Monthly Archives: February 2018
The Solarian for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
Fantasy Solarian
The solarian is the class in the space-themes game built off the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game that is the furthest from any of the official fantasy rpg classes. The solarian specifically takes themes, tropes, and ideas from science-fiction settings and uses them to build a class very different from most fantasy heroes. But if the idea of a warrior-philosopher able to call upon the fundamental forces of the universe is what you want in your fantasy campaigns, it’s certain possible to take the space-faring solarian class, and revise it to work for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Mostly you can ignore the rules tied to the science-fantasy ruleset (Stamina points, 10-minute rests, Resolve Points, and so on), and run the character using straight Pathfinder rules. Some universal adjustments are needed as follows: a reaction can be done as a swift or immediate action; ignore rules that refer to spells, equipment, feats, or weapons that do not exist in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game; if a solarian effect creates a condition that does not exist in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, apply the same penalties and rules the condition would have applied in the star-faring version of the rules; bonuses to EC or KAC or both apply to AC; bonuses to AC against a combat maneuver are bonuses to CMD against the same maneuver.
For a few features, alternatives must be presented. Each of the items below replaces or alters the solarian feature of the same name. No abilities of this fantasy-themed solarian class use Resolve Points. The following also presents hp, skill, and proficiency rules for the envoy for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game rules. Otherwise, you can use the normal tables and class features of the solarian.
(You may also want to check out our Fantasy Envoy, and give us feedback on if you want to see more Fantasy-versions of starring classes!)
FANTASY SOLARIAN
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d10
Class Skills: The solarian’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier
Proficiencies: The solarian is proficient with light and medium armor (but no shields), and all simple and martial weapons.
Solar Manifestation
Solar Armor: The bonus granted is a shield bonus to AC, and it works with light, medium, or heavy armor. It increases to +2 at 5th level and by an additional +1 every 4 levels to a maximum of +5 at 17th level. The solarian can enhance armor any of the following armor special abilities: energy resistance (normal, improved, and greater), fortification (heavy, light, or moderate), glamered, and spell resistance (13, 15, 17, and 19). Adding any of these special abilities replaces an amount of shield bonus equal to the special ability’s base cost. For this purpose, glamered counts as a +1 bonus, energy resistance counts as +2, improved energy resistance counts as +4, and greater energy resistance counts as +5. Duplicate abilities do not stack. The armor must have at least a +1 enhancement bonus before any other special abilities can be added.
The enhancement bonus and armor special abilities are determined the first time the ability is used each day and cannot be changed until the next day. These bonuses apply only while the solarian is wearing the armor, and end immediately if the armor is removed or leaves the solarian’s possession. This ability cannot be applied to a shield.
Solar Weapon: Change the damage of the solar weapon to match the damage of a monk’s unarmed strike, but with a minimum of 1d8. A solarian weapon can be used with weapon finesse, and any special ability that works with rapiers or scimitars.
Additionally, when the solarian is attuned he can grant his solar weapon a +1 enhancement bonus. For every three levels beyond 1st, the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +7 at 19th level. However, no more than a total of +5 of this bonus can be applied to attack and damage rolls. Beginning at 5th level, these bonuses can be used to add any of the following weapon properties depending on whether the solarian is graviton-attuned or photon-attuned: graviton-attuned—agile, anchoring, dancing, frost, icy burst, keen, speed, vorpal; photon-attuned—beaming, brilliant energy, dazzling radiance (DC 10 +1/2 solarian level + Cha bonus), disrupting, flaming, flaming burst, shock, shocking burst.
Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property’s base price modifier. At least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. These bonuses and properties are decided when the solarian becomes graviton-attuned or photon-attuned, and cannot be changed until the next time the solarian gains attunement. These magic weapon properties can be added to a solarian weapon even if it would not normally qualify (such as placing disrupting on a solarian weapon that doesn’t do bludgeoning damage). If a magic weapon property has an ability that can only be used a limited number of times per day (such as beaming), once the solarian leaves attunement his total enhancement bonus he can grant his weapon is reduced by a value equal to the property’s base price modifier until the solarian next rests and regains daily abilities.
Solarian weapon crystals can be bought or crafted with the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat. A solarian weapon crystal has a cost equal to a weapon enhancement bonus equal to half the solarian weapon crystal’s item level (such that a 7th level solarian weapon crystal has the same cost as a +3 weapon enhancement).
Sidereal Influence: The list of skills this applies to is adjusted as follows:
Graviton Skills: Bluff (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Knowledge (religion)(Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Stealth (Dex)
Photon Skills: Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (nobility)(Int), Survival (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha)
Weapon Specialization: At 4th level the solarian gains Weapon Specialization as a bonus feat in any one weapon with which he is proficient. This can be his solar weapon, if he has taken that option. He does not need to meet this feat’s prerequisites.
Flashing Strikes: At 7th level the solarian can make two melee attacks with a weapon able to be used with Weapon Finesse as a standard action. Both attacks take a –2 penalty to their attack roll.
Solarian’s Onslaught: At 13th level as a full-around action the solarian can move up to double his movement, and at the end of his movement make one melee attack at his full bonus, or two melee attacks both at –2.
Stellar Paragon: At 20th level when the solarian enters a stellar mode, he gains 2 attunement points of the corresponding type immediately and is considered attuned, and when he keeps your current stellar mode at the start of his turn, he can gain 2 attunement points instead of 1, allowing him. to become fully attuned after 2 rounds.
Additionally once per day he can become fully attuned as a free action once per day, regardless of his previous attunement. He may do this even when not in combat, in which case his attunement lasts for 1 minute or until a combat begins (at which point it follows normal attunement rules).
Stellar Revelations: Most stellar revelations do not require any rules changes. A few exceptions are detailed below.
Gravity Boost: The skill bonus applies to all Acrobatics, Climb, and Swim checks.
Gravity Hold: This revelation functions as mage hand, with the exceptions as noted in the ability.
Astrologic Sense: You may use this ability once per day, plus one additional time at 11th and 16th level.
Crush: Once per day when you are attuned or fully attuned, you may choose to force the target to save or be stunned for 1 round, rather than staggered.
Glow of Life: You may use this ability once per day, plus one additional time for every 3 levels you have beyond 9th. However, you cannot use this ability within 10 minutes of having used it previously.
Reflection: This ability only works when fighting defensively if you are attuned or fully attuned.
Soul Furnace: You can use this ability once per day, plus one additional time per day for every 3 elvels you possess above 10th.
Gravity Shield: The bonus granted by this revelation is +2.
Zenith Revelations: In place of a normal zenith revelation, a solarian can choose to gain access to a solar weapon (if he originally selected armor as his solar manifestation) or solar armor (if he originally selected a solar weapon). This allows the solarian to use both abilities at once.
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Really Wild West Dragon Guns (For the Starfinder Rolplaying Game)
In the Really Wild West setting hack for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, flame guns have been the most common form of energy-weapon for decades, and have a history going back centuries in the Quin Dynasty of China. While the great stability of government and vast, settled agrarian economy of the Qing and previous Ming Dynasty could have led to a great divide between the advanced of science and technology between China and European and American nations, the greater number of theosophic traditions in China (which, truthfully, significantly predate and are the origin of later western theosophy) and number of spiritual threats, from oni to dragons to kaiju, ensured that even with fewer conflict and greater stability, the constant need for innovation kept China on pace during the 1700s and 1800s. Further, victory over European powers in the Opium War, coupled with a strong global demand for Chinese silks and other goods and the looming threat of a Sino-Japanese War has kept the Qing government strongly invested in military technology, and placed their agents, allied merchants, and envoys in most major cities around the world—many carrying advanced flame weapons for self-defense.
The first flame-projecting weapons were double-piston pump naphtha flamethrowers used in 919 AD in China, known as pen huo qi or “spray fire devices.” There were generally large and slow-operating, deployed on wheeled carts, but their benefit against enemies lacking energy weaponry is not to be dismissed, and while some supernatural threats are immune to fire, those that are not are often more easily burned than stabbed or shot by projectiles. The pen hou qi were replaced by smaller and smaller units, until the modern single-person portable flamethrower was developed by famed statesman, general, and Confucian scholar Zeng Guofan in the mid-1800s. Flame pistols and flame rifles drew the attention of numerous other world militaries, but were generally seen as oddities too volatile for field use until the War of the Worlds, when flamethrowers proved to be among the cheapest and most reliable mass-produced energy weapons. Germany has done the best job creating their own designs for modern flame weapons, but their models remain behind the Chinese dragon guns.
In North American, numerous forms of flamethrowers were rushed into production to equip military units in the War of the Worlds… and were then suddenly no longer in significant demand when the Martians died unexpectedly on their own. These surplus guns, mostly local reproductions of German designs, can generally be bought on civilian markets in larger cities. Even more often, flame weapons are often found in the hands of communities with large Chinese immigrant populations, often in camps of near-slave labor imported for building and expanding railroads (which remain a major priority for most North American governments fearing a second Martian invasion and unable to move troops and vehicles quickly across their sprawling continent) and in major cities with trade ties, especially on the West Coast. Many small Chinese weaponworks shops have popped up to supply their superior designs of flame weapons, sometimes only to those of Chinese decent, but in other cases to anyone with the credits to pay for one in advance.
Table Small arms
One-Handed Weapons
Level Price Damage Range Critical Capacity Usage Bulk Special
Flame
Flammenpistole
1 90 1d3 F 30 ft. Burn 1d6 20 petrol 5 L —
Haoxian dragon pistol
2 450 1d4 F 20 ft. Burn 1d4 20 petrol 4 L Line, unwieldy
Flammenschwert
3 1,100* 1d6 F 30 ft. Burn 1d6 20 petrol 5 L —
Chaofeng dragon pistol
4 1,850* 1d6 F 20 ft. Burn 1d6 20 petrol 4 L Line, unwieldy
Suanmi dragon pistol
5 2,700* 2d4 F 20 ft. Burn 2d4 20 petrol 4 L Line, unwieldy
Yu dragon pistol
6 4,000* 2d4 F 30 ft. Burn 2d4 40 petrol 4 L Line, unwieldy
Zhayu dragon pistol
8 9,000* 2d6 F 20 ft. Burn 2d4 40 petrol 4 L Line, unwieldy
Yazhai dragon pistol
9 13,000* 2d6 F 30 ft. Burn 2d6 40 petrol 4 L Line, unwieldy
Zhurong god pistol
10 17,500* 2d8 F 30 ft. Burn 2d6 40 petrol 4 L Line, unwieldy
*Only 1,000 of this price can be covered in credits. The rest of the price must be covered using renown, as covered in the rules for Renown and Gear.
Table Longarms
Two-Handed Weapons
Level Price Damage Range Critical Capacity Usage Bulk Special
Flame
Flammengewehr
1 110 1d3 F 50 ft. Burn 1d6 20 petrol 4 1 —
Haoxian dragon rifle
2 750 1d4 F 40 ft. Burn 1d4 20 petrol 5 1 Line, unwieldy
Flammenlanze
3 1,300* 1d6 F 50 ft. Burn 1d6 20 petrol 4 1 —
Chaofeng dragon rifle
4 1,900* 1d6 F 40 ft. Burn 1d6 20 petrol 5 1 Line, unwieldy
Suanmi dragon rifle
5 2,800* 2d4 F 40 ft. Burn 2d4 20 petrol 5 1 Line, unwieldy
Yu dragon rifle
6 4,100* 2d4 F 50 ft. Burn 2d4 40 petrol 5 1 Line, unwieldy
Zhayu dragon rifle
8 9,100* 2d6 F 40 ft. Burn 2d4 40 petrol 5 1 Line, unwieldy
Yazhai dragon rifle
9 13,150* 2d6 F 50 ft. Burn 2d6 40 petrol 5 1 Line, unwieldy
Zhurong god rifle
10 17,800* 2d8 F 50 ft. Burn 2d6 40 petrol 5 1 Line, unwieldy
Table Heavy Weapons
Two-Handed Weapons
Level Price Damage Range Critical Capacity Usage Bulk Special
Flame
Flammenkanone
1 110 1d3 F 15 ft. Burn 1d6 20 petrol 5 2 Line
Haoxian dragon canon
2 750 1d4 F 20 ft. Burn 1d4 20 petrol 10 2 Blast, unwieldy
Flammewaffe
3 1,300* 1d6 F 20 ft. Burn 1d6 30 petrol 5 2 Line
Chaofeng dragon canon
4 1,900* 1d6 F 20 ft. Burn 1d6 30 petrol 10 2 Blast, unwieldy
Suanmi dragon canon
5 2,800* 2d4 F 20 ft. Burn 2d4 40 petrol 10 2 Blast, unwieldy
Yu dragon canon
6 4,100* 2d4 F 30 ft. Burn 2d4 50 petrol 10 2 Blast, unwieldy
Zhayu dragon canon
8 9,100* 2d6 F 30 ft. Burn 2d4 60 petrol 10 2 Blast, unwieldy
Yazhai dragon canon
9 13,150* 2d6 F 40 ft. Burn 2d6 60 petrol 10 2 Blast, unwieldy
Zhurong god canon
10 17,800* 2d8 F 30 ft. Burn 2d6 60 petrol 5 10 2 Blast, unwieldy
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Really Wild West Lightning Guns (For the Starfinder Roleplaying Game)
In the Really Wild West setting hack for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, lightning guns were experimented with by numerous inventors and scientists throughout the mid- and late 1800s, but the technology for focusing and directing electricity beyond a wire lead was consistently lacking for purposes of a practical weapon. The advancement of theosophy, though seen as the study of the spiritual and supernatural, proved to be the major breakthrough in lightning weaponry. Theosophy proved that inanimate objects could have the impression of events, thoughts, or even natural phenomena permanently infused into them. This lead to the idea of having the event of a lightning strike infused into a focusing orb, which could then ‘convince” electricity built up within a device to fire outward in a (roughly) predictably way. While many inventors sought to find the best material and theosophic infusion for practical lighting guns, it was the Menlo park workshop of Thomas Edison that ultimately created the “Menlo Storm” standard of “recording” the event of a lightning strike into a focusing orb and using that to store and focus electricity as part of a weapon.
Even with the Menlo Storm standard, early lightning guns were heavy, expensive, and not particularly superior to traditional firearms. However, many of those drawbacks became irrelevant when the Martian tripods attacked and turned out to be almost entirely immune to most kinetic attacks. Short of artillery, only energy weapons had any notable effect on tripods and the Martians other weapons of war. Suddenly it didn’t matter how limited lightning guns were, they were the go-to weapon for anti-tripod forces.
As is often the case when war breaks out, the technology used to fight quickly improved. German-born inventor Charles Proteus Steinmetz made numerous adjustments to lighting weapon technology, though his name remains not nearly as well-known as that of Edison. Steinmetz’s battery and coupling technology were quickly retrofit to nearly all lightning gun designs, and his own weapon designs were in field trials when the Tripods came crashing down worldwide, and the need for such specialty crafted high-end weapons ended. Westinghouse created a few commercial models based on Steinmetz’s designs, but simplified for mass production, though these remain less popular than the Menlo Park models. Steinmetz’s various field prototypes remain the most powerful lightning guns in existence, but they are exceedingly difficult to find.
Table: Small Arms
One-Handed Weapons
Level Price Damage Range Critical Capacity Usage Bulk
Shock
Spark gun, Westinghouse light
1 250 1d4 E 30 ft. Arc 1 20 charges 4 L
Lightning pistol, Menlo arc
2 750 1d6 E 40 ft. Arc 2 20 charges 5 L
Spark gun, Westinghouse heavy
3 1,400* 1d6 E 40 ft. Arc 1d4 20 charges 4 L
Lightning pistol, Menlo storm
4 2,100* 1d6 E 50 ft. Arc 1d6 40 charges 5 L
Lightning pistol, Menlo custom
5 3,000* 1d4+1d3 E 50 ft. Arc 1d6 40 charges 5 L
Proteus pistol, Perun
6 4,200* 1d8 E 60 ft. Arc 1d6 40 charges 5 L
Proteus pistol, Zeus
8 9,300* 1d10 E 60 ft. Arc 1d6 40 charges 5 L
Proteus pistol, Ukko
9 13,250* 2d6 E 60 ft. Arc 1d8 40 charges 5 L
Proteus pistol, Thor
10 18,000* 3d4 E 60 ft. Arc 2d6 40 charges 5 L
*Only 1,000 of this price can be covered in credits. The rest of the price must be covered using renown, as covered in the rules for Renown and Gear.
Table: Longarms
Two-Handed Weapons
Level Price Damage Range Critical Capacity Usage Bulk
Shock
Spark rifle, Westinghouse light
1 275 1d6 E 40 ft. Arc 1 20 charges 4 1
Lightning rifle, Menlo arc
2 800 1d8 E 50 ft. Arc 2 20 charges 5 1
Spark rifle, Westinghouse heavy
3 1,500* 1d8 E 50 ft. Arc 1d4 20 charges 4 1
Lightning rifle, Menlo storm
4 2,200* 1d8 E 60 ft. Arc 1d6 40 charges 5 1
Lightning rifle, Menlo custom
5 3,300* 1d10 E 60 ft. Arc 1d6 40 charges 5 1
Proteus rifle, Perun
6 4,600* 1d12 E 60 ft. Arc 1d6 40 charges 5 1
Proteus rifle, Zeus
8 9,900* 1d12 E 60 ft. Arc 1d6 80 charges 5 1
Proteus rifle, Ukko
9 14,250* 2d6 E 60 ft. Arc 2d4 80 charges 5 1
Proteus rifle, Thor
10 19,000* 3d4 E 60 ft. Arc 2d6 80 charges 5 1
Table: Heavy Weapons
Two-Handed Weapons
Level Price Damage Range Capacity Usage Bulk Special
Shock
Spark canon, Westinghouse light
1 275 1d6 E 40 ft. 20 charges 4 2 explode (5 ft.), unwealdy
Lightning canon, Menlo arc
2 800 1d8 E 50 ft. 20 charges 5 2 explode (5 ft.), unwealdy
Spark canon, Westinghouse heavy
3 1,500* 1d8 E 50 ft. 20 charges 4 2 explode (5 ft.), unwealdy
Lightning canon, Menlo storm
4 2,200* 1d8 E 60 ft. 40 charges 5 2 explode (10 ft.), unwealdy
Lightning canon, Menlo custom
5 3,300* 1d10 E 60 ft. 40 charges 5 2 explode (10 ft.), unwealdy
Proteus canon, Perun
6 4,600* 1d12 E 60 ft. 40 charges 5 2 explode (10 ft.), unwealdy
Proteus canon, Zeus
8 9,900* 1d12 E 60 ft. 80 charges 5 2 explode (10 ft.), unwealdy
Proteus canon, Ukko
9 14,250* 2d6 E 60 ft. 80 charges 5 2 explode (15 ft.), unwealdy
Proteus canon, Thor
10 19,000* 3d4 E 60 ft. 80 charges 5 2 explode (15 ft.), unwealdy
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Putting the “Steam” and “Punk” in Really Wild West
I haven’t referred to the Really Wild West setting as “steampunk,” because to me it’s a distinct Fantasy Weird West genre, rather than a “true” steampunk setting. Of course, steampunk is as much an aesthetic as a literary genre (certainly true now, regardless of its origins), and part of my issue with calling RWW steampunk is that I am going much more for a western aesthetic than a steampunk one. I’d also want to parse out the distinctions between steampunk, gearpunk, cogpunk, diselpunk, pulp, weird west, fantasy, and a bunch of other things related to speculative fiction settings of the late 1800s before I was comfortable referring to (or marketing) my setting as “steampunk.”
But, there certainly is going to be significant overlap between people who are interested in Really Wild West, weird west, and those who are interested in steampunk. And, ultimately, I suspect the weird west, pulp, and steampunk genres are very much like La Belle Époque, the Gilded Age and the Victorian Era—they aren’t the same, and it’s hard to pin down exactly what is unique to each and what is shared, but there’s certainly a lot of intersection.
Classically, one element of steampunk is that steam-engine level technology is capable of much more advanced devices than in the real world, allowing more modern devices to exist in larger, bulkier, brass-rivet covered steam versions. I’m not depending much on steam as the main technology of Really Wild West, because my setting advances electricity and magic as much as it makes steam more efficient. There are some things common to steampunk stories in RWW, such as Babbages (or “difference engines”) that are gear-driven computers (that can communicate over the Babbage-Bell Grid, creating a kind of primitive internet), and massive airships acting as floating cruisers and battleships, but in most cases those are using an imaginary technology developed from the inclusion of a form of advanced theosophy (magic) in the setting, or reverse-engineered from Martian tech after the War of the Worlds, rather than super-efficient steam. Steam engines exist, but RWW isn’t the steam age anymore. Aetheric engines are more important than steam turbines.
On the other hand, the “punk” elements of steampunk, as a social movement, make sense for my Really Weird West setting. Not all steampunk settings borrow the “punk” part of cyberpunk, but I think it’s worth remembering as a spine of the body that includes so many related and overlapping ideas. Much of the “punk” part of cyberpunk is about wanting to live free of mainstream society’s constraints and refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of social expectations. That certainly borrows from the punk musical and cultural movements of the real world 1970s and 1980s, but in cyberpunk, that rejection is often framed in terms of the collapse of the benefits of society and, with cybernetics and AIs commonplace, asking what it even means to be human.
Some steampunk settings have their own versions of this punk-ness, while others just focus on the dashing heroes of society, whether they are the champions of wealth and aristocracy you’d expect to be promoted by society itself, or plucky underdogs of low station who rise to fame and power… and then generally become not only accepted parts of mainstream society but also proof that anyone of sufficient quality can succeed by bootstrapping, and thus a backhanded claim that the rules of society should be respected because they include opportunity to improve yourself if you are properly deserving. I find this to be especially true of steampunk set in or based on the 1800s US.
However, the imaginary 1891 of Really Wild West is a time of rapid societal change, whether that’s the impact of Reconstruction and the Progressive Era of the United States, the turn toward science and rationality of the Porfiriate of Mexico, or the removal of Otto Von Bismark from power in Germany. On top of those real-world social pressures, the setting of Really Weird West is dealing with the cognitive impact of magic being codified as real by the Theosophic Society over the past generation and proof of alien life (and both its technological superiority and desire to kill us) in the War of the Worlds just a year earlier. While polite society in major urban centers is trying to pretend nothing has changed, in their hearts people know better. Literature, science, music, poetry, and acceptable social behavior have all changed, and many people are actively rejecting its rules which, to be fair, are based on those of the real world at the time and thus include a lot of objectively terrible racism, sexism, classism, and bigotry.
In the frontier lands, that change is even more pronounced. Where lawlessness is more common, society has less power to enforce both its good and its bad dictates. Sure, lawless lands often include a lot of robbery, fraud, assault, and murder, but they also have weaker social codes insisting everyone fall in line with societal expectations. Not no social codes of course—each town, business, cattle barony, and gang can have its own society requirements no less strict and merciless than those of “Back East.” But while that means people can’t automatically be free of bigotry and racism, it also means they don’t have to go as far to get away from it. Given how dangerous it is to live outside of town that might be a short trip into a shallow grave, but the option exists.
That very danger also means that people who refuse to follow the norms of society, but who have a particular set of skills, can find more than one place that will accept them at least as long as there’s a problem they can fix. It’s no coincidence that this sounds like the plot of numerous classic Westerns, but it’s also the plot of numerous cyberpunk stories. In many ways the gunslinger is the original “punk” character concept… and before that the samurai, and local hero highwayman, and some Greek heroes. Punk heroes, as independent experts who thrive outside the system, can exist in the largest numbers in campaign settings where society has a weakened grip. In cyberpunk this is often because corporations have grown to be so powerful that they can challenge the government-controlled legally defined societies, and virtual reality is competing with meatspace, and the gaps between those factors are shadowy realms where expertise is more important than adherence to societal standards. In a Western, Really Wild West included, there’s a similar conflict between the expansive, technocratic societies and the less mechanized and more sparsely-spaced aboriginal societies as well as the rapid expansion of new forms of transformation and communication into areas with vast untamed stretch of exploitable natural resources. RWW, of course, adds magic, an alien invasion, and weird science to the mix to create even more instability, and larger shadows where the punk character concept comfortably fits.
If Really Wild West promotes the idea that exceptional people can rise above their stations and become heroes, it must acknowledge that doing so often means bucking the systemic oppression directed at numerous minorities. Certainly, if a group would rather not deal with such real-world issues, and the players would have more fun playing whatever they want without considering how people from a world based on the heavily-flawed real world of 1891 would react to them, they can do that. But asking a group to all agree not to take the expected real-world biases and bigotry too far may be more than everyone can handle, so there are also explicit notes within the campaign where any character background is explicitly appropriate. Specifically, even in the small amount of material written so far, the Dread Templars and Science Agents are both groups that accept anyone with the skills of a player character, and both are respected and established part of the campaign world. Being a punk who is part of a group may be a tad counter-intuitive, but it’s not really any different than imagining a cyberpunk hacker as part of a real-world collective like Anonymous.
All that said, I’m not likely to begin calling Really Wild West “steampunk,” but I won’t tell anyone else who does that they’re wrong. 😊
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The Deal With The Boomerang
Here’s a picture of my new desk, at the office.
Upon seeing that picture, Alex Augunas noted he wanted to hear the story about the boomerang.
And, weirdly, there is one.
My father was a professor of economics at the University of Oklahoma.
He was sometimes hired to teach short courses elsewhere in the world.
At one point, when I was a child, this included Australia.
When asked if there was anything I would like him to bring back, I said a boomerang.
So he did.
I learned to throw it (not well, and I beaned myself dead between the eyes the first time because I did it wrong, and I haven’t thrown one in more than 25 years).
So I kept it with me. When I was hired by WotC in 2000, I hung that boomerang as a decoration, because I thought it was cool to have a weapon at my desk.
Then I got laid off. And had to move back to Oklahoma.
I promised myself I’d come back to Seattle someday. And that promise got embodied in my boomerang I had kept at WotC.
It sat over my desk, wherever I was, for 14 years.
And now… I’m back. And so it the boomerang.
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Marriage, Gaming, and Freelancing
Today is my 27th wedding anniversary. For those who saw me talk about this being my 20th year as an RPG writer, it’s easy to do the math—It took my wife Lj 6 years to convince me to try to get my home campaign ideas published in Dragon Magazine. Most of our marriage, I have tried to make a living by making things up and giving my made-up ramblings rules. For a lot of that, I was a full time freelancer, so she and I had to learn to manage on a very irregular income. But she also has always believed in me and my writing ability, and supported me when I wasn’t strong enough to support myself. I’d have given up long ago if not for my wife’s encouragement and ability to talk me through my options, and help me find the one that makes the most sense not just as a career choice, but as a life path. It is not overstating things to say that without my wife, I wouldn’t have a game writing career, but it also simplifies the issue way too much.
My wife is very different from me. She’s a bigger geek than I am. When I was still hiding game manuals for fear of being mocked, Lj was launching a gaming club in the public library. When I was convinced my ideas were mundane and unmarketable, she saw potential for a career. When I doubt myself, she is always prepared to give me an honest assessment, which is much more valuable than empty praise. Lj has made me a better man, but she’s also made me a better gamer.
It is humbling for me to think about all the way in which my wife has provided me with guidance and good examples, but that’s a few of the things spouses are supposed to do for each other. I tend to view my entire life through the lens of games. Since games are how I met nearly all my friends, and how I met the woman who is now my life, I think that’s actually pretty reasonable of me. But early in my gaming hobby, I was convinced I gamed the *right* way, and everyone else hadn’t reach my level of enlightenment yet. I saw things not in terms of what people liked, and what met their needs, but as what was good (because I enjoyed it) and what was bad (because I didn’t, and everyone else who didn’t was wrong, dumb, or both).
Long before she was my wife, Lj was the first person who enjoyed radically different aspects of gaming than I did, and was clearly smarter than me, as experiences as I was, and geekier than I was. I can’t overstate how important that realization was in slowly putting me on a path difference from Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons. And just as it opened me up to seeing games differently, watching how my wife interacted with other people opened me up to seeing the world differently. It was only in realizing I was limiting my opinion of what was good to what I personally liked best that I was able to begin to contextualize things like empathy, which saved me from being an emotional monster.
That paid huge dividends for me as a human being. Flawed though I am, I still try to live up to an ideal Lj taught me to understand. But it also paid huge dividends in my development as a game designer and later developer. I learned that people could enjoy things I didn’t, and that it was possible to study what they did and didn’t enjoy and why. You can’t always please everyone, but sometimes you can make something more people will enjoy without weakening its appeal to the core audience you want. And, once you know there is no one true way to game, you can explore your own preferences and attitudes, and examine why you like and why you like it. Even if you don’t come to appreciate a broader scope of styles and elements (and I certainly have), just the examination of what you enjoy about your favorite things can be useful in finding the best versions of those things.
Twenty years of game design. Twenty-seven years of marriage. Two long, linked journeys. Neither is complete. Both have only been possible with the love, help, guidance, and support of my wife. And that support has only been possible because of a community of family, friends, co-workers, and gamers.
Happy anniversary, sweetie.
Thanks, everybody.
Speaking of things I have learned:
So, in all earnestness, I hate following up something that heartfelt with something as base as asking for money. But part of the support the community gives me is the ability to take some time to write things like this, and one of the things I have learned is you have to ask for that kind of support.
So if you want to see more of these essays, follow this link to my Pateon, and pledge a couple of bucks a month. 🙂
Owen K.C. Stephens 