has just come back from the brink of extinction of Awis (the mystical meteor strike that tipped off an ice age), which erased 50% of the population, means that the approach to death is very different from our world.

Adventure Seed #1 - “The Family.”
During the ice age, many peoples were scattered and lost. One was a lost group of families who have become a hidden cabal of inbred, mutated cannibals. Think the Donner Party and the X-Files episode Home. Only for grimdark campaigns, though.

In many places in Makasing, euthanasia is an accepted means of taking one’s burden off the tribe, which reflects traditional Inuit stories of senicide during tough times, and the similar event in the Japanese film Ballad of Naruyama. There are also tinges of indigenous-futurism with planned death and Soylent Green send offs. Additionally, people can travel freely to other city states to get medical treatment that more suits their needs and moral outlook.

I dig it.

Adventure Seed #2 - “A Good Death.” PCs are charged to help gather a dozen things or find people for a good death ceremony for their mentor. They may have to get a feather from a giant Adahnehdi powered eagle, track down an estranged cousin, recover an artifact from a flooded village, or a half dozen other wistful things.

WOMEN & CHILDREN

The writers neatly evade any questions of conception in Makasing by leaving things in women’s hands. On one hand, it echoes pre-colonialism matriarchal society, on the other it is a What if? projection of a society that values a woman’s body autonomy more than our world does.

The text also stresses the unimportance of biological parents, and greater respect for upbringers regardless of blood relations. It reminds me of a Canadian friend who lived up North here and brought up the children of the two indigenous women he loved as if they were his own.

I also dig the following comment on divorce.

While divorce is a thing, there are not really parallel concepts of stepparents. Nor do children 'lose' parents to divorce. They simply have more than one and all parents involved interact with their children as fits that specific relationship. Children with split parents often live freely between two or more homes. Still, divorce is uncommon due to the less restrictive nature of marriage. Additionally, a maternal uncle is often as strong a parental figure. (72)

This means most people will have huge extended families, which could be a great network of information and aid for PCs trying to solve a mystery. I also like the tough moral choices around the Adahnehdi technology that the authors present, an element of high technology that is glossed over in most other superpower media.

For example, if an infant is likely to die shortly after birth, is it acceptable to experimentally give them the Adanadi-based drugs to attempt to keep them alive or cure them? If an infant is born deaf, is it moral to give them cybernetic implants at birth? None of these kinds of questions have clear answers yet. (72-73)

The tension between Adanadi technology and traditional values seems a central theme of the gameworld, and it is all the more compelling for it.

Adventure Seed #3 - “The Lost Children.”
In our world, there is an African proverb that states, “A child not embraced by his village will burn it down to feel warmth.” A ragtag group of Makasing exiles are just such ‘lost children’, and have started working on forbidden technology, specifically cyberpunk style mechanical enhancements. They may kidnap an Inventor for help, and could create some great setpiece combat between the PCs and cybernetically enhanced bad guys who just need to be welcomed back into society. 

NO TRIBES BUT REAL ONES

The writer’s reticence to write about specific tribes and advice to allow members of those tribes to write about themselves is refreshing. This is the opposite of RPGs about farway places, such as Japan, which  are often written with an Orientalist lens that exoticizes them without touching on their complex reality. This is why I am writing my Giri-Ninjo RPG, as an antidote to the plethora of ‘D&D in funny hats’ Japan rpgs, and I am glad to see the Coyote & Crow team be so considerate of realworld indigenous identity. The focus on nations instead of tribes is a welcome patch for this issue. Identity is thus based on a combination of allegiance to Nation, Makasing Citizenship, Path or Family. This more complex formation than tribe is in accordance with Rogers Brubaker’s sociological work on identity.

Tribes certainly still dominate certain geographic regions, and often claim control or authority over that area. But in places like Cahokia, it's understood that to partake as a citizen, citizens have to partition their tribal identity and accept that they have more than a single label. For many, this is easy to do. But some tribes have long histories of confrontation and struggles and those aren't as easily overcome. (74)

I also dig the caveat for non-indigenous to avoid tribal identity, but rather focus on this triad of citizenship, family, and path. Paths are an allegiance to one of 15 animals reflecting their Adehnahdi powers, and I agree this is much more useful than focusing on tribal allegiance.

LIFESTYLES OF THE CAHOKIAN FAMOUS

This is a meaty section, which begins with the similarities of life with our world - work, taxes, love, politics. But the differences carry delicious implications. There is no standard 40 hour workweek, with no stigmata for those working less. People are involved and knowledgeable about politics, something our world could use more of. No culture wars on gender rage, there is universal healthcare for all, and companies that exist but do not dominate life. The authors ground this reality by reminding us that this has all come at a price.

All of this might sound pretty easy and straightforward, but it was a long road to get here for the citizens of Cahokia, and doesn't mean they live perfect lives in a utopia. (75)

More than anything this is what I dig about Makasing. It is not a utopian fantasy or world of indigenous Mary Sues with kewl powers. It is a society that does right some of things we don’t, such as universal housing and healthcare, but has its own problems of balancing mystic powers and steampunk technology with traditional morals and values.

COME PLAY WITH ME!

I’m in talks with Rain City in downtown Vancouver to run a game of Coyote & Crow next month! Check their website for details, and come down for Initiation Day, my homebrew adventure where you start as young heroes on their first day on the job where things go terribly wrong. Can you turn your Initiation Day around?

1920 Conversation Starters

To get my players into the 1920 mindset, I did some research and made up this table of 1920 conversation starters.

Enjoy! 1920 Conversation Starters








1 What do you make of these ‘new women’? They got the vote, now they’re out all night dancing, bare ankles and arms. I’m all for it myself.








2 Y’know, I never even saw an automobile till the war. Now everyone has one. I can’t keep up with all the new makes and models.








3 Great time to be alive. You can’t lose on the stock market, new banks are popping up like mushrooms. It’s the start of a golden age!








4 Damn I could do with a drink! Who would have thought the crackpots would outlaw a stiff drink. After the war and wearing masks in the pandemic, we need a little diversion.








5 Have you heard this new music, what’s it called? Jazz! I bought my first radio now that they’re broadcasting








6 My new neighbors are blacks from down south. Nice folks, hard working, glad they got out of that place. We need more like them, not these communists coming from Europe!

Why Mechs Indeed....

Funny.

The other day, I read the blogpost 'Why Mechas?' on Monsters and Manuals (available HERE). The blogger ascribes it to elite pride, like the retention of calvary for so long after they were made redundant.

Yesterday, a new anime series called Obsolete popped up in my YouTube feed HERE. Although the CG art makes for somewhat wooden performances, action scenes are stellar. There are jungle fights, underwater conflicts, and mech ski chases in the Himalayas, with a pounding soundtrack by Skillrex.

'OBSOLETE - We cannot resist'

All in all, it was an inspiring new setting for anyone interested in RPGs such as Mekton, Mechwarrior, or Heavy Gear.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

The premise is that mysterious aliens called 'Peddlars' have shown up and started selling mech exoskeletons to humans for rockbottom prices. Poor peoples buy them en masse to give their workforces much needed boosts in productivity.

It is this cheap alien sources (more machina ex deus than deus ex machina) that allows for the popularity of mechs, and their ultimate weaponization.

In the 2nd episode, we see a UN peacekeeping tank brigade driving around an African country, supposedly peacekeeping. Two crewmen are discussing geopolitics, one musing on whether the mechs (called 'exoframes') will be used in war, the other laughing it off because, unlike the gas guzzling, multimillion dollar kickback machine tank they are riding, there is no money in it. Within minutes, guerrillas riding agricultural mechs, using RPGs (the other kind) to take out the tank-riding NATO troops.

Over the series we see the escalation of mech warfare, from mercenary companies to Palestinian-inspired kid soldiers and suicide bombers. We also get hints of the nefarious plans behind this sweeping change, when a scientists remarks that the expos are pitted with damage from previous use, and muses how many other planets they have been used to destroy.

All in all, a great sci-fi with social commentary, kick ass action, and tons of sealable ideas for RPGS.

The trailer for Part II is HERE.

Enjoy!

Cyberpunk - Combat Environment

So I am re-watching the original Ghost in the Shell. It is epic. A masterpiece.

I just finished the first fight between the Major and the ghost using high velocity bullets. So many concepts (brain-wiped goons, throngs of people, abandoned quarters of the city) are crammed into this one sequence. More than that, the environment is depicted as a major factor in the combat, as it should be.

To replicate this in my games, I've brainstormed a few tables. A good GM should make a few rolls and determine the combat environment and interpret it for the players. Feel free to disregard or preroll conflicting entries (ie school zone billowing smoke, unless this fits your dystopic future).

SETTING TYPE

1 Sewer. Endless tunnels below the city, huge architecture, deafening echoes and running water, startling vermin.
2 Public transport. A monorail or subway, cramped quarters, good for taking hostages, or blowing up.
3 The docks. Boats and ships to jump between, deep ocean to fall into, sandbars to kung fu on.
4 The factories. Chimneys to climb or jump from, gantries to clomp across, chemical tanks to walk around or shoot holes in, pipes to hurdle or rupture.
5 The canals. Little boats to overturn, footbridges, knee deep water, fish swimming among rusty bicycles and consumer society detritus.
6 A shopping arcade. Shoppers to shove aside, displays to overturn, noisy pachinko parlours to run through, spilling hundreds of little balls behind you.
8 A park. Green spaces and trees to hide behind, civilians to scare or take hostage, duck ponds to splash through, fountains to blow up.
9 A residential area. Houses to barge into, stop signs to chop down or blow past, chest high concrete walls to leap or plough through.
12 Rows of concrete apartments. Roofs to leap between, exterior stairwells to climb on, cramped apartments to blunder through.
13 Parking lots. 50% either cars to crash into or duck behind and fire back from, or else heavy industrial vehicles, cranes and trucks that you can shimmy under or hunker behind.
14 School zone. Uh oh, kids gawking, police boxes on the corner.
15 Highway. Cars and trucks to dodge, or carjack, ramps to jump up or down to, good to parasail off of.
16 Traditional temple, shrine, or palace. Quiet, moss covered, dripping water and clacking bamboo pipes, perfect for silent showdown.
17 Private grounds of a corporation or embassy. Hedge walls, sudden sprinkler systems, security drones with machine-guns.
18 High rise building. Plexiglass to shatter, elevators shafts to fall down, climb up, or throw people into, boardrooms and reception desks to shoot up.
19 Laboratory or computer server room. Climate controlled, needs enviro-suits, fills with deafening alarms and security bots during a disturbance, blast doors also clamp down. Everything that happens is recorded on security cameras.
20 Air strip or space port. Big metal vehicles to hide behind or jump onto as they taxi for takeoff. Security forces arrive quickly - no one wants a terrorist incident.

SOUND (match to above environment or else roll 3d6 for random effect)

3 Deafening roar from machinery, vehicles, or people. Forget listen rolls, easy to get surprised or surprise.
4-5 Loud area, can't hear for shit. Communication only through yelling, gives away your position.
6-8 Loud enough. Can hear if enemy makes a big ruckus, otherwise as pervious entry.
9-12 Normal background noise. You might hear them if you stop everything and listen, then get a lucky roll.
13-15 Quiet. Failed listen roll gives you general direction, a success lets you pinpoint it.
16-17 Very quiet. You can hear each other easily, and pinpoint location with a successful listen roll.
18 You can hear a pin drop. You play cat and mouse game of listening to each other's movement, skulking about, then re-adjusting position before striking.

VISIBILITY  (match to above environment or else roll 3d6 for random effect)

3 Blind after a few inches from smoke, industrial particulate in air, or weather. Irritates eyes, giving a 25% penalty to rolls unless eye protection worn or implanted. Rely on other senses if possible.
4-5 Blind after a few meters / yards from smoke, industrial particulate in air, or weather. Irritates eyes, giving a 10% penalty to rolls unless eye protection worn or implanted. Rely on other senses if possible.
6-8 Intermittent visibility. Can sneak easily, invisible with a good roll.
9-12 Normal urban visibility. Can sneak with a good roll.
13-15 Normal visibility. Can hide with a good roll, hard to sneak about.
16-17 Clear visibility. Can hide with a good roll, hard to sneak.
18 Pure clarity. Everyone gets a 5% bonus to hit each other,

BYSTANDERS

3 Jam packed, can only inch forward, bystanders going to die if shooting starts, easy to blend into though.
4-5 Highly populated, you need to yell or push people aside to advance, but slows you by half.
6-8 Clumps of people milling about. You can run between people if you make an agility roll, otherwise as above.
9-12 Normal, people are witnesses, but not in the way.
13-15 Quiet, 50% chance 1-4 people are around if shit goes down.
16-17 Silent streets. Only 10% chance of a single guard or wanderer on scene when action happens.
18 Abandoned or cordoned off area. No one but us and them.

COVER AVAILABILITY

3 Nothing. Guess you have to stand and juke the shots and hope you get lucky first.
4-5 Shit all. Cover only if you crawl on all fours and hide.
6-8 Kiddie cover. You have to hunker down to get any protection.
9-12 Decent. You can stand and shoot leaning around corners.
13-15 Great. Lots of strategic places to get a good shot from if you take a minute to set up.
16-17 Cover cover everywhere. Alternately, hard to get a clear shot at anyone. Everyone has half cover automatically.
18 Too many places to hide and hunker down. Better use your ears to find your foe and sneak up on them.

COVER DURABILITY

3 Like tissue paper. May hide you, but won't stop a fly.
4-5 Cardboard paper. Might reduce damage if you're lucky, 10% chance.
6-8 Plywood or plastic. May stop the first shot from low caliber weapons, that's about it.
9-12 Wooden or thin metal. May stop the first shot from medium caliber weapons, reduce explosive damage by 1/10.
13-15 Stone. May stop the first shot from high caliber weapons, reduce explosive damage by 1/2.
16-17 Concrete. Reduces damage from heavy weapons, but with a chance of shrapnel.
18 Steel girders, perfect cover to reload or think behind.

SMELL

3 Sickening stench from abandoned garbage, or chemical smells from industrial process. Penalty of 10% to all rolls unless filtration (mask or internal) is available.
4-5 Fetid, penalty of 5% to all rolls unless filtration (mask or internal) is available.
6-8 Dirty city smells, but nothing you can't handle.
9-12 Normal city funk, you don't even notice it anymore.
13-15 Smells clean, like after a rain.
16-17 Pleasant aroma, cherry blossoms in spring or leaves in fall.
18 Clean air, a fresh day your nose will never forget. Small chance to sniff out something chemically, like machine oil or gunpowder.

ENEMY STRENGTH

3 Heavily armed and armoured. Power armour or mini-mech, military grade weapons do 1 shot kill damage. Need to use the terrain and your wits if you want to survive.
4-5 Cyber psycho, 2/3 or more cybernetic. Tough slog head-to-head, needs strategy and heavy weapons to bring down.
6-8 Cyberpunk, 1/3 or more cybernetic. Tough, but can be outwitted and outgunned.
9-12 Combat trained, one implant useful for combat, assault rifle or SMG. Typical guardsman or police officer.
13-15 Trained, fully human. Your gear and implants give you the advantage, but they might have numbers.
16-17 Fully human, but with minimal gear, bulletproof vest, 1-2 reloads. They come in numbers, can be sent packing with a show of force or brutality.
18 Puh-lease. Rent a cops or poser boys, low impact weapons with no reloads. Will run at the first sign of being outmatched.

RANDOM COLOUR

3 Mega passenger plane slides slowly overhead.
4 Giant billboards for old products stand rotting away.
5 Crowds of school kids in uniforms rush by.
6 Traditional festival parade marches by, people in loincloths chanting and lifting a portable shrine.
7 Robot vending machine starts its routine on PCs.
8 A 3 wheeled mini truck blares out advertisements for noodles, baked sweet potatoes, or recycling.
9 Motorcycle punks drive slowly by, revving engines, waving flags, and trying to make eye contact to start a brawl.
10 A politician on a speaker van drones on about his platform while commuters flash by unheeding.
11 A giant hologram Godzilla stomps by, bellowing out an ad for candy.
12 A crane stalks fish in a canal.
13 A line of taxis idles while drivers either sleep inside or chat while smoking.
14 Masked youth spray paint revolutionary slogans on the walls.
15 A riot police armoured bus drives by filled with cops in full gear.
16 Kids in VR helmets chase each other about shooting at each other with fingers and yelling ZAP! BEEYOW!
17 A homeless man with a cardboard sign sits staring at space.
18 A begging monk stands chanting, cup held out for donations, wicker hat obscuring his or her face.

I'm Baaack + Class Based Dystopias

Let's see...

The PhD thesis is in.

4 years, 289 pages x 6 copies. Just printing and assembling it took a day.

Next up, work put me on a sabbatical till April. I've signed an NDA and am happy to close that chapter of my life.

If any of you are thinking of doing a PhD, let me say this:

Think again.

Especially if you are married. That supportive spouse will come to resent the time you spend away, and hate how absent minded and unhelpful around the house you've become.

Super especially if you are working to pay your way through. Your job performance will suffer, coworkers and supervisors will hold your feet to the fire more than workers not doing a PhD. If you can, keep it on the QT.

So anyway, back hopefully to blogging, gaming, and generally enjoying life more than I have in recent memory.

Here's my inaugural post as a free man and doctor of philospohy. Very in keeping with my thesis on discourse:



Class Based Dystopias

Ever wonder why there are still kings and queens in the D&D world. If player characters are so powerful, why don’t members of the 4 classes rule every nation?

(PS: I know many D&D products have PC classed NPCs as rulers, this is just a thought exercise with delicious implications).

The answer is that the power corrupts and makes their society inherently unstable. Any nation ruled by a player character class is a dystopia that ultimately comes to a bad end.

Each of these societies has characteristics which can be divided into the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Here’s how it breaks down:

Ruler: Cleric.

Government: Theocracy.

The Good: Priests cast a level higher! Pray sincerely and miracles happen!

The Bad: You’re either with us or against us. Priests of other gods cast as one level lower, save at - 1 vs holy magic of our god.

The Ugly: Inquisitions, burnings, holy wars. This type of nation usually ends when the witch trials and inquisitions get out of hand and people leave the cities, where they are retaken by vegetation in a few years. Or else, they pick an illogical religious war with neighbors, who band together to wipe the floor with them and place a secular or at least non-fundamental regime in their place.

Examples: Berserk by Kentaro Miura

Ruler: Fighter.

Government: Dictatorship.

The Good: Can levy double army size. Arms and armor can be had at rock bottom prices.

The Bad: Violence is always the answer. Everyone is armed or guarded and ready to thrown down at any moment.

The Ugly: To the victor go the spoils, to the loser go pillaging, rape, mass mutilations or beheadings. This type of nation usually ends when the great leader is bumped off by another, or when neighbors band together to send an army or a group of murder hobos to take out the dictator and replace them with a non-PC class figurehead.

Examples: Game of Thrones (? dunno, haven’t seen TV since I started the degree…)

Ruler: Thief.

Government: Kleptocracy.

The Good: Anything can be bought, for the right price.

The Bad: Watch your purse every second.

The Ugly: Assassination is the solution to every problem. Usually such a nation ultimately devolves into a nation of beggars living in the ruins of once nobles cities as thieving skills are not passed or as teachers are strangled or poisoned off.

Examples: Nadsokor (Elric series), Thief Town (Adventure Time)

Ruler: Mage.

Government: Anarchy.

The Good: Potion shops, wand & staff ateliers, flying castles, it is all here, and at rock bottom prices compared to other places.

The Bad: Mundane, non-magical folk become the underclass. Killing them isn’t even a crime.

The Ugly: Monsters, monsters everywhere. Chaotic creatures are drawn to this place, and welcomed with open arms. Eventually the Tarrasque will show up and eat the place whole, or demons will infiltrate the ruling structure and turn it into a hellmouth or warp the kingdom to some shadow plane. Within a generation it is a myth or legend become cautionary tale.

Examples: The Shadow Plane (Elric), Sigil (Planescape), Wizard Town (Adventure Time)

30 Day Challenge 3 & 4

Day 3 - Favorite Class

This is a toughie, since I normally play an Elf, who are either multi-classed or are their own class. I guess in a pure-human campaign I've always gone for Ranger. Maybe it's my upbringing in the wastes of unknown Labrador, or maybe the coolness of Aragorn, but Rangers are eminently playable. Even when transported to an urban environment, they become like Frazer in 'Due South', an in tune survival expert who always pulls through on their inner strength. Quite the opposite of Thieves, who exploit others' weaknesses.

4 Favorite Gameworld

Has to be the Young Kingdoms of the Elric novels. I've played in the Realms, Eberron, and Mystara, but they've never seemed real to me. That said, an AD&D 2e game I played in Lankhmar felt right, so maybe I just find gameworlds stemming from fiction more appealing than those made for a game. Truth to tell, although I started playing with D&D, Stormbringer RPG was my first true love. I've never played, just GMed, and the emulation of the bleakness of the early novels hits me as just right. I'm almost tempted to do up a D&D retroclone in the YK based on the old Melnibonean Mythos from Deities & Demigods and the godawful d20 Dragonlords of Melnibone. Maybe send any profits to Mike to make up for the screwing he got from Chaosium & Mongoose.

DUNGEON ROBBER INSPIRATIONS

Show of hands from those of you wasting copious amounts of time on Blog of Holding’s ‘Dungeon Robber’ game?

 

Thought so. It is putting my thesis writing in jeopardy, the game is that good.

It has its bugs (a kobold killed me with d20 damage – WTF??), but the gameplay makes you forget those quick enough.

Anyway, the game also has tons of inspiration for tabletop gaming as well. For me, the biggest thing I’d swipe is the retirement system.

Now, before I get into details, I’d have to admit I am not a true grognard. I haven’t memorized the differences between woodbox vs whitebox vs BE vs BECMI vs RC. I haven’t bought or kept up on the domain games of ACK or whatever else is out there, so if I am reinventing the wheel, bear with me. I write this to make things clearer for me, and if a reader can get something out of it as well, bonus.

Hell, I can barely remember the domain system from my old gaming days and the Rulescyclopedia on my shelf. And that tells me they are too complex. If you can’t remember how a rule goes, it is probably not a good rule in terms of usability.

Dungeon Robber’s retirement system IS excellent in terms of usability. It is simple, memorable, and adds so much flavour to the game world based on character actions.

Basically, a player can ‘retire’ a character at any level past 1 and make that character a functioning part of the town they come from.

The town starts as a small hamlet, with very little goods or services. However, anyone retiring at level 2 becomes a Yeoman, producing more food which can be dropped to distract monsters. Retiring at level 3 makes one a Tavernkeeper, so henchmen can be recruited at their establishment. At level 4, a retired character becomes a Merchant, offering more useful equipment for sale and also unlocking the Thief class. At level 5, a retiree becomes a Gentle(wo)man, selling leather armor and rapiers. Level 6 sees the emergence of a Mayor, drawing a Smithy that can make proper swords and chainmail. A level 7 retiree is a Knight, so the Fighter class is unlocked and the Smithy can now produce plate armor and bastard swords. At level 8, the retired character becomes a Bishop, starting a temple selling healing potions and unlocking the Cleric class. A level 9 retiree is a Count(ess), who opens a Wizard’s college unlocking the class and a magic shop. Level 10 sees a Duke or Duchess, who erect a coliseum where you can train monsters or fight them. A character who retires at level 11 is a Prince(ss) who unlocks magical arms & armor. Finally, a level 12 retiree bcomes Queen or King, unlocking a Treasurey with powerful items.

And that’s your domain game right there. Simple yet brilliant, portable into any old school game, be it original or retroclone like DCC or S&W. It could be extended and played with in so many ways, offering multiple roles for retirees, letting the setting grow with the players, and providing a reason to keep useful characters going and let others drop into the scenery.

Good job Paul! I don't know whether you stole it from a pre-existing game or cobbled it together yourself, but either way great presentation.