DOCSLIB.ORG

Interactions Methods for Immersive Magic Systems in LARP Through

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Interactions Methods for Immersive Magic Systems in LARP Through Title Zach Laster Title Try it! Introduction What is LARP? Interactions Methods for Immersive Magic Game Design Spells Systems in LARP through Augmented Reality Interaction Design Prototype Zach Laster Design Positioning Mechanics Network University of Helsinki Department of Computer Science Evaluation Conclusions and Future November 22, 2013 Work Future Work Questions? Bibliography Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 1 / 21 Try it! Zach Laster Title Try it! Introduction What is LARP? Game Design Spells Interested in trying the prototype? Go here: Interaction Design www.cs.helsinki.fi/u/laster/2013/fall/AR/ Prototype larpcaster.apk Design Positioning Mechanics Network Evaluation Conclusions and Future Work Future Work Questions? Bibliography Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 2 / 21 Introduction Zach Laster Title Try it! The goal of the project is to craft a an interaction mechanic to Introduction enable magic in a fantasy roleplay game through the use of What is LARP? Augmented Reality (AR). Game Design Spells In order to accomplish this, a very basic game with a strong Interaction focus on magic was designed in order to set the baseline Design Prototype standards to acheive and test against. Design Positioning The primary target of this system will be live-action roleplay Mechanics Network games. Such a game is typically played in real-time and is very Evaluation much bound to the real world. This implies several limits upon Conclusions the allowable game mechanics, particularly with movement of and Future Work characters and the general lack of availability of real magic. Future Work Questions? Bibliography Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 3 / 21 Introduction What is LARP? Zach Laster Live-Action Roleplay (LARP) is effectively the live variation of Title pen-and-paper roleplay games games. They can range in Try it! setting, from historical recreations to high fantasy, and the Introduction rules between any two games can vary largely, especially on What is LARP? details of the execution of combat. For this case study, the Game Design Spells focus will be on high fantasy settings, where magic plays a Interaction Design major and obvious role. Prototype A large portion of LARP-style games, like most roleplay games, Design Positioning focuses on social interaction between players. Mechanics Network This differs from most computer-based games, which tend to Evaluation inadvertently eliminate social situations from games. Conclusions and Future One possibility to help bring virtual gaming back to a true Work Future Work social setting is to utilize ubiquitous Questions? computing[Bj¨orket al., 2001] in games. A combination of AR Bibliography and live-action gaming seems an ideal blend on that path. Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 4 / 21 Game Design Zach Laster Title Since we are focusing on the illusion of magic, the game rule Try it! Introduction set should be almost entirely magic dependent. What is LARP? In order to simplify interaction with the virtual world, the Game Design Spells magic system utilizes \wands" to cast spells. With this in Interaction mind, the two strongest influences on the game design will be Design Dungeons and Dragons and Harry Potter style magic. 1 Prototype Design Positioning Examples of spells a player could cast include Fire Bolt, Mechanics Network Flame Wall, Teleport, and Invisibility. Each of these Evaluation spells has fairly unique requirements from the game system. Conclusions and Future Work Future Work Questions? Bibliography 1The magic system of the Harry Potter lore is terrible and illogical, at least from a game standpoint, but the interaction itself is still good as a reference point. Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 5 / 21 Game Design Spells Zach Laster Title Try it! Flame Wall is the simplest spell, requiring only handling Introduction What is LARP? collisions with elements that move into it. Fire Bolt requires Game Design real-world collisions and physics, which is a step up from the Spells Flame Wall. Invisibility requires the ability to track an Interaction Design individual as they move and to apply an \invisibility effect” to Prototype them, regardless of pose. Lastly, Teleport is an advanced Design Positioning mechanic with multiple possible solutions, such as making the Mechanics Network user invisible and intangible (to in-game objects) for the Evaluation duration of transit or making the game world freeze until the Conclusions and Future player relocates. Work Future Work Questions? Bibliography Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 6 / 21 Game Design Spells Zach Laster Title Try it! Teleportation and Invisibility are staples of most magical Introduction What is LARP? game systems. While AR cannot directly produce any form of Game Design Teleportation, it may be able to create effects that facilitate Spells illusions of Teleportation, such as making the user invisible or Interaction Design pausing the game. Invisibility, on the other hand, is a very Prototype localized illusion, and might be possible using Diminished Design Positioning Reality. In-game objects are also possible to represent using Mechanics Network AR. This means that spells which would produce visual effects Evaluation directly, such as Fire Bolts or summoned creatures, are Conclusions and Future readily possible. Work Future Work Questions? Bibliography Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 7 / 21 Interaction Design Zach Laster Title Try it! Introduction What is LARP? In order to make the interface system as extensible as possible, Game Design we use hand-held \wands" to draw points in space. Spells Interaction These points can then be recognized as some form of Glyph or Design symbol. This recognition draws from normal character Prototype Design recognition using drawn points. Positioning Mechanics We can additionally handle direct gestures such as shaking or Network moving the wand in particular patterns. Evaluation Conclusions and Future Work Future Work Questions? Bibliography Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 8 / 21 Interaction Design Zach Laster Title For simple spells, a single recognized Glyph can produce a spell Try it! result, using on location and orientation. The simplest example Introduction is casting a Fire Bolt, which will originate from the center of What is LARP? 2 Game Design the glyph and travel in the direction the Glyph is \facing" . Spells More advanced spells could use larger, more complex Glyphs, or Interaction Design even multiple Glyphs chained together. The latter would Prototype require that the user have control over when they are creating Design Positioning particles. Ultimately, this does not affect the core premise of Mechanics Network the interaction. Evaluation Conclusions and Future Work Future Work 2 Questions? Assuming Glyphs are essentially 2D characters drawn in the air, this would give them a normal which is the direction the user was facing when Bibliography they drew it. Alternatively, the normal may face the user and the inverse normal would be the direction away. In any case, the Glyphs are highly orientable. Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 9 / 21 Prototype Design Zach Laster Title Try it! Introduction What is LARP? The prototype allows users can create virtual particles in the Game Design air. It is a networked system, which means that other users can Spells connect to see the same particles or to create their own. Interaction Design Ideally, wierless wands and visors would be available for such a Prototype Design system, but a smartphone can serve as well. The prototype is Positioning Mechanics built for Android devices, though only some are supported. I Network used a Samsung Galaxy S2 for testing. Evaluation Conclusions and Future Work Future Work Questions? Bibliography Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 10 / 21 Prototype Positioning Zach Laster The primary challenge that must be overcome is to accurately Title and precisely position the devices in space. Try it! Introduction Most positioning systems will not work for this context. GPS is What is LARP? the highest precision positioning built into most phones, and it Game Design can be off by ten meters when performing at its best. Spells Interaction Relative positioning using the in-built sensors such as the Design accelerometer have strong tendencies to drift, meaning that Prototype Design motion would be exaggerated and the particles would drift. Positioning Mechanics SensorFusion, which is applying all of the native sensors to Network Evaluation provide more advanced information, is better, but still produces Conclusions drift over time. and Future Work Wi-Fi based positioning can be utilized, but this is still error Future Work prone and requires very established Wi-Fi hotspots and the Questions? system must be trained to the network topology. Bibliography Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 11 / 21 Prototype Positioning Zach Laster Robotics has used Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for decades in order to build maps of a Title robot's environment, allowing it to traverse and navigate that Try it! Introduction environment. What is LARP? We can apply a similar approach using a camera built into a Game Design Spells handheld device to construct similar mappings. This will allow Interaction us to precisely and accurately determine the location of the Design camera in space. Prototype Design Positioning This approach has some drawbacks, particularly that the map Mechanics Network must be built in advance and is slow to make. However, it also Evaluation means that the prototype can be used anywhere and does not Conclusions require any devices beyond the used smartphone. and Future Work The PointCloud API was used to provide SLAM mapping Future Work Questions? mechanics for the API. The API was originally developed for Bibliography iOS and is being ported to Android. Because of this, it does not support very many devices yet and is not fully functional. Zach Laster (HY-CS) November 22, 2013 12 / 21 Prototype Mechanics Zach Laster Title Try it! Introduction What is LARP? A device running the prototype can determine it's location and Game Design Spells orientation in space.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Marvel Fantasy Role Playing Game
    MARVEL FANTASY ROLE PLAYING GAME A Fantasy RPG using the FASERIP System Table of Contents Character Creation ......................................................................................................................................................... 5 Race ........................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Origin of Power ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Primary Abilities........................................................................................................................................................ 6 Secondary Abilities.................................................................................................................................................... 6 Powers ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Talents ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Contacts ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Heroic Alignment .....................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • TALISLANTA MAGIC SYSTEM Second Edition Revised (SER) System V3.4
    TALISLANTA MAGIC SYSTEM Second Edition Revised (SER) System v3.4 Magic in Talislanta is a powerful but limited art practiced in as many different ways as there are cultures and races in the world. They key to understanding how magic works in the game is to remember that the largest part of the magical knowledge of the ancients was lost during The Great Disaster, and what remains is but a fraction of the spells, enchantments and magical items of that forgotten age. Rules Spellcasting is governed by Magic Rating (MR). MR = (INT+WIL+PER) ÷ 3. A magician may cast as many spells per day as his MR. The spellcaster rolls d20 + MR – Spell Level on the Action Table to determine the results of a spell. There are 15 Greater Spells that are commonly known across most Talislantan races & cultures. There are countless Lesser Spells with more minor effects that can be invented by the GM on the spot. There are dozens of lost Archaen spells that have to be unearthed during the course of play. These are initially known only to the GM and are often tied to particular magical races or traditions. There are over 30 different magical traditions which govern how spellcasting is performed, from Sawila Spellweaving to Cymrillian Wizardry to Rajan Necromancy &c. Each tradition knows certain greater spells and a few secret spells, and has spellcasting bonuses and limitations. Starting PC magicians know as many greater spells as their Magic Rating (eg, a magician with a MR of+5 would know 5 spells). Once all spells are expended, the magician must rest 7 hours to regain them.
    [Show full text]
  • Degree Project Level: Master’S Bringing the Magic Back to Structuralist Approaches in Fantasy Literature
    Degree Project Level: Master’s Bringing the Magic Back to Structuralist Approaches in Fantasy Literature Supporting Themes of Unity in Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicle ​ Author: Sarah Schroer Supervisor: Billy Gray Examiner: Carmen Zamorano Llena Subject/main field of study: English (literature) Course code: EN3063 Credits: 15 ECTS Date of examination: May 28, 2020 At Dalarna University it is possible to publish the student thesis in full text in DiVA. The publishing is open access, which means the work will be freely accessible to read and download on the internet. This will significantly increase the dissemination and visibility of the student thesis. Open access is becoming the standard route for spreading scientific and academic information on the internet. Dalarna University recommends that both researchers as well as students publish their work open access. I give my/we give our consent for full text publishing (freely accessible on the internet, open access): Yes ☒ N​ o ☐ ​ ​ ​ Dalarna University – SE-791 88 Falun – Phone +4623-77 80 00 Table of Contents Introduction 1 Establishing Patterns of Binary Thinking Between Hard and Soft Magic Systems 9 Madness as Mediator: The Whole is Greater Than the Parts 16 Conclusion 26 Works Cited 30 1 Introduction From witches and warlocks, wizards and sorcerers, spells and incantations, magical potions, wardrobes that transport you to another world, and even one ring to rule them all, magical elements or beings are considered to be the fantasy genre's main defining feature. But what are the different ways magic appears in novels? In 2007, fantasy author, Brandon Sanderson published an essay where he not only explained his personal guidelines for creating magic systems, but more significantly to the genre, he proposed a scale for defining the different types of magic.
    [Show full text]
  • Questing Feminism: Narrative Tensions and Magical Women in Modern Fantasy
    University of Rhode Island DigitalCommons@URI Open Access Dissertations 2018 Questing Feminism: Narrative Tensions and Magical Women in Modern Fantasy Kimberly Wickham University of Rhode Island, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss Recommended Citation Wickham, Kimberly, "Questing Feminism: Narrative Tensions and Magical Women in Modern Fantasy" (2018). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 716. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/716 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. QUESTING FEMINISM: NARRATIVE TENSIONS AND MAGICAL WOMEN IN MODERN FANTASY BY KIMBERLY WICKHAM A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 2018 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DISSERTATION OF KIMBERLY WICKHAM APPROVED: Dissertation Committee: Major Professor Naomi Mandel Carolyn Betensky Robert Widell Nasser H. Zawia DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 2018 Abstract Works of Epic Fantasy often have the reputation of being formulaic, conservative works that simply replicate the same tired story lines and characters over and over. This assumption prevents Epic Fantasy works from achieving wide critical acceptance resulting in an under-analyzed and under-appreciated genre of literature. While some early works do follow the same narrative path as J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Epic Fantasy has long challenged and reworked these narratives and character tropes. That many works of Epic Fantasy choose replicate the patriarchal structures found in our world is disappointing, but it is not an inherent feature of the genre.
    [Show full text]
  • Eiglophian Lodge
    Conceptualized by JACK VANCE and E. GARY GYGAX Additional Material by SHADRAC MQ Edited by GREG GORGONMILK Afterword by GREYHARP ABOVE ILLUSTRATION BY MOEBIUS EIGLOPHIAN LODGE E G L 0 0 3 M A R C H 2 0 1 3 This humble book of magical lore is hereby dedicated to BLAIR OF ALGOL, DAVID MACAULY and MATT SCHMEER and all the other OSR gurus who cast green fireballs on my imagination. FIGHT ON! 2 C O N T E N T S TURJAN OF MIIR 5 Fiction by JACK VANCE MAZIRIAN THE MAGE 20 Fiction by JACK VANCE THE D&D MAGIC SYSTEM 37 Non-fiction by E. GARY GYGAX ROLE-PLAYING: REALISM VS GAME LOGIC 43 Non-fiction by E. GARY GYGAX AD&D'S MAGIC SYSTEM: HOW AND WHY IT WORKS 52 Non-fiction by E. GARY GYGAX 3 JACK VANCE AND THE D&D GAME 58 Non-fiction by E. GARY GYGAX DYING EARTH SPELLS FOR D&D 63 Optional Rules by SHADRAC MQ AFTERWORD 91 by GREYHARP SOURCES 92 ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL HUTTER 4 TURJAN OF MIIR by JACK VANCE TURJAN SAT IN HIS WORKROOM, legs sprawled out from the stool, back against and elbows on the bench. Across the room was a cage; into this Turjan gazed with rueful vexation. The creature in the cage returned the scrutiny with emotions beyond conjecture. It was a thing to arouse pity—a great head on a small spindly body, with weak rheumy eyes and a flabby button of a nose. The mouth hung slackly wet, the skin glistened waxy pink.
    [Show full text]
  • SRP $ 79.90 Sword & Sorcery® — Immortal Souls
    SIMONE ROMANO & NUNZIO SURACE Sword & Sorcery® — Immortal Souls In Sword & Sorcery®, you control heroes with unique powers — legendary characters, brought back to life by powerful sorcery. Weakened by the resurrection, they grow stronger during the story–driven quests. Explore dangerous ruins, ominous forests, and the besieged cities of the Talon Coast. Fight together against the forces of evil — controlled by the game system itself — to save the kingdom and break the spell that binds their immortal souls. Sword & Sorcery is the ultimate heroic fantasy board game experience, with an advanced AI system for monsters, a high degree of character customization, and rich tactical options during battles. At the same time, gameplay is fast and dynamic, thanks to an innovative area movement and area control system, and to new features never seen together in a game of this category: — Ultra detailed 32mm scale gures — Solo or group fully cooperative gameplay, with no game master — No player elimination: when your hero dies, you continue to play as an ethereal soul — Ten different hero classes with hundreds of skills, weapons and spells to choose from — Sophisticated combat and magic system, using ten- sided custom dice and an intuitive cooldown system for spells and skills — Modular boards, allowing the creation of endless new quests — A deep, story–driven campaign, with different paths to follow and multiple endings 13 + 30 + 1 – 5 SRP $ 79.90 SWORD & SORCERY — IMMORTAL SOULS RELEASE MARCH 2017 ORIGIN CHINA PRODUCT CODE CASE QUANTITY CASE SIZE CASE WEIGHT PRODUCT SIZE PRODUCT WEIGHT GRPR101 3 pieces — — 40,7 x 27,8 x 8,9 CM — CONTENTS OF THE BOX: 1 Rulebook, 1 Storybook, 1 Book of Secrets, 1 Reference Sheet, 28 Plastic Figures 32mm Scale, 19 Double–sided Map Tiles, 8 Custom Combat Dice, 5 Double–sided Soul Gems, 5 Hero Sheets, 2 Master Enemy Scrolls, 244 Cards, 226 Tokens and Markers.
    [Show full text]
  • The Story of Epic Fantasy
    REALISING THE DREAM: THE STORY OF EPIC FANTASY ASHLEIGH WARD, B.A. (HONS) Department of English and Creative Writing Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law Flinders University Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS i. Summary ......................................................................................................................... 6 ii. Declaration ...................................................................................................................... 8 iii. Acknowledgments............................................................................................................ 9 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 10 1.1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF EPIC FANTASY ........................................................... 12 2. DEFINITIONS AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................... 18 2.1. DEFINING EPIC FANTASY ............................................................................ 19 2.1.1. Fantasy................................................................................................ 19 2.1.2. Epic Fantasy ....................................................................................... 31 2.1.3. Epic Fantasy: A Definition ................................................................. 35 2.2. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 38 2.2.1. Story and Discourse...........................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Magic in Fantasy Literature: Exposing Reality Through Fantasy Martin Cahill University at Albany, State University of New York
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY): Scholars Archive University at Albany, State University of New York Scholars Archive English Honors College 5-2012 The Role of Magic in Fantasy Literature: Exposing Reality through Fantasy Martin Cahill University at Albany, State University of New York Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/honorscollege_eng Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Cahill, Martin, "The Role of Magic in Fantasy Literature: Exposing Reality through Fantasy" (2012). English. 8. https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/honorscollege_eng/8 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College at Scholars Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in English by an authorized administrator of Scholars Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 The Role of Magic in Fantasy Literature: Exposing Reality through Fantasy By: Martin Cahill Submitted for Honors in English University at Albany, SUNY Directed by: Jil Hanifan May 15, 2012 2 Chapter 1 – Magic: Breaking the Border between Worlds There is no such thing as magic in our reality as we might find in fantasy literature. Instead, the “magic,” of our reality is more in line with theorist Tzvetan Todorov’s concept of the fantastic. Card play and parlor tricks, legerdemain and illusions: these are tricks created by human logic, and ingenuity. And even though we are aware of its falsity, we still hold our breath. This moment of hesitation is incumbent on Todorov’s signature definition of the fantastic: “The fantastic is the hesitation experienced by a person who knows only the laws of nature, confronting an apparently supernatural event,” (Todorov, 25).
    [Show full text]
  • Firewall Firewall
    Mark Johnson FireWall FireWall Mark Johnson AUT School of Language and Culture 2014 A thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Creative Writing 2014 Supervisors: Mike Johnson, Paul Mountfort i Mark Johnson FireWall ABSTRACT The following work, FireWall, constitutes the ‘creative practice as research’ component of the Master of Creative Writing degree. It is preluded by an exegesis explaining the aims and goals of the creative work FireWall, as well as a Postscript explaining what happens after the narrative is complete. FireWall is the story of four young men who flee a massacre they have been falsely blamed for in their homeland. They chase the culprits to a dead end in another land, only to find they have been caught up in a new, but related struggle for the lives of gods themselves. The four men begin to untangle the threads that led them to this place, learn how they survived the massacre, and what they will need to prevent another. Their pursuer from their native land learns of their innocence. As she investigates further, she plots the destruction of her own organization for their own parts in the massacre. ii Mark Johnson FireWall TABLE OF CONTENTS ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP ...................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... v EXEGESIS: THE AUDACITY OF OPTIMISM .................................................... 1 PROLOGUE: ...........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Alternate Preview
    By This Axe I Hack! A SWORD & SORCERY ROLEPLAYING GAME MADE USING THE BLACK HACK By This Axe I Hack! WELCOME TO A WORLD OF SWORD & SORCERY Before the dawn of recorded history, our world was a primeval landscape dotted with pockets of civilization; kingdoms, nations, and city-states surrounded by a vast and unforgiving wilderness teaming with danger and littered with the fallen ruins of an ancient empire of mighty sorcerer-lords and the remnants of older, darker civilizations. Based on David Black’s game-changing The Black Hack, By This Axe I Hack takes its cues from Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian and Kull of Atlantis, Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith’s Red Sonja, Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melnibone, and Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. By This Axe I Hack includes 18 unique Character Classes (6 warriors, 6 rogues, and 6 magicians), a magic system with 120 spells tailored to the sword and sorcery genre, over 70 special features to customize your Characters, rules for modifying existing Character Classes or creating your own, a huge assortment of men and monsters to throw at your Players, a number of optional rules to help you fine tune the game to exactly your liking, and a variety of random tables to help Gamemasters create their own Lost Age. By This Axe I Hack! Writing & Layout Leonard A. Pimentel Artwork Max Dunbar Dan Smith Special Thanks David Black Peter Regan Mike Evans Playtesting & Advice Josh Hoade Samuel Khan Dave Nicolette Jeff Oberg Shane Simmons Dwayne Wallace Dedication This game is dedicated to my two barbarians, Christopher and Nicolas © 2021 Leonard A.
    [Show full text]
  • Other Hands Issue
    The International Journal for Middle-earth Gaming Issue 4: January 1994 EDITORIAL: IN THIS ISSUE HAPPY YESTARË! Editorial: ith this our fourth issue, Other First honors for this new feature of Other Happy Yestarë! ................................. 1 Hands has successfully completed Hands belong to Tom Schneider, who has of- its first year of existence. We fered us an exciting adventure (which I had the hope that the new year will see fortune to participate in as a player) set in W Dunland during the War of the Ring, a prelude Communication............................... 2 many new (and renewed) subscriptions, as well as continued international interest in our jour- to the Battle of the Fords of Isen. Théodred nal. Everyone who has ever subscribed or con- sends a group of scouts to investigate rumors of Frontlines .......................................... 4 tributed to Other Hands over the last year an unholy alliance between the Wizard Saruman should commend themselves for having partici- and the Dunlending clans beyond the Isen. Depending on the evidence these spies are able Middle-Earth Down Under: pated in this virtually unique and unprece- dented publication. to uncover, Théodred may be able to convince An Antipodian Campaign.............. 5 his misinformed king of the true peril Isengard We have made history in producing the first represents (thereby foiling the deceits of Worm- journal to devote itself to a specific expression tongue). Depending on their ingenuity, those Winter in Ladros: Report on of Tolkien fandom which has heretofore been scouts may even manage to dissuade some of the a First Age Campaign.................... 11 the exclusive prerogative of a licensed, com- clans from allying themselves with the treacher- mercial venture.
    [Show full text]
  • D6 Magic System, Starting Position
    Introduction Vade Mecum of Magic makes the perfect companion to the magic system presented in the D6 Adventure Rulebook or the D6 Fantasy Rulebook. We give you explanations, clarifications, additonal guidelines, and more than XX new spells. So, if you just haven’t had the chance to pick up the D6 Adventure Rulebook or D6 Fantasy Rulebook, can you still get something out of this book? Absolutely! We’ve included a couple of new, simple magic systems that’re compatible with the full-blown version. We also give you information about the skills, so you can use the spells right out of this book. Need more spells? Check out the D6 Bloodshadows world- book! In it, you’ll find more than 60 spells, plus an extended spell failure chart, potions and other magical items, and new horror-inspired species packages. If you feel like trying your hand at making spells but don’t want to number crunch, West End Games offers a basic spell designer on its Web site (www.westendgames.com/d6/ makespell.html). Use it a few times to help you understand how the full magic system works. Expanding and Restricting the Aspects Introduction divination spells, it does not increase the difficulty of locating the target. This chapter takes a closer look at most of the spell creation Note that divination spells with a range and no area of effect aspects, clarifying fuzzy points or expanding on options. provide information about the first thing that it encounters that meets the criteria of the spell. The caster can only look in Area Effect one direction per casting of the spell, regardless of the spell’s The “one alternate shape” modifier allows the magic user duration, unless she includes the change target aspect.
    [Show full text]