bright shadows, A-

[tarkhan bey]

Hurrah,I recieved it yesterday. Its nearly two months after it was originally due but it has been worth the wait.
There are a few things which I thought might have been included that were not and that is my only slight dissapointment with it. Overall I would give it an A-.
I would have liked to have been given a feel for the approximate population of the Dragon isle and more information on its military capacity. There appears to be no reference to the Silent Guard or to the remnants of the Imperial legions. While Dragon Princes and Battle Barges are mentioned there is nothing to indicate their numbers or, in the case of the Barges, their capabilities.
Also, having read the Physiology section I was a little disappointed not to find reference to Melnibonean's having no facial hair and their lack of use for toilet facilities which AFAIR is mentioned in either "Dreamthief's Daughter" or "Skrayling Tree".
Minor gripes, to be sure, but enough to drop it slightly in my estimation.

 

[CthulhuFnord]

Umm... lack of Toliet facilities? :?

 

[gamesmeister]

Umm... lack of Toliet facilities? :?

Yeah, that has to be the strangest criticism I've ever heard over an RPG book :shock:

 

[AKAramis]

Umm... lack of Toliet facilities? :?

Yeah, that has to be the strangest criticism I've ever heard over an RPG book :shock:

Nah, happens on the Traveller boards fairly regularly by newbs... (Most don't realize "Fresher" is a synonym for "restroom")

 

[CthulhuFnord]

Well you get the same on CoC boards with their "Water Closets". Seriously ... were does it say Elric doesn't have to go poop? :shock:

 

[Loz]

Well you get the same on CoC boards with their "Water Closets". Seriously ... were does it say Elric doesn't have to go poop? :shock:

Its in one of the three most recent books - 'Skrayling Tree', 'Dreamthief's Daughter', and 'White Wolf's Son'. Can't recall which one. Melniboneans, Elric says, don't pass faeces as humans do; so he doesn't actually say he doesn't go poo-poo - just that Melnibs go poo-poo differently.

I pondered long and hard (ooh-er) about including this glorious little detail in the main rules but decided that, really, whilst it might be a glorious little bit of background colour, I'd been able to grasp Melniboneans as being very different to humans for a good 25 years without ever, once, wondering if Elric took a conventional dump or not. I presume Charles Green reached similar conclusions!

So it might be an interesting little snippet, but I don't think that the 'Bright Shadows' book suffers one bit from not mentioning it.

 

[sidkfjjteidlkkf]

If he ate, he pooped!!!!!

Even Albino's do that..

 

[Charles Green]

presume Charles Green reached similar conclusions!

I did. Honestly, how often is this likely to come up in a game session? And, while Melniboneans don't have the exact same biological needs, they do have slaves that have to use the bathroom, so its safe to assume that Imrryr is much like any other city as far as sewage systems go.

 

[tarkhan bey]

Guys, I forgot to hit the laugh emoticon for the reference to the toilet thing. Sorry.
However, thinking on it, it is actually a pretty specific trait to Melnibonean's. It is also something definate which Moorcock says about their Physiology.This particular trait should have been included in the interests of completeness,despite its potential for distaste or poop joke hilarity.
I believe that the EC line is definately aimed at a more mature readership and I think that most of us are above such puerility.(Who am I kidding? :lol: )
Believe me though, there are reference's to much worse things in some previous supplements that I have read when Chaosium held the license.(see descriptions of Nadsokor and Org, very adult.)
You are, of course, quite correct in saying that toilet occurences rarely come up in RPG's.(except of course, if you are playing in horror games. Dreamcatcher moment, anyone? :shock: )
By the way guys, for those of you who appear to have misread, I mentioned a lack of need for such facilities, not an actual lack of said facilities. :roll:
Anyway, changing the subject(rapidly).
I would rather discuss the population of the Dragon Isle. Numbers of slaves as opposed to Lord's and roughly what percentage of the slaves are half bloods.
Were the Silent guard simply forgotten or did the book suffer from some choppage in the edit?
Also, if the Silent guard are made up of Half Bloods, do you think it reasonable then that there are other half blood military units like a city watch for example?
Finally, for now, Charles. It appears that the effects of Arveed are not in the book. Would you mind posting the effects here?

Thanks guys.

 

[Charles Green]

Treat arveed as a poison. Upon consumption of a sizable dose of it (like a gobletfull) the drinker must match their Resilience against the wine's Potency as per the usual rules.

Type: Ingested
Delay: 1D6 rounds
Potency: It varies between 30 and 75, with some vintages producing even greater potencies.
Effect: If the victims succeeds to resist the potency of the wine, hit Perception skill is greatly enhanced. For the duration of the effect, treat all tests of the Skill as Easy (+20%). However, if he fails to resist, he is instead tormented by terrible visions from across the Multiverse. A human cannot stand the strain, and is driven mad by what he sees.

However, Melniboneans enjoy the visions, and can drink a whole bottle without risk to mind or sanity. If they also pass a Persistence test, they may take the Lore (Million Spheres) Advanced skill at base chance. If they already possess the skill, they may make an additional improvement roll against it the next time such rolls are called for, over and above any others they might have earned.

Duration: 1D3 hours.

I no longer have the original rules for arveed, so this is just my best guess about what they were.

 

[Charles Green]

Yes, the Silent Guard being omitted was a mistake on my part. This should be rectified with a S&P article in the near future.

 

[tarkhan bey]

Thank you Charles.

If you, Loz etc wouldnt mind, could you please help me out with what your interpretations of population figures might be, I would be very grateful.
Also,Would you guys think it reasonable that as the power of the Empire has receded that the regular army and marines has become the domain of elite Half Blood slave soldiers, commanded by pure blooded officers?
At the minute I am considering a society with roughly 10,000 Melnibonean Pure Bloods, a similar number of Half Bloods of elite status in Military and Overseer roles and nearly 200,000 slaves. Do you think that sounds about right?
Thanks

 

[Charles Green]

Also,Would you guys think it reasonable that as the power of the Empire has receded that the regular army and marines has become the domain of elite Half Blood slave soldiers, commanded by pure blooded officers?
At the minute I am considering a society with roughly 10,000 Melnibonean Pure Bloods, a similar number of Half Bloods of elite status in Military and Overseer roles and nearly 200,000 slaves. Do you think that sounds about right?

That sounds reasonable to me. The exact population of the Dragon Isle is never explicitly detailed, although I think in Bright Shadows I allude to there being many more slaves than owners. I do think that it may be a bit of a stretch to think of Half Bloods as elite. Sure, some of the full bloods may be fond of their half-breed offspring, but I figure most folk in Melnibone see them as either slaves with more potential or abominable hybrids that sully the pure blood of the Dragon Isle.

Half-Breeds may think of themselves as being an elite order, but this is in comparison to other slaves on the Isle, not their overseers.

For me, this is the sort of thing that individual games masters can adjust to the needs of their own campaign.

 

[tarkhan bey]

Perhaps the word "Elite" is not actually the word I am looking for here. Though I think I remember it being used to describe the Silent Guard in an earlier Chaosium Supplement.
Can't remember offhand if Moorcock actually refers to them in the elite capacity or not.
What do you think about the idea of Half blood soldiery officered by purebloods?

 

[Charles Green]

What do you think about the idea of Half blood soldiery officered by purebloods?

I'm sure they'd be used in some capacity, but I'm not certain they would be used in great numbers. Most pure bloods would not be comfortable with well-armed and trained slaves existing in mass. Human slaves are kept drugged, but Half-Bloods are not, as their tasks typically are those that require a degree of critical thinking.

I could see them operating as a police force within the Foreigner's Quarter, though, as most pure bloods wouldn't dirty their hands to keep outsiders in line. Such a force would answer to the Harbourmaster, and might have low-ranking purebloods as leaders (possibly assigned here as punishment).

 

[Vivamort]

So it might be an interesting little snippet, but I don't think that the 'Bright Shadows' book suffers one bit from not mentioning it.

Speak for yourself! This bodes ill for my planned "Demon Chamberpots of Immyr" scenario. :roll:

 

[Loz]

So it might be an interesting little snippet, but I don't think that the 'Bright Shadows' book suffers one bit from not mentioning it.

Speak for yourself! This bodes ill for my planned "Demon Chamberpots of Immyr" scenario. :roll:

You're right. It really limits the Demons of Constipation I had planned for the Elric Companion...

 

[Da Boss]

Treat arveed as a poison. Upon consumption of a sizable dose of it (like a gobletfull) the drinker must match their Resilience against the wine's Potency as per the usual rules.

Type: Ingested
Delay: 1D6 rounds
Potency: It varies between 30 and 75, with some vintages producing even greater potencies.
Effect: If the victims succeeds to resist the potency of the wine, hit Perception skill is greatly enhanced. For the duration of the effect, treat all tests of the Skill as Easy (+20%). However, if he fails to resist, he is instead tormented by terrible visions from across the Multiverse. A human cannot stand the strain, and is driven mad by what he sees.

However, Melniboneans enjoy the visions, and can drink a whole bottle without risk to mind or sanity. If they also pass a Persistence test, they may take the Lore (Million Spheres) Advanced skill at base chance. If they already possess the skill, they may make an additional improvement roll against it the next time such rolls are called for, over and above any others they might have earned.

Duration: 1D3 hours.

I no longer have the original rules for arveed, so this is just my best guess about what they were.

a bottle of this recently caused both havoc and amusement - havoc for the hapless humans and amusement for the Half Melniboean who served it at dinner - I was saying that Half Melniboneans had a similar appreciation for the ffects.................

I presume the book is b/w ?

thanks

 

[Charles Green]

I presume the book is B/W?

thanks

As far as I know. I haven't actually seen a copy yet, but the preview was, so I think its a safe assumption.