Columbia University Professor Michael Stone has made an exciting addition to alignment theory with his 22 Gradations of Evil scale inspired by Dante’s Inferno. Based on case studies of actual serial killers, murderers, torturers and impulse killers, this scale rates all people who kill, which makes it perfect for most gaming! (It doesn’t list petty crimes and crimes of property.)

Stone divides killers into 22 types, further broken down into 4 categories: “Justified Homicide,” “Impulsive Murderers,” “Semi-Psychopaths” and “Psychopaths.” In 4th edition D&D terms, these could be divided into “Good”, “Unaligned,” “Evil” and “Chaotic Evil.” True, there are several seriously dangerous and antisocial killers even in the “Unaligned” section, such as Issei Sagawa, who murdered and ate the body of a woman on a one-time “impulse” and escaped punishment on grounds of insanity, and Charles Whitman, an ex-Marine who killed 14 people and wounded 32 in a shooting spree in 1966, one of the deadliest university shootings in campus history. (By contrast, the highest number of people wounded in a shooting at UC Escondido were 26 Vampire live-action roleplayers.) But these behaviors are on the higher end of the “Impulsive” category, and fit pretty well with my experience of people who play “Unaligned” characters. -_-

The Evil and Chaotic Evil sections, by contrast, dip into the darkest horrors of Jeffrey Dahmer, Belial, Demogorgon, the kuo-toa and troglodytes, and their diabolical kinfolk. Although this scale is not complete (for 3rd ed. fans, what about the Lawful and Chaotic axis?), I think it could provide a useful model for future D&D games. Try it out and let me know what you think!

But the true genius of the game comes when the players trigger “Omen” cards. After a certain randomly determined number of Omens, the so-called “Haunt” is triggered, and the entire game changes! The previously aimless game develops a goal, as the player who triggered the Haunt becomes the “traitor” and turns against the rest of the party. The other players must unite to stop him or her, or just to save themselves. Most intriguingly of all, the traitor and the non-traitors each read from a separate rulebook which contains rules for one of the 30+ randomly determined different Haunt scenarios. The scenarios are drawn from all kinds of horror movie archetypes… werewolves, vampires, cannibals, man-eating plants, blobs, gates to Hell, and much more. Each scenario comes with its own flavor text (”You have uncovered the lair of the vampire!” ^^ etc.) and its own miniatures (sadly, only paper chips) which represent the monsters and gameplay elements which are specific to that scenario, such as the dead body in the “seance” scenario. Then the game turns brutal really fast, as the players fight one another across the mansion, or desperately flee for their lives.

I always prefer tabletop RPGs to boardgames, but the great thing about this game is that it’s basically a one-shot horror RPG, like Call of Cthulhu in a box. The easiest way to run a horror one-shot is to turn the party against one another, and this game basically does that while also turning one of the players into the “DM” who, in a simplification of the DM’s actual role, unleashes the monsters and enemies upon the party. It’s a very good game which might prove useful as a “gateway drug” to roleplaying. Apparently Wizards will be releasing a new edition soon, so I’ll be on the lookout for it.

I am also working on a new project which I will hopefully be able to release on this blog in the not too distant future-- a new standalone RPG!!! (ﾟ∀ﾟ) I am normally skeptical of "homebrew" systems, on the basis that the DM should speak to players in their own language and there is no reason "reinventing the wheel" if one of the preexisting RPG systems is suitable for your game style. A DM should express himself *through* the preexisting RPG framework, with subtlety, rather than making up new rules on the fly and going nuts all the time; I think I set a nice example of this moderation in my own games. But I think I have hit on something truly original here, so I hope you will all like it when it's finished! DMing and designing games is a full-time job, and I have spent a lot of time recently gathering playlists of music from boss battles from 8- and 16-bit JRPGs (for the final battles with the Four Dragons of Assyria in my new campaign), buying and making poster maps, statting up balanced encounters, sending miniatures to India to be painted, etc. I am only one person and, sadly, I can only DM 8 or 10 people at a time, but I hope that someday, blog readers, I will be able to be a personal DM for each and every one of you!

While trying to get satellite maps images of Iraq for the Mesopotamia game, I have also been thinking a lot about the tremendous amount of technological gaming resources available on the Internet. It is pretty fascinating that the entire world has now been satellite-mapped, and that even the smallest island or chunk of rocks in the sea somewhere has a Wikipedia entry. It reminds me of the old Ultima CRPG series that my friend Phanes used to tell me about. In Ultima IV, the first game set in the game’s main world of Brittania, the world seems vast and unexplored, but in later games set in the same world, the timeline advances and the technology level advances with it, and cities expand, until the whole map is pretty much covered with houses and suburbs and roads and farms. An even more extreme example of the same thing was seen in the Ultima Online MMO, which had unlimited player-generated housing, so that just weeks after the launch, every bit of open space was covered with endless mazes of houses. The eerie effect reminded me of the continuous city of Trude in Italo Calvino’s book Invisible Cities. If a MMORPG reflects people’s deepest hopes and ambitions (naturally), is this what our own world will turn into, an infinite suburb?

On the one hand, it is depressing to realize that our world has been completely mapped and charted. No more games of exploration and colonization, no “7th Sea,” no “O Desafio dos Bandeirantes.” But on the other hand, this just means that the realm of exploration has gone entirely inside the infinite territory of the human mind. -_- Now, it is the artists, the gamers, people who work with the imagination, who are the explorers, the creators.

And now, back to designing Mystery Project “M******”! I’ll post again soon!

Basically: “Dominion” is not a RPG. This is obvious, but what is not obvious is, it is even less of a RPG than most other borderline RPG-esque card games & board games. -_- Since it is not a Role Playing Game, and does not engage the player in forming a ROLE, I do not give it my support. There are two core elements in tabletop RPGs which Dominion lacks:

* A Setting for the Game to Take Place In
* A Persona or Identity for the Player

Dominion lacks a board. Now, most RPGs aside from D&D and other tactical games lack a board as well, so this is not necessarily a problem. **BUT!!** In the absence of any other RPG-esque features, a board still helps facilitate identification with the game, because a board — if it is a board on which a single player is identified by a single piece, like, say, “Candy Land” but unlike “Chess” — forces the player to exist within the world of the game. Gaming is about boundless opportunity, but the human mind can only cope with so much at once, so it is often helpful to limit the world to the scope of a board. “The map is not the territory,” they say, but games with a map or board of some kind are an imaginative aid which can, at times, produce even more fruitful roleplaying than purely mental RPGs. By locating ourselves on a map, we create the world around us. For the same reason, “Magic: The Gathering” is superior to other CCGs because it has Lands (despite Richard Garfield’s later vacillating on the idea), which situate each game of Magic as taking place within a world, not just an empty, barren battlemap defined only by the opponents. So, games without maps (such as Dominion and most other card games) are generallyy less imaginative than board-based games.

Secondly, Dominion lacks any kind of ‘player character’ or player role. In board games like “Shadows over Camelot” or “Cosmic Encounter” or “Talisman,” the player chooses a character at the start of the game, and their powers are different depending on that choice. This simple element of choice distinguishes one player from another and aids with individualization. In deck-building CCGs, a player constructs their identity *before* the game begins, by choosing (and buying) their cards. But in “Dominion,” every player starts with the same basic powers as everyone else. As the gimmick goes, they “build their deck during gameplay,” but since they are drawing from the same pool as all the other characters, there is little room to stand out, and every character begins the game as a sort of generic feudal-medieval abstraction.

The lack of these elements makes “Dominion” substantially less suitable for roleplaying and imagination and, thus, substantially less interesting. -_- Even “Monopoly” is more exciting. In “Monopoly,” we have a board representing the physical space of the city, and not only that, it’s a board which changes and develops based on the economic investment (i.e. the will) of the player-characters. A very advanced concept for the time! Also, in “Monopoly,” although there are no character powers in the standard rules, at least you have the option to pick between a thimble, a steam iron, a top hat and a little dog, which summons up imagery of a millionaire with a background in the sewing, housewares, millinery or petwares industry! A true roleplayer needs nothing more than such simple cues to construct an epic drama of capitalism in the rough, a la Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” or Martin Scorcese’s “Gangs of New York.” Thus, “Monopoly” is a better game than “Dominion.” I plan to print this blog post out onto a small business card which I can hand to people when asked to play “Dominion” in the future ^^

I have to confess I have a weakness for jungle settings, so that is where most of my searching has gone. But I think modular terrain adds a great deal to a D&D game and I’ve been enjoying collecting a lot of plants. Soon I will explore methods of making your own plant minis in such a way that they can be easily transported to roleplaying games, unpacked and used. In the meantime, let the earth bring forth grass! And vegepygmies!

This is the kind of character that you cannot make in D&D 4.0 — a pure summoner! ^^ After providing almost zero summoning support in the first PHB, the designers of 4.0 eventually provided somewhat better options in PHB2, Arcane Power and Primal Power, but conjurer/summoner characters are still a lot weaker than they used to be. The supposed reason for this is that summoners took up too much time compared to other characters, because while one person was doing a single move & attack, a summoner might be controlling 3 or 4 monsters and having them each do some crazy complicated thing like running to the store and buying the fixings for a peanut butter sandwich. I’m not a wizard-exclusive player like some people, but personally, I think that weakening summoners for this reason is a poor design philosophy– just as some people IRL are valets and some are surgeons, it’s simply realistic if some classes are more complicated and time-consuming than others. If it gets too out of control, the DM can easily quash the time-wasting characters, after all. Anyway, sadly, Raj Sanjeevani did not like very long, dying in a solo infiltration-and-investigation mission in which she relied too much on her summoned monsters. -_-;; She never got a chance to shine…

*********************

Raj Sanjeevani

Raj Sanjeevani, the youngest sister of the wizard Raj Shiva, did not initially show any magical promise. Being a youngest child, she was notably spoiled by the family and “parented” by all her elder siblings. As a young girl, she was not particularly pious or studious, and spent most of her time playing, or hiding in the green reeds by the water’s edge watching insects and fish in the river. Although Arjunian society is sexually segregated, she often fought with the boys her age, and otherwise behaved in an independent and brash manner, although physically she was very lightly built and somewhat clumsy.

As she neared adolescence, she sometimes saw hallucinatory visions, which were explained away as possible visitations from friendly spirits. When she was not quite a teenager a passing group of mendicants of the Yungdrung faith asked the castellan of Rajni Muthu’s estate (Rajni Muthu was away on a journey) to stay in the estate to escape a fierce monsoon. When one of the mendicants saw Raj Sanjeevani, he announced that he had seen her in an augury and that she had a powerful spirit inside her. The mendicants gave Sanjeevani a gift—a “Third Eye” jewel which she thereafter wore on her forehead, not dissimilar from others worn by Arjunians. But the local priest detected that it was magical. The local priest suggested that the Third Eye should be confiscated from Raj Sanjeevani, but since it was a minor and beneficial magic, and since the village priest was then in argument with the Shiva family over another issue, Raj Sanjeevani’s mother allowed her to keep the gift.

After this encounter, Raj Sanjeevani became much more focused, and began studying mystical and arcane texts. She would often command her personal servants to accompany her to the libraries in the larger neighbouring cities. Although she did not tell anyone but some close friends, the hallucinations had also increased in number. When she was 14 years old, she announced that instead of marrying, she was going to take a vow of chastity and join the Yungdrung temple. Since there was no priest in the family, she was allowed to do so, after some hand-wringing. Raj Shiva himself gave her his encouragement, although the then-young heroic wizard was not very close to his sister, being almost ten years older.

Although the particular mendicant who had discovered Raj Sanjeevani had died, or rather vanished, the Yungdrung priests recognized her by her Third Eye and welcomed her in. They soon discovered that she was the reincarnation of the Tsungpo Lama of the Black Egg, a master wizard and seer of the lore of Yungdrung (although not the very highest figure in their history). To simplify a very complicated pantheon, the Yungdrung followers believe that the world, the planes, and the gods were hatched from successive eggs which appeared in a black sea. (Or the sea may have been blue, or red, or there may have been successive levels of the void-sea corresponding to the negative and prime material planes.) However, there were other beings which existed already in the sea (possibly beings which hatched from a kind of frog- or fish-like eggs, as opposed to bird-like eggs, at an even more remote time), and it is these beings who the Yungdrung priests worship. The reflection of the images of the newly created beings on the waters of the eternal sea caused the beings of the original creation to, in some cases, mirror themselves after the appearance of the newly created beings whom we know as humanoids, beasts, plants and monsters. But (the deeper theology goes) the originally created beings of the lightless sea are superior to all the beings that came after. They exist in a state of natural enlightenment; their name, Sag Lhu, literally means “enlightened ones.” Of course,this state of enlightenment is almost impossible for human beings to achieve except through the teachings of Yungdrung. In short, the Yungdrung followers believe—although they do not go around shouting it—that theirs is the superior religion and that the gods and demons worshipped by most mortals are the the inferior reflections of the beings from the Black Egg. The Yungdrung priests/wizards perform a good deal of charitable work and the details of their beliefs are not well known outside the cult.

In a few short years, Raj Sanjeevani became one of the five or ten most powerful sorcerers of the Yungdrung faith, and since she is the reincarnation of one of their former leaders (and her faith is unquestionable, despite her great ego), she is given a great deal of freedom. She also did some adventuring, performing divinations and fighting evil spirits and local threats for common people who came to the temple. Occasionally she was asked to meet with the other city priests (although of course, she isn’t a “priest” in the literal sense) to decide on some issue facing the entire city. Infrequently she accompanied other members of the cult on expeditions to faraway mountainous plateaus or other lonely places where together they dug up ancient cult lore and fought off scavenging monsters. At one point a group who ran a bookstore in Brindenford stole some ancient scrolls from one of the Yungdrung temples, and Raj Sanjeevani went alone to investigate the theft. She found the bookstore already ruined by the time she arrived, but certain clues led her to a lengthy mission away from the cult during which she made temporary allies with some other adventurers.

At one point in her journeys Raj Sanjeevani had a terrifying vision of herself being consumed by Garuda, the bird-headed god of justice and destroyer of evil. She knows herself not to be evil, but the vision shocked her greatly, and ever since then she has been repulsed by birds (things with feathers and beaks, basically). Strangely, she was also afraid of baby birds when she was very young, although for a period she overcame it — a premonition of the future?

Raj Sanjeevani
Human Female
Sorcerer 8/Alienist 5
Alignment: Neutral
XP: 86,171 inherited
Phobia: Birds

CHA 22 (15, +1 4th, +1 8th, +1 12th, +4 Cloak)
STR 9
DEX 9
CON 18 (14, +4 Amulet)
INT 14
WIS 10 (12, -1 Alien Blessing)
Saving Throws:
+8 Ref (+3 base, -1 Dex, +5 vest, +1 Alien Blessing/insight)
+13 Fort (+3 base, +4 Con, +5 vest, +1 Alien Blessing/insight)
+16 Will (+10 base, +5 vest, +1 Alien Blessing/insight)

AC: 9 (10, -1 Dex)
HP: undetermined (include +3 from alienist-class toughness)

FEATS:
Alertness
Augment Summoning
Improved Familiar (Pseudodragon)
Past Life (Knowledge (The Planes))
Extend Spell
Persistent Spell
Extra Spell (level 4)
Extra Spell (level 4)

SKILLS:
Knowledge (The Planes) 16
Knowledge (Arcana) 8
Concentration 16 (+10 from magic item)
Knowledge (Religion) 2 (cross-class)
Listen 4
Spot 4
Spellcraft 4

LANGUAGES (3 free):
Serishan, Common, Draconic, Infernal, Abyssal, Celestial, Aquan

EQUIPMENT:
Reagents: small bags and candles, bat fur, granite dust, bird’s feather, hemispherical piece of clear crystal, hemispherical piece of gum arabic, 250 gp diamond dust (x20)
Vest of Resistance +5 (25,000)
Cloak of Charisma +4 (16,000)
Amulet of Health +4 (16,000)
Ring of Wizardry I (20,000) (doubles # of first-level spells, except bonus spells)
Ioun Stone – Vibrant Purple (12,000) (stores 6 spell levels)
Third Eye of Concentration (2,000)
Wand of Haste (50 charges, 5th-level caster) (11,250)
Royal Outfit (200)
Third Eye of Awareness (4,000) (worn by Pseudodragon)
TOTAL: 109,650 out of 110,000

FAMILIAR:
Pseudonatural Pseudodragon
Tiny Dragon; HD 7; Init +0; Spd. 15/fly 60; AC 29 (touch 12, flat-footed 29, including +7 natural armor from familiar); Atk +5 sting (1d3+poison DC 12), +0 bite (1)
STR 11, DEX 11, CON 13, INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 10
HP: 1/2 of Sanjeevani’s
SKILLS: Hide +16/+24 in forests, Intuit Direction +3, Listen +5, Search +12 (see below), Spot +15 (see below), Alertness
FAMILIAR ABILITIES: Improved Evasion, Share Spells, Empathic Link, Touch, Speak with Animals of Its Type, Master may Scry on Familiar once per day
PSEUDODRAGON ABILITIES: Immune to sleep and paralysis; See invisibility 60’ (continuous); Telepathy with beings that speak Common or Sylvan 60’
PSEUDONATURAL ABILITIES: Electricity, Acid Resistance 10; Damage Reduction 5/+1; Alternate Form: -1 morale penalty on opponents’ attacks; True Strike 1x/day
Third Eye of Awareness (4,000) (+10 on Spot, Search rolls)

SPELLS/DAY:
0/?, 1/13, 2/7, 3/7, 4/7, 5/7, 6/5 (6 with Purple Ioun Stone)

SPELLS KNOWN:
LEVEL 1: Unseen Servant, Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Silent Image, Shield
LEVEL 2: Detect Thoughts, Mirror Image, Invisibility, Silence, Summon Monster 2
LEVEL 3: Magic Circle vs. Evil, Major Image, Protection from Elements, Fly
LEVEL 4: Summon Monster 4, Arcane Eye, Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, Stoneskin, Polmorph Self (Extra Spell), Attune Form (Extra Spell)
LEVEL 5: Summon Monster 5, Teleport, Telekinesis
LEVEL 6: Summon Monster 6, Shades