Morda Level 14 NPC Lurker

Cheers,

Erik

* * *

Tess: A Modern Woman Faithfully Represented

Meet Tess.

In 2011, Tess is a typical young woman in her mid-20s: single, renting an apartment, pretty in a non-Hollywood way, not particularly religious but with a strong moral compass, laboring under crushing college debt, and unemployed without healthcare after the economic downturn of 2008. She hates being on welfare and aggressively pursues any and all jobs, but she often doesn’t even get an interview. The problem she runs into, generally, is being over-qualified in terms of education and under-experienced in terms of employment.

Tess suffers from acute (but not surgery worthy) ovarian cysts, which she keeps under control with a regular course of hormonal contraception she acquires from her local family planning agency. This is the treatment her doctor prescribed to her when she still had health insurance.

Being on the pill has little to do with preventing pregnancy: not that it’s anyone’s business, but Tess does not have a steady boyfriend and rarely has sex. While she isn’t strictly waiting for marriage, it is important to her to have a real, strong relationship before she’ll take that extra step with a boyfriend. She prides herself on working within her means to be responsible for her health and reproductive system, and honest with herself about her inability to afford to have children.

Tess is secure in the knowledge that even should the unexpected occur, at least she is on the pill. Ultimately, she will get to make her own choices about if/when she has children.

In 2012, the new Congress defunds the family planning agency in Wessex County where Tess lives, and as a result it can no longer provide Tess the medicine she needs. Her parents John and Joan are grappling with economic and personal issues of their own, such as John’s alcoholism, and Tess doesn’t want to pressure them to help cover such a personal or potentially sensitive issue (nor could they, even if she did). Tess has a pool of friends, but she knows that they’re dealing with the recession themselves and her pride would never allow her to ask for charity from any of them, unless it were a matter of life and death, rather than mere discomfort. Tess makes due with over-the-counter painkillers to dull the pain caused by the cysts growing freely in her ovaries.

At this point, being off the pill, Tess avoids sex entirely, developing a “prudish” reputation among her friends. Potential romantic partners who discover she’s not on the pill often assume she’s religious or trying to trap them, and most of her would-be relationships evaporate. Even on the few occasions where she’s tried sex not on the pill (insisting her partners use condoms), her ovarian cysts make the activity extremely uncomfortable. She feels trapped, but is determined to make the best of it.

Finally, after hitting the job boards very hard for months, Tess gets a secretarial job with an urban planning firm called Crick, Inc., which allows her to acquire healthcare and (hopefully) the medicine she needs to manage her cystic ovaries. Unfortunately, her employer (one Clara by name) doesn’t believe in contraception, so she doesn’t provide family planning coverage as part of employee healthcare. Tess has no legal recourse and no access to birth control otherwise—all the money she makes goes to rent, food, and other living expenses, and any extra would go to debt first. Even though the pill isn’t a huge expensive, she doesn’t feel she really needs it, so she decides to stick it out and forego the medicine for the time being, thinking that not having the pill is a small price to pay for having a job.

Tess likes working at her position, and develops a close relationship with the boss’s son, Angel. He is doing his part to save up money, hoping that one day he can move out of his parents’ house and maybe even start a family of his own. He is a sweet, good-hearted man who puts no expectations or pressure on Tess. Their meeting seems fated, and Tess quickly falls in love with him. She starts to think that even though life is hard, things might turn out for the best.

A new opportunity presents itself, in the form of a deceased relative (called Durby) who has left Tess a small inheritance. With some money, she feels she can finally start making a dent in her debt and even start saving. The young lawyer handling the case, one Alex by name, takes a shine to Tess and calls her in repeatedly to his office to fix small errors in the estate transfer or “go over the paperwork one last time.” She increasingly takes off work to do this, but Angel puts in a good word for her with his mother, the boss.

Ultimately, Alex starts inviting Tess on non-business dates. When Tess confronts him, he honestly confesses that he’s really just been trying to spend time with her, hoping that their relationship will grow into something more than just professional. Tess doesn’t have those sorts of feelings about him—indeed, he makes her extremely uncomfortable—but he’s in a position of power and she wasn’t raised to be rude. Thus, she politely but firmly refuses his advances, saying that she is only interested in him as a friend.

Alex continues to pursue her, however, “not taking the hint,” and she can’t just cut all ties with him, because then she’d lose out on this inheritance that would in theory provide for her and for her parents. Ultimately though, she has to confront him—he suggests they discuss this “important business” over dinner, and she agrees. At that dinner, Tess gives into Alex’s pressure to drink a little too much wine, after which he offers to drive her home but instead takes her back to his place where he rapes her.

Tess is devastated by this event, and it only gets worse when she reports it to the police. Alex contends that the sex was consensual—that she just had a few drinks and now she regrets that it happened, and as a respected lawyer, he faces little or no consequence for his actions. This is also devastating for Tess, not to be taken seriously by the authorities—indeed, the supposedly “sympathetic” police officers do nothing to help her, and she can feel their lewd gazes and sneers. Due to her health coverage not funding it, she also has to pay for her own rape kit.

Tess’s options for support are virtually non-existent. She loses some of her few friends, her parents are far away, her conservative employer considers unmarried women who have sex (regardless of circumstance) sluts and whores, and Tess is sure Angel would be crushed if she told him. Even if she dared report the event to Clara and risk being fired, her employee health coverage doesn’t provide trauma service or counseling.

Worst of all, Tess finds shortly thereafter that she is pregnant. She cannot hide this condition forever, and her employer eventually finds out. While she cannot openly fire Tess for being pregnant, she can and does make the work environment extremely hostile toward Tess, giving her the worst assignments and berating her in front of everyone at the company, including Angel. Ultimately, Tess has two choices: suffer increasing indignities at work or quit, which she ultimately does.

Unfortunately, medical bills are piling up—particularly with her cystic ovaries –and she has no family planning clinic to go to or health insurance. She can’t get another job, so ultimately she goes back to Alex—her abuser—to try and get the inheritance he’s supposed to be securing for her. She threatens him with another lawyer (which is a bluff, since she can’t afford one), and Alex relents. He explains that more complications have come up, and offers her a temporary position as a secretary at his law firm and provide prenatal coverage. He assures her that he feels terrible about the whole mess and it is, after all, the least he can do for the mother of his child. Tess has no choice but to take the job.

Doctors warn Tess that, considering her condition, giving birth might be dangerous and she has low odds of carrying the infant to term. But Tess doesn’t believe in abortion, her legal choice is being eroded by the Congress, and she doesn’t have the money to do it anyway. She could go to Alex for money, but she has firmly decided that she wants her rapist to have absolutely no part in their child’s life.

After six horrendous months of near constant pain, Tess eventually gives birth to a premature infant son, who dies after about a week of life. Alex shuns her after she “killed” his son, and he fires her from his law firm. Her old boyfriend Angel, heartbroken over her “betrayal” in giving birth to another man’s child, refuses to speak to her. Her parents are disappointed in her for violating her morals so badly. Her friendships evaporate.

The birthing procedure is extremely hard on Tess, and it takes her a long time to bounce back. She can barely get out of bed in the morning, let alone hold down so much as temp work more than one day a week. She should be on disability, but Alex offered her nothing of the sort. She can’t get unemployment, which has been discontinued by an increasingly conservative Congress. Finally her inheritance comes through, albeit less than she expected, so she has enough money for a while. Without a job or health coverage, she does little but stay at home and try to get better.

After a year passes and Tess is getting worse and worse, she finally pays out of pocket to go to a doctor, who discovers that her ovarian cysts have grown and turned cancerous after years of improper treatment. They are also inoperable, not that Tess could afford the treatment even if they were.

Tess dies alone before her 30th birthday.

* * *

Note from the author: When Hardy wrote the powerful Tess in 1891, he delivered telling commentary on the sexual mores, sexist double standards, and disenfranchisement of women in Victorian England. My adaptation is much less detailed (3 pages where the original is almost 600), and most of the place and character names are simply included as an homage to Hardy’s work. My version is purposefully streamlined to avoid distracting from the main point: Tess’s ultimately unsuccessful struggle to take control of her own destiny. (I’ve also changed the ending, which is even bleaker in the original.)

All in all, I hope I did Hardy justice in taking his primary theme and applying it to our modern sensibilities, particularly considering our current political cycle and the increasing war on women.

We’re going into an election year where many politicians are actively advocating the kinds of political things this story talks about: taking away health coverage for contraception, defunding family planning organizations, and basically doing away with the rights women have worked so hard over the last century to have recognized. It’s 121 years later, and we’re talking about going back to this?

I don’t know about you, but I have too much respect for women and for America to stand idly by and let this happen.

Sincerely,

Erik Scott de Bie

I had to share this piece of fiction, which was written by one of the players in my ongoing Forgotten Realms campaign. Ben plays Suriel, an elf invoker (a sort of priestess for those not up on 4e lingo), who is coming to terms with a destiny that involves the elves, the drow, and the Crescent Blade. (We’re using/subverting the Lady Penitent series.)

This particular piece guest stars such luminaries as Kyriani Agrivar, Lady Saharel (of Spellgard fame), a couple of my characters (Fox-at-Twilight in her 1480s incarnation, Lady Lorien from Downshadow), and a recurring and hated NPC (Xara, a rogue Lolth cleric and Suriel’s half-sister). And there’s one particularly powerful guest-star who shows up at the very end.

http://community.wizards.com/zephsright/blog/2012/04/17/dreams_under_the_crescent_moon

Also a piece of original fiction by yours truly: http://community.wizards.com/zephsright/blog/2012/03/16/the_shadows_gather,_a_short_story_about_suriel_written_by_erik_scott_de_bie

For those who want to read Ben’s excellent journal of our campaign from the beginning, check here (all the way back in January of 2010!): http://community.wizards.com/zephsright/blog/2010/01/28/journal_of_an_elf_invoker_1

Any questions, thoughts, feedback, ideas, etc, about the campaign? I’d be very happy to hear them.

Cheers

Thursday 8 pm Evergreen 1&2
Out of Alignment: Moral Ambiguity in Gaming
Sure, unwavering righteousness can be fun; but infallible heroes are boring – and the real world rarely breaks down into strictly good and evil. Why not make your players or readers wrestle with moral issues? Do the ends ever justify the means? Is the enemy of your enemy your friend? Is the villain evil, or just different? Come question your assumptions.
James L. Sutter (M), Dustin J Gross, Clinton J. Boomer, Erik Scott de Bie

Thursday 10 pm Cascade 7
Writing Tie-In Fiction
Many video games today have accompanying fiction which often provides a more detailed storyline of current events as well as past or future action.  Many roleplaying games have companion novel series expanding their worlds with characters, cities, and events that become canon.  Join our panelists as they discuss how a game’s setting is translated into a novel that, in turn, gives back to the game.
James L. Sutter (M), Jennifer Brozek, Erik Scott de Bie

Friday 7 pm Cascade 7
Expanding the Realms of Fantasy
Fantasy literature is not confined to a pseudo medieval world with kings, princesses, elves, and wizards.  Find out what other kinds of rich fantasy literature is out there waiting for you to discover.
David A. Page (M), Stina Leicht, Erik Scott de Bie, Irene Radford

Friday 10:30 pm Cascade 1
Erik Scott de Bie reads Shadowbane
A vigilante paladin sworn to a dead god must save the woman he loves from a city of thieves and murderers. Rated R
Erik Scott de Bie

Saturday 3 pm Grand 2
Autograph Session 2
Meet the writers of all those fabulous SF/F books, share stories, and have them autograph their novels (especially the ones purchased in Norwescon’s wonderful Dealers Room). All of our distinguished Guests of Honor will be present. PLEASE: so that as many fans as possible can participate, we will be enforcing a limit of three books to autograph at a time! Also attending this session: Alexander James Adams, Carol Berg, S.A. Bolich, Stan!, Shon C. Bury, Christopher Paul Carey, Monte Cook, Erik Scott de Bie, A.M. Dellamonica, Cymbric Early-Smith, Eileen Gunn, Leslie Howle, Heather Hudson, Nancy Kress, Jay Lake, Todd Lockwood, Edward Martin III, Morgue Anne, Sir R. L. McSterlingthong, Darragh Metzger, David A. Page, Benjamin Tate, J. A. Pitts, Kevin Radthorne, Ken Scholes, Lizzy Shannon, Jack Skillingstead, Gordon Van Gelder, Matt Youngmark

Saturday 4 pm Cascade 2
Fantasy as Social Commentary
Fantasy and science fiction have long provided “safe” ways for authors to discuss the real world they lived and struggled in. Examine fantasy realms and lift the thin veil to look at social critique on racism, sexism, religion, politics, and more.
Stina Leicht (M), Leslie Howle, Erik Scott de Bie, Kim Ritchie

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who *really like* the 4e FR. What is compelling about it to you? What feels different about it than in previous editions?

How do we build a common tone that reaches across the setting?

How do we keep both old guard fans and new converts from 4e?

Also, check out this Facebook campaign! The more likes, the more likely things will happen: http://www.facebook.com/EdsRealms

I wrote this story as a teaser/hook for my players to whip them up for the next arc, but I’ll share it here! Enjoy!

#

Suriel was happy.

She hadn’t often known true happiness in her young life, but lying there, entwined with Varzynthiir, gazing into his open but trance-heavy eyes, she felt it. Contentment. Peace.

She gazed down at where his hand grasped hers, black and pale fingers interwoven. Even in rest, he would not be parted from her.

It really was remarkable how pale she looked next to him. Her skin had always been dusky, especially since Corellon’s blood had cleansed her scars and she’d been able to expose herself to the beloved sun. But Varzynthiir took darkness to an entirely different dimension–his skin was truly black, like ink. If not for his stark white hair and gleaming red eyes, she might have thought him part of the night and not a living creature at all. When he invoked his skills as a shadowdancer, even his eyes turned jet black. Sometimes, she thought she saw shadow flit across him, even in trance–as now. She found it a little unnerving to stare into his wide-open eyes and know he was somewhere else.

Was he gazing at a dream, or reality? She could not tell.

Then Varzynthiir’s hand closed on hers, holding tight. His other hand moved toward his belt and Suriel smiled. “Again?” she asked. “Well all right, but not all of us are as durable as . . .”

She trailed off when he pressed a knife to her throat. She could not move. She could not breathe.

“I played this role well, didn’t I?” Varzynthiir’s lips split to reveal blood-smeared teeth. “Xara sends her regards.”

Suriel felt sharp steel kiss her skin.

#

Suriel jerked away, catching her breath for a scream.

Varzynthiir lay as he had before, in the bed they shared in the Fisher’s Friend tavern, with its hot and stuffy interior. His red eyes were wide open and staring at her. There was no knife in his hand, which lay like a dead spider on the pillow. A spider.

Terrified revulsion rose in her, and she tore herself away from the bed.

It had been a dream. Or else a vision.

“Corellon protect me,” she prayed. “Father . . .”

Had she been less flustered, she might have wondered why the word felt so natural, but just at the moment, she did not care. She needed air. She needed to get out.

Their room had a balcony, and she shoved through the doors. The rush of night air felt freezing in her shift, after the stuffy room and her sweaty nightmare, but she welcomed it. The cold was of the natural world–the gift of the gods–and it was good.

The trance was also the gift of the fey gods, but Suriel found that less just at the moment. Varzynthiir could take her into his trance, which they’d just started doing over the last days. It was far more intimate–though perhaps less pleasing–than most other activities they could do. Over time, she’d grown adept at trancing with him, though it invariably left her a bit weary. She felt exhausted now, as though her body had not forgotten the exertions of the giant attack.

The shadows moved behind Suriel, and Varzynthiir joined her on the balcony. Wiry arms wrapped around her and pressed her into an embrace that was blessedly warm against the night. Warm—and frightening.

Suriel pulled away, but Varzynthiir did not follow her. “I have displeased you,” he said.

“No, I—” Suriel bit her lip. Now was not the time to correct him about his obsession with pleasing her, rather than himself. “I just need a moment. Alone.”

He took her hand. “You are wroth with me. Let me fix this.”

He didn’t understand, or else he was up to something more sinister. Why had she even thought that?

Arcane power surged in Suriel, and she fell backward through darkness, teleporting out of Varzynthiir’s grasp to the street below. Their eyes met, Suriel shook her head to stop him following her, and she headed off down the cobbled road. He stood on the balcony for a long while—she could feel him watching her—then disappeared. Perhaps he was following her in the shadows as was he wont, or perhaps not. At least he left her to her thoughts.

She wandered Loudwater without a particular goal. The city had taken a beating, there was no denying it. Buildings lay in rubble, fires still smoldered here and there, and the streets were littered with corpses both man-sized and giant-sized. Lady Moonfire had summoned a massive fire elemental during the battle, and while it had proved decisive in defeating Nosnra’s attack, it had proved difficult to drive off. The creature had a tendency to break apart in multiple pieces and scatter in all directions. Ulik and Kadath were even now tracking them down.

Suriel knew she and her companions had won the day for Loudwater, but she couldn’t help but wonder what would have come to pass if they had not come at all. Would Nosnra have launched his massive attack without their provocation?

Should they have come at all? Obviously they could not leave innocents to be massacred, but they had their own important business to attend to. They knew hardly anything about the Eight who, by all accounts, threatened their very world. Waterdeep, the Feywild, Airspur, and now Loudwater—all of them seemed like distractions on their greater path. Did they simply keep wandering down dead-end roads, or was there some great connection Suriel did not see?

But this was all a distraction in her thoughts anyway. She couldn’t keep out the memory of the nightmare with Varzynthiir. And gods-damned Xara. Suriel thought she’d escaped Xara Baenre—her half-sister, if Xara herself was to be believed. Indeed, she’d seen Xara seemingly at peace in Arvandor. Why then was she still having nightmares of her? And why Varzynthiir? Didn’t she trust him by now?

Suriel found herself heading toward Lady Moonfire’s manor house, where the final confrontation had taken place. The building was a mess and completely uninhabitable until major repairs were done, so no one would be here. Suriel climbed through a massive hole in the wall where Nosnra’s dragon had tried to blast her way free, and picked her way carefully through the burned out interior. She could see perfectly fine by the moonlight: discarded clubs and broken blades, rubble from thrown rocks, and the hulking carcass of Nosnra’s trained dire bear. The people of Loudwater hadn’t managed to remove the huge thing, so they’d left it where it had fallen.

A faint reddish glow caught Suriel’s attention, and she half expected to look up and see Varzynthiir standing there. Instead, the constant glow came from deeper in the manor, illumining a massive statue—that of Nosnra himself. The Hill Giant Chief had made the mistake (not entirely his fault) of turning the stone giant emissary Laerthar into an enemy, and it had won him petrification. But where was the light coming from?

Suriel drew closer and her breath caught. One of Nosnra’s stone eyes was glowing alternately blue and red as if from an inner light.

It couldn’t be.

The giant was so tall that its face was out of her reach. Suriel had not bothered to bring any of her equipments other than the pouch she always wore, but she hardly needed her rod to work her magic. With an arcane word, Suriel tapped the statue, which groaned—cracks shot out around her fingers. She spoke arcane words, gathering the moonlight around her hand, and blasted the statue in the middle, making it shatter into a thousand pieces, which crumbled to dust around her. It was almost like the giant was falling apart anyway, and she’d only expedited the process.

She sifted through the crumbling stone and found what she was seeking: a spherical gemstone that looked red in one light and blue in another. Its light had dimmed, but when Suriel touched it, it sparked back to life. It rose up from her hand and began a casual, elliptical orbit of her head. Her mind opened to new possibilities—new connections she had not previously considered. Particularly if Nosnra bore one of the gemstones of the Eight.

All these events were connected. She could not quite see it, but she knew it. Given thought . . .

The shadows parted behind her, but she sensed it was not Varzynthiir. Instead, four humans—two men, two women—clad in black robes fanned out around her. They wore medallions shaped like discs of black outlined in bands of purple. The symbol of Shar, goddess of darkness.

“Is she one of them, do you think?” asked one of the women. “One of the traitors?”

“She must be, to be holding one of the Warlock Stones.” One of the men pointed to the gemstone in Suriel’s hand. “Do you think she killed the giant by herself?”

“Careful.” The second woman drew a bladed disk set with purple gemstones from within her robe. “I can smell the stench of the Moon Bitch on her. This one is blessed of the gods.”

“Then the Lady will be pleased when we slay her.” The final man stepped threateningly toward Suriel. He drew a wickedly curved kukri from beneath his robes. “We’ll kill her quickly and be at the City That Waits by dawn.”

The elf had not been idle while they spoke. Rather, her enhanced thoughts analyzed every possible tactical solution. With each option, she defeated one or perhaps two of the Sharrans, but not all four—not before they killed her. Her fault, she supposed, for thinking Loudwater a safe place to explore at night without her weapons. And she’d told her sworn defender to leave her in peace. All she had to her credit were the trinkets in her small bag of holding: some treasure and components for rituals, a broken ioun stone, two inactive stones, a purple gem from an ancient temple to Mystra, and . . .

Suriel drew out the shard of blade she had found in Starra’s Knives. She couldn’t really explain why the item seemed appropriate to hold, but so it did. She raised it front of her: a hiltless knife that caught the rays of moonlight and gleamed.

The Sharrans did not look at all impressed. The four priests fanned out around her, the men with daggers, the women with those bladed discs. Chakram, she realized they were called, though she could not credit the knowledge. Perhaps it had come from the ioun stone?

“Corellon aid me,” she prayed. “Hear your daughter in her time of—”

Inky blackness surrounded her, summoned by one of the priests. A shadowy shield spun around her, making the air chill and empty. Her moonlight faded, and Corellon felt entirely absent. What? A moment of panic struck–Suriel had never been without the Seldarine in her life–but she realized the gods were there, she just could not reach for their power.

“The Lady of Loss shows her favor,” said one of the women. “Her intercession has cut this one from the source of her power. If the Lady finds her of use, perhaps we should take her alive? No doubt one of us will enjoy her better that way.”

“Perhaps not better,” said one of the men. “But her screams will be sweet.”

Damn. There went Suriel’s chances. She could muster some useful arcane magic, but without Corellon, she could not even take one of her foes with her.

“Varzynthiir,” she murmured as she backed toward the destroyed statue. “If there was ever a time not to listen to your mistress, this was it.”

Even as the knife-wielding priests stalked toward her, hissing, something moved in the shadows. Suriel’s heart leaped.

Something glittered as it flew, end over end, out of the darkness toward her. She caught it by the hilt, holding it awkwardly. It was a longsword, slightly curved, but clearly not magical. It had no adornments of any kind. What was she to do with this?

“What?” said the nearest priest. “Where did that—?”

Suriel realized—of a sudden—that it fit her hand impossibly well. It was part of her movements, that without a sword, she would be naked. She felt like she’d been carrying a sword all her life.

The shard of moonlight in her hand glowed with a violent need, and she would assuage that desire. She pressed the bit of steel to the sword in her hand, and it fused to the steel, tracing along its edge like running silver. It grew around the blade, which became a sinuous whole that burned with inner moonlight.

And oddly, Suriel felt like dancing.

Then one of the priestesses who’d hung back gave a shriek that became a wet gurgle as her throat exploded in blood, and a shadowy form shot past her. The second priestess cried out to Shar and defended herself.

That was all Suriel could see before her attacks charged her. She parried one, moving with a speed and grace she wouldn’t have thought possible, and flowed into the next parry like a dancer. The blade moved to defend her of its own accord. She spun, dragged the sword across one man’s arm, and eluded the seeking blade of the other. This priest, increasingly frustrated, jabbed at her relentlessly, but she had no fear. She danced, parrying two cuts of a dagger before slamming the pommel into the man’s face. He crumpled.

The priestess screamed as her shadowy attacker drove blades into her, leaving her bleeding on the ground. Suriel’s heart went out to the woman, as evil as she was, but she didn’t have the time to think about that. Her own final attacker cast a spell, ensnaring her with a loop of darkness, but she cut it aside with her sword. The steel left a swath of moonlight in its wake, forming a shield around her that staved off the man’s darkness. He staggered back, dumbfounded, and a knife blade burst through his throat. He slumped to the ground.

Suriel was lost in the deadly dance—the grace and beauty of it, something she’d hardly even imagined for years upon years. She’d had her scars since she was very young, and hadn’t dreamed of dancing for others or even herself since then. Now . . .

She whirled to a stop, panting and thrilled in the moonlight spilling through the gap in the roof. All four of the priests were dead–cut expertly with only the least wounds necessary. It was brutal, but it was efficient. Familiar.

“Thank you Varzynthiir,” she said, reaching for him. “I—”

But the shadowy figure pulled away from her touch, nestled deeper in the darkness. Her savior drew back and was about to leave.

“Wait,” she said. “Who—?”

The shadowy man stopped and turned back. He stood in the darkness, but in the dim moonlight, his face was barely visible: a dark drow face covered by a black velvet mask, with one gleaming gold eye and one red eye. He smiled at her, revealing sharp white teeth beneath his mask.

Then the drow was gone.

#

http://www.margaretweis.com/mwp-online-store/13-marvel/51-marvel-heroic-roleplaying-basic-game

And my verdict? Pretty darn awesome.

Highlights from the first session (the Breakout event, which comes from the first few issues of New Avengers, by Bendis) saw:

1) Wolverine (played by Derek) taking out Carnage by himself and pretty much being a badass

2) Captain America (Rodney) directing the team to keep a bunch of the prisoners contained

3) The classic buddy team of Iron Fist (Chris) and Luke Cage (Dan) kicking some serious butt

and of course

4) The only one with, y’know, REAL powers–Ms. Marvel (me) taking out Count Nefaria by body-slamming him into Living Laser, who she then absorbed, and quitting SHIELD to join the Avengers (basically giving Maria Hill the finger) because damn, 20 xp.

Tonight saw us travel to the Savage Land (the next part of that story), where:

1) Wolverine assured Ms. Marvel they should not drink together because inevitably she would hit on him (it’s his curse),

2) Ms. Marvel apologized to Iron Fist after using his private jet to stab a T-Rex to death (mistakes were made)

3) Cap took out three velociraptors with his bouncing shield

4) Luke Cage fastball-specialed Wolverine into the thick of a gang of mutates

5) Wolverine intimidated a villain into fleeing in one attempt (he’s the best at what he does)

6) Iron Fist took out Vertigo after she put the emotional whammy on him about his feelings of inadequacy and intimacy problems

7) Ms. Marvel absorbed so much energy she took out two villains in one counter blast

Also, the session ended with Ms. M unlocking her old Binary powers, and she might explode next session. You never know.

(Can you tell I like playing her?)

Anyway, the game is pretty sweet. It rewards creativity: you build a dice pool based on your situation, drawing on your persona, your power set, your skills, and resources/assets (like Cap’s shield) that are at hand. Your power set is a series of dice you *could* add–generally of d6s, d8s, and d10s, which determine success and effect–you have to come up with why the dice apply. It’s less about how many dice there are as much as how likely those dice are to give you the numbers you need–generally, you need two fairly good results for your “attack” number and one decent “effect” die (the effect is determined not by what you roll, but by the size of the die–d8, d10, etc).

(Note: No d20s are ever used/harmed in the playing of this game.)

It also depends on whether you’re going solo, in a buddy sitch (two heroes), or in a team fight. Ms. Marvel, for instance, is best at team fighting (she adds a d10 to those dice pools), good at solo (d8), and only ok at buddy situations (d6). This pretty much reflects her style in the comics, too.

You also have specific uses of your powers (called SFX) which modify die pools or have special effects. For instance, when Ms. Marvel uses the SFX Energy Absorption to defend against an energy attack, it enhances her next use of her powers, be they a blast, super strength, or flight.

Your hero’s characteristics might also work against him/her, which you can do voluntarily (or the DM–the Watcher–can do). If you do this (adding a d4), or you roll a 1 as part of your dice pool, you get plot points, which you can spend to take advantage of enemy mistakes, empower your attacks, or pull off cool stunts.

I will say that the game is a little complicated and not that easy to get into, but once you’re there, it’s really fun for folks of all play styles.

This is a fun game, and I look forward to the third and final part of our Savage Land arc!

Cheers

Roll 1d20!

The result of this highly scientific operation yielded a 20. And since it’s a crit, that means I roll twice to determine TWO random winners! And the winners are . . . Mel McIvor, fan of comic fantasy and anime, and Stefan Gore, a longtime fan!

Determining my favorite entry was considerably harder! There were lots of entries that touched my geeky heart.

Honorable mentions go to Chris Plambeck, Justin Lance, Stefan Gore, Michael Winegar, Ben King, Dave Fortier, and Yuri Peixoto!

And you guessed it–8 candidates, 1d8!

The result is . . . 5, Benjamin “Tree” King!

So those are my three winners: Mel McIvor, Stefan Gore, and Benjamin King!

The grand winner has yet to be announced (or has he/she?). I can neither confirm nor deny that it was one of the peeps who entered my contest.

Thanks everyone for participating, and check your inbox for an email from me. I did, after all, promise signed bookmarks to everyone who entered.

Cheers

Let’s start with Sithe, one of the darkest characters I’ve ever written–a voidsoul genasi avenger, sworn to Shar, goddess of Loss and Sorrow. You’d think from that description she’d be a straight-up villain, but not all is as it seems.

Sithe, genasi avenger (4e)

Here’s a passage from Shadowbane that I think captures her character:

“There is a void within each of us,” Sithe said. “Whether we try to fill it with faith or with magic, with will or with love, each of us must accept that it remains–boundless as existence and infinite as nonexistence. Fill yours with hate, and you will be like me.”
“No,” Kalen said. “I have something more powerful than hate.”
“Oh?” Sithe eased into a fighting stance. “Then show me.”

Fun fact: In crafting Sithe’s character, I drew on my philosophy background, particularly on Existentialism and Nietzsche. Consider it an easter egg for those who, like me, have a degree that isn’t necessarily that applicable to the real world!

Happy Gaming!

Cheers

No doubt you’ve been reading about the amazingly awesome multi-author Crossing the Streams Contest. And perhaps you were wondering hey, why isn’t Erik involved in that?

Well, he is. That is, *I* am.

I’m arriving at the party a little late (as usual) but here I am to support your reading habits! Let’s get this show on the road…

CROSSING THE STREAMS

Running from now to the end of February, this contest (or rather, series of linked contests) involves not only myself, but over a mind-boggling number of other speculative fiction authors (novelists, short story writers, comic writers, the works!).

Most winners will win a signed book, from the author whose contest they won. (And yes, you can enter more than one author’s contest.) But one of you? A single lucky “super-winner” will receive a free signed book from each and every author involved.

Excited? I know I am!

THE SKIVVY

I, and my fellow speculative fiction writers (mostly novelists, but some short story and comic writers as well) have thrown in together to create something huge for you guys.

Here’s how it works: Each individual author involved is running a contest on his/her own site. The specific details vary from author to author; the contest I run on my site might be very different than the one on Ari’s site, or Marcy’s site.

Each of us will select two winners from the contest on our own site. Each of those winners will receive one signed book, free, from the author whose contest they won. So, for instance, if you win here, you’ll win one of my books. If you win on Paul’s site, you’ll win one of his, etc.

And as for the big prize, once the contests have ended, all the authors involved will get together and choose one single “super-winner” from all the entries on all our sites combined. This one lucky individual will receive a signed book, free, from each and every one of the authors involved.

That’s right: 15+ free books. Rock.

You can only enter each author’s contest once, but you may enter multiple contests. So you could enter here, on Matt’s site, on Jason’s site, etc. Heck, you can enter on everyone’s site, if you want. (And even if you aren’t selected as the “super winner,” you might win more than one of the individual contests. You never know.)

You can find a complete list of the authors involved, as well as links to their sites, below. But first…

HOW TO ENTER ERIK’S CONTEST

Note that these are just the rules for my contest. The rules for entry on other authors’ sites might be very different.

To enter for a prize from me, you need to do two simple things:

1) Post a comment on my website (erikscottdebie.com), Twitter (tweet to me @erikscottdebie), Facebook (tag me: “Erik Scott de Bie”), on one of my books on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or a similar medium where you feel comfortable posting and where people will see it. Make sure you mention the Crossing the Streams Contest in your comment.

2) Email me (erikscottdebie AT yahoo DOT com) the content of that comment and a link to where you posted it.

Note that you MUST fulfill both steps to be in the running for my contest. After all, I can’t declare you the winner if I just happen not to see your comment.

Entries must be received between February 1st and February 29th, 2012.

“What should this comment say?” you ask?

One thing you absolutely need to do is mention the Crossing the Streams Contest. This is about exposure for all of us authors, after all, and broadening everyone’s horizons.

Beyond that, no restrictions. I’d like it if you said something about me or what you enjoy about my work. (Obviously, if you post about one of my books on Amazon or B&N, you should mention the actual book!)

If you don’t know me or don’t know anything about my work, that’s fine too! Tell me something you like about speculative fiction in general—fantasy, science fiction, horror, whatever your cup of tea. (Note that you do not have to say anything about me or my work to win.)

Of course, I’d appreciate it if we could all keep all the comments positive, please! If you dislike my work, that’s fine, but abuse of me, another author, or anyone else online will be grounds for disqualification.

WINNERS

I will select two winners. One will be chosen completely at random, with no consideration given to how thought-provoking the comment may or may not be. The other winner will be chosen based on the content of the posted comment: did I laugh and/or cry? Throw things? Create you as a character in my next novel? Etc.

Note that you do NOT have to say anything about me to win. Just post a dedicated comment and email me about it.

ALSO! Anyone who enters my contest will receive an exclusive Shadowbane bookmark, signed by me, while supplies last! After the contest, I will mail said bookmark to you–help on postage will be appreciated but not required.

And of course, everyone who enters my contest (or any of the contests) is also in the running for the random “super-winner” selection.

PRIZES

My two winners, and the super-winner, may choose any one of the following prizes.

• Downshadow (paperback), a novel
• Ghostwalker (paperback), a novel
• Depths of Madness (paperback), a novel
• When the Hero Comes Home (paperback), an anthology
• Timid Pirate Bundle: Cobalt City Timeslip and Cobalt City: Dark Carnival (paperback), two anthologies
• Special Mystery Prize (dun dun dun!)

Winners will also receive a limited-edition signed bookmark promoting my most recent novel, Shadowbane, which is currently available as an e-book exclusive!

If you’ve got any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or email me (erikscottdebie AT yahoo DOT com)

Whose Streams am I Crossing?

There are a number of authors involved in this. You can find names and links below (more to be added).

All of these fine folks are worthy of your time and interest. If you like me, you will definitely find at least a few of these authors you will like just as much. Check out what they’ve got going on. See what’s up—what books they have to offer. Maybe buy some. This whole contest is about broadening everyone’s horizons!

As the elves say, “sweet water and light laughter until next we meet.”

Or as the orcs say, “get ‘em!”

• Ari Marmell
• Steven Savile
• Katharine Kerr
• Aaron Rosenberg
• Keith Baker
• Jon Sprunk
• Nathan Long
• Kevin Hearne
• Joshua Palmatier/Benjamin Tate
• Matt Forbeck
• Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell
• Jason Bradley Thompson
• Howard Andrew Jones
• Paul S. Kemp
• Eugie Foster
• Scott Oden
• Elaine Cunningham

Want to use the heroes (and villains) from my popular Shadowbane series in your campaign? Well here you go! Four NPCs, ripped from the pages of Downshadow, by Yours Truly.

Herein, I’ve composed statblocks to reflect four of my principle characters from Downshadow: the vigilante paladin Kalen, the amnesiac wizard Myrin, the sexy trickster Fayne, and the brutal dwarf assassin Rath.  These represent their power at some point in about the middle of the book, and hopefully contain few spoilers for those who haven’t played the game.

I figured, since I used these to run these characters as NPCs in my own game, it was just silly of me to keep them all to myself.

Heroes of Downshadow (4e)

You may notice the statblocks have a new monster type: NPC. This is to indicate that they can be run as allies alongside conventional PCs as DM-controlled NPCs or as a handy character for a guest player. I’ve done this many times at my table, and it’s worked out pretty well. They have fewer hit points than you’d expect a standard monster of their level to have, counterbalanced by healing surges (though not necessarily a way to spend them–that’s for leaders to help out with). They also each have a single action point.

Happy Dice Rolling!

Cheers

Today sees two new entries:

- Chapter 15: Journey into Darkness

- Chapter 16: The Plague Cave

Here they are, from the beginning through chapter 16: more than a year of play! http://erikscottdebie.com/2011/07/06/worldwalkers-campaign-summaries/

If you’re new to the story or want to catch-up real fast, here’s a who’s-who of the campaign! http://erikscottdebie.com/2011/07/06/who-are-the-worldwalkers/

Happy Reading!

Cheers

The article is IMO overstated and unbalanced (i.e. not talking about the vast majority of rescue adoptions that go perfectly fine), but it does make a valid point: not all people who work in Animal Rescue are good at customer service, advocate policies that people find comfortable, or even make sense all the time.

I suspect much of this is just personality clashes and poorly understood philosophy. Humans constantly misunderstand each other, particularly when they come to interactions expecting a different thing: would-be pet owners might expect a business transaction, while rescue workers think of it as an adoption event. And people get burned, feelings get hurt, etc. It’s also my impression that a number of people who work in animal welfare do so because they’re better with animals than people, so customer service isn’t high on the skill matrix.

Ultimately, my feelings about it are thus:

Yes, animal rescues can be extremely protective of their animals, which isn’t all that much of a stretch, since their mission is to *rescue* animals (mostly animals that other people don’t care about and/or protect, such as strays, surrenders, etc). This is a noble goal that is good for animal welfare but not always good for business or human interaction.

I think the core issue is whether one sees animals as “beings” or as “things,” and Rescues tend toward the “beings” angle. Sure, an animal isn’t a child, but it is a living being and can/should be a part of your life, not just some toy to play with. So certain precautions (such as making sure the animal is adopted into a stable home where the animal will be comfortable with guaranteed, unchanging support for the duration of its lifetime) are quite reasonable. Which is not to say some rescues don’t go overboard, and clearly some do. Anyway, that focus on animal welfare is how I understand the animal rescue philosophy, and it’s one I largely share.

Don’t let some experiences (yes, there are kooks) color the concept of a rescue or paint all rescues with the same brush. All my animals come from various rescues, and I have adopted them with no fuss and absolutely no problems.

Cheers

Today, amidst all the talk about MLK Jr., I got to wondering if we’re really moving toward his dream of brotherhood among all people, regardless of difference, or we’re just moving to a place where we’re better at hiding our prejudices.

What do I mean?

We seem to be pretty good at hiding our racism in politics. It comes across in subtle ways, like the constant attempt to paint Obama as the Other: he’s a Muslim, he was born in Kenya, he’s not a REAL American. And while none of those are overtly about him being black, would any of that fly if he were white?

There’s all kinds of sexism at all levels of American society as well. If you thought electing a black man as president was tough, we haven’t managed to elect a WOMAN yet. I wasn’t at all surprised that Michelle Bachmann was the first major GOP casualty–call her crazy if you want (guilty), but I think it’s still telling that she was the only woman on the field and we made sure she went away first. (Not to mention Santorum is at LEAST as crazy as she ever was.)

(And lest anyone think this is me indulging my liberal leanings, it isn’t. Obama has PLENTY to answer for, and the Democratic party has been anything but impressive for many, many years. What I’m saying here is about being an AMERICAN, not being a liberal or a conservative.)

Racism, prejudice, bigotry… these things are NOT American. They do not belong in our discourse or our society. A long history of crusaders for tolerance and understanding, including MLK Jr., has led us to this moment. We have learned the importance of embracing diversity and difference without prejudice.

So why can’t we quite manage it?

Racism is still an issue at all levels of our society, but what I really wanted to talk about here was prejudice against 10% of our country, across many ethnicities and both genders: homophobia.

Somehow it’s ok to be a raging homophobe in politics. It’s ok to say “naw, the gays aren’t real citizens, like us straight people,” and still have a promising career in anything but the looney bin. I don’t see how campaigning on an anti-gay marriage platform is any different from campaigning on a pro-segregationist platform (see politics in the 40s and 50s). And I *really* don’t see how you can equate consenual sexual acts between gay men with pedophilia or bestiality and still be taken seriously in modern politics. Seriously?

And while politicians who use these sort of tactics may not be bigots themselves (though Santorum, yeah, definitely a bigot), appealing to this sentiment still makes a politician complicit in it. If you make your politics about hate and intolerance, then you are about hate and intolerance, regardless of how strongly you protest your innocence.

So this day reminds me of where we need to go, and how far we still need to travel. It is our duty to stand up against prejudice and intolerance, racism and sexism, for any reason.

That is Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, and it’s our duty to see it done.

Cheers