Xaositects

Troika! had been glaring at me from the shelf for a good long while. I love the system's take on Fighting Fantasy mechanics. I love the ideas and the art and the community that churns out zines and content with frantic aplomb. But I get to the end of the book and read the introductory adventure and my enthusiasm comes to a screeching halt. An adventure... in a hotel? Daniel Sell, Troika!'s author, is showing us that the book's whimsy isn't a joke. This weird is real and you just have to deal with it. I'm sure some folks can take this adventure and roll with its vibe, but the thing just stopped me cold. So the book stayed on the shelf. Naturally, I continued to collect every Troika! zine I could find because the art is exquisite and the ideas are infectious and I am a collector/hoarder. I even stacked up a pile of adventures I thought I could run. I imagined I could concoct some kind of Planescape/Spelljammer flavored Troika! adventure I ...

The World Rent in Twain: Angkea, part 2

Rendworld, the world rent in twain, is my own fantasy setting. In “The World Rent in Twain” series I expound on this setting like a lunatic to all who will listen. The Hachuswaylo River The Hachuswaylo is a mighty river, green with algae and wisdom. It flows from its birthplace, Tanuerah, all the way out of Duaidar, through the realm of the Mottahr, and into distant lands unheard of by the Angkean people. This Great Green River forms when the Green River meets the Uerahn river, and the resulting delta is the site of the city of Tanuerah. Though both rivers are slow and shallow, one fed by rain and the other by spring, the Hachuswaylo combines the best attributes of both and is wide and fast moving. Legends surround the Great Green River; some fringe cults say it is a goddess of the mountain in and of itself. Though rarely treated harshly, the Cult of the River is new and rather unpopular due to its narrow focus and demanding personal requirements. Regardless, the river is uni...

Eberron through the Lens of its Novels

I’m new to the Eberron bandwagon; I'd paid no attention to the setting before D&D 5E. I did, however, get caught up in the fervor and joy of its adherents during the lead up to Rising from the Last War . As is my wont, I voraciously hoovered up any and all books on the setting, scouring ebay for the D&D 3.5 and D&D 4 setting books and player guides. As much as I read and absorbed and enjoyed, I felt trepidation towards running games in the setting. There was some fundamental spirit, ethos, or attitude I was failing to grasp. Thankfully, as the setting predates Hasbro’s axe of D&D novelization, there is plenty of fiction to convey what I was missing. I just finished reading (listening, as it were; I’m a recent audiobook convert) a pair of Eberron trilogies. I decided to start at the beginning, picking up "The Dreaming Dark” by the setting’s creator, Keith Baker. After that, I decided to try "The Draconic Prophecies” series, by James Wyatt. ...

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