Stormbringer Redux #27 - Berserk

I just watched THIS video and, as a fan of the manga Berserk for a long time, it has made me ponder applications to Stormbringer.

I consider Kentaro Miura's Berserk saga a spiritual successor to The Eternal Champion in many ways. Gutz is called The Struggler (a moniker that could apply equally to Elric), both wield a giant sword, and Gutz loses a hand and an eye like Corum. In Berserk there is the phenomenon of history repeating itself like ripples, interspersed with the idea of doom & sacrifice, much like Moorcock's Vanishing Tower.

What insights from Berserk can we use in Stormbringer roleplaying? I see two useful takeaways for Saga style play. Groups enjoying pulp adventures in the Young Kingdoms will largely steer clear of gods at any rate - just not worth it.

ONE - Where Invisible Armies Clash By Night

In both Berserk and Elric, we know the names of the godhand / Lords of the Higher worlds. This does not mean we know what they want, or that mortals can hope to rise against them, or that they are inviolate. Just as the video I linked indulges in the fan theories about the Godhand, their origin and fate, and the concept of Causality that makes their victory unavoidable, so too do the gods of the Elric saga remain an inscrutable, irresistible menace that should leave players puzzling.

This gives us three corollaries for running Stormbringer games:

1) Whatever you do plays into their hands.

Elric would have been doomed regardless of whether had he taken Yrkoon's life or not in the Shadow Plane when he acquired Stormbringer. Elric's dream of a demon haunted Imrryr, with Arioch manifested and Cymoril as his bride (a la Tim Curry in Legend) gives us a glimpse of other possible outcomes to the saga. Gamemasters thus have to be ready to improvise at any instant when players (invariably) throw a spanner in the works, but always make the gods come out on top, one way or another.

One exception to this is if player characters commit heresy or try to ursurp a god, in which case they will rightly be sent to hell for their temerity.

2) It takes a god to kill a god.

If the player characters take it into their heads to kill a god, they will need equally strong allies. As noted before, D&D gives stats to gods, implying they are killable. Stormbringer / Elric! doesn't, which means players will have to get creative and roleplay like mad to make useful friends if they want to rub out a cosmic lord. In Moorcock's works, we see Corum 'kill' Arioch (ie banish him from a plane), but he needed the help of the mad immortal Shool (who had stolen some of Arioch's power) and the alien hand of a forgotten god to do so.

The downside (and there should always be one in Stormbringer) is that the new godly ally will likely prove worse than the god they depose.

3) A God Never Truly Dies

Corum may have crushed Arioch's heart, but he never truly killed him. Instead, Arioch exists in different forms on different planes, much like the Lich in Adventure Time. This means that if player characters DO succeed in banishing a god from their home plane, they may have some explaining to do when they meet the deity on another plane, or better yet they will be forced to act when some cult moves to let the exiled god back to the gameworld.

In a way, death is only the beginning for gods. Berserk hints at this with the existence of the previous Godhand, and it will be interesting to see what the Berserk team comes up with on how the older pantheon was deposed.

BONUS QUESTION - What if Arioch & posse were younger gods who replaced an older pantheon? Who were they, what happened, and how could this affect a game?

TWO - Great Power Needs Great Sacrifice

In Berserk, Griffith sacrifices his mercenary army, the Band of the Hawk, to become Femto, an Apostle or basically god of evil. Similarly, Elric ends up sacrificing nearly every companion he has, from Smiorgan Baldhead to Moonglum and Zarzonia (not to mention his entire civilization), but only ends up playing into Arioch and Stormbringer's hands.

Once again, let's take 3 lessons for Stormbringer games.

1) You have to choose to let them in, but you must always pay the cost.

A god will never just give boons without expecting something in return. In too many games, contacting or summoning powerful entities is a one and done with no longterm ramifications. I call this Pokemon summoning, and it is dull.

Instead, summoning any type of entity should make a character beholden to it. Call on  beast lord or elemental? Then expect to be asked to protect the natural world from destruction.

There is never a free lunch.

2) The brand of sacrifice and ghosts of those you sacrifice will ever haunt you.

In games I have run, players have sent NPCs and other PCs to their doom to save their own skin. This is soon laughed off and forgotten, which is really antithetical to Moorcock's works. Instead, sacrificing someone, even a nameless NPC, should weigh on characters.

You could give Elan (allegiance points) every time someone is sacrificed. Also, expect the ghosts to appear and oppose the character whenever they move through a spirit realm. Perhaps sensitive NPCs will shun a character that has lots of skeletons in their closet.

Once again, there is never a free lunch, especially when someone else pays the bill.

3) In the end, you are doomed.

I probably don't need to say this, but becoming an Agent is like becoming a vigilante in Watchmen - no one dies peacefully in their bed. As I noted before, being an Agent should make you a magnet for weirdness and danger, much as the brand of sacrifice does to Gutz.

In game terms, an Agent becomes an easy adventure seed generator - no need to look for a quest or purpose when they come knocking at your door, and your allegiance means you cannot refuse an entreaty.

In Pulp games, this would mean an Agent would best be an NPC to let the PCs keep their autonomy and right of refusal. But if your are running a Saga and everyone is in on the Ride of Doom, this is a feature of the game, not a bug.

BONUS QUESTION - What if we replaced Amulets of allegiance with Brands of sacrifice? Imagine a character with the Sigil of Chaos (or Law) carved into their flesh, bleeding whenever danger approached.

Food for thought.

Summer Mode

Atelihai!

So I have been busy with Real Life but finally getting back to gaming. Currently reading Coyote & Crow with intent to run in in August. Have talked to a local game shop and might test NUNA there in fall.

So, why am I reading and intending to run Coyote & Crow?

C&C is both imposing and inspiring for any indigenous RPG creator. Although the anime style cover art was perplexing at first, reading about their teamwork, then diving into the rules has filled me with determination to get NUNA out into the world.

Reading C&C's disclaimers about gaming as indigenous folk, I can see the decolonizing effect of the game. You either bring your indigenous culture, or just bring respect if you aren't indigenous.

The worldbuilding is also amazing. A world in which colonialism didn't happen is a breath of fresh air, and contrasts with NUNA's post apocalypse where Inuit are back on top. Both are equally compelling.

I have a few players signed up and will be playing online hopefully by the second week of August if I am ready. 

If anyone is interested in joining, please drop me a line and I will add you to the roster.

Observing Frieren + FRPG Inspirations

So...

I am thoroughly enjoying the clips of Frieren that the algorithm has been sending my way, and also devouring Pey's Youtube videos dissecting the storytelling strengths of the anime (good one on foreshadowing HERE). I hope to be getting some Japanese language manga to read later the year.

How would one make a FRPG with as deep storytelling as Frieren?

Two lessons:

1 SLOW IT DOWN

In most FRPGs, characters are going on adventures constantly, either ignoring the gameworld calendar or filling it up with breakneck speed.

How about we flip this? An adventure happens only once every D100 years. Travel either to or from the dungeon or locale takes D12 months. So, exploring a dungeon might take take 2D12 months to get there and return to town, plus however many days are spent exploring it.

Add to that the party's next adventure could take place 30 years later. This means all human characters would be middle aged, while demihumans would be unchanged. You'd have to carry on with the fighter's son or the priest's acolyte instead, adding depth and some wistfulness to the tale.

2 MAKE MEMORIES COUNT

How about if we link any non combat ability to a RITUAL or an OBJECT. Just like Frieren's ring, which reminds her of Himmel and helps her connect to Fern, or Eisen's habit of making big steaks for a character's birthday. In game terms, these could be used to give insights or information, make connections with PCs or NPCs, or give a clue for the next big challenge.

3 FORGET THE RULES

Notice I didn't suggest any ruleset or rule changes. I think these suggestions could be ported into any OSR style game with ease and really deepen the roleplaying experience. Maybe throw in some of those wonderful old Yearly Events table from older editions to spice things up with natural disasters, character sickness, or raises in social status. It would make demihumans worth playing, and make the game closer to its literary inspirations than the video game aesthetics that seem to be dominating the genre.

I'd play it.

Role-playing wisdom and life update

 I’m on my phone so excuse the clunkiness

Here’s a great interview that has hints for game mastering and role-playing and not letting yourself be hemmed in by your original conception.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1977qqERrR/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Personal note is I just got certified to teach so big salary bump incoming. Fall courses are lining up, will be teaching Japanese online as well as as a few literature courses face-to-face.

University/college seems to be very close door here in North America so looks like teach school while I work on games.

Looking forward to a regular check again after summer.

T

Tedankhamen's Twist of Fate

Hello!

Let's see...

In January we got turfed out and were living in Air BNBs. Sonny was melting down and I was freaking out.

In February, I got us an apartment in a nice corner of Vancouver. I also got a job as literature teacher at a top French school. Also got sonny ADHD meds and back to school after a year dropped out.

We dodged a bullet and are enjoying life again.

Just enjoying a paid spring vacation and time with my boy.

Hope to get back to writing and gaming soon.

Thanks for reading and sending positive vibes.

Hello Blogger!

 Long time no see!

It has been a busy new year.

The good - I published my novel on Kindle. Paperback & hardcover to follow. If you're into Japanese ghosts, WWII enemies, Shinto exorcists, and all kinds of Tokyo weirdness, give it a read.

BUY IT HERE

The bad - we left Newfoundland and moved to Vancouver on the prompting of a former colleague, but it has been hard getting a job. The teacher credential office won't accept my outer provincial license, so I have had to sic the union on them. I have an interview with an online medical interpretation outfit tomorrow, low pay but any port in a storm and I get to stay home with sonny, whose autism is skyrocketing from the stress. I interviewed at 2 unis but one already denied me. Finger's crossed for the last place

The Ugly - The people who invited us out here to stay and work on a start up kicked us out of the house January 2nd because sonny was sick at night and made noise because his ears hurt. We've been floating around in Air BNBs for 2 weeks now, trying to save money (impossible) while job hunting. At least we have a car.

I have never been this close to homelessness. Especially not with a child.

I've started a Go Fund Me, so if you can help out please do. Link is HERE.

And how has your 2025 gone?

AI Art Apology & NUNA

A few followers of NUNA pointed out what looked like wonky AI fingers in some draft art for the game last year. I was totally flooded with the Kickstarter + work + single fathering, and so didn't pay enough attention.

My apologies. I had told the NUNA team that AI art is unacceptable from the start.

I talked to the artist, who is a graphic designer. He uses Photoshop, which has AI tools and enhancements, some of which are options, some of which were hardbaked in. He finds it harder to do without them year by year. The fine line between photo manipulation and AI art is blurring rapidly.

He apologized and returned the pay I had sent him.

Let me be absolutely clear.

First, I abhor AI art. I hate the way it steals from real artists, and detest the schlocky, canned art products it creates. It is threatening the future of art itself - why work hard to be an artist when with a click you can churn out AI schlock?

Second, for my current RPG project, the Japanese social game Giri-Ninjou, I am making all art myself. By hand. I think this is perfect for a small, indie product.

In fact, I had a HUGE problem finding good artists for NUNA. Especially indigenous ones. Some didn't like RPGs, some didn't get the project. Lots that I saw make amateur or folk art, again, not suitable. My own art looks like 90's first time pen ink RPG art, and pales in comparison to all the professional level Kickstarter RPG art I see. Just look at Coyote & Crow, my inspiration, and you'll know what I mean.

Once again, my apologies, and expect nothing but human made art from me.

PS Living out a suitcase in Vancouver now, but on the trail of some academic work. Wish me luck!