All At Sea - Sea Voyages on Lohwand

 Sea Voyages

Being a system for adjudicating the fate of fleets and supply convoys and the like around the seas and oceans of my Lohwand campaign. The assumption is that the seas are divided into movement zones and that each zone has a "Perilous Seas" rating which indicates how safe the stretch of water is. The rating equates to extra dice on the table, so the higher the value the more perilous the body of water. Hint: if it's called "The Sea of Storms" or the "The Sea of Chaos" then expect a higher rating than something more serenely named.

The second assumption is that if there is a fleet moving then there is an Admiral who decides when it sails and what route it takes. He may have advisors but the ultimate decision is his so his skill level is used for the roll. Pray that he knows what he is doing.

The method is to roll 3D10's as the Base dice, plus one "Fate Die", and "Perilous Seas" dice equal to the rating as mentioned above.  When the roll is made one is looking for Successes rolled on the Base Dice alone. The other dice are just there to see if they roll Zeroes (Z). 

Each roll <= the Admiral's Skill equals a success. At least one success is needed to arrive at the destination. If no Z are rolled then the fleet arrives without incident. If no S are rolled or Z > S then something has happened and one must check the Peril table to the right.

When rolling for Peril, there are two Cases, the first if the fleet or ship has reached the destination (i.e. one or more S have been rolled previously) and the second if there is a danger the fleet or ship has been lost at sea.

The number of Base dice are the number of Z rolled in the first instance, plus 1D10 per ship in the fleet. Successes are <= the Admiral's skill again, and the total number of S represents the number of ships in the fleet (in addition to the Admiral's ship) which have arrived safely at the destination. For each of the other ships in the fleet a roll must be made as in Case 2.

In Case 2 the same roll is made again, but for each ship, and rolled vs the individual Captain's skill. If at least one S is rolled then the ship arrives but is late, either at the destination or at the home port, having been forced to turn back. The delay is 1-5 days (1D10/2).

If no S are rolled then the ship is "Lost". In this instance we do not know the fate of the ship, they are merely not seen again, presumably lost at sea and drowned. Note that a later "Fate Roll" might reveal this fate, whether it turns out they were captured by Pirates or taken by Mermen, or dashed on the rocks with a few survivors struggling in to a nearby village.

Lohwand: A Cosmology, based on the writings of Timeon of Ar

 

The Cosmology of Lohwand,

as proposed by Timeon of Ar

When Timeon of Ar first proposed his cosmology of Lohwand he was still only a low circle adept reading at Leomund College in the Unseen University of Ar. But such was the impact that he was permitted to submit it as his devotional labour for the year, gaining his tenth circle ranking as a result. Many felt he deserved better: some even dared to suggest immediate promotion to initiate, even though this would have meant skipping the intervening ten senior adept circles. Most scoffed at the idea, however, and the Archchancellor never considered this for a moment, even if he did concede privately "that dang kid might be onto something."

Here then is my simpleminded attempt to explain Timeon's proposal as I understand it:

First and foremost is the concept of "Reality", governed by the Law rune as scholars have argued for centuries. This rune serves to contain three overlapping planes of existence: the ethereal reaches of the Spirit Plane, the Plane of the Five Elemental Lords, and the mundane Physical Plane - that is to say, the world around us.

Where the Spirit and Elemental planes intersect lies the Dreamlands, an ever-changing realm which can be reached by mortals via the Astral Plane, which Timeon describes vaguely as the sinews that holds everything in place.

The Underworld lies at the intersection of the Spirit and Physical Planes, again reachable via heroic questing on the Astral Plane. This is more the domain of the Priests and I leave further explanation to them.

At the junction of the Physical and Elemental Planes are the infinity of the Multi-spheres, what Timeon claimed as infinite versions of the Our World - and an infinite host of others - reaching forwards and backwards for all Time. Yeah, I understand that as well as you! Again, he claimed that travel to and between the spheres was possible, presumably via the Astral Plane. Timeon himself mentions passing through shell of one sphere into another, but nowhere does he mention how he thinks this could be done.

At the central intersection of the planes, Timeon posited that Time rested, he writes about it as if it were an entity. He also - heretically, I might add - stated that this was where the Great Old Gods originated and might still lurk. The Archdeacon had to over-rule many calls for a heresy trial at that claim!

This Construct of Reality, as Timeon termed it, resides floating on the Seas of Illusion, which in turn are encapsulated by the never-ending Void. Timeon claimed that the Void was a vast expanse of Pure Nothingness across which no person nor even any thought might traverse. "The Kid's Cuckoo!" many responded to this outrageous claim. I make no judgement either way.

Perhaps most disturbing was Timeon's assertion that Chaos was seeping back into the World. He depicted it as a sphere of volatile Chaos essence that is moving into the planes of Reality. He speculated that the Seas of Illusion had gradually eroded cracks in the protective Law Rune allowing Chaos to infiltrate our existence again. He gave examples, but all are too sensational - and, if true, horrifying - for me to relate. The Archdeacon is said to have studied these latter assertions at length, retiring to his chambers and calling on many great minds for lengthy consultation and debate. What his final verdict was, I know not, but it seems likely to me that in the end these accusation were dismissed as wild imaginings. On the other hand, Timeon was granted his circle advance, so who can say?

Note: This is background for my justification of Magic in my Lohwand campaign. No doubt readers will recognize the many sources I am borrowing from as inspiration. Apologies. :-)

Free Ukraine!

 

Isandlwana - Laundry Day Rules - 2nd Rinse

Some slight additions.

Added: close order and defenses to the melee and morale sections.

Unfortunately we decided that with omicron sweeping our communities that we could leave our refight of the battle until another day. It would have been nice to do it on the anniversary but not essential. Anyway, I'm not ready yet. I might have been but once that decision was made I slacked off somewhat so I am a bit behind schedule.

I have been tinkering with the rules, adding bonuses for close order and defending defenses. And also a Yes/No aspect to the Fate Table. 

Another thing I might add is an answer to where Durnford's ammunition supply ended up. Vause's troop escorted it to camp but thereafter it is not mentioned, and of course, Durnford and the men with him had no idea where it was, hence their ammunition supply problems. AFAIK no orders were issued to set up a camp from Durnford's column, though if there were then presumably it would have been on the South end beside 1/24th. As I see it, the wagons could have been left on the Western side of the Nek, or moved to where this new camp might be established, or perhaps moved up to the NNC camps. So when an NCO or Officer is sent to retrieve ammo he has a bit of a problem. From accounts of the battle the ammunition supply was not located, so I'm guessing it didn't have a big sign on it! I'm thinking a random draw of chits from a bag, with one draw per turn and only one chit being the correct location. If somebody thinks to ask Lt Vause then they get two chits.

Isandlwana - Laundry Day "Bloody Spears!" edition (Now in Tabloid!)

 

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This is the most recent version of my "Quick-and-Deadly" Zulu War rules: Laundry Day - "Bloody Spears" edition. Note that under these rules the players are intended to take the role of Imperial Officers, while the Zulus are controlled by the referee. That said, I intend to make the British players make all the Zulu die rolls themselves; I'll just move the bases and deploy the Induna as necessary.

Zulu movement is pretty much pre-programmed by the actual events of the battle and so there is little referee input required anyway, except for the question of when to employ the "Induna Inspiration" rules. Each wing of the Impi, and also each regiment, has 1 or more Induna, who function as "Fate Points" to try and inspire the pinned down regiments to action. The Induna is placed on the table the turn before it is used. The following turn during movement, and as a regiment is being activated, the roll is made on the Fate Table to determine how successful the Induna is at inspiring the unit.

Isandlwana - Laundry Day rules

My draft Zulu Wars Rules

 

Isandlwana: umCijo Musters

 

umCijo

umCijo musters before the Great King, Cetshwayo, approximately 2500 warriors strong on 25 bases.