Water babies

The kappa of The Eye of the Dragon, which eventually found their way into Dragon Warriors, owe very little apart from their watery habitat to the creatures of Japanese folklore. For one thing they live in the sea, whereas Japanese kappa haunt ponds and streams. Not to mention the unhealthy obsession with mortal posteriors, as in the illustration above where a kappa is looking at an bow trap baited with a corpse whose arse is positioned directly under the arrow tip.

The way it came about was this. I probably first came across kappa (the original variety) either in Richard A Lupoff’s Sword of the Demon or the roleplaying game Bushido. As the setting of The Eye of the Dragon is vaguely Graeco-Egyptian, at least architecturally, and kappa is a Greek letter, some circuit tripped in my brain. That combined with The Tempest’s “of his bones are coral made; those are pearls that were his eyes” and gave us the DW kappa.

For our Tetsubo book (I won’t recap the story here, there are enough old posts about it) Jamie and I naturally had to include to genuine Japanese kappa, supposedly spawned from the ghosts of the Heike after the clan’s destruction at the sea battle of Dan-no-ura.

According to the Morokoshi Kinmō Zui, these creatures resemble a small child or monkey with a back entirely covered in scales, look like a tiger when resting on the sand, and have long claws that they keep hidden in the water. But folk tales, like dreams, are elusive and protean; another description claims the kappa has the body of a tortoise, the limbs of a frog, and the head of a monkey. Just to confuse things even more, the Suiko (a Bugaku theatrical mask) depicts the creature with flat ears, a pointed eagle nose, and a coxcomb covered with tiger's skin.

In the river of Kawachi Mura, a kappa was once caught in the girth of a horse. After being rendered harmless by spilling its fluid, it was forced to sign a bond promising never to attack a man, woman, child, or beast again. Another tale tells of Rokusuke of Keyamura, a retainer of Taiko, a strongman who captured a kappa. In prints he is seen surrounded by a number of these creatures.

Poems by Sugawara no Michizane were held in great esteem in Kyushu as protection against the kappa. Before departing for exile in Kyushu in 901 AD, Michizane cast a final glance at his plum trees and composed the following verses:

“Kochi fukaba Niwoi okoseyo Ume no hana Aruji nashi tote Haruna wasurezo.”

The sources translate this as:

"When the eastern breeze passes, load her with perfume O blossoms of my plum trees; even though the master is far away, never forget the spring."

According to legend, the poem was so powerful that one of the plum trees uprooted itself and miraculously flew to Chikuzen to be with him. This tree became known as Tobi Ume, or the "jumping plum tree". In exile, Michizane was crossing a river when a kappa seized his horse’s bridle and tried to drag him underwater. Michizane sliced off the creature’s hand. The mummified hand can be viewed to this day at the Kitano Tenmangū Shrine in Kurume, Fukuoka.

That’s all a long preamble to the Tetsubo entry for kappa, which (like the baku and gaki) I have converted to Dragon Warriors rules.

Kappa

Kappa are amphibious goblins that inhabit the rivers, lakes and ponds of the Ikaido islands. Honourable but vicious, they prey on the blood of land-dwelling creatures -- not just mankind, but also cattle and horses. Their favourite sustenance, however, is the blood of human children. They drink this through the rectum, so if a drowned corpse with a distended anus is found this is always blamed (on the whole justifiably) on the kappa. These creatures are ferociously proud of their martial ability. They will sometimes challenge a person to single combat, and if the kappa is bested it will undertake to teach secret skills to its opponent. It is important to be very exact about the terms of a duel, as kappa are sticklers for the letter of an agreement and if they can gain any advantage (such as by insisting the duel take place underwater) they will not hesitate to do so. Kappa are not communal. Always encountered singly, they are the Oriental equivalent of the kelpie of Elleslandic folklore: a genius loci, really a water sprite rather than a simple water-dwelling animal.

Physique: Kappa are spindly beings rather like monkeys, except that they have no fur but instead are covered with silvery-grey or yellow-green scales, like those of a fish. Their hands are webbed and, in some cases at least, a carapace like a tortoise’s shell protects the kappa’s upper body. Kappa have a bowl-shaped depression in the top of their heads. This is used to carry water when the kappa emerges on to dry land, as otherwise it would quickly lose its strength.

Behaviour: Kappa fear fire, which desiccates their bodies. A kappa faced with brandished flame must roll 6 or less on d20 or give ground. Any fire-based attack which strikes a kappa, whether or not it inflicts damage, dries its body; it loses 1 Health Point and suffers a cumulative −1 from ATTACK until it can next immerse itself.

Special Rules: Kappa breathe underwater and are excellent swimmers. Either through sorcery or stealth, they are seldom seen on their excursions to human settlements. Renowned for their fondness for cucumbers, they can be bribed or distracted by an offering of them; the kappa resists the temptation only if it rolls 17 or more on d20.

They are able to survive short forays onto land by means of the hollow on their heads, which holds water to sustain them. If this water is spilled, the kappa quickly becomes too weak even to move. It is possible to trick a kappa into spilling its water simply by bowing: kappa are so polite that they almost invariably bow back. Roll d20 against the kappa’s Intelligence of 6; on a success it realises the danger and keeps its head level as it bows, otherwise the water spills out and the kappa can be caught. (As with most creature vulnerabilities, players should not have their characters make use of this ploy without first checking to see if they know it. Obviously anyone can read it here, but the Tetsubo rulebook is unfortunately not available in Yamato! A character must be versed in Shinto doctrine and make a successful Intelligence check at difficulty factor 13 to remember this weakness and exploit it.)

Kappa invariably know Unarmed Combat, Kawashi, Koppo, Atemi-Waza, Heal Wounds and Surgery (skills defined in the Tetsubo rules), and in most cases they are better at these skills than humans. They are also innate spellcasters, casting without gesture, incantation or ingredient — though their magic, like their strength, fails entirely while the water is spilled from their heads. Each kappa has 3d4 Magic Points and commands the following: Curse, Lesser Healing, Command, Tangleroots, Peer, and Illusion (all as the Sorcerer spells of those names, at the usual Magic Point costs); Wave Mastery (as the Water Elementalist spell; a kappa uses it to part or still the waters of its pool, 2 Magic Points); and five lesser dweomers of its own, each costing 1 Magic Point and lasting until a Spell Expiry Roll: marsh-lights (a drift of pale flames that wander where the kappa wills, luring or misleading travellers by night), the zone of cold (a clammy chill within 10m of the kappa, numbing fingers: −1 from ATTACK for all within), the zone of silence (no sound carries within 10m of the kappa), the reek (a concealing fog rises over water within 50m) and dousing (every open flame within 15m gutters out).

As Tetsubo is not going to be out before next year, anyone looking for a good RPG of the Sengoku and early Edo period is advised to check out Stray Crows from Portmortem Studios. The Kickstarter is launching soon and there's a free preview on DriveThruRPG.

Three snippets

A few bits of news. First, if you haven't been following the design updates on the Blood Sword CRPG from Prime Games then you're missing a real masterclass in how to create interesting rules mechanics. Fix that, starting here.

Second, I just ordered a copy of The Crowd & The Court, a roleplaying supplement that chucks out alignment and shows how to create believable NPCs behaving credibly. As an advocate for culture gaming and a lifelong adversary of alignment rules, of course I was hooked. Unfortunately, it does look like it's 99% written by AI with minimal human involvement. I have no problem at all with using AI as a support tool in writing, but I wouldn't let it do the actual writing unless I was giving away the end product for free -- and even then I'd do a bit more than just search-&-replace the em-dashes with semicolons.

And lastly, Grim Jim Desborough will soon release his Japanese RPG Stray Crows (video above, website here, free preview here). I'm still planning to release Tetsubo, which was originally designed around Warhammer but will now come in two flavours, one using Paul Mason's Outlaws rules (as in the outlaws of the Water Margin), and the other (龍の武士) using Dragon Warriors. But that's taken me thirty years already, so we can thank Amaterasu that Grim has beaten me to it.

Come back tomorrow, when the Muse will be telling us about that man of many ways and wiles, the ever-resourceful, city-conquering Odysseus, king of Ithaka.

Up above the world so high

The Ghosts of the Magi, known colloquially as Pyid (= "the Five") are five small luminous bodies that hurtle through the night sky above Krarth. With a good eye they can be variously seen in other northern regions also, but it is above Krarth that they are brightest.

The peasants of Krarth believe them to be the spirits of the five greatest original magi, cast into the upper heavens by the Blasting of Spyte. The Five have specific astrological significance and are known by these names: Red Death, Blue Moon, Plague Star, Gift Star and White Light. The Krarthian peasants believe they will come into conjunction above Spyte in the year 1000 AS, whereupon the gates of that deathly city will be hurled open.

Astronomers of Khitai or the Ta'ashim lands, where the world is known to be round, could possibly map these moons' orbits and calculate any conjunction – though if such a thing has ever been attempted the results are not known.

The above is what any Dragon Warriors player would have learned from "The Lore of Legend" chapter in DW Book Six, way back in 1986. But as I worked on Jewelspider, my return-to-Legend RPG, I got to wondering: what is official Church teaching regarding the Ghosts of the Magi? 

It struck me that it’s not in the nature of religious thinking to say, “OK, there are these spirits of ancient sorcerers that are hurtling around under the vault of heaven soaking up ineffable secrets for their eventual return to Earth,” because that’s a scientist’s interpretation, like saying, “We accept the origin of these objects and will now try to work out what they are.”

But in fact the Church is likely to take a very different approach: “These things are evidently real. Therefore they must be part of God’s plan, and we can ignore what those heathens in Krarth believe.”

So then I got to thinking that if you put White Light to one side, that gives us four baleful entities – the Four Horsemen, obviously and handily. So then, with a little Wiki-level research, I found that official Church teaching until very recently is not that the Four Horsemen are agents of the Antichrist. Quite the reverse: they are God’s agents who will scour the world to usher in the Last Judgement. And the fifth one? White is associated with the Holy Spirit, so that’s rather a gift.

Hence we have the True Faith’s doctrine as to what those five cometary objects are. The Five (known as the Pentaphan) are regarded as angels who have been appointed to scour the earth at the End of Days, specifically as the Four Horsemen who presage the Apocalypse, and are commonly identified as Apsinthos (ie Wormwood, harbinger of War, replacing Red Death), Qaphsiel (Confusion and Sorrow, standing in for Blue Moon), Abaddon (Destruction, taking the place of Plague Star), Kushiel (Punishment, whom the Krarthians call Gift Star), and the last is thought because of its pure white light to stand for the Holy Spirit through the agency of the archangel Jophiel (Understanding and Judgement).

"Beauty Like A Tightened Bow" (a scenario set in Legend)

The characters are staying at the castle of Baron Albemarle. They needn’t necessarily be honoured guests; they might just be passing through, eating on the lower tables while Albemarle wines and dines some more exalted travellers. All that matters is that there is some visitor here whom Lord Albemarle wants to impress.

Albemarle’s court wizard is Olaudah, a Mungodan who typically dresses in feathers, war-paint and animal skull necklaces despite being a scholar raised the palace of his father, a prince of the Desert of Songs. Olaudah is considerably more cultured than most of the Elleslandic lords and knights around him, but he recognizes the degree to which strangeness can affright a foe, so hides his aristocratic refinement and instead plays the part of a ‘savage’.

After the meal, with night drawing in, the baron calls for Olaudah to read his guests’ palms, which he duly does, issuing them cryptic predictions in the form of riddles. Feeling that the guests are insufficiently impressed by his having a Mungodan sorcerer at his beck and call, Lord Albemarle then insists that Olaudah perform a trick he’s seen him do before, making two ancient servants imagine themselves to be young again. That’s easily achieved by hypnosis, the guests laugh at the old pair’s deluded antics, and Olaudah is hoping he can return to an alchemical experiment he has had to leave at a critical point.

No such luck. One of the visiting knights tosses an apple core into the hearth, belching to show he’s unimpressed. ‘I saw a wizard in Cantorbridge who made rain fall from the ceiling,’ he says to Albemarle.

(If one of the player-characters chooses to be obnoxious, so much the better. It will be more effective if this lesson in manners is not precipitated by an NPC. But don't force it. If your PCs are all well-mannered, the arrogant visiting knight will do.)

Olaudah gives them a self-deprecating smile. ‘My lords, the roofers of Cantorbridge are notorious for their shoddy workmanship.’

‘Oh well,’ says the arrogant knight, ‘there are true wizards and then there are mere conjurers.’

Olaudah’s eyes flash at that, though he retains his bland smile. Lord Albemarle, though, takes it as a personal challenge. ‘My man can do anything those Cantorbridge wizards can. Name anything. Come on, any miracle you like.’

One of the knights sits forward with a leer. ‘Let us see that peerless maid of Argos, whom all the world admires.’

Another nods. ‘The angry Emphidians pursued with ten years' war the rape of such a queen, whose beauty passes all comparison.’

‘Elena of Ilion, she is the one we speak of,’ says the arrogant knight who first spoke. ‘Have your… witchdoctor show us her face and form.’

Olaudah bends to whisper in Albemarle’s ear. The baron scowls, nodding grudgingly. He gives an irritated gesture to indicate that Olaudah should tell the guests what he’s just told him.

‘My lords,’ says Olaudah, ‘I could conjure the Princess Elena here, and you would see her beauty with your own eyes, but that the Church forbids necromancy.’

‘Oh,’ says the arrogant knight, leaning back in his chair with a disdainful grin. ‘Necromancy, I see. Of course. Otherwise you’d do it, obviously.’

Nettled, Olaudah snaps back: ‘I can do better than summon up the shade of a mortal beauty. What of the pagan goddesses? Not one, nor two, but three. Their heavenly beauty is as terrible as the sun at noon.’ He looks around, raising his voice. ‘If anyone is afraid to behold the faces of the comeliest of the immortals, leave the hall now.’

Lord Albemarle leans forward and takes his wizard’s arm. (No one else hears what passes between them, unless the characters use magic to eavesdrop.) ‘Is this wise?’ he whispers in Olaudah’s ear.

‘My lord, it will be but an illusion,’ Olaudah assures him under his breath. ‘But it will be vivid enough to quail the hearts and still the tongues of these yapping dogs.’

Olaudah makes the conjuration more dramatic with a deep, droning chant, a series of flamboyant gestures and lithely executed dance steps, and ends by throwing powder onto a burning brazier to release clouds of pungent yellow smoke.

Silence in the hall. After a moment the arrogant knight speaks up, though his voice sounds less assured now: ‘Is that it? I don’t see – ’

Three tall female figures, covered from head to foot in robes, are present. It seems as though they have been standing here all along, though no one had noticed them until now. Even concealed by the veils, their face and form are enough to excite both desire and fear in all the men. The goddesses glide forward gracefully, silk robes hinting at magnificent physiques, and speak in unison with voices that inspire both admiration and awe:

‘There can be only one to wear beauty’s crown. We three wait to hear the mortal’s verdict. Who will say which of us is fairest? Come to us and render judgement. We await you.’

In the same manner as their arrival, it is now clear the three are no longer here. All around the hall there are looks of ‘wild surmise’. The arrogant knight is shaken, but dissembles with loud derision: ‘Goddesses? Three wenches wrapped up head to toe like sacks of flour – not much of a trick, is it? One brat on another’s shoulders, throw a sheet over them, anyone could do…’

His voice trails off as he notices what everyone else has seen. The far wall is now open to the sky – and outside is no longer the gathering darkness but the bright light of day.

They file out, awestruck, to discover that though inside the room still seems to be the great hall of the castle, outside it’s a ship with lowered gangplank. The ship is moored at a rocky island that rises steeply from the jetty to a high peak where a temple of gleaming white stone can be seen. While the rest of the island consists of dry scrub and a few dusty trees sweltering under a merciless sun, the temple enjoys sparkling water from a spring and is surrounded by lush green foliage. All around the island, an ocean the colour of brass stretches to the horizon.

‘The sun,’ says one of the guests after a while. ‘It’s not moving!’ And indeed he is right. The sun is fixed here at the moment of noon.

They are approached by a youthful-seeming pair: Phalaena, a green-eyed dryad with hair that resembles lush reeds, and a capering satyr called Flute. The two are quite embarrassingly infatuated with each other, openly canoodling even while the characters are talking to them.

‘We are servants of the great queens above,’ they say, pointing to the temple. ‘One among you is to judge their beauty. As you go to meet them, decide who that will be.’

Somebody has to volunteer, and it’s clear that the arrogant knight is in no hurry to put himself forward. Ideally it’ll be one of the player-characters, though they don’t need to decide until they get to the temple. A steep, narrow path winds up the mountain.

What has happened 

Olaudah cast the illusion of three beautiful goddesses and then slipped away to check on his alchemical experiment, figuring it would be safe enough to leave the hall for a minute or so. What he failed to take into account was that a convincing illusion of a goddess includes the illusion of her divine power. In effect, when he conjured the three goddesses he effectively gave them the ability to create a holodeck. And it would not be a convincing illusion of pagan goddesses if they meekly submitted to a beauty parade for the titillation of mortal men, hence their turning the tables by making it a contest – the Judgement of Paris, well-known from myth if only half remembered by most of Lord Albemarle’s guests. None of this would matter if Olaudah were really back right away, but the illusion has altered subjective time for everyone in the hall. While Olaudah adjusts the heat under his alembic and mixes in a few ingredients to the bubbling mixture, seconds are passing for him but minutes are passing for the people experiencing the illusion.

This is supposed to be an adventure seed, not a whole scenario, and in any case I’d expect it to be used to incorporate ongoing themes in the campaign, so I’ll leave the rest as an open canvas. The island can be a stage for various dream encounters, a slightly sinister locus amoenus similar to the Athenian wood in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As it’s an illusion you can contrive to split the party as they climb to the temple, giving them some strange experiences and hopefully also some clues as to what’s actually going on.

They will have noticed that Olaudah isn’t with them, but if they have a typical adventuring party’s attitude to sorcerers then it’s likely they’ll ascribe that to malice rather than oversight. Is this a ploy to strand Albemarle and his guests in a strange place at the mercy of pagan gods while Olaudah seizes power back in the real world? Work up the paranoia the way Tarantino or Sidney Lumet would.

What might tip them off that this is all an illusion? If they examine any coins, for example if Flute asks for a tip after showing them the way to the mountain path, they may notice that the coins are lacking in details – the king’s face blank, the inscription around the rim only random symbols. Books are unreadable, as in a dream. If they stop to pluck a flower that looks fine at a glance, they’ll see it has no more structure than in a child’s drawing.

They might also notice Flute and Phalaena using a phrase of endearment that the hypnotized old servants did earlier – which is who they are in reality.

After spotting some flaw, if somebody guesses that this is an illusion then they have a chance of finding their way back through to the fringes of reality where they could encounter Olaudah, hurrying back from his lab now that he is beginning to realize that his spell might have been a bit too effective. The sensible thing then would be to get him to dispel it, but if suspicion is running high – he is a wizard, after all, and a foreigner, and probably a pagan, and in the eyes of ignorant knights he might even be supposed to be a cannibal savage at heart – then there could be a fight.

Dispelling the illusion is one way to go. Another is to embrace the experience and see it through to the end. That’s trickier as you’d rather avoid the wrath of the two goddesses who don’t get picked.

First the characters have to decide which of them is going to be the judge. Obviously it’s a lot more fun if that’s a player-character. Other male characters are barred from entering the temple, but female characters are free to do so, and in fact the best way to avoid jealousy is to have the contest judged by a woman. The goddesses, having the pagan mindset that Olaudah imagined them with, don’t mind if a woman judges one of them more beautiful than the others; it’s only a man’s judgement that could annoy them.

At the threshold of the temple, a character might spot something behind a pillar. It’s a soot-blackened apple core. This is a last opportunity to twig that everything is illusory (it’s the same apple core the arrogant knight lobbed into the hearth earlier) before the beauty contest begins.

Inside the temple the goddesses are revealed without their robes – and they are as dazzlingly beautiful as only a dream-image or a true goddess could be. As Olaudah has misremembered the Emphidian myth, the three are Artemis, Athena and Aphrodite. All are tall, radiantly lovely beyond all mortal measure, and incidentally dark-skinned because they sprang from Olaudah’s imagination.

‘You may set any conditions you wish to the contest,’ they tell the appointed judge. ‘We will submit to your wishes. But you must choose which of us is the most beautiful before you leave here.’

If given an opportunity to speak to the judge in private, each goddess attempts to bribe them: Artemis offers grace and sharp senses; Athena offers wisdom and skill at arms; Aphrodite offers the knack of making others fall in love with them. But tempting as these bribes may be, the escalation of the stakes carries an implicit threat that the two disappointed goddesses will find some way to punish them.

Other than appointing a judge, how could the characters avoid having to pick one over the others? One way might be to trick them into making the choice themselves. Another might be to defer the decision to a higher authority such as one of the gods. A clever player-character may find a way to wriggle out of having to choose at all, or to convince each of the goddesses that she is the winner. That’s going to come down to improvisation, quick wits and fast talk, but if your players are anything like mine there’ll be more than one trickster in the party who is up to the challenge.

The illusion ends with clouds drifting across the sun, a reek of chemicals on the sea breeze, and then everyone is back in the great hall. Fumes from Olaudah’s lab fill the air. Anyone who was in the temple finds they are standing in the cavernous hearth. The two elderly servants are entwined like youthful lovers, and perhaps some of the characters are also in compromising positions – the arrogant knight crouching furtively under a table that he thought was a bush in the goddesses’ garden, for instance.

All’s well that ends well? If a character judged the contest then they certainly showed bravery, risking the displeasure of two goddesses, so it would be nice to let them keep a shadow of whatever bribe they were offered – a +1 on Agility from Artemis or whatever. Is that because the illusion actually reached through into a true mythic realm, or simply that the dream gives the character a new confidence? That’s for them to decide.

And there is a lasting effect on anyone who saw the goddesses unrobed – ie the judge and anyone who sneaked in for a peek. They can’t recall exactly what the goddesses looked like, but they are left with an impression of ineffable beauty. A glimpse of heavenly allure, half remembered, snatched away by the return to this world of dirt and discord and time – that is a bittersweet reward indeed.

* * *

This originally appeared in a slightly different form as an adventure seed on my Patreon page that tied in with the post on court magicians. It's available to all followers there, paid or otherwise, along with a lot of other good stuff. Pop over and join us.

And although I said above that it's all the men present who are affected by the goddesses' beauty, I intended to specify the hetero men (and any women who are lesbian/bisexual), meaning that a gay male character could have an unexpected role to play in the adventure. Alternatively, you might opt for a less literal concept of physical attraction; perhaps the goddesses' appearance arouses the admiration of men and not women regardless of their sexuality, on the simple basis that the goddesses are not mortals and so their attributes don't have to conform to mortal notions.

An evening with the RPG Blokes

I had the opportunity recently to sit down for a natter with the RPG Blokes. Not in the same room, unfortunately, and the internet connection over Zoom gave us a hard time, but Mark and the guys cleaned up the audio to make a seamless confabulation (in the real sense, not the dopy AI developer jargon). Join us and listen in as we natter about Dragon Warriors, Jewelspider, and all things roleplaying.

And in the same week there's an interview with my Dragon Warriors and Golden Dragon co-creator Oliver Johnson. You can listen to that or read the transcript.

Earthsea magic with Dragon Warriors rules

With Christmas almost upon us (what, again?!) it seems like a good time to try something just for fun. I asked Claude to take my post about Tim Harford's Earthsea-like Conclave campaign and convert the rules to Dragon Warriors. Although I do sometimes use AI when I'm writing rules and scenarios, normally I just use it as a sounding board. This time I'm handing over the reins, so here is Claude's guest post. 

This is the first of a string of daily posts comprising a countdown to Christmas, so check back in tomorrow for something else.

The art below in today's post by AI too, hence the mostly trad-fantasy style. (But we can't blame Claude for that. It doesn't do images.) You can still coax decent art out of AI, but it's not as easy as it was a year or two ago, when it wasn't overtrained on the same old same old.

OK, take it away, Claude...

The Mage

A Dragon Warriors profession for Earthsea-style magic

Overview

In the island realms where magic flows like tide through ancient stones, the Mages represent the truest practitioners of the Art. Unlike the scholarly Sorcerers with their books and laboratories, or the elemental shamans who channel raw forces, Mages understand that all magic begins with the Word, the true name that binds essence to form. They are the wizards of legend, capable of reshaping reality with carefully chosen words, yet bound by ancient traditions that demand restraint and wisdom.

Minimum Requirements

To become a Mage, a character must possess:

• Intelligence 13+ (understanding the deep structures of language and reality)
• Psychic Talent 11+ (sensitivity to the true names underlying all things)

Characters with Psychic Talent 8 or less cannot use magic at all.

Initial Characteristics

Basic Combat Factors:

• Attack: 10, Defense: 5
• Magical Attack: 16, Magical Defense: 6
• Health Points: 1d6+3
• Evasion: 3
• Stealth: 13, Perception: 7

The Art of True Magic

The Two-Step Casting System

All Mage magic requires two separate skill checks:

1. Naming Roll: Roll against the Mage's Naming skill to determine how well they can discern or invoke the true name of their target
2. Art Roll: Roll against the specific magical discipline being employed

The degree of success on the Naming roll directly modifies the Art roll. If the Naming roll fails completely, the magic cannot work at all - without the true name, the Word has no power.

Naming Modifiers

Known True Names: If the Mage knows the complete true name of the target, no Naming roll is required - the magic automatically succeeds at maximum effect.

Partial Knowledge:

• Target's common name known: +2 to Naming
• Target's lineage/type understood: +1 to Naming
• Target studied for at least 1 hour: +1 to Naming
• Target completely foreign/alien: -3 to Naming

Success Levels and Art Modifiers:

• Naming roll succeeds by 10+: +4 to Art roll
• Naming roll succeeds by 5-9: +2 to Art roll
• Naming roll succeeds by 1-4: +0 to Art roll
• Naming roll fails by 1-4: -2 to Art roll, spell may still work
• Naming roll fails by 5+: Magic fails completely

The Nine Arts of Magic

Each Mage begins play knowing Naming plus three Arts of their choice. Additional Arts may be learned through study, typically requiring a teacher and 3-6 months of intensive training.

1. Change (Major Art)

Transform one thing into another

• Range: Touch for major changes, 10m per rank for minor alterations
• Duration: Permanent for inanimate objects, Spell Expiry for living beings
• Restrictions: Cannot create or destroy matter, only reshape it
• Examples: Stone to bread, rabbit to wolf, iron to gold, man to tree

2. Find

Locate lost or hidden objects, places, or people

• Range: 1 mile per rank
• Duration: Instantaneous (provides direction and approximate distance)
• Modifiers: +2 if item belongs to the caster, +1 if recently handled
• Examples: Lost ship, buried treasure, missing person, hidden door

3. Gate

Open and seal magical portals and paths

• Range: Touch
• Duration: 1 minute per rank (or permanent with additional cost)
• Types: Unlock any physical barrier, create temporary passages through walls, open mystical doorways between distant places (8th rank+)
• Examples: Locked door springs open, passage through solid stone, portal to distant island

4. Healing

Restore health and cure ailments

• Range: Touch
• Duration: Instantaneous
• Power: Restores 1d6+rank Health Points, can cure diseases and neutralize poisons at higher ranks
• Limitations: Cannot raise the dead or regrow lost limbs 

5. Illusion

Create false images and sensory deceptions

• Range: 50m per rank
• Duration: Spell Expiry
• Scale: Single person illusions (1st-3rd rank), building-sized (4th-6th), landscape illusions (7th+)
• Examples: False appearance, phantom armies, invisible ships, illusory islands

6. Mend

Repair broken or damaged objects

• Range: Touch
• Duration: Permanent
• Scope: Complexity limited by rank - simple tools (1st), complex mechanisms (4th), magical items (7th+)
• Examples: Shattered sword becomes whole, broken mast repairs itself, torn sail mends

7. Pattern (Major Art)

Scrying and discerning hidden connections

• Range: Unlimited for scrying, touch for connections
• Duration: Concentration (can maintain for 10 minutes per rank)
• Applications: See distant places, understand relationships, predict consequences, read the past from objects
• Examples: Watch events across the sea, trace a person's family line, foresee storm paths

8. Send

Project your image and consciousness

• Range: 10 miles per rank (cannot cross running water)
• Duration: 1 hour per rank maximum
• Limitations: Image can speak and perceive but cannot physically interact or cast spells
• Examples: Appear in a distant council chamber, scout enemy positions, deliver messages

9. Summon (Major Art)

Call objects or beings to your location

• Range: 1 mile per rank for objects, unlimited for willing beings
• Duration: Permanent for objects, willing beings stay as long as they choose
• Power: Complexity increases with rank - small objects (1st), large objects (4th), creatures (6th), people (8th), the dead (10th+)
• Examples: Summon your lost staff, call a fish to your net, bring forth a long-dead spirit

10. Weather

Command wind, rain, fog, and storms

• Range: 1 mile radius per rank
• Duration: Natural weather patterns (typically hours to days)
• Scope: Small changes (1st-3rd rank), local weather (4th-6th), regional effects (7th+)
• Examples: Gentle breeze, thick fog, driving storm, calm seas

Magic Point System

Daily Magic Points: Rank × 3

Spell Costs:

• Minor Arts (Find, Healing, Illusion, Mend, Send, Weather): 1 MP per rank of effect
• Major Arts (Change, Gate, Pattern, Summon): 2 MP per rank of effect
• Naming: No cost (but required for all other Arts)

Example: A 3rd rank Mage using Change to turn a rock into bread would spend 6 MPs (2 × 3 for a Major Art at 3rd rank effectiveness).

Restraints of Wisdom

The true power of a Mage comes with corresponding responsibilities. Reckless use of magic disrupts the natural order and marks the practitioner as dangerous. Choose one restraint system for your campaign:

Option 1: Mana Depletion

Each casting depletes ambient magical energy in the area:

• After casting, all subsequent magic in a 100m radius suffers cumulative -1 penalty per previous spell
• Depletion recovers at 1 point per hour
• Natural phenomena may be disrupted (tides, weather patterns, animal behavior)

Option 2: Natural Consequences

Every magical act creates an opposing reaction:

• Weather magic brings equal and opposite weather later
• Healing one person may cause illness in another
• Summon magic often requires something to be "paid" to the summoning
• Effects manifest within days or weeks

Option 3: The Burden of Power

Excessive magic use affects the Mage's health and spirit:

• Each spell beyond (rank ÷ 2) per day inflicts 1 point of Psychic Strain
• At Strain equal to Psychic Talent, suffer -2 to all rolls
• Strain removes at 1 point per day of complete rest from magic
• At double Psychic Talent in Strain, risk permanent characteristic loss

Option 4: The College of Hythe (Recommended)

An organization of elder Mages monitors magical use:

• Obvious public magic draws attention (Perception check for College agents in civilized areas)
• Misuse of magic results in warnings, then censure, then active opposition
• "Good" magic use builds reputation; "selfish" magic creates enemies
• High-rank College members are 12th+ rank Mages with powerful allies

Mages and Armour

Mages suffer significant penalties when wearing heavy protection, as armor restricts the precise gestures and movements required for their complex magic:

• No armor or Gambeson: No penalty
• Padded Armor: -1 Attack, -1 Defense, 10% spell failure
• Mail Hauberk: -2 Attack, -2 Defense, 20% spell failure
• Mail Armor: -3 Attack, -3 Defense, 35% spell failure
• Plate Armor: -4 Attack, -4 Defense, 50% spell failure

Special Abilities

1st Rank: Foundation Arts

• Naming: Core ability to discern and invoke true names
• Spellcasting: Can use any three Arts chosen at character creation
• Magical Sensitivity: +2 to detect magical auras, enchanted items, or supernatural presences

4th Rank: Scholar of the Word

• Expanded Repertoire: Learn one additional Art
• True Speech: Can communicate with any intelligent being for 10 minutes per rank per day
• Magical Appraisal: Automatically identify the function of any magical item after 1 round of study

6th Rank: Master of Arts

• Dual Casting: Can maintain concentration on two different spell effects simultaneously
• Deep Lore: Learn one additional Art
• Ritual Magic: Can perform elaborate rituals taking 1-6 hours to achieve effects beyond normal spell limits (GM discretion)

8th Rank: Archmage Abilities

Select one ability when reaching 8th rank, then one additional ability each subsequent rank:

• Word of Making: Once per day, cast any Art at double normal effect without spending Magic Points
• True Name Mastery: Automatically learn the true name of any creature or object studied for 24 hours
• Sanctuary: Create a permanent mystical refuge warded against unwanted intrusion
• Weather Mastery: All Weather magic costs half normal MPs and affects twice the normal area
• Geas Binding: Place magical compulsions on willing subjects or defeated enemies
• Otherworld Travel: Use Gate magic to access planes beyond the mortal world
• Master's Voice: All Arts can be cast at +1 rank effect with no additional MP cost
• Deathward: Automatically resist one killing effect per day (death spells, fatal damage, etc.)

Initial Equipment

A beginning Mage starts with:

• Robes (counts as Gambeson, Armor Factor 1)
• Staff (d6, 3 points - can be used as spellcasting focus)
• Dagger (d4, 3 points)
• Spell Component Pouch (required for complex magic)
• Book of True Names (contains 2d6 true names of common objects/creatures)
• Lantern and oil
• 3d6 × 5 florins
• One minor magical item (GM's choice): crystal orb, enchanted ink, silver stylus, or similar

Art Descriptions and Mechanics

Using Magic in Play

You can cast Art you know at any level from 1 up to your rank. 

1. Declare Intent: Player states what they want to achieve and which Art they're using
2. Naming Roll: Roll 1d20 ≤ Naming skill
3. Determine Modifier: Apply Naming success/failure to Art roll
4. Art Roll: Roll 1d20 ≤ (Magical Attack + Naming modifier)
5. Resolve Effect: Success creates the desired effect; failure may have unpredictable results

Note: All Arts use the same Magical Attack score, just like other Dragon Warriors magic classes. The Lore skill represents general magical knowledge - understanding magical theory, identifying spells, knowing the history of enchanted items, etc. It doesn't directly affect spellcasting but is useful for magical research and investigation.

Learning New Arts

• From a Teacher: Requires a Mage of 4th rank+ who knows the Art, costs 500 florins, takes 3 months
• From Ancient Texts: Requires finding rare books/scrolls, Intelligence check, takes 6 months
• Through Discovery: GM may allow learning through special adventures or profound magical experiences

Major vs Minor Arts

Major Arts (Change, Pattern, Summon) represent fundamental alterations to reality and are correspondingly more difficult and expensive. They require greater mastery and exact a higher cost in Magic Points.

Minor Arts are still powerful but work with rather than against the natural order of things, making them somewhat easier to employ safely.

Sample Mage: Tenar the Windcaller (5th Rank)

An expert in Weather magic who has defeated warriors from three islands

Characteristics: Strength 10, Reflexes 12, Intelligence 16, Psychic Talent 14, Looks 13

Combat Factors:

• Attack 11, Defense 6 (base +0 for average Strength, +0 for average Reflexes)
• Magical Attack 22, Magical Defense 12 (base +1 for high Intelligence, +1 for good Psychic Talent)
• Health Points 14, Evasion 5 (base 4 +1 for good Reflexes)
• Stealth 14, Perception 13

Arts: Naming 14, Magical Lore 17 

Known Arts: Weather, Find, Healing, Illusion 

Magic Points: 11 per day (5×2 + 1 for Psychic Talent 14)

Equipment: Enchanted staff (+1, counts as d6+1, 4 points), robes, storm-glass pendant, charts of the seven seas

Background: Tenar earned her reputation by calling down storms that scattered three separate pirate fleets threatening her home island. Against an average warrior (Magical Defense 6), her Weather magic succeeds about 66% of the time - powerful enough to be decisive in battle, but with enough uncertainty to create tension. When she knows the true name of winds (learned through years of study), her magic becomes much more reliable, explaining her fearsome reputation among sailors.

Success Rates (typical targets):

• vs Ordinary Humans (MD 6): 66% success
• vs Trained Knights (MD 10): 47% success
• vs Other Mages (MD 12+): 35% or less

Designer's Notes

This profession balances the "great wizard" power level of Earthsea with Dragon Warriors' mechanical framework. The two-step Naming system creates interesting tactical decisions, while the restraint mechanisms prevent the "flinging spells about without qualm" problem you identified.

The progression reflects narrative power - a 5th rank Mage like Tenar has the magical firepower to deal with entire groups of warriors, but the system encourages thoughtful rather than profligate use of such abilities. The emphasis on true names creates rich roleplaying opportunities and gives GMs tools to control magical power through knowledge rather than just mechanical restrictions.

"To speak a true name is to change the world."

Adventure Seeds

The Nameless Ship (1st-3rd Rank)

A merchant vessel drifts into harbor with no crew aboard, yet the cargo holds are full and the ship is in perfect condition. Local authorities ask the characters to investigate. The ship resists all attempts at magical investigation - Find spells fail, Pattern magic reveals nothing, even simple Mend spells won't work on deliberate damage. The truth: a desperate captain erased his ship's true name to escape a terrible curse, but this has left it "hollow" - existing but not truly real. The characters must discover what the ship was called and restore its identity before the namelessness spreads to other vessels in the harbor.

The Weather Thief (2nd-4th Rank)

Fishing villages along the coast report their weather has "gone wrong" - some islands are locked in drought while others suffer endless storms. The characters discover that Koreth, a young Mage, has been stealing favorable winds from poor fishing communities and selling them to wealthy merchant captains. He knows the true names of several wind-spirits and can command them with near-certainty. The moral complexity: Koreth grew up in poverty and is sending his earnings home to his starving family. Do the characters stop him, try to reform him, or find a third option? Meanwhile, the disrupted weather patterns threaten to cause a famine.

The Apprentice's Folly (1st-2nd Rank)

The characters arrive at a coastal village to find half the buildings transformed into different materials - stone cottages turned to glass, wooden piers become silver, gardens sprouting metal flowers. A elderly Mage's apprentice attempted to impress the villagers by demonstrating Change magic, but didn't properly understand the true names of what he was altering. Now the transformations are slowly spreading and becoming more chaotic. The master is away on a long journey. The characters must either find him quickly, discover the true names themselves to reverse the magic, or find another solution before the entire village becomes an surreal nightmare.

The Truthseer's Dilemma (4th-6th Rank)

Lord Harren of Stormhaven requests the characters' help investigating rumors of treason among his nobles. He specifically wants a Mage to use Pattern magic to scry the truth, offering a substantial reward. However, the characters soon discover that Harren himself is the traitor, planning to sell information to enemies for personal gain. The honest nobles he suspects are actually trying to stop him. The Mage faces a classic dilemma: honor the contract and help expose innocent people, or violate their word to serve justice? Meanwhile, Harren knows several true names of court members, making him dangerous if he realizes the characters have discovered his secret.

The Bone Ship's Cargo (5th-7th Rank)

A skeleton crew literally sails into port -- the ship is crewed entirely by animated bones, but they're peaceful and simply want to trade rare spices for common goods. The problem: they're the remains of pirates who were executed years ago, animated by their former victim - a merchant Mage seeking revenge. The spell has gone beyond his original intent and the skeletons are now genuinely reformed, feeling guilt for their past crimes and trying to make amends. Local authorities want them destroyed, the Church declares them abominations, but the bones themselves plead for a chance to complete their penance. The characters must navigate the moral complexity while also dealing with the original Mage, whose thirst for revenge has consumed him for decades.

The College Inquisitor (3rd-8th Rank)

Master Yevon, a stern 10th-rank Mage from the College of Hythe, arrives to investigate reports of "irregular magical practice" in the region. He suspects one of the player character Mages of violating the ancient codes -- perhaps using magic too freely, or for personal gain, or without proper restraint. His investigation is thorough and his standards impossibly high. He knows numerous true names and can make magic work with frightening certainty. The characters must prove their innocence while also uncovering the real culprit: a Sorcerer who has been masquerading as a Mage and using flashy magic to gain political influence, not understanding that this brings unwanted attention from the College. [Note: I disagree with Claude here. I don't think it makes sense to have any other magic-using professions in an Earthsea-like world. There should be Mages and there should be non-wizards and that's it. -DM.]

The Last Word (6th-10th Rank)

On a remote island, the characters discover an ancient library containing the true names of things that no longer exist: extinct animals, lost islands, forgotten gods. A mad scholar has been using Summon magic to call these vanished things back into the world, but each return weakens the boundary between what is and what was. Dragons that died centuries ago now soar overhead, islands that sank beneath the waves reappear randomly, and ancient plagues return with the creatures that once carried them. The scholar believes he's restoring the world to its proper state, but his actions threaten to unravel reality itself. The characters must stop him while deciding what, if anything, from the lost past deserves to be preserved.

The Rival's True Name (Any Rank)

A recurring enemy of the party (perhaps a wealthy merchant or noble whose honor they've questioned) approaches them with an unusual request. Someone has learned his true name and is using it to work malicious magic against him: cursing his weapons to break, his horse to throw him, his food to turn rotten. He believes the culprit is another player character Mage, but swears he'll put aside their enmity if they help him discover who is really responsible and stop the magical harassment. The twist: the enemy is telling the truth, but the real culprit is using the attacks to manipulate both sides into a confrontation that serves their own hidden agenda.

FAQ

Resistance & Unwilling Targets

Q: Can you transform an unwilling person with Change? Yes, but they can resist. Treat it as an opposed Magical Attack (caster) vs Magical Defense (target) roll. If the target wins, the Change fails. Knowing their true name makes resistance impossible - the magic simply works.

Q: Does Summon work on unwilling targets? Yes, same as Change - opposed magical rolls. A summoned person arrives but isn't compelled to stay or obey. True names bypass resistance.

Q: Can you force-heal someone who refuses Healing? No resistance roll needed - the target must simply accept the touch. Someone actively avoiding you must be restrained or caught off-guard first.

Q: What if someone is holding a door you're using Gate on? The door holder can make a Strength check against difficulty (10 + Art level). Success means they hold it shut/open despite the magic.

Range & Area of Effect

Q: What's the range for Change, Mend, Healing, and Gate? All require touch for inanimate objects, or line of sight within 30 feet for living targets (Change, Healing). Gate must be cast on a portal you can see or touch.

Q: Can one casting affect multiple targets? No - one casting affects one target. To mend five broken arrows requires five separate castings (though they can be done in sequence, 1 MP each). Exception: Weather affects everything in its area simultaneously.

Q: How big can Changed objects be? Use the weight limits given. For living creatures, "small animal" = cat/rabbit, "large animal" = horse/stag, up to GM judgment for unusual cases.

True Names & Special Interactions

Q: If I know someone's true name, what exactly does that do?

• Automatic +3 to Magical Attack (no Naming roll needed)
• Bypasses resistance - Change, Summon, and similar Arts work automatically
• Makes effects permanent - Changed living beings don't revert
• Removes requirements - You don't need to have seen/touched them for Find

Q: Can I use someone's true name once I learn it, or do I have to re-learn it each time? Once learned, always known (unless you forget it, or powerful magic makes you forget). This is why Mages guard their true names so carefully.

Q: What counts as knowing the "true name"? The complete name in the Old Speech that defines the thing's essential nature. Partial names (knowing it's "rabbit" not "stone") help with the Naming roll but don't give the full +3 bonus.

Concentration & Multiple Actions

Q: While maintaining Pattern or Send, can I do other things?

• Pattern: Requires full concentration - you cannot cast spells, fight, or perform complex tasks. Can walk slowly, speak briefly.
• Send: Your consciousness is split. You can see/hear through the sending while your body remains aware but dazed. Cannot cast spells from either location.

Q: Can I maintain a Gate portal while fighting? Created portals don't require concentration once opened - they last their full duration regardless of what you do afterward.

Q: How many Arts can I have active at once? As many as you have Magic Points for, except those requiring concentration (Pattern, Send). Only one concentration effect at a time.

Ending Effects Early

Q: How do I reverse a Change before the duration expires? Cast Change again on the same target, declaring you're returning it to original form. This uses Magic Points as normal but automatically succeeds (no rolls needed) if you cast the original transformation.

Q: Can I close a Gate portal early? Yes - simply use Gate again on the same portal (1 MP, no roll required if you created it).

Q: Can I dismiss an Illusion voluntarily? Yes, at will, no action required. The Illusion simply vanishes.

Detection & Visibility

Q: Can targets sense when someone uses Pattern to scry them? Powerful magic-users (Magical Defense 12+) get an uneasy feeling when being scryed. They can make a Perception check against the caster's Magical Attack - success means they know someone is watching but not who.

Q: Is a Send projection obviously magical? Appears completely real at casual observation. Close examination or touch reveals it has no substance (hand passes through). Magical detection (Perception vs Magical Attack) can identify it as a projection.

Q: Can Mages detect active Arts being used nearby? Characters with Magical Defense 6+ can make a Perception check against the caster's Magical Attack to sense nearby magic being worked. Success reveals "someone just cast a spell" but not specifics.

Q: Do the Arts leave traces that can be detected later? Permanent effects (Changed objects, Mended items, summoned things) radiate faint magic detectable by anyone with Magical Defense 6+ who specifically examines them. Temporary effects leave no trace once ended.

* * *

And a final note from the human here: this exercise is very unfair to Claude. It does sterling work when I ask it to write code for me or to comment on rules mechanics. It struggles with creative writing because, like all LLMs and most humans, it specifically aims to recreate the standard story patterns it has trained on, which means it produces the kind of stories beloved of Hollywood writing gurus. For the same reason every AI-created RPG scenario is going to sound like a typical (aka bog standard) scenario. But ask Claude to write a parser to turn a prose gamebook into logic markup for an app and it will take flight and soar. Don't judge it by this post is what I'm saying.

"Water Like A Stone" (a Yuletide adventure set in Legend)

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

It wouldn’t be Christmas around here without a seasonal scenario by Tim Harford, but we’re trying something a bit different this year. Normally Tim gives me his notes and I lick them into shape so that it’s possible for someone else to run a game from them. Last December, though, there was a fly in the ointment.

As Tim put it, “This one was very skimpy on notes, even by my standards. I was in rebellion against our current D&D game, which has many good qualities, particularly the vividness of the NPCs, but which is overprepared and thus plays too much like a bravura performance from the GM, with not enough player agency. So I really wanted to push the other way and challenge myself to see how far I could get with minimal prep.”

Tim is also a very busy man, so he could hardly take time out to meticulously plot a six-hour roleplaying special just for one use with half a dozen friends. His notes in full were:

Tim adds: “Not much to go on I realise. There is an old scenario for Flashing Blades (‘The Grand Theatre’ in Parisian Adventures) which involves an actor who's also a spy who has stolen secret documents, and two teams of musketeers battling it out backstage. That was a direct inspiration for the Grand Theatre section, although in truth you really only need the premise, don't you? I also had in mind the image of Ferromaine's canals freezing under a supernatural cold, and the thought that a chase scene or a fight scene on ice would be a good challenge if the antagonists were equipped with skates. That's really it.”

That’s quite a challenge. My thinking for a scenario is that if you’re going to go in with a lot of plot elements then you need to work them out in advance, ideally to the extent of having a timeline of everything that would happen if the player-characters did nothing. You need to know those details (if they are going to be there at all) because the players will be trying to make them fit into a coherent picture.

For instance, imagine trying to play a murder mystery game in which all the clues were randomly generated independently of each other; it would be a complete waste of the players’ time because the clues couldn’t be assembled into any logical solution.

But once the game starts, everything can and should be improvised in response to what the players do – and that improvisation works because you had a clear idea of the NPCs and their actions and intentions to begin with. In short: plan your story as tightly as the writer of a novel or movie ought to, and then be perfectly happy to let that planned story disintegrate in response to the interpretations (correct or otherwise) and consequent actions of the player-characters.

Remember von Moltke’s advice: “No operational plan extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main enemy force. Only the layman believes that in the course of a campaign he sees the consistent implementation of an original idea that has been conceived in advance, thought through in every detail, and retained to the end.”

All right, so how are we going to do this? I’ll kick off by describing how it played out in our last Christmas game.

Act One

(Yes, I hate all that Hollywood three-act guff, but we're going to need some structure to get through this bit.)

The characters are in the service of the Cotulio family of Ferromaine. Specifically they have lodgings at an orphanage run by the Abbess Emerentia, sister of Count Saltado Cutulio, who tells them to go and fetch a pine tree from the Drakken forests. Not just any pine tree, either. Rival families are contending to raise the Yule tree in the Piazza San Paolo. The tallest tree will be chosen. And off they go.

In the game as run we went upriver to a town in northern Kurland, so we must have been on the Arakose river. Another option would be to take the Liederkehn river, but that would involve passing through Tamor which the characters may prefer to avoid – and we might expect timber prices to be much higher in the New Selentine Empire. (If you opt for that, there's a possible tie-in to "The God in the Bowl" adventure, which also takes place in the New Selentine Empire.)

It’s also possible to set the whole adventure elsewhere. The characters could be hired in Brymstone to fetch a tree across the Mergeld Sea from Mercania. But let’s not make this any more complicated than we need to. Tim ran it as a Blades in the Dark heist game in Ferromaine; we’ll stick with that for now. 

The complication: when they reach the town of the timber merchants, it turns out the best two trees have already been sold to representatives of the Senfriti and Vassilvio families. The merchants say there is no hope of finding another tree taller or finer than either of those. The Senfriti barge has already set off the day before. The Vassilvio barge is loaded and ready to depart the next morning.

A couple of strange incidents occurred. First we noticed a white star or comet in the sky. White Light, often seen this close to Krarth? It seemed not, for this star shimmered in and out of vision. The other incident was the arrival of a mechanical bird, inside whose beak was a clay effigy of Parcelus Pike’s face (see below) telling us that he had a lucrative job for us if we would return at once to Ferromaine. But that meant abandoning the Yule tree errand so we declined.

The barges descend the river by means of locks that bypass the occasional rapids. At each lock there are customs officers – more organized if this is the New Selentine Empire, more lackadaisical in Kurland, both susceptible to bribery. Tim’s notes suggest the officials have already been bribed, so perhaps they will hold up the player-characters or demand excessive tolls to use the locks.

In our session we masqueraded as tax officials inspecting the locks. The obstacles you might consider would be that in Kurland those tollkeepers would be locally recruited under the jurisdiction of a local duke-elector and would know each other personally. Selentine officials would be identified by seals and documents (literacy being higher there) and the penalty for forging such seals or pretending to be an imperial officer is painful and brief. Directly targeting the other families’ barges, on the other hand, is mere affray and not of any great importance to either Kurlanders or Selentines.

The first “act” ended with the tallest (in fact sole remaining) tree being delivered to the Cotulio family and set up in St Paul’s Square.

Act Two

Oliver Trout is a clown whose fame has preceded him around the Coradian Sea. He’s now arrived in Ferromaine where he is booked to perform for five nights at the Grand Theatre. In our game the Abbess asked us to go to the Grand Theatre while the show is on and steal an object from Trout’s dressing-room: a wooden puzzle box.

Some of the player-characters also spoke to Parcelus Pike, a local sorcerer and curio collector, about stealing the puzzle box for him. He wasn’t interested, having already hired another team (we had disregarded his message conveyed by the mechanical bird in Act One), but left the matter open in case we should obtain the box instead of them.

We went to the theatre that night, all with the goal of stealing the box but not all with the same buyer in mind. We waited for the show to start and then sneaked backstage. The complication this time was that somebody got there first; Trout’s dressing-room had already been ransacked. The other team of thieves had not found the box, however. The player-characters did, and on the way out were ambushed by the other thieves, eight Chaubrettians who were no match under the favouritism of the Blades in the Dark rules for two murder hoboes – er, player-character fighters, rather.

The player-characters got away with the puzzle box and then cast lots to decide who should get it. The Abbess, our patron? Parcelus Pike, never very trustworthy but at least offering cash now that his other team were all dead? Or return it to Oliver Trout, whose performance most of us hadn’t even stayed to watch?

One of us (my character, Arnaud -- aka Flambeau, le Stégologue de Vyônes) objected to the way one of the murder hoboes had bullied the others during the vote, so hid the puzzle box in the mouth of a gargoyle on the roof of the church overlooking St Paul’s Square.

All through this, the white star/comet continued to grow larger in the night sky. At the same time it was growing unseasonably cold in Ferromaine. There were even some flakes of snow.

Act Three

The snow is falling steadily now, piling up in drifts around the city. Few citizens of the Ferromaine League remember living through a blizzard like this. Is it "an elfin-storm from faery land"? The player-characters may think so. Most people huddle inside by the fire.

It gets colder. Much colder. Through the driving snow a single light shines in the night sky: the strange star, bathing the whole city in an icy white radiance.

The snow stops. The star descends and settles on the top of the Yule tree. A creaking sound is heard, a little like the soft skittering of hordes of insects. It’s the unprecedented noise of the city’s canals freezing over.

Seven white-clad hooded figures are seen skating towards St Paul’s Square.

In our game, the player-characters climbing up to retrieve the puzzle box were beset by scuttling sprites with bodies of ice. On the ground, the seven hooded skaters arrived at the square, along with a tall white-clad woman who emanated waves of freezing cold that our murder hoboes were hard pressed to deal with – though they managed, of course, this being Blades in the Dark rules, and when they slew the Frost Witch she turned into flakes of ice.

One of the player-characters, a psoriatic pilgrim named Dropskin, ignited the tree with the aid of a flaming torch and fervent prayer. It was consumed in roaring orange flames accompanied by the sharp tarry tang of burning pine needles.

Meanwhile Oliver Trout ambled into the square and cheerfully received the puzzle box back from Flambeau. With a few deft twists he converted it into a stellated polyhedron which drew all of the snow and ice (including the sprites and the hooded figures) into itself, banishing the unnatural winter and restoring the city to normal.

Assumptions

After the game I told Tim my interpretations of these events:

(1) That the Frost Witch came in the white star/comet from Krarth and would have plunged Ferromaine into an eternal winter.

Tim said: “That's much better than what I had, which was that she was a supernatural antagonist who wanted the puzzle box for reasons unknown.”

(2) That Oliver Trout was a wizard or mythic being who opposed her and his puzzle box gave him some means to counter her ice magic.

Tim said: “Oliver Trout is a Santa Claus-like figure, of course – an avuncular spirit of all that is jolly and numinous about the bleak midwinter. Thank goodness I watched an episode of The Box of Delights the evening before the game.”

(3) That the white skaters on the frozen canal were her emissaries and their job was to kill Oliver Trout before he could stop her.

Tim said: “They were her emissaries. I had in mind that they would steal the box and there would be a chase scene along the grand canal. But you didn't stash the box where I expected and it became a set-piece confrontation rather than a chase.”

Here’s what ChatGPT thought:

Assumption 1: The Frost Witch and the Comet

Your Assumption: The Frost Witch came in the white star/comet from Krarth and would have plunged Ferromaine into eternal winter.

Refinement: The comet could be more than just her mode of travel—it might be her prison. Long ago, a cosmic force (perhaps linked to Oliver Trout or the city itself) sealed her in the icy heart of the comet. The comet's proximity to Ferromaine was drawn by the Yule tree ritual, corrupted by the rival families’ selfish motives. This not only makes her arrival more meaningful but also ties her deeply to the scenario's events.

She might not want to destroy Ferromaine outright but instead transform it into her icy domain, drawing its magic and culture into her eternal kingdom. This makes her a more nuanced antagonist with a vision, albeit a chilling one.

Assumption 2: Oliver Trout as the Frost Witch’s Opponent

Your Assumption: Oliver Trout was a wizard or mythic being whose puzzle box allowed him to counter the Frost Witch's ice magic.

Refinement: Oliver Trout is perfect as a mythic "spirit of midwinter," embodying the warmth and hope needed to survive the harsh season. Rather than being solely a wizard, he could be an ancient protector whose jovial demeanour hides immense power. The puzzle box could symbolize the delicate balance of winter—it holds the key to containing the Frost Witch but must be wielded with wisdom and care. To deepen their rivalry, Trout might have been the one who originally imprisoned her. She now seeks both vengeance and the box, which could free her fully. This personal connection raises the stakes of their confrontation.

Oliver Trout might not be omnipotent. His reliance on humour and goodwill could mean his power wanes in the face of despair. This would explain why he leaves the puzzle box unattended—he can’t directly confront the Frost Witch without gathering enough "light-hearted energy," which is why he was performing on stage at the Grand Theatre – but the wintry weather meant smaller audiences, making the PCs’ intervention crucial.

Assumption 3: The White Skaters and Their Mission

Your Assumption: The white skaters were emissaries of the Frost Witch sent to kill Oliver Trout before he could stop her.

Refinement: Rather than simply assassins, the skaters could have a dual purpose: to retrieve the puzzle box and prevent Trout from using it, as well as to sow terror and chaos in the city. They might represent different facets of the Frost Witch’s will (eg, cold precision, relentless pursuit, and icy despair), making them thematic extensions of her power. The skaters could be former residents of other cities she has conquered, now turned into icy thralls. This twist would highlight the stakes for Ferromaine—failure means the citizens could share the same fate.

The puzzle box could be tied to the very nature of winter—when solved correctly, it harmonizes the forces of cold and warmth, sealing the Frost Witch while allowing winter to remain balanced. Solved incorrectly, it could unleash an eternal winter or destroy Trout's protective powers, adding a moral or tactical dilemma for the PCs.

Explanations

These were the things I still wasn’t sure about after the game. What was actually going on? Players are going to ferret away at the details looking for an advantage, so you’ll want the answers at the ready even if they’re never needed.

What was it that invited the Frost Witch into Ferromaine? (The tree in some way, perhaps?)

Tim answered: “My initial premise was merely that the Frost Witch wanted the puzzle box, but in truth that's a fairly flimsy idea – and almost immediately came the idea (Christmassy, but also ominous) that she had a celestial body that steadily approached as the adventure progressed.”

ChatGPT suggested: “The Yule tree seems a strong candidate. It could serve as a mystical beacon tied to ancient traditions, perhaps imbued with ceremonial significance that inadvertently opened a pathway for the Frost Witch when it was raised in St. Paul’s Square. Maybe Ferromaine’s people used to perform protective rituals tied to the tree, but these have been forgotten in recent years. Alternatively, the comet/star might have been drawn to the competitive, somewhat self-serving motives of the rival families vying for the tallest tree, allowing the Frost Witch to exploit this discord.”

Why was Oliver Trout performing at the theatre?

Tim said: “I love these questions but I have no answers to any of the rest of them – the perils of the improvised game. Any answers you can dream up will be better than anything I had.”

ChatGPT’s answer: “Oliver Trout’s performance could have been part of a larger plan to mask his true purpose in the city. He might have been drawn to Ferromaine because he sensed the Frost Witch’s growing presence, and the show was an excuse to stay nearby without arousing suspicion. Alternatively, the theatre could hold symbolic power, such as being a historic cultural heart of the city where his magic would be stronger. Or see above, the idea that his performances at the theatre were parts of a magical ritual intended to build up a ‘charge’ of good-natured warmth to counter the winter spell."

Why did Trout leave the box unguarded?

ChatGPT: “Oliver Trout likely underestimated the Frost Witch’s influence—or overestimated the secrecy of the box’s location. He might have thought his jovial reputation or distractions like the theatre performance would deter any would-be thieves. Another possibility: he intended the box to act as bait, drawing her agents into a trap. It would also add tension if he intended for the PCs to become involved but misjudged their chaotic methods.”

What would have happened if the characters had failed to act? (The white skaters would have killed Trout?)

ChatGPT: “If the PCs failed, the white skaters might have killed Oliver Trout or captured the puzzle box, allowing the Frost Witch to solidify her hold on Ferromaine. This could mean the city plunging into eternal winter, its citizens slowly frozen into lifeless statues as her icy dominion spread across the region. The PCs' intervention was likely the only thing standing between the city and its doom, adding weight to their actions.”

Would burning the tree have had any effect once the frost had already taken hold of the city?

ChatGPT: “Burning the tree could have served as a powerful symbolic or magical act, disrupting the Frost Witch’s anchor in Ferromaine. If the tree was the conduit for her power, destroying it could sever her connection and weaken her ice magic. However, the tree might also act as a focal point for Oliver Trout’s magic, meaning its destruction could have been a desperate gamble—potentially undermining his efforts to banish her unless done at the right moment. This ambiguity could leave the PCs wondering if they helped or hindered.”

Time for the robots to take over

ChatGPT was doing sterling work, so I thought I should let it off the leash. How would it have improved on the scenario? This is what it said: 

1. Tie the Frost Witch to the Yule Tree More Strongly 

The Yule tree could be central to her power. Perhaps it is the "World Tree" in miniature, a mystical link between realms, and raising it without proper rites allowed her to invade. The rival families’ selfish competition could amplify the magical imbalance. You could use the apples and wafers used to decorate the base of the tree to symbolize temptation, sin and redemption. The Frost Witch might need the tree to fully merge her icy domain with Ferromaine, giving the PCs a clear reason to stop her.

2. Oliver Trout’s Purpose 

Oliver Trout can have a more defined backstory. He might be an ancient protector, akin to a winter guardian or even a rival to the Frost Witch in a cosmic balance between light and cold. His performances could be a way to gather joy and goodwill—essential to his magic—and the puzzle box might store that energy, which he intends to use against her.

3. The Puzzle Box’s Role 

The puzzle box could act as both a key and a trap. It might be the only thing capable of sealing the Frost Witch away but is equally coveted by her because it could seal Oliver Trout’s power if twisted incorrectly. This would give the PCs a tough moral choice, especially if factions try to sway them. 

4. Escalate Tension With a Chase Scene 

Instead of a static confrontation, you could add a thrilling chase along the frozen canals [I'm pretty sure it got that idea from Tim's notes. - DM] as the white-clad emissaries pursue the PCs, trying to retrieve the puzzle box. Ice sprites could create hazards, and Oliver Trout might aid from afar, giving cryptic advice. 

5. Make the Burning Tree a Gamble 

Destroying the tree could weaken the Frost Witch but at a high cost, such as damaging the city’s spiritual defenses for years to come. Alternatively, the PCs might need to perform a complex ritual at the tree to channel its power against her, adding urgency to their decisions.

And how about some stats? This is ChatGPT’s response, using D&D rather than Blades in the Dark. I haven’t played enough D&D 5e (just one session) to know if any of this makes any sense, but it looks creative and it kept spelling "fay" wrong, which is probably a D&D mistake as ChatGPT is usually right about things like that. 

D&D 5e Stats Suggestions

The Frost Witch

• CR: 10 
• Type: Medium Fay (or Elemental) 
• Abilities: 
• Legendary Actions: Use Cone of Cold, summon ice sprites, or freeze enemies in place. 
• Lair Actions: Intensify cold damage in her lair (e.g., the area around the tree), create difficult terrain with ice, or summon blizzards.
• Unique Ability: Shatterstar Descend – Once per day, create an icy storm that deals 6d10 cold damage in a 60-ft radius and reduces visibility to 10 feet. 
• Defences: High AC (18) from icy armour, resistances to nonmagical bludgeoning/piercing/slashing, immunity to cold.

White-Clad Emissaries

• CR: 4
• Type: Medium Humanoids (Icebound Knights)
• Abilities:
• Frostbite Blade – Melee weapon attacks deal 2d6 cold damage. 
• Glide on Ice – Move effortlessly over difficult icy terrain. 
• Aura of Chill – Enemies within 10 feet take 1d6 cold damage at the start of their turn.

Ice Sprites

• CR: 1/2
• Type: Tiny Elementals
• Abilities:
• Freezing Touch – Touch attack deals 1d6 cold damage and reduces movement speed. 
• Frosty Mischief – Use actions to create minor hazards (slick ice, frosty fog).

Oliver Trout 

• CR: 7 
• Type: Medium Humanoid (Mythic) 
• Abilities: 
• Puzzle Box Mastery – As an action, manipulate the puzzle box to unleash bursts of radiant light (6d6 damage to undead/fay). 
• Aura of Merriment – Allies within 30 feet gain advantage on saving throws against fear and charm. 
• Spellcasting: Casts Wall of Force, Greater Restoration, and Daylight as innate abilities.

Incidentally, I do hope "Frosty Mischief" is a real D&D ability. Finally, ChatGPT had some ideas about how to integrate all this into Legend's medieval setting where the real force is religion, not D&D-style fantasy:

1. The Yule Tree as the “Tree of Paradise”

The Yule tree in St. Paul’s Square could explicitly represent the "tree of paradise," decorated with symbols of humanity’s fall (apples) and redemption (buns standing in for eucharist wafers). These decorations might play a magical role in the story, either as a defence against the Frost Witch or as something she seeks to corrupt.

The apples could represent temptation, tying into the rivalry among Ferromaine's families. Perhaps the tree is adorned with gilded apples to symbolize the city’s prosperity, which the Frost Witch views as a hubristic affront to her dominion over winter. She might aim to corrupt the apples into frozen fruit that spreads despair or frostbite to those who touch them.

The white wafers could become a mystical ward against her influence. If the PCs retrieve the puzzle box and return it to the tree, the wafers might glow, symbolizing humanity's capacity for redemption and banishing her icy hold.

2. The Frost Witch as a “Tempter”

The Frost Witch could serve as a supernatural force akin to the serpent in Eden, embodying temptation and humanity's darker impulses. Her emissaries might offer subtle deals or promises to the PCs and city officials: wealth, power, or eternal life in exchange for cooperation. She might try to claim that eternal winter represents purity and perfection, twisting the tree’s symbolism of paradise into her own vision of a frozen utopia.

3. The Puzzle Box as the Fruit of Knowledge

The puzzle box could represent the forbidden fruit, a mystical object that must be handled with care to prevent disaster. Just as Adam and Eve’s choice brought consequences, solving the puzzle box could trigger a significant moral choice for the PCs:

• Correct Solution: Harmonizes the balance of winter and seals the Frost Witch.
• Incorrect Solution: Unleashes eternal winter or destroys Oliver Trout’s ability to fight her.

This creates tension as the PCs grapple with whether they can (or should) wield such power.

4. The Role of the Nobles and Clergy

The Cotulio and rival families could reflect the pride and materialism that the Frost Witch exploits. Of course Abbess Emerentia’s and Count Saltado's loyalty is to themselves and their family, but lower ranks in the Church might represent humanity’s spiritual side, trying to remind the city of the tree’s true symbolic meaning and rallying the PCs to act with virtue.

The clergy might have an old ritual involving the tree of paradise. If forgotten or corrupted, this might explain why Ferromaine was vulnerable to the Frost Witch’s influence. The PCs could discover fragments of this ritual, such as chants or blessings, that must be restored to banish her. However, this would work better in a northern setting as it’s unlikely that Ferromaine would have ever had any problems with winter magic in the past.

5. The Frozen “Garden of Eden”

When the Frost Witch descends, her icy magic could transform the city into a twisted, frozen garden—a parody of Eden. The canals might become shimmering paths of ice, trees could bear crystalline, inedible fruit, and the citizens might begin to freeze into statues.

The characters could face a challenge to “restore” the true paradise by reigniting the Yule tree’s warmth through symbolic acts of kindness or sacrifice.

6. A Winter Solstice Play

Integrate a play into the Grand Theatre performance that reenacts the Fall and Redemption story, echoing the medieval mystery plays. Oliver Trout might be secretly manipulating events to parallel the play’s themes with the PCs’ struggle, subtly guiding them toward the right choices.

Sources that I suspect influenced Tim and that may be useful are The Box of Delights and The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. TV/movie versions here for those in a hurry. The old Santa-like character from The Box of Delights was apparently based on Ramon Llull, but I have only Wikipedia's word for that.

If you play the adventure, do let us know in the comments how you got on. I will just add that Tim's gaming group use Blades in the Dark, which casts every adventure in the form of a heist. Perhaps your heart sinks at the thought of heist games, or indeed any preset story-pattern in roleplaying, in which case you would normally get wholehearted agreement from me, but Christmas gaming makes its own rules. After a couple of mince pies I just sat back and went with the rompy flow.