Elemental Reductions

    This is post is for this month's  RPG Blog Carnival topic: Other, Between, and Under hosted by vdoughnut .  Once again, the gods laughed at my plans, and the full work is beyond the scope of a single blog post, so I'll share a link to the GDocs draft, of course down below.       First, let me say that for a setting I have never had a chance to play, I really love the concept of Spelljammer .  I like creating wild fantasy settings that go beyond another hex crawl on a world, to a world crawl.     So along these lines, I decided to make a setting that takes place on a pocket plane between the elemental planes of air and water.  Here's the introduction which paints some broad brushstrokes of what's going on: Stormheart is a small but cosmopolitan trading town that mostly exists in a pocket on the border of the Planes of Air and Water, on a plane one hundred miles in radius that separates the Sky from The Deep , l...

Session 6 Previous AARs:   Strata Under the Temple Session 5 Strata Under the Temple Session 4 Strata Under the Temple Sessions 2 & 3   Strata Under the Temple Sessions 1 Case of Characters Player Characters Beep - Thief 4, Halfling, she/her, played by Soddentowel  Hivara - Thief 4, Hagamido Saurian, she/her, played by Gwenchant "Red" Kolva - Thief 4, she/her, played by Socrates Steve - Wizard 4, Human, he/him, played by Soddentowel Zago - Wizard 4, Goblin, he/him, played by Socrates Zaphiel - Cleric 4, Elf, she/her played by Gwenchant NPCs Gasatano - Fighter, Hagamido Saurian Polima - Wizard, Hagamido Saurian, partner of Hivara Malita - Cleric of Bufamela-Sa, Hagamido Saurian Events At the end of last session,  they defeated the semi-lich, a failed Hagamido that had tried to become a full lich.  There was enough loot there for the party to advance to fourth level.  Beep got the pair of magical boots, as a concession for not getting an unc...

Session 5 Previous AARs:   Strata Under the Temple Sessions 4 Strata Under the Temple Sessions 2 & 3   Strata Under the Temple Sessions 1 Case of Characters Player Characters Beep - Thief 3, Halfling, played by Soddentowel  Evara - Thief 3, transformed into a Hagamido Saurian, played by Gwenchant "Red" Kolva - Thief 3, played by Socrates Steve - Wizard 3, Human, played by Soddentowel Zago - Wizard 3, Goblin, played by Socrates Zaphiel - Cleric 3, Elf, played by Gwenchant NPCs Gasatano - Fighter, Hagamido Saurian Polima - Wizard, Hagamido Saurian Malita - Cleric of Bufamela-Sa, Hagamido Saurian Events While resting in the Hall of Scholars after fighting the Gray Ponderer, a secret door opened in the northern door, and the party was surprised by an emaciated Hagamido female in robes.  It manically attacked with an icy touch, and seemed to be immune to their weapons.  The party rallied and struck at the creature, but it seemed immune to most of t...

    Hello Friends! It was a blast to host RPG Blog Carnival 's 2024 year-end topic, Beyond Vancian Magic ! Thank you all so much for your input!  In no particular order, here's what some of you shared as your response to the topic, along with attempts at summaries: Robgoblin kicks things off with Skills for the Magic-User .  Starting with propositions for turning read magic and detect magic into skills, then suggesting some innovations with counterspells, upcasting, and harsher spell recovery to bring wizards closer to linear power progression. Xaosseed shares a spell point and spellburn system of magic , which briefly talks about the system Xaosseed uses to add more risk to magic when magic-users run dry, and shares a wish list of what the perfect magic system would have. VDonnut Valley gives us Beyond Vancian Magic - Wizards of Sword of Don II , which talks about magic of the culture in the wake of the fall of the Bronze Towers of Marano.  Where onc...