Eryssel's Journeys

I know it's been a while, but work has been keeping me quite busy. Anyhow, here's part 4 of Xena and Gabrielle's adventures in the world of Bivius! I hope you enjoy it, and stay tuned for part 5...  ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Previously on Xena Xena and Gabrielle meet Ion, a former jeweler made bandit, who informs them of the plans Callisto and her minions have of conquering these lands. This confirms Xena’s fears of an unforeseen attack on the prosperous farmlands of Stagira and its surroundings. Now, our heroines, accompanied by Ion, have decided to visit the nearby town of Stratoniki to warn their inhabitants, and maybe, find some help. SANDBOX MODE Urban sandbox Initial location: Stratoniki (Terrain) Plains (Settlement) Town A <religious government> - B <authoritarian leader> = A A <typical food> - B <at risk of enemy raids> = A The group arrives at Stratoniki,  a town commonly ...

Hello! It's been a couple of months since my last update. But fear not! Here's a new entry for all of you. Today, I'd like to delve into the realm of tiny yet flavorful role-playing games. I have been reading, collecting, and studying a bunch of minimalist RPGs that are available for free for the past year or so. There are LOTS of different options available, and most of them take but a couple of minutes to read. Because I'm a solo RPG enthusiast, part of my research has focused on the possibility of being able to play those games on my own. And, I've found two systems that I consider to be a true delight: Bivius and USR! BIVIUS The first one , I've already referenced here on the blog. I'm talking about Riccardo Fregi's (AKA Lost Pangolin) glorious and minimalist: Bivius What makes it so great? For starters, it's main aim is solo gaming, which means that you need no special circumstances to play, as long as you have the time to do so. Al...

After being away due to some very busy months, I'm back! I'll catch up on my Xena adventure soon. Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy Lost Pangolin's latest Bivius goodie: the Slasher Funnel adventure! "What's a funnel adventure?" some of you may ask. Well, it's a very fun but deadly setting. The idea is to create a series of 0 level characters (i.e. mere peasants or common folk) and have them face a mini-dungeon. Many of those characters (if not ALL of them) are probably going to die (hence, the funnel aspect of the adventure!). However, the lucky few that manage to survive will immediately be considered "hero material" and will be promoted to lvl 1 adventurers! The cool thing is that because of their first experience, they will all have some sort of story to tell. So, they automatically receive an interesting backstory! Now, for today's adventure, I'm using the suggested theme of slasher-movies. Again, visit Lost Pangolin's blog ...

After being given their first quest (a sidequest), Xena and Gabrielle continue their adventure. This second game session has several combat moments against enemies and traps alike. I've also used the wilderness exploration rules from Bivius, as well as a bit of inspiration from a free hexploration tool called The Hexmancer ! I've followed my heroines' progress using hexpaper (you can find it if you search for organic chemistry paper on Amazon ), a micron pen (again, easily found on Amazon ), and hex map icons for inspiration (you can google those). I hope you enjoy this second entry!  ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OUTDOORS MODE Urban sandbox Initial location: Stagira (Terrain) Farmlands/plain (Settlement) Town (Detail 1) Agricultural (Detail 2) Rich Previously on Xena:  Gabrielle stops a drunken man from stealing at Stagira’s marketplace. Then, she and Xena go to the Blue Goblet inn, where they meet Shani, an old ...

After having had fun creating my Bivius versions of Xena, Gabrielle, and Callisto ( check part 1 here ), it's time to get them into action and start playing!  I'm using Bivius: Tunnels & Dragons , ÜNE (Universal NPC Emulator for helping me create NPCs), a d12 (for Bivius), a d100 (for ÜNE), and the GameMaster's Apprentice base deck (for generating random ideas). I'll be using a d12 for rolling my results. As per Bivius rules, the number of sides for the die is irrelevant, as long as it's used in a binary fashion. In other words: An even number = A/Yes, an odd number = B/No I'm also using a map of Xena's adventures in Greece , google maps, and a Herb and Spice online name generator (I didn't know that was a thing, until I realized I had specifically googled it to use it in this game). Is all of this necessary? Besides Bivius' rules, and a binary something (i.e. a die, a coin, a stick, a rock, etc), no. It's all just extra fluff I...

I've recently discovered a solo RPG system that surprised me due to its simplicity and potential. I'm talking about Lostpangolin's creation: BIVIUS . It's an RPG that is comprised of only 8 simple rules , 14 total if you add the advanced rules . If you're looking for a quick RPG that can offer you unlimited possibilities, look no further. Also, if you want more depth, the author offers a more detailed version titled " Tunnels & Dragons ". It revolves around the same 8-14 rules, but it adds other goodies such as more detailed character creation and advancement, adventure and dungeon generation, journeying and exploration by land-water-air, campaign creation, sandbox mode for both wilderness and urban locations, sidequests, a bestiary, NPC guidelines, and guidelines for creating a funnel adventure ! It's 31 pages, but don't let yourself be fooled by that! As a system, it is gold! It took me a few minutes to read it, and I immediately love...