Birds of Prey

~ divers inputs for creative outputs ~


            
                            February 21, 2024
                        
                
                Birds of Prey
                

                        Hello Fellow Fools,
Sometimes I feel absurdly lucky. I flopped awkwardly into my chosen industry like a feral goblin only to end up doing board game design. This week especially drove that point home, with us starting a regular game session at work for education inspiration. (Pro Tip: L&D is a great way to exist as a weirdo at the corporate level.) I’ll be sharing Cartographers at our first session.
The Brain Box
~ divers inputs for creative outputs ~
▶️ Looter Shooter Devs Still Don’t Understand Loot - The recent Design Delve from Second Wind introduced me to some new vocabulary for player rewards - substantive (looking forward) and reflective (looking back) rewards. As game masters we should think about how loot can connect backwards and forwards through our games. And this can happen mechanically, narratively, or both.
📖 Some wikipedia tidbits this week:
Argot - Cant’s abstruse older sibling that went to art school.
Capriccio - art in the form of architectural fantasies.


Ten Birds of Prey
~ pests and true predators ~
d10 Size Plumage Feature 1 Feature 2 It hunts:
1 About the size of a hummingbird. All white Bright red crest. Has a two-tone call that can be mildly disorienting. Breakers of oaths.
2 Glittering variations of navy blue and green. Beak and talons are emerald green. Tiny hooks line all four wings. Maidens’ tears.
3 About the size of a hawk. Blends from light gray to a heavy charcoal. A long graceful neck that ends in 5 eyes. Orange smog dusts the area with each flap of its wings. Weaker members of its species.
4 Mostly black with thin white tips. Two extravagant tail feathers nearly double the length of its body. It constantly molts new wings throughout the day. Discarded wings flop about on their own for awhile. Rodents that nibbled on grimoires.
5 The size of a mature eagle. Changes color depending on nearby magical effects. A beak upsettingly large for its body. Flightless, but runs quickly on two legs. Snakes.
6 Pale blue with an iridescent pink and gold sheen. Its flesh, tongue, blood, and insides are all black. Its call sounds like a young man saying “Why? Why?” Shadows cast by campfires.
7 Like an elephant. Mottled brown and white. Its eyes leak a dark red, sticky liquid. Its feathers grant some invisibility while fresh. People.
8 Bright red. One talon on each claw is exceptionally longer than the others. It has a single clawed foot that it clumsily hops on when not in flight. The sensation of feeling lost.
9 Like a sperm whale. Buttery yellow with a green patch on its chest. A beak that splits in three parts, with a long, thin tongue. People caught in the shadow of its wings hear their own voice making strange promises. Things that are orange.
10 White with purple splotches around its eyes and under its wings. A three-part crest that has a metallic shine. It keeps its eggs balanced on its back at all times. Things that smell of blood.
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Thanks!
Have fun. Be weird.
-Strange Years
                    
                
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d10	Size	Plumage	Feature 1	Feature 2	It hunts:
1	About the size of a hummingbird.	All white	Bright red crest.	Has a two-tone call that can be mildly disorienting.	Breakers of oaths.
2	About the size of a hummingbird.	Glittering variations of navy blue and green.	Beak and talons are emerald green.	Tiny hooks line all four wings.	Maidens’ tears.
3	About the size of a hawk.	Blends from light gray to a heavy charcoal.	A long graceful neck that ends in 5 eyes.	Orange smog dusts the area with each flap of its wings.	Weaker members of its species.
4	About the size of a hawk.	Mostly black with thin white tips.	Two extravagant tail feathers nearly double the length of its body.	It constantly molts new wings throughout the day. Discarded wings flop about on their own for awhile.	Rodents that nibbled on grimoires.
5	The size of a mature eagle.	Changes color depending on nearby magical effects.	A beak upsettingly large for its body.	Flightless, but runs quickly on two legs.	Snakes.
6	The size of a mature eagle.	Pale blue with an iridescent pink and gold sheen.	Its flesh, tongue, blood, and insides are all black.	Its call sounds like a young man saying “Why? Why?”	Shadows cast by campfires.
7	Like an elephant.	Mottled brown and white.	Its eyes leak a dark red, sticky liquid.	Its feathers grant some invisibility while fresh.	People.
8	Like an elephant.	Bright red.	One talon on each claw is exceptionally longer than the others.	It has a single clawed foot that it clumsily hops on when not in flight.	The sensation of feeling lost.
9	Like a sperm whale.	Buttery yellow with a green patch on its chest.	A beak that splits in three parts, with a long, thin tongue.	People caught in the shadow of its wings hear their own voice making strange promises.	Things that are orange.
10	Like a sperm whale.	White with purple splotches around its eyes and under its wings.	A three-part crest that has a metallic shine.	It keeps its eggs balanced on its back at all times.	Things that smell of blood.