Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Loonook" data-source="post: 4017324" data-attributes="member: 1861">Good Gaming: Living In These Modern Times Pt. 2: A Hidden Master: Aleksei Afanasii David always loved his times away from his father’s house.  The quiet retreat set off in the middle of nowhere was perfect; he got to do anything he wanted, and he liked sharing his time with his favorite toys and the guard who called himself Billo.  Billo had given David Tom, his favorite toy when he was growing up.  Tom was a rugged little bear, dressed in a crisp suit just like the one Billo and the other guards wore, with a tiny pop-gun and shades.  The getup looked less ridiculous on a sky-blue teddy bear than it did on the men who watched over David and his daddy, and when David would talk to Billo about the times the middle-aged bodyguard had spent with his favorite toy they would both laugh.  David laughed heartily at how silly Billo was about talking in the bear’s gruff, dour voice, and imagined a miniature Billo and Tom running around in the Southwest having adventures.It was around six in the afternoon that Billo came running in, grabbing Tom and David.“Hey D, we are going to go somewhere safe, kay?  I just want you to keep old Tommy Bear with you, and I’ll carry you piggyback up the path to the Tiny House.” Tiny House was David’s favorite place to play, and Billo smiled gap-toothed as David seemed to take to the adventure.  As they ran through the switch and bushes David could hear soft pops, and Billo had to reach down to turn off his radio . . . it kept squeaking and screaming up at him, and David had begun to wonder what was going on.  The Tiny House loomed in sight, and Billo smiled and led David into the interior, sitting Tom on the bed and David down before pulling the shades.“I’ll be right back, kiddo.  Don’t leave until I come and knock like we said, kay?” It was the kiddo thing that made David call Bill Billo, and they exchanged a hug as Billo got ready to go out the door.  Before he turned to leave he grabbed a couple of pieces of the chalk that was on the blackboard’s sill.“If I don’t . . . watch him for me Old Man.” Billo looked grimly at Tom as he picked him up, and David laughed as Billo made the little blue bear shake his head curtly before placing him down.Billo went outside, and David heard him scratching something on the door of the Tiny House.  Mr. Garland, the groundskeeper, was going to be mad at Billo, and probably chase him around with a bucket of soap-water to get him to clean it.  The sound of a firecracker outside broke the strange words that Billo was saying, and the scratching stopped.“Davey . . . get under the bed, close your eyes and cover your ears, okay?” Billo’s gruff voice for Tom seemed to come from over by the bear, and David laughed as he followed the instructions.  Billo’s playing some kind of game David thought, and followed the directions.He heard a couple of hushed voices and saw two strange pairs of boots come in.  They moved to point towards the bed where he was laying, and then he heard a thud as the sound of Tom’s pop-gun echoed around the room.  A barely audible sound that reminded David of when Ms. Mary would slice him an apple to eat for Snacks, and the two pairs of boots flipped over.  A soft thud, and Tom was down on the floor, his pop-gun pouring blue-green smoke and small sparks from its end.  Tom put the cork back on the tip, and then crawled under the bed with David.  Out of his pocket he pulled one of the little accessories, a toy phone that had a couple of strange symbols written on it in glow-in-the-dark ink.“Emergency, the Camp has been compromised.  Asset protected, unknown number of men down.  Request an evacuation to a safe point, over.” Tom was such a silly little bear.  He even grabbed the two pairs of boots and dragged them out.  When he came back to where David was hiding he rubbed noses with the boy like Billo would make the bear do when they were telling some story that had scared David to wit’s end.The muzzle was soft, but David could feel that Tom’s whole snout was wet, and hear soft sobs coming from the stuffed animal.  He was a silly little bear.If you limit your Modern Fantasy to Greyhawk: Reloaded you are going to have some boring encounters.  Though perhaps creatures like Tom (a use-activated Small cross between a Defender homunculus and a Modernized Shield Guardian) may not fit into all campaigns, it is important that you ask exactly how magic affects your modern world, and vice versa.  Now, why would we bother ourselves in the discussion of a sky-blue teddy bear?  Well, that brings us to his creator, a man of some talent and a good Hidden Master: Aleksei Afanasii.  Afansaii appeared in a D20 Past game I was running on the European Continent, and then became sort of a legend unto himself as the Decades Cycle (my series of Modern games) began to grow and flourish.  Afanasii (Immortal) lived somewhere between 115 and 130 years; a human mage of some renown, Aleksei became well-known amongst aristocrats of the continent for his study of automata.  For those who have never seen automaton, they are a small subset of toys produced in Europe during the 18th-19th century.  Automaton were clockwork entities; certain French toymakers were considered the ‘best’ at producing them, but you can see examples which range from simple motion-banks to complex, multi-movement marionette like figurines.  Different automaton had different tasks, but they were mostly produced as toys and fancies for noblemen to give to their children or display as a sort of masterpiece of mechanical engineering.  The pieces are rare to find now in great condition, but those that are well-articulated can fetch large sums of money.Being a Russian noble with a knack for the Art, Afanasii started to build life-like automaton, adding small touches of magic alongside artifice to make amazing replicas of nobles, cavalry, and other important figures.  It was only when Afanasii ran across a lone Rabbi and learned the arts surrounding the creation of magical constructs that he truly came into his own.In my setting there are perhaps fifty to a hundred working Afanasii ‘dolls’, each with a rich history.  Usually used as servants or bodyguards for children, they are constructs which have fluid movement and the ability to perform complex tasks due to the investiture of certain mystic energies.  The true masterpieces, known amongst mystic traders as the ‘blue Alekseis’ were cast in cobalt-hued porcelain, and have a formerly living spirit inside of them.  These are living constructs, some of whom have gained levels over top of their normal HD in martial or protective Advanced Classes which they qualified for.  Tom was a gift created for a German ambassador’s daughter in the early 1900s.  Having fled Russia for the ‘safety’ of Germany, he established a small suite of rooms in which to create his workshop.  Afanasii advanced the arts of construct creation to new heights, working on using composites and alloys which would take decades to appear in metallurgical textbooks.  Already approaching 90, Aleksei was easy fodder for the Kaiser when he was collected by a group of German sorcerers-turned-advisors and asked to work on additional items.After meeting a skilled armorer and smithy in Berlin, Aleksei focused on the creation of new and more interesting constructs.  It was in 1920 that he created the first blue Aleksei, and it was during this period that he became interesting in Living Armor.  Using some of the knowledge procured from certain texts on necromancy and life energy, Aleksei (alongside the smith and a talented necromancer) produced the first Created One, a suit of living armor.  Thankfully, about four months later, we could actually allow players to play as a Created One without having to do too much backbreaking work . . . the Warforged saved me from having so many damnable hours to postulate a solid character race.Aleksei is shrouded in the haze of history for my players; he died (or at least disappeared) in the late 30s, his talented successor taking the secrets of producing Created across the pond and attempting to assist in the war effort.  A few of them walk around to this day, marked with ironworks tags or automobile manufacturer imprints, each born out of the necessities of conflict.  However, if Aleksei (and his player) had never decided to go along the route and wonder how exactly magic could affect the modern (or Industrial period) world, I would never have had one of my most interesting groups of creatures to date appear in the setting.  Now, we have discussed a specific case of a Hidden Master, someone who somehow affects the setting without being involved too much in our actual game (outside of the few he appeared in, or his constructs did).  But what about someone who largely affects the framework of the setting?  Next article we'll do just that; part 3 will focus on Gen. Wesley Harlan I, and the creation of the Rainbow Companies.  Now, I know you're all probably getting irritated by these articles; and don't fret.  I hope that this isn't showing too much vanity; rather, I am really desiring to show you some interesting things.  So that once we presented Aleksei, Wesley, and another character and show their possible effects on the world at large, we will then discuss the methods and process behind creating exciting and immersible history for a Fantasy Modern game which doesn't come from a mixture of Die Hard and Lord of the Rings.As Always,Good Gaming,Slainte,-Loonook.</blockquote>

Verification