Compromise and Conceit

Infernal adventuring…

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An Australian statistician and role-player living in Japan, interested in the theory and practice of role-playing…

Category: Fantasy

  • Archipelago Campaign: The Valley of Gon

    The Valley of Gon is a disputed land between Ariaka and Hadun, that is occupied by feuding warlords who vie constantly for control and riches. It formed as a separate political entity in the aftermath of the long border war between Ariaki and Hadun. This war came to its exhausted conclusion perhaps 300 years ago,…

  • Archipelago 28: The Iron Hand

    The Wrathbreakers have been investigating a mysterious puppet-master in the city of Estona who uses printed notes to dispatch various mercenary and criminal groups on shady missions. They are also attempting to track down the former apprentice of the wizard Siladan, by finding the boyfriend they think may have harmed her. All they know about…

  • Re-reading the Mists of Avalon in Light of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fall From Grace

    Update[2023/12/6]: This post is getting a bit of attention, but it’s actually only the first of a series of posts exploring this topic. Here is the full list, which I will update as I write them, so that those interested in this journey down memory lane can follow me all the way to its grim…

  • Archipelago 27: Sailing Close to the Wind Again

    The wrathbreakers are on the trail of two difficult problems: where is Sara, Siladan’s lost apprentice, and who is the mysterious and powerful wizard who is trying to kill them? They know that Sara had a boyfriend in the docks, who they are trying to find, and they know that the powerful wizard uses notes…

  • Archipelago 26: What monsters you make of them

    The Wrathbreakers are searching for a missing apprentice called Sara, and also trying to find the person who hired mercenaries to skin and gut selkies on the coast west of Estona. They know that Sara was spending time with an older man she called her “starfall”, at the docks, and they also know that the…

  • Archipelago 25: Desperately Seeking Sara

    Standing at the limit of an endless ocean Stranded like a runaway lost at sea City on a rainy day down in the harbor Watching as the gray clouds shadow the bay Looking everywhere ’cause I had to find you This is not the way that I remember it here Anyone will tell you it’s…

  • Archipelago 24: Notes From Underground

    The Wrathbreakers have returned from investigating what they thought was a band of wreckers, and are ready to investigate its patron. In the course of their investigation they discovered that Estona’s lost ships were not destroyed by wreckers, but by a small group of Selkie who were exacting revenge on the hunters who had killed…

  • Archipelago 23: In Dark Waters

    Kiss me goodbye Pushing out before I sleep Can’t you see I try Swimming the same deep water as you is hard “The shallow drowned lose less than we” You breathe The strangest twist upon your lips “And we shall be together… ” The Wrathbreakers have stumbled upon a strange cave complex while they were…

  • My Campaigns are Combat-lite: The “You’re not like other girls” of GMing

    I recently posted some of my criticisms of the Genesys combat system to a forum for Genesys-related material, and received a surprising amount of resistance to the idea of making any changes to the rules. In amongst the resistance there were a large number of people telling me “you shouldn’t be doing that much combat…

  • Archipelago 22: For hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee

    The Wrathbreakers (for so they are now called) have rested for two months in Estona. They have passed the month of Settling attending to mundane matters in the town – shopping for weapons, making connections in the Church of Salt and the Academy, cleaning out and refurbishing their stronghold, and resting after their month of…