thoughtpile
horror frp
Three bad winters in a row this one looks no different
Don’t overdo these things or you’re likely to get laughs instead of
tension. Start slowly and build up gradually.
Ease the tension back now and then
Play with the PCs’ sanity - are they seeing things? Are they going mad?
Is something *changing* them?
The unknown is scary. in a horror game, the more a player understands
what’s happening to his character and WHY it’s happening the less
frightened he’ll be.
Give glimpses of your monsters rather than revealing them wholesale.
Remember that some monsters are intelligent. A monster that schemes can
be terrifying indeed, particularly if he doesn’t think in a human
manner.
Put the emphasis on the results of the monsters’ handiwork, rather than
on the monsters themselves.
Remember atmosphere. Don’t present your monsters with minimal detail
in a sunny and non-frightening setting. Use your details to make them
scary.
Don’t give your players too much information about your monsters, and
particularly not all at once.
use real world lighting music to do atmosphere
———————————————————————————-
Setting
———————————————————————————-
Russia, baba yaga, cold, pagen, huge, wilderness, poor
Full arc is Baba Yaga defeats Lord of the Lake.
Events:
10-20 yrs prior DemonTurks invade lots of TrueGod land overtake several
vassals/provencies in SW Novaka. Stopped by mysterios Lord of Lake
Danska along with Latland declare independence attack Freisen (port city
of Novaka
Several north dukedoms quit paying taxes/sending troops (but don’t
outright revolt)
Map:
west of The Lake is the great flat
east is the old kingdom east the Ice teeth mountains
east is wilder land
Norvosk on the Luga is the largest city in wilder lands
east more wilderness and ocean
out there are druids and vikings
south is german rex holdings
north is snow waste and orcs
————————-
Economy / Trade
————————-
Techs:
-Silver is relativly plentifull (imported)
-Gold is rare
-plat bronze brass are unheard of
-iron is not plentifull but not rare either
Coinage:
————
The basic unit of money was the silver grivna, a silver ingot weighing
roughly a pound.
Foriegn coins: In areas close to a source (silver dirhams in SE, various
in/near vassals) value was that of their weight. (no conversion)
Local ‘money’: Worn-out fur unsuitable for use in garments. Used furs
are brought to a clerk authorized to mark them, and he affixes a marker
to the furs, which is then used as currency. The need for such a system
is a lack of silver, a metal always imported.
Fur currency was measured in fractions of the silver grivna. There was no
universal system for all the Russian lands, but values were constant
within each area.
one example
1 grivna of silver = 25 kunas = 50 rezana = 150 veksha/veveritsa
kuna 1/25 grivna
rezana 1/50 grivna
veksha/veveritsa 1/150 grivna
some areas also have a bela
————————-
Religion
————————-
In Novaka - True God / Raskolniki / Ancestor / Animalism
True God:
————-
The dominante religion for most non-Novaka world (not vin-homeland, yet)
Hostile to other beliefs, likes to warp and absorb them.
lame ass christians, no real magic get power through manip of others
2-300 years ago some tzar converted to True God. Most of Eastern Novaka
cares less. Vlads and good parts of Severnaya(dual whorship) are True
God. Major cities (where Vlads are) have strong True God pressense.
Called “Embrace the True God” when a King/country converts
Old Believers (Raskolniki) aka Pagen:
——————————————————-
Slavic folkcraft and mythology, lots of nature spirits everywhere.
Cult of Bear:
——————-
Severnaya specific, but fear/respect of bears throughout western & northern Novaka.
Bears are unknown eastern (most places without woods)
Lythropes
Ancestor whorship:
—————————
Mostly Tyumen. Mixed with a bit of Animalism and various other/foriegn
beliefs depending on area.
Heretics/False God:
the demon whorshipers (take place of Turks)
————————-
Adventure ideas:
————————-
-Rusalka
-Forest of dead, dead people in the trees
-Shin Tsu island palace show down
Vasilisa the Beautiful & the…
White knight
Red Knight
Black knight
player camp guard falls asleep has dreams, party wakes up in baba’s
graveyard
———————————————————————————-
misc ramblings
———————————————————————————-
Only bear meat was off limits: cause of lythropic cult of wear-bears
Rostov is capital
Sometimes, the black-handled knife is forged from a dead mare’s
horseshoe. The handle is made from a black male goat’s hoof or from the
right horn of a black ram. Consecration of the black-handled knife is
performed during the eclipse of the Moon. the person who performs the
ritual puts the black-handled knife in a vessel filled with water. Then
she (or he) places the vessel in such a position that the eclipsed Moon
can be seen on the surface of the water, and waits for the Moon to come
out from the shadow. When the Moon appears from the dark she (or he)
pronounces appropriate words which ends with: “Be more powerful, Om
Moon! be stronger, Oh Moon! Dedicate this knife, Oh Moon!”. When the
whole Moon appears from the darkness she (or he) takes the knife from
the water. It’s believed that this knife is now consecrated and charged
with the Moon’s power.
————————-
Armor
————————-
iron face masks
split is for knights, lots of chain hauberks, some scale
Spring with its run-off from the melting snow made it impossible to
travel by land, and the breaking-up of the ice made it too dangerous to
navigate the rivers. Fall, with its rainfall, was also too muddy. The
short summer was devoted to planting and harvesting and preparing for
the long, harsh, and mostly dark winter. However, the very rivers that
flooded regularly and made land impassable were the highways of medieval
Russia. Trade routes through Russia followed the rivers, with relatively
short portages from one to another. From the Baltic sea to Byzantium,
the famed trade route “From the Varangians to the Greeks” consisted of a
series of rivers. Pirates were not unknown in the generally land-locked
Russia (or rather, ice-locked, for most of the seas are Arctic seas);
they were river pirates, as feared and reviled as any Caribbean sea dog.
In the winter, it was still the rivers, now frozen for many long months,
that offered their hardened surfaces to the merchants, warriors, and
other travelers. While the heavily forested land was covered in deep
snowdrifts that made it all but impassable, the wide rivers would be
swept free of snow by the winds, and travelers rode in sleighs wherever
need took them.
————————————————————————————
Novgorod was a wooden city: large stoves and hot fires were a problem,
so much so that it was not, as the saying goes, a question of whether,
but of when, there would be a major fire. The answer is, historically,
about every 20 years, there would be a fire large enough to be recorded
in the Chronicles
Male hero must quest and find magical allies to defeat obstical
Female just does stuff figures it out
” And I had been there, was drinking mead and beer but no drop got to my
mouth.” It means that I spent all my time talking, which is how it is
supposed to be when a person tells fairy tales.
———————
Magic
Hedge/fold magic -
a gift
slower, more subtle. life & death / divination
Uses, nature, life, spirits (both good and bad) to influence reality
Sorcery -
a gift, only very rare individuals have ability to absorb and use this
power
Absorbs power/energy from something (people, sacrifice, laylines, etc)
forms this into magical effects
power can be stored
Power is unlimited but ability to channel is not.
Mages -
an inate gift
power comes from knowledge and within.
Alchemist
————————————
Baba Yaga
————————————
Baba Jaga - (BAH-bah YAH-gah) Jezi Baba in Polish (YEH-zhee BAH-bah)
Baba in Russian means “grandmother.”
“Grandmother Bony-shanks”. A terrifying Witch who flew through the air
in a mortar using the pestle as a rudder and sweeping away her tracks
with a broom. She lived in a revolving house which stood on chicken
legs. Her fence was made of human bones and was topped with skulls. The
keyhole was a mouth filled with sharp teeth. She would aid those who
were strong and pure of heart and eat those who were not. I see her as a
Goddess of death and initiation. Baba Yaga smiled, showing her iron
teeth, old hag weaving at a loom,A large cat sat in front of the girl to
keep an eye on her
Baba Yaga, ugly, haglike, flying in her mortar, with broom January 20th
is Baba Den (Grandmother’s Day) in Bulgaria. This sounds like a pretty
good day to celebrate Baba Yaga!
——————————————
Cultures:
——————————————
Vlads (the muscovites)
Severnayans (Ukranians)
Vins Varangian from Vinland (swedes) many vins reside in Rostov, a few elsewere.
Lats (estonians)
*Laps (eskimoes)
*Danes Dansk
Tyumen (my Mongols Asiatics)
*Dwarves (Germans)
*Gypsies
(hungarians)
(cossaks)
(byzantines)
(Poles)
(* NPC only)
Vins:
——————————————————————————
Vin titles (male, female):
1. Riddari
2. Baron, Baronsfru
4. Greifi, Greifafru
6. Hertogi, Hertogafru
7. Prinz, Prinzessa
8. Konung, Drottning
Clan culture, inhabit islands far off in unknow ocean. Travel,
explore extensivly, often hire out as mechanires/guards turn to
banditry. A company of them have been the Tzar’s private guards for over
200yrs. Magic is of runic shaman sort. Soundly reject True God.
Lats:
——————————————————————————
Lat titles (male, female):
1. Rüütel
4. Krahv
8. Kuningas, Kuninganna
Small king/dukedom. Several times vassalage, enemy, ally of
Novoka. Has had own king at various times. Culture similar to Vlad but
much western influence(from being vassal/whatever of Danska and others).
Fully Embrace True God, other religious beliefs not tolorated.
Since earliest times the Lithuanians had idols of their respected divine creatures (first totems, later zoomorphic-antropomorphic and finally purely anthropomorphic deities). This was proved by archeological and written sources, as well as linguistic and etnographic data.
former trinity sky earth underworld
Danes Danska:
——————————————————————————
titles (male, female):
1. Ridder
2. Baron, Baronesse
4. Greve or Jarl, Grevinde
6. Hertug, Hertuginde
7. Prins, Prinsesse
8. Konge, Dronning
Eternal Foe of Novoka. High ‘tech’, never much magic though.
Fully embrace True God, other religious beliefs not tolorated.
Laps:
——————-
Laps have no titles
Tribal, primative, eskimoes. Mostly unknown to the average
inhabinent of Novoka. Animalism/Spirit whorship, True God is silly to
them. Subsistance hunting.
Tyumen:
——————————————————————————
No real titles (tribal chiefs and sub-chiefs)
Actually several sub-cultures.
Various eastern migrating/nomadic tribes/peoples and decendents of same.
Often nomadic now, but many have settled under Vlad infulence. Excellent
archers, herders, and horsemen. Magic is often herbal/alchemical/spirit
based. Mostly limited but occasionaly a powerfull wizard emerges. Few
embrace True God. Much ancestor/spirit worship. Some pagen/druid
mixture.
——————————————————————————
Hungarian titles (male, female):
1. Lovag
2. Baro, Baronö
3. Vicomte, Vicomte Felesége
4. Foispan or Grof, Föispanno or Grofnö
6. Ban or Herceg, Banno or Hercegnö
7. Fejedelem, Fejedelemnö
8. Kiraly, Kiralynö
9. Csaszar, Csaszarnö
——————————————————
NPC types:
——————————————————
Druids/Pagens
nature / ritual magic
Gypsies
some magic possible
——————————————————
PC types:
——————————————————
Boyar(land owner)
Vlad, Severnay(very rare)
Landless kniggit
Severnay, Vlad
Soldier
Lat, Severnay, Tyumen, Vlad
Cavalry
Tyumen, cossak
cossaks or horse-archers
Guard (man-at-arms, merchianry)
Lat, Severnay, Tyumen, Vin, Vlad
Bandit
Woodland - Lat, Severnay, Vin, Vlad
horse/greatplains - Tyumen, cossak
Merchant(Foriegn )
Tyumen, Vin, Vlad, exotic other
Priest (One God)
Dane?, Lat, Vlad
Midwife/Wisewoman
Severnay, Vlad(eastern)
Old Russian vedun or vedomye zheny (“wise woman”)
Hermit
Severnay, Tyumen, Vin(runecaster), Vlad(eastern)
Pagan wizard/priest
Severnay, Tyumen, Vlad(eastern)
You are a practitioner of hedge magic, the subtle magic of wise-women
and rural wizards, most suited to keeping crops healthy and children
snug, and to catching cryptic glimpses of the future. Hedge wizards are
the keepers of ancient secrets: herbs that ease pain, forgotten words
that can calm an angry beast, the nature of omens, and the language of
the stars. Their powers are the powers of life and fate. To put it
another way: where an ordinary Physician can give you a root to ease
your toothache, a wise-woman can give you a root, a chant, and a candle
to remove your toothache entirely (and give you pleasant dreams). Where
an ordinary Animal Handler can calm a wild horse, then take it home and
break it and teach it to jump and canter, a hedge-wizard can calm a wild
horse with an ancient word remembered only to horses, in such a way that
the beast will follow the mage home, eager to be taught. A hedge-wizard
can try just about anything. It’s the GM’s job to tell the player what
skills are required, and what rituals, materials, or other special
effort requied Hedge-magic is never a shortcut. In fact, such magic
often requires more, in terms of tools, effort, and supplies, than
mundane usage of the same skills (with an appropriately impresive
results, on a successful roll). Hedge-magic failures are rarely any
different from mundane ones
The six most commonly-used skills of the typical hedge-wizard are
probably Agronomy, Astronomy/Astrology, Animal Handling, Naturalist,
Physician, and Psychology.
Agronomy: Spells used to protect, alter, or even harm fields of growing
food are common; most are very slow and the more unusual ones often
require regular, long-term attention on the part of the mage.
Animal Handling: Actually holding a conversation with an animal is
beyond the scope of hedge magic, but animals often reveal what they know
in simple, abstract ways that a hedge mage can understand. Also, a hedge
mage with this skill can sometimes dramatically alter the mood and
tractability of animals.
Architecture: This includes knowledge of the interrelationship between
the homes and temples of mankind and the spirits that often dwell within
them. Useful for ferreting out the hiding-places of haunts and
house-spirits, and for designing homes that attract the good kind and
make the bad kind uncomfortable.
Astronomy: This is “astrology” at TLs appropriate to this advantage, and
can be used to find the answers to many questions of long-term
individual fate, and to reveal the nature of a stranger’s personality.
Cooking: Often used in conjunction with Physician skill to make
fortifying meals to speed along recovery from illness. Hedge wizards are
also knowledgeable of the power of food to affect mood and outlook, and
to distract people from their worries and disagreements.
Detect Lies: When used by a hedge mage, this skill often grants
additional insight into a liar’s motives or state of mind.
Diagnosis: This skill can detect supernatural maladies as well as
ordinary ones, ills that would flummox an ordinary doctor.
First Aid/Physician/Veterinary(etc.): These skills all include knowledge
of arcane and personal methods of healing, as well as more traditional
means. Hedge-mages are consummate healers, and know to clean, plaster
and bandage as well as any secular doctor - but much more. As a general
rule, hedge magic can heal the sick or wounded two or three times as
fast as mundane doctoring, but a good deal more effort is often required
(both in terms of creating the right atmosphere for healing, and in
terms of required medicines and treatments).
Geology: Includes knowledge of what the stones and shapes of the land
reveal, and how to make minor changes to the spiritual “character” of an
area. The “outdoors” equivalent of Architecture’s applications.
Meteorology: Useful for reading portents in clouds and breezes, and for
creating subtle changes in the weather itself. Dramatic changes are
extremely difficult.
Naturalist: Possibly the most essential skill for the hedge wizard,
since it provides knowledge of the magical properties of plants and
animals, as well as a deep understanding of natural cycles and the
relationships between all living things.
Poison: Hedge magic won’t make a deadly poison much deadlier, but the
magic of plants and animals can often be used to create exotic poisons,
such as those that cause only the semblance of death, or those that work
sickness on the heart and mind instead of the body.
Psychology: Many of the ills of a village are rooted in fear.
Ironically, the (benevolent) village wise-woman or hedge wizard is often
a village’s first line of defense against the dangers of superstition.
This skill can be used with great effect to alter moods and to nudge
people towards or away from a particular belief.
Research: If the mage has an academic bent and tends to collect books
and manuscripts, this skill will be useful for delving into them for
hidden meaning or scraps of useful magic.
Teaching: Can be used to pass on the arcane wisdom to a student, and to
appraise a potential student’s usefulness. An hour or two is often
sufficient to pass on a simple, helpful trick. Years of apprenticeship
are necessary to grant the Hedge Magic advantage in it’s entirety,
though, unless the student is especially gifted with an open mind and a
sense of wonder (GM’s discretion).
—————————————
Omens & Superstitions
—————————————
Never touch a person or shake their hand over the threshold. If you
don’t wait until they are inside, you will not see them again for seven
years and risk angering the Domovoi to boot.
It is unlucky to sit at the corner of a table.
If the cat is cleaning herself it means that company is coming.
If you whistle inside, you risk losing all your money.
Never begin a new project on a Friday.
If you compliment a person on their appearance or their baby’s health,
you must either knock unpolished wood or spit three times over the left
shoulder lest the fairy’s take them.
Never shave or cut your hair when a family member is in danger.
Never cut your hair while pregnant or the unbilical cord will wrap
around ur baby’s neck - From Vika.
When giving flowers, give only odd numbers of flowers. Even numbers are
for the dead.
If a bird hits the window, someone will die.
If you accidently step in poop or a bird poops on you, you will win
money. - From Vika.
If you break a mirror, you can run the pieces under water to counteract
the bad luck.
Never show a newborn baby to a stranger until it is at least 40 days
old.
Do not put keys on a table. You’ll lose money - From Vika.
It was customary on New Year’s Eve for a girl to back up to the
bathhouse door with her hem over the back of her head (rear-end exposed)
and ask a question of the Bannik. If a cold touch or scratch from his
claw was felt, it meant no. If a warm touch or caress was felt, it meant
yes.
—————————————
Animals in stories
—————————————
Wolves are greedy rather stupid, and male (the Russian word for wolf
is “volk,” a masculine noun).
Foxes are sly, calculating, and tricksters. They are also female (the
Russian word for fox is “lisa,” a feminine noun).
Cats are opportunistic and lazy. They are male (the Russian word for
cat is “kot,” a masculine noun).
Bears are big and lumbering (naturally), rather clumsy, and not very
bright. They are male (the Russian word for bear is “medved’,” a
masculine noun). The Russian word that is the equivalent of “teddy
bear,” “misha,” is also the diminutive for the name Mikhail, which is
the standard “first name” of folk-tale bears.
Hares are quick and cowardly, and male (“hare,” in Russian, is
“zaiats,” a masculine noun).
The goat is cunning, and female (Russian — “koza,” a feminine noun).
The rooster is cocky and boastful, and male (Russian — “petukh,” a
masculine noun).
———————————————————
Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh
———————————————————
Legend about a village that resisted Tartar invasion by submerging
itself in a nearby lake, Svetly Yar .
————————
First witch story
————————
Once upon a time, a young woman went off into the woods to pick
mushrooms and with her she took her new hope chest. While she was
searching for mushrooms it began to rain very hard. She quickly removed
her clothes and placed them in her hope chest; then stood naked under a
tree, until the rains subsided.
Later, she dressed and continued picking mushrooms, until she was
spotted by Velnias, (Lithuanian Horned God of the Underworld). Velnias
asked if she had been picking mushrooms during the rainstorm, and if so,
how had she remained dry?
The young woman replied that she had a secret that prevented rain from
touching her.
Velnias was intrigued and pressed the woman for her secret. The young
woman agreed to tell Him, but only if He revealed all His magical arts.
So a bargain was struck and Velnias taught the woman all that He knew of
magic and healing.
It was then that the woman told Velnias how she had avoided the rain.
Velnias spit and flew away, raging and screaming that He had been
tricked.
Thus, the woman became the first witch and passed on her teachings to
others from that time on. And so, witches flourished.
————————————
Russian PaganS
————————————
Dualism permeates all of Slavic Pagan spirituality. It is a system of
complimenting opposites such as darkness and light, winter and summer,
Other examples of dualism are - the two Rozhinitsy, the mother and
daughter fates, the spirits of midnight, Polunocnitsa and noon,
Poludnitsa - both times seen to be equally as frightening, and the Zorya
- Goddesses of dusk and dawn. Rod and Rozhenitsa, the God and Goddess
who imbue the newborn child with a soul and his/her fate Although many
bodies of water had their own deities, most bodies of water were ruled
by spirits known as Rusalki or Vodanoi. Fire was personified by the god,
Svarozhich and it was considered nearly criminal to spit into a fire.
Mati Syra Zemlja or Mother Moist Earth, however, seems to have been
given the greatest amount of respect.
The following inventory and discussion of Russian pagan gods is taken
from Linda Ivanits, Russian Folk Belief, Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1989.
Russian words are transliterated according to the Library of Congress
system, with the stressed vowel indicated by bold type. Numbers in
parentheses are page references to Ivanits’s book.
Dazhbog: sun god, also god of blessings and son of Svarog; Iranian
influence
Iarilo: minor god of male sexual potency associated by Rybakov with
semik
Khors: sun god; Iranian influence
Koliada: spirit of the winter solstice
Kupalo: spirit of the summer solstice, associated with Kupalo’s Day
(June 24)
Lada, Lado: variously thought to be the mother of Lel’ and Polel’, a god
of the underworld and marriage, or not a deity at all Rybakov considers
her the goddess of spring and mother of Lelia
Lel: possibly the son of Lada and brother of Polel
Lelia: possibly the daughter of Lada
Mat syra zemlia: Moist Mother Earth, personification of the earth as a
female deity
Mokosh: only female deity included among Vladimir’s idols, possibly
associated with Moist Mother EarthRybakov associates her with fertility,
bounty, mositure, women’s work, the protection of maidens October 28
(Saint Paraskeva-Friday)
Perun: chief of the pagan gods, god of thunder and lightning and of war
Rybakov associates him with July 20 (Elijah the Prophet)
Polel: possibly the son of Lada and brother of Lel’
Rod: minor god of birth Rybakov sees him as an early primary god of the
east Slavs, a creater and god of fertility and light, associated with
the winter solstice and July 20, who was replaced by Perun shortly
before the tenth century
Rozhanitsy: minor goddess of birth Rybakov associates her with the
harvest (September 9)
Simargl: a winged dog, guardian of seed and new shoots; Iranian
influence associated by Rybakov with rusal’naia week
Stribog: possibly god of wind, storm, and destruction; Iranian influence
Svarog: sun god, father of Dazhbog, divine smith
Svarozhichi: sons of Svarog
Sviatovit: possibly an important god of the west Slavs, god of light,
bounty, and divination regarding the harvest
Volos, Veles: god of cattle (skotnyi bog), commerce and possibly the
dead associated by Rybakov with the winter solstice and spring equinox
riddle for map A: the sun
Inspection blinds thee
look away to rea@$# all
It blinds if inspected but
reveals all when ignored
some junk from paper
Baba confronts defeats scoceror of the lake
soceror has com from far east killed all mages believed to be controlling the czar.
winters = failed crops = no money to fight
Danes declared independnece from czar and loss of mages plus no money cause lacked ablility to stop them.
Lats and Vins 2 vassals have sided with danes and attacked vassalge Freisen also lat culture
Northern dukedoms while not in revolt no longer send tax tribute or soldiers
all this war is in west why players fled east
czar bro tried unsuccessful throne seizure
Czar nephew slain by sorverror
czr only male heir is missing
czar has 3 daughters wife died in childbirth. church could not prevent so czr kicked them out but they revealed foiled bros plot so they back
Lats
Vins
Dands
Laps