Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in eldersphinx's LiveJournal:

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Sunday, August 6th, 2006
1:21 pm	Module D1-3 Project: Area F2-30, Grotto of the Morkoth More old-school encounter work, this time featuring a mostly-independent cavern area just southeast of a large river in the campaign area. The 'encounter piece' referenced in the writeup can be found on page 19 of module D3. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
12:25 pm	Change the World - Stone Shape Stone Shape is a fairly basic utility spell, usable by both clerics and wizards to reshape stone into a form of the caster's choice. Fine detail work isn't possible, and moving parts are tricky. Used in a dungeon by adventurers, this spell is fairly useful; back in civilization, it can be even more so. ( Read more... ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
1:09 am	Module D1-3 Project: Area L2-31, Sanctum of the Absent Mage This is something I drafted up as part of a collaborative fleshing out of the old-school D1-3 module series, being conducted over at the Dragonsfoot gaming forums. The original D modules included three major encounter areas and seven smaller ones, between them, but provided an expanded hex map with room for 44 (!) other encounter areas to be created by the GM, if the players decided to wander away from the main focus of the modules. Dragonsfoot forumgoers are currently working to write up these encounter areas, keeping to the rules of 1E AD&D and the spirit of the original modules. The "Sanctum of the Absent Mage" is a contribution of my own to this effort. It may still need some editing work, and doesn't yet have a map. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
10:34 am	Planescape: Trenzavl, Cipher ex-Factol Factol Rhys of the Transcendent Order would seem to be a living example of the benefits of listening to the Cadence. Capable, confident, beautiful, self-assured, Rhys was the one factol to escape the recent wrath of the Lady of Pain, and returned to Sigil afterwards with a prestige unmatched by anyone else in the City of Doors. Why hasn't everyone followed her example? Answer's simple, really. In the eyes of many, Rhys's success is the exception rather than the rule. For every blood who achieves fame and power by listening to the Cadence, there's a thousand berks who remain stuck in obscurity. And even a clear mind isn't any guarantee of safety or happiness or prosperity. Just look at the former Cipher known as Trenzavl. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
8:31 am	Planescape: Xrill'akj Every kind of creature imaginable exists somewhere on the infinite planes - some old, some new, some prosaic, some unbelievably strange. Included among the latter is the alien xrill'akj. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006
12:02 am	GURPS: Transhuman Space - Ethics Quiz First, some definitions. - A shadow is an imperfect AI emulation of a human being. The shadow thinks and acts much like its human template would, but has some key gaps in its memory. Shadows generally lack the legal rights and privileges of a human. The basis of their existence is (complex) computer code, and thus they can be transferred between machines, copied, backed up, or saved and taken offline. - Brainscanning is the process used to create shadows. Non-destructive mapping of neurons and other brain structure is used to create a template that can be recreated in computer memory. - A ghost is a perfect AI emulation of a human being, using a more intensive form of the brainscanning process. A ghost, unlike a shadow, is indistinguishable from its human template, and in most places is recognized as a person, with full legal rights and responsibilities. This is likely a good thing, as the methods used to create a ghost require the destruction of the original human brain used as a template. - Brainpeeling is the term given to the intensive brainscanning method used to create ghosts. As mentioned, it requires the destruction of the human brain used as a template (the neural matter is dissected into micro-thin sections for deep scanning). - Cybershells are a general term for AI-controlled machines of all types. This can run the gamut from standard computer boxes to android-like humanoid bodies to specialized vehicles and spacecraft. Cybershells can be run by ghosts, shadows, or synthesized AI not based on any human template. - Xoxing is the slang for attempting to run multiple simultaneous copies of the same ghost personality. The ethical concerns surrounding a ghost's personhood and identity have led most nations to make xoxing highly illegal. (Making multiple copies of shadows is rarely considered 'xoxing', though, as shadows are considered AI emulations rather than people.) ( And now, the scenarios... ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 1st, 2006
4:15 pm	New Spell: Create Trennym Guardian I don't have any idea of where this spell might come up. It's very much a campaign tool and setting element, looking for a proper place to come to rest. ( Read more... ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, July 31st, 2006
2:27 pm	Change the World: Detect Poison Detect Poison is one of the simplest, most specialized detection spells in 3E - it finds poison in one object or creature. It's usable in an adventuring sense mostly because it calls on such minimal resources - does it have much use in a larger campaign sense? ( Read more... ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, July 30th, 2006
7:01 pm	Mystara: The 'Baatezu' So about a month back there was a notion on the Mystara Message Board that the diaboli, chaotic-but-benign mortal beings from a strange place called the Nightmare Dimension (the precursor of 3E's Far Realm, but also intended as an alternate reality where horns, barbed tails and such are attractive and Normal humans are jaw-droppingly ugly and skin-crawling), might have given rise to beings very similar to 3E's eladrin and baatezu races. The appearances of these beings would be very different - the CG outsiders looking very fiendish, wicked and dangerous, while the the LE outsiders being idealized humans - but the statblocks would end up being basically identical. Well, the idea stuck in my head, and I decided to follow up on it. The following is entirely fluff, for the moment - no stat changes, as I'm not even sure what half the original writeups look like in 3E. But the material below should hopefully mesh well with eladrin writeups to add something interesting to Mystara's Nightmare Dimension. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
6:49 pm	ZOMG It's Alive! Yeah, decided I'd give the whole "write something each day" a try again, now that I'm not staring last-term-of-graduate-school crunch in the face anymore. And this time, if I miss a week I just say "So I missed a week, big deal" and don't try to force my way out of any hole. We'll see if it works out. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 25th, 2006
5:53 pm	Meta: 'Consensual Mysteries' The mystery genre generally gets a bad rap in roleplaying. Though a highly successful literary device, mysteries of all but the simplest kind often end up as a frustrating roleplaying experience - one that leads to players matching wits directly with the GM, but handicapped both by the fact that said GM is their only source of information and oftentimes by the need to roll dice to determine whether or not a vital clue is discovered. Small wonder that few groups are willing to dare such an experience. On the other hand, though, a direct challenge from GM to players to 'solve this mystery' isn't really an accurate reflection of mystery stories in literature. In a written story, after all, we generally already KNOW that the detective is going to unravel the crime and finger the mastermind. The only real question is how. Mysteries in gaming can arguably use a similar device. In a consensual mystery, the PCs WILL solve the crime; again, the only real question is how. And that's what the meat of the gaming session is devoted to. ( Read more... ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, February 24th, 2006
5:30 pm	Planescape: Astral 'Weather' The Astral Plane seems, to the casual observer, to be a bleak and endless expanse of silver nothingness, interrupted only by the appearance of matter from other planes of existence. And such is indeed the case - for the most part. A few instances of natural disruption in this otherwise placid state do exist, though, sweeping across the Astral in a manner similar to weather patterns and storm fronts common to other planes of existence. As unexpected as they are rare, these occurrences of Astral 'weather' can prove extraordinarily dangerous to the unwary, and should be carefully studied by the experienced traveller. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 23rd, 2006
10:04 pm	Planescape: The Quicksilver War - Operations and Tactics So following the recent, mostly unlamented demise of their lich-queen, the githyanki have broken into competing factions and begun warring against one another to determine the future of their race. Each of the factions has its own unique character and advantages; none is clearly in a position to dominate all the others. How's this war likely to be fought? ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006
6:41 pm	Ortho: History of Shoryko Province, Part II The Golden Age The heirs of Koryao built on the legacy of their great sire, to turn the many cities of Shoryko into a single nation. Trade in crafts and specialty goods was encouraged, along with the deepening of art, literature and culture. Binding oaths and carefully arranged intermarriage between prominent families was also used to deepen ties and block the resurgence of conflict. Gradually, a unified society began to emerge, with all the nobles of Shoryko's many cities all seeking a common good. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 21st, 2006
11:53 pm	Ortho: History of Shoryko Province, Part I Prehistory The nobles of the remote northern province of Shoryko Province claim that their homeland is the birthplace of humanity on Ortho, and consequently home to the purest bloodstock. Their claim is naturally disputed by many, and quite likely impossible to prove or disprove, but none of the historical or archaeological evidence gathered suggests to the contrary. ( Read more... ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, February 20th, 2006
11:42 pm	Ortho: Oakengrim Powers older than man exist in the western reaches of Ulfrheim. In these bleak, desolate lands live beings both eerie and mysterious, who have struggled for dominance since before even the thought of the Harmonium existed and may continue to do so long after it is forgotten. One such race is the oakengrim, creatures who pay lip service to the ideals of law and order, but are only barely trusted or tolerated. They keep to their own lands, are bothered as little as possible, and hopefully cause no trouble for the larger world. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 19th, 2006
1:34 am	Star Wars: Through a Foreshortened Mirror You're all personal staff and associates of Grand Admiral Dres, one of the top military talents of the Galactic Empire and a canny, methodical commander almost impossible to surprise in combat. As the Emperor's personal pick to oversee the defenses of the Endor system while the Death Star undergoes final construction, Dres has organized a brilliant and subtle patrol pattern, backed by enough firepower to dissuade any Rebel probe or raid on the uncompleted Death Star. Several Rebel scouts have already been trapped and destroyed, or chased away before they could discover any level of information about the system. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
1:15 am	Commentary: Update Gap Welp, things have somewhat fallen apart from the initial Grand Plan to post something on a daily basis. Basically, I started out with a vision for a munificent, detailed system for creating towns and cities in D&D 3E, that would solve many of the problems in the default, simplified rules... but slammed into a well-deserved case of Writer's Block and a little gremlin in the back of my head whispering "Is this really gonna, y'know, WORK?" And so no updates in the past three days. Anyways, the concepts of the past few days have been shelved, and other ideas are being turned to. Backfilling will be used to catch up as time permits. At least I made my 'pessimistic' goal of making deadline for three months... (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 15th, 2006
10:04 pm	Mystara: Thincol I Torion Following are D&D 3.5E stats for Emperor Thincol of Thyatis, the gladiator-turned-ruler of Mystara's most militaristic nation. His personality, goals and backstory have been amply laid out elsewhere; this is an update of combat statistics only. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 14th, 2006
9:19 pm	Continuum: Basic Demographics So the time-travel RPG, Continuum, is all about a civilization of time-travellers. This is an interesting idea, but for fleshing it out, a big-picture look could be useful. How many time-travellers exist? ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)