NUNA Bestiary # 1 - GIANTS, Giants, and giants

 Atelihai!

If you've ever read any Inuit folklore, you'll realize that Giants play a big role in their stories. There are basically 3 sizes or kinds:

Arctic Titans

These giants are so huge that they can cause tsunami when they go fishing, and their heads are literally in the clouds or among the birds. They are seldom hostile to the Inuit, but instead try to interact or befriend them, with equally comic or tragic consequences. Ever hear the story of the Titan who decided to wife swap with an Inuit man? It went just about as well as you'd think...

Arctic Giants

This next group, often called Tuniits (spelled with many variations from Alaska to Greenland) tower above humans, and are often helpful or wise. They may gift magical weapons of enlist Inuit to aid them in their duels, which they are said to have engaged in often, leading to their extinction. They are solitary and strange, but may take a village under their wing if lonely.

Arctic Ogres

The word Tuniit is often used for these as well, but the stories present a different picture. These Tuniit are larger than Inuit, but not by much. They have immense physical strength, but are also supposed to have disgusted the Inuit by their poor manners and hygiene. The menfolk steal Inuit umiak (rowboats) for their own fishing, and may be cannibal, although stories of kind or helpful Ogres exist. The women for their part cook meat by keeping it in their clothes (Tartar steak?), but may kidnap men they like. In fact, there is a whole subsection of she-ogres that kidnap babies, either to raise as ogres or to eat. Tuniit ogres are said to have lived in large stone houses which they built by hand, and to have slept upside down inside them.

Archaeologists have indeed found stone structures built across the Arctic, and the prevailing theory among Anthropologists is that these were made by the Dorset Inuit, the precursor of modern Inuit. The ancestors of the Inuit we know are called Thule, who spread out from Siberia across the Arctic 1000 years ago and dominated the region with their superior technology, which included barbed harpoons with animalskin floats so that prey would not sink. It is believed that the Thule drove the larger but less sophisticated Dorset Inuit into extinction, based on the many stories of tricking, trapping, or killing Tuniit ogres that have survived.

And Historians believed that there was ANOTHER group of Inuit long before the Dorset...

So NUNA will include both many kinds of Arctic giants, as well as disappeared races.

NUNA vs BRP #1 - Hello Shield Armor!

Welcome to this series of designer notes where I explain differences between NUNA and BRP (Chaosium's tried and true D100 system). Please note that NUNA is built on the chassis of older versions of BRP (Stormbringer, early Runequest), and not the more modern iterations (Elric! or Call of Cthulhu), nor the latest (CoC 7E). I do look at my Big Gold Book for inspiration and to make sure I don't needlessly reinvent the wheel.

First up, I have always felt Shields were underutilized in Stormbringer. They have a damage dice rating when used to Attack, they can Parry arrows, but other than that there is no difference in coverage between the 4 types presented (Buckler, Round, Kite, and Tower).

Let's fix that.

As a former SCA member, I have seen how useful shields are in combat. Back in my PUBG days as well, I have been saved innumerable times by bullets ricocheting off my frypan.

Note that although NUNA is classic lethal combat, I think the edge that Shields provide could use a buff to make characters more robust.

Here is an overview of the 3 things shields can do in NUNA. Details are in the Quickstart and Corebook.

1. Parry

This builds on the original Stormbringer rules, but clarifies and extends the effects on the Shield depending on the material it is made from (wood or iron). Using a Shield also allows more Parries by delaying the penalty for multiple Parries by alternating between weapon and Shield.

2. Attack

Once again, this is from the original rules, but damage dice are a more logical progression. I do love the Shield throwing implied by the old rules and have addressed that more directly.  I also clarify Knockback and possible Stun effects.

3. Soak Damage & Portable Cover

This is a new use, a version of which appeared in Stormbringer Redux. Basically, carrying a Shield can give a chance to stop projectile attacks, soak up damage, and act as Cover to make one harder to hit. I am still wrestling with the simple mechanics of this, but take as my inspiration that old OSR houserule gem by Trollsmyth,  Shields Shall Be Splintered, which I consider a Platonic ideal for houserules design and implementation.

4. Limitations

Increasing the utility of shields does not mean that everyone will carry one. First, only Vikings know how to make good ones and have ready access to materials, although Riggers may have access to old riot shields. Also, Inuit general eschew carrying about Shields except if going to battle to defend their community. Shields can also can make a character easier to Grapple by any of the giant creatures that abound in Nuna.

NUNA Summer Update!

The First Peoples English classes I teach have ended at the day job, and I have 2 weeks to finish evaluations before summer vacation.

Time to kick NUNA into launch mode!

Launch date for Nuna Quickstart is July 15 on DriveThru RPG.

It will be Pay What You Want with $1 minimum, and I hope you'll help me get it to Gold or Platinum sales. Every sale is appreciated as support towards the Nuna full edition.

Thanks to all the readers, playtesters, and supporters who have helped move this game from dream to reality.

Quickstart will include basic D100 rules, introduction to special NUNA rules, and the adventure The Silver Machine.

In the middle of summer, escape to an Arctic wonderland teeming with life, community, & weird adventure! See you in NUNA!

Nekmek!

Elric at the End of Time

 So I’m rereading this banger that I haven’t looked at in about 20 years

There’s so much good stuff in here for a Moorcock afficianado.

First, Elric reveals that Chaos means a place where the laws of nature do not apply. Snow doesn’t melt, but merely sits in deserts. A land can extend to the horizon then loop up overhead and back to itself. This again is what I have talked about regarding Moorcocken gaming, and validates my use of weird or psychedelic elements in my roleplaying adventures, as opposed to the endless series of combat encounters that seems to dominate modern gaming. I find that the weird encounters I create are always well received, and the Nuna playtest responses do mention positively the delicious creepiness of such touches in my own game.

In terms of the old Stormbringer game, Elric is sent to the End of Time after a huge wizard battle on Sorcerer's Isle. There’s mention of a tribe of Subhumans, the Kretti, who seem to be the inspiration for the monsters the Kay in the old scenario Crystal of Daerdaerdarth.

I still have a response to The Skraeling Tree to write (TLDR not as bad as the general reaction would have it, and lots of useful Moorcock stuff in there), and will also review Elric at the End of Time when I kill off the beast of Eval Ooayshuns and begin the timeless Limbo known as Summer Vacation.

The business of role-playing games

 Yet another reason To stay small and make zines.

Big RPG bankruptcy bomb here

About That Shelfie…

Pristine Elric! At a good price. Couldn’t resist.

Real Life Avalanche & NUNA Timeline

I'm currently in crunch time at the end of the schoolyear.

I'll probably stop posting here a week or two.

I hope to get NUNA quickstart done by month's end.

Do a few weeks of publicity then let it out into the world & RELAX before starting my next project.