The land of Al-Hind, on the far banks of the great river Indus, is mentioned briefly in The Cradle and the Crescent as a possible destination of merchants, the source of over-sized fantastic elephants and a place of many other marvels. There are vague references to the Mythic Muslim holdings of al-Sindh on the near … Continue reading There is no Mythic India, there is only al-Hind
Design Note: this is the second post in a series about the East African area of the Erythrean Sea and draws on material from the supplement Lands of the Nile (pages 10-11) and the Appendix A “Languages and Name” section of the Cradle and the Crescent. The following languages are spoken on or around the Red … Continue reading Languages of East Africa
Design Note: the area known in the 13th century as the Erythraean Sea reflects the modern day Arabian Sea or western edge of the Indian Ocean, correlating with the Arabic Bahr al-Hind. This area links the “Mythic Arabia” chapter of the Cradle and the Crescent, the “Ethiopia” chapter from Lands of the Nile and “Sorcerors … Continue reading Once Upon the Erythraean Sea
I found this image on Pinterest the other day, and although it’s much more “d20” than ArM5 in style it would work quite nicely as a temporary sanctum for a reclusive magus of the Coenobium in Faith and Flame or even one of the lairs of the infamous Drac… At the time of a starting canonical … Continue reading The Lonely Tower on the Barthelasse
In a recent post over on Games from Folktales, Timothy commented on the concept of “Robinsonades” in terms of their story potential as a starting point for an Ars Magica Saga. Alluding to Shakespeare’s The Tempest as a potential source of inspiration, he broadly defines the concept in his first paragraph: A Robinsonade is a … Continue reading Beyond the Horizon: Thoughts on Mediterranean Robinsonades
I’ve just moved into a new place and unpacked one of my older boxes of books and was delighted to discover a trove of Mythos related source material I’ve collected, specifically Innsmouth and Deep One stories: The top 3 are the Stephen Jones collated anthologies that include a number of great stories by Neil Gaiman, … Continue reading Return of the Deep Ones?
AERONAUT (Prerequisites: Dwarf, Human, Gobber, Swamp Gobber, Trollkin, or Pyg) Starting Abilities and Skills Abilities: Fearless*, Steady Military Skills: Thrown Weapon 1, and either Hand Weapon 1 or Pistol 1 Occupational Skills: Climbing 1 or Jumping 1, Navigation 1, Piloting** 1, and Rope Use 1 Starting Assets 50 gc, balloonist’s kit**, collapsible spyglass, goggles Aeronaut Abilities: Acrobatics, Bomber, Expert Pilot**, Fearless*, Hit the Deck, … Continue reading Aeronaut Career
It’s been over 6 months since I last posted to this blog – during the hiatus I had a brief foray into writing another RPG blog, but although I learnt a lot from that particular experiement, for a variety of personal reasons that stopped as well. I’ve now had a chance to regroup and reflect and … Continue reading The Diverse Grog
This is a definite railroad adventure to be sure, but one where “the railroad” ie. the river is overt, so perhaps forgivable to some extent. Unlike many railroad adventures, there is ample opportunity for the characters to head ashore as an alternative to overcome various obstacles or be involved in “side treks” but the traveling … Continue reading Design Notes: Pirates of the Vistula, Riverine Encounters
Cost: 20 gc Skill: na Attack Modifier: –1 POW: 0 Description: a studded leather buckler strapped to the forearm. Special Rules: A character wearing a buckler gains +1 ARM against attacks in his front arc. This bonus is not cumulative with that of a shield, another buckler or a Bloodtracker fighting claw (see 312 page IK:Unleashed). A character wearing a buckler … Continue reading Buckler
