#as a rare defender of Siege's storyline

[kara-knuckles]

With all the talk about Siege's story, I'm once again reminded how much I hated the whole Chetleigh sequence in Episode 13. I have a lot of problems with this Episode, but this one is easily the biggest.

First, we have a group consisting of "less than three companies of combat-effective soldiers, and nearly a thousand refugees". Where are they during the week-long operation in Chetleigh? Did they somehow find a place to hide in this Sarkaz-controlled territory? Did Siege sneak 1000+ people into a nearly conquered town? What did they eat? What about medicine and other supplies?

The reason Horn and Misery couldn't just evacuate the survivours was because there was something so important there that absolutely couldn't fall into Sarkaz hands. So, what was so important Siege would be willing to risk 1000+ lives to protect it? Hell if I know! It is never mentioned again after this throwaway line.

And then Siege went full Rambo and got shrapnel to the chest as a reward. But don't worry! They conveniently have a doctor at hand to reassure the reader that on this Originium polluted battlefield where every scratch can lead to Oripathy, let alone a point blank altar explosion, Siege is perfectly fine! Just got knocked out for a couple of days to add some drama!

Finally, there are the Exemplars. One of the survivours just so happened to have an old beacon of this never before mentioned ultra elite unit that is more elite than the already elite Tempest Platoon, and, most importantly, it's already defunct, so Siege can have a free flag to rally people under. But why use this name in the first place? With how high morale was at the moment, people didn't care much about what she called herself. So, why wouldn't Siege, who wanted to distance herself from both kingship and the dukes, use Glasgow? It is her name, her gang, and most people in that group were from Norport anyway, so they would be familiar with it. It would have even acted as a tribute to Baird, whom everyone forgot about overnight! Why not actually write that "Vina and her legendary pals" story, and instead go with the PR option?

[freegamedesign]

### Game Concept: "Defenders of Nexus: Quantum Siege"

#### Overview: "Defenders of Nexus: Quantum Siege" is a thrilling blend of Point & Click adventure and Tower Defense set in a futuristic, dystopian world. The game is set in the year 2145, where humanity has colonized a distant planet named Nexus. Players take on the role of Alex Mercer, a brilliant engineer and strategist who must protect the last human settlement from waves of alien invaders using advanced technology and strategic planning.

#### Gameplay: **Point & Click Adventure:** - **Exploration:** Players navigate through the human settlement, interact with NPCs, gather resources, and uncover the mysteries of Nexus through an engaging storyline. The settlement is filled with hidden secrets, puzzles, and lore that players must uncover to gain advantages in the Tower Defense segments. - **Resource Management:** Players collect rare minerals, advanced tech blueprints, and other valuable resources by solving environmental puzzles and completing side quests. These resources are crucial for upgrading defenses and creating new weapons.

**Tower Defense:** - **Building Defenses:** Using the resources gathered, players can construct and upgrade a variety of defense towers, such as laser turrets, plasma cannons, and energy shields. Each tower has unique abilities and can be strategically placed to maximize their effectiveness against different types of alien invaders. - **Strategic Planning:** Players must analyze the terrain and anticipate the paths that enemies will take. The Point & Click aspect allows for detailed planning and execution, as players can pause the game to place and upgrade towers, set traps, and plan their defense strategy. - **Real-Time Combat:** Once the defense phase begins, players can actively manage their defenses, using special abilities and manually controlling powerful defense robots to turn the tide of battle.

#### Unique Mechanic: Quantum Time Manipulation - **Quantum Time Manipulation:** Alex has access to a rare quantum device that allows him to manipulate time. This device enables players to slow down or speed up time during both the Point & Click and Tower Defense phases. Slowing down time allows for precise placement of towers and solving intricate puzzles under pressure, while speeding up time can be used to fast-forward through enemy waves or quickly gather resources.

This concept combines the strategic depth of Tower Defense with the immersive storytelling and exploration of Point & Click adventures, all wrapped in a visually stunning futuristic world. The unique Quantum Time Manipulation mechanic adds an extra layer of strategy and excitement, making "Defenders of Nexus: Quantum Siege" a unique and compelling game.

[paperanddice]

Ragnar’s Keep Review

Recently I was approached by Ian Brockbank (who runs the blog Melestrua’s Musings) with a request to take a look at his published setting location Ragnar’s Keep, available on DriveThruRPG. Despite never having done a review like this before, we learn by doing and so I accepted the free copy he offered and I’m determined to give it as fair of a look as I can offer.

Ragnar’s keep is a 36 page document that details a fully realized and established location for low level adventurers to visit or interact with. It’s not designed as an adventure itself; while plot hooks are provided it doesn’t come with a specifically intended storyline or goal for players to approach. It is a setting location, written to be usable in a wide variety of ways, and to provide a map and location for GMs who are looking for some hard details to build off of. Ian specifically contrasts it to the more generic d100 plot hooks style design, offering up something that requires less improvisation and gives the GM a cast of characters with fully established character motivations, flaws, and relationships with one another and the location. This may limit the use of it in some ways if the specific dynamics don’t fit within the setting already planned, but aspects of it can be picked up or dropped as fits within a specific goal the GM has in mind. The material works for any “standard” fantasy setting based off of medieval Europe with magic, but the given mechanical rules are designed for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons.

The titular keep is a three and a half level fort with a basement, ground level, second story, and a half third story, along with some extra details in a path leading down to the nearby waterfront. Two different maps are provided for each castle level, one with grid and annotations and the other a detailed illustration created by Heroic Maps. The illustrations are simply gorgeous, and provide a wonderful and deeply immersive location on their own, and are available for purchase as a separate product on DriveThruRPG from the artists directly (link here). Every room is given a detailed description, and a cast of over 20 NPCs fill in all the major roles needed to keep the castle running (along with the castle’s own personal haunting ghost).

The keep and the country around it are given a 1 page backstory detailing how the lands came to be and the political situation it exists within. This information is very specific, creating and naming specific people, locations, gods and a loosely detailed empire that all come together and define many of the keep’s inhabitants and their relationships with one another, and while renaming these details is possible it does keep this from being able to be inserted into any setting without rewriting. The established setting relies heavily on colonial activity to set up tensions between different people, and this could be an aspect of the writing that creates the largest obstacle in using the keep as written. The empire of Thraesya and their goddess Tenesia invaded a formerly independent land by sea, conquering settlements and laying claim to the countryside for its rumored silver deposits and bountiful natural abundance. The native groups were subjugated and made vassals of the empire, but of course it was an unsustainable position as the expected riches were never found. Nearly 80 years after the invasion the empire handed the territory over to a young nobleman who titled himself Grand Duke, named the territory Melkantor and set about ruling it himself. The present day situation is the Grand Duke attempting to forge Melkantor into a unified country, and Ragnar’s Keep itself, overlooking the town Ragnarston and its important position in the only passable trading rout back from Melkantor to Thraesya.

 The full description of the castle grounds and rooms takes up 12 pages, and goes into great detail. Every room gets at least a paragraph of description, listing any important details in the design and layout of the room along with its use. Specific inhabitants are described in how and when they may be found in this room. As the castle is meant to be usable for more than just an invasion based adventure, there is more detail on the daily schedule of non-combatants than I’ve typically seen for castles in premade adventure modules, which is useful for games where the characters may integrate themselves deeply into the castle’s life. While few groups will encounter many of these details, those that do will have plenty of fun little secrets and interesting bits of environmental storytelling to reward them. The options here allow a much greater depth of verisimilitude in a wide range of story opportunities, from infiltrating the keep as a member of the serving staff to entering as a guest of the lord or lady to fighting through the halls… either for or against the lord.

The castle is actually incredibly well stocked with magic items, giving a huge reward to groups who have motive to assault or rob it. From the lord’s +2 longsword to the cleric’s staff of healing, new magic items such as the scales of identification and the ring of clairvoyance, plus a large number of uncommon magic items and magic potions scattered among the important NPCs, magic equipment is quite prevalent. It’s enough to well stock a full adventuring party if they clear the place out thoroughly. It’s not necessarily a game breaker, since characters are only likely to gain these items if the GM sets up a reason for them to fight the entire castle, but if a low level group does have reason they’ll come out potentially quite far ahead of the curve, item wise. I do enjoy that one of the junior clerics has a cursed rapier though. He’s a thoroughly unlikable person, and the perfect target for such a thing.

The largest section of the PDF is actually the character roster. Twenty-three NPCs over 13 pages, it details every character who has a hand in running the castle, and those most likely to be relevant in a wide range of stories. The Lord and his family, the heads of the serving staff, captain of the guard, the assigned cleric and his students, the local bard, the castles ghost, and a number of other roles within the castle are detailed. Not every inhabitant is detailed, the regular guards, cooks, cleaning staff and such going unnamed and not even clearly counted. The GM has some leeway in deciding the numbers and composition of these groups, depending on the way they’re making use of the material (though the easiest way would be to just assume that every bed mentioned is filled). The characters that are detailed though cover a wide range of different archetypes and personalities, allowing plenty of opportunities for interesting role playing. Characters could make friends or enemies out of many of the different characters, and several have very forward present story hooks to take advantage of, from the local bard who wants to attract the Lady’s attention, to the wererat butler with a history of theft, to the maid who was aged thirty years by the castle ghost. Most NPCs get unique stat blocks, many built using PC classes, though a number are functionally similar enough that they may have simply pulled from the same one. There’s three level 4 fighters whose stats mostly only differ in a few small ways that don’t necessarily benefit greatly from the space spent on different stat blocks. In this case, the method used in a lot of adventures of taking a more generic stat block and indicating the differences in the text may have been more useful, especially if the text and the generic stat block are kept on the same page. 

The plot hooks provided are all solid enough to work off of, mostly positioning the keep as a neutral or friendly force to the players to function around. It could be a home base for the group, a location to collect missions to defend the pass or surrounding countryside, or simply a place that exists nearby and rarely directly influences the characters. Of course, the keep could pose a threat to the group, either if they stand against the colonizing force of the region or other reasons. Breaking in or laying siege to it could be a climactic set piece to a lower level adventure. There’s a few character based plotlines that can function well if the group establishes a notable enough presence within the keep as well.

Two new magic items round out the document, and look fine to me. I will admit, magic item power levels are one part of 5th edition where I have nearly given up attempting to understand the balance of it, but the provided ones are fun, flavorful and interesting to work with. Neither is particularly powerful for a rare item, instead providing information in some capacity. The ring of clairvoyance, well, allows the user to cast clairvoyance at will, though each use after the first in a given day forces a saving throw against exhaustion, and the scales of identification are a weaker 3/day identify spell. A group without access to the spell would definitely appreciate having the scales, even with the weaknesses it has built in.

Overall, I think the castle itself is fantastic. The design is good and the rooms and areas within it have plenty of potential to explore in a wide range of stories and situations. The characters are detailed and many are interesting, with plot hooks easy to build off of the major ones. Where I personally have trouble is with the backstory, and the way that plays onto the NPCs. To put it simply, I have a lot of trouble with using colonial stories within my games, and I do not feel that the material provided gives a strong enough weight to the implications it sets up with that narrative. This is, by my estimate, more meant to be an example of Roman colonization of Britain than Europe to America, but similar implications are still built into it. The colonizing force’s culture and religion are given far more relevance to the setting than the natives’, who exist mostly as scared and nameless servants. The prejudice of the lord and many of the keep’s inhabitants are the driving force of much of their characterization, and the few native characters who are given real merit and weight in the castle are those who have assimilated into the dominant culture or literally died to it. I don’t know if this was intentional as well, but all named native characters are women. Just a weird fact that caught my attention.

Having these narratives in a game is not bad entirely in and of itself. Many people want to examine these stories, whether to overcome that aspect of history or as part of building a world that mirrors our own. But it requires a lot of careful consideration to use them without being harmful towards people who still live under the results of colonization. I am not the best person to make the decision of what is and isn’t good use of these narratives. And so, I personally choose to largely avoid them, along with other examples of real world oppression, unless actually directed there by a member of such a group who wants to explore it in a game I’m running. This means that a large portion of the implied background of this environment and a big part of the character motivations and relationships do not fit within a situation I would use. I feel the specific background set in place by the keep would exclude it from my game, but I would absolutely use the map with a different background. 

I don’t have a number out of 10 to give this product, as I feel there are some very strong elements within it that keep me from being able to define it so clearly. There is a lot to enjoy with it, from the artwork to the well realized characters to the excellent design of the castle itself. If you are just looking for a good castle map with detailed interior descriptions and at the minimum a good starting point for the inhabitants, it fills that perfectly. I think beyond that it’s up to you to decide whether the backstory elements that bothered me are a breaking point for you as well. If you are interested in checking out Ian’s work, you can purchase it here, which will get you $2 off of the standard price. This link is valid until the end of 2019, so you have two and a half months to act on this deal.