D is for Drugs, Fiction as Rules, and other Weirdness
Weird Tales from the Old Skull
Hello, weirdos!
I got a few things to show you this week! I will try to be quick as you are all busy weirdos, and so am I!
First I got another letter preview from my City of Adventure Alphabet project. Today I bring you the first 10 results for “D is for Drugs”, so you can “spice” things up at your table with weird substances and some potential problems to inspire your adventures.
I also got some piece of writing I recently added to Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells - 2nd Edition. It’s a rule, kinda… I think. It’s about how the fiction is also mechanics. Am I tripping? Read it, and let me know what you think!
As usual, we got some cool Weird Discoveries, and a couple of amazing podcast episodes on Weird Games & Weirder People!
Oh, and I got a special “preview” of something members of the Weirdos’ Cool Club will be getting soon at the end of this newsletter! Check it out!
D is for Drugs
Wherever there are people, there are drugs. Some of them are well accepted into society, and are even seen as a sign of good taste and status, like some rare tea herbs, coffee, certain beverages and so on. Others, however, have a more vile reputation, being associated with less reputable members of society, often unfairly, but sometimes quite accurately. People take drugs for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes to get a job done in time. Sometimes to ease themselves into stressful situations. And a few rare times to be able to see into reality itself, to be more in tune with the Khaos Currents from which the arcane energies flow, to more easily incorporate the ancestral spirits of their people, and so on.
How to Use Drugs (in the game, ok?)
Trouble is brewing in the city and it all tracks to a new drug that hit the streets recently. No one knows who makes it, but the effects can be catastrophic when abused. The situation might affect someone dear to the PCs, or even themselves as they are attacked by someone under the effect.
Rumors tell of a rare and beautiful flower that only grows in places where high magic was performed. They say that a tea made with its dried leaves can greatly increase the amount of energy a sorcerer can manipulate. Now, an old cloaked individual wants to set up an expedition to the cold north.
The veil between this world and the next is getting thinner as closer as it gets to the stars aligning just right. However, to be able to fully take advantage of this, one must be able to see into the other world with clarity. A preparation must be brewed, and there’s just one place to get the mushrooms necessary for it.
Want to check the whole table?
Did you know that the final version of the City of Adventure Alphabet will feature d20 tables instead of d10 tables? And did you you can check the d20 tables for all the letter that have already been written in the draft text of the project? All you gotta do is become a member of our Weirdos’ Cool Club, contribute with a little more than a cup of coffee per month, and get this and a lot of other perks! Check it out, get cool wonderfully weird things, and support my work!
Fiction as Rules
As I was revising the text of Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells - 2nd edition, I felt the need to write some of my thoughts on game design and mechanics of RPGs as an actual rule of the game.
Fiction is Mechanics
An important thing to remember when playing this game is that fiction is also mechanics, and it affects game play. The way the Referee describes something in the world will depend on the characters that are witnessing the encounter. The description of the room, weather, personality and anything else established in the fiction will affect the mechanics and vice and versa. Here is some guidance on how this works in the game.
Consider the characters’ Essence, Archetype, Complication, past experiences, and even gear carried, when describing the world. A uneducated barbarian from the cold north will see a mosaic depicting an ancient arcane ritual differently than a curious apprentice from the Invisible Academy.
The environment and circumstances surrounding the situation will greatly impact the way you describe and apply the rules. If the characters are carefully exploring a dungeon, the description should be detailed. If they are running from a creature when they enter a room, however, description should be minimal, fast, and focused on the big picture. The same way, a description of a dense fog will give a Negative Die to a die roll.
Opponents will also react to fiction. The way the characters present themselves, the events that happened so far and how that affects them, and all sorts of factors will change their behavior and mechanics the same way as above. If the characters make the life of an NPC miserable, maybe they will start hating the characters and gain a Positive Die to act against the PCs one day. Make things matter!
Want more SS&SS 2E?
Join the Weirdos’ Cool Club and get immediate access to the whole Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells - 2nd Edition text draft!
The document has more than 550 pages, including the same rules light system you know, but infused with a lot of resources, tables, and tools to help you run the game smoothly, and with little to no prep. There’s also robust generators, two adventures, and a bunch of other stuff!
What are you waiting for? Join the club!
Weird Discoveries
Let’s see what weird and wonderful things I have stumbled upon since last time we chatted!
Folk Arcana
By Jonny Bloozit and published by Exalted Funeral
A System Neutral supplement for fantasy games full of awesome and ominous art, and information on magic items related to witchcraft! Very cool!
Arkos
By John Kordosh and published by Exalted Funeral
A really cool Science Fantasy Citycrawl for the one of the weirdest TTRPG out there, Troika! You get to explore an otherworldly city suffering under a tyrant god, use the subway, go to nightclubs, interact with various factions, and make the game their own! A lot to play with here!
Mythbusters is on YouTube!
I don’t know about you, but I love Mythbusters! If you don’t know what that is, Mythbusters is a show in which the hosts (which are cool characters on their own) test myths to see if they are true. One of my favorite episodes is the one about the moon landing conspiracy theories! I believe they have every single episode ever on their official channel now! Have fun watching!
Get Weird with WG&WP
I’ve had some pretty amazing conversations on the Weird Games & Weirder People podcast, which also got a complete make over! Check it out! It’s the work of a very good friend of many, Rafael Balbi, who is also a game designer, and podcaster down here in Brazil! It looks amazing, right? Join the Weirdos’ Cool Club so I can continue to hire amazing people to make wonderful stuff like this!
Josh D
Josh Domanski is a writer, designer, occasional actual play host, best know for his work with the Liminal Horror system.
Jay Dragon
Jay Dragon is lead game designer at Steve Jackson Games and editorial director at Possum Creek. She's best kmiwn for her work on Wanderhome, Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, and Sleepaway.
That’s All Wonderful Weirdos!
Thanks for reading Weird Tales from the Old Skull! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. If you have any coins left from your latests adventures, please, consider contributing to this newsletter by joining the Weirdos’ Cool Club, and get even more wonderfully weird stuff!
Keep it weird everybody! ;)