The Age of Man, my OSR/Dungeon World Hack

I began working on a Dungeon World/OSR hack back in December. Remember that? I thought I was whittling a wild west game out of a block of rules. Somehow it ended up looking like a game set in the age of enlightenment with a creeping Gothic apocalypse. I think I like it better this way. I plan to keep most of the rules old-school, but blend in Dungeon World's partial success system for certain resolutions, add a dash of 4E and serve it with something home-brewed. Here's some fluff.

Age of Man

Centuries ago, elves retreated to their forests. The giants and dragons went to sleep. Then the orcs and goblins slunk off into the wilderness. The dwarves sealed the doors to their mountain halls. The dead no longer walked. The halflings and gnomes simply vanished.

The humans thought they had inherited the world! They let their castles, monuments of a so-called dark age, crumble. Drunk with faith or reason, humans burned or buried spell books. The greatest minds published treatises about man and God and law. Monarchs declared themselves divine and built opulent palaces at the expense of their subjects. Cities became huge and squalid as farmers flowed in, abandoning their land in hope of steady wages in a factory.


But as the countryside empties, it grows stranger. Those who linger find themselves contending with things that are not supposed to be. Giants hurl boulders from hilltops. Corpses shamble through forests. Yellow-eyed things snatch children at sunset. Shepherds keep one eye on their flocks and one eye watching for dragons. On certain nights, chanting and unearthly lights fill the castle ruins. Tentacled beasts drag fishing boats beneath the waves. Men become wolves, slaughter their kin, then become men again.

The monarchs, newspapers and academies deny it, but the old ways are back.

Aaand my eyes hurt. Will post the work-in-progress classes tomorrow!

Dark Crystal Concept Art

I watched the Dark Crystal for the first time in forever and I still love it. The ambient forest scene that depicts a fantasy ecosystem via animatronics impresses me more than any set piece from the LoTR movies.

I didn't appreciate how finely crafted and hilarious the Skeksies were when I was a kid. Even the minor ones reveal lots of character through movements, dress, bits of speech and mannerisms. Their feast scene is great. One nibbles daintily with a silver fork while another slurps straight from a soup pot. And they are all so decadent and petty that I can't help but laugh at them. They're a handful of ancients clinging to obsolete titles and rituals as they jockey for dominance over a wasteland and some hapless tree-dwellers, for crying out loud.

Check out this concept art:

The Worm Woods

hhhhrrrrrmmmhh!?

table-breaking awe