tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79477603540593878312024-03-19T01:48:54.958-07:00Paper Elemental𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-8400556502207147322023-10-14T14:35:00.005-07:002023-10-14T14:40:22.556-07:00Wandering Titans, part IV - Hot and Cold, Plus Two More to Complete the Set<p>This is the final planned entry in a series of Wandering Titans, which are part weather, part giant monster. </p><p>Previous parts with more titans: <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/03/wandering-titans-monster-as-hexweather.html">Part 1</a>, <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/04/wandering-titans-part-ii-fast-and-slow.html">Part 2</a>, <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/04/wandering-titans-part-iii-making-things.html">Part 3</a></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">The Plague of Flame</h2><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidO8QZ9KeLYg2ZABQhBcS3lhEmOPPam-HzetlrKE0qcK_G3xisHC7WSmEx7s9biS_3bJ5qp4krqGC1C07DVFEq6rvRnc7pEQkWhEFgy4y-p4B3Vnb-8E0K8kPljDeS_TfPJv9vZuOkjkwNEYq6BYorrAb2SDgqmerq6c_DmT4H1hxYNfUa8zzPmliOrUs/s1024/Roman%20Tile%20Mosiac%20of%20a%20Rat%20kaiju%20towering%20above%20a%20burning%20city.%20Abstract%20flat%20tile%20design..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidO8QZ9KeLYg2ZABQhBcS3lhEmOPPam-HzetlrKE0qcK_G3xisHC7WSmEx7s9biS_3bJ5qp4krqGC1C07DVFEq6rvRnc7pEQkWhEFgy4y-p4B3Vnb-8E0K8kPljDeS_TfPJv9vZuOkjkwNEYq6BYorrAb2SDgqmerq6c_DmT4H1hxYNfUa8zzPmliOrUs/w400-h400/Roman%20Tile%20Mosiac%20of%20a%20Rat%20kaiju%20towering%20above%20a%20burning%20city.%20Abstract%20flat%20tile%20design..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">AI Generated via Bing.<br />"Roman Tile Mosaic of a Rat kaiju towering above a burning city."</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><p> <b>On the horizon </b><i><b>(visible in neighboring hexes)<br /></b></i>: Smoke rising from burning forests or villages.</p><div><b>Environmental Effect </b><br /><div>: Intense heat wave. Metal becomes too hot to touch barehanded. Outbreaks of fever-causing disease. Dry material spontaneously bursts into flame. Swarms of smoldering vermin spontaneously generate where you least expect it.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Appearance</b><br />: Flickering apparition of a colossal Rat, wreathed in smoke. </div><p></p><div></div><p></p><p><b>Behavior / Desires</b><br />: Hungry. Devours/burns fields, food stores, forests, and wooden buildings. </p><div><b>Things to Discover or Encounter Nearby</b></div><p></p><p></p><ul><li>Pyromaniac Rat Cultists. Skin pockmarked and burnt. Constructs of flame or smoke fill their wounds, replace missing limbs, and grant a sort of manic undeath fueled by arson.</li><li>The smoldering vermin sometimes contain valuable exotic chemical substances within their bodies. More common is that they contain nasty exotic diseases.</li><li>Exotic fires and unusual forms of heat, which can be bottled by a skilled arcane technician. Floo, Bale, St. Elmo's, an unnamed species of flame that burns songs as fuel...</li><li>Regular fire, too, if that's what you're into.</li></ul><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2>The Frigid Scapegoat</h2><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbqiGHpzerNjrfNvWYNHIeYczTvCYFtNGE2nXHHI9aDLl7zTMuhdkH-w61emOtXZ2W-aez5DNSYYNUunpPZv9TTkM5l8UBYa-iDF2WHXVqh-oQv9RtIZolC9Dv5jNJinxuawnQzADst2wEKtKZb8PGBX7nVj2KxCo3LUStMHOpE6j2n6Xs8sC9JLGJAjo/s1024/Roman%20Tile%20Mosiac%20of%20a%20giant%20sheep%20or%20goat%20creature%20towering%20above%20a%20frozen%20city.%20People%20pray%20to%20it.%20Abstract%20tile%20design..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbqiGHpzerNjrfNvWYNHIeYczTvCYFtNGE2nXHHI9aDLl7zTMuhdkH-w61emOtXZ2W-aez5DNSYYNUunpPZv9TTkM5l8UBYa-iDF2WHXVqh-oQv9RtIZolC9Dv5jNJinxuawnQzADst2wEKtKZb8PGBX7nVj2KxCo3LUStMHOpE6j2n6Xs8sC9JLGJAjo/w400-h400/Roman%20Tile%20Mosiac%20of%20a%20giant%20sheep%20or%20goat%20creature%20towering%20above%20a%20frozen%20city.%20People%20pray%20to%20it.%20Abstract%20tile%20design..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">AI Generated via Bing.</span><br style="font-size: small;" /><span style="font-size: small;">"</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Roman Tile Mosaic of a giant sheep or goat creature towering above a frozen city. People pray to it."</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><div><b>On the horizon </b><i><b>(visible in neighboring hexes)</b></i></div><div>: Snowstorm contained in a precise cylinder.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Environmental Effect </b><br /><div>: Cold snap. Flames diminish and new fires cannot be lit. Pipes and vessels of water freeze and burst. Those who freeze to death will find themselves mysteriously revived and healthy when the goat moves on and the landscape thaws, but other harm remains.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Appearance</b><br />: Giant Ram with horns like icebergs. Flurries of snow drift out between matted locks of tangled wool.</div><p></p><div></div><p></p><p><b>Behavior / Desires</b><br />: It seems to take a fascination in random things, tilting its head and fixing its eyes in place for hours at a time. Sometimes it takes the things, and not just a fascination. It lets out a massive breath, a downburst of bitter frigid air, causing collateral damage and knocking things aside, leaving only the object of the Scapegoat's interest sitting in a wind-blasted patch. This object - which is always perfectly intact whether it be a a statute, a mural, or something abstract - is then delicately picked up with teeth the size of warships and tucked deep into its fur.<br /></p><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Things to Discover or Encounter Nearby</b></div><p></p><p></p><ul><li>Ancient treasures tangled in its locks.</li><li>Ancient people too.</li><li>Also something called "slood", which no longer exists anywhere else.</li><li>Petitioners beseech the Scapegoat to take their sins and obligations. If they attract its attention, it is often willing to oblige. It takes one of their limbs, too, frostbitten and broken off by its terrible breath.</li><li>A caravan of frozen corpses. They corpses in question <i>were </i>people dying of something else, and will become so again once they leave the zone of cold. Their caretakers are trying to hitch a ride towards a specialist magical institution which can help them, but the Scapegoat is currently headed in the wrong direction.</li><li>Lots of ice. Quite valuable in some settings.</li></ul><p>And here are a couple bits of human-made giant goat artwork I found inspirational: <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/rRymVE">"The Stilted Ram", by Michael MacRae</a>, <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8EvVQ">"Summoning a god", by Calder Moore</a>, and <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/yDNx5K">"Giant Goatman and his bridge", by Esteban Hernandez</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2>The Fluffy Floppy Megabunny</h2><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Y6MDTKRmG-yorhxvwQTrrARzZs97oH_4RnEBxuE33d7bizhTObQR8jPDOvKIcgcSNctiBWBDNR6luH3HSY17SmbXPXwXTDVLoblaGpT0tlBhJruS21wZP29Ea92P6WkYRaV91lVaupKHoCISGTnp7QEIXxTUQgCX9ZHEm49_aaVtDfxDV_viVOIrlsk/s1024/Hyper%20fluffy%20giant%20bunny%20seen%20from%20below.%20Titanic%20rabbit%20towering%20into%20the%20sky.%20Tiny%20angry%20beady%20eyes.%20Ancient%20Painting.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Y6MDTKRmG-yorhxvwQTrrARzZs97oH_4RnEBxuE33d7bizhTObQR8jPDOvKIcgcSNctiBWBDNR6luH3HSY17SmbXPXwXTDVLoblaGpT0tlBhJruS21wZP29Ea92P6WkYRaV91lVaupKHoCISGTnp7QEIXxTUQgCX9ZHEm49_aaVtDfxDV_viVOIrlsk/w400-h400/Hyper%20fluffy%20giant%20bunny%20seen%20from%20below.%20Titanic%20rabbit%20towering%20into%20the%20sky.%20Tiny%20angry%20beady%20eyes.%20Ancient%20Painting.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">AI Generated via Bing.</span><br style="font-size: small;" /><span style="font-size: small;">"</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hyper fluffy giant bunny seen from below. Titanic rabbit towering into the sky. Tiny angry beady eyes. Ancient Painting."</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><p> <b>On the horizon </b><i><b>(visible in neighboring hexes)<br /></b></i>: The horizon and clouds in that direction look faintly blurry, as if seen through some lenses of the wrong prescription. Occasionally, a large white cloud seems to rise and then fall.</p><div><b>Environmental Effect </b><br /><div>: Blades and claws are blunted. Stone becomes malleable. Iron becomes as plastic. Minus 1d6 damage when attacking unarmed or with physical weapons. Minus 1d6 from falling or other impacts, as well. A very faint ever-present mist moderates temperatures while making your hair bouncy and voluminous.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Appearance</b><br />: Like an opaque cloud that leaps and bounds high into the air before slowly drifting back down.</div><p></p><div></div><p></p><p><b>Behavior / Desires</b><br />: Oh how it hates! It yearns in its heart to tear apart the pathetic creations of mortals. To trample their farms, and bring their empires to ruin, to lead mindless armies into pointless slaughter, and to hear their lamentations. Of course, none of that is obvious from its vast vacant expression. It just seems to bounce around harmlessly and at random.</p><div><b>Things to Discover or Encounter Nearby</b></div><p></p><p></p><ul><li>When the titan lands on top of you, it's said to be quite a relaxing experience, "like a fog made of hugs". It impairs visibility a bit, but doesn't impair movement and only lasts a few minutes at a time.</li><li>Occasionally, patchs of "fluff" can get caught on brambles. These can be magically spun into a something like silk which is bouyant in air.</li><li>Although the softening aura of the titan impedes the function of some devices, it enables forms of otherwise impossible crafting. A train of artisans follow the Megabunny in mobile workshops, creating ornate and durable artifacts out of materials which are difficult to work anywhere else.</li><li>This train has grown over the years into a Wandering Festival which is part carnival and part trade show. In the big top, trapeze artists perform stunts without a net, jugglers juggle swords by the blade, and big dudes punch each other in the head while laughing. </li><li>Because blades and bludgeons are blunted, the most effective means of dealing with ne'er-do-wells (besides hiring a wizard) is via grappling. A tradition of wrestling has developed in the Wandering Festival, and the greatest wrestlers from all over the world come to demonstrate their prowess. Elaborate costumes are not required to enter the tournaments, but are appreciated by the crowds.</li><li>Lots of happy people.</li></ul><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2>The Wretched Ape</h2><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjBue7NqXslCAo2erElNRip2jKQXe9aDj_stAe3Wg2wiuy0fGvK4kfan2IcCLOk10Gp0Qd1QpSjCpjrlX7hpiqhO8eE5p9VJsB1QRnGRvyl09kXKnMvy-v69Ng658YfT3heOJ-3CPHpGcj_KbwSeTooXXUNYsW3NbSlXXrwTjjbCnDPztqkA9kpvRNpE/s727/monkey.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="727" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfjBue7NqXslCAo2erElNRip2jKQXe9aDj_stAe3Wg2wiuy0fGvK4kfan2IcCLOk10Gp0Qd1QpSjCpjrlX7hpiqhO8eE5p9VJsB1QRnGRvyl09kXKnMvy-v69Ng658YfT3heOJ-3CPHpGcj_KbwSeTooXXUNYsW3NbSlXXrwTjjbCnDPztqkA9kpvRNpE/w640-h560/monkey.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"monkey"</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><p> <b>On the horizon </b><i><b>(visible in neighboring hexes)<br /></b></i>: Clouds of dust. Faint tremors and distant echoes of loud noises.</p><div><b>Environmental Effect </b><br /><div>: Earthquakes.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Appearance</b><br />: Big monkey. (Not actually an ape.)</div><p></p><div></div><p></p><p><b>Behavior / Desires</b><br />: It's a big monkey that knocks things over and shakes its fist at clouds. When it jumps around, it causes earthquakes.</p><div><b>Things to Discover or Encounter Nearby</b></div><p></p><p></p><ul><li>Things which have been knocked over by a big monkey.</li></ul><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Additional Titans: <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/03/wandering-titans-monster-as-hexweather.html">Part 1</a>, <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/04/wandering-titans-part-ii-fast-and-slow.html">Part 2</a>, <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/04/wandering-titans-part-iii-making-things.html">Part 3</a></p>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-60913063082733302932023-07-22T23:18:00.005-07:002023-07-22T23:22:51.288-07:00Worth the Candle: The Exclusionary Principle (Free Worldbuilding PDF)<p>I've helped put together a pdf for Alexander Wales' worldbuilding document <i>The Exclusionary Principle.</i> It's basically a splatbook for the setting of his webnovel, <a href="https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/25137/worth-the-candle">Worth the Candle</a>, which focuses on the setting's exclusion zone, areas where degenerate magic has been divinely quarantined.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://bacontime.github.io/aerb/EXCLUSIONS_600dpi.pdf">Click here to download a PDF of <i>The Exclusionary Principle</i></a></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkoyrkfLkxhJP769UF1VLq0g2lt5d1BZ4QVeoejZRWwtOpHYMtD2Y6oAdUtKVNQiviACllOt61RGXtGLUUqm_NwsBbW5uaikEFeWjf_4gNfq0i5kEYPJDmfkEM4aECW-W_DM-KBL0quWlN1dU13hLVjciygDVaZ6Hb63xZOPJgvcyK7EAYhCSvkk2b10/s1584/AerbMapExclusions.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="1224" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkoyrkfLkxhJP769UF1VLq0g2lt5d1BZ4QVeoejZRWwtOpHYMtD2Y6oAdUtKVNQiviACllOt61RGXtGLUUqm_NwsBbW5uaikEFeWjf_4gNfq0i5kEYPJDmfkEM4aECW-W_DM-KBL0quWlN1dU13hLVjciygDVaZ6Hb63xZOPJgvcyK7EAYhCSvkk2b10/w494-h640/AerbMapExclusions.png" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In <a href="https://bacontime.github.io/aerb/EXCLUSIONS_600dpi.pdf">the pdf</a>, this map has clickable text which links <br />to different chapters of the worldbuilding document.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p>Alexander Wales wrote <i>The Exclusionary Principle.</i><br />I helped with the PDF layout, and also created the map you see above.<br />Other art in the document is AI generated.</p><p><br /></p><p>(Wales initially planned the thing to just be a small list, but one thing led to another, and sometimes things get a bit out of hand and you end up with a 150 page worldbuilding document.)</p><p><br /></p>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-30059784380195878802023-06-16T06:00:00.086-07:002023-07-18T13:04:16.413-07:00Reblog: Worth the Candle: The Exclusionary Principle<p>
This is a reblog/recommendation for a book-length chunk of oddball
world-building which you can read here: <a
href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/47107573/chapters/118687699"
>Worth the Candle: The Exclusionary Principle</a
>
</p>
<p>
Each short "chapter" describes some magical phenomenon that's been divinely
quarantined after getting out of hand. 35 chapters have been published so far,
and the remaining chapters will be published one-per-day for the next month.
</p>
<table hidden
align="center"
cellpadding="0"
cellspacing="0"
class="tr-caption-container"
style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"
>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRUv35k85Amhj7Nf0XS_BNNR41iaujCP8YqIv0U2hZoMdQuGh8C-mDokMduOY1NdqLEsw14BgOjDIU2a6HSisycMvC7m6KDvMy_RwuR45FIe7s57ZU6_KgDR_st0HAnc7oIWCLQkSNZNbtq9x360ySA3JEOTegJb7jukCZISNX6Hj_KR1VbFgdEGV/s1591/wtc%20exclusion%201.png"
style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"
><img
border="0"
data-original-height="1024"
data-original-width="1591"
height="413"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRUv35k85Amhj7Nf0XS_BNNR41iaujCP8YqIv0U2hZoMdQuGh8C-mDokMduOY1NdqLEsw14BgOjDIU2a6HSisycMvC7m6KDvMy_RwuR45FIe7s57ZU6_KgDR_st0HAnc7oIWCLQkSNZNbtq9x360ySA3JEOTegJb7jukCZISNX6Hj_KR1VbFgdEGV/w640-h413/wtc%20exclusion%201.png"
width="640"
/></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
There will also be a pdf once it's all done.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />This is a worldbuilding supplement to Alexander Wales' <i
>Worth the Candle </i
>series<i>.</i> Quoth the Wale:
<div>
<br />
<p></p>
<blockquote>
The exclusions doc was written with the intent that you didn't absolutely
need to have read
<a href="https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/25137/worth-the-candle"
>Worth the Candle,</a
>
but there might be some mild spoilers, and there are occasional notes from
various characters on the exclusions. If you haven't read WtC, just dive in
and hopefully there's enough explanation in either the preface or
<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/20629112"
>the other worldbuilding doc</a
>
for you to get by. Or let the words wash over you and any confusion can be a
part of it.
</blockquote>
<p></p>
<blockquote>
<p>
These "chapters" (each ~1K words) will be posted to AO3, and linked on
<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/alexanderwales/">my subreddit</a> and on
<a href="https://discord.gg/8MdWg2r">my Discord</a>, where I expect the
majority of the discussion to take place.
</p>
</blockquote>
<div><br /></div>
<div><br /></div>
<div hidden>
All text of <i>The Exclusionary Principle </i>has been written by
Alexander Wales. The art is AI-generated. My contributions are the pdf
formatting, some minor edits, and
<a href="https://bacontime.github.io/aerb">the map</a>.<br />
<p>
(In case you're wondering,
<a
href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2023/05/slug-exclusion-zone.html"
>The Slug</a
>
is not actually a canon part of the document. I just made him up to test
the pdf templating. But he's still canon in my heart.)
</p>
<p><br /></p>
</div>
</div>
𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-78492861594395250742023-05-15T18:10:00.001-07:002023-05-15T19:42:52.368-07:00Slug Exclusion Zone<p>
<b>Name:</b> Slug Exclusion Zone<br /><b>Code:</b> SLEZ<br /><b>Types:</b>
Minor, Enpersoned?<br /><b>Date: </b>237 AM
</p>
<p>
<b>Summary: </b>The Slug Exclusion Zone (SLEZ) is a circular exclusion zone
about a mile in diameter that contains a single giant slug.
</p>
<p>
<b>History:</b> Slug magic was a form of magic that allowed practitioners to
bond with slugs and use them as extensions of their own bodies. Slug mages
could dip their hand in a vat of slugs and get a prosthetic slug hand that
could manipulate objects, secrete slime, or fire projectiles (made of slugs).
Slug magic was also used for healing, as slugs could regenerate wounds by
permanently bonding with their host. Slug magic was popular in the region of
Slough, where slugs were abundant and revered as sacred animals.
</p>
<p>
In 237 AM, a group of researchers from the University of Lysia San Slough
decided to study the potential of slug magic for healing head injuries. They
experimented on volunteers who had suffered brain damage, implanting slugs
into their skulls and using slug magic to stimulate neural regeneration.
However, something went wrong with the procedure, and instead of healing the
volunteers, it transferred their ability to use slug magic to one of the
slugs. This slug escaped from the laboratory and began to consume other slugs,
growing in size and power. It also developed a rudimentary intelligence and a
hostile attitude towards humans.
</p>
<p>
The slug slowly rampaged through the city of Lysia, leaving a trail of slime
and destruction behind it. It killed three people and injured dozens more,
before it reached the outskirts of the city and encountered the exclusion
barrier.
</p>
<p>
<b>Features:</b> The SLEZ is dominated by the presence of the giant slug, now
estimated to be about eight hundred feet long and several feet thick, with a
mottled brown color and numerous eyes and tentacles. It can use slug magic to
manipulate other slugs within the zone, and spends much of its time herding a
'flock' of small ordinary slugs throughout the zone, eating whatever sparse
vegetation manages to grow there among the slime-encrusted ruins. In addition
to its mastery of slug magic, the giant slug also wields a number of looted
entads, which are now embedded in its slimy hide. One of these entads grants
it the ability to project its thoughts as speech, an ability it most
frequently uses to announce its hatred of humanity and to recite crude poetry
about moss.
</p>
<p>
Only a relatively small portion of the city of Lysia was enveloped in the
exclusion zone, and much of the rest of the surrounding city remains
inhabited. Even the University continues to operate, though in a greatly
reduced capacity after the loss of its main campus. A minor, but important,
part of the post-exclusion Lysian economy revolves around trade with the giant
slug. Despite its professed hatred of humanity, the slug is capable of using
its magic to produce vast quantities of slime with various properties, and is
willing to do so in exchange for organic refuse. These slimes are useful in
various industrial processes and are also used directly in the manufacture of
a number of consumer products.
</p>
<p>
There is rarely a need to send expeditions into the zone - and such
expeditions make the slime negotiations more difficult besides - but with
proper planning, these can be carried out safely. After the initial evacuation
of the city, no one has been since been killed by the giant slug. Although the
slug is a fierce combatant at close range, and does try to kill anyone who
enters the zone, its top speed is less than one foot per minute.
</p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>
<a
href="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/750917718777135229/1107855119137124402/slug_ez_illustration_cropped.png"
imageanchor="1"
style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"
><img
border="0"
data-original-height="449"
data-original-width="800"
height="449"
src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/750917718777135229/1107855119137124402/slug_ez_illustration_cropped.png"
width="800"
/></a>
</p>
𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-41653916011298091292023-02-19T14:29:00.004-08:002023-02-19T14:29:44.195-08:00Ground Squirrels : Tree Squirrels :: Dwarves : ???<p>Dwarf digs hole. He also lives in the hole. Some squirrel is like that. </p><p>But some squirrel lives in the tree and digs to bury his treasure. </p><p> </p><p>Another important thing about Tree Squirrels is that they forget about a lot of the nuts they bury.
Those nuts grow into the trees in a form of forgetful symbiosis.</p><p> If a dungeon is the acorn, then what is the tree? </p><p><br /></p><p>Please, my soul yearns for the answers to these mysteries.<br /></p>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-53694347359590645522023-02-15T21:41:00.007-08:002023-02-17T08:01:40.643-08:00Some Quick Hexcrawl Horizon Visibility Calculations<p>How far away can an object be before it dips below the horizon and is no longer visible?</p>
<p>For simplicity, treat the planet like a smooth perfect sphere,
and ignore the atmosphere and any other obstacles.</p>
<style>
.blogTable td, .blogTable th {
border: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
text-align: left;
padding: 8px;
}
.blogTable tr:nth-child(even) {
background-color:rgba(230, 215, 200, 0.93);
}
.blogTable {
border-collapse:collapse;
}
</style>
<h2 id="table-of-examples">Table of Examples
</h2>
<p>Assume that your eyes are 1.8 meters above the surface of an earth-sized sphere.
From how far away can you see the tops of various objects?</p>
<table align="center" class="blogTable">
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center">Object</th>
<th style="text-align: center">Object Height (m)</th>
<th style="text-align: center">Visable Distance (m)</th>
<th style="text-align: center">Vis. Dist. (miles)</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">The Ground Itself</td>
<td style="text-align: center">0</td>
<td style="text-align: center">4,800</td>
<td style="text-align: center">3.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Garden Gnome</td>
<td style="text-align: center">0.5</td>
<td style="text-align: center">7,300</td>
<td style="text-align: center">4.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Another Person</td>
<td style="text-align: center">1.8</td>
<td style="text-align: center">9600</td>
<td style="text-align: center">6.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">A Male Giraffe</td>
<td style="text-align: center">5.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center">13,000</td>
<td style="text-align: center">8.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">An Aspen Tree</td>
<td style="text-align: center">16</td>
<td style="text-align: center">19,000</td>
<td style="text-align: center">12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Statue of Liberty (with base)</td>
<td style="text-align: center">93</td>
<td style="text-align: center">39,000</td>
<td style="text-align: center">24</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Great Pyramid of Giza</td>
<td style="text-align: center">140</td>
<td style="text-align: center">47,000</td>
<td style="text-align: center">29</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Statue of Unity (with base)</td>
<td style="text-align: center">240</td>
<td style="text-align: center">60,000</td>
<td style="text-align: center">37</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Burj Khalifa</td>
<td style="text-align: center">830</td>
<td style="text-align: center">110,000</td>
<td style="text-align: center">67</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Mount Everest</td>
<td style="text-align: center">8800</td>
<td style="text-align: center">340,000</td>
<td style="text-align: center">210</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Severe Thunderstorm</td>
<td style="text-align: center">18000</td>
<td style="text-align: center">480,000</td>
<td style="text-align: center">300</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p hidden="">Arc distance along the ground is same as straight-line distance, up to the precision I used for these numbers.
Once you get up to the Mount Everest row, the difference is on the order of one mile.</p>
<p>The practical takeaways for hexcrawling are that if you're standing in the middle of a flat twelve-mile hex, then: </p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>You can just barely see the top of someone's head if they're standing at the edge of the hex. (But there's probably a shrubbery in the way.)</li>
<li>You can see the top of a mature tree standing in the middle of the neighboring hex. (If you use a telescope and there are no other trees in the way.)</li>
<li>You can see the top of a giant robot from two hexes away. (Very important to know.)</li>
<li>You can see storms and mountains from quite some distance. (<a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/snow-capped-himalayas-visible-from-uttar-pradeshs-saharanpur-photos-go-viral-after-cyclone-tauktea-7324268/">Haze will be more important than horizon by that point.</a> I don't know whether you'd actually be able to recognize a storm at 300 miles (25 hexes), but <a href="https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/5255/how-far-away-can-you-see-a-thunderstorm">here are a couple anecdotes of people noticing thunderstorms from more than 120 miles (10 hexes) away</a> under the right conditions.)
</li></ul>
<p>I've seen similar numbers before, but wanted to recalculate everything in a tidy little list for my own use. </p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>
<p> Calculator widget below</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<!--http://biorefinery.utk.edu/technical_reviews/Tree%20Size.pdf
| Sauroposeidon | 18 | 19,900 | 12.4 |
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2010-06-16-ct-wea-0617-asktom-20100616-story.html
http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints2/536/
https://openclipart.org/detail/315971/retro-man-looking
https://openclipart.org/detail/278744/eiffel-tower-->
<br>
<h2 id="calculator">Calculator</h2>
<fieldset>
<legend>Parameters</legend>
<div title="Height of your eyes.">
<label>Eye Height (in meters): </label>
<input id="personHeight" name="personHeight" onchange="h = parseFloat(this.value); updateNumbers();" type="number" value="2" />
</div>
<div title="Height of distant object which you are viewing.">
<label>Height of Object (in meters): </label>
<input id="mountainHeight" name="mountainHeight" onchange="H = parseFloat(this.value); updateNumbers();" type="number" value="100" />
</div>
<div title="Radius of Earth.">
<label>Radius of Planet (in meters): </label>
<input id="earthRadius" name="earthRadius" onchange="R = parseFloat(this.value); updateNumbers();" type="number" value="6370000" />
</div>
</fieldset>
<div style="padding: 1rem; text-align: center;"><button onclick="updateNumbers()">⬇️ Update Results ⬇️</button></div>
<fieldset>
<legend>Maximum distance at which object is visible:</legend>
<!--The maximum distance at which you can still see the object is as follows:<br>-->
Arc distance along ground from feet to base: <b><span id="arcDistance"></span></b> meters. (<b><span id="arcDistanceMiles"></span></b> miles)<br />
Straight-line distance from eyes to tip of object: <b><span id="losDistance"></span></b> meters. (<b><span id="losDistanceMiles"></span></b> miles)<br />
<!--These numbers are evaluated to three sig figs.-->
</fieldset>
<script>
var h = parseFloat(document.getElementById("personHeight").value);
var H = parseFloat(document.getElementById("mountainHeight").value);
var R = parseFloat(document.getElementById("earthRadius").value);
function nicelyFormatNumber(n){
//formats number with specific degrees of freedom, trailing zeros, and comma seperators.
//return (n).toPrecision(3).toLocaleString();
const sigfigs = 3;
var leadingDigits = Math.floor(Math.log10(Math.abs(n)))+1 //floor+1 because ciel(log10(10)) = 1
if (leadingDigits <= 0) {
return n.toPrecision(sigfigs).toLocaleString();
}
const adjustmentFactor = 10**(leadingDigits - sigfigs);
return (Math.round(n/adjustmentFactor)*adjustmentFactor).toLocaleString();
}
function updateNumbers(){
//lowercase for vars on the person's side of things.
//uppercase for vars on the mountain's side
//straight line distance to horizon
d = Math.sqrt((R+h)**2 - R**2);
D = Math.sqrt((R+H)**2 - R**2);
//angle between feet and horizon point (in radians)
theta = Math.acos(R/(R+h))
THETA = Math.acos(R/(R+H))
//arc distance to horizon
s = theta*R;
S = THETA*R;
document.getElementById("losDistance").innerHTML = nicelyFormatNumber((d+D)/1);
document.getElementById("arcDistance").innerHTML = nicelyFormatNumber((s+S)/1);
const MetersPerMile = 5280*0.3048 // feet per mile * meters per foot (exact)
document.getElementById("losDistanceMiles").innerHTML = nicelyFormatNumber((d+D)/MetersPerMile);
document.getElementById("arcDistanceMiles").innerHTML = nicelyFormatNumber((s+S)/MetersPerMile);
}
updateNumbers();
</script>
<!--https://sites.math.washington.edu/~conroy/m120-general/horizon.pdf
<div title="Line-of-Site distance">
<label for="losDistance">Distance from eyes to tip of object: </label>
<input type="number" id="losDistance" name="losDistance" readonly value="0">
meters.
</div>-->
<div id="table-of-examples" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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<div id="equations" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div><h2 id="equations">Equations
</h2>
<h3 id="straight-line-distance">
Straight-line Distance
</h3>
<p>Assume the earth is a perfect sphere with radius $R_⊕$.</p>
<p>If your eyes are at height $h$ above the surface of the sphere,
then the distance to the horizon is:</p>
\[d = \sqrt{ {(R_⊕+H)}^2 - R_⊕^2}\]
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH06Wt8cE7zfVnR9Ep28wBjgfcDeOqDxRTHMmKkzoeg0FD2GH5mmFuU-WcdnevdvIR25pKmKPAEWv1KQl-5Ak9bsUD0fcbPqp_pvmQdTUdt9GlqKtjnK-qgYLndDohfUIcgR_mJbIahKdfuhF3Wz7ryenbdF73fgSAdxFeZ1ttklIxFlOb56R-mMYP/s1600/horizon_figure1.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="1600" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH06Wt8cE7zfVnR9Ep28wBjgfcDeOqDxRTHMmKkzoeg0FD2GH5mmFuU-WcdnevdvIR25pKmKPAEWv1KQl-5Ak9bsUD0fcbPqp_pvmQdTUdt9GlqKtjnK-qgYLndDohfUIcgR_mJbIahKdfuhF3Wz7ryenbdF73fgSAdxFeZ1ttklIxFlOb56R-mMYP/w640-h246/horizon_figure1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<p>Now suppose there’s an object of height $H$ which is so far away that you can just barely see the top of it over the horizon.</p>
<p>The distance from the horizon to the top of that object is</p>
\[D = \sqrt{ {(R_⊕+H)}^2 - R_⊕^2 }\]
<p>And the distance from your eyes to the top of that object is</p>
\[distance = d + D = \sqrt{ {(R_⊕+h)}^2 - R_⊕^2} + \sqrt{ {(R_⊕+H)}^2 - R_⊕^2 }\]
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-SJ5o1djdxaH992XmzyRyQi4ldvZEE4Kfvnz-r1iu_R9BlnPD3ycOwD5qQtIRyL5-eoXC65Xurfkd4gbNDEZfWWubVLtZUEsWl9Ul-_xuxVB55MhQeYaVg7Vff_7-dRlyKcZ6ot73ZgZoNOAKJ3v3-pbqr_kAmkj_cpfq1bqImlbIZ-pXVNy_aEb/s1600/horizon_figure2.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="1600" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-SJ5o1djdxaH992XmzyRyQi4ldvZEE4Kfvnz-r1iu_R9BlnPD3ycOwD5qQtIRyL5-eoXC65Xurfkd4gbNDEZfWWubVLtZUEsWl9Ul-_xuxVB55MhQeYaVg7Vff_7-dRlyKcZ6ot73ZgZoNOAKJ3v3-pbqr_kAmkj_cpfq1bqImlbIZ-pXVNy_aEb/w640-h246/horizon_figure2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<h3 id="distance-along-the-ground">
Distance Along the Ground
</h3>
<p>Unless you’re looking at something <i>really</i> tall, the arc-length distance along the ground will be practically the same as the straight-line distance.</p>
<p>But it you want to be exact, the formula is</p>
\[arclength = (\theta_1 + \theta_2) \cdot R_⊕\]
<p>Where the angles are</p>
\[\theta_1 = \arccos \left(\frac{R_⊕}{R_⊕+h}\right)\]
\[\theta_2 = \arccos \left(\frac{R_⊕}{R_⊕+H}\right)\]
𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-73281285801045223322022-10-17T11:42:00.001-07:002022-10-17T12:08:40.495-07:00Teeth are Magic Crystals.<p>We all know <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/271188/Moonhop">wizard teeth are full of magic</a>.
<p>But in fact, <i>all</i> teeth and bones are full of magic to varying degrees.
Living animals accumulate magic in their bodies when interacting with the aether.
This magic settles in the form of magicite crystals, which integrate neatly into the apatite crystals found in non-magical bones and teeth.
Any creature which lives in a magically rich environment will develop a more magicitic skeleton, and grow more resistant to injury as a result.
<p>(This is also why the cheapest form of mana potion is simply concentrated bone broth. Makes a good stew and recharges your fireballs too.)
<h2>Bones and Teeths with Special Powers</h2>
<p>Some creatures have adapted to direct their bioaccumulation of magicite towards specific parts of their skeletons, and to shape it for more esoteric effects.
<p>In big apex predators like wolves and lions, the magicite concentrates in the fangs. This imbues their bites with supernatural killing power.
The most dramatic example of this is the smilodon's ability to bite things from several paces away.
<p>Other examples of tissues with high magicite concentration include the horns of antelopes, the clubs of mantis shrimp, the dermal denticles of certain sharks, and the tusks of the mighty porcine unicorn.
<p>(Larger animals and apex predators tend to accumulate more magicite, but there are exceptions to this rule.)
<h3>Magical Bird Pearls</h3>
<!--<p>Technically speaking, all skeletal tissues contain "mana crystals", but the term is most commonly used to refer to magically dense stones commonly found in the gizzards of birds.-->
<p>Birds (and frogs and some other creatures) lack teeth or other bony protusions, and tend to have unenhanced skeletons.
Instead, they ingest a small rock or particle of sand, and then coat it with layers of magicite.
The resulting <i>magicitic gastroliths</i>, or <i>mana pearls</i><!--or <i>magic crystals</i>-->, are most commonly used simply to aid in digestion, but can also be channeled to more exotic effects.
<p>Who can forget the fire-breath of the flamingo, the shield-penetrating honk of the celestial goose, and the psychic calls of the songbirds?
<p>You can never quite be sure what a hawk is capable of. They ingest and store the pearls from the birds they eat as prey, and elderly hawks are on par with young wizards in terms of the diversity of their spellcasting abilities.
<!--If the wizard has a gizzard. Lizard wizard?-->
<h3>Teeth are the Catalyst for Verbal Spellcasting</h3>
<p>In humans, the magicite concentrates in the teeth, but not as a weapon. Human dental magicite is the reason that song and incantation enhances spellcasting.
<p>A child's milk teeth are essentially mundane, being apatite-based. The second set of developing adult teeth are imbued with magicite throughout the first years of a child's life.
And it is only once they erupt that a child begins to display magical aptitude.
Wisdom teeth are so called because they develop for longer and so accumulate a higher concentration of magicite.
<p>People often lose their teeth as they age, and it used to be that they needed ivory dentures to maintain their magical abilities.
This all changed, of course, with the discovery of arguably the most important spell of the modern wizarding era: <i>Fauchard's Renewal</i>
<h3>Wizards Regrow Teeth Like Sharks</h3>
<p>Anyone who practices magic frequently, and thus cycles more aether through their body, will accumulate additional magicite.
But because their teeth have already erupted and stopped growing, most of this magicite goes towards strengthening the skeleton and generally enhancing the constitution.
<p><i>Fauchard's Renewal</i> is a spell with stimulates the growth of a new set of adult teeth. It was initially used as a way to improve the quality of life of the elderly.
But it was quickly discovered that when grown in the mouth of a spellcaster, this tertiary set of teeth has an incredibly high magicite-to-apatite ratio.
It is thus now standard practice to apply this spell to students at the conclusion of their magical training.
Practicing wizards have lost both their baby teeth and their adult teeth, and now have "wizard teeth".
<p>Wizard teeth are powerful magical items and valuable ritual components.
Some mages are thus tempted to apply the spell multiple times, harvesting teeth to enhance their power.
However, this process is stressful on the body.
The nutrients that would be directed towards reinforcing the bones and counteracting the effects of aging are instead directed towards growing more teeth.
Those who abuse the process risk premature aging.
<p>(Also, if you beat up a wizard and steal their teeth, you can make dentures which give you a wizard level.)
<!--Extra credit for anyone who can tie tooth fairies into this whole thing.-->
𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-59816349587693914572022-10-01T10:06:00.006-07:002022-10-01T11:22:12.568-07:0022 Magical Teas, and the Plants from Which they're Made
<p>The following is a list of 22 strange plants used for brewing magical teas. Each entry describes where this plant can be found or how it can be cultivated.
Each accompanying image is AI-generated by <a href="https://www.wombo.art">Wombo's Dream AI</a>.
</p>
<p>This was written for <a href="https://infiniteautomaton.blogspot.com/">Stick</a> for the Spring 2022 Secret Jackalope blogpost exchange. My apologies for the delay.
</p>
<style>
.magictea {
width:100%;
}
.magictea, .magictea td {
border:1px solid #b58900;
text-align: center;
}
.magictea td img {
padding: 0 !important;
min-width: 9rem;
}
@media (min-width: 800px) {
.magictea td p {
padding: 0 20px;
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<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>1. Bartered Tea </h3><p>
Tea made from the <i>Il Plagato</i> plant promotes a calm mind and enhances physical dexterity, but only if the leaves are willingly given to the harvester. Stolen leaves are bitter and have a diuretic effect. Such plants are typically willing to part with some leaves in exchange for entertainment, and are known to be especially fond of juggling.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy85FHdfT1ICtVMXSa-eEGDlT98Io5pqpeHpyp0CyzOtwclfLzS03jXNsD6C3paGM4xMAysAEntTwvNEEblqB94IKZbCFT4er9h5Czu2RwyiBrz5E-Y7zQ0JZOPGnXwFdLcL9PssuTW0wBSEB60jjlo-HCcilE2D5jkkIJi-h8v1MTMOEdiZZyKah0/s320/1%20striding%20leaf%20biped.jpeg" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>2. Piper Tea</h3><p>
The <i>Joan Piper Poppy Plant</i> is notable for its symbiotic relationship with a species of mice. These mice are observed to cultivate the plant in the wild, manually pollinating its flowers, spreading its seeds, and burying small dead animals near the base of the plant (presumably for nutrients). Observation in controlled environments has discovered that the Poppy coordinates the efforts of the mice by emitting a sequence of ultrasonic squeaks. The poppy can be brewed into a tea with a cheezy aroma and mild narcotic effects. At high dosages, drinkers report the ability to speak to rodents, and also a desire to cultivate Joan Piper Poppies.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_BSGaxoUn2zWsu6mHPxsHdC9uXdxjUcGn2y2dc7TbSdhKsiZtqryeRdiYNQ7FM3IvDnoyUCod89iXkWOHQWd5DyISIL4uu6R4u-OM5PsE8P0jUxmmZo2QuH_VDY5v7OKh5BfJAXJulmpLiw2-UFldXj92d8RVTtsQ98DJgJWiAFGPCTqyl1EBW0g/s320/odd%20little%20shrub.%20Like%20a%20mouse,%20it%20squeaks.jpg" />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>3. Sad Playwright's Tea </h3><p>
Many plants employ pain or disgust as a defense mechanism. <i>Otheh Humaneh</i>, colloquially known as "<i>sad shrub</i>", employs despair.
Physical contact, or even sometimes visual contact, with the plant induces a state of tearful sorrow.
Many ill-prepared growers of the plant have left their fields unharvested after deciding that the whole venture "just feels pointless".
After the plant has been boiled into a tea, the emotional effects diminish in severity while increasing in 'depth', with
drinkers of otheh humaneh tea swearing by its ability to induce artistic inspiration.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyUZYCCvXlHVRdju90kRttwBpEl0onb-ptOCYpTj6bLJyFVMwNFAK45Fh7c-sxnLyp-3LFUtuumOLz4ko-OCQ9wnUeMk_C7akHWA1hmIiiqnKS9sUh_9-LRW3cnFDjZ0yfK-TkiRfqEGSVA0oA6u0TKnCBo4q-r55yMoSyfimB8ph2fhkDDI0UPQHI/s320/odd%20little%20shrub,%20which%20makes%20all%20who%20see%20it%20weep.jpg" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>4. King's Tea </h3><p>
<i>King's Tea Trees</i> are very small trees (they must always be referred to as a "tree") which require respect and praise to grow, in addition to the usual inputs of light and water. The leaves smell and taste like leather. When brewed, the resulting tea gives the drinker feelings of superiority and bravery, as well as a supernatural sort of "weather resistance". Imbibe a large amount of King's Tea, and you'll likely be able to survive a lightning strike, but you'll also get the feeling that running around in a lightning storm and shouting challenges to to the gods is a perfectly reasonably thing for someone of your status to do.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMV5vhBOR1oi2s9MGnVy1ANmgi_e-LwWCg-tnrCOzAIU9NnY0kxrO6Fk10d4LO-FFvHNH2khHJ7Qjf2CuIJqvA_kvxVTK_W3ZYfR7lFuYOA7J6gfh6C4lLK1RQsTWHJIoX3ZBqAZcMxTpAFwF7V_rQYBfyFX9V4XuChxrkFFjXG-0bGYVngbIIF5t/s320/odd%20little%20shrub,%20not%20too%20dissimilar%20to%20teak.jpg" />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxQf9fSEZMnTeDe7K6imbNjaRvUb7oeKzUZkqKXZofH8AfnITjVMWIqexkkfCRPr2t_lVpdXAf2dAf3_K-1hxG-gRkafNzYaZadeCEWVnJI3mdFdbWOoMy7f3mGeRosh-yEUaUHXHsldWlJxRSpqYYHH7teFzxMlrBvK_ozl9XG6mVoKy4NDMIq1T/s320/odd%20little%20shrub,%20covered%20in%20fatty%20meat.jpg" /></td>
<td>
<h3>5. Vampire's Balm</h3><p>
The <i>Lambsblood Bush</i>, created as the byproduct of a high-energy linguistics experiment, is a plant with physical properties mysteriously out of sync with its metaphysical nature.
Its fruits, although physically resembling bitter strawberries, count as "flesh" for the purposes of all magical effects (magical identification, ritual component requirements, etc.).
Likewise its leaves, when brewed into tea, count as "blood".
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXtaeUAa_A0h0yWVku-2qy2Y713g2-WjusNfn4pzROOCnEgnPTlouHHzRTLQmg3VjfqYLRuDz3Bwhvo_e10YVww0qEVkQ0_pXYXtMvfzUCH-M3NyxUNCjarrw-w11BQndjacF3_qA674czDP7DUJkj11fcYljUGvfkBz2rHE0cP5XQzluCX6BpsuHP/s320/odd%20little%20shrub,%20beep%20beep%20beep.jpg" />
</td>
<td>
<h3>6. False Love Potion</h3><p>
<i>Crass's Matrimony</i> is a knobbly little succulent which pulses like a beating heart. Its mucilage can be processed into a mildly euphoria inducing beverage with a bizarre side-effect. If two drinkers make eye contact, they'll both be overwhelmed by the desire to marry each other. To clarify, the tea doesn't make people sexually or romantically attracted to each other, it just induces a desire to <i>legally</i> wed. The drink remains popular largely because the effect is too short-lived to cause long-term problems unless imbibed near a courthouse.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTZSxP9xA6kRwTb7beyH2_IKz6bQcQY2e_0I_uId1q92g-f041GAy1Rtr50e-Cv9TcTq-pobbbNoMVog1bmMDNTCvcaW9BiibjxKpEjtPkvuL3CTPSmJhiIHFbSGilCKzbmUmBp6r2hRDiYi9pr4FFuy9vPGpXsLMwAqiUFb5-G4Yol49I3euKy8O_/s320/7%20shrub%20with%20wheels%20in%20dark%20loamy%20earthy%20in%20the%20forest.jpeg" /></td>
<td>
<h3>7. Ambulatory Tea</h3><p>
<i>Ambulo Brambles</i> are hearty shrubs which easily grow in only moderately magical soils, but care must be taken to regularly prune the wheel-shaped growths. If the shrub's wheels are allowed to fully develop, the plant will upend itself and zoom away. When brewed into tea, ambulo leaves provide a magically specific stimulant effect, providing wakefulness and alertness only while one is walking.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibLRjkk-23I3tNC23lLVkMNNfQun_N6ies-HfpTND2YjOqp2wEewARje0kjvxhWue01-_hSgZk8cQ_lFYJAVspd76DHsZVDjThNFEKloJKkevo_040RbsNwVrtct9oEbsrqaHx7rTUweCGNrxhpxY9zHbQ10EbABF6qUw9DI7J8mh1YCkqPs2jx805/s320/8%20geometric%20fractal%20maple-leaf%20temple.jpg" />
</td>
<td>
<h3>8. Unseen Universe Tea</h3><p>
<i>Unseen Maple</i> withers if seen. Its trunks are tapped for syrup by blind monks and the syrup stored in opaque bottles. When consumed, the unseen syrup induces hallucinations, but only of things which are actually there. Emotions can be seen as auras, secrets can be heard as whispers, invisible interlopers can be smelled.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>9. Fulgur Tea</h3><p>
<i>Hermitic Fulgur</i> is a plant which must be grown alone. If a single person tends to two of these plants, both plants will die. Its seeds numb the mouth like mala pepper, and can be brewed into a tea which makes the drinker ‘feel charged’. If the Hermetic Fulgur is struck by lightning, then the tea brewed from its ashes becomes supernaturally potent, capable of keeping the drinker alert and awake for several weeks, though with a tingling tongue the entire time.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcSNSYD8zUushqU2UUEV-Lr2QSQMDx1O85-fVWHbXD7csjElITFa40c_NAaklovsWMNDWYS3WL6Mz1HXbzw3NxCQ-vBOCb2b3_TFUOd3EzPJlGEkSWeEex16C3qdN4QB3EdZLfxHutOTLlcjELYLwp3mOKtDVRhxirBWcmSMsuUJpMDFK3NDEuFKfc/s320/9%20Claude%20Monet,%20liverwort,%20crackling%20with%20electricity,%20hunched%20over.jpg" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>10. Tea of Fortune</h3><p>
<i>Jo Fortuna</i> is a plant which can look like nearly anything. Gardeners often grow it by mistake. And fields of the stuff are impossible to properly weed.
Jo Fortuna Tea can taste like nearly anything. For most drinkers, it’s a novelty experience. Some drinkers taste something so incomparably delicious that they spend the rest of their lives sipping cups of tea which taste like olives or earwax or slightly burnt grapes, pining for just one more good cup of Jo.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ltE9E0SpIjKCZ1-dlTYopx7-CDEoUufv_bNnk79xEQgN0Am4aRkZdvTTxigkytOatVWffgrXUyBzHZohPzwt47ALDBaT-saI-QMfZBJirQAR5FJtOmgVfe1G2sJBUsyn4E7OgtKag3GFXsuHuYbavTAYijkPOU16vqvXZj_ce__1R2I1t3ANiYOA/s320/10%20womboWizardTea1.jpeg" />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>11. Crumple Tea</h3><p>
The vines of the <i>Greedy Squash</i> plant have a tendency not just to wrap around objects, but to envelop them, squeeze them, crush them. If the leaves of the plant are made into tea, (or the fruit into soup,) then drinking the resulting concoction grants knowledge of all that the plant had crushed. Most commonly, this means the tea has an earthy aroma and makes the drinker ponder fallen branches, but carefully tended squashes can yield teas with diverse sagacious properties.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisX-xE1YbezD7JpCF2yCrtfjnwHa-ka8ZZg_N63X66HloJY1Bmeh1L8D1nQ3KMrNtb4vTiU7_AcxDWokgMa37QYd9f2pRHx36hHYYQala0TB3cHh-phOtPl7OhzpWXQHfTJ6hD3EkRnhLD7F7e2oNMFcDyX2IlzR_7ofvWczD1Owkuqi0RQ53_EzII/s320/11%20vines%20like%20hands.jpeg" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>12. Reach Tea</h3><p>
<i>Tricksy Vine</i> is only found hanging from the canopies of tall trees. It won't grow close to the ground, no matter what you try. Its tea promotes thoughtfulness and problem-solving creativity. Monkeys are often seen chewing on the leaves. Perhaps that's why they're so clever.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2PEaLn4kdgP_L6wPSppSyI_LxkG8t7YtI7RcvSNeBtvPXzlJd-FhHQZAGfP5kkfu3QX8FVXE15pLJjjapagDnc2c4-7js7dSZcdtlJZiR4Ydjg_gwG9uvlVS6MR6t0luXvWNXDZzUdMunB13sheaUGHZ1UQjbAlFlP0d7pw8KVnH7KWUAj5qvyhsk/s320/12%20dangling%20tea%20vines.jpeg" />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotYsiOgqcHI9UYuDr-J-R_w6kHw4eRci6w5BFrJvJdcKb5-GP0nGRIWlcs2MpmzKKfvDgKMb2q0BSYh8pxGX3i9ZO5Ik04UguvwoCNGs3LSBrMbPKdrqrApISCSRtuUFTXsZvpIL326qPWkZrm67aswd3uNqCscX1MIM0WtfvVB70vMp2Nn-pRFgP/s320/Claude%20Monet,%20bramble,%20berries,%20bones.jpg" /></td>
<td>
<h3>13</h3><p>
Grows on bones. Feed the plant well, and its berries will erupt into thick syrupy vapor. Drink the vapor into your lungs to see into other worlds.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOtXwZro7YBTHdyDUbG3p_shHQDYFD6n-bGyw0IAJMymyuXzjH7RHLMa_yQ9m4TlSb275qazSvVFaozxigm4z2Fj83Y1mVS-P_jHrjn03JAmFYoYkiJ7O0hvDgEzrn4TewBTh9u6Fxh5R7lsIO-UnJDYRq3nanFnitNifG1Sf9nkmy9EJZFtWBj4e/s320/14%20Claude%20Monet,%20floating,%20misty,%20lily,%20sharp.jpg" />
</td>
<td>
<h3>14. Temperance Tea </h3><p>
Temperance Tea is a universal antidote to mind-altering effects. It counters the effects of liquor, narcotics, enchantment spells, other teas, etc. It doesn't come from a specific plant, and can be made from the leaves or flowers of <i>any plant</i> which was formerly the home of a Temperance Fairy. Such fairies enjoy living in beautiful gardens, but will leave if the garden becomes <i>too</i> beautiful.<!--Cruel brutes might tear a Temperance Fairies-->
<!--The trick to sustainably farming the stuff is to establish multiple <i>merely adequate</i> gardens for such a fairy to live in. Once a critter moves in, you improve the quality of their garden until it becomes-->
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwflxImESHo86wWV0S8tFOdbLnzWZSaikJl84k-Iu6VDeWtGEnxS7jZGutDsL2uI87g_es3Ys3WhEWNmlz_xTdUf7IY6cAEvn2aQbTnSDF9FuQ3M6aZhGPf-gzegM7hslzUPMIge01Hbl4tKXrwQrnkEzNHRZWRyKtqqSHy2lAG7ooUyluWH8_kZMx/s320/morel%20leviathan.jpg" /></td>
<td>
<h3>15. Devil's Tea</h3><p>
The <i>Lord of Morels</i> is a twisted mass of fungus and wood located deep beneath the earth. Scrapings taken from the mass can be dissolved in alcohol and drunk as a tincture which twists fate. The drinker will henceforth have enhanced luck but is destined to die prematurely in a cave.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaaND3njp8eDCI4q5M-locTlgBdkn53BPvuHTA15DgAJ_dKZnufgeHL84wM-hghmJ1G0U92GB9O4QwJ-D_GCS5Z2-N43UwPTSW-459DdAam4yV3WPoxQiMYNSBJ2WPOL4VOC9-RAcdtiXh2Bsco1sMwdqCvqwnYqyehuJUv4dJL5Gw8rbAioBeUaJ9/s320/Ancient%20Tree%20atop%20a%20Mountain%20in%20front%20of%20a%20Blue%20Sky,%20Katsushika%20Hokusai.jpg"/>
</td>
<td>
<h3>16. Scroll Tea</h3><p>
Just as a person can leave behind a ghost when they die, so too can a building. When a wizard's tower crumbles, it leaves behind an imprint on the aether. <i>Lingering Liana</i> can grow on that imprint like a scaffold. Drinking a cup of tea brewed from its leaves allows the drinker to cast a random spell that the wizard of that tower knew. The plant itself can cast them too, if it feels the need.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>17. Navigator's Tea</h3><p>
<i>Winter Astrid</i> grows only in dangerous places; if you find a living specimen, then you should probably go somewhere else, very quickly. Its tea lets the drinker feel the touch of the stars, and temporarily grants them a supernatural sense of direction.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrblxSJpDnBfPVjHa_W4lpOiHzOhILJ3BaTgLwpi8-DhJ6sYoGSmA89aeSqhPabeFW4TlDhds13Myvzw8iQQuoDsCldc1t0bz2dkkHUJakQJfZQER9LHNraAHg2EtzLsoQxfn5RJA-1hTDj2J11GM6_0JIQs72feAB3nMfzb6_wbNqiBYkpXQJPFe-/s320/an%20odd%20little%20shrub,%20with%20thorns%20on%20its%20branches%20and%20leaves%20that%20grow%20in%20threes%20and%20a%20curious%20light-blue%20tint.jpg" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>18. Selene Tea</h3><p>
<i>Crescent Thyme</i> can only be grown in soil completely hidden from sunlight, making it rare in the wild but easy to cultivate. Its tea resets circadian rythms, causing the drinker to immediately become drowsy, making them become drowsy at the same the next day, and so on. Potioneers can use its magical essence to manipulate other cyclical phenomena as well.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RE3udGdPgBV9NXIRYUOlmUyriTWs3vMhWFi-EOebIe1Gx8LIjHaXyz-G3BPS1saxuLiyJKdO8BeikS48wH-MJWh346q-Ij2AFSD0Am4WdbvQYIUnOyWrlJbs-zDHXTGlviFhLAoHG3LkIiPajgbDMBsmeQFbk0OnJHu8IOAF9raVga8oCx2LoQsJ/s320/crescent%20moon%20tea%20leaf%20herb%20pale%20cyan.jpeg" />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>19. Solari Tea</h3><p>
Made with glowing leaves from the <i>Camellia Solaris</i> plant, which can only be grown on the very peaks of mountaintops. Its tea makes it 'subjectively daytime' for the drinker. They feel awake and the skies look bright. This effect grants an ability to see in the dark at night, but only in areas which would be illuminated during the day.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTlopyRFoQHLjHKZVUeEVeXv7VDAal6KRkfVWTGpLukeeq_kqnrPuHJA5_O5-9DxyA-r6aw5d-i5bgA48sICBLN8mPYRBHplklvCz39vy1wpICYnrMfecAIivLuWUSEuX1otImsOm-G1Da04ItzzMBp_f6VDc1qxpLudDqYN_2JgSIp5NVqBMoUiqc/s320/glowing%20golden%20shrubbery%20atop%20a%20sacred%20mount.jpg" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<h3>20. Tea of Remembrance</h3><p>
<i>Burning Trumpet</i> is an eternally burning plant with flame in place of leaves.
It tends to sprout in places where the fabric of reality has been cracked or the borders between worlds are thin.
If the plant’s ghostly leaf-flames are used to boil water, then the water becomes temporarily infused with the power of remembrance. The power fades as the water cools. If drunk while warm, the water allows the drinker to recover forgotten memories. If drunk while scalding hot, it allows the drinker to remember past lives.
</td>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJRsJR_x62558DAIA5-YiwrhosgLe9Kk2Ex7nESz_pV3DTh_wsznwvHEIyOBPp3Xy-z3UKoa_EvDZUMFg2R3y7hgG8hfEQH6IJoKpZXrEfVnHklNBB1GFXgB45a_szzdisrcxy48eTUbboooFZLbTW4SxMPZhKU0pyDXGNsF1rppGqfCWj2kvg5D5/s320/20%20wizard,%20vines,%20bioluminescent,%20flame.jpg" />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIktNGssl-BCqdgp72ByyI2BgI3qpoL4xGr4vm0uiNoJ4JQzTZdrWvGvPEIjYjHJsz-pJcfQmu4frcbdpMUDyAFPH8T-1Pf-Fm7gTtv3qe9BezSNzTARdCF79ZW3604tjMZN9KlHRBT1g-9VYXqNralLaWGzIcLx44vb3gyHrze-RN27MdlR__B4L/s320/glowing%20tea%20tree.jpeg" /></td>
<td>
<h3>21. Etern Tea</h3><p>
Brewed from the leaves of <i>the tree of eternal life</i>, this is the tea sipped by the creator while surveying creation. It grants the drinker Perfect Peace, and frees their mind from the flow of time. A small satchel of dried leaves are rumored to have been recently smuggled out of heaven.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table class="magictea">
<tbody><tr>
<td>
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgviAFg3mztcjy3YUYgUk388jvd3ajvPa-nJZ4V2lvJF1-jwhLe5uIGFyP6GrMAZKhT_5oVMqv0E4iOCIdcVD460CgH44EjkE-fJ5oHFHxL2y3FlW1c1AmfriFxSj1AQFQVASF0njw-7mYbtzWCH_L7pW1sWjlwBG6yXpkmAc4t8OfwToDAtcGyUfAX/s320/wizard,%20tea%20leaves,%20blue%20sky,%20ape.jpg" />
</td>
<td>
<h3>0. Breeze Tea</h3><p>
<i>Breeze Tea</i> leaves grow on the wind. They cannot be cultivated. They cannot be contained or corralled. They can only be harvested by chance, when a handful of leaves blows past your face and you reach out and snatch them. The leaves, when brewed, have no magical effect, but are universally agreed to be delicious.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
For more tea, see <a href="http://eldritchfields.blogspot.com/2022/05/secret-jackalope-d10-special-teas-for.html">this batch by Eldritch Fields</a>
𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-39141542106787458232021-11-29T02:15:00.015-08:002021-12-04T22:54:18.002-08:00A Metric System for Faerun
<!--<h1 id="a-metric-system-for-faerun">A Metric System for Faerun</h1>-->
<style>
td, th {
border: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,1);
padding: 0.3em;
min-width: 5em;
}
tr:nth-child(even) {
background-color:rgba(230, 215, 200, 0.53);
}
thead{
background: rgba(230, 215, 200, 1);
}
table {
border-collapse: collapse;
border-spacing: 0;
margin: 0;
max-width: 100%;
}
</style>
<p>In many tabletop roleplaying games,
the <b>round</b> of 6 seconds,
and the <b>space</b> or <b>square</b> of 5 feet
serve as basic units of measurement for game mechanics.
Just for fun, let’s try to actually construct a
system of measurements using these as our base units for time and distance.</p>
<p>The self-imposed rules of the exercise are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>Derived units are expressed simply in terms of base units. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coherence_(units_of_measurement)">Coherence</a>)</li>
<li>Larger or smaller units use a consistent exponential power (Though I’m not sticking to decimal).</li>
<li>And if possible, the resulting system should feel psuedo-medieval, be intuitive to a 21st century American, and be useful for rules of thumb in a tabletop rpg.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<a name='more'></a>
<h2 id="units-of-time">Units of Time</h2>
<p>One of the starting points is that our base unit of time is the <b>round</b>, which is equal to to 6 seconds.</p>
<p>Here’s an interesting observation:
A 24-hour day is equal to 14400 = 120 times 120 rounds.
This suggests the use of a base-120 system of units,
which is handy for that psuedo-medieval feel,
because <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_hundred#English_unit">“hundred” used to refer to units of 120</a>.
<!--There's also a bit of hobbit flair, because this gives you an excuse to drop "eleventy" into your in-game dialect.--></p>
<p>Whenever you see “<i>hundred</i>” in the rest of this post, you should interpret it as a “long hundred”, meaning 120.
For example:</p>
<ul>
<li>The base unit of time is the <b>round</b> (6 seconds).</li>
<li>There are a hundred rounds in a <b>turn</b> (12 minutes),</li>
<li>a hundred turns in a <b>day</b>,</li>
<li>a hundred days in a <b>season</b> (120 days),</li>
<li>and roughly a hundred seasons in a <b>career</b> (40 years).</li>
</ul>
<p>And the nice thing about 120 is that it has lots of devisors, so all the other units of time we’re used to slot right in <sup id="fnref:normaltimeunits" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:normaltimeunits" rel="footnote">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>And a year of 365 days is <i>a bit more than</i> 3 seasons, but eh.
This is a fantasy world, so if that bothers you, then you can totally just make the year a bit shorter.
Nobody will even notice.
I’ve also seen “watch” (sixth of a day, 4 hours, 20 turns) and “march” (third of a day, 8 hours, 40 turns) used as convenient rpg units.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t see such a tiny unit being useful in ttrpg time accounting, but we can also go one level smaller.
1/120th of a round is 50 milliseconds.
Just for fun, let’s call this a <b>tick</b><sup id="fnref:minecraftreference" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:minecraftreference" rel="footnote">2</a></sup>.</p>
<hr />
<h2 id="units-of-distance">Units of Length</h2>
<p>The size of a square on a tabletop rpg grid is 5 feet.
Calling the unit of length a “square” would be rather confusing.
<!--We could also call it the "space", but there's a slightly more interesting option:-->
Classically, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pace_(unit)">the Roman <i>pace</i> was 5 Roman feet</a>,
so let’s call our base unit of length the “pace” (even though it’s slightly longer than a Roman pace).
And then in-universe, “space” could be a pormanteau of “square pace”, making the battle-grid diagetic.</p>
<ul>
<li>There are a hundred <b>fingerwidths</b> (half an inch)<sup id="fnref:fingerwidthexplanation" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:fingerwidthexplanation" rel="footnote">3</a></sup> in a pace.</li>
<li>The base unit of distance is the <b>pace</b> (5 feet).</li>
<li>There are a hundred paces in a <b>stadium</b> (600 feet),</li>
<li>and a hundred stadiums in a <b>hex</b> (about 13.6 miles or 11.85 nautical miles).</li>
</ul>
<p hidden>The reason for calling 600 feet a “field” is twofold.
Firstly, the traditional american unit of length is the “football field”, which is precisely half of this distance.
And secondly, 600 ft is a wee bit shorter than the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furlong">660 foot furlong</a>,
which was traditionally the length an oxen could plow, and hence the width of a field.</p>
<p>It’s more traditional to have a 12 mile hex in rpg maps,
but we can comfort ourselves by pretending that all those old rpg modules meant <i>nautical</i> miles.
<!--https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/17320/roleplaying-games/hexcrawl-part-2-wilderness-travel-->
<!--https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/08/NA-hexmaps.html--></p>
<h3 id="units-of-volume">Units of Volume</h3>
To get units of volume, we simply cube our unit of length, and then divide this cubic pace by 120.
<ul>
<li>There are a hundred <b>cups</b><sup id="fnref:sizeofacup" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:sizeofacup" rel="footnote">4</a></sup> in a <b>pony keg</b> or <b>firkin</b> (about 7.8 gallons),</li>
<li>and there are a hundred firkins in a <b>cubic pace</b>, also called a <b>case</b> or <b>cord</b> (125 cubic feet).</li>
</ul>
<p>And if you want the in-betwen units, it’s quite simple to remember: There are two cups in a pint, two pints in a quart, two quarts in a pottle, fifteen pottles in a firkin, two firkins in a kilderkin, two kilderkins in a barrel, two barrels in a hogshead, and fifteen hogsheads in a cubic pace. I didn't make any of these units up.</p>
<!--firkin means fourth, US barrel is 31.5 gallons, so a US firkin is 7.875 gallons. And a "pony keg" or "quarter barrel" is 7.75 gallons.
A cord is actually 128 cubic feet, and a rick is a third of a cord.
At 3.54 stere (cubic meters), this falls within the range of a cord.
Or maybe a cubic pace should be called a case-->
<hr />
<h2 id="units-of-speed">Units of Speed</h2>
<p>The unit of speed is <b>paces per round</b>.
It’s coherent, and that’s the unit of speed which is actually used in game mechanical terms.
Easy peasy.</p>
<!--"Paces per round" could be abbreviated "ppr" and pronounced "pepper". That's fun.-->
<p>A side of effect of the consistent exponents is that
paces per round, fields per turn, and hexes per day are all equivalent units.
That’s great for reckoning distances and travel times.
Take a look at how many spaces a character can move in a round on the battlemap. That’s the same number of hexes they can move in a day on the worldmap, if they travel all night. Divide by three to get a more reasonable 8 hour travelling day, and double it to get a speed which will drive them to the brink of exhaustion.</p>
<p>Here is a table of speeds for comparison:</p>
<table style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">Description</th>
<th style="text-align: center;">Paces/Round</th>
<th style="text-align: center;">Hex/8hr</th>
<th style="text-align: center;">mi/hr</th>
<th style="text-align: center;">km/hr</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Sloth Top Speed</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">1/3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;"> <br /></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">0.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">0.3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Tortoise Speed</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;"> <br /></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">0.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">0.9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Crawling</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">3</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">1.7</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">2.7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Brisk Walk</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">3.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">5.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Typical Run</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">12</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">6.8</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">11.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Sailing Ship<sup id="fnref:citationforboatspeed" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:citationforboatspeed" rel="footnote">5</a></sup></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">12</td>
<td style="text-align: center;"> <br /></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">6.8</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">11.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Athletic Run</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">18</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">10.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">16.5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Bike Ride</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">24</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">8</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">13.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">22.0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Clipper Ship</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">30</td>
<td style="text-align: center;"> <br /></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">17.1</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">27.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">Cheetah Sprint</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">120</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">40</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">68.2</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">109.7</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Horses can gallop at up to 60 paces per round, but this speed isn’t sustainable.
Over a long distance, horses can travel at about the same average speed as a person on foot: 2-3 hexes per day.<sup id="fnref:horsesource" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:horsesource" rel="footnote">6</a></sup></p>
<p>And a little calculator:</p>
<center style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://instacalc.com/55199/embed" width="450"></iframe>
</center>
<h3 id="sidenote-units-of-acceleration">Sidenote: Units of Acceleration</h3>
<p>The unit of acceleration is <b>paces per round per round</b>, or <b>pprpr</b> for short.</p>
<p>Acceleration from gravity at the Earth’s surface is about 232 pprpr.
That’s somewhat close to 240 = 2 * 120, and it’s a fantasy world,
so if that’s the kind of thing that bothers you, you can crank up gravity about four percent to make <i>g = 240 pprpr = 2 fields per round per round = 2 fingerwidths per tick per tick</i> exactly.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that it takes about 1 round for a human to reach terminal velocity.</p>
<p>Also, it takes about 1 round for a typical sedan to reach highway speeds of 120 paces per round<sup id="fnref:carzerosixtycite" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:carzerosixtycite" rel="footnote">7</a></sup>.</p>
<!--<p>Those are the only acceleration comparisons that come to my mind.</p>-->
<hr />
<h2 id="force-mass-and-all-the-rest">Force, Mass, and all the rest.</h2>
<p>All we’re missing to get a full system of measurement (for mechanics at least; we’re not getting into electrodynamics here)
is a base unit for force or mass.</p>
<p>Ideally, it’ll give us some unit which can be thought of as the equivalent of one ‘inventory slot’ worth of stuff.</p>
<h3 id="units-of-mass">Units of Mass</h3>
<p>In the real-world SI system, a liter of water has a mass of approximately 1 kilogram.
But this is world of dragon hordes, so let’s base our units on gold instead of water.
The base unit of mass is the <b>draconic stone</b>,<sup id="fnref:britishstonenote" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:britishstonenote" rel="footnote">8</a></sup> equal to the mass of precisely one cup of of pure gold,
(which is roughly 4.7 kg or 10.5 pounds).</p>
<ul>
<li>There are a hundred <b>draconic ounces</b> in a draconic stone.</li>
<li>The base unit of mass is the <b>(draconic) stone</b> (about 10.5 pounds).</li>
<li>There are a hundred stones in a <b>cartload</b> (about 569 kilograms or 1255 pounds),</li>
<li>and a hundred cartloads in a <b>hord</b> (about 68 metric tons or 150 thousand pounds).</li>
</ul>
<p>A hord is the mass of a cord of gold, which is the smallest amount that can be called <a href="https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/hoard">a proper dragon’s hoard</a>.
It’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(mass)#1_kg_to_105_kg">comparable</a> to the mass of a bulldozer or large dinosaur.</p>
<p>A draconic ounce is about 40 grams, 1.4 avoirdupois ounces, or 1.3 troy ounces.
And there are 12 draconic ounces in a draconic pound, which is about 1.05 avoirdupois pounds.</p>
<p>Also, there are 12 draconic stones in a draconic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picul">picul</a>, which is the amount of weight a man can carry on a pole.</p>
<!--But the truth is that [a stone is however many pounds you want it to be](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_(unit)).
And [an American stone is 10 pounds](https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/jeffplan.asp).-->
<h3 id="derived-units-of-force-energy-and-work">Derived Units of Force, Energy, and Work</h3>
<p>Now that we have units for time, distance, and mass,
we can use these to derive the remaining mechanical base units.</p>
<p>A newton is a force equal to one kilogram·meter per second per second.</p>
<p>Similarly, our unit of force is equal to one hord·pace per round per round.<sup id="fnref:teenytinyforceunits" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:teenytinyforceunits" rel="footnote">9</a></sup>
This works out to about 2892 Newtons,
which is, <a href="https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2892+Newtons">according to Wolfram Alpha</a>, comparable to the force of a punch from a professional boxer.
Let’s call this unit a <b>wallop</b>.
<!--This is also the force exerted by the weighted of 60 stone.--></p>
<!--A Joule is 1 kilogram meter-squared per second per second.
Likewise, our base unit of energy is 1 hord pace-squared per round per round,
which works out to about 4407 joules, or about 1.05 Calories.
Not sure what to call this. Let's go with "**zap**" as a placeholder-->
<p>A joule is 1 newton·meter.</p>
<p>Likewise, our base unit of energy is 1 <b>wallop·pace</b>,
which works out to about 4407 joules, or about 1.05 Calories.</p>
<p>And the base unit of power is 1 wallop·pace per round, which is about 735 watts or 1 metric <b>horsepower</b>.<sup id="fnref:startwithhorse" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:startwithhorse" rel="footnote">10</a></sup></p>
<p>Thus, after hundreds of words of explanation, and many hours of careful calculation,
we have finally established why <b>hp</b> is the proper measurement of a fantasy creature’s power.<sup id="fnref:iamsoverysorry" role="doc-noteref"><a class="footnote" href="#fn:iamsoverysorry" rel="footnote">11</a></sup></p>
<!--All that's left is to somehow spin up a nonsense explanation for why we keep tracking a a player character's horsepower as a measure of their health.
As for units of temperature, energy etc, maybe I'll figure those ou-->
<hr />
<div class="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
<ol>
<li id="fn:normaltimeunits" role="doc-endnote">
<p>A minute is 10 rounds, an hour is 5 turns, a month is a quarter-season, etc. <a class="reversefootnote" href="#fnref:normaltimeunits" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:minecraftreference" role="doc-endnote">
<p>In some video games, the state of the world is updated at a rate seperate from the framerate. The length of time between each update of the game’s physics engine is called a “gametick” or “tick”. In the video game <i>Minecraft</i>, for example, the gameworld updates at 20 ticks per second.<!--I used to play way too much Minecraft, and in Minecraft, the physics engine of the game updates 20 times a second (once every 50 milliseconds). This unit of time is important for understanding various in-game contraptions. For comparison <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk0LGDBRlCo">here is a 20hz metronome (Warning: loud and annoying sound.)</a>. I can easily imagine a wizard’s workshop full of the background noise of various whatzits softly hissing and clicking at that frequency.--> <a href="#fnref:minecraftreference" class="reversefootnote" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:fingerwidthexplanation" role="doc-endnote">
<p>Annoyingly there is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_units#length">no folksy old name for a length of half an inch</a>. A <i>third</i> of an inch is called a barleycorn, and a <i>sixth</i> of an inch is called a pica. There are also units called “digit” and “finger”, which are 3/4 and 7/8 of an inch, respectively. But I just measured my fingers, and with the exception of the thumbs, they’re all closer to half an inch wide. I guess the units were based on big meaty working-man fingers? Maybe “halfinch” isn’t such a bad name on its own though. <a class="reversefootnote" href="#fnref:fingerwidthexplanation" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:sizeofacup" role="doc-endnote">
<p>In the US, a cup is legally defined as 240 mL. In Canada, a cup is 250 mL. It turns out that 1/120th of 1/120th of a cubic pace is 245.8 mL, right in between. Don’t even need to make up a weird fantasy unit. Cups slot right in. <a class="reversefootnote" href="#fnref:sizeofacup" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:citationforboatspeed" role="doc-endnote">
<p>Based on the numbers for East India Company ships in the early 1800s in a fresh breeze.
Kelly, M, and C Ó Gráda (2018), “<a href="https://voxeu.org/article/speed-under-sail-during-early-industrial-revolution">Speed under Sail during the Early Industrial Revolution</a>”, CEPR Discussion Paper 12576. <a class="reversefootnote" href="#fnref:citationforboatspeed" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:horsesource" role="doc-endnote">
<p>Source: Something I vaguely remember a friend once telling me. <a class="reversefootnote" href="#fnref:horsesource" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:carzerosixtycite" role="doc-endnote">
<p>I just skimmed through <a href="https://www.0-60specs.com/0-60-times/">this list of car acceleration speeds</a>. The sedan model names I recognized take around 4-6 seconds to go from 0mph to 60mph. Increase that number a bit, and you get 1 round to reach cheetah speed. <a class="reversefootnote" href="#fnref:carzerosixtycite" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:britishstonenote" role="doc-endnote">
<p>I know the brits out there will say that a stone is 14 pounds, but I refuse to recognize <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_(unit)#England">the dictates of Edward the Third</a>, and continue to insist that any unit of mass between 3 and 10 kg may, depending on context, be reasonably called a ‘stone’. <a class="reversefootnote" href="#fnref:britishstonenote" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:teenytinyforceunits" role="doc-endnote">
<p>You could use stone·paces per round per round, but then you’d get teeny tiny base unit for force and the rest. <a class="reversefootnote" href="#fnref:teenytinyforceunits" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:startwithhorse" role="doc-endnote">
<p>I actually started with horsepower as the unit of power, and worked backwards to figure out that I could use a cup of gold as the basis for the unit of mass, with the resulting discrepancy between fantasy horsepower and metric horsepower being less than one percent. What a happy coincidence. <a class="reversefootnote" href="#fnref:startwithhorse" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:iamsoverysorry" role="doc-endnote">
<p>My apologies. <a class="reversefootnote" href="#fnref:iamsoverysorry" role="doc-backlink">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-70452198863430535572021-08-24T03:46:00.001-07:002021-08-24T03:46:00.147-07:00321 Hero* Dice: A post about unusual dice anatomy.This post briefly mentions HeroQuest. As such, we must begin by viewing
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx8sl2uC46A">the sacred liturgy</a>.
Once this is done, you may return for the rest of this blogpost.
<br />
<h2>The structure of the dice:</h2>
<br />
Several games use six-sided dice with the following properties:
<ul>
<li>
3 of the faces share the same symbol, usually indicating a successful
'attack' result.
</li>
<li>
2 of the other faces share a second symbol, usually indicating a successful
'defense' result.
</li>
<li>The final singular face has its own distinct marking.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNG1r7pe4Aa_JWvR21i9uJQGOYfKM-Atte61yNLNWpeH5urtgQUDQtWoTKGfbaQB8plyNBmpChEbYzQqBEdIvEPeUK6vb62A7QjxFp8_oKU7YtEuPdrdv2oYsXtZ_y9j92q1yXuoAh5I/s500/pic4978348.jpeg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNG1r7pe4Aa_JWvR21i9uJQGOYfKM-Atte61yNLNWpeH5urtgQUDQtWoTKGfbaQB8plyNBmpChEbYzQqBEdIvEPeUK6vb62A7QjxFp8_oKU7YtEuPdrdv2oYsXtZ_y9j92q1yXuoAh5I/s320/pic4978348.jpeg" width="320" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
An example of what these dice look like.
<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/4978348/funkoverse-strategy-game">Photo credit to Eric on BGG.</a>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
What follows are some examples, and my thoughts about adapting these dice for
RPGs.
</p>
<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<style>
td, th {
border: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,1);
padding: 0.3em;
min-width: 5em;
}
tr:nth-child(even) {
background-color:rgba(230, 215, 200, 0.53);
}
thead{
background: rgba(230, 215, 200, 1);
}
table {
border-collapse: collapse;
border-spacing: 0;
margin: 0;
max-width: 100%;
}
</style>
<br /><br /><br />
<h2>The games I've noticed this in:</h2>
<br />
<table style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<thead>
<tr>
<th><br /></th>
<th>3 of:</th>
<th>2 of:</th>
<th>1 of:</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>HeroQuest</th>
<td>Skull</td>
<td>Shield</td>
<td>Rabbit</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Heroscape</th>
<td>Skull</td>
<td>Shield</td>
<td>Blank/Special</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Funkoverse</th>
<td>Burst</td>
<td>Shield</td>
<td>!!!</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Cthulhu Wars*</th>
<td>Blank</td>
<td>"Pain" (Claw Marks)</td>
<td>"Kill" (Tentacle Skull)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<small>*This game uses similarly structured dice, but otherwise the combat mechanics
are very different from HeroQuest/scape.</small>
<dl>
<dt>HeroQuest</dt>
<dd>
Combat works in HeroQuest works like so: The attacker and defender each roll
a number of dice determined by their stats and equipment. Each Skull rolled
by the attacker is a "hit", which will reduce the defender's 'Body points'
(HP) if it isn't cancelled. If the defender is a player, then each Shield
they roll cancels a hit. If the defender is a monster npc, then each Rabbit
cancels a hit.
</dd>
<dt>Heroscape</dt>
<dd>
Combat works similarly to HeroQuest. But because the game is PvP, there is
no asymmetry in defensive rolls. Shields always cancel hits. Some units have
abilities which do something special when the singular face is rolled.
</dd>
<dt>Funkoverse</dt>
<dd>As above, but with two changes.</dd>
<dd>
Firstly, there is no HP; attack success is binary. A character is either
Standing Up, Knocked Down, or Knocked Out. If the number of Bursts (Skulls)
rolled by the attacker is greater than the number of Shields rolled by the
defender, the attack is successful. A successful attack knocks down the
defender, or if they're already knocked down, knocks them out.
</dd>
<dd>
Secondly, the singular face is marked with triple exclamation points "!!!".
When rolled by the attacker, this counts as three Bursts, and when rolled by
the defender, this counts as three Shields. This makes the combat swingier
to make up for the variance lost by the first change.
</dd>
<dt>Cthulhu Wars</dt>
<dd>
In combat, both players roll a number dice based on their units in the
contested space. Each Kill rolled means that one of the opponent's units is
removed. Each Pain rolled means the opposing player must retreat a unit to
an adjacent space, or remove it if there is nowhere valid to retreat to.
</dd>
</dl>
(If you are familiar with any other games that use this 3-2-1 dice-face
distribtion, leave a comment down below.)
<br /><br /><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>Thoughts on adapting this to tabletop RPGs:</h2>
<br />
<p>
Dice pools are satisfying to roll, and this framework makes it easy to resolve
giant rolls.
</p>
<p>
Thanks to the clearance bins at the local grocery store,
<a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2020/03/rpg-mechanics-stolen-from-clearance.html">I'm come into possession of a decently large pile of these dice.</a>
So I wonder if these mechanics can be cleanly adapted into a more general
GLoG-style tabletop rpg.
</p>
<small><a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/p/hero-dice-roller.html">Here's a little javascript doodad for rolling these kinds of dice.</a> I use ☠️ to refer to when one of the 3 attack faces is rolled, 🔰 to refer
to when one of the 2 defense faces is rolled, and ❗ to refer to when the
singular face is rolled. If you're using normal six-sided dice, then consult the following table:
</small>
<table style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<thead>
<tr>
<th><br /></th>
<th>3 of:</th>
<th>2 of:</th>
<th>1 of:</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Result</th>
<td>Offense</td>
<td>Defense</td>
<td>Special</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Symbol</th>
<td>☠️</td>
<td>🔰</td>
<td>❗</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Roll on a d6</th>
<td>4,5,6</td>
<td>2,3</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<h3>Combat:</h3>
<p>
Combat can be directly transferred over from one of the above systems. The
number of attack or defense dice rolled by PCs could depend on their equipment
and/or their stats. Easy.
</p>
<br />
<h3>Saves, Skill Checks, Diplomacy, etc.:</h3>
<p>
What about non-combat conflict resolution? How can these dice be used to
adjucate a PC trying to persuade someone to join their cause, flee from
persuers, or safely trigger an elaborate trap?
</p>
<p>
The obvious solution is to resolve these forms of conflict the same way that
an attack is resolved. When two characters oppose each other in some way:
</p>
<ol>
<li>Determine who is <i>challenger</i> and who is <i>challengee</i>.</li>
<ul>
<li>
The character who initiates the conflict, or the more proactive character,
is the "challenger".
</li>
<li>The more defensive, reactive, character is the "challengee".</li>
<li>
In symmetrical conflicts, like an arm-wrestling match, both characters can
be challengers.
</li>
</ul>
<li>Roll!</li>
<ul>
<li>
Determine which stat (STR, DEX, etc.) is most relevant to what each
character is trying to do.
</li>
<li>
The number of dice rolled for each character depends on their value in
that stat.
</li>
<li>
Perhaps a character has some special ability or condition that alters the
number of dice they roll.
</li>
<li>
Perhaps there are some narrative factors that alter how many dice the
characters roll.
</li>
</ul>
<li>Count Successes.</li>
<ul>
<li>The challenger gets 1 Success for each of their ☠️s.</li>
<li>The challengee gets 1 Success for each of their 🔰s.</li>
<li>
Perhaps a character has some special training that makes❗s count as
Successes for certain kinds of challenge.
</li>
</ul>
<li>Determine the winner, and narrate the appropriate consequences.</li>
<ul>
<li>
For exach of the Challengee's Successes, cancel one of the Challenger's
Successes.
</li>
<li>
If the Challenger has any un-cancelled Successes, then they win the
challenge. Otherwise, the challengee wins the challenge.
</li>
<li>
(In other words, whoever rolls the most Successes wins. The challengee
wins ties.
</li>
<li>
If there aren't interesting narrative consequences for both outcomes, then
you shouldn't have rolled a challenge in the first place. That's just
general GM advice.
</li>
</ul>
</ol>
The most finnangly bit would be determining how many dice to roll. You could
either use a table to map 3d6-style stats to a smaller number of dice, or you
could tweak character creation so that STR, DEX, CHA, and the like are
manageably small numbers. I like this latter option because if all stats are on
a scale of 0-5, then I can use the lovely
<i><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43821545-dungeons-and-drawings">Dungeons and Drawings</a></i>
as a gameable bestiary:
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlkYudXYtlS6OOfFBVuPvSQNrGpkCpSX9b_orG1f8UKqzl5PFr0omMkHyVDA6oDHz9WX7mL4t5v_X5xuYUe7msrZQ6csEEn9s3R8s6Ws5CNYbhXh9BQ73mibIzXYt86lv302uEjFMk2QI/s2048/20210815_015611.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1051" data-original-width="2048" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlkYudXYtlS6OOfFBVuPvSQNrGpkCpSX9b_orG1f8UKqzl5PFr0omMkHyVDA6oDHz9WX7mL4t5v_X5xuYUe7msrZQ6csEEn9s3R8s6Ws5CNYbhXh9BQ73mibIzXYt86lv302uEjFMk2QI/w640-h328/20210815_015611.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
Some example challenges:
<ul>
<li>
A thief wants to pilfer the contents of a guard's pockets. Challenge the
thief's DEX vs the guard's WIS.
</li>
<li>
A guard is chasing after a thief. Challenge the guard's DEX vs the thief's
DEX.
</li>
<li>
A guard is chasing after a thief. The thief scatters a handful of gold coins
on the ground, hoping that the ensuing crowd of people will hamper the
guard's pursuit. Challenge the guard's DEX vs the thief's DEX+1.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Saving throws, skill checks, and other risky interactions with the environment
would work much the same. But instead of rolling against an opponent, the
character simply needs enough successes to match the difficulty of the test.
</p>
<ul>
<li>
An adventurer wants to jump over a small pit. Challenge their DEX vs 1.
(They need at least one ☠️ to succeed.)
</li>
<li>
They want to kick down a door. Challenge their STR vs 3. (They need at least
three ☠️s to succeed.)
</li>
<li>
Rocks are falling! The adventurer dodges! Challenge 2 vs their DEX. (They
need at least two 🔰s to succeed.)
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>GLoG Magic:</h3>
<p>
See
<a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/07/osr-condensed-spellcasting-rules.html">here</a>
or
<a href="https://journeyintotheweird.blogspot.com/2018/04/glog-rules-spellcasting.html">here</a>
for a more in-depth description, but the brief version of GLoG spellcasting
is:
</p>
<ol>
<li>
Wizards have a pool of Magic Dice (MD), and choose how many to spend when
casting a spell.
</li>
<li>
They roll that many d6s and the result of the spell depends on both the
number of [dice] invested and the total [sum] rolled across the dice.
</li>
<li>
If doubles or triples are rolled, then the wizard suffers <i>mishaps</i> or
<i>dooms</i> (magical backlash).
</li>
<li>
Each dice that rolls a 1,2, or 3 is returned to the MD pool and can be spent
again immediately. Any dice that rolls 4,5,6 is expended and doesn't return
until the next day.
</li>
</ol>
<p>
Spell-casting in GLoG already uses a dice pool mechanism. So this should be a
perfect fit. But there are two major difficulties when it comes to the
adaptation. The first issue is that doubles and triples are much more common
with this style of dice. The second is that a handful of Hero* dice doesn't
really
<i>have</i> a [sum], and so spell effects will need some adaptation.
</p>
<h4>Mishaps and Dooms:</h4>
<p>
When rolling a pair of regular six-sided dice, the chance of rolling doubles
is 1-in-6 (approximately 16%). When rolling a pair of these dice, doubles
happen about 39% of the time. They're more than twice as common.
</p>
<p>
When rolling three regular six-sided dice, the chance of rolling at least
doubles is about 44%, and the chance or rolling triples is a measly 1-in-36
(3%). When rolling three Hero* dice, the chance of at least doubles is 5-in-6
(83%), and the chance of triples is 1-in-6 (16%)
</p>
<p>
One option is to simply bite the bullet and let magical mishaps be more
common. Maybe offset them with some artifact or class that lets the wizard
manipulate their dice. But yeah, that sounds like it could be fun. The option
is to swap out the mishap mechanism.
<a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2019/04/variants-for-glog-mishaps-and-dooms.html">I discuss a few alternatives in this post here</a>.
</p>
<h4>Adapting the MD dice pool.</h4>
<p>MD return to your pool on a 🔰 or❗. Simple adaptation.</p>
<h4>Adapting spell-effects:</h4>
<p>
Take a look at
<a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2018/01/osr-orthodox-wizards.html">this wizardpost by Skerples</a>
for some examples of GLoG spells.
</p>
<p>
The easiest category to adapt are the spells that only depend on the number of
[dice] rolled, and which have entirely narrative effects. For example, the
spell Feather Fall doesn't need any adaptation:
</p>
<blockquote>
<b>7. Feather Fall</b><br />
R: 10’ T: [dice] creatures or objects D: 0<br />
If you would take fall damage, you can cast this spell as a reaction to negate
it. You float gently to the ground (possibly alarmingly late).
</blockquote>
<p>
Spells which just deal [sum] damage are also straightforward to adapt. All
that needs to be done is to have the spell act as an Attack with [dice] dice.
For example, the spells for Magic Missile and Fireball are:
</p>
<blockquote>
<b>6. Magic Missile</b><br />
R: 200' T: creature D: 0<br />
Target takes [sum] + [dice] damage, no Save. As an Orthodox Wizard, your spell
is unique to you, and can be any colour, shape, or pattern you describe.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<b>12. Fireball</b><br />
R: 200' T: 20' diameter D: 0<br />
Does [sum] fire damage to all objects.
</blockquote>
And can be adapted to something like:
<blockquote>
<b>Magic Missile</b><br />
R: 200' T: creature D: 0<br />
Attack [dice]+1 against the target.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<b>Fireball</b><br />
R: 200' T: 20' diameter D: 0<br />
Attack [dice] against all objects within the area of effect. Deals fire
damage.
</blockquote>
Or depending on the details of how combat is being handled, a more flavorful
interpretation of Magic Missile (unavoidable magic attack) might be
<blockquote>
<b>Magic Missile</b><br />
R: 200' T: creature D: 0<br />
Target takes [dice] wounds, no Challenge.
</blockquote>
<p>
The most difficult kind of spell to adapt would be the ones that have
qualitatively different effects depending on the [sum] rolled. Take a look at
the Light spell. I've emphasized the tricky bit:
</p>
<blockquote>
<b>9. Light</b><br />
R: touch T: object or creature D: [dice]x2 hours<br />
Object illuminates as a torch, with a radius of 20’+[dice]x10’.
<i>Alternatively, you can make an Attack roll against a sighted creature. If
you succeed, the creature is blinded for [sum] rounds. If [sum] is greater
than 12, the creature is permanently blinded.</i>
You can chose the colour of the light. If you invest 4 [dice] or more this
light has all the qualities of natural sunlight. Alternatively, if you invest
4 [dice] or more the light can be purest octarine, although it will only last
for 1 round. Octarine light is extremely dangerous.
</blockquote>
<p>
We could adapt this so that the special effect depends on the magnitude of the
success of the roll:
</p>
<blockquote>
Alternatively, you can Challenge [dice] against a sighted creature's CON. For
each of your uncancelled Successes, the creature is blinded for two rounds. If
you have at least 4 uncancelled successes, the creature is permanently
blinded.
</blockquote>
<p>
Or we could use the qualitative nature of our dice faces to have a
qualitative results table. Something like:
</p>
<blockquote>
Alternatively, you can target a sighted creature. If you do, then the results of your spell roll have the following effect(s):
<ul>
<li>🔰: The creature faintly glows for [dice] minutes.</li>
<li>🔰🔰🔰: The creature permanently faintly glows.</li>
<li>☠️: The creature is blinded for [dice] rounds.</li>
<li>☠️☠️☠️: The creature is permanently blinded.</li>
<li>❗: The creature pulses with a flash of light, blinding all sighted creatures within [dice]x10’ for [dice] rounds.</li>
<li>❗❗❗: All sighted creatures within [dice]x10’ are permanently blinded.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>Maybe all spells have inherently risky ❗ effects, and that's where the danger of high-MD casting comes from, instead of mishaps. I don't know. That sounds fun but also would make spell adaptation a load of work.</p>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-56607926016554277092021-08-17T16:35:00.015-07:002021-08-18T05:33:12.700-07:00d6x6 City Names, Poorly and Literally Translated<p>
In what follows, I've taken the names of places, translated them into
English, and when the namesake itself was a name, I've gone and translated
that too.
</p>
<p>
Don't take this too seriously. I haven't worked too hard to verify the translations
or etymologies. In some cases where it sounded interesting, I went with suspect folk etymologies.
</p>
<h2>Cities in the Fishhook Language Ball:</h2>
<h3>1. The Most Populous Cities in the <i>Southern Lands</i>:</h3>
<ol>
<li>Wide Watermeadow</li>
<li>Mill Stream</li>
<li>Broken Bone</li>
<li>Wood</li>
<li>Noble Sort</li>
<li>Gold Coast</li>
</ol>
<h3>
2. The Most Populous Cities in the <i>United States of Laborious Rule</i>:
</h3>
<ol>
<li>New Pig Farm</li>
<li>
City of The Angels<!--, (originally named The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels)-->
</li>
<li>Garlic</li>
<li>Town of the Mind Clan</li>
<li>Phoenix</li>
<li>City of Brotherly Love</li>
</ol>
<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<h3>3. The Most Populous Cities in the nation of <i>Village</i>:</h3>
<ol>
<li>Wet Trees</li>
<li>Royal Mountain</li>
<li>Cold Garden</li>
<li>Trade</li>
<li>Town of the Prosperous Helmet</li>
<li>Great River Mouth</li>
</ol>
<h3>4. The Most Populous Cities in the <i>United Kingdom</i>:</h3>
<ol>
<li>Yeasty's Family Settlement</li>
<li>A Place</li>
<li>Grey-green Hollow</li>
<li>Split Field</li>
<li>Broad Ford</li>
<li>Fortress of Breasts</li>
</ol>
<h3>
5. Some Other Notable Cities Which Speak the Fishhook People's Language:
</h3>
<ol>
<li>Dark Pool, (Fat Land)</li>
<li>
Town of the Wheat-Sheaf Clan, in the Pigeon District, (United States of
Laborious Rule)
</li>
<li>Meeting Place, (Southern Lands)</li>
<li>Oak Land, (New Sea Land)</li>
<li>King's Town, (Big Land with Springs)</li>
<li>London, (Land of the Fishhook People)(ancient and mysterious name)</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
<h2>6. Most Populous Cities in the <i>Central Kingdom</i>:</h2>
<ol>
<li>City Upon the Sea</li>
<li>Northern Capital</li>
<li>Party City</li>
<li>Sky Ford</li>
<li>Wide State</li>
<li>Deep Ditch</li>
</ol>
<br /><br />
<details>
<summary>Translation Notes and Actual City Names (Click to Show)</summary>
Southern Lands (Australia) - Auster ➡ The South Wind
<ol>
<li>Wide Watermeadow (Sydney) - Sidney ➡ sīdan īege ➡ Wide Watermeadow</li>
<li>Mill Stream (Melbourne) - ➡</li>
<li>Broken Bone (Brisbane) - Bris ➡ Break?, Old English: Bán ➡ Bone</li>
<li>Wood (Perth) - Translation from Pictish</li>
<li>Noble Sort (Adelaide) - Adal ➡ Noble, Heid ➡ Sort?</li>
<li>
Gold Coast (Gold Coast) - Gold is a kind of shiny plastic yellow rock. A
coast is the bit you can stand on that touches the bit where boats live.
</li>
</ol>
Laborious Rule (America) - America ➡ Amerigo ➡ Emmerich. Amal ➡ Labour? Ric ➡
Ruler.
<ol>
<li>
New Pig Farm (New York) - Jórvík ➡ Eoforwīċ, Eofor ➡ Boar, Wic ➡
Settlement? This city has been invaded and renamed many times, so its name
is confusing.
</li>
<li>
City of The Angels (Los Angeles) - Los ➡ The, Angeles ➡ Angels. Originally
named "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles", meaning "The
Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels."
</li>
<li>
Garlic (Chicago) - Miami-Illinois: Shikaakwa ➡ A kind of stinky wild
onion.
</li>
<li>
Town of the Mind Clan (Houston) - Named after Sam Houston. Houston ➡ The
town of the Hugh family. Hugh ➡ Hugiz ➡ Mind.
</li>
<li>Phoenix (Phoenix) - It's a chicken that lights itself on fire.</li>
<li>
City of Brotherly Love (Philidelphia) - Greek: Phílos ➡ Beloved, Adelphós
➡ Brother.
</li>
</ol>
Village (Canada) - Iroquoian: Kanata ➡ Village
<ol>
<li>
Wet Trees (Toronto) - Mohawk: tkaronto ➡ "where there are trees standing
in the water,"
</li>
<li>Royal Mountain (Montreal) - From "Mount Royal".</li>
<li>Cold Garden (Calgerry) - Old Norse: Kald ➡ Cold, Gart ➡ Garden</li>
<li>Trade (Ottawa) - Algonquin: Odawa ➡ To Trade</li>
<li>
Town of the Prosperous Helmet (Edmonton) - Old English: Ēad ➡ Rich, Helm ➡
Helmet, Ton ➡ Town.
</li>
<li>Great River Mouth (Mississauga) - From Anishinaabe: Misi-zaagiing.</li>
</ol>
United Kingdom.
<ol>
<li>
Yeasty's Family Settlement (Birmingham) - Beorma ➡ Yeast, Ham ➡ Home.
</li>
<li>
A Place (Leeds) - The name
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Leeds#Name">more likely refers to A nearby river or forest</a>. But
<a href="https://archive.org/stream/placenamesofengl00john/placenamesofengl00john_djvu.txt">this author</a>
decided to just doubtfully translate it as "A Place", which I find
amusing.
</li>
<li>
Grey-green Hollow (Glasgow) - Glas ➡ Greyish-blue-green, Cou ➡ Hollow.
</li>
<li>Split Field (Shefield) - Sheth ➡ Divide</li>
<li>
Broad Ford (Bradford) - Brad ➡ Broad. Wait a second. The actual name of
the ancient Greek philosopher Plato was probably something like
"Aristocles". "Plato" was just his wrestling nickname, coming from the
word "platýs", meaning "Broad". So that means some of our most treasured
works of Philosophy come a guy who went by a nickname equivalent to Brad.
Brad's Cave. Brad-like Love. Brad's Solids.
</li>
<li>
Fortress of Breasts (Manchester) - Mamm ➡ Breast, Castra ➡ Fortified Town.
</li>
</ol>
Other Anglophone Cities:
<ol>
<li>
Dark Pool, Fat Land (Dublin, Ireland) - Dub ➡ Black, Lind ➡ Pond. Īwerjū ➡
Fat/fertile.
</li>
<li>
Town of the Wheat-Sheaf Clan, in the Pigeon District (Washington D.C.,
USA) - Washington ➡ Town of Hwæsa's clan. Tūn ➡ Town, Hwæsa ➡ Wheat sheaf,
Columbus ➡ Latin: Columba ➡ Pigeon.
</li>
<li>
Meeting Place (Canberra, Australia) - Ngunnawal: Kambera (contested)
</li>
<li>
Oak Land, New Sea Land (Auckland, New Zealand) - Ak ➡ Oak, Sær ➡ Sea. Also
Possible is: Auk(a kind of bird), Selr ➡ Seal, making the alternate
translation "Auk Land, New Seal Land".
</li>
<li>
King's Town, Big Land with Springs (Kingston, Jamaica) -
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071016055722/http://www.uctp.org/VocesIndigena.html">Jamayca translation taken from here.</a>
</li>
<li>
London has an ancient name which no two sources I've found seem to agree
about. 🤷.
<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Londinium#Latin">Wikitionary proposes the translation Plowonidonjon ➡ Unfordable
river.</a>.
England ➡ Land of the Angles. Angles ➡ Fishhook or Bent or Narrow, all refferring to the Peninsula from which they migrated.
</li>
</ol>
Central Kingdom (China, Zhongguo, 中国) - Zhong ➡ Middle, 国 ➡ Country.
<ol>
<li>City Upon the Sea (Shanghai, 上海) - Shang ➡ On top of, Hai ➡ Ocean</li>
<li>Northern Capital (Beijing, 北京) - Bei ➡ North, Jing ➡ Capital City</li>
<li>Party City (Chongqing, 重庆) - Chong ➡ Heavy or Double, Qing ➡ Celebration</li>
<li>
Sky Ford (Tianjin, 天津) - Tian ➡ The Heavens, Jin ➡ A River Crossing
</li>
<li>
Wide State (Guangzhou, 广州) - Guang ➡ Wide, Zhou ➡ State, like in the
"United States"
</li>
<li>
Deep Ditch (Shenzhen, 深圳) - Shen ➡ Deep, Zhen ➡ Irrigation Ditch (used as
part of place names, like English "-ton","-ham",etc.).
</li>
</ol>
Also, "Fishhook Language Ball" is a Bad translation of "Anglosphere"
</details>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>Most Populous Cities on the Entire Dirt Ball:</h2>
<ol>
<li>Eastern Capital, (Sunrise Land)</li>
<li>Threshold, (Fire-Bearing Republic)</li>
<li>Capital City, (Really Great Republic)</li>
<li>The City Upon the Sea, (Central Kingdom)</li>
<li>Holy Humble, (Federation of Embers)</li>
<li>Moon Navel City, (United States of the Center of the Moon)</li>
<li>The Vanquisher (The Frontier)</li>
<li>Mother Goddess, (Fire-Bearing Republic)</li>
<li>Northern Capital, (Central Kingdom)</li>
<li>Watchtower, (Bengal Country)</li>
<li>Big Hill, (Sunrise Land)</li>
<li>New Pig Farm, (United States of Laborious Rule)</li>
<li>
Kolachi, (Land of the Pure) (Kolachi was a really nice old fisherman lady.)
</li>
<li>Fair Winds, (Silver Republic)</li>
<li>Party City, (Central Kingdom)</li>
<li>The City, (Republic of the Turkish People)</li>
<li>Fields of Time, (Fire-Bearing Republic)</li>
<li>Indigo Origin, (Horse Loving Republic)</li>
<li>Lakes, (River Republic)</li>
<li>January River, (Federation of Embers)</li>
</ol>
<!--<details >
<summary>Translation Notes and Actual City Names (Click to Show)</summary>
</details>-->
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
These most come from Wikipedia, Wiktionary,
<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/">this etymology site</a>, and
<a href="https://www.behindthename.com/">this name meaning site</a>. Again,
don't treat these lists as a credible source. This was just for fun and for
worldbuilding inspiration.
<!--<li></li>
https://archive.org/stream/placenamesofengl00john/placenamesofengl00john_djvu.txt
Meeting Place = Canberra?
Christchurch annointed house
<h3>Some Other Notable Cities Which Speak the Fishhook People Language:</h3>
<ol>
<li></li>
<li>Dark Pool, (The Flowing Water Goddess' Land)</li>
<li>Town of the Wheat-Sheaf Clan, in the Pigeon District, (United States of Laborious Rule)</li>
<li>Yeasty's Family Settlement, (Land of the Fishhook People)</li>
<li>Muddy Puddle, (Land of the Fishhook People)</li>
<li>Fortress of Breasts, (Land of the Fishhook People)</li>
<li>Split Field, (Land of the Fishhook People)</li>
<li></li>
<li></li>
</ol>
<div>
<h3>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />The Most Populous Cities in the
nation of <i>Village:</i>
</h3>
<h3>
<p style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"></p>
<ol style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<li>New Yew Tree Estate</li>
<li>The Angels</li>
<li>Garlic</li>
<li>Town of the Mind Clan</li>
<li>Phoenix</li>
</ol>
</h3>
</div>
<h3>
The Most Populous Cities in the <i>United States of Laborious Rule</i>:
</h3>
<h3>
<p style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"></p>
<ol style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">
<li>New Yew Tree Estate</li>
<li>The Angels</li>
<li>Garlic</li>
<li>Town of the Mind Clan</li>
<li>Phoenix</li>
</ol>
</h3>
<ol style="text-align: left;"></ol>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Other Large Cities Which Speak the Language of the Fishhook People
</h3>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>London</li>
<li>Manchester</li>
</ol>
<div><br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Birmingham</li>
<li>Leeds</li>
<li>Glasgow</li>
</ol>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Sydney</li>
<li>Melbourne</li>
<li>Brisbane</li>
<li>Perth</li>
<li>Adelaide</li>
<li>...</li>
<li>Darwin</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>Auckland</div>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_municipalities_in_Canada_by_population
</div>
<div>Village</div>
<div>Toronto Trees in Water</div>
<div>Mount Royal</div>
<div>Cold Garden</div>
<div>Trade</div>
<div>Town of the Rich Helmet</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_areas_in_the_United_Kingdom
</div>
<div>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
</div>
<div>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_the_United_Kingdom</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<h2>
The Most Populous Cities in the
<i>Republic of the Magnificent Central People</i>:
</h2>
<p></p>
<ol>
<li>Northern Capital</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">The Most Populous Cities on the Dirt Ball:</h2>
<div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Eastern Capital, of the Land of the Rising Sun</li>
<li>Threshold, of the Fire-Bearing Republic</li>
<li>Capital, of the Great Great Republic</li>
<li>
The City Upon the Sea, of the Republic of the Magnificent Central People
</li>
<li>Holy Humble, of the Federative Republic of Embers</li>
<li>Moon Navel City, in the United States of the Navel of the Moon</li>
<li>The Vanquisher, of the Clear-Speaking Frontier Republic</li>
<li>Mother Goddess, of the Fire-Bearing Republic</li>
<li>
Northern Capital, of the Republic of the Magnificent Central
People
</li>
<li>Watchtower, of the People's Republic of Bengal Country</li>
<li>Big Hill, of the Land of the Rising Sun</li>
<li>New Yew Tree Estate, of the United States of Laborious Rule</li>
<li>Kolachi, of the Land of the Pure (Named after a fisherwoman)</li>
<li>Fair Winds, of the Silver Republic</li>
<li>Party City, of the Republic of the Magnificent Central People</li>
<li>The City, Republic of the Turkish People</li>
<li>Fields of Time, of the Fire-Bearing Republic</li>
<li>Indigo Origin, of the Horse Loving Republic</li>
<li>Lakes, of the River Republic</li>
<li>January River, of the Federative Republic of Embers</li>
</ol>
<div><br /></div>
</div>
<p></p>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Eastern Capital, (Sunrise Land)</li>
<li>Threshold, (Fire-Bearing Republic)</li>
<li>Capital, of the Great Great Republic</li>
<li>The City Upon the Sea, (Central Kingdom)</li>
<li>Holy Humble, (Federation of Embers)</li>
<li>Moon Navel City, (United States of the Center of the Moon)</li>
<li>The Vanquisher (Clear-Speaking Frontier Republic)</li>
<li>Mother Goddess, (Fire-Bearing Republic)</li>
<li>Northern Capital, (Central Kingdom)</li>
<li>Watchtower, (Bengal Country)</li>
<li>Big Hill, (Sunrise Land)</li>
<li>New Yew Tree Estate, (United States of Laborious Rule)</li>
<li>Kolachi, (Land of the Pure) (Named after a fisherwoman)</li>
<li>Fair Winds, (Silver Republic)</li>
<li>Party City, (Central Kingdom)</li>
<li>The City, (Republic of the Turkish People)</li>
<li>Fields of Time, (Fire-Bearing Republic)</li>
<li>Indigo Origin, (Horse Loving Republic)</li>
<li>Lakes, (River Republic)</li>
<li>January River, (Federation of Embers)</li>
</ol>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<h3>
The Most Populous Cities in the <i>United States of Laborious Rule</i>:
</h3>
<p></p>
<ol>
<li>New Yew Tree Estate</li>
<li>The Angels</li>
<li>Garlic</li>
<li>Town of the Mind Clan</li>
<li>Phoenix</li>
<li>The City of Brotherly Love</li>
<li>Holy Non-Flower</li>
<li>Twice Holy Heel</li>
<li>Meadow Abode</li>
<li>Holy Addition</li>
<li>Venerable</li>
<li>City of the Son of He Who Is Graced By God</li>
<li>Fortress of Value</li>
<li>Pigeon</li>
<li>River People Land City</li>
<li>Wee Free Man</li>
<li>Holy Javelin</li>
<li>Sealth</li>
<li>Lowland Ford</li>
<li>Town of the Wheat-Sheaf Clan, in the Pigeon District</li>
<li></li>
</ol>
</div>-->
𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-86811105389356903442021-08-13T22:50:00.008-07:002021-08-28T22:19:38.418-07:0012 Mile Hexmaps overlayed onto the Contigous United States<p></p><p><br /> Hey, there. I put a <a href="https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/17320/roleplaying-games/hexcrawl-part-2-wilderness-travel">12-mile hex</a> grid onto North America. The projection is Lambert Conformal, so there's minimal distortion, at least within the US. <br /></p><p>Rivers, train-lines, and urban areas are included, but there are no labels.<br /></p><p></p><p>So, if you happen to want an unlabelled 12-mile hex map of North America with rivers, train-lines, and urban areas, then this is the blogpost for you. <br /></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpxG0Vnob2bxOvDy8CNgS5qAvyWs3TMn-U_rPcZ7EtgsM8ZWhU4rdRqnhRQgovCv46TdAh7nUJciGXSEjtYSEhccuvV4IgaJQNWL-0fgRcVi-eisIUOVpA8pHb5zTvNahu47JrGW9f1U/s2048/NA+Hexmap+400.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpxG0Vnob2bxOvDy8CNgS5qAvyWs3TMn-U_rPcZ7EtgsM8ZWhU4rdRqnhRQgovCv46TdAh7nUJciGXSEjtYSEhccuvV4IgaJQNWL-0fgRcVi-eisIUOVpA8pHb5zTvNahu47JrGW9f1U/w640-h453/NA+Hexmap+400.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_vvFQ-GoeaNcDPzWtONvUHgqN407yIRi/view?usp=sharing">click for slightly lightly bigger version.</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>And <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/12hv9wdMbEs4U5M0wwebncmT2XrLMmju8/view?usp=sharing">click here for a very very big version of this map</a> which includes more of Mexico.<br /></p><p>More maps below.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglLSuHPl28aGgQrV975v7uuqKyj3urP0v6p4ZKZa2qkAp2B73X4nI5BTPLylSHg8abwDBsFJWe07Err61AUVpbf53IsgEnalk9pfQToJXv2zVOfRtDc9npdBsvt3DoVVsKL9xx2GnA8m4/s2048/NA+Hexmap+EPA.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglLSuHPl28aGgQrV975v7uuqKyj3urP0v6p4ZKZa2qkAp2B73X4nI5BTPLylSHg8abwDBsFJWe07Err61AUVpbf53IsgEnalk9pfQToJXv2zVOfRtDc9npdBsvt3DoVVsKL9xx2GnA8m4/w640-h452/NA+Hexmap+EPA.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The different colors here are the different <a href="https://www.epa.gov/eco-research/ecoregions">ecoregions </a>of North America.<br /><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kmHk28X_jUQIHRpEI1EjXXeEG72r0lCX/view?usp=sharing"><span style="font-size: x-small;">click for slightly Bigger Version.</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGjOp3WpHaKjNjZTeD-RL3uJ4b2jrkiGyuhkwrKbq50LRA0jowBI3fxLy5XQ5PmdO-TGx6wKG-0StNSocJLGPYUoY684yGta1KaMpGMZopUjOG9jOal0ieYWjmYjfbhBXGHz6TUwwwvE/w640-h452/NA+Hexmap+Tilt+400.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CfeY7vlxt9h4nbYzi6sioDMIaGvXhc54/view?usp=sharing">click for slightly bigger version</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGjOp3WpHaKjNjZTeD-RL3uJ4b2jrkiGyuhkwrKbq50LRA0jowBI3fxLy5XQ5PmdO-TGx6wKG-0StNSocJLGPYUoY684yGta1KaMpGMZopUjOG9jOal0ieYWjmYjfbhBXGHz6TUwwwvE/s2048/NA+Hexmap+Tilt+400.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><p> </p><p>Here are a few zoomed-in views of the same grid and projection, combined with USGS landcover data: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmrNo1uogNUwk8TVp7y2IcmSllf7L2IhRppNMajacsRlvpaiBFT2pBA8IABNvIkJahBkBLxHx1LbJkfP0t2lG-G-SEz3-hqhRsopiCOjLVxYAVCo8ZcSioE4OXjer1L3qKMY0giXVeag/s2048/Duluth+Hex+Neighborhood.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmrNo1uogNUwk8TVp7y2IcmSllf7L2IhRppNMajacsRlvpaiBFT2pBA8IABNvIkJahBkBLxHx1LbJkfP0t2lG-G-SEz3-hqhRsopiCOjLVxYAVCo8ZcSioE4OXjer1L3qKMY0giXVeag/w640-h453/Duluth+Hex+Neighborhood.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duluth, MN, looking very hexcrawlable.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4jLOKBOzd00_T2INKaSduBaMfuxI2eXZAtDvgYUi79dczSjk9P4UWmqA6i8sMWW9nRc138uHz3SzBPqo6pz2euP4wUqBtsanknPg7bRmzcl_ZRm90PQI6wHCnbrcOeD6YCr7m_YlqA_o/s2048/Dodge+City+Neighborhood.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4jLOKBOzd00_T2INKaSduBaMfuxI2eXZAtDvgYUi79dczSjk9P4UWmqA6i8sMWW9nRc138uHz3SzBPqo6pz2euP4wUqBtsanknPg7bRmzcl_ZRm90PQI6wHCnbrcOeD6YCr7m_YlqA_o/w640-h452/Dodge+City+Neighborhood.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dodge City, KS, conforming to stereotype.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTs779DqGyIlly351tfXAC8eHMFXMr_GehBV15WQx8vYb1JS-ZdReg14QjRpJI7KVqhnmGIWIJVmHHoCLXpmqIoESi57xS1hxHPRV22UxdOef-kUNLMoY84d7bnNblE5W3aSkenPUB-E/s2048/Atlanta+Hex.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTs779DqGyIlly351tfXAC8eHMFXMr_GehBV15WQx8vYb1JS-ZdReg14QjRpJI7KVqhnmGIWIJVmHHoCLXpmqIoESi57xS1hxHPRV22UxdOef-kUNLMoY84d7bnNblE5W3aSkenPUB-E/w640-h452/Atlanta+Hex.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Atlanta, GA has such immense urban sprawl that it can be a hexcrawl all on its own.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMQTJC1u7XJbm6kduY2K9MmFmjcGjstM3lciLvus0n6FZNXas2iRdk9lcvCvh6i4NhzwOHEWNn1RBj8QIMhz8ui_pZKNEtIUGVQGc4-EgmXWK9Pd7T9eDdxnEHD6S1EHvb42xPTz7Bxk/s2048/Chicago+Hex.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="2048" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMQTJC1u7XJbm6kduY2K9MmFmjcGjstM3lciLvus0n6FZNXas2iRdk9lcvCvh6i4NhzwOHEWNn1RBj8QIMhz8ui_pZKNEtIUGVQGc4-EgmXWK9Pd7T9eDdxnEHD6S1EHvb42xPTz7Bxk/w640-h452/Chicago+Hex.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicago IL's landcover features match up surprisingly well with this grid projection. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><br /><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>(That's it. That's the entire post. I made some maps. Have a nice day.)</p><p><br /></p><p>PS: Have you seen the <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Republic_of_Venice_(1659-1675).svg">flag of Venice</a>? It's a very good flag.</p><p><br /></p>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-17373122683945853782021-08-02T03:44:00.002-07:002021-08-02T03:48:20.071-07:00d6x6 Elemental Powers: Wood<p> Inspired by <a href="http://attnam.blogspot.com/2021/07/elemental-powers-air-fire-water.html">this post by Red_Kangaroo</a>.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>All xylomancers are resistant to poison and illness.</i><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">1. Wood magic is about strength.</h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Wood in your sight can't be bent or broken.</li><li>Augment your strength with vines coiled around your limbs.</li><li>Form self-repairing wooden plate armour around your body.</li><li>Reactively form a protective wooden dome around yourself when attacked.<br /></li><li>Lift and swing massive logs and poles as if they weighed no more than a twig.</li><li>Bring to life mannequins and totems which you carve from
wood. They'll follow your commands, but are only capable of brute force, and not fine manipulation.</li></ol><p style="text-align: left;"></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">2. Wood magic is about endurance.</h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Your skin is faintly green. Time spent in the sun makes you rapidly heal.</li><li>Become tougher and more immovable the longer your feet are firmly planted on the same piece of ground.</li><li>Tap a contiguous piece of wood to render it immovable and inviolable. The effect lasts until you apply it to a different piece of wood.</li><li>Repair wounds - yours or another's - with wooden prostheses that work as well as flesh.</li><li>Go without food or water or rest, and ignore severe injuries, as long as you remain in contact with living plant matter</li><li>Care for a specific plant. If that plant grows ill, so will you. But as long as that plant flourishes, you cannot be killed.</li></ol><p style="text-align: left;"></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">3. Wood magic is about growth.</h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Sing to plants to make them grow at visible speed.</li><li>Snap your fingers to make a sapling instantly, explosively, destructively grow into a full-size tree.</li><li>Dense and diverse vegetation sprouts in your footsteps. You have limited control over the kind of plants that grow.</li><li>Grow to many times your normal height, with strength scaling more than proportionately. The extra mass sloughs of as leaf litter when you sleep.</li><li>Cause dense roots to burst from the ground and ensnare a target, growing around them. Needs existing roots as a starting point.</li><li>Extend and retract your limbs like Inspector Gadget. The extra length can take the form of either vines or hardwood.<br /></li></ol><p style="text-align: left;"></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">4. Wood magic is about weird plant-themed whatsits.</h3><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Emit soporific spores from flowers blooming from your skin.</li><li>Organic material rapids decays under your touch.</li><li>Implant a parasitic sprout into someone's body to parasitically siphon away their lifeforce.</li><li>Absorb light energy into your skin and concentrate it without bound. Re-release all the light at once.</li><li>Rapidly grow parachutes of cottony fibers.</li><li>Exude sticky sap in place of sweat.</li></ol><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">5. Wood Magic is about being in tune with nature.</h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Step into a tree-trunk, and step out from any trunk connected to the same <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycorrhizal_network">wood web</a>.</li><li>Meditate in a grove to gain tactile awareness of all the creatures therein.</li><li>Speak to trees. Learn the strange things they've seen and heard.</li><li>Plants and undergrowth don't hinder your passage. They bend out of your way while reaching to trip those who pursue you.</li><li>Trees grow and slowly twist into shapes convenient for you. Chairs, spears, houses, etc.</li><li>In exchange for tender care, Trees will relocate at your command. You need to shout; they're hard of hearing.</li></ol><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">6. Wood Magic is about hurting people... with wood.</h3><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Shoot seeds as projectiles from out of your palms. </li><li>Cause impaling thorns to burst from nearby wood.</li><li>Summon and swing whip-like vines.</li><li>Staffs and polearms can grow and shrink in your hands.</li><li>Summon razor-sharp and impossibly rigid leaf blades. </li><li>Stab a stake into something to destroy it utterly. <br /></li></ol><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;">Here is some visual inspiration: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh04Kp0f2b8">1</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPi88mjFZaE">2</a>.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Bonus: 6 more elemental powers to combine with Kangaroo's lists to make a nice round 200:</h4><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The element of <b>Storm</b>: Call down a lightning bolt directly on your location. <br /></li><li>The element of <b>Glass</b>: Glass shards cannot cut you, and in your hands they can cut through anything. </li><li>The element of <b>Osmium</b>: You can telekinetically move osmium with your mind. It's quite strong, and has impressive range, but only works on highly purified osmium (which happens to be the rarest of the precious metals). <br /></li><li>The element of <b>Friendship</b>: You can fire concussive beams of force from your palms that, in addition to knocking people off their feet and breaking their bones, also overwhelms them with an intense longing for companionship. <br /></li><li>The element of <b>Flesh</b>: Sprout nasty flailing tentacles.</li><li>The element of <b>Surprise</b>: It's a gun. The surprise is that you can somehow own a working firearm in a magical psuedomedieval fantasy world.</li></ol><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-14024248946962416572021-07-28T05:00:00.003-07:002021-07-28T07:39:42.059-07:00Micropost: Pantheon of the Eternal Industrial Era.<p><b>Vatra</b> - The Primordial Mother Fire. Embodied in the Sun (Her fire above) and Coal (Her fire below). Consumed the previous world and from its ashes were born the gods.</p><p><b>Qiri</b> - The Daughter Fire. Goddess of the Moon, gas, oil, lamps, chemistry, and noxious gasses.</p><p><b>Avull</b> - Goddess of steam, waterfalls, storms, engines, beasts of burden, passion, and blood.</p><p><b>Hekuri</b> - God of iron, foundries, bellows, mining, cement, stone, and the rail.</p><p><b>Turma</b> - Goddess of agriculture, abundance, forestry, crowds, crowding, and plague.</p><p><b>Udhetar</b> - God of canals, calm seas, trade, travel, deserts, desire, and desperation.</p><p><b>Fabrika</b> - Goddess of management, textiles, wisdom, planning, and mass production.</p><p><b>Zare</b> - God of gold, entrepreneurship, investment, prophecy, games and greed.</p><p><b>Shoku</b> - Goddess of community, conformity, communication, the telegraph, lightning, roads, and repair.</p><p><b>Genje</b> - God of paper, printing, knowledge, literacy, eloquence, entertainment, diplomacy and deception.</p><p><b>Martesa</b> - Goddess of boundaries, borders, property, contracts, marriage, and oaths.</p><p><b>Ushtar</b>- God of lead, law, order, rage, war, and gunpowder. Punisher of broken promises.</p><p><b>Kupon</b> - God of <strike>the wilds.</strike> Merchandising. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Inspired by this prompt from Discord user DefinitelyNotAnEggHahaha:<br /></p><blockquote><p>In many fantasy worlds, the gods create the world in a sort of medieval stasis. Humans, dwarves, etc, have medieval-level tech handed to them from day one, and the gods that exist in these worlds also often reflect that technology level (god of the harvest, god of the forge, etc). That is to say, these gods would make no sense in a world where everyone is a hunter-gatherer.</p><p>So, with that established, worldbuilding idea: A world created in a sort of industrial era stasis. Have gods of oil rigs, and railroads, and such</p><p>A sort of dirty steampunk kind of vibe, where tech never actually progresses because of the influence of these gods</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">PS: Kupon is literally just the Greek god Pan in a top hat and ill-fitting three-piece suit. </span></p>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-19404405873903415602021-07-23T04:39:00.026-07:002021-07-28T05:23:45.391-07:00Astropost: Astronomical Objects, Their Symbols, and Their Namesakes
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<p>I want to play a game set in a mythologized version of the Solar System. So I took some notes on the bits and bobs floating about.</p>
<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwuOjwRZSG1MTkhVjgysXPPIlirQyxXOH2Tcnn2exQpPe_qLYi18-dWjom_fiRXXr-PaHcMTxmd-PGWoxgCla5OlKjwXGxC4oC2YfTl5HLZxs77nuoqIwzQSJh3E9271vjYST-v_99VQ/s3699/squarerootscaleplanets.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3699" data-original-width="850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwuOjwRZSG1MTkhVjgysXPPIlirQyxXOH2Tcnn2exQpPe_qLYi18-dWjom_fiRXXr-PaHcMTxmd-PGWoxgCla5OlKjwXGxC4oC2YfTl5HLZxs77nuoqIwzQSJh3E9271vjYST-v_99VQ/s16000/squarerootscaleplanets.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwuOjwRZSG1MTkhVjgysXPPIlirQyxXOH2Tcnn2exQpPe_qLYi18-dWjom_fiRXXr-PaHcMTxmd-PGWoxgCla5OlKjwXGxC4oC2YfTl5HLZxs77nuoqIwzQSJh3E9271vjYST-v_99VQ/s3699/squarerootscaleplanets.png">Click to open in a new tab.</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> The following is an incomplete list of objects in the Solar System, along with their namesakes and symbols.<p></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a> The symbols for the major planets, the Sun, Luna, Ceres, Pluto, and the early-discovered asteroids are all official and recognized by astronomers. (This is because all of these objects were at one point considered planets.)
The symbols for the other dwarf planets, the moons of other objects, etc. are unofficial.
These mostly come from <a href="https://suberic.net/~dmm/astro/index.html">public domain designs by Denis Moskowitz</a>.
The designs for Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, and Orcus are my own designs (also public domain).<p></p>
<p>All of the astronomical symbols in the table below are copypasteable.</p>
<ul>
<li>If an astronomical symbol is in black, then it’s an official part of the unicode standard.</li>
<li>If a symbol is in <span class="catPUA">blue</span>, then it is implemented in the Private Use Area of the <a href="http://catrinity-font.de/">Catrinity font</a>. You’ll need that specific font installed to use these characters.</li>
<li>If a symbol is in <span class="moonsym">green</span>, then it’s a symbol I’ve jankily implemented in <a href="https://bacontime.github.io/moonsymbols.ttf">webfont form.</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Please don’t treat this as an authoritative source on Greco-roman mythology nor astronomy.
I have some links at the end. But the source for a lot of these snippets is “something I remember hearing from a Youtube video”.</p><hr />
<h2 id="the-eight-major-planets"> The Eight Major Planets
</h2>
<table>
<thead><tr>
<th>Planet</th>
<th>Features</th>
<th>Namesake</th>
</tr></thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td class="catsym">Mercury<br />☿</td>
<td>Tidally locked. Extreme temperatures. Very close to sun. Moves really fast around the sun. Closest planet to Earth (on average) yet also the most difficult to reach.</td>
<td>God of commerce and communication (and thieves and trickery). Guides souls to the underworld. Questionable fashion accessories. In Mandarin, called "water planet". Associated with the element mercury by alchemists.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Venus<br />♀</td>
<td>Blisteringly hot, thick atmosphere. Clouds made of sulfuric acid.</td>
<td>God of love, prosperity, beauty, desire. Sometimes a god of war. Sometimes acts a bit bonkers. Started the Trojan war to win an apple. Symbol is just a modified ϕ (short for Phosphorus). In Mandarin, called "metal planet". Associated with copper by alchemists.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Terra<br />⊕<br /><small>alt: ♁</small></td>
<td>Liquid water surface oceans. Exotic slimes.</td>
<td>Earth. You know, dirt and stuff. </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Mars<br />♂</td>
<td>Inside the habitable zone. Covered in rust. Icy poles. Biggest mountain in the system. Inhabited by robots.</td>
<td>God of violent war and bloodshed! (Also, sometimes agriculture; he can be cool.) One time got stuck in a jar. Symbol is his shield and spear. In Mandarin, called "fire planet". Associated with iron by alchemists.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Jupiter<br />♃<br /></td>
<td>Huge; like, really so big it's hard to believe. Bombarded by comets (might protect us from them). Has moons so big they're basically planets. Giant eternal storms. Band of intense radiation in a plasma torus around the equator.</td>
<td>King of the Gods. God of the sky and lightning. Adulterous creep. In Mandarin, called "wood planet". Associated with tin by alchemists.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Saturn<br />♄<br /></td>
<td>Another stormy giant. Weird polar hexagonal storm. Magnificent rings.</td>
<td>Titan of wealth, agriculture, cycles of renewal, and time. A horrible father, but a pretty good ruler of the world. Overthrown by his son Jupiter. Symbol is his scythe. In Mandarin, called "earth planet". Associated with lead by alchemists.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Uranus<br />♅<br /><small>alt: ⛢</small></td>
<td>Sideways ice giant. Made of eerily smooth gas. Mantle made of water and methane. Pressure near the core intense to cause diamond snow.</td>
<td>Primordial sky god. Overthrown by his son Saturn.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Neptune<br />♆<br /><small>alt: ⯉⯧</small></td>
<td>Another ice giant. Discovered with math. Tilted offset magnetic field.</td>
<td>God of the sea (and horses) (and in the greek equivalent, earthquakes).</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<hr />
<h2 id="the-dwarf-planets">The Dwarf Planets
</h2>
<p><i>(Personally, I liked Asimov’s terminology suggestion of “Major Planet” for the big 8, “Minor Planet” for peedie things like comets and asteroids, and “Mesoplanet” for the Plutos and Cereses of the the system.)</i></p>
<div class="table-wrapper"><table>
<thead><tr>
<th>Planet</th>
<th>Features</th>
<th>Namesake</th>
</tr></thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td class="catsym">Ceres<br />⚳</td>
<td>Largest asteroid. Made of clay and brine. Cryovolcanoes. Originally considered a planet. (Pluto is not unique in that regard.) There's a dead satellite orbitting around it. Has the water and organic compounds needed for life, but is far too cold and small for any chance of life occuring in Ceres' past.</td>
<td>God of the harvest, agriculture, and especially grain. Hates pigs. Winter happens when her daughter goes to the underworld. Guards the barrier between life and death?</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Pluto<br />♇<br /><small>alt: ⯓⯔⯕⯖</small></td>
<td>Widest (but not most massive) object in the Kuiper belt. Weird tilted orbit. Big heart-shaped plain of solid nitrogen the size of Texas. Equitorial dark spots made of tholins (space tar), the biggest of which is called "Cthulhu Macula". Mountains made of water ice. Thin hazy atmosphere. May have had liquid nitrogen lakes and subsurface water oceans in the past. (And yes, the unicode standard includes 5 variant symbols for Pluto.)</td>
<td>Ruler of the underworld. God of mineral wealth. Kidnapped Ceres' daughter, who must now stay in the underworld each winter because she ate an underworldly pomegranate.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Haumea<br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td>
<td>Spins so fast it's egg-shaped. Tiny little rings. Both of these features are the result of the planet's history as the product of a violent collision between multiple objects.</td>
<td>Fertility god who gave humans the ability to give birth.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Makemake<br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td>
<td>It's kinda red, but not, like, super red. Red-tinged and covered in pellets of solid methane. Not as much nitrogen as Pluto or Triton.</td>
<td>Lead god of the birdman cult. Associated with a proxy-war-like ritual involving a deadly race to collect the first tern egg of the season.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Eris<br />⯰<br /><small>alt: ⯱</small></td>
<td>Incredibly distant from the Sun. Ever slightly more massive than Pluto, which led to the controversial decision to reclassify Pluto as Dwarf Planet. </td>
<td>God of strife and discord. Kickstarted the Trojan War with the apple incident. </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div>
<p>And the following are a few of the objects most likely to be dwarf planets, which haven’t been recognized by the IAU as such:</p>
<div class="table-wrapper"><table>
<thead><tr>
<th>Planet</th>
<th>Features</th>
<th>Namesake</th>
</tr></thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td class="catsym">Orcus<br />
<span class="moonsym">O</span></td>
<td>Called the "anti-Pluto" because it's orbit is similar to Pluto's, yet opposite from it. They are both resonant with neptune and have the same orbital period. Both of them cross over Neptune's orbit. But Pluto is close to the sun when Orcus is far away and vice versa. Also, both have a relatively large tidally locked moon, named after psychopomps. </td>
<td>Underworld god and punisher of broken oaths. Namesake of ogres, orcs, and orcas.It's moon, Vanth, is named after another psychopomp.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Quaoar<br /></td>
<td>Its icy shell was stripped away in a past collision.</td>
<td>Sang and danced the cosmos into being. Wild animals enforce his will.<!--https://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/bosc/bosc04.htm--></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Gonggong<br /> 共</td>
<td>Just barely big enough to hold onto volatile compounds..</td>
<td>Jerkwad serpent who knocked the earth off kilter. Also prone to causing floods, and his 9-headed sidekick had his teeth kicked in by Da Yu.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Sedna<br />⯲</td>
<td>Almost as red as the planet Mars. Listen, they can't all be fascinating worlds with exciting geology and the potential for life. Sometimes it's a rock just really far away and all we know about it is a vague sense of its color.</td>
<td>God of the sea and sea creatures. Maybe she married a dog. Maybe she married a bird in disguise. Maybe she refused to marry anyone. The story varies. One way or another, she lost her fingers, which turned into sea mammals.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div><hr />
<h2 id="the-moons"> The Moons
</h2>
<p>Aka “satellite planets”.
The word “moon” originally just referred to Luna, the moon of earth, and comes from a Proto-Indo-European word related to timekeeping and the month.</p>
<h3 id="planetary-mass-moons">Planetary Mass Moons
</h3>
<p>Here are the moons bigger than Pluto, and which would at the very least be classified as dwarf planets were they not orbiting around another body (in fact, Titan and Ganymede are even bigger than Mercury):</p>
<div class="table-wrapper"><table>
<thead><tr>
<th>Moon</th>
<th>Features</th>
<th>Namesake</th>
</tr></thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td class="catsym">Luna<br />☾</td>
<td>Tides and whatnot. It's *the* Moon. Likely the result of a massive collision between Earth and another planet, the same collision that gave earth its oceans.</td>
<td>God of the Moon. A bit redundant, I know. Often identified with Diana, god of the hunt, or Juno, god of marriage and childbirth. The Moon is mythologically associated with wolves, madness, womanhood, and shellfish. Or at least, it used to be. The shellfish association kinda disappeared from pop culture for some reason. Alchemists associated it with silver.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Io<br />
<span class="moonsym">I</span>
<br /><small>(♃-I)</small></td>
<td>Least water of anywhere in the solar system. Sulfur atmosphere. Hundreds of volcanoes. Sulfur crust. Spews out plumes of sulfurous crud all the way into space. The crud is then accelerated by Jupiter's magnetic field to form the deadly radiation torus.</td>
<td>Lusted after by Jupiter, turned into a cow, tormented by a gadfly. Eventually got turned back to normal and married a king.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Europa<br />
<span class="moonsym">E</span>
<small><br />(♃-II)</small></td>
<td>Smooth surface of cracked water ice, dotted with "chaos terrains". Bombarded by deadly radiation. Thin oxygen atmosphere (created by the radiation). Oceans under kilometers of ice. Promising spot for extraterrestrial life.</td>
<td>This time, Jupiter turned his own dang self into a bovine, rode off with this lovely lady, and wooed her with the gifts of: a pet dog, a homing javelin, and a giant fighting robot.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym"><small>Ganymede</small><br />
<span class="moonsym">G</span>
<small><br />(♃-III)</small></td>
<td>Biggest moon. Has its own magnetic field. More water than earth, held in a subterranean ocean 100km deep (or maybe multiple layered oceans). *Very* thin oxygen atmosphere.</td>
<td>Really pretty guy. Abducted by Jupiter in bird form. Made immortal to serve as Jupiter's personal cupbearer.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Callisto<br />
<span class="moonsym">K</span>
<small><br />(♃-IV)</small></td>
<td>Lots of craters. Outside of the deadly radiation donut, so might be the best place near Jupiter to set up a human base. (Also, might have subterranean oceans. That's apparently pretty common in space.)</td>
<td>A nymph and follower of Diana. Jupiter raped her, then Artemis kicked her out because she wasn't a virgin anymore. A while later, Juno turned her into a bear, and then her own son hunted her down in bear form. Yeesh. </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Titan<br />
<span class="moonsym">T</span>
<small><br />(♄-VI)</small></td>
<td>2nd biggest moon. Thicker atmosphere than Earth's. Very hazy. Only place besides Earth with surface liquid (it's methane though), and thus the only place besides Earth to have whirlpools. Also might have an ammonia-water ocean underground, which erupts from cryovolcanoes. Soft crunchy surface. Permanent polar hurricances.<!--Victor of a clash between moons.--></td>
<td>Precursors to the Olympian gods. Not any specific titan, though. The other moons of Saturn are named after specific titans.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Triton<br />
<span class="moonsym">R</span>
<br /><small>(♆-I)</small></td>
<td>Backwards, tilted orbit. Possibly a captured dwarf planet. Covered in nitrogen ice, similar composition to Pluto. Crvovolcanoes stain the surface with organic compounds. Thin nitrogen and methane atmosphere.</td>
<td>Son of Neptune. Merman with a magic conch.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div>
<!--Callisto and its oceans of piss.-->
<p>And here are a few more moons which are maybe big enough to probably count as dwarf planets, even if they aren’t as dramatically large as the previous list.
Well, Enceladus is teeny tiny, but it’s round and interesting enough that it seems to fit in with this list.</p>
<div class="table-wrapper"><table>
<thead><tr>
<th>Moon</th>
<th>Features</th>
<th>Namesake</th>
</tr></thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td class="catsym">Enceladus<br />
<span class="moonsym">e</span>
<br /><small>(♄-II)</small></td>
<td>Clean, reflective ball of ice. Relatively hot tiger stripes detected under the south pole. The south pole shoots out water jets which turn into a blue icy ring around saturn.</td>
<td>Giant son of Gaia, and opponent of Athena.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Tethys<br />
<span class="moonsym">h</span>
<br /><small>(♄-III)</small></td>
<td>Somewhat bigger and slightly less shiny than Enceladus. Almost entirely made of ice. Faintly bluish stripe.</td>
<td>Titan mother of thousands of minor ocean and river gods.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Dione<br />
<span class="moonsym">d</span>
<br /><small>(♄-IV)</small></td>
<td>Networks of icy cliffs. <!--Possible subsurface liquid oceans? Hard to find mention of that outside wikipedia though?--> Resonant with Enceladus and its features might be more "mature" versions of that little moon's. Also, constantly bombarded with icey powder from Enceladus.</td>
<td>Titan. Mother of Aphrodite. (sometimes, when she isn't birthed from seafoam)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Rhea<br />
<span class="moonsym">r</span><br />
<small>(♄-V)</small></td>
<td>Described by NASA as a "dirty snowball". Has it's own tiny little rings. More cratered than the other ice moons of saturn.</td>
<td>Titan. Wife of Saturn who rescued baby Jupiter from being eaten.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Iapetus<br />
<span class="moonsym">i</span>
<br /><small>(♄-VIII)</small></td>
<td>Tilted orbit around saturn. It's the only one of Saturn's moons with a good view of the rings. Walnut shape from huge equitorial ridge. One bright side and one dark side. </td>
<td>Titan, brother of Saturn. Father of Atlas and Prometheus. Sometimes later identified with one of Noah's sons?</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Ariel<br />
<span class="moonsym">a</span>
<br /><small>(♅-I)</small></td>
<td>Relatively bright and porous surface.</td>
<td>Sylph with power over the winds, bound to serve the magician Prospero.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Umbriel<br />
<span class="moonsym">u</span>
<br /><small>(♅-II)</small></td>
<td>Darkest of the moons of Uranus</td>
<td>Dusky melancholy gnome.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Titania<br />
<span class="moonsym">t</span>
<br /><small>(♅-III)</small></td>
<td>Enormous frost-lined canyons.</td>
<td>Queen of the Fey</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Oberon<br />
<span class="moonsym">o</span>
<br /><small>(♅-IV)</small></td>
<td>Scarred and cratered surface.</td>
<td>King of the Fey</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Charon<br />⯕<br /><small>(♇-I)</small></td>
<td>A moon big enough and close enough to Pluto make their center of gravity lie between the two.</td>
<td>Ferryman of the dead. Son of Nyx, god of night. Sibling to Thanatos and Hypnos, personifications of death and sleep. Kind of a gnarly old dude.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div>
<h3 id="tiny-lumpy-moons">Tiny Lumpy Moons
</h3>
<p>Here are a few more moons which aren’t big enough to be properly rounded, but are ‘famous’ enough to mention.</p>
<p>Mars’ itty bitty teensy weeny moons, for example, are no more than a couple dozen km across, but they’re notable for being so close to the surface of Mars that they appear large in the Martian sky.</p>
<div class="table-wrapper"><!--<tr>
<td class="catsym">Vanth<br>
<span class="moonsym">v</span>
<br><small>(<span style="font-family: moonsymbols;">O</span>-I)</small></td>
<td>Tidally locked, relatively big compared to its planet, similar to the Pluto+Charon system.</td>
<td>A winged psychopomp associated often accompanied by Charun, the Estruscan version of Charon. The name was suggested by an internet commenter to further the parallels between Pluto and Orcus</td>
</tr>--><table>
<thead><tr>
<th>Moon</th>
<th>Features</th>
<th>Namesake</th>
</tr></thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td class="catsym">Phobos<br />
<span class="moonsym">p</span>
<br /><small>(♂-I)</small></td>
<td>Orbits close enough that it's being slowly pulled apart. Will likely crash into Mars or disintegrate into rings in about 40 millions years. One of the least reflective objects in the solar system.</td>
<td>Son of Mars and Venus. Personification of fear. Twin brother to Deimos.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Deimos<br />
<span class="moonsym">q</span>
<br /><small>(♂-II)</small></td>
<td>Small enough that if you were standing on its surface, you could achieve escape velocity by jumping.</td>
<td>Son of Mars and Venus. Personification of the dread that drives men mad before a battle.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Mimas<br />
<span class="moonsym">m</span>
<br /><small>(♄-I)</small></td>
<td>Looks like the Death Star from Star Wars. (Just a coincidence.) The temperature map supposedly looks like Pac-Man.</td>
<td>Giant son of Gaia. Divine punching bag.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Miranda<br />
<span class="moonsym">n</span>
<br /><small>(♅-I)</small></td>
<td>Lumpy. Orbits weirdly close to Uranus.</td>
<td>The daughter of the magician Prospero.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div><hr />
<h2 id="theorized-planets">Theorized Planets
</h2>
<div class="table-wrapper"><table>
<thead><tr>
<th>Name</th>
<th>Features</th>
<th>Namesake</th>
</tr></thead>
<tbody><tr>
<td class="catsym">Theia</td>
<td>The hypothetical water-rich ancient planet which collided with the young Earth. After the debris settled, the solar system was left with the Terra and Luna we all know and love.</td>
<td>Titan. Mother of the sun, the moon, and the dawn. Endowed precious metal and gems with their beauty.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">Vulcan<br />⯦<span class="catPUA"></span></td>
<td>Urbain Le Verrier famously predicted the existence of Neptune through irregularities in the orbit of Uranus. He also predicted the existence of Vulcan through the irregularities in the orbit of Mercury. Alas, Vulcan doesn't exist. As it turns out, Newton's law of universal gravitation is <strike>the ramblings of a deranged alchemist</strike> an approximation which doesn't work as well in the presence of strong gravitational pull. Mercury's orbit was later explained by Einstein's general theory of relativity.<br />However, the space between the sun and Mercury is surprisingly empty compared to what we see in other systems. So maybe such a planet did exist long ago before spiraling into the sun.</td>
<td>God of fire, the forge, volcanoes, and deserts. Made all sorts of weird stuff. Frought marriage with Venus.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="catsym">The Fifth Giant<br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td>
<td>Computer simulations of the early somewhat suggest that the shape of the solar system is more easily explained if there used to be a third ice giant which has since been ejected from the system. This theory is called the "Five-planet Nice model".</td>
<td>This hypothetical fifth giant is sometimes informally referred to as Hades, Liber (party wine god), or Mephitis (god of the noxious gasses that seep from the ground).</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div><hr />
<h2 id="the-sun">The Sun
</h2>
<div class="table-wrapper"><table>
<tbody><tr>
<td class="catsym">Sol<br />☉<br /><small>alt: ☀☼</small></td>
<td>1. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JdWlSF195Y">An explanation of the sun</a>. 2. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLkGSV9WDMA">A correction to this explanation</a>.</td>
<td>the word sol means "the sun". Speaking of grecoroman myth, it's often associated with Apollo (who does some future sight business), and Helios (who rides around with his sky horses.). Associated with gold by alchemists.</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table></div><hr />
<h2 id="the-minor-planets"> The Minor Planets
</h2>
<p>These are now properly called “small solar system bodies”.</p>
<p>People initially considered these planets and gave them symbols. Around the discovery of 16 Psyche is when astronomers realized there are too many of the dang things to dote on each one individually, and just started giving them numbers.</p>
<!--2005 VX3: Highly eccentric. Possibly a dormant comet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/514107_Ka%CA%BBepaoka%CA%BBawela-->
<p>Below, I’ve listed the first batch discovered, as well as some notable objects discovered later on. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meanings_of_minor_planet_names#Index">A much much more comprehensive list can be found here.</a></p>
<div class="table-wrapper"><table>
<thead><tr>
<th>Rock</th>
<th>Namesake+Notes</th>
</tr></thead>
<tbody><tr><td class="catsym">1 Ceres<br />⚳</td><td> God of grain, harvest, motherhood. Biggest Asteroid. First discovered. Now considered a dwarf Planet, listed above.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">2 Pallas<br />⚴</td><td> Athena and her spear. A lot of other mythological characters are named Pallas as well. <br /> The asteroid is is the third most massive, as dark as asphalt, and on a highly tilted orbit.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">3 Juno<br />⚵</td><td> God of marriage and childbirth. Sometimes associated with the moon.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">4 Vesta<br />⚶</td><td> God of hearth and home. <br /> This asteroid is the second most massive, and is a surviving rocky protoplanet, like the frozen embryo of a terrestrial world. About a billion years ago, it suffered from two giant impacts. The splash from one of these impacts gave Vesta a mountain to rival Olympus Mons. And the debris from the impact was scattered throughout the solar system (5% of meteorites that hit Earth are chunks of Vesta).</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">5 Astraea <br /><span class="catPUA"></span>⯙⚖</td><td> God of justice, innocence, purity, and precision.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">6 Hebe <br /><span class="catPUA"></span><small>🍷︎</small></td><td> God of youth and forgiveness, Cupbearer to the gods. Married Heracles and retired after Ganymede was brought into the operation.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">7 Iris <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> God of rainbows. Messenger of the gods.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">8 Flora <br /><span class="catPUA"></span>⚘</td><td> God of flowers and springtime.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">9 Metis <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> Titan of wisdom and skilled council. Mother of Athena.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">10 Hygiea <br /><span class="catPUA"></span>⯚<!--⚕--></td><td> God of cleanliness, sanitation, and preventative medicine. Daughter of Asclepius, god of medicine. I think the official unicode glyph is supposed to be a rod of Asclepius (one snake), but looks more like a caduceus (two snakes, Hermes) to me. <br /> 4th largest asteroid.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">11 Parthenope <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> Siren. Either failed to lure Odysseus or was turned into a city by Jupiter.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">12 Victoria <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> God of victory.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">13 Egeria <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> Nymph who gave laws to early Rome. </td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">14 Irene <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> Personification of peace. Sister to Dike (Justice) and Eunomia (Order). Daughter of Themis</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">15 Eunomia <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> Personification of Order. God of law, legislation, and pastures.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">16 Psyche <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> God of the soul. A beautiful mortal who married Cupid and was tormented by his mother Venus. The symbol is supposed to be a butterfly's wing. <br /> The asteroid is thought to be the exposed core of a shattered protoplanet, and there's a plan to visit it in 2026. (Mission tagline: "Journey to a Metal World")</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">17 Thetis <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> Sea nymph, mother of Achilles</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">18 Melpomene <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> Muse of the Chorus and Tregedy.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">19 Fortuna <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> God of fate and fortune. She is commonly said to be blind. Had a fancy wheel which was later adapted into a popular game show.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">20 Massalia</td><td> Named after a city.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">21 Lutetia</td><td> Named after a city. One of the densest asteroids.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">22 Kalliope</td><td> Muse of epic poetry. Chief of the Muses. Turned some uppity mortals into songbirds.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">23 Thalia</td><td> Muse of comedy.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">24 Themis</td><td> Titan of divine law. Second wife of Jupiter.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">25 Phocaea</td><td> Named after a city.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">26 Proserpina <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> Daughter of Ceres. Stuck in the underworld each winter because Pluto kidnapped her and fed her those underworldly pomegranate seeds. Also a god of springtime, wine, and a terrifying Queen of the underworld.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">28 Bellona <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> Wife of Mars. Also a god of a crazed bloodthirsty war. Likes to ride into battle with her hubby and has a special talent when it comes to destroying entire cities.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">29 Amphitrite <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> Neptune's wife. God of the sea and salt water.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">30 Urania</td><td> Muse of astronomy.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">31 Euphrosyne</td><td> God of good cheer. </td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">32 Pomona</td><td> Wood nymph. God of orchards.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">33 Polyhymnia</td><td> Muse of sacred poetry and pantomime.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">34 Circe</td><td> Wizard Queen. Transmogrified people into animals. Daughter of the Sun.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">35 Leukothea <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> A nymph or queen who leapt into the sea. The symbol is an old-timey lighthouse.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">37 Fides <br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td> God of trust and reliability. Astronomers pretty much completely gave up on the asteroid symbols past this point.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">38 Leda</td><td> Spartan queen. Made love to swan-Jupiter, and gave birth two eggs from which hatched Helen of Troy, and the twins Castor and Pollux.</td></tr>
<tr><td><br /></td><td><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">243 Ida</td><td> A nymph who nursed Jupiter. Also the name of the mountain where baby Jupiter was hidden away. <br /> The asteroid was the first discovered to have its own tiny asteroid moon. <br /> The moon is named "Dactyl", after a group of weird little forge fellas that lived on Mount Ida and protected Jupiter. </td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">253 Mathilde</td><td> Named after an Astronomer's wife. <br /> The asteroid was visited by a probe on its way to 433 Eros, and scientists were surprised to see that 253 Mathilde is a loosely packed pile of rubble, more crater than stone.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">433 Eros</td><td> Aka Cupid. God of erotic desire. Had a romance with Psyche. <br /> This asteroid was the first near-earth asteroid to be discovered. It was also the first asteroid people put an orbiter around, and the first asteroid to be landed on. Rich in precious metals. About as big as the asteroid that wiped out the dinos, and has high odds of slamming into the earth in the very distant future.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">624 Hektor</td><td> A mythological Trojan Prince. <br /> The largest of the Jupiter Trojans, which are similar to asteroids, but orbiting in Jupiter's Lagrange points. It's extremely elongated, and has a little moon named Skamandrios, after the mythological Hektor's son.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">704 Interamnia</td><td> Named after a city. <br /> 5th largest asteroid but poorly studied.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">1862 Apollo</td><td> God of the sun, fortune telling, and all sorts of stuff. <br /> This asteroid was the first discovered example and namesake of the Apollo-class asteroids, asteroids whose orbits cross Earth's. (If you remember the meteor that hit Russia back in 2013, that came from an Apollo-class object.)</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">2060 Chiron<br />⚷</td><td> The wisest of the centaurs. Trainer of heroes. Inventor of botany. <br /> The object Chiron was the first recognized example of the astronomical centaurs, a group of objects like asteroids but which orbit further out between the gas giants. They're so named because they seem to resemble a combination of asteroid and comet.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">3200 Phaethon</td><td> Son of Helios, the sun god. Took his dad's sun chariot for a joy ride, almost destroyed the world, and had to be struck down with a lightning bolt by Jupiter. <br /> This Apollo-class asteroid is so named because it flies closer to the sun than any other asteroid.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">5145 Pholus<br />⯛</td><td>Another very smart centaur. Friend of Heracles.<br />The object was the second astronomical centaur to be discovered.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">7066 Nessus<br />⯜</td><td>A centaur. Unlike the previous two, this centaur was a total creep. He tried to rape Heracles' wife, so Heracles killed him with some turbo poison. Years later, Heracles put on a shirt that was stained with the turbo-poisoned centaur blood, and Heracles himself was killed.<br />The object was the third astronomical centaur to be discovered.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">10199 Chariklo</td><td> A nymph, wife to the centaur Chiron. <br /> This object is the largest (yet found as of 2019) of the astronomical centaurs, and the smallest object known to have rings.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">25143 Itokawa</td><td> Named for the father of Japanese rocketry. <br /> Rubble pile shaped like a lumpy sea otter. This was the first asteroid from which a sample was collected and brought back to Earth. It's also the smallest asteroid ever visited.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">28978 Ixion<br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td>The first man to kill his kin. Jupiter showed him mercy, but then he violated hospitality by making love to a cloud shaped like Juno. (The cloud got pregnant. This is where centaurs come from.) As punishment for his crimes, the gods chained him to a wheel, lit him on fire and hucked him like a frisbee across the sky.<br />The object Ixion is a plutino and maaaaaybe a dwarf planet.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">42355 Typhon<br /><span class="catPUA"></span></td><td>The object is the first binary centaur to be discovered, together with its moon Echidna.<br />In myth, Typhon was a giant snakeman monster who tried to overthrow Jupiter as king of the world. Echidna was his giant monster lover who gave birth to loads of famous monsters. </td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">65803 Didymos</td><td> The name means "twin". <br /> It has a moonlet called "Dimorphos", meaning "Two forms." <br /> NASA's DART mission is planning to test our planetary defense capabilities by ramming into Dimorphos as high speed in 2022. </td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">99942 Apophis</td><td> A primordial serpent who sought to devour the sun. <br /> When this asteroid was first discovered, measurements suggested there was a small chance it would impact the Earth. That's since been ruled out, but it will pass by incredibly close in 2029.</td></tr>
<tr><td class="catsym">101955 Bennu</td><td> Named for a mythological bird associated with the creation of the world. <br /> An Apollo-class object with an unstable orbit. It has a low chance of crashing into the Earth next century, but is more likely to spiral into the sun or crash into Venus. As of May 2021, a spacecraft has collected a sample and is bringing it back to Earth.</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>
<!--<span class="catsym">1 Ceres ⚳</span>
: God of grain, harvest, motherhood. Biggest Asteroid. First discovered. Now considered a dwarf Planet, listed above.
<span class="catsym">2 Pallas ⚴</span>
: Athena and her spear. A lot of other mythological characters are named Pallas as well.
: The asteroid is is the third most massive, as dark as asphalt, and on a highly tilted orbit.
<span class="catsym">3 Juno ⚵</span>
: God of marriage and childbirth. Sometimes associated with the moon.
<span class="catsym">4 Vesta ⚶</span>
: God of hearth and home.
: This asteroid is the second most massive, and is a surviving rocky protoplanet, like the frozen embryo of a terrestrial world. About a billion years ago, it suffered from two giant impacts. The splash from one of these impacts gave Vesta a mountain to rival Olympus Mons. And the debris from the impact was scattered throughout the solar system (5% of meteorites that hit Earth are chunks of Vesta).
<span class="catsym">5 Astraea <span class="catPUA"></span>⯙</span>
: God of justice, innocence, purity, and precision.
<span class="catsym">6 Hebe <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: God of youth and forgiveness, Cupbearer to the gods.
<span class="catsym">7 Iris <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: God of rainbows. Messenger of the gods.
<span class="catsym">8 Flora <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: God of flowers and springtime.
<span class="catsym">9 Metis <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: Titan of wisdom and skilled council. Mother of Athena.
<span class="catsym">10 Hygiea <span class="catPUA"></span>⯚</span>
: God of cleanliness, sanitation, and preventative medicine. Daughter of Asclepius, god of medicine. I think the official unicode glyph is supposed to be a rod of Asclepius (one snake), but looks more like a caduceus (two snakes, Hermes) to me.
: 4th largest asteroid.
<span class="catsym">11 Parthenope <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: Siren Either failed to lure Odysseus or was turned into a city by Jupiter.
<span class="catsym">12 Victoria <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: God of victory.
<span class="catsym">13 Egeria <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: Nymph who gave laws and to early Rome.
<span class="catsym">14 Irene <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: Personification of peace. Sister to Dike (Justice) and Eunomia (Order). Daughter of Themis
<span class="catsym">15 Eunomia <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: Personification of Order. God of law, legistlation, and pastures.
<span class="catsym">16 Psyche <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: God of the soul. A beautiful mortal who married Cupid and was tormented by his mother Venus. The symbol is supposed to be a butterfly's wing.
: The asteroid is thought to be the exposed core of a shattered protoplanet, and there's a plan to visit it in 2026. (Mission tagline: "Journey to a Metal World")
<span class="catsym">17 Thetis <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: Sea nymph, mother of Achilles
<span class="catsym">18 Melpomene <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: Muse of the Chorus and Tregedy.
<span class="catsym">19 Fortuna <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: God of fate and fortune. She is commonly said to be blind. Had a fancy wheel which was later adapted into a popular game show.
<span class="catsym">20 Massalia</span>
: Named after a city.
<span class="catsym">21 Lutetia</span>
: Named after a city. One of the densest asteroids.
<span class="catsym">22 Kalliope</span>
: Muse of epic poetry. Chief of the Muses. Turned some uppity mortals into songbirds.
<span class="catsym">23 Thalia</span>
: Muse of comedy.
<span class="catsym">24 Themis</span>
: Titan of divine law. Second wife of Jupiter.
<span class="catsym">25 Phocaea</span>
: Named after a city.
<span class="catsym">26 Proserpina <span class="catPUA"></span>⯘</span>
: Daughter of Ceres. Stuck in the underworld each winter because Pluto kidnapped her and fed her those underworldly pomegranite seeds. Also a god of springtime, wine, and a terrifying Queen of the underworld.
<span class="catsym">28 Bellona <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: Wife of Mars. Also a god of a crazed bloodthirsty war. Likes to ride into battle with her hubby and has a special talent when it comes to destroying entire cities.
<span class="catsym">29 Amphitrite <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: Neptune's wife. God of the sea and salt water.
<span class="catsym">30 Urania</span>
: Muse of astronomy.
<span class="catsym">31 Euphrosyne</span>
: God of good cheer.
<span class="catsym">32 Pomona</span>
: Wood nymph. God of orchards.
<span class="catsym">33 Polyhymnia</span>
: Muse of sacred poetry and pantomime.
<span class="catsym">34 Circe</span>
: Wizard Queen. Transmogrified people into animals. Daughter of the Sun.
<span class="catsym">35 Leukothea <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: A nymph or queen who leapt into the sea. The symbol is an old-timey lighthouse.
<span class="catsym">37 Fides <span class="catPUA"></span></span>
: God of trust and reliability. Astronomers pretty much completely gave up on the asteroid symbols past this point.
<span class="catsym">38 Leda</span>
: Spartan queen. Made love to swan-Jupiter, and gave birth two eggs from which hatched Helen of Troy, and the twins Castor and Pollux.
...
<span class="catsym">243 Ida</span>
: A nymph who nursed Jupiter. Also the name of the mountain where baby Jupiter was hidden away.
: The asteroid was the first discovered to have its own tiny asteroid moon.
: The moon is named "Dactyl", after a group of weird little forge fellas that lived on Mount Ida and protected Jupiter.
<span class="catsym">253 Mathilde</span>
: Named after an Astronomer's wife.
: The asteroid was visited by a probe on its way to 433 Eros, and scientists were surprised to see that 253 Mathilde is a loosely packed pile of rubble, more crater than stone.
<span class="catsym">433 Eros</span>
: Aka Cupid. God of erotic desire. Had a romance with Psyche.
: This asteroid was the first near-earth asteroid to be discovered. It was also the first asteroid people put an orbiter around, and the first asteroid to be landed on. Rich in precious metals. About as big as the asteroid that wiped out the dinos, and has high odds of slamming into the earth in the very distant future.
<span class="catsym">624 Hektor</span>
: A mythological Trojan Prince.
: The largest of the Jupiter Trojans, which are similar to asteroids, but orbiting in Jupiter's Lagrange points. It's extremely elongated, and has a little moon named Skamandrios, after the mythological Hektor's son.
<span class="catsym">704 Interamnia</span>
: Named after a city.
: 5th largest asteroid but poorly studied.
<span class="catsym">1862 Apollo</span>
: God of the sun, fortune telling, and all sorts of stuff.
: This asteroid was the first discovered example and namesake of the Apollo-class asteroids, asteroids whose orbits cross Earth's. (If you remember the meteor that hit Russia back in 2013, that came from an Apollo-class object.)
<span class="catsym">2060 Chiron ⚷</span>
: The wisest of the centaurs. Trainer of heroes. Inventor of botany.
: The object Chiron was the first recognized example of the astronomical centaurs, a group of objects like asteroids but which orbit further out between the gas giants. They're so named because they seem to resemble a combination of asteroid and comet.
<span class="catsym">3200 Phaethon</span>
: Son of Helios, the sun god. Took his dad's sun chariot for a joy ride, almost destroyed the world, and had to be struck down with a lightning bolt by Jupiter.
: This Apollo-class asteroid is so named because it flies closer to the sun than any other asteroid.
<span class="catsym">10199 Chariklo</span>
: A nymph, wife to the centaur Chiron.
: This object is the largest (yet found as of 2019) of the astronomical centaurs, and the smallest object known to have rings.
<span class="catsym">25143 Itokawa</span>
: Named for the father of Japanese rocketry.
: Rubble pile shaped like a lumpy sea otter. This was the first asteroid from which a sample was collected and brought back to Earth. It's also the smallest asteroid ever visited.
<span class="catsym">65803 Didymos</span>
: The name is Greek for "twin".
: It has a moonlet called "Dimorphos", meaning "Two forms."
: NASA's DART mission is planning to test our planetary defense capabilities by ramming into Dimorphos as high speed in 2022.
<span class="catsym">99942 Apophis</span>
: A primordial serpent who sought to devour the sun.
: When this asteroid was first discovered, measurements suggested there was a small chance it would impact the Earth. That's since been ruled out, but it will pass by incredibly close in 2029.
<span class="catsym">101955 Bennu</span>
: Named for a mythological bird associated with the creation of the world.
: An Apollo-class object with an unstable orbit. It has a low chance of crashing into the Earth next century, but is more likely to spiral into the sun or crash into Venus. As of May 2021, a spacecraft has collected a sample and is bringing it back to Earth.-->
<h3 id="other-space-whatsits"> Other Space Whatsits
</h3>
<dl>
<dt><span class="catsym">ʻOumuamua</span></dt>
<dd>The first known interstellar object to visit the Solar System.</dd>
<dd>Its name means something like “scout”. Probably not aliens, but for a while there, that wasn’t a completely ludicrous hypothesis.</dd>
<dt><span class="catsym">2019 OK</span></dt>
<dd>An Apollo-class object that passed close to the Earth in 2019. Because of the angle of its orbit, we had very little warning about its approach.</dd>
<dd>The name is just based on the date of its discovery, and doesn’t follow the normal asteroid number naming pattern.</dd>
</dl>
<p><br /></p><hr />
<!--<div style="font-family: Catrinity; font-size: 300%;"></div>--> <br /><h2 id="constellations">Constellations
</h2>
<p>These aren’t actually objects so much as they’re regions of the sky.</p>
<div class="table-wrapper"><table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">Symbol</th>
<th style="text-align: left;">Name</th>
<th style="text-align: left;">Depicts</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♈︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">aries</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">shep</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♉︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">taurus</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">coo</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♊︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">gemini</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Castor and Pollux, sons of Leda, from the swan thing</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♋︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">cancer</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">crab</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♌︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">leo</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">big cat</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♍︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">virgo</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">A gal. Sometimes specifically Astraea, the namesake of asteroid 5.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♎︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">libra</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">claws</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♏︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">scorpius</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">scary bug. Even Orion is scare</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♐︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">sagittarius</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">a centaur maybe?</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♑︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">capricorn</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">goatfish (it was a thing in Babylon don’t worry about it)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♒︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">aquarius</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">waterbottle</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">♓︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">pisces</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">two fish… tied together with a rope</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">⛎︎</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">ophiuchus</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">wrasslin snek</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<p><br /></p><hr />
<!--<div style="font-family: Catrinity; font-size: 300%;"></div>-->
<!--![](elementhex.svg)
![](elementhex2.png)
![](elementhexplus.png)
![](elementasociationtierlist.png)
![](/posts/nature/astrosymbols/dualscalesolarsystem.png)
Here is a quadratically scaled solar system.
I'm playing around with the symbols for some of the moons.
![](/posts/nature/astrosymbols/quadraticsolarsystem.svg)
And here is one to scale:
![](/posts/nature/astrosymbols/dualscalesolarsystem_moons_nofont.svg)
https://www.heritagetype.com/pages/free-vintage-illustrations--> <br /><h2 id="various-other-astro-symbols">Various Other Astro Symbols
</h2>
<ul>
<li>Symbols for the relative positions of objects: <span class="catsym">☊☋☌☍⚹⚺⚻⚼⯳⯴⯵⯶⯷⯸<span class="catPUA"></span></span></li>
<li>Some fortune-teller-types use “Lilith” and “Priapus” to refer to the Moon’s perigee and apogee. (Nearest and farthest orbital points from the Earth.) <span class="catsym">⚸⯞<span class="catPUA"></span></span> Lilith is either a primordial demon or the first woman, sculpted from the same clay as Adam. Priapus is the god of beekeeping and jumbo schlongers.</li>
<li>Then there’s also “White Moon Selena” and “True Light Moon Arta” <span class="catsym">⯝⯟<span class="catPUA"></span></span>, astrological points which have <i>some</i> sort of connection to the moon’s orbit. I tried following the citations from the unicode documents, but <a href="https://astrologer.ru/book/light_moon/index.html.en">the page I ended up at</a> gave off powerful Time Cube energy.</li>
<li>Speculating about a major planet out past Pluto is a popular hobby, and astrologers haven’t skipped out on the fun.
<ul>
<li><span class="catsym">⯗ Generic Transpluto Planet</span>: This character is listed in the unicode standard simply as “Transpluto”. <!--Sometimes called Isis(TODO) or Bacchus (god of inebriation and madness).--></li>
<li><span class="catsym">⯘ Proserpina</span>: Same namesake as asteroid 26, but otherwise no connection. (But yeah, dang. Given the myth, maybe that name should have been saved for an eccentric Kuiper belt object, like a comet or something.)</li>
<li>There’s also <span class="catsym">⯠ Cupido, ⯡ Hades, ⯢ Zeus, ⯣ Kronos, ⯤ Apollon, ⯥ Admetos, ⯦ Vulcanus, and ⯧ Poseidon </span>.
<ul>
<li>Most of those are just alternate names for gods that already had a planet or asteroid named after them. I do have to admit, however, that the symbol for Vulcanus is super snazzy.</li>
<li>The odd one out here is Admetos. His story is that Apollo loved this guy a lot, and so when he learned that Admetus was soon fated to die, Apollo convinced the fates to let someone else die in his place. But oh no, his wife Alcestis is the one who volunteers to die! Ironic tragedy! It all works out in the end because Heracles stops by, wrassles Thanatos into submission, and brings Alcestis back to the world of the living.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Star and comet <span class="catsym">★☆☄</span>. Eclipse and crescent thing <span class="catsym"><span class="catPUA"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="catsym">
</div><hr />
<h2 id="my-designs">
My designs:
</h2>
<p>Jupiter’s Symbol is the letter zeta crossed with Jupiter’s staff.
These symbols for <span class="moonsym">E</span> Europa, <span class="moonsym">G</span> Ganymede and <span class="moonsym">C</span> Callisto - all watery moons of Jupiter - take the first greek letter of the moon’s name (γ,ε,ϰ), and cross it with with a line. <a href="https://suberic.net/~dmm/astro/moons.html">Moskowitz’ symbols for these moons</a> are similar, but with capital letters.
The minuscule versions of the letters just felt more <i>spacey</i> to me.</p>
<p>Plus, as a bonus, this version of the Europa symbol looks vaguely like a bull’s horns, and a lowercase gamma looks a bit like a flapping eagle.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIK1iTBDZbCAvH6QUe2hFIa5q_z5vdUY5FwD_1-9ortTS6436YqCZ7oDRmx2GwIx0RNEuNTHwJaIRJEIIf_oxKjgbgogWV8rBZGG3AqrrLeW009COOSl0PBrnlc4XtCM3Wm4bkm3m2iE0/s532/jupiterwatermoons.png"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="532" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIK1iTBDZbCAvH6QUe2hFIa5q_z5vdUY5FwD_1-9ortTS6436YqCZ7oDRmx2GwIx0RNEuNTHwJaIRJEIIf_oxKjgbgogWV8rBZGG3AqrrLeW009COOSl0PBrnlc4XtCM3Wm4bkm3m2iE0/w400-h226/jupiterwatermoons.png" width="400" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Then just as PLuto’s symbol is a combination of P and L, this symbol for
<span class="moonsym">O</span> Orcus is a combination of O and R, (arranged to look like a scary monster eyeball.)</p>
<p><br /></p><hr />
<p>I also put together a to-scale depiction of the Solar System, albeit one where the sizes and distances <i>(or at least, mean distance from the sun)</i> use two different scales:</p>
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEdOUKcBClsFJu1HXuHuGO9XK6IMJeYWY8G-4vM2nl8Tw7OzYL8-TjxEl5Bwfu1sWOpgfSmhc93PXo8TfindkBu52B3zEEgVeGvQveyJco4pW1aAkSZoZYbmq7KtOsq27fq0CvEkdTVzY/s6661/dualscalesolarsystem_moons_nofont.png" width="95%" />
<p>Alas, the image is so big that Blogger automatically shrinks it. <a href="https://bacontime.github.io/dualscalesolarsystem_moons_nofont.png">Click here to see the full size raster version</a> or <a href="https://bacontime.github.io/dualscalesolarsystem_moons_nofont.svg">click here for a scalable vector version</a>. Both of these image files are huge in terms of dimension, but have fairly small file-sizes.</p>
<hr />
<!--<div style="font-family: Catrinity; font-size: 300%;"></div>-->
<!--![](elementhex.svg)
![](elementhex2.png)
![](elementhexplus.png)
![](elementasociationtierlist.png)
![](/posts/nature/astrosymbols/dualscalesolarsystem.png)
Here is a quadratically scaled solar system.
I'm playing around with the symbols for some of the moons.
![](/posts/nature/astrosymbols/quadraticsolarsystem.svg)
And here is one to scale:
![](/posts/nature/astrosymbols/dualscalesolarsystem_moons_nofont.svg)
https://www.heritagetype.com/pages/free-vintage-illustrations-->
<p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>
<h2 id="relevant-links"> Relevant Links:
</h2>
<ul>
<li>Object Info:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Planets">List of names of astrobodies, and their associations from the USGS.</a></li>
<li><a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/">NASA Planetary Fact Sheet</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?sat_phys_par">Physical data for Moons</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gravitationally_rounded_objects_of_the_Solar_System">Wikipedia - List of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System</a></li>
<li><a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=24">JPL Small-Body Database Browser</a></li>
<li><a href="https://minorplanetcenter.net//iau/lists/MPNames.html">IAU Minor Planet Center</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/astrumspace/videos">Astrum youtube channel</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/whatdamath/videos">Anton Petrov youtube channel</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Symbols:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_symbols">Wikipedia - Astronomical Symbols</a> has all of the official ones.</li>
<li><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_symbols">Wikimedia - Asteroid Symbols</a></li>
<li><a href="https://suberic.net/~dmm/astro/index.html">New astro symbols, by Denis Moskowitz.</a> (A couple have actually made it into the unicode standard.)</li>
<li><a href="http://catrinity-font.de/">Catrinity font</a></li>
<li>The charts with the codepoints of the astro symbols: <a href="https://www.unicode.org/charts/nameslist/n_2600.html">Unicode1</a>, <a href="https://www.unicode.org/charts/nameslist/n_2B00.html">Unicode2</a>, <a href="http://catrinity-font.de/downloads/CatrinityPrivateUseArea.pdf">Catrinity</a>. (ctrl+f “astro”)</li>
<li><a href="https://bacontime.github.io/moonsymbols.ttf">The janky font I made for moon symbols.</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Namesakes:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDb22nlVXGgeoPb-HBWwzEeoAwDvckSrC">Overly Sarcastic - Miscellaneous Myths</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.chadtrujillo.com/quaoar/">Quaoar faq</a></li>
<li><a href="https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/">Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Other:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/682/space-tourism-posters/">Space tourism posters</a></li>
<li><a href="https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/solar_system.html">This old janky nasa.gov subsite for kids.</a></li>
<li><a href="https://xkcd.com/1389/">XKCD planet surface area comparison.</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<!--https://nineplanets.org/hypothetical-planets/#vulcan
https://web.archive.org/web/20110429095406/http://www.tongva.com/-->
<!--Some public domain image sources:
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pearson_Scott_Foresman_publisher
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:LadyofHats
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Health_Physics_Posters
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:PD_US_Government
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JwR9ngrwxi8LgrHMAyQEmd_ZY9MDRUGKZLTq-WBvKsw/edit
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tv8s70yrZMJPsZmn77jlKd3BrJjIKnT2UIk1LxGOTms/edit#heading=h.jcvaf0ril1oe
- https://recedingrules.blogspot.com/p/public-domain-images.html
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Bible_Illustrations
- https://www.rawpixel.com/libraryofcongress/showcase?sort=curated&mode=shop&page=1
826400-->
</div>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-48910328041956428192021-06-17T04:43:00.022-07:002021-06-17T04:43:00.184-07:00Fragmentary Powers v2.0 - A Tarot Deck Generator for Janky Superpowers<style>
table {
border-collapse:collapse;
width:100%;
background-color:#fff9ee;}
td, th {
border: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
padding: 4px;
/*text-align:center;*/
text-indent: 5em hanging each-line;
}
tr:nth-child(even) {
background-color:rgba(230, 215, 200, 0.93);
}
</style>
<p>Use this to generate confusing and bizarrely conditional supernatural powers.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><button style='font-family:inherit;' onclick='document.getElementById("outputPSG").innerHTML = dI(mapPSG)'><h3>Generate a Janky Power</h3></button>
<p id='outputPSG' style="background-color: #eee8d5;"></p>
<script>function rD(i){return i[Math.floor(Math.random()*i.length)];}function dI(d){o=rD(d['main']);k=Object.keys(d);j=0;while(j< 20){for(i=0;i< k.length;i++){o=o.replace('['+k[i]+']',rD(d[k[i]]));}j++;}return o;}
var mapPSG={"main":["[CONDITION], [POWER]."],"CONDITION":["While on a journey","While playing card games","While reading a book","If you have permission from the local authorities","While doing a crime","While on sacred ground","While in love","While moving at least 5 km per hour","While in court","While alone","At random","While trying to get a dog to let go of something it shouldn’t be eating","While upside-down","When you die","While sober, alert, and well-rested","While wearing nothing but a ridiculous hat","While at least 10 meters above the ground","While you can see the stars","When shellfish are near","During the day","Whenever it would help save your life","All the time","With a gesture","With a glance, once per day","With a thought, once per year","While wielding a weapon","While chanting a magic phrase","While meditating","While standing still and flexing","While punching","While aggressively voguing","While your eyes are shut and breath held","While singing from the heart","While eating","At will, after 1 minute of charge-up","While walking","After planting a coin in the ground","In exchange for a drop of blood","At the cost of rapid fatigue","At the cost of your hair falling out","At the cost of intense migraines","After an expensive burnt offering","At the cost of dehydration","At a cost of 20 dollars per minute","At the cost of incontinence","After sharing a shameful secret","As long as you keep your vows","At the cost of precious memories","At the cost of alienating your loved ones","After walking 7 times around the city","While sleeping","While awake","While drunk","While in midair","While underwater","While injured","While angry","While in a crowd","While screaming","While dizzy","While uncomfortably warm","While moving northwards","While sad","While indoors or underground","Whenever someone looks at you","Whenever someone tries to hurt you","Whenever your question is answered","Whenever someone lies to you","Whenever someone speaks to you","Whenever you hear a bird chirping","Whenever it rains or snows","Whenever someone steps on your shadow","Whenever someone says your name","Whenever you witness a crime","Whenever you witness a disaster","Whenever you witness an injury","Whenever someone hears your voice","Whenever you get struck by lightning"],"POWER":["you move unimpeded through or across [ELEMENT]","you display great finesse with [ELEMENT]","you disguise yourself as [ELEMENT]","you can easily pick up [ELEMENT] and carry it around","everyone recognizes you as the undisputed master of [ELEMENT]","you temporarily grant someone else a [ELEMENT]-themed power","everyone nearby gains a persistently increased desire for [ELEMENT]","your speed scales in proportion to the amount of [ELEMENT] you are touching","you summon a gadget that uses [ELEMENT] to fight crime","[ELEMENT] cannot interact with you nor you with it","you temporarily gain some random manifestation of [ELEMENT]-themed power","your strength scales in proportion to the amount of [ELEMENT] you are touching","you anchor yourself in place relative to nearby [ELEMENT]","nearby [ELEMENT] becomes deadly in your hands","the effect [ELEMENT] has on you is moderated, strengthening if weak and weakening if strong","the spirit of [ELEMENT] temporarily takes over your mind","you temporarily enter the elemental plane of [ELEMENT]","your soul is infused with the metaphorical essence of [ELEMENT]","you temporarily transform into an elemental of [ELEMENT]","you weave illusions of [ELEMENT] around you","you cannot be harmed by [ELEMENT]","you teleport by stepping through [ELEMENT]","you leave behind a trail of [ELEMENT]","you fire a beam of [ELEMENT] from your hands","small bits of [ELEMENT] randomly appear around you","you summon armor made of [ELEMENT]","you turn whatever you touch into [ELEMENT]","you summon constructs made of [ELEMENT]","nearby [ELEMENT] grows, or is otherwise amplified","a thick wall of [ELEMENT] is summoned around you","[ELEMENT] leaks out of your skin","a large cube of [ELEMENT] appears above your head","a geyser of [ELEMENT] bursts forth wherever you point","you vomit out a stream of [ELEMENT]","a chain of [ELEMENT] binds two people or objects you see","you summon of swarm of imps from the plane of [ELEMENT]","you see [ELEMENT] through walls","you gain insight into the history of any [ELEMENT] you sense","your mind is bombarded with visions of how to tinker with [ELEMENT]","a moving song about [ELEMENT] appears in your mind","you teleport towards nearby [ELEMENT]","you see the future trajectory of [ELEMENT]","you perfectly recall all [ELEMENT] you have seen","nearby [ELEMENT] becomes clearly visible to all","you gain insight into avoiding [ELEMENT]","you understand the properties of any [ELEMENT] you sense","you see a glowing path guiding you to the nearest [ELEMENT]","you hear secret whispers from nearby [ELEMENT]","you gain insight into using nearby [ELEMENT] to accomplish your goals","you see the strengths and weaknesses of nearby [ELEMENT]","you can telekinetically manipulate [ELEMENT] with your mind","you can mold [ELEMENT] like clay","you summon nearby [ELEMENT] into your hands","[ELEMENT] in your hands becomes unbreakable","nearby [ELEMENT] begins to spin and twist","[ELEMENT] is repelled from you","you animate nearby [ELEMENT] into a golem","all nearby [ELEMENT] is pulled into a single point","[ELEMENT] sticks to you like katamari glue","[ELEMENT] follows you like a loyal puppy","[ELEMENT] you touch is imbued with the properties of [ELEMENT]","you freeze [ELEMENT] in time","[ELEMENT] you touch is transformed into [ELEMENT]","You reverse the flow of time for nearby [ELEMENT]","you destroy all nearby [ELEMENT]","nearby [ELEMENT] shrinks or otherwise diminishes","nearby [ELEMENT] is forgotten","[ELEMENT] that you touch vanishes","all [ELEMENT] you see splits in twain","nearby animals gain permanent hatred of [ELEMENT]","fissures open and swallow nearby [ELEMENT]","[ELEMENT] that you touch shatters","[ELEMENT] that you touch is yeeted up into space","nearby [ELEMENT] violently explodes","[ELEMENT] you touch becomes immaterial for a day","[ELEMENT] is randomly teleported away at your touch","nearby [ELEMENT] is consumed by [ELEMENT]","nearby [ELEMENT] becomes magically inert"],"ELEMENT":["folly","trickery","secrecy","order","authority","faith","love","war","truth","solitude","fortune","unruly canines","suspense","death","temperance","temptation","arrogance","peace","shellfish","friendship","spirit","time","fire","light","electricity","wood","glass","geometry","sugar","motion","lava","thought","explosions","rust","fuel","fruit","earth","filth","food","hair","vermin","clockwork","iron","fungus","stone","bone","shadow","gemstone","precious metal","currency","water","blood","slime","ice","flesh","poison","fish","alcohol","shell","moss","cream","rubber","memory","clay","air","weather","sound","radioactive dust","gas","wind","smoke","powder","foliage","mist","weaponry","void","paper","music"]};</script></div>
<p>This is an expanded version of the previous post, tweaked to be used with a deck of cards.</p>
Potential use cases:
<ul>
<li>Janky superhero one shots.</li>
<li>Store brand JoJo stands.</li>
<li>Clearance-sale magic items.</li>
<li>Use these powers in place of GLOG templates? Bad idea? Best idea?</li>
</ul>
<p>To manually generate powers, draw three cards from a tarot deck, and consult the tables below. The first card determines the Triggering condition, the second determines how the power manifests, and the third determines what element the power applies to. If you're using a poker deck, then simply ignore the trump suit and Cavalier cards, and map the red and black jokers to the Fool and the Magician.</p>
<p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SxW5bO4PnsC2E8eJitvLErEaQloA8q4N/view?usp=sharing">Here's a pdf version of the tables below.</a></p>
<div><a name='more'></a></div>
<p> </p>
<h2 id="per-suit-tables">Tables</h2>
<h3 id="swords--spades">Trump Suit</h3>
<table>
<colgroup><col style="min-width: 4em;"></col>
<col></col>
<col></col>
<col style="min-width: 6em;"></col>
</colgroup><thead>
<tr>
<th><br /></th>
<th>Trigger</th>
<th>Power</th>
<th>Element</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">☆ <br /> <span style="display: block; font-size: x-small; line-height: 1em;">Fool / Excuse</span></th>
<td>While on a journey</td>
<td>you move unimpeded through or across [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>folly</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★1 <br /> <span style="display: block; font-size: x-small; line-height: 1em;">Pagat / Magician</span></th>
<td>While playing card games</td>
<td>you display great finesse with [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>trickery</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★2 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Popess</span></th>
<td>While reading a book</td>
<td>you disguise yourself as [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>secrecy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★3 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Empress</span></th>
<td>If you have permission from the local authorities</td>
<td>you can easily pick up [ELEMENT] and carry it around</td>
<td>order</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★4 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Emperor</span></th>
<td>While doing a crime</td>
<td>everyone recognizes you as the undisputed master of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>authority</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★5 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Pope</span></th>
<td>While on sacred ground</td>
<td>you temporarily grant someone else a [ELEMENT]-themed power</td>
<td>faith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★6 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Lovers</span></th>
<td>While in love</td>
<td>everyone nearby gains a persistently increased desire for [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>love</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★7 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Chariot</span></th>
<td>While moving at least 5 km per hour</td>
<td>your speed scales in proportion to the amount of [ELEMENT] you are touching</td>
<td>war</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★8 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Justice</span></th>
<td>While in court</td>
<td>you summon a gadget that uses [ELEMENT] to fight crime</td>
<td>truth</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★9 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Hermit</span></th>
<td>While alone</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] cannot interact with you nor you with it</td>
<td>solitude</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★10 <br /> <span style="display: block; font-size: x-small; line-height: 1em;">Wheel of Fortune</span></th>
<td>At random</td>
<td>you temporarily gain some random manifestation of [ELEMENT]-themed power</td>
<td>fortune</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★11 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Strength</span></th>
<td>While trying to get a dog to let go of something it shouldn’t be eating</td>
<td>your strength scales in proportion to the amount of [ELEMENT] you are touching</td>
<td>unruly canines</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★12 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Hangman</span></th>
<td>While upside-down</td>
<td>you anchor yourself in place relative to nearby [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>suspense</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★13 <br /> <span style="display: block; font-size: x-small; line-height: 1em;">Spooky Skeleton</span></th>
<td>When you die</td>
<td>nearby [ELEMENT] becomes deadly in your hands</td>
<td>death</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★14 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Temperance</span></th>
<td>While sober, alert, and well-rested</td>
<td>the effect [ELEMENT] has on you is moderated, strengthening if weak and weakening if strong</td>
<td>temperance</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★15 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Devil</span></th>
<td>While wearing nothing but a ridiculous hat</td>
<td>the spirit of [ELEMENT] temporarily takes over your mind</td>
<td>temptation</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★16 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Tower</span></th>
<td>While at least 10 meters above the ground</td>
<td>you temporarily enter the elemental plane of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>arrogance</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★17 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Star</span></th>
<td>While you can see the stars</td>
<td>your soul is infused with the metaphorical essence of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>peace</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★18 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Moon</span></th>
<td>When shellfish are near</td>
<td>you temporarily transform into an elemental of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>shellfish</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★19 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Sun</span></th>
<td>During the day</td>
<td>you weave illusions of [ELEMENT] around you</td>
<td>friendship</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★20 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Judgement</span></th>
<td>Whenever it would help save your life</td>
<td>you cannot be harmed by [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>spirit</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">★21 <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">The World</span></th>
<td>All the time</td>
<td>you teleport by stepping through [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>time</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br /><br /><br />
<h3 id="clubs">Clubs 🥍☘️</h3>
<dl>
<dt>Loose themes</dt>
<dd>deliberate action, creation, fire</dd>
</dl>
<table>
<colgroup><col style="min-width: 3em;"></col>
<col></col>
<col></col>
<col style="min-width: 6em;"></col>
</colgroup><thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;"><br /></th>
<th>Trigger</th>
<th>Manifestation</th>
<th>Element</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣A</th>
<td>With a gesture</td>
<td>you leave behind a trail of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>fire</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣2</th>
<td>With a glance, once per day</td>
<td>you fire a beam of [ELEMENT] from your hands</td>
<td>light</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣3</th>
<td>With a thought, once per year</td>
<td>small bits of [ELEMENT] randomly appear around you</td>
<td>electricity</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣4</th>
<td>While wielding a weapon</td>
<td>you summon armor made of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>wood</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣5</th>
<td>While chanting a magic phrase</td>
<td>you turn whatever you touch into [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>glass</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣6</th>
<td>While meditating</td>
<td>you summon constructs made of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>geometry</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣7</th>
<td>While standing still and flexing</td>
<td>nearby [ELEMENT] grows, or is otherwise amplified</td>
<td>sugar</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣8</th>
<td>While punching</td>
<td>a thick wall of [ELEMENT] is summoned around you</td>
<td>motion</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣9</th>
<td>While aggressively voguing</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] leaks out of your skin</td>
<td>lava</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣10</th>
<td>While your eyes are shut and breath held</td>
<td>a large cube of [ELEMENT] appears above your head</td>
<td>thought</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣J</th>
<td>While singing from the heart</td>
<td>a geyser of [ELEMENT] bursts forth wherever you point</td>
<td>explosions</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣C</th>
<td>While eating</td>
<td>you vomit out a stream of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>rust</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣Q</th>
<td>At will, after 1 minute of charge-up</td>
<td>a chain of [ELEMENT] binds two people or objects you see</td>
<td>fuel</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♣K</th>
<td>While walking</td>
<td>you summon of swarm of imps from the plane of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>fruit</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<h3 id="coins--diamonds">Coins / Diamonds 🪙💠</h3>
<dl>
<dt>Loose themes</dt>
<dd>costly action, information, earth</dd>
</dl>
<table>
<colgroup><col style="min-width: 3em;"></col>
<col></col>
<col></col>
<col></col>
</colgroup><thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;"><br /></th>
<th>Trigger</th>
<th>Manifestation</th>
<th>Element</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦A</th>
<td>After planting a coin in the ground</td>
<td>you see [ELEMENT] through walls</td>
<td>earth</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦2</th>
<td>In exchange for a drop of blood</td>
<td>you gain insight into the history of any [ELEMENT] you sense</td>
<td>filth</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦3</th>
<td>At the cost of rapid fatigue</td>
<td>your mind is bombarded with visions of how to tinker with [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>food</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦4</th>
<td>At the cost of your hair falling out</td>
<td>a moving song about [ELEMENT] appears in your mind</td>
<td>hair</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦5</th>
<td>At the cost of intense migraines</td>
<td>you teleport towards nearby [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>vermin</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦6</th>
<td>After an expensive burnt offering</td>
<td>you see the future trajectory of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>clockwork</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦7</th>
<td>At the cost of dehydration</td>
<td>you perfectly recall all [ELEMENT] you have seen</td>
<td>iron</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦8</th>
<td>At a cost of 20 dollars per minute</td>
<td>nearby [ELEMENT] becomes clearly visible to all</td>
<td>fungus</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦9</th>
<td>At the cost of incontinence</td>
<td>you gain insight into avoiding [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>stone</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦10</th>
<td>After sharing a shameful secret</td>
<td>you understand the properties of any [ELEMENT] you sense</td>
<td>bone</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦J</th>
<td>As long as you keep your vows</td>
<td>you see a glowing path guiding you to the nearest [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>shadow</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦C</th>
<td>At the cost of precious memories</td>
<td>you hear secret whispers from nearby [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>gemstone</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦Q</th>
<td>At the cost of alienating your loved ones</td>
<td>you gain insight into using nearby [ELEMENT] to accomplish your goals</td>
<td>precious metal</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♦K</th>
<td>After walking 7 times around the city</td>
<td>you see the strengths and weaknesses of nearby [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>currency</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<h3 id="cups--hearts">Cups / Hearts 🏆♥️</h3>
<dl>
<dt>Loose themes</dt>
<dd>states of being, movement or alteration, water</dd>
</dl>
<table>
<colgroup><col style="min-width: 3em;"></col>
<col></col>
<col></col>
<col style="min-width: 5em;"></col>
</colgroup><thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;"><br /></th>
<th>Trigger</th>
<th>Manifestation</th>
<th>Element</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥A</th>
<td>While sleeping</td>
<td>you can telekinetically manipulate [ELEMENT] with your mind</td>
<td>water</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥2</th>
<td>While awake</td>
<td>you can mold [ELEMENT] like clay</td>
<td>blood</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥3</th>
<td>While drunk</td>
<td>you summon nearby [ELEMENT] into your hands</td>
<td>slime</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥4</th>
<td>While in midair</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] in your hands becomes unbreakable</td>
<td>ice</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥5</th>
<td>While underwater</td>
<td>nearby [ELEMENT] begins to spin and twist</td>
<td>flesh</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥6</th>
<td>While injured</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] is repelled from you</td>
<td>poison</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥7</th>
<td>While angry</td>
<td>you animate nearby [ELEMENT] into a golem</td>
<td>fish</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥8</th>
<td>While in a crowd</td>
<td>all nearby [ELEMENT] is pulled into a single point</td>
<td>alcohol</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥9</th>
<td>While screaming</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] sticks to you like katamari glue</td>
<td>shell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥10</th>
<td>While dizzy</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] follows you like a loyal puppy</td>
<td>moss</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥J</th>
<td>While uncomfortably warm</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] you touch is imbued with the properties of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>cream</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥C</th>
<td>While moving northwards</td>
<td>you freeze [ELEMENT] in time</td>
<td>rubber</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥Q</th>
<td>While sad</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] you touch is transformed into [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>memory</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♥K</th>
<td>While indoors or underground</td>
<td>You reverse the flow of time for nearby [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>clay</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<h3 id="swords--spades">Swords / Spades 🗡️♠️</h3>
<dl>
<dt>Loose themes</dt>
<dd>minimal control, destruction, air</dd>
</dl>
<table>
<colgroup><col style="min-width: 3em;"></col>
<col></col>
<col></col>
<col style="min-width: 7em;"></col>
</colgroup><thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;"><br /></th>
<th>Trigger</th>
<th>Manifestation</th>
<th>Element</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠A</th>
<td>Whenever someone looks at you</td>
<td>you destroy all nearby [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>air</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠2</th>
<td>Whenever someone tries to hurt you</td>
<td>nearby [ELEMENT] shrinks or otherwise diminishes</td>
<td>weather</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠3</th>
<td>Whenever your question is answered</td>
<td>nearby [ELEMENT] is forgotten</td>
<td>sound</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠4</th>
<td>Whenever someone lies to you</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] that you touch vanishes</td>
<td>radioactive dust</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠5</th>
<td>Whenever someone speaks to you</td>
<td>all [ELEMENT] you see splits in twain</td>
<td>gas</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠6</th>
<td>Whenever you hear a bird chirping</td>
<td>nearby animals gain permanent hatred of [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>wind</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠7</th>
<td>Whenever it rains or snows</td>
<td>fissures open and swallow nearby [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>smoke</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠8</th>
<td>Whenever someone steps on your shadow</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] that you touch shatters</td>
<td>powder</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠9</th>
<td>Whenever someone says your name</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] that you touch is yeeted up into space</td>
<td>foliage</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠10</th>
<td>Whenever you witness a crime</td>
<td>nearby [ELEMENT] violently explodes</td>
<td>mist</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠J</th>
<td>Whenever you witness a disaster</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] you touch becomes immaterial for a day</td>
<td>weaponry</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠C</th>
<td>Whenever you witness an injury</td>
<td>[ELEMENT] is randomly teleported away at your touch</td>
<td>void</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠Q</th>
<td>Whenever someone hears your voice</td>
<td>nearby [ELEMENT] is consumed by [ELEMENT]</td>
<td>paper</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">♠K</th>
<td>Whenever you get struck by lightning</td>
<td>nearby [ELEMENT] becomes magically inert</td>
<td>music</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-86654705331141548902021-06-13T16:23:00.005-07:002021-06-14T12:16:27.052-07:00Fragmentary Superpowers - Two experiments with randomly generating jank.<p>
I need some janky superpowers. Here are a couple of little experiments to
randomly generate such things.<br />
</p>
<p>The first combines an activation condition with a power and an element:</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><button onclick="document.getElementById("outputR9T").innerHTML = dI(mapR9T)" style="font-family: inherit;"><h3>Generate an activated power</h3></button></div>
<i><p id="outputR9T" style="background-color: #eee8d5;"></p></i>
<script>function rD(i){return i[Math.floor(Math.random()*i.length)];}function dI(d){o=rD(d['main']);k=Object.keys(d);j=0;while(j< 20){for(i=0;i< k.length;i++){o=o.replace('['+k[i]+']',rD(d[k[i]]));}j++;}return o;}
var mapR9T={"main":["[CONDITION], [POWER]."],"CONDITION":["Whenever you walk","Whenever someone is trying to hurt you","While chanting a magic phrase","At will","Each full moon","Every noon","For one second, once per minute","Whenever someone looks at you","While moving at least 5 km per hour","During the day","Whenever injured","Whenever someone lies to you","While sleeping","While meditating","While your eyes are squeezed shut","Whenever you will it","While in midair","While moving upwards","While drunk","Whenever someone answers a question you ask"],"POWER":["you leave behind a trail of [ELEMENT]","you fire a beam of [ELEMENT] from your hands","[ELEMENT] randomly appears around you","you destroy all nearby [ELEMENT]","you summon armor made of [ELEMENT]","you can move unimpeded through [ELEMENT]","you can telekinetically manipulate [ELEMENT] with your mind","you cannot be hurt by [ELEMENT]","you turn whatever you touch into [ELEMENT]","you sense nearby [ELEMENT]","you teleport towards nearby [ELEMENT]","you can summon constructs made of [ELEMENT]","you can alter the properties of nearby [ELEMENT]","you gain insight into the history and properties of any [ELEMENT] you sense","you summon nearby [ELEMENT] into your hands","[ELEMENT] in your hands becomes unbreakable","you can easily pick up [ELEMENT] and carry it around","you can freeze [ELEMENT] in time","you can make [ELEMENT] grow larger, more numerous, or more powerful","your mind is bombarded with visions of how to tinker with [ELEMENT]"],"ELEMENT":["filth","food","weather","slime","poison","crystal","plant matter","electricity","precious metal","iron","fungus","radioactive dust","flesh","stone","glass","friendship","light","heat","weaponry","gas"]};</script>
<p><br /></p>
<p>
The second just picks a few options from a list of 'partial' superpowers. Fire
summoners are immune to fire. Super strongos have the unbreakable bones needed
to support their strength. What if those required secondary powers were just
doled out at random instead of being properly matched?
</p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><button onclick="document.getElementById("outputUoO").innerHTML = dI(mapUoO)" style="font-family: inherit;"><h3>Generate a mismatched power</h3></button></div>
<i><p id="outputUoO" style="background-color: #eee8d5;"></p></i>
<script>function rD(i){return i[Math.floor(Math.random()*i.length)];}function dI(d){o=rD(d['main']);k=Object.keys(d);j=0;while(j< 20){for(i=0;i< k.length;i++){o=o.replace('['+k[i]+']',rD(d[k[i]]));}j++;}return o;}
var mapUoO={"main":["<b>Power 1:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 2:</b> [POWER]","<b>Power 1:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 2:</b> [POWER]","<b>Power 1:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 2:</b> [POWER]","<b>Power 1:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 2:</b> [POWER]","<b>Power 1:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 2:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 3:</b> [POWER]","<b>Power 1:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 2:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 3:</b> [POWER]","<b>Power 1:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 2:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 3:</b> [POWER] <br> <b>Power 4:</b> [POWER]"],"POWER":["super powerful muscles and tendons (be careful not to shatter your own bones when you flex)","unbreakable skin (flexible, so blunt force trauma still a danger)","unbreakable bones and ligaments","internal organs immune to acute injury","don’t need to eat or drink (unlimited energy and nutrients, replenished blood and sweat summoned from thin air, etc)","breathing is optional","immune to disease (pathogens, cancer, chronic respiratory disorders from smoke inhalation, etc)","negligible senescence","no fatigue and never need to sleep","can choose to ignore the direct effects of other powers","ignore the pull of gravity on your body (partially or entirely)","instantly bring yourself to a stop (relative to the ground) without injury","steadily accelerate your body at 5 meters per second per second (about half g-force) in any direction","once per minute, accelerate by *exactly* 30 meters per second (~ 70mph) in any direction over the course of 1 second (about 3G of acceleration)","change direction of gravity in a 3 meter bubble around you","ignore friction and drag (also applies to your clothing and any objects you are touching that you can lift)","reaction speed scales with movement speed (relative to ground)","lightweight (10% of expected weight and inertia for matter in your body)","bodily inertia can scale up to 10 times normal ","withstand immense pressure or vacuum","uninjured by heat and flame","uninjured by extreme cold","uninjured by electrical shocks","shockwaves and loud noises pass right through you without causing injury (you hear them as a faint sound)","radiation immunity (no sunburns, bright light doesn’t hurt your retinas or cause afterimages, etc)","autoignition (summon hot flames around your body)","shoot firehose-like jets of near-freezing water from your palms (all or nothing, can’t trickle out water; momentum-conserving)","call down a bolt of lightning (strikes your location)","super sonic scream (directed forwards, but likely to rupture your own eardrums if you use in an an enclosed space)","illuminate small objects you are touching (they glow with up to 1 gigacandela per square meter of surface) ","three separate trains of thought","think and react at double speed","memory enhancing vision (anyone you are making direct eye contact with has supernaturally improved recognition and recall)","share the memories of anyone you are touching (if they remember something, you remember it too; you can’t browse through their memories like a book)","anyone who hears your commands feels a momentary, easily resistible compulsion to obey","people feel uncomfortable looking directly at you","lies you tell always feel at least slightly believable","any creature within 100 meters can hear your voice","animals understand the meaning of your words (but usually don’t care)","see through the eyes of any creature you are touching ","majestic angel wings (capable of generating enough force to lift 20 kg)","razor sharp spikes erupt from under your skin (make sure to get stitches afterwards)","razor-sharp fingernails (you can clip them shorter but can’t dull the edge)","fingers can rapidly extend and retract (max length 5 meters)","detachable fingers (they stay alive for several weeks, and you control them from a distance; they don’t regrow but a surgeon can probably reattach them)","vomit out a rattlesnake up to once per minute (regular snake, not under your command)","hyper-rapid regeneration (just faster, not better; doesn’t regrow limbs, leaves scars, needs mass from food intake)","regrow limbs (takes months)","glowing skin (mostly visible light, but some x-rays as well)","elastic flesh and bones (should probably wear a helmet at all times)","your body can turn invisible while your eyes are squeezed shut and nobody is looking directly at you","turn clothes and small objects invisible while touching them (size limit determined by what you can lift)","intangibility toggle (be careful not to phase into the ground)","skin-tight, rigid, impermeable, opaque force field (takes 1 second of concentration to toggle on or off)","open a pair of portals between two surfaces you are touching (keeping the portals open requires concentration and sustained contact with both surfaces)","shoot high-powered laser beams from your eyes, focused wherever you look (the beam starts from 2 cm in front of your eyes, but be careful not to look at a retroreflector)","cause a small object you are touching to instantly explode (like Gambit without a time delay)","objects you are lifting don’t bend or break under their own weight","lift things even without proper leverage","shrink or grow (mass is constant, square-cube issues apply, can’t eat or breathe except at normal size)"]};</script>
<p><br /></p><p>
Here are a few doodles of janky superheroes for inspiration. The tables used
in the above generators are down below.
</p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj06BZ3QYrCZwEyduhVkDuXVLO28dpsFrIJKBJ0NsU4ddIBg6-UgcvcQeOJLJczH55DVqJWFOkEpuoSH99XFeULfF2pcKrV0pWiDp-ElQxkkbC0mKCVw1vZJ-UuqWw1SVDYs6LPZmGMlaE/s1947/original+premium.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1947" data-original-width="1836" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj06BZ3QYrCZwEyduhVkDuXVLO28dpsFrIJKBJ0NsU4ddIBg6-UgcvcQeOJLJczH55DVqJWFOkEpuoSH99XFeULfF2pcKrV0pWiDp-ElQxkkbC0mKCVw1vZJ-UuqWw1SVDYs6LPZmGMlaE/s320/original+premium.jpg" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Original Premium - While chanting, saltine crackers randomly appear
nearby</span>
</td>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1_E9E1d7nE_vdslt3Ob83bWCuSZ8pZ-2yKprIx1Pnxh8mSBoFQpjJN4hwGN5JReb2YeOXc7BUG4JngbxtevXbuvAB-q1DkMgAQN58D8iFWVhH8ejV0RjKLRfoZQ2aWJyo5s-ZodBYHM/s1760/thickliz.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1760" data-original-width="1532" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1_E9E1d7nE_vdslt3Ob83bWCuSZ8pZ-2yKprIx1Pnxh8mSBoFQpjJN4hwGN5JReb2YeOXc7BUG4JngbxtevXbuvAB-q1DkMgAQN58D8iFWVhH8ejV0RjKLRfoZQ2aWJyo5s-ZodBYHM/s320/thickliz.jpg" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Thick Liz - Immune to disease, doesn't need to breathe, can talk to fish
(they don't listen)</span><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Hl2834QfTQWZXOkPU79eqPiFBIqfI_g4qkfR9PFieT0XcUHUpHphpV8Z9ZExvgDq73rmH_Uh1Lge9OiqIKf35h2cvhoDn5g_QsNIzfTvhHpXrZ4MCHwejWXw7nGCfETSPWiShdesbsY/s1836/captainbubble.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1836" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Hl2834QfTQWZXOkPU79eqPiFBIqfI_g4qkfR9PFieT0XcUHUpHphpV8Z9ZExvgDq73rmH_Uh1Lge9OiqIKf35h2cvhoDn5g_QsNIzfTvhHpXrZ4MCHwejWXw7nGCfETSPWiShdesbsY/s320/captainbubble.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Capn' Flappy - Changes direction of local gravity, redundant wings</span><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<h2 id="tables-for-conditionally-manifested-powers">
Tables for Conditionally Manifested Powers
</h2>
<h3 id="d20-conditions-for-a-power-to-activate">d20 Conditions for a Power to Activate</h3>
<ol>
<li>Whenever you walk</li>
<li>Whenever someone is trying to hurt you</li>
<li>While chanting a magic phrase</li>
<li>At will</li>
<li>Each full moon</li>
<li>Every noon</li>
<li>For one second, once per minute</li>
<li>Whenever someone looks at you</li>
<li>While moving at least 5 km per hour</li>
<li>During the day</li>
<li>Whenever injured</li>
<li>Whenever someone lies to you</li>
<li>While sleeping</li>
<li>While meditating</li>
<li>While your eyes are squeezed shut</li>
<li>Whenever you will it</li>
<li>While in midair</li>
<li>While moving upwards</li>
<li>While drunk</li>
<li>Whenever someone answers a question you ask</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="d20-manifestations-of-elemental-might">d20 Manifestations of Elemental Might</h3>
<ol>
<li>you leave behind a trail of [ELEMENT]</li>
<li>you fire a beam of [ELEMENT] from your hands</li>
<li>[ELEMENT] randomly appears around you</li>
<li>you destroy all nearby [ELEMENT]</li>
<li>you summon armor made of [ELEMENT]</li>
<li>you can move unimpeded through [ELEMENT]</li>
<li>you can telekinetically manipulate [ELEMENT] with your mind</li>
<li>you cannot be hurt by [ELEMENT]</li>
<li>you turn whatever you touch into [ELEMENT]</li>
<li>you sense nearby [ELEMENT]</li>
<li>you teleport towards nearby [ELEMENT]</li>
<li>you can summon constructs made of [ELEMENT]</li>
<li>you can alter the properties of nearby [ELEMENT]</li>
<li>you gain insight into the history and properties of any [ELEMENT] you sense</li>
<li>you summon nearby [ELEMENT] into your hands</li>
<li>[ELEMENT] in your hands becomes unbreakable</li>
<li>you can easily pick up [ELEMENT] and carry it around</li>
<li>you can freeze [ELEMENT] in time</li>
<li>you can make [ELEMENT] grow larger, more numerous, or more powerful</li>
<li>your mind is bombarded with visions of how to tinker with [ELEMENT]</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="d20-example-elements">d20 Example Elements</h3>
<ol>
<li>filth</li>
<li>food</li>
<li>weather</li>
<li>slime</li>
<li>poison</li>
<li>crystal</li>
<li>plant matter</li>
<li>electricity</li>
<li>precious metal</li>
<li>iron</li>
<li>fungus</li>
<li>radioactive dust</li>
<li>flesh</li>
<li>stone</li>
<li>glass</li>
<li>friendship</li>
<li>light</li>
<li>heat</li>
<li>weaponry</li>
<li>gas</li>
</ol>
<br /><br /><br /><br />
<h2 id="d6xd10-table-of-fragmentary-powers">d6xd10 Table of Fragmentary Powers</h2>
<h3 id="1-brute-strength-and-endurance">1. Brute Strength and Endurance</h3>
<ol>
<li>uper powerful muscles and tendons (be careful not to shatter your own bones when you flex)</li>
<li>unbreakable skin (flexible, so blunt force trauma still a danger)</li>
<li>unbreakable bones and ligaments</li>
<li>internal organs immune to acute injury</li>
<li>don’t need to eat or drink (unlimited energy and nutrients, replenished blood and sweat summoned from thin air, etc)</li>
<li>breathing is optional</li>
<li>immune to disease (pathogens, cancer, chronic respiratory disorders from smoke inhalation, etc)</li>
<li>negligible senescence</li>
<li>no fatigue and never need to sleep</li>
<li>can choose to ignore the direct effects of other powers</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="2-flight-ish">2. Flight-ish</h3>
<ol>
<li>ignore the pull of gravity on your body (partially or entirely)</li>
<li>instantly bring yourself to a stop (relative to the ground) without injury</li>
<li>steadily accelerate your body at 5 meters per second per second (about half g-force) in any direction</li>
<li>once per minute, accelerate by <i>exactly</i> 30 meters per second (~ 70mph) in any direction over the course of 1 second (about 3G of acceleration)</li>
<li>change direction of gravity in a 3 meter bubble around you</li>
<li>ignore friction and drag (also applies to your clothing and any objects you are touching that you can lift)</li>
<li>reaction speed scales with movement speed (relative to ground)</li>
<li>lightweight (10% of expected weight and inertia for matter in your body)</li>
<li>bodily inertia can scale up to 10 times normal</li>
<li>withstand immense pressure or vacuum</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="3-high-energy-attacks">3. Elemental Affinities</h3>
<ol>
<li>uninjured by heat and flame</li>
<li>uninjured by extreme cold</li>
<li>uninjured by electrical shocks</li>
<li>shockwaves and loud noises pass right through you without causing injury (you hear them as a faint sound)</li>
<li>radiation immunity (no sunburns, bright light doesn’t hurt your retinas or cause afterimages, etc)</li>
<li>autoignition (summon hot flames around your body)</li>
<li>shoot firehose-like jets of near-freezing water from your palms (all or nothing, can’t trickle out water; momentum-conserving)</li>
<li>call down a bolt of lightning (strikes your location)</li>
<li>super sonic scream (directed forwards, but likely to rupture your own eardrums if you use in an an enclosed space)</li>
<li>illuminate small objects you are touching (they glow with up to 1 gigacandela per square meter of surface)</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="4-mental-might">4. Mental Might</h3>
<ol>
<li>three separate trains of thought</li>
<li>think and react at double speed</li>
<li>memory enhancing vision (anyone you are making direct eye contact with has supernaturally improved recognition and recall)</li>
<li>share the memories of anyone you are touching (if they remember something, you remember it too; you can’t browse through their memories like a book)</li>
<li>anyone who hears your commands feels a momentary, easily resistible compulsion to obey</li>
<li>people feel uncomfortable looking directly at you</li>
<li>lies you tell always feel at least slightly believable</li>
<li>any creature within 100 meters can hear your voice</li>
<li>animals understand the meaning of your words (but usually don’t care)</li>
<li>see through the eyes of any creature you are touching</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="5-bizzare-body">5. Bizzare Body</h3>
<ol>
<li>majestic angel wings (capable of generating enough force to lift 20 kg)</li>
<li>razor sharp spikes erupt from under your skin (make sure to get stitches afterwards)</li>
<li>razor-sharp fingernails (you can clip them shorter but can’t dull the edge)</li>
<li>fingers can rapidly extend and retract (max length 5 meters)</li>
<li>detachable fingers (they stay alive for several weeks, and you control them from a distance; they don’t regrow but a surgeon can probably reattach them)</li>
<li>vomit out a rattlesnake up to once per minute (regular snake, not under your command)</li>
<li>hyper-rapid regeneration (just faster, not better; doesn’t regrow limbs, leaves scars, needs mass from food intake)</li>
<li>regrow limbs (takes months)</li>
<li>glowing skin (mostly visible light, but some x-rays as well)</li>
<li>elastic flesh and bones (should probably wear a helmet at all times)</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="6-various-physics-defying-feats">6. Various Physics-Defying Feats</h3>
<ol>
<li>your body can turn invisible while your eyes are squeezed shut and nobody is looking directly at you</li>
<li>turn clothes and small objects invisible while touching them (size limit determined by what you can lift)</li>
<li>intangibility toggle (be careful not to phase into the ground)</li>
<li>skin-tight, rigid, impermeable, opaque force field (takes 1 second of concentration to toggle on or off)</li>
<li>open a pair of portals between two surfaces you are touching (keeping the portals open requires concentration and sustained contact with both surfaces)</li>
<li>shoot high-powered laser beams from your eyes, focused wherever you look (the beam starts from 2 cm in front of your eyes, but be careful not to look at a retroreflector)</li>
<li>cause a small object you are touching to instantly explode (like Gambit without a time delay)</li>
<li>objects you are lifting don’t bend or break under their own weight</li>
<li>lift things even without proper leverage</li>
<li>shrink or grow (mass is constant, square-cube issues apply, can’t eat or breathe except at normal size)</li></ol><p> </p><p> </p><p>Edit: Some useful feedback from others:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The conditional-power generator has more interesting results</li><li>The most interesting triggers are those like "while drunk" or "while midair"</li><ul><li>states of being with start and end times</li><li>can deliberately make the choice to trigger the power but comes at a cost</li><li>can potentially be inflicted upon you by an outside force <br /></li></ul><li>The most interesting manifestations are those like "create armor of _"</li><ul><li>singular triggered instance</li><li>persistent effect can be interpreted as permanent or only lasting for the duration of the trigger<br /></li></ul><li>Friendship is the most interesting element by far. <br /></li></ul><ol>
</ol>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-72029397601834893032021-06-06T01:09:00.007-07:002021-06-08T16:42:42.304-07:00Wizards in Rayon Stockings: Some worldbuilding notes on plastics.<div>
How reasonable is it is include plastics in a psuedo-medieval fantasy world
without fossil fuels?
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
A better title might be "Alchemists in Rayon", because of course you can just
wave your witchofingers and summon tupperware from the realms of chaos. But
even restricting ourselves to low-magic fantasy, for many plastics, it's
totally reasonable to throw them in. They'll probably just be
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon_riots">rarer </a>and considered
high-quality objects instead of throwaway trash.
</div>
<p></p>
<div></div>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<div><br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYXng8CBRmaCgHPF3dMiwSrTA5a1VfTNtomV5w5st8dc4lpxK4IuqipgkWGUVnYaTm-pzK4Wow-q6lzl8QDO33NLCVPMgb73av3euc0994I_tJDIrIaWXHQaCUPLODDa_5ryILTynSyk/s1085/public-domain-witch-compilation.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1085" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYXng8CBRmaCgHPF3dMiwSrTA5a1VfTNtomV5w5st8dc4lpxK4IuqipgkWGUVnYaTm-pzK4Wow-q6lzl8QDO33NLCVPMgb73av3euc0994I_tJDIrIaWXHQaCUPLODDa_5ryILTynSyk/w640-h542/public-domain-witch-compilation.png" width="640" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Clearly, the question on everyone's mind when they see this
compilation of public domain witches is <br />"Where did they get
those sweet leggings?"<br /></span>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
<br />
</p>
<p>
Skip to the end if you just want a bulleted list of which plastics I thinks a
witch might be able to brew in a cauldron. But otherwise, come with me on this
scatterbrained journey into the world of organic chemistry.
</p>
<p> <span></span></p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<div><h2 style="text-align: left;">What is plastic anyways?</h2></div>
<div>
<i>Plastic </i>is a word which simply means that something is easy to shape.
When we use the word as a noun, we're usually talking about a specific group
of plastic materials made of <i>man-made polymers</i>.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
"Polymer" means "many-parts". Polymer molecules are long chains of simpler
molecules called <i>monomers</i> ("One part"). Polymer materials are strong
and flexible for much the same reason that cloth is strong and flexible. The
long chains are tough to snap but can bend and slide past each other. <br />
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
Except that's a bit of a cheaty metaphor because the natural fibers used to
make fabric are themselves polymers. In fact, there are lots of polymers in
nature, and some early modern plastics were developed as replacements to their
natural alternatives.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div><br /></div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
I - Chains of Sugar - some of the most common stuff on the planet.
</h2>
</div>
<div>
"Polysaccharide" means "many sugars". These are polymers made by chaining
together simple sugars. Although simple sugar monomers taste sweet and are
easy to break apart, they become very strong when hooked together. Starch,
cellulose, and chitin are all examples of polysaccharides.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<b>Chitin </b>is the stuff that bugs use to form their shells. Mushrooms use
it too. Humans haven't figured out how to make chitin in bulk, but we discard
a bunch of it as food waste, so there's active research into ways to<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitosan">
reform the stuff</a>
into useful shapes.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3isgehHFkYf6kmOyFr2CmtS-guGXOU_NsIVwAbgpl5_cxsHYCYQPNWbYa10qTz4W7g97B8CHjjueCA2EEal2NsyVU2VvuaW5pzT9mEw_x_BC9mS0GkPASZVyydA5GPaMHaEdhvCsqdXo/s640/Oryctes_nasicornis_male_2012_G1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3isgehHFkYf6kmOyFr2CmtS-guGXOU_NsIVwAbgpl5_cxsHYCYQPNWbYa10qTz4W7g97B8CHjjueCA2EEal2NsyVU2VvuaW5pzT9mEw_x_BC9mS0GkPASZVyydA5GPaMHaEdhvCsqdXo/w320-h214/Oryctes_nasicornis_male_2012_G1.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oryctes_nasicornis_male_2012_G1.jpg"><span>Foreground: polymers. Background: polymers.</span><br /></a>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div> </div>
<div>
But the real star of the show is <b>cellulose</b>, the most common polymer on
earth. It's what makes plants rigid, and it's the part of plants we turn into
paper. Ever held a cotton ball? That's basically pure cellulose. Some animals,
like cows, have bacteria in their guts to break cellulose back down into sugar
to use as food. The human gut can't do that, but we can still need to eat
cellulose as dietary fiber (which adds bulk to stool). Wood is mostly
cellulose, but mixed with some wonky tangly polymers called lignin to hold the
cellulose together.
</div>
<div><h3 style="text-align: left;"> </h3></div>
<div><h3 style="text-align: left;"> Cloth from wood!</h3></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nl4bS-59w9c" width="320" youtube-src-id="Nl4bS-59w9c"></iframe>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>
<p></p>
<div>
<b>Rayon </b>is chemically the same as cellulose, but arranged into much
smoother, more regular fibers, which makes it great for use in textiles. Made
by treating wood pulp with lye and carbon disulfide (CS2, originally called
"liquid sulfur"). The treated cellulose is then dissolved, and extruded
through tiny holes into an acid bath. Because of the similarity between the
extruder and a spider's spinnerets, rayon is sometimes called artificial
silk.<br /><br /><b>Cellophane </b>is made the same way as rayon, but a narrow
slit is used instead of a spinneret. The name is a combination of "diaphanous"
(thin enough to be transparent) and "cellulose"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE45BiQc1tA">.</a>
It's used in food packaging, and other situations where clear, slightly
breathable wrapping is desired<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBua5jLQrHE">. </a><br /><br /><i>Because both rayon and cellophane are essentially just smooth, thin bits of
cellulose, both materials are biodegradable. However, the word "cellophane"
is often used to refer to </i>other
<i>sorts of plastic film which aren't biodegradable. For example, when I
search for "cellophane" on Amazon, the first result (and best seller) is
actually made of polypropylene. -_-</i><br />
</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/How_a_British_Woman_Dresses_in_Wartime-_Utility_Clothing_in_Britain%2C_1943_D14784.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="795" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/How_a_British_Woman_Dresses_in_Wartime-_Utility_Clothing_in_Britain%2C_1943_D14784.jpg" width="318" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:How_a_British_Woman_Dresses_in_Wartime-_Utility_Clothing_in_Britain,_1943_D14784.jpg">Practical Wizard Fashion<br /></a><span>(And very thematic for a Spider Wizard.)</span></span><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div>
Liquid sulfur wasn't discovered until the 1700s, but it can made just be
heating sulfur and wet charcoal, so I'm going to include both of these in the
bucket of things a wizard could concoct in their tower without modern
industrial processes.
</div>
<div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Oh yeah, and you can also make cellulose go kablooey.
</h3>
<div>Here's where the alchemy comes in.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<i>Soak cotton fibers in a mixture of
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitric_acid">aqua fortis</a> and
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid">oil of vitriol</a>.
Hang the cotton to dry, and you will find that it retains its appearance,
but has been imbued with all the strength and fury of the mixture.</i>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Don't actually do this though.)</span>
</div>
<div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5EgCGsdEkTMErjoVtFV_DZowcLuZWTp1HPH0j0iI8F9rXQcu5T4Q3YRWNN4YfdtJrsKX5MI2Ksxk4_IUwcqWLQCFmFp11D0__IHV4LYR6GSls7AorBF4kZpft7i_ZJevUNirZwSOTRrs/s700/nitrocellulose.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="700" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5EgCGsdEkTMErjoVtFV_DZowcLuZWTp1HPH0j0iI8F9rXQcu5T4Q3YRWNN4YfdtJrsKX5MI2Ksxk4_IUwcqWLQCFmFp11D0__IHV4LYR6GSls7AorBF4kZpft7i_ZJevUNirZwSOTRrs/s320/nitrocellulose.png" width="320" /></a></div></span><br />
</div>
<div>
Yep, it's really that easy to turn good old cellulose into
<b>nitrocellulose</b> (aka gun cotton, flash paper, and many other names).
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63X6LtXyjMY">It</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38w2-NCdtio">makes</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBVBELMq20U">a</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IazMR2CJQ80">big</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD6vURwCkNA">boom</a>. The
ingredients and processes were all available and known to a medieval
alchemist, but the actual recipe wasn't discovered until the 1840s. (One
apocryphal story goes that a chemist wiped up an acid spill with a cotton
apron, and the apron later spontaneously exploded after being hung up to
dry.)
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Another nice property of the stuff is that it can be easily dissolved and
then allowed to dry into a shiny hard plastic coating. This is used for all
sorts of stuff, from playing cards to nail polish. Yes, the stuff that makes
your nails shiny happens to be an explosive.<br />
</div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;"> </h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
And that explosive became the first modern plastic.
</h3>
</div>
<div>
<b>Celluloid </b>is a mixture of nitrocellulose with camphor, which is a
stinky wax harvested from the camphor laurel. The camphor makes the
nitrocellulose stronger and easier to work with. Celluloid is a
<i>thermoplastic</i>, which means that it can be heated to become soft,
dissolved or molded into shape (injection molded even), and then cooled back
down to become hard.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
Celluloid's first application was as a replacement for the ivory (elephant
tooth, itself a polymer composite) previously used to make billiard balls,
and soon became widely popular as a replacement for horn and ivory in all
sorts of applications. Celluloid film was also the first flexible material
which could hold photographs. This flexibility allowed many small
photographs to be stored on a long coiled strip of film, and led to the rise
of moving pictures as an art form.
</div>
<div> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/B%C3%A9b%C3%A9_cellulo%C3%AFd.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/B%C3%A9b%C3%A9_cellulo%C3%AFd.jpg" width="240" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/B%C3%A9b%C3%A9_cellulo%C3%AFd.jpg">Probably won't explode.</a></span><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div>
<br />Oh, but do remember that this stuff is basically gunpowder. The
camphor makes the nitrocellulose significantly less explosive, but it's
still a <i>tiny wee bit</i> explosive. Early celluloid billiard balls would
sometimes explode on impact, and the tendency for decaying film to
spontaneously burst into flame is a substantial problem for the presevation
of early video footage. If you have any regulation ping-pong balls from
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140211033949/http://www.ittf.com/museum/archivesnewproto/BoD/2012%20BoD%20Minutes%20final.pdf">before 2014</a>, make sure to keep them away from open flame.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">A safer alternative</h3>
</div>
<div>
The film industry eventually switched from nitrocellulose to
<b>cellulose acetate</b> for making film stock, calling the new stuff
"safety film". Safety film isn't immune to decay, but instead of turning
into high-grade explosives in the process - as celluloid film does -
decaying safety film
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose_acetate_film#Decay_and_the_%22vinegar_syndrome%22">just turns into vinegar</a>. <br />
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
The process for making this stuff starts by soaking cellulose in a mixture of
sulfuric acid, acetic acid (vinegar), and acetic anhydride. It's this last one
that poses a problem for our hypothetical alchemist. Acetic anhydride can be
made from acetic acid, but the process involves some weird catalyst that I'm
not sure would be easy to find in ye olde times.<br />
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
II - Formaldehyde - Not just for preserving lizards in a jar!
</h2>
</div>
<div>
These next group of plastics are made using some stuff called
<b>formaldehyde</b>. Formaldehyde is made from wood alcohol (methanol), and is
used as a medical preservative. Wood alcohol is usually made from fossil
fuels, but it can also, as the name suggests, be made by distilling wood, though the process is inefficient). So far, so good.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formox_process">The basic recipe</a> is
simply to pass a mix of air and methanol vapor over a bed of silver powder at
1000 K (campfire temperature) and atmospheric pressure, and then capture the
resulting formaldehyde gas in water. Other catalysts like platinum wire can be
used in place of the silver. That's all sounds perfectly achievable, and I
think any aspiring alchemist with a reckless disregard for lab safety could
probably rig up a
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAaBVHLSFCQ">sketchy</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lkq4vRkQ2Y">bootleg</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2GS_Nc0Z3o">swampwitch</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAVGncFbz7s">version</a> of the
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsIhjinuBYA">process</a>.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div><br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLTB5qO2s168wrmq4qiTLjCOgsP-XFhL8sdY_SHA5Jjmdqk35AMR8gmJHorffl1pujr8zaFN-KEn3t2ZtSjoaNPOxDIbKYytFIMx8IK70Kuql5kHQ9UnKZGxclcXv5tgktY-Lc9B2MW4/s800/dehydrogenation.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLTB5qO2s168wrmq4qiTLjCOgsP-XFhL8sdY_SHA5Jjmdqk35AMR8gmJHorffl1pujr8zaFN-KEn3t2ZtSjoaNPOxDIbKYytFIMx8IK70Kuql5kHQ9UnKZGxclcXv5tgktY-Lc9B2MW4/s320/dehydrogenation.jpg" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span>In fact, yes,
<a href="http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=13608">here is one such sketchy bootleg swampwitch attempt</a>
to brew formaldehyde.<br />Oh golly,
<a href="http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=64683#pid431527">this one here</a>
is even more sketchy and swampwitchy.</span><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div><br /></div>
<div> </div>
<div>
Besides, any self respecting wizard needs formaldehyde for their jars of
twitching magical eyeballs. So sure, fantasy formaldehyde is a go go. What can
you do once you have some formaldehyde?
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div><h3 style="text-align: left;">You can make plastic from milk.</h3></div>
<div>
Casein is the stuff in milk that's good for your teeth. Turns out,
formaldehyde can react with casein, linking it together into long chains. The
resulting material was called <b>Galalith</b>, meaning "milk stone", and was
<a href="https://www.ganoksin.com/article/galalith-jewelry-milk-stone/">machined into jewelry and buttons</a>.<br />
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vv-LjNtYC1WnogUmKMANH-Ctj1uSZWXEUFJ_gCg8stjzxWXb1c8vki9BWPmKBrSlacAPOwuTdS4OiX6BU3W-hJZcI0HBuWwhhfTac-MOETSb9uLwd2gL0zkdk0d3z_hIwVUqLrpktxc/s688/Haarkam_van_galalith_met_half_ronde_rug_met_een_ajour_gesneden_draak_in_het_midden%252C_BK-1977-231+%2528cropped%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="688" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vv-LjNtYC1WnogUmKMANH-Ctj1uSZWXEUFJ_gCg8stjzxWXb1c8vki9BWPmKBrSlacAPOwuTdS4OiX6BU3W-hJZcI0HBuWwhhfTac-MOETSb9uLwd2gL0zkdk0d3z_hIwVUqLrpktxc/s320/Haarkam_van_galalith_met_half_ronde_rug_met_een_ajour_gesneden_draak_in_het_midden%252C_BK-1977-231+%2528cropped%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haarkam_van_galalith_met_half_ronde_rug_met_een_ajour_gesneden_draak_in_het_midden,_BK-1977-231.jpg">A lovely little knickknack made from milk.
</a></span><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
</div>
<div>
<i>Here's a very minor annoyance: Many of the videos on YouTube about milk
stone are not actually about milk stone. The milk plastic that they make is
a weak crumbly mess which just looks like dried cheese. And this is because
it </i>is
<i>dried cheese. Instead of using formaldehyde to link together casein
molecules, they just curdle whole milk, squeeze the liquid out of the curds,
press them into shape, and then leave it to dry. That's a recipe for
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paneer">cottage cheese</a>, except
for the part where it's left on the windowsill for several days. You
can technically call it a plastic, I guess. But it's not galalith, you guys.
It's stale cheese. You need to throw that away.</i>
</div>
<p></p>
<p>
<i>Shout-out to
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/RobertMurraySmith/search?query=casein">Robert Murray-Smith</a>
for being one of the few channels with videos actually about making casein
bioplastics.</i>
</p>
<div>
Anyways, milk stone was hot stuff for much of the first half of the twentieth
century, but was eventually displaced by the development of newer, cheaper
materials with better physical properties. Galalith is still sometimes used to
make buttons for clothes, however.<br />
</div>
<div> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<h3>Bakelite is made of formaldehyde too.</h3>
</div>
<div>
<b>Bakelite </b>is some lovely stuff. For a while there back in the day,
basically everything was made out of the stuff. I even have a couple of board
games on my shelf made out of Bakelite.
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Bakelite was the earliest fully synthetic resin, developed as an alternative
to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac"><b>lac</b></a>, which is a naturally occuring resin that the lac beetle just sort of...
oozes out.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
Bakelite is made by mixing formaldehyde with <b>phenol</b>, which is one of
the earliest chemical antiseptics. But here we run into a major snaggle
because phenol originally comes from coal tar. That works great in the real
world, but if your world is only 300 years and rests on the back of a giant
turtle, it's going to be hard to find some fossil fuels.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
It is <i>possible </i>to
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0e0BDEE4Ic">make phenol</a> from
salicylic acid instead, which is an important medicine originally derived from
the bark of the willow tree. But such a limitation would probably make
bakelite a lot less common.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG3gqhG4KxyolAvLJ9zW9Uuk8fcq-P70dBPqSP9ylq-wz_RNWbYW-msc65BgcVEcZx9jgl85E35I_9kO2VzK43ZPfti-pyagefnxnDVOhMJFCbTz4EYOYIwJ9YpFdg3SvpGL-EEn_g6IU/s504/2984828767_4d47e44f97_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="504" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG3gqhG4KxyolAvLJ9zW9Uuk8fcq-P70dBPqSP9ylq-wz_RNWbYW-msc65BgcVEcZx9jgl85E35I_9kO2VzK43ZPfti-pyagefnxnDVOhMJFCbTz4EYOYIwJ9YpFdg3SvpGL-EEn_g6IU/w400-h349/2984828767_4d47e44f97_o.jpg" width="400" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/28510393@N07/2984828767">Carved Bakelite and Galalith bangles</a>, from
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eraphernalia_vintage/">Cheryl</a>
on Flickr</span><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<h3><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Guess what else you can mix with formaldehyde.</span>
</h3>
</div>
<div>
But as it turns out, phenol-formaldehyde resins aren't the most commonly used
kind of formaldehyde resins. That honor goes to
<b>urea-formaldehyde resins</b>. What's urea, you ask? <br />
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrviLu8Y-T4-tUefb1bDg3LcDMI59f26PlJ9rQ4nHWCVkAkyfPI5tw0RVTtL2vDB95mZeowKp4v1sy6qAjgleOuY28w6adCyYV2Cr2MaVTmBunGC04EZzQpQ5R3xUCT5gUFOSOUShbfiE/s400/twistedjafarface.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrviLu8Y-T4-tUefb1bDg3LcDMI59f26PlJ9rQ4nHWCVkAkyfPI5tw0RVTtL2vDB95mZeowKp4v1sy6qAjgleOuY28w6adCyYV2Cr2MaVTmBunGC04EZzQpQ5R3xUCT5gUFOSOUShbfiE/s320/twistedjafarface.png" width="320" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's piss.<br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
While most urea nowadays is synthesized from natural gas, the process of
isolating urea crystals from urine was discovered all the way back in the
1200s. Definitely within the bogwitch toolkit.<br />
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
UF resin can be molded into solid shapes, but is most commonly used in
combination with cellulose. It's mixed in with bits of wood to form particle
board. And it's used as a strengthening additive to paper, cotton, and
rayon. It used to be used on its own as foam insulation, but there were
concerns about formaldehyde gas being released into homes. <br />
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/A_selection_of_urea_formaldehyde_objects_at_the_science_museum.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/A_selection_of_urea_formaldehyde_objects_at_the_science_museum.JPG" width="320" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_selection_of_urea_formaldehyde_objects_at_the_science_museum.JPG">Objects made of UF. Photo from user geni on wikimedia</a>
</td>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div> </div>
<div>
There are also higher quality <b>melamine-formaldehyde resins</b>. When you
write on a white-board, it's likely you're writing on MF resin. Melamine is
created from urea, but that process seems a bit outside of bogwitch territory,
with
<a href="https://www.slideshare.net/Amitgomey/industrial-production-of-melamine-final">this slideshow</a>
describing a "low pressure version" that still needs ten atmospheres of
pressure, which is about the same as inside a steam train's boiler.
Secret chemistry knowledge from the future? Sure, throw that into a generic
grungy fantasy world. Pressurized steel reaction vessels? That's sliding into
steampunky territory.<br />
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<span><i> Note to self: formaldehyde-themed wizard school? "Formalin
witchcraft"?</i></span><br />
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">III - Ethylene - a heck of a thing.</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">
The bulk of the plastics in the world today are derived from a monomer
called <b>ethylene</b> (or ethene). In fact, by volume, humanity
manufactures more ethylene than any other organic molecule (unless we're
counting agriculture as manufacturing, in which case obviously cellulose
wins again). <br />
</p>
</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Ethylene-CRC-MW-3D-balls.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="800" height="342" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Ethylene-CRC-MW-3D-balls.png" width="400" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
Behold ethylene! The foundation of your modern world!<br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ethylene is some sweet stuff.</h3></div>
<div>
Ethylene on its own is a simple gas which naturally occurs in small amounts.
<br />
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
It's an important hormone that triggers aging in plants. It's what
<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article/60/12/3311/522588">causes flowers to develop and fruit to ripen</a>. It's also what
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/2251019a0">causes leaves to fall</a>
from trees. My spouse is very particular in how they store fruit, claiming
for example that putting apples next to the kiwis will make the kiwis taste
sweeter. Turns out, that's not just a weird tradition from grandma; apples
fart out ethylene! Small scale ethylene production is often used for this
purpose,
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcwWQJ0Uxeo">generating ethylene gas in an enclosed room</a>
to rapidly ripen fruits.
</div>
<div>
<span><br /></span>
</div>
<span> </span>
<div>
<span>
Old-timey kerosene lamps produce small amounts of ethylene in their
smoke, leading to a bizarre phenomenon in the late 1800s and early 1900s
where street lights were</span><span><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2469142?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents"><span> </span>killing the trees along city streets</a><span>.</span>
</span>
</div>
<span> </span>
<div><span> </span></div>
<span>
<span>Oh yeah, and it's also psychoactive. It smells sweet and induces euphoria
when inhaled, so was tried for a time as an anesthetic alternative to
chloroform. Doctors stopped using it that way as soon as better
alternatives were found. There's also speculation that the prophetic
visions of the Oracle of Delphi were</span><a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2001/08/greece-delphi-oracle-gas-vapors-science/"><span> </span>triggered by ethylene inhalation</a><span>.</span></span>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNBvi7vyfhGMV9jO061MQI23HKCWCDaon0dM3HyCTGXqw-H1tLjxD-BzJZbvzp2GfDrnAxCrUenYfvlJR6axpygveGIEbdnrXr5NfdhA__7-eKcdafTMRAYq2kQOkEXnHWx0VulRMNgY/s697/John_Collier_-_Priestess_of_Delphi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="345" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNBvi7vyfhGMV9jO061MQI23HKCWCDaon0dM3HyCTGXqw-H1tLjxD-BzJZbvzp2GfDrnAxCrUenYfvlJR6axpygveGIEbdnrXr5NfdhA__7-eKcdafTMRAYq2kQOkEXnHWx0VulRMNgY/w317-h640/John_Collier_-_Priestess_of_Delphi.jpg" width="317" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
Huffing ethylene, seeing the future, and having a great time.<br /><span>John Collier - Priestess of Delphi - 1891</span><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /> Finally, it shouldn't surprise you to learn that the stuff can
explode at high concentrations.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Making ethylene in bulk. </h3></div>
<div>
The main source of ethylene production is, sure enough, from fossil fuels. You
take some propane or whatever, heat it up with some steam, and you're off to
the races. The process is called steam-cracking. The temperatures are
reasonable, and the pressures are atmospheric. The difficulty is that to
<i>stop </i>the reactions and end up with the chemical you want, the gas has
to be rapidly cooled and compressed, something<span style="font-size: small;">
only possible with twentieth-century refrigeration technology (<i>but maybe not an issue for an ice mage?</i>). Plus, you know, fossil fuels.
</span>
</div>
<span> </span>
<div>
<span><br /></span>
</div>
<span> </span>
<div>
<span>
Luckily, there are other sources of the substance as well. As mentioned
above, it can easily be made from ethanol. <b>Ethanol </b>(the stuff in wine
that gets you drunk, or "<i>aqua vitae</i>" as an alchemist might call it)
is the hydrate of ethylene. To vastly oversimplify, ethanol = ethylene +
water, and converting between the two is
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-10WJ_t4NQ">fairly straightforward</a>. In fact, the supply chain can go either way:
</span>
</div>
<span> </span>
<blockquote>
<div>
<span>
Until about 1950, ethylene was expensive and was obtained from fermented
ethanol by dehydration - the reverse of the above processes. With the
advent of cheap ethylene from steam cracking, the petrochemical route to
ethanol became more economical than fermentation. By the early 1970s,
scarcely any industrial ethanol was made by fermentation in the United
States, although there was a legal requirement in most countries that
potable ethanol be made in the traditional way. <br />
In the United States in the 1980s, this trend was reversed when government
subsidies were introduced to facilitate the production of ethanol by
fermentation of corn starch. The product went into automotive fuel known
as gasohol. <br /><span> </span>...<br /> With the advent of huge production facilities
for fermentation ethanol, new plants have been built in Brazil for its
dehydration to ethylene. <br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span><i>-From Industrial Organic Chemicals, 3rd edition (Wittcoff Reuben
Plotkin 2013)</i></span><span><br /></span>
</div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<p>
<span>
There are a few ways our alchemist could transform ethanol into
ethylene.
</span>
</p>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<p>
<span>
The most straight-forward approach is to mix ethanol and sulfuric acid and
heat the mixture up to 170 C. But that's like double the normal boiling
point of these liquids, and you already know about my reluctance to put
high-pressure chemistry inside of a wizard tower or witch's hut. </span>
</p>
<p>
<span><i>However, if you do want to lean into the steampunky aesthetic, then
<a href="https://archive.org/details/experimentsobser00prie/page/474/mode/2up?view=theater">take a look at the letter from 1779</a>, in which the writer discusses their attempts to build a pneumatic
pistol using "Vitriolic æther", which is a "very powerful inflammable air"
extracted from "equal quantities of oil of vitriol and spirit of wine".
I'm think the stuff described in this letter is just ether though, not
ethylene.</i><br /></span>
</p>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
<p>
<span>
A more common approach is to simply run ethanol vapors over a bed of alumina
powder. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-10WJ_t4NQ">1</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7oTu6T4ZCY">2</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uudOD44TFZU">3</a> The gas
that bubbles out will be ethylene. Alumina nowadays is made</span>
via the fancy schmancy Bayer Process, but alumina was originally discovered
simply by boiling some clay in sulfuric acid and then neutralizing the result
with lye. Totally bogwitchable. In fact,
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkyPvhapxQs&t=449s">here's a youtuber making alumina in an open air
<strike>crock pot</strike> cauldron</a>:
</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qkyPvhapxQs?start=448" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<p></p>
<p>
But actually, it might be even easier than that. In the Cody's Lab video
above, he mentions that most of the effort he's going through in isolating the
alumina is to get rid of the silica, but silica is fine or even desirable for
a ethanol dehydration. So maybe you just need dry clay? The right kind of dry
clay at least?
</p>
<p>
This all sounds very doable for a witch, and even if you don't collect
enough ethylene to create plastic, as the very least you can use it to curse a
tree or something.<br />
</p>
<p>
<i>Tangent: Check out the bizarre copy on
<a href="https://www.catalyticgenerators.com/">this ethylene generator</a>. Firstly, they advertise that their product, "<b>when used as directed, cannot cause explosions</b>". Secondly, they're selling their own super special fluid to put in the
thing, called "<a href="https://www.catalyticgenerators.com/products/ethy-gen-ii-ripening-concentrate/">Ethy-Gen® II Ripening Concentrate</a>", resplendent with buzzwords, but then you look at the ingredients and
sure enough it's pretty much just ethanol.</i>
</p>
<p>
Okay, enough about the monomer. Let's get back to the polymers!<i> </i>
</p>
<p> </p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Turning ethylene into other stuff.</h3>
<p></p>
<div>Once you control the ethylene, you control the universe.<br /></div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJqWXmMs-boC3Q1MTtVvmopR1L_N8q8CGhGNcfoElcBjUzVO7jxv_VKu934J497now6P6hbPdrbvbQCvhGs1aLHfUGFWDydW59F1bsxLdCIjl8tQFpul40HQR2610EX2fMC885ZvVb0E/s866/GuideToBusinessOfChemistryEthylene.PNG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="645" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJqWXmMs-boC3Q1MTtVvmopR1L_N8q8CGhGNcfoElcBjUzVO7jxv_VKu934J497now6P6hbPdrbvbQCvhGs1aLHfUGFWDydW59F1bsxLdCIjl8tQFpul40HQR2610EX2fMC885ZvVb0E/w477-h640/GuideToBusinessOfChemistryEthylene.PNG" width="477" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span>From the
<a href="https://www.americanchemistry.com/2020-Guide-to-the-Business-of-Chemistry.pdf">Guide to the Business of Chemistry</a>
by the American Chemistry Council</span><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Polyethylene</b> is bunch of ethylene hooked together, and is the most
common kind of plastic. You're probably touching some of it right now. There
are several different kinds of it, and all of them have some feature that
makes them difficult to translate to an alchemistish context. After all,
there's a ton of ethylene floating around in nature. If it were easy to
polymerize the stuff, you'd think polyethylene would show up in living
creatures.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Low Density Polyethylene</b> is flexible plastic made by simply compressing
and heating ethylene. But this requires pressures of thousands of atmospheres.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>High Density Polyethylene</b> (which is harder and more rigid than LDPE)
can be made at near-atmospheric pressures and relatively low temperatures, but
the process requires
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziegler%E2%80%93Natta_catalyst">fancy</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_catalyst">schmancy</a>
catalysts. "Chromium? Titanium? Never heard of em," says the bog witch.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Linear Low Density Polyethylene </b>is a successful attempt to make
flexible Low Density PE using the more reasonable temperatures and pressures
of the HDPE process. In addition to those weirdo future catalysts, LLDPE
requires a intermediate step where some of the ethylene is processed into
oligomers like
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1-Butene">this chemical</a> which has
the official name of "<i>But-1-ene</i>". <br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /><b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>PolyVinyl Chloride</b> is usually just called vinyl. It's the third most
common modern plastic. The vinyl monomer can be made by from reacting chlorine
with ethylene over hot pumice, then the vinyl monomer is pressurized to 13
atmospheres and heated to make the vinyl polymer. In the textbook I was
reading, it seems like most of the effort in synthesizing vinyl is finding a
way to deal with the horrible awful deadly toxic byproducts. Not a problem for
a wizard, who can just summon a magical gale to carry the cloud of hydrogen
chloride away from their tower and towards the local puppy orphanage.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://gunshowcomic.com/comics/20081015.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="600" src="http://gunshowcomic.com/comics/20081015.gif" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://gunshowcomic.com/30">Gunshow - KC Green</a></span><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="text-align: left;"></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b> </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Polyproylene</b> is the second most common polymer being churned out. The
monomer <b>propylene </b>isn't typically made from ethylene, but it is
<a href="https://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/chemicals/propene.html">possible to do a convoluted multi-stage conversion</a>, which seems to be the only way of
making the stuff without using fossil fuels. Regardless, the subsequent
conversion to a polymer requires moderately high pressures and some of those
same weird catalysts.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Polyesters</b> are a large group of polymers, but the term is often used to refer specifically to PET, short for <b>PolyEthylene Terephthalate</b>. PET is the fourth most common synthetic polymer, and is made from ethylene in several steps. First, ethylene is combined with oxygen over a silver catalyst at 15 times atmospheric pressure to form <i>ethylene oxide</i>. <span style="font-size: 80%;">The ethylene oxide is then mixed with water to form <i>ethylene glycol</i> and a bunch of other stuff which has to be filtered out. (The ethylene glycol is useful on its own as antifreeze.) The antifreeze is then combined with <i>terephthalic acid</i> under heat and pressure to form PET. <span style="font-size: 80%;">The terephthalic acid can be extracted in small amounts from natural sources like turpentine, but is made in bulk from <i>para-xylene</i> using yet another exotic catalyst, and the para-xylene comes from fossil fuels. There are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jctb.5691">ways to make para-xylene from wood</a>, but the processes are new and require yet more strange catalysts. <span style="font-size: 80%;">Oh gosh, this is a bit much. What is Lanthanum? I genuinely forgot that was an element, but you're apparently going to need some if you want to make polyester without fossil fuels.</span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And I'll call that good for now. I guess I'll just write off the bulk of
modern plastics as being <i>too </i>modern for an alchemist. But at least I
learned about ethylene and now have an excuse to give <b>Fireball</b> to
fruit-themed wizards.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
<p></p>
<p><br /></p>
<p><br /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
IV - Scleroproteins - The real polymers were inside you all along <br />
</h2>
<p>
DNA is also technically a polymer, made of monomers called nucleotides,
storing information in the form of a long chain. And all proteins are polymers
because they are constructed by translating DNA sequences into chains of amino
acids. </p><p>But <b>Scleroproteins </b>are the proteins that behave the most like what we
would typically call "plastic". They're very long proteins that connect
together into sheets or fibers. Important
scleroproteins include collagen, keratin, fibrin, and elastin.
</p><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Collagen </b>is the most common protein in the human body. It's tough
and flexible, and makes up ligaments, tendons, cartilage and blood vessels.
When mixed with a mineral called hydroxyapatite, it forms bones and teeth. The
name means "glue-maker", because we can boil it down to make some kinds of
glue.<b><br /></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br />Keratin: </b>Long coiled protein polymers used to make claws,
fingernails, hair, feathers, reptile scales, tortoise shells, and rhino
horns. It's very hard and tough. If a part of your skin is repeatedly
subjected to stress, your body will put some keratin in the skin there to form
a callus.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b> </b>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Pv_7AF5E7e49NkZjvKfryakXF7k02-PXbL346Y_SxtUFwGeg_z3eEwdKv7SAcJblaMltqwe-1IDDvtRS3wqgpTa-G6jdtVV0bKF0RNrWHoQt5rmpNMbt7Opp07U3kJUZosB2y7vaPIk/s1023/Horse_baring_its_teeth_%2528Unsplash%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="682" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Pv_7AF5E7e49NkZjvKfryakXF7k02-PXbL346Y_SxtUFwGeg_z3eEwdKv7SAcJblaMltqwe-1IDDvtRS3wqgpTa-G6jdtVV0bKF0RNrWHoQt5rmpNMbt7Opp07U3kJUZosB2y7vaPIk/w266-h400/Horse_baring_its_teeth_%2528Unsplash%2529.jpg" width="266" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
Can also be boiled down into a polymer-based glue
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<b><br />Fibrin </b>helps you stop bleeding when you are injured. First it
blocks the damaged blood vessel to slow the flow of blood, and then it's used
to build a protective scab to cover the wound while its healing.<b><br /><br />Elastin: </b>Kind of like our body's version of rubber. It's what makes our lungs and
bladder so stretchy, and its mixed with collagen to help absorb shocks. Our
skin contains elastin fibers, and the loss of these causes our skin to get
saggy as we age.<br /> <br />
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div><br /></div>
<div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Summary:</h2></div>
<div>
Here are a few naturally occurring plastic polymers. A powerful enough
wizard can just magically reshape crabs into dishware and skip all the
industrial chemistry stuff:
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<b>Chitin</b>: Sugar polymer. The plasticy stuff bugs and other
arthropods are covered in. Mushrooms also use the stuff for cell
walls.
</li>
<li>
<b>Cellulose</b>: The most common polymer. Found in plants. Sugar-based.
Cotton and paper are made of the stuff.
</li>
<li>
<b>Wood</b>: Mix of cellulose and lignin, which is another more
complicated plant polymer that holds the cellulose together.
</li>
<li>
<b>Lac</b>: It has basically all the properties that we associate with
modern synthetic plastics, but it comes out of a bug. Weird.<br />
</li>
<li>
<b>Scleroproteins</b>: Tooth, horn,
<a href="http://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2018/07/osr-class-skeleton-wizard.html">bone</a>, hair, tendons, animal glue, scabs. All sorts of rad stuff.<br />
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
Plastic polymer materials reasonably available to your standard
deranged witch living in a bog:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<b>Chitosan</b>: Humanity's best attempt so far at making stuff out of
chitin. Made by mixing shrimp shells and lye.
</li>
<li>
<b>Rayon </b>and <b>Cellophane:</b> Regenerated cellulose. Take some
cellulose, and break it down using lye, sulfur, and charcoal. Dissolve
the result in more lye, let it "ripen", and then extrude it into some
sulfuric acid to turn it back into cellulose. <br />
</li>
<li>
<b>Nitrocellulose</b>: First man-made plastic. Made by soaking cellulose
in a simple mix of alchemical reagents. Still looks and feels like
cotton but now it explodes and can be easily dissolved to turn into
lacquer for things like nail polish.
</li>
<li>
<b>Celluloid</b>: Nitrocellulose mixed with camphor. Less explosive, and
can be injection molded or turned into film reels.
</li>
<li>
<b>Galalith</b>: Cheese protein treated with formaldehyde, more or less.
Another of the earliest synthetic plastics. Waterproof, hard, and looks
nice, but very brittle. It's really only good for small knick knacks
like buttons.
</li>
<li>
<b>UF Resins</b>: Urea, formaldehyde, and a bit of acid. Mostly used as
a binder in wood or an additive to fabric instead of on its own.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Some other plastics which might be harder to get your hands on without
modern industry:<br />
</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>Cellulose Acetate</b>: Safety film. Made by soaking cellulose in sulfuric acid, acetic acid, and acetic anhydride. It's that last ingredient that would be difficult to get.<br /><b></b></li><li><b>Bakelite</b>: First synthetic resin. Developed as an alternative to
lac. Used to be used for all sorts of stuff. An example of
phenol-formaldehyde resins. Phenol originally comes from coal tar, which
is a snaggle for the "no fossil fuels" bit of worldbuilding.<br />
</li>
<li>
<b>MF Resins</b>: Like a higher quality version of UF resins. Melamine
is used instead of Urea. And while Melamine is made from urea, it needs
moderately high pressures.<br />
</li>
<li>
<b>Ethylene-derived plastics</b>: Which is to say, pretty much all of
the modern plastics. These can all be made without fossil fuels by
starting with fermented ethanol. But the process of making the polymers
either involves high pressures or exotic catalysts or both.<br />
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div><br /><br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Links <br /></h2>
</div>
<div>
This was by no means a comprehensive guide to industrial chemistry. Didn't
even get around to talking about rubber. This was just an amateur exploration,
focused on the framing device of "What could a medieval alchemist actually
make, given the right recipes?"
</div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
Here are some links I found very useful, and might be useful if you want to
read more about plastic and whatnot:
</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="https://www.americanchemistry.com/2020-Guide-to-the-Business-of-Chemistry.pdf">Guide to the Business of Chemistry</a></b>
by the American Chemistry Council. There are some great appendices at
the back.</span></span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Industrial Organic Chemicals, 3rd Edition</b>, by Wittcoff,
Reuben, and Plotkin. A textbook that I found enjoyable as a lay
reader. Includes lots of details about chemical reactions, of course,
but also about the history, politics, and economics of chemistry as
well. Expensive, but maybe you can find a copy in the library like I
did.</span></span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/"><b>The Essential Chemical Industry Online</b></a>. A lovely little reference website, and a good starting point if you
want to learn about a particular chemical.<br /></span></span>
</li>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/chemicals.html">Here's their index on basic chemicals.</a></span></span>
</li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
<a href="https://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/polymers.html">here's their index on polymers.</a>
<br /></span></span>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-74898096617134920682021-06-04T16:38:00.004-07:002021-08-03T22:45:41.415-07:00Gretchpost 2021<p>This is my GLOG hack. It's called GLOLG: <a href="http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2016/01/gretchlings-and-grues.html"><b>G</b>retchlings</a> stea<b>L</b>ing y<b>O</b>ur <b>L</b>e<b>G</b>s </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6H8mx1AIUpbnNibyX3izS0DpaZOrZ3HuW00814L_utgXEQ5de7eT9uP0lDI3A6OKgTc-OIwzkEFlRipPJHgu_82OE86pa8RkOF9u2SWPaKV57GmQAIYmcYaAU4F4ai6x77kUy6MCY9c/s2048/gretchsquadraster.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2035" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6H8mx1AIUpbnNibyX3izS0DpaZOrZ3HuW00814L_utgXEQ5de7eT9uP0lDI3A6OKgTc-OIwzkEFlRipPJHgu_82OE86pa8RkOF9u2SWPaKV57GmQAIYmcYaAU4F4ai6x77kUy6MCY9c/w636-h640/gretchsquadraster.png" width="636" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VfLMLaZZ1-O1V6-xotaoEaaLQVwphjIw/view?usp=sharing">Here's the pdf download.</a> <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/p/gretchling-generator.html">Here's the character sheet.</a><br /></p><p>Thanks for reading, and I'm sorry.<br /></p><br />𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-61661216161720826302021-05-22T04:00:00.004-07:002021-06-06T01:10:15.977-07:0010 bandit gangs which ambush you along the road.<p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>1. Avery's Autarkic Army<br /></b></span></span></h2><p> As you walk through down the road, dozens of identically clad bandits step out of the shrubbery. They're all brandishing similar swords in similar poses. One of these is Avery, the lone bandit. The rest are magical puppets mirroring Avery's moves.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #d51c3c;"><b>2. Brutus and Billy, the Brute Brothers</b></span></span><br /></h2><p>A couple of beefy blokes relax out in the open next to the road, big cudgels in their hands. If your group looks weak, they'll step into the middle of your path, and demand that you hand over your valuables. If you look tough, they'll smile and wave as you go past.</p><p> </p><span></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #1b5cd7;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>3. </b></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1b5cd7;"><b>A Cloudy Encounter<br /></b></span></span></h2><p>There are rumors of strange thefts on the road between Castletown and Cabletopia. Some evenings, a strange thick fog rolls in, acompanied by the clanking of bells. Then three silhouettes and 6 glowing eyes are seen charging forth from the darkness. The burly silhouettes shoulder past travelers, knocking them aside. After the fog clears, these unlucky travelers find that they're missing their satchel or waterskin or somehow their shoes.<br /></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #39964a;"><span style="font-size: large;">4. Denny (and his devilishly deceptive traps)</span></span></h2><p>The cobbled road in front of you suddenly gives way to a short section made of regular red bricks. A crude amateurishly-carved statue has been recently installed along the road-side, with a wooden chest at its feet. From here, you can just barely see a set of cables running out of the back of the chest and into a hole in the statue.<br /></p><p> Ah, the local shire-reeve warned you about this. And sure enough, when you look around, you see a man in wizard's robes off in the distance, poorly concealed behind a small boulder and accompanied by several bored-looking mercenaries.<br /></p><p>The man in the robes is Denny, a former wizard's apprentice with a concerningly pulsating growth on the side of his head. The growth whispers to him in dreams, gifting him grand visions of elaborate traps. Even when his devices manage to catch a traveler unaware, he rarely walks away with a haul worth more than the cost of their construction, so it's a bit of a mystery how he's managed to operate for so long. <br /></p><p> <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f7ce50;"><span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>5. The Most Earnest Tax Collectors</b></span></span></span></h2><p>Five shining knights in golden armor stand resolutely alongside the road, refusing to let pass anyone who hasn't paid their taxes. These are both literal taxes - for somehow they always know - but also metaphorical taxes. 1 copper coin for each time in your life that you've lied. 1 silver coin for each time you've broken a promise. 1 gold coin for each time you've forgotten to wash your hands before supper.<br /></p><p>Most people just take the long way around.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #f483cd;"><span style="font-size: large;">6. The </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f483cd;"><b>Fabulous Fow</b></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f483cd;"><b>l Festival</b></span></span></h2><p>You're walking through the woods. Suddenly, a parade of ducklings walks out in front of you. A little gremlin wearing an elaborate outfit with hat and bowtie saunters out carrying a hoop, and starts trying to coax the ducklings to jump through it. Two more gremlins follow. One begins loudly shouting about the "Fabulous Fowl Festival", while the other begins playing some horrible music on something best described as a bagpipe built by someone who doesn't understand what sound is.</p><p>A fourth skips up from behind your group, acting like she's your friend and trying to start a conversation about "how great it would be to have snacks to go with the show". At this cue, the final two gremlins appear. One falls from a tree branch, landing face first and scattering wet corn kernels all over the road. The other rises out of her hiding place in a shallow mossy puddle, and tries to sell you a crate of water-logged loaves of bread.</p><p>The trap, you see, is that the delicious plopped corn and soggy buns are laced with a powerful sedative. If the gremlin gang's ruse works as planned, and your entire group eats the snacks on offer, then you will all wake up hours later, a dozen yards from the road, with all your coins and rations missing, and your bags filled to the brim with sour mushroom jam.</p><p></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="color: #997736;"><b>7. An unnamed gangrenous gang <br /></b></span></span></span></p><p>A plague recently swept through this region. In a small portion of people, the disease lingers, leaving them weakened and scarred. Outcast by society, some have turned to banditry. A disorganized group of such people now threatens you with knives. It's doubtful they could succeed in combat against you, but there's desperation in their eyes.<br /></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;"><b>8. A Horrible Surprise</b></span></span></span><br /></h2><p>Some skeletons pop out. The skeletons want to steal your skin. Spooky!<br /></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f39e11;"><b>9. The Insane Dragon Posse<br /></b></span></span></span></p><p>A group bandits crest the hills to either side of the road. They have crazed hair and claw-like nails. They point flaming arrows your way and bark out demands. They want your gold, every last scrap you have on you. They're afflicted with a dragon's curse. They would sooner die than leave even a single gold piece behind. They don't spend the stolen coin. They're compelled to just pile it up in a nearby cave.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #49d0a3;"><b>10. Captain Mudflip's Jumping Fingang<br /></b></span></span></p><p>You're crossing a bridge. Suddenly, a tidal wave of trout leaps out of the water, soaring and flapping over the bridge. As the fish slap into you, they try to grab hold of pocket change, necklaces, and other loose valuables. The trout are a notorious pirate gang, you see.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> <br /></p>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-5025836630504456042021-05-11T04:21:00.081-07:002021-05-11T04:21:00.145-07:00d6x6 Sources of Magic.<p>What is magic anyways? Where does it come from? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws6HPTom2AY">What is it all about?</a></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">1... Magic comes from nature.<br /></h2><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>It just comes out of big holes in the ground.</li><li>Dragons radiate it. Mana is dragon waste. Some creatures have evolved to collect this waste and reuse it to open doors or clean their clothes.</li><li>Lightning supercharges matter with mana.</li><li>People learned magic by studying the abilities of the ancient titans which roam the land. Pyromancy was learned from the father of dragons. Divination is a gift from the Moonwatcher. Necromancy comes from the Corpse Ball over in Glasmont.</li><li>Only animals have access to magic powers. In order to cast a fireball, you need a pet fire toad.</li><li>Gold. Gold is where magic comes from. </li></ol><h2 style="text-align: left;"> 2... Magic comes from the divine.<br /></h2><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>There are multiple competing gods, who disagree about the laws of physics and try to change things when they think the other gods aren't looking.</li><li>Gods are playing hyperchess with people as the pieces. Magic is given to the important players.</li><li>God just really likes certain sounds and gestures. Spells are divine applause.</li><li>Spells are what happens when spirits show up in the physical world. Ghosts, demons, spells--all the same.</li><li>The universe is a dream, and if you think in ways similarly to the dreamer, you can exercise some control over the dream.</li><li>Magic <i><b>is </b></i>the divine. Not a manifestation of the will of the gods, but the actual physical form of the gods.</li></ol><h2 style="text-align: left;"> 3... Magic is metaphysical in nature.<br /></h2><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Magic is what happens when parallel universes slam into each other. You get magic by stealing power from your alternate-universe selves.</li><li>The universe is actively anti-inductive. A previous civilization figured out the laws of physics, which made the laws of physics change to become weirder.</li><li>The cosmos used to be chaos, filled with the unlimited force of creation. From this chaos, many universes were born. Ones in which the force of creation was limited tended to be more stable. But entirely constrained universes can't use the force of creation to create new universes. So there is a selective advantage for worlds just unstable enough to support the creation of child demiplanes. The anthropic principle does the rest.</li><li>Magic is just the leftover scraps of physics that haven't been banned. At the start of time, magic was limitless and birthed the universe. Any time magic becomes degenerate enough to cause an extinction event, it becomes more limited. Eventually, only the magic of magical exclusion itself will remain.</li><li>Chunks of another reality fell through the holes in the sky (the stars) and warp the world around them. Mages carry around little slivers of these other worlds and throw them at people.</li><li>The laws of physics are a government cover-up. Anyone can do magic if they stop eating the fluoridated ham.</li></ol><h2 style="text-align: left;">4... Magic comes from the self.<br /></h2><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Magic comes from meditation and attunement with the universe.</li><li>Magic comes from the power of emotion! Specifically, an emotion that most people can't feel anymore. Ancient sages trapped the emotion in a bottle and distilled it into a more concentrated form.</li><li>Magic comes from Fighting Spirit! Scream loudly and passionately! Wizards train to scream in the most passionate manner.</li><li>Blood is liquid magic. More blood = more wizard powers. The gods have severe hypertension.</li><li>Magic occurs when your soul leaves your body to go do other stuff. Counterspells are dark magic that directly erases the soul.</li><li>Mana is the byproduct of normal metabolic processes. Plants transform stale air, water, and light into fresh air, sugar, and magic. Wizards transform fresh air, sugar, and magic into stale air, water, and bad decisions.</li></ol><h2 style="text-align: left;">5... Magic comes from technology.<br /></h2><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The universe is a simulation. Magic is just a hacked together solution to some universe-crashing bug, and will be removed in a future update.</li><li>Spells are just technology from a long-dead civilization.</li><li>The universe is a simulation. Due to a security flaw, you can send commands to some subroutines you weren't supposed to be able to access.</li><li>Inter-dimensional aliens are doing science. Spells are experimental tech, and the aliens are having expendable lower-life forms run the safety tests.</li><li>Listen. There was this talking bird who crashed into a psychic ocean monster, but he was so good at video games that he was able to take over the monsters brain and then used his new psychic powers to transform himself into a spaceship and fly around the stars but then he got into a fight with a big robot crab and the robot crab pushed him into a black hole but instead of getting squished he became omnipotent. So anyways when magic happens, it's the bird guy.</li><li>Nanomachines, son! </li></ol><h2 style="text-align: left;">6... You are mistaken about magic.<br /></h2><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Magic is a hoax. Doesn't actually exist. It's all just mirrors and bits of twine.</li><li>That's not magic. It's just a very elaborate form of camouflage for insects.</li><li>It's all a coincidence. Particles can, with very low probability, spontaneously rearrange due to quantum tomfoolery. You just happen to live in one of the vanishingly rare Everett branches where magic coincidentally seems to work. Chants and finger-wiggles correlate with the spontaneous appearance of fireballs. There's no reason for it to continue working tomorrow, though.</li><li>That's not magic. It's a tumor.</li><li>Magic is just an allergic reaction to certain foods.</li><li>The real magic was the friends we made along the way.</li></ol><p> </p>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-65935636814031040152021-05-04T05:30:00.154-07:002021-05-16T11:05:52.331-07:00Color-coding Monsters by Genre<h2 style="text-align: left;"></h2><p>I've been making a lot of <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/04/how-to-make-cheap-diy-wooden-standee.html">wood-block minis</a>, lately, and need a good color-coding system. <br /></p><p>Here's what I've settled on:<br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>Artificial</b></span>, <span style="color: #d51c3c;"><b>Bestial</b></span>, <span style="color: #1b5cd7;"><b>Chimerical</b></span>, <span style="color: #39964a;"><b>Dungeonesque</b></span>,</span><br /><span style="color: #f7ce50;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ethereal</b></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">, <span style="color: #f483cd;"><b>Fay</b></span>, <span style="color: #997736;"><b>Grubby</b></span>, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;"><b>Haunting</b></span></span>,</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f39e11;"><b>Inflamed</b></span></span>, <span style="color: #49d0a3;"><b>Moist</b></span></span></div> <p>Each category is associated with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_term#Basic_color_terms">basic color term</a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160413065119/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26913-lilac-and-turquoise-are-as-basic-as-red-and-orange/">.</a> I tried to make the split be along aesthetic and thematic lines, so that the color-coding of a monster indicates something about the style of game encounter it leads to, as opposed to indicating something about the monster's appearance or physiology.</p><p>For example: Werewolves are fully alive, but in terms of thematic associations, interactions, and weaknesses, they're very similar to vampires. (As recognized by pretty much every piece of 21st century pop culture.) So Instead of having a category for "undead", I have "Haunting monsters", which draws a big circle around that whole chunk of slightly tragic <a href="https://bogleech.com/halloween/hall11-monsters.htm">halloweeny</a> horrors.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b>Artificial</b></span></span></h3><p><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Creatures of artifice. Robots, golems, and alchemical oozes. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyinBvtf7lUm7JfyHMuAEfbfXWt7SGk250feRFwhRLjcf1bYk4pUAWXL8RMLa9zTiMK5bAQ-hRqmK2mnKUrlpcaKjeToE8_ien0fjIc8mXibm0fHBHA5iYS2rqbOm9-DyUmz-iVOBziaE/w400-h300/purple+battle3.png" width="400" /></div><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Thematic </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span>Commonalities</span></b>:</span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Rigid programming gone awry. <i>(Golem guards
preventing people from stealing, but doing nothing to retrieve stolen
items. Oozes mindlessly cleaning all 'filth', including living
creatures.)</i></span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Unhealthy relationships between creation and creator.</span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Unique specimens trying to make more of their kind <i>(with potentially apocalyptic consequences if they succeed)</i></span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>The dangers of hubris.<i> <br /></i></span></span></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Mechanical Commonalities:</span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Very durable.</span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Aversion to</span></span></span><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span> <b>water </b>or<b> fire</b>. (Sinks or short-circuits; overheats or explodes)</span></span></span></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Edibility:</span></span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Extremely inedible.</span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>You can eat these things, but they will really do a number on your digestion.</span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>0/5. Would not recommend steel nachos dipped in alchemical cheeze.<br /></span></span></span></span></li></ul><div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><span style="color: #666666;"><b> </b></span></p><p><span style="color: #666666;"><b> </b></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="color: #c09d73;"><span style="color: red;">Bestial</span></span></span></b></span></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span>Big animals, ogres, any any critter that's down for a good wrassle. Things that you'd hunt or which would hunt you<b>.</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6feMSpc48xaUtrjfoIJmqtPehYDWtU_CFCiNY5s36LXrWvu2bGAaEggafKNcVVMSI1IsHyQ4UZlK8P582pf6yXH579In5jvwyEsPYxZYGQH1qP-0DisqPg-WtXuqjsNkkpZWA_brF-a8/s2000/red+battle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6feMSpc48xaUtrjfoIJmqtPehYDWtU_CFCiNY5s36LXrWvu2bGAaEggafKNcVVMSI1IsHyQ4UZlK8P582pf6yXH579In5jvwyEsPYxZYGQH1qP-0DisqPg-WtXuqjsNkkpZWA_brF-a8/w400-h300/red+battle.png" width="400" /></a></b></span></div><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Thematic </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span>Commonalities</span></b>:</span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>Hunting, being hunted. </span></li><li><span><span>Uncomplicated Nature, red in tooth and claw. </span></span></li><li><span>Straightforward fights. Brutal but necessary actions. <br /></span></li><li><span>Overcoming adversity, making new friends (bestial creatures are the most likely to be tamable as pets.)<br /></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Mechanical Commonalities:</span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>No fancy tricks. Just brute force and animal cunning.</span></li><li><span>Will attack if they have the advantage, and retreat if they don't (unless enraged).</span></li><li><span>Wary of <b>loud noises </b>and <b>fire </b>(but only because they don't understand it.)</span></li><li><span>Trying to exploit some other sort of clever weakness (like smelling salts or holy water) is more likely to drive such a creature into a murderous rage than it is to actually scare them off. <br /></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Edibility:</span></span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Yes, very edible.</li><li>Delicious too.</li><li>Just be warned that the feeling is mutual.</li></ul><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #1b5cd7;"><b>Chimerical</b></span></span></h3><p><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: black;">Whimsical creatures of folklore, especially those composed of two real beasts stapled together. Cryptids, centaurs, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fearsome_critters">fearsome critters</a>, and the like. I'm including flying-saucer style aliens here too.</span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p><span style="color: #666666;"><b></b></span></p><p><span style="color: #666666;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IJXnPObzpv6beiaCI4HB-lQh_7lgMrfhW_20QVszwVJqiY71S_0OAe_zS8xCnYazqMdRblYc3VFZb0FHqG20vv3J6ed778HsyEOOxk168LNCCIAR55btL8OKoxW9IYJ8OO0DmDnY94g/s2000/blue+battle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IJXnPObzpv6beiaCI4HB-lQh_7lgMrfhW_20QVszwVJqiY71S_0OAe_zS8xCnYazqMdRblYc3VFZb0FHqG20vv3J6ed778HsyEOOxk168LNCCIAR55btL8OKoxW9IYJ8OO0DmDnY94g/w400-h300/blue+battle.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Thematic </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span>Commonalities</span></b>:</span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span> </span><span>Solitary and elusive creatures, often the only one of their kind.</span></li><li><span>Tall-tales. Chasing rumors. Piecing together clues. Monsters as mysteries.<br /></span></li><li><span>Fairytale-style allegories. Storybook logic.</span></li><li><span>The wonder of the unknown.<br /></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Mechanical Commonalities:</span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Flashy magical abilities.</li><li>Some exploitable eccentricity. Easy to trick, if you did your research.<br /></li><li>If all else fails, it will probably help to play <b>soothing music</b>.<br /></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Edibility:</span></span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2017/08/monster-menu-all-part-1-ad-monster.html">Yeah probably.</a><br /></li></ul><span style="color: #666666;"><b></b></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #666666;"><b><br /></b></span></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #176a1e; font-size: x-large;"><b><b>Dungeonesque</b></b></span></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #176a1e;"><span style="color: black;">Squishy and sticky creatures lurking in the deep forgotten folds of the world. </span></span><span style="color: #176a1e;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #176a1e;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Cthuloids, fungoids, and all that <a href="https://prokopetz.tumblr.com/tagged/if-you%27re-thinking-of-the-antimagic-eyeball">weird stuff D&D is famous for.</a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #176a1e;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #176a1e;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJIBfe7EqaqXjgtO5Ksoq8Uu2efTyXIfVZpZzf0jycxfO_KJwH6UYvCYR5ipxyi6wSSzjmQ5X3zZ5MnoHwsZT4qNjAOTTEgrxJyWYce-MHG7rETLbcXMm7GrZ7v53PxcmQekl-5tVfBI/s2000/green+battle2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJIBfe7EqaqXjgtO5Ksoq8Uu2efTyXIfVZpZzf0jycxfO_KJwH6UYvCYR5ipxyi6wSSzjmQ5X3zZ5MnoHwsZT4qNjAOTTEgrxJyWYce-MHG7rETLbcXMm7GrZ7v53PxcmQekl-5tVfBI/w400-h300/green+battle2.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: black;"></span></span></div><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Thematic </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span>Commonalities</span></b>:</span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>Strange ecosystems. (Creatures s</span><span><span><span style="color: #176a1e;"><span style="color: black;">eemingly adapted to the ecological niche of specifically causing problems for adventurers.)</span></span></span></span></li><li><span>Monsters as puzzles. Monsters as traps.</span></li><li><span>Alien worlds lurking just out of sight. </span></li><li><span>The horror of the unknown.<i><br /></i></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Mechanical Commonalities:</span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Implausible ambushes, expectation-defying movement.<br /></li><li>They break the rules in some way. Fights are never straightforward.<br /></li><li>Tied to some specific environment, maybe even a specific room.<br /></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Edibility:</span></span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"></ul><p><span><b></b></span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Edible, if you know what you're doing, and don't mind the akali taste. <br /></li><li>Needs careful prepwork, like fugu<br /></li><li>Except in addition to death, you have to worry about mutations and nightmarish hallucinations.</li></ul><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #f7ce50;"><b>Ethereal</b></span></span></h3><p><span>Radiant creatures of the upper air. Angels, stormbirds, lightning sprites, vexing spirits, and sentient geometry. </span></p><p><span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cPc9R8RVEZ_7IA-un4FGnylurf_wcmKpIwoarziwwJ7bS5apVutxQVjVahZ4odS-2cqqP_QKpF5il568-Kx343JR9CJITFyJDscz_NeZwKLQxh6kwiy1DHBXGXKVFSRfvWwoWUCJ-nM/s2000/yellow+battle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cPc9R8RVEZ_7IA-un4FGnylurf_wcmKpIwoarziwwJ7bS5apVutxQVjVahZ4odS-2cqqP_QKpF5il568-Kx343JR9CJITFyJDscz_NeZwKLQxh6kwiy1DHBXGXKVFSRfvWwoWUCJ-nM/w400-h300/yellow+battle.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Thematic </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span>Commonalities</span></b>:</span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Learning of prophecy.<b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Tampering with fate.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Rigid laws</span></span><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">, </span></span></b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Fighting against the natural order.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Weird cosmic tomfoolery. <br /></span></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Mechanical Commonalities:</span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>Unbound by gravity.</span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Brightly Glowing.</span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Intangible or otherwise difficult to injure.</span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Untouched by flame.<br /></span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Very fragile if you can do damage, though.<br /></span></span></span></li><li><span><span>Aversion to symbols of <b>chaos </b>and <b>sin </b>(singing out of tune, sex before marriage,wearing clothes inside-out, etc.)</span></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Edibility:</span></span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>You probably can't eat these, just from a physical possibility standpoint.</span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>On the positive side, the ones you can eat are really tasty, like buttery chicken.</span></span></span></span></li><li><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>On the negative side, you'll probably be cursed for eating them.<br /></span></span></span></span></li></ul><p></p><p><span><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #f483cd;"><b>Fay</b></span></span></h3><p><span></span></p><p>Charming little weirdos doing weird little fairy things. Goblins, pixies,clowns, and candy creatures. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljmLy2ims_Z-aj4P-DgYlpUYq4mRnoMOlNaQJu8D6NF332A0YZmD5IGxDekEZSRCyekBHki2WqXpL9m05XbJeF5zDGVriz5XEJCKN8lSEz_Rvj8MrbpgsrPOrQhD7ssRbreMMMiNhc-8/s2000/pink+battle2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljmLy2ims_Z-aj4P-DgYlpUYq4mRnoMOlNaQJu8D6NF332A0YZmD5IGxDekEZSRCyekBHki2WqXpL9m05XbJeF5zDGVriz5XEJCKN8lSEz_Rvj8MrbpgsrPOrQhD7ssRbreMMMiNhc-8/w400-h300/pink+battle2.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Thematic </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span>Commonalities</span></b>:</span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>Mischief, misdirection, and thievery.<br /></span></li><li><span>Alien social norms.<i>
(Will never lie, and will violently attack you for telling even a
little white lie. Won't enter homes without permission, but has power over the inhabitants if invited. Considers the
sharing of food akin to a marriage ceremony.)<a href="https://prokopetz.tumblr.com/post/184251363542/twistwitch-prokopetz-the-ultimate-power-move#notes">.</a></i></span></li><li><span>Ancient debts being called due.<i><br /></i></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Mechanical Commonalities:</span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Might not attack you if you don't offend them. </li><li><span>Weak and won't fight fair.</span></li><li><span>Can be repelled or destroyed by symbols of <b>order </b>and <b>artifice </b>(iron, church bells, amulets, etc.)</span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Edibility:</span></span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Technically edible, yes.</li><li>Might even be palatable.</li><li>But it won't be nutritious.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #997736;"><b>Grubby</b></span></span></h3><p><span></span></p><p>Bugs, worms, squamous crawling things. Not beefy enough to be bestial, not strange enough to be dungeonesque. </p><span style="color: #666666;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfBL3FCZWk0COY2IFkSqnhZ4y6p92ZFaR6YWix2btJnk0dzMx7hk8AqXGOdDKIad6JgRIOnSPN79lxAUdeGna1RuiqFGWYxEO12hmT3aZ79Qw-mX4YXv4o9b7OFg8Qj5SzLSLGyzCah8/s2000/brown+battle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfBL3FCZWk0COY2IFkSqnhZ4y6p92ZFaR6YWix2btJnk0dzMx7hk8AqXGOdDKIad6JgRIOnSPN79lxAUdeGna1RuiqFGWYxEO12hmT3aZ79Qw-mX4YXv4o9b7OFg8Qj5SzLSLGyzCah8/w400-h300/brown+battle.png" width="400" /></a></b></span></div><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Thematic </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span>Commonalities</span></b>:</span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Poverty, squalor, plague.<span> Deterioration from neglect.</span></li><li><span>Recurring problems from lingering infestation. The effect of disease on society.<br /></span></li><li><span>The importance of well-maintained public sanitation systems.</span></li><li><span>Basic grubby grossout humor.<i><br /></i></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Mechanical Commonalities:</span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Poisonous, venomous, or just riddled with disease.</li><li>Individually weak, but found in large number. </li><li>Strange odor. Can be repelled by having a <b>strange odor</b> of your own (soap, bugspray, flowers, etc.)<br /></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Edibility:</span></span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>An acquired taste.</li><li>Risks food poisoning. <br /></li></ul><span style="color: #666666;"><b></b></span><p><span style="color: #666666;"><b> </b></span></p><p><span style="color: #666666;"><b> </b></span></p><p><span style="color: #666666;"><b> </b></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #999999;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Haunting</span><br /></b></span></h3><p><span>The dead, the undead, and things which remind you of death. Nosferatus, wolfmans, cultists, and ghastly ghouls. Pretty much the entire halloween menagerie.<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinraP01OPt8gLVebJjaZoLjtmX509fxYF26_PJHkueTvPgfqaNG1dPFRlM1O7kUjQSpleBWnlSn8XIZRA2tEkfjiuDUG7nZAmm_k0ZMdlLqXF0cCz-BGxk8kSkdjCgMbExgWbUdMgm5M8/s2000/grey+battle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinraP01OPt8gLVebJjaZoLjtmX509fxYF26_PJHkueTvPgfqaNG1dPFRlM1O7kUjQSpleBWnlSn8XIZRA2tEkfjiuDUG7nZAmm_k0ZMdlLqXF0cCz-BGxk8kSkdjCgMbExgWbUdMgm5M8/w400-h300/grey+battle.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Thematic </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span>Commonalities</span></b>:</span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Monsters as an exaggeration of the flaws of humanity. Predatory behavior.</li><li>Heroic conflict between good and (unambiguous) evil. <br /></li><li>Memento Mori / Skeleton jokes.<br /></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Mechanical Commonalities:</span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>Likely to mess with your mind and/or soul.</span></li><li><span><span>Potentially contagious </span><br /></span></li><li><span>Hard to kill the normal way.</span></li><li><span>Can be repelled or destroyed by symbols of <b>purity </b>(sunlight, salt, silver, etc)</span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Edibility:</span></span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>No.</span></li><li><span>Do not.</span></li><li><span>You will die.</span></li><li><span>And then you will undie.</span></li></ul><span><br /></span><br /><span><br /></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;"></span><span style="color: #f39e11; font-size: x-large;"><b>Inflamed</b></span></span></h3><p>I'm trying to avoid straightforward elemental categories here, but Fire Monsters is just such a distinct and evocative category of creatures. You've got salamanders, jinn, assorted kinds of horrible fire-breathing lizards. It's great. It works. Everyone understands fire.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b></b></span></div><p><span style="color: #666666;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYntFZLVGwH8cd69KcO-K98BJXSqpL0BfCrCZEdkJvJV83XYQF4-zou1krinQ16aPH1S5K2Gwd5fAJu8i0WkXP1zDUCftDrZMYemfO_JDbdZ2j9jNS2o0YV8GhBInrbFcKSekAh6XkN8/s2000/orange+battle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYntFZLVGwH8cd69KcO-K98BJXSqpL0BfCrCZEdkJvJV83XYQF4-zou1krinQ16aPH1S5K2Gwd5fAJu8i0WkXP1zDUCftDrZMYemfO_JDbdZ2j9jNS2o0YV8GhBInrbFcKSekAh6XkN8/w400-h300/orange+battle.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;">Thematic </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span>Commonalities</span></b>:</span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>Energetic, frenzied behavior. <br /></span></li><li><span>Loss of control. Disaster. Spreading flame.<br /></span></li><li><span>Passions taken too far, to the point of obsessions.</span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span>Mechanical Commonalities:</span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>Immune to flames, thrives in heat.</span></li><li><span><span>Prone to arson. </span></span></li><li><span>Can be repelled or destroyed </span><span>by the <b>wet </b>and <b>cold</b>.</span></li><li><span>Fascination with gold. <br /></span></li></ul><p><b><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: black;"><span><span>Edibility:</span></span></span></span></b></p><ul style="text-align: left;"></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Not great for a main course.<br /></li><li>But maybe can be used in the cooking process.<br /></li></ul><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #4dbbb2;">Moist </span></b></span><br /></span></h3><p><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2018/08/d60-fish.html">Fish</a>!</span><b><br /></b></span></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbIYMycAqeSCIEWEQivOgi1eptD1KRo6GsVtZDq4h1CESAdH9XTrQ9gZpJ3IbfOEDf788HsD8y4w1-eanKCEY0p0rFc3Uk1Ig1OVHT7swCL0FYsyO3x4xGFtsuhAdgAE8ybeUaCW4HoxY/s2000/teal+battle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbIYMycAqeSCIEWEQivOgi1eptD1KRo6GsVtZDq4h1CESAdH9XTrQ9gZpJ3IbfOEDf788HsD8y4w1-eanKCEY0p0rFc3Uk1Ig1OVHT7swCL0FYsyO3x4xGFtsuhAdgAE8ybeUaCW4HoxY/w200-h150/teal+battle.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_atfiEVsy655dodUr5lgz6h-_eZt8yf2dX5e6IgYePU1ruG3B1OOEfIE23fLAWe9SNfmJ7vAnaffoq2S0i5ejMum53txLR5bq8_LGWdwfFlY4pu3PAGit6XwWMzRX_awslulncAXEkz0/s2000/teal+battle3.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_atfiEVsy655dodUr5lgz6h-_eZt8yf2dX5e6IgYePU1ruG3B1OOEfIE23fLAWe9SNfmJ7vAnaffoq2S0i5ejMum53txLR5bq8_LGWdwfFlY4pu3PAGit6XwWMzRX_awslulncAXEkz0/w400-h300/teal+battle3.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodfreephotos.com/animals/fish/goldfish-out-of-water.jpg.php#">Fish!</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Prior Art </h2><div style="text-align: left;">These kinds of taxonomies appeal to the same part of my brain that likes clean lines and bright colors. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Here are some other examples:</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3 style="text-align: left;">Catacombs</h3><div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/195137/catacombs-third-edition">Catacombs</a> is a dexterity-based dungeon-crawling board game which splits its monsters up into several families for encounter design. These families are:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #4a5fe7;">Mythological</span>, <span style="color: #38761d;">Dungeon</span>, <span style="color: #af8d56;">Vermin</span>, <span style="color: #999999;">Undead</span>, </b>and <span style="color: #ff9019;"><b>Infernal<br /></b><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">(Also <b>Wraith Knights</b> and <span style="color: #800180;"><b>Zombie Horde</b></span> from expansions, which thematically overlap with </span></span><span style="color: #ff9019; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><b><span style="color: #999999;">Undead</span></b>, but that's mostly just to make the extra content easily distinguishable.)</span></span><br /></div><p>It should be apparent that this is the categorization system that most directly influenced mine.</p><p> </p></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Pokéthulhu</h3><p>One of the first tabletop rpgs I ever played was <a href="https://ghalev.itch.io/pokethulhu">Pokéthulu</a>. Despite being a parody, it's a surprisingly solid little experience that held up well for several sessions of play. In Pokéthulhu, each critter has two of the following aspects: </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Decomposing, Fishy, Fungous, Icy, Luminescent, <br />Non-Euclidean, Squamous, </b>and <b>Sticky</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">These don't have any game-mechanical distinction, and are essentially just flavor. But they gave a nice starting point for imagining the textures of the world.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Pokémon</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Pokémon,
the franchise which Pokéthulhu is parodying, splits its critters up 18
elemental types, and arranges them into a complicated roshambo array of
strengths and weakness. The different types are:</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #666666;">Normal</span>, <span style="color: #ff8400;">Fire</span>, <span style="color: #7eabea;">Water</span>, <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Plant</span>, <span style="color: #f1c232;">Electric</span>, <span style="color: #01ffff;">Ice</span>, <br /><span style="color: #8f7554;">Rock</span>, <span style="color: #d8c28a;">Dirt</span>, <span style="color: #990000;">Fighting</span>, <span style="color: #b4a7d6;">Bird</span>, <span style="color: #674ea7;">Poison</span>, <span style="color: #a64d79;">Psychic</span>, <br /><span style="color: #94a55c;">Bug</span>, <span style="color: #6d3ddb;">Dragon</span>, <span style="color: #20124d;">Ghost</span>, <span style="color: #ff00fe;">Fairy</span>, <span style="color: #cccccc;">Steel</span>, </b>and <b>Scoundrel.</b><br /></p><p>And of course there's the <a href="https://sunderedshillings.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-mon-babel.html">Legally Distinct Monster</a> craze. Not really entirely sure what's going on over there, but it looks fun.</p><p></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"> Real World Biological Taxonomy</h3><p>Biologists classify lifeforms into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-domain_system">three domains</a>
of Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes. These names roughly translate,
respectively, into "Little Rods", "Ancient Things", and "Good Nuts".<br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge<br /></h3><p>As a way of point out the abitrariness of universal classification schemes, Jorge Luis Borges <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_Emporium_of_Benevolent_Knowledge">described</a> the following animal taxonomy:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Those belonging to the Emperor, </li><li>Embalmed ones, </li><li>Trained ones, </li><li>Suckling pigs, </li><li>Sirens, </li><li>Fabled ones, </li><li>Stray dogs, </li><li>Those included in this classification, </li><li>Those that tremble as if they were mad, </li><li>Innumerable ones, </li><li>Those drawn with a very fine camel hair brush, </li><li><i>et cetera</i>, </li><li>Those that have just broken the vase, </li><li>Those that from afar look like flies <br /></li></ul><p> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">D&D</h3><p>Until
giving this post an editing pass, it completely slipped my mind that
Dungeons Et Dragons gives a type attribute to each monster. <a href="https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/DnD_MonstersByType_1.0.pdf">These types are</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, <br />Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, <br />Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead <br /></b></p><p>I stumbled into a lot of convergent design with my categories, possibly because my subconscious mind is a shameless thief. <br /></p><p>But these categories taken as a whole don't really suit my purposes. They're mostly thematic, but sprinkle in a few cladistic types, like "dragon" or "plant". And "humanoid" is just a shape - a shape shared by a huge chunk of the non-humanoid monsters. <br /></p><p> In a previous edition of the game, the types were</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Aberration, Animal, Construct, Dragon, <br />Elemental, Fey, Giant, Humanoid, <br />Magical Beast, Monstrous Humanoid, Ooze, <br />Outsider, Plant, Undead, Vermin</b><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">See also <br /></h3><ul style="text-align: left;"><li> Wikipedia's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures_by_type">List of Legendary Creatures by Type</a> </li><li>Skerple's notes on designing a gameable bestiary: [<a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2019/10/osr-monster-overhaul-planning.html">1</a>, <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2020/03/osr-what-to-include-in-monster-overhaul.html">2</a>, <a href="https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/2020/06/osr-monster-overhaul-limes-and-art-of.html">3</a>]</li><li><a href="http://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-grand-recursive-random-table-of-every-animal.html">This nested list I made of every animal.</a> <br /></li></ul><h2 style="text-align: left;"> </h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"> </h2><div style="text-align: left;">So, did I miss any important thematic groupings? Are there any <i>feelings </i>that can be evoked by tabletop rpg monster combat, which don't fit into one of the color-coded categories above?<br /></div></div></div>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-2771073284659546582021-04-27T22:53:00.003-07:002021-04-27T22:53:55.459-07:0010x10 Table of Monster Names, Presented Without Comment<style type="text/css">
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<thead>
<tr>
<th class="tg-bgo7"></th>
<th class="tg-c9eh">Artificial</th>
<th class="tg-p7qr">Bestial</th>
<th class="tg-ob83">Chimeric</th>
<th class="tg-v8d4">Dungeonesque</th>
<th class="tg-zdr7">Ethereal</th>
<th class="tg-mpq5">Fay</th>
<th class="tg-5i8t">Grubby</th>
<th class="tg-6cte">Haunting</th>
<th class="tg-jkic">Inflamed</th>
<th class="tg-nqo0">Moist</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tg-c9eh">Artificial</td>
<td class="tg-6zef">Robot</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Manbeast</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Owlbear</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Shoggoth</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Modron</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Candy Critter</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Fake Egg</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Zombie</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Tarbeast</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Submarine</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-p7qr">Bestial</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Stichthing</td>
<td class="tg-2c6i">Bear</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Snallygaster</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Orcgre</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Eternal Bird</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Ball of Fur</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Big Rat</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Lycanthrope</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Rakshasha</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Shark</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-ob83">Chimeric</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Gargoyle</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Bigfoot</td>
<td class="tg-vjin">Panther</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Cerberus</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Ziz</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Reptilian</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Basilisk</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Pumpkinking</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Firefox</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Kraken</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-v8d4">Dungeonesque</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Ooze</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Dino</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Gorgon</td>
<td class="tg-hr1w">Eyebeast</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Throne</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Gnome</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Spider</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Shadow</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Cherufe</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Urchin</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-zdr7">Ethereal</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Meme</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Bird of Prey</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Pegacorn</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Starspawn</td>
<td class="tg-hrpd">Wingaling</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Fairy</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Bat</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Ghost</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Djinn</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Flying Fish</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-mpq5">Fay</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Clone</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Turtle Queen</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Dryad</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Mimic</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Sylph</td>
<td class="tg-b3h7">Li'l Elf</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Ball of Teeth</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Vampire</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Will o Wisp</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Jelly</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-5i8t">Grubby</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Golem</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Beastman</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Cyclops</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Sewercrawler</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Locus</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Goblin</td>
<td class="tg-grja">Wormlord</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Mummy</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Firebug</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Eel</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-6cte">Haunting</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Frankenstoid</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Wolfpack</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Mothman</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">False Hydra</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Guardian Angel</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Bogeyman</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Lemur</td>
<td class="tg-bqcx">Skeleton</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Hellhound</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Angler</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-jkic">Inflamed</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Steam Punk</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Rampager</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Drake</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Plaguehurler</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Phoenix</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Imp</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Compostling</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Devil</td>
<td class="tg-at2z">Flamespren</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Fishstick</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tg-nqo0">Moist</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Snowman</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Leviathan</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Merfolk</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Deep One</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Nimbus</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Lake Lady</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Serpent</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Swampheap</td>
<td class="tg-bgo7">Salamander</td>
<td class="tg-go8x">Trout</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-17830568876468116822021-04-22T00:49:00.007-07:002021-04-29T09:32:46.623-07:00Making Scrabble Tiles Into Cheap RPG "Minis"<div class="separator"><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">Here's how to make cheap DIY wooden standee miniatures for 10 cents each. </div></div><div class="separator"><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"> <br /></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkT-NAcAsRl29T1r-itPUPT8bvxV-q-9Nfwjp8_WdauIOfsQlJlHFz_ct-npiMiNnNxHVsI1_rWqsFSK4wIpAZIhCVnIrzbFaK-zL5yXT0z4MsU_mZRhJ_6Zi-u_kKwMWPHbqv9i7X7E/s3048/20210417_140149.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="3048" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkT-NAcAsRl29T1r-itPUPT8bvxV-q-9Nfwjp8_WdauIOfsQlJlHFz_ct-npiMiNnNxHVsI1_rWqsFSK4wIpAZIhCVnIrzbFaK-zL5yXT0z4MsU_mZRhJ_6Zi-u_kKwMWPHbqv9i7X7E/w640-h216/20210417_140149.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Snail wizard modified from <a href="https://github.com/twitter/twemoji">Twitter Emoji</a>; Modron modified from AD&D Monster Manual II; plastic minis from Battlelore 2e.</span> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"> Instructions:</h2><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Get some Scrabble-style letter tiles.</b></li><ul><li><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=scrabble+tiles">Here's an example search query on Amazon,</a> but you can find similar tiles pretty much anywhere for around 0.04 USD per tile.<br /></li><li>For a bit of extra money, you can buy them pre-painted in a variety of colors. I bought the pink ones up above to make a gift for a family member, and had a bunch left over.<br /></li></ul><li><b>Glue pairs of tiles face to face to make a thicker wooden block.</b></li><ul><li>(A single Scrabble tile can be balanced on it's end, but it's not very stable.)</li><li>A simple pva gluestick will do the trick. The resulting bond holds up to normal handling, but can be twisted apart. </li><li>A stronger bond can be made by scoring the surfaces and using a bit of wood glue, but I personally don't think it's worth the extra effort and mess.<br /></li></ul><li>Optionally: give them a couple quick coats of acrylic color. <br /></li><li><b>Print out some little images of critters.</b></li><ul><li>To avoid peeling, make the images slightly smaller than the size of the tiles. </li><ul><li>For example, the scrabble tiles I bought are about 18x20mm, so I should have printed the images at about 17x19mm.</li></ul><li>I print two images per block. One for the front, and a mirror-image for the back.</li><li>Make or select images with sharp lines and bold colors. Texture and fine detail gets washed out at this scale.</li><li>I used <a href="https://www.gimp.org/">GIMP </a>to crop my images and <a href="https://inkscape.org/">Inkscape</a> to scale and arrange them for printing. These are both free software.<br /></li><ul><li>In Inkscape, you can change the default display units to mm under File > Document Properties.</li><li>In this same menu, make sure the correct page size is selected. A4 is the default.</li><li>Leave a bit of space around the edges of the page for printing margins.<br /></li><li>Once all your images are arranged, export the file as a pdf by choosing File > Save a Copy, and changing the file type to pdf. </li><li>Print this pdf at 100% size. Don't shrink to fit it on the page. <br /></li></ul><li>Color printing services usually cost less than 1 USD per page; my local library charges 0.50 USD per page. You can easily fit 50 blocks worth of images onto a page, making the printing costs no more than 0.02 USD per block. </li></ul><li><b>Cut out and glue the images onto the blocks.</b></li></ol><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihJUKaUBtmqAL1HHBfOXgrJWK3xRUp4s7kN0rMnYTs_w6oSpdTAvdldpHh5ikEb8A_AiWX2LP1niZcVFgYnGPeHiGc5t1McfspiSGspIEOSGixJXrUGHLSaXvxwdBGL5OvVXzE3dmJDq0/s2048/20210417_143131.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1653" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihJUKaUBtmqAL1HHBfOXgrJWK3xRUp4s7kN0rMnYTs_w6oSpdTAvdldpHh5ikEb8A_AiWX2LP1niZcVFgYnGPeHiGc5t1McfspiSGspIEOSGixJXrUGHLSaXvxwdBGL5OvVXzE3dmJDq0/w323-h400/20210417_143131.jpg" width="323" /></a></div><p></p><p>Now you have some nice little game pieces . They're not as fancy looking as molded plastic minis, but the advantages are:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>They're significantly cheaper, and easier to replace.</li><li>They are much more durable than painted minis or paper standees. You can just throw a handful of these in a box or bag without concern.</li><li>They stack nicely for compact storage.</li><li>They're pleasant and easy to handle. <br /></li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">Formatted Example Downloads:</h2><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1x4dhbcS1Y1pjZmkPnW9y8WNDeEk98c0OM4GlMqjF_-pw7qbkwHYEcDy6K-NabmPwZiJ64AFl8_xvR5zoIkRxR6s2gA9A1PgsoYVxhxqfa-0YyDW3Gbxw5wnFob0Bvpo0c8KmvOnPXSA/s1052/Capture+Scrabble+Gummooks.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="1052" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1x4dhbcS1Y1pjZmkPnW9y8WNDeEk98c0OM4GlMqjF_-pw7qbkwHYEcDy6K-NabmPwZiJ64AFl8_xvR5zoIkRxR6s2gA9A1PgsoYVxhxqfa-0YyDW3Gbxw5wnFob0Bvpo0c8KmvOnPXSA/w400-h238/Capture+Scrabble+Gummooks.PNG" width="400" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Here are some downloads for the doodles I made:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M4bBMa46cY8MvEkJgMZKNfkVH25ZsiRz/view?usp=sharing">Letter Size PDF</a></li><li><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XceXZUrhPtJFmP0J24AbG0FPx2X9rxGb/view?usp=sharing">A4 Size PDF</a></li><li><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ow0MoyRglH9Amy5Ji2CtUphlHRlieO25?usp=sharing">Folder full of source images.</a><br /></li></ul></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo7NBAjd7jKpaEWxbqCyL3AxZ1Kequy3Bm6hmuyIQIw8BWJM02k7k1m3Dx5FjNsAZ8otD1R3M8vj0iLgXTUjeEEmWb2wtUblRZhHvNQ_xvpzxdG6uDNEkrL68Uc-GR1XZYLS41T7-SmpA/s1037/Capture+Thulu+Critter.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="1037" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo7NBAjd7jKpaEWxbqCyL3AxZ1Kequy3Bm6hmuyIQIw8BWJM02k7k1m3Dx5FjNsAZ8otD1R3M8vj0iLgXTUjeEEmWb2wtUblRZhHvNQ_xvpzxdG6uDNEkrL68Uc-GR1XZYLS41T7-SmpA/w400-h279/Capture+Thulu+Critter.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span></span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><hr /><h2 style="text-align: left;">Other Options for Blocks:<br /></h2><p>A slightly higher quality but more expensive option is to buy wargame blocks, which are basically designed for this purpose. </p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://secure.columbiagames.com/products/Blocks">Columbia Games </a>sells the blocks for their wargames. The price is 0.20 USD each for blocks of similar size to a doubled Scrabble tile.</li><li>The blocks in the picture below are from Command and Colors: Napoleonics, by <a href="https://www.gmtgames.com/">GMT Games</a>. It's possible to buy block sets alone from GMT, but you'll have to give them a phone call, and the cost varies.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyx0IA4-akyQalIuEiRVzttU6L-4t9IjIW4x-yYrM3OzSUI2W6DLhutP33wkIRQJ6IkQDCKbufLlGkGm6ypmZAnGY35GwtlXzlakwf_RRRMUdTVWknKEnclF8w-KIwcEhGMgUgIWMhH1w/s2048/20210416_144924.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyx0IA4-akyQalIuEiRVzttU6L-4t9IjIW4x-yYrM3OzSUI2W6DLhutP33wkIRQJ6IkQDCKbufLlGkGm6ypmZAnGY35GwtlXzlakwf_RRRMUdTVWknKEnclF8w-KIwcEhGMgUgIWMhH1w/s320/20210416_144924.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Blocks from GMT Games. Doodles my own.</span> <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></li></ul><p>Another option I considered but haven't tried is to use <a href="https://www.eaieducation.com/Product/531024/Color_Tiles_Plastic_-_Set_of_400.aspx">Color Tiles</a>. These are 1-inch (25mm) foam or plastic squares usually used to teach kids about math concepts. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Some Block Options that Didn't Work Out:</h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJerESIDYkBKJdZaGz834luj9_tVDIUUmbF7Cqq_12MTT02LAJp0b_D1di5LytERouNN_F39fDoGtCQRVZWm9uunMexnTyEzko8yBZSTFQv1W2-O3lNValSABUgTDvex_PnlnkavkLGcY/s2547/20210417_143425.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1235" data-original-width="2547" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJerESIDYkBKJdZaGz834luj9_tVDIUUmbF7Cqq_12MTT02LAJp0b_D1di5LytERouNN_F39fDoGtCQRVZWm9uunMexnTyEzko8yBZSTFQv1W2-O3lNValSABUgTDvex_PnlnkavkLGcY/s320/20210417_143425.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Art: <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/cactusfantastico/art/Skitter-484650518">cactusfantastico</a>, <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/soyabeansoldier/art/Sazed-542634759">Alex Allen</a></span><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></h3><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Mini Mahjong tiles:</b> The blank tiles that came with my mahjong set gave me the inspiration for this project. The heft and feel are very nice. However, they're too expensive per unit, and a bit too thick for use on a 1-inch battle grid. <br /></li><li><b>3D printed blocks:</b> After fiddling with some settings, I was able to get stable-standing, decent looking plastic blocks to come out of a cheap 3D printer. The actual material cost per unit is remarkably low, since these are mostly hollow. But they don't take paint well, and the time to print is just too long to be practical, especially if you're playing around on a library 3D-printer like I was. Maybe this is a good option if you own your own 3D printer.<br /></li><li><b>Laser-cut fiberboard:</b> Neat shapes are possible (that's a Reuleaux pentagon!), but the results smell horrendous, and the edges are sharp and need lots of laborious sanding. Even using free scrap wood, the cost of renting laser-time meant my test pieces cost over 0.10 USD each. Also, laser cutters are scary. <br /></li></ul><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Some Additional Test Pictures<br /></h2><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghohDV7v93UCEiedqK1YcHI5XA4CuAuiAowF12Be5Si0yt7p9PMiexUpLvpCD7I7SBp8tsFAHLGWCI3I5NjD1eSn3_Jjk46rQyuOcLxdS6uFQy8huHT2n9cphVo_ArfPlIun4Q16-Ws7M/s1785/20210417_143236.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1433" data-original-width="1785" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghohDV7v93UCEiedqK1YcHI5XA4CuAuiAowF12Be5Si0yt7p9PMiexUpLvpCD7I7SBp8tsFAHLGWCI3I5NjD1eSn3_Jjk46rQyuOcLxdS6uFQy8huHT2n9cphVo_ArfPlIun4Q16-Ws7M/w400-h321/20210417_143236.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Top Row: <a href="https://floccinaucinihilipilificationa.tumblr.com/tagged/harry-potter">floccinauci</a>; <a href="https://www.johannapuhl.com/thecutestveggies">Johanna Puhl</a>; <a href="https://www.kwanchaimoriya.com/Catacombs">Kwanchai Moriya</a><br />Bottom Left: (Public Domain: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BCrer%27s_Rhinoceros">Rhino</a> and <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Franck,_Biermesser,_Mendel_Band_I_(1506),_Seite_125v.jpg">Monk</a>)<br />Bottom Right: <a href="https://old.reddit.com/user/rattlemayne/submitted/">Rattlemayne</a>; <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hedera_baltica/49577670823/">hedera.baltica</a>; <a href="https://goldengirls.fandom.com/wiki/Dorothy_Zbornak">Golden Girls</a></span> <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-PVM22LgiKO_ePsFcJV9RArYNBOglVsObwslrPsNJrLTVBWTAtSqeK0LqET7aJ-zpBWMwNuT3wmWeMAlire76n4hc6s8gGTcD8C0egS2PN1vZQQcGfecc8ZXgH3VwJlm-mk85TpKmXgo/s3547/mergedtestimages.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="887" data-original-width="3547" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-PVM22LgiKO_ePsFcJV9RArYNBOglVsObwslrPsNJrLTVBWTAtSqeK0LqET7aJ-zpBWMwNuT3wmWeMAlire76n4hc6s8gGTcD8C0egS2PN1vZQQcGfecc8ZXgH3VwJlm-mk85TpKmXgo/w640-h160/mergedtestimages.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Jp8eqJ5r1Sk58oGtRrMGAhANZXDMdfrzoeTTS7B0ZS5oL0tm2GY2GOdknPX3pS43ybTtM8k2spMu-5mGR0zDBt-kYE10778LrMmDan4iQW2jnd0_Nb5DLM76z7lETrWJ9uQr99868yo/s2048/StalwartChiclet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Jp8eqJ5r1Sk58oGtRrMGAhANZXDMdfrzoeTTS7B0ZS5oL0tm2GY2GOdknPX3pS43ybTtM8k2spMu-5mGR0zDBt-kYE10778LrMmDan4iQW2jnd0_Nb5DLM76z7lETrWJ9uQr99868yo/w400-h300/StalwartChiclet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> </div>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7947760354059387831.post-1197534878455431552021-04-14T02:00:00.178-07:002023-10-14T14:40:01.317-07:00Wandering Titans, part III - Making Things Personal<p><a href="http://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/03/wandering-titans-monster-as-hexweather.html"> Part 1</a>, <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/04/wandering-titans-part-ii-fast-and-slow.html">Part 2</a></p><p>Here's another batch of titans as weather. See part 1 for explanation. The unifying factor with this batch is that these titans interact more directly with people. The first stretches the concept of "weather" a bit.</p><p><br /></p><div><h2>The Hard-hearted King of Dragons</h2><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBg2DXKCYDUzshonDebA5dL6OFjGzW0zdKADlzqmjND3UYl3TwHd09b5wCkEZiWQIgorgTeUhS68jIXYDuuqJcUpCUGyRjFT0uxCwswkj19YTHm4135xAfJELuKDb9VnvH_Z9dfcWiilQ/s1200/logan-feliciano-city-of-hunters-sigs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="1200" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBg2DXKCYDUzshonDebA5dL6OFjGzW0zdKADlzqmjND3UYl3TwHd09b5wCkEZiWQIgorgTeUhS68jIXYDuuqJcUpCUGyRjFT0uxCwswkj19YTHm4135xAfJELuKDb9VnvH_Z9dfcWiilQ/w640-h468/logan-feliciano-city-of-hunters-sigs.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/mLYmy">Logan Feliciano</a><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The artist's description is also pretty good RPG brainfuel.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p> <b>On the horizon </b><i><b>(visible in neighboring hexes)</b></i></p><div>: Just the dragon's sharp silhouette seen occasionally in the sky.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Environmental Effect </b><br /><div>: Blades and claws become sharper. Stone becomes unchippable. Bones become unbreakable. Metal becomes impossible to bend. <i>+1d6 damage when attacking a target without hard armor, like plate or shell. </i>Bouts of dart-like hail impale the ground.<br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Appearance</b><br />: Gargantuan dragon with impenetrable scales. Wings held wide, blocking out the sun.</div><p></p><div></div><p></p><p><b>Behavior / Desires</b><br />: The King of Dragons hoards peace and stability. In a conflict between two states, it will rush to decimate the attacking armies. It will use its breath to turn revolters into glass. And there is nothing it finds more beautiful than a tyrant on their throne. </p><div><b>Things to Discover or Encounter Nearby</b></div><div><ul><li>Sharp nailed dragon cultists on ineffable missions of political espionage.</li><li>Piles of wicked stones, once merely gravel, now made impassibly dangerous by the Dragon King's presence.</li><li>Woodland creatures impaled on supernaturally sharp brambles and branches.</li><li>Beehives and waspnests grown to unreasonable size, their stingers empowered, and their queens driven mad with a lust for expansion.</li></ul></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div><p><br /></p><h2>Radiant Fowl</h2><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxPSrRRZPxn6e3SnMLPD0_x9EVjD5hlPmKg0bDKFN5HG3aU8BmPj3DLS2WM_xKiH3ZWFcA2x5UerNtvI6Nw6wQCdHVr_wU1p30RuVGKUuuiuwHSvIqWtD0ufDLHyuS8bWSCKkX2n4yLio/s1920/michael-macrae-luxaureadaya-ext-lc-colour-mike+BIRD1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1221" data-original-width="1920" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxPSrRRZPxn6e3SnMLPD0_x9EVjD5hlPmKg0bDKFN5HG3aU8BmPj3DLS2WM_xKiH3ZWFcA2x5UerNtvI6Nw6wQCdHVr_wU1p30RuVGKUuuiuwHSvIqWtD0ufDLHyuS8bWSCKkX2n4yLio/w640-h408/michael-macrae-luxaureadaya-ext-lc-colour-mike+BIRD1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Dragon Prince" background by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/W2oXXQ">Michael MacRae</a>, <span style="font-size: xx-small;">but I doodled a little bird on top. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><p> <b>On the horizon </b><i><b>(visible in neighboring hexes)<br /></b></i>: Light on the horizon. Most noticeable during the night.</p><div><b>Environmental Effect </b><br /><div>: Brightness that rivals the sun's. Lights up the night like the day (including effects like vampire ensmoldering). Somehow penetrates indoors and into caverns. <i>Don't need light sources, stealth is impossible.</i></div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Appearance</b><br />: A giant glowing phoenix, wispy tail trailing off towards the horizon. Or maybe its more of a glowing rooster. The details are hard to nail down because you can't really look directly at the thing.</div><p></p><div></div><p></p><p><b>Behavior / Desires</b><br />: Witness it! Witness its luminous glory! This titan wants to be seen, appreciated, and maybe even worshiped. It tends to gravitate towards areas with large populations of people or polished surfaces, where it perches and preens.</p><div><b>Things to Discover or Encounter Nearby</b></div><p></p><p></p><ul><li>Fluffy, arm-length, radiant feathers fallen on the ground. They glow so brightly it hurts to look at them. A single small barb casts light like a torch. Frequently leads to deadly conflict between rival feather-hunters.</li><li>Cold-blooded monsters, standing still, eyes closed, basking in the ever-present glow.</li><li>Travelling titan researchers bedecked in reflective protective suits. Despite its proclivity for precariously perching on buildings and blinding pedestrians, it's overall the safest titan to observe and study.</li><li>Nomadic lycanthropes following the titan to avoid transformation, driven only a wee bit mad by lack of sleep.</li><li>Basements and dungeons choked with new sprouted vegetation.</li></ul><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2>Desiccant Prowler</h2><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNM5LL9IIhRGRfilP5jWKPqIevCKCqly9d1-0g9YUlUF2v20rar_qPkHhdFjrFDItCRxgvqefCNdmG5EaTpl_zut3sMFCBL4bPaNSP_t_46BC7hQQG1FBqUkaChfLRcuxd7I3A2_jH-aA/s1402/nutchapol-thitinunthakorn-sandviper-0sk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1402" height="548" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNM5LL9IIhRGRfilP5jWKPqIevCKCqly9d1-0g9YUlUF2v20rar_qPkHhdFjrFDItCRxgvqefCNdmG5EaTpl_zut3sMFCBL4bPaNSP_t_46BC7hQQG1FBqUkaChfLRcuxd7I3A2_jH-aA/w640-h548/nutchapol-thitinunthakorn-sandviper-0sk.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/n1qoK">Nutchapol Thitinunthakorn</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>On the horizon </b><i><b>(visible in neighboring hexes)<br /></b></i>: No clouds in the sky. No rain.</p><div><b>Environmental Effect </b><br /><div>: Rivers and lakes dry up, soil turns to dust, plants wither. <i>Deplete an extra water ration each day. </i>Persistent magical effects falter.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Appearance</b><br />: A dusty striped pantherine thing, surrounded by a thin choking haze</div><p></p><div></div><p></p><p><b>Behavior / Desires</b><br />: Lazily tears apart magical protections, sabotages water reserves. It doesn't kill things directly, but its mere presence is hazardous, and it likes to watch things die. Stares down at entire villages or herds as the life drains out of them, and them laps up their souls like a cat drinking milk.</p><div><b>Things to Discover or Encounter Nearby</b></div><p></p><p></p><ul><li>Fanatical dust elementals and living stone statues, helping wage war on water-based life-forms. The titan is ignorant of their devotion.</li><li>Arcanohazard disposal teams dragging wagonloads of janky cursed items and failed enchantments into the titan's zone of influence, hoping the beast will rip them apart for fun.</li><li>The desiccated corpses sometimes begin to crawl around and gnaw. Don't let them get their teeth into you, or they'll steal your blood and soul. Outside of the titan's hex, they crumble into ash, which can be sold to wizards for its magic-suppressing and water-absorbent properties.</li></ul><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_huPQevv56J9BoIGQtHTiDzo4oouImUxUox_j_CujQvxRnbVyUdPsw8g24PVxNaiVYUEhSaBlykdranXNwRzUKSKf-Yxb1pscnBC8CiYdFyK4Um2zcHEi9ZxKXdqWm9Np5sl4g_wg8xA/s1800/Cubwarden+by+Kekai+Kotaki.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1663" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_huPQevv56J9BoIGQtHTiDzo4oouImUxUox_j_CujQvxRnbVyUdPsw8g24PVxNaiVYUEhSaBlykdranXNwRzUKSKf-Yxb1pscnBC8CiYdFyK4Um2zcHEi9ZxKXdqWm9Np5sl4g_wg8xA/w592-h640/Cubwarden+by+Kekai+Kotaki.jpg" width="592" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kekaiart.com/freelance.html">Kekai Kotaki</a><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />
<!--It may spend weeks at a time watching a ruler dictate their subjects, and if it is satisfied with the stability and totality of their rule, it may bless them with a dragon's longevity.--><div>Additional Titans: <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/03/wandering-titans-monster-as-hexweather.html">Part 1</a>, <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2021/04/wandering-titans-part-ii-fast-and-slow.html">Part 2</a>, <a href="https://paperelemental.blogspot.com/2023/10/wandering-titans-part-iv-hot-and-cold.html">Part 4</a></div>𓃾 𓉐 Bacontimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680994241679247627noreply@blogger.com4