WANDERING HEROES OF OGRE GATE MAP PREVIEWS

Just wanted to let folks know we are on track with Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate (we are just in the final review stages before putting it into layout to make sure there are no errors). In the mean time, I want to share some previews of the setting maps. 

This is a low-resolution version of Robert Conley's hex map of the campaign setting: Qi Xien

The hexes on this map are 30 miles each, and this just serves to give a broad overview of the most important region. There will also be a map of a place called The Banyan. This is a kind of frontier and is the focus of the Gazetteer chapter in the rulebook (we will release PDFs dealing with all the other areas on this world map). Most of the Martial Sects have retreated into the Banyan and so it is an ideal place for campaigns to begin. It is a region that embodies the Jianghu and Wulin. 

All of the campaign maps are hex based, because Wandering Heroes emphasizes exploration as an important aspect of play. However, we took a different approach with our dungeons and our world cosmology map. 

Here you can see Michael Prescott's cosmology map, which illustrates the nature of the world and provides a much bigger view of the main continent (again, this is a low resolution version): 

Michael Prescott also made a number of location maps, for dungeons and things of that nature. This is the Tomb of the Timeless Master, our big example for the Wuxia Dungeon: 

The Tomb of the Timeless Master is the largest dungeon-like map in the book by far. The other maps of this type will be Temples and Caverns such as important Sect Headquarters. 

These are just some of the things people can expect to see in Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate when it comes out. 

HISTORICAL REALISM IN GAMING

I've seen a lot of discussions online regarding historical realism in gaming. Personally, I really like history. I read way more history books than fantasy or science fiction books. Behind me, in my kitchen, is a shelf dedicated to my books on Imperial China. In my living room I have shelves devoted to Ancient Rome and in another room are my books on Islamic History, European History and the European Witch Craze. I also have a bunch of books on more general history, intellectual history, religious history, historiography, etc. So I can appreciate the pleasure of doing historical research for a campaign. But I also recognize many gamers don't care about this stuff. In fact, I have to acknowledge in my own campaign that many of the historical details I spend hours looking up, probably could have been easily swapped with a random invented detail and the players would not have noticed. 

Leopold Von Ranke,
the original GURPS afficionado

But online things can be different. I've seen some people get a bit zealous about historical realism. Not everyone. Most are just enthusiastic. But I've certainly seen it used as  bludgeon in gaming discussions. My feeling is, if you like history and you like making settings that abide by historically realistic details, I say go for it. But I also think there are times you might want to put that aside and be open to possibilities that are exciting but maybe less historical. At least, I find it helps breath life into my own campaigns when I do this. And I think even more importantly, Gamemasters need to decide how much real world history matters to them when they are running a game. Because if it doesn't matter much to you, it is entirely okay to take more of a Conan or Hercules and Xena type approach. History should be something that adds to your game, it is a well you can drawn on and explore, but it isn't a requirement. 

History is all about asking questions about the past, then interrogating the available evidence for answers. At its core it is a matter of finding the right questions. If you are GMing a world, whether it is from our own history or one built on historical analogs, questions naturally arise on their own: how does land ownership work? who controls nearby natural resources?  how much salt can a salt mine produce annually? how much how much is 120 tons of salt worth? what exactly did the grand council do on a daily basis? 

Each of these questions may have different answers depending on the period you are drawing from or playing in. Answering one question from this list could take five minutes or it could take two hours or more (and if you really want to be thorough about it, your probably not spending enough time if you find the answer in just five minutes). I've even gone days or weeks unable to answer what seems like a relatively simple question. It can be a matter of getting your hands on the right book or it simply being a question that historians haven't answered directly. If you are fortunate enough to be able to read the primary source material in its original language, then that might help you, but even then it can be difficult finding such documents. And if your setting covers a vast selection of cultures, it is unlikely you will be able to read primary sources from more than one or two of them without a translation.

I find when I am running a campaign, questions like this regularly come up. Because I enjoy it, I often answer all of them or as many as I can (or at least try to find some approximation that works). Still sometimes I have to move on. And for some campaigns, it really isn't worth the energy when I can just invent a detail myself. The point is, these take time, so you have to weigh any decision to answer these sort of questions against the fact that this time could be spent on building other campaign details. 

One issue GMs will frequently encounter is the questions that arise out of the need to run a game, are often not the questions historians ask when they write papers and books. This is why you will sometimes find a historical RPG supplement that doesn't seem to provide any real information on the nitty gritty of managing a day-to-day game (because most of the secondary sources the writers read probably addressed more general questions and only occasionally answered specific ones a GM might have). There are exceptions to this. If you learn the historiography of a particular topic, you can eventually find many answers to those difficult questions. There are also plenty of gamers and history enthusiasts online who have aggregated those answers. 

I notice that when I do invent details rather than answer the above questions, these sometimes give more color and coolness to the setting. It can just free me up more to make bold declarations like "There is an Ice City here, ruled by a mad king and filled with immortal inhabitants who don't die but whose bodies wither with time". I like that, so I give myself license to make things whole cloth where it feels like it would add something. But I also like having my campaign grounded in something that to me feels real, so I still spend a bit of time doing research. 

However my point is, I only do this because I enjoy it. Unless my players are all history nerds, it really isn't that important. They want consistency but they don't expect historical realism. This has been true of most groups I've gamed with. Unless the campaign is set in a specific period of history, and unless the tone of the campaign suggests historical realism, I find most gamers are okay with things being a bit fast and loose. 

"Are you not entertained?"

So if you have a setting that is vaguely Roman, you can go as deep as you want with real world Roman history, but you don't have to. There is nothing stopping you from taking a Roman veneer and using other elements for the actual social structures (either of your own invention or maybe even taken from movies and books). I like Rome, but I am not going to care if a GM runs a world with a Roman-like empire but it doesn't have the same social orders or the patronage system. If the GM decides it is run by a council of wizards and they enforce their rule through a network of undead knights, well that seems like a blast to me. 

Why this matters to me is because I occasionally see folks begin resenting history because of calls for historical realism where they don't necessarily feel it is important (or where it feels like there is pressure for them to demonstrate advanced historical knowledge). I think it is possible to be so enthusiastic about real world history that you can stomp the joy of it from others. So I'd rather it be seen as a positive tool GMs can draw on as needed, rather than a requirement to gain a sense of legitimacy as a GM. I like history, and I want others to like history, so I would encourage my fellow history enthusiasts who also game, to not use history as a weapon in conversation or to inflate one's own ego. Instead share it when it is helpful and encourage enthusiasm in others. 

I've done this myself. When the film Gladiator came out, I was excited because I had been reading a lot about Marcus Aurelius and writing papers on the Meditations. But I pretty much ruined the movie experience for anyone who happened to see it with me. It didn't fill them with a sudden interest in history, it just made them think I was a smart ass who clouded the fun of going to the movies by criticizing every little detail. After that I made a conscious effort to be more laid back and positive about my love of history. 

Historical Realism is a wonderful tool to have at your disposal. It also can form a strong foundation for a particular style of GMing that gives a world a very powerful sense of life. But it isn't a requirement. When trends become requirements, people react against them. Personally, I am more comfortable running games that lean a lot on actual history. But that doesn't make me better than the GM who just slams down a bunch of orc vikings and halfling pirates in a strange anachronistic hodgepodge. In fact, that GM is probably a little more creative than I am. I may have read more books about things like the Nika Riots, Imperial Chinese Bureaucracy but he or she probably read way more fiction, comics and fantasy novels than I have (which are great sources of inspiration for gaming). And I also find that the more I lighten up and allow for unusual elements to spread in my campaign (often at the expense of Historical Realism) the more playable the world becomes. 

WANDERING HEROES OF OGRE GATE: THE CAMPAIGNS AND THE BOOKS

I want to talk a bit about my own Ogre Gate campaigns and how these fueled the creation of the game itself (as well as its future direction).

Maps like this...

With every release we have been slowing down our process more and more to allow for better quality releases. We deliberately gave ourselves a long period to develop the Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate system and setting. This basically means there is almost no distinction in my own mind between my personal campaigns and the content of the rulebook. For the process to work, those had to be aligned as closely as possible. However I also needed space to try the setting with different groups of players. So the approach I took was one of a multiverse where each play group occupied a different universe. Occasionally when the parties intersected in a similar time or place, there is a ripple effect between them.

As a result I've amassed material in different notebooks: one central book for all campaigns and several smaller binders for individual groups. Because I know much of it is going to end up in Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate books, I tend to prepare very carefully and with an eye toward having it all organized toward that end. That means I write most things out the way I write them for publication and make my maps knowing I will need to hand them to an artist at some point. That allows me to playtest the material as thoroughly as possible. It also means that me and my players have seen the system itself in action over a long period of time.

...become maps like this...

I think the last bit is very important and it is why we don't release games as quickly as we used to (those who have been fans since Terror Network probably recall when we'd release new games every six months to a year, as well as regular supplements). That approach makes good business sense, but it wasn't enough time to run a system and setting material through the ringer the way players are going to do once they buy the game. I really started noticing this about the time we started working on Horror Show. So we made a conscious choice to spread out releases more, giving ourselves more time to playtest in longer campaigns.

There are different ways to playtest. One is the individual, focused playtest (where you test out specific mechanics, scenarios, etc). These are good when you are putting stuff together or when you need to test specific rules. But they don't give you as much information as a full length campaign. Things come up differently when there is more context, history and the stakes are higher. That is why I find more value in running systems over the course of longer campaigns during and after development.

You still won't have perfection that way. Even with focused and campaign playtests, you can miss things or not see certain problems and potential combinations clearly. But you get a much better sense of how the game plays and where it needs to be improved. You also are more apt to see where ideas that look great on paper or in theory, just don't pan out (this is why my Grudge Rules went through about four iterations before they reached the final state).

...and this

For me the bottom line is, if you aren't running the game yourself regularly, you can't really comment on it with any degree of real insight and it is hard to make a final ruleset that works over the long haul. It is definitely important to get input from play testers beyond your immediate group, but you have to be able to run the game at your table in a style that fits your own, or it loses that personal connection where you really understand how it works.

As an example, in Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate we had techniques that felt too powerful in focused scenarios so they were flagged. However we found that in a full length campaign their utility was often more situation-dependent. More importantly we learned that it was actually a good thing to have some techniques that are a bit more powerful than the others in a wuxia setting. If you think about the old martial arts movies, a standard plot line is a big villain has some great technique that others can't defeat, so the heroes have to invent a counter to match it. You also see scenarios where the hero relies on a particular Kung Fu Technique but meets someone who comes up with the perfect counter. For that to work, there have to be some rough edges, where certain techniques stand above the others. But you also need there to be room for players and GMs to respond and create new techniques. This is exactly what we did, allowing for a world of evolving martial talent. But the game wouldn't have developed this way had we not been doing regular, ongoing campaigns.

The rulebook for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate should be available very soon. After that, people can expect a full adventure module, several free or pay-what-you-want setting supplements and an expansion called Profound Masters of Ogre Gate (to help with higher level play). These will all be developed using the process described above (and a couple of them have been completed).

DISTANT REALMS: AN INTERVIEW WITH STEPHANIE MCALEA

Over the past year or so I’ve gotten to know Stephanie McAlea through her design work on one Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate project. Miss McAlea now has a Kickstarter project out called Distant Realms and it looks very interesting. She was kind enough to do a brief interview with me about it.

The Distant Realms Kickstarter can be found HERE.  

Brendan Davis: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your experience with RPGs?

Stephanie McAlea: I've been drawing maps since the age of 7 when my aunt bought me a copy of RISK and I became fascinated with places I could hardly pronounce like 'Kamchatka'. I discovered D&D with my friends about 1980 (I was 12) and we then moved to RuneQuest and Call of Cthulhu (primarily because of its grown up content and dark horror). I worked in numerous jobs including design studios but started drawing maps professionally again (taking a leap from my gaming table to my work station) about 10 years ago. Since then my art has vastly improved and I have worked for Miskatonic River Press, Golden Goblin Press, Chaosium, Mongoose, Cubicle7, Cakebread & Walton, and others.

Just over a year ago I came out as a transwoman and I've found the gaming community to be overwhelmingly supportive. Don't believe all the negative hype about the gamer community. It is the internet that can seem like its full of meanness, not gamers in particular. Currently, I'm drawing a fantasy map for client, drawing for my patrons on Patreon (who have been awesome!), running Delta Green at my local club in the daytime and then switching to playing Pathfinder in the evening.

BD: What is Distant Realms?

SM: Distant Realms is the gazetteer for my own fantasy world of Atuannu, but most people refer to it as Leviathan, the name of the main continent. I’ve been running games of RuneQuest in the setting for 20+ years and it has evolved somewhat from what was originally the world of Orb from the Avenger books (the map started me off, it’s amazing) and is now a fully fledged setting with some of the most popular races but also some new ones and some twists on the usual tropes. I decided to release the gazetteer before any core book to gauge desire for the setting and also to give GMs the chance to use the setting without being tied to a core rules system they might not want.

BD: What is the aim of the kickstarter?

SM: The aim is really to get an initial product out there for the setting. If it does well we'll move onto the core book, adventures, sourcebooks, and campaigns. If it just clears the target or fails then we'll end it with the gazetteer. Kickstarter is a great way to get your product out there but we'll see if there's a desire for it.

BD: This is a systemless setting but it sounds like there will be guidelines for scaling NPCs and other details to peoples’ preferred systems. How is this achieved?

SM: I chose systemless because I can never decide between RQ6 or BRP when I run it! Also, many gamers are at the point in their hobby where they have enough rules. They know and trust 1 or 2 rules sets and don’t need another... Setting fluff however, that’s another matter. Of course, no sooner had I launched the KS than backers started asking if there was going to be a rules system attached. With that in mind, we have a stretch goal that attaches 5 of the most respected rules settings out there; Pathfinder, Legend (D100), D&D5e, Fate, and Chivalry & Sorcery. It's looking like we'll keep the setting book separate (due to the sheer number of pages required to support 5 systems) and we'll release a free PDF booklet with all the stats etc in. The PDF will be available to everyone, even if they didn’t back the kickstarter, but only 3 months after the backers have theirs.

BD: The setting has connections to our own world and history. I like that it’s fantasy but has gates that can bring in modern characters from our world. What impact does this have on the game?

SM: Not as much as you think. The initial scenario is a camera crew that gets lost while looking for Bigfoot for a trashy TV show. They stumble through a gate and are captured (that's all I'm saying on that!). Yes, they have camera flashes, technical equipment, spectacles, but they soon find that batteries run dry, and things break. A week or two after arriving they're no different than the average Leviathan except without the knowledge to farm, fish, or support themselves (unless they generate a Bear Grylls type character, of course). A small marine squad could, conceivably, take over a town but 5.56 ammo is great against a sword but isn't that good against magic. And ammo runs out of course.

Leviathans seem to have a much better time coping with our world where everything is on tap as long you don’t mind all the flashy lights. Take a good long look at your postal worker next time he calls...

BD: What literary and film influences helped inspire Distant Realms?

SM: I'm a life long Arthuriana enthusiast. I live a few miles from the worlds biggest Arthurian collection, situated in Mold (Yr Wyddgrug in Welsh) in Flintshire, UK. I grew up reading not the tales of knights in shining armour (a French subversion of the stories) but of Percival/Peredur, Gawain/Gwalchmai, Arddur/Owain, Mordred/Medrod, Myrddin/Emrys/Merlin and others from Welsh history. Sword battles against an enemy just seemed natural to me. Tolkien and roleplaying just seemed to cement that. I'd say my most direct influences are King Arthur, Tolkien (particularly the Silmarillion), RuneQuest, The history of the Twentieth legion Valeria Victrix (based in my home town of Chester/Caer), and Tacitus.

BD: What RPGs most influenced you and this project?

SM: Definitely RuneQuest (thank you Glorantha-daddy Greg Stafford!). Glorantha is an extremely rich world and more detailed than middle earth. It’s only a matter of time before someone wants to set a television show there, surely. Leviathan as a concept is more based in fiction than RPGs but Glorantha showed me Leviathan was possible, D&D gave me the key to the door, and Call of Cthulhu gave me the atmosphere. I'm hoping that visitors to Leviathan can experience lighter moments that remind them of D&D, nasty combat, terrible choices that need to be made, and the loss of friends that remind them of RuneQuest, and, very rarely, the dark and sickening horror they might encounter reminds them of Call of Cthulhu.

BD: The video preview is amazing. How was that put together?

SM: Ah, it was stock footage, Adobe After Effects templates, and a lot of sweat and tears. :)

About Stephanie McAlea

Stephanie McAlea is a Welsh cartographer and has been involved in the RPG hobby as a gamer for 35 years and as a professional in the industry for 10. Her previous work includes commissions for Chaosium, Mongoose, Golden Goblin Press and many more with her maps in titles such as The Horror on the Orient Express, Call of Cthulhu 7th edition, 2300AD, The Legacy of Arrius Lurco, World War Cthulhu, and Cthulhu by Gaslight (many under her pre-transition name of Steffon Worthington). Being from North Wales she has rainwater for blood, slate for bones,and the heart of a dragon forged in the mountains of the north (yet is surprisingly approachable).

WUXIA CHESS III

Still been fiddling with Wuxia Chess. Trying to make minor changes each time I play. This isn't meant to be an expansive game, though I have thought of doing a variation that uses cards and has many more Wuxia Techniques in each category. For now I am taking a simple approach to make it surprising and fun, but not too crazy. There is a bit of a Stratego element with the Secret Hero rule that has worked very well (it just makes the game more exciting and unpredictable). To enhance this a bit, we enhanced them. Now Pawn Techniques can be used against the Queen (but not the King). This makes for a very different game. There is also a new optional rule that allows the Rook to move through its own pieces on a Blazing Charge. We want to playtest this more and see how much the game changes as we increase its efficacy (now you can only do it if you don't capture, but my intent is to move it in that direction eventually after we've used the rule enough). 

WUXIA CHESS

Here are some rules to spice up a regular game of chess with wuxia flavor. These are loosely inspired by techniques from our game Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate. 

What you will need:

•        A chess board and pieces
•        Poker Chips (or similar marker)

The rules for wuxia chess are the same as regular chess with one big difference. All Rooks, Knights and Bishops have special Wuxia Techniques they can use once during play (once used, they become normal Bishops, Rooks and Knights). In addition, a single pawn of your choice is designated as a Secret Hero and also has a special ability.

Poker Chips are better
but these worked just fine

Wuxia Techniques are assigned to pieces by their type and indicated by the placement of a poker chip beneath the piece. Rooks, Bishops and Knights all have Wuxia Techniques. Secret Hero Pawns can use one of four abilities listed in the Pawn Techniques section. When the ability is used, simply remove the poker chip so you know that the piece can no longer draw on its wuxia technique. 

To conceal your Secret Hero, take out some white poker chips and write an S on the bottom of one of them. Then take all the white poker chips and place them beneath your pawns (putting the one with the S under your Secret Hero).

Wuxia Techniques do not work on Kings or Queens. They are immune to these abilities. Pawn Techniques are an exception to this rule. They work against the Queen but not the King.

WUXIA TECHNIQUES

Every Rook, Bishop and Knight has the following Wuxia Technique. These are represented by placing a Poker Chip beneath the piece. Once the Wuxia Technique is used, the poker chip is removed and the Technique cannot be used again by that piece. 

Blazing Charge (Rook): You blast your foes in a blinding charge, leaving a trail of bodies in your wake. You may continue moving and capture one extra piece in your path. For example this allows a Rook to move forward two spaces, capture a piece, then continue forward until it captures another piece. Optional Rule: The Rook may move through its own pieces if it does not capture on a Blazing Charge. 

Qinggong Master (Knight): Your Lightness Kung Fu is profound and you may make an additional move this turn. The second move is your full movement. You can capture a piece on your first or second move, but not on both. 

Ricocheting Strike (Bishop): Your attack ricochets or sends fragments flying at another piece on the board. When you capture a piece, the nearest enemy piece is also captured.

PAWN TECHNIQUES

Pawns designated as Secret Heroes can use any of the four abilities listed below. Again, you may only select one pawn to be your Secret Hero. If your secret hero reaches the end of the board and becomes a Queen, it retains its Pawn Techniques. 

As with the other pieces, Pawn Techniques are represented by Poker Chips. Use the white poker chips and write an S on one of them (placing this piece beneath your Secret Hero and giving the others blank chips). When the Pawn Technique is used, it should be removed as the pawn can no longer use it. 

Suicidal Qi Blast: You unleash all your internal energy in a powerful wash of light that strikes surrounding enemies. You can use this ability when you are captured to take two adjacent pieces.

Three-Point Strike: You use your knowledge of pressure points to quickly tap your foe three times in the chest area, causing them to freeze. This can be used on any foe in an adjacent square. The affected piece cannot move for 2 turns. 

Swift Rebuttal: You sidestep and counter your foe’s attack, using their momentum against them. When any piece, except the kind or queen, tries to capture you from two or more spaces away, you counter and capture them instead

Grace of the Tiger: You effortless evade attacks and are difficult to capture. First attempt to capture you always fails. The piece that attempted the capture returns to its original position. This still counts as your opponent's move and ends their turn.

BLOOD OF THE DEMON MOON CULT SESSION 18: THE COMPASSIONATE SISTER AND THE LAZY KING

This is the campaign log for the Eighteenth session of a google+run Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate campaign. The previous session is described HERE. 

I am running two campaigns in the same setting and treating them as occurring in different realities with some vague similarities. Characters in one may appear in the other, but there are no direct causal effects from one campaign to the next. Partly this is to playtest, but this is also partly due to the multi-dimensional aspect of the universe I run all my games in. It would theoretically be possible for the party from the Blood of the Demon Moon cult campaign to dimension travel to the Secret of Je Valley Campaign, in which case direct interactions could occur (and they could even meet their counterparts in the alternate dimension).  

CHARACTERS

Player Characters

Zhang Wan (Bone Breaker): An unpredictable and violent martial expert who is the brother of Zhang San. First chief of Qui Pan Bandits. Married to Huo Ju (Little Venom)

Zhang San: A wandering hero and sister of Zhang Wan, more calm than her brother

Chen: A poisoner and healer known for his lazy ways.

Key NPCs

Jade Priestess: Bone Breaker's Sifu and former member of the Demon Moon Cult

Jade Butterfly: San's Sifu
Senior Grand Councilor Cai Yuanyu: Highest ranked official in the Empire below the emperor; plotting to 'invert heaven' and has recruited Bone Breaker into his plans

Prince Yuan: Son of the King of Li Fan, controls the eastern territories. 

General Dee: An important military commander in Hu Qin who pays Bone Breaker for services 

Iron Spear Tip: A magic weapon with a mind of its own, the bride of Zhang Kang.
Little Venom (Huo Ju): Bone Breaker's Wife
The Venom of Zhaoze (Huo Si): Leader of Zhaoze sect, father of Huo Ju (Little Venom) and Sifu to Chen

Note that this session the party was split geographically by considerable distance, so the session log notes this with headers to make things easier. A map of the setting is provided to the right and can be enhanced by clicking on it. 

The Banyan
Bone Breaker continued his path to Hai'an but stopped at small mountain peak to find Master Ta's villa. At the villa he saw soldiers and martial heroes roaming the grounds. They found a woman named Little Frog who brought them to meet Master Ta in the courtyard. 

The Master was playing Go as Bone Breaker asked him to join his cause to unite the sects. Master Ta asked what he would get in return and Bone Breaker said indicated he could provide whatever he needed most. Ta pointed his finger to a neighboring peak and said he wanted Master Shan dead. He explained that Shan had stolen his family lands, including valuable mines. Bone Breaker negotiated this down to removing Master Shan from the region and Master Ta agreed.

Going to Master Shan, Bone Breaker and his retinue made a similar offer to him. Shan told Bone Breaker he had heard rumors of his cruelty and was greatly impressed, but he'd also gathered news that Bone Breaker was changing his ways. Bone Breaker indicated that the change was a matter of necessity and not a reflection of a changed nature. At first Master Shan said he would only join Bone Breaker's cause if he could help him destroy Master Ta. But Bone Breaker insisted that he needed Master Ta alive and compliant. Master Shan eventually agreed to join Bone Breaker and even leave the lands he stole from Master Ta, if Bone Breaker secured him better lands in Hai'an. To make sure things went smoothly, Master Shan personally joined Bone Breaker for the Journey to Hai'an. They left, but Bone Breaker spoke one last time to Master Ta and secured Little Frog to go with him as a representative. While they were at Ta's, Master Shan went to Zun City and prepared his ship. 

Li Fan
Chen had gone back to the Ogre Gate Inn after meeting with Liling, one of the three sisters living in the caves of Bone Kingdom. Each sister controlled one of three phoenix talismans, objects imbued with destructive powers. Liling agreed to help Chen destroy Qinwen if he stole her sisters' talismans and gave them to her. The moment Chen saw Liling, he fell instantly in love.  

Chen gathered San, Sand Demon, The Venom of Zhaoze, One-Armed Fiery Demon and Fearless Cat then returned with them to Bone Kingdom. 

They decided to try the middle cave entrance. This led them to a chamber with a wall of cages filled with Owl Monkeys (creatures that resemble a blend of owls and monkeys with human faces and a bony point on their head. As they entered they saw a shriveled old woman feeding creatures in one of the cages. This was Dawa, the middle sister. She turned and faced the Party, demanding they leave at once.

Chen refused to leave and tried negotiating over the Talisman with her. She refused and the two exchanged heated words. Finally Dawa stepped forward and gently brushed Chen and Venom of Zhaoze with her hand as five of her Owl Monkeys flew from their cages and attacked. She whirled around and informed Chen that he was dying, demanding he listen to her if he wanted to live. Soon a crushing force moved through his body. Chen shook his head and told San to attack her as he dropped into meditation to fend off the effects of her touch.

San used Kick of the Swan to kill the Flying Monkeys, leaping from one to the  next, delivering a lethal kick with each step. Fearless Cat uses the all Encompassing Emerald to imprison Dawa. As Fearless Cat held Dawa, Chen and Venom continued their meditation until her touch no longer had any effect. The Venom was fine, but Chen nearly died (note: he was one failed Meditation roll away from dying). Eventually San and Sand Demon killed the Demon Monkeys and the Emerald crushed Dawa, not killing her, but leaving her on the brink of consciousness. San commanded Sand Demon to kill the remaining Owl Monkeys. 

The Banyan and Hai'an
Bone Breaker went with his retinue on Master Shan's ship to Hai'an. They disembarked at Huising and headed North to the capital, Xuanlu, through the Skinless Forest. At the grand palace they spoke with an official and asked for an audience with the King. They were told the soonest they could have an audience was in four months. This was unacceptable to Bone Breaker who threatened to torture the official if he didn't make better arrangements. The official refused but when Bone Breaker used his reputation to threaten the man's family, the official paused and suggested an audience with the Queen instead. 

They spoke with Queen Ai Nu through a partition and she expressed interest in Bone Breaker's services. Bone Breaker said he needed the land around Whispering Lake. The Queen seemed reluctant and said it would take considerable support from him for her to arrange such a thing. They danced around the subject for a while before the Queen said she would be willing to grant the land to him if he could help her son conquer Hu Qin (General Dee's territory). Bone Breaker agreed and Queen Ai Nu said he would have to convince her son first. She gave him a seal and told him to travel south to Harmony Sustaining Palace where the king could be found. 

Li Fan
With Chen so heavily injured, the party sent Sand Demon to scout the rest of the cave. They found Dawa's room and the talisman of Li Huang. San went with Sand Demon, taking a bronze mirror and jade comb from her room. Then they returned to Ogre Gate with Dawa and the Talisman. 

At the inn they brought Dawa into The Venom of Zhaoze's quarters (where the State of the Emerald Monk had been concealed behind a partition. Then they gathered the House of Paper Shadows musicians. There they awakened Dawa and forced her to promise not to harm anyone at the inn, to which she agreed. Then they made the musicians make a similar promise (which they also made). Because the state was present, there would be consequences if either tried to violate their promise. 

Chen and San spoke with Dawa. At first she was hostile but she became interested in them once she realized the Chen was in love with her Sister, Liling. Even though they stole her Talisman, she offered to help them take the second one from Binying (her eldest sister). However she wanted things from them in exchange as well. In particular she wanted their aid in securing Qinwen's Talismans. 

Chen asked Dawa if she liked human meat in her duck. She expressed enthusiasm for such a dish and went to the dining area for two orders of Longevity Duck. 

They planned to go back to Bone Kingdom, but before they left Chen received word from their information network that the King of Li Fan was planning to march against them with 75,000 soldiers in fifteen days. They already knew the attack was coming but didn't know when. This placed added pressure on them to move quickly with the Talismans. 

Hai'an
Bone Breaker went to Harmony Sustaining Palace, a retreat on a large lake. There he found the king enjoying music and dancing. His reception area was informal but he seemed to have low regard for Bone Breaker due to his social class (Bone Breaker is a merchant). However when presented with his mother's seal, he began to listen. 

Bone Breaker was impatient to invade Hu Qin and said he could deal with General Dee and give aid to his army. The king expressed reluctance, saying he had too many things to do and would be unable to invade for at least a month. Bone Breaker spoke with him some more, learning that the king was more interested in music than governance. He suggested that the King allow him and his heroes to lead the attack. At this point it should be noted that Bone Breaker was traveling with a retinue of highly regarded heroes and had plenty more back at his inn. 

The King agreed and warmed up considerably to Bone Breaker when he made the suggestion. The attack could be mobilized in ten days. The king would work on a way to get his generals to follow Bone Breaker. 

Li Fan
On the way to Bone Kingdom Dawa warmed up a bit to Chen and called him Lover Boy. She then informed him that if he wanted to marry Liling, this could be arranged and she would help. But he would have to be truthful to her and not go back on his word. She also insisted that he treat her as a Sister. On the way to Bone Kingdom she informed them that Liling was the youngest sister and the most beautiful. Dawa and Binying had aged in the last several hundred years but Liling was strangely resilient to time. While both her sisters were wicked in her estimation, Binying was by far the cruelest. Liling was the most deceitful but not as quick to kill. When asked what that made her, Dawa said "I am the most compassionate sister. My compassion is boundless."

Dawa also suggested that the mesa at Bone Kingdom would make a more strategic location for their stand against the king. 

When they reached the caves of Bone Kingdom, Dawa led San and Sand Demon into Binying's cave. She suggested an attack while her sister slept, since she tended to sleep deeply for some reason. She also warned that their were many dangerous servants they should avoid, particularly a man named Chef Guo. 

They found Binying sleeping and attacked her using stealth Kung Fu. San delivered a deadly strike with Kick of the Golden Elephant, while Dawa used her Gentle Touch, and Sand Demon impaled her throat with his stinger. This was enough to quickly do her in. She wore the Talisman on her neck and both San and Dawa tried to grab it. Dawa was faster. Once she had it, Dawa dangled it before San and made her promise not to go against her word. When she agreed, Dawa handed it to her. 

Searching the room, they found that the bed was made of a blue milky stone that resembled jade but was cold and swirling with golden energy. 

This is where the session ended. 

MUTLIPLE TOTAL SUCCESSES FOR TRULY DIFFICULT TASKS

As a GM I am a big believer in tools. And we like to give GMs tools in our books that they can use or ignore. The Network System is geared for rapid play and therefore favors success. But sometimes you need to set the bar a little higher. This is an optional rule I've put together for myself for unusual circumstances where a TN 10 just won't cut it. 


This will appear as a sidebar or optional tool in the Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate rulebook. 

USING TOTAL SUCCESSES AS AN IMPEDIMENT TO TRULY DIFFICULT TASKS

Some things in life are nearly impossible. The GM always has the ability to say a skill roll can’t apply to a truly impossible situation (for example, attempting to breath water). But sometimes the GM needs to set a higher difficulty than a mere TN 10 affords. In such cases, requiring multiple Total Successes is an option. The GM can decide how many are required for a given task (and can also decide if they need to be achieved in a single roll or in a series of rolls). This tool is meant to give the GM flexibility during play to deal with edge cases.