Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Patrons By The Dozen: Bruce Ayala, Interplanetary Playboy...

Good Afternoon, All:

I'm working on a small Traveller product at the moment, which I am tentatively calling Flynn's Guide to Azri Drakara: Patrons By The Dozen. It contains a dozen Patron Encounters, each of them built to my usual standards. (For more details on that, I will direct you to my post entitled Traveller Sandbox: My Thoughts on Patron Encounter Design...). Below is one of the Patron Encounter write-ups for your review. What are your thoughts about it?

Bruce Ayala, Interplanetary Playboy

Required: Investigate, Streetwise; No special equipment required.
Reward: Cr 500 a day, plus expenses; minimum of two weeks.

Players’ Information
Word on the street is that the famous holovid star and interplanetary playboy Bruce Ayala is cruising the local bar scene. That night, Bruce Ayala, along with his entourage of publicists and models, staggers into the same locale as the party and buys a round for every offworlder. Over the course of the evening, he continually hounds the party for details of their exploits, always comparing their adventures to roles he's portrayed. Late into the evening, Ayala corners one of the party members and offers the crew a job, if it can be handled with discretion. He provides contact information, and arranges a meeting to discuss terms, if they are interested.

Referee’s Information
When Bruce Ayala achieved system-wide fame as a holovid star, he admits that it went right to his head, and it cost him the love of a wonderful young woman by the name of Martha McKernan. He's kept tabs on Martha over the years through private investigators and the like, one of whom has reported that she's gone missing a few days ago. Ayala wants to hire the party to discretely investigate Martha's disappearance, locate the young woman and rescue her from whatever situation she might be in. He's concerned that his current media distributor, Penultimate Productions, have pulled something, as he has been secretly planning to sign a new contract with a competitor, System Media Studios. That represents a great loss for Penultimate Productions, and Alaya feels that they are not above coercion to insure the holovid star continues to bring them money. In all of the options presented below, further development is left to the discretion of the Referee.

1. All is as it appears. Bruce Ayala is correct; Penultimate Productions has discovered their star's clandestine plans. Slowly moving away from the verge of bankruptcy, the media distributor owes their recovery to Bruce Ayala's success in the box office. Worried that the star's departure could cost them everything, the executive producers have hired thugs to kidnap Martha McKernan and use her to force him to extend his current contract.
2. Sadly, Bruce Ayala is incorrect. His own agent, Cornelius Brass, has a gambling problem, a huge gambling problem. He's fallen in so much debt to the local crime syndicate that they've started threatening his life and the lives of his family, and the man has become desperate. Brass has arranged for the kidnapping of Martha McKernan, hoping to ransom her to enough to pay off his debt and tuck away a tidy bankroll so he can continue his gambling habit.
3. Bruce Ayala has been less than truthful. He's been stalking the innocent Martha McKernan for years, using his fame and fortune to attempt to force her into marrying him. In an act of desperation, Martha has gone on the run, trying to make her way out of the star system undetected in an effort to find safety from Ayala's overwhelming attentions.
4. System Media Studios has kidnapped Martha McKernan as a form of leverage to use on Bruce Ayala in the event he changes his mind and backs out of the secret negotiations. They believe he is unaware of her disappearance, and only intend to reveal her status as a prisoner should he start entertaining the thought of extending his current contract with Penultimate Productions.
5. Martha McKernan has watched Bruce Ayala's meteoric rise to success with envy and jealousy. She feels scorned by the holovid star, and every image of Bruce Ayala with some starlet has pushed her further into the depths of hatred and loathing. Martha has arranged her own "kidnapping", so that she can demand a costly ransom from Bruce. Any extended contact with Martha will reveal that she is not completely sane, and will likely go to extreme lengths to harm and humiliate Bruce Ayala.
6. Martha McKernan is actually on vacation, hiking deep in a wilderness preserve to get away from civilization for a few weeks. Edmund Sang, a private investigator employed by Bruce Ayala, has reported her missing simply to get more money from Mr. Ayala to "locate" her. When the party shows up and begins investigating, he realizes that he might get caught and so desperately attempts to redirect them, to avoid having his deception discovered. Sang's efforts to create a false trail points to the local crime syndicate, who do not take kindly to the party investigating their illicit activities looking for a girl they've never heard of.

I look forward to your comments.

With Regards,
Flynn

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Future of "In Like Flynn"... For The Moment...

Good Afternoon, All:

I've been looking at my direction of product development, and I've decided that I need to choose a direction. Ultimately, I think I'll be better served developing professional products for the Traveller System Reference Document. As you may have noticed, I do tend to have "Gamer ADHD", and this blog covers a wide range of materials. Going forward with the blog, I will generally confine my posts to system-agnostic discussions and general GMing advice. Genres are still wide open, because I feel that there's always room for conversion to your favorite gaming system, whatever the genre happens to be. After all, there are now fantasy versions of Traveller and sci-fi versions of Swords and Wizardry now, which should illustrate my point rather well.

Thanks for your continued readership and support. It is my hope that the material I present continues to prove useful, if for no other reason than as an idea resource.

With Warm Regards,
Jason "Flynn" Kemp

Friday, August 09, 2013

Words of Samardan: An Extensive Lexicon of Linguistic Roots...

Good Afternoon, All:

As mentioned early on, the use of a constructed language is very common in planetary romance novels. For the creation of various elements for the World of Samardan Campaign Setting, I created a basic naming language, using basic language roots and concatenation. It didn't happen all at once, but chunks at a time, as I needed various aspects of the naming language. All in all, I created almost three hundred core roots, which I have listed below in the following table:

Table: Full Name Format
SamardanEnglish
bakbat
ballance, spear
balemvalley
bamflower
banbird
barbigger, greater, more
barikrain
bekbeak, bill
bencome
bergreen
bladblade, sword
blenhighlands
boltree
burbear (animal)
burbrown
dafanshell
damblood
danearth, ground, land
dantfang, tooth
darbpath, trail
darmjustice, righteousness
dasanslave
dek(number) 10, ten
delchasm, rift
devgod
devadivine, holy
dismallest, least
digarhill, hillock
diksavage, wild
dilshadow
dimsmoke
dinmineral, stone
doganunoble (high)
donthunder
dormouse, rat, rodent
drakserpentine, snake
drenlumber, wood
drosestate, manor
dudworm
dukfirearm, gun
duldark
dusgray, grey
fakjaw
fammouth
faraberration, alien
fascompetition, contest, game
febamphibian
felbarrens, desert, wasteland
fortstrength (inner), willpower
gadliver
gakcreek, stream, river, water (flowing)
ganwar
gandodor, skunk, stink badger
garmountain
gasisland
gatcat, feline
gencloud
gonfire
gongooze, slime
gongarvolcano
gormount (to ride a creature)
granbiggest, greatest
grattownship (walled)
gumcurve
gumbaddome, vault (curved structure)
gupsponge
gusorange (color)
hadyouth
hadayoung
hakraccoon
hamhomestead, residence
hanpride
harrun
hatline, stripe, strip
helblack
henoffspring, son/daughter
hiklaugh
himslow
hudbeaver, badger, otter, weasel
huncolor
hurfreedom
hushyena
kadarrow, bolt, projectile
kalhair, pelt
kamgrasslands, plains, savannah
kamarmoon (general)
kancanine, dog, wolf
karhorn
karmear
kassuccess, victory, win
kasaaxe, hatchet
katcarnivore
kertake care of
keshodd-toed ungulate (horse, donkey, zebra, tapir, rhino)
kifcliff, precipice
kinasharp
koddig
kolmine, quarry
komomnivore
koranunoble (medium)
koshbeach, shore
kostbone
kraklightning
kregbelieve, dogma
krelwing
kriscrystal
kudisablessed, sacred
kunclaw
kusdiplomacy, negotiation
kusandiplomat, negotiator
lalnight
lanlazy
langtail
lat(number) 3, three
lathherbivore
lek(number) 1,000, thousand
lenparasite
lephare, rabbit
lisanlanguage
liyumspire, tower
loblove
logcure, heal
lon(number) 1,000,000 million
luslight, brightness
maI (first person, singular)
madbuild, forge, make
madanbuilder, creator, smith
maderforest, woods
makplace, site
malsmaller, lesser, less
manhand
mandanteater, armadillo, glyptodont, sloth
mangmongoose
maniwe (first person, plural)
mermarsh, moor, swamp
milsalt
mincommand, direct, lead
mirdetritivore, scavenger
mithammer
mordead, death, die
motpearl
mudinsight, wisdom
murbitterness
nadarcave, cavern
nakserve
nakanservant (personal, non-slave)
nan(number) 2, two
narnose
narantwin
natfarm, plantation
nen(number) 9, nine
nethfeather
nobnew
nol(number) 0, zero
orkfork, split
padfather
pakmarsupial, pouch
palhalf
panbread
pandlake, pond, water (still body)
pansanunoble (low)
parchokepoint, gate, pass
pekmuscle, strength
pekastrong
penk(number) 5, five
peshfish
pesunhoof
pifskin
pilyellow
pitdrink
plemclan, family, tribe
podinfluence, power
polfield
poraerie, port
pulbridge
ragnoble, royal
raganuemperor, king, sovereign
rahansurvive
rakarthropod (crab, insect, spider)
ramtemple
ranperson, sentient
ranipeople (sentient species)
rapafast, quick, rapid, swift
rarstrange
raranenemy, stranger
rasakacademy, school
rasokamarimoon (dancing twins)
rekrich, wealth
rivspin, weave
rughedgehog, mole, shrew
rukknee
runred
runkamarmoon (red)
sabcivet
sadhappy
safpurity
sagdungeon, jail, prison
samfight, skirmish
samansky
samarfighter, mercenary, warrior
sandefend, protect
sanadarflying ship
sanardefender, guardian, protector
sardinosaur
sarkshark
sat(number) 7, seven
selseal, walrus
sem(number) 1, one
sen(title) mystic, scholar, teacher
sest(number) 6, six
setdolphin, porpoise, whale
shandrod, stave
sharroad, street
shenname
shet(number) 4, four
shinknight
shunreptile
sirhead
smarbear-dog
sohe, she, it (third person, singular)
sokheight
solcitadel, fort (civilized)
sonithey, them (third person, plural)
sorsun
soratgold
sudape, babboon, gorilla, monkey, primate
sukmarket
sulblue
sumdevotion, honor, loyalty
sumadevout, loyal, patriotic
sumarfight (honorable), duel
sungive
suvelwhite
suvelkamarmoon (white)
tadmammal
tallake
tamvalue
tantongue
tangastinger
tarradially symmetrical aquatic (starfish)
tarstar
tathbreast
thorhamlet, shire
thulpurple
tinhear
torrock
tratancient, archaic, obsolete, old
tuyou (second person, singular)
tuniy'all (second person, plural)
turcastle, palace
tutbroken
valvillage
valkfort (frontier/border), watch tower
vanbay
varleaf
vesbeer
vidpoison, venom
virbravery, valor
vistsee
volflight
vos(number) 8, eight
yamocean, sea
yaneye
yaradvise, counsel, recommend, suggest
yatjourney, travel
yen(number) 100, hundred; also, full
yevbear, carry
yunstorm
yureven-toed ungulate (antelope, camel, cattle, deer, goat, hippo, pig, sheep)
yurlathlivestock

Please let me know if I've forgotten any of the roots that I may have published earlier. If I need to include additional entries, please feel free to suggest them in the comments of this post. This was one of my favorite aspects of generating this material. If nothing else, it gave a sense of internal consistency to all of my names. I hope you, too, find it useful going forward.

With Regards,
Flynn

Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Beasts of Samardan: 'Voldamrak' to 'Yurlath'...

Good Afternoon, All:

This is the final entry in the bestiary for the World of Samardan Campaign Setting series. Here are five more creatures for consideration:

Voldamrak

This cat-sized flying insect dwells in swamps, jungles and forests. The voldamrak has a long, needle-like proboscis that it jabs into its victim. Once attached, it continues to drain blood, automatically dealing 1d4 damage per round until it is killed, pulled off or had drained 8 hp total. Voldamraki travel about the countryside in small swarms, and are attracted by the use of mental powers.

Voldamrak: DEF: 12; HD: 1; ATK: bite (1d4); ST: +2; SP: Blood drain (once hits, stays attached and automatically deals 1d4 damage per round); SPD: 3, fly 8; CL: 1; XP: 300.

Volsarkat

The volsarkat is a large winged saurian creature found in great flocks throughout the World of Samardan. The flying beast possesses a wingspan of twenty feet, a weight of 125 pounds, a pronounced cranial crest and a long serrated beak. Volsarkati often swarm over their prey, attacking from above.

Volsarkat: DEF: 16; HD: 5; ATK: bite (2d6); ST: +4; SP: Dive attack (+2 on attack and dmg rolls, -2 DEF until next turn, only from above); SPD: 4, fly 8; CL: 2; XP: 450.

Yanfarran

The yanfarran is an aggressive predatory beast that dwells underground. Large crimson compound eyes dominate the head of the yanfarran, who otherwise resembles a hairy primate with two hairless tentacles sprouting from its shoulders in place of arms. Highly intelligent, the yanfarran is a very cruel and avaricious creature possessing incredible psionic powers.

Yanfarran: DEF: 22; HD: 11; ATK: Two tentacles (1d8); ST: +7; SP: All-around sight (cannot be flanked), powers as a 7th level Mystic, telepathy; SPD: 8, climb 6; CL: 8; XP: 3,600.

Yur

A fairly common semi-domesticated animal, the yur can be found in many regions of the World of Samardan. A stout, cloven-hoofed mammal, the six-legged yur has a thick hide sparsely covered with coarse hair, a disk-like snout, two tusks that curve upward from its lower jaw, and a short, tasseled tail. This clever, sociable animal may be trained to do many tasks, and sometimes is even kept as a pet.

Yur: DEF: 13; HD: 2; ATK: bite (1d4); ST: +3; SP: None; SPD: 6; CL: 0; XP: 150.

Yurlath

The yurlath is a near-universal livestock animal found in wide varieties around the world. The beast masses about 400 pounds, stands four feet tall at the shoulder, and measures about eight feet in length. It has a large barrel-like chest, three pairs of thick, stocky legs, a short muscular tail that resembles a tapered flap, a bony frill-plate to protect its thick neck, and a sharp, thick beak. Typical coloration and frill shape varies between subspecies of the yurlath. The thick integument of the yurlath is covered dorsally by a thick, spiny hair/feather growth ranging in cover from a dark navy blue through maroon and into a deep crimson. The ventral side of the integument is "hairless". Yurlathi lay eggs and then breastfeed the young hatchlings until they can survive on their own.

Yurlath: DEF: 14; HD: 3; ATK: gore (1d8); ST: +3; SP: Trample (2d4, Reflex DC 13 avoids); SPD: 7; CL: 1; XP: 300.

Enjoy,
Flynn