Author: kabuki13

FLY ME TO THE MOON: BEHIND THE SCENES

Posted on by kabuki13

Boy, was this one unexpected.

It started while I was working on Death of Temple, a deconstructed Temple of Death, the X5 B/X module. I had a phase, you see, when I was about shattering icons and burning the hype down to the ground. For a while I was mostly turbulence – exhausted by the way everything seemed to be about surface and noise, layout tricks and instant “weird” that felt earned by shock rather than by mood or meaning. I lamented how cheap, how trivial and easy that could be. I lamented the feeling that my game, my D&D, had slipped away into something I did not quite recognise.

That was the bottom of the wave, and still I designed, wrote, experimented, further and further, up to the point everything I did was unintelligible even to me. That was my “burn everything” phase, though it had upsides, such as the tables for the citizens of Hule I hid behind the picture of a yellow dog in my Death of Temple. I give them to you now, hit the pic.

Then I considered: why not hide a full hexcrawl behind a yellow dot on that page (below), so that if anyone clicks haphazardly, they get 169 pages of content they never asked for, three or four people maybe, who I hoped would never tell. Breadcrumbs for the obsessed and the patient ones.

It began with this sentence, taken from X5: On nights of the full moon, a ladder of moonbeams forms between the well and the moon. This ladder may be climbed in one night. It leads to the Kingdom of the Moon. You must create this kingdom. If you do not want the players to go to the moon, you may ignore this power.

I mean, it says “you must create this kingdom”, so I did.

And as I did, it bloomed with a life of its own. Suddenly, there was the Moon, and its light kindled my confidence. Page after page, I read what I had just done and thought this is good, this is too good to hide behind a yellow dot.

Yet I did not trust the market, the platform, the channels – so many new releases every day that anything quiet or odd can simply vanish. Ping ping Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, Discord; hashtags and algorithms and arguments about system compatibility. I realised I did not want to chase that rhythm. This was myth and poetry, I thought, this was the Moon.

Still, I could not just keep it for myself. Here was the design philosophy:

  • The Moon has laws of its own.
  • It is meant to be played, even though it is a good read, so everything must be usable, fun, delightful, perilous.
  • It cannot have a level; it must fit 1st-level characters and 14th-level characters equally, each with challenges and depths of their own.
  • Every reference, every somnambulist dream about the Moon must be here: Kepler, Cyrano, Munchausen, yes, but also Sailor Moon and Little Nemo.
  • Every reference must be standalone, hidden, perfectly playable on its own merits without prior knowledge, and yet filled with meaning for those who can spot them.
  • Hexes must communicate, lead to one another, resound across the map, weave quests and campaigns organically.
  • Hexes must be dynamic, a moment frozen in time, a situation.

By then I had grown a little tired of hex–crawls that were mostly lists of disconnected curiosities: “100 orcs and 2 ogres” here, “the village of Moss, 1,200 inhabitants, CN” there, chimeric monsters scattered without much reason or purpose. I love many of those books, but I wanted to try something different – something that chased a stronger internal logic of wonder and terror, where the entries were not just places but echoes of each other.

We needed something that cuts deeper, that goes beyond the keyed locations trope, and the Moon seemed the perfect staging ground for this.

As always, the signs began while I was writing. I found an Endymion perfume bottle, kept seeing the Moon everywhere on people’s shirts and storefronts, the Moon nodded, it was good.

And then the miracle happened. I was out of the spite pit, smiling at both New and Old School, ready to give rather than mourn, to kindle the flame of our game, and that was it, the Moon. Ah.

To be fair, I am not watching the numbers, counting the sales, or riding the hype. There is one, a wavelet of a hype, but I try to ignore it so I can focus on writing the next opus. The Moon opened a door.

Thank you, Moon.

FLY ME TO THE MOON

Posted on by kabuki13

A fantastique OSR hexcrawl of antique lunacy and splendor.

Ladies and Gentlemen: the Moon.

Fly Me to the Moon gives you the fantastique Moon stitched into a majestic hexcrawl where each entry promises sleepless hours of adventure and d’Amberville conundrums, a moose head of a Moon in 168 hexes compatible with everything OSR from Basic to Advanced.

With interconnected hexes, subterranean passages stretching over miles, factions, new classes, new spells, artifacts and relics, unique monsters, deities, and demigods, strange incarnations, and invisible cities, the bountiful Moon overflows with gifts and curses that smirk at character level.

It has a logic of its own, you see.

This is the Moon before spaceflight, the Moon of the Renaissance polymaths and the lunatics, the Estates of Cyrano, Lucian, Kepler, Flammarion, and Munchausen. This is the baroque Moon, a spirit-of-the-times Moon seeped in antique tragedy and splendor before we made it into a lifeless rock.

We are going to the Moon. Now. Whether by ladder of argent light rising from a well at the full moon, by a beanstalk, by the back of a giant goose, or in a dream.

Sample hex (0414).

A lone comet shoots above the Mare Vaporum, its rays bursting through mist and water as it descends frantically upon the PCs.

The rays cause 12 hp of damage to everyone (save vs. Petrification halves) before the comet stabilises in midair in front of the PCs, its searing heat acting as a heat metal spell round after round.

The comet, a miniature glowing star in itself, reveals a juvenile face two rounds later, absolutely unfazed by attempts to attack it, and introduces itself as Dravolio of the Tangent Path.

It’s been travelling through space, as is customary for comets, and visits the Moon out of curiosity. It’s very impressed by the PCs since it has never seen the likes of them before, but utterly confused: it talks to their ship as if it were a person (if they have one), wonders if they’re gods (“Ohhhh that would be sooo fun! I’ve never met gods! What do they eat?”), and speaks of its star friends, Furosa and Polixo–36, as if everyone knew them.

Since it has no notion of organic life, it doesn’t understand and may even take offence if the PCs ask it to move a little further. Five rounds of conversation later, it shoots another ray at the PCs out of sheer excitement, with the same effect as the first! Worse, the heat becomes so intense it now causes d6 damage per round, including to the PCs’ ship.

Dravolio of the Tangent Path leaves either when it is seriously insulted or after 10 rounds in total. In that case, it departs happily, and may come to the rescue of its new friends once, as long as they’re on the Moon (a 1–in–20 chance), though the PCs aren’t aware of it.

Dravolio of the Tangent Path (AC 0, HD 16, hp32, Att. starbeam (12 damage on a 20’ wide and 120’ long line), MV Flying 1,200ft., Morale 12, AL CG, immune to everything except annihilation, disintegrate spells, which inflict it d10 damage, and force, which inflict it 1 damage per spell level, permanent heat metal at 100’, cause d6 damage from heat at 100’ when excited or in combat).

MURMUR MANOR

Posted on by kabuki13

A haunted 5E compatible side trek for 1st–4th level characters, suitable for any setting.

A vanished warlock, a coveted magical tome, a grisly manor seeping with corruption, and the makings of a perfect heist. What could possibly go wrong?                                      

Murmur Manor is a standalone Gothic horror one-shot for character levels 1–4. Drop it into any campaign for a night of terror, grotesqueries, and dying secrets.

A trifling errand, really. Almost a fetch quest without peril. But who lights the candles in the manor at night then? Why is Murmur’s daughter still ambling about if she’s dead? And what, exactly, is the hunchbacked butler doing here?

† A haunted manor crawling with vermin, dark memories, and demonic echoes
† A cursed plagued by a fallen angel
† A paranoid town soaked in rain under the watch of craven gunslingers
† A mysterious patron with polished manners and mysterious motives
† Runs in one long or two short sessions (6–8 hours)
† Scalable for stealth, roleplay, or combat-heavy groups

The baron is gone. His daughters fled—or did they? Evil crept and corrupted the place. The book waits with a grin. Soon, it will be time…

TRAILBLAZERS OF SHANGRILA

Posted on by kabuki13

A Himalayan High Fantasy RPG of Exploration and Shared Storytelling

You have returned once again. Tasked by the Gods to break new ground for the sake of the whole realm, destined to helm deep forays into demon-ridden wilds in search for a path, a breakthrough, or a hidden heaven. You will fail many times and forget most of what you know for death will shroud your memory, but the points of light will spread, connect, and reach further with each of your attempts, and you will try again and again for this is who you are, a trailblazer, a wayfarer, a hero.

What Lies Beyond the Mountains

A land of deep forests untold pristine lakes, and barley fields, where the thousand fragrances of eternal summer spread like clouds of auspicious offerings. What stretches untamed beyond the heights is cloaked in darkness in every direction of space, for beasts, demons, and ghosts have claimed it as their own, prowling the mist-robed crests where the rhododendrons bloom. This is the land of the yetis and the snow lions, a realm of nomad tribes and fearless forlorn camps.

A shimmering Rainbow Sphere protects the realm that few dare cross. You will yet, opening the way to fabled lands, snatching pastures and valleys from the shadows’ hungry claws, where citadels, villages, and jarldoms will rise. Magicians, theurgists, warriors, and clever scoundrels, you all, fulfilling the prophecies of the all-seeing Vishantis with mantras and mudras raised high under the fluttering flags of the Werma spirits of war, your hands firm on the shaft of coral spears and swords of meteorite crystal.

A groundbreaking, fully procedural tile–based wilderness exploration engine driving collaborative storytelling with rules you can easily adapt to any fantasy exploration. Considering the view you gain from a higher ground, the weather, the resources, and the events of the trail, they form a unique and comprehensive wilderness guide embracing both old and new school systems.

The world grows with you as you explore and define it together. It stays adventure after adventure, bringing new traits, species, and discoveries into play as you unlock them. Soon, Makaras, Nagas, and Bajrang monkeys will join the stern nomads of the Patchwork Realm, shaping a setting unique to every group.

A Simple Yet Powerful D6 System – Actions are resolved through simple pool mechanics using d6 which open an intricate “easy to learn, hard to master” negotiation encouraging creativity, originality, and inspiration.

Solo or Together, Your Journey Matters – Play alone or with others, creating something unforgettable either way.

A NEW OSR LOGO

Posted on by kabuki13

When designing Oh My Lost Darklords, I considered the options I had to feature a logo which could indicate compatibility with all the Old-School Renaissance/Revival games out there.

  1. Using the most widespread existing logo, now unfortunately contested because of his creator’s decision to pull it despite its attached Creative Commons license at the peak of the Google+ days. I felt I needed to respect said decision in spite of its shaky legal grounding, and that using it would involontarily constitute a statement of sorts, which I wanted to avoid.
  2. Using a less widespread one, which frankly, I didn’t deem aesthetically sound.
  3. Making my own, which would remind everyone of the World’s Most Famous Roleplaying Game while retaining originality, something that would trigger a “oh, yes, that’s the OSR” response in anyone seeing it while indicating clearly what it is about the same way, and with the same power the widespread, but controversial one did.

Eventually, I settled for 3), which you can see on the cover of Oh My Lost Darklords.

I considered afterwards that maybe, others were facing the same conundrum, and could make use of the logo I’ve designed with all these elements in mind, which is why…

I am now placing it in the Public Domain under a Creative Commons 0 license (no attribution, full commercial use, remix and remake as you see fit) and offering a few different versions of it on Drivethrurpg, also for free:

  • White
  • White contour
  • Black
  • OSR Blue
  • OSR Blue contour

You are now all welcome to download and use any of these versions as you want.

OH MY LOST DARKLORDS

Posted on by kabuki13

This is the 1980s, not Hellfire Club, but close enough. C. plays Sadric, his avenger modelled after Elric, the one who wields Blackrazor since we went under a certain white-crested mountain and Y. plays his unstoppable Duellist. I am going with Kurtys Flameblade, my Fighter/Assassin, long before That Time He Was Reincarnated as an Ogre Mage.

A Collection of thirteen infamous classes for amoral, chaotic, and evil player characters designed and remastered for use with Old-School Essentials and  everything Old School Renaissance.

†Avenger

†Bandit                                         

†Bounty Hunter                                 

†Cultist                                              

†Dark Creeper             

†Dark Mage

†Death Knight

†Demonist

†Duellist

†Houri

†Jester

†Red Wizard

†Witch

DARK SPACE

Posted on by kabuki13

Eight Promethean Mythos Adventures Designed for 4-Hours Play.

Designed for Cthulhu Dark or any Cosmic Horror System.

Welcome to Dark Space, a spine-tingling series of short investigations in the far reaches of the Solar System that will plunge you into the heart of cosmic dread with your magnetic boots on!

Ready to Shoot into Space, Space Monkey?

Gritty Promethean Fantasy

Dark Space features a gripping series of early Space Age adventures on the background of the Cthulhu Mythos. Expect derelict space stations, corporate androids, lost star-spanning civilizations, railguns, blind insane gods, and echoing radar pings bleeping mere seconds before total annihilation.

Short Standalone Investigations

Brace yourself for eight intense, standalone adventures, tailor-made for short play sessions. Each story features a unique heart-pounding weird tale of colossal proportions designed to keep your players on the edge of their seats for a handful of hours.

  • Orpheus Station
  • The Sentinels
  • Starhub Zero
  • The Clay Ships
  • Cold Storage
  • Kosmos Birds
  • Zargon is Alive!
  • Project O.W.O.S

Rules-Light Seamless Gameplay

Dark Space reads like a series of second-person short cosmic horror novels, the rules being coded into the text itself seamlessly, ensuring an immersive experience. Choose your preferred Mythos hack or system or rely on the provided Cthulhu Dark rules for effortless play.

Purchasers will receive a free adaptation for Mongoose’s Traveller system once the corresponding license is released.

WELCOME BACK

Posted on by kabuki13

I’ve been busy.

Very busy.

I’ve been teaching Video Game Design and Virtual Reality to my Asian students in Vietnamese and Indian universities, travelling the world one country at a time: Scotland, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong; opening too many bank accounts for my own good and becoming a temporary resident of all those places for a while.

And yet, here you are, in a steady stream of visitors of a website I didn’t check for ages. I am ashamed, of course, but I come bearing news if not gifts yet.

A full-fledged roleplaying game is on the way as well as a novel, the first of a saga which I can only describe as a Manga/Light Novel/Anticipation/LitRPG/Historical Fiction crossover like it comes straight from the future.

Dabbling in fiction writing rather than games has changed my perspective. A lot. The world has been changing and so did we, bygone is the Old School Renaissance, The Forge, all those people we’ve interacted with for the better or for the worse, laughable now the debates of the past, forgotten with love and, let’s be honest, fond memories. This change brings change to this website as well as you will see in the coming weeks. In many ways, we begin now, Kabuki Kaiser 3.0.

We. Begin. Now.

For those of you who discover this website and my nickname for the first time, I’d like to make it simple:

“Welcome to my page. I’m Kabuki Kaiser, and I write books with game stuff in them. I know a thing or two about games, I teach that, but it’s okay if you don’t play any. We can only write from experience, I’ve heard, so that you will find a lot of Asian references and a lot of nods to diverse Asian cultures in my books. I will be happy if you get them. If you like K-Pop and manga, you should be all set so that you don’t need a PhD in Asian Studies to understand them and hop onboard. It’s okay, my grandma’s Asian and I live there with Asian friends for my family circle and first readers; so, grab a bubble tea and stay tuned, we’re only getting started.”