Spears of the Dawn Review, Part 1 - Pre-Reading

So I backed Kevin Crawford's upcoming African-themed RPG, Spears of the Dawn.  The second Beta was just released, and I wanted to take the time to review it.  But first, I wanted to address something I've been wrestling with since I heard about it.

A while back, Ark posted regarding some preliminary conversations the group had about the game.  In it, he mentioned my fear that it could result in some faux-pas, and while that can definitely be a concern, I hadn't really articulated my concerns very well, so I'm going to attempt to do so here.

First, an apology in advance - my knee-jerk aversion to these sorts of things comes from experiences in other media.  For instance, movies set in New York have hot dogs, the Empire State Building and taxi cabs, movies in San Francisco have steep hills, movies in Russia have the onion domes and fur hats.  DC Comics recently launched a comic called Batwing. Batwing was billed as being, and I quote, "The Batman of Africa".  The actual execution of the comic was a parade of famine, warlords and corruption.

This encapsulates my issue with this sort of thing.  There's a fine line between tropes and stereotypes, and unfortunately, while it's a trope when you have the Eiffel Tower in the background every time something is set in France, it veers uncomfortably close to stereotype when your African stories (like Batwing) are about how horrible things are there.  Are there horrible things going on in Africa?  Certainly.  But do those experiences encapsulate existence in Africa?  Probably not.  It would be like if every comic or movie or whatever set in America featured people praying while they ran around shooting guns and eating fatty foods.

My point is that there's a fine line that needs to be walked in order to make something like this work right.

Let me take it a step further.  I believe the reason that Dungeons and Dragons and it's iterations (I include Pathfinder here, for simplicity's sake) have been so successful is that you say, "Fantasy" to 9 out of 10 people, and they're going to reply, "Medieval Europe with Dragons", or something along those lines.  For a game set in the imagination, there needs to be that shared space that exists that bridges the gap between the GM's description and the players' imaginations.  In short, we rely on those tropes to get us over that chasm that is endemic of the design of roleplaying games.  As we veer into ethnically specific settings, the line between a trope and a stereotype gets smaller and smaller, and the potential for problems gets larger.

The issue goes beyond that, though.

Let's say you're able to navigate the issue, and successfully avoid the tropes/stereotypes associated with the culture you're working on.  What are you left with?  How do you communicate to an audience that something is taking place in France without the Eiffel Tower?  And even if you are able to do so, doesn't that beg the question, was it really that important that the story take place in France in the first place?  What is the difference between the Batman of Africa and Batman Classic if they're both fighting the Joker on the rooftops of a nameless city?

So you're caught between a rock and a hard place - how do you give a setting a flavor unique enough to justify its existence as a viable product and recognizable enough to capture the feeling of the culture you're basing it on, without giving the appearance of pandering to the lowest common denominator (and honestly, the mid-range denominators as well) that doesn't have the intimate knowledge of the society in question that is necessary to sustain a rich and meaningful shared experience?

So that's my worry.

Now, having gotten that off my chest, let me reiterate that I haven't yet read Spears of the Dawn, and so I have no idea whether or not these fears will be justified upon actually looking at the product.  I have high hopes - I'm a big fan of Stars Without Number, and given the choice I'll always prefer to see a small press RPG succeed rather than fail.  I backed it, I'll be getting the hardcover, and I really want to like it, but let's be realistic here.  I was also a big fan TSR's habit of setting up new, non-Medieval Europe-ish settings, and they tried to slip some more familiar, ethnically flavored settings in there.  Al-Qadim, Kara-Tur and Maztica all were given the box set treatment, but none were able to generate any breakout momentum as compared to the more outlandish settings like Dark Sun, Spelljammer and Planescape.  I think it's reasonable to say that they fell into that gap between too foreign and too bland.

I'm going to start going through the .pdf tonight, and I'll post again soon with my thoughts on the final result, especially as it relates to my initial concerns.

Session Report: Spelljammer!

The party completed it's transition from a landfaring, by the book 2e campaign to a full on Spelljammer campaign yesterday, in an epic, 6.5 hour session.  As such, this will be a somewhat long post, so if you're the tl;dr type, move along, move along, nothing to see.  In the event that you do continue, you will find this post conveniently broken up into separate parts, each with it's own Fun Fact!

Part I: Wild, Dark Times Are Rumbling Toward Us

Fun Fact: Heinrich Heine once wrote a poem, Ideen: Das Buch Le Grand which criticized German censors in the following section:

The German Censors  ——  ——  ——  —— 
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  —— 
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  

——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  —— 
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  —— 
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  —— 
——  ——  ——  ——  ——    idiots    ——  ——
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——
——  ——  ——  ——  ——



I gave the party an hour and a half (real time) before the all life on their planet was extinguished, and ceased to be habitable.  They were flying around on a Galleon, which could comfortably seat 20, but could pack in 40 people in a pinch.  There were already thirteen bodies on the boat - Hemi, Demi, Semi, Quay and Ver - the five Dwarven acolytes that followed Banebeard around, Banebeard's shady relative Scar the thief, Luke Daggerbeard the (alleged) dwarf, Vincent the Militant Wizard, Glacia and her manservant Sir Blaine, Veravum the Githyanki Paladin, and Ber, Glacia's full blooded Yet brother, who had been shaved, trained in eitquette, and now follows the party around in a suit, a bowler hat and a monocle, puffing on a pipe and offering wry criticisms of the poor manners of those around him.  With only 27 spots remaining on the last ship of Earth, the party immediately set off to rescue the clan of Yeti that Glacia had been raised by.  She found 10 of them huddling in the back of a cave, convinced that the earth and fire gods had been angered, and refused to come out of their hole.  Fortunately, due to her runin with the Deck of Many Things, Glacia is exceptionally Charismatic, and was able to convince them to come out of hiding.  They joined the party, and they next set off back to the Human capital to rescuse some of Vincent's fellow mages, now known around the table as the MilWiz Black Ops squad.

Unfortunately, a giant crevasse had opened up between the Yeti lands and had formed a band of frothy, bubbling lava stretching as far as the eye could see.  Navigating it was a bit tricky, and the ship sustained some damage, the bottom catching fire after a particularly active spout of lava licked the underside.  Fortunately Sundallasar was built on the shores of Lake Dallasar, and a quick dunk in the water put out the flames.  Unfortunately, finding the Tower of the Militant Wizards was easier said than done.  The party was not used to looking for things from overhead, and even if they had been, Sundallasar had gone through some pretty extensive geological renovations since they had last been there - buildings were smashed, towers were toppled, etc.  Finally they were able to locate the tower, and found four surviving MilWiz Black Ops, and then there were only 13 seats remaining. 

The team decided to scour the warehouse district to pick up supplies for their space travel.  In their travels to and fro about the city, however, they had attracted quite a bit of attention, and without buildings obscuring their view of the skyline, a large group of people were able to track the boat down.  The party decided to fill out their ranks with randomly abducted people from the crowd below, and Glacia sent her Yeti minions down into the crowd, and four more seats were taken. 

Suddenly, from the roof of a nearby warehouse, a group of armed men shouted at them, claiming that they were commandeering the ship in the name of King Aaloysius.  Banebeard, never one to truck with non-PC controlled NPCs, stone shaped a hole in the roof, sending several of them screaming to the floor beneath.  The remaining let loose with arrows, and the battle was joined.  Engaged in battle as they were, they almost didn't see the grappling hooks attach themselves to the other side of the ship.  Realizing that they probably wouldn't get the supplies they were looking for, they decided that, rather than go down into the crowd again and risk a riot, they would just pull up the six grappling hooks and whoever was on the other end of them would be saved.

And so it was that the party saved King Aaloysius, Queen Amdala and the seven year old Boy Prince Alaric.  Saved them completely unintentionally, but saved them nonetheless.  They, along with three loyal Knights, hopped on board, and the party sped off in search of another place to find food.  Navigating the lava river was even trickier on the way back, and the ship sustained more damage, but they managed to make it back to Meskith, which the original party (much of which had died or ran off since) had visited, way back when.  Luke Daggerbeard, the sole remaining OPM (Original Party Member), remembered that the Meskithites kept a survival shelter by their Town Hall, but upon breaking in, the huddled masses within panicked.  Time was running short, and given the choice of slaughtering the innocents to get tothe food stores or departing, the party left the earth, and watched as it crumpled like a wad of paper, until gravity released it's hold, and the chunks of earth floated slowly away.

Part II: Star Trekkin'

Fun Fact: John O'Connor, who wrote Star Trekkin' while a member of the band The Firm, went on to compose the music for King Of the Hill!

Amidst the debris, though, they spotted another ship headed out.  Following it, they found it was headed towards a blue light, much like the lights the Illithids had used to herald the destruction of their homeworld.  When they tracked it down, they found a midling sized town on an asteroid, with a blue glow  on it's horizon.  They recognized some wooden planks jutting out from the side of the asteroid as some sort of dock area, so the attempted to land.  Not having followed proper docking procedures, they were confronted by a squad of Giff, hired by the Elven Protectorate to ensure law and order was followed on the Rock, as it's known.

After the initial misunderstandings were clarified, the leader of the Giff, Giff-One, invited them to dinner.  The party set about buying repairs and upgrades for the ship, including a prototype weapon designed by the Tinker Gnome dockworkers, who installed it for free (heh heh heh).  Luke Daggerbeard bought himself an arquebus, while Vincent procured a Starwheel (flintlock pistol).  Scar snuck off, finding that the Illithids had also docked, not long before us, and headed across town to stay at an inn which catered their type. 

Dinnertime arrived, and they met with Giff-One for a delightful meal.  He introduced the party to some of the basics of Spelljamming, there were debates on the proper placement of salad forks which turned into Etiquette Battles (which the Yeti ended up winning), and Giff-One inquired about the party's travels.  They revealed that they were only able to escape due to their possession of what they referred to as, "The Beer Stone", which they had recovered from the recently cleared Dungeon.  Turns out it can turn any ship into a spacefaring vessel, and as such is a prized artifact, known all throughout Wildspace and beyond.  The party was advised to be more discreet in the future regarding their possession of the artifact.  The party was asked to investigate the blue light, which Giff-One had sent a squad to look into.  Unfortunately, they did not return.  The party was glad to investigate, especially when Giff-One said that the squad would be indebted to the party, were they able to rescue them.  He did insist, though, that the party bring back the Illithids alive so they could answer the charges of Planetary Genocide that the party was raising.  Reluctantly, the party agreed.

Part III: The Last Argument of Kings

Fun Fact - the phrase, Ultima Ratio Regum (The Last Argument of Kings) was enscribed on every single cannon used by King Louis XIV's armies! 

All was going swimmingly, until King Aaloysius stormed into the dining hall, demanding to know why he was not part of any negotiations, as the highest ranking person there.  The Giffs apologized profusely, thinking they had broken some primitive land-based protocol, and promised to consult only with him in the future.  Slightly mollified, the King retired to the ship, where a confrontation brewed.  The King wanted control over the direction the Ship took, Banebeard refused.  Glacia, overhearing this, took the King's demands to mean that he wanted control over her tribe, and challenged him to combat.  His Knights objected, and lines were drawn.  Vincent, Kaye's character, was drawn into combat on the King's side, along with the 3 Knights and the 4 MilWiz Black Ops, vs. the rest of the PCs, and the squad of enraged Yeti.

I would say that a vast and terrible battle ensued, but... not really.  Glacia attacked the King, all his allies attacked Glacia, and the Scar backstabbed the King for 75 points of damage, ending the reign of King Aaloysius.  Everyone seemed rather relieved, with even his Knights muttering something to the effect of, "Thank God, that guy was kind of an asshole", and then much louder, "LONG LIVE KING ALARIC!" 

The Queen asked that they find a proper kingdom for her and her son, and seemed much less of a jerk than her husband, so she was allowed to continue living on the ship.

Part IV: Before We Were Interrupted

Fun Fact - "Chitin" is pronounced like "Kite-In", not "Chit-In"!

With all that unpleasantness settled, Giff-One approached the party, horribly embarrassed, explaining that they had been protecting what they thought was the rightful ruler from an insurrection, an action fully in line with their role as the Law and Order on the Rock.  Now that King Aaloysius was deposed, and a new King was in place and everyone seemed okay with that, the Giff were hoping that the party would still go look for their missing squad. 

The party agreed, and they set off across the silent, craggy plains of the asteroid.  They almost missed a trap door with a tunnel headed back to town, but decided to leave it unexplored, and headed farther out towards the glow, where they came upon a strange installation, made of metal and with a radar dish attached to it, surrounded by a fence.  Kaye, once more proving that he doesn't truly understand how mages work, decided to touch the fence, which promptly shocked him and knocked him off his feet.  Almost immediately, three Umber Hulks attacked them.  Umber Hulks are friggin tough.  Between their claw claw bite (3d4/3d4/1d10) attacks, and their two pairs of eyes which replicate the effects of a Confusion spell, it was a tough bit of combat for the party, and it was touch and go for a bit, especially when two party members succumbed to the Confusion spell.  They triumphed in the end, though, and HOLY CRAP Umber Hulks are like Money Vending Machines on Legs.  Massive amounts of gold  and several magical items spilled from their split cavities, and that, combined with the damage taken, convinced the party to head back to town. 

After resting up, the party headed back out again, but this time decided to check out that trap door, not eager to face more Umber Hulks.  Following the tunnel below back into town, they found that it ended in another trap door, leading up.  Kaye decided to use a mystery scroll in the event that it would help, but instead found himself polymorphed into a mouse.  Taking it in stride, he offered to use his newfound size to scout the area above.  He found himself in an empty bedroom.  Scurrying around, he found that there were other bedrooms, with sleeping figures in each, but he was unable to determine anything else due to his size.  Coming across a set of stairs headed down, he leapt down into the front room of an inn, where a Bugbear worked behind the bar, and a goblin lounged in front of the fire.  Figuring he'd seen enough, Kaye tried to go back up the stairs, but found he was too small.  The goblin got up from the fire, and started heading upstairs, so Kaye tried to hitch a ride, leaping onto his shoe.  Unfortunately, the polymorph wore off at an inopportune moment, and the goblin found himself being tackled by a naken human male.  Kaye got up and started running, the Goblin and the Bugbear hot on his heels.

There was a tense standoff as Kaye made it back to the party, still huddled below the trap door in the bedroom.  The Goblin cried for Justice, and the party told it to shut up.  The Bugbear was more angry at the Illithids that were staying in the room for creating a tunnel and causing damages, and pretty much forgot about Kaye.  The party investigated the room, and found a scrap of paper in the Illithid language, which they took with them as they left, promising to crack the Illithids' skulls for the Bugbear Barkeep.


Aaand that's about where we left things.  Tune in next time for more adventures of the Post Apocalyptic Refugees!