The Wakeling's Pocket Guide to WIZARDscape

The Tragical History of Otto Proudfoot: Act II

Scene: An elegant sitting room. A bookshelf covers one wall; the opposite wall holds a marble hearth inlaid with astrological symbols in semi-precious stones. Two comfortable leather chairs face the fire. The rear wall opens onto a hallway, as in the Proudfoot home. An odd skeleton hangs from the ceiling—some kind of animal, but nothing easily recognizable. As the curtain opens we see Ebard (Applejack) in a silk dressing-gown, pacing back and forth with an open book. His lips move, but we hear no sound. Suddenly, the fire in the hearth turns green and a puff of foul vapour rises up. There is a knock at the door.

The Tragical History of Otto Proudfoot: Act I

Scene: A townhouse interior. A cluttered workbench occupies the left-hand wall, holding various locks and pieces thereof; the wall above holds sundry files, chisels and hammers. The rear wall is hung with portraits, and is broken by a large archway. Beyond the arch, a narrow hall runs to the left and stairs lead up to the right. The right-hand wall holds a woman’s workbench, and is broken by a swinging door to the kitchen. A bookshelf above holds several pamphlets and a single thick tome. The centre of the room is occupied by a low oak table carved from a single bole.

As the lights come on, we see Otto as a child standing atop an unlikely and precarious stack, attempting to reach the tome. Pots clatter in the kitchen, and Otto’s father is pounding out a tumbler on his workbench. Otto reaches the tome, but loses his balance. The stack falls apart with a crash as Otto tumbles to the ground and scurries under the table.

 

Burt The Brute - 2

Continued from Burt the Brute - 1

The splinters of the door scattered across the ground. The worg was there smelling the habitat of its victims. Burt didn't move. He lay in the shadow. He waited patiently for the intruder to make the error to enter in the room. The child held his weapon firmly.

Rugans Contemplation

It only hurts when I breath. My mouth is dry and my breath is deathly shallow. My weary gaze slowly blurs until I blink again. My name is Rugan and a lay in a forest near the Caves of Choas. I lay here because a great and cruel sword has been plunged through my chest and into the very ground upon which I lay and I am slowly dieing. My thoughts drift back…

Burt the Brute - 1

Burt is really strong for a human.

He was born in Brongstone in the north of the human Kingdom of Vestland. This land is very cold and dark, different races of wolves and bears are attacking lots of lonely villages. Brongstone is this type of village. The citizens are obliged to stay sheltered from the hard weather and the wild beasts of the north.

Adrift in a Dream

Perhaps I've been mad all along.

That's what happens in the stories, after all... all those poor souls who end up alone in a tiny boat in the middle of an unending sea. Bereft of contact, comforts, and hope, their minds turn inward, devouring themselves in a bid to deny the reality of their own death.

I spent a virtual eternity in that cage I thought of as home. Did I finally crack in my loneliness, and all that I've experienced since then is mere hallucination?

I would have thought insanity would be far less dull.

Joe Horde - Stuck in the game

Joe comes from Tarra, a world with early 20th century technology. Other planets have significantly higher technology, but the infrastructure to build this technology isn't available on Tarra. The average Tarran lives a life pretty much we do. In Joe's universe, magic doesn't seem to exist. Psionics are rare on Tarra, and fairly common elsewhere in the galaxy.

Growing up, Joe did well academically and was extensively trained in computers and chemistry. Tarra is a primitive world and it never really invents anything "new". There is however a significant demand for figuring out ways to produce "obsolete" galactic technology with local technology. Joe is an expert in "reinventing" tech and figuring out ways to produce stuff without the replicators and nanotech normally used to make them.

Joe's last employer was an explosives company. Trying to rediscover explosives was an "interesting" job. The reinvented explosives never worked quite as well as the original did and Joe became quite expert in determining how to best use explosives. Joe has learned that being distracted from the task at hand is a bit dangerous and he can be oblivious to everything but his current problem.

One of the few things that Tarra gets from the the rest of the galaxy are highly advanced (for Tarra) VR games. Joe loves these games and is an expert in manipulating the computer systems that run them. Joe plays a wide variety of games from fantasy to historical drama. The imported historical drama's give Joe a pretty good understanding of offworld weapons and tactics. Since the games are based on historical (off planet) events, the experience they provided is quite helpful to Joe in places like Station 6. The fantasy games are pure fiction (magic isn't real), but Joe has used them to learn to adapt to the rules of any game.

Joe has learned a lot about small group tactics and has aquired some skill with missile weapons from playing games.  Joe has also learned that he is just as bad with melee weapons in the games as he is in real life. This doesn't seem to be much of a problem to him - He makes sure he has a gun, bow, grenades or traps between him and a mob. Joe has learned that death is a bit painful, and that it may incur an XP penalty, but it's not that big of a deal.

Recently, Joe found himself in Wizardscape. He's pretty sure it is just another game or set of games. Wizardscape is a bit strange though - Joe doesn't remember entering the game and there isn't any obvious way to leave. This doesn't bother Joe much - he's having a lot of fun.

Turn the Page

I, Mirabourne, of sound mind and body, though perhaps not of easy soul, do hearby record this as my last will and testament.

The story of Thragnarok

Due to popular demand (is it still popular demand if all the requests come from the same person?) here is my character's backstory once again.

I've cut and pasted the entire section from a word document, with absolutely no additional edditing, so let's see how it comes out.

Just to clear the air once and for all as to just what my character is, he's a regular dwarf, with the feral template (from savage species), the draconic template (draconomicon), and about 20 points worth of physical mutations (D20 future), which include wings, fangs, scales, energy resistance, and various other physical abnormalities.  He took the Avatar class, and all 13 of his feats were devoted to either flying or grappling & fighting with his claws. 

But that's just the mechancis, the in game explanation is so much more interesting. . .

Garm's Journey

"So, you want to know where I come from? It's not at all interesting. I'm a sailor, that's all.

"My parents were born in Copenhagen, but moved to New England after they married; my father had interest in a number of ships trading in the Americas, and it was more convenient for his business. That, and he was a grouchy bastard with no patience for the Danish social contract. I think he was a Knight or some such; he had a sword with King Olaf's seal on it, which he would wear from time to time when greeting bigwigs from the old country.