Thieves' World Player's Guide, RPG Review

In the late 1970s and early 1980s a series of anthologies and novels set in and around the city of Sanctuary created a place known Thieves' World. Then in the early 2000s the city was revisited with another novel and a couple more anthologies. Now Thieves' World also exists in the d20 system.

I was a fan of Thieves' World when the books came out over 30 years ago and read every book as soon as I could get it. But, it took me ten years to bring myself to read Thieves' World Player's Guide. I was afraid of how this city of intrigue, despair, hope, and grit would be treated. The stories set in Sanctuary weren't written as young adult stories and I was concerned it might lose its edge. My worries were unfounded.

Green Ronin had a team of game developers involved on their project. More importantly, to me, they also had Lynn Abbey, one of the original creators and author. They kept the edginess of what life would be like in Sanctuary. They also provided the ability to engage the stories anywhere along the timeline presented in the stories.

Sanctuary always dealt with hardships and living in Thieves' World from the first books, creating a unique flavor. There is information presented allowing players to go right back to the beginning. The characters from the books are described and you can play or encounter. You can also step to the next time period and deal with the changes that took place when the books came back. New characters, new stories, and new problems, but the same grit.

The adventures are associated with the challenges of living in the city. There is the ability to create grander adventures and move beyond the city walls, and the information provided is in-line with the original works.

Thieves' World Player's Handbook presents new classes, abilities, and ways of handling a fantasy based game where there are only humans. They also dealt with the issue of how magic worked in Sanctuary—different authors developed different ways for their spell casters. Instead of converting the city into a generic d20 system, they flexed the system to work for the city, again keeping true to the Thieves' World books.

If you want a location for your existing characters, you can also do that. There is information for bringing Sanctuary into a more traditions DnD format. This allows for the magic systems people are used to and the ability to bring in the other gaming races people like to play.

If you are not familiar with Sanctuary and Thieves' World, be warned it is a grim setting dealing with the seedier side of humanity. This doesn't mean there are no good people, it means there are people who are surviving the trials of life in a city that has been torn apart by war, gods, disease, cults, drugs, etc. and they are doing what they can, and what they have to, to make it through another day.

First published in Utah Geek Magazine.

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Paperback by Tim Fowers, Game Review

Coming up with the right words in the right situation is how you make it as a writer. The words don't need to be big fancy words, but words that tell the story. Starting out you may not be able to get the fancy words, but you can keep coming up with words to build your career.

Paperback puts you in the place of the writer: creating words, building your career, and looking for fame. You can't even start to earn fame until you get a little further along in your career.

This is a deck building game where players (2-5) start with the same ten cards. There are five consonants (L, N, R, S, T) and five wild cards. Using lettered cards earns you money. Using a hand of five cards you make a word, collect what it is worth, and then buy more cards to build your deck. Play continues until someone completes one of the game ending requirements.

You don't need a huge vocabulary to play Paperback. I played it with couple of different groups with ages starting at ten, which is the low end of the age range given for the game. Everyone enjoyed it, and the balance of the game was good. In two three-player games I as a writer and a friend who is known for his play in Scrabble were defeated both times by the third. That is because there is also a second level of strategy of gaining fame cards.

Fame cards are wild cards in your hand and count for points at the end. You can buy them and it is easier to make words, however, just like all the other wild cards they don't earn you anything for buying cards. So you have to balance the buying of letters and fame.

The game is designed take about 45 minutes. All of our games were under an hour. (We played games with 2, 3, and 4 players).

Paperback was designed by Tim Fowers and was his first release as an independent game developer. His follow up game is reviewed on Utah Geek Magazines website. Both are illustrated by Ryan Goldberry. The artwork adds to the fun feel of the game.

The first time we set up the game it took a little longer sorting out the cards. Learning the game was easy the first time and when teaching it to others. When the game was over, clean up was easy. Thought was put into not only the game, but its storage. The box design made setting up the next time we played quick and easy. The size also makes it easy to take to friends or when travelling.

There are variants you can also play with (themes, awards, and powers) which give additional challenges and goals to work into your word creation and strategy while building your deck.

Having played Fowers first two releases, I'm looking forward to what he is working on for his next game.

First published in Utah Geek Magazine.

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The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher, Book Review

Jim Butcher kicks off a new series, The Cinder Spires, with The Aeronaut's Windlass. This genre masher is a wonderful read that presents Butcher's fantasy storytelling in a new light. He steps beyond what he has done before to create new experiences in a new world with different elements.

I was given a copy of The Aeronaut's Windlass because a friend knew I had been reading the Dresden series. I had talked about the presentation of the characters and the setting along with a storyline that kept you looking forward to what could happen next. Here we see the same strength in writing and storytelling.

We are presented a new world that touches on the possibility of steampunk mashed in with futuristic elements and topped off with the right touch of fantasy. The entire city state lives in a spire. The levels that are brought out in this book are not just neighborhoods, but are separate communities within the larger one. Each brings out its own intrigue, prejudices, and specialties. Having to leave their own levels on a mission for the Spirearch are a young group guards.

The characters have distinct personalities that I was able to connect with ease. Each is presented so that when you are following the story through their point of view you know who it is and it is fitting to what they see and experience. There is Gwendolyn, who grew up in a rich house, her cousin Benedict, a warrior born, Bridget, who comes from a lesser house, and Rowl of the Silent Paws tribe. These guardsmen meet up and team up with Ferus and his apprentice Folly who are etherealists, and Captain Grimm and his crew of the Predator.

War is breaking out and this small group is thrust into the midst of a covert operation against the spire. The story moves quickly and I was easily moving through the 600+ pages of this book. Which, came to an end that was both satisfying for the story it gave me and left me with the desire to keep watch for the next book in The Cinder Spires.

Tabletop Gaming Impact

This is another great book for looking for characters, settings, and events you could bring into your own tabletop game. There are a number of great characters a person could play, or a game master (GM) could use as a non-player character. I will admit I have already done the latter.

The setting inspires ideas that can be easily used with minor adaptation from the book. The spire could easily be viewed as a space station or something developed underground. I'm not say that what is created here is generic enough that you can just dump it anywhere. What I am letting you know there is enough information here that a GM could take some of what Butcher presents to drive forward with their own ideas, which is really the goal of reading new works when you are a creative type yourself.

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Cultural Backstory—Positions of Leadership and Power

Medieval Court

 In every community someone takes leadership, or at least power. In smaller social organizations power and leadership are usually tied together. And, as the social structure grows, more positions for leadership or power are created. The size of your community will help in determining the power structure you should use and the complexity of it. In many situations there are more than one structure developing, which is another consideration.

There are always exceptions to how things develop. This is going to be a discussion on general terms that can be used for understand some of the possible socio-economic power structures and how they might be best applied for your setting.

Basic structures where leadership and power are combined are in societies where there are smaller groups of people like a family unit or only a few families. One person, usually becomes the dominate leader. There might be others who share some of the power, but there is going to be one person deferred to when it comes to making decisions for the group. You are probably already thinking about the typical structure of a family. One parent is the dominate leader, the other shares in some of the power and responsibility and the children are responsive to the leadership.

A ship's captain

As a community grows, so do the responsibilities of leadership. This leads to additional power structures being developed or utilized and more levels. Small towns of history provide good examples of some of these changes. A community council of elders is utilized. Other times a family becomes the town leaders, either by taking control or by consent. Because there are more people involved conflicts of interest arise and there usually is a need to have the person take decision making to the new level of judicial decisions.

Some of the new roles move from leadership positions to positions of power. Power is the ability to enforce. This can be done in a beneficial or malicious manner. In earlier times there were a number of power bases within societies to fill different roles.

Leadership and power was settled into monarchies. A ruling family not only took leadership, but also the right to enforce the law. This sounds bad, but it depends on how the two are combined. Monarchies, just like any form of leadership that has power can go for societal gains or personal gains.

Knowledge roles of leadership and power were also centered in guilds. Some of these carry over into our current society. They may still be called a guild or have taken on other names. They might not even be as organized, but the same functions still exist. When people are certified to be able to do a certain job it is through this form of mechanism. These can carry into futuristic settings, the Navigators' Guild of Dune is an example.

Power bases can be strictly for the good of a group or an individual. By good here I mean self-serving. Most fantasy settings have thieves' guilds and assassins' guilds. Very similar in structure are the gangs of modern day. The names have changed, but the function is still pretty much the same. The choice and method of activity is what really makes the difference.

Wainwright Guild Symbol

Power bases can be overt and covert within the community. Even the ones mentioned above are examples of both, but there are secret societies with large memberships and small. Adding a coven to a gaming location creates a secret power structure for possibly for fewer people within the community. But, their actions could have far reaching consequences.

The power structures you choose can make for entire series of adventures for your party members. This is easily seen with the idea of rooting out the evil. But working up through a guild structure can create all sort of political intrigue, just like working up through the king's court.

Leadership and power structures can also feed into one another. The leaders of one organization might be working with or competing against others. Guild wars, gang wars, labor strikes are examples of these types of conflicts. Also, remember that the ruling Baron, Duke, Councilman, Mayor, etc. probably have someone else they are subject to.

One final point is power is fluid. Throughout our own history we can point out where power has risen in a group or individual and then moved on to another. Sometimes these can happen in violent ways while other times it happens calmly. But, change happens. If you don't like the way the structure is playing out in your setting, it can change.

A covert power

You are probably already thinking about the groups with leadership and power for your location. Each area where leadership and power are going to be focused could be further detailed. In fact, each could, and do, have volumes written about how they obtain their roles and maintain them.

For gaming purposes, having an understanding of who has leadership, and who has power, is usually enough to get you by. The longer you use the location the more notes you will develop and the more defined it will become.

If you have a comment, suggestion, or critique please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.

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Captain Emmanuel "Em" Hasworth of the Sea Angel (Human expert/fighter Level 2/8 D&D 3.5 core books)

Captain Emmanuel Hasworth has made his living on ships since he was a boy. He started out as a cabin boy because he came from an established family that could get him placed. He understood he was in a position of privilege and what that would mean for him later in life. However, he never felt like he was really all that far above the sailors working the deck.

As he grew in stature and position Em remembered his early lessons of place. Working to build trust between him and his officers and crew has led to developing a code of conduct he applies to himself and those serve on his ship. This means he maintains a regime of caring and training for himself and his crew.

Captain Hasworth's ships have always been some of the best run ships with few disciplinary problems. This doesn't mean that there hasn't been any, but Hasworth has a well-seasoned crew and new hands are added expectations are clearly laid out from the beginning, and the consequences are also clear. He promotes training for all levels of his crew. The training even goes beyond how to raise a sail. This has led to some of his hands finding new positions in port, which in turn has led to better support for Hasworth and his other officers. For many this means that he is Captain Emmanuel Hasworth even when he is not on his ship.

Hasworth maintains his looks to be the captain whenever he may be viewed by one of his crew, or extended crew. This means he is rarely seen out of uniform (which includes his studded leather armor) or allow himself to be seen ruffled by a situation. He keeps himself groomed and his manner is almost always under control. It is like the man is never surprised by the situation he is in.

He is known to have friendly commentary with his crew. He respects and utilizes their knowledge, but still requires protocol to maintain discipline. This same level of personal discipline is also maintained when not on his ship. He may visit a tavern with his crew, but he would never allow himself to even become tipsy in their company.

Captain Hasworth is in his mid-fifties and is still fit. His skin is weathered from the years of being at sea, but his blue eyes shine out from under his brown and gray hair with an intense, but friendly, look. He is of average weight and works at maintaining himself. He is even known to train and teach in fighting techniques at The Flesh Golem when the ship is in port.

His wife, Clair, maintains a house in the city. They have four married daughters. And even though Em can tell you what his last manifest contained he usually has a hard time remembering how many grandchildren he now has. Clair prompted her husband to name his new ship the Sea Angel (which was approved by the merchant house he works for) as a tribute to Elinoire Whitewash because of the help she provides to sailors and their families. The Hasworths have also made contributions to maintaining the fellowship house.

Emmanuel "Em" Hasworth (Human expert/fighter Level 2/8 D&D 3.5 core books)

Str 14, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 16, Chr 16

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

HP 83

Initiative: +1

AC 17 (22 with combat expertise) (studded leather +2, masterwork light wooden shield, dex +1)

Attack base +9/+4

Melee Attack +13/+8 (+8/+3 with combat expertise) (longsword +1 d8+5/17x2)

Ranged Attack +11/+6 (composite strength (+2) longbow +1 d8+2/20x3)

Fort +7, Reflex +3, Will +8

Feats (10): Alertness, combat expertise, greater weapon focus, improved bull rush, improved critical (longsword), leadership, power attack, skill focus (captain), weapon focus, weapon specialization

Skills (83) (#denotes skills from expert class): #balance +4 (3), #climb +7 (5), #diplomacy +14 (5/8cc), intimidate +8 (5), #jump +7 (5), knowledge (nature) +4 (4cc), #listen +10 (5), #profession (sailor) +8 (5), #profession (pilot) +8 (5), profession +11 (captain) (10 cc), #sense motive +12 (5/8cc), #spot +10 (5), swim +4 (2), #use rope +4 (3)

Languages: Common

Magic: ring of sustenance, studded leather +2, longsword +1, composite strength (+2) longbow +1, several potions

Other mundane items: as fitting the campaign

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Beatrysel by Johnny Worthen—Book Review

There are horror stories that make you jump from the unexpected. There are others that make you feel the creepiness of a deranged individual or situation. There are also that come back to you to make you think about the story, looking for the little details that made the story, and you jump. Beatrysel by Johnny Worthen is one of the latter.

Beatrysel is a great combination of the classic horror thriller combined with a murder mystery being solved by the police. The descriptions were intense.  Characters were presented with enough detail to give you reasons to question everyone's motives or connection. I was drawn into the characters because they have traits like myself or people I know. They are presented as real people dealing with real problems, who, by their own design or the design of others, found themselves needing to deal with a horrific situation.

Beatrysel deals with the occult. A magus has created and summoned a demonic presence of love. He puts all of the aspects of love he can comprehend, but he neglects anything taken to an extreme can turn dark. Putting those attributes with a creature that doesn't have flesh and blood, but desires to live in that state, what could go wrong? That is the premise of the events taking place. The story is picked up after the creation and the initial summoning. You are along for the ride to figure out what happened and who did it.

The various aspects of what love is are also dealt with as the main story unfolds. As a reader I was taken through the thoughts and feelings of characters learning their motivations and their responses to their lives to understand how each defines love. From the different perspectives I think there is at least one character every reader will identify with. I am not saying every reader is one of these characters, but, they are relatable. These are intertwined with their personal path of beliefs.

Johnny Worthen

The backdrop of using different belief systems provides a level of the unknown most people are not familiar with. Even if you are, you can allow that this is not trying to present the alternate religions in a bad light, just another means of living and understanding life and its many aspects, and in this case love.

The different storylines come together to an understanding of what has been happening. But with dealing with love, and the different aspects that can lead to other emotions, is it ever really ended?

Beatrysel was a fun read that kept me moving through the book. If you like psychological horror, I think you will enjoy it also.

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