D&D is dead, long live TTRPGs! aka OSR 1.1

 Greetings, my Fishes!

Tis I, the Imperator Offensiveness MaXXXimVs!

The FIST of the Divine Emperor Gaius...!

Most of the time you hear from my storyteller buddy Maxx Feral but I handle the web design, graphic design, try to solicit 3rd party help, have the good software... 

I've re-written many of my personal scripts so Maxx could upload them in the "Attack of the Robot Barbarians" blog and keep Ko-Fi support since not X rated versus MY edits.. I'm doing some work for the Orange Sun/Far Tomorrows project and on the side my comics, pulp novels and the next TTRPG free XXX product of mine coming soon...Whew...

Anyways, the net is a-buzz with the OSR 1.1  If it was "Testing the Waters" they threw a match into an open tub full of gasoline...!    90% against, even the "Woke" invader / grifter content producers are sh-tting bricks!

Here's the sanest take on this:

https://youtu.be/yydxzM8p4RI

We have no affiliation with "Dungeon Craft", just are fans.

As it looks like this is legit, obviously even the PG-R rated Orange Sun and Far Tomorrows will steer clear of OSR period.  We are 'outsiders' and 'indies' so would be first on the list for them to take everything from us if we were foolish enough to sign to 1.1 or to harass us with lawyers if we clung to 1.0, especially with my dealing with Cancel attempts from the Zwei-hander people and some extreme trolls.

Big F-cking deal!

We are going full steam ahead!

Let me say - the TTRPG is not just a "Game" that might be written by one person or sold by another.  Oh, it is that also.  But it is not.

A TTRPG is a "State of Mind" you enter and share with others hopefully!  It gives the same primal instinct thrill as when the Shaman told the tribe's tales and danced and the hunters talked of how the hunt would be.

Every old Grognard or first gen "Munchkin" has thought way too much about the rules, the world, the alternatives to the TTRPG hobby.  Many of us have gone "What if?" through the years.  Maxx and Me have been working on the design of this world but had given up on making NEW rules sets thanks to OSR.  Why ask potential buyers to memorize a whole new set of rules?  However now, it will be Hasbro's G-rated SLUDGE that they have 3 "Sensitivity Readers" go over to make sure no one no where is offended by them...  I'd not EVER want to buy or play something produced by that so why should I support it in any way, that includes "Stealing" aka insisting I can do OSR 1.0 and waiting for the lawyers though the threat of suits can disrupt payment processors and webhosts - even Dreamhost would take down a real DMCA backed by a real lawyer planning to go to court.  For a day, then put it back up when a counter-DMCA was filed - if it was a real complaint versus a Pirate Bay 2.0 thing.

But when you steal something, you argue its VALUE.

So -with all the producers going OSR holdout and waiting for lawsuits, why do I dare consider new rules?

Well you can't copyright or trademark a games rules system.  Only, maybe, the expression and of course copyrighted property...  Oh, wait, D&D is a rip-off of Jack Vance, Robert E Howard and VERY heavily TOlkien.  There's almost NOTHING original in that Night Hag's Cauldron...!  Even the "Unique" monsters are ChinaSaurs - crude, cheap "Dinosaur" figures made in the Walled City of Kowloon in tiny factories next to Brothels next to Schools next to Opium Dens...  The whole game system and lore is a lawsuit magnet for what little isn't ancient folklore.  Once someone takes them to court for real with a lawyer ready to do battle they'll lose.  The problem is challenging such things in court takes too much time and money.  And again argues the value.

So we'll make our OWN.

Now if you are familiar with "The Old Dragon Game" to use a key-word - you won't find our rules a hassle.  We are going to juggle some ability scores but it'll make sense when you think of it.  And add a stat or two.  BUT we'll do our best to compress the mechanics into a few pages.  Serious!  AND we won't be CopyWRONG trolls.  You'll be able to use the rules, no need to pay us!

The collection of critical, stats, die rolls, etc. can be simplified very easily.  I'm going to shuffle them a bit, not fearful of Hasbro but rather would like to improve a bit.  Some stats need to bleed into others.  Its nothing anyone familiar with the core game would be confused over and a new one diving in wouldn't have trouble going back to the original.

Again, in a way I'm GLAD this is happening.

I was going to make stats using OSR based on 2.0 release of AD&D - but worried people from the 3.5 era (good!) and (aaarrrggg!) 4 and (Gaaahhhh!!!) 5 era would freak out.  The woke I don't care about but new players/customers?  I do care about those.

So if its my own simple rules, great.

And again, in the air, but if I think I make something good I'll "Open Source" it.

That means you couldn't copy the guidebooks and our art, but if you said "Orange Sun Rules" - whoops better make it "Far Tomorrows Rules" (FTR) or I WOULD get sued - remember Gary Gygax's post TSR projects?  If you used those rules in your own project, I'd be flattered.  Couldn't PAY you but wouldn't charge and if you did something we hated (a WOKE version by the Zwei-hander people!?) well free speech, free press.  Even those Wokardz I'd let them do it - if say GDW gets covetous (they use Warhammer Fantasy Role Play base) and they need to make $ and use something.  A hyper politically correct but fake Grimdark parody?  Fine! 

So hang tight people!

We are shifting gears just a little but luckily the last part was puppeting all the characters and monsters to an RPG system.  I'm going to seek some review help so the launched ship doesn't sink but I can easily think of a new system and approximate scores.  A very SIMPLE one that fits in a few pages and echoes "The classics" though is its own.

Magna Determinato!

The Satan Sellers - a blast from the past and warning for the future of TTRPGS...

 This article appeared on the "Loompanics" website around 2001 - the original owners were no longer able to maintain the site as the personal website days were often a very expensive hobby and when they changed such as essentially unlimited and 100% Letter of the Law Free Speech - via Dreamhost and others - the "Social Media" trend was taking over.  This article has been archived in various places for years but I found it impossible to find recently and so have decided to "Mirror" it myself for nostalgia and relevance.

Thus for the sake of and with permission stated at the end of the site by the owners I am -re-archiving this article originally posted from Loompanics about the "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s.  This is for the TTRPG community of today experiencing a fake "Woke" politics that masks Omega Stage capitalism and will likely lead to "Satanic Panic 2.0" once the looting and smearing rainbow fecal matter phase is over.

The Article will be presented fully as original - and commentary made after:

Again this era had it so most sites allowed and begged others to "Mirror" them as when a site got popular it could instantly become obscenely expensive and ruinous before the popularity could gather any advertisement to compensate.

Another thing - This was written by "Thom Metzger" who wrote a lot for them - anarchist free thinker  no relation save common in some areas last name to another more notorious Th Metzger... link to books on Goodreads!

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----Article Begin - "The Satan Sellers"--------------

The Flower Brides of the Cruel Emperor Tzon-Chon

 The Flower-Brides of the Cruel Emperor Tzon-Chon

-an Orange Sun/Far-Tomorrows fiction by

Maxx Feral

"Oooh...!" the soft voice gasped....

"You... are an unannounced visitor?"

The woman was standing with her musical instrument in the Forbidden Gardens of one of the many Forbidden Palaces where the Cruel Emperor kept court.  He was rumored to be staying in the palace at this time.

"I am here to see the Emperor..." the man said, standing with his curved Asian sword and wearing a jet black skin tight uniform that shimmered as it created a bubble of counter information.  He should be invisible to any human or mechanical eye.

"Ooohhh...." the beautiful woman said again...  "I was reading from an ancient text while playing an ancient tune.  We are privileged here for the Emperor Tzon Chon has forbidden these works to the rest of his kingdom lest they distract from simple labor or confuse the mind with unnecessary thoughts."

She started playing again and singing...

"Please, woman, I must be on my way..."

"I fear our Emperor might find me to have been rude to a guest for he must have given you permission to enter this garden.  Only a few save he is allowed to even be in our presence?"

"Sisters?  Let us dance and sing for this man!"

She started playing and as if from the many exotic and unique plants in this vast garden a dozen or more women of incredible beauty emerged and danced and sang all around the visitor.  The first woman gave her musical instrument to another who pulled its two strings expertly as she embraced the visitor not caring his sword was still drawn.

"You wouldn't hurt us? Have we displeased you?  Would you hurt innocent women whom the Emperor honored to spend their flowering years pleasing him?  Would you have their families shamed with dishonor and slowly cut apart in front of their village to shame them?  You would not want us used like disposable girls to have many embryos put into our wombs then be cut open so dozens of several week spawn spill out for his soup of immortality?"

"Please...  I have urgent business and must see your Emperor..." he said but she held with great strength as he tried to push past.

"You wouldn't want this innocent but beautiful woman to have been found not pleasing to any guest of great honor in Tzon-Chon's garden?  To see us put to agonies or have our families killed in front of us?  He rarely sends men such as yourself to us but has assured us to tell them they are not a threat to him or his ego no matter their manhood...?

They started to try to undo his outfit, ignoring some sparks as the connections in the meta-material that resembled a silk Ninjustu outfit of ages past were disrupted.  Several women were now holding him and caressing him, pulling off his clothing to reveal a not unattractive man of Greater Kathay.  He noticed his sword had been removed from his hand and now a woman was caressing and sucking on his fingers.

"I must see the Emperor.  I shall speak no ill of you.  The Emperor's wrath will not be an issue after I ..."

"Assassinate him?" the first woman said with a smile and still an expression of love to his face.  "All who are in this garden without permission are considered Assassins and so we are ordered to assume as such..."

She split open as did her sisters or fellow pleasure women.  

From almost invisible creases on their bodies the Emperor's Flower Women expanded into their true selves; Monstrous plant/animal hybrids!  Their beautiful exteriors burst to reveal razor sharp leaves and thick tendrils full of fangs that were hollow to drain blood.

The Assassin had but half a scream before he was enveloped by them...

-----

Later the Emperor was holding a torn bit of the Assassin's metatmaterial stealth clothing and his sword.  The Minister of War was prostrating himself trembling and begging for mercy.

"Calm yourself and be a Man.  I shall not slay you on this day despite your loss of composure for a brief second.  I know full well how many you slay almost daily before they even reach inside the wall of my palaces.  My concubines hold a special place in my heart but I do understand your frustration."

The concubines were all lined up in front of him, fanning themselves, swaying, giving looks of innocent seduction.  They had wrapped themselves back into their feminine, pleasing appearance and even their robes were petals that they had grown.  Save bangles and other jewelry they were entirely camouflaged plant/animal hybrids created to serve and protect the Emperor.

"The Minister of War was frustrated you left so little evidence.  I will not find fault in you either but if or rather when the next Assassin ventures into your reach please do your best to leave some evidence.  A hand or better yet a head...  It will make his job easier for these Assassins rarely act alone.  There is usually a dozen or more Traitors who do not Praise the Mandate of Heaven and my Glorious Empire of pure order and justice involved behind a single Assassin who will recruit more or in desperation try to sabotage some part of my Red Dragon Kingdom before killing themselves to escape justice.  Even if an Assassin acts alone surely there is someone needing punishment for not being alert and ready to report suspicious behavior.  This material and the sword alone I shall put someone to justice for if I can find who gave or made this for them...

"Rise, Minister of War - do your best to find this Assassin, there are bits of him you can trace on the ground for hopefully his DNA is on the public registry at least.  Look for the real ones, no more confessions encouraged by discomfort or threat of it... I want those that did this or I want to know we did not.  I know you do your best for me.  What I seek is knowledge or the lack of it on this day from you.

And I am sure my concubines forgive the 'stupid flowers' remark?"

They bowed and one came over and kissed him.

"Minister of Propaganda - let the News channels say an intruder was executed by my Minister of war before he reached my inner garden.  No news about my private world is to be leaked.  Offer a reward and forgiveness if someone gives us information that leads to the capture of these Assassins but perhaps simply forgot to mention it?

The minister of Propaganda bowed but the Emperor noted he paused but a moment...

"I mean forgiveness for I am generous on this day.  If an Assassin turns in the others I shall make him a Prefect...of the edge of the burning deserts or the Antarctic re-education colonies...station, reward, Honor...and far away and watched to not be a problem.   If some citizen merely did not notice but remembers sale or possession of illegal materials or a sword and remembers later indeed reward them, I fear some might worry that reporting makes one a suspect...?"

The Minister of Propaganda bowed again and left in haste.

"Good.  All is in order again." said the Cruel Emperor Tzon-Chon and he mounted a golden throne in his Forbidden Garden.  "I shall take some relaxation and celebrate another day where an Assassin was at least thwarted before he got within a hundred paces of my Divine self.  You be about your Duties, Minister of War but if you catch the other Traitors sooner than today just leave note with my Secretaries for I shall not want to be disturbed until tomorrow save the direst of reasons..."

The Flower-Women surrounded the Emperor and danced, played, sang and caressed him.  His Other Ministers and guards grabbed the evidence from the scant remains of the Assassin and respectfully bowed and backed out to seal the door behind thick walls of dark Jade like mortar...

-----

In the "Orange Sun" or "Far-Tomorrows" TTRPG setting there are plenty of monsters and by far most were created by the "Wizard Lords" for petty whims.  Especially the mostly female monsters or "Monster-UUU" in an ancient dialect.

The Cruel Emperor Tzon Chon however is credited with creating the first human-plant hybrid, at least the first one functional outside blobs of tissue in a laboratory.  He did this because while making himself biologically immortal with the technology of the time he allowed no other access to it and grew tired of his concubines and how they'd usually try to kill him or run after decades even before age might have faded their beauty.  Only a few lasted long enough to be retired from his service honorably which he would have rewarded with wealth and status.

Thus he turned to technology to create "Maidens of Flowers" where plant tissue was somehow manipulated into a creature that could mimic an idealized human female.  These beings were alien and their behaviors merely survival for at heart they were plants still.  All they really needed was to roam about his private gardens and would pleasure him or keep him company, reading the ancient poetry and literature that was mostly banned to all but he and his inner circle. 

They also aided in his defense for there were many Assassins sneaking in to try to kill the Emperor they acted as unexpected guards for the sun on their skins was far too little energy and they relied on flesh to keep active as an animal...  Those who were not him nor a few of his trusted inner circle were legitimate prey.  Their delicate feminine appearance quickly folded away into their inner bodies of fast moving leaves and piercing spines that resembled teeth but would drain blood from prey.

Long after his passing they remained for they were plants and designed to regenerate from near total destruction.  There were natural limits on their total numbers to prevent them over-running the world but they did multiply and spread through the world including into the west.  These inspired the "Wizard-Lords" to make their own plant based monsters of mostly female appearance for aesthetics beyond acting as guards to their castles.  Still some of the more ancient and powerful monsters are the "Flower-Women" and the dreaded "True Alarune"...  There are many other plant based "Monster-Uuu" including confusingly "Rose Girls" certainly created by the Wizard-Lords that came long after the Cruel Emperor of course.

Most of these have a "Backup" where there is a seed somewhere about the size of a loaf of bread and it uses the "Root Network" where plants and mushrooms all link and communicate.  If a Plant based monster is destroyed it usually regenerates on the spot within a few months or years.  If there  is exceptional call to kill it - such as 20+ cubic meters of earth dug up and sterilized or a Dragon's fire on the ground the seed waits a decade or longer and sprouts another one.  Over a long interval of centuries they might produce another naturally but this is done to keep them rare by the Genetic Engineers who designed them.  They can also reproduce on command but those commands are long lost.  Biologically immortal these creatures live to live like any plant.  

They will use their skills from seduction to predation to continue their existence.  While most of the Wizard Lord's plant-women are immobile or limited to a set space the Flower-Women are free to move and do so.  They will sometimes be a mistress or seductress and other times appear as a mostly dead tree resembling a woman but with some leaves growing out and stay still for decades.  They rarely attack without good reason for even though they are near impossible to destroy and will grow back if chopped to bits they do not like to do so.  However they can and will split into a terrible plant monster and kill an opponent by ripping flesh and draining fluid.  This they usually do if no one else sees it fearing being seen as a "Monster" and so will often use their slightly better than average strength to fight off an attacker if witnessed.

These beings are greatly feared in the East for even many, MANY thousands of years after the Cruel Emperor's reign they are a dark memory.  In the West they can be prized concubines of Nobility and Rich merchants;  Perfect beautiful women who mostly stand around and be beautiful at day but can play and entertain and then become passionate at night or in private.  They will not fade in beauty and will usually come back if killed.  They do have their own minds and can and do choose to be a mistress or a wanderer or a near inert plant based on their moods and desires.

Note they are intelligent but in a different way.  They can speak and act but must commit to it so they can rarely act suddenly.  When they do speak or converse for too long their tissues heat up and usually they sweat or their eyes water with streaming tears.  This creates an exotic and sympathetic effect but it is merely to protect the special tissues the  plant uses for its brain usually somewhere in the mid-section.  If this is disrupted by stabbing through the plant is usually immobile for a day but returns to look like a beautiful woman in a statuesque pose.

Note also their hair color, clothing and skin are all changeable.  These are modified "Petals" in effect as hair and fingernails are chitin to animals.  They started out appearing as perfectly beautiful eastern women but they have all learned and shared how to appear as such but by Western Standards.  For Western ones they usually embrace the 'flower' aspect allowing recognizable petals to grow from their heads and their dresses leaves and petals as often as appearing as silk and velveteen.  For easier appearance due to the Negative association they are more formal growing silk like cloth petals and strict long black hair though on close inspection the hair is thin long petals but would be flat and wide compared to a human hair.

Bridges of Time - bringing characters into FarTomrorrows

"Still Waters run Deep" from Rick Wakeman's 90s "Return to the Center of the Earth" album.

One advantage of embracing the Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe paradigm (1) is that a "Fantasy World" of the Far-Future can deal with many things a real "In the mythic past" or "Alternative world" (even if IN a basement universe!) simply could not.

"Heroic Adventurers" are tolerated as long as they don't turn to banditry, robbery or killing non-monsters without legit cause because mankind realises that there always will be people who can not stand nor will fit in their station and must seek more.  It's a rare thing which most envy as children but thank the Increate it was not their fate as an adult.  Likewise though the Children of Adam still fill the Green Hills of Earth with their tragedies and triumphs, laughter and tears they understand the "Long cycle" history is in and though they mostly live in a late Renissance or Pre-Industrial time there is no hurry on progress for they somehow know they've done this many times now.

Also - and this is one of the best parts - you can put in a character from almost ANY campaign... (2) 

Gunslinger?  They know about guns, some use muskets.  He'd better save bullets and know how to self-load cartridges and find metals to cast them and likely need to adventure to find materials to make them - notably the high quality steel as most of the planet has been mined deep.  But if he's civil. and polite might get offered a guard job and would be welcome at most farms or ranches.

Space-Man?  As he's wondering how "Boned" he is looking over his crashed ship a local farmer will ride up and invite him in for dinner, likely forgiving him as charity if his ship landed in part of his field.  He'd know about Man's children amongst the stars in neat blcok printed "Wonder Tales" books tucked away in a small bookshelf - those are bizarrely distorted tales that loosely resemble 40s to late 80s sci-fi and fantasy.  The farmer will point to the moon and talk about how it's green now with shallow oceans and its shimmering atmosphere and how man used to sail on the moon.  This won't "Change the World" - the local Boyar will try to help him get started (3) finding some parts to repair his ship.  Yes, he's found "Mankind's lost homeworld...!" but when he gets back officials from his society will quietly lecture him not to rave about it because they are NOT going to fight a "Galactic War" over an ancient world that's been mined to the core along with most of the Solar System stripped for a populace of "Primitives".  Also there are some odd defenses put up with near Level 4 tech...they'll shut themselves up and go "Uh, classified"...  Then they'll finish it by saying "This is Mankind's backup plan.  IF we get wiped out we'll emerge from this world every few  ten thousand years.  If we need genetic legacy or to find some history, it's there."

Frozen person?  Unpack and thaw and ready to be mind-F*cked!  (4)  There are TONS of Frozen people who pop into place.  They wander around and usually by charity of fellow men, especially through the Agnost Church they are placed.  Their stories of their past life often help them work with their new family group and sometimes make fodder for new "Wonder Tales".  A few can become "Adventurers".

Dimensional shift or exile?  Maybe the science experiment went wrong.  Maybe they were some space overlord dictator who froze himself to escape the legacy of his crimes - launching himself into space or burying himself in the tallest mountains....  Perhaps they are a gentle exile of a society based on reason but their philisophical views while too advanced for most were just slightly off and created such a disturbance they had to be put into a time field.  These are like (and often are) the "Frozen Persons" except those deliberately exiled were done so as a good reason - from crimes of being a world conquerer who eventually lost the battle for domination to gentle philisophical exiles - they are sent Aeons into space and time and end up on Earth.  These rarely are able to acclimate like "Normal" people from another time.  Many do try to start where they left off as Warlords or great thinkers of new ages now long past - but the oppression of the long hand of time wears their ambitions down.  Most conquerors find themselves mere "Boyars" and more than satisfied while many great thinkers join the Agnost Church as a Scribe to spend their lives reading the vast weight of history.

Adventurers - Getting to this - yes you can bring your older or current "Murder Hobos" to this game.

Maybe they stepped through a portal or a Dimension Door spell went awry.  Maybe they died and got re-incarnated?  Maybe they died long ago but somehow were re-created as if they were still alive by devices hidden in the deadliest Entropic Ruins called "Flesh Looms"?  Or perhaps they visited the Chronal Shrine or a strange house on the borderlands or found an odd Lighthouse on the edge of a desert...

It's a Late Renissance or Pre-Industrial feeling world - NOT "Mideval" like functional D&D basically is - just the far future.  If your characters from any baseline RPG world they can adapt and thrive.  Unlike the REAL far past there's not the high level of Xenophobia of really anyone outside town or nation regardless of racial issues that'd make a standard RPG town crawl into a gruesome public execution in a heartbeat.  They can still have that happen to them if they go "Murder Hobo" such as killing a shopkeeper who tells them to leave after being rude but if they treat people with basic respect they'll get it in return and only have negative consequence if they are disruptive.  Most 'common' people will like to hear traveller's tales and the nobility will just make sure they aren't a threat then perhaps hire them if need be.  The same with Magic or odd cultures - these get more attention but not instant hostility without good reason.  This is something near unthinkable if set in a real past era.

Again, this is a tribute to Vance, Wolfe and others - (1) - in great thanks.  This is not "Science Fiction" though it is - rather it's what a far future might be.  One both unrecognizable from today and at the same time familiar.  Magic of tranditional #ttrpgs works as such - but the people while looking pseudo mideval are not they'd be more compatable with a 'modern' person beyond the surface.

Far Tomorrows / Orange Sun will of course have much more details and some fun tables for suggestions and mechanics for these transitions.  A complete cross of all RPGS is quite impossible but to any experienced player the guidelines should be easy.

Notes -

1 - and Clark Ashton Smith, William Hope Hodgeson, 

2 - Well Kaijiru characters might end up hunted by NPC adventurers as "Monsters" with local authorities placing a bounty by reaction...  AI beings might be confined to the bottom of VERY dangerous "Entropic Ruins" with already existing and far more advanced AI (think "In the year One Hundred thousand twenty five twenty five...") that are ancient and nearly transcendent in ability in their decaying but active ruins of some far future now far past civilization...

3 - Via the "Murder Hobos" or the Player Characters!

4 - Disclaimer - IF cyrogenics becomes a legit option do NOT freeze yourself for many thousands of years - you'll die.  I mean if you can get the resources for a freezer tube that will last that long, make a chamber where you can wake up for a while and have food, drink, stretch out and exercise lightly for a few weeks then go back in if whatever you are seeking hasn't come yet...  Natural radioactive breakdown in your own body will kill you unless you thaw out for a few weeks every thousand years or so.  Hopefully this will be corrected.  Since this world is set in the very far future we'll assume it has somehow.  Most of us accept a "Transporter" concept thanks to Trek, this would be less difficult save the long times needed to keep active.

5 -  Fantasy, Wild West, 70s Era Science fiction feel, Post Apocalypse, super spy

You will not be missed...

 

To the "Woke" attempting to ruin gaming - FUCK OFF

"You will NOT be missed" 

---to paraphrase your triumphant banishment/banning to any not agreeing with your treacly snowflake diatribes of garbage declaring how you are going to file off the rough edges and focus on 'inclusion' so much any coherent game, gameplay, enjoyment or appeal is going to be a shadow of itself and anyone disagreeing with you is a 'hater'...

Your LIES have been exposed - no longer just "One Man's Opinion" you are a fake movement created by elites to distract attention from real issues; Unfair tax breaks to the wealthy, jobs overseas and illegals hired, corrupt politicians and no media just entertainment...

There never really was any problem with Video Games, Comic Books and TTRPGs.  Especially the latter.  They reflected society which was on a progressive bent but especially the Role Playing Game market was the most open the most "Liberal".  This "Social Justice" flood of fecal lies has done no good and likely benefitted racists far more than any old school "Boys in the Hood" group ever could.

The "Anti-Woke" gaming community is NOT racist, sexist or demanding of any political, religious...lifestyle or whatever stance.  We reject your "Divide and conquer" strategy.  You just want to keep people arguing to distract from real political issues.  Having pathetic adult babies break one set of toys - the hobbies many of us sheltered in - then turning the backlash into an issue is what you are doing.

Anti-Woke gaming will have none of it.  Anyone is welcome to play or buy our products but we will not censor or curtail our vision.  Likewise we might even include MORE of the "Problematic" stuff - not to send any negative message but tell the LIARS to fuck off and MELT their pathetic snowflakes who might believe their lies.

To the SNOWFLAKES - the people who actually believe the "Social Justice" LIE...

Uh - ever hear of a term; "useful IDIOTS"?  

That's what you are.  You are NOT going to change the world.  Likely you'll bleat with a 'fashionably radical' crowd and make soemone else rich then be cast aside and forgotten.  Perhaps you'll be baited to do criminal acts and then get no legal help or assistance after punishment if caught.  Later your actions now could haunt you - after your parents are gone and not able to bail you out again and your 'gender studies' degree hasn't even prepared you to work at Starbucks.

This world has 1,000,001 major problems and even in good times it always had.

Orcs, Dark Elves, Chicks in Chain-mail bikinis, Damsels in Distress in ROLE-playing GAMES - and comic books, video games - are NOT on the list.  In being an adult baby and trying to break other's toys you hit the few otherwise functional and normal adult males who might have tolerated you and helped you without being blood relatives or paid care providers.  You only hurt your 'cause' doing this.

I suggest fucking off to a real counselor who doesn't send you to TTRPGs as "Cheap Therapy" and find someone who can help you handle LIFE.  And I suggest finding someone who'll teach you the basic rules of respect to others since you demand so much yourself.  You aren't going to change the world trying to break another's toys - you'll just end up in a situation where your parents, teacher, counselor can't protect you and a lot of people want to smack you.  This isn't a "specific threat" or any sort of direct threat from me - it's an assurance of what said behavior can bring and your type can't even handle negative comments on the internet.

The TTRPG world is a very rich, diverse world already and decades ahead of the social curve.  It'll always be ready to explore new horizons and options - but forcing false "Tolerance" and "Diversity" will only lead to backlash.  Indeed this anti-woke is part of it - but hopefully to scare away before things flip and the corporate puppet masters make equally bland stuff with a 'right wing racist' face to keep "Divide and Conquer" going.

Go and find a cause, a real world cause, even if it's not "Fashionably Radical"

Leave other's hobbies (TTRPG, Video Games, Comic Books...) ALONE - you do no good.

You will not be missed.

Going forward I'm going to make this game more about a neat new revision for TTRPGS especially "The Core" - assuming an ADULT audience that can handle sexual, racial, social issues not as 'causes' but as they blend into the RPG world in a new and flexible visions.  Due to the "Social Justice Warrior" assault - again "Social Engineering" by Wall-Street as a distraction not a real movement -

 I'm going to deliberately include TONS of naughty stuff just to make the "Woke" scream - stuff that I might not have been so extreme with if they weren't around.  Not as bad as "F.A.T.A.L." but a bit here and there - no real racist or sexist message intended just "Hey, WOKE, you tried to fix what ain't broken, now you have MORE chicks in chainmail, slavegirls, drooling monsters that resemble old stereotypes and the hobby is R rated when it had been G-rated...Nice going, DORKUS!"

But - in doing so I'll try to make things more FUN than just an 'anti-woke' response!

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Any other TTRPG designers?  Video Game, Comic books?

Any creative sick of the shadow censorship this modern "Woke", formerly known as "Political Correctness" has?  Worse than Big Brother or Stalin, you worry someone somewhere will be "Offended" and shriek for censorship?  You don't do any good to anyone by catering to them.

Just reject the narrative...  It is NOT "Left V Right" nor "Racist v Non-Racist" and all the garbage.  It's lies.  A distraction.  The "Woke" are "useful Idiots" bleating and a few con-artists.

You are welcome to use these and pass them around - on websites and on and in products-

Only conditions:

1 - you are opposed to censorship and for free speech, press and market

2 - you won't bend the knee to complainers nor save the most basic of decency self censor in fear

3 - you'll do your reasonable effort to support others in free speech, press, market regardless of 

any real 'politics' - in short I'd even be for "The Woke" making their own games, etc.

just I will NOT cater to them in mine.

The Far Tomorrow products and works of associated writers and artists are open to ALL - unlike the "Woke" trying to ruin the hobbies by being vicious, hateful, bigoted and inclusive...  That's what they accuse us of being but they should look in the mirror.  We just know the evils of censorship by bending the knee in fear of vocal liars and delusional followers.  It was "The Satanic Panic" of the 80s - and note "Divide and Conquer"...?  While Geraldo and Chick got parents to burn their kids D&D books and Grandparents had to watch kids for fear of any Day-Care center the S&L Scandal blew through with a micro fraction of anyone getting in trouble.  Real Satanists and nutbags who maybe played D&D killed a FEW people but a good portion of our country's wealth was STOLEN - this was a distraction.  Also the news probably made Satanism more popular than ever in history...

What is Magic? (for TTRPG systems) For Far Tomorrows

Level 1 Mage - "I cast Magic Missile!"

DM - "But you are in a farkin' Tavern and there aren't any Monsters you dumbass!"

Level 1 Rogue - "I roll charisma to charm the ladies."

Level 1 Mage - "I said I cast Magic Missile..."

Level 1 Fighter - "Can I roll a die to see if I'm drunk yet?"

DM -nods to Level 1 Mage with a sigh, to Level 1 Rogue

Level 1 Rogue Rolls a 3

DM - "The Mirror and a number of objects shatter, the ladies leave the bar posthaste and the Barkeep pulls out a crossbow and demands recompenses..."  Note DM had decided random chaos for Magic Missile spell vs NPC deaths...

DM - The Sherriff shows up - he was following you Murder Hobos the moment you stepped foot in town.  He says "How in Pholtus's perfect plan is it possible a moron like you knows basic Magic?!"

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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic..."

Arthur C. Clarke - third law

What IS magic?  The act of will/ritual to somehow alter reality.  But, really, what IS Magic?

As it applies to a TTRPG game of course...

Balderdash, superstition.  Gygax himself noted he never met any "Mage" even in the super Occult 60s, 70s aftermath who could even approach a first level spell in an early Draconic Magazine article on how he worked out the first Magic Spells system for the game and why he kept with it.

So why - in this Far Future themed RPG do we still plan on having the "Vancian" system from Science Fiction Writer Jack Vance as the default?  Spells ancient lore.  Mages search them out, covet them, memorize them, fire and forget?

The first reason is the "Old School" roleplay feature.  And that the revered Gary Gygax made a perfect but imperfect balance with that - wizards were very powerful but had strong limits so it wasn't a game of "Wizards and non-important assistants" like competing systems from alternatives in the 70s, 80s to modern over-powered "Politically Correct" corporate regurgitation.  Vance's system WORKS, simple as that - wizards are powerful but not unbeatable  Per Robert E Howard "A few sword thrusts" can still end an Archmage.  Its getting close enough that's the challenge.

The second reason is that the "Magic" of the world of far-tomorrows is NOT any magick system of today (1) but rather it is a product of the far future.  Is this meaning they are just using ray-guns and some kind of force field and this is just sci-fi?  NOPE.   Its fantasy but a more mature fantasy.  There will be no trick to this system, the Mages will still be using Magick - just if they went to a time portal to today I strongly doubt their magick would work.

This is to be a TTRPG set in the world of the far future, the Far Tomorrows.  At least One-Hundred Thousand years ahead of now, possibly a Million.  Think Wells's "The Time Machine" or Gene Wolfe's "Urth of the New Sun" cycle...  It is not yet entropic like Jack Vance's "The Dying Earth" or Clark Ashton Smith's "Zothique", Lin Carter's "Gondwane", C.S. Lewis's "Charn" or Hope Hodgkin's "Night Land"... - but it is a very old, matured earth with many eras of rise and fall of civilization so the oppressive weight of history creates a resigned Zen-like acceptance of the impermanence of life and Man's Achievements.  Most are content to live simple lives in this long shadow, save the "Heroic Adventurers" of course!

A "Titanomachy" a war of Gods, Titans, which destroyed all civilization as Men knew it and re-shaped the earth itself.  As in the dim forgotten past so it will be in the far future...

It takes longer but civilizations still rise and fall and rise again.  Every five to ten thousand years the world is wiped clean, some upheaval, civilizations die along with most of the populace and then survivors rebuild, try to remember but it is largely distorted.  There are archives but this is so far ahead that it is buried in thousands of "Histories", many of which conflict with themselves or are outright fabrications.

The base world of Far Tomorrows is set in a Confederated Fiefdoms; A quasi Renaissance to pre-industrial tech era if left on its own with no interference would take a few thousand years to get to the space travel age again versus a few centuries.  It's seen as part of an eternal cycle that is both inevitable and unavoidable but there is no hurry, it's happened before and will happen long after.  Men rarely try to interfere with the flow of history but rarely push it forward faster than it seems to be going.  It will reach heights and then fall and that is the cycle.

During some of these heights man achieved a very high level technology.  All the goodies of "Science Fiction" and beyond even that.  No need to go on many pages on that issue.  And rather than some "Future History" of many thousands of years its best to examine it by a very harsh but simple standard.

Kardeschev's levels - meant as a thought experiment on how 'advanced' a civilization was by how much energy it could generate to power something like a signal into space to see if there's any reply back...

Level 1 - they control all energy on their planet

Level 2 - they control all energy in their star system

Level 3 - they control all energy in their Galaxy

(unspoken by K but extrapolated)

Level 4 - they control all energy in the UNIVERSE

Level 5 - God - by definition would have to be - in theory transcending the universe and any 'multiverse' creating or destroying at will the heartbeat and breath in both a long cycle called a Kalpa and in the rotations of sub-atomic particles and fluctuations of the space-time foam...

This set of levels is wildly scaling high and quite debatable (also has been broken up into 10+ levels by thoughtful Sci-Fi geeks) but like an ancient mythic saying there's a lot of truth into it.  Mankind right now is near .8 of level 1 - but once we get to Level 1 we could build a Stapledon Swarm (NOT a "Dyson Sphere" - bad name, bad idea) and effectively harness all or most of the Sun's output.  Once we do that we could get to Level 3 and work out ways to advance to Level 4.

Huge rates of scale - for instance if the "Bootes Void" is an emerging Level 4 civilization covering entire galaxies of star systems with Stapledon Energy collection clusters it's a Level 3.01 civilization.

Clarke's 3rd law states that any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from Magic...

How does this relate?

Since mankind is still alive about a Million years in the future I think it's not too much to extrapolate he's gone out into the stars and achieved Level 3 a few times and more.  The "More" is when the "Wizard Lords" emerged at the earliest Fifty-Thousand years hence.  They had advanced technology that made them at Level 4 in at least capabilities, though they spent more time making bizarro beasts and their own gardens of pleasure than "Conquering the Universe".  And really, why the latter, want to see two odd aliens arguing over some 3rd alien that might be a sheep and who owns it, with a line of petitioners going on so long the entire surface of an 'imperial world' is a pure line all over it?  I'd rather make bizarro worlds, crazy monsters, beautiful monster-girl mistresses and do crazy games like make titans that ravage worlds and fight other Wizard-Lord's titans...

Anyways the "Spells" as we know them were some of the end results of the Wizard-Lord's play with Level 4 technology.  A recent and not well received edit to a famous Space Opera had a quasi-supernatural force come from a natural source - sub-microscopic machines...  That 'proved' in Cannon a 70s "Fan Theory" that said galaxy had Level 4 tech but somehow pretended to be a failing Level 3 civilization.  Being able to "Edit" the literal "Laws" of the universe to add a "Force" is the definition of Level 4 range technology.  Think a character who's all powerful but about as stupid as smart from another popular space opera...bossing and bullying 'lesser' beings he's sent to study because they have potential.  In principal an amazing character but he came off as a comical foil for a popular superhero.

Thus in the world of Far Tomorrows there is "Magick" much like the fantasy worlds of today and the superstition and mythology of the far far past.  And it is real.  And it works.  It's also magic because of all who spend their lives studying and studying it to barely scratch the surface, perhaps one in ten-thousand of those that achieve "Arch-Mage" level have any idea WHAT they are doing.  An "Arch-Mage" while VERY impressive (At the cusp of Epic Level) is about 1/100th as powerful as a "Wizard Lord".

The Wizard Lords whom had three known "Ages" are now long gone.  Some are in other realities, some have transcended to the greater universe of which this one is akin to a soap bubble frothing on the edge of an endless cosmic sea...  Most are dead, killed by wars with other wizards or self-destruction of despair and boredom, perhaps one or two by "Several Sword Thrusts" and not having a backup plan.  There are rumored to be a very few left but these hide themselves, acting as 'guides' to carefully give a push where needed.  Of these only the name Merlin is well known, a Magician of times far more ancient than the Age of the Wizard Lords whose power was much greater than most but from far before the known 'spells' and if any connection it is debatable.  

Their legacy is the "Magic" they left.  A hundred spells and a legendary thousand more.  Or ten thousand spells and a million more, depending on who you talk to.  These are ways they built to quickly access whatever system they added to the Space-Time reality that let them shape worlds as easily as handling clay and paint, to twist man's form into beasts and monsters, to master space and time like a mathematical concept.  A student of Magic spends years to learn the basic concepts, by mentor, by school or rarely some innate talent and more fantastically  the most guarded thing in the world - a "Spell book" falls into their hands.  But after study they can learn a "Spell" and then study it to use it later but must re-study it to prepare it again.  It is fantastic and frustrating, humanity on the cusp of Godhood when even the most simplest of spells is used but then is 'forgotten' even if the Wizard could recite the verbal component a hundred times he still must memorize it again properly...

Truly this - the "Vancian" system is best explained by a far future science fiction setting - what "The Dying Earth" by Vance is really.  It works great in a ttrpg because wizards can still become incredibly powerful but they need to manage real risk and work with others to get that far.  The game is not "Wizards Only" as many alternative systems have let themselves become.

The Magic in the world of Far Tomorrows in base will be traditional then.  There are others with different types of "magical abilities" not requiring years of study and books - but these will be limited and have different sets of rules.  A mage is the definition of possibility.

This will also be the main difference in the "magic" between this and the "Core" TTRPG;  Mages have far more control of spells here.  There might be at start fewer but it will be meant to include spells from 3.5 of "Core" and earlier if DM/Setting allows.  However the Spells are more flexible.

For instance - Duration vs power - Power versus focus-

For "Bolts of Smiting" aka "Magic Missile" the mage should be able to modify if not unreasonable the use of the spell.  They could spend it all in a 1.5x stronger single burst against a single target.  They could make them last for ten minutes per level of caster unless cancelled circling around and hitting anything that comes near at a cost of being .75% as strong.  With the chain of a "True Name" or "Warding" spell they could seek out specific targets or wait as a limited trap such as attacking anything going through a doorway unless a word determined by the caster is given.  These would still be limited effects until the mage got "Enchant" level and at greater time and expense was able to set up permanent wards if needed.

Another spell which is new for this setting and not from the classic sources (core RPG, "Draconic" magazine...) is the spell "Bowman's Paradox" where it uses an absurd thought paradox - that for a bow to reach its target, it must travel half the distance, and half the distance of that - causing the opponent to make many "Rolls" in attacking and if one fails the attack misses.  This too can be modified or combined - so a long hall can seem to stretch forever, a lock resets after being picked many times 

The best 'rule' to use for these more flexible spells is that usually greater specialty or limited focus increases power/duration while expanded options reduces power/duration.  A lone, low-level Mage might cast "Shield" and seeing the Orcs attacking him have metal weapons so he focuses it on metal so they can bang and slash at him for a prolonged time with no effect while he spooks them trying to convince them he's a Master Wizard and they should run.  Good strategy, but perhaps their Goblin friend has a long wooden stick he likes to try to hit things with...?

Off-Camera boost in power

There is a difference between the modular, mobile fire and forget "Spells" and the abilities magic use and 'spellbooks' give.  Ever notice how mages in stories seem so powerful but they aren't able to make magic missiles or clever cantrips unless it's genre specific fiction?  Or how in Vance's dying Earth while the mages have great power they can do things off camera that no way would any normal DM allow - especially on-camera?

Magic Users of the study kind should have access to as they rise in level and experience to much more powerful magics that simply take longer to set up.  While making a fortress wall would be handy in combat if it takes a day of casting it isn't worth memorizing.  This should start at level 5 but Magic User characters should have a wide berth on how they decorate and defend their homes, of greater magicks they cast if they can do it unopposed and take time and resources.  Constructing a fortress.  Mass charming of creatures.  Creating new Gestalt creatures. Making automata...  Really, this is a good portion of why there are so many "Dungeons" to explore adding to the layers of ruins monsters, treasures and things more relevant than many thousands of years past.

THUSLY:

• Magic should start with the "Vancian" based system for the base "Magic-User" classes.  No "Mana Pools" no power battery - this is not a video game.
• Players need a source of spells, such as their starter "Spell Book" and new spells are NOT easy to obtain or buy.  These are keys to reality, they are coveted and held so tightly.  This is why they adventure into ancient ruins and risk death versus staying at the crumbling but cozy family manor or the 'college' with the lonely and touchy professor.
• Players need to memorize spells, choosing which they might need to use - that are then 'forgotten' after use and require study/preparation to use again later.
• Players that get their Spells from other sources (Paladin, Cleric, 'sorcerer' if DM allows...) still need to spend time in ritual, prayer, delving inside themselves...etc.
• The spells for classic casters are VERY versatile - they'll come with some suggestions but these are not to limit the use.  The DM is to reward creativity not whine "You are trying to expand your character's Horizons..." in a pathetic huff.
• Gestalt - spells can be combined creatively - this should start at Level 3 or above as the new casters need to learn how to use single spells in the dangerous environment.
• Characters, NPCs, Monsters with "Spell-like" abilities are usually more limited in use to compensate for no need for study and possible higher frequency of casting.  The exception is transcendent beings, Aengeliac or Daemonik or other advanced spirituality/extraplanar beings  - these have the spell abilities and also control and versatility.
• Off-Camera the Magic Users have effectively greater power for projects, experiments, home defense, etc.  This costs time and money and shouldn't be allowed until a few levels have been gained.

Notes:

1 - I've actually been into "The Occult" in real life.  WON'T get into that in this project and will NOT incorporate any "Real" magic system save necessary surface only items.  This is a far far future and likley a RL mage from today (One BIG exception) would be powerless and also likely mages from then travelling back in time.  However a branch of it - "Chaos Magick" does use "Sigils" in a very similar way - of investing power, research, work then "Fire and Forget" - it might be the pre-pre-PRE-history of the system of "Far Tomorrows" akin to an Ape coming out of a tree. Like Vance for the RPG Spell system, like Olaf Stapledon for Sci-Fi coming up with what we call (wrongly) a Dyson Sphere a RL Artist/Mage named Spare created this system... (or codified it at least) I say that ONLY for amusement.  As a knee-jerk defense I separate real "Occult" from RPG practices due to being a survivor of the 80s Psychic Wars over RPGs...