From: wolf@cheshire.oxy.edu (Clinton Richard Wolf)
Subject: Fun with Aysle...
Organization: Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041 USA.
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 20:30:03 GMT

     I've been meaning to post this for awhile, but I never got around to it.
Besides the fact that it may be utterly ludicrous to anyone but myself. :)

     The cosm in question: Aysle.

     The question in question: What to do with Aysle?

     Specifically, how do you make it special?

     The answer I came up with: Go crazy with it.


     This is what happened. I ran another session of my own game a couple of
weeks ago. I had a new player, who created an Ayslish Knight. A BIG Ayslish
Knight... as in 7', 400 lbs. Full Plate Mail, the works. Now, he asked me what
he could carry in the way of weapons. He originally wanted two two-handed
swords. No way, I told him. Okay, he said, how about a battle axe for either
hand. And how much other stuff could he carry? I was about to rebuke him ag-
ain, and then it hit me... I dunno, maybe it was all the AD&D jokes we'd been
making earlier in the day. I was having trouble getting people together (this
is probably one of the biggest GM problems in Torg...) One guy suggested I
just have everyone sitting around in the village tavern, get into a brawl, then
be approached by the old man who would tell us about the evil dragon's treasure
on the hill. I didn't use it, of course, but it put us all in quite a gay mood.

      But I digress... anyway, so here this Knight's player is suddenly making
all these ridiculous requests, that defy the laws of physics as we know them.
And then, suddenly I realize: what am I saying?!? This is Aysle! This is a cosm
where the sun rises and sets through a hole in the world. Where people use
Speed spells to break the speed of light, and to hell with Einstein! And then,
there were all the old AD&D cliches still running through my head...

      Result: New world law (or perhaps a perversion of one of the existing 
              ones): the Law of Fantasy Adventuring. Basically, this means
              that, while you are connected to Ayslish reality, you can chuck
              realism out on its ear. Want to haul around 150' feet of rope,
              a lantern, five flasks of oil, a hammer and spikes, a crowbar,
              a tinderbox, a crowbar, a bow and arrows, a grappling hook, and
              a 10 foot pole and five different swords? Stuff 'em all in your
              backpack and skip on down to the dungeon. They won't affect you
              at all, and they'll be there when you need them. Go ahead and
              fight... they won't encumber you. You probably won't even remem-
              ber that they're there. Wanna do acrobatics in full plate mail?
              No problem. Forgot clothes? Don't worry, they're there. All the
              food & water you need, as well. Besides, you're a hero! You don't
              need logistics. You just need a damsel to save, and a dragon to
              fight. And that's all...

     You can keep adding to it, too. Basically, any cliches or ridiculous dis-
crepencies that you've ever experienced in a fantasy game, chuck 'em in. It's
not all in favor of your players, either. Go ahead and have monsters appear out
of nowhere at the roll of a die. Forget habitats. A Lion pack in the sewers be-
neath the city? Makes perfect sense. Ask any adventurer. A corridor filled with
more ingenious traps than an Incan temple, with posion needle traps on every
locked door? Yup. Does it make sense? Hell no! Should it? Hell no! It's magic!
:)

    Now you may like your Aysle a different way. This is just my own personal
brainstorm, and we found it to work and be a lot of fun, as well as making
Aysle somewhat more unique than the generic fantasy realm they've presented.
I've just taken that genericness to the extreme. There's still danger and evil,
definitely. Guys like Amethyst will be no pushovers. The Dark Masters of cheap
fantasy never are. They may all be gloating megalomaniacs with deep, chilling
voices and blazing red eyes, but they have power. Why else would the heroes
need their 150' of rope, if there wasn't a Dark Wizard to put a big chasm in 
the middle of his fortress for them to have to cross? So the dramatic conflict
isn't lessened, IMO. It makes it a bit more NE-ish, but it's still a different
genre with a different flavor. And a lot more fun to play...

    And remember, if Mr. 10-ton backpack disconnects... :)

-- Clint

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