[Q&A] Trey Causey (Weird Adventures)

[19:02] <+trey> Great. Hi, I'm Trey.  I'm the author of Weird Adventures, which is a "pulp fantasy" setting
[19:02] <+trey> usuable with any game, but sort of geared toward D&D-ish OGL systems
[19:03] <+trey> (done)
[19:05] <~Dan> Anyone have any questions so far?
[19:05] <~Dan> Okay, then, I'll get the ball rolling.
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[19:05] <~Dan> Can you tell us how the setting relates to the real world?
[19:05] <+trey> Sure.
[19:05] <~Dan> (Welcome to #rpgnet, Everwayan! Here for the Q&A?)
[19:06] <+Everwayan> Yes, hi there Dan and Trey
[19:06] <+trey> hi
[19:06] <+trey> It relates to the real world roughly in a the way that fictional comic book cities of the Golden Age to (Gotham, Hub City, etc.)
[19:07] <+trey> Only in this case, it's the whole of the world that has that "just a bit off" veneer
[19:07] <+trey> Think of it as the 1930s version of Howard's Hyborian Age (except for the pseudo-prehistory aspect)
[19:08] <+trey> I draw on a lot of stuff though, from fiction to Age of Exploration ideas of geopgraphy
[19:08] <+trey> (done)
[19:09] <~Dan> What are some of the "off" bits, beyond the obvious fantasy elements?
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[19:10] <+trey> Well, names are the most obvious one. "Septentrion" instead of "North America" for example.
[19:10] <+trey> But geography is a bit altered too
[19:11] <+trey> There's a Northwest Passage, for instance
[19:11] <+trey> Political structures are different, too.
[19:12] <+trey> The Septentrion has more wild places and is much less unified than North America at a comparable era
[19:12] <~Dan> (Howdy, Ettin!)
[19:12] <+Ettin> Sup Dan
[19:12] <+trey> The Great Plains (the Dustlands) are in the handsof malevolent tornado tyrants and black dust zombies.
[19:12] <+trey> Stuff like that.
[19:12] <+trey> Hey, Ettin.
[19:13] <+trey> (done)
[19:13] <~Dan> What fantasy races are present?
[19:13] <+trey> None of the usual D&D-ish demihumans (at least not in the way normally seen).
[19:14] <+trey> There are several sorts of pgymy races in the past that might have been comparable to dwarves or halflings
[19:14] <+trey> But their mostly full size in the current era
[19:14] <+trey> There are hobo-goblins, though
[19:14] <+trey> And mer-folk in some places
[19:15] <+trey> and mushroom men
[19:15] <+trey> But it's a world dominated by humanity
[19:15] <+trey> (done)
[19:16] <~Dan> Can you say a bit about why you did away with the usual fantasy suspects?
[19:17] <+trey> I felt sticking elves and what not into the pulp setting diluted the "feel" at best and added an element of unintentional humor at worst
[19:17] <+trey> I want all my humor to be intentional. :)
[19:17] <+trey> There are hints of these things.
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[19:17] <+trey> The Dwergen that founded the CIty
[19:17] <+trey> The gill-men
[19:18] <+trey> and hints a people with mixed fae-blood
[19:18] <+trey> But their mysteries or histoircal curiosities for the most part
[19:18] <+trey> (done)
[19:18] <+trey> I mean "they're" ugh
[19:18] <+trey> (done)
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[19:19] <~Dan> But there are ogre hillbillies, as I recall?
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[19:19] <+trey> Oh, yeah
[19:19] <+trey> hill-billy giants
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[19:20] <+trey> and ogres (their inbred moonshining cousins)
[19:20] <+trey> The hill-billy giants being the degenerate descendants of the Ancients
[19:20] <+trey> those sort of people that build all those dungeons
[19:21] <+trey> Analogous to all those anamolous mummies and tombs found through out U.S. history--if you believe the fringe writers
[19:21] <+trey> (done)
[19:21] <~Dan> What sorts of fantasy monsters are running about, and how well-known are they?
[19:21] <+trey> A lot of standard D&D sorts.
[19:22] <+trey> There are slimes and what not beneath the City (some natural, some the effluvia of industrial alchemy)
[19:22] <+trey> There are the ogres and the giants in the Smaragdine Mountains
[19:22] <+trey> Various sorts of elementals and para-elementals causing trouble
[19:22] <+trey> Lounge lizards disguised as humans, hanging out in cool jazz clubs
[19:22] <+trey> shark worshipping fish men
[19:23] <+trey> And things from other planes
[19:23] <+trey> No dragons, though
[19:23] <+trey> They're extinct, maybe.
[19:23] <+trey> But their are a lot of large, weird monsters on the continent to the East.
[19:23] <~Dan> Oh? Like what?
[19:23] <+trey> Gargantua of various sorts.
[19:24] <+trey> Cyclops with disentegrating eye beams.
[19:24] <+trey> Things made as living weapons
[19:24] <+trey> in the Great War
[19:24] <+trey> The Tarasque is being mined
[19:24] <+trey> for the magical material in its blood
[19:24] <+trey> (done)
[19:24] <+phgaw> You said humour was itended to be intentional. How do you mean that? Is the setting self-aware? Do you lampoon tropes common to pulp? Or plain ol' jokes?
[19:24] <+phgaw> *intended
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[19:25] <+trey> Well, I'm quite aware
[19:25] <+trey> that things like hobo-goblins and hill-billy giants may seem a bit silly at concept
[19:25] <+trey> things like that
[19:26] <+trey> Celebrity sorcerer's as pitchmen for cigarettes
[19:26] <+trey> etc.
[19:26] <+trey> It's a self-awareness, mainly
[19:26] <+phgaw> So, leaning quite heavily on the 4th wall?
[19:26] <~Dan> Cast a Deadly Spell-type humor?
[19:26] <+trey> Yeah (leaning on the 4ht wall).  It is strictly necessary, but it enhances the enjoyment a bit
[19:26] <+trey> a little less than Casta Deadly Spell, but similar I suppose
[19:26] <+trey> Much of the setting is completely serious
[19:26] <+trey> there are jus these things
[19:27] <+trey> A lot like D&D as written by Gygax et al.
[19:27] <+trey> (done)
[19:27] <~Dan> Hmm. It sounds like the setting is a bit more specific than D&D-meets-pulp. Fair assessment?
[19:27] <+trey> I would say that's the essential origin of it yeah.
[19:27] <+trey> It posits a world where dungeoneering occurs
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[19:27] <+trey> and the monsters benefit from the OGL
[19:27] <+trey> and a familiarity with D&D
[19:28] <+trey> However, it's easy to play in it and not do D&D things
[19:28] <+trey> None of the games I've played in it have included a dungeoncrawl, as yet
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[19:28] <+trey> (done)
[19:28] <~Dan> Well, maybe I didn't phrase that quite right...
[19:28] <+trey> ok
[19:28] <~Dan> ...What I mean is that it seems that you went a step beyond just "D&D-meets-pulp". If you had, it would be elves with Tommy guns and so forth. You seem to have had a more original setting in mind.
[19:29] <+trey> Oh, certain
[19:29] <+trey> I was after some of the tropes of D&D
[19:29] <+trey> Not just moving it to a pulp setting
[19:29] * ~Dan nods
[19:29] <+trey> Clerics (as in D&D) really don't exist
[19:29] <+trey> Their aren't demihumans running around
[19:29] <+trey> Monotheism (mainly) is the order of the day
[19:29] <+trey> I guess I would liken it to China Mieville's Bas-Lag novels
[19:29] <+trey> If you're familiar with those.
[19:29] <~Dan> I am.
[19:29] <~Dan> Interesting...
[19:30] <+trey> Mieville lets you know D&D informed it
[19:30] <~Dan> So maybe Bas-Lag with D&Disms serving as the weird bits?
[19:30] <+trey> (the adventures, for instance)
[19:30] <+trey> That's fair
[19:30] <+trey> D&D-isms are closer to Weird Adventures than Bas-Lag, for sure
[19:30] <~Dan> Speaking of the weird bits...
[19:30] <+trey> yeah?
[19:30] <~Dan> ...we touched on this a bit in previous conversations, but what pulp-specific weirdness is present?
[19:30] <~Dan> (As opposed to D&D-based weirdness, I mean.)
[19:30] <+trey> Sure.
[19:31] <+trey> Well, there are mad scientist types with outre inventions
[19:31] <+trey> (even if they might have a magical base)
[19:31] <+trey> There lost cities
[19:31] <+trey> and sort of Indiana Jones-ish stuff
[19:31] <+trey> Monsters informed by more sort of horror stuff
[19:31] <+trey> Like malevolent, corrupting pulp magazines
[19:31] <~Dan> Heh. Cool.
[19:32] <+trey> Ethnic crime lords
[19:32] <+trey> Aviators
[19:32] <+trey> Lost valleys with dinosaurs
[19:32] <+trey> That sort of stuff
[19:32] <~Dan> (I was gonna ask about dinos. :) )
[19:32] <+trey> Yeah, the Grand Chasm has them
[19:32] <~Dan> Any chance of a giant ape or two?
[19:32] <+trey> Of course.
[19:32] <~Dan> Excellent.
[19:32] <+trey> It doesn't make the book
[19:32] <+trey> But I've done several blog entries
[19:32] <~Dan> But it would just fit?
[19:32] <+trey> on pulpy islands
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[19:32] <+trey> Of course, yeah!
[19:32] <~Dan> :)
[19:33] <~Dan> Again, we talked a bit about this, but how well would pulpy proto-super types like the Shadow, the Avenger, and Doc Savage fit?
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[19:33] <+trey> I think they would work.
[19:33] <~Dan> (Howdy, Wondy!)
[19:33] <+trey> There's the Titan
[19:33] <+trey> A Doc Savage-y construct
[19:33] <+trey> (robot)
[19:33] <+WonderRat> (Howdy, Dan)
[19:34] <~Dan> (Wondy: Need a link to what we're discussing?)
[19:34] <+trey> And at least one of the sample characters is a turbaned mystic sort
[19:34] <+trey> like Ibis
[19:34] <+trey> in Fawcett Comics
[19:34] <~Dan> Ibis the Invincible?
[19:34] <+trey> Yep.
[19:34] <+trey> So that would totally work.
[19:34] <~Dan> Heh. Hopefully not as munchkiny. :D
[19:34] <+trey> No, hopefully not. :)
[19:34] <~Dan> Speaking of mystics, what is magic like in the setting, and how common is it?
[19:34] <+trey> Really sort of "sorcery"
[19:35] <+trey> (Magic-user-ish magic)
[19:35] <~Dan> Full-blown fireballs and lightning bolts?
[19:35] <+trey> is common enough that people are well aware of it, but maybe not enough that most people know a practitioner
[19:35] <+trey> Fireballs and lightning bolts would be rare
[19:35] <+trey> And get you in trouble
[19:35] <+trey> If not with the law
[19:35] <+trey> with the Thaumaturgical Society
[19:35] <+trey> If you're in the City
[19:35] <+trey> Vulgar displays of power
[19:35] <+trey> get people nervous
[19:35] <+trey> Magic is regulated, to a degree
[19:36] <+trey> Still, adventurers would do stuff like that where they can get away with it
[19:36] <~Dan> Hmmm... so what's "acceptable" magic?
[19:36] <+trey> Magical research is certainly acceptable as long as it doesn't blow up!
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[19:36] <+trey> use of Forsenic necromancy
[19:36] <+trey> And killing monsters, certainly
[19:36] <+trey> Agian, though these things are best left to the authorities
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[19:37] <+trey> But to a large degree, the setting leaves this a bit open
[19:37] <+trey> It implies things, but leaves plenty of room for a GM's interpretation
[19:37] * ~Dan nods
[19:37] <~Dan> On a related note...
[19:37] <~Dan> ...we have D&D-ish magic and weird science. To what extent to they affect everyday life, and why?
[19:37] <+trey> First off, the "weird science" and magic are intertwined.
[19:38] <+trey> This isn't  a setting where there's a hard dividing line.
[19:38] <+trey> Alchemy has probably made the biggest impact on peoples lives
[19:38] <~Dan> (brb -- please continue)
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[19:38] <+trey> Minor healing potions can be bought at the corner drug story (though they vary in quality)
[19:38] <+trey> for example
[19:39] <+trey> People can also visit a small time magical practitioner for a love or luck spell or a future-reading
[19:39] <+trey> Just like in our world--except here they might work!
[19:39] <+trey> Magical artifacts and events are things people are aware of even if they haven't witnessed them personally
[19:41] <+TheEverwayan> Not sure if it is ok to ask questions, but if so, pls feel free to talk about how you are using WARP in WA
[19:41] <+phgaw> (It's a Q&A, so feel free to ask!)
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[19:44] <~Dan> (Sorry, back. And yup, everyone's free to ask questions, Ev. :) )
[19:45] <+trey> That's a great question to ask. :)
[19:45] <+trey> It's rules as written, pretty much.
[19:45] <+trey> Most of my player's that have magic are using a sort of freeform fringe power.
[19:45] <+trey> They tell me how they see it working
[19:45] <+trey> (hoodoo woman is one example)
[19:45] <+trey> And we work out how they will work
[19:45] <+trey> (takes time, so isn't for combat, needs components)
[19:45] <+trey> And then we go
[19:45] <+trey> I've got another player that has limited psychic powers
[19:45] <+trey> So he's got telepathy and related
[19:45] <+trey> stuff
[19:45] <+trey> psychometry,, maybe, and suggestion
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[19:48] <~Dan> WARP being the OtE system, correct?
[19:48] <~Dan> (Howdy, egyptian!)
[19:49] <+TheEverwayan> Exactly
[19:49] <~Dan> That would seem to be almost the polar opposite of D&D. What's it like using a system that's that far from the system you envisioned using originally?
[19:50] <+trey> I think it works fine.
[19:50] <+trey> It's just more freeform, but you can do the same sorts of things.
[19:50] <+trey> It's the actions and tropes I was after.
[19:50] * ~Dan nods
[19:50] <+trey> I've also used Lorefinder
[19:50] <~Dan> What's that?
[19:50] <+trey> (the Pathfinder GUMSHOE mashup)
[19:51] <~Dan> Oh, right. I heard of that.
[19:51] <+TheEverwayan> How did you like Lorefinder, trey?
[19:51] <+trey> I enjoyed it.
[19:51] <+trey> Pathfinder is a little complicated for me, though. :)
[19:51] <+trey> But I thought the GUMSHOE aspects made mysteries easy
[19:52] <~Dan> Really? Did you design any particular edition of D&D in mind?
[19:52] <+trey> I was thinking something more old school-ish
[19:52] <+TheEverwayan> I have been wondering how you'd create an OSRfinder, since the classic games have few skills
[20:11] <+trey> Well, you'd add the GUMSHOE investigative skills, I guess
[20:11] <+trey> And those would be the only skills you'd have
[20:12] <+trey> It would be sort of GUMSHOE with d20 combat, I guess
[20:12] <+TheEverwayan> Oh yeah :)
[20:12] <~Dan> Have you used any other systems with Weird Adventures?
[20:12] <+trey> Just the Lorefinder and WaRP
[20:12] <+trey> There is a group playing it with a modfied B/X
[20:13] <+trey> And another group with a modified Castles and Crusades, I think
[20:13] <+trey> But I don't know too much about how those games are going
[20:13] <+trey> People just email me and telling what they're planning sometimes :)
[20:13] <+trey> Or to ask questions
[20:13] <~Dan> When you were designing the setting, did you think in terms of character classes? Like, "This NPC is a fighter, this one is a thief," etc.?
[20:14] <+trey> Sort of.
[20:14] <+trey> I thought about how the classic base classes might be translated over.
[20:14] <+trey> But, I didn't usually bother to specifically map abilities when I described a character in text only
[20:15] * ~Dan nods
[20:15] <+trey> Still, the types Tough Guy, Man of Magic, Man of Faith, Thief, are there
[20:15] <~Dan> Man of Faith, even though there are no cleric types?
[20:15] <+trey> Yes
[20:15] <+trey> There are "the gifted"
[20:16] <+trey> People of faith who manifest a power from that
[20:16] <+trey> but they don't necessarily have a place in a church hierarchy
[20:16] <+trey> Faith healers and the like
[20:16] <~Dan> How do you see them as being distinct from clerics?
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[20:17] <~Dan> wb, trey!
[20:17] <+trey> Sorry had an internet burp
[20:17] <~Dan> No problem. Did you see my last question re: clerics?
[20:17] <+trey> Yes
[20:17] <+trey> Clerics have a place in church heirarchy and have a variety of spells
[20:17] <+trey> or powers
[20:17] <+trey> These folks may not and typically only have one
[20:17] <~Dan> Ah, so more like Divine gifts.
[20:18] <+trey> yes, exactly
[20:18] <+trey> But if faith falters...so do the powrs
[20:18] * ~Dan nods
[20:18] <+trey> Now, priests/preachers can be spell casters
[20:18] <+trey> The Oecumenical Hierarchate has its own theurgical orders
[20:18] <+trey> But their really magic-users
[20:18] <+trey> with clerical investment
[20:18] <+trey> they're
[20:18] <~Dan> Is that the setting's Catholic Church?
[20:18] <+trey> yes
[20:19] <+trey> On this issue and the system issue, one of my player's always says he would run WA in GURPS
[20:19] <+trey> But he hasn't yet
[20:19] <~Dan> It occurs to me that WitchCraft might be a handy system for the setting.
[20:19] <+trey> True.
[20:19] <+trey> I hadn't thought about that,  but it would work
[20:19] <~Dan> With its distinct supernatural power systems.
[20:19] <+trey> yeah
[20:19] <+trey> One reviewer suggested a modded Shadowrun
[20:20] <~Dan> Interesting.
[20:20] <+trey> Everybody's got ideas.
[20:20] <+TheEverwayan> I think it would work well with Spirit of the Century or Dresden Files
[20:20] <+trey> Which is good. :)
[20:20] <~Dan> I think I may have mentioned this, but I can see using some BRP variant as well.
[20:20] <+trey> Yeah, I think those would all work.
[20:20] <+trey> That's why I made it mostly system neutral
[20:20] <~Dan> Did you ever consider making it a complete self-contained game with its own system?
[20:20] <+trey> I thought about it.
[20:21] <+trey> But system creation isn't where my real interests lie
[20:21] <+trey> I would need to either work with someone who dug that
[20:21] <+trey> or turn it over to them to do :)
[20:21] <~Dan> Not even using an open-source D&D variant?
[20:21] <~Dan> Or do you think it would have required enough adaptations to make it a new system?
[20:21] <+trey> I think it can be done in an open source D&D variant, given all the things that have been done with them
[20:22] <+trey> It was just a sideline issue
[20:22] <+trey> for me
[20:22] * ~Dan nods
[20:22] <+trey> People are divided.
[20:22] <+trey> Some reviews dinged me for not doing that.
[20:22] <+trey> Others praise it's mostly systemlessness
[20:23] <~Dan> Well, speaking for myself...
[20:24] <~Dan> ...I think both approaches are a little silly.
[20:24] <~Dan> By which I mean, I think products should be judged by what they set out to be.
[20:24] <+trey> Ah. :)
[20:24] <+Damiar> that's a good way to do it Dan
[20:24] <+trey> Yeah, "does it do what it sets out to do?"
[20:24] <+trey> is the thing
[20:25] <~Dan> So saying that a book that was intended to be a systemless setting is good or bad because it lacks a system is a bit like slamming/praising a generic game for not having a setting.
[20:25] <+trey> Right, yeah.
[20:25] <+trey> As long as people are clear about their intent
[20:25] <+trey> no bait and switch
[20:25] <~Dan> Damiar: Thanks. Really, I see that as the only way to do a fair review.
[20:25] <~Dan> trey: Yup, certainly.
[20:26] <~Dan> Of course, part of the trick of reviewing is often figuring out what the author was trying to do.
[20:26] <+trey> ha! true. :)
[20:26] <~Dan> :)
[20:26] <~Dan> But back to your product... :)
[20:26] <~Dan> Staying on the same track... and this may be a little hard for you to answer...
[20:27] <~Dan> ...but do you have any idea of whether your systemless approach positively or negatively affected your sales?
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[20:27] <~Dan> (I ask this fully realizing that you have no access to market research. ;) )
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[20:29] <+trey> I don't, really.
[20:29] <+trey> I think that a lot of people didn't pay attention to what was said
[20:29] <+trey> so they didn't know what to expect
[20:29] <+trey> Even though I say "an rpg setting" on the cover
[20:29] <+trey> And in the copy say "for any game"
[20:29] <+trey> I do think it might be a be of a hard idea to incapsulate, over all
[20:29] <+trey> I don't know if that hurt though
[20:29] <+trey> But at least one reviewer said he didn't pick it up until Grognardia;s review
[20:29] <+trey> Because he thought it was gonna be just another Indiana Jones-ish thing
[20:29] <+trey> Instead of a fantasy world with a modern-ish setting
[20:29] <+trey> Pulp is a word that permits different definitions
[20:29] <+trey> people bring their own to the table
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[20:29] <+trey> (done)
[20:30] <~Dan> (Howdy, Logomachist!)
[20:30] <~Dan> If I can return to one of my earlier questions for a moment...
[20:30] <~Dan> ...what keeps powerful magic and/or inventions from changing the nature of the setting? Are all inventions one-offs by their nature, for example?
[20:31] <+trey> I have two answers to that. :)
[20:31] <+trey> And I think it could be approached either way.
[20:31] <~Dan> I'm sorry. I'm afraid you're going to have to choose one.
[20:31] <~Dan> (j/k!)
[20:31] <+trey> Never!
[20:31] <+trey> :)
[20:31] <~Dan> ;)
[20:32] <+trey> On one hand, I could say they don't in the same way that magic doesn't transform the economy of a typical D&D world
[20:32] <+trey> Or everybody doesn't wear unstable molecule clothing in the Marvel Universe
[20:32] <+trey> genre convention, in other words
[20:32] <+trey> On the other hand, I could say their is evidence that it does:
[20:32] <+trey> The Great War devasted the Old World because of thaumaturgic weapons of mass destruction
[20:33] <+trey> Alchemical research has recently lead to contraception
[20:33] <+trey> (of a sort)
[20:33] <+TheEverwayan> So if you mess with the universe too much, it messes back at you?
[20:33] <+trey> yes
[20:33] <+trey> But smal changes can occur, and are occuring
[20:33] <+trey> And they'll add up to big ones over time
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[20:33] <~Dan> Are magic and super-science relatively new to the world, then?
[20:34] <+trey> Magic is old, and again no "super-science" in the Reed Richards sense
[20:34] <+trey> All robots are constructs (like in 3e)
[20:34] <+trey> for instance
[20:34] <+trey> magic and science are starkly separated
[20:34] <+trey> alchemy is a branch of chemistry, on a spectrum
[20:35] <+trey> Magic wasn't usable on a more industrial scale without a certain amount of mundane tech, though
[20:35] <+trey> There are "magical assembly lines"
[20:35] <+trey> aren't
[20:36] <+trey> I menat
[20:36] <+trey> meant
[20:36] <+trey> But "magical" processes lead to better materials, etc.
[20:36] <~Dan> Hmm... So since "weird science" is tied to magic, the same factors apply?
[20:36] <+trey> Yeah.
[20:36] <+trey> pretty much.
[20:36] <+trey> Though there are some villianous species that have strict pulp super-science
[20:37] <~Dan> Aliens?
[20:37] <+trey> The Brain Invaders, yes
[20:37] <~Dan> <--- genius!
[20:37] <+trey> And the Reds from under the earth
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[20:37] <~Dan> Reds = "mole men" or the like?
[20:38] <+trey> Sort of. Think Shaver's Dero with a political agenda
[20:38] <~Dan> Ah. Heh. So they're "Red" as in literally dirty Commies? :)
[20:38] <+trey> right.
[20:38] <~Dan> That's awesome. :)
[20:38] <+trey> Communalitarianism
[20:38] <+trey> Which may have been invented by elves
[20:39] <+trey> But it's uncertain. :)
[20:39] <~Dan> But then the movement went... underground?
[20:39] <+TheEverwayan> As in Marx's Old Mole?
[20:39] <+trey> Yeah, a decadent underground civilization was overthrown by their humanoid underclass
[20:39] <+trey> :)
[20:39] <~Dan> I can dig it. :)
[20:39] <+trey> In a way.
[20:40] <+trey> But they are strict materialists and disbelieve magic.
[20:40] <~Dan> Do they try to explain it in rational terms?
[20:40] <+trey> In a limited doublethink sort of fashion.
[20:40] <+trey> Denial is there main thing.
[20:41] <+trey> Now, I should say not all Communalitarians are bad.
[20:41] <+trey> Just the totalitarian Reds
[20:41] <~Dan> That's Pinko thinking right there.
[20:41] <+trey> Who use their "philosophy" as a world-conquering cover
[20:41] <+trey> ha!
[20:41] <~Dan> :D
[20:41] <+trey> :)
[20:42] <+trey> Anarchists exist too
[20:42] <+trey> And have an alien body-warping magic
[20:42] <~Dan> So the setting has its Commies and Anarchists... What about Nazis?
[20:42] <+trey> No Nazis
[20:42] <+trey> But the Party of Purity
[20:42] <+trey> is on the rise over in Staark
[20:42] <+trey> So, their going to be a future threat
[20:42] <+trey> they're, I mean
[20:42] <~Dan> Do they represent a Staark contrast?
[20:42] <+trey> heh.
[20:43] <~Dan> (Sorry. Should have warned you to mind the puns...)
[20:43] <+trey> I was thinking more Stark as in Deutsch for "strong"
[20:43] <~Dan> Ah. *nod*
[20:43] <+phgaw> DanL usually used as in strong coffee.
[20:43] <+TheEverwayan> Or Leigh brackett?
[20:43] <+phgaw> Dan:
[20:43] <+trey> I love Lee Brackett, but it was just a German word, here.
[20:43] <+TheEverwayan> :)
[20:43] <~Dan> Are there any other obvious "bad guy" factions?
[20:44] <+trey> The Hell Syndicate
[20:44] <+trey> The nine infernal crime families
[20:44] <~Dan> Run by demons?
[20:44] <+trey> Devils.
[20:45] <+trey> And "made men" get diabolic powers--and mutations, kind of.
[20:45] <~Dan> Ah, speaking of the demons/devils thing... is there an implied presence of D&D alignments?
[20:45] <+trey> Law and Chaos are forces in the universe, yeah
[20:45] <+trey> But people don't have alignment
[20:45] <+trey> No alignment language or anything
[20:45] <~Dan> But not Good and Evil?
[20:46] <+trey> It exists, but it's more nebulous
[20:46] <+trey> the monotheistic god is Good and Lawful, presumably
[20:46] <~Dan> Well, so in old school D&D, devils are Lawful Evil. How does that manifest in WA?
[20:46] <+trey> In a way.
[20:46] <+trey> They oppose the God and the angels
[20:46] <+trey> but they also oppose the qlippothic demons of the chaos of the PIt
[20:47] <+trey> things after the unmaking of the universe
[20:47] <+trey> whereas devils want to rule
[20:48] <~Dan> Is the monotheistic God an objective reality in the setting?
[20:48] <+trey> Yes, but so are different interpretations of him.  Multiple mutually exclusive heavens can be visited, confusingly
[21:07] <+trey> It seems everything humans believe exists in some fashion
[21:07] <~Dan> What about some version of Fairyland/Arcadia?
[21:10] <+TheEverwayan> I have to go now, but thanks trey and Dan for a very informative session
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[21:10] <~Dan> (Still there, trey?)
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[21:11] <~Dan> wb, trey!
[21:11] <+trey> don't know what's going on with the DSL tonite
[21:11] <~Dan> No problem. Did you get my Arcadia question?
[21:12] <+trey> Oh, did my reply not come through?
[21:12] <~Dan> Nope.
[21:12] <+trey> Anyway, yeah there's an Arcadia that is a sort of Disney movie-esque land of talking animals and mythological creature
[21:12] <+trey> Part of it is a city where talking animals wear clothes and do human stuff
[21:16] <~Dan> ...
[21:17] <~Dan> That's hilarious. :)
[21:17] <+trey> but most is pastoral and Aesop fable/Bullfinch's mythology-ish
[21:17] <+trey> thanks
[21:17] <~Dan> Do you visualize it as being animated? :)
[21:17] <+trey> Yeah
[21:17] <+trey> Definitely
[21:17] <~Dan> Sweet.
[21:17] <+trey> Of course, the planes don't enter in a lot
[21:17] <+trey> though they could
[21:17] <+trey> like in D&D, theiy're mostly backdrop
[21:17] * ~Dan nods
[21:17] <+trey> but planar exploring is possible
[21:18] <+trey> Most of that's on the blog though
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[21:18] <+trey> Well, I guess it's getting late.
[21:18] <~Dan> Well, looks like I lost track of time a bit, not that it matters. We're over the 2 hour mark, so I should probably call a stop to the "official" Q&A.
[21:18] <~Dan> Heh.
[21:18] * ~Dan high-fives trey
[21:18] <+trey> Thanks
[21:18] <+trey> Thanks for having me.
[21:18] <+trey> It's was cool.
[21:18] <~Dan> I was just going to add that you're welcome to hang out as long as you like, but sounds like you need to head out?
[21:19] <+trey> Yeah, probably should get a few things done and get to bed early. Tomorrow is an early day.
[21:19] <+trey> of work
[21:19] <~Dan> Gotcha. Well, please know that you're always welcome to stop by!
[21:19] <+trey> Thanks, Dan.
[21:19] <~Dan> I'll have the log posted to my blog shortly.
[21:19] <+trey> Good night!
[21:19] <~Dan> Good night!
[21:19] <+trey> great, cool
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