Matthew Hunter

Norsk (A half-orc life force repossessor played by Brian) Orphaned at a young age, Norsk never really knew his parents and grew up on the streets of Rookroost, learning life’s lessons the hard way – the strong take what they want, and the ruthless get what they need. Norsk did a favor for a merchant by removing a rival merchant, and got enough coin from this job to set out on his own.

Elmond (A Fighter/Cleric/Magic-User played by Dean) I am the true-born son of Elister Brooks and Nora Brooks (formerly Alden). Unlike my bastard older brother I was grudgingly accepted by my mother’s family. Upon coming of age, I was instructed to find my brother and prevent him from besmirching the reputation of the family. I found I enjoyed travelling. In my travels I have not encountered any signs of my brother. I guess this is good for me since I’m technically achieving the assigned goal.

How do I create a character? Creating a character can be a daunting process, especially in 1st edition AD&D, and doubly so if you don’t have the books as a reference. I will outline the basics here to help you at least begin to understand what you need to know. If you don’t have your own copy of the Player’s Handbook, The OSRIC rules are close enough to get you started.

Amathar (Gray elf magic-user played by Jeff) in the Evil Overlord campaign. Amathar the Grey is in exile from the Grey Elves (He does not elaborate on this point, though.). He wants to continue his research among the mammals of Oerth, though, so he has wandered to Rookroost with little coin, but made friends with several associates. (Rumble and Skean). They have a relationship to seek out spell components for Amathar and in return, Amathar will help them when he can.

Barron (Half-Elven Property Redistribution Specialist played by Matt) in the Evil Overlord campaign. In an illustrious start to his career in Rookroost, Barron was betrayed by his guildmates and sold into slavery on his first day at work. Orientation is a bitch. Elward Alden is his real name, but when he doesn’t trust people he gives out one of his many handles (he is currently using Barron). Raised a bastard love child of a human father and elf mother, he was always looked down upon in the elf community for being a half breed.

Saltmarsh is a small town, though still larger than Dunwitch. It is near the coast, with port facilities and a fishing fleet. The fleet sends its catch from both the ocean and the nearby salt marsh (for which the town is named) to Rookroost, providing a steady supply of seafood for those wealthy enough to afford it (and the necessary salt or preservation spells to preserve it). The road to town from Rookroost brings you to the top of a sea-facing cliff overlooking the town, and you can see the port itself laid out before you, with the bulk of town further inland on higher ground.

Characters begin in the small town of Dunwitch, named (according to local legend) for its founder, a nameless hag and healer who lived out her years as a hermit outside the nearby walled city of Rookroost. Her cures were so efficacious and her protective spells so potent that she soon had a thriving community established around her small forest hut. As the poor woman was nearly deaf and blind in her old age, she never quite realized.

The City of Rookroost Rookroost is one of the bandit kingdoms, a city-state in barely civilized territory that exists in a state of low-level perpetual warfare with most of its neighbors and even its own residents. Half-Orcs are common and make up most of the city guard. Half-elves are common in the outlying towns and forests, but full elves are rare. Leadership Officially, the city follows General Perneti, who is in charge of the city guard.

Over at the Mad Genius Club, Amanda finds a publisher talking about ebooks as a “service” and charging more for them than printed books because they are convenient for the reader. Both sides have valid points, but the discussion hook is Amanda’s conclusion: But to say an e-book should cost considerably more than a print book because it is more convenient is ludicrous. It is especially so when the publisher refuses to admit that a reader buys the book instead of just licensing the right to read the book.

The latest book in SM Stirling’s Change series, The Given Sacrifice concludes the war against the Church Universal and Triumphant with a certain sense of anticlimax. While none of the events quite surprised me, I was left with a sense – quite familiar to me from other recent books in this series – that the author had overstretched his ability to maintain dramatic tension and that the events that have occupied the past three or four books in this series would have been better served to all take place within a single book.