May the Power Protect You: Zachary Taylor (MMPR Black)

I have never played Zack.

SIT.

DOWN. 

But I have seen Zack in almost every single game of Power Rangers I've played since the beginning, by multiple people. Zack has probably seen more action in all the games I've played than any other ranger (keep in mind that I'm staying with core as of the writing of this post). And it's not hard to see why! The damage flows like water when he's present. He is the primary multi-target character in the core set, not to mention the Kickstarter exclusives. And this means that he is essential to the game, at least by perception. Now, I'm going to be honest with anyone reading this blog: I am an Adam Park (MMPR Black) player, so I've got a bit against Zack for stealing his thunder at my table. Some of my friends tried Adam, didn't think him flashy enough, and jumped to Zack.

I have not gotten over it. Yes, that is the perfectly adult thing to do.

Hip-Hop Kido is the beginning of a beautiful string of explosions that occur whenever Zack is around. This puts Zack right up at the front, trying to go for the kill all the time. Zack has to overplay, he has to push, he has to want to kill. You push and push and push and everyone needs to make sure you don't fall flat on your face while you're doing it. A lot of the time when Zack is playing the other players' resources are poured into his actions, meaning that everyone has to take a backseat to his antics. Hip-Hop Kido is one of those few times when that isn't happening, where Zack doesn't actually pay to do splash damage! It's a nice thing! Don't get used to it, cause it's the only real time it's going to happen!

Sweeping Strike is the bread and butter of Zack's repertoire. It also costs energy, which goes back to the need to support Zack. And, so long as the energy is provided, Zack can start throwing Sweeping Strike in with Hip-Hop Kido to, if not kill minions, significantly damage them. Smooth Moves can help off-set Zack's constant need for energy, but I'd be remiss if I didn't, once again, point out that Zack needs a lot of standing up to really deliver. But when you have people willing and able to support, like any form of red ranger or Time Force Pink, Zack just becomes an epic powerhouse. You can do all sorts of crazy stuff if you have MMPR or Samurai Red throwing rerolls and setting up with Team Tactics and whatnot.

The Power Axe is possibly the most used power weapon in the base set. The sheer damage potential of this one card, in conjunction with Hip-Hop Kido, means that you can take out up to four cards, if not more! It is the showstopper at our table, full stop. Whiffing it hurts, but even a mediocre shot from a Power Axe is more than enough to make life bearable. I think, out of all the cards that we've used in the game, this may be the one that makes for the largest amount of high fives and "YES!" incidents. And, as much as I love Adam, I have to admit that he has no flashy moment even close to Zack's use of the Power Axe. But that's not saying much.

This usually means that Zack isn't taking the one taking damage on behalf of the group and others have to work hard to make sure he doesn't go down. In fact I think it's accurate to say that Zack is average, to almost unplayable, without backup. Yeah, his Power Axe is amazing, but its truly awesome moments are only when Zack is being buffed by others, particularly by the Tyrannosaurs Zord and, if you have access to it, the Dragonzord makes Zack a force to be reckoned with. Combining those two zords with Zack makes for some of the flashiest moments in the game, but they are just that: moments. You trade consistency for bursts of power that fade into nothing a moment later. If your group can capitalize off those moments you will find Zack to be the MVP of the night, every night. The high fives will flow, even without Bulk and Skull!

A special thanks to Jonathan Ying for answering my myriad questions. He was very gracious.

Sabina's Castle: Session Fourteen

Anneli: The voidmaster of the ship the Sidreal Companion. She had crash-landed on Argentum Prime and lost her companions, including her sister Nomi, who had betrayed her.

Salt: Spar's daughter, who was rescued by Anneli and her companions. She is the only one still with Anneli as of right now.

Herminus: The former head of security of Sabina's Castle, who become one of Spar's employees before he had vanished.

The Lady in Red: The one who had given Anneli a little toy sword, which was the only way to find the Island of Eternal Youth. She hasn't been seen since by Anneli.

Pyrite: One of Spar's compatriots in his nog smuggling ring.

As the light began to fade Anneli and Salt began to get ready for the night. Anneli took the first watch. As Salt began to get ready to sleep Anneli asked her what the area was like and what Salt knew about it. Salt said she had lived in Argentum Prime since she was a little girl, and barely remembered the dwarven tunnels and halls. She asked Anneli if she really grew up in the Ring of Tears, and if anyone really did live up there. Anneli looked up at the sky, longingly, and said there was nothing like flying amongst the stars. Salt shuddered, but she surmised she'd not much room to talk: Argentum Prime had become a living hell. Six months ago something that looked like a dragon had flown out of Sabina's Castle and destroyed the city with a dark flame. Salt didn't think it could be a dragon, however. It was a being made of shadows and even dragons had flesh and  bone. There were survivors still in the city, but they could talk about that tomorrow. Salt went to sleep.

A few hours later something monstrous walked up to Anneli. Its eyes shone with a fell purple light, with a malice only possible from an Anti-Flame "life-form". The undead was so frightening that Anneli froze. The undead charged the sleeping Salt and bit her throat. Anneli charged with her sword and knocked the undead back into a wall. The undead counter-charged and knocked Anneli over, bruising the back of her head. He politely asked her to let him kill Salt, that nobody else needed to die. Salt hit the undead on the back of the head and Anneli threw him off. The undead withdrew; Salt collapsed, gurgling in her own blood.

Anneli put Salt on her shoulder and, after being told in between gurgles that the other survivors were at the bend of the river, began to run. As she got within sight of the bend the mist thickened, and out came what could have been a shriveled elven woman. She was naked, and awful beyond imagination. Anneli fell over, mortally wounded, from a sudden shock to her nervous system. Whatever had happened upon looking at the elven woman had almost killed her.

She woke up, underground, with a male dwarf (who introduced himself as Pyrite) standing over her. The lady in red, Marian, came over. She explained that it was two years later, and that thanks to her Anneli's sword they had been safe that whole time. Anneli asked what had happened, and Marian told her that she had met a fallen nymph, who had been killed by the dragon coming out of Sabina's Castle. Salt came over and greeted Anneli, happy to see her up and awake again. Marian went around a bend and Anneli overheard her talking to a "Telos" talking about how only their continued efforts and the toy sword held back their enemies. They could keep back Rahbarl, the others, and particularly Herminus from Salt a little while longer...

The Giggling Dark: Session Nineteen

Sir Xellous: The fourteen year old main character, played by Kurlak. Sir Xellous just killed his 10 year old brother-in-law, Michael, who had become a revenant. He passed out in the attempt.

Kora: Sir Xellous' wife. She'd been kidnapped by the Khen-zai while pregnant. She's since given birth to her son. Her memory was wiped by the Khen-zai, so she has no memory of Sir Xelllous at all. After Sir Xellous had killed Michael she had brought him to the infirmary.

Telos: A hero from another place, another time. He had been held in a prison of sorts for a very, very long time.

Rules clarification: Last session Kurlak and I came up with a new use for Aura Manipulation, that of the sorcerer being able to give some of his life-force to stabilize someone. The obstacle is the equal to the type of wound being stabilized. Before the roll is made the sorcerer takes a Midi wound, usually shown as neurological shock, bursting of blood vessels, etc. 

Twelve hours passed. Sir Xellous awoke in pain. He didn't feel as badly as he had a few hours earlier, but he definitely wasn't back up to 100%. Kora lay next to him on a cot, the baby snuggled up to her. They were in the castle infirmary. Telos was sitting on a nearby stool. The infirmary was full from the battles with the Cursed of Xalmantra.

Sir Xellous learned from Telos that King Varlur had been injured, but the finest doctors weren't with him; they were with Ikuinen Lampo, and had been for over twelve hours. When last Elos had heard, the doctors had been cautiously optimistic. Something about that concerned Sir Xellous. He got up. Kora was asleep for the moment and he didn't want to wake her. Not yet. He asked Telos to show him where Ikuinen Lampo was being operated on. As Sir Xellous and Telos walked they discussed Michael; his remained had been burned. Sir Xellous winced, but he admitted it was probably for the best. He and Telos discussed his feelings of guilt about Michael's death, which Telos told him was unjustified.

They got to the operating room and Sir Xellous saw how close Ikuinen Lampo was to death. He looked over at Telos and asked wryly if this was what the doctors had meant by cautiously optimistic. The head surgeon Artur's aura had been messed with by the Khen-zai; he had been sabotaging the operation the last twelve hours, but not so much that  the other surgeon, Severus, would notice. Sir Xellous reached out and purified the head surgeon's aura. He then explained to the confused surgeons what had been going on. Sir Xellous then reached out to Ikuinen Lampo's aura with his own. This caused his system to overload, and he sweated blood. With Lampo stabilized Artur, Severus, and Sir Xellous collapsed.  New surgeons were called in, while Artur and Severus tended to Sir Xellous, helping his system overcome some of its shock.

Ikuinen Lampo would pull through.

Moréna: Session Two

The Umbaran: The Wanderer character, rotated between Lena and I. He's come from the land of Rhun with a zweihander by the name of Moréna, which glows red from time to time. He's looking for someone called Lona Ered.

The Umbaran was standing outside the tower when he heard a scream from the forest. Out came a wounded man, running and screaming at the top of his lungs. "Lona Ered is in there! Help me!" He fell at The Umbaran's impassive feet. "What are you waiting for? Please help me!" The Umbaran looked down at him with scorn, put his weapon in ready stance, and waited. The man died; The Umbaran kicked him off, filled with disgust.

The Umbaran turned around and tried to walk into the town of Gelionunci, but found himself stopped by an invisible force. Shaking his head and cursing, he tried again. He couldn't walk anywhere nearer the town. He cursed again.

The Woman appeared behind him. "You won't be able to get in that way. Lona Ered's power won't let you."

"What, you think he's that powerful?" The Umbaran sneered.

"I know he is. And he's waiting for you in there" she pointed back into the forest.

"And how do you know that's where he is? What makes you think he wishes to face me at all?"

The Woman pointed at Moréna: "What does your sword tell you?"

"What do you know of my sword?"

"Only as much as you do."

The Umbaran cursed and walked past The Woman. "Not because you tell me to. I just want to check it out." The Woman smiled as he walked back into the forest.

The forest he chose to walk back into was crowded with underbrush. Moréna was used to hack it down, and The Umbaran continued to push his way through. He found himself in a clear with many rope-thick webs. Dark shadows began to jump around him, and a spider the size of a dog jumped down on The Umbaran, who hewed it down. A web attached to his foot and Moréna. The Umbaran pulled the web loose from his sword, but the web attached to his foot went taut and he flew into the air. A branch went through his torso and The Umbaran hung upon it, sword still in hand. Coughing on the black fluid that was once his blood he croaked "Is this the best that Lona Ered can do to me?" He spat black ichor. Quick as a wink he was pulled off the branch and dragged bodily acrost the forest.

The spiders let go; The Umbaran flew in the air a good ways, hit a tree, and rolled through underbrush, coming to rest in a clearing at the bottom of the hill. He stood up slowly and looked around. He was in an area with a bubbling fountain and the statue of a female elf with a child. What little light there was vanished. The Umbaran looked up: down came a spider the size of a large temple. The Umbaran almost didn't get out of the way in time, as Lona Ered came crashing down onto the ground. Some of the water from the fountain fell on Lona Ered and burns appeared on him. He jumped back, out of range of the fountain, and then chuckled. "Back for more, are we? Weren't you satisfied with what happened the last time?"

"No, not remotely" said The Umbaran.

"I did kill your family. And you" hissed the Lona Ered. "You want to do it all over again?"

"I'd much rather just kill you this time around." The Umbaran brandished Moréna.

"I don't believe you." Lona Ered lunged at the The Umbaran and knocked Moréna from his hands. The gentle bubbling of the fountain could still be heard and The Umbaran felt calmer looking at it. He jumped for Moréna instead. The blade's dull red glowed turned into a bright scarlet, which fed into The Umbaran, making him stronger.

The Umbaran jumped forward and cut deeply into Lona Ered, killing him in one stroke. The gigantic spider shriveled into a mass of shadows. At the center was a male elf. Moréna stopped glowing. "Heh, that's a lot to do for a good night" said the Umbaran. As he walked away his blade began to glow again. The small crystal he had became a little dimmer.

Back under the banks all the web cocoons began to shudder. And then break open. Little, soft voices whispered "We're free" simultaneously.

The Woman, who was nearby, smiled. "The first test is complete."

Sabina's Castle: Session Thirteen

Anneli: The voidmaster of the crashed ship Sidereal Companion. Her sister Nomi just betrayed her in front of a whole group of very, very, very bad folks, including two goblins, a troll, and a great wolf.

Nomi: Anneli's older sister. Apparently she serves the orc god of anger, Rahbarl.

Fingar: The shipmaster of the Sidereal Companion. He's cornered, right along with Anneli and the female dwarf.

The female dwarf: She had been found by Anneli and co. as she was about to killed by said goblins, troll, and great wolf.

Thungal: The conflict mediator of the Sidereal Companion. She was just knocked out by Nomi and fell a good two stories to the streets below.

Salt: The plucky daughter of Spar, who had branded him as an oathbreaker.

Nomi apologized to Anneli for the deception, who told her she didn't know who her sister was anymore. Nomi pleaded for the little toy sword that Anneli had. Rahbarl, the orc god of anger, wanted the sword, and if Nomi and the others got it from Anneli she, Fingar, Thungal, and the female dwarf could walke away, scott free. Anneli told Nomi that was never going to happen.  She lunged forward, cut Nomi with her sword, and pushed her down the stairs, on top of the great wolf who had been sneaking up the stairs to ambush Anneli and co. The great wolf fell over, onto the goblin who had been riding him, and Anneli heard a sickening snap. The troll, who had been standing just outside the window, tried to hit Anneli and Fingar. Anneli, Fingar, and the dwarf dodged to the side and then smashed through the wall, landing in the street below. The great wolf gave chase.

The dwarf was the weak link in the chain, far as the chase was concerned; she was injured and shorter than Anneli and Fingar, not to mention stupidly slower than the wolf. Anneli yelled at the dwarf that she wouldn't die here, that she needed to run! She kept cajoling the dwarf, helping her push harder than she ever had in her life. Fingar just plain old grabbed the dwarf and pulled her along. They managed to to outrace the great wolf. After getting out sight the female dwarf took off her shirt and tossed it in the opposite direction they ran, into a nearby building. The great wolf, already behind, was thrown off by the additional scent as he rounded the corner. After a short search he found the shirt, but it was too late. They were far away.

As soon as they slowed down Anneli felt a crushing sensation. All of a sudden she was down down down down DOWN, crushed under the earth. There was a Darkness Anneli found herself in it was a living force complete unto itself it was all around her and was reaching for- Fingar finally snapped Anneli out of it. She had collapsed, screaming in a high guttural voice that was unearthly. The dwarf asked her what happened. Anneli described  what happened to her and the dwarf blanched: that was a visitation  from Leviathan. Anneli was the third person in recorded dwarven history to survive the experience; the other two went crazy! No one else had ever met Leviathan and stayed sane.

As they discussed the incident Fingar started, yelling Thungal's name. He immediately started to head back. He told Anneli and the dwarf (who now had Fingar's shirt on) that time was of the essence and that principles demanded they go get Thungal, immediately.

"I didn't forget about Thungal", Anneli clarified. "I had to decide who to save and couldn't bring back everyone. And we need to get our bearings before going back."

"No, nobody should have been left behind! That's ridiculous, we're not waiting."

"You're not thinking tactically. Have you ready of Highlord Myra's works on it? We can't use our emotions in this."

"I didn't know she had written anything on tactics. Highlord Myra was a master chef, her book on flan is amazing!"

"How do you..." Anneli shook her head.  "You're not being smart about this."

"I'm not being smart about this? The smart thing to do is to leave now, because the longer we wait the more certain we are of losing Thungal. We need to move now!"

"Jumping in half-cocked doesn't work as often as you-"

Fingar exploded. "You sound nice, but what sort of sense does a person who thinks to check the mast of a void ship for sabotage actually have?" Anneil tried to get in another word. "No, no, you're done here" Fingar insisted. "You don't care about Thungal at all."

"No, that's not true! I don't want to rush in like an idiot; that doesn't mean I don't care!"

Fingar threw up his hands "Right up until they move Thungal. And when that happens we'll lose her. You can't do that. We need to move now."

"Fingar, look around. We're nowhere near home. We don't know anything about where we are."

"That's not an excuse, that's more of a reason! We need to move now, while we know the ground. They'll meet up with their friends and we'll have an even harder time."

"Um, yeah, there's a lot more of them" The Dwarf commented.

"All the more reason to go now!" Fingar insisted. "Ah, I've had enough talking with you about this. I'm leaving." And Fingar stalked off. Anneli and The Dwarf didn't move.

Anneli and the dwarf found a nearby building and sat down, wearily. Anneli remarked that all her friends where gone. The Dwarf said they would be return. Anneli asked how she could be so sure. Salt told her that she had abandoned her father before the dragon had showed up. She was still looking for him. But she would find him. And Anneli would find her friends.

The Burner Codex Review

This review has a preamble, which can be found here. I recommend reading that first. Hopefully it will provide context that I think crucial to reading this review. This game has a deeply personal meaning to me. We criticize the things we love the hardest.

So you're new to Burning Wheel and have the first book! Congrats! You're probably going through the book and either loving and understanding it, or loving it and trying to figure out what to do. It wasn't too long ago when most of us Burning Wheel folks were in your situation. I know that, when I first started, that I was overwhelmed by the game. There was a lot to process and understand and (in my case) to teach. If it wasn't for the Adventure Burner I doubt I'd be where I am today in regards to this game. This had less to do with the game itself than I had a hard time just... adapting. If you are in this boat (and even if you aren't) the Burning Wheel Codex is incredibly useful. If you wanted more racial options, this book definitely has that as well! There's trolls, wolves, roden, and dark elves, all of whom add a lot of depth to your setting. There's also magical items and a bunch of new magical systems, some of which are add-ons to the already existing Sorcery systems. But the book isn't perfect. We'll get to that later.

So, the Adventure Burner and Commentary advice is the best I've ever read. Period. I don't care what roleplaying game you are playing, if it has a GM role then the advice in this section needs to be read.  You can pick up the book and find everything you could possibly want to and read up on it. My favorite parts of this book are the Adventure Burner proper, as well as the writing on Antagonists, which should be read by all people who want to play in an RPG. The advice is not only universally applicable but the examples given are enough to give me chills that I've read it, over the course of seven years.There is advice on every. Single. Mechanic. In Burning Wheel. And, even if you aren't playing this game, its mechanical advice is so good that it's useful to almost any game you play in.

The Magic Burner's essays continue the breakdown of not just the game, but the genre and types of magical protagonists and antagonists as a whole. There's so much in these essays that, again, if someone needed a general breakdown of the fantasy genre I'd just go and give them this book and they would get a lot out of it. Most d20 games I've read say something to the extent of: "Go ahead and steal for your game!". This book says "Go ahead and steal for your entire GMing career!"The rest of the Magic Burner section has a collection of artifacts, to give a general idea of how to hack your own. They range from the tongue-in-cheek (the Ring of Power) to the awesome (snake armor! Who could say no??) Also included are a bunch of lifepaths for Magical Colleges, magical children who scare the crap out of everyone around them because of their raw power, necromancers, summoners, etc. etc.

And then there's the new stocks. Well, mostly new. Trolls, wolves, and roden are introduced to the game. Trolls are your classical large smelly brutes. They're incredibly strong and ridiculously stupid, but they have a charm to them that makes them interesting protagonists. Great Wolves come straight out of the Jungle Book and Princess Mononoke, complete with their own mythology. Roden, however, take the cake for an other-human culture. The race is divided in half: the good-natured (if slightly odd) Field Roden, whose faith brings the best out of the race, and Those Below, whose faith was corrupted on a sociological level. Dark elves are an add on to elves, showing how low they can stoop.

For my money this book is not a nice option to Burning Wheel, but a vital extension of the core rules. It explains the rules, has some of the best commentary on the fantasy genre I've ever read, adds more stuff, and makes it possible to run just about anything you'd like to, in a system that was already very open to begin with. Don't pass it up!

Moréna: Session One

In the perpetual twilight, before the sun and moon, The Umbaran strode onto the shore of the shore of the Gelion river, beside the town Gelionunci. A web shot out of the water and pulled him down into the river. The Umbaran found himself in an air pocket beneath the river, he was under the bank, where a little cave wound back into it.

He was also being attacked by a spider the size of a small dog.

As he fought the spider he heard a small voice, further back. He ignored it, and continued to fight the spider. The small voice failed. He killed the spider. The Umbaran went into the back, walking past a series of webbed-up pods. They were still. At the back of the cave he found a small pod that was still swinging back and forth. He cut it open, and a small elven boy fell out. The boy looked deep into The Umbaran's dead eyes and died. The Umbaran searched the boy's body, but he didn't find what he was looking for. He searched around, and then found a stone. He pulled out a smaller crystal, which had been hewn from a similar rock, but smoothed down. The Umbaran compared them, perplexed. He walked around again, checking the room once more. He came back to the crystal rock, broke off a part of it, and pocketed both the smoothed down crystal and the new one.

The Umbaran went back to the river, swam back up to the bank, and pulled himself out. To his right was a forest, to his left was the town of Gelionunci. The Umbaran held up his crystals, and they both glowed equally. He headed for the forest. The underbrush in the forest was uncommonly thick, so out came Moréna and down went the underbrush. The Umbaran found a a clearing, with a gigantic tree. In the tree was an arrow. The Umbaran became frustrated and called out for Lona Ered, demanding that he come out and face The Umbaran. There was no answer, only a dark chuckle, coming from somewhere in the forest. Moréna's edges began to glow red.

All of a sudden the trees began to sway, back and forth, back and forth. Yells and screams heralded the arrival of men wielding swords. The Umbaran cut them all down in astonishingly brutal fashion. One of them reached up and grabbed The Umbaran's ankle, calling him "Boros" and that the men were bewitched and he could still be saved! The man was killed; The Umbaran didn't care. The trees began to sway back and forth again. A black liquid began to bulge out of their roots. Black liquid came from the the men and crawled towards the nearest tree. The Umbaran cut down the tree, and the black liquid went to another one. The Umbaran examined the men, and sighed deeply as he recognized each and every one of them.

The Umbaran headed towards Gelionunci. As he walked he saw a watchtower, which was situated in front of the wall. A gleam from the West hit the white stones of it, and it shone, briefly, in the twilight. The watchtower itself was immaculately clean, but there were dark webs in the windows. The Umbaran stared at the tower, gleaming there in the twilight, and eventually walked inside.

The entire place was covered in dust. Quivers arrows, weapons, the worn floor, all covered in dust. The ground floor was a single room, with windows facing the town and forest. The forest window had a magnifying lens in it. A stone stairway led up to a second story. It was simple stone, but polished. The Umbaran climbed these stairs cautiously, sword ready. There were no webs inside the windows, but on the outside, contrary to what he had seen outside. There were many more weapons up here, especially bows, which were without strings. He cut through the webbing on the windows and the twilight shone through. He looked through, at the clearing he had just been in. There was a creak in the floorboards behind him and he whirled around. There was an elven woman standing there. The Umbaran told her she had one minute before he attacked her. She disappeared. A blade fell down, behind from where she was. The Umbaran picked it up and read the inscription on it: "Mairon", it read. It glowed red, just like Moréna. The Umbaran chuckled drly and sheathed it in his belt.

The Umbaran left the tower and heard a little voice cry out. It was the boy from earlier. The Umbaran went behind the tower and found the boy. He turned around and found himself facing The Woman from before, with hundreds of other elves, begging for release from Lona Ered. They vanished in a blink.

The Giggling Dark: Session Eighteen

Sir Xellous: the 14 year old main character, played by Kurlak. Last we saw him he was in a Khen-zai mech, about to be attacked by a Khen-zai armada. He's trying to figure out how to shift the mech back to the material plane so he can go and save his 10 year old brother-in-law, Michael and his wife, Kora. He is the temporary wield of Pyra, a bow of immense power. He had originally made it for his now-missing wife, Kora.

Telos: A hero from another place, another time. He had come and gotten the Celestial Knights to save the king from the Cursed of Xalmantra, a group everyone thought was extinct.

Thought-8: One of ten black Khen-zai. He had been captured by Sir Xellous and the Celestial Knights. He had been left to his own devices by Sir Xellous and so he called in an armada to rescue him.

Ernzan: A former member of the Cursed of Xalmantra. He was the one who had originally forced Michael to summon the Flammeous Lads. He had since repented of his evil and is know a Celestial Knight.

Facing down an armada, Sir Xellous scanned its auras, trying to ascertain its strategy. The larger ships, which were bio-mechanical, were hanging back. Hundreds of smaller auras were streaming out of them, identical to the aura of his mech. It was time to see if he could fly this thing. Sir Xellous, armed with the knowledge from his ring, attempted to fly the mech. It was a bit shaky, but he was able to get it off the ground. He put the ziggurat between himself and the incoming fleet, so that he could have a second. Sir Xellous didn't think they would do an orbital bomardment; Thought-8 was still on the ziggurat, somewhere, and they would probably want to keep him alive. He found an entrance into the ziggurat and busted through it, trying to buy himself some time to phase shift the mech.

All of a sudden he was being pulled out of the mech, out of the ethereal plane... somewhere. The pain was intense. The world became a kaleidoscope of colors and horror. Sir Xellous fell onto the ground. He was back on the material plane. And, standing before him, was Ikuinen Lampo, blood coming out of her mouth. She fell over, and behind her stood something that resembled Michael. The smile wasn't his, he had some significant wounds, and his eyes shone with a fell purple light. The sight of this monstrosity should have paralyzed Sir Xellous with fear. It didn't. He didn't have time. If Ikuinen Lampo died the dead would rise in his home region, his mother-in-law Threen would die, and he would lose his ability to see and manipulate auras. He reached out to his sister's body, which Ikuinen was inhabiting, and reinforced it with his own life-force. It was a similar body to his, and so he lent his own energy to what was left of his sister. His blood vessels burst and his skin began to sweat blood. He held on. Ikuinen Lampo stabilized, briefly. Michael walked up to him while he did this, grabbed Pyra, and winked at him. He jumped twenty feet, to the top of the castle wall, and jumped off easily.

Shaking like a leaf, Sir Xellous looked before him and realized he was in front of the keep of the king's castle. Bodies were everywhere, Celestial Knights and The Cursed of Xalmantra alike. There was a pile of corpses in front of the open doors to the great hall. Sir Xellous slowly pulled Ikuinen Lampo up the stairs, past the pile of corpses, into the great hall. He needed to find her medical attention immediately, before she died and everything important to him was lost. There were more bodies in the great hall. Telos sat on one of the chairs. He was exhausted and bleeding from a cut to his head. Seeing Sir Xellous Telos got up and helped him set Ikuinen Lampo down on the table. He asked what happened to her, and Sir Xellous told him about Michael stabbing her. Telos said that wasn't possible, and then grew pale. Sir Xellous didn't know, no one had been able to tell him yet: Michael had been killed twenty minutes ago, rescuing Ernzan.  Sir Xellous said it was definitely Michael, but he had been twisted into something awful. Ernzan came into the great hall and came running up to Sir Xellous, in tears, and told him something awful had happened to Michael. Sir Xellous told him that Michael was running around, but strange and twisted, and much stronger! He told them both about Michael's twenty foot jump. Telos grew very afraid at that point; he asked if Michael had purple eyes.

When Sir Xellous confirmed Michael now had purple eyes Telos picked up Ikuinen Lampo and put her in Ernzan's arms, demanding that he take her to the nearest medic. They needed to save Kora, right then and there. Sir Xellous asked why Kora needed saving from Michael, and Telos told him that Revenants bore grudges against their loved ones from when they were alive. Telos had no idea how Michael could have become a revenant on this world, but he was definitely one. They ran out the front doors of the keep, and heard an enormous explosion to their right:

BOOM. A house exploded. Pyra was a work.

BOOM. Another one.

BOOM.

BOOM. Two structures spat up smoke into the evening.

Sir Xellous locked onto Pyra's aura, and Telos picked him up. He barreled down the street, going where Sir Xellous pointed him.

And there was Kora, baby in her arms. Michael stalked behind her, laughing an awful, creaky laugh. BOOM. He was missing on purpose. He saw Telos and Sir Xellous and stopped toying with Kora. Telos threw Sir Xellous to the ground and pushed Kora out of the way. Telos' Behemoth-made  armor tanked the blast, but the explosion knocked him out. The baby was screaming. So was Kora. Michael notched another arrow. Sir Xellous narrowly got her clear of the shrapnel. Kora didn't recognize Sir Xellous, just one glance told him that. He told her that she didn't remember, but that he loved her and they would get through this. Michael told Sir Xellous that at the end, when he had died, there was only one person he had wanted to see, only one person he wanted to rescue him: his big brother, the mighty "hero" Sir Xellous. He wasn't there. And Michael would take everything from him that he loved.

Grabbing the star stone in his pocket Sir Xellous held it aloft. He found the... thing... whatever it was... that was making Michael a revenant and suppressed it, hoping against hope to buy more time. The invocation of the stone reacted with the foreign object in a way unlooked for; nothing defiled can stand before purity, nothing. The thing shattered, and Michael's little body collapsed, never to rise again. Sir Xellous collapsed next to Kora, who was trying to comfort her sobbing son. More blood poured from his skin, and he found he couldn't move. Kora, haltingly, picked him up. There she was! She was real! Her hair brushed his cheek.

Ernzan came running out with a group of people. Some of them grabbed stretchers and got Sir Xellous and Telos on them. Telos woke up and asked what he missed.

May the Power Protect You: Jason Lee Scott (MMPR Red)

I am a very bossy person. Although my bark is far, far worse than my bite I can still be a rather intimidating personality at times. So co-op games can be a bit of a challenge for me. I do not like steamrollering people, but I usually find that co-op games have not accounted for what happens when someone with that intense of a personality enters the space their game creates. I find Jason Lee Scott to be a perfect answer. If you have someone who is blunt and overpowering in personality (regardless of how softly they try to talk) then this is might be the character for them! Jason is simple and incredibly group oriented. Despite the loudness of the player Jason melts into the background, providing support where needed and helping the other players achieve a level of awesomeness they would not have otherwise. And, while Jason's cards are all great, I find that Team Tactics and Tyranno Slash are the ones that have served me best.

Jason's ability to provide a free reroll is flashy, useful, and walks into theatrics that are spectacular. There are very few abilities in the game that offer a reroll, and most of these are linked to individual cards, such as Kimberly's Take Aim. Jason's reroll is the only ability in the game that is sure to go off every battle and can be used to benefit anyone and everyone. It is the definition of flash, to the point to where other variants of MMPR Red, such as Dragonshield and Rocky, are a hard sell next to the possibility of a huge damage spike, but we'll get to those in their own time.

Team Tactics is the most valuable card in Jason's arsenal, flat. Granting an energy and then another player to play another card is the bread and butter for the "play another card" string that is so essential to HotG. All the of the other "generate energy" cards have some form of restriction on them, but Jason's is the most flexible of the bunch: play the card, someone else plays another card, with more energy! Inside the conversation of the game this usually plays as a "Hey, you play your *insert big attack here*! It costs less now and may let us play something else that costs energy in the future!" Team Tactics always gets priority during the Recover action, which is fortunate because it's only one shield, so there shouldn't be any problems with getting back at least one.

Now, contrary to popular guidance, Jason can go it alone. It's not his ideal state, but it is possible, and that's entirely because of Lead the Charge and Tyranno Slash. Tyranno Slash in particular I like, because it makes Jason reliable. If you pick your fights carefully you will find Jason to be reliable, if a bit more limited in his spread. But in the right situation Jason can pull his own weight. Now, if you're sending Jason to do a solo mission then you're in a particularly desperate situation, but sometimes you get to that point where everyone has to be spread as thinly as possible to avoid disaster. In those cases you can send Jason out and not be too worried.

This game has a lot of options that are very flashy, and many that are not. The Tyrannosaurus zord creates some of the flashiest moments in the game. You drop this zord on anyone and they are going to look good. This is definitely one of the least situational zords in the game and you are almost guaranteed fireworks with this zord. I love this sucker. It's awesome. Sure, if you whiff it nothing feels worse. But I never said fireworks were a nice thing, did I?

There is a very real satisfaction in not being the person who pulled off the clutch move, but being the one who made it possible. As loud as I am I generally dislike being in the spotlight and find as many ways as possible to stay out of it. Jason is simple but effective; he allows me to command my friends, without taking the spotlight. I can bark orders and sit back, satisfied at the job that we did. Instead of feeling bad for taking over the evening I feel a quiet confidence that we can handle anything. We all did our part. And that's really all I want from a coop game, in the end.

A special thanks to Jonathan Ying, who kindly answered my myriad questions. He was very gracious.

Sabina's Castle: Session Twelve

A week had passed after the elven flying ship The Sidreal Companion crashed into what was left of Argentum Prime. Void Mistress Anneli and her sister Nomi, ship expert Fingar, and conflict manager Thungal had been the only ones to survive the crash. Argentum Prime, once a thriving jungle-city adjacent to a river, was not a barren wasteland, with no river and a mysterious mist that obscured  everything more than a city block away. During this week the four had kept their heads down and recovered from the crash. During this time they saw what appeared to be a large dragon fly overhead, from time to time, but didn't see or hear anything else.

After feeling a bit better VM Anneli  began to examine the ship, top to bottom. She started out at the mast, which infuriated Fingar, who claimed that she had no idea what she was doing, because that mast was beyond secure. When VM Anneli asked him to prove it Fingar went down below and came back up with an axe. He swung at the mast with all his might and barely left a dent in it. VM Anneli wasn't impressed, until Fingar showed her that the axe was made of mithril, almost supernaturally sharp. The weakest point in the whole ship was the area around the rudder, and that was untouched. As far as Fingar could tell there was no sabotage, nor was there any issue with the Sidreal Companion before she crashed. VM Anneli was confused: how did the ship crash, then? Fingar had no idea. But something wasn't adding up.

Far off, somewhere in the fog, they heard a cry for help. Nomi and Thungal came up from below, upon command. With her big sister watching VM Anneli commanded everyone to move out. They picked their way cautiously through the ruined streets. They found a female dwarf, collapsed from exhaustion. She begged them to run as fast possible: Rahbarl's forces were coming! VM Anneli picked her up and began to move her to a nearby builing, out of the way of the street, so she could rest, but the dwarf insisted that they get out of the area immediately. VM Anneli pay her any heed, but hoisted her up the rotting stairs with Nomi, Fingar, and Thungal close behind.

Footsteps from a huge... thing... could be heard, off in the fog. Out walked a troll, fifteen feet at the shoulder, with a goblin on his back. Tossing and catching a stone, the goblin called out to the dwarf, asking if she wanted her pleasure rock back, since all females dwarves were stone fuckers. Out of the mist came another goblin, this one astride an enormous wolf, who was clad in armor. The female dwarf gasped with fear... which the wolf heard. He began to sniff his way toward the building they were in. VM Anneli tried to distract the group below by firing an arrow somewhere, anywhere, to get them to look away. That only made it easier for the wolf, who looked right up at the huddled group. The wolf howled a chilling note, something straight out of the bowels of Hell. Chilled to the core, VM Anneli, Fingar, and Thungal froze in fear.

Nomi didn't; she pulled out her sword and hit Thungal on the back of the head with the hilt, causing her to fall to the ground below.

The Giggling Dark: Session Seventeen

Sir Xellous: The 14 year old Celestial Knight, played Ryan. He just found out that his wife, Kora, is alive!

Thought-8: A black khen-zai, one of ten in the uinverse. He's been captured by Sir Xellous and the other Celestial Knights, but his death would spell the end of their world.

Charu: A Celestial Knight who had quite a bit of experience with the khen-zai. He's got a bit of a temper too.

Michael: Sir Xellous' brother-in-law, aged 10. He's gotten special powers of some sort from an encounter with the Nameless, the foe that the khen-zai have been fighting for tens of millennia now.

Telos: A hero from another place, another time.

Ikuinen Lampo: The star that sponsored Sir Xellous  into the Celestial Knights. She's currently in Emissary Form, borrowing the body of Sir Xellous' sister, Genevieve.

Ernzan: A former member of the Cursed of Xalmantra, who had reformed his life after forcing Michael to summon a Flammeous Lad. He has since repented and is now a Celestial Knight himself. He and Michael are now friends.

Sir Xellous reeled from the news that Kora was alive, but forced himself to think. Kora wouldn't just go and marry someone else, and the Khen-Zai could manipulate minds; the chances of Kora being brainwashed were incredibly high. Sir Xellous wouldn't have been terribly worried for Kora if not for the Cursed of Xalmantra, who he thought were disbanded. Sir Xellous needed some serious firepower. They needed the mech. But that required knowledge of khen-zai tech. Using Thought-8 was out of the question, as he could not be trusted. Sir Xellous would just have to absorb the information from the fallen khen-zai around him.

Sir Xellous grabbed a fallen red khen-zai and pulled him into the room with Lampo and Thought-8. He had five days of work and twenty-four hours to do it in. He barely accomplished it, but was absolutely exhausted. But Sir Xellous was pleased; he had made his wedding ring, upon saying "ether", capable of bestowing knowledge of khen-zai tech upon him. If he removed the ring the enchantment would fade. This was done despite Thought-8, who was being guarded by Ikuinen Lampo, telling him all the nasty things he knew about Kora, whom he called a "bitch mongrel"(mongrel is the word khen-zai use for all humans, in general). But Sir Xellous managed to ignore Thought-8 through the whole process.

As the rest of Celestial Knights were about to teleport out, using their star stones, when Sir Xellous came stumbling down the stairs, saying he'd figured out how to analyze the mech and might be able to get it up and running.  Telos showed up right then, roughed up, saying that the Cursed of Xalmantra were attacking the king, who had gone strange again. Charu offered to stay behind and help with the mech as the other Celestial Knights went to help Telos, who told Sir Xellous to hurry: Ernzan had been captured and Michael had run off after him! Sir Xellous told him it wouldn't be too long now. Lampo asked what to do with Thought-8, who promised that his death would start the destruction of the planet. Sir Xellous told Lampo to go with the others; they would watch Thought-8.

Sir Xellous and Charu went to the mech and Sir Xellous examined it with his new-found knowledge of khen-zai tech. The mech was alive! If anyone had gotten in the mech would have tried to kill him if he wasn't a khen-zai. Sir Xellous and Charu grabbed a red khen-zai corpse and tried to make it capable of fooling the mech. Charu was nervous; he didn't think they'd pulled it off. But Sir Xellous wouldn't take no for an answer. He got into the mech with the specially prepared khen-zai. The door shut... and he mech tried to kill Sir Xellous.Charu started to pry the cockpit open, desperate to distract the mech, while Sir Xellous utterly overwhelmed the mech's aura, forcing his will to triumph over the bio-machine.

A fleet of khen-zai ships appeared suddenly: Thought-8 had been busy. Charu grabbed his star-stone and told Sir Xellous they needed to leave; they could teleport out with their stones. Sir Xellous the mech was capable of phasing, too, but that it would take time to figure out. Charu needed to leave.

But Sir Xellous was going to get this mech over to help, come hell or highwater.

Right after we finished the session, Ryan asked "Can I fly this mech outta here?"

I responded back "Do you have khen-zai mech piloting?"

The Book (and Urth) of the New Sun

This is the third take I've had on this review. Every time I write my thoughts I find them woefully inadequate. There are concepts in this book I had no idea that I needed in order to understand myself, nevermind the world. And, now that I'm coming to the last fifty pages of The Urth of the New Sun, I find that I am terrified of ending the book. But end it must, and I must figure out what I will do from here.

The previous two iterations of this review became more and more grandiose as they progressed, to the point to where I found that the painful humanity of the book was lost. But when I tried to walk it back the grandeur was also lost in sweeping statements on how petty the main character could be. I could not focus on both, even though the book did.

The last few years of having PTSD have been some of the most rewarding and insanely painful of my already-painful life. I've seen highs and lows that I wouldn't have known that anyone else had experienced, were it not for this book. Reading Wolfe's thoughts on time travel and salvation left me speechless. There are things in this book that are so real that they can hardly be believed. But real they are. This man knew, he had done it. But when I try to write about it I destroy what it is that I love about the book. I cannot talk about them, even though the book did.

Ending The Urth of the New Sun is like driving to the airport with someone you love quite deeply. You hang on every word, you savor every last sight, smell, sound, them. You know they will not be there, with you, for much longer, and so you drink them in as much as you can, praying that it's an illusion, hoping against all hope that when you get to the airport they'll say "JUST KIDDING! I'm staying here". You hope that this is the time they stay and you will not have to be parted from them, ever again. Maybe, maybe this time, the dream will not end.

They get on the plane.

The book ends.

And you have to wake up.

It is over.

But the dream continued, this time, somehow. My friends and family will come back to me and in a real way they never left. I will finally be able to fully enjoy the family and friends I have now! The book is over but I will return to it, to enjoy it anew. Eventually that pleasant dream, where the world makes sense and I'm not fighting by the skin of my teeth to maintain even a facade of mental health, will become reality. Eventually I will triumph. Like all properly Christian works, I am left with hope, as Severian strides off into the unknown. Wherever he is going, whatever The Increate will require him to do, he has triumphed.

This is not typical to the types of reviews I write, and for that I apologize. This is a very deeply personal book to me, and I find that it's almost impossible to write about. If you like sci-fi and fantasy, and find yourself wanting something of a similar depth to Tolkien, Lewis, and Le Guinn, you will be not be disappointed here. Wolfe is a master, if not the master, of his craft. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Sabina's Castle: Session Eleven

One thousand, four hundred, fifty three years ago a little human child was dragged behind a horse for a mile and a half. His mother was the one riding the horse.Seeing that he had survived being dragged through the rocky terrain a crowd gathered, and whooped and hollered as the child's mother jumped off her horse and strangled her only child in a blind rage. They then stoned the body, defiled it, dismembered it, and scattered the little limbs to the four winds.

An enormous pillar of blue fire arose from where the child was strangled and burrowed into the earth, forcing its way into the empty core of the planet. A rain storm gathered over the tunnel, of an intensity that has never been seen again. The water fell straight down the tunnel, surrounding the Flame, which wrapped the water around itself like a garment. It stabilized out and the Water and the Flame floated, forever to stay. A moment later and the mother of the victim fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. The mob followed suit a moment later, as the Flame that had been long snuffed out returned. Across the entirety of the world elves, dwarves, men, trolls, orcs, spiders, dryads, wolves, and roden, races who had been created by the Khen-Zai to serve their many needs before they had left the planet to fight the Nameless, experienced the birthing of goodness within their hearts, and along with that the birth of guilt. For there is no goodness in us without our ability to mourn its lack of strength.

Most of the sapient races would have fallen into a confused chaos if not for the elves, the elder of the Slave Races of the Khen-Zai. They formed the continent nation Liekkin Mah and reached out to the races nearest to them, enlightening them or fighting them as necessary. For six hundred years the immortal elves reigned from Liekkin Mah. They helped the humans on the continent of Helmi form the Herculaen Empire, unsuccessfully tried to free the continent of Golau from its immortal mistress, and mapped out every last area of the world they could.

And then in the year 667 the entire continent lifted into the air and broke apart, forming the Thousand Islands below and The Ring of Tears above, circling the lower stratosphere. The ensuing tidal waves almost sunk Golau, not to mention Helmi, but somehow the world survived the cataclysm. The elves investigated as they could, but they found that their ships, so famous throughout the world, had been left behind. So they made new ones, ones that could fly in the air. And then the Nameless, who had been held off so long by the flameless Khen-Zai, arrived. Shifting priorities from discovery to defense, the elves continued their care for the other Slave Races the only way they could: by completely devoting themselves to fighting the Nameless until the day came that they would come no more.

When Anneli was an eager and restless little girl, living on the island of Nelya Yousta, in the nation of Kotaemah, in the Ring of Tears, a human woman with raven hair, clothed in scarlet, came to port. She sat with Anneli, and explained what she as doing here. She had come from the Island of Youth, a mysterious island somewhere on the planet, and had received eternal life from it, although she could have asked for anything she wanted.  Fascinated, Anneli continued to listen. The woman told her that one needed an object from the person who last visited that was important to that person to be able to find the island. She took out a small wooden sword and handed it to Anneli, got up, and left, "to talk with those who had more perspective than she".

Anneli never lost the little wooden sword and eventually became the captain of a ship, the Sidereal Companion. On its maiden voyage, flying low over Helmi, the Sidereal Companion mysteriously crashed in the nightmare city formerly known as Argentum Prime, capital city of the now shattered Argentum Empire. The city is now a place of nightmares, filled with horrific Flameless and Anti-Flame creatures. A horrific dragon has been seen flying low in the skies, settling down atop what was once known as Sabina's Castle. And all Anneli wants to do is get the hell out so she can continue to work toward getting to The Island of Eternal Youth, to see what she could wish for.

Moréna: Session Zero

Lena is someone that I knew from my time at Benedictine College. She and I had played in a few games together, particularly one of the best games I've ever been in, a World of Darkness campaign called "Unspent", GM'd by Andy. Her family and mine had met up at a park so the kids could play together, and we got into talking about RPG campaigns and whatnot. I told her about my late-night games and how much I wished others would be up at 10 PM and on so I could play with them. Lena said she was a night owl and she missed playing! After a few logistical hoops were jumped through we decided that we wanted to eventually get to a 2nd Age Middle Earth Burning Wheel game. I flat out refused to do it as of now, mostly because I'm already GMing two Burning Wheel games already and the strain would probably kill me.

So I suggested Bleak Spirit, which is so intensive it might kill me anyway!

So this is what we've drawn up. Lena, being a huge LOTR nerd (there is no "k" in Evlish) wanted to play in the First Age of Middle Earth. We decided it would when the Trees were bringing light into the world, before the sun and moon, so everything is in a perpetual twilight. Melkor, enemy of the world, is still grabbing random elves, who haven't gone West yet and are terrified of the darkness that is their world. We're putting the game on the Gelion River, near the area that eventually becomes river, in a town named Gelionunci, a mostly abandoned town.

The Wanderer we made is The Umbaran, a revenant human from what eventually became the mysterious land of Rhûn. An undead on a special mission that only he knows about, The Umbaran dresses in worn fine elvish clothes he probably picked off an elven corpse from somewhere, and wields an enormous zweihander called Moréna. This blade is the source of his power. It increases his physical strength, anger and focus. For his part The Umbaran is a very focused personality, chasing his goal with uncompromising vigor. Distracting him is a bad idea, for The Umbaran has a bad temper and will not stop until he gets what he has been chasing this whole time.