Lightning is the purest expression of strength. Where it lands, grass burns, trees split, and men die. It is the fire born of water, creation and destruction in one dread instant. When men first dreamt of power, it was lightning that filled their dreams. When the Thunder  roared, they listened. You are part of a lineage of Kings. Not by blood, but by strength . Not the unbroken Imperial line, now smoking rubble, but of the crazed multifoliate dynasties of the Wizard-Kings of old, now cold ruin. Some forget that the wand was once the scepter, the sword not just an implement of ritual. Well, what are you waiting for? To prove them right? Lovis Corinth Wizard Skill:  1. Archeology . 2.  Weather Prediction  3.  Law . Starting items:  A medium sword, a set of fine blue robes ( unarmored ,) a good hat, a copy of the Brontologion , and two Implements of the Art . +1 SKLL per template . A Heir Apparent ,  Detect Magic , 2 spells, +1  MD B Scrying , +2 spe...

In the choking vacuum of the Machine Space, there are islands: sealed pockets of material in the mechanism of  the Structure , waiting to be cracked open and stripped bare by anyone with the tools to do it. Most are more dangerous than what's outside of them, filled with crushing mechanisms and hostile machines- they were not made for you, you rat chewing on the wires. It should be no surprise what happens to you. Yet, rare though they are, there are habitable places to be found.  The only trouble is finding them first. The Basin  is inside of a hollow sphere, with gravity emanating outwards from the center at a level roughly equal to earth's. Two massive steel obelisks thrust up from the ground and meet in the center to hold up the "sun" with their points. The "sun" is an array of impossibly bright spotlights which illuminate the entire space, with "night" only coming from a thick cloud layer which covers half of the spotlight array at any given t...

It's not what you know. Matter of fact, it's not even who you know. It's what you have . Everything in the world exists in relation to money. You especially. You don't really level up in Invisible Hands , at least not in the traditional way. Your personal power is wholly in relation to what is bought and sold- what you own, or what owns you. I've already defaced and devalued this setting once before, so why not do it again? So here's some Classes-as-Items. You may note a split between a monetary and XP price; these items, when bought, also require an investment of experience points to be used .  When found in the field, the dollar price is also the value for which these items can be sold.  You've made me an offer that I can refuse 'Cause either way I get screwed Counter proposal: I go home and jerk off I feel like it's worth noting that, at least for these items, you have to sell them off to get XP from their value. If you ever sell these items off,...

There is an empire broken apart, in flames, brother soon to be turned against brother in a war which will set the course of history forever. It's best to remember what you have before you lose it; hold tight in your hands the tools your mother made you, and hold close to your heart the words your father taught you. Memory awaits. Gerard van Honthorst Languages Morning Stars characters start with Lingua and one other language of their choice, plus one for each point of INT bonus they have. Characters are assumed to be able to read and write in the languages they know with a base level of proficiency. You may say, " PRIMEUMATON , why are these filthy past-century-equivalent people so literate?" Because it's more interesting to be able to interact with parts of the game than not. I once had an otherwise very enjoyable dungeon cut short by the fact absolutely none of us could interact with the puzzles due to not being able to read a language. If you insist on Trve Mvdcore...

Here's a sad story in six words. FOR SALE: RPG SETTING, NEVER RUN As bloggers, we have reams of loreposts and toneposts and appendices N and classes and bestiaries and all the things which a game is built  on- but a dearth of games. There are settings which exist solely as ideas in heads, lauded though they may be, awaiting the day they hatch from the skull that holds them. Look at all these settings from  The Nothic's Eye . Of the twelve of them, I think about three of them have ever been run. Three others have absolutely no mention outside of this chart. This isn't a specific callout post, just an easy example. Although Locheil does owe me thousands of dollars from the ill-fated Ashes to Ashes: the Motion Picture project, I expect this to be mediated by my various eastern European thugs. Anyways, the trouble with many of these great works and passion projects is that if you don't know the person who wrote it, it's extremely unlikely that you'll get to play it ...

The bandit is an underrated sort of monster, because it's a real monster. There are few fire-breathing dragons in our world. There are, however, a great multitude of people willing to do harm in order to get something they do not have. Read a history book. Mere men are capable of terrible things. It's our oldest trade. Unless stated otherwise, all stats are as follows: HD 1 (4 HP ), AC as leather , 7 morale Movement: As man. Morality: As man. Intelligence: As man. Attacks: +1 to hit , one weapon (damage as weapon.) The average bandit is poorly equipped. Their armor is piecemeal, their weapons well-worn. Murder may not be their first resort, but it's higher on the list than it is for most people. It's rare to find any who aren't willing to negotiate, even if it's on uneven terms. They are never, ever  alone. Want to generate a gang on the fly? 2d4+2  is a good minimum. Solitary bandits tend to have a very short career in a world where there are people who can eat...