Proving Grounds: Area of Effect

Sometimes an attack is not as easily outlined as a sword strike.  What happens when a boulder or some boiling oil falls upon the battle field?  What about those mythic dragons and their fire breath?  More realistically, what happens when that musket or cannon misfires and explodes sending shrapnel all around?

The answer to these and other questions is the Area of Effect rule.  This rule is modifiable by each attack using it, but for the most part follows one of two rules.

Equal Impact - this form of Area of Effect presumes that the entirety of the attack will be the same across the entire are.  Things like falling boulders, felled trees, caltrops and so forth fall into this category.   Simply measure out the radius or other predesignated area (some even suggest templates, which are great!) and lay it onto the field.  Wherever the template covers is affected.  Any player models underneath suffer the full damage of the attack.  If a player's model is less than 25% within the area, they may attempt to use Acrobatics or some other Aptitude to dodge out of the way, otherwise they are hit.  Simple and easy.

Point of Emission - this form of Area of Effect presumes that there is a point where the effect is stronger than another point.   Things like fires which may be hotter at the core, explosions which may deal greater damage the closer to center yet trail off the further you get from the center, and rushing water and the like are all examples of Point of Emission.  The template is laid out appropriately, and depending on the attack or the arbitrator, the damage effect is lessened every inch on the game table or every 5 feet in game from the Point of Emission.  While this may vary depending on the strength of the attack, a good rule of thumb is to drop off 1d6 of damage effect per 1" from the Point of Emission.  

Ramon's Travels: Peacepoint Lighthouse

Rising off of a little island in Hancock Bay, the Peacepoint Lighthouse works to keep travelers safe by sea in the Bay and along the waterways toward Farhampton.  While not the first lighthouse in Tor, this is the first one to serve in Hancock Bay and points west.  The lighthouse was built by the order of Edward Dragomir for the Granite Spire.

The Granite Spire operates this lighthouse and maintains a small garrison and camp of troops at its base.  The lighthouse is positioned to serve the bay but also to give the Granite Spire an outpost in Tor, where they had not previously held one.   

Rumors, often spoken by those who find the light to be a nuisance and a “threat to scare off the fish” claim that the lighthouse houses a great number of powerful weapons of war.  They claim that the Granite Spire is positioned to lay assault on Tor or perhaps Falkenburg.  Most disregard these rumors, although when asked about it Lord Kelly replies, “we are always prepared.”

Around the Principalities: Exorcism?

Seemingly out of nowhere, the city of Nicholshire is chattering about the call for exorcism in the Kaylinn Swamps.  Known for being a cursed land, this call for the Society of St. Paul to send an exorcist to purge the demons from the land in unheard of.  Rarely will the church involve itself in such a tainted land, let alone send valuable parishioners to said land.  

Rumors abound that a member of the church itself has been possessed by a devil.   Paladin Phillip Stephenson leads this expedition to oversee the construction of a church at the site of Castle Nocturne built in the area by Lord Mendoza of The Noble House of Sutton.  Lord Mendoza hired somewhere near 3,000 workers from neighboring Azara to build this new settlement.  Many question the logic of building a castle in such a cursed land, but the price was good for the poor ranchers of the region.

No word from Lord Mendoza about the rumors of a demonic presence on the site of his new Castle. 

On the Table: Books and Aptitudes - how rare is rare?

Many times a party will come across a puzzle in some old temple that requires the understanding of some ancient language or some Aptitude that is not as common as say acrobatics.  So they wonder, how rare is this information?

Certainly somebody had to have this knowledge to build said puzzle.  So we must look at rarity with perspective as to the people that hold knowledge.  The everyday Praelian, learns their job and the appropriate Aptitudes therein, maybe an occasional hobby or other Aptitude in their spare time, but most of their lives are spent working for their living.  

Adventurers are a rarer breed.  They pick up things along the way that others may not.  So when they find a book, the Arbitrator must determine how rare this book is.  Generally one should think that if an Aptitude is not in the job set of most jobs, then it should be rare.  If it is a specialty version of an Aptitude, such as Celestial Navigation vs Navigation, it should be even rarer.  

For each rare level, consider increasing the comprehension by a factor of 6.  The closer the player is to understanding the knowledge, that factor can be reduced.

Lore Du Jour: The Folklore of Realms

They say the land of Alluvium is but one of many.  Each one formed with a purpose eons ago, a purpose misplaced before any chronicle was written.  It is known for certain that the Shade Realm does exist, and access to it can be controlled by keys.  But what it is for is a mystery.  

What is unknown is the location and veracity of these other realms.  Over the next few weeks we will discuss each of these rumored realms, the theories about what they are and if they indeed have ever been chronicled by any reputable source.    

The realms we will discuss are:

The Nether Realm

The Shade Realm

The Astral Realm 

The Divine Realm

The Infernal Realm 

and Alluvium itself.  

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Bardic Chestnuts: Victor Van Tuyl

Victor Van Tuyl has often been seen as the more soft spoken Van Tuyl.  Some view him as the brains of the operation.  Others think him to be the brawn behind Aert’s maniacal plans.  Victor however sees himself as a loyal cousin to Aert and friend of Coronado.  Less concerned with the politics of the land, Victor spends his time working on the ship as Quartermaster.  The origin of Victor is even more shrouded than that of Aert.  The Chronicler’s have very little record of his past.  Something Victor seems to have no problem with.

Victor seems to have formal training as a privateer.  His knowledge of sailing is matched only by the most prolific seamen.  His silence on the matter indicates a dark past of which he is not proud.  Of course that may be part of the plan of a complicated mind.   Victor’s skills as a seaman include use of all armaments aboard the ship and hand to hand combat.  He is a very skilled combatant, surpassing most of the Vandals.  However, Victor is not quick to fight - preferring to outthink his enemies.  

As the leader of the Triad Marines under Coronado for some time, Victor was responsible for training the rank and file troops in the ways of the halberd line.  To this day he will hop across the lines to bring his troops an encouraging leader when needed.  Victor, once provoked, is a merciless opponent.  It is best not to get on the wrong side of this dutch warrior.    

It is his dark side that is to be feared, he suffered a disease while on the Mangled Hand back before he Arrived that no one can explain.  At night he will sometimes kill his own crewman, and drain their blood. 

When he came to Alluvium, Aert’s continued trips to the Shade Realm certainly brought out something darker in Victor.   When the Shade Realm is near, he will often call himself ‘Vince the Thrasher’, and some of his crewmen have said that it is then that the ‘demon’ within Victor unleashed.  The stories tell of hell freezing down upon the waters as “Vince” tears through ally and enemy alike to get his way.  When this occurs only the foolish will stand in his way.  

Proving Grounds: Specialty Shots

Cannons often use specialized shots to maximize damage to enemies or other ships.  While not limited to cannons,  these shots are most commonly foundwith cannon or mortars.   These shots, like all ballistics, require the appropriate technique to use effectively.  Some engineers have been said to have even scaled these down to use in handguns, but no evidence of this has ever been found.

Chain shot:  Two large half cannon balls are are chained together and fired at ships or enemies.  

3d6 STR, + AGILITYroll to STR, double damage to sails, masts and similar.

Grapeshot:  A form of canister shot designed to assault at short range with a cone of widespread metal balls.  

6d6 STR - 1 STR for every two feet away from the cannon.

Bar Shot: Two canon balls joined by a solid bar.  

3d6 STR, + AGILITYroll to STR, double damage to wooden hulls and similar.

Explosive Shot: A canister shot designed to explode and deal great amounts of damage over a template area. 

1 to 6d6 STR, damaging over a 1 to 6 inch template.  The damage is determined by the size of the canister, each 1d6 of STR = 1” diameter template.

Ramon's Travels: Azathoth

 Deep in the mountains of Malone, far from the the civilization of western Tor, one may find the city of Azathoth. Here the people of the mountain city struggle daily to live in the harsh environment, plagued by bears, wolves and nature itself.         

The city is built on ruins of a once magnificent site.   The ruined areas often blend into new construction where the people make their homes.  It is not uncommon to see a house with a wall that appears to be a temple yet the rest of the building is less grand.           

Amid the ruins is the legendary Sanctum of Azathoth, a place that is protected from outsiders by all of the city.  What exactly is within the Sanctum is unknown, but there are many who believe that the rumored “Dark Ones of the North” that the Valeerians speak about may live within the Sanctum and may even control the people of Azathoth. 

From the Principalities:

Something rotten in the Kaylinn Swamps is nothing new, the wasteland is well known for being a home to degenerates, bandits and often even Shade Realm undead.   However something much darker has risen to show it's face in the darkness of the swamps.  

Reports that some 600 builders and workers have been taken by flying monsters certainly does not sit well with the region's inhabitants.  Furthermore, the claim that two dragons were slain in the area by the famous Tanaka the Dragon Slayer and Paladin Phillip Stephenson makes many fear just exactly what sort of events are happening in this cursed landscape.