Thursday, October 31, 2013

Everyday Items 2: Biomes, part 1: Plants & Fungi Part B



Plants & Biomes: Tundra

Tundras are basically cold deserts that thaw just long enough to let a dense carpet of shrubs, sedges, mosses, lichens and grasses. plants grow and reproduce. The water that melts from the permafrost into shallow lakes and marshes during the summer. During the summer months they are marshy, making it difficult to move due to the hindrance of standing water and vegetation, but provide cover to characters. The deeper the water and taller the vegetation, the more time it takes to go through it. During the winter, they refreeze over and are difficult to move because of the uneven surface.  If you would like some real world view of how someone survived alone, see the film "Alone in the Wilderness"

Some potential plots would be that:
  • The tundra is melting at an alarming rate, and the PCs need to find out why.
  • A certain moss is taking over vast parts of the tundra and the PCs need to know why. 
  • Shambling mounds have infested the tundra and the PCs must defeat them. 
 

Plants & Biomes: Taiga

Similar to the tundra, the taiga isn't home to many plant species., as well as having short summers, only 50-100 frost free days. Summer temperatures range from 20° F to 70° F and are mostly warm, rainy and humid. They are also very short with about 50 to 100 frost free days. These areas only get 12 - 33 in yearly in the form of rain, snow and dew. It is either hot and humid or very cold in the taiga.

There are not a lot of species of plants in the taiga because of the harsh conditions. The main types of plants you'll see are lichens/ mosses, evergreens clumped together to help protect the branches against the weight of  falling snow, sparse grasses, and a few berry bushes  This gives them protection from the cold and wind. The taiga is susceptible to many wildfires. Trees have adapted by growing thick bark. The fires will burn away the upper canopy of the trees and let sunlight reach the ground. New plants will grow and provide food for animals that once could not live there because there were only evergreen trees.



Some potential plots would be
  • Strange weather has been happening. It's getting much warmer (or colder) and the PCs need to determine why 

Plants & Biomes: Grasslands

Grassland biomes are large, rolling terrains of grasses, flowers and herbs. Latitude, soil and local climates for the most part determine what kinds of plants grow in a particular grassland. Grassland are regions where there's enough precipitation annually to support grasses, and in some areas a few trees. Precipitation is so erratic that drought and fire prevent large forests from growing. Grasses can survive fires because they grow from the bottom instead of the top. Their stems can grow again after being burned off. The soil of most grasslands is also too thin and dry for most trees to survive.

There are two different types of grasslands
  1.  Tall-grass, which are humid and very wet 
  2. short-grass, which are dry, with hotter summers and colder winters than the tall-grass prairie.
Temperatures generally range between -40° F to 70° F with a growing season of 100 - 175 days.Plants usually start growing when the daily temperature reached about 50° F. In temperate zones has between 10 - 30 inches of precipitation yearly. In subtropical and tropical areas grasslands get between 25" - 60" y There are two real seasons: a growing season and a dormant season. 

In temperate grasslands the average rainfall per year ranges from 10-30 inches. In tropical and sub-tropical grasslands the average rainfall per year ranges from 25-60 inches per year The amount of rainfall is very important in determining which areas are grasslands because it's hard for trees to compete with grasses in places where the uppers layers of soil are moist during part of the year but where deeper layer of soil are always dry.

The most common types of plant life on the North American prairie are Buffalo Grass, Sunflower, Crazy Weed, Asters, Blazing Stars, Coneflowers, Goldenrods, Clover, and Wild Indigos.

Some potential plot points might be:
  • Fires are sweeping through the grasslands endangering all who live there. It's up to the PCs to stop them
  • The grasslands are having a drought. It's up to the PCs to bring rain or water into the area somehow.
  • There is flooding and it's swept away several houses. The PCs are hired to dig ditches, and sandbag to prevent further damage. 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Everyday Items 2: Biomes, part 1: Plants & Fungi Part A

Image source http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/images/world_biomes_map.gif

The biome that a game is set in can affect many things. Oftentimes both PCs and DMs alike ignore (or at minimum downplay) this resource for storytelling, characterization, and plot?

According to Blue Planet Biones http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/
A biome is a large geographical area [consisting] of distinctive plant and animal groups, which are adapted to that particular environment. The climate and geography of a region determines what type of biome can exist in that region... All living things are closely related to their environment. Any change in one part of an environment, like an increase or decrease of a species of animal or plant, causes a ripple effect of change in through other parts of the environment.  
 Let me break this down
  • A large geographical area: The general types of biomes are: Tundra, Taiga, Steppe, Grasslands, Deciduous Forest, Chaparral, Desert, Savanna, Rainforest, Alpine, Cave or one of several types of Aquatic (more about these later)
  • Consisting of distinctive plant groups adapted to that particular environment. When considering what plants can grow in a certain area consider the following: 
    1. How much light the plant takes does it need full, direct sunlight? Does it do best with morning or afternoon sun?
    2. What types of nutrients/ soil does it need? How does it get them? Does it need to be fertilized, given a specific soil in order to thrive? What specifically does it need?
    3. What types of pollination does it need? Does it attract animals, insects, or both to do its pollination.
    4. How does it reproduce? Does it have animals eat its fruit (if any) and get rid of the seeds as waste? Is it blown by the wind to another location? Does it stick to an animal's fur and fall off? Does it simply send a new part of the root out and start a new plant that way?
    5. Is it natural or has it been changed over time? Keep in mind that man alters plants so that they are able to grow in certain areas through cross breeding and grafting?
    6. What type of temperatures does it need? Too hot or too cold of conditions will kill most any plant.
    7. Is it natural to the area or is it an invasive species? Was it introduced accidentally or purposely in order to fight something else and now it's out of control?
    8. How much rain/ water does it need? How drought/ flood resistant is it?  
  • Any change in one part of the environment will cause a ripple effect through the other parts. Consider the following :
    1. What will happen if there's a drought in the area? How will it affect not only the people, but plants and animals in an area?  Will it cause neighboring kingdoms to go to war to prevent their people from starving to death?
    2. How can the PCs fight an invasive plant species that chokes off everything else? Who put it there and why?
    3. During a war, there's a flood that causes houses, trees, and ground cover to be swept away, How do the PCs get around this natural disaster?
    4. There's a medicine that one of the PCs or their loved ones need made out of a rare plant. To what extremes will they go to get it?
    5. There's a plant which gives off spores that infest and control people, animals, and monster. The PCs must find a cure for this strange and vexing malady. 
    6. Crops of a certain type of grain have suddenly become inedible. It's up to the PCs to determine why. 
    7. Strange weather, dramatically affecting both plant and animal life has been occurring. Certain species of plants are dying off and the animals that eat it are becoming scarcer. Other, more hostile animals are taking their place. It's up to the PCs to set everything straight. 
    8. Despite being rare, a certain type of plant lived in the area, but in recent years, has completely vanished. It's up to the PCs to determine what happened and why. 
More on Biomes next time. 



Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Everyday Items Part 1: Antiques (Part C)

Bringing it all together.
Here's a table to help you organize your thoughts



Description
Item Name

Who created it? When did they do so? Where did they do so? How did they do so? Any Interesting facts about the creator of this object?

Who owned it? Can a line of ownership be established?

Is there documentation or history associated with this item? Was it anyplace famous?

How much did it originally cost? How much do people/ collectors value it today?

What was its purpose? Has it Changed?

Any other details?


Example

Description
Item Name
Woman in Red Painting
Who created it? When did they do so? Where did they do so? How did they do so? Any Interesting facts about the creator of this object?
It was created by Gnarm Patternsmith, a gnomish inventor, illusionist, alchemist, and engineer in the kingdom of Schervale  during the reign of King Urso III. The king commissioned it to be done 
Who owned it? Can a line of ownership be established?
The king owned it for many years, but when the kingdom was overthrown, it was taken during a battle.
Is there documentation or history associated with this item? Was it anyplace famous?
The painting was recorded in the royal treasury for the amount it was paid for, and later on recorded as a part of the spoils of war
How much did it originally cost? How much do people/ collectors value it today?
It cost 400 GP originally, and if someone recognizes its worth it would go for upwards of 600 GP. If someone doesn't know its worth, they might be willing to buy it for 150 GP
What was its purpose? Has it Changed?
It was painted originally to attract suitors for his daughter.
Any other details?
The painting seems to follow anyone looking at it around the room. Even though the woman herself is a real beauty, her piercing gaze makes people uncomfortable.







Monday, October 28, 2013

Everyday Items Part 1: Antiques (Part B)




Last time I covered the who and where of antiques. This time I'll cover the what, when, why, and how of antiques.

What is this supposed to be? Is it a weapon from before the cataclysm? Is it a piece of technology from a long forgotten era? Is it a ceramic bowl for summoning water elementals, so dust covered with grime that the PCs ignore it?

When is it supposed to have been made? Was it before the age of Dragons? Was it after the age of Elves? When it was made can help determine several things including:
  • What technology/ magic/ divine spells should have been available then (unless it was innovative for its time) to make the item. How the use of said technology or magic allowed the item to be made. If they didn't have the technology, or the spell had not been formulated, the dating is wrong.
  • What materials it should be made of. If an element had not been discovered yet, it shouldn't be available unless it was discovered before it was previously thought
How was it created? Was it a ring forged in Mount Doom? Was it water from the elemental plane of water permanently frozen into a bowl shape? Is the generations-old bondfire at the Mage's guild a permanent gate to the plane of fire? Is the painting an illusion or something else? Is the ceramic bowl double fired with a sturdy glaze and that's why it's nigh impossible to break

How much did it cost to make- both in terms of time and in terms of money and experience (for systems that use experience to create items). How much did the owner sell it for? How much is it actually worth?

Pulling all these pieces together next time.

 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Everyday Items Part 1: Antiques (Part A)

When dealing with antiques (whether in real life or in roleplaying games), the main thing you need to be concerned with is provenance. According to Wikipedia Provenance
refers to the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object.The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, paleontology, archives, manuscripts, printed books, and science and computing.
 Let me break these down one at a time
 Ownership: Ownership starts with whoever or whatever created it. Keep in mind that sometimes that the creator is not a person but a company, a patented process, a magic or divine effect, etc. Whether it's a painting, an invention, a sports item, a sign, a piece of pottery, etc If it IS a person consider the following:
  • Who created it? For a piece of art, what else are they known for, if anything? Is this a "one trick pony" who started and ended their careers doing the same thing but were excellent at it? Or were they geniuses at many fields such as:
      •  Michelangelo who was a was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer 
      • Leonardo Da Vinci who was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.
  •  Notable owners. Sometimes an antique isn't valuable because of what it is, but because who owned it. 
    • A crown might be an ordinary circlet of tarnished old metal, but the king might pay (literally) a king's ransom for its return because of its sentimental value (or to have it back in his posession)
    • Lee Harvey Oswald's gun that shot President Kennedy.
    • The wooden false teeth of President Washington
  • Notable Events: How did this item change history?
    • A pen is just a pen, but consider how much value a collector of presidential items might pay for one that signed a significant piece of law into effect.  
    • Baseballs are a dime a dozen, but get one that is signed by Babe Ruth, and you have a small mint on your hands. 
    • Anything Michael Jordan touched during his prime is worth money.
  • Notable Locations: How is this item important that it was where it was:
    • A Civil War Rifle known to be at the Battle of Gettysburg
    • A machine gun that was fired in WWII that was in Pearl Harbor
    • A piece of the moon brought back from Neil Armstron
 More on antiques next time.


Saturday, October 5, 2013

An alternative to looking at gravity on the planes

An alternative to looking at gravity on the planes 

Roll 1d6 to determine how gravity works on the plane

1) Gravity is static
2) Gravity is erratic
3) No gravity
4) Regular intervals of different types if gravity
5) Regular gravity with avoidable "bubbles" of erratic gravity
6) DM's choice

Gravity Strength, Roll a 1d6

1) Weakened Gravity
2)  Strengthened Gravity
3) Normal Gravity
4) No Gravity
5) Erratic Gravity Strength
6) DM's Choice


Weak Gravity 1d10

1-2) Gravity is 5% weaker. Jumping gets a +2 bonus, land speed gets a +5 foot bonus *
3)  Gravity is 15% weaker. Jumping gets a +4 bonus, land speed gets a +7.5 foot bonus
4)  Gravity is 25% weaker, Jumping gets a +6 bonus, land speed gets a +10 foot bonus.  Take 1/4 off falling damage
5)  Gravity is 35% weaker. Jumping gets a +8 bonus, land speed gets a +15 foot bonus.
6)  Gravity is 50%% weaker. Jumping gets a +12 bonus,  land speed gets a +20 foot bonus. Take 1/2 off falling damage 
7) Gravity is 60%% weaker. Jumping gets a +16 bonus, land speed gets a +25 foot bonus.
8) Gravity is 75%% weaker. Jumping gets a +20 bonus, land speed gets a +30 foot bonus. Only take 1/4 damage (or count all falling creatures & items as if they are under a "feather fall" spell)
9) No Gravity,
10) DM's Choice
* With weaker gravity until PCs get used to the gravity, all full body actions such as running or jumping are at a -4 check.  Adjustments take 1d8+2 minutes

Strong Gravity 1d10

1-2) Gravity is 5% stronger. Jumping gets a - 2 penalty, fragile objects 5% more likely to break, all objects weigh 5% more, land speed is reduced by -5 feet *
3) Gravity is 15% stronger. Jumping gets a - 4 penalty, fragile objects 15% more likely to break, all objects weigh 15% more, land speed is reduced by -7.5 feet 
4)  Gravity is 25% stronger. Jumping gets a - 6 penalty, fragile objects 25% more likely to break,  all objects weigh 25% more, land speed is reduced by -10 feet. Falling does 25% more damage.
5) Gravity is 35% stronger. Jumping gets a - 1 penalty, fragile objects 35% more likely to break,   all objects weigh 35% more, land speed is reduced by -12.5 feet .
6) Gravity is 50% stronger. Jumping gets a - 12 penalty, fragile objects 50% more likely to break,  all objects weigh 50% more, land speed is reduced by -15 feet 
7) Gravity is 60% stronger. Jumping gets a - 16 penalty, fragile objects 60% more likely to break,  all objects weigh 60% more, land speed is reduced by -17.5 feet 
8)  Gravity is 75% stronger. Jumping gets a -  penalty, fragile objects 75% more likely to break, all objects weigh 75% more,   land speed is reduced by -20 feet. Creatures that can only move 20 feet may make a 5 foot  or attack, not both.  
9) Add an extra 1d6 gravity to 1 gravity, increasing the difficulty accordingly.
10) DM's Choice
* With stronger gravity until PCs get used to the gravity, all full body actions such as running or jumping are at an additional -4 checks..  Adjustments take 1d8+2minutes

Direction of gravity (1d8)

1) Reverse gravity
2) Gravity to the right
3) Gravity to the front
4) Gravity to the back
5) Gravity to the left
6)  Normal Gravity
7)  Gravity bubble (roll 1d6, as above)
8) DM's Choice