Christina Stiles

I was recently asked some questions in regard to Rogue Mage the game forthcoming from Bella Rosa Press (print) and Misfit Studios (pdf). I’m using my blog to answer a few of these. More questions are welcome.

First, for the uninitiated, let me provide a little info about Rogue Mage. Rogue Mage is a series of post-apocalyptic novels by Faith Hunter which deal with the Judeo-Christian Apocalypse. In order, they include: Bloodring, Seraphs, and Host. The game translation has been in the works for three years now. It uses d20 open gaming content from Mutants & Masterminds as its underlying gaming system, with attacks being based on skills, much like GURPS and Unisystem. Characters are built with character points, so players can build the type of character they want using the base races from the Rogue Mage universe: neomages, second unforeseen, seraph-touched, kylen, humans, and rogue daywalkers. If Game Masters want, they can even run more powerful campaigns with seraphim and watchers.

1.     Is Rogue Mage vaporware?
No. Not in the least. It has just taken much longer than the writers and editor anticipated to translate the novels to a workable gaming system. Most of the book is written. We are still hammering out rules details at this point. An art director has been hired to start pulling together the art. My hope is that everything will come together by the end of the year or the beginning of 2011. I would then like to consider making a Savage Worlds version to play, as well.

2.     What do Rogue Mage characters do?
This question is more easily answered by talking about some of the campaign types that are possible with the game. The authors certainly envision players creating characters that serve roles similar to the main fantasy archetypes of wizard, warrior, thief, and priest—mixed in whatever way the player desires. It is assumed that most campaigns will be about fighting the Darkness, but that does not have to be the case. Some “draft” information about campaign types from the book follows, and I’ll be answered other questions over the next few weeks.

 Human Government-Based Campaigns

The remaining United States is the default setting for Rogue Mage campaigns. Player characters are assumed to be citizens of the orthodox-led government (if humans or second unforeseen), on contract from Enclaves (neomages and their champards), or citizens of the Realms of Light within the human communities (kylen and their keepers). As well as dealing with the Darkness, characters may have to struggle with the strict laws and intolerant attitude of the orthodox majority. The Rogue Mage novels are set in the rural village of Mineral City, Carolina, and provide an example of the setting. Urban areas like Atlanta more resemble conditions of the early 21st Century, including modern services such as police and fire departments, snow removal, and trash collection. The big cities are more liberal in attitude than small towns, but the orthodoxy still keeps a tight grip on life there.

Characters may be agents of the human governments themselves, either as part of the civilian agencies, like the Hands of the Law and the Administration of the ArchSeraph, or in the military. This works best with human characters, although it isn’t inconceivable for second unforeseen and kylen agents to work with the government. There are even rumors of at least one rogue daywalker serving a covert agency.

Tribal Campaigns

As an alternative to the default Rogue Mage campaign set in “civilized” America, player characters may be members of the country’s nomadic tribes. The harsh living conditions and less-regulated lifestyles of the tribes make finding adventuring opportunities easy.

Simply surviving the bleak environment of the Rogue Mage world is an adventure. The tribes face near-arctic environments, scant physical resources, persecution by human authorities, bandit raids, and the threat of attack from the forces of Darkness.

Pre-Apocalyptic ruins, and the resources and dangers they contain, abound. Players can be members of salvage teams who explore these lost cities for resources and information. Such undertakings are dangerous: More than one lost city has become the site of a bandit kingdom or hidden hellhole.

But in their favor, nomadic tribe campaigns allow for adventuring parties that might never come together in an urban setting. It’s easier to explain a group containing a mage and his champards, a renegade AAS agent, an EIH agitator disguised as a deadminer, and a rogue daywalker if the external threats to their survival outweigh the tensions within the group.

The most obvious adventure source for the tribe-based campaign is the Earth Invasion Heresy. PCs who’re members of the EIH will be tasked with a wide variety of missions, ranging from spying on seraph-friendly factions, theft of material or information, recruitment of agents in civilized areas, rescuing fellow EIH members or rogue supernaturals from human authorities, combat with forces of the Darkness, to research into the secrets of the seraphim. One thing is certain: Life with the EIH is never boring.

Enclave Campaigns

The multiracial environment of an Enclave makes a good setting for a campaign heavy in political intrigue. With only two exceptions, any PC race can be found in an Enclave. Although kylen are currently banned from entering the Enclaves, the introduction of mage-heat-quelling seraph stones may allow the seraphim to ease this restriction. Finding a way to include a PC daywalker in an Enclave campaign requires imagination on the part of both GM and player — but that would be true in most other settings as well. Player characters can be friends, members of the same great family, agents of the Enclave councils, or something more exotic.

Enclaves are radically different environments than the human-controlled lands. PCs from Enclaves will take good weather and plentiful resources for granted, and may be shocked by the harsher environment outside their gilded cages. They are accustomed to magic providing their basic needs and may be unfamiliar with technology.

Along with adventures in the urban setting of the Enclave, characters may be sent out of the Enclaves for a number of reasons. For instance, due to the restrictions on their movement in the human world, many neomages work through proxies for their commercial and personal interests. They may also be assigned by the Enclave to provide assistance to those who request help fighting the Darkness or they can be sent out as agents of one faction or another on clandestine missions, such as gathering information, assisting allies of the faction, or working against or even assassinating their enemies.

Realms Campaigns

If a Dark power attempted to launch an attack directly at the throne of the Most High or at the assembled seraphic might of a Realm of Light, he and his armies would face all the denizens of that Realm, and of the other Realms, and of the Most High himself. The presence of a few mortal PCs would be pointless in such a setting.

9-08-09

I decided to go to Dragon*Con this year in celebration of my 40th birthday, and I’m so glad I did.  I’m not much into fandom (though I did have the urge to go drool over Ben Browder at a Farscape or Stargate panel) and costuming, which are big things at the con, but it was a cost-effective way to get to meet some writers and sit in on their panels–considering I paid $80 for a ticket, and the writer conference registrations usually cost $300 or more. I also wanted to spend some time with my friend Marie, whom I haven’t seen in a few years. She’s the Extrovert to my Introvert and pushes my comfort zone to get out there and talk to folks.

And because of Marie and my new roomie friends, CiCi and Julia, who are super minions, I got to meet Sherrilyn Kenyon and get books signed (twice), and I got to have dinner with her this past Sunday night!!!!! How AWESOME is that??? And SK is one incredible lady! She’s gracious and extremely kind to her fans, and she has a great sense of humor. I also enjoyed meeting her entourage members, especially Kim, whom I hope to have further conversations with. She’s working on a YA series with SK called Nevermore that I think is going to rock!

So, what else did I do there?

I sat in on a great panel of Gary Hayes’. He had everyone start builiding a story idea from character right in the 1-hour panel. It’s a cool idea. He says no one ever goes home to write the stuff the panel comes up with, but I plan to put my own twist on it and do so.

Other panel topics included paranormal fiction, time travel, getting in the game, telling it like it is, and several more I can’t remember off the top of my head. I personally talked to Carole Nelson Douglas (very cool lady! I loved her fantasy stuff.), Sandra Chastain, Rita Herron, Anna DeStefano, Raven Hart (really great lady to talk to), Gail Z. Martin, Selina Rosen, and Alethea Kontis. I also met the co-owner of the Shard RPG. Tried to talk to Fantasy Games Unlimited’s guy, but I never got a chance to.  I ran into Misty Massey, author of Mad Kestrel (a very cool pirate book that you definitley should read), while I was searching out stuff to buy, and I saw Sean Patrick Fannon a few times, but didn’t get to game with him.

I got some contact information from a few folks, so there might be some future projects come out of the con. We’ll see!

I’ll get some D*C pics up on Facebook of some costumed folks and me with SK soon!

Alethea Kontis, Christina Stiles, Sherrilyn Kenyon

Tales of Zobeck
By Wolfgang Baur Bill Collins, Tim & Eileen Connors, Ed Greenwood, Jim Groves & Mike McArtor, Ben McFarland, Joshua Stevens, and Dan Voyce
Open Design
PDF $19.95
http://www.koboldquarterly.com/KQStore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=53

Tales of Zobeck: Adventures in the Free City is Open Design’s first Ennie-winning patron project. The book recently won a Silver for best ebook at the 2009 GenCon Ennie Awards, so Wolfgang Baur, Kobold Extraordinaire, has decided to release the project to the public. Let me just say that this in one well-deserved award, and this ebook should go to the top of your list of purchases. I haven’t written reviews in a while, and I’m still reading through the book, but I was so impressed with what I’ve read so far that I wanted to tell others about it.

As the 114-page ebook’s subtitle indicates, there are adventures within this fine tome. You get eight 3.5 adventures—well, actually, Ed Greenwood’s piece is an adventure location—for 1st- to 6th-level characters in all by such authors as Joshua Stevens, Wolfgang Baur, Ed Greenwood, Ben McFarland, and others. I’m an adventure junkie and a continuing fan of 3.5, so the purchase of this ebook was a no-brainer for me. Luckily, it delivers in spades.

Reviews of adventures are difficult to make without referencing the nature of the adventures, so some SPOILERS may be present. Don’t read any further if you are a player in a Zobeck campaign—just in case your GM wants to take advantage of this supplement.

To keep the review to a manageable size (and time—I’ve got gaming supplements and fiction of my own I should be writing, after all ), I will only be showcasing two of the adventures in this review. This is not to say that the others are not comment-worthy by any means. I’ve read five out of the eight adventures so far, and they are all good. In fact, I may eventually post about those later.

In short, I’m very pleased with my purchase, and the two scenarios I’m expanding my thoughts upon below are the ones that I would run first out of the group that I have read.

Adventure 1

“A Plague of Shadows” by Joshua Stevens is geared toward 1st-level characters. The characters find themselves in Zobeck during the height of an unusual, strength-sapping plague that is slowly killing off pockets of the city’s population. One area in particular, the Ashmill distract, is suffering the worst and has been quarantined and placed under martial law. Unfortunately, the PCs begin receiving strange dreams of doom from an imprisoned girl-child that lead them to the plague-stricken district to find answers.

The beauty of this particular adventure for me is the ominous tone it immediately strikes. As GMs, we all know long-time players can be jaded when it comes to plots like rescuing the girl and fighting off monsters to save the day. But toss in a fatal, inexplicable plague and watch that ho-hum attitude evaporate like mist. There’s nothing like an invisible threat they can’t be beaten down with a sword or spell to ramp the players up with immediate worry for their characters’ lives. Cruel but effective, I say.

But, of course, all is not as it may seem…

Other cool features that strike me about “Plague” are the cool introduction hook (the received nightmares of doom from an imprisoned girl), a fun chase scene, and a planar tie-in—I just love stuff dealing with the planes! Still, one of the best features of the adventure is the way it highlights the nature and feel of Zobeck itself. The players get real a glimpse of life (and death) in the city as they make their way through the City’s streets in the quarantined section where their investigation leads; they see the nasty side effects of mercantile disagreements in Zobeck; and they gain the chance to make some contacts with important citizens who can influence their future. Basically, I really like that the adventure encompasses all that is Zobeck. It’s a great beginning scenario to use as a campaign introduction.

I did have a few minor quibbles with the adventure, however. I was aghast at the amounts of treasure (500 to 750 gp each) offered to each 1st-level PC to recover the kidnapped girl. These amounts are fortunes for such tyros. I was expecting something more akin to 50 gp each. Additionally, there were a few DC checks on the near-impossible to impossible level (like DC 20 and 25, respectively) for new characters who would likely have a max bonus of +8 (+4 to the skill and +4 to the modifier if they were lucky enough to have an 18 in the appropriate attribute). At this level, I think DC 15s are more the standard, but that may just be my opinion. These are things any GM can change on the fly, so no big deal.

Adventure 5

In “The Madman at the Bridge” for 4th-level characters by Wolfgang Baur, the Puffing Bridge breaks down, causing problems for those needing to cross the river. To make matters worse, whatever has affected the bridge is wreaking havoc on the clockwork men who guard it. The PCs are hired to find and fix the problem.

Baur explains in a sidebar that the adventure was written as a convention scenario. For this reason, it’s more of a series of short, loose scenes that blend into each other. The PCs must face clockwork men, a firebomber, ballista-firing ogres, zombies, hell hounds, a sorcerer, and just an incredible amount of mayhem, on their way to fix the bridge. A useful sidebar helps the GM track the escalating madness in rounds.

What I like about this little scenario is that I can easily envision the fun and silliness that can ensue during play, and this is definitely an adventure that I’ll run. In fact, I can see adding it to my convention toolbox. I also think the scenario would easily adapt to other game systems. I especially LOVE that kobold pre-gens are included for the scenario. Kobolds are a fixture in my home games, and I occasionally have kobold pre-gens for convention or pick-up games myself, so this is just icing on the cake for me!

As I mentioned above, the scenario is written in loose scenes. That really is fine for a convention adventure. However, the scenes are not accompanied by any buildup information, so having read over the scenario a few times now, I still find myself wondering at the bad guy’s motivations. There’s no background section to provide this information, and the summary section is no help there, either; it only hints at scenes to come. I find myself wanting this background and wanting a little more scene buildup—more of an explanation of how the PCs get to one place from the other. It doesn’t help me that the map doesn’t have a direct numbering system connecting back to the scenes. For instance, the PCs are to fight clockworkmen who guard the bridge, which is near the water on the map, but then they are attacked by a firebomber after fighting the clockwork men. On the map, the firebomber’s building not close to the bridge where they fight (though there is a symbol for a clockwork man in front of the building), so it isn’t immediately clear to me how that scene is to take place. In short, the editor in me is crying out for more structure in this piece, while the GM in me is saying the basic foundation is there and the rest is a matter of winging it. Regardless, I’m sure this adventure would be a blast to run. It strikes me as an experience that players would continue to talk about long after the fact.

Existential Lunch

by

Christina Ashley Stiles

MONDAY

            The cafeteria is crowded at lunch hour. The line snakes around the outer glass and into the building proper. I wait patiently, moving inches at a time, until arriving at the drink spouts and ebbing myself a glass of tea. I can see Margaret from where I stand. She’s an older woman in her late fifties, with silver hair and large, fleshy arms. Her white uniform looks like a nurse’s; it fits tightly across her chest and portly waist. Her movements are fluid, not slow, as she passes orders over the counter and wishes the patrons a good day.

            I move up the line, and Margaret nods in recognition.

            “Turnip greens, carrots, and squash today,” she says, while pointing to the vegetables in their respective containers under the protective glass. When I don’t jump at her offerings, she gives me a wink. “Soup, then, right?”

I smile that she remembers my preference. She hands me my large cup, and I edge my way to the register and out the door.

TUESDAY

To my delight, macaroni is the special of the day. My stomach growls just watching the cheesy noodles slide on the plates of those ahead of me. The vegetables look pleasing as well: corn, ocra, and earthy spinach.

Soon Margaret finishes with the customer before me, and she asks me what I’d like. She stands proud behind the selections, reminding me of the primordial Venus statuettes—she a goddess of food, perhaps. She folds her arms about her middle, and stares down at me from her bifocals, and I wonder what great secret this proud, benevolent woman holds. Would it be apocalyptic like Nietzsche? Enlightening like the Buddha? There are others waiting, and I am too afraid to ask her. I point to the macaroni and spinach, and exit stage right.

WEDNESDAY

            It’s been raining. The weather has clogged my sinuses, and I feel like shit. I opt for the soup, hoping it will relieve the pressure. Margaret nods again, and I imagine we’re kindred spirits, though I the younger in search of her knowledge—whatever it is that makes her strong and active despite the mundanity of everyday life, despite time and change.

Still, we are not alone, and I cannot ask.

THURSDAY  

Margaret is not working. I find it difficult to order, as if the rules of edibility have changed. Should I order the ethical mixed vegetables and baked chicken? Or go for the aesthetic chocolate cake fix? I remain undecided. The young girl at the counter waits patiently for my answer. She doesn’t know what I want; I doubt she knows what she wants. She may not even realize the choices. Maybe her own are different, and she’ll just go to McDonald’s after her shift.

            “Soup,” I say, unconvinced it will feed my hunger. Uncertain that it ever has.

FRIDAY         

Ah! Margaret is back. We are alone at last. I smile shyly from my side of the counter, thinking that we are somehow like yin and yang, a Taoist circle separated by meat and vegetables. Margaret is the white of the circle, the enlightened, all-experiencing one—an expert at this game. I am the other half, the confused youth veiled in darkness who seeks illumination.

“What will it be today?”

Today, she says, as if it were somehow different from the one before or after it. “Margaret,” I squeak, “wh-what’s it all about—this life?”

She smiles knowingly. She slowly rotates her head downward. I follow her movements with my eyes. She looks at the veal, the turkey, the green beans, and then the rice. My nose catches the scent of each as we travel the line. Margaret extends an arm to the countertop. It is white, fleshy, and freckled with age spots—human. It rests there, listless, as I await her response from on high.

She breathes a sigh. “Maintenance,” she says finally, shattering the silence triumphantly. Her face beams. Her wrinkles rush to emphasize her green eyes. “It’s all about maintenance,” she repeats with a small laugh.

“Maintenance?” I repeat in awe, as she hands me a plate of turkey smattered with gravy. Realization washes over me.

“Ha, of course! How blind! How profound!” I utter, and then fade into subsistence.

I’m still trying to get my house sold/rented, so cleaning the house out has been taking up a lot of my free time, so very little writing has been done of late.

My current projects are still the Rogue Mage Role-playing Game (http://www.faithhunter.net/wp/the-rogue-mage-series/rogue-mage-rpg/) and converting SpirosBlaak to Savage Worlds (aka “savaging” it).  Rogue Mage is in editing and will follow with some more playtesting. Savage SB is creation/playtesting.

I’ve also been doing an editing assist for Emily Care Boss on a project called Role Playing Girl, which will be anthology by and about women in the rpg field. Some more info can be found at this site: http://rpgirl-zine.blogspot.com. Emily is a game designer. She’s written a game called Breaking the Ice that I need to get my grubby hands on (need to check the bank account–may have spent too much on Troll Lord Games’ stuff to buy right now!) This is just a fun project. I’m always curious about how other women got their start in this field. Personally, I blame my big brother for introducing me to gaming. I became so obsessed with it that I just had to write this stuff (not that it pays very well, mind you).

On another note, my romance novel, Leaf Letters, is going to be published by Sugar & Spice Press as Christina Lynne Ashley. I’m getting a different web site up (www.christinalynneashley.com) for that AKA. If you are interested in following my fiction-writing career, please sign up for my blog when it’s available. I hope to be making my personal dent in this field for years to come. I’ll be trying my hand at more contemporary stuff, but also paranormal romance, space opera romance, and some romantica.

Final note this week: The senational Miz Faith Hunter (www.faithhunter.net) has a new novel out in the urban fantasy field: Skinwalkers. Go out and get yourself a copy. What are you waiting for? DO IT NOW!

So, what’s on your mind this month? What are you up to?

June 17, 2009

Got the hubby a cake with the Tasmanian Devil on it holding a pipe wrench to celebrate his 38th. A lady at work made the cake, and she did an AWESOME job. I’ll have to post a pic. So, the hubby came by the office, and we shared the cake with the people I work with–since we have no family and no friends down this way yet. His parents are coming in for the weekend, though, so we’ll get to spend some family time for Father’s Day. He spent the day just lazing around; he didn’t have any plumbing calls to handle, so he took it easy. That worked out well. He had a good day.

June 16, 2009

I came home from work this evening to find an acceptance email for my novel LEAF LETTERS from Sugar & Spice Press. I’m totally stunned. It still hasn’t fully hit me that someone wants to publish MY book. I’ve been waiting a long time to get to this point. Fiction has been so much more difficult for me to sell than gaming material. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see such an email.

Stunned, I say. Stunned.

June 6, 2009

Yep, I’m a little late posting about the con, but it’s taken me this long to recover! I really did have a blast. The Con Com did an excellent job, and the new hotel was very nice. I didn’t particularly like driving to the UNC-side of Charlotte, but one makes sacrifices.

So, I did the gaming track this year, appearing as a gaming guest and running two sessions of Castles & Crusades. This was the first time that I have ever run any games at a convention. I think the first session went over well, and I had the pleasure of having a very energetic group who kept me laughing (Hey, Franck, Ahreada, Dawson, and Katie!). But my second one on Saturday night kind of lagged. I’m hoping it was because everyone was tired and not bored; I know I was dead in my tracks that night, but I pushed onward.

As a gaming guest, I sat on five panels. Faith Hunter and I did one on the fiction/rpg crossovers, which highlighted the upcoming Rogue Mage game. We had only four people in attendance, but we got some really good questions, and we gave out some copies of Bloodring to hopefully gain new fans. The other panels were about the 21st century game publishing, worldbuilding, gaming now (though we really skipped that one and had an extended worldbuilding session). I hosted with folks like Sean Patrick Fannon (Shaintar’s creator) and Clint Black (Savage Worlds Brand Manager). The final panel was about how to break into the gaming industry. Overall, we had good attendance, and I really enjoyed talking to everyone.

Of course, doing the gaming track this year, I didn’t get to spend much time talking to the fiction writers. I did get to catch up with Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and David B. Coe; I also briefly talked to J.F. Lews, who writes vampire novels set in the Void. The bummer part was I didn’t get a chance to talk to the Midnight Muses (Dahlia Rose, Sabrina Luna, Crymsyn Hart) or meet Marcia Colette and Dorian Wallace –I’ve since talked to many of them through Facebook. I missed all the author panels because I was on gaming panels, gaming, or running games. It’s hard to be torn between two passions, sometimes.  It sounded like they had some great discussions. And I missed Katherine Kurtz, too! I would have liked to have met her.

But…I did have great fun, and it was good talking to the gaming industry folks and the gamers. I gave out some copies of SpirosBlaak at the con. This property will be expanding to Savage Worlds soon! I’m excited. I’m also hoping to hear if we can do a Castles & Crusades license.

Ok, I’ve gotten myself out of the fiction depression doldrums. I’ve really only submitted to about ten agents/publishers, so I’m only a rookie on rejection. Right? So, I’ve taken this Memorial Day holiday to spend time getting out some equeries on Leaf Letters, my humorous contemporary romance (yes, I love fantasy AND romance, gamer geek that I am).  I’m running out of publishers to check with–that no agent thing being a pesky limiter on places willing to take a look at it. Anyway, I chose to send to Cerridwen and Samhain today. I like the work they do, and e-books are making a great splash in the writing world. I’m a supporter! (though, the titles I actually own by those pubs are in paper format, which they also do). I also sent to Aspen Mountain Press.

Response times seem to be about 10-16 weeks. I’ll be writing on other projects in the meantime, so this time should fly by.  If these publishers pass, then there aren’t many more in the 2009 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market for me to try, but I’ll squeeze out queries to the last remaining (may do that anyway). If all else fails, I’m thinking of going the self-publishing route.

I’ve been doing some article writing for The Crusader, a magazine dedicated to Castles & Crusades. I’ve got articles in Issues 17 & 18 now, with one on the way for 19. I’m really liking the 1st-edition feel of this game, and I’ll be running it at ConCarolinas. The Troll Lords, makers of C&C, are going into a fourth printing of their players’ handbook. I think that is very cool. I like seeing a gaming company making its way in the world. These are just some very cool folks, and I’ve been a fan of theirs since I first encountered their d20 adventures.

Check out Castles & Crusades. Check out the Troll Lords at www.trolllord.com