Monday, February 25, 2013

Pangea: Music To Game By


The Lost World - Michael Stearns 
Michael Stearns is a U.S. musician and composer of ambient music. Much of his music is perfect for the feel of Pangea, having an epic but very human feel to it. The Lost World has more than just the title to lend itself well to the story of Pangea, it is a moody and energetic journey.


Steve Roach - Earthman 
Steve Roach is a U.S. composer and performer of ambient and tribal-ambient music, whose recordings are also classified in the genres of space, drone, New Age, and electronic music.
Earthman is pretty perfect for the feel of Pangea. The music has a slow, moody buildup that seems to promise excitement around the corner. Excellent for keeping the mood of a journey through wild country.


Yor: The Hunter From the Future - title theme (Yor's World) 
The opening credits to the incomparable YOR, featuring the title song by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis (Oliver Onions). Personally, I can BARELY understand a word these guys are singing about, but it calls to the goofy-grim feel that can help make a Pangean campaign fun.


Friday, February 22, 2013

Pangea: Races Part 2

Across the vast expanse of Pangea are a great number of peoples, races and creatures. As a Sword and Sorcery setting (with some High Fantasy leanings), Pangea focuses on humankind. But for the full feel and scope of the setting to hit home, numerous human "races" are presented as player characters. In the last installment I presented the Adamu (Homo Sapiens), Dakkati (Neanderthals) and the mighty Kabiri (Meganthropus). All of these races are more-or-less human, or at least close enough that they have similar habits, tastes, needs and desires.
Below are two more races of human-kin that help make the world of Pangea a more interesting place. Even though they do occasionally live alongside one another, more often than not differing races do not get along. Even in mixed communities friction and even open hatred is common.

Awani (Homo Erectus)
Awani warrior with a fire-hardened spear.
The Awani are a primitive race of people closely related to both the Adamu and Kabiri. Awani are as tall or taller than the Adamu, averaging six feet in height in males and five and a half feet tall in females. Awani have ape-like faces, with heavy brows and large jaws.
The Awani are a brutish, short-sighted people who prefer violence and action to higher pursuits, and are notorious as raiders and thieves. On their own they live simple lives of hunter-gatherers, but will take on a raiding culture when they encounter other people who are weaker than themselves.
Awani are often used as cheap minions and soldiers for powerful wizards and warlords. However this requires a firm hand as the Awani are a lazy and dirty people, and prone to picking fights at very bad times.
Awani prefer warm lands, particularly forests and rough hills where there is ample game. Awani are usually nomadic, but set up temporary villages of hide, wood and bone. Such communities are ruled by the biggest, toughest Awani (male or female), who rules through force and cunning.
Awani have a deep respect and reverence of fire, and all of their chief spiritual beliefs all revolve around this element. Fire gods such as Cacus The Galloping Flame, and Belos the Bull are favored over other gods.
True Clerics of Heaven are extremely rare among the Awani, with Druids or Sorcerers taking the place of spellcasting priests.
The Awani are Stone Age people, using simple tools, fire-hardened spears, and hide and bone clothing and devices. They must trade and/or steal more advanced tools and armor, however such items usually fall apart due to disrepair. Most Awani think metal-working is magic, and are deeply respectful of blacksmiths.
Awani modify their starting ability scores as follows: Str +2 (max 18), Int -1, Wis -1 and Cha -1. Awani have darkvision to a range of 60 feet. They speak their own clan language, and might also learn Common, Dakkati, Ignam and Hill Giant. Awani can multi‐class as assassin/clerics, assassin/fighters and assassin/ magic‐users.

Ruhin (Homo floresiensis)
Ruhin family along the forests edge.
The Ruhin are a small race of people that share a close relation to the Awani and distantly to Adamu. Ruhin average only three feet in height and have a distinctly ape-like look. Despite appearances the Ruhin are a cunning and organized people that are excellent trackers, hunters and thieves. These skills serve them well in the wild and in dealing with other peoples.
Ruhin are a quiet and clannish people who prefer to operate unobserved by the "giant races" who the Ruhin see as needlessly loud and smelly. Amongst themselves of close friends, the Ruhin are a clever and witty people who love games, food and strong drink.
In mixed communities, the Ruhin are often night workers, vermin catchers and thieves.
Ruhin love warm forests, and areas near trees where they can make use of shadow and cover. They have a deep fear of flying predators, as their small size makes them easy prey for aerial attackers. Airdragons (Pterasaurs) and giant serpents are both considered major enemies and are seen as evil by the Ruhin.
Like the Awani, the Ruhin are Stone Age people, though they are better able to use and maintain equipment bought, stolen or traded from other peoples than the Awani. Ruhin prefer slings, spears and other thrown weapons, and make ample use of traps, nets and other weapons that trip up larger creatures.
Religious traditions are well-developed among the Ruhin, with Druids and Adepts being central figures in Ruhin communities, though true Clerics are very rare. Reverence of a wide host of gods and goddesses such as Tsetse, the Darting Wrath (Raptor Goddess), and Nyonye Ngana (Ant God) to name only a few.
Ruhin characters modify their starting ability scores as follows: Str ‐1, Dex +1, Int ‐1. Ruhin have a land speed of 20 feet and have darkvision out to 60 feet. Ruhin have a knack for hide and moving silently. Ruhin speak their own language and might also learn Common, Dakkati, Draconic, Awani and Hill Giant. They can multiclass as druid/thieves, fighter/thieves and magic-user/ thieves.


Whats Next?
Coming up is more cultural details of the lands of the Adamu and their kin, as well as info on the local flora and fauna. Pangea is a big place, and a great many interesting people and places are to be found in its vast terrain. Lots to come, so stay tuned!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Pangea: Races

The land of Pangea is savage, and haunted by many dangers. Great beasts, wild spirits, and ancient evils all lurk right around the corner. And so the people of this world need to be rugged, versatile but still essentially human (or human enough). So below are the three primary races of player characters of Pangea. There are other intelligent races, who will be detailed in later posts, but the ones below are the most organized and human friendly in the central campaign region.


Adamu (Humans)
The Adamu are a versatile, and widespread people who can be found in a number of different colors and shapes. In the Middle Lands of Pangea (the beginning campaign region), the Adamu are a predominantly brown-skinned people, with dark-brown to black hair and dark eyes.
Adamu culture is usually based around families, clans and towns and city-states which are ruled by a council of wealthy elders. City States are ruled by ruling families who preside over a council of city fathers. Though laws among clans, towns or nomadic bands are usually simple, those in the city-states are a bureaucratic nightmare, with bribes, corruption and betrayals being common. A wise man steers clear of the law in the city.
The Adamu of Pangea are at the late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age of development. Houses are timber and stone, with nomads using hide tents supported with reed and bone.
In the past hundred years, the rise of the Church of Heaven has united a number of Adamu clans and city-states under a New Religion. This faith reveres the gods of the sky, the Sun, the Moon (more on this very soon!), The Starry Sky and other luminous lords and ladies. This church, centered in the Holy City of Meru is the greatest unifier of the Adamu that Pangea has seen in many ages. What the bodes for the future is anyones guess...
Adamu are rolled up as Humans as per the rules in Blood and Treasure pages 3 and 4.


Dakkati (Neanderthals)
The Dakkati are an ancient people who dwell in the wild mountains and in cold lands. They are renowned hunters, survivors and regarded as nearly magically skilled at working stone, bone and ivory. Dakkati are considered short by Adamu standards, ranging between five and five and a half feet in height, but very stocky and with thick bones.
Dakkati are a softly spoken people with a great love of nature, stories, music (particularly the bone flute) and family. Hunting, herding, beekeeping and stone-working are major parts of their societies, and so the more nature oriented classes are favored. Druids and storyteller Bards are the central religious leaders and primary spellcasters of the Dakkati. Other, more modern religions and magic users (such as Clerics) are deeply distrusted. Among the Old Gods  Uta the Bear Mother is deeply adored, with Druids and Adepts presiding over services to this "Bear Mother".
Dakkati prefer stone settlements, particularly ones with underground levels. In the mountains, Dakkati will build clan holdings incorporating cave networks and adding on with additional stone and earthworks. Though rough-hewn, these dwelling are always snug and surprisingly comfortable and clean. Most Dakkati prefer stone, bone and horn weapons, though some are starting to trade for metal weapons and tools.
Dakkati modify their starting ability scores as follows: Str +1, Con +1, Cha -1. Dakkati have a knack for survival. Dakkati speak their own unique clan language and might also speak Common, Giant, Terran or Troglodyte. Dakkati may advance in any class, though they prefer nature oriented classes. Dakkati can multi-class as druid/bards, druid/fighters, fighter/magic-users and fighter/ thieves (scout).


Kabiri (Meganthropus)
The Kabiri are a race of hairy giants who dwell in the hills and mountains. They are kin of the great Giants, though this relationship is strained at best, with only Hill Giants, Ettins and other brutish giant-kin having any sense of kinship with the Kibiri.
When standing fully erect, an adult Kabiri stand from eight to ten feet in height on thick, short legs. Their powerful arms are slightly longer than their legs, this along with their brutish jaws and low brows give them an ape-like appearance.
On their own, Kabiri are a tribal people, having family bands centered around a grand matriarch. These clans live in the harshest wilderness, living in near constant conflict with large predators and harsh conditions. Because of this, Kabiri admire strength and endurance over intelligence.
Magic is greatly feared among the Kabiri, with only the wilder sorts of Druid and Adepts existing as spiritual leaders in their communities, though more often than not such Kabiri mystics live alone. Kabiri worship fierce gods of the wilds such as Oanoe Razorfang, Kuvana Mountain Mother and Uta the Bear Mother, and have little use for the Church of Heaven.
Kabiri are a stone-age people, stealing, trading or even earning better made equipment and weapons, though they often take some time to learn how to properly tend to such items. As they produce nothing worthy of trade, Kabiri clans often sell their services as mercenaries in return for quality goods, food and a chance to see the wider world.
Kabiri modify their starting ability scores as follows: Str +4 (max. 20), Dex -1, Con +2, Int -2, Cha -2. They are large creatures, so must pay double the normal price for armor. Kabiri have darkvision to a range of 60 feet. They speak Giant, but smart Kabiri often speak Common or other local tongues. Their thick hides give them a +2 bonus to Armor Class. Kabiri can advance as barbarians, druids, fighters, thieves and fighter/druids up to a maximum of 7th level.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Sword and Sorcery Music To Game By

As a game-master, I LOVE having music going in the background while planning and running a game. This helps set the mood of the game as well as to inspire players to be heroic in their portrayal of the characters under their control.

And so below are five tracks from seven fairly different bands. Each is excellent for setting a mood for a good game, and a few of them have some AWESOME cover art.


Hyperborea - chrysalis


Fairyland - Score to a New Beginning 

Tangerine Dream-Sorcerer 

Wolf People - Castle Keep


Serenity - Engraved Within

DISNEY & DRAGONS: D&D in Fantasyland

Many times, in recent years I have encountered would-be players of Dungeons and Dragons whose sole experience with the fantasy genre h...