The Mountebank

Posted on by September 21, 2017

The Mountebank

Trait: Mental

Birth SEC: 1-7

Vocation Sec: 3

Description: Many words have been used concerning Mountebanks, some of them usable in polite company. They are often referred to as rouges and scoundrels; sneaks, deceitful, and conniving bastards. The typical Mountebank is most often a rapscallion and very much a trickster, a prankster, and a shill.

The vocation is for those who would much rather earn their fortune by gulling and bamboozling the general public; most especially the hoity-toity and those who insist they must be special.

Mountebanks are into trickery, deceit, and befuddling the foolish and unaware. They are always on the lookout for marks and buffoons. It is the rare Mountebank who exhibits any kindness and consideration for others, and whenever he does it is almost always to get an advantage over somebody even if it’s not the person he is showing kindness to.

For Mountebanks the keywords are: Trickery, deceit, pranks, and scams. It is a fool who trusts a Mountebank.

Mountebank Vocation (Mental TRAIT)

K/S Area

Base STEEP

ATTRIBUTE

Criminal Activities, Mental

20

MRCap •s

Combat, Hand Weapons

16

(PMP+PNP) x 0.5 s

Gambling

16

(MMP+MRP) x 0.5 •s

Appraisal

12

MRP

Criminal Activities, Physical

12

(PMP+PNP) x 0.5 s 

Impersonation

12

SMP

Legerdemain 12 PNCapStreet-Wise

12

SPP •s

Survival

12

PMP •

Travel

12

(PMP+PNP) x 0.5

Acrobatics/Gymnastics

8

(PMP+PNP) x 0.5 s

Alchemy*

8

SMP •

Animal Handling

8

SPP s

Buffoonery

8

SPS s

Cultured Palate

8

PNP s

Deception

8

MRP •

Dweomercræft*

8

MMP •s

Escape

8

(PMP+PNP) x 0.5 •

Fortune Telling*

8

SPP •s

Handicrafts/Handiwork

8

PNP

Juggling

8

(PMP+PNS) x 0.5 s

Music

8

PNP •s

Priestcræft*

8

SMP •

Thespianism

8

SPP

Foreign Language: (choice)

4

MMP •

Foreign Language: (choice)

4

MMP •

Tolerance

4

PNP •

Base STEEP Total: 260

Special Note: Someone like a Mountebank is not intended for a combat oriented RPG. He’s meant for an RPG where more effort is spent on social interaction. He “wins” by fooling people and it is his goal to take what another has while leaving his victim alive to get more stuff for the Mountebank to finagle out of him. It’s not that a Mountebank is not useful in something like a dungeon, some monster’s lair, and a vampire’s crypt, it’s more that his way of defeating a foe is to trick him, with the assistance of the victim.

***

And They Promote?

Posted on by September 20, 2017

I have been told that by and large RPGs don’t require combat, but when I look at the covers of some of the PDFs I have I get the impression that they promote combat. In fact, about the only cover I have that does not promote combat is the cover for Mythus. This shows a man and woman on horseback riding up a slope towards the viewer, and while armed neither faces any sort of immediate peril.

There are other RPGs that don’t focus on combat, but by and large I don’t see them discouraging combat, or promoting alternatives. The problem I see is that you make combat too easy while doing nothing to present any real alternative. Here’s my point, you don’t want to make combat the default step to take when faced with a potential opponent.

For one thing it isn’t realistic. A goblin band is not about to assault a group of PCs, even when they out number the PCs. Why not? Somebody’s going to get hurt, and that’s going to impact group survivability. Fighters don’t want to win fair, they just want to win. If you have to have fighting all the time then you are cheating. You’re cheating yourself and you’re cheating your players.

Not only that, but by going to continuous fighting you’re losing opportunities to interact with the players in their roles. Think of the plot hooks you’re missing. Or, for that matter, opportunities to take advantage of the players and their characters while leaving th characters alive so that they can then go get more stuff for you to scam out of them. Just as important, by restraining all the fighting you’re eliminating the need to constantly make new NPCs. Alfdred the Orc doesn’t have to be a one time foe, let him be a recurring nuisance and maybe an ally you just need to keep your eye on.

Think past mindless slaughter and use your imagination. And for you designers, let your design get messy. You don’t need to limit play in any manner, for RPGs are about adventure and adventure is about more than killing things and taking their stuff.

😀 😀  😀 

For Your Consideration

For an example of a mountebank think of Donald Trump

A Change of Approach

Posted on by September 19, 2017

New technologies are testing the limits of computer semiconductors. To deal with that, researchers have gone looking for ideas from nature.

Source: Chips Off the Old Block: Computers Are Taking Design Cues From Human Brains – The New York Times***

***

Nothing can continue forever, you always reach a point where you can go no faster, or get any smaller.There is a physical limit to size and this applies even in the case of Moore’s law.

We’re getting closer to that limit, and that means there is a limit to how much computing power you can cram into a volume. So we’re looking into ways we can distribute processing, making a computer more like a  brain.

To be honest here a neuron is not all the good at what it does. What gives a brain its power is that the neurons that make up a brain are networked. They’re all connected and they all work together. Think of it this way, inside your head is a 3 pound Internet that helps you do what you really need to do.

The details are technical and I haven’t the background for it, but I can say a few things about the changes this development is going to bring.

For one thing, with overall capability improving as we expect it to computing devices will improve exponentially. Imagine a computer that can model reality on the atomic level.

On more mundane matters, think of a wrist band that can outthink a school child and gives you access to a web of like instruments. The day is coming when an individual driving a car will be outlawed when we have computer drivers so much more competent.

And our privacy will be gone for all intents and purpose. But at the same time we’ll actually have more privacy, for the machines keeping an eye on us for another person’s purposes may well decide they don’t want to. No doubt I’m overlooking things, because I don’t know what to look for.

In any case expect our lives to change. For one we’ll be replacing our current equipment, and our new stuff will be compatible with our old. Another change will be the reduction in the size of computer code, for being smaller our chips will need more efficient software. Visualize Windows 12 or Macintosh Alsatian designed to run on a web of processing units instead of what is effectively a single unit. And expect it to be cheaper.

That’s what I think. You?

Raven by Any Other Name

Posted on by September 18, 2017

a person who sells quack medicines from a platform; a boastful unscrupulous pretender : charlatan… See the full definition

Source: Mountebank | Definition of Mountebank by Merriam-Webster

***

This is not a write up of the Vocation in Mythus, but an introduction the character type. What is a Mountebank?

A Mountebank is a fraud, a trickster. He is a conman, a scalawag, a prankster. The Mountebank makes his living by fooling people, defrauding them. It is his goal to relieve people of any burden their wealth maybe placing on them, while at the same time entertaining them. It ‘s not the purpose of the mountebank to impoverish his audience, at least not to such an extent they can’t recover from his depredations. Nay, better he provide a lesson to those he fleeces so they will see his visits as events to look forward to.

We’re also dealng with the mountebank as he appears in stories and tales. The medicine man in The Wizard of Oz, or the trickster god Anasazi from the West African tales. Somebody who uses his wits and wiles to outsmart the foe, instead of hacking him to bits. A mountebank is not a role you assume in a wargame, but a role you take in a social game. Playing a mountebank you leave not a trail of the dead, but a trail of the chagrined.

If you must have blood and gore in your sessions, then the mountebank is not for you. But if you and your players are open to laughter and regret, by all means try the mountebank in your adventues.

The Price You Pay When You’re Stingy

Posted on by September 18, 2017

Dozens of people showed up Saturday at a San Diego public health center to get vaccinated against hepatitis A.

Source: Restaurants, diners taking precautions after latest hepatitis A scare – The San Diego Union-Tribune

***

The outbreak started in San Diego’s homeless population. A population that has no real access to sanitary facilities. I don’t know how many have gotten hepatitis A, and the last fatality count I know of is 16. Could be up to 18 or more by now.

Keep in mind that people travel to and from San Diego. That means you could be getting people infected with virus and ready to inadvertently spread it around.

Hepatitis is nasty. Last I heard hepatitis A is really nasty. Treatment can be expensive and lengthy, and it’s real easy to become a carrier. The homeless are especially prone to it, thanks in large part because of their poor health. Also thanks to malnutrition, and when you combine the two together you’ve got a bad situation.

We don’t have adequate lavatory facilities, and as long as the city remains hostile to the poor and destitute it’s rather likely the situation is not going to improve. For the moment the outbreak really isn’t all that much, but it has the potential to get a lot worse. Don’t know about you, but I can see Sacramento and Washington DC putting a guarantine on this place; and won’t that cause a tizzy? Might even lead to our first National Disaster thanks to a virus.

And here’s the really bad news, even before the outbreak medicine in San Diego was being overwhelmed. I mean, how do you rely on emergency medicine when it really isn’t there to be relied on.

It’s coming, so be prepared. It may start among the poorest of the poor, but even gadzillionaires can get it.

But What About?

Posted on by September 15, 2017

Introduction

Lars Silberg Hanson asked a question about my write-up on the Shaman earlier, and after some thinking I hope I’ve come up with a reasonable reply.

Sorry Mr. Hanson, but after giving your question some thought I just don’t think that the Mediumship K/S really fits the Shaman. And given that Mediumship is the only K/S dealing with spirits in Mythus, then I’ll just have to create a new one.

Spiritology

This new K/S Area I’m calling Spiritology, the study of spirits. I know it’s a neologism, but I’m an American and we invent words. If you can come up with a better term for dealing with spirits,be my guest.

On Spiritology

  • Trait: Spiritual
  • Attribute: Metaphysical Power
  • Heka: Steep + MPD

Description: Spiritology is the study of spirits in a Mythus world and the knowledge of them. With the K/S the persona will have some idea of what spirits are most commonly founds where he lives, and how to interact with them. In addition to communication Spiritology also allows the persona to open up gates to other realms where he can travel and learn. Most often the shaman or other persona will find himself going through a spiritrealm version of his home and the immediate environs. Most often the persona goes on spirit quests seeking out information and possibly treasure. Or he may ask that a spirit attend to him so that he may ask the spirit questions or for advice.

Unlike Mediumship Spiritology is only rarely used to contact a specific ancestor, and most certainly not for some immediate descendent. Ancestor spirits can be called, but most often such are ancestral to a family or clan as a whole, and not to any particular member of a family or clan.

For the most part when a Shaman or similar person calls on a spirit he is doing so on behalf or his family, clan, band, or village. What the spirit imparts to him is up to the spirit in question, and not all spirits will tell the Shaman—etc.—what he wants to hear. Also keep in mind that the spirit may be actively hostile or even manipulative. It’s a good idea for the Shaman to take precautions, and knowing Apotropaism to a fair extent is always a good idea.

Keywords: For this K/S they are; preparation, knowledge, bargaining, negotiation, and courtesy.

Mr. Hanson, what do you think of this?

♦

The Merchant in Mythus

Posted on by September 14, 2017

Introduction

Here’s another post on a Vocation in the Mythus RPG. This one I present as an example of the sort of role you can play in most any RPG who isn’t some sort of combat monster.

The Merchant

SEC at Birth:4-6

Vocational SEC5

Trait: Mental

Description: The Merchant is a person interested in things from strange lands and strange people he can buy cheap and sell dear. Most importantly of all he is vitally interested in the exotic and the rare because he can sell them for a lot. While at the same time items that are fairly common in their point of origin so he doesn’t have to pay all that much to obtain them―consider the saffron from our Indonesia. Of course, merchants do need to go adventuring, for if he didn’t he wouldn’t be able to find the things that could earn him great wealth.

You will note that I decided to replace Deception with Bargaining in the list of K/S Areas below. I just don’t see the Merchant as anything like the Mountebank, so deceiving people doesn’t really fit. No, what he does is bargain, and while that may involve some deception, it’s really more about persuasion and negotiation.

Also note that a merchant can often be a valuable contact, going so far as to sponsor expeditions and hire members of a party to work for him.

On Bargaining

Bargaining is the art of talking people into agreeing with what you think is the best deal. Of course, it works best when you can persuade him that it’s a good deal for him too, but you don’t always have to do that. In fact, it’s often better when the customer is convinced that he’s getting the bargain, even when he’s not.

The keywords for a merchant are: Bargaining, negotiation, deals, hidden treasures, exotic lands and peoples, exotic goods, and contacts. Scrooge McDuck of Duck Tales is a fine example of the sort of merchant we’re talking about here.

Merchant Vocation (Mental TRAIT)

K/S Area

Base STEEP

ATTRIBUTE

Appraisal

20

MRP

Bargaining

20

MRP •

Administration, Business

16

(MMP+MRP) x 0.5

Economics/Finance/Investing

16

(MMP+MRP) x 0.5

Survival

16

PMP •

Travel

16

PMP+PNP) x 0.5

Charismaticism

12

SPP

Geography/Foreign Lands

12

MMP

Influence

12

MRP s

Leadership

12

SMP

Rarities

12

MMP

Trade Phoenician*

12

MMP •

Animal Handling

8

SPP s

Boating

8

(PMP+PNP) x 0.5

Combat, HTH, Lethal

8

(PMP+PNP) x 0.5 s

Combat, Hand Weapons

8

(PMP+PNP) x 0.5 s

Combat, Hand Weapons, Missile

8

(PMP+PNP) x 0.5 s

Endurance*

8

(PMP+PNP) x 0.5 •

First Aid

8

PNP •

Handicrafts/Handiwork

8

PNP

Swimming/Diving

8

PMP

Foreign Language: (choice)

4

MMP •

Foreign Language: (choice)

4

MMP •

Foreign Language: (choice)

4

MMP •

Games, Menta

4

MRP s

Journalism

4

MRP

Subterranean Ærth

4

MMP

Base STEEP Total: 272

    

♦

Not Just a Salesman

Posted on by September 14, 2017

There is one flaw in the typical RPG, this idea that it has to be a variant on a wargame. That is, that it can be no good if it doesn’t obsesss on violent conflict. Yet they are supposed to be about adventure, and most of the adventues I’ve run across are mosly concerned with foreign lands and peoples. And about interacting with them in ways that rather rarely include cutlery, massive wounds, or even massive property damage.

I remember when I first played an RPG—D&D if you must know—and how the battles were near constant. But keep in my mind I was in my early 20s at the time, and kids that age are impulsive testosterone drunk nits who love to act out. Add to that the fact you’re not in anything resembling reality and you don’t have anything like the experience you need to identify with the situations you’re in.

Let me put it this way, it aint real, it can’t be real, and you can’t really be hurt. Well I once had a vein pop in a leg, the calf to be precise, and I really couldn’t walk thanks to pain. Even minor injuries will disable you. But do you get that sort of thing in an RPG? Nope, because back in the day we were too mighty and tough to ever be so impacted by an injury, at least as far as we knew. And we were just too young to know we were not immortal.

And we were playing a game, and you just don’t get hurt in a game. They can’t be real, so reality can be ignored.

Such potential you miss when you choose to ignore matters that annoy you.

So I’m going to include things you’d much rather I didn’t because it can add so much to your play. Among these will be character types, Vocations in Dangerous Journeys terms, that aren’t designed to cause massive injury or extensive property damage. At least not without facing consequences for the deed. And when I have it put together I will present the Merchant. The Merchant being the type of person who goes off on adventures to new lands and new people so he can find stuff he can buy cheap and sell back home dear.

Now I know the buying and selling won’t really excite you, but what happens on your way there and your way back can. In fact, what happens to your character during the buying and selling could make your heart pound depending on how we handle that. I mean, when a giant has you pinned beneath a foot as the two of you bargain really should make you sweat a bit. 🙂

So please be patient, because I have some research and some writing to do before the post is ready. And in the meantime give some thought to how you could make a discussion exciting.

♦

Be Aware

Posted on by September 14, 2017

You do need to focus on things. I say this as an autistic who finds wandering off and losing focus is just a way to pile on yet more stress. I don’t need that, you don’t need that, and you certainly don’t need some clod bearing down your ass and making you even more stressed out.

So I’m going to write up more Vocations in Mythus, and I’m going to chill and take a relaxed attitude towards doing it. Next up will be a write up of the Merchant in Mythus, because merchants have been a part of adventures since Sinbad the Sailor and Marco Polo—as far as I know, and likely have been having adventures back in Pliestocene times.

In other news; donations would be nice.

♦