NUNA & Indigenous Education

So I just went to BEAUTIFUL Victoria BC for a workshop on Indigenous Education for my school.

Not only did I learn lots of useful things for my classes, it made me reflect on how this plays out in NUNA

BACK TO YOUR ROOTS

In NUNA, all of the peoples (Inuit, Viking, and Rigger) all survive by going back to their roots. The Northern Inuit have re-mastered the pre-colombian skills of hunting with handmade weapons (I will NOT say primitive as they are very sophisticated), the Southern Inuit use reliable early 20th century devices, and the Riggers all cling to the different cultures their ancestors brought with them working on the rigs, from Maori Whalers to Portuguese swordsmen.

I learned that Canada in general, and BC in particular, is reconnecting and recognizing the people rooted in this land, and are trying to survive as a pluralistic nation by doing so.

PREHISTORIC RECONNECTION

Even the Scientists of NUNA are reconnecting back to the lost roots of humanity. Although the Inuit often say they have always been on the land, the genetic Thule strain of modern Inuit, according to recent research, spread from Far Eastern Russia only a 1000 years ago, and was proceeded by the now extinct Dorset Inuit, and possibly the mythical Tuniit giants before them. So it is true to say that Inuit peoples have lived in the North from time immemorial, without bogging down in genetics. I pay homage to the Tuniit by having them as returning mystic giants in NUNA, hiding in caves where they hang upside down and give aid or prophecy for those brave and foolish enough to seek them out.

REST & RECUPERATION

As for me, the workshop was a chance for me to learn more about the First People's English course I am teaching, as well as enjoy so long needed R&R with sonny. Now I am back to the fatherhood + work + NUNA grind, but with summer vacation, the end of the tunnel is finally in sight.

Long Weekend Reading - The Skrayling Tree & The Meanderings of Late Moorcock

 

Wow.

This is a slow slog, more of a literary thesis turned into a novel than the muscular prose of an Eternal Champion book. Luckily, I have an MA in English and have been trained to read ANY book without feeling pain.

It is an interesting exercise of Moorcock trying to stitch the Eternal Champion into Walden and The Last Mohican. It is more an exploration of western literary tropes about indigenous North Americans than anything to do with real indigenous people.

Bit of a lost opportunity. Just imagine if Moorcock had gotten Eden Robinson to write about a Pacific Northwest indigenous champion, or Marlon James to create an African /  Caribbean one.

The mind boggles.

NUNA Research Friday

TGIF!

Other side of the continent from Labrador, but good just the same.

ENJOY

Dragonbane & Stormbringer

So I am reading the Dragonbane QuickStart to bone up on the system before it is used in Free League's Stormbringer.

And I am seeing a lot to like. Many Dragonbane rules would be awesome house rules in an old Stormbringer game. Here are a few I would definitely implement.

Boons & Banes

First, in Dragonbane, you roll D20 and try to get under your skill level for a success. This means it is roll under like Chaosium, but just reduces the number of die rolled.

The Dragonbane rules state that if you are under a Boon (blessing) you instead roll 2D20 and take the best result, while if you are under a Bane (curse), you roll 2D20 and take the worst result.

This would be so easy to port over, since you roll two die anyway. So if you roll a 9 and a 3, with a Boon you could reverse it to 39, with a higher chance of success depending on skill, while a Bane would keep it at 93, most likely a failure. In the case of rolling 4 and 0, it could be 04, probably a critical, or 40, on the line of success or failure in many cases.

Moreover, the idea of Boons and Banes is very in keeping with Moorcock's fantasy, and the Dragonbane rules often read as an homage to Stormbringer.

Monster Combat & Sundry

When I ran Stormbringer, I had to fill in lots of holes in combat, the main difference being how men and beasts or monsters are adjudicated. I ruled that monsters can do ALL their attacks AND have a Dodge, but can't Parry, while men choose one attack and Parry OR Dodge and Parry. This makes monsters or beasts largely not worth the trouble for sole adventurers and require teamwork to defeat or avoid. I find this fits well with Moorcock's writing, where Elric needs to summon a creature or use magic to defeat or escape from such creatures as Mist Giants or Oonai.

Dragonbane adds some great rules, such as monsters NEVER doing the same attack twice in a row, and not being able to Parry. These are all very evocative and add an element of chance.

For example, if we take the old Stormbringer dragon and map out its attacks like Dragonbane, this is what we get if we add in a few options.

1. Flame breath - 80%, does POW in damage (average 27)
2. Claw - 40%, 9D6 (this damage needs adjusting...)
3. Wing buffet - 60%, all human size foes must make a STRx1% roll or else be knocked to the ground and lose their attack this round.
4. Tail swipe - 30%, any foes behind or off to one side of the dragon take 1D8 damage and are knocked down.

The idea of defense as Reaction is interesting, but seems a bit fiddly and I prefer the Stormbringer rule of 'free' Parries that are reduced by 30% for extra attempt.

Critical Choices

I like that a critical attack (that Dragonbane calls a dragon) gives the player choices between double damage, taking another attack, or ignoring armour, and I actually implemented similar choices the last time I ran the game. I can only see these adding to the fun of Stormbringer combat.

D&Disms

I'm not sure about Dragonbane's D&Disms, such as levels, higher Hit Points, and Stretches or rests to recuperate Hit Points. But I am willing to give it all a chance based on what I have read so far to not repeat the mistakes of Dragon Princes of Melnibone.

Stormbringerisms

As I have written before, I am really enamored of Stormbringer's rules on Elementals & Gods, which don't have stats and are thus put such entities beyond any mortal attack. I think this differentiates Stormbringer from D&D, which gave Arioch stats, and thus marked a god as something to be fought physically, which I consider the antithesis of Moorcockean, where men can only attack gods indirectly or with supernatural aid.

I wouldn't want to lose any of the unique elements that Chaosium's Stormbringer got right.

Only time will tell how right or wrong Free League will get it.

Elric’s Secret

I’ve started practicing art again for a NUNA. There’s a little teaser of an Elric piece I’m working on inspired by the new RPG news.

Mapmaking for NUNA

 I put this off for a long time, worried I couldn't do it justice.

No more excuses - the NUNA map is taking shape.

Take a peek!

The Mystery of Cahokia

 Wish I had seen THIS before I ran Coyote & Crow last week. Don't think I did too bad.