Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Digging up the past...

Been digging around, both in the garden and through my papers and books out in the garage. Now we have the spare bedroom free, there's space in there for some of the more valuable works.

I've recovered, or finally got in the right place, all my notes from An Echo Resounding, and the work I did on the Kopesh Swamp setting, including the third and lowest level of Heavy Hitters, resources and lairs. I've come across one page or so by itself over the past few months, and wondered if I'd thrown them out, but thankfully (at least to me) I didn't.

Also been reading a few books that, although none of them are going into my Appendix N list, I can steal some interesting ideas from.

Starting with the books for this post;


The Bone Triangle, by B.V. Larson.

Never read any of his other books, or even the first of this series. Basically the nuclear tests near Las Vegas produced rifts to other worlds/dimensions and imbued some ordinary objects with strange and arcane powers.

The antagonist is not that likeable but the setup is worthy of an RPG setting - the Lords of the City hold great powers - one can travel the waterways and sewers by thought, another can see and understand the multiple futures that an event triggers and try to influence the best, yet another can reprogram people's minds and does not age.

Yet there are costs associated with these powers. Each is locked into their realm and cannot set foot outside it; the water traveller cannot be dry even for an instant or die; the future seer is deformed into a hideous troll and cannot be exposed to any light or his gift fades, so is trapped in his caves, and the third cannot leave her castle or her true age will suddenly catch up with her.

The users of the smaller, not as powerful but portable artifacts are termed rogues, and they are for hire by the Lords and Ladies, possibly to uncover truths or obscure them some more, or help or hamper others in this kingdom.

These artifacts were a highlight - they include;
  • Sunglasses that allow the wearer to make metal flexible or hard for a moment. Good for opening locks and doors or reinforcing metal bars.
  • A small picture that aids healing if worn against the skin. Bones heal in a week, as do major cuts. Not regeneration or a health potion, but subtle and more realistic.
  • A wedding ring that increases the luck of the wearer by drawing it from those around them.
  • A child's sweet that makes the holder invisible, but after an hour of invisibility, they start going blind.
  • A rabbit's kidney that exudes a highly toxic poison when willed.
Each of these is indestructible and does not age or change with time.

Small artifacts that were created by a great magical event, or perhaps randomly from magical leakages when spells are being cast or items enchanted. The use is in no way influenced by the form of the item and their use cannot be detected by others. The users keep these items secret, and have been known to find, capture, loose or even swap these on occasion.

Something to throw in, if ever required. Less cloaks of invisibility and rings of regeneration, and more subtle, almost temporary items instead, with a shadowy and uncertain past.

Next instalment brings the 3rd tier of Power Groups from the Khosh Setting - Drakkan Warbands; The Mad Mage of the Khosh; The Queen's Spy Network; Demon Trolls of the Fuigar; Pirates of the Var River; Echo; Jaezred, the Shadow Dragon Assassin-Mages; and Celise Blood Cultists.

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